Water Requirements on the Journey Through Mordor

This paper considers the water requirements of the two hobbits, Frodo and Sam, on their journey through Mordor to Mount Doom. The number of kcal expended per day are calculated and from this the water requirement in litres is found. The ability of the hobbits to carry their water is investigated and the conclusion is reached that they would not have had the strength to carry all the water necessary for their needs

The Miraculous Survival of Nicholas Alkemade

This paper discusses the fall of Flight Sergeant Nicholas Alkemade from a height of 18,000ft during the Second World War.  It uses simple mechanical models to see whether such a fall was in fact possible and comes to the surprising conclusion that it may have been possible to survive the fall.  However this conclusion depends on the analysis of what happened when the airman hit the trees, where certain values i.e. the spring constant of a pine tree branch, are uncertain. 

Measuring food preference and reward: application and cross-cultural adaptation of the leeds food preference questionnaire in human experimental research

Decisions about what we eat play a central role in human appetite and energy balance. Measuring food reward and its underlying components of implicit motivation (wanting) and explicit sensory pleasure (liking) is therefore important in understanding which foods are preferred in a given context and at a given moment in time. Among the different methods used to measure food reward, the Leeds Food Preference Questionnaire (LFPQ) is a well-established tool that has been widely used in the scientific field for over 10 years. The original LFPQ measures explicit liking and implicit wanting for the same visual food stimuli varying along two nutritional dimensions: fat (high or low) and taste (sweet or savoury/non-sweet). With increasing use of the LFPQ (in original or adapted forms) across different cultural and scientific contexts, there is a need for a set of recommendations for effective execution as well as cultural and nutritional adaptations of the tool. This paper aims to describe the current status of the LFPQ for researchers new to the methodology, and to provide standards of good practice that can be adopted for its cultural adaptation and use in the laboratory or clinic. This paper details procedures for the creation and validation of appropriate food stimuli; implementation of the tool for sensitive measures of food reward; and interpretation of the main end-points of the LFPQ. Following these steps will facilitate comparisons of findings between studies and lead to a better understanding of the role of food reward in human eating behaviour

What and how can we learn from complex global problems for antimicrobial resistance policy? A comparative study combining historical and foresight approaches

Objectives: To (i) develop a methodology for using historical and comparative perspectives to inform policy and (ii) provide evidence for antimicrobial-resistance (AMR) policymaking by drawing on lessons from climate change and tobacco control. Methods: Using a qualitative design, we systematically examined two other complex, large-scale policy issues—climate change and tobacco control—to identify what relevance to AMR can be learned from how these issues have evolved over time. During 2018–2020, we employed a five-stage approach to conducting an exploratory study involving a review of secondary historical analysis, identification of drivers of change, prioritisation of the identified drivers, scenario generation and elicitation of possible policy responses. We sought to disrupt more ‘traditional’ policy and research spaces to create an alternative where, stimulated by historical analysis, academics (including historians) and policymakers could come together to challenge norms and practices and think creatively about AMR policy design. Results: An iterative process of analysis and engagement resulted in lessons for AMR policy concerning persistent evidence gaps and uncertainty, the need for cross-sector involvement and a collective effort through global governance, the demand for new interventions through more investment in research and innovation, and recognising the dynamic relationship between social change and policy to change people's attitudes and behaviours are crucial towards tackling AMR. Conclusion: We draw on new methodological lessons around the pragmatism of future- and policy-oriented approaches incorporating robust historical and comparative analysis. The study demonstrates proof of concept and offers a reproducible method to advance further methodology, including transferrable policies that could tackle health problems, such as AMR

Approaches to working with children and families: a review of the evidence for practice

This paper explores a range of approaches to working with children and families within Children's Services and Children's Social Care, in a UK local authority context. There are a variety of established approaches, supported by different concepts and theories. Given the substantial recent and developing changes in the political, social and economic context for supporting families in need, collating academic and practical evidence to inform both theory and decision making is vital. The article has a practice focus for Children's Services, but it is also relevant and has implications for a much wider readership. Evidence was gathered through a purposive and rapid review, and aggregated with practice evidence from various sources. An array of issues is considered relating to the context, theory, application, implementation and evaluation of taking one or several approaches. Overall, there is a very limited evidentiary basis, either from research or local authority practice, for adopting any one, wholesale approach to working with children and families in a local authority context over another, but there is emerging evidence of the benefits that certain models and approaches could have, and anecdotally the decision to adopt one formal model appears to be increasing

