Architecture and engineering of a supramolecular functional material by manipulating the nano-structure of fiber network

Three-dimensional fiber networks were created from an organogel system consisting mainly of elongated fibrils by using a nonionic surfactant as an additive. The presence of the surfactant molecules manipulates the network structure by enhancing the mismatch nucleation on the growing fiber tips. Both the fiber network structure and the rheological properties of the material can be finely tuned by changing the surfactant concentration, which provides a robust approach to the engineering of supramolecular soft functional materials.<br /

Temperature measurements and thermal gradient estimates on the slope and shelf edge region of the Beaufort Sea, Canada

In situ temperature measurements were conducted at 63 gravity-core stations during the 2013 expedition with the CCGS Sir Wilfrid Laurier in the Canadian Beaufort Sea. Outriggers attached to the outside of the gravity core-barrel were used to mount portable miniature temperature loggers (MTL) for down-core in situ temperature measurements. Several sub-regions were investigated during the expedition including two shelf-slope crossings, three mud volcano-type expulsion features, as well as two canyon sites. The last site visited was at the Gary Knolls, just east of the Mackenzie Trough at water depths of less than 100 m. Overall, temperature data obtained from the MTLs were of high quality at most stations and the data acquisition technique was proven to be robust and easy to adapt in the Arctic. However, depth determination for each logger position remains the largest challenge as no additional pressure sensor was used with the MTLs. Instead, depths were estimated based on the apparent core penetration and the geometry of the outriggers. The most significant result from this work is the discovery of the very large apparent geothermal gradients associated with the two expulsion features (EF) Coke Cap and the mud volcano at 420 m water depth. Temperatures measured within the top 2.5 meter below seafloor suggest geothermal gradients of up to 2.94ºC/m (Station 96, 420m EF) and 1.37 ºC/m (Station 58, Coke Cap EF). Away from the centre of the EFs, thermal gradients decrease to values of 0.5ºC/m for Station 99 at the 420 m EF, and 0.92ºC/m at Station 21 at the Coke Cap EF. Temperature data across the slope-shelf transect and the two transects across the canyon heads did not reveal considerable geothermal gradients, but show a water-depth dependent trend in temperature. From deep to shallow water, temperature appear to decrease until the most negative temperature values are found on the shelf itself at water depths of ~100 m (-1.2 to -1.4ºC). Overall, data from the top 1.0 to 1.5 meter below seafloor are likely affected by seasonal variations in the water column temperature and may not be used to define geothermal gradients. With an optimal full penetration of the core barrel, the deepest temperature data are from ~2.3 mbsf, which limits the accuracy of the estimated geothermal gradients as only few data points (2 - 4) can be used in the calculations

Human papillomavirus prevalence in women attending routine cervical screening in South Wales, UK: a cross-sectional study

In this cross-sectional population-based study we determine human papillomavirus (HPV) prevalence in South Wales to provide comprehensive baseline data for future assessment of the impact of prophylactic HPV vaccination and to help inform future screening strategies. Liquid-based cytology samples from women attending routine cervical screening were collected (n=10 000: mean age 38 years, 93% cytology negative, and 64.8% from the 50% least deprived LSOA according to social deprivation score (SDS)). High-Risk (HR) and Low-Risk HPV screening was performed using HPV PCR-EIA with genotyping of HR positives and data correlated with age, SDS and cytology. Overall HPV prevalence was 13.5% (9.3% age standardised) and the most frequent HR types were HPV 16, 31, 18 and 58. In HR HPV-positive cases 42.4% had a single HR type and they were predominant in women with severe cytological abnormalities. Here, 66% of all HR HPV cases were in women aged 30 years of age or less and SDS had no significant effect on HPV status. HPV prevalence increased significantly with degree of dyskarosis from 7% in cytology negative samples to 80% in samples with severe cytological abnormalities (P-value <0.0001). Overall, 46% of HR HPV cases were positive for the two HR types targeted by the prophylactic vaccines (HPV 16 and HPV 18). The data presented represents the largest type-specific investigation of HPV prevalence in an unselected UK population

Discovery of a single male Aedes aegypti (L.) in Merseyside, England

© The Author(s). 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated. The file attached is the published (publishers PDF) version of the article

