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Study of the production of and hadrons in collisions and first measurement of the branching fraction
No full textCopper-Catalyzed Borylative Cross-Coupling of Allenes and Imines: Selective Three-Component Assembly of Branched Homoallyl Amines
No full textEffectiveness of the parent-mediated intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder in south Asia in India and Pakistan (PASS):a randomised controlled trial
No full textBACKGROUND: Autism spectrum disorder affects more than 5 million children in south Asia. Although early interventions have been used for the treatment of children in high-income countries, no substantive trials have been done of the interventions adapted for use in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We therefore assessed the feasibility and acceptability of the parent-mediated intervention for autism spectrum disorder in south Asia (PASS) in India and Pakistan.METHODS: A single-blind randomised trial of the comparison of 12 sessions of PASS (plus treatment as usual) with treatment as usual alone delivered by non-specialist health workers was done at two centres in Goa, India, and Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Children aged 2-9 years with autism spectrum disorder were randomly assigned (1:1) by use of probabilistic minimisation, controlling for treatment centre (Goa or Rawalpindi), age (<6 years or ≥6 years), and functional impairment (Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scale Composite score <65 or ≥65). The primary outcome was quality of parent-child interaction on the Dyadic Communication Measure for Autism at 8 months. Analysis was by intention to treat. The study is registered with ISRCTN, number ISRCTN79675498.FINDINGS: From Jan 1 to July 30, 2013, 65 children were randomly allocated, 32 to the PASS group (15 in Goa and 17 in Rawalpindi) and 33 to the treatment-as-usual group (15 in Goa and 18 in Rawalpindi). 26 (81%) of 32 participants completed the intervention. After adjustment for minimisation factors and baseline outcome, the primary outcome showed a treatment effect in favour of PASS in parental synchrony (adjusted mean difference 0·25 [95% CI 0·14 to 0·36]; effect size 1·61 [95% CI 0·90 to 2·32]) and initiation of communication by the child with the parent (0·15 [0·04 to 0·26]; effect size 0·99 [0·29 to 1·68]), but time in mutual shared attention was reduced (-0·16 [-0·26 to -0·05]; effect size -0·70 [-1·16 to -0·23]).INTERPRETATION: Our results show the feasibility of adapting and task-shifting an intervention used in a high-income context to LMICs. The findings also replicate the positive primary outcome treatment effects of a parent-mediated communication-focused intervention in the original UK Preschool Autism Communication Trial, with one negative effect not reported previously.FUNDING: Autism Speaks, USA.</p
Consumer Behaviour with Environmental and Social Externalities: Implications for Analysis and Policy
No full textIn this paper we summarise some of our recent work on consumer behaviour, drawing on recent developments in behavioural economics, particularly linked to sociology as much as psychology, in which consumers are embedded in a social context, so their behaviour is shaped by their interactions with other consumers. For the purpose of this paper we also allow consumption to cause environmental damage. Analysing the social context of consumption naturally lends itself to the use of game theoretic tools. We shall be concerned with two ways in which social interactions affect consumer preferences and behaviour: socially-embedded preferences, where the behaviour of other consumers affect an individual’s preferences and hence consumption (we consider two examples: conspicuous consumption and consumption norms) and socially-directed preferences where people display altruistic behaviour. Our aim is to show that building links between sociological and behavioural economic approaches to the study of consumer behaviour can lead to significant and surprising implications for conventional economic analysis and policy prescriptions, especially with respect to environmental policy
Dijet production in s√= 7 TeV pp collisions with large rapidity gaps at the ATLAS experiment
No full textA 6.8 nb −1 sample of pp collision data collected under low-luminosity conditions at s=7TeV by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider is used to study diffractive dijet production. Events containing at least two jets with pT>20GeV are selected and analysed in terms of variables which discriminate between diffractive and non-diffractive processes. Cross sections are measured differentially in ΔηF , the size of the observable forward region of pseudorapidity which is devoid of hadronic activity, and in an estimator, ξ˜ , of the fractional momentum loss of the proton assuming single diffractive dissociation ( pp→pX ). Model comparisons indicate a dominant non-diffractive contribution up to moderately large ΔηF and small ξ˜ , with a diffractive contribution which is significant at the highest ΔηF and the lowest ξ˜ . The rapidity-gap survival probability is estimated from comparisons of the data in this latter region with predictions based on diffractive parton distribution functions
Predictive models for arteriovenous fistula maturation.
