“I wouldn't survive it, as simple as that”: Syndemic vulnerability among people living with chronic non-communicable disease during the COVID-19 pandemic

The co-occurrence of COVID-19, non-communicable diseases and socioeconomic disadvantage has been identified as creating a syndemic: a state of synergistic epidemics, occurring when co-occurring health conditions interact with social conditions to amplify the burden of disease. In this study, we use the concept of illness management work to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the lives of people living with, often multiple, chronic health conditions in a range of social circumstances. In-depth interviews were conducted between May and July 2020 with 29 participants living in a city in North East England. Qualitative data provide unique insights for those seeking to better understand the consequences for human life and wellbeing of the interacting social, physical and psychological factors that create syndemic risks in people's lives. Among this group of people at increased vulnerability to harm from COVID-19, we find that the pandemic public health response increased the work required for condition management. Mental distress was amplified by fear of infection and by the requirements of social isolation and distancing that removed participants' usual sources of support. Social conditions, such as poor housing, low incomes and the requirement to earn a living, further amplified the work of managing everyday life and risked worsening existing mental ill health. As evidenced by the experiences reported here, the era of pandemics will require a renewed focus on the connection between health and social justice if stubborn, and worsening health and social inequalities are to be addressed or, at the very least, not increased

VLT FORS2 comparative transmission spectroscopy: Detection of Na in the atmosphere of WASP-39b from the ground

We present transmission spectroscopy of the warm Saturn-mass exoplanet WASP-39b made with the Very Large Telescope FOcal Reducer and Spectrograph (FORS2) across the wavelength range 411–810 nm. The transit depth is measured with a typical precision of 240 parts per million (ppm) in wavelength bins of 10 nm on a V = 12.1 mag star. We detect the sodium absorption feature (3.2σ) and find evidence of potassium. The ground-based transmission spectrum is consistent with Hubble Space Telescope (HST) optical spectroscopy, supporting the interpretation that WASP-39b has a largely clear atmosphere. Our results demonstrate the great potential of the recently upgraded FORS2 spectrograph for optical transmission spectroscopy, with which we obtained HST-quality light curves from the ground

Shocked monazite chronometry: integrating microstructural and in situ isotopic age data for determining precise impact ages

Monazite is a robust geochronometer and occurs in a wide range of rock types. Monazite also records shock deformation from meteorite impact but the effects of impact-related microstructures on the U–Th–Pb systematics remain poorly constrained. We have, therefore, analyzed shock-deformed monazite grains from the central uplift of the Vredefort impact structure, South Africa, and impact melt from the Araguainha impact structure, Brazil, using electron backscatter diffraction, electron microprobe elemental mapping, and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). Crystallographic orientation mapping of monazite grains from both impact structures reveals a similar combination of crystal-plastic deformation features, including shock twins, planar deformation bands and neoblasts. Shock twins were documented in up to four different orientations within individual monazite grains, occurring as compound and/or type one twins in (001), (100), (10 1 ¯) , {110}, { 212 } , and type two (irrational) twin planes with rational shear directions in [ 0 1 ¯ 1 ¯ ] and [ 1 ¯ 1 ¯ 0 ]. SIMS U–Th–Pb analyses of the plastically deformed parent domains reveal discordant age arrays, where discordance scales with increasing plastic strain. The correlation between discordance and strain is likely a result of the formation of fast diffusion pathways during the shock event. Neoblasts in granular monazite domains are strain-free, having grown during the impact events via consumption of strained parent grains. Neoblastic monazite from the Inlandsee leucogranofels at Vredefort records a 207Pb/206Pb age of 2010 ± 15 Ma (2σ, n = 9), consistent with previous impact age estimates of 2020 Ma. Neoblastic monazite from Araguainha impact melt yield a Concordia age of 259 ± 5 Ma (2σ, n = 7), which is consistent with previous impact age estimates of 255 ± 3 Ma. Our results demonstrate that targeting discrete microstructural domains in shocked monazite, as identified through orientation mapping, for in situ U–Th–Pb analysis can date impact-related deformation. Monazite is, therefore, one of the few high-temperature geochronometers that can be used for accurate and precise dating of meteorite impacts

An approximate model for cancellous bone screw fixation

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below. Copyright @ 2013 Taylor & Francis.This paper presents a finite element (FE) model to identify parameters that affect the performance of an improved cancellous bone screw fixation technique, and hence potentially improve fracture treatment. In cancellous bone of low apparent density, it can be difficult to achieve adequate screw fixation and hence provide stable fracture fixation that enables bone healing. Data from predictive FE models indicate that cements can have a significant potential to improve screw holding power in cancellous bone. These FE models are used to demonstrate the key parameters that determine pull-out strength in a variety of screw, bone and cement set-ups, and to compare the effectiveness of different configurations. The paper concludes that significant advantages, up to an order of magnitude, in screw pull-out strength in cancellous bone might be gained by the appropriate use of a currently approved calcium phosphate cement

VLT/FORS2 comparative transmission spectroscopy II: Confirmation of a cloud deck and Rayleigh scattering in WASP-31b, but no potassium?

