Lessons from the 3d U(1) Gross-Neveu Model

The effectiveness of the Glasgow algorithm is explored via implementation in the 3d U(1) Gross-Neveu model and the realisation of the Goldstone mechanism in this model is compared and contrasted with its realisation in QCD.Comment: 6 pages, 5 eps figs, To appear in Proceedings of "QCD at Finite Baryon Density" workshop, Bielefeld, 27-30 April 199

Characteristics of Optimal Solutions to the Sensor Location Problem

In [Bianco, L., Giuseppe C., and P. Reverberi. 2001. "A network based model for traffic sensor location with implications on O/D matrix estimates". Transportation Science 35(1):50-60.], the authors present the Sensor Location Problem: that of locating the minimum number of traffic sensors at intersections of a road network such that the traffic flow on the entire network can be determined. They offer a necessary and sufficient condition on the set of monitored nodes in order for the flow everywhere to be determined. In this paper, we present a counterexample that demonstrates that the condition is not actually sufficient (though it is still necessary). We present a stronger necessary condition for flow calculability, and show that it is a sufficient condition in a large class of graphs in which a particular subgraph is a tree. Many typical road networks are included in this category, and we show how our condition can be used to inform traffic sensor placement.Comment: Submitted for peer review on October 3, 201

Correlates of life satisfaction and acculturation among university students

The present study compared correlations between life satisfaction, acculturation, socioeconomic status, and social support for students born in the United States and for students not born in the United States. Acculturation scores differed significantly between American-born and foreign born participants, while life satisfaction scores did not, indicating that living in a new country is not necessarily a negative experience for college-age students. Furthermore, acculturation to the host culture, that is, American culture, was found to correlate with life satisfaction among American-born students, and socioeconomic status correlated with acculturation for both groups. We recommend that future acculturation research control for socioeconomic status and include non-immigrant populations as comparison groups

Results on Finite Density QCD

A brief summary of the formulation of QCD at finite chemical potental, $\mu$, is presented. The failure of the quenched approximation to the problem is reviewed. Results are presented for dynamical simulations of the theory at strong and intermediate couplings. We find that the problems associated with the quenched theory persist: the onset of non-zero quark number does seem to occur at a chemical potential $\approx { {m_{\pi}} \over 2}$. However analysis of the Lee-Yang zeros of the grand canonical partition function in the complex fugacity plane, ($e^{\mu/T}$), does show signals of critical behaviour in the expected region of chemical potential. Results are presented for a simulation at finite density of the Gross-Neveu model on a $16^3$ lattice near to the chiral limit. Contrary to our simulations of QCD no pathologies were found when $\mu$ passed through the value m_{\pi}/2}.Comment: 14 pages, Latex, 18 eps figures, Review for Tsukuba worksho

Soil erosion by aeolian action at an intensively cultivated lowland peatland

Drainage of UK lowland peatlands has been undertaken over the last 400 years in order to exploit the productivity of carbon (C) rich peat soils. Management practices are such that many hectares of drained peatland remain un-vegetated for large periods of the year leaving the peat exposed and vulnerable to erosion and transportation by wind action, in events locally known as ‘fen blows’. The impacts of management activity on peatland C budgets have received much attention in relation to losses of soil C in the form of carbon dioxide (CO₂), whereas transport of C through aeolian pathways has remained largely unquantified. Here, horizontal mass flux of C across an agricultural field is quantified over three years using Big Springs Number Eight (BSNE’s) dust samplers and co-located micrometeorological measurements. Relationships between windblown sediment yield and wind speed and near-surface soil moisture content are assessed in combination with the influences of agricultural land management practices

Selecting social work students:lessons from research in Scotland

The issue of selection of students to social work programmes is one that remains highly contested. While it is clear that there is no single way of choosing the next generation of social work students, nevertheless, there are a number of strongly held beliefs about what ‘best practice’ means in this fraught field. These can be difficult to challenge, and even harder to shift, in spite of contrary evidence. This paper presents research conducted in Scotland in 2016 as part of the Scottish Government-sponsored Review of Social Work Education. The research set out to consider what selection processes were being used in Scotland and why; more fundamentally, it sought to explore the views of those involved in social work education alongside evidence about the outcomes of the selection processes (that is, data on student retention and success). The article concludes that while there is little evidence that one method of selection to social work programmes is intrinsically better than another, issues of fairness and transparency in selection, as well as diversity, remain pressing

Differential effects of exposure to maternal obesity or maternal weight loss during the periconceptional period in the sheep on insulin signalling molecules in skeletal muscle of the offspring at 4 months of age.

Exposure to maternal obesity before and/or throughout pregnancy may increase the risk of obesity and insulin resistance in the offspring in childhood and adult life, therefore, resulting in its transmission into subsequent generations. We have previously shown that exposure to maternal obesity around the time of conception alone resulted in increased adiposity in female lambs. Changes in the abundance of insulin signalling molecules in skeletal muscle and adipose tissue precede the development of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. It is not clear, however, whether exposure to maternal obesity results in insulin resistance in her offspring as a consequence of the impact of increased adiposity on skeletal muscle or as a consequence of the programming of specific changes in the abundance of insulin signalling molecules in this tissue. We have used an embryo transfer model in the sheep to investigate the effects of exposure to either maternal obesity or to weight loss in normal and obese mothers preceding and for one week after conception on the expression and abundance of insulin signalling molecules in muscle in the offspring. We found that exposure to maternal obesity resulted in lower muscle GLUT-4 and Ser 9 phospho-GSK3α and higher muscle GSK3α abundance in lambs when compared to lambs conceived in normally nourished ewes. Exposure to maternal weight loss in normal or obese mothers, however, resulted in lower muscle IRS1, PI3K, p110β, aPKCζ, Thr 642 phospho-AS160 and GLUT-4 abundance in the offspring. In conclusion, maternal obesity or weight loss around conception have each programmed specific changes on subsets of molecules in the insulin signalling, glucose transport and glycogen synthesis pathways in offspring. There is a need for a stronger evidence base to ensure that weight loss regimes in obese women seeking to become pregnant minimize the metabolic costs for the next generation

A Research Agenda for Communication Between Health Care Professionals and Patients Living With Serious Illness

Importance Poor communication by health care professionals contributes to physical and psychological suffering in patients living with serious illness. Patients may not fully understand their illness, prognosis, and treatment options or may not receive medical care consistent with their goals. Despite considerable research exploring the role of communication in this setting, many questions remain, and a clear agenda for communication research is lacking. Observations Through a consensus conference and subsequent activities, we reviewed the state of the science, identified key evidence gaps in understanding the impact of communication on patient outcomes, and created an agenda for future research. We considered 7 broad topics: shared decision making, advance care planning, communication training, measuring communication, communication about prognosis, emotion and serious illness communication, and cultural issues. We identified 5 areas in which further research could substantially move the field forward and help enhance patient care: measurement and methodology, including how to determine communication quality; mechanisms of communication, such as identifying the specific clinician behaviors that patients experience as both honest and compassionate, or the role of bias in the clinical encounter; alternative approaches to advance care planning that focus on the quality of serious illness communication and not simply completion of forms; teaching and disseminating communication skills; and approaches, such as economic incentives and other clinician motivators, to change communication behavior. Conclusions Our findings highlight the urgent need to improve quality of communication between health care professionals and patients living with serious illness through a broad range of research that covers communication skills, tools, patient education, and models of care