Detailing the phonetic environment: a sociophonetic study of the London-Bengali community

The present study investigated variability in the production of English by London Bengali adults who speak the Sylheti dialect of Bengali. Speakers had been resident in London for differing lengths of time. They were recorded producing /l/, /r/ and the eleven monophthongal vowels in English. Phonetically trained listeners rated speakers' productions of /l/ and /r/ in terms of manner and place. F1 and F2 formant frequency values, and duration were measured for all monophthongal vowels. The results demonstrated that older speakers (first-generation immigrants) tended to use Sylhetilike variants when speaking English, whilst second-generation speakers tended to use native English-like variants. These findings will be used to inform studies of the role of phonetic input in child language acquisition from the London Bengali community

Correspondence: No substantial long-term bias in the Cenozoic benthic foraminifera oxygen-isotope record

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Dynamic wavefront shaping with an acousto-optic lens for laser scanning microscopy

Acousto-optic deflectors (AODs) arranged in series and driven with linearly chirped frequencies can rapidly focus and tilt optical wavefronts, enabling high-speed 3D random access microscopy. Non-linearly chirped acoustic drive frequencies can also be used to shape the optical wavefront allowing a range of higher-order aberrations to be generated. However, to date, wavefront shaping with AODs has been achieved by using single laser pulses for strobed illumination to 'freeze' the moving acoustic wavefront, limiting voxel acquisition rates. Here we show that dynamic wavefront shaping can be achieved by applying non-linear drive frequencies to a pair of AODs with counter-propagating acoustic waves, which comprise a cylindrical acousto-optic lens (AOL). Using a cylindrical AOL we demonstrate high-speed continuous axial line scanning and the first experimental AOL-based correction of a cylindrical lens aberration at 30 kHz, accurate to 1/35th of a wave at 800 nm. Furthermore, we develop a model to show how spherical aberration, which is the major aberration in AOL-based remote-focusing systems, can be partially or fully corrected with AOLs consisting of four or six AODs, respectively

Qualitative Environmental Health Research: An Analysis of the Literature, 1991-2008

BACKGROUND. Recent articles have advocated for the use of qualitative methods in environmental health research. Qualitative research uses nonnumeric data to understand people's opinions, motives, understanding, and beliefs about events or phenomena. OBJECTIVE. In this analysis of the literature, I report the use of qualitative methods and data in the study of the relationship between environmental exposures and human health. DATA SOURCES. A primary search on ISI Web of Knowledge/Web of Science for peer-reviewed journal articles dated from 1991 through 2008 included the following three terms: qualitative, environ*, and health. Inclusion and exclusion criteria are described. DATA EXTRACTION. Searches resulted in 3,155 records. Data were extracted and findings of articles analyzed to determine where and by whom qualitative environmental health research is conducted and published, the types of methods and analyses used in qualitative studies of environmental health, and the types of information qualitative data contribute to environmental health. DATA SYNTHESIS. Ninety-one articles met inclusion criteria. These articles were published in 58 different journals, with a maximum of eight for a single journal. The results highlight a diversity of disciplines and techniques among researchers who used qualitative methods to study environmental health, with most studies relying on one-on-one interviews. Details of the analyses were absent from a large number of studies. Nearly all of the studies identified increased scientific understanding of lay perceptions of environmental health exposures. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS. Qualitative data are published in traditionally quantitative environmental health studies to a limited extent. However, this analysis demonstrates the potential of qualitative data to improve understanding of complex exposure pathways, including the influence of social factors on environmental health, and health outcomes.National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (R25 ES012084, P42ES007381

Identification and characterisation of G-quadruplex DNA-forming sequences in the Pseudomonas aeruginosa genome

A number of Gram-negative bacteria such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa are becoming resistant to front-line antibiotics. Consequently, there is a pressing need to find alternative bio-molecular targets for the development of new drugs. Since non-canonical DNA structures such as guanine-quadruplexes (G4s) have been implicated in regulating transcription, we were interested in determining whether there are putative quadruplex-forming sequences (PQS) in the genome of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Using bioinformatic tools, we screened 36 genes potentially relevant to drug resistance for the presence of PQS and 10 of these were selected for biophysical characterisation (i.e. circular dichroism and thermal difference UV/Vis spectroscopy). These studies showed that three of these G-rich sequences (linked to murE, ftsB and mexC genes) form stable guanine-quadruplexes which were studied by NMR spectroscopy; detailed analysis of one of the sequences (mexC) confirmed that it adopts a two-quartet antiparallel quadruplex structure in the presence of K+ ions. We also show by FRET melting assays that small molecules can stabilise these three new G4 DNA structures under physiological conditions. These initial results could be of future interest in the development of new antibiotics with alternative bio-molecular targets which in turn would help tackle antimicrobial resistance

Random-access scanning microscopy for 3D imaging in awake behaving animals

Understanding how neural circuits process information requires rapid measurements of activity from identified neurons distributed in 3D space. Here we describe an acousto-optic lens two-photon microscope that performs high-speed focusing and line scanning within a volume spanning hundreds of micrometers. We demonstrate its random-access functionality by selectively imaging cerebellar interneurons sparsely distributed in 3D space and by simultaneously recording from the soma, proximal and distal dendrites of neocortical pyramidal cells in awake behaving mice

A Dynamic Knowledge Management Framework for the High Value Manufacturing Industry

Dynamic Knowledge Management (KM) is a combination of cultural and technological factors, including the cultural factors of people and their motivations, technological factors of content and infrastructure and, where these both come together, interface factors. In this paper a Dynamic KM framework is described in the context of employees being motivated to create profit for their company through product development in high value manufacturing. It is reported how the framework was discussed during a meeting of the collaborating company’s (BAE Systems) project stakeholders. Participants agreed the framework would have most benefit at the start of the product lifecycle before key decisions were made. The framework has been designed to support organisational learning and to reward employees that improve the position of the company in the market place

Results of a multicentre UK-wide compassionate use programme evaluating the efficacy of idelalisib monotherapy in relapsed, refractory follicular lymphoma.

Follicular lymphoma (FL) is an indolent B-cell malignancy with a variable course. Standard immuno-chemotherapy incorporate alkylator and anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody as first line (Rummel et al, 2013) commonly followed by 24 months rituximab maintenance (Salles et al, 2008). Anthracycline, purine analogue, and alkylator combination are used at relapse and younger patients may have remissions consolidated with autologous or allogeneic stem-cell transplantation (alloSCT) (Kothari et al, 2014). Relapsed or refractory (R/R) FL in patients unfit for transplantation or post-transplantation is incurable, and remains an unmet need