The possible effects of lunar mascons on lunar magnetic and electromagnetic experiments Final report

Electromagnetic and magnetic response study of lunar mascons using gravity mode

Children’s travel as pedestrians: an international survey of policy and practice

A survey of OECD member countries was carried out to provide high level data on a consistent basis to identify and account for current patterns of child road safety . This paper reports the findings relating to children, aged 0-14 years, as pedestrians. Key survey elements included analyses of fatality data, relationships between socio-economic, demographic factors and fatality rates, and a questionnaire based survey. League tables based on average child pedestrian fatality rates were constructed for each OECD member country participating in our questionnaire enabling identification of the top five countries with the lowest pedestrian fatality rate as Sweden, The Netherlands, Finland, Germany, and Denmark. Few countries had quantitative information about children’s travel and its absence means that assessments are difficult about children’s safety and the relative risks they face, especially as pedestrians. There are large variations in the amount of walking between countries and growing car use is becoming an issue in one third of OECD countries. The main findings from the questionnaire survey were that the majority of countries did not have information on high risk groups but of those that did, the cross cutting themes of socio-economic and ethnic minority groups, young children and urban areas were identified. Three characteristics distinguish top countries in the League table from those doing less well: a strong approach to the introduction of infrastructure measures for pedestrian safety, including low speed limits in residential areas; conducting road safety campaigns at least once a year; and having legislation which assumes driver responsibility in an accident involving a child pedestrian. Having compulsory road safety education for children aged 6-9 years was a characteristic shared by most countries, as was the promotion of child pedestrian education and training initiatives and the commissioning of research. However there is lower research activity in less well performing countries

Air quality indices from ERTS-1 MSS information

Comparison between ground based atmospheric turbidity network measurements and the average scene grayness from MSS Channel 4 data is in progress. Correlation between these two sources is promising. If continued correlation occurs for other ERTS-1 overflight dates and ground test sites, a new operational use of ERTS-1 useful to Federal, state, and international organizations will become available

Clinical and cost-effectiveness of capecitabine and tegafur with uracil for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer: systematic review and economic evaluation

Objectives: To evaluate the clinical and costeffectiveness of capecitabine and tegafur with uracil (UFT/LV) as first-line treatments for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, as compared with 5- fluorouracil/folinic acid (5-FU/FA) regimens. Data sources: Electronic databases, reference lists of relevant articles and sponsor submissions were also consulted. Review methods: Systematic searches, selection against criteria and quality assessment were performed to obtain data from relevant studies. Costs were estimated through resource-use data taken from the published trials and the unpublished sponsor submissions. Unit costs were taken from published sources, where available. An economic evaluation was undertaken to compare the cost-effectiveness of capecitabine and UFT/LV with three intravenous 5- FU/LV regimens widely used in the UK: the Mayo, the modified de Gramont regimen and the inpatient de Gramont regimens. Results: The evidence suggests that treatment with capecitabine improves overall response rates and has an improved adverse effect profile in comparison with 5-FU/LV treatment with the Mayo regimen, with the exception of hand–foot syndrome. Time to disease progression or death after treatment with UFT/LV in one study appears to be shorter than after treatment with 5-FU/LV with the Mayo regimen, although it also had an improved adverse effect profile. Neither capecitabine nor UFT/LV appeared to improve healthrelated quality of life. Little information on patient preference was available for UFT/LV, but there was indicated a strong preference for this over 5-FU/LV. The total cost of capecitabine and UFT/LV treatments were estimated at £2111 and £3375, respectively, compared with the total treatment cost for the Mayo regimen of £3579. Cost estimates were also presented for the modified de Gramont and inpatient de Gramont regimens. These were £3684 and £6155, respectively. No survival advantage was shown in the RCTs of the oral drugs against the Mayo regimen. Cost savings of capecitabine and UFT/LV over the Mayo regimen were estimated to be £1461 and £209, respectively. Drug acquisition costs were higher for the oral therapies than for the Mayo regimen, but were offset by lower administration costs. Adverse event treatment costs were similar across the three regimens. It was inferred that there was no survival difference between the oral drugs and the de Gramont regimens. Cost savings of capecitabine and UFT/LV over the modified de Gramont regimen were estimated to be £1353 and £101, respectively, and over the inpatient de Gramont regimen were estimated to be £4123 and £2870, respectively. Conclusions: The results show that there are cost savings associated with the use of oral therapies. No survival difference has been proven between the oral drugs and the Mayo regimen. In addition, no evidence of a survival difference between the Mayo regimen and the de Gramont regimens has been identified. However, improved progression-free survival and an improved adverse event profile have been shown for the de Gramont regimen over the Mayo regimen. Further research is recommended into the following areas: quality of life data should be included in trials of colorectal cancer treatments; the place of effective oral treatments in the treatment of colorectal cancer, the safety mechanisms needed to ensure compliance and the monitoring of adverse effects; the optimum duration of treatment; the measurement of patient preference; and a phase III comparative trial of capecitabine and UFT/LV versus modified de Gramont treatment to determine whether there was any survival advantage and to collate the necessary economic data

