64 research outputs found
A media advocacy intervention linking health disparities and food insecurity
Media advocacy is a well-established strategy for transmitting health messages to the public. This paper discusses a media advocacy intervention that raised issues about how the public interprets messages about the negative effects of poverty on population health. In conjunction with the publication of a manuscript illustrating how income-related food insecurity leads to disparities related to the consumption of a popular food product across Canada (namely, Kraft Dinner®), we launched a media intervention intended to appeal to radio, television, print and Internet journalists. All the media coverage conveyed our intended message that food insecurity is a serious population health problem, confirming that message framing, personal narratives and visual imagery are important in persuading media outlets to carry stories about poverty as a determinant of population health. Among politicians and members of the public (through on-line discussions), the coverage provoked on-message as well as off-message reactions. Population health researchers and health promotion practitioners should anticipate mixed reactions to media advocacy interventions, particularly in light of new Internet technologies. Opposition to media stories regarding the socio-economic determinants of population health can provide new insights into how we might overcome challenges in translating evidence into preventive interventions
Fast Grain Mapping with Sub-Nanometer Resolution Using 4D-STEM with Grain Classification by Principal Component Analysis and Non-Negative Matrix Factorization
High-throughput grain mapping with sub-nanometer spatial resolution is
demonstrated using scanning nanobeam electron diffraction (also known as 4D
scanning transmission electron microscopy, or 4D-STEM) combined with high-speed
direct electron detection. An electron probe size down to 0.5 nm in diameter is
implemented and the sample investigated is a gold-palladium nanoparticle
catalyst. Computational analysis of the 4D-STEM data sets is performed using a
disk registration algorithm to identify the diffraction peaks followed by
feature learning to map the individual grains. Two unsupervised feature
learning techniques are compared: Principal component analysis (PCA) and
non-negative matrix factorization (NNMF). The characteristics of the PCA versus
NNMF output are compared and the potential of the 4D-STEM approach for
statistical analysis of grain orientations at high spatial resolution is
discussed
Short intense ion pulses for materials and warm dense matter research
We have commenced experiments with intense short pulses of ion beams on the
Neutralized Drift Compression Experiment-II at Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory, by generating beam spots size with radius r < 1 mm within 2 ns FWHM
and approximately 10^10 ions/pulse. To enable the short pulse durations and
mm-scale focal spot radii, the 1.2 MeV Li+ ion beam is neutralized in a
1.6-meter drift compression section located after the last accelerator magnet.
An 8-Tesla short focal length solenoid compresses the beam in the presence of
the large volume plasma near the end of this section before the target. The
scientific topics to be explored are warm dense matter, the dynamics of
radiation damage in materials, and intense beam and beam-plasma physics
including selected topics of relevance to the development of heavy-ion drivers
for inertial fusion energy. Here we describe the accelerator commissioning and
time-resolved ionoluminescence measurements of yttrium aluminium perovskite
using the fully integrated accelerator and neutralized drift compression
components.Comment: 7 pages, 9 figure
LongSAGE profiling of nine human embryonic stem cell lines
Analysis of a 2.6 million longSAGE sequence tag resource generated from nine human embryonic stem cell lines reveals an enrichment of RNA binding proteins and novel ES-specific transcripts
Room temperature coherent control of coupled single spins in solid
Coherent coupling between single quantum objects is at the heart of modern
quantum physics. When coupling is strong enough to prevail over decoherence, it
can be used for the engineering of correlated quantum states. Especially for
solid-state systems, control of quantum correlations has attracted widespread
attention because of applications in quantum computing. Such coherent coupling
has been demonstrated in a variety of systems at low temperature1, 2. Of all
quantum systems, spins are potentially the most important, because they offer
very long phase memories, sometimes even at room temperature. Although precise
control of spins is well established in conventional magnetic resonance3, 4,
existing techniques usually do not allow the readout of single spins because of
limited sensitivity. In this paper, we explore dipolar magnetic coupling
between two single defects in diamond (nitrogen-vacancy and nitrogen) using
optical readout of the single nitrogen-vacancy spin states. Long phase memory
combined with a defect separation of a few lattice spacings allow us to explore
the strong magnetic coupling regime. As the two-defect system was well-isolated
from other defects, the long phase memory times of the single spins was not
diminished, despite the fact that dipolar interactions are usually seen as
undesirable sources of decoherence. A coherent superposition of spin pair
quantum states was achieved. The dipolar coupling was used to transfer spin
polarisation from a nitrogen-vacancy centre spin to a nitrogen spin, with
optical pumping of a nitrogen-vacancy centre leading to efficient
