Report on the first phase of the study on men’s usage of the Bradford Health of Men services

This is a summary of the full report on the first year of the HOM project in Bradford, published in March 2005 and available at www.healthofmen.com . In this summary there is a concentration on three things, the background to the project, the experiences of the HOM team in setting up and managing projects and the views of the men involved in the projects. The summary is mostly a list of the things that the team found to be important in setting up projects and, equally important, some of the things not to do. There is, of course, a much fuller discussion of the details of projects, supporting data and the theoretical model of how men and health workers interact to manage health

FACTORS INFLUENCING CONSUMERS' LIKELIHOOD OF PURCHASING SPECIALTY FOOD AND DRINK PRODUCTS ON-LINE: RESULTS OF CONSUMER REVIEWS OF 12 SELECTED SITES

A total of twelve companies marketing specialty food and drink products on the World Wide Web were identified for this study. Four each marketed coffee, salsa, and seafood. Over a three week period, 163 respondents completed a total of 973 site evaluations. While respondents preferred to purchase products from a retail store, the majority identified at least one product from the sites which they would likely purchase on-line in the next six months. Respondents who regularly purchase one of the products monthly or more often were significantly more likely to make an on-line purchase in the future than those who purchase the product less frequently. Respondents who rated the overall appeal of a company's WWW site as good or excellent were nearly six times as likely to say that they would be likely to purchase the product on-line than those who rated the site as fair or poor. While no single site characteristic stood out relative to the others as having a major influence on increasing the likelihood of making an on-line purchase, insufficient company and/or product information reduced consumers' willingness to purchase on-line and by mail order.Consumer/Household Economics,

USING THE WWW FOR RETAIL FOOD SALES: DISCUSSION AND DEMONSTRATION

Agribusiness, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Moving belt radiator development status

Development of the Moving Belt Radiator (MBR) as an advanced space radiator concept is discussed. The ralative merits of Solid Belt (SBR), Liquid Belt (LBR), and Hybrid Belt (HBR) Radiators are described. Analytical and experimental efforts related to the dynamics of a rotating belt in microgravity are reviewed. The development of methods for transferring heat to the moving belt is discussed, and the results from several experimental investigations are summarized. Limited efforts related to the belt deployment and stowage, and to fabrication of a hybrid belt, are also discussed. Life limiting factors such as seal wear and micrometeroid resistance are identified. The results from various MBR point design studies for several power levels are compared with advanced Heat Pipe Radiator technology. MBR designs are shown to compare favorable at both 300 and 1000 K temperature levels. However, additional effort will be required to resolve critical technology issues and to demonstrate the advantage of MBR systems

CATALOG SPECIALTY FOOD BUYERS' COMPUTER USAGE AND PURCHASING ACTIVITY: A CASE STUDY

Specialty food aficionados, who use the Internet to gather information or place orders, resemble those who rely on mail order catalogs, except for being younger. Both groups are well- educated, wealthy, and frequent specialty food buyers. Among those studied, nearly all of the Internet users have considered shopping by catalog, half had used the Internet in the previous six months, and about 10 percent had actually purchased specialty food or beverages online. While preferring traditional retail shopping, this group views catalog and online shopping as substitutes. When choosing to shop via either of these options, product quality and uniqueness are most important; shipping costs and price are least important. These conclusions are based on a survey that builds on previous research which examined Internet users who visit food-related sites on the World Wide Web. It found a strong correlation between catalog and online purchasing activity. This paper reports the findings of a follow-up survey targeted at random samples of individuals on four specialty food companies' mailing lists. The survey identifies the demographics and purchasing activity of specialty food catalog shoppers and compares them to the population of Internet users who visit food-related Web sites. It examines catalog shoppers' use of the Internet and online shopping, and compares the relative importance of a variety of factors in the decisions to buy online and by catalog.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Marketing,

GMRES-Accelerated ADMM for Quadratic Objectives

We consider the sequence acceleration problem for the alternating direction method-of-multipliers (ADMM) applied to a class of equality-constrained problems with strongly convex quadratic objectives, which frequently arise as the Newton subproblem of interior-point methods. Within this context, the ADMM update equations are linear, the iterates are confined within a Krylov subspace, and the General Minimum RESidual (GMRES) algorithm is optimal in its ability to accelerate convergence. The basic ADMM method solves a $\kappa$-conditioned problem in $O(\sqrt{\kappa})$ iterations. We give theoretical justification and numerical evidence that the GMRES-accelerated variant consistently solves the same problem in $O(\kappa^{1/4})$ iterations for an order-of-magnitude reduction in iterations, despite a worst-case bound of $O(\sqrt{\kappa})$ iterations. The method is shown to be competitive against standard preconditioned Krylov subspace methods for saddle-point problems. The method is embedded within SeDuMi, a popular open-source solver for conic optimization written in MATLAB, and used to solve many large-scale semidefinite programs with error that decreases like $O(1/k^{2})$, instead of $O(1/k)$, where $k$ is the iteration index.Comment: 31 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in SIAM Journal on Optimization (SIOPT

Control System Design Philosophy for Effective Operations and Maintenance

A well-designed control system facilitates the functions of machine operation, maintenance and development. In addition, the overall effectiveness of the control system can be greatly enhanced by providing reliable mechanisms for coordination and communication, ensuring that these functions work in concert. For good operability, the information presented to operators should be consistent, easy to understand and customizable. A maintainable system is segmented appropriately, allowing a broken element to be quickly identified and repaired while leaving the balance of the system available. In a research and development environment, the control system must meet the frequently changing requirements of a variety of customers. This means the system must be flexible enough to allow for ongoing modifications with minimal disruptions to operations. Beyond the hardware and software elements of the control system, appropriate workflow processes must be in place to maximize system uptime and allow people to work efficiently. Processes that provide automatic electronic communication ensure that information is not lost and reaches its destination in a timely fashion. This paper discusses how these control system design and quality issues have been applied at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility.Comment: ICALEPCS 200

On Deriving Space-Time From Quantum Observables and States

We prove that, under suitable assumptions, operationally motivated data completely determine a space-time in which the quantum systems can be interpreted as evolving. At the same time, the dynamics of the quantum system is also determined. To minimize technical complications, this is done in the example of three-dimensional Minkowski space.Comment: 19 pages, to appear in Communications in Mathematical Physics; minor corrections mad

Differential inflammatory response to Helicobacter pylori infection: etiology and clinical outcomes

The bacterial pathogen Helicobacter pylori commonly colonizes the human gastric mucosa during early childhood and persists throughout life. The organism has evolved multiple mechanisms for evading clearance by the immune system and, despite inducing inflammation in the stomach, the majority of infections are asymptomatic. H. pylori is the leading cause of peptic ulcer disease and gastric cancer. However, disease outcomes are related to the pattern and severity of chronic inflammation in the gastric mucosa, which in turn is influenced by both bacterial and host factors. Despite over 2 decades of intensive research, there remains an incomplete understanding of the circumstances leading to disease development, due to the fascinating complexity of the host-pathogen interactions. There is accumulating data concerning the virulence factors associated with increased risk of disease, and the majority of these have pro-inflammatory activities. Despite this, only a small proportion of those infected with virulent strains develop disease. Several H. pylori virulence factors have multiple effects on different cell types, including the induction of pro- and anti-inflammatory, immune stimulatory, and immune modulatory responses. The expression of multiple virulence factors is also often linked, making it difficult to assess the meaning of their effects in isolation. Overall, H. pylori is thought to usually modulate inflammation and limit acute damage to the mucosa, enabling the bacteria to persist. If this delicate balance is disturbed, disease may then develop