Evaluation of a VNA-based Material Characterization Kit at Frequencies from 0.75 THz to 1.1 THz

This paper describes an initial assessment of a commercially available THz material characterization kit (MCK). The assessment is based on the measurement of several material samples. The MCK comprises two conical waveguide horn transitions and two sections of low-loss corrugated waveguide. A gap between the two corrugated waveguides allows the material samples to be inserted into the system during measurement. The MCK is attached to a THz Vector Network Analyzer (VNA), which measures S-parameters, in the frequency domain, of a material under test (MUT). A computer-based algorithm employing an iterative calculation derives values for material parameters (e.g. permittivity) from the measured S-parameters of the MUT. A MCK has been evaluated over the frequency range 0.75 THz to 1.1 THz, to assess the plausibility of results that can be obtained using such a technique. Two VNAs utilizing frequency extender heads were used for the investigation, with measurements being made with reference to a range of different calibration techniques and different calibration standards. Whilst some of the results obtained look reasonable, a significant proportion of the results were either difficult to interpret or showed inexplicable (i.e. non-physical) behavior. This indicates that much work is still needed before this technique can be used routinely for the measurement of material parameters at these very high frequencies

Financial Benefits Review: Transformation Challenge Award programme, Essex County Council

This is an Interim Financial Benefits Review (FBR) for projects that have been funded by the Transformation Challenge Award (TCA) and are being delivered by Essex Partners. The review only covers those projects funded by the TCA that have financial benefits associated with them in the initial proposal of work. The projects in scope included the Domestic Abuse Housing Database, the Domestic Abuse in Health – IDVA project, the Parish Safety Volunteers, the Social Prescription and the Essex Data: Program. This report aimed at producing a clear model of how cashable benefits of £27.5 million over 10 years will be delivered, or a revision of expectations if necessary and to recommend actions to employ with respect to financial benefits delivery in future service provision based on lessons learnt

Options Paper, Transformation Challenge Award (TCA) Programme Evaluation

This paper sets out possible next steps in response to the Interim Financial Benefits Review (FBR) of the Transformation Challenge Award (TCA) funded projects submitted on the 13/09/2017 and presents options for action to address the recommendations of the report

Carotid endarterectomy in the U.K. and Ireland: Audit of 30-day outcome

Objectives and Design:A prospective study of 709 patients undergoing carotid surgery in the U.K. and Ireland was performed to evaluate the performance of vascular surgeons.Materials and Methods:Fifty-nine surgeons (range 2–39 cases each) were sampled and all patients undergoing surgery over a 6-month period (1 March 1994–31 August 1994) were included in the study. Indications for surgery were TIA (35.9%), AF (23.3%), CVA (21.4%) and “others” (19.6%).Results:Mean ipsilateral stenosis was 82% (30%–99%). Thirty-one percent of patients had preoperative neurological consults. Shunts were used in 67.6%, tacking sutures in 40.1%, drains in 71.9% and patches in 54.4% of cases. At 30 days there were nine (1.3%) deaths (four cardiac, three neurological). There were 15 ipsilateral postoperative CVAs (2.1%); 19% of patients had one or more complication, usually minor. Statistical analysis showed no independent risk factor for CVA other than seniority of the surgeon.Conclusions:A combined stroke/death rate of 3% for the series was obtained at 30 days for all cases. This large, validated study suggests that members of the Vascular Society of G.B. and Ireland currently have a very low morbidity/mortality rate for performing carotid surgery. Continued audit is required to ensure that this quality of service does not deteriorate

C9orf72 repeat expansions cause neurodegeneration in Drosophila through arginine-rich proteins

An expanded GGGGCC repeat in C9orf72 is the most common genetic cause of frontotemporal dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. A fundamental question is whether toxicity is driven by the repeat RNA itself and/or by dipeptide repeat proteins generated by repeat-associated, non-ATG translation. To address this question we developed in vitro and in vivo models to dissect repeat RNA and dipeptide repeat protein toxicity. Expression of pure repeats in Drosophila caused adult-onset neurodegeneration attributable to poly-(glycine-arginine) proteins. Thus, expanded repeats promoted neurodegeneration through neurotoxic proteins. Expression of individual dipeptide repeat proteins with a non-GGGGCC RNA sequence showed both poly-(glycine-arginine) and poly-(proline-arginine) proteins caused neurodegeneration. These findings are consistent with a dual toxicity mechanism, whereby both arginine-rich proteins and repeat RNA contribute to C9orf72-mediated neurodegeneration

Low temperature decreases bone mass in mice: Implications for humans

ObjectivesHumans exhibit significant ecogeographic variation in bone size and shape. However, it is unclear how significantly environmental temperature influences cortical and trabecular bone, making it difficult to recognize adaptation versus acclimatization in past populations. There is some evidence that cold‐induced bone loss results from sympathetic nervous system activation and can be reduced by nonshivering thermogenesis (NST) via uncoupling protein (UCP1) in brown adipose tissue (BAT). Here we test two hypotheses: (1) low temperature induces impaired cortical and trabecular bone acquisition and (2) UCP1, a marker of NST in BAT, increases in proportion to degree of low‐temperature exposure.MethodsWe housed wildtype C57BL/6J male mice in pairs at 26 °C (thermoneutrality), 22 °C (standard), and 20 °C (cool) from 3 weeks to 6 or 12 weeks of age with access to food and water ad libitum (N = 8/group).ResultsCool housed mice ate more but had lower body fat at 20 °C versus 26 °C. Mice at 20 °C had markedly lower distal femur trabecular bone volume fraction, thickness, and connectivity density and lower midshaft femur cortical bone area fraction versus mice at 26 °C (p < .05 for all). UCP1 expression in BAT was inversely related to temperature.DiscussionThese results support the hypothesis that low temperature was detrimental to bone mass acquisition. Nonshivering thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue increased in proportion to low‐temperature exposure but was insufficient to prevent bone loss. These data show that chronic exposure to low temperature impairs bone architecture, suggesting climate may contribute to phenotypic variation in humans and other hominins.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146428/1/ajpa23684.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146428/2/ajpa23684_am.pd

