Green Care: a Conceptual Framework. A Report of the Working Group on the Health Benefits of Green Care

‘Green Care’ is a range of activities that promotes physical and mental health and well-being through contact with nature. It utilises farms, gardens and other outdoor spaces as a therapeutic intervention for vulnerable adults and children. Green care includes care farming, therapeutic horticulture, animal assisted therapy and other nature-based approaches. These are now the subject of investigation by researchers from many different countries across the world

Entropic contributions to the splicing process

It has been recently argued that the depletion attraction may play an important role in different aspects of the cellular organization, ranging from the organization of transcriptional activity in transcription factories to the formation of the nuclear bodies. In this paper we suggest a new application of these ideas in the context of the splicing process, a crucial step of messanger RNA maturation in Eukaryotes. We shall show that entropy effects and the resulting depletion attraction may explain the relevance of the aspecific intron length variable in the choice of the splice-site recognition modality. On top of that, some qualitative features of the genome architecture of higher Eukaryotes can find an evolutionary realistic motivation in the light of our model.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures. Extended version, accepted for publication in Physical Biolog

Matrix Orbit Closures

Let $G$ be the group \GL_r(\CC) \times (\CC^\times)^n. We conjecture that the finely-graded Hilbert series of a $G$ orbit closure in the space of $r$-by-$n$ matrices is wholly determined by the associated matroid. In support of this, we prove that the coefficients of this Hilbert series corresponding to certain hook-shaped Schur functions in the \GL_r(\CC) variables are determined by the matroid, and that the orbit closure has a set-theoretic system of ideal generators whose combinatorics are also so determined. We also discuss relations between these Hilbert series for related matrices

A Plan to Facilitate the Early Career Development of Minority Scholars in the Health Sciences

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1937191100374817

On Online Banking Authentication for All: A Comparison of BankID Login Efficiency Using Smartphones Versus Code Generators

acceptedVersionpublishedVersio

Low risk of cervical cancer during a long period after negative screening in the Netherlands

A condition for effective cervical cancer screening is a low incidence of cervical cancer after negative screening compared to that in the absence of screening. This relative risk was studied for the period 1994-1997 in the Netherlands and compared with previous studies. All cases of invasive cervical cancer diagnosed from 1994 to 1997 in the Netherlands were related to woman-years at risk, stratified by age, number of preceding negative screenings and time since the preceding negative screening. These incidence rates were compared with that before screening started in the Netherlands. The relative risk increases from 0.13 in the first year after screening to 0.24 after more than 6 years after screening for women with one previous negative screening. These figures reduce to 0.06 and 0.18, respectively, for women with two or more previous screenings. However, these estimates are less favourable when account is taken of the likely decrease in risk for cervical cancer in the period studied. Our data show a low relative risk of cervical cancer for several years following the last negative Pap smear. However, the denominator of the relative risk, that is, the incidence without screening, may have been overestimated. This applies also to the IARC multicountry study, and may have caused too optimistic expectations about the effectiveness of cervical cancer screening

Large introns in relation to alternative splicing and gene evolution: a case study of Drosophila bruno-3

Background: Alternative splicing (AS) of maturing mRNA can generate structurally and functionally distinct transcripts from the same gene. Recent bioinformatic analyses of available genome databases inferred a positive correlation between intron length and AS. To study the interplay between intron length and AS empirically and in more detail, we analyzed the diversity of alternatively spliced transcripts (ASTs) in the Drosophila RNA-binding Bruno-3 (Bru-3) gene. This gene was known to encode thirteen exons separated by introns of diverse sizes, ranging from 71 to 41,973 nucleotides in D. melanogaster. Although Bru-3's structure is expected to be conducive to AS, only two ASTs of this gene were previously described. Results: Cloning of RT-PCR products of the entire ORF from four species representing three diverged Drosophila lineages provided an evolutionary perspective, high sensitivity, and long-range contiguity of splice choices currently unattainable by high-throughput methods. Consequently, we identified three new exons, a new exon fragment and thirty-three previously unknown ASTs of Bru-3. All exon-skipping events in the gene were mapped to the exons surrounded by introns of at least 800 nucleotides, whereas exons split by introns of less than 250 nucleotides were always spliced contiguously in mRNA. Cases of exon loss and creation during Bru-3 evolution in Drosophila were also localized within large introns. Notably, we identified a true de novo exon gain: exon 8 was created along the lineage of the obscura group from intronic sequence between cryptic splice sites conserved among all Drosophila species surveyed. Exon 8 was included in mature mRNA by the species representing all the major branches of the obscura group. To our knowledge, the origin of exon 8 is the first documented case of exonization of intronic sequence outside vertebrates. Conclusion: We found that large introns can promote AS via exon-skipping and exon turnover during evolution likely due to frequent errors in their removal from maturing mRNA. Large introns could be a reservoir of genetic diversity, because they have a greater number of mutable sites than short introns. Taken together, gene structure can constrain and/or promote gene evolution

HVOF-Deposited WCCoCr as Replacement for Hard Cr in Landing Gear Actuators

WCCoCr coatings deposited by HVOF can replace hard Cr on landing gear components. Powders with two different WC particle sizes (micro and nano-) and geometries have been employed to study the effects on the coating’s properties. Moreover, coatings produced employing two sets of parameters resulting in high and low flame temperatures have been evaluated. Minor differences in microstructure and morphology were observed for the two powders employing the same spraying parameters, but the nano-sized powder exhibited a higher spraying efficiency. However, more significant microstructural changes result when the low- and high-energy spray parameters are used. Moreover, results of various tests which include adhesion, wear, salt fog corrosion resistance, liquid immersion, and axial fatigue strength, indicate that the coatings produced with high-energy flame are similar in behavior. On the other hand, the nanostructured low-energy flame coating exhibited a significantly lower salt fog corrosion resistanc

An image-based visual strategy for working with color contrasts during design

acceptedVersio

The value of postmortem computed tomography as an alternative for autopsy in trauma victims: a systematic review

The aim of this study was to assess the role of postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) as an alternative for autopsy in determining the cause of death and the identification of specific injuries in trauma victims. A systematic review was performed by searching the EMBASE and MEDLINE databases. Articles were eligible if they reported both PMCT as well as autopsy findings and included more than one trauma victim. Two reviewers independently assessed the eligibility and quality of the articles. The outcomes were described in terms of the percentage agreement on causes of death and amount of injuries detected. The data extraction and analysis were performed together. Fifteen studies were included describing 244 victims. The median sample size was 13 (range 5–52). The percentage agreement on the cause of death between PMCT and autopsy varied between 46 and 100%. The overall amount of injuries detected on CT ranged from 53 to 100% compared with autopsy. Several studies suggested that PMCT was capable of identifying injuries not detected during normal autopsy. This systematic review provides inconsistent evidence as to whether PMCT is a reliable alternative for autopsy in trauma victims. PMCT has promising features in postmortem examination suggesting PMCT is a good alternative for a refused autopsy or a good adjunct to autopsy because it detects extra injuries overseen during autopsies. To examine the value of PMCT in trauma victims there is a need for well-designed and larger prospective studies