658 research outputs found
Turning up the heat: A conceptual model for understanding the migration and health in the context of global climate change.
BACKGROUND: The triangular relationship between climate change-related events, patterns of human migration and their implications for health is an important yet understudied issue. To improve understanding of this complex relationship, a comprehensive, interdisciplinary conceptual model will be useful. This paper investigates relationships between these factors and considers their impacts for affected populations globally. METHODS: A desk review of key literature was undertaken. An open-ended questionnaire consisting of 11 items was designed focusing on three themes: predicting population migration by understanding key variables, health implications, and suggestions on policy and research. After using purposive sampling we selected nine experts, reflecting diverse regional and professional backgrounds directly related to our research focus area. All responses were thematically analysed and key themes from the survey were synthesised to construct the conceptual model focusing on describing the relationship between global climate change, migration and health implications and a second model focusing on actionable suggestions for organisations working in the field, academia and policymakers. RESULTS: Key themes which constitute our conceptual model included: a description of migrant populations perceived to be at risk; health characteristics associated with different migratory patterns; health implications for both migrants and host populations; the responsibilities of global and local governance actors; and social and structural determinants of health. Less prominent themes were aspects related to slow-onset migratory patterns, voluntary stay, and voluntary migration. Actionable suggestions include an interdisciplinary and innovative approach to study the phenomenon for academicians, preparedness and globalized training and awareness for field organisations and migrant inclusive and climate sensitive approach for policymakers. CONCLUSION: Contrary to common narratives, participants framed the impacts of climate change-related events on migration patterns and their health implications as non-linear and indirect, comprising many interrelated individual, social, cultural, demographic, geographical, structural, and political determinants. An understanding of these interactions in various contexts is essential for risk reduction and preventative measures. The way forward broadly includes inclusive and equity-based health services, improved and faster administrative systems, less restrictive (im)migration policies, globally trained staff, efficient and accessible research, and improved emergency response capabilities. The focus should be to increase preventative and adaptation measures in the face of any environmental changes and respond efficiently to different phases of migration to aim for better "health for all and promote universal well-being" (WHO) (World Health Organization 1999)
Protein Tracking by CNN-Based Candidate Pruning and Two-Step Linking with Bayesian Network
Protein trafficking plays a vital role in understanding many biological
processes and disease. Automated tracking of protein
vesicles is challenging due to their erratic behaviour, changing
appearance, and visual clutter. In this paper we present
a novel tracking approach which utilizes a two-step linking
process that exploits a probabilistic graphical model to predict
tracklet linkage. The vesicles are initially detected with
help of a candidate selection process, where the candidates
are identified by a multi-scale spot enhancing filter. Subsequently,
these candidates are pruned and selected by a light
weight convolutional neural network. At the linking stage,
the tracklets are formed based on the distance and the detection
assignment which is implemented via combinatorial
optimization algorithm. Each tracklet is described by a number
of parameters used to evaluate the probability of tracklets
connection by the inference over the Bayesian network. The
tracking results are presented for confocal fluorescence microscopy
data of protein trafficking in epithelial cells. The
proposed method achieves a root mean square error (RMSE)
of 1.39 for the vesicle localisation and of 0.7 representing
the degree of track matching with ground truth. The presented
method is also evaluated against the state-of-the-art âTrackmateâ
framework
Clostridium perfringens in London, July 2009: two weddings and an outbreak
Food poisoning outbreaks caused by Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin occur occasionally in Europe but have become less common in recent years. This paper presents the microbiological and epidemiological results of a large C. perfringens outbreak occurring simultaneously at two weddings that used the same caterer. The outbreak involved several London locations and required coordination across multiple agencies. A case-control study (n=134) was carried out to analyse possible associations between the food consumed and becoming ill. Food, environmental and stool samples were tested for common causative agents, including enterotoxigenic C. perfringens. The clinical presentation and the epidemiological findings were compatible with C. perfringens food poisoning and C. perfringens enterotoxin was detected in stool samples from two cases. The case-control study found statistically significant associations between becoming ill and eating either a specific chicken or lamb dish prepared by the same food handler of the implicated catering company. A rapid outbreak investigation with preliminary real-time results and the successful collaboration between the agencies and the caterer led to timely identification and rectification of the failures in the food handling practices
Oxygen superstructures throughout the phase diagram of
Short-range lattice superstructures have been studied with high-energy x-ray
diffuse scattering in underdoped, optimally doped, and overdoped . A new four-unit-cell superstructure was observed in
compounds with . Its temperature, doping, and material dependence
was used to attribute its origin to short-range oxygen vacancy ordering, rather
than electronic instabilities in the layers. No significant diffuse
scattering is observed in YBaCuO. The oxygen superstructures must
be taken into account when interpreting spectral anomalies in
VLBA Continuum and H I Absorption Observations of the Ultra-Luminous Infrared Galaxy IRAS 17208-0014
We present phase-referenced VLBI observations of the radio continuum emission
from, and the neutral hydrogen 21 cm absorption toward, the Ultra-Luminous
Infrared Galaxy IRAS 17208-0014. The observations were carried out at 1362 MHz
using the Very Long Baseline Array, including the phased Very Large Array as an
element. The high-resolution radio continuum images reveal a nuclear starburst
region in this galaxy, which is composed of diffuse emission approximately 670
x 340 pc on the plane of the sky, and a number of compact sources. These
sources are most likely to be clustered supernova remnants and/or luminous
radio supernovae. Their brightness temperatures range over (2.2-6.6) x 10^{5}
K, with radio spectral luminosities between (1-10) x 10^{21} W Hz^{-1}. The
total VLBI flux density of the starburst region is ~52 mJy, which is about 50%
of the total flux density detected with the VLA at arcsecond resolution. For
this galaxy, we derive a massive star formation rate of ~84pm13 M{_\odot}
yr^{-1}, and a supernova rate of ~4pm1 yr^{-1}. H I absorption is detected in
multiple components with optical depths ranging between 0.3 and 2.5, and
velocity widths between 58 and 232 km s^{-1}. The derived column densities,
assuming T_{s}=100 K, range over (10-26) x 10^{21} cm^{-2}. The H I absorption
shows a strong velocity gradient of 453 km s^{-1} across 0.36 arcsec (274 pc).
