2,440 research outputs found
Inequalities in premature mortality in Britain: observational study from 1921 to 2007
Objective To report on the extent of inequality in premature mortality as measured between geographical areas in Britain.
Design Observational study of routinely collected mortality data and public records. Population subdivided by age, sex, and geographical area (parliamentary constituencies from 1991 to 2007, pre-1974 local authorities over a longer time span).
Setting Great Britain.
Participants Entire population aged under 75 from 1990 to 2007, and entire population aged under 65 in the periods 1921-39, 1950-3, 1959-63, 1969-73, and 1981-2007.
Main outcome measure Relative index of inequality (RII) and ratios of inequality in age-sex standardised mortality ratios under ages 75 and 65. The relative index of inequality is the relative rate of mortality for the hypothetically worst-off compared with the hypothetically best-off person in the population, assuming a linear association between socioeconomic position and risk of mortality. The ratio of inequality is the ratio of the standardised mortality ratio of the most deprived 10% to the least deprived 10%.
Results When measured by the relative index of inequality, geographical inequalities in age-sex standardised rates of mortality below age 75 have increased every two years from 1990-1 to 2006-7 without exception. Over this period the relative index of inequality increased from 1.61 (95% confidence interval 1.52 to 1.69) in 1990-1 to 2.14 (2.02 to 2.27) in 2006-7. Simple ratios indicated a brief period around 2001 when a small reduction in inequality was recorded, but this was quickly reversed and inequalities up to the age of 75 have now reached the highest levels reported since at least 1990. Similarly, inequalities in mortality ratios under the age of 65 improved slightly in the early years of this century but the latest figures surpass the most extreme previously reported. Comparison of crudely age-sex standardised rates for those below age 65 from historical records showed that geographical inequalities in mortality are higher in the most recent decade than in any similar time period for which records are available since at least 1921.
Conclusions Inequalities in premature mortality between areas of Britain continued to rise steadily during the first decade of the 21st century. The last time in the long economic record that inequalities were almost as high was in the lead up to the economic crash of 1929 and the economic depression of the 1930s. The economic crash of 2008 might precede even greater inequalities in mortality between areas in Britain
Light as a feather: Effects of packaging imagery on sensory product impressions and brand evaluation
Inspired by the increasing importance of packaging design for product and brand management, this study tests effects of movement visuals and location of imagery on sensorial product impressions. Participants were exposed to a packaging variant for a fictitious brand of washing powder. Subsequently, they smelled packaging contents, estimated package weight, and evaluated product and brand. Findings show that movement visuals connoting upward (versus downward) movement resulted in the experience of a less concentrated smell, but only when presented in the top-left region of the package. Furthermore, imagery located in the top-left (versus bottom-right) region induced lower estimates of package weight. Additionally, findings show that location and movement visuals impact brand image formation and consumer preferenc
Efficacy and safety of Cannabidiol and Tetrahydrocannabivarin on glycemic and lipid parameters in patients with Type 2 diabetes: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel group pilot study
OBJECTIVE Cannabidiol (CBD) and Î9-tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV) are nonpsychoactive phytocannabinoids affecting lipid and glucose metabolism in animal models. This study set out to examine the effects of these compounds in patients with type 2 diabetes.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 62 subjects with noninsulin-treated type 2 diabetes were randomized to five treatment arms: CBD (100 mg twice daily), THCV (5 mg twice daily), 1:1 ratio of CBD and THCV (5 mg/5 mg, twice daily), 20:1 ratio of CBD and THCV (100 mg/5 mg, twice daily), or matched placebo for 13 weeks. The primary end point was a change in HDL-cholesterol concentrations from baseline. Secondary/tertiary end points included changes in glycemic control, lipid profile, insulin sensitivity, body weight, liver triglyceride content, adipose tissue distribution, appetite, markers of inflammation, markers of vascular function, gut hormones, circulating endocannabinoids, and adipokine concentrations. Safety and tolerability end points were also evaluated.
