Airflow design in refrigerated retail display cabinets and its impact on food quality

© 2019 International Institute of Refrigeration. All rights reserved. This paper investigates how refrigerated display cabinet airflow design can enhance temperature distribution and potentially reduce food waste. Conventional refrigerated retail cabinets have a single column of cold air from the top to the bottom of the merchandising envelope. By contrast separating the retail space into individual cells, each with its own shorter air-curtain reduces infiltration and improves temperature control. The quality and safety of bagged salad over an extended display period was evaluated in a conventional and multiple short air-curtain cabinet. At the end of the test period there was a visible difference in cabinet temperature and relative humidity, which had a direct impact on the salad organoleptic quality and microbiological safety. The temperature band was 11.2ºC and 5.4ºC in the conventional and multiple air curtain cabinets respectively, resulting in a higher degree of salad wilting and shrivelling and an increase on total yeast counts on the conventional cabinet

Validation of a new automatic smoking machine to study the effects of cigarette smoke in newborn lambs

The aim of this study was to describe the characteristics and validate the use of a new, custom-built automatic smoking machine (ASM), primarily designed to study the effects of an environmental tobacco smoke surrogate (ETS surrogate) exposure in animals of various sizes, including large animals. The equipment includes a programmable ASM coupled to a vented whole body chamber, where animals can be exposed to both mainstream and sidestream smoke. The user-friendly interface allows for full programming of puff volume (1-60 mL), time interval between two puffs (1-60 s) and between two cigarettes (1-60 min). Eight newborn lambs were exposed to either 10 (4 lambs, C10 group) or 20 (4 lambs, C20 group) cigarettes, 8 h per day for 15 days. Four additional control, lambs were exposed to air (C0 group). Weight gain was identical in all three groups of lambs. Urinary cotinine/creatinine ratio increased with the number of cigarettes smoked (C0: 11 ± 7 ng/mg; C10: 961 ± 539 ng/mg; C20: 1821 ± 312 ng/mg), with levels in the C10 and C20 groups in keeping with values published in infants exposed to ETS. Overall, results show that our new ASM is especially well suited for ETS surrogate exposure in non-restrained, non-anaesthetized large animals such as sheep

A Corpus of Potentially Contradictory Research Claims from Cardiovascular Research Abstracts

Background: Research literature in biomedicine and related fields contains a huge number of claims, such as the effectiveness of treatments. These claims are not always consistent and may even contradict each other. Being able to identify contradictory claims is important for those who rely on the biomedical literature. Automated methods to identify and resolve them are required to cope with the amount of information available. However, research in this area has been hampered by a lack of suitable resources. We describe a methodology to develop a corpus which addresses this gap by providing examples of potentially contradictory claims and demonstrate how it can be applied to identify these claims from Medline abstracts related to the topic of cardiovascular disease. Methods A set of systematic reviews concerned with four topics in cardiovascular disease were identified from Medline and analysed to determine whether the abstracts they reviewed contained contradictory research claims. For each review, annotators were asked to analyse these abstracts to identify claims within them that answered the question addressed in the review. The annotators were also asked to indicate how the claim related to that question and the type of the claim. Results: A total of 259 abstracts associated with 24 systematic reviews were used to form the corpus. Agreement between the annotators was high, suggesting that the information they provided is reliable. Conclusions: The paper describes a methodology for constructing a corpus containing contradictory research claims from the biomedical literature. The corpus is made available to enable further research into this area and support the development of automated approaches to contradiction identification

Expression of Distal-less, dachshund, and optomotor blind in Neanthes arenaceodentata (Annelida, Nereididae) does not support homology of appendage-forming mechanisms across the Bilateria

The similarity in the genetic regulation of arthropod and vertebrate appendage formation has been interpreted as the product of a plesiomorphic gene network that was primitively involved in bilaterian appendage development and co-opted to build appendages (in modern phyla) that are not historically related as structures. Data from lophotrochozoans are needed to clarify the pervasiveness of plesiomorphic appendage forming mechanisms. We assayed the expression of three arthropod and vertebrate limb gene orthologs, Distal-less (Dll), dachshund (dac), and optomotor blind (omb), in direct-developing juveniles of the polychaete Neanthes arenaceodentata. Parapodial Dll expression marks premorphogenetic notopodia and neuropodia, becoming restricted to the bases of notopodial cirri and to ventral portions of neuropodia. In outgrowing cephalic appendages, Dll activity is primarily restricted to proximal domains. Dll expression is also prominent in the brain. dac expression occurs in the brain, nerve cord ganglia, a pair of pharyngeal ganglia, presumed interneurons linking a pair of segmental nerves, and in newly differentiating mesoderm. Domains of omb expression include the brain, nerve cord ganglia, one pair of anterior cirri, presumed precursors of dorsal musculature, and the same pharyngeal ganglia and presumed interneurons that express dac. Contrary to their roles in outgrowing arthropod and vertebrate appendages, Dll, dac, and omb lack comparable expression in Neanthes appendages, implying independent evolution of annelid appendage development. We infer that parapodia and arthropodia are not structurally or mechanistically homologous (but their primordia might be), that Dll’s ancestral bilaterian function was in sensory and central nervous system differentiation, and that locomotory appendages possibly evolved from sensory outgrowths

Relation between sleep quality and quantity, quality of life, and risk of developing diabetes in healthy workers in Japan: the High-risk and Population Strategy for Occupational Health Promotion (HIPOP-OHP) Study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The effect of sleep on the risk of developing diabetes has not been explored in an Asian population. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of self-reported sleep duration and sleep quality on the risk of developing diabetes in a prospective cohort in Japan.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data were analyzed from the cohort of participants in a High-risk and Population Strategy for Occupational Health Promotion Study (HIPOP-OHP), conducted in Japan from the year 1999 until 2004. A Cox proportional hazard model was used to evaluate the association between sleep duration or sleep quality and the risk of diabetes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of 6509 participants (26.1% of women, 19–69 years of age), a total of 230 type 2 diabetes cases were reported over a median 4.2 years of follow-up. For participants who often experienced difficulty in initiating sleep, the multivariate-adjusted hazard ratios for diabetes were 1.42 (95%CI, 1.05–1.91) in participants with a medium frequency of difficulty initiating sleep, and 1.61 (95%CI, 1.00–2.58) for those with a high frequency, with a statistically significant linear trend. Significant association was not observed in the association between difficulty of maintaining sleep or duration of sleep, and risk of diabetes.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Medium and high frequencies of difficulty initiating sleep, but not difficulty in maintaining sleep or in sleep duration, are associated with higher risks of diabetes in relatively healthy Asian workers, even after adjusting for a large number of possible further factors.</p

Decreased brain venous vasculature visibility on susceptibility-weighted imaging venography in patients with multiple sclerosis is related to chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency.

BACKGROUND: The potential pathogenesis between the presence and severity of chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) and its relation to clinical and imaging outcomes in brain parenchyma of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients has not yet been elucidated. The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between CCSVI, and altered brain parenchyma venous vasculature visibility (VVV) on susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) in patients with MS and in sex- and age-matched healthy controls (HC). METHODS: 59 MS patients, 41 relapsing-remitting and 18 secondary-progressive, and 33 HC were imaged on a 3T GE scanner using pre- and post-contrast SWI venography. The presence and severity of CCSVI was determined using extra-cranial and trans-cranial Doppler criteria. Apparent total venous volume (ATVV), venous intracranial fraction (VIF) and average distance-from-vein (DFV) were calculated for various vein mean diameter categories: .9 mm. RESULTS: CCSVI criteria were fulfilled in 79.7% of MS patients and 18.2% of HC (p < .0001). Patients with MS showed decreased overall ATVV, ATVV of veins with a diameter < .3 mm, and increased DFV compared to HC (all p < .0001). Subjects diagnosed with CCSVI had significantly increased DFV (p < .0001), decreased overall ATVV and ATVV of veins with a diameter < .3 mm (p < .003) compared to subjects without CCSVI. The severity of CCSVI was significantly related to decreased VVV in MS (p < .0001) on pre- and post-contrast SWI, but not in HC. CONCLUSIONS: MS patients with higher number of venous stenoses, indicative of CCSVI severity, showed significantly decreased venous vasculature in the brain parenchyma. The pathogenesis of these findings has to be further investigated, but they suggest that reduced metabolism and morphological changes of venous vasculature may be taking place in patients with MS

Assessing urban system vulnerabilities to flooding to improve resilience and adaptation in spatial planning

Fluvial, pluvial and coastal flooding are the most frequent and costly natural hazard. Cities are social hubs and life in cities is reliant on a number of services and functions such as housing, healthcare, education and other key daily facilities. Urban flooding can cause significant disruption to these services and wider impacts on the population. These impacts may be short or long with a variably spatial scale: urban systems are spatially distributed and the nature of this can have significant effects on flood impacts. From an urban-planning perspective, measuring this disruption and its consequences is fundamental in order to develop more resilient cities. Whereas the assessment of physical vulnerabilities and direct damages is commonly addressed, new methodologies for assessing the systemic vulnerability and indirect damages at the urban scale are required. The proposed systemic approach recognizes the city as a collection of sub-systems or functional units (such as neighborhoods and suburbs), interconnected through the road network, providing key daily services to inhabitants (e.g., healthcare facilities, schools, food shops, leisure and cultural services). Each city is part of broader systems—which may or may not match administrative boundaries—and, as such, needs to be connected to its wider surroundings in a multi-scalar perspective. The systemic analysis, herein limited to residential households, is based on network-accessibility measures and evaluates the presence, the distribution among urban units and the redundancy of key daily services. Trying to spatially sketch the existence of systemic interdependences between neighborhoods, suburbs and municipalities, the proposed method highlights how urban systemic vulnerability spreads beyond the flooded areas. The aim is to understand which planning patterns and existing mixed-use developments are more flood resilient, thereby informing future urban development and regeneration projects. The methodology has been developed based on GIS and applied to an Italian municipality (Noale) in the metropolitan area of Venice, NE Italy

