Scalar--flat K\"ahler metrics with conformal Bianchi V symmetry

We provide an affirmative answer to a question posed by Tod \cite{Tod:1995b}, and construct all four-dimensional Kahler metrics with vanishing scalar curvature which are invariant under the conformal action of Bianchi V group. The construction is based on the combination of twistor theory and the isomonodromic problem with two double poles. The resulting metrics are non-diagonal in the left-invariant basis and are explicitly given in terms of Bessel functions and their integrals. We also make a connection with the LeBrun ansatz, and characterise the associated solutions of the SU(\infty) Toda equation by the existence a non-abelian two-dimensional group of point symmetries.Comment: Dedicated to Maciej Przanowski on the occasion of his 65th birthday. Minor corrections. To appear in CQ

“It’s my dream to work with Olympic athletes”: Neophyte sport psychologists’ expectations and initial experiences regarding service delivery

We examined trainee practitioners' initial experiences of applied sport psychology practice. Semi-structured interviews (4) were conducted over 6 months with 7 full-time MSc students before, during, and after the applied sport psychology module, when they were working with clients. Participants also kept reflective diaries over an 8-week period whilst working with clients. Findings included: (a) motivations and expectations of an ASP practice career, (b) perceptions of service delivery, (c) emotional demands, and (d) pivotal experiences. Findings extend previous literature on the initial stages of practitioner development, providing micro-level detail on aspects of the intense development process during this pivotal perio

Diagnosis of lung cancer – improving survival rates

Lung cancer is a major global health burden with high incidence rates but poor long-term survival. Currently, the majority of cases are diagnosed at an advanced stage when surgical resection is not feasible. Screening for lung cancer has been a major focus of research for the last 40 years. Despite this, there is still a lack of evidence to promote its use outside clinical trials. More recently, interest has focused on promoting earlier recognition of symptomatic disease among both the general public and primary care physicians in order to encourage more timely investigation and referral to secondary care. The hope is that this approach may increase the proportion of disease identified in the early tages, allowing more surgical resections and improved five-year survival rates. This article provides an overview of the current evidence base in terms of early diagnosis of lung cancer and provides some examples of innovations to promote this

On quasi-local charges and Newman--Penrose type quantities in Yang--Mills theories

We generalize the notion of quasi-local charges, introduced by P. Tod for Yang--Mills fields with unitary groups, to non-Abelian gauge theories with arbitrary gauge group, and calculate its small sphere and large sphere limits both at spatial and null infinity. We show that for semisimple gauge groups no reasonable definition yield conserved total charges and Newman--Penrose (NP) type quantities at null infinity in generic, radiative configurations. The conditions of their conservation, both in terms of the field configurations and the structure of the gauge group, are clarified. We also calculate the NP quantities for stationary, asymptotic solutions of the field equations with vanishing magnetic charges, and illustrate these by explicit solutions with various gauge groups.Comment: 22 pages, typos corrected, appearing in Classical and Quantum Gravit

Tourism destination modelling: building a sustainable planning tool for Australian tourism destinations

The Ningaloo Destination Model is a tourism planning tool for the Ningaloo Coast region of Western Australia that assesses the economic, social and environmental impacts of different planning decisions and events. This report describes the features of the tourism destination model, and analyses its application in the region and to other parts of Australia. Destination modelling integrates a number of research methodologies developed through past STCRC projects (on visitor spending and characteristics, social impacts and economic impacts), secondary data and ecological research. The key to this process is a model development technique that uses scenario planning methodologies to facilitate stakeholder engagement and conceptual modelling techniques to facilitate research integration. The report describes the methodologies used for model development and for data collection, provides two case studies demonstrating outputs, and explores applications of the Ningaloo Destination Model to the region, to other locations and to other sectors. The Ningaloo Destination Model provides estimates of the impacts of plans and events related to tourism in four dimensions: tourism specific; economy; social; and environmental (both resource use and ecological). These outputs are explored through two case studies: a nodal coastal development; and a large resort development. The model can be used for four broad (oftentimes overlapping) categories of assessment: operational planning and decision making for specific organisations and groups (such as local government or agencies that manage land or sea use), regional planning, participatory planning and collaborations and to assist monitoring and evaluation.The Ningaloo Destination Model will be available to the general public (in a limited format) through websites; to agencies through a desktop version; and through integration into a larger model of the region being developed by the CSIRO. Destination modelling is relevant for other tourism destinations and a process for the rapid and cost-effective application of destination modelling is feasible. While much of the data is available, a broader roll-out would require benchmarking of water, electricity and waste data, and developing a wireframe for all tourism destinations. Making destination modelling tools broadly available would significantly broaden the impacts considered in tourism planning and lead to enhancement of desirable effects of tourism development, and early mitigation of negative impacts across Australia. The techniques developed for destination modelling were also found to be applicable to other sectors

