Commercial Water Claims: City of London Assessment of Claims Made by London Residents

The City of London has a mandate to provide its residents with high grade water and yet there have been complaints concerning the impurities, otherwise known as residuals, and the overall quality. This paper delves into the truth about the contents of the municipal water system and what the effects of its components are to the London populace. A public survey asked residents questions about their concerns and water drinking habits. The survey pointed to concerns about fluoride, residual chlorine and overall taste of water among others. Fluoride is known to reduce tooth decay (CDC, 2018) and any negative consequences of fluoride ingestion are negligible due to the amount physically present in the water. Chlorine is in water to eliminate bacteria (WHO, 2017). Taste is the main deterring factor for residents not consuming municipal water. With consistent monitoring, there is no risk to the health and safety of London residents who consume municipal water

A Global Perspective on Trends in Nature-Based Tourism

Falling attendance at United States and Japanese national parks has led to claims of a pervasive shift away from nature-based recreation. A global analysis, however, now suggests that while visit rates are declining slightly in some richer countries, elsewhere nature tourism is booming

Retrospective evaluation of whole exome and genome mutation calls in 746 cancer samples

Funder: NCI U24CA211006Abstract: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) curated consensus somatic mutation calls using whole exome sequencing (WES) and whole genome sequencing (WGS), respectively. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, which aggregated whole genome sequencing data from 2,658 cancers across 38 tumour types, we compare WES and WGS side-by-side from 746 TCGA samples, finding that ~80% of mutations overlap in covered exonic regions. We estimate that low variant allele fraction (VAF < 15%) and clonal heterogeneity contribute up to 68% of private WGS mutations and 71% of private WES mutations. We observe that ~30% of private WGS mutations trace to mutations identified by a single variant caller in WES consensus efforts. WGS captures both ~50% more variation in exonic regions and un-observed mutations in loci with variable GC-content. Together, our analysis highlights technological divergences between two reproducible somatic variant detection efforts

The 'Chronicle of Perth': an historical and archaeological study

This thesis features a full transcript of NLS Advocates MS. 35.4.4, The "Chronicle of Perth". The manuscript volume was edited and published by James Maidment in 1831 for the Maitland Club of Glasgow; however, Maidment's edition represents only a partial transcription of the original volume, and the editor provided few textual notes. I have written a substantial commentary to accompany the text; my work on the "Chronicle" is intended to improve upon and replace Maidment's edition. The manuscript volume was probably compiled between c. 1590 and c. 1668, and incorporates a variety of subject matter: copies of official correspondence, a register of deaths and, chiefly, a register of historical events of local and national significance in the 16th and 17th centuries. Editorial work in this thesis includes detailed analysis of the structure and provenance of the manuscript, a study of the veracity of the historical notices, and an assessment of its place in the local literary context. The "Chronicle" is an anonymous work; but suggestions concerning the identity of its authors have been made following handwriting analysis and a comparative study of the manuscript with other documents in the Perth Burgh Records. The "Chronicle" can be dated through internal evidence, and also by study of the manuscript paper. Numerous archaeological excavations have been carried out in Perth during recent years. The results of this work have substantially augmented the historical record of life in the medieval and early modern burgh, and archaeological evidence is certainly of considerable importance to historians of Perth. This thesis seeks to assess the value of historical records for archaeologists working in the burgh. This is essentially a theoretical exercise, but it should also have practical consequences for archaeological research in Perth. It is the contention of my approach that historical sources can be used in advance of archaeological investigation to pose archaeological questions, to provide guidelines for research, and indeed to provide archaeological information. In this thesis I have sought to demonstrate that the "Chronicle of Perth" contains useful archaeological material in its own right, and that the manuscript indicates areas in which archaeological study may develop our understanding of the 17th century environment, in both town and country. The archaeological themes which emerge from the text of the "Chronicle" are developed by reference to manuscripts in the Perth Burgh Records and existing archaeological information. This thesis examines the climatic history of the Perth region in the early modem period - with particular reference to damage caused by floods, harvest failures, and the spread of infectious diseases - and the built environment of the burgh. Attention is paid to major public buildings of the town, such as the tolbooth and St. John's Kirk, and to significant structures beyond the town walls such as Lowswork and the Brig of Earn. A pervasive theme of this research is an assessment of the burgh's complicated relationship with its rural hinterland. Features of this study include the structure of the market economy in 17th century Perthshire, and the influence of large estates within the landscape. The economy of the burgh of Perth was relatively weak in the 17th century, and the "Chronicle" directs particular attention to the disruption which was caused by the Covenanting crisis of the 1640s and Cromwellian occupation of the 1650s; this thesis considers the effects of those years upon Perth's economy. The thesis is intended to form a substantial reference source for historians and archaeologists working in Perth. At both theoretical and practical levels, this study considers the value of documentary sources for archaeological research. The "Chronicle of Perth" can be used as an introduction to the quality of life which was experienced within and without Perth in the early modern period; archaeological themes which can be extracted from the text of the "Chronicle" can be developed using the Perth Burgh Records to build up a portrait of the state of the built environment in town and country. An important consequence of this research has been to demonstrate the close association which exists between historical and archaeological information