Pasture Feeding in Late Pregnancy Does Not Improve the Performance of Twin-bearing Ewes and Their Lambs

The present study evaluated the effect of controlled ryegrass-white clover herbage availability from day 128 until day 142 of pregnancy in comparison to unrestricted availability, on the performance of twin-bearing ewes of varying body condition score (BCS; 2.0, 2.5, or 3.0) and their lambs. It was hypothesised that under conditions of controlled herbage availability, the performance of lambs born to ewes with a greater BCS would be greater than those born to ewes with a lower BCS. During the period that the nutritional regimens were imposed, the pre- and post-grazing herbage masses of the Control regimen (1,070±69 and 801±30 kg dry matter [DM]/ha) were lower than the ad libitum regimen (1,784±69 and 1,333±33 kg DM/ha; p0.05). The difference in ewe BCSs and back fats observed among body condition groups was maintained throughout pregnancy (p0.05). Ewe BCS group had no effect on lamb live weight at birth or weaning or on maximal heat production (p>0.05). Serum gamma glutamyl transferase concentrations of lambs born to BCS3.0 ewes were higher within 36 hours of birth than lambs born to BCS2.0 ewes and BCS2.5 ewes (51.8±1.9 vs 46.5±1.9 and 45.6±1.9 IU/mL, respectively [p0.05). Lamb survival was the only lamb parameter that showed an interaction between ewe nutritional regimen and ewe BCS whereby survival of lambs born to BCS2.5 and BCS3.0 ewes differed but only within the Control nutritional regimen ewes (p<0.05). These results indicate farmers can provide twin-bearing ewes with pre- and post-grazing ryegrass-white clover herbage covers of approximately 1,100 and 800 kg DM/ha in late pregnancy, provided that herbage covers are 1400 in lactation, without affecting lamb performance to weaning. The present results also indicate that under these grazing conditions, there is little difference in ewe performance within the BCS range of 2.0 to 3.0 and therefore they do not need to be managed separately

Segmentation of epidermal tissue with histopathological damage in images of haematoxylin and eosin stained human skin.

Background: Digital image analysis has the potential to address issues surrounding traditional histological techniques including a lack of objectivity and high variability, through the application of quantitative analysis. A key initial step in image analysis is the identification of regions of interest. A widely applied methodology is that of segmentation. This paper proposes the application of image analysis techniques to segment skin tissue with varying degrees of histopathological damage. The segmentation of human tissue is challenging as a consequence of the complexity of the tissue structures and inconsistencies in tissue preparation, hence there is a need for a new robust method with the capability to handle the additional challenges materialising from histopathological damage.Methods: A new algorithm has been developed which combines enhanced colour information, created following a transformation to the L*a*b* colourspace, with general image intensity information. A colour normalisation step is included to enhance the algorithm's robustness to variations in the lighting and staining of the input images. The resulting optimised image is subjected to thresholding and the segmentation is fine-tuned using a combination of morphological processing and object classification rules. The segmentation algorithm was tested on 40 digital images of haematoxylin & eosin (H&E) stained skin biopsies. Accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of the algorithmic procedure were assessed through the comparison of the proposed methodology against manual methods.Results: Experimental results show the proposed fully automated methodology segments the epidermis with a mean specificity of 97.7%, a mean sensitivity of 89.4% and a mean accuracy of 96.5%. When a simple user interaction step is included, the specificity increases to 98.0%, the sensitivity to 91.0% and the accuracy to 96.8%. The algorithm segments effectively for different severities of tissue damage.Conclusions: Epidermal segmentation is a crucial first step in a range of applications including melanoma detection and the assessment of histopathological damage in skin. The proposed methodology is able to segment the epidermis with different levels of histological damage. The basic method framework could be applied to segmentation of other epithelial tissues

UNDERSTANDING HOW FARMERS LEARN

SUMMARY Changing the behaviour of people is challenging; changing farmer behaviour is possibly even more so. The evidence presented here suggests that a number of widely-used farmer communication methods are poorly thought of by farmers. Information received by farmers from other farmers was regarded as useful, and this information was regarded as being more useful than that from a number of rural professionals. Those wishing to change farmer behaviour need to: invest time to gain trust; involve farmers in the process of learning; use multiple methods to teach and encourage farmers to talk with each other and scientists in a learning community. INTRODUCTION The current New Zealand Government expects the New Zealand scientific community to improve the rate of uptake of new knowledge by businesses and thereby improve the New Zealand economy. Similarly, Centres of Research Excellence funded by the Tertiary Education Commission are expected to show how they will translate new knowledge into improved community benefit, and the recent Primary Growth Partnership granted to Beef + Lamb New Zealand (the farmer-owned industry organisation representing New Zealand&apos;s sheep and beef farmers) aims to improve access to information by farmers. However, the rate at which behaviour change by business owners is driven through the provision of new scientific evidence is variable and this is particularly so in the agricultural sector. Indeed, This paper reports on a pilot farmer learning project and a survey of New Zealand sheep farmer opinion with the intent to show how farmers go about learning new technologies, including how they like to receive information and who farmers perceive as providing useful information