Triplanar Model for the Gap and Penetration Depth in YBCO

YBaCuO_7 is a trilayer material with a unit cell consisting of a CuO_2 bilayer with a CuO plane of chains in between. Starting with a model of isolated planes coupled through a transverse matrix element, we consider the possibility of intra as well as interplane pairing within a nearly antiferromagnetic Fermi liquid model. Solutions of a set of three coupled BCS equations for the gap exhibit orthorhombic symmetry with s- as well as d-wave contributions. The temperature dependence and a-b in plane anisotropy of the resulting penetration depth is discussed and compared with experiment.Comment: To appear in Physical Review B1 01Mar97; 12 pages with 10 figures; RevTeX+eps

Applying economic evaluation to public health interventions: The case of interventions to promote physical activity

Copyright @ 2012 The Authors. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.BACKGROUND: This paper explores the application of alternative approaches to economic evaluation of public health interventions, using a worked example of exercise referral schemes (ERSs). METHODS: Cost-utility (CUA) and cost-consequence analyses (CCA) were used to assess the cost-effectiveness of ERSs. For the CUA, evidence was synthesized using a decision analytic model that adopts a lifetime horizon and NHS/Personal Social Services perspective. Outcomes were expressed as incremental cost per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY). CCA was conducted from a partial-societal perspective, including health and non-healthcare costs and benefits. Outcomes were reported in natural units, such as cases of strokes or CHD avoided. RESULTS: Compared with usual care, the incremental cost per QALY of ERS is £20 876. Based on a cohort of 100 000 individuals, CCA estimates cost of ERS at £22 million to the healthcare provider and £12 million to participants. The benefits of ERS include additional 3900 people becoming physically active, 51 cases of CHD avoided, 16 cases of stroke avoided, 86 cases of diabetes avoided and a gain of ∼800 QALYs. CONCLUSIONS: CCA might provide greater transparency than CUA in reporting the outcomes of public health interventions and have greater resonance with stakeholders involved in commissioning these interventions.This work was supported by the NIHR Health Technology Assessment programme (project number 08/72/01). This article is made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund

‘We kind of try to merge our own experience with the objectivity of the criteria’: The role of connoisseurship and tacit practice in undergraduate fine art assessment

This article explores connoisseurship in the context of fine art undergraduate assessment practice. I interviewed twelve fine art lecturers in order to explore and unpack the concept of connoisseurship in relation to subjectivity, objectivity and tacit practice. Building on the work of Bourdieu (1973, 1977, 1986) and Shay (2003, 2005), both of whom problematize the view that subjectivity and objectivity are binary opposites, my research illustrates the ways that connoisseurship is underpinned by informed professional judgements located in communities of practice. Within this particular conception of connoisseurship, the lecturers’ expertise is co-constituted in communities of assessors through participation and engagement. Standards reside in communities of practice

Hysterectomy, endometrial destruction, and levonorgestrel releasing intrauterine system (Mirena) for heavy menstrual bleeding : systematic review and meta-analysis of data from individual patients

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Synthesis of fluorinated oxygen- and sulfur-containing heteroaromatics

Milk protein concentrate (79% protein) reconstituted at 13.5% (w/v) protein was heated (90 °C, 25 min, pH 7.2) with or without added calcium chloride. After fractionation of the casein and whey protein aggregates by fast protein liquid chromatography, the heat stability (90 °C, up to 1 h) of the fractions (0.25%, w/v, protein) was assessed. The heat-induced aggregates were composed of whey protein and casein, in whey protein:casein ratios ranging from 1:0.5 to 1:9. The heat stability was positively correlated with the casein concentration in the samples. The samples containing the highest proportion of caseins were the most heat-stable, and close to 100% (w/w) of the aggregates were recovered post-heat treatment in the supernatant of such samples (centrifugation for 30 min at 10,000 × g). κ-Casein appeared to act as a chaperone controlling the aggregation of whey proteins, and this effect was stronger in the presence of αS- and β-casein

Gastric IgG4-Related Autoimmune Fibrosclerosing Pseudotumour: A Novel Location

We describe the first reported case of an IgG4-related autoimmune fibrosclerosing pseudotumour located in the stomach of a 75-year old woman presenting with weight loss and vomiting. A lesion was detected in the gastric body at endoscopy. Subsequent characterisation by CT was suggestive of a gastrointestinal stromal tumour. Following laparoscopic resection, the patient recovered uneventfully. Histological examination of the resected specimen revealed an IgG4-related fibrosclerosing pseudotumour, a novel location for this histopathological entity