initialisation. At the level anticrossing efficient nuclear spin polarisation
was achieved. Our results demonstrate an important step towards controlled spin
coupling and multi-particle entanglement in the solid state
International AIDS Society global scientific strategy: towards an HIV cure 2016
Antiretroviral therapy is not curative. Given the challenges in providing life-long therapy to a global population of over 35 million people living with HIV, there is intense interest in developing a cure for HIV infection. The International AIDS Society convened a group of international experts to develop a scientific strategy for research towards an HIV cure. This Perspective summarizes the group's strategy
Effect on treatment adherence of distributing essential medicines at no charge : the CLEAN Meds randomized clinical trial
This work is supported by grant 381409 from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, the Ontario SPOR Support Unit that is supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Province of Ontario, the Canada Research Chairs program, and the St Michael’s Hospital Foundation.Importance: Nonadherence to treatment with medicines is common globally, even for life-saving treatments. Cost is one important barrier to access, and only some jurisdictions provide medicines at no charge to patients. Objective: To determine whether providing essential medicines at no charge to outpatients who reported not being able to afford medicines improves adherence. Design, Setting, and Participants: A multicenter, unblinded, parallel, 2-group, superiority, outcomes assessor-blinded, individually randomized clinical trial conducted at 9 primary care sites in Ontario, Canada, enrolled 786 patients between June 1, 2016, and April 28, 2017, who reported cost-related nonadherence. Follow-up occurred at 12 months. The primary analysis was performed using an intention-to-treat principle. Interventions: Patients were randomly allocated to receive free medicines on a list of essential medicines in addition to otherwise usual care (n = 395) or usual medicine access and usual care (n = 391). Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was adherence to treatment with all medicines that were appropriately prescribed for 1 year. Secondary outcomes were hemoglobin A1c level, blood pressure, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels 1 year after randomization in participants taking corresponding medicines. Results: Among the 786 participants analyzed (439 women and 347 men; mean [SD] age, 51.7 [14.3] years), 764 completed the trial. Adherence to treatment with all medicines was higher in those randomized to receive free distribution (151 of 395 [38.2%]) compared with usual access (104 of 391 [26.6%]; difference, 11.6%; 95% CI, 4.9%-18.4%). Control of type 1 and 2 diabetes was not significantly improved by free distribution (hemoglobin A1c, -0.38%; 95% CI, -0.76% to 0.00%), systolic blood pressure was reduced (-7.2 mm Hg; 95% CI, -11.7 to -2.8 mm Hg), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels were not affected (-2.3 mg/dL; 95% CI, -14.7 to 10.0 mg/dL). Conclusions and Relevance: The distribution of essential medicines at no charge for 1 year increased adherence to treatment with medicines and improved some, but not other, disease-specific surrogate health outcomes. These findings could help inform changes to medicine access policies such as publicly funding essential medicines. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02744963.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe
Investigating Europa’s habitability with the Europa Clipper
The habitability of Europa is a property within a system, which is driven by a multitude of physical and chemical processes and is defined by many interdependent parameters, so that its full characterization requires collaborative investigation. To explore Europa as an integrated system to yield a complete picture of its habitability, the Europa Clipper mission has three primary science objectives: (1) characterize the ice shell and ocean including their heterogeneity, properties, and the nature of surface–ice–ocean exchange; (2) characterize Europa’s composition including any non-ice materials on the surface and in the atmosphere, and any carbon-containing compounds; and (3) characterize Europa’s geology including surface features and localities of high science interest. The mission will also address several cross-cutting science topics including the search for any current or recent activity in the form of thermal anomalies and plumes, performing geodetic and radiation measurements, and assessing high-resolution, co-located observations at select sites to provide reconnaissance for a potential future landed mission. Synthesizing the mission’s science measurements, as well as incorporating remote observations by Earth-based observatories, the James Webb Space Telescope, and other space-based resources, to constrain Europa’s habitability, is a complex task and is guided by the mission’s Habitability Assessment Board (HAB)
International AIDS Society global scientific strategy: towards an HIV cure 2016
Antiretroviral therapy is not curative. Given the challenges in providing lifelong therapy to a global population of more than 35 million people living with HIV, there is intense interest in developing a cure for HIV infection. The International AIDS Society convened a group of international experts to develop a scientific strategy for research towards an HIV cure. This Perspective summarizes the group's strategy
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