37 research outputs found
Archaeological Assessment of Second World War Anti-Torpedo Close Protection Pontoons in Scapa Flow, Orkney
This paper presents the outcomes of sidescan sonar and archaeological diving surveys in 2015 of two wrecked vessels located off Flotta Island, Orkney, North Scotland. Archival research indicates these are the remains of Anti-Torpedo Close Protection Pontoons (ATCPP), an experimental protection device used for close protection of naval vessels at anchor in Scapa Flow from attack by aircraft-launch torpedoes. The pontoons were only in operation in Scapa Flow for 13 months (March 1941-April 1942) and few were brought into service. As such they represent a rare heritage resource, for which very little is known about their operation
The dynamics of human body weight change
An imbalance between energy intake and energy expenditure will lead to a
change in body weight (mass) and body composition (fat and lean masses). A
quantitative understanding of the processes involved, which currently remains
lacking, will be useful in determining the etiology and treatment of obesity
and other conditions resulting from prolonged energy imbalance. Here, we show
that the long-term dynamics of human weight change can be captured by a
mathematical model of the macronutrient flux balances and all previous models
are special cases of this model. We show that the generic dynamical behavior of
body composition for a clamped diet can be divided into two classes. In the
first class, the body composition and mass are determined uniquely. In the
second class, the body composition can exist at an infinite number of possible
states. Surprisingly, perturbations of dietary energy intake or energy
expenditure can give identical responses in both model classes and existing
data are insufficient to distinguish between these two possibilities. However,
this distinction is important for the efficacy of clinical interventions that
alter body composition and mass
Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome
The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead
Erratum: Corrigendum: Sequence and comparative analysis of the chicken genome provide unique perspectives on vertebrate evolution
International Chicken Genome Sequencing Consortium.
The Original Article was published on 09 December 2004.
Nature432, 695–716 (2004).
In Table 5 of this Article, the last four values listed in the ‘Copy number’ column were incorrect. These should be: LTR elements, 30,000; DNA transposons, 20,000; simple repeats, 140,000; and satellites, 4,000. These errors do not affect any of the conclusions in our paper.
Additional information.
The online version of the original article can be found at 10.1038/nature0315
Release of tetracycline hydrochloride from electrospun poly(ethylene-co-vinylacetate), poly(lactic acid), and a blend
Electrospun fiber mats are explored as drug delivery vehicles using tetracycline hydrochloride as a model drug. The mats were made either from poly(lactic acid) (PLA), poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate) (PEVA), or from a 50:50 blend of the two. The fibers were electrospun from chloroform solutions containing a small amount of methanol to solubilize the drug. The release of the tetracycline hydrochloride from these new drug delivery systems was followed by UV-VIS spectroscopy. Release profiles from the electrospun mats were compared to a commercially available drug delivery system, Actisite® (Alza Corporation, Palo Alto, CA), as well as to cast films of the various formulations. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved
Multivalent Conjugates of Sonic Hedgehog Accelerate Diabetic Wound Healing
Despite their preclinical promise, few recombinant growth factors have been fully developed into effective therapies, in part, due to the short interval of therapeutic activity after administration. To address this problem, we developed nanoscale polymer conjugates for multivalent presentation of therapeutic proteins that enhance the activation of targeted cellular responses. As an example of this technology, we conjugated multiple Sonic hedgehog (Shh) proteins onto individual hyaluronic acid biopolymers to generate multivalent protein clusters at defined ratios (i.e., valencies) that yield enhanced Shh pathway activation at equivalent concentrations relative to unconjugated Shh. In this study, we investigated whether these multivalent conjugates (mvShh) could be used to improve the therapeutic function of Shh. We found that a single treatment with mvShh significantly accelerated the closure of full-thickness wounds in diabetic (db/db) mice compared to either an equivalent dose of unconjugated Shh or the vehicle control. Furthermore, we identified specific indicators of wound healing in fibroblasts and endothelial cells (i.e., transcriptional activation and cell migration) that were activated by mvShh in vitro and at concentrations approximately an order of magnitude lower than the unconjugated Shh. Taken together, our findings suggest that mvShh conjugates exhibit greater potency to activate the Shh pathway, and this multivalency advantage improves its therapeutic effect to accelerate wound closure in a diabetic animal model. Our strategy of multivalent protein presentation using nanoscale polymer conjugates has the potential to make a significant impact on the development of protein-based therapies by improving their in vivo performance
National Asthma Education and Prevention Program Working Group Report on the Quality of Asthma Care.
The quality of asthma care is the second topic of the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program Task Force Report on the Cost Effectiveness, Quality of Care, and Financing of Asthma Care. This working group recommended an asthma continuous quality improvement model as an appropriate framework for examining the quality of asthma care. This model can be implemented by various organizations and providers of care in a variety of settings. The framework consists of four steps: (1) define the opportunity for improvement, (2) set the asthma quality improvement goals (outcomes), (3) characterize the process of care, and (4) begin the improvement cycle. Several case studies are presented to illustrate the use of this model in various settings, including managed care facilities, emergency departments, teaching hospitals, physician\u27s offices, schools, workplaces, and communities. In addition, the appendix provides an overview of asthma outcome measures in the framework of patient-centered versus organizationally based perspectives
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Global database of cement production assets and upstream suppliers
Acknowledgements: This work was supported by the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF).Funder: Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/100010409Funder: Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF)Cement producers and their investors are navigating evolving risks and opportunities as the sector’s climate and sustainability implications become more prominent. While many companies now disclose greenhouse gas emissions, the majority from carbon-intensive industries appear to delegate emissions to less efficient suppliers. Recognizing this, we underscore the necessity for a globally consolidated asset-level dataset, which acknowledges production inputs provenance. Our approach not only consolidates data from established sources like development banks and governments but innovatively integrates the age of plants and the sourcing patterns of raw materials as two foundational variables of the asset-level data. These variables are instrumental in modeling cement production utilization rates, which in turn, critically influence a company’s greenhouse emissions. Our method successfully combines geospatial computer vision and Large Language Modelling techniques to ensure a comprehensive and holistic understanding of global cement production dynamics