ShreX: managing XML documents in relational databases

Journal ArticleWe describe ShreX, a freely-available system for shredding, loading and querying XML documents in relational databases. ShreX supports all mapping strategies proposed in the literature as well as strategies available in commercial RDBMSs. It provides generic (mapping-independent) functions for loading shredded documents into relations and for translating XML queries into SQL. ShreX is portable and can be used with any relational database backend

Policies on the Earth: is there a new environmental discourse after the Rio +20?

Políticas públicas envolvem a construção de significado através de discursos, que caracterizam redes semânticas complexas, articulando diferentes pressupostos, conceitos e hipóteses. O objetivo deste artigo é contribuir para o debate sobre a evolução recente da política ambiental, indagando em que medida os debates que marcaram a Rio +20 caracterizam uma ruptura com os quatro discursos predominantes na política ambiental ao longo dos últimos 40 anos. São eles: sobrevivencialismo, resolução de problemas, sustentabilidade e radicalismo verde. Esses discursos são diferentes em seus pressupostos ontológicos (mais realista ou mais nominalista); nas suposições sobre a natureza dos relacionamentos com o meio ambiente (baseados em competição ou em cooperação); na perspectiva que assumem sobre os atores (individualistas ou coletivistas; fortes ou fracos); e nas metáforas que utilizam para defender seus pontos de vista (DRYZEK, 1997). Algumas perguntas também são colocadas para avaliar o impacto e plausibilidade do discurso: que política é associada a ele; seu efeito nas políticas públicas e nas instituições; os argumentos dos críticos; e as falhas reveladas pelas evidências e argumentos. A análise do discurso da Rio +20 foi baseada no documento final da conferência "The Future We Want". Concluímos que os debates da conferência agregam dois grandes discursos: resolução de problemas e sustentabilidade. Alguns efeitos antecipados da Rio +20 são: a melhoria das estatísticas ambientais; aumento de empregos ligados à economia verde; e adoção de políticas regulatórias que modifiquem os preços relativos do uso dos recursos e internalizem os custos das externalidades ambientais.Public policy involves the search for meaning through discourses that are complex semantic systems, expressing different perspectives, concepts and assumptions. This paper aims to contribute to the current dialogue concerning recent environmental policies, inquiring as to what extent the debates that took place at Rio + 20 break away from the dominant environmental discourses of the last 40 years. These predominant discourses are: survivalism, problem solving, sustainability and green radicalism. They differ on their ontology (realist or nominalist), their assumptions regarding natural relationships (competition or cooperation), agents and their mot ives (individuals or collectivities, strong or weak) and the key metaphors and other rhetorical devices used to defend their positions (DRYZEK, 1997). Some questions are also asked in order to evaluate the impact and feasibility of the discourse: policies associated with discourse, effect on the policy of governments, the effect on institutions, arguments of critics and flaws revealed by evidence and argument. These analytical devices were applied to the final document of the conference "The Future We Want" to appraise the Rio +20 discourse. We conclude that two prior discourses can be included in the conference debates: problem solving and sustainability. Some anticipated effects of Rio +20 are: improvement of environmental statistics; increased number of green economy jobs; and public policies that change the relative prices of using natural resources and internalizing the costs of environmental externalities

Sex differences in the association between socioeconomic status and diabetes prevalence and incidence in China: cross-sectional and prospective studies of 0.5 million adults

Aims/hypothesis China has undergone rapid socioeconomic transition accompanied by lifestyle changes that are expected to have a profound impact on the health of its population. However, there is limited evidence from large nationwide studies about the relevance of socioeconomic status (SES) to risk of diabetes. We describe the associations of two key measures of SES with prevalent and incident diabetes in Chinese men and women. Methods The China Kadoorie Biobank study included 0.5 million adults aged 30–79 years recruited from ten diverse areas in China during 2004–2008. SES was assessed using the highest educational level attained and annual household income. Prevalent diabetes was identified from self-report and plasma glucose measurements. Incident diabetes was identified from linkage to disease and death registries and national health insurance claim databases. We estimated adjusted ORs and HRs for prevalent and incident diabetes associated with SES using logistic and Cox regression models, respectively. Results At baseline, 30,066 (5.9%) participants had previously diagnosed (3.1%) or screen-detected (2.8%) diabetes among 510,219 participants included for cross-sectional analyses. There were 480,153 people without prevalent diabetes at baseline, of whom 9544 (2.0%) had new-onset diabetes during follow-up (median 7 years). Adjusted ORs (95% CIs) for prevalent diabetes, comparing highest vs lowest educational level, were 1.21 (1.09, 1.35) in men and 0.69 (0.63, 0.76) in women; for incident diabetes, the corresponding HRs were 1.27 (1.07, 1.51) and 0.80 (0.67, 0.95), respectively. For household income, the adjusted ORs for prevalent diabetes, comparing highest vs lowest categories, were 1.45 (1.34, 1.56) in men and 1.26 (1.19, 1.34) in women; for incident diabetes, the HRs were 1.36 (1.19, 1.55) and 1.06 (0.95, 1.17), respectively. Conclusions/interpretation Among Chinese adults, the associations between education and diabetes prevalence and incidence differed qualitatively between men and women, whereas higher household income was positively associated with diabetes prevalence and incidence in both sexes, with a stronger relationship in men than in women.</p