RESULTS Compared with placebo, THCV significantly decreased fasting plasma glucose (estimated treatment difference [ETD] = â1.2 mmol/L; P < 0.05) and improved pancreatic ÎČ-cell function (HOMA2 ÎČ-cell function [ETD = â44.51 points; P < 0.01]), adiponectin (ETD = â5.9 Ă 106 pg/mL; P < 0.01), and apolipoprotein A (ETD = â6.02 ÎŒmol/L; P < 0.05), although plasma HDL was unaffected. Compared with baseline (but not placebo), CBD decreased resistin (â898 pg/ml; P < 0.05) and increased glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide (21.9 pg/ml; P < 0.05). None of the combination treatments had a significant impact on end points. CBD and THCV were well tolerated.
CONCLUSIONS THCV could represent a new therapeutic agent in glycemic control in subjects with type 2 diabetes
Auxiliary particle theory of threshold singularities in photoemission and X-ray absorption spectra: Test of a conserving T-matrix approximation
We calculate the exponents of the threshold singularities in the
photoemission spectrum of a deep core hole and its X-ray absorption spectrum in
the framework of a systematic many-body theory of slave bosons and
pseudofermions (for the empty and occupied core level). In this representation,
photoemission and X-ray absorption can be understood on the same footing; no
distinction between orthogonality catastrophe and excitonic effects is
necessary. We apply the conserving slave particle T-matrix approximation
(CTMA), recently developed to describe both Fermi and non-Fermi liquid behavior
systems with strong local correlations, to the X-ray problem as a test case.
The numerical results for both photoemission and X-ray absorption are found to
be in agreement with the exact infrared powerlaw behavior in the weak as well
as in the strong coupling regions. We point out a close relation of the CTMA
with the parquet equation approach of Nozi{\`e}res et al.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, published versio
Energy Budget of Cosmological First-order Phase Transitions
The study of the hydrodynamics of bubble growth in first-order phase
transitions is very relevant for electroweak baryogenesis, as the baryon
asymmetry depends sensitively on the bubble wall velocity, and also for
predicting the size of the gravity wave signal resulting from bubble
collisions, which depends on both the bubble wall velocity and the plasma fluid
velocity. We perform such study in different bubble expansion regimes, namely
deflagrations, detonations, hybrids (steady states) and runaway solutions
(accelerating wall), without relying on a specific particle physics model. We
compute the efficiency of the transfer of vacuum energy to the bubble wall and
the plasma in all regimes. We clarify the condition determining the runaway
regime and stress that in most models of strong first-order phase transitions
this will modify expectations for the gravity wave signal. Indeed, in this
case, most of the kinetic energy is concentrated in the wall and almost no
turbulent fluid motions are expected since the surrounding fluid is kept mostly
at rest.Comment: 36 pages, 14 figure
Rendezvous of Heterogeneous Mobile Agents in Edge-weighted Networks
We introduce a variant of the deterministic rendezvous problem for a pair of
heterogeneous agents operating in an undirected graph, which differ in the time
they require to traverse particular edges of the graph. Each agent knows the
complete topology of the graph and the initial positions of both agents. The
agent also knows its own traversal times for all of the edges of the graph, but
is unaware of the corresponding traversal times for the other agent. The goal
of the agents is to meet on an edge or a node of the graph. In this scenario,
we study the time required by the agents to meet, compared to the meeting time
in the offline scenario in which the agents have complete knowledge
about each others speed characteristics. When no additional assumptions are
made, we show that rendezvous in our model can be achieved after time in a -node graph, and that such time is essentially in some cases
the best possible. However, we prove that the rendezvous time can be reduced to
when the agents are allowed to exchange bits of
information at the start of the rendezvous process. We then show that under
some natural assumption about the traversal times of edges, the hardness of the
heterogeneous rendezvous problem can be substantially decreased, both in terms
of time required for rendezvous without communication, and the communication
complexity of achieving rendezvous in time
Equivariant geometric K-homology for compact Lie group actions
Let G be a compact Lie-group, X a compact G-CW-complex. We define equivariant
geometric K-homology groups K^G_*(X), using an obvious equivariant version of
the (M,E,f)-picture of Baum-Douglas for K-homology. We define explicit natural
transformations to and from equivariant K-homology defined via KK-theory (the
"official" equivariant K-homology groups) and show that these are isomorphism.Comment: 25 pages. v2: some mistakes corrected, more detail added, Michael
Walter as author added. To appear in Abhandlungen aus dem Mathematischen
Seminar der Universit\"at Hambur
Shifts in the Properties of the Higgs Boson from Radion Mixing
We examine how mixing between the Standard Model Higgs boson, , and the
radion present in the Randall-Sundrum model of localized gravity modifies the
expected properties of the Higgs boson. In particular, we demonstrate that the
total and partial decay widths of the Higgs, as well as the branching
fraction, can be substantially altered from their Standard Model expectations.
