Lifestyle and socio-demographic factors associated with high-risk HPV infection in UK women

The world age-standardised prevalence of high-risk HPV (hrHPV) infection among 5038 UK women aged 20–59 years, with a low-grade smear during 1999–2002, assessed for eligibility for TOMBOLA (Trial Of Management of Borderline and Other Low-grade Abnormal smears) was 34.2%. High-risk HPV prevalence decreased with increasing age, from 61% at ages 20–24 years to 14–15% in those over 50 years. The age-standardised prevalence was 15.1, 30.7 and 52.7%, respectively, in women with a current normal, borderline nuclear abnormalities (BNA) and mild smear. In overall multivariate analyses, tertiary education, previous pregnancy and childbirth were associated with reduced hrHPV infection risk. Risk of infection was increased in non-white women, women not married/cohabiting, hormonal contraceptives users and current smokers. In stratified analyses, current smear status and age remained associated with hrHPV infection. Data of this type are relevant to the debate on human papillomavirus (HPV) testing in screening and development of HPV vaccination programmes

ON THERMODYNAMICS OF THE BOUNDARY LAYER AROUND CURVED PHASE INTERFACES BETWEEN ICE WATER

Real phase interfaces between ice and water form thin boundary-layers across which all bulk fields experience smooth though rapid changes. The extreme slipperyness of ice at skating and the peculiarities of regelation phenomena can be understood by the existence of a fluid-like boundary-layer between ice and steel (1) (but not with pressure melting !). The thickness of the fluid-like film between plain ice and air in phase-equilibrium just below the normal melting point is about 100 Å ; it decreases with decreasing temperature (2). It is still an open question, whether the surface tension of a small ice inclusion in water is the same as that for a small water inclusion in ice and whether the surface tension is curvature dependent. Moreover, discussions of nuclei stability use macroscopic concepts (for instance independence of surface tension on curvature) which may fail at very small dimensions. In this case explanations of phenomena like superheating and undercooling must be revised

Some fundamental aspects of surface modelling

Attention is drawn to four aspects of surface modelling: (1) delineation of the (scale-dependent) geometrical boundary of a body via molecular considerations, (2) identification of the highly inhomogeneous interfacial region between a body and its exterior, and its modelling as a bidimensional continuum involving interfacial excess quantities, (3) the utility of co-ordinate-free notation for surfaces, and (4) the importance of surface effects for small-scale bodies exemplified within a thermoelastic context