‘Risking enchantment’: how are we to view the smoking person?

The idea of the smoking person portrayed in public health has been criticised as being based on too narrow a view of human nature. This article discusses that view: that of a person with a stable core and epiphenomenal ‘behaviours’ that can be removed by rational persuasion or Pavlovian manipulation, and examines social scientific critiques of it. The social sciences explore the meanings smoking has for individuals and portray human identity as malleable, the result of ongoing interactions with human and non-human others. Aspects of smokers’ experience revealed in qualitative research – descriptions of cigarettes as ‘companions’ or ‘friends’, deep reliance, sensual pleasure – are sometimes difficult to articulate but can be given full voice in the context of the literary arts. We explore some examples of these sources and argue that a complete picture of smoking meanings is impossible without reference to them. We take a pragmatic approach, following the philosopher William James, who argued that emotional and spiritual experiences contribute to the truth of human existence as much as material explanations, to suggest that this understanding should be part of a critical but supportive engagement with public health research in order to develop more nuanced and humane approaches to smoking cessation

Book Reviews

El Conflicto Honduras-El Salvador y El Orden Juridico Internacional -- On July 14, 1969, the armed forces of El Salvador invaded Honduras... This book provides an almost hourly account of the events preceding the conflict, the war plans executed before the conflict started, the initiation of Inter-American System machinery for settling disputes, the heated discussions among the representatives of the different nations of the OAS, and the consequences of the war itself. Also included is the necessary background on the political and economic conditions prevailing in both countries before the war and a thorough analysis of what role law and international legal machinery played--or might have played--at different stages of the conflict. Reviewed by Jorge L. Carro ============================= United States Foreign Relations Law: Documents and Sources, Vol. 1 (Executive Agreements). Michael J. Glennon and Thomas M. Franck Dobbs Ferry, New York: Oceania Publications, Inc., 1980. Pp. ix, 474. 40.00.-- This volume on United States executive agreements is the first of a multivolume series providing important documents and other materials dealing with the foreign relations power of the federal government and its constituent parts. Reviewed by David S.Clark =========================== Towards a New International Economic Order Mohammed Bedjaoui New York and London: Holmes & Meier Publishers,1979. Pp. 287. 16.50. When tracing the ideologies that animate and condition the current North-South debate over what has come to be called the New International Economic Order, MIT economist Jagdish Bhagwati identifies two dominant schools of thought regarding the existing international economic order. Reviewed by Burns H. Westo

Growth mode transition involving a potential-dependent isotropic to anisotropic surface atom diffusion change. Gold electrodeposition on HOPG followed by STM

The electrodeposition of gold on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) from acid aqueous solutions was studied by using electrochemical techniques complemented with ex-situ scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The kinetics of gold electrodeposition is consistent with a nucleation and three-dimensional growth process under diffusion control from the solution side. As the applied potential moves in the negative direction, the gold crystal density increases, and the crystal shape changes from a Euclidean to a dendritic fractal morphology. This transition can be assigned to the anisotropic surface diffusion of gold adatoms induced by the applied electric potential. A model including a potential-dependent energy barrier at step edges accounts for the morphology transition for gold electrodeposition on HOPG.Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas (INIFTA)Facultad de Ciencias Exacta

Ordinal and nominal classication of wind speed from synoptic pressure patterns

Wind speed reconstruction is a challenging problem in areas (mainly wind farms) where there are not direct wind measures available. Di erent approaches have been applied to this reconstruction, such as measure-correlatepredict algorithms, approaches based on physical models such as reanalysis methods, or more recently, indirect measures such as pressure, and its relation to wind speed. This paper adopts the latter method, and deals with wind speed estimation in wind farms from pressure measures, but including different novelties in the problem treatment. Existing synoptic pressure-based indirect approaches for wind speed estimation are based on considering the wind speed as a continuous target variable, estimating then the corresponding wind series of continuous values. However, the exact wind speed is not always needed by wind farms managers, and a general idea of the level of speed is, in the majority of cases, enough to set functional operations for the farm (such as wind turbines stop, for example). Moreover, the accuracy of the models obtained is usually improved for the classi cation task, given that the problem is simpli ed. Thus, this paper tackles the problem of wind speed prediction from synoptic pressure patterns by considering wind speed as a discrete variable and, consequently, wind speed prediction as a classi cation problem, with four wind level categories: low, moderate, high or very high. Moreover, taking into account that these four di erent classes are associated to four values in an ordinal scale, the problem can be considered as an ordinal regression problem. The performance of several ordinal and nominal classi- ers and the improvement achieved by considering the ordering information are evaluated. The results obtained in this paper present the Support Vector Machine as the best tested classi er for this task. In addition, the use of the intrinsic ordering information of the problem is shown to signi cantly improve ranks with respect to nominal classi cation, although di erences in accuracy are smal

Influence de l'administration directe d'enzymes fibrolytiques sur l'activité fibrolytique dans le rumen du mouton