The remaining branching fractions are modified less than \lsim 5% for most of
the parameter space volume.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figs., LaTex; revised versio
Characterisation of Agaricus bisporus response genes to Verticillium fungicola infection
Resumen de la conferencia presentada al VI Meeting on Genetics and Cellular Biology of Basidiomycetes (GCBB-VI), organizado por y celebrado en la Universidad PĂșblica de Navarra el 3-6 de junio de 2005.The mycoparasite Verticillium fungicola is a persistent threat to the cultivation
of the mushroom Agaricus bisporus. Mushroom âdry bubbleâ is characterised
by an undifferentiated mass of cells and can result in major crop losses. During
the establishment of âdry bubbleâ substantial changes occur in the biochemistry
and physiology of both partners. To enable new insights to be
made into the molecular events underlying the disease, work is in progress to
identify genes expressed during pathogen infection. Subtractive Suppressive
Hybridisation (SSH) has enabled recovery of 65 expressed sequenced tags
(ESTs) differentially expressed during infection. After database searches 27
of the genes were identified as most likely from V. fungicola, 25 from A. bisporus
and 13 unknown. Bioinformatic analysis suggested that the response
genes identified were involved in a range of biological functions that included
stress, signalling, protein synthesis and cell wall structure and function.
Specific full-length genes will be recovered using cDNA library constructed
from lesions of A. bisporus infected with V. fungicola, enabling silencing
approaches to be used to further investigate the role of the identified
genes in disease. An alternative higher-throughput method of gene function
analysis, RNA interference (RNAi) using A. bisporus model genes (URA3,
CBX), is also being developed. Silencing constructs expressing RNAi hairpin
were transformed into A. bisporus using Agrobacterium tumefaciens and hygromycin
resistance. Screening of the transformants by PCR confirmed integration
of the silencing construct in 24 transformants. RT-PCR is being
used to confirm transcription of the RNAi hairpin. Quantitative PCR will be
used to analyse levels of target gene transcripts post RNAi transformation.
The role of A. bisporus genes identified, in the infection process, will be determined
through infection trails with A. bisporus silenced lines
What do young athletes implicitly understand about psychological skills?
One reason sport psychologists teach psychological skills is to enhance performance in sport; but the value of psychological skills for young athletes is questionable because of the qualitative and quantitative differences between children and adults in their understanding of abstract concepts such as mental skills. To teach these skills effectively to young athletes, sport psychologists need to appreciate what young athletes implicitly understand about such skills because maturational (e.g., cognitive, social) and environmental (e.g., coaches) factors can influence the progressive development of children and youth. In the present qualitative study, we explored young athletesâ (aged 10â15 years) understanding of four basic psychological skills: goal setting, mental imagery, self-talk, and relaxation. Young athletes (n = 118: 75 males and 43 females) completed an open-ended questionnaire to report their understanding of these four basic psychological skills. Compared with the older youth athletes, the younger youth athletes were less able to explain the meaning of each psychological skill. Goal setting and mental imagery were better understood than self-talk and relaxation. Based on these findings, sport psychologists should consider adapting interventions and psychoeducational programs to match young athletesâ age and developmental level
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