Assessing progress in protecting non-smokers from secondhand smoke

Objective To examine trends in population exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke (SHS) and consider two exposure metrics as appropriate targets for tobacco control policymakers. Design Comparison of adult non-smokers’ salivary cotinine data available from eleven Scottish Health Surveys between 1998 and 2016. Methods The proportions of non-smoking adults who had measurable levels of cotinine in their saliva were calculated for the eleven time points. The Geometric Mean (GM) concentrations of cotinine levels were calculated using Tobit regression. Changes in both parameters were assessed for the whole period and also for the years since implementation of smoke-free legislation in Scotland in 2006. Results Salivary cotinine expressed as a GM fell from 0.464 ng/ml (95% CI 0.444-0.486 ng/ml) in 1998 to 0.013 ng/ml (95% CI 0.009-0.020 ng/ml) in 2016: a reduction of 97.2%. The percentage of non-smoking adults who had no measurable cotinine in their saliva increased by nearly six-fold between 1998 (12.5% [95% CI 11.5%-13.6%]) and 2016 (81.6% [95% CI 78.6%-84.6%]). Reductions in population exposure to SHS have continued even after smoke-free legislation in 2006. Conclusions Scotland has witnessed a dramatic reduction in SHS exposure in the past two decades but there are still nearly one in five non-smoking adults who have measurable exposure to SHS on any given day. Tobacco control strategies globally should consider the use of both the proportion of non-smoking adults with undetectable salivary cotinine and the GM as targets to encourage policies that achieve a smoke-free future

Trends in adult cardiovascular disease risk factors and their socio-economic patterning in the Scottish population 1995–2008: cross-sectional surveys

<p>Objectives To examine secular and socio-economic changes in cardiovascular disease risk factor prevalences in the Scottish population. This could contribute to a better understanding of why the decline in coronary heart disease mortality in Scotland has recently stalled along with a widening of socio-economic inequalities.</p> <p>Design Four Scottish Health Surveys 1995, 1998, 2003 and 2008 (6190, 6656, 5497 and 4202 respondents, respectively, aged 25–64 years) were used to examine gender-stratified, age-standardised prevalences of smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, fruit and vegetable consumption, discretionary salt use and self-reported diabetes or hypertension. Prevalences were determined according to education and social class. Inequalities were assessed using the slope index of inequality, and time trends were determined using linear regression.</p> <p>Results There were moderate secular declines in the prevalence of smoking, excess alcohol consumption and physical inactivity. Smoking prevalence declined between 1995 and 2008 from 33.4% (95% CI 31.8% to 35.0%) to 29.9% (27.9% to 31.8%) for men and from 36.1% (34.5% to 37.8%) to 27.4% (25.5% to 29.3%) for women. Adverse trends in prevalence were noted for self-reported diabetes and hypertension. Over the four surveys, the diabetes prevalence increased from 1.9% (1.4% to 2.4%) to 3.6% (2.8% to 4.4%) for men and from 1.7% (1.2% to 2.1%) to 3.0% (2.3% to 3.7%) for women. Socio-economic inequalities were evident for almost all risk factors, irrespective of the measure used. These social gradients appeared to be maintained over the four surveys. An exception was self-reported diabetes where, although inequalities were small, the gradient increased over time. Alcohol consumption was unique in consistently showing an inverse gradient, especially for women.</p> <p>Conclusions There has been only a moderate decline in behavioural cardiovascular risk factor prevalences since 1995, with increases in self-reported diabetes and hypertension. Adverse socio-economic gradients have remained unchanged. These findings could help explain the recent stagnation in coronary heart disease mortalities and persistence of related inequalities.</p&gt

The Southampton-York Natural Scenes (SYNS) dataset: statistics of surface attitude

Recovering 3D scenes from 2D images is an under-constrained task; optimal estimation depends upon knowledge of the underlying scene statistics. Here we introduce the Southampton-York Natural Scenes dataset (SYNS: https://syns.soton.ac.uk), which provides comprehensive scene statistics useful for understanding biological vision and for improving machine vision systems. In order to capture the diversity of environments that humans encounter, scenes were surveyed at random locations within 25 indoor and outdoor categories. Each survey includes (i) spherical LiDAR range data (ii) high-dynamic range spherical imagery and (iii) a panorama of stereo image pairs. We envisage many uses for the dataset and present one example: an analysis of surface attitude statistics, conditioned on scene category and viewing elevation. Surface normals were estimated using a novel adaptive scale selection algorithm. Across categories, surface attitude below the horizon is dominated by the ground plane (0° tilt). Near the horizon, probability density is elevated at 90°/270° tilt due to vertical surfaces (trees, walls). Above the horizon, probability density is elevated near 0° slant due to overhead structure such as ceilings and leaf canopies. These structural regularities represent potentially useful prior assumptions for human and machine observers, and may predict human biases in perceived surface attitude

Absence of the Rashba effect in undoped asymmetric quantum wells

To an electron moving in free space an electric field appears as a magnetic field which interacts with and can reorient the electron spin. In semiconductor quantum wells this spin-orbit interaction seems to offer the possibility of gate-voltage control in spintronic devices but, as the electrons are subject to both ion-core and macroscopic structural potentials, this over-simple picture has lead to intense debate. For example, an externally applied field acting on the envelope of the electron wavefunction determined by the macroscopic potential, underestimates the experimentally observed spin-orbit field by many orders of magnitude while the Ehrenfest theorem suggests that it should actually be zero. Here we challenge, both experimentally and theoretically, the widely held belief that any inversion asymmetry of the macroscopic potential, not only electric field, will produce a significant spin-orbit field for electrons. This conclusion has far-reaching consequences for the design of spintronic devices while illuminating important fundamental physics.Comment: 7 pages, 5 fig

A spectroscopic reflectance-based low-cost thickness measurement system for thin films: development and testing

The requirement for alternatives in roll-to-roll (R2R) processing to expand thin film inspection in wider substrates at lower costs and reduced dimensions, and the need to enable newer control feedback options for these types of processes, represents an opportunity to explore the applicability of newer reduced-size spectrometers sensors. This paper presents the hardware and software development of a novel low-cost spectroscopic reflectance system using two state-of-the-art sensors for thin film thickness measurements. The parameters to enable the thin film measurements using the proposed system are the light intensity for two LEDs, the microprocessor integration time for both sensors and the distance from the thin film standard to the device light channel slit for reflectance calculations. The proposed system can deliver better-fit errors compared with a HAL/DEUT light source using two methods: curve fitting and interference interval. By enabling the curve fitting method, the lowest root mean squared error (RMSE) obtained for the best combination of components was 0.022 and the lowest normalised mean squared error (MSE) was 0.054. The interference interval method showed an error of 0.09 when comparing the measured with the expected modelled value. The proof of concept in this research work enables the expansion of multi-sensor arrays for thin film thickness measurements and the potential application in moving environments

Modelling Future Coronary Heart Disease Mortality to 2030 in the British Isles.

OBJECTIVE: Despite rapid declines over the last two decades, coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality rates in the British Isles are still amongst the highest in Europe. This study uses a modelling approach to compare the potential impact of future risk factor scenarios relating to smoking and physical activity levels, dietary salt and saturated fat intakes on future CHD mortality in three countries: Northern Ireland (NI), Republic of Ireland (RoI) and Scotland. METHODS: CHD mortality models previously developed and validated in each country were extended to predict potential reductions in CHD mortality from 2010 (baseline year) to 2030. Risk factor trends data from recent surveys at baseline were used to model alternative future risk factor scenarios: Absolute decreases in (i) smoking prevalence and (ii) physical inactivity rates of up to 15% by 2030; relative decreases in (iii) dietary salt intake of up to 30% by 2030 and (iv) dietary saturated fat of up to 6% by 2030. Probabilistic sensitivity analyses were then conducted. RESULTS: Projected populations in 2030 were 1.3, 3.4 and 3.9 million in NI, RoI and Scotland respectively (adults aged 25-84). In 2030: assuming recent declining mortality trends continue: 15% absolute reductions in smoking could decrease CHD deaths by 5.8-7.2%. 15% absolute reductions in physical inactivity levels could decrease CHD deaths by 3.1-3.6%. Relative reductions in salt intake of 30% could decrease CHD deaths by 5.2-5.6% and a 6% reduction in saturated fat intake might decrease CHD deaths by some 7.8-9.0%. These projections remained stable under a wide range of sensitivity analyses. CONCLUSIONS: Feasible reductions in four cardiovascular risk factors (already achieved elsewhere) could substantially reduce future coronary deaths. More aggressive polices are therefore needed in the British Isles to control tobacco, promote healthy food and increase physical activity

Tradeoffs in jet inlet design: a historical perspective

The design of the inlet(s) is one of the most demanding tasks of the development process of any gas turbine-powered aircraft. This is mainly due to the multi-objective and multidisciplinary nature of the exercise. The solution is generally a compromise between a number of conflicting goals and these conflicts are the subject of the present paper. We look into how these design tradeoffs have been reflected in the actual inlet designs over the years and how the emphasis has shifted from one driver to another. We also review some of the relevant developments of the jet age in aerodynamics and design and manufacturing technology and we examine how they have influenced and informed inlet design decision

Factoring estimates for a 1024-bit RSA modulus

We estimate the yield of the number field sieve factoring algorithm when applied to the 1024-bit composite integer RSA-1024 and the parameters as proposed in the draft version [17] of the TWIRL hardware factoring device [18]. We present the details behind the resulting improved parameter choices from [18]