Gestão do Fomento à Cooperação Internacional em Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação: a experiência das Fundações de Amparo à Pesquisa (FAPs) brasileiras1

A cooperação internacional brasileira em ciência, tecnologia e inovação tem apresentado crescimento exponencial. Este artigo analisa o papel das Fundações de Amparo à Pesquisa (FAPs) estaduais no fomento da cooperação internacional. Realizou-se um diagnóstico aprofundado que apontou as principais assimetrias estaduais de apoio à cooperação internacional e os seus reflexos no desenvolvimento de um ecossistema de inovação à nível subnacional. Foram avaliados aspectos relacionados à gestão da cooperação internacional pelas FAPs, assim como os instrumentos utilizados, países prioritários e temáticas de maior proeminência. Como metodologia, utilizou-se pesquisa documental e revisão bibliográfica, aplicação de questionário e realização de entrevistas de aprofundamento. As conclusões foram tecidas no sentido de evidenciar que apesar da maioria das FAPs empreenderem atividades de fomento à cooperação internacional, a gestão do fomento dessas atividades ainda pode ser aprimorad

Spatial diarrheal disease risks and antibiogram diversity of diarrheagenic Escherichia coli in selected access points of the Buffalo River, South Africa

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT : All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files.SUPPORTING INFORMATION : S1 File. Supplementary tables. S1 Raw images.Freshwater sources, often used for domestic and agricultural purposes in low- and middle-income countries are repositories of clinically significant bacterial pathogens. These pathogens are usually diversified in their antibiogram profiles posing public health threats. This study evaluated the spatial diarrhoeal disease risk and antibiogram diversity of diarrheagenic Escherichia coli (DEC) in four access points of the Buffalo River, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa using standard epidemiological, culture, and molecular methods. The diarrhoeal disease risk was characterised using the Monte Carlo simulation, while the antibiogram diversity was assessed using the species observed Whittaker’s single alpha-diversity modelling. E. coli mean count was highest in King William’s Town dam [16.0 × 102 CFU/ 100ml (SD: 100.0, 95% CI: 13.5 × 102 to 18.5 × 102)]. Enterohemorrhagic E. coli (stx1/stx2) was the most prevalent DEC pathotype across the study sites. A high diarrhoeal disease risk of 25.0 ×10−2 exceeding the World Health Organization’s standard was recorded across the study sites. The average single and multiple antimicrobial resistance indices of the DEC to test antimicrobials were highest in the Eluxolzweni dam [0.52 (SD: 0.25, 95% CI: 0.37 to 0.67)] and King William’s Town dam [0.42 (SD: 0.25, 95% CI: 0.27 to 0.57)] respectively. The prevalent antibiotic resistance genes detected were tetA, blaFOX and blaMOX plasmidmediated AmpC, blaTEM and blaSHV extended-spectrum β-lactamases, which co-occurred across the study sites on network analysis. The phenotypic and genotypic resistance characteristics of the DEC in Maden dam (r = 0.93, p<0.00), Rooikrantz dam (r = 0.91, p<0.00), King William’s Town dam (r = 0.83, p = 0.0), and Eluxolzweni dam (r = 0.91, p<0.00) were strongly correlated. At least, three phylogenetic clades of the DEC with initial steep descent alpha-diversity curves for most of the test antimicrobials were observed across the study sites, indicating high diversity. The occurrence of diversified multi drug resistant DEC with diarrhoeal disease risks in the Buffalo River substantiates the role surface water bodies play in the dissemination of drug-resistant bacterial pathogens with public health implications.The South African Medical Research Council, the Department of Science and Technology of South Africa, and the United States Agency for International Development.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/am2024Plant Production and Soil ScienceSDG-03:Good heatlh and well-beingSDG-06:Clean water and sanitatio

