The effects of diesel exhaust pollution on floral volatiles and the consequences for honey bee olfaction

There is growing evidence of a substantial decline in pollinators within Europe and North America, most likely caused by multiple factors such as diseases, poor nutrition, habitat loss, insecticides, and environmental pollution. Diesel exhaust could be a contributing factor to this decline, since we found that diesel exhaust rapidly degrades floral volatiles, which honey bees require for flower recognition. In this study, we exposed eight of the most common floral volatiles to diesel exhaust in order to investigate whether it can affect volatile mediated plant-pollinator interaction. Exposure to diesel exhaust altered the blend of common flower volatiles significantly: myrcene was considerably reduced, β-ocimene became undetectable, and β-caryophyllene was transformed into its cis-isomer isocaryophyllene. Proboscis extension response (PER) assays showed that the alterations of the blend reduced the ability of honey bees to recognize it. The chemically reactive nitrogen oxides fraction of diesel exhaust gas was identified as capable of causing degradation of floral volatiles

Weed suppression and tolerance in winter oats

A crops ability to both suppress weed growth and tolerate weed competition is a key consideration when taking an agroecological approach to weed management. Amongst other cereals, oats are widely considered to have superior weed competitiveness yet studies examining competitive ability between oat varieties are rare. We investigated the ability of oats to suppress weeds and yield in the presence of competition from weeds in trials involving five husked and three naked oat varieties at an organic site in the east of England over four trial years (2009-13). We identified a number of key traits that were important for weed suppression including establishment rates, tillering ability, and early Leaf Area Index (LAI) which highlight the importance of rapid early growth rates. Furthermore, taller varieties tended to be more weed tolerant but not necessarily more suppressive. Trade-offs between competitive traits and yield were not found in this study. Crop tillering ability was highlighted as an important trait for selection due to its beneficial effects on weed suppression as well as grain yield and also its high heritability

Estimation of correlations and non-separability in quantum channels via unitarity benchmarking

The ability to transfer quantum information between systems is a fundamental component of quantum technologies and leads to correlations within the global quantum process. However, correlation structures in quantum channels are less studied than those in quantum states. Motivated by recent techniques in randomized benchmarking, we develop a range of results for efficient estimation of correlations within a bipartite quantum channel. We introduce subunitarity measures that are invariant under local changes of basis, generalize the unitarity of a channel, and allow for the analysis of quantum information exchange within channels. Using these, we show that unitarity is monogamous, and we provide an information-disturbance relation. We then define a notion of correlated unitarity that quantifies the correlations within a given channel. Crucially, we show that this measure is strictly bounded on the set of separable channels and therefore provides a witness of nonseparability. Finally, we describe how such measures for effective noise channels can be efficiently estimated within different randomized benchmarking protocols. We find that the correlated unitarity can be estimated in a SPAM-robust manner for any separable quantum channel, and we show that a benchmarking/tomography protocol with mid-circuit resets can reliably witness nonseparability for sufficiently small reset errors. The tools we develop provide information beyond that obtained via simultaneous randomized benchmarking and so could find application in the analysis of cross-talk errors in quantum devices

A national survey of the chemotherapy regimens used to treat small cell lung cancer (SCLC) in the United Kingdom

Many chemotherapy regimens are used for treating SCLC in the United Kingdom, but it is not known, in any detail, which regimens are used, by which specialists, for which types of patient. We conducted a survey among all medical and clinical oncologists, respiratory physicians and general physicians with respiratory interest in the United Kingdom to find out. The questionnaire asked for the number of SCLC patients treated annually; how many were given chemotherapy; the drugs, doses and schedules chosen according to prognostic group (as defined by the clinician); and the reasons for choice of regimen. 1214 questionnaires were sent out, and responses were received from 1070 (88%) clinicians; 266 (25%) of these treated SCLC with chemotherapy. Of 4674 patients given chemotherapy annually, 36% were given it by clinical oncologists, 30% by medical oncologists, 27% by respiratory physicians, and 7% by general physicians. In all, 34 regimens were reported with 151 different combinations of dose and schedule. In 2311 good prognosis patients, 23 regimens were used, the commonest being ACE (doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, etoposide), ICbE (ifosfamide, carboplatin, etoposide), CAV (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine), CbE (carboplatin, etoposide), and PE (cisplatin, etoposide). In 1517 poor prognosis patients, 21 regimens were used, the commonest being CAV, EV (etoposide, vincristine), CbE, CAV alternating with PE, and oral etoposide. 452 patients were treated regardless of prognosis and for 219 no prognostic criteria were specified. The remaining 175 were given second-line chemotherapy or were given regimens chosen to avoid toxicity or because of intercurrent disease or other reasons. The main reasons affecting choice of regimen were routine local practice, patients' convenience, quality of life considerations, trial results and cost. The results show wide variation in routine practice and will be useful in reporting and planning clinical trials and in deciding on local treatment policies. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer.co

Should patients with abnormal liver function tests in primary care be tested for chronic viral hepatitis: cost minimisation analysis based on a comprehensively tested cohort

