Effect of poly(lactic acid)/kenaf composites incorporated with thymol on the antimicrobial activity of processed meat

Bio-based composites comprised of poly(lactic acid) (PLA), kenaf fibers and thymol were developed and their antimicrobial (AM) properties and stability under different storage conditions investigated. The composite films containing 20-30% w/w thymol reduced E. coli in tryptone soy broth after two days at 37C and imparted a significant zone of inhibition in contact with E. coli inoculated plates. The composite films also reduced E. coli inoculated on the surface of processed sliced chicken samples after 30 days at 10C both in direct contact and in the vapour phase. The thymol additive was retained in the PLA/kenaf films that were wrapped with aluminium foil after 3 months of storage at ambient temperatures; however, unwrapped films lost some thymol to the atmosphere. The PLA/kenaf/thymol composite films show a strong potential for the development of active packaging systems in order to extend the shelf-life of some processed food products

A HILL TYPE ESTIMATOR OF THE WEIBULL TAIL-COEFFICIENT

International audienceWe present a new estimator of the Weibull tail-coefficient. The Weibull tail-coefficient is defined as the regular variation coefficient of the inverse cumulative hazard function. Our estimator is based on the log-spacings of the upper order statistics. Therefore, it is very similar to the Hill estimator for the extreme value index. We prove the weak consistency and the asymptotic normality of our estimator. Its asymptotic as well as its finite sample performances are compared to classical ones

Civil society leadership in the struggle for AIDS treatment in South Africa and Uganda

Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references.This thesis is an attempt to theorise and operationalise empirically the notion of ‘civil society leadership’ in Sub-Saharan Africa. ‘AIDS leadership,’ which is associated with the intergovernmental institutions charged with coordinating the global response to HIV/AIDS, is both under-theorised and highly context-specific. In this study I therefore opt for an inclusive framework that draws on a range of approaches, including the literature on ‘leadership’, institutions, social movements and the ‘network’ perspective on civil society mobilisation. This framework is employed in rich and detailed empirical descriptions (‘thick description’) of civil society mobilisation around AIDS, including contentious AIDS activism, in the key case studies of South Africa and Uganda. South Africa and Uganda are widely considered key examples of poor and good leadership (from national political leaders) respectively, while the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) and The AIDS Support Organisation (TASO) are both seen as highly effective civil society movements. These descriptions emphasise ‘transnational networks of influence’ in which civil society leaders participated (and at times actively constructed) in order to mobilise both symbolic and material resources aimed at exerting influence at the transnational, national and local levels

Mitochondrial genetic diversity, selection and recombination in a canine transmissible cancer.

Canine transmissible venereal tumour (CTVT) is a clonally transmissible cancer that originated approximately 11,000 years ago and affects dogs worldwide. Despite the clonal origin of the CTVT nuclear genome, CTVT mitochondrial genomes (mtDNAs) have been acquired by periodic capture from transient hosts. We sequenced 449 complete mtDNAs from a global population of CTVTs, and show that mtDNA horizontal transfer has occurred at least five times, delineating five tumour clades whose distributions track two millennia of dog global migration. Negative selection has operated to prevent accumulation of deleterious mutations in captured mtDNA, and recombination has caused occasional mtDNA re-assortment. These findings implicate functional mtDNA as a driver of CTVT global metastatic spread, further highlighting the important role of mtDNA in cancer evolution.Wellcome Trust Investigator Award, 102942/Z/13/A Elizabeth P Murchison Leverhulme Trust Philip Leverhulme Prize Elizabeth P Murchison Royal Society Research Grant, RG130615 Elizabeth P Murchiso