Impact of power ultrasound on chemical and physicochemical quality indicators of strawberries dried by convection

[EN] A study on the quality parameters of strawberries dehydrated by convection assisted by power ultrasound (US) at 40 70 C and 30 and 60W has been carried out for the first time. In general, the quality of US-treated samples was higher than that of commercial samples. Even under the most severe conditions used (US at 70 C and 60 W), high values of vitamin C retention (>65%) and scarce advance of Maillard reaction (2-furoylmethyl derivatives of Lys and Arg < 90 mg 100 g 1 protein) were observed. Rehydration ratio was not affected by the power applied and the obtained values were similar to those of convectively-treated samples. According to the results here presented, US is a suitable example of an emerging and environmentally friendly technology that accelerates convective drying, allowing the obtainment of dried strawberries with premium quality.This work has been funded by Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of Spain and ERDF (FEDER) (Project DPI2012-37466-C03-03), Fun-c-Food (CSD2007-00063 Consolider-INGENIO 2010), CYTED IBEROFUN (P109AC0302) and Comunidad de Valencia, Project PROMETEO/2010/062. J.G.S. also thanks CSIC and the EU for a predoctoral JAE grant. A.C.S. thanks the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness for a Ramon y Cajal contract.Gamboa-Santos, J.; Montilla, A.; Cortijo Soria, A.; Cárcel Carrión, JA.; García Pérez, JV.; Villamiel, M. (2014). Impact of power ultrasound on chemical and physicochemical quality indicators of strawberries dried by convection. Food Chemistry. 161:40-46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2014.03.106S404616

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy

Unsettling planning theory

Recent political developments in many parts of the world seem likely to exacerbate rather than ameliorate the planetary-scale challenges of social polarization, inequality and environmental change societies face. In this unconventional multi-authored essay, we therefore seek to explore some of the ways in which planning theory might respond to the deeply unsettling times we live in. Taking the multiple, suggestive possibilities of the theme of unsettlement as a starting point, we aim to create space for reflection and debate about the state of the discipline and practice of planning theory, questioning what it means to produce knowledge capable of acting on the world today. Drawing on exchanges at a workshop attended by a group of emerging scholars in Portland, Oregon in late 2016, the essay begins with an introduction section exploring the contemporary resonances of ‘unsettling’ in, of and for planning theory. This is followed by four, individually authored responses which each connect the idea of unsettlement to key challenges and possible future directions. We end by calling for a reflective practice of theorizing that accepts unsettlement but seeks to act knowingly and compassionately on the uneven terrain that it creates

The combined use of Er,Cr:YSGG laser and fluoride to prevent root dentin demineralization

The use of erbium lasers to prevent caries in enamel has shown positive results. However, it is not known if Er,Cr:YSGG laser can also be used to increase acid resistance of root dentine, which is another dental tissue susceptible to the action of cariogenic bacteria. Objective: To analyze the effects of the Er,Cr:YSGG laser (λ=2.78 μm, 20 Hz) irradiation associated with 2% neutral sodium fluoride (NaF) to prevent root dentin demineralization. Material and Methods: One hundred human root dentin samples were divided into 10 groups (G) and treated as follows: G1: no treatment; G2: NaF; G3: laser (4.64 J/cm2) with water cooling (WC=5.4 mL/min); G4: laser (4.64 J/cm2) without WC; G5: laser (8.92 J/cm2) with WC; G6: laser (8.92 J/cm2) without WC; G7: laser (4.64 J/cm2) with WC and NaF; G8: laser (4.64 J/cm2) without WC and NaF; G9: laser (8.92 J/cm2) with WC and NaF; G10: laser (8.92 J/cm2) without WC and NaF. The NaF gel was applied alone or after 4 min of irradiation. After 14 days of acid challenge, the samples were sectioned and the Knoop microhardness (KHN) test was done at different depths (30, 60, 90 and 120 μm) from the outer dentin surface. Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA and Fisher’s test (α=5%). Results: The results showed that G8 and G10 presented higher KHN than the G1 for the depths of 30 and 60 μm, indicating an increase of the acid resistance of the dentin in up to 35% (p<0.05). Conclusions: The use of Er,Cr:YSGG laser irradiation at 4.64 J/ cm2 and 8.92 J/cm2 without water cooling and associated with 2% NaF can increase the acid resistance of human root dentin