No full textPURPOSE: Haemodialysis (HD) is a lifeline therapy for patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). A critical factor in the survival of renal dialysis patients is the surgical creation of vascular access, and international guidelines recommend arteriovenous fistulas (AVF) as the gold standard of vascular access for haemodialysis. Despite this, AVFs have been associated with high failure rates. Although risk factors for AVF failure have been identified, their utility for predicting AVF failure through predictive models remains unclear. The objectives of this review are to systematically and critically assess the methodology and reporting of studies developing prognostic predictive models for AVF outcomes and assess them for suitability in clinical practice. METHODS: Electronic databases were searched for studies reporting prognostic predictive models for AVF outcomes. Dual review was conducted to identify studies that reported on the development or validation of a model constructed to predict AVF outcome following creation. Data were extracted on study characteristics, risk predictors, statistical methodology, model type, as well as validation process. RESULTS: We included four different studies reporting five different predictive models. Parameters identified that were common to all scoring system were age and cardiovascular disease. CONCLUSIONS: This review has found a small number of predictive models in vascular access. The disparity between each study limits the development of a unified predictive model
New NMR Tools for Impurity Analysis
No full textCommon characterization methods for pharmaceutical drugs include HPLC, mass spectrometry, 1H NMR, and 13C NMR. NMR is rich in structural information, but for impurity analysis, it is not generally the tool of choice. While 1H NMR is quite sensitive, due to its narrow chemical shift range (0 - 10 ppm) and the high abundance of hydrogen atoms in most drugs, its resolution is often poor, with much signal overlap. Impurity signals, especially for chemically cognate species, are therefore frequently obscured in 1H NMR.About a quarter of current drugs contain fluorine. 19F NMR shares the relatively high sensitivity of 1H NMR, but has a far wider chemical shift range, of ± 300 ppm. Since typical drugs contain only one or two fluorine atoms, 19F NMR therefore offers extremely high resolution for pharmaceutical applications. However, the very wide spectra seen in fluorine NMR present a significant technical problem. Modern NMR spectrometers are designed to give quantitative excitation of 1H spectra, and to a lesser extent 13C spectra, but the limited power of the radiofrequency amplifiers used means that it is not possible to excite a full 19F spectrum uniformly with conventional methods. This means that it is common in quantitative NMR (qNMR) to acquire fluorine spectra in sections, with a separate reference compound for each chemical shift range.In this presentation, new methods for exciting the full range of 19F signals are explored. A new type of pulse sequence, CHORUS, is presented that increases the quantitative bandwidth of NMR measurements, yielding accurate integrals even for nuclei such as 19F that have very wide chemical shift ranges. Using CHORUS it is possible to obtain excellent results for quantitative 19F NMR, with accuracies better than 0.1% over the entire chemical shift range, in a single experiment. The new family of pulse sequences can also be used to extend the range of many other NMR experiments, for example diffusion-ordered spectroscopy (DOSY), which disperses the signals of different species in an intact mixture according to their diffusion coefficients
Binding interface change and cryptic variation in the evolution of protein-protein interactions
No full textMechanistic insights into the inhibition of Sec61-dependent co- and post-translational translocation by mycolactone
No full textA nexus perspective on competing land demands:Wider lessons from a UK policy case study
No full textAs nations develop policies for low-carbon transitions, conflicts with existing policies and planning tools are leading to competing demands for land and other resources. This raises fundamental questions over how multiple demands can best be managed. Taking the UK as an empirical example, this paper critiques current policies and practices to explore the interdependencies at the water-energy-food nexus. It considers how current land uses and related policies affect the UK’s resilience to climate change, setting out an agenda for research and practice relevant to stakeholders in land-use management, policy and modelling. Despite recent progress in recognising such nexus challenges, most UK land-related policies and associated science continue to be compartmentalised by both scale and sector and seldom acknowledge nexus interconnections. On a temporal level, the absence of an over-arching strategy leaves inter-generational trade-offs poorly considered. Given the system lock-in and the lengthy policy-making process, it is essential to develop alternative ways of providing dynamic, flexible, practical and scientifically robust decision support for policy-makers. A range of ecosystem services need to be valued and integrated into a resilient land-use strategy, including the introduction of non-monetary, physical-unit constraints on the use of particular services