A qualitative exploration of consumers’ perceived impacts, behavioural reactions, and future reflections of the EU Tobacco Products Directive (2017) as applied to electronic cigarettes

Background: Electronic cigarette regulations included in the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD), Article 20, implemented in Europe by May 2017, aimed to improve safety for e-cigarette consumers, and prevent uptake among non-smokers, particularly young people. Before implementation, there were significant concerns from consumers, industry, and some in the scientific community about the potential negative impact of the TPD on people using e-cigarettes to stay stopped from smoking. To date, there is limited evidence on how the TPD has affected consumers. This study aimed to add insight into how consumers perceived and experienced the regulations. Methods: Qualitative data, collected between March 2018 and March 2019, relating to participant views of the TPD were extracted from 160 interviews/extended surveys of e-cigarette consumers as part of a wider study into e-cigarette use trajectories (ECtra study). Data were thematically analysed. Results: Awareness of the TPD amongst consumers was not universal. Participants’ smoking behaviour did not appear to be influenced by the legislation. Participants were reassured by manufacturing regulations and requirements for ingredients labels. Participants responded negatively to changes perceived to cause inconvenience and extra plastic waste. The product restrictions prompted some participants to purchase non-compliant products illegally, potentially putting their safety at risk. Conclusions: E-cigarette regulation should focus on ensuring product safety. Raising awareness of the TPD amongst consumers and smokers could be beneficial

Kink dynamics in a novel discrete sine-Gordon system

A spatially-discrete sine-Gordon system with some novel features is described. There is a topological or Bogomol'nyi lower bound on the energy of a kink, and an explicit static kink which saturates this bound. There is no Peierls potential barrier, and consequently the motion of a kink is simpler, especially at low speeds. At higher speeds, it radiates and slows down.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, archivin

On three-dimensional Weyl structures with reduced holonomy

Cartan's list of 3-dimensional Weyl structures with reduced holonomy is revisited. We show that the only Einstein-Weyl structures on this list correspond to the structures generated by the solutions of the dKP equation

A novel laser ranging system for measurement of ground-to-satellite distances

A technique was developed for improving the precision of laser ranging measurements of ground-to-satellite distances. The method employs a mode-locked laser transmitter and utilizes an image converter tube equipped with deflection plates in measuring the time of flight of the laser pulse to a distant retroreflector and back. Samples of the outgoing and returning light pulses are focussed on the photocathode of the image converter tube, whose deflection plates are driven by a high-voltage 120 MHz sine wave derived from a very stable oscillator. From the relative positions of the images produced at the output phosphor by the two light pulses, it is possible to make a precise determination of the fractional amount by which the time of flight exceeds some large integral multiple of the period of the deflection sinusoid