EURODIAB childhood type 1 diabetes incidence registers - results from the first 20 years

Background and aims: In 1989 a number of registers in Europe began recording new cases of type 1 diabetes diagnosed in children aged under 15 years using a common protocol. Trends in incidence rate during the 20 year period 1989-2008 are described.
Materials and methods: All registers operate in geographically defined regions and are based on a clinical diagnosis. When possible, completeness of registration in each register is assessed using capture-recapture methodology by identifying primary and secondary sources of ascertainment. The completeness estimate is obtained by identifying the numbers of cases identified by the primary source only, by the secondary source only and by both the primary and the secondary sources.
Results: Other registers have joined the Group since 1989, and 21 registers in 15 countries continue to submit registration data. In the first five years (1989-93) incidence rates varied from 3.2 per 100,000 in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to 25.8 per 100,000 in the Stockholm area of Sweden. In the last five years (2004-2008) these same two registers again had the lowest and highest incidence, but rates had increased to 5.8 per 100,000 and 36.6 per 100,000, respectively. During the 20 year period all but two of the 21 registers showed statistically significant rates of increase (median rate of increase 4% per annum), and similar figures were obtained when this median rate of increase was estimated for the first half of the period (1989-98) and for the second half (1999-2008) . However, rates of increase differed significantly between the first half and the second half of the period for eight of the 17 registers with adequate coverage of both periods; four registers showing significantly higher rates of increase in the first half and four significantly higher rates in the second half.
Conclusion: The childhood type 1 diabetes incidence rate continues to rise across Europe by approximately 4% per annum, but the increase within a register is not necessarily uniform with periods of less rapid and more rapid increase in incidence occurring in some registers. This pattern of change suggests that important risk exposures differ over time in different European countries. Further time trend analysis and comparison of the patterns in defined regions are warranted.

Socio-political context and accounts of national identity in adolescence

Psychological research into national identity has considered both the banal quality of nationalism alongside the active, strategic construction of national categories and boundaries. Less attention has been paid to the conflict between these processes for those whose claims to national identity may be problematic. In the present study, focus groups were conducted with 36 Roman Catholic adolescents living in border regions of Ireland, in which participants were asked to talk about their own and others’ Irish national identity. Discursive analysis of the data revealed that those in the Republic of Ireland strategically displayed their national identity as obvious and ‘banal’, while those in Northern Ireland proactively claimed their Irishness. Moreover, those in Northern Ireland displayed an assumption that their fellow Irish in the Republic shared their imperative to assert national identity, while those in the Republic actively distanced themselves from this version of Irishness. These results suggest that for dominant ethnic groups, ‘banality’ may itself provide a marker of national identity while paradoxically the proactive display of national identity undermines minority groups claims to national identity.

The effect of hypobaric hypoxia on misonidazole binding in normal and tumour-bearing mice

The effect of hypobaric hypoxia on the in vivo binding of misonidazole was investigated in normal mice and mice bearing T50/80 or CA NT mammary carcinomas. After the intraperitoneal injection of radiolabelled misonidazole, mice were randomised to breathe either room air or air at 0.5 atmospheres. The distribution of misonidazole in liver, kidney, heart, spleen and tumour tissue, 24 h later, was studied by scintillation counting and by autoradiography. Significantly higher misonidazole binding occurred in the livers (x2.5), kidneys (x2.4), spleens (x2.9) and hearts (x1.8) of hypoxic mice compared to controls. Hypobaric hypoxia was associated with a greater than four-fold increase in misonidazole binding within T50/80 tumours. However, significantly higher binding was not demonstrated within CA NT tumours after exposure of tumour-bearing animals to hypoxic conditions. In autoradiographs of hypoxic liver, labelling was intense in regions near to hepatic veins but sparse in areas surrounding portal tracts. This pattern was striking and consistent. In hypoxic kidney, labelling was most intense over tubular cells, less intense over glomeruli and sparse in the renal medulla. It is likely that the hepatic and renal cortical distributions of misonidazole binding reflect local oxygen gradients.

The neurodevelopmental progress of infants less than 33 weeks into adolescence

Background: Several studies have shown an increased incidence of neurodevelopmental impairment in very preterm survivors at school age compared with controls.