We present transmission spectroscopy of the hot-Jupiter WASP-31b using the FOcal Reducer and low dispersion Spectrograph 2 (FORS2) on the Very Large Telescope during two primary transits. The observations cover a wavelength range of ≈400–840 nm. The light curves are corrupted by significant systematics, but these were to first-order invariant with wavelength and could be removed using a common-mode correction derived from the white light curves. We reach a precision in the transit depth of ≈140 ppm in 15 nm bins, although the precision varies significantly over the wavelength range. Our FORS2 observations confirm the cloud deck previously inferred using Hubble Space Telescope (HST)/Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS). We also re-analyse the HST/STIS data using a Gaussian process model, finding excellent agreement with earlier measurements. We reproduce the Rayleigh scattering signature at short wavelengths (5300 Å) and the cloud deck at longer wavelengths. However, our FORS2 observations appear to rule out the large potassium feature previously detected using STIS, yet it is recovered from the HST/STIS data, although with reduced amplitude and significance (≈2.5σ ). The discrepancy between our results and the earlier STIS detection of potassium (≈4.3σ ) is either a result of telluric contamination of the ground-based observations, or an underestimate of the uncertainties for narrow-band features in HST/STIS when using linear basis models to account for the systematics. Our results further demonstrate the use of ground-based multi-object spectrographs for the study of exoplanet atmospheres, and highlight the need for caution in our interpretation of narrow-band features in low-resolution spectra of hot Jupiters

Four patients with a history of acute exacerbations of COPD: implementing the CHEST/Canadian Thoracic Society guidelines for preventing exacerbations

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/4.0

A dispositional approach to psychological climate: relationships between interpersonal harmony motives and psychological climate for communication safety

This study examined the dispositional antecedents of a climate at the individual level, psychological climate for communication safety. The impact of two interpersonal harmony motives, harmony enhancement and disintegration avoidance, on psychological climate for communication safety, innovative performance and the moderated mediated processes associated with job autonomy were examined in a survey study in China. Results showed that harmony enhancement was positively related to innovative performance through psychological climate for communication safety. Moreover, job autonomy moderated the relationship between harmony motives and psychological climate for communication safety. Harmony enhancement was more strongly associated with psychological climate for communication safety when job autonomy was low. The relationship between disintegration avoidance and psychological climate for communication safety was positive when job autonomy was high, but negative when job autonomy was low. Conditional indirect effects consistent with these interaction effects were also found

Impact of Nanoparticle-Support Interactions in Co₃O₄/Al₂O₃ Catalysts for the Preferential Oxidation of Carbon Monoxide

Different supporting procedures were followed to alter the nanoparticle-support interactions (NPSI) in two Co3O4/Al2O3 catalysts, prepared using the reverse micelle technique. The catalysts were tested in the dry preferential oxidation of carbon monoxide (CO-PrOx) while their phase stability was monitored using four complementary in situ techniques, viz., magnet-based characterization, PXRD, and combined XAS/DRIFTS, as well as quasi in situ XPS, respectively. The catalyst with weak NPSI achieved higher CO2 yields and selectivities at temperatures below 225 °C compared to the sample with strong NPSI. However, relatively high degrees of reduction of Co3O4 to metallic Co were reached between 250 and 350 °C for the same catalyst. The presence of metallic Co led to the undesired formation of CH4, reaching a yield of over 90% above 300 °C. The catalyst with strong NPSI formed very low amounts of metallic Co (less than 1%) and CH4 (yield of up to 20%) even at 350 °C. When the temperature was decreased from 350 to 50 °C under the reaction gas, both catalysts were slightly reoxidized and gradually regained their CO oxidation activity, while the formation of CH4 diminished. The present study shows a strong relationship between catalyst performance (i.e., activity and selectivity) and phase stability, both of which are affected by the strength of the NPSI. When using a metal oxide as the active CO-PrOx catalyst, it is important for it to have significant reduction resistance to avoid the formation of undesired products, e.g., CH4. However, the metal oxide should also be reducible (especially on the surface) to allow for a complete conversion of CO to CO2 via the Mars-van Krevelen mechanism

Order-of-magnitude speedup for steady states and traveling waves via Stokes preconditioning in Channelflow and Openpipeflow

Steady states and traveling waves play a fundamental role in understanding hydrodynamic problems. Even when unstable, these states provide the bifurcation-theoretic explanation for the origin of the observed states. In turbulent wall-bounded shear flows, these states have been hypothesized to be saddle points organizing the trajectories within a chaotic attractor. These states must be computed with Newton's method or one of its generalizations, since time-integration cannot converge to unstable equilibria. The bottleneck is the solution of linear systems involving the Jacobian of the Navier-Stokes or Boussinesq equations. Originally such computations were carried out by constructing and directly inverting the Jacobian, but this is unfeasible for the matrices arising from three-dimensional hydrodynamic configurations in large domains. A popular method is to seek states that are invariant under numerical time integration. Surprisingly, equilibria may also be found by seeking flows that are invariant under a single very large Backwards-Euler Forwards-Euler timestep. We show that this method, called Stokes preconditioning, is 10 to 50 times faster at computing steady states in plane Couette flow and traveling waves in pipe flow. Moreover, it can be carried out using Channelflow (by Gibson) and Openpipeflow (by Willis) without any changes to these popular spectral codes. We explain the convergence rate as a function of the integration period and Reynolds number by computing the full spectra of the operators corresponding to the Jacobians of both methods.Comment: in Computational Modelling of Bifurcations and Instabilities in Fluid Dynamics, ed. Alexander Gelfgat (Springer, 2018