Simplified, combined protocol for acute malnutrition in children 6-59 months : the ComPAS randomized controlled trial

Background: Children 6-59 months with uncomplicated severe and moderate acute malnutrition (SAM and MAM) are treated in separate programs with different food products. The aim of this research was to generate evidence on a simplified, combined SAM and MAM approach, using a mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC)-based dosage protocol. Methods: An analysis of routine program data of 5,518 children from five countries estimated the energy requirements of children recovering from acute malnutrition to develop a MUAC-based combined protocol. A cluster-randomized controlled trial in Kenya and South Sudan tested if the combined protocol was as effective at recovering children but more cost-effective than standard treatment. A secondary analysis explored outcomes in children with low weight-for-age (WAZ <-3.0) and/or MUAC <11.5 cm. Results: In the routine program analysis, energy requirements for children with a MUAC <12.5 cm could be met or exceeded by 1,000 kcal/day. In the trial, 2,488 children completed treatment; 981 (76.3%) on the combined protocol and 884 (73.5%) on the standard protocol recovered. The combined protocol was non-inferior to standard treatment at a 10% non-inferiority margin, with a risk difference of 0.03 (95% CI -0.05 to 0.10, p=0.52) in per-protocol analysis, adjusted for country, age and sex. The amount of ready-to-use food to fully recover a child admitted with SAM was less in the combined protocol (122 versus 193 sachets), and the combined protocol cost $123 less per child recovered ($918 vs 1,041). Children with a WAZ <-3.0 or a MUAC <11.5 cm respond similarly to the combined protocol or standard treatment. Conclusion: A simplified, combined protocol for SAM and MAM achieves similar recovery as standard treatment and improves cost-effectiveness. Improving cost-effectiveness may enable health programs to treat more children. Adding WAZ <-3 as an admission criterion to simplified programs may help target high-risk children who benefit from treatment

Observation of liquid–liquid phase transitions in ethane at 300 K

We have conducted Raman spectroscopy experiments on liquid ethane (C2H6) at 300 K, obtaining a large amount of data at very high resolution. This has enabled the observation of Raman peaks expected but not previously observed in liquid ethane and a detailed experimental study of the liquid that was not previously possible. We have observed a transition between rigid and nonrigid liquid states in liquid ethane at ca. 250 MPa corresponding to the recently proposed Frenkel line, a dynamic transition between rigid liquid (liquidlike) and nonrigid liquid (gaslike) states beginning in the subcritical region and extending to arbitrarily high pressure and temperature. The observation of this transition in liquid (subcritical) ethane allows a clear differentiation to be made between the Frenkel line (beginning in the subcritical region at higher density than the boiling line) and the Widom lines (emanating from the critical point and not existing in the subcritical region). Furthermore, we observe a narrow transition at ca. 1000 MPa to a second rigid liquid state. We propose that this corresponds to a state in which orientational order must exist to achieve the expected density and can view the transition in analogy to the transition in the solid state away from the orientationally disordered phase I to the orientationally ordered phases II and III

Fermentation kinetics including product and substrate inhibitions plus biomass death: a mathematical analysis

Fermentation is generally modelled by kinetic equations giving the time evolutions for biomass, substrate, and product concentrations. Although these equations can be solved analytically in simple cases if substrate/product inhibition and biomass death are included, they are typically solved numerically. We propose an analytical treatment of the kinetic equations --including cell death and an arbitrary number of inhibitions-- in which constant yield needs not be assumed. Equations are solved in phase space, i.e. the biomass concentration is written explicitly as a function of the substrate concentration.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Biodegradation of the Alkaline Cellulose Degradation Products Generated during Radioactive Waste Disposal.

The anoxic, alkaline hydrolysis of cellulosic materials generates a range of cellulose degradation products (CDP) including α and β forms of isosaccharinic acid (ISA) and is expected to occur in radioactive waste disposal sites receiving intermediate level radioactive wastes. The generation of ISA's is of particular relevance to the disposal of these wastes since they are able to form complexes with radioelements such as Pu enhancing their migration. This study demonstrates that microbial communities present in near-surface anoxic sediments are able to degrade CDP including both forms of ISA via iron reduction, sulphate reduction and methanogenesis, without any prior exposure to these substrates. No significant difference (n = 6, p = 0.118) in α and β ISA degradation rates were seen under either iron reducing, sulphate reducing or methanogenic conditions, giving an overall mean degradation rate of 4.7×10−2 hr−1 (SE±2.9×10−3). These results suggest that a radioactive waste disposal site is likely to be colonised by organisms able to degrade CDP and associated ISA's during the construction and operational phase of the facility

A genome-wide study of Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium with next generation sequence data