Assuming Keplerian motion, the enclosed dynamical mass is about 2.3 x 10^9
sin^{-2}i M{_\odot}, comparable to the enclosed dynamical mass estimated from
CO observations.Comment: 26 pages total, 6 figures. ApJ accepted. To appear in the April 1,
2003 issue of ApJ. For a version with better images, see
http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/~emomjian/IRAS.p
Extracting Axial Depth and Trajectory Trend Using Astigmatism, Gaussian Fitting, and CNNs for Protein Tracking
Accurate analysis of vesicle trafficking in live cells is challenging for a number of reasons: varying appearance, complex protein movement patterns, and imaging conditions. To allow fast image acquisition, we study how employing an astigmatism can be utilized for obtaining additional information that could make tracking more robust. We present two approaches for measuring the z position of individual vesicles. Firstly, Gaussian curve fitting with CNN-based denoising is applied to infer the absolute depth around the focal plane of each localized protein. We demonstrate that adding denoising yields more accurate estimation of depth while preserving the overall structure of the localized proteins. Secondly, we investigate if we can predict using a custom CNN architecture the axial trajectory trend. We demonstrate that this method performs well on calibration beads data without the need for denoising. By incorporating the obtained depth information into a trajectory analysis, we demonstrate the potential improvement in vesicle tracking
Neutrino Spin Transitions and the Violation of the Equivalence Principle
The violation of the equivalence principle (VEP) causing neutrino
oscillations is of current interest. We study here the possibility of not only
flavor oscillation but spin flavor oscillation of ultra high energy ( 1
PeV) neutrinos emanating from AGN due to VEP and due to the presence of a large
magnetic field ( 1 Tesla) in AGN. In particular we look at the resonance
spin flavor conversion driven by the AGN potential. Interesting bounds on the
transition magnetic moment of neutrinos may therefore be obtained.Comment: Latex, 12 pages, no figures. To appear in Journal of Physics G:
Nuclear and Particle Physics. Two references adde
Engaging with civil society to improve access to LTBI screening for new migrants in England: a qualitative study
SETTING: The latent tuberculous infection (LTBI) programme in England, UK, offers testing and treatment to new migrants from high tuberculosis incidence countries. However, the rates of LTBI testing, treatment acceptance and completion are suboptimal and appropriate access should be improved.
OBJECTIVE: To gain insight from the community, community-based organisations (CBOs) and public sector stakeholders on interventions that facilitate collaboration to improve health care outreach and delivery.
DESIGN: Three stakeholder meetings and five focus group discussions were held using thematic analysis to identify themes arising from participants' perspectives.
RESULTS: Four overarching themes emerged from the discussions. These were related to capacity of service providers, collaboration between stakeholders, migrant cultures and trust between migrants and service providers, and highlighted the complementary skill sets that different sectors bring to the collaboration, as well as the barriers that need to be surmounted. Stigma could be reduced by making LTBI testing routine. Community members could act as champions of health promotion to raise awareness on LTBI testing, and provide a bridge between communities and primary care services.
CONCLUSION: Public service providers, community members and CBOs are willing to collaborate to support primary care delivery of testing for LTBI and other communicable and non-communicable diseases. Policy and commissioning support are needed to facilitate this collaboration
Sensitive VLBI Studies of the OH Megamaser Emission from IRAS 17208-0014
We present phase-referenced VLBI results on the radio continuum and the OH 18
cm megamaser emission from the Ultra-Luminous Infrared Galaxy, IRAS
17208--0014. The observations were carried out at 1599 MHz using the Very Long
Baseline Array, the phased VLA, and the Green Bank Telescope. The highest
resolution radio continuum results show several compact sources with brightness
temperatures on the order of K. These sources are more likely to be
clustered supernova remnants and/or luminous radio supernovae. However, the
agreement between the number of observed and expected compact sources above the
5 level supports the possibility that each one of the compact sources
could be dominated by a recently detonated luminous radio supernova. The
continuum results suggest that there is no radio-loud AGN in the nuclear region
of this galaxy. The OH 18 cm megamaser emission in IRAS 17208--0014 is detected
at various angular resolutions. It has an extent of pc, and is
mostly localized in two regions separated by 61 pc. The structure and dynamics
of the maser emission seem to be consistent with a clumpy, rotating, ring-like
geometry, with the two dominant maser regions marking the tangential points of
the proposed rotating-ring distribution. Assuming Keplerian motion for the
rotating maser ring, the enclosed dynamical mass and the mass density within a
radius of 30.5 pc, are about {}, and
, respectively.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures. ApJ Accepte
Majorana Neutrinos and Gravitational Oscillation
We analyze the possibility of encountering resonant transitions of high
energy Majorana neutrinos produced in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). We consider
gravitational, electromagnetic and matter effects and show that the latter are
ignorable. Resonant oscillations due to the gravitational interactions are
shown to occur at energies in the PeV range for magnetic moments in the
range. Coherent precession will dominate for larger magnetic
moments. The alllowed regions for gravitational resonant transitions are
obtained.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, Latex; requires revtex and epsf.tex submitted to
Physical Review
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