Aim: To compare findings in the same cohort at 8 years and 15 years.

Methods: A total of 151 of the 224 eligible infants born before 33 weeks of gestation from 1979 to 1982, and who were living in the UK, were assessed at 8 and 15 years. Items common to both assessments were compared to evaluate changes in neurodevelopmental function. The assessment included a structured neurological examination, psychometric tests using the WISC-R (in subjects born in 1981-82), a test of visuomotor integration (Beery), and a school questionnaire.

Results: There was a significant increase in the proportion of subjects classified as impaired with disability from 11% at 8 to 22% at 14-15 years of age. The proportion of subjects classified as impaired without disability increased from 16% at 8 to 26% at 14-15 years of age. Full scale IQ decreased from 104 to 95 from childhood to adolescence, and more adolescents (24%) were requiring extra educational provision than they had at the age of 8 years (15%).

Conclusion: Results indicate that between the ages of 8 and 15 years in this cohort of very preterm survivors there is an apparent deterioration in neurodevelopmental outcome category, cognitive function, and extra educational support. It is not clear whether this represents a genuine deterioration in neurocognitive function or whether it represents the expression of pre-existing cerebral pathology in an increasingly complex environment.

Decontextualised Minds: Adolescents with Autism are Less Susceptible to the Conjunction Fallacy than Typically Developing Adolescents

The conjunction fallacy has been cited as a classic example of the automatic contextualisation of problems. In two experiments we compared the performance of autistic and typically developing adolescents on a set of conjunction fallacy tasks. Participants with autism were less susceptible to the conjunction fallacy. Experiment 2 also demonstrated that the difference between the groups did not result from increased sensitivity to the conjunction rule, or from impaired processing of social materials amongst the autistic participants. Although adolescents with autism showed less bias in their reasoning they were not more logical than the control group in a normative sense. The findings are discussed in the light of accounts which emphasise differences in contextual processing between typical and autistic populations.

Arguing with Regions

An analytical survey of how regions have entered into the arguments of the
social sciences serves to highlight the uses and limitations of different understandings of regions and their various theoretical biases. It also provides a way of introducing the articles in the rest of this special issue. It considers how regions have come to be used as a classificatory device across the social sciences, discusses the various meanings given to regions in empirical research, and examines the main philosophical and theoretical controversies that have been sparked by their use. Matching regions to purpose and avoiding a singular conception of ‘region’ that claims to fit all arguments are the main conclusions.

International Projects and Cross-Cultural Adjustment of British Expatriates in Middle East: A Qualitative Investigation of Influencing Factors

Increased globalisation within the British AEC (Architectural, Engineering and Construction) sector has increased the need for companies to transfer staff to manage their overseas operations. To be able to perform abroad, expatriates must harmonise themselves to the conditions prevailing in the host country. These include getting accustomed to living, working and interacting with the host country nationals. The process is commonly referred to as 'cross-cultural adjustment'. Various factors influence the process of adjustment. In order to identify these issues, a qualitative study was undertaken, which mainly comprised of comprehensive literature review, individual interviews and focus group discussion with British expatriates working on international AEC assignments in Middle Eastern countries. Through interpretative approach, the current study aims to understand the concept of cross-cultural adjustment of British Expatriates based in Middle East and their influencing factors.

The findings suggest that success of expatriation does not entirely rest on an expatriate's ability but also on organisational support and assistance that expatriates receive prior to and during the assignment. Organisational factors such as selection mechanisms, job design, training, logistical and social support, mentoring, etc., influence various facets of expatriate adjustment. Striking cultural contrasts between British and Arab culture both in work and non work situations also dictate the level of support required by the expatriate, suggesting that relocation to less developed, remote or politically unstable regions, demands additional support and consideration by the parent company. This study is relevant to the AEC companies employing British expatriates, who need to be cognisant of the issues highlighted above to make rational and informed decisions when handling international assignments in the Middle East.