Phylogenetic diversity and the structure of host-epiphyte interactions across the Neotropics

Understanding the mechanisms driving community assembly has been a major focus of ecological research for nearly a century, yet little is known about these mechanisms in commensal communities, particularly with respect to their historical/evolutionary components. Here, we use a large-scale dataset of 4,440 vascular plant species to explore the relationship between the evolutionary distinctiveness (ED) (as measured by the 'species evolutionary history' (SEH)) of host species and the phylogenetic diversity (PD) of their associated epiphyte species. Although there was considerable variation across hosts and their associated epiphyte species, they were largely unrelated to host SEH. Our results mostly support the idea that the determinants of epiphyte colonization success might involve host characteristics that are unrelated to host SEH (e.g., architectural differences between hosts). While determinants of PD of epiphyte assemblages are poorly known, they do not appear to be related to the evolutionary history of host species. Instead, they might be better explained by neutral processes of colonization and extinction. However, the high level of phylogenetic signal in epiphyte PD (independent of SEH) suggests it might still be influenced by yet unrecognized evolutionary determinants. This study highlights how little is still known about the phylogenetic determinants of epiphyte communities

Effectiveness of preoperative staging in rectal cancer: digital rectal examination, endoluminal ultrasound or magnetic resonance imaging?

In rectal cancer, preoperative staging should identify early tumours suitable for treatment by surgery alone and locally advanced tumours that require therapy to induce tumour regression from the potential resection margin. Currently, local staging can be performed by digital rectal examination (DRE), endoluminal ultrasound (EUS) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Each staging method was compared for clinical benefit and cost-effectiveness. The accuracy of high-resolution MRI, DRE and EUS in identifying favourable, unfavourable and locally advanced rectal carcinomas in 98 patients undergoing total mesorectal excision was compared prospectively against the resection specimen pathological as the gold standard. Agreement between each staging modality with pathology assessment of tumour favourability was calculated with the chance-corrected agreement given as the kappa statistic, based on marginal homogenised data. Differences in effectiveness of the staging modalities were compared with differences in costs of the staging modalities to generate cost effectiveness ratios. Agreement between staging and histologic assessment of tumour favourability was 94% for MRI (kappa=0.81, s.e.=0.05; kappa(W)=0.83), compared with very poor agreements of 65% for DRE (kappa=0.08, s.e.=0.068, kappa(W)=0.16) and 69% for EUS (kappa=0.17, s.e.=0.065, kappa(W)=0.17). The resource benefits resulting from the use of MRI rather than DRE was 67164 UK pounds and 92244 UK pounds when MRI was used rather than EUS. Magnetic resonance imaging dominated both DRE and EUS on cost and clinical effectiveness by selecting appropriate patients for neoadjuvant therapy and justifies its use for local staging of rectal cancer patients

A densification mechanism to model the mechanical effect of methane hydrates in sandy sediments

Recent pore‐scale observations and geomechanical investigations suggest the lack of true cohesion in methane hydrate‐bearing sediments (MHBSs) and propose that their mechanical behavior is governed by kinematic constrictions at pore‐scale. This paper presents a constitutive model for MHBS, which does not rely on physical bonding between hydrate crystals and sediment grains but on the densification effect that pore invasion with hydrate has on the sediment mechanical properties. The Hydrate‐CASM extends the critical state model Clay and Sand Model (CASM) by implementing the subloading surface model and introducing the densification mechanism. The model suggests that the decrease of the sediment available void volume during hydrate formation stiffens its structure and has a similar mechanical effect as the increase of sediment density. In particular, the model attributes stress‐strain changes observed in MHBS to the variations in sediment available void volume with hydrate saturation and its consequent effect on isotropic yield stress and swelling line slope. The model performance is examined against published experimental data from drained triaxial tests performed at different confining stress and with distinct hydrate saturation and morphology. Overall, the simulations capture the influence of hydrate saturation in both the magnitude and trend of the stiffness, shear strength, and volumetric response of synthetic MHBS. The results are validated against those obtained from previous mechanical models for MHBS that examine the same experimental data. The Hydrate‐CASM performs similarly to previous models, but its formulation only requires one hydrate‐related empirical parameter to express changes in the sediment elastic stiffness with hydrate saturation