Absorption and fluorescence spectroscopic studies of the Ca2(+)-dependent lipid binding protein p36: the annexin repeat as the Ca2+ binding site.

The existence of a single tryptophan residue in the protein p36, a member of a recently characterized family of Ca2+ binding proteins called annexins, is exploited to provide unique spectroscopic information on the annexin repeat motif and its role in Ca2+ binding. The differences in ultraviolet absorption and fluorescence excitation upon Ca2+ binding are interpreted solely in terms of this tryptophan, which, in view of the pronounced blue-shifts and the presence of vibronic structure, seems to reside in a highly nonpolar environment. The fluorescence emission from the protein is correspondingly blue-shifted, and it is found to transfer energy in resonance with Tb3+ absorption lines in the near-ultraviolet. This effect allows us to locate the Tb3+ and, by implication, the Ca2+ binding site to within ca. 8 A of the tryptophan residue

Open source automated insulin delivery: addressing the challenge

Do-it-yourself automated insulin delivery systems for people living with type 1 diabetes use commercially available continuous glucose sensors and insulin pumps linked by unregulated open source software. Uptake of these systems is increasing, with growing evidence suggesting that positive glucose outcomes may be feasible. Increasing interest from people living with, or affected by, type 1 diabetes presents challenges to healthcare professionals, device manufacturers and regulators as the legal, governance and risk frameworks for such devices are not defined. We discuss the data, education, policy, technology and medicolegal obstacles to wider implementation of DIY systems and outline the next steps required for a co-ordinated approach to reducing variation in access to a technology that has potential to enable glucose self-management closer to target

Dioxin-like compounds in Australian sewage sludge - Review and national survey

An Australian survey of dioxin-like compounds in sewage sludge was conducted in two parts (a) a national survey, and (b) a time-study. All sewage sludge samples analysed as part of these studies had low overall concentrations of dioxin-like compounds. Out of 37 samples, all except one, were within the reported concentration range of soil within the Australian environment. The mean concentration of dioxin-like compounds in the Australian sewage sludge survey of 2006 was found to be 5.6 (s.d. 4.5) ng WHO05 TEQ kg-1 (n = 14) and were within the range of 1.2-15.3 ng WHO05 TEQ kg-1. All the Australian sewage sludge samples cited in these studies were below the Victorian EPA ''investigation limit'' of 50 ng WHO98 TEQ kg-1, and well below the European proposed guidelines of 100 ng I-TEQ kg-1. The burden of dioxin-like compounds in Australian sewage sludge is low and its land application as biosolids is not likely to pose a problem. A general positive relationship was found between population of the town producing the waste and both dioxin-like PCDD/Fs and dioxin-like PCBs. The one exception to this trend was sludge from a town that had a history of smelting and had a relatively high burden of dioxin-like compounds. Sludge from one rural WWTP also had a higher burden of dioxin-like compounds. The treatment plant services a geographically isolated town with a low population and no known emitters of dioxin-like compounds. However, this sample also had a relatively high burden of dioxin-like PCBs, which could be the source of the dioxin-like PCDD/Fs found in this sludge. The time study analyzing sludges from three WWTP from the same city between the years 2002 and 2006 found no apparent difference between WWTPs, but a statistically significant decline of 1.49 ng WHO05 TEQ kg-1 per year. Also, a comprehensive review of the scientific literature, presents typical levels and sources of dioxin-like compounds in international sewage sludges

Investigating the distribution of polybrominated diphenyl ethers through an Australian wastewater treatment plant

The aim of this study was to quantify the amount of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) released into the environment (biosolids, effluent) from a conventional Australian activated sludge treatment wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). The concentration of PBDE congeners was measured at various treatment stages and included four aqueous samples (raw, primary, secondary and tertiary effluents) and three sludges (primary, secondary and lime stabilized biosolids), collected at three sampling events over the course of the experiment (29 days). Semi-permeable membrane devices (SPMDs) were also installed for the duration of the experiment, the first time that SPMDs have been used to measure PBDEs in a WWTP. Over 99% of the PBDEs entering the WWTP were removed through the treatment processes, principally by sedimentation. The main congeners detected were BDE 47, 99 and 209, which are characteristic of the two major commercial formulations viz penta-BDE and deca-BDE. All the PBDE congeners measured were highly correlated with each other, suggesting a similar origin. In this case, the PBDEs are thought to be from domestic sources since domestic wastewater is the main contribution to the in-flow (approximately 95%). The mean concentration of SigmaPBDEs in chemically stabilized sewage sludge (biosolids) was 300microg kg(-1) dry weight. It is calculated that 2.3+/-0.3kg of PBDEs are disposed of each year with biosolids generated from the WWTP. If all Australian sewage sludge is contaminated to at least this concentration then at least 110kg of PBDEs are associated with Australian sewage sludge annually. Less than 10g are released annually into the environment via ocean outfall and field irrigation; this level of contamination is unlikely to pose risk to humans or the environment. The environmental release of treated effluent and biosolids is not considered a large source of PBDE environmental emissions compared to the quantities used annually in Australia

Breastfeeding, the use of docosahexaenoic acid-fortified formulas in infancy and neuropsychological function in childhood

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relation between breastfeeding, use of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)-fortified formula and neuropsychological function in children. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: Southampton, UK. SUBJECTS: 241 children aged 4 years followed up from birth. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: IQ measured by the Wechsler Pre-School and Primary Scale of Intelligence (3rd edn), visual attention, visuomotor precision, sentence repetition and verbal fluency measured by the NEPSY, and visual form-constancy measured by the Test of Visual-Perceptual Skills (Non-Motor). RESULTS: In unadjusted analyses, children for whom breast milk or DHA-fortified formula was the main method of feeding throughout the first 6 months of life had higher mean full-scale and verbal IQ scores at age 4 years than those fed mainly unfortified formula. After adjustment for potential confounding factors, particularly maternal IQ and educational attainment, the differences in IQ between children in the breast milk and unfortified formula groups were severely attenuated, but children who were fed DHA-fortified formula had full-scale and verbal IQ scores that were respectively 5.62 (0.98 to 10.2) and 7.02 (1.56 to 12.4) points higher than children fed unfortified formula. However, estimated total intake of DHA in milk up to age 6 months was not associated with subsequent IQ or with score on any other test. CONCLUSIONS: Differences in children's intelligence according to type of milk fed in infancy may be due more to confounding by maternal or family characteristics than to the amount of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids they receive in milk

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers and polybrominated biphenyls in Australian sewage sludge

This paper presents a brief review of the international scientific literature of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) in sewage sludge and a survey of these compounds in sewage sludge from 16 Australian wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The ?PBDE mean concentration in the Australian study was 1137 ?g kg-1 dry weight (d.w.) (s.d. 1116) and ranged between 5 and 4 230 ?g kg-1 d.w. The urban mean of 1308 ?g kg-1 (s.d. 1320) and the rural mean of 911 ?g kg-1 (s.d. 831) are not statistically different and are similar to levels in European sludges. Principal components analysis was performed on the data set and revealed that 76% of the data variation could be explained by two components that corresponded to overall concentration of the pentaBDE and the decaBDE commercial formulations. An analysis of variance was performed comparing PBDEs levels at three WWTPs over the years 2005 and 2006, finding differences between treatment plants (BDE-47) but no significant difference in PBDE levels in the years 2005 and 2006. Low levels of BB-153 were detected in all samples of this survey (n = 16); mean 0.6 ?g kg-1 d.w. (s.d. 0.5). This compound has rarely been reported in any other study of sewage sludges undertaken outside Australia. This work highlights the need for a risk assessment of PBDEs in sewage sludge when used for land application, taking into account typical levels found in Australian sludges and soils

Trigeneration in food retail: An energetic, economic and environmental evaluation for a supermarket application; Applied Thermal Engineering

This paper presents results on the evaluation of energy utilisation efficiency and economic and environmental performance of a micro-gas turbine (MGT) based trigeneration system for supermarket applications. A spreadsheet energy model has been developed for the analysis of trigeneration systems and a 2800 m2 sales area supermarket was selected for the feasibility study. Historical energy demand data were used for the analysis, which considered factors such as the fraction of the heat output used to drive the absorption chillers, the chiller COP and the difference between electricity and gas prices. The results showed that energy and environmental benefits can be obtained from the application of trigeneration systems to supermarkets compared to conventional systems. The payback period of natural gas driven trigeneration systems and greenhouse gas emissions savings will depend on the relative gas and electricity prices and the COP of the vapour compression and absorption systems. It was also shown that operation at full electrical output gives a better performance than a heat load-following strategy due to the reduction of the electrical generation efficiency of the MGT unit at part load conditions

A review of prednisolone prescribing for children with acute asthma in the UK

Abstract: Introduction: Worldwide asthma guidelines recommend short courses of oral prednisolone in children with acute exacerbations generating high prescription numbers. There is a paucity of evidence to inform the optimal dose and course duration. This has led to a variation in the recommendations for prednisolone prescribing. Our objective was to assess prednisolone prescribing practise for children with acute asthma in a representative sample of UK prescribers. Methods: We developed an online questionnaire asking prescribers the prednisolone dosage, course duration and formulation used, whether they discussed oral prednisolone side effects with the family and at what child's age they changed from prescribing soluble to non-soluble formulations. This was sent to 1006 UK prescribers including Paediatric Respiratory Consultants, doctors in training, asthma nurses and General Practitioners. Results: 200 complete responses were received (response rate 20%). The majority of surveyed prescribers follow the British National Formulary for Children recommendations on dosage rather than those included in the British Thoracic Society and the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network. Despite this, we highlighted a 4-fold variation in prednisolone dosages for acute asthma. The majority of prescribers chose 3 days as the course duration. High use of soluble formulations was highlighted. Conclusions: There is wide variation in the dose of prednisolone prescribed for children with acute asthma in the UK. This reflects a relative lack of evidence that needs addressing

Incremental Grid-like Layout Using Soft and Hard Constraints

We explore various techniques to incorporate grid-like layout conventions into a force-directed, constraint-based graph layout framework. In doing so we are able to provide high-quality layout---with predominantly axis-aligned edges---that is more flexible than previous grid-like layout methods and which can capture layout conventions in notations such as SBGN (Systems Biology Graphical Notation). Furthermore, the layout is easily able to respect user-defined constraints and adapt to interaction in online systems and diagram editors such as Dunnart.Comment: Accepted to Graph Drawing 201