6 pages, 3 tables.--Contributed to: 12th Seminar of the FAO-CIHEAM Sub-NetWork on Sheep and Goat Nutrition. "Nutritional and foraging ecology of sheep and goats"(Thessalonica, Grecia, Oct 11-13, 2007).Six rumen-fistulated Merino sheep were used in a crossover design experiment to evaluate the effects of a direct-fed exogenous fibrolytic enzyme (12 g/d; ENZ) on ruminal fermentation. The enzyme presented endoglucanase and xylanase activities. Sheep were fed a mixed grass hay:concentrate (70:30; fresh matter basis) diet at a daily rate of 60 g/kg body weight 0.75. Concentrations of NH3-N and volatile fatty acids (VFA) and enzymatic activities were determined in ruminal samples at 0, 4 and 8 h after feeding. Samples of the grass hay were incubated in situ in the rumen of each sheep to measure dry matter (DM) and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) degradation. ENZ treatment did not affect (P>0.05) ruminal pH or concentrations of NH3-N and total VFA at any sampling time. In contrast, at 0 and 4 h after feeding, molar proportion of propionate tended (P<0.10) to be greater and acetate:propionate ratio tended (P<0.10) to be lower in ENZ-supplemented sheep. No effects of ENZ (P>0.10) were detected 8 h after feeding. Both the ruminally insoluble potentially degradable fraction (b) of grass hay DM and its fractional rate of degradation (c) were increased (P<0.05) by ENZ treatment. Supplementation with ENZ also increased (P=0.009 to 0.023) effective and potential degradability of grass hay DM and NDF. Ruminal fluid endoglucanase and xylanase activities were greater (P<0.05) at 4 h post-feeding in ENZ-supplementd sheep than in control animals. ENZ supplementation did not affecf (P=0.151 to 0,815) either exoglucanase or amylase activity at any sampling time.The authors wish to acknowledge the financial support received from the M.C.Y.T. of Spain (Proyect AGL2001-0130) and Junta de Castilla y León (LE040A05). L. A. Giraldo gratefully acknowledges receipt of a grant from the Fundación Carolina.Peer reviewe

Oxytetracycline recovery from aqueous media using computationally designed molecularly imprinted polymers

Polymers for recovery/removal of the antimicrobial agent oxytetracycline (OTC) from aqueous media were developed with use of computational design and molecular imprinting. 2-Hydroxyethyl methacrylate, 2-acrylamide-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid (AMPS), and mixtures of the two were chosen according to their predicted affinity for OTC and evaluated as functional monomers in molecularly imprinted polymers and nonimprinted polymers. Two levels of AMPS were tested. After bulk polymerization, the polymers were crushed into particles (200–1000 μm). Pressurized liquid extraction was implemented for template removal with a low amount of methanol (less than 20 mL in each extraction) and a few extractions (12–18 for each polymer) in a short period (20 min per extraction). Particle size distribution, microporous structure, and capacity to rebind OTC from aqueous media were evaluated. Adsorption isotherms obtained from OTC solutions (30–110 mg L-1) revealed that the polymers prepared with AMPS had the highest affinity for OTC. The uptake capacity depended on the ionic strength as follows: purified water > saline solution (0.9 % NaCl) > seawater (3.5 % NaCl). Polymer particles containing AMPS as a functional monomer showed a remarkable ability to clean water contaminated with OTC. The usefulness of the stationary phase developed for molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction was also demonstrated

New aspects and strategies for methane mitigation from ruminants.

The growing demand for sustainable animal production is compelling researchers to explore the potential approaches to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases from livestock that are mainly produced by enteric fermentation. Some potential solutions, for instance, the use of chemical inhibitors to reduce methanogenesis, are not feasible in routine use due to their toxicity to ruminants, inhibition of efficient rumen function or other transitory effects. Strategies, such as use of plant secondary metabolites and dietary manipulations have emerged to reduce the methane emission, but these still require extensive research before these can be recommended and deployed in the livestock industry sector. Furthermore, immunization vaccines for methanogens and phages are also under investigation for mitigation of enteric methanogenesis. The increasing knowledge of methanogenic diversity in rumen, DNA sequencing technologies and bioinformatics have paved the way for chemogenomic strategies by targeting methane producers. Chemogenomics will help in finding target enzymes and proteins, which will further assist in the screening of natural as well chemical inhibitors. The construction of a methanogenic gene catalogue through these approaches is an attainable objective. This will lead to understand the microbiome function, its relation with the host and feeds, and therefore, will form the basis of practically viable and eco-friendly methane mitigation approaches, while improving the ruminant productivity

Mineralización del fósforo orgánico

p.157-163Con la finalidad de estudiar el índice de mineralización del fósforo se efectuaron incubaciones de suelos naturales y previamente esterilizados, solos y en contacto con resina Amberlite IRA 400 en su forma C 0 3 H - y Cl- llevada a pH 7,0. Las variaciones del fósforo inorgánico se estudiaron en períodos entre 1 y 56 días