Development and evaluation of the RapidAir® dispersion model, including the use of geospatial surrogates to represent street canyon effects

We developed a dispersion model (RapidAir®) to estimate air pollution concentrations at fine spatial resolution over large geographical areas with fast run times. Concentrations were modelled at 5 m spatial resolution over an area of ∼3500 km2 in <10 min. RapidAir® was evaluated by estimating NOx and NO2 concentrations at 86 continuous monitoring sites in London, UK during 2008. The model predictions explained 66% of the spatial variation (r = 0.81) in annual NOx concentrations observed at the monitoring sites. We included discrete canyon models or geospatial surrogates (sky view factor, hill shading and wind effect) to improve the accuracy of model predictions at kerbside locations. Geospatial surrogates provide alternatives to discrete street canyon models where it is impractical to run canyon models for thousands of streets within a large city dispersion model (with advantages including: ease of operation; faster run times; and more complete treatment of building effects)

Public Involvement in research within care homes: Benefits and challenges in the APPROACH Study

Public involvement in research (PIR) can improve research design and recruitment. Less is known about how PIR enhances the experience of participation and enriches the data collection process. In a study to evaluate how UK care homes and primary health care services achieve integrated working to promote older people’s health, PIR was integrated throughout the research processes. Objectives This paper aims to present one way in which PIR has been integrated into the design and delivery of a multi-site research study based in care homes. Design A prospective case study design, with an embedded qualitative evaluation of PIR activity. Setting and Participants Data collection was undertaken in six care homes in three sites in England. Six PIR members participated: all had prior personal or work experience in care homes. Data Collection Qualitative data collection involved discussion groups, and site-specific meetings to review experiences of participation, benefits and challenges, and completion of structured fieldwork notes after each care home visit. Results PIR members supported: recruitment, resident and staff interviews and participated in data interpretation. Benefits of PIR work were resident engagement that minimised distress and made best use of limited research resources. Challenges concerned communication and scheduling. Researcher support for PIR involvement was resource intensive. Discussion and Conclusions Clearly defined roles with identified training and support facilitated involvement in different aspectsPublic Involvement in Research members of the research team: Gail Capstick, Marion Cowie, Derek Hope, Rita Hewitt, Alex Mendoza, John Willmott. Also the involvement of Steven Iliffe and Heather Gag

Revisiting the Global Measures of Overall Neuropsychological Function and the Impact of Race-Based Normative Data in Clinical and Forensic Populations

This study aims to examine the impact of race-based normative data on global measures of overall neuropsychological functioning. Further, it examines the changes made to the Average Impairment Rating (AIR) in the context of race-based norming and the dismissal of a previously included measure, Picture Arrangement. The AIR is a commonly used index to classify the severity of diffuseness related to brain injury. Despite its use, the AIR has a very limited body of research describing the impact of racial norming on the index. Based on a review of the literature, the Picture Arrangement subtest removal was never researched in regard to the impact on the AIR, thus the results of this study would clarify its impact. It is hypothesized that the removal of Picture Arrangement will reclassify the diffuseness and classification of brain disease using the AIR. Further, this study will observe the differences between the AIR and other cognitive measures of overall neuropsychological functioning, such as the General Neuropsychology Deficit Scale (GNDS) and the Halstead Impairment Index (HII) in the context of race-based norms. This study will illuminate the importance or not of including Picture Arrangement in an overall measure of diffuseness such as the AIR and the impact of including, or not, race as a demographic variable to control in the development of neuropsychological norms

Living French colonial theory : an examination of France's complex relationship with Islam in its African colonies as viewed through the lives of Octave Houdas and Xavier Coppolani

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 89-94).In current scholarship, the colonial period within Africa has long been defined as a controversial era, almost encapsulating the entirety of Occidental hubris in one distinct age of time. By and large, the European powers invaded foreign lands, claimed them as their own by right of superior cultural standing, attempted to spread their way of life, and manipulated both the occupied territories and their inhabitants for their own economic, cultural, and spiritual gain. Such incursions were morally justified by the Oriental paradigm, which broadly claimed that European cultural and intellectual superiority gave the cultural Occident the authority to control, speak for, and know the entirety of the Oriental world. As a colonial power, France brought its own unique perspective to the pursuit of colonial might in the form of the concept of the mission civilisatrice and the legacy of the French Revolution. Within the auspices of the larger Orientalist paradigm which guided the second colonial empire, France imposed its civilizing mission on the largely Muslim North and West African colonies. These occupied lands posed a special threat to French hegemony because they shared a common monotheistic religion which could not be easily dismissed on the basis of Orientalist logic and could potentially pose a very real threat to French control. Thus, French policy toward Islam was unceasingly suspicious of Islam ' evolving in its understanding of the religion and Muslim African culture but always with an eye to the practical aspects of administrating and controlling an Islamic colony. This paper utilizes the larger complexities surrounding the French relationship with Islam as the basis for an examination of the lives of two colonial figures, Octave Houdas and Xavier Coppolani. Both men were prominent Islamists with career trajectories deeply steeped within Orientalist rhetoric in the late nineteenth-century and with strong ties to Algeria. However, a detailed and comprehensive accounting of the significance of their contributions and how they each advanced the Orientalist perspective has not yet been a focus of scholarly historical inquiry. Octave Houdas functioned within the realm of scholarly study ' educating a new generation of Orientalists at institutions in both Algeria and France and translating documents relative to the Islamic histories of North and West Africa. In contrast, Xavier Coppolani worked as a self-styled Islamists for the French colonial government, exploring and writing strategic treatises on how the pre-existing Muslim culture could be best employed to French gain. During their respective lifetimes both men played a critical role in the evolving French conceptions of Islam yet have had their lives and works essentialized and undervalued by modern historical study. By employing a wide variety of their works, spanning from French archival material to government reports to textbooks, this paper will address both their individual contributions to Franco Islamic relations and the larger roles they, as the Orientalist scholar and administrator, respectively, played in the perpetuation of the Orientalist paradigm. Many documents represented primary sources which were in French and were reviewed at locations in France

‘’It just happens’. Care home residents’ experiences and expectations of accessing GP care.

Background: Care homes provide personal care and support for older people who can no longer be supported in the community. As part of a larger study of integrated working between the NHS and care homes we asked older people how they accessed health care services. Our aim was to understand how older people resident in care homes access health services using the Andersen model of health care access. Methods: Case studies were conducted in six care homes with different socio-economic characteristics, size and ownership in three study sites. Residents in all care homes with capacity to participate were eligible for the study. Interviews explored how residents accessed NHS professionals. The Andersen model of health seeking behaviour was our analytic framework. Findings: Thirty-five participants were interviewed with an average of 4 different conditions. Expectations of their health and the effectiveness of services to mitigate their problems were low. Enabling factors were the use of intermediaries (usually staff, but also relatives) to seek access. Residents expected that care home staff would monitor changes in their health and seek appropriate help unprompted. Conclusions: Care home residents may normalise their health care needs and frame services as unable to remediate these which may combine to disincline older care home residents to seek care. Care access was enabled using intermediaries -either staff or relatives-and the expectation that staff would proactively seek care when they observed new/changed needs. Residents may over-estimate the health-related knowledge of care home staff and their ability to initiate referrals to NHS professionals.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Influence of storage and temperature treatment on nutritional value of wheat for poultry

Worldwide production of wheat in 2007 was 787 million (IGC 2008). Due to its importance in the world commodity market, there has been much research into the potential problems of weather damage to wheat, particularly with reference to bread making. The current project aimed to address three major research areas. Firstly, the effects of heat treatment in relation to the nutritional value of weather damaged wheat were investigated. It appears that drying at 100°C may increase Coefficient of Apparent Digestibility of starch (CAD). Some flour samples that were heated to 100°C failed to demonstrate expected hydration properties that would normally be associated with increased digestibility. They also appear to maintain their crystalline order. Therefore, an increase in CAD is not necessarily related to changes in starch structure and is probably more likely due to modification of non-starch components such as protein. A hypothesis is discussed, that proteins may form a film that protects the starch until the protein is digested by endogenous chick proteases. The precise drying temperature is critical, as at 85°C, digestibility may be decreased, possibly due to crystalline perfection. Apparent Metabolisable Energy (AME) did not follow starch digestibility. Secondly, it was hypothesised that the Rapid Visco Analyser (RVA) may be able to quantify amylase activity and predict nutritional value of wheat samples. Interestingly, unexpectedly high levels of amylase were observed in some wheat samples. This activity remained despite two years in ambient storage and temperature treatment of up to 100°C. These high levels of amylase activity did not appear to affect CAD, presumably due to deactivation in the acidic conditions of the proventriculus. There were some highly significant relationships between in vivo parameters and in vitro RVA parameters, particularly between Peak Viscosity (with an amylase inhibitor) and Coefficient of Duodenal Digestibility or AME (P<O.OOI in both cases). This suggests there is potential for the RV A to indicate nutritional value. Lastly, the nutritional value of wheat after storage for up to four months was investigated. There was no significant difference in AME, CAD or FI

Improving efficiency in meat production

Selective breeding and improved nutritional management over the past 20–30 years has resulted in dramatic improvements in growth efficiency for pigs and poultry, particularly lean tissue growth. However, this has been achieved using high-quality feed ingredients, such as wheat and soya that are also used for human consumption and more recently biofuels production. Ruminants on the other hand are less efficient, but are normally fed poorer quality ingredients that cannot be digested by human subjects, such as grass or silage. The challenges therefore are to: (i) maintain the current efficiency of growth of pigs and poultry, but using more ingredients not needed to feed the increasing human population or for the production of biofuels; (ii) improve the efficiency of growth in ruminants; (iii) at the same time produce animal products (meat, milk and eggs) of equal or improved quality. This review will describe the use of: (a) enzyme additives for animal feeds, to improve feed digestibility;(b) known growth promoting agents, such as growth hormone, β-agonists and anabolic steroids, currently banned in the European Union but used in other parts of the world; (c) recent transcriptomic studies into molecular mechanisms for improved growth efficiency via low residual feed intake. In doing so, the use of genetic manipulation in animals will also be discussed

Understanding the direct and indirect mechanisms of xylanase action on starch digestion in broilers

The objective of the current study was to investigate the mechanisms of xylanase action in a maize-soya diet and its effect on starch digestion. A total of 60 broilers were divided into 6 treatment groups; a control group without xylanase, and five other groups supplemented with xylanase (Econase XT 25; 100 g/t) from 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 weeks before slaughter. At the end of the experiment, digesta was collected from the gizzard, upper and lower small intestine, and both caeca. Digesta pH ranged from pH 2.2-4.4, 5.9-6.6, 6.7-7.8 and 5.7-7.3 in the gizzard, upper small intestine, lower small intestine, and both caeca, respectively, with no effect of xylanase (P > 0.05). Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images along with total starch measurements showed the progression of starch digestion through the tract. The SEM did not show any greater disruption to cell wall material with xylanase supplementation. This suggests that xylanase was not working directly on the cell wall and provides evidence for the hypothesis that xylanase works through an indirect mechanism. Peptide YY (PYY) concentration in the blood was higher during the first few weeks of supplementation, with longer periods of supplementation nulling this effect, implying that xylanase may be acting through a prebiotic mechanism. The RT-q PCR results revealed a numerical increase in glucose transporter (GLUT2 and SGLT1) expression at 2 and 3 weeks of xylanase supplementation, respectively, which might suggest a greater absorption capacity of birds. From these results, a potential mechanism of xylanase action in maize-based diets has been proposed

Influence of storage and temperature treatment on nutritional value of wheat for poultry

Worldwide production of wheat in 2007 was 787 million (IGC 2008). Due to its importance in the world commodity market, there has been much research into the potential problems of weather damage to wheat, particularly with reference to bread making. The current project aimed to address three major research areas. Firstly, the effects of heat treatment in relation to the nutritional value of weather damaged wheat were investigated. It appears that drying at 100°C may increase Coefficient of Apparent Digestibility of starch (CAD). Some flour samples that were heated to 100°C failed to demonstrate expected hydration properties that would normally be associated with increased digestibility. They also appear to maintain their crystalline order. Therefore, an increase in CAD is not necessarily related to changes in starch structure and is probably more likely due to modification of non-starch components such as protein. A hypothesis is discussed, that proteins may form a film that protects the starch until the protein is digested by endogenous chick proteases. The precise drying temperature is critical, as at 85°C, digestibility may be decreased, possibly due to crystalline perfection. Apparent Metabolisable Energy (AME) did not follow starch digestibility. Secondly, it was hypothesised that the Rapid Visco Analyser (RVA) may be able to quantify amylase activity and predict nutritional value of wheat samples. Interestingly, unexpectedly high levels of amylase were observed in some wheat samples. This activity remained despite two years in ambient storage and temperature treatment of up to 100°C. These high levels of amylase activity did not appear to affect CAD, presumably due to deactivation in the acidic conditions of the proventriculus. There were some highly significant relationships between in vivo parameters and in vitro RVA parameters, particularly between Peak Viscosity (with an amylase inhibitor) and Coefficient of Duodenal Digestibility or AME (P<O.OOI in both cases). This suggests there is potential for the RV A to indicate nutritional value. Lastly, the nutritional value of wheat after storage for up to four months was investigated. There was no significant difference in AME, CAD or FI