Commercialization of Food Consumption in Rural China

Rural households in China have traditionally consumed food mostly grown on their own farms. While they continue to rely on self-produced grains, vegetables, meats, and eggs for a large portion of their diet, rural households are now purchasing more of their food as they enter the mainstream of the Chinese economy. Cash purchases of food by rural Chinese households increased 7.4 percent per year from 1994 to 2003. Consumption has shifted from self-produced to purchased food at a rate faster than can be explained by income growth or changes in other household characteristics. The move away from self-produced food is associated with lower consumption of staple grains, the most important self produced food in rural Chinese diets. Food consumed away from home is one of the fastest growing categories of rural household expenditures, doubling in budget share from 1995 to 2001. Commercialization of food consumption is diversifying Chinese diets, broadening food markets, and creating new opportunities for retailers and product distributors.China, food, consumption, expenditures, rural, commercialization, subsistence agriculture, Engel analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Surface structure and solidification morphology of aluminum nanoclusters

Classical molecular dynamics simulation with embedded atom method potential had been performed to investigate the surface structure and solidification morphology of aluminum nanoclusters Aln (n = 256, 604, 1220 and 2048). It is found that Al cluster surfaces are comprised of (111) and (001) crystal planes. (110) crystal plane is not found on Al cluster surfaces in our simulation. On the surfaces of smaller Al clusters (n = 256 and 604), (111) crystal planes are dominant. On larger Al clusters (n = 1220 and 2048), (111) planes are still dominant but (001) planes can not be neglected. Atomic density on cluster (111)/(001) surface is smaller/larger than the corresponding value on bulk surface. Computational analysis on total surface area and surface energies indicates that the total surface energy of an ideal Al nanocluster has the minimum value when (001) planes occupy 25% of the total surface area. We predict that a melted Al cluster will be a truncated octahedron after equilibrium solidification.Comment: 22 pages, 6 figures, 34 reference

The implementation of an AR (augmented reality) approach to support mammographic interpretation training - an initial feasibility study

Appropriate feedback plays an important role in optimising mammographic interpretation training whilst also ensuring good interpretation performance. The traditional keyboard, mouse and workstation technical approach has a critical limitation in providing supplementary image-related information and providing complex feedback in real time. Augmented Reality (AR) provides a possible superior approach in this situation, as feedback can be provided directly overlaying the displayed mammographic images so making a generic approach which can also be vendor neutral. In this study, radiological feedback was dynamically remapped virtually into the real world, using perspective transformation, in order to provide a richer user experience in mammographic interpretation training. This is an initial attempt of an AR approach to dynamically superimpose pre-defined feedback information of a DICOM image on top of a radiologist’s view, whilst the radiologist is examining images on a clinical workstation. The study demonstrates the feasibility of the approach, although there are limitations on interactive operations which are due to the hardware used. The results of this fully functional approach provide appropriate feedback/image correspondence in a simulated mammographic interpretation environment. Thus, it is argued that employing AR is a feasible way to provide rich feedback in the delivery of mammographic interpretation training

Initial investigation of reading efficiency from experienced radiologists interpreting digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) images

Initial investigation of reading efficiency from experienced radiologists interpreting digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) image

The effect of gradual or acute arterial occlusion on skeletal muscle blood flow, arteriogenesis, and inflammation in rat hindlimb ischemia

