Child Exploitation and the FIFA World Cup: A review of risks and protective interventions

This review was commissioned by the Child Abuse Programme (CAP) of Oak Foundation, a large international philanthropic organisation. It forms part of CAP’s effort to win societal rejection of practices such as the sexual exploitation of children and adolescents around major sporting events (MSEs), and to embed prevention and protection from exploitation as a permanent concern for global sports-related bodies. This review is intended to inform action in countries that host MSEs and to provide some suggestions on how hosting countries can avoid past pitfalls and mistakes in relation to child exploitation, especially economic and sexual exploitation. Importantly, it also acts as a call to action by those responsible for commissioning and staging MSEs, such as FIFA and the IOC, to anticipate, prepare for and adopt risk mitigation strategies and interventions. Positive leadership from these culturally powerful bodies could prove decisive in shifting hearts, minds and actions in the direction of improved safety for children

Heparan sulfate disaccharide measurement from biological samples using pre-column derivatization, UPLC-MS and single ion monitoring

Glycosaminoglycans are a heterogeneous family of linear polysaccharides comprised of repeating disaccharide subunits that mediate many effects at the cellular level. There is increasing evidence that the nature of these effects is determined by differences in disaccharide composition. However, the determination of GAG disaccharide composition in biological samples remains challenging and time-consuming. We have developed a method that uses derivatization and selected ion recording and RP-UPLCMS resulting in rapid separation and quantification of twelve heparin/heparin sulfate disaccharides from 5 μg GAG. Limits of detection and quantitation were 0.02–0.15 and 0.07–0.31 μg/ml respectively. We have applied this method to the novel analysis of disaccharide levels extracted from heparan sulfate and human cancer cell lines. Heparan sulfate disaccharides extracted from biological samples following actinase and heparinase incubation and derivatized using reductive amination with 2-aminoacridone. Derivatized disaccharides were analyzed used UPLC-MS with single ion monitoring. Eight HS disaccharide subunits were separated and quantified from HS and cell lines in eleven minutes per sample. In all samples the most abundant subunits present were the unsulfated ΔUA-GlcNAc, ΔUA-GlcNAc,6S and ΔUA,2S-GlcNS,6S. There was considerable variation in the proportions and concentrations of disaccharides between different cell lines. Further studies are needed to examine the significance of these differences

UAV mapping of rhizoctonia bare patch for targeted treatment

Rhizoctonia patches can be easily identified on both normal (RGB) and NDVI images captured by UAV. Mapping shows the pattern of patch distribution across a paddock, highlighting areas of crop with high and low levels of rhizoctonia patches

The influence function for self-equilibrating forces on a semi-infinite wedge

Published versio

IUPHAR-DB: An Expert-Curated, Peer-Reviewed Database of Receptors and Ion Channels

The International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology database (IUPHAR-DB) integrates peer-reviewed pharmacological, chemical, genetic, functional and anatomical information on the 354 non-sensory G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), 71 ligand-gated ion channel subunits and 141 voltage-gated ion channel subunits encoded by the human, rat and mouse genomes. These genes represent the targets of about a third of currently approved drugs and are a major focus of drug discovery and development programs in the pharmaceutical industry. Individual gene pages provide a comprehensive description of the genes and their functions, with information on protein structure, ligands, expression patterns, signaling mechanisms, functional assays and biologically important receptor variants (e.g. single nucleotide polymorphisms and splice variants). The phenotypes resulting from altered gene expression (e.g. in genetically altered animals) and genetic mutations are described. Links are provided to bioinformatics resources such as NCBI RefSeq, OMIM, PubChem, human, rat and mouse genome databases. Recent developments include the addition of ligand-centered pages summarising information about unique ligand molecules in IUPHAR-DB. IUPHAR-DB represents a novel approach to biocuration because most data are provided through manual curation of published literature by a network of over 60 expert subcommittees coordinated by NC-IUPHAR. Data are referenced to the primary literature and linked to PubMed. The data are checked to ensure accuracy and consistency by the curators, added to the production server using custom-built submission tools and peer-reviewed by NC-IUPHAR, before being transferred to the public database. Data are reviewed and updated regularly (at least biennially). Other website features include comprehensive database search tools, online and downloadable gene lists and links to recent publications of interest to the field, such as reports on receptor-ligand pairings. The database is freely available at "http://www.iuphar-db.org":http://www.iuphar-db.org. Curators can be reached at curators [at] iuphar-db.org. We thank British Pharmacological Society, UNESCO (through the ICSU Grants Programme), Incyte, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Servier and Wyeth for their support