Weathering in Arid Regions

Many misconceptions exist regarding weathering in arid regions. Chief among these are assumptions that physical processes dominate and are not very effective because of a perceived lack of moisture. This chapter explores the factors that combine to make weathering in arid regions spatially and temporally complex, reflecting the range of surface microenvironmental conditions. Because of desert landscape complexity, attempts at interpreting weathered features must take into account the long-term history of rock outcrops and debris that mantle them, as most desert landscapes contain legacies of weathering forms and products, which were developed when moisture was more readily available in the past.

Double-detonation sub-Chandrasekhar supernovae: Synthetic observables for minimum helium shell mass models

In the double-detonation scenario for Type Ia supernovae, it is suggested that a detonation initiates in a shell of helium-rich material accreted from a companion star by a sub-Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarf. This shell detonation drives a shock front into the carbon-oxygen white dwarf that triggers a secondary detonation in the core. The core detonation results in a complete disruption of the white dwarf. Earlier studies concluded that this scenario has difficulties in accounting for the observed properties of Type Ia supernovae since the explosion ejecta are surrounded by the products of explosive helium burning in the shell. Recently, however, it was proposed that detonations might be possible for much less massive helium shells than previously assumed (Bildsten et al.). Moreover, it was shown that even detonations of these minimum helium shell masses robustly trigger detonations of the carbon-oxygen core (Fink et al.). Therefore, it is possible that the impact of the helium layer on observables is less than previously thought. Here, we present time-dependent multi-wavelength radiative transfer calculations for models with minimum helium shell mass and derive synthetic observables for both the optical and ? -ray spectral regions. These differ strongly from those found in earlier simulations of sub-Chandrasekhar-mass explosions in which more massive helium shells were considered. Our models predict light curves that cover both the range of brightnesses and the rise and decline times of observed Type Ia supernovae. However, their colors and spectra do not match the observations. In particular, their B - V colors are generally too red. We show that this discrepancy is mainly due to the composition of the burning products of the helium shell of the Fink et al. models which contain significant amounts of titanium and chromium. Using a toy model, we also show that the burning products of the helium shell depend crucially on its initial composition. This leads us to conclude that good agreement between sub-Chandrasekhar-mass explosions and observed Type Ia supernovae may still be feasible but further study of the shell properties is required.

Magnetic field suppression in collision-less shocks generated during the expansion of a dense plasma into a rarefied medium

A two-dimensional numerical study of the expansion of a dense plasma through a more rarefied one is reported. The electrostatic ion-acoustic shock, which is generated during the expansion, accelerates the electrons of the rarefied plasma inducing a superthermal population which reduces electron thermal anisotropy. The Weibel instability is therefore not triggered and no self-generated magnetic fields are observed, in contrast with published theoretical results dealing with plasma expansion into vacuum. © The Author(s) 2013.

The effects of new topical treatments on management of glaucoma in Scotland:An examination of ophthalmological health care

Background: The management of glaucoma has been changed in the past decade by the introduction of new drugs. The impact of these changes on clinical care of patients was examined by examining operation and prescribing rates for glaucoma in four geographical areas of Scotland for the years 1994 to 1999. Methods: A retrospective analysis of national health statistics: primary care prescribing data, hospital derived operation rates, consultant numbers, optometrist numbers, and eye test data, expressed by estimated population at risk of glaucoma. The outcome measures were prescribing volume and cost for glaucoma medications, and operation rates, corrected for population estimated to be at risk of glaucoma (PEG), for trabeculectomy, for Scotland as a whole, and for four geographical "regions" (north east, south east, central, and south west Scotland). Results: Prescribed items per 1000 population estimated to have glaucoma (PEG) increased by 24.9% between 1994 and 1999. This was above the general increase in prescribing in Scotland (17.8%). This increase varied in the four health regions evaluated (14.3% to 31.9%). Prescribing of topical ß blockers increased little (6.4%), but there was a large increase in the use of new products (topical prostaglandins, carbonic anhydrase inhibitors, and a agonists), at the expense of miotics (47.7% fall), and older sympathomimetics. This change in prescribing pattern was accompanied by a 61.5% increase in cost (range 42.2% to 73.4% in the four regions). New drugs accounted for more than half of total glaucoma expenditure in 1999. Operation rates (corrected for PEG) fell by 45.9% (range 43.1 to 58.6%) between 1994 and 1999. Other indicators suggested increased activity in ophthalmic areas (for example, cataract operations, eye tests, numbers of optometrists and ophthalmic surgeons all increased). Within north east Scotland operation rates decreased and prescribing increased less than in other regions, both from lowest regional baseline in 1994. Conclusions: The introduction of new drug classes has had dramatic effects on the prescribing of glaucoma treatments. There has been a decline in older treatments and an increase in new agents, which has been associated with a large reduction in operation rates for glaucoma in Scotland over 6 years. Comparison of prescribing and operation data indicates regional differences in healthcare delivery for glaucoma.

