Incentives for breastfeeding and for smoking cessation in pregnancy: An exploration of types and meanings

Financial or tangible incentives are a strategy for improving health behaviours. The mechanisms of action of incentives are complex and debated. Using a multidisciplinary integrated mixed methods study, with service-user collaboration throughout, we developed a typology of incentives and their meanings for initiating and sustaining smoking cessation in pregnancy and breastfeeding. The ultimate aim was to inform incentive intervention design by providing insights into incentive acceptability and mechanisms of action. Systematic evidence syntheses of incentive intervention studies for smoking cessation in pregnancy or breastfeeding identified incentive characteristics, which were developed into initial categories. Little published qualitative data on user perspectives and acceptability was available. Qualitative interviews and focus groups conducted in three UK regions with a diverse socio-demographic sample of 88 women and significant others from the target population, 53 service providers, 24 experts/decision makers, and conference attendees identified new potential incentives and providers, with and without experience of incentives. Identified incentives (published and emergent) were classified into eight categories: cash and shopping vouchers, maternal wellbeing, baby and pregnancy-related, behaviour-related, health-related, general utility, awards and certificates, and experiences. A typology was refined iteratively through concurrent data collection and thematic analysis to explore participants' understandings of ‘incentives’ and to compare and contrast meanings across types. Our typology can be understood in three dimensions: the degree of restriction, the extent to which each is hedonic and/or utilitarian, and whether each has solely monetary value versus monetary with added social value. The layers of autonomy, meanings and the social value of incentive types influence their acceptability and interact with structural, social, and personal factors. Dimensions of incentive meaning that go beyond the simple incentive description should inform incentive programme design and are likely to influence outcomes

Frequency response in surface-potential driven electro-hydrodynamics

Using a Fourier approach we offer a general solution to calculations of slip velocity within the circuit description of the electro-hydrodynamics in a binary electrolyte confined by a plane surface with a modulated surface potential. We consider the case with a spatially constant intrinsic surface capacitance where the net flow rate is in general zero while harmonic rolls as well as time-averaged vortex-like components may exist depending on the spatial symmetry and extension of the surface potential. In general the system displays a resonance behavior at a frequency corresponding to the inverse RC time of the system. Different surface potentials share the common feature that the resonance frequency is inversely proportional to the characteristic length scale of the surface potential. For the asymptotic frequency dependence above resonance we find a 1/omega^2 power law for surface potentials with either an even or an odd symmetry. Below resonance we also find a power law omega^alpha with alpha being positive and dependent of the properties of the surface potential. Comparing a tanh potential and a sech potential we qualitatively find the same slip velocity, but for the below-resonance frequency response the two potentials display different power law asymptotics with alpha=1 and alpha~2, respectively.Comment: 4 pages including 1 figure. Accepted for PR

On the Elevated Temperature Thermal Stability of Nanoscale Mn-Ni-Si Precipitates Formed at Lower Temperature in Highly Irradiated Reactor Pressure Vessel Steels.

Atom probe tomography (APT) and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) techniques were used to probe the long-time thermal stability of nm-scale Mn-Ni-Si precipitates (MNSPs) formed in intermediate and high Ni reactor pressure vessel steels under high fluence neutron irradiation at ≈320 °C. Post irradiation annealing (PIA) at 425 °C for up to 57 weeks was used to determine if the MNSPs are: (a) non-equilibrium solute clusters formed and sustained by radiation induced segregation (RIS); or, (b) equilibrium G or Γ2 phases, that precipitate at accelerated rates due to radiation enhanced diffusion (RED). Note the latter is consistent with both thermodynamic models and x-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements. Both the experimental and an independently calibrated cluster dynamics (CD) model results show that the stability of the MNSPs is very sensitive to the alloy Ni and, to a lesser extent, Mn content. Thus, a small fraction of the largest MNSPs in the high Ni steel persist, and begin to coarsen at long times. These results suggest that the MNSPs remain a stable phase, even at 105 °C higher than they formed at, thus are most certainly equilibrium phases at much lower service relevant temperatures of ≈290 °C

Strong Aperiodic X-ray Variability and Quasi-Periodic Oscillation in X-ray Nova XTE J1550-564

We report the discovery of strong aperiodic X-ray variability and quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) in the X-ray light curves of a new X-ray Nova, XTE J1550-564, and the evolution of the observed temporal properties during the rise of the recent X-ray outburst. The power spectral analysis of the first observation reveals strong aperiodic X-ray variability of the source (~28%), as well as the presence of a QPO at ~82 mHz with fractional rms amplitude ~14% over the 2-60 keV energy range. Also apparent is the first harmonic of the QPO with the amplitude ~9%. As the X-ray flux increases, the source tends to become less variable, and the QPO frequency increases rapidly, from 82 mHz to 4 Hz, over the flux (2-50 keV) range of 1.73-5.75 x 10^{-8} ergs cm^{-2} s^{-1}. The amplitude of the fundamental component of the QPO varies little, while that of the harmonic follows a decreasing trend. The fundamental component strengthens toward high energies, while its harmonic weakens. Initially, the power spectrum is roughly flat at low frequencies and turns into a power law at high frequencies, with the QPO harmonic sitting roughly at the break. In later observations, however, the high-frequency portion of the continuum can actually be better described by a broken power law (as opposed to a simple power law). This effect becomes more apparent at higher energies. The overall amplitude of the continuum shows a similar energy dependence to that of the fundamental component of the QPO. Strong rapid X-ray variability, as well as hard energy spectrum, makes XTE J1550-564 a good black hole candidate. We compare its temporal properties with those of other black hole candidates.Comment: 12 pages, including 5 figures. To appear in ApJ Letters, vol. 512 (1999

Computer-aided communication satellite system analysis and optimization

The capabilities and limitations of the various published computer programs for fixed/broadcast communication satellite system synthesis and optimization are discussed. A satellite Telecommunication analysis and Modeling Program (STAMP) for costing and sensitivity analysis work in application of communication satellites to educational development is given. The modifications made to STAMP include: extension of the six beam capability to eight; addition of generation of multiple beams from a single reflector system with an array of feeds; an improved system costing to reflect the time value of money, growth in earth terminal population with time, and to account for various measures of system reliability; inclusion of a model for scintillation at microwave frequencies in the communication link loss model; and, an updated technological environment

Hydrazine electrolysis for spacecraft propulsion. Analysis and test of a dual-mode gas and liquid system Final report

Dual-mode hydrazine electrolysis for spacecraft propulsion syste

“This I Believe” About the Teaching of Writing: Secondary Teachers’ Digital Essays About Their Pedagogical Understandings

This case study (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016) examines the final projects of two secondary teachers in a graduate course about writing pedagogy. Teachers created digital essays along the lines of the National Public Radio’s “This I Believe” essays, which articulated their beliefs about the teaching of writing. We posed two research questions: a) What pedagogical understandings do teachers identify as their beliefs about writing and how do they represent those ideas in a digital composition? b) What did teachers learn from participating in the process of composing a digital essay? We found that teachers “reimagined” the teaching of writing, were personally drawn to the assignments in ways that surprised them, and realized the power of digital tools to accomplish what words simply cannot fully capture