Occupational, domestic and environmental mesothelioma risks in the British population: a case–control study

We obtained lifetime occupational and residential histories by telephone interview with 622 mesothelioma patients (512 men, 110 women) and 1420 population controls. Odds ratios (ORs) were converted to lifetime risk (LR) estimates for Britons born in the 1940s. Male ORs (95% confidence interval (CI)) relative to low-risk occupations for >10 years of exposure before the age of 30 years were 50.0 (25.8–96.8) for carpenters (LR 1 in 17), 17.1 (10.3–28.3) for plumbers, electricians and painters, 7.0 (3.2–15.2) for other construction workers, 15.3 (9.0–26.2) for other recognised high-risk occupations and 5.2 (3.1–8.5) in other industries where asbestos may be encountered. The LR was similar in apparently unexposed men and women (∼1 in 1000), and this was approximately doubled in exposed workers' relatives (OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.3–3.2). No other environmental hazards were identified. In all, 14% of male and 62% of female cases were not attributable to occupational or domestic asbestos exposure. Approximately half of the male cases were construction workers, and only four had worked for more than 5 years in asbestos product manufacture

Initial Medical Attention on Patients with Early-Stage Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Detection of early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is commonly believed to be incidental. Understanding the reasons that caused initial detection of these patients is important for early diagnosis. However, these reasons are not well studied.We retrospectively reviewed medical records of patients diagnosed with stage I or II NSCLC between 2000 and 2009 at UT MD Anderson Cancer Center. Information on suggestive LC-symptoms or other reasons that caused detection were extracted from patients' medical records. We applied univariate and multivariate analyses to evaluate the association of suggestive LC-symptoms with tumor size and patient survival.Of the 1396 early stage LC patients, 733 (52.5%) presented with suggestive LC-symptoms as chief complaint. 347 (24.9%) and 287 (20.6%) were diagnosed because of regular check-ups and evaluations for other diseases, respectively. The proportion of suggestive LC-symptom-caused detection had a linear relationship with the tumor size (correlation 0.96; with p<.0001). After age, gender, race, smoking status, therapy, and stage adjustment, the symptom-caused detection showed no significant difference in overall and LC-specific survival when compared with the other (non-symptom-caused) detection.Symptoms suggestive of LC are the number one reason that led to detection in early NSCLC. They were also associated with tumor size at diagnosis, suggesting early stage LC patients are developing symptoms. Presence of symptoms in early stages did not compromise survival. A symptom-based alerting system or guidelines may be worth of further study to benefit NSCLC high risk individuals

A phase I study of pemetrexed (LY231514) supplemented with folate and vitamin B12 in Japanese patients with solid tumours

The purpose of this study was to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and recommended dose (RD) of pemetrexed with folate and vitamin B12 supplementation (FA/VB12) in Japanese patients with solid tumours and to investigate the safety, efficacy, and pharmacokinetics of pemetrexed. Eligible patients had incurable solid tumours by standard treatments, a performance status 0–2, and adequate organ function. Pemetrexed from 300 to 1200 mg m−2 was administered as a 10-min infusion on day 1 of a 21-day cycle with FA/VB12. Totally, 31 patients were treated. Dose-limiting toxicities were alanine aminotransferase (ALT) elevation at 700 mg m−2, and infection and skin rash at 1200 mg m−2. The MTD/RD were determined to be 1200/1000 mg m−2, respectively. The most common grade 3/4 toxicities were neutropenia (grade (G) 3:29, G4:3%), leucopenia (G3:13, G4:3%), lympopenia (G3:13%) and ALT elevation (G3:13%). Pemetrexed pharmacokinetics in Japanese were not overtly different from those in western patients. Partial response was achieved for 5/23 evaluable patients (four with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and one with thymoma). The MTD/RD of pemetrexed were determined to be 1200/1000 mg m−2, respectively, that is, a higher RD than without FA/VB12 (500 mg m−2). Pemetrexed with FA/VB12 showed a tolerable toxicity profile and potent antitumour activity against NSCLC in this study