Towards evidence-based marketing: The case of childhood obesity

Contentious commodities such as tobacco, alcohol and fatty foods are bringing marketing under scrutiny from consumers and policymakers. Yet there is little agreement on whether marketing is harmful to society. Systematic review (SR), a methodology derived from clinical medicine, offers marketers a tool for providing resolution and allowing policymakers to proceed with greater confidence. This article describes how SR methods were applied for the first time to a marketing problem -- the effects of food promotion to children. The review withstood scrutiny and its findings were formally ratified by government bodies and policymakers, demonstrating that SR methods can transfer from clinical research to marketing

Velocity-space sensitivity of the time-of-flight neutron spectrometer at JET

The velocity-space sensitivities of fast-ion diagnostics are often described by so-called weight functions. Recently, we formulated weight functions showing the velocity-space sensitivity of the often dominant beam-target part of neutron energy spectra. These weight functions for neutron emission spectrometry (NES) are independent of the particular NES diagnostic. Here we apply these NES weight functions to the time-of-flight spectrometer TOFOR at JET. By taking the instrumental response function of TOFOR into account, we calculate time-of-flight NES weight functions that enable us to directly determine the velocity-space sensitivity of a given part of a measured time-of-flight spectrum from TOFOR

On the mechanisms governing gas penetration into a tokamak plasma during a massive gas injection

A new 1D radial fluid code, IMAGINE, is used to simulate the penetration of gas into a tokamak plasma during a massive gas injection (MGI). The main result is that the gas is in general strongly braked as it reaches the plasma, due to mechanisms related to charge exchange and (to a smaller extent) recombination. As a result, only a fraction of the gas penetrates into the plasma. Also, a shock wave is created in the gas which propagates away from the plasma, braking and compressing the incoming gas. Simulation results are quantitatively consistent, at least in terms of orders of magnitude, with experimental data for a D 2 MGI into a JET Ohmic plasma. Simulations of MGI into the background plasma surrounding a runaway electron beam show that if the background electron density is too high, the gas may not penetrate, suggesting a possible explanation for the recent results of Reux et al in JET (2015 Nucl. Fusion 55 093013)

Relationship of edge localized mode burst times with divertor flux loop signal phase in JET

A phase relationship is identified between sequential edge localized modes (ELMs) occurrence times in a set of H-mode tokamak plasmas to the voltage measured in full flux azimuthal loops in the divertor region. We focus on plasmas in the Joint European Torus where a steady H-mode is sustained over several seconds, during which ELMs are observed in the Be II emission at the divertor. The ELMs analysed arise from intrinsic ELMing, in that there is no deliberate intent to control the ELMing process by external means. We use ELM timings derived from the Be II signal to perform direct time domain analysis of the full flux loop VLD2 and VLD3 signals, which provide a high cadence global measurement proportional to the voltage induced by changes in poloidal magnetic flux. Specifically, we examine how the time interval between pairs of successive ELMs is linked to the time-evolving phase of the full flux loop signals. Each ELM produces a clear early pulse in the full flux loop signals, whose peak time is used to condition our analysis. The arrival time of the following ELM, relative to this pulse, is found to fall into one of two categories: (i) prompt ELMs, which are directly paced by the initial response seen in the flux loop signals; and (ii) all other ELMs, which occur after the initial response of the full flux loop signals has decayed in amplitude. The times at which ELMs in category (ii) occur, relative to the first ELM of the pair, are clustered at times when the instantaneous phase of the full flux loop signal is close to its value at the time of the first ELM

A História da Alimentação: balizas historiográficas

Os M. pretenderam traçar um quadro da História da Alimentação, não como um novo ramo epistemológico da disciplina, mas como um campo em desenvolvimento de práticas e atividades especializadas, incluindo pesquisa, formação, publicações, associações, encontros acadêmicos, etc. Um breve relato das condições em que tal campo se assentou faz-se preceder de um panorama dos estudos de alimentação e temas correia tos, em geral, segundo cinco abardagens Ia biológica, a econômica, a social, a cultural e a filosófica!, assim como da identificação das contribuições mais relevantes da Antropologia, Arqueologia, Sociologia e Geografia. A fim de comentar a multiforme e volumosa bibliografia histórica, foi ela organizada segundo critérios morfológicos. A seguir, alguns tópicos importantes mereceram tratamento à parte: a fome, o alimento e o domínio religioso, as descobertas européias e a difusão mundial de alimentos, gosto e gastronomia. O artigo se encerra com um rápido balanço crítico da historiografia brasileira sobre o tema

Whole-genome sequencing reveals host factors underlying critical COVID-19

Critical COVID-19 is caused by immune-mediated inflammatory lung injury. Host genetic variation influences the development of illness requiring critical care1 or hospitalization2,3,4 after infection with SARS-CoV-2. The GenOMICC (Genetics of Mortality in Critical Care) study enables the comparison of genomes from individuals who are critically ill with those of population controls to find underlying disease mechanisms. Here we use whole-genome sequencing in 7,491 critically ill individuals compared with 48,400 controls to discover and replicate 23 independent variants that significantly predispose to critical COVID-19. We identify 16 new independent associations, including variants within genes that are involved in interferon signalling (IL10RB and PLSCR1), leucocyte differentiation (BCL11A) and blood-type antigen secretor status (FUT2). Using transcriptome-wide association and colocalization to infer the effect of gene expression on disease severity, we find evidence that implicates multiple genes—including reduced expression of a membrane flippase (ATP11A), and increased expression of a mucin (MUC1)—in critical disease. Mendelian randomization provides evidence in support of causal roles for myeloid cell adhesion molecules (SELE, ICAM5 and CD209) and the coagulation factor F8, all of which are potentially druggable targets. Our results are broadly consistent with a multi-component model of COVID-19 pathophysiology, in which at least two distinct mechanisms can predispose to life-threatening disease: failure to control viral replication; or an enhanced tendency towards pulmonary inflammation and intravascular coagulation. We show that comparison between cases of critical illness and population controls is highly efficient for the detection of therapeutically relevant mechanisms of disease

A generic method for the quantitative analysis of aminoglycosides (and spectinomycin) in animal tissue using methylated internal stan dards and liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry

Aminoglycosides (AGs) are a large and diverse group of antibiotics. Although AGs may cause side effects of nephrotoxicity and ototoxicity, they are still occasionally being used for the treatment of serious infections. In this study the development of a method is described for the quantitative determination and confirmation of seven aminoglycosides (and relevant isomers) and spectinomycin in animal tissues. The extraction was based on an extraction followed by a concentration and clean-up step using weak cation exchange solid phase extraction. The separation was performed by ion-pair liquid chromatography on a C18 column followed by mass spectrometric detection. The method was validated according to the EU requirements for a quantitative confirmatory method. Permethylated aminoglycosides (in-house synthesised internal standards) were used for accurate quantification. The accuracy of the analyses of AGs in kidney ranged from 94 to 111%, intra-day precision ranged between 2.5 and 7.4% (R.S.D.r) and inter-day precision ranged between 2.2 and 17.3% (R.S.D.RL, n = 21, MRL level). Accuracy (muscle tissue) varied from 83 to 128% with an intra-day precision between 2.2 and 17.3% (R.S.D.r, n = 7, MRL level). From the results it was concluded that the method was able to monitor MRL levels which ranged from 750 to 20,000 µg kg-1 for kidney and from 50 to 10,000 µg kg-1 for muscle tissu

A generic method for the quantitative analysis of aminoglycosides (and spectinomycin) in animal tissue using methylated internal stan dards and liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry

Aminoglycosides (AGs) are a large and diverse group of antibiotics. Although AGs may cause side effects of nephrotoxicity and ototoxicity, they are still occasionally being used for the treatment of serious infections. In this study the development of a method is described for the quantitative determination and confirmation of seven aminoglycosides (and relevant isomers) and spectinomycin in animal tissues. The extraction was based on an extraction followed by a concentration and clean-up step using weak cation exchange solid phase extraction. The separation was performed by ion-pair liquid chromatography on a C18 column followed by mass spectrometric detection. The method was validated according to the EU requirements for a quantitative confirmatory method. Permethylated aminoglycosides (in-house synthesised internal standards) were used for accurate quantification. The accuracy of the analyses of AGs in kidney ranged from 94 to 111%, intra-day precision ranged between 2.5 and 7.4% (R.S.D.r) and inter-day precision ranged between 2.2 and 17.3% (R.S.D.RL, n = 21, MRL level). Accuracy (muscle tissue) varied from 83 to 128% with an intra-day precision between 2.2 and 17.3% (R.S.D.r, n = 7, MRL level). From the results it was concluded that the method was able to monitor MRL levels which ranged from 750 to 20,000 µg kg-1 for kidney and from 50 to 10,000 µg kg-1 for muscle tissu

Career psychology research challenges: A systems theory response

International and South African debate on the future direction of career psychology has suggested a movement towards qualitative, narrative and storied approaches that are informed by the constructivist worldview. The My System of Career Influences (MSCI) reflection process is a qualitative career assessment tool developed in South Africa and Australia and derived from the constructivist Systems Theory Framework (STF) of career development. As a technique, the MSCI demonstrates versatility of application in one on one career counselling or in group settings such as classrooms. More recently, its utility as an innovative research tool has been explored. We overview the STF and the subsequent development of the qualitative career assessment tool, the My System of Career Influences. We describe examples of empirical investigations that use the MSCI as a research tool. The potential of this emerging body of research to address issues facing career development in the postmodern era and in South Africa specifically is discussed