Semantic Knowledge Influences Prewired Hedonic Responses to Odors

Background Odor hedonic perception relies on decoding the physicochemical properties of odorant molecules and can be influenced in humans by semantic knowledge. The effect of semantic knowledge on such prewired hedonic processing over the life span has remained unclear. Methodology/Principal Findings The present study measured hedonic response to odors in different age groups (children, teenagers, young adults, and seniors) and found that children and seniors, two age groups characterized by either low level of (children) or weak access to (seniors) odor semantic knowledge, processed odor hedonics more on the basis of their physicochemical properties. In contrast, in teenagers and young adults, who show better levels of semantic odor representation, the role of physicochemical properties was less marked. Conclusions/Significance These findings demonstrate for the first time that the biological determinants that make an odor pleasant or unpleasant are more powerful at either end of the life span

Implementation of corticosteroids in treating COVID-19 in the ISARIC WHO Clinical Characterisation Protocol UK:prospective observational cohort study

BACKGROUND: Dexamethasone was the first intervention proven to reduce mortality in patients with COVID-19 being treated in hospital. We aimed to evaluate the adoption of corticosteroids in the treatment of COVID-19 in the UK after the RECOVERY trial publication on June 16, 2020, and to identify discrepancies in care. METHODS: We did an audit of clinical implementation of corticosteroids in a prospective, observational, cohort study in 237 UK acute care hospitals between March 16, 2020, and April 14, 2021, restricted to patients aged 18 years or older with proven or high likelihood of COVID-19, who received supplementary oxygen. The primary outcome was administration of dexamethasone, prednisolone, hydrocortisone, or methylprednisolone. This study is registered with ISRCTN, ISRCTN66726260. FINDINGS: Between June 17, 2020, and April 14, 2021, 47 795 (75·2%) of 63 525 of patients on supplementary oxygen received corticosteroids, higher among patients requiring critical care than in those who received ward care (11 185 [86·6%] of 12 909 vs 36 415 [72·4%] of 50 278). Patients 50 years or older were significantly less likely to receive corticosteroids than those younger than 50 years (adjusted odds ratio 0·79 [95% CI 0·70–0·89], p=0·0001, for 70–79 years; 0·52 [0·46–0·58], p80 years), independent of patient demographics and illness severity. 84 (54·2%) of 155 pregnant women received corticosteroids. Rates of corticosteroid administration increased from 27·5% in the week before June 16, 2020, to 75–80% in January, 2021. INTERPRETATION: Implementation of corticosteroids into clinical practice in the UK for patients with COVID-19 has been successful, but not universal. Patients older than 70 years, independent of illness severity, chronic neurological disease, and dementia, were less likely to receive corticosteroids than those who were younger, as were pregnant women. This could reflect appropriate clinical decision making, but the possibility of inequitable access to life-saving care should be considered. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research and UK Medical Research Council

Procalcitonin Is Not a Reliable Biomarker of Bacterial Coinfection in People With Coronavirus Disease 2019 Undergoing Microbiological Investigation at the Time of Hospital Admission

Abstract Admission procalcitonin measurements and microbiology results were available for 1040 hospitalized adults with coronavirus disease 2019 (from 48 902 included in the International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infections Consortium World Health Organization Clinical Characterisation Protocol UK study). Although procalcitonin was higher in bacterial coinfection, this was neither clinically significant (median [IQR], 0.33 [0.11–1.70] ng/mL vs 0.24 [0.10–0.90] ng/mL) nor diagnostically useful (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, 0.56 [95% confidence interval, .51–.60]).</jats:p

Differential activation of the frontal pole to high vs low calorie foods: The neural basis of food preference in Anorexia Nervosa?

Neuroimaging studies in anorexia nervosa (AN) suggest that altered food reward processing may result from dysfunction in both limbic reward and cortical control centers of the brain. This fMRI study aimed to index the neural correlates of food reward in a subsample of individuals with restrictive AN: twelve currently ill, fourteen recovered individuals and sixteen healthy controls. Participants were shown pictures of high and low-calorie foods and asked to evaluate how much they wanted to eat each one following a four hour fast. Whole-brain task-activated analysis was followed by psychophysiological interaction analysis (PPI) of the amygdala and caudate. In the AN group, we observed a differential pattern of activation in the lateral frontal pole: increasing following presentation of high-calorie stimuli and decreasing in during presentation of low-calorie food pictures, the opposite of which was seen in the healthy control (HC) group. In addition, decreased activation to food pictures was observed in somatosensory regions in the AN group. PPI analyses suggested hypo-connectivity in reward pathways, and between the caudate and both somatosensory and visual processing regions in the AN group. No significant between-group differences were observed between the recovered group and the currently ill and healthy controls in the PPI analysis. Taken together, these findings further our understanding of the neural processes which may underpin the avoidance of high-calorie foods in those with AN and might exacerbate the development of compulsive weight-loss behavior, despite emaciation