Increasing fruit and vegetable consumption in Ireland

Context: Following recommended dietary guidelines, Ireland has since 2010 implemented a  0% Value Added Tax (VAT) on fruits and vegetables to increase consumption. Eleven years after policy implementation, the Irish still do not meet recommended intake for fruit and vegetable consumption, consuming 3.9 portions a day compared to 7 daily portions recommended. Policy Options: Four alternatives for improvement were assessed and compared:            1) retain the status quo of reduced VAT for healthy foods, 2) VAT only for locally produced fruits and vegetables, 3) increased VAT for salty and sweet foods with a subsidy for fruits and vegetables, and 4) an education-based policy. Four evaluation criteria were applied for the comparison: economic feasibility, effectiveness, political feasibility, and equity. Recommendations: The status quo remains the best option for Ireland. However, further assessment of this 0% VAT policy on fruits and vegetables is warranted, pending the availability of additional data to enable an in-depth understanding of policy implementation. &nbsp

Rapid incidence estimation from SARS-CoV-2 genomes reveals decreased case detection in Europe during summer 2020

By October 2021, 230 million SARS-CoV-2 diagnoses have been reported. Yet, a considerable proportion of cases remains undetected. Here, we propose GInPipe, a method that rapidly reconstructs SARS-CoV-2 incidence profiles solely from publicly available, time-stamped viral genomes. We validate GInPipe against simulated outbreaks and elaborate phylodynamic analyses. Using available sequence data, we reconstruct incidence histories for Denmark, Scotland, Switzerland, and Victoria (Australia) and demonstrate, how to use the method to investigate the effects of changing testing policies on case ascertainment. Specifically, we find that under-reporting was highest during summer 2020 in Europe, coinciding with more liberal testing policies at times of low testing capacities. Due to the increased use of real-time sequencing, it is envisaged that GInPipe can complement established surveillance tools to monitor the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. In post-pandemic times, when diagnostic efforts are decreasing, GInPipe may facilitate the detection of hidden infection dynamics.Results - Method validation: in silico experiment. - Method validation: phylodynamics. - Reconstructed incidence histories. - Relative case detection rate. Discussion Method

Second-layer nucleation in coherent Stranski-Krastanov growth of quantum dots

We have studied the monolayer-bilayer transformation in the case of the coherent Stranski-Krastanov growth. We have found that the energy of formation of a second layer nucleus is largest at the center of the first-layer island and smallest on its corners. Thus nucleation is expected to take place at the corners (or the edges) rather than at the center of the islands as in the case of homoepitaxy. The critical nuclei have one atom in addition to a compact shape, which is either a square of i*i or a rectangle of i*(i-1) atoms, with i>1 an integer. When the edge of the initial monolayer island is much larger than the critical nucleus size, the latter is always a rectangle plus an additional atom, adsorbed at the longer edge, which gives rise to a new atomic row in order to transform the rectangle into the equilibrium square shape.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures. Accepted version, minor change

Early diagenesis in biogenic carbonates of temperate and shoal waters (Cadiz Bay and adjacent continental shelf)

Because of the chemical reactivity of biogenic carbonates in shallow waters, there is increasing interest in those early diagenesis processes that imply an alteration or variation of the composition of original material. This paper presents the preliminary results of a study concerning the compositional variations that have taken place in the skeletons or skeletal remains of bryozoans and echinoids. This variation, which includes an aragonite-calcite transformation, has been checked by means of the Rietveld method, using the Fullprof program. This transformation is caused by an in situ dissolution-recrystallisation process, due to aragonite's metastability. Moreover, the presence of specific authigenic minerals helps to delimit early diagenetic processes, which are, in turn, indicative of the path and the extension of the diagenetic reactions that take place in the sediment column.Debido a que los carbonatos biogénicos de aguas someras son químicamente muy reactivos, existe cada vez mayor interés por conocer los procesos de diagénesis temprana que conllevan una alteración o modificación de la composición del material original. En este trabajo se presentan los resultados iniciales sobre las variaciones de composición que han tenido lugar en los caparazones o restos del esqueleto de equinodermos y briozoos. Esa variación, incluida la transformación aragonito-calcita, ha sido chequeada mediante el método Rietveld, programa Fullprof. Dicha transformación ocurre por un proceso de disolución-recristalización debida a la metaestabilidad del aragonito. Además, la presencia de una asociación de minerales neoformados implica procesos diagenéticos tempranos indicativos de las reacciones que tienen lugar en la columna del sedimento.Instituto Español de Oceanografí

Functional near infrared spectroscopy as a probe of brain function in people with prolonged disorders of consciousness

Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a non-invasive technique which measures changes in brain tissue oxygenation. NIRS has been used for continuous monitoring of brain oxygenation during medical procedures carrying high risk of iatrogenic brain ischemia and also has been adopted by cognitive neuroscience for studies on executive and cognitive functions. Until now, NIRS has not been used to detect residual cognitive functions in patients with prolonged disorders of consciousness (pDOC). In this study we aimed to evaluate the brain function of patients with pDOC by using a motor imagery task while recording NIRS. We also collected data from a group of age and gender matched healthy controls while they carried out both real and imagined motor movements to command. We studied 16 pDOC patients in total, split into two groups: five had a diagnosis of Vegetative state/Unresponsive Wakefulness State, and eleven had a diagnosis of Minimally Conscious State. In the control subjects we found a greater oxy-haemoglobin (oxyHb) response during real movement compared with imagined movement. For the between group comparison, we found a main effect of hemisphere, with greater depression of oxyHb signal in the right > left hemisphere compared with rest period for all three groups. A post-hoc analysis including only the two pDOC patient groups was also significant suggesting that this effect was not just being driven by the control subjects. This study demonstrates for the first time the feasibility of using NIRS for the assessment of brain function in pDOC patients using a motor imagery task

The expression of VvMYBPA1 in tobacco remodulates the phenylpropanoid pathway and diverts the synthesis of anthocyanins into condensed tannins in flowers

Patients in Vegetative State (VS), also known as Unresponsive Wakefulness State (UWS) are deemed to be unaware of themselves or their environment. This is different from patients diagnosed with Minimally Conscious state (MCS), who can have intermittent awareness. In both states, there is a severe impairment of consciousness; these disorders are referred to as disorders of consciousness (DOC) and if the state is prolonged, pDOC. There is growing evidence that some patients who are behaviourally in VS/UWS can show neural activation to environmental stimuli and that this response can be detected using functional brain imaging (fMRI/PET) and electroencephalography (EEG). Recently, it has also been suggested that a more reliable detection of brain responsiveness and hence a more reliable differentiation between VS/UWS and MCS requires person-centred and person-specific stimuli, such as the subject's own name stimulus.In this study we obtained event related potential data (ERP) from 12 healthy subjects and 16 patients in pDOC, five of whom were in the VS/UWS and 11 in the Minimally Conscious State (MCS). We used as the ERP stimuli the subjects' own name, others' names and reversed other names. We performed a sensor level analysis using Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM) software. Using this paradigm in 4 DOC patients (3 in MCS, and 1 in VS/UWS) we detected a statistically significant difference in EEG response to their own name versus other peoples' names with ERP latencies (~300 ms and ~700 ms post stimuli). Some of these differences were similar to those found in a control group of healthy subjects.This study shows the feasibility of using self-relevant stimuli such as a subject's own name for assessment of brain function in pDOC patients. This neurophysiological test is suitable for bed-side/hospital based assessment of pDOC patients. As it does not require sophisticated scanning equipment it can feasibly be used within a hospital or care setting to help professionals tailor medical and psycho-social management for patients

Relaxation of Surface Profiles by Evaporation Dynamics

We present simulations of the relaxation towards equilibrium of one dimensional steps and sinusoidal grooves imprinted on a surface below its roughening transition. We use a generalization of the hypercube stacking model of Forrest and Tang, that allows for temperature dependent next-nearest-neighbor interactions. For the step geometry the results at T=0 agree well with the t^(1/4) prediction of continuum theory for the spreading of the step. In the case of periodic profiles we modify the mobility for the tips of the profile and find the approximate solution of the resulting free boundary problem to be in reasonable agreement with the T=0 simulations.Comment: 6 pages, Revtex, 5 Postscript figures, to appear in PRB 15, October 199

Decay of one dimensional surface modulations

The relaxation process of one dimensional surface modulations is re-examined. Surface evolution is described in terms of a standard step flow model. Numerical evidence that the surface slope, D(x,t), obeys the scaling ansatz D(x,t)=alpha(t)F(x) is provided. We use the scaling ansatz to transform the discrete step model into a continuum model for surface dynamics. The model consists of differential equations for the functions alpha(t) and F(x). The solutions of these equations agree with simulation results of the discrete step model. We identify two types of possible scaling solutions. Solutions of the first type have facets at the extremum points, while in solutions of the second type the facets are replaced by cusps. Interactions between steps of opposite signs determine whether a system is of the first or second type. Finally, we relate our model to an actual experiment and find good agreement between a measured AFM snapshot and a solution of our continuum model.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures in 9 eps file