Estimating the health benefits associated with a speed limit reduction to thirty kilometres per hour: a health impact assessment of noise and road traffic crashes for the Swiss city of Lausanne

Reductions of speed limits for road traffic are effective in reducing casualties, and are also increasingly promoted as an effective way to reduce noise exposure. The aim of this study was to estimate the health benefits of the implementation of 30 km/h speed limits in the city of Lausanne (136'077 inhabitants) under different scenarios addressing exposure to noise and road crashes. The study followed a standard methodology for quantitative health impact assessments to derive the number of attributable cases in relation to relevant outcomes. We compared a reference scenario (without any 30 km/h speed limits) to the current situation with partial speed limits and additional scenarios with further implementation of 30 km/h speed limits, including a whole city scenario. Compared to the reference scenario, noise reduction due to the current speed limit situation was estimated to annually prevent 1 cardiovascular death, 72 hospital admissions from cardiovascular disease, 17 incident diabetes cases, 1'127 individuals being highly annoyed and 918 individuals reporting sleep disturbances from noise. Health benefits from a reduction in road traffic crashes were less pronounced (1 severe injury and 4 minor injuries). The whole city speed reduction scenario more than doubled the annual benefits, and was the only scenario that contributed to a reduction in mortality from road traffic crashes (one death per two years). Implementing 30 km/h speed limits in a city yields health benefits due to reduction in road traffic crashes and noise exposure. We found that the benefit from noise reduction was more relevant than safety benefits

Directed growth and fusion of membrane-wall microdomains requires CASP-mediated inhibition and displacement of secretory foci.

Casparian strips (CS) are aligned bands of lignin-impregnated cell walls, building an extracellular diffusion barrier in roots. Their structure profoundly differs from tight junctions (TJ), analogous structures in animals. Nonetheless, CS membrane domain (CSD) proteins 1-5 (CASP1-5) are homologues of occludins, TJ components. CASP-marked membranes display cell wall (matrix) adhesion and membrane protein exclusion. A full CASP knock-out now reveals CASPs are not needed for localized lignification, since correctly positioned lignin microdomains still form in the mutant. Ultra-structurally, however, these microdomains are disorganized, showing excessive cell wall growth, lack of exclusion zone and matrix adhesion, and impaired exocyst dynamics. Proximity-labelling identifies a Rab-GTPase subfamily, known exocyst activators, as potential CASP-interactors and demonstrate their localization and function at the CSD. We propose that CASP microdomains displace initial secretory foci by excluding vesicle tethering factors, thereby ensuring rapid fusion of microdomains into a membrane-cell wall band that seals the extracellular space

Device grade microcrystalline silicon owing to reduced oxygen contamination

As-deposited undoped microcrystalline silicon (µc-Si:H) has in general a pronounced n-type behavior. Such a material is therefore often not appropriate for use in devices, such as p-i-n diodes, as an active, absorbing i layer or as channel material for thin-film transistors. In recent work, on p-i-n solar cells, this disturbing n-type character had been successfully compensated by the ``microdoping'' technique. In the present letter, it is shown that this n-type behavior is mainly linked to oxygen impurities; therefore, one can replace the technologically delicate microdoping technique by a purification method, that is much easier to handle. This results in a reduction of oxygen impurities by two orders of magnitude; it has, furthermore a pronounced impact on the electrical properties of µc-Si:H films and on device performance, as well. Additionally, these results prove that the unwanted donor-like states within µc-Si:H are mainly due to extrinsic impurities and not to structural native defects

The Gnevyshev Gap Effect in Galactic Cosmic Rays

Abstract During the last three solar cycles and in a wide energy range of galactic cosmic rays both the modulation and the variability of the intensity demonstrate effects related to the Gnevyshev Gap (GG) -a substantial decrease once or twice during the maximum phase of each solar cycle of a parameter that generally varies in phase with the cycle. The GG-effect also manifests itself in the behaviour of both the strength of the average interplanetary magnetic field and the power of its fluctuating component. The energy dependence of the GGeffect in the modulation and in the variability of the cosmic ray intensity was found to be different. The start of the GG-effect in the cosmic ray modulation practically coincides with a change in the energy dependence of the cosmic ray modulation

Comparison of codes assessing galactic cosmic radiation exposure of aircraft crew

The assessment of the exposure to cosmic radiation onboard aircraft is one of the preoccupations of bodies responsible for radiation protection. Cosmic particle flux is significantly higher onboard aircraft than at ground level and its intensity depends on the solar activity. The dose is usually estimated using codes validated by the experimental data. In this paper, a comparison of various codes is presented, some of them are used routinely, to assess the dose received by the aircraft crew caused by the galactic cosmic radiation. Results are provided for periods close to solar maximum and minimum and for selected flights covering major commercial routes in the world. The overall agreement between the codes, particularly for those routinely used for aircraft crew dosimetry, was better than ±20 % from the median in all but two cases. The agreement within the codes is considered to be fully satisfactory for radiation protection purpose

Using the past to constrain the future: how the palaeorecord can improve estimates of global warming

Climate sensitivity is defined as the change in global mean equilibrium temperature after a doubling of atmospheric CO2 concentration and provides a simple measure of global warming. An early estimate of climate sensitivity, 1.5-4.5{\deg}C, has changed little subsequently, including the latest assessment by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The persistence of such large uncertainties in this simple measure casts doubt on our understanding of the mechanisms of climate change and our ability to predict the response of the climate system to future perturbations. This has motivated continued attempts to constrain the range with climate data, alone or in conjunction with models. The majority of studies use data from the instrumental period (post-1850) but recent work has made use of information about the large climate changes experienced in the geological past. In this review, we first outline approaches that estimate climate sensitivity using instrumental climate observations and then summarise attempts to use the record of climate change on geological timescales. We examine the limitations of these studies and suggest ways in which the power of the palaeoclimate record could be better used to reduce uncertainties in our predictions of climate sensitivity.Comment: The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in Progress in Physical Geography, 31(5), 2007 by SAGE Publications Ltd, All rights reserved. \c{opyright} 2007 Edwards, Crucifix and Harriso