Detection of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Sekong Province Lao PDR 2018 - Potential for improved surveillance and management in endemic regions

Significant global efforts have been directed towards understanding the epidemiology of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) across poultry production systems and in wild‐bird reservoirs, yet understanding of disease dynamics in the village poultry setting remains limited. This article provides a detailed account of the first laboratory‐confirmed outbreak of HPAI in the south‐eastern provinces of Lao PDR, which occurred in a village in Sekong Province in October 2018. Perspectives from an anthropologist conducting fieldwork at the time of the outbreak, clinical and epidemiological observations by an Australian veterinarian are combined with laboratory characterization and sequencing of the virus to provide insights about disease dynamics, biosecurity, outbreak response and impediments to disease surveillance. Market‐purchased chickens were considered the likely source of the outbreak. Observations highlighted the significance of a‐lack‐of pathognomonic clinical signs and commonness of high‐mortality poultry disease with consequent importance of laboratory diagnosis. Sample submission and testing was found to be efficient, despite the village being far from the national veterinary diagnostic laboratory. Extensively raised poultry play key roles in ritual, livelihoods and nutrition of rural Lao PDR people. Unfortunately, mass mortality of chickens due to diseases such as HPAI and Newcastle disease (ND) imposes a significant burden on smallholders in Lao PDR, as in most other SE Asian countries. We observed that high mortality of chickens is perceived by locals as a new ‘normal’ in raising poultry; this sense of it being ‘normal’ is a disincentive to reporting of mortality events. Establishing effective people‐centred disease‐surveillance approaches with local benefit, improving market‐biosecurity and veterinary‐service support to control vaccine‐preventable poultry diseases could all reduce mass‐mortality event frequency, improve veterinary–producer relationships and increase the likelihood that mortality events are reported. Priority in each of these aspects should be on working with smallholders and local traders, appreciating and respecting their perspectives and local knowledge.funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the Emerging Pandemics Threats 2 (EPT-2) project and Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT

A ketogenic diet suppresses seizures in mice through adenosine A1 receptors

A ketogenic diet (KD) is a high-fat, low-carbohydrate metabolic regimen; its effectiveness in the treatment of refractory epilepsy suggests that the mechanisms underlying its anticonvulsive effects differ from those targeted by conventional antiepileptic drugs. Recently, KD and analogous metabolic strategies have shown therapeutic promise in other neurologic disorders, such as reducing brain injury, pain, and inflammation. Here, we have shown that KD can reduce seizures in mice by increasing activation of adenosine A1 receptors (A1Rs). When transgenic mice with spontaneous seizures caused by deficiency in adenosine metabolism or signaling were fed KD, seizures were nearly abolished if mice had intact A1Rs, were reduced if mice expressed reduced A1Rs, and were unaltered if mice lacked A1Rs. Seizures were restored by injecting either glucose (metabolic reversal) or an A1R antagonist (pharmacologic reversal). Western blot analysis demonstrated that the KD reduced adenosine kinase, the major adenosine-metabolizing enzyme. Importantly, hippocampal tissue resected from patients with medically intractable epilepsy demonstrated increased adenosine kinase. We therefore conclude that adenosine deficiency may be relevant to human epilepsy and that KD can reduce seizures by increasing A1R-mediated inhibition