What and how: doing good research with young people, digital intimacies, and relationships and sex education

© 2020, © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. As part of a project funded by the Wellcome Trust, we held a one-day symposium, bringing together researchers, practitioners, and policymakers, to discuss priorities for research on relationships and sex education (RSE) in a world where young people increasingly live, experience, and augment their relationships (whether sexual or not) within digital spaces. The introduction of statutory RSE in schools in England highlights the need to focus on improving understandings of young people and digital intimacies for its own sake, and to inform the development of learning resources. We call for more research that puts young people at its centre; foregrounds inclusivity; and allows a nuanced discussion of pleasures, harms, risks, and rewards, which can be used by those working with young people and those developing policy. Generating such research is likely to be facilitated by participation, collaboration, and communication with beneficiaries, between disciplines and across sectors. Taking such an approach, academic researchers, practitioners, and policymakers agree that we need a better understanding of RSE’s place in lifelong learning, which seeks to understand the needs of particular groups, is concerned with non-sexual relationships, and does not see digital intimacies as disconnected from offline everyday ‘reality’

Energy saving potential of residential HVAC options at Fort Irwin, California

The Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) evaluated heating and cooling system options for existing family housing at Fort Irwin, California. The purpose of this work was to quantify the energy conservation potential of alternative system types and to identify the most cost-effective technology available. The conventional residential heating/cooling systems at Fort Irwin are separate propane forced-air furnaces and central air conditioners. The options examined included air- and ground-source heat pumps, a natural gas furnace with central air conditioning, and a natural-gas-fired heat pump. The most cost-effective technology applicable to Fort Irwin was found to be the high-efficiency ground-source heat pumps. If all conventional units were replaced immediately, the net energy savings would be 76,660 MBtu (80.9 TJ) per year and a reduction in electrical demand of approximately 15,000 kW-month. The initial investment for implementing this technology would be approximately $7.1 million, with a savings-to-investment ratio of 1.74

A Proposed Method for Improving Residential Heating Energy Estimates Based on Billing Data

Analyses o f residential energy conservation programs frequently require reliable estimates of program effects on space-heating energy consumption. Simulation models are often used to provide such estimates. Recent, large-scale programs to collect empirical energy consumption data, however, provide a basis for alternative ways to estimate program effects that utilize the empirical data. The PRISM methodology uses relatively inexpensive billing and weather data to estimate base and temperature-sensitive (primarily space-heating) loads. We used billing data from over 300 manufactured (mobile) homes in two residential conservation projects to derive PRISM heating energy estimates. Actual heating energy data for a subset of these homes was used to develop a methodology for adjusting the initial PRISM-based heating estimates. We developed the adjustment relying on a theoretical approach and the empirical data. This approach resulted in a correction technique that reduced the average error in the initial PRISM-based space-heating estimates by about 70%. and requires primarily readily available PRISM outputs and limited housing characteristics data

Air Exchange Rates in New Energy-Efficient Manufactured Housing

During the 1989-1990 heating season, Pacific Northwest Laboratory, for the Bonneville Power Administration, measured the ventilation characteristics of 139 newly constructed energy-efficient manufactured homes and a control sample of 35 newer manufactured homes. A standard door fan pressurization technique was used to estimate shell leakiness, and a passive perfluorocarbon tracer technique was used to estimate overall air exchange rates. A measurement of the designated whole-house exhaust system flow rate was taken as well as an occupant and structure survey. The energy-efficient manufactured homes have very low air exchange rates, significantly lower than either existing manufactured homes or site-built homes. The standard deviation of the effective leakage area for this sample of homes is small (25% to 30% of the mean), indicating that the leakiness of manufactured housing stock can be confidently characterized by the mean value. There is some indication of increased ventilation due to the energy-efficient whole-house ventilation specification, but not directly related to the operation of the wholehouse system. The mechanical systems as installed and operated do not provide the intended ventilation; consequently indoor air quality could possibly be adversely impacted and moisture/condensation in the living space is a potential problem

Atmospheric water balance

Submitted to Office of Water Resources Research, U.S. Department of Interior.Includes bibliographical references.OWRR project no. B-035-COLO

Positron Emission Tomography Score Has Greater Prognostic Significance Than Pretreatment Risk Stratification in Early-Stage Hodgkin Lymphoma in the UK RAPID Study.