Identification of chlamydomonas central core centriolar proteins reveals a role for human WDR90 in ciliogenesis

Centrioles are evolutionarily conserved macromolecular structures that are fundamental to form cilia, flagella, and centrosomes. Centrioles are 9-fold symmetrical microtubule-based cylindrical barrels comprising three regions that can be clearly distinguished in the Chlamydomonas reinhardtii organelle: an ∼100-nm-long proximal region harboring a cartwheel; an ∼250-nm-long central core region containing a Y-shaped linker; and an ∼150-nm-long distal region ending at the transitional plate. Despite the discovery of many centriolar components, no protein has been localized specifically to the central core region in Chlamydomonas thus far. Here, combining relative quantitative mass spectrometry and super-resolution microscopy on purified Chlamydomonas centrioles, we identified POB15 and POC16 as two proteins of the central core region, the distribution of which correlates with that of tubulin glutamylation. We demonstrated that POB15 is an inner barrel protein within this region. Moreover, we developed an assay to uncover temporal relationships between centriolar proteins during organelle assembly and thus established that POB15 is recruited after the cartwheel protein CrSAS-6 and before tubulin glutamylation takes place. Furthermore, we discovered that two poc16 mutants exhibit flagellar defects, indicating that POC16 is important for flagellum biogenesis. In addition, we discovered that WDR90, the human homolog of POC16, localizes to a region of human centrioles that we propose is analogous to the central core of Chlamydomonas centrioles. Moreover, we demonstrate that WDR90 is required for ciliogenesis, echoing the findings in Chlamydomonas. Overall, our work provides novel insights into the identity and function of centriolar central core components

TRH: Pathophysiologic and clinical implications

Thyrotropin releasing hormone is thought to be a tonic stimulator of the pituitary TSH secretion regulating the setpoint of the thyrotrophs to the suppressive effect of thyroid hormones. The peptide stimulates the release of normal and elevated prolactin. ACTH and GH may increase in response to exogenous TRH in pituitary ACTH and GH hypersecretion syndromes and in some extrapituitary diseases. The pathophysiological implications of extrahypothalamic TRH in humans are essentially unknown. The TSH response to TRH is nowadays widely used as a diganostic amplifier in thyroid diseases being suppressed in borderline and overt hyperthyroid states and increased in primary thyroid failure. In hypothyroid states of hypothalamic origin, TSH increases in response to exogenous TRH often with a delayed and/or exaggerated time course. But in patients with pituitary tumors and suprasellar extension TSH may also respond to TRH despite secondary hypothyroidism. This TSH increase may indicate a suprasellar cause for the secondary hypothyroidism, probably due to portal vessel occlusion. The TSH released in these cases is shown to be biologically inactive

A review of exposure assessment methods for epidemiological studies of health effects related to industrially contaminated sites

BACKGROUND: this paper is based upon work from COST Action ICSHNet. Health risks related to living close to industrially contaminated sites (ICSs) are a public concern. Toxicology-based risk assessment of single contaminants is the main approach to assess health risks, but epidemiological studies which investigate the relationships between exposure and health directly in the affected population have contributed important evidence. Limitations in exposure assessment have substantially contributed to uncertainty about associations found in epidemiological studies. OBJECTIVES: to examine exposure assessment methods that have been used in epidemiological studies on ICSs and to provide recommendations for improved exposure assessment in epidemiological studies by comparing exposure assessment methods in epidemiological studies and risk assessments. METHODS: after defining the multi-media framework of exposure related to ICSs, we discussed selected multi-media models applied in Europe. We provided an overview of exposure assessment in 54 epidemiological studies from a systematic review of hazardous waste sites; a systematic review of 41 epidemiological studies on incinerators and 52 additional studies on ICSs and health identified for this review. RESULTS: we identified 10 multi-media models used in Europe primarily for risk assessment. Recent models incorporated estimation of internal biomarker levels. Predictions of the models differ particularly for the routes ‘indoor air inhalation’ and ‘vegetable consumption’. Virtually all of the 54 hazardous waste studies used proximity indicators of exposure, based on municipality or zip code of residence (28 studies) or distance to a contaminated site (25 studies). One study used human biomonitoring. In virtually all epidemiological studies, actual land use was ignored. In the 52 additional studies on contaminated sites, proximity indicators were applied in 39 studies, air pollution dispersion modelling in 6 studies, and human biomonitoring in 9 studies. Exposure assessment in epidemiological studies on incinerators included indicators (presence of source in municipality and distance to the incinerator) and air dispersion modelling. Environmental multi-media modelling methods were not applied in any of the three groups of studies. CONCLUSIONS: recommendations for refined exposure assessment in epidemiological studies included the use of more sophisticated exposure metrics instead of simple proximity indicators where feasible, as distance from a source results in misclassification of exposure as it ignores key determinants of environmental fate and transport, source characteristics, land use, and human consumption behaviour. More validation studies using personal exposure or human biomonitoring are needed to assess misclassification of exposure. Exposure assessment should take more advantage of the detailed multi-media exposure assessment procedures developed for risk assessment. The use of indicators can be substantially improved by linking definition of zones of exposure to existing knowledge of extent of dispersion. Studies should incorporate more often land use and individual behaviour