BackgroundCurrent experimental models of critical limb ischemia are based on acute ischemia rather than on chronic ischemia. Human peripheral vascular disease is largely a result of chromic ischemia. We hypothesized that a model of chronic hindlimb ischemia would develop more collateral arteries, more blood flow, and less necrosis and inflammation than would acute hindlimb ischemia. We therefore developed a rat model of chronic hindlimb ischemia and compared the effects of chronic ischemia with those of acute ischemia on hindlimb skeletal muscle.MethodsAcute or chronic ischemia was induced in 36 male Sprague-Dawley rats. Chronic ischemia caused blood flow, as measured by laser Doppler scanning and confirmed by muscle oxygen tension measurements, to gradually decrease over 1 to 2 weeks after operation.ResultsHistologic analysis showed chronic hindlimb ischemia better preserved muscle mass and architecture and stimulated capillary angiogenesis, while lacking the muscle necrosis and inflammatory cell infiltrate seen after acute ischemia. Surprisingly, the chronic ischemia group recovered dermal blood flow more slowly and less completely than did the acute ischemia group, as measured by laser Doppler (0.66 ± 0.02 vs 0.76 ± 0.04, P < .05) and tissue oxygen tension (0.61 ± 0.06 vs 0.81 ± 0.05, P < .05) at 40 days postoperatively. Consistent with poorer blood flow recovery, chronic ischemia resulted in smaller diameter collateral arteries (average diameter of the five largest collaterals on angiogram was 0.01 ± 0.0003 mm vs 0.013 ± 0.0007 mm for acute, P < .005 at 40 days postoperatively). Acute ischemia resulted in decreased tissue concentrations of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) (0.96 ± 0.23 pg/mg of muscle for acute vs 4.4 ± 0.75 and 4.8 ± 0.75 pg/mg of muscle for unoperated and chronic, respectively, P < .05 acute vs unoperated), and in increased tissue concentrations of interleukin (IL)-1β (7.3 ± 4.0 pg/mg of muscle for acute vs undetectable and 1.7 ± 1.6pg/mg of muscle for unoperated and chronic, respectively, P < 0.05 acute vs unoperated).ConclusionsWe describe here the first model of chronic hindlimb ischemia in the rat. Restoration of blood flow after induction of hindlimb ischemia is dependent on the rate of arterial occlusion. This difference in blood flow recovery correlates with distinct patterns of muscle necrosis, inflammatory cell infiltration, and cytokine induction in the ischemic muscle. Differences between models of acute and chronic hindlimb ischemia may have important consequences for future studies of mechanisms regulating arteriogenesis and for therapeutic approaches aimed at promoting arteriogenesis in humans suffering from critical limb ischemia.Clinical relevanceDespite the substantial clinical differences between acute and chronic ischemia, researchers attempting to develop molecular therapies to treat critical limb ischemia have only tested those therapies in experimental models of acute hindlimb ischemia. We present here a novel model of chronic hindlimb ischemia in the rat. We further demonstrate that when hindlimb ischemia is developed chronically, collateral artery development is poorer than when hindlimb ischemia is developed acutely. These findings suggest that further tests of molecular therapies for critical limb ischemia should be performed in chronic hindlimb ischemia models rather than in acute hindlimb ischemia models

The development of an augmented reality (AR) approach to mammographic training: overcoming some real world challenges

A dedicated workstation and its corresponding viewing software are essential requirements in breast screener training. A major challenge of developing further generic screener training technology (in particular, for mammographic interpretation training) is that high-resolution radiological images are required to be displayed on dedicated workstations whilst actual reporting of the images is generally completed on individual standard workstations. Due to commercial reasons, dedicated clinical workstations manufactured by leading international vendors tend not to have critical technical aspects divulged which would facilitate further integration of third party generic screener training technology. With standard workstations, it is noticeable that the conventional screener training depends highly on manual transcription so that traditional training methods can potentially be deficient in terms of real-time feedback and interaction. Augmented reality (AR) provides the ability to co-operate with both real and virtual environments, and therefore can supplement conventional training with virtual registered objects and actions. As a result, realistic screener training can co-operate with rich feedback and interaction in real time. Previous work has shown that it is feasible to employ an AR approach to deliver workstation-independent radiological screening training by superimposing appropriate feedback coupled with the use of interaction interfaces. The previous study addressed presence issues and provided an AR recognisable stylus which allowed for drawing interaction. As a follow-up, this study extends the AR method and investigates realistic effects and the impacts of environmental illumination, application performance and transcription. A robust stylus calibration method is introduced to address environmental changes over time. Moreover, this work introduces a completed AR workflow which allows real time recording, computer analysable training data and further recoverable transcription during post-training. A quantitative evaluation results show an accuracy of more than 80% of user-drawn points being located within a pixel distance of 5

Overexpression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase increases skeletal muscle blood flow and oxygenation in severe rat hind limb ischemia

AbstractObjectiveAlthough nitric oxide (NO) has a critical role in angiogenesis, the therapeutic potential of NO synthase overexpression in severe ischemia remains undefined. We tested the hypothesis that overexpression of endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) would improve tissue perfusion in severe hind limb ischemia.MethodsSevere hind limb ischemia was induced in 122 adult male Sprague-Dawley rats. Ten days after the induction of hind limb ischemia, vascular isolation and intraarterial delivery of an adenoviral vector encoding eNOS (AdeNOS), a control adenoviral vector (AdE1), or phosphate-buffered saline solution (PBS) was performed. Skeletal muscle blood flow, muscle oxygen tension, angiography, and immunohistochemistry for capillary counts were measured.ResultsGene transfer of AdeNOS increased eNOS protein expression and enzyme activity. Two weeks after gene transfer, skeletal muscle blood flow was fourfold higher in eNOS-transduced than in AdE1-transduced or PBS treated rats and was similar to exercise-induced maximal flow in nonischemic muscle. eNOS overexpression increased muscle oxygen tension in a titer-dependent fashion. This increase persisted 1 month after transduction, even though eNOS enzyme activity had declined to normal levels. Angiography and capillary counts showed that eNOS overexpression increased the size and number of collateral arteries, but did not significantly increase the capillary–muscle fiber ratio.ConclusionseNOS overexpression in an ischemic rat hind limb significantly increased skeletal muscle blood flow, muscle oxygen tension, and collateral arteries (arteriogenesis). Furthermore, eNOS overexpression did not result in capillary angiogenesis above control levels. These studies demonstrate the potential for eNOS overexpression as treatment for severe limb ischemia in human beings