PURPOSE: Accurate stratification of patients is an important goal in Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), but the role of pretreatment clinical risk stratification in the context of positron emission tomography (PET) -adapted treatment is unclear. We performed a subsidiary analysis of the RAPID trial to assess the prognostic value of pretreatment risk factors and PET score in determining outcomes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with stage IA to IIA HL and no mediastinal bulk underwent PET assessment after three cycles of doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine; 143 PET-positive patients (PET score, 3 to 5) received a fourth doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine cycle and involved-field radiotherapy, and 419 patients in complete metabolic remission were randomly assigned to receive involved-field radiotherapy (n = 208) or no additional treatment (n = 211). Cox regression was used to investigate the association between PET score and pretreatment risk factors with HL-specific event-free survival (EFS). RESULTS: High PET score was associated with inferior EFS, before (P .4). CONCLUSION: In RAPID, a positive PET scan did not carry uniform prognostic weight; only a PET score of 5 was associated with inferior outcomes. This suggests that in future trials involving patients without B symptoms or mediastinal bulk, a score of 5 rather than a positive PET result should be used to guide treatment escalation in early-stage HL

Method for determining antiphase dynamics in a multimode laser

We measure the cross spectrum of the intensity fluctuations of pairs of modes for a multilongitudinal mode neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet laser operating in the steady state regime. From the data we build up a picture of how the longitudinal mode fluctuations interfere and directly show the antiphase dynamics of the intensity fluctuations.T. Hill, L. Stamatescu and M. W. Hamilto

Efficacies of liposome-encapsulated streptomycin and ciprofloxacin against Mycobacterium avium-M. intracellulare complex infections in human peripheral blood monocyte/macrophages

Current treatments of disseminated infection caused by the Mycobacterium avium-M. intracellulare complex (MAC) are generally ineffective. Liposome- mediated delivery of antibiotics to MAC-infected tissues in vivo can enhance the efficacy of the drugs (N. Duzgunes, V. K. Perumal, L. Kesavalu, J. A. Goldstein, R. J. Debs, and P. R. J. Gangadharam, Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 32:1404-1411, 1988; N. Duzgunes, D. A. Ashtekar, D. L. Flasher, N. Ghori, R. J. Debs, D. S. Friend, and P. R. J. Gangadharam, J. Infect. Dis. 164:143-151, 1991). We investigated the therapeutic efficacies of liposome- encapsulated streptomycin and ciprofloxacin against growth of the MAC inside human peripheral blood monocyte/macrophages. Treatment was initiated 24 h after infection of macrophages with the MAC and stopped after 20 h, and the cells were incubated for another 7 days. The antimycobacterial activity of streptomycin was enhanced when the drug was delivered to macrophages in liposome-encapsulated form, reducing the CFU about threefold more than the free drug did throughout the concentration range studied (10 to 50 μg/ml). With 50 μg of encapsulated streptomycin per ml, the CFU were reduced to 11% of the initial level of infection. Liposome-encapsulated ciprofloxacin was at least 50 times more effective against the intracellular bacteria than was the free drug: at a concentration of 0.1 μg/ml, liposome-encapsulated ciprofloxacin had greater antimycobacterial activity than the free drug at 5 μg/ml. With liposome-encapsulated ciprofloxacin at 5 μg/ml, the CFU were reduced by more than 1,000-fold at the end of the 7-day incubation period, compared with untreated controls. These results suggest that liposome- encapsulated ciprofloxacin or other fluoroquinolones may be effective against MAC infections in vivo