Background Liver function tests (LFTs) are ordered in large numbers in primary care, and the Birmingham and Lambeth Liver Evaluation Testing Strategies (BALLETS) study was set up to assess their usefulness in patients with no pre-existing or self-evident liver disease. All patients were tested for chronic viral hepatitis thereby providing an opportunity to compare various strategies for detection of this serious treatable disease. Methods This study uses data from the BALLETS cohort to compare various testing strategies for viral hepatitis in patients who had received an abnormal LFT result. The aim was to inform a strategy for identification of patients with chronic viral hepatitis. We used a cost-minimisation analysis to define a base case and then calculated the incremental cost per case detected to inform a strategy that could guide testing for chronic viral hepatitis. Results Of the 1,236 study patients with an abnormal LFT, 13 had chronic viral hepatitis (nine hepatitis B and four hepatitis C). The strategy advocated by the current guidelines (repeating the LFT with a view to testing for specific disease if it remained abnormal) was less efficient (more expensive per case detected) than a simple policy of testing all patients for viral hepatitis without repeating LFTs. A more selective strategy of viral testing all patients for viral hepatitis if they were born in countries where viral hepatitis was prevalent provided high efficiency with little loss of sensitivity. A notably high alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level (greater than twice the upper limit of normal) on the initial ALT test had high predictive value, but was insensitive, missing half the cases of viral infection. Conclusions Based on this analysis and on widely accepted clinical principles, a "fast and frugal" heuristic was produced to guide general practitioners with respect to diagnosing cases of viral hepatitis in asymptomatic patients with abnormal LFTs. It recommends testing all patients where a clear clinical indication of infection is present (e.g. evidence of intravenous drug use), followed by testing all patients who originated from countries where viral hepatitis is prevalent, and finally testing those who have a notably raised ALT level (more than twice the upper limit of normal). Patients not picked up by this efficient algorithm had a risk of chronic viral hepatitis that is lower than the general population

The combined influence of distance and neighbourhood deprivation on Emergency Department attendance in a large English population: a retrospective database study

YesThe frequency of visits to Emergency Departments (ED) varies greatly between populations. This may reflect variation in patient behaviour, need, accessibility, and service configuration as well as the complex interactions between these factors. This study investigates the relationship between distance, socio-economic deprivation, and proximity to an alternative care setting (a Minor Injuries Unit (MIU)), with particular attention to the interaction between distance and deprivation. It is set in a population of approximately 5.4 million living in central England, which is highly heterogeneous in terms of ethnicity, socio-economics, and distance to hospital. The study data set captured 1,413,363 ED visits made by residents of the region to National Health Service (NHS) hospitals during the financial year 2007/8. Our units of analysis were small units of census geography having an average population of 1,545. Separate regression models were made for children and adults. For each additional kilometre of distance from a hospital, predicted child attendances fell by 2.2% (1.7%-2.6% p<0.001) and predicted adult attendances fell by 1.5% (1.2% -1.8%, p<0.001). Compared to the least deprived quintile, attendances in the most deprived quintile more than doubled for children (incident rate ratio (IRR) = 2.19, (1.90-2.54, p<0.001)) and adults (IRR 2.26, (2.01-2.55, p<0.001)). Proximity of an MIU was significant and both adult and child attendances were greater in populations who lived further away from them, suggesting that MIUs may reduce ED demand. The interaction between distance and deprivation was significant. Attendance in deprived neighbourhoods reduces with distance to a greater degree than in less deprived ones for both adults and children. In conclusion, ED use is related to both deprivation and distance, but the effect of distance is modified by deprivation

Compartmentalized Culture of Perivascular Stroma and Endothelial Cells in a Microfluidic Model of the Human Endometrium

The endometrium is the inner lining of the uterus. Following specific cyclic hormonal stimulation, endometrial stromal fibroblasts (stroma) and vascular endothelial cells exhibit morphological and biochemical changes to support embryo implantation and regulate vascular function, respectively. Herein, we integrated a resin-based porous membrane in a dual chamber microfluidic device in polydimethylsiloxane that allows long term in vitro co-culture of human endometrial stromal and endothelial cells. This transparent, 2-m porous membrane separates the two chambers, allows for the diffusion of small molecules and enables high resolution bright field and fluorescent imaging. Within our primary human co-culture model of stromal and endothelial cells, we simulated the temporal hormone changes occurring during an idealized 28-day menstrual cycle. We observed the successful differentiation of stroma into functional decidual cells, determined by morphology as well as biochemically as measured by increased production of prolactin. By controlling the microfluidic properties of the device, we additionally found that shear stress forces promoted cytoskeleton alignment and tight junction formation in the endothelial layer. Finally, we demonstrated that the endometrial perivascular stroma model was sustainable for up to 4 weeks, remained sensitive to steroids and is suitable for quantitative biochemical analysis. Future utilization of this device will allow the direct evaluation of paracrine and endocrine crosstalk between these two cell types as well as studies of immunological events associated with normal versus disease-related endometrial microenvironments

Moral economies of consumption

The aim of this article is twofold: first, to bring together debates about enduring normative concerns surrounding the morality of consumption with more recent concerns about the ways specific moralities are constituted in and through markets. The second aim is to develop the concept of ‘moral economy’ and call for an approach to its study, attentive to how moralities of consumption develop through interactions between instituted systems of provision, forms of state regulation, customs within communities and the everyday reflections of consumers about the things that matter to them. As consumers are increasingly asked to factor environmental and fair labour concerns into their purchase and post-purchase habits, there is a real need to understand how moralities of consumption are both formatted through institutional frameworks and shaped everyday by actors from within. After developing a framework for the study of moral economies, this article explores in depth the experiences of one couple in relation to the cessation of a cardboard recycling collection in Shropshire (England) to show why a multilevel perspective is needed to appreciate the place of morality within the market