Improving the Fuel Economy of a Tuned 600cc FSAE Engine

To maintain its relevance, motorsport cannot be exempt from
the trend of increasing fuel economy. This bears obvious
competitive benefits as well, either in decreasing the
frequency of pit stops or the mass of fuel carried. Given the
increased points weighting of fuel economy for the Formula
Student (FS) competition, a complete analysis was performed
on the Queen's Formula Racing 600cc motorcycle engine in
preparation for the 2011 competition.
The criteria for such high performance fuel economy differ to
a degree from most mass transportation counterparts and were
divided into three distinct regimes; full load, part load and no
load conditions.
Full load positions naturally demand maximum torque for
performance but that does not imply that fuel savings cannot
be made whilst preserving this. The point at which maximum
torque is produced with minimum air -fuel ratio, Leanest
mixture for Best Torque (LBT), was therefore sought and
mapped for full load.
At part load, torque is less of a concern, and maintaining a
sustainable engine temperature and transient response become
more important. With decreasing AFR, engine temperatures
can rise dramatically so temperatures were measured close to
the exhaust port for a wide range of air-fuel ratios.
Competition track data was analysed to highlight key part load
operating regions and these were mapped according to
measured safe temperature limits. Torque response to a step
throttle change was also measured to ensure suitable engine
transient performance was maintained.
At no load conditions, with low engine speed only idle
conditions need to be satisfied. In the situation where the
engine is still at high speed without load, the engine is being
motored and no fuel is required. An overrun fuel cut was
employed to reflect this giving significant fuel savings. The
effect on torque and engine pickup was measured.
Modifications were also made to the fuel injector location to
improve fuel mixing and evaporation at this lower air flow
condition.
These mapping regimes were implemented and tested using
fully transient lap simulations using competition track data
and a four quadrant AC engine dynamometer. The experiment
indicated a reduction in fuel consumption for 22 laps of the FS
track from 5.08litres to 3.67litres, around 27% in total. The
actual fuel used at the 2011 competition was 3.6 litres while
placing 8th in the endurance event, further validating the
benefits of these mapping regimes.

LINEAR ACCELERATION EMISSION IN PULSAR MAGNETOSPHERES

Linear acceleration emission occurs when a charged particle is accelerated parallel to its velocity. We evaluate the spectral and angular distribution of this radiation for several special cases, including constant acceleration (hyperbolic motion) of finite duration. Based on these results, we find the following general properties of the emission from an electron in a linear accelerator that can be characterized by an electric field E acting over a distance L: (1) the spectrum extends to a cutoff frequency (h) over bar omega(c)/mc(2) approximate to L(E/E(Schw))(2)/(lambda) over bar (C), where E(Schw) = 1.3 x 10(18) V m(-1) is the Schwinger critical field and (lambda) over bar (C) = (h) over bar /mc = 3.86 x 10(-13) m is the Compton wavelength of the electron, (2) the total energy emitted by a particle traversing the accelerator is 4/3 alpha(f)(h) over bar omega(c) in accordance with the standard Larmor formula where alpha(f) is the fine-structure constant, and (3) the low frequency spectrum is flat for hyperbolic trajectories, but in general depends on the details of the accelerator. We also show that linear acceleration emission complements curvature radiation in the strongly magnetized pair formation regions in pulsar magnetospheres. It dominates when the length L of the accelerator is less than the formation length rho/gamma of curvature photons, where rho is the radius of curvature of the magnetic field lines and gamma the Lorentz factor of the emitting particle. In standard static models of pair creating regions linear acceleration emission is negligible, but it is important in more realistic dynamical models in which the accelerating field fluctuates on a short length scale.