RXTE Observations of 1A 1744-361: Correlated Spectral and Timing Behavior

We analyze Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) Proportional Counter Array (PCA) data of the transient low mass X-ray binary (LMXB) system 1A 1744-361. We explore the X-ray intensity and spectral evolution of the source, perform timing analysis, and find that 1A 1744-361 shows `atoll' behavior during the outbursts. The color-color diagram indicates that this LMXB was observed in a low intensity spectrally hard (low-hard) state and in a high intensity `banana' state. The low-hard state shows a horizontal pattern in the color-color diagram, and the previously reported `dipper QPO' appears only during this state. We also perform energy spectral analyses, and report the first detection of broad iron emission line and iron absorption edge from 1A 1744-361.Comment: 20 pages, 4 tables, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

S^1 \times S^2 as a bag membrane and its Einstein-Weyl geometry

In the hybrid skyrmion in which an Anti-de Sitter bag is imbedded into the skyrmion configuration a S^{1}\times S^{2} membrane is lying on the compactified spatial infinity of the bag [H. Rosu, Nuovo Cimento B 108, 313 (1993)]. The connection between the quark degrees of freedom and the mesonic ones is made through the membrane, in a way that should still be clarified from the standpoint of general relativity and topology. The S^1 \times S^2 membrane as a 3-dimensional manifold is at the same time a Weyl-Einstein space. We make here an excursion through the mathematical body of knowledge in the differential geometry and topology of these spaces which is expected to be useful for hadronic membranesComment: 9pp in latex, minor correction

Malignant pleural mesothelioma patients' experience by gender : findings from a cross-sectional UK-national questionnaire

Objectives: Malignant mesothelioma is an aggressive malignancy of mesothelial surfaces, most commonly those of the pleura. The aim of this study was to understand, using a national questionnaire, the gendered care experiences of patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). Patients were asked about their experience of the diagnostic process, about information clarity, health care professionals’ knowledge, general practitioner support and overall satisfaction with care received. Setting: Recruitment of patients was carried out in three UK countries (England, Wales and Scotland) via mesothelioma clinical nurse specialists. Participants: In total, 503 patients completed the questionnaire. 460 had MPM, the remainder had other types of mesothelioma. In accord with the study protocol, only the MPM patients were included in this study. Primary and secondary measures were: (1) time from symptom to diagnosis, (2) satisfaction with the diagnosis and treatment, and (3) quality of life and well-being. Results: There were gender differences in time from symptom to diagnosis. The time from symptom to diagnosis was significantly longer for women than men (median=152 days vs men=92 days, p=0.01). Lack of a verified source of exposure to asbestos was a hindrance to private treatment access for women (95% of those that access private treatment are men). Patients were five times more likely to be satisfied if they thought that the doctors knew enough about their condition (OR=4.4, p=0.001) and nearly three times more likely to be satisfied if information was presented in a sensitive way (OR=2.8,p=0.01). Conclusions: This study has several implications for clinical practice. Our findings suggest that the diagnostic time in women might be reduced by reviewing diagnostic processes including occupational history taking, and by revising the occupational risk of mesothelioma categorisation

On Israel-Wilson-Perjes black holes

We show, under certain conditions, that regular Israel-Wilson-Perj\'es black holes necessarily belong to the Majumdar-Papapetrou family

Oscillatons revisited

In this paper, we study some interesting properties of a spherically symmetric oscillating soliton star made of a real time-dependent scalar field which is called an oscillaton. The known final configuration of an oscillaton consists of a stationary stage in which the scalar field and the metric coefficients oscillate in time if the scalar potential is quadratic. The differential equations that arise in the simplest approximation, that of coherent scalar oscillations, are presented for a quadratic scalar potential. This allows us to take a closer look at the interesting properties of these oscillating objects. The leading terms of the solutions considering a quartic and a cosh scalar potentials are worked in the so called stationary limit procedure. This procedure reveals the form in which oscillatons and boson stars may be related and useful information about oscillatons is obtained from the known results of boson stars. Oscillatons could compete with boson stars as interesting astrophysical objects, since they would be predicted by scalar field dark matter models.Comment: 10 pages REVTeX, 10 eps figures. Updated files to match version published in Classical and Quantum Gravit