REDD+ on the rocks? Conflict over forest and politics of justice in Vietnam

In Vietnam, villagers involved in a REDD+ (reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation) pilot protect areas with rocks which have barely a tree on them. