Predicting chronic copper and nickel reproductive toxicity to Daphnia pulex-pulicaria from whole-animal metabolic profiles

The emergence of omics approaches in environmental research has enhanced our understanding of the mechanisms underlying toxicity; however, extrapolation from molecular effects to whole-organism and population level outcomes remains a considerable challenge. Using environmentally relevant, sublethal, concentrations of two metals (Cu and Ni), both singly and in binary mixtures, we integrated data from traditional chronic, partial life-cycle toxicity testing and metabolomics to generate a statistical model that was predictive of reproductive impairment in a Daphnia pulex-pulicaria hybrid that was isolated from an historically metal-stressed lake. Furthermore, we determined that the metabolic profiles of organisms exposed in a separate acute assay were also predictive of impaired reproduction following metal exposure. Thus we were able to directly associate molecular profiles to a key population response - reproduction, a key step towards improving environmental risk assessment and management

How do different lighting conditions affect the vision and quality of life of people with glaucoma? A systematic review

This article is a systematic review of evidence regarding the impact of different lighting conditions on the vision and quality of life (QoL) of people with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). A systematic literature search was carried out using CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycARTICLES, PsycINFO, Embase, and Ovid Nursing Database for studies: published up to April 2019; including people diagnosed with POAG; and assessing visual function or QoL in response to changing lighting/luminance levels or glare. Two researchers independently screened studies for eligibility. Data were extracted from eligible studies regarding study design, participant characteristics, outcomes, and results. Quality of included studies was critically appraised. Of 8437 studies, 56 eligible studies were included. Studies investigated the effects of lighting on the following domains among people with POAG: QoL (18/56), psychophysical measures (16/56), functional vision (10/56), activities of daily living (10/56), and qualitative findings (2/56). POAG negatively affects low-luminance contrast sensitivity, glare symptoms, and dark adaptation time and extent. In vision-related QoL questionnaires, people with POAG report problems with lighting, glare, and dark adaptation more frequently than any other domain. These problems worsen with progressing visual field loss. Early-stage POAG patients experience significantly more difficulties in low-luminance or changing lighting conditions than age-matched controls (AMCs), challenging perceptions of early-stage POAG as asymptomatic. However, performance-based studies seldom show significant differences between POAG participants and AMCs on tasks simulating daily activities under non-optimal lighting conditions. Further research with larger samples is required to optimise ambient and task-oriented lighting that can support patients’ adaptation to POAG

Open-Closed String Duality from Orbifolded Conifolds

We study large N dualities for a class of ${\cal N} = 1$ theories realized on type IIB D5 branes wrapping 2-cycles of local Calabi-Yau threefolds which is obtained from resolving orbifolded conifolds or as effective field theories on D4 branes in type IIA brane configurations. The field theory is $\mathcal{N} =1$ supersymmetric $\prod U(N_{ij})$ Yang-Mills gauge theory. Strong coupling effects are analyzed in the deformed geometry. We propose open-closed string duality via a geometric transition in toric geometry. The T-dual type IIA picture and M-theory lifting are also considered.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:hep-th/0105066 by other author

How do different lighting conditions affect the vision and quality of life of people with glaucoma? A systematic review

This article is a systematic review of evidence regarding the impact of different lighting conditions on the vision and quality of life (QoL) of people with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). A systematic literature search was carried out using CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycARTICLES, PsycINFO, Embase, and Ovid Nursing Database for studies: published up to April 2019; including people diagnosed with POAG; and assessing visual function or QoL in response to changing lighting/luminance levels or glare. Two researchers independently screened studies for eligibility. Data were extracted from eligible studies regarding study design, participant characteristics, outcomes, and results. Quality of included studies was critically appraised. Of 8437 studies, 56 eligible studies were included. Studies investigated the effects of lighting on the following domains among people with POAG: QoL (18/56), psychophysical measures (16/56), functional vision (10/56), activities of daily living (10/56), and qualitative findings (2/56). POAG negatively affects low-luminance contrast sensitivity, glare symptoms, and dark adaptation time and extent. In vision-related QoL questionnaires, people with POAG report problems with lighting, glare, and dark adaptation more frequently than any other domain. These problems worsen with progressing visual field loss. Early-stage POAG patients experience significantly more difficulties in low-luminance or changing lighting conditions than age-matched controls (AMCs), challenging perceptions of early-stage POAG as asymptomatic. However, performance-based studies seldom show significant differences between POAG participants and AMCs on tasks simulating daily activities under non-optimal lighting conditions. Further research with larger samples is required to optimise ambient and task-oriented lighting that can support patients’ adaptation to POAG

Enhancing technology acceptance: The role of the subsurface contaminants focus area external integration team

The US DOE is developing and deploying innovative technologies for cleaning up its contaminated facilities using a market-oriented approach. This report describes the activities of the Subsurface Contaminant Focus Area`s (SCFA) External Integration Team (EIT) in supporting DOE`s technology development program. The SCFA program for technology development is market-oriented, driven by the needs of end users. The purpose of EIT is to understand the technology needs of the DOE sites and identify technology acceptance criteria from users and other stakeholders to enhance deployment of innovative technologies. Stakeholders include regulators, technology users, Native Americans, and environmental and other interest groups. The success of this national program requires close coordination and communication among technology developers and stakeholders to work through all of the various phases of planning and implementation. Staff involved must be willing to commit significant amounts of time to extended discussions with the various stakeholders

Hierarchical task analysis: Developments, applications and extensions

Hierarchical Task Analysis (HTA) is a core ergonomics approach with pedigree of over thirty years continuous use. At its heart, HTA is based upon a theory of performance and has only three governing principles. Originally developed as a means of determining training requirements, there was no way the initial pioneers of HTA could have foreseen the extent of its success. HTA has endured as a way of representing a system sub-goal hierarchy for extended analysis. It has been used for a range of applications, including interface design and evaluation, allocation of function, job aid design, error prediction, and workload assessment. Ergonomists are still developing new ways of using HTA which has assured the continued use of the approach for the foreseeable future

A practical review of energy saving technology for ageing populations

Fuel poverty is a critical issue for a globally ageing population. Longer heating/cooling requirements combine with declining incomes to create a problem in need of urgent attention. One solution is to deploy technology to help elderly users feel informed about their energy use, and empowered to take steps to make it more cost effective and efficient. This study subjects a broad cross section of energy monitoring and home automation products to a formal ergonomic analysis. A high level task analysis was used to guide a product walk through, and a toolkit approach was used thereafter to drive out further insights. The findings reveal a number of serious usability issues which prevent these products from successfully accessing an important target demographic and associated energy saving and fuel poverty outcomes. Design principles and examples are distilled from the research to enable practitioners to translate the underlying research into high quality design-engineering solutions

Breast screening atypia and subsequent development of cancer: protocol for an observational analysis of the Sloane database in England (Sloane atypia cohort study).

INTRODUCTION: The National Health Service (NHS) Breast Screening Programme aims to detect cancer earlier when treatment is more effective but can harm women by over diagnosing and overtreating cancers which would never have become symptomatic. As well as breast cancer, a spectrum of atypical epithelial proliferations (atypia) can also be detected as part of screening. This spectrum of changes, while not cancer, may mean that a woman is more likely to develop breast cancer in the future. Follow-up of atypia is not evidence based. We currently do not know which atypia should be detected to avoid future cancer. This study will explore how atypia develops into breast cancer in terms of number of women, time of cancer development, cancer type and severity, and whether this varies for different types of atypia. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The Sloane cohort study began in April 2003 with ongoing data collection including atypia diagnosed through screening at screening units in the UK. The database for England has 3645 cases (24 September 2020) of epithelial atypia, with follow-up from 1 to 15 years. The outcomes include subsequent invasive breast cancer and the nature of subsequent cancer. Descriptive statistics will be produced. The observed rates of breast cancer at 1, 3 and 6 years for types of atypia will be reported with CIs, to enable comparison to women in the general population. Time to event methods will be used to describe the time to breast cancer diagnosis for the types of atypia, including flexible parametric modelling if appropriate. Patient representatives from Independent Cancer Patients' Voice are included at every stage of the research. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The study has received research ethics approval from the University of Warwick Biomedical and Scientific Research Ethics Committee (BSREC 10/20-21, 8 October 2020), Public Health England office for data release approvals (ODR1718_313) and approval from the English Breast Research Advisory Committee (BSPRAC_031). The findings will be disseminated to breast screening clinicians (via journal publication and conference presentation), to the NHS Breast Screening Programme to update their guidelines on how women with atypia should be followed up, and to the general public

Association between rheumatoid arthritis disease activity, progression of functional limitation and long-term risk of orthopaedic surgery : Combined analysis of two prospective cohorts supports EULAR treat to target DAS thresholds

Objectives: To examine the association between disease activity in early rheumatoid arthritis (RA), functional limitation and long-term orthopaedic episodes. Methods: Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) disability scores were collected from two longitudinal early RA inception cohorts in routine care; Early Rheumatoid Arthritis Study and Early Rheumatoid Arthritis Network from 1986 to 2012. The incidence of major and intermediate orthopaedic surgical episodes over 25 years was collected from national data sets. Disease activity was categorised by mean disease activity score (DAS28) annually between years 1 and 5; remission (RDAS≤2.6), low (LDAS>2.6-3.2), low-moderate (LMDAS≥3.2-4.19), high-moderate (HMDAS 4.2-5.1) and high (HDAS>5.1). Results: Data from 2045 patients were analysed. Patients in RDAS showed no HAQ progression over 5 years, whereas there was a significant relationship between rising DAS28 category and HAQ at 1 year, and the rate of HAQ progression between years 1 and 5. During 27 986 person-years follow-up, 392 intermediate and 591 major surgeries were observed. Compared with the RDAS category, there was a significantly increased cumulative incidence of intermediate surgery in HDAS (OR 2.59 CI 1.49 to 4.52) and HMDAS (OR 1.8 CI 1.05 to 3.11) categories, and for major surgery in HDAS (OR 2.48 CI 1.5 to 4.11), HMDAS (OR 2.16 CI 1.32 to 3.52) and LMDAS (OR 2.07 CI 1.28 to 3.33) categories. There was no significant difference in HAQ progression or orthopaedic episodes between RDAS and LDAS categories. Conclusions: There is an association between disease activity and both poor function and long-term orthopaedic episodes. This illustrates the far from benign consequences of persistent moderate disease activity, and supports European League Against Rheumatism treat to target recommendations to secure low disease activity or remission in all patients.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

The Opportunity Cost of the Conservation Reserve Program: A Kansas Land Example

The effects of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) on farmland values is investigated using a set of parcel-level data for land sales in Kansas over the period 1998 to 2014. The sales data are used to estimate a hedonic model of land values that allows for the opportunity cost of CRP enrollment to vary across space and time. Factors impacting the opportunity costs include the relative productivity of land, returns to farming, and the time remaining under the CRP contracts. We find that the discount associated with having land under CRP contract averages 7%