Gravitational radiation reaction in compact binary systems: Contribution of the quadrupole-monopole interaction

The radiation reaction in compact spinning binaries on eccentric orbits due to the quadrupole-monopole interaction is studied. This contribution is of second post-Newtonian order. As result of the precession of spins the magnitude $L$ of the orbital angular momentum is not conserved. Therefore a proper characterization of the perturbed radial motion is provided by the energy $E$ and angular average $\bar{L}$. As powerful computing tools, the generalized true and eccentric anomaly parametrizations are introduced. Then the secular losses in energy and magnitude of orbital angular momentum together with the secular evolution of the relative orientations of the orbital angular momentum and spins are found for eccentric orbits by use of the residue theorem. The circular orbit limit of the energy loss agrees with Poisson's earlier result.Comment: accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Spin effects in gravitational radiation backreaction III. Compact binaries with two spinning components

The secular evolution of a spinning, massive binary system in eccentric orbit is analyzed, expanding and generalizing our previous treatments of the Lense-Thirring motion and the one-spin limit. The spin-orbit and spin-spin effects up to the 3/2 post-Newtonian order are considered, both in the equations of motion and in the radiative losses. The description of the orbit in terms of the true anomaly parametrization provides a simple averaging technique, based on the residue theorem, over eccentric orbits. The evolution equations of the angle variables characterizing the relative orientation of the spin and orbital angular momenta reveal a speed-up effect due to the eccentricity. The dissipative evolutions of the relevant dynamical and angular variables is presented in the form of a closed system of differential equations.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figur

Spin-spin effects in radiating compact binaries

The dynamics of a binary system with two spinning components on an eccentric orbit is studied, with the inclusion of the spin-spin interaction terms appearing at the second post-Newtonian order. A generalized true anomaly parametrization properly describes the radial component of the motion. The average over one radial period of the magnitude of the orbital angular momentum $\bar{L}$ is found to have no nonradiative secular change. All spin-spin terms in the secular radiative loss of the energy and magnitude of orbital angular momentum are given in terms of $\bar{L}$ and other constants of the motion. Among them, self-interaction spin effects are found, representing the second post-Newtonian correction to the 3/2 post-Newtonian order Lense-Thirring approximation.Comment: 12 pages, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Alternative approaches to the legal, institutional and financial aspects of developing an inter-island electrical transmission cable system

This study (I) delineates three comprehensive alternative scenarios for the development, financing, construction, ownership, regulation and operation of an inter-island electric energy transmission cable systemDepartment of Planning and Economic Development, State of Hawai

Time-Series Photometry of M67: W UMa Systems, Blue Stragglers, and Related Systems

We present an analysis of over 2200 V images taken on 14 nights at the Mt. Laguna 1 m telescope of the open cluster M67. Our observations overlap but extend beyond the field analyzed by Gilliland et al. (1991), and complement data recently published by van den Berg et al. (2002) and Stassun et al. (2002). We show variability in the light curves of all 4 of the known W UMa variables on timescales ranging from a day to decades (for AH Cnc). We have modeled the light curve of AH Cnc, and the total eclipses allow us to determine q = 0.16 +0.03/-0.02 and i = 86 +4/-8 degrees. The position of this system near the turnoff of M67 makes it useful for constraining the turnoff mass for the cluster. We have also detected two unusual features in the light curve of AH Cnc that may be caused by prominences. We have also monitored cluster blue stragglers for variability, and we present evidence hinting at low level variations in the stragglers S752, S968, and S1263, and we place limits on the variability of a number of other cluster blue stragglers. Finally, we provide photometry of the sub-subgiant branch star S1063 showing variability on timescales similar to the orbital period, while the ``red straggler'' S1040 shows evidence of an unexplained drop in brightness at phases corresponding to the passage of the white dwarf in front of the giant.Comment: 44 pages, 16 figures, AASTeX, accepted for A