Statistical tests for Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium have been an important tool for detecting genotyping errors in the past, and remain important in the quality control of next generation sequence data. In this paper, we analyze complete chromosomes of the 1000 genomes project by using exact test procedures for autosomal and X-chromosomal variants. We find that the rate of disequilibrium largely exceeds what might be expected by chance alone for all chromosomes. Observed disequilibrium is, in about 60% of the cases, due to heterozygote excess. We suggest that most excess disequilibrium can be explained by sequencing problems, and hypothesize mechanisms that can explain exceptional heterozygosities. We report higher rates of disequilibrium for the MHC region on chromosome 6, regions flanking centromeres and p-arms of acrocentric chromosomes. We also detected long-range haplotypes and areas with incidental high disequilibrium. We report disequilibrium to be related to read depth, with variants having extreme read depths being more likely to be out of equilibrium. Disequilibrium rates were found to be 11 times higher in segmental duplications and simple tandem repeat regions. The variants with significant disequilibrium are seen to be concentrated in these areas. For next generation sequence data, Hardy–Weinberg disequilibrium seems to be a major indicator for copy number variation.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Why Um Helps Auditory Word Recognition: The Temporal Delay Hypothesis

Several studies suggest that speech understanding can sometimes benefit from the presence of filled pauses (uh, um, and the like), and that words following such filled pauses are recognised more quickly. Three experiments examined whether this is because filled pauses serve to delay the onset of upcoming words and these delays facilitate auditory word recognition, or whether the fillers themselves serve to signal upcoming delays in a way which informs listeners' reactions. Participants viewed pairs of images on a computer screen, and followed recorded instructions to press buttons corresponding to either an easy (unmanipulated, with a high-frequency name) or a difficult (visually blurred, low-frequency) image. In all three experiments, participants were faster to respond to easy images. In 50% of trials in each experiment, the name of the image was directly preceded by a delay; in the remaining trials an equivalent delay was included earlier in the instruction. Participants were quicker to respond when a name was directly preceded by a delay, regardless of whether this delay was filled with a spoken um, was silent, or contained an artificial tone. This effect did not interact with the effect of image difficulty, nor did it change over the course of each experiment. Taken together, our consistent finding that delays of any kind help word recognition indicates that natural delays such as fillers need not be seen as ‘signals’ to explain the benefits they have to listeners' ability to recognise and respond to the words which follow them

Morphology, fluid Motion and Predation by the Scyphomedusa Aurelia Aurita

Although medusan predators play demonstrably important roles in a variety of marine ecosystems, the mechanics of prey capture and, hence, prey selection, have remained poorly defined. A review of the literature describing the commonly studied medusa Aurelia aurita (Linnaeus 1758) reveals no distinct patterns of prey selectivity and suggests that A. aurita is a generalist and feeds unselectively upon available zooplankton. We examined the mechanics of prey capture by A. aurita using video methods to record body and fluid motions. Medusae were collected between February and June in 1990 and 1991 from Woods Hole, Massachusetts and Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, USA. Tentaculate A. aurita create fluid motions during swimming which entrain prey and bring them into contact with tentacles. We suggest that this mechanism dominates prey selection by A. aurita. In this case, we predict that medusae of a specific diameter will positively select prey with escape speeds slower than the flow velocities at their bell margins. Negatively selected prey escape faster than the medusan flow velocity draws them to capture surfaces. Faster prey will be captured by larger medusac because flow field velocity is a function of bell diameter. On the basis of prey escape velocities and flow field velocities of A. aurita with diameters of 0.8 to 7.1 cm, we predict that A. aurita will select zooplankton such as barnacle nauplii and some slow swimming hydromedusae, while faster copepods will be negatively selected

User acceptance of SaaS ERP considering perceived risk, system performance and cost

The use of cloud solution to support ERP system has become the priority of many organizations to stay competitive in the current global world. This research will be focusing on the user acceptance of SaaS ERP (SAP ByDesign) in a global construction tool provider considering perceived risk, cost and system performance. Due to many unique variables, the purpose of this research is to analyze and investigate issues related to acceptance of SaaS in the construction tool provider companies. The results of this research can help both organizations and researchers to build a fundamental level on understanding how these factors that can predict the user acceptance of SaaS ERP in a global construction tool provider company which significantly beneficial. 80 users ranging from executive and higher management level globally were targeted. SAS Enterprise Guide 5.1 was used to analyze respondents' data and SAS dataset was then run by SAS Enterprise Guide 5.1 to produce descriptive analysis, Cronbach alpha, factor analysis and PLS-SEM will be used to analyses the responses and each hypothesis will be tested based on the data consolidated. Lastly, Partial Least Square- SEM will be performed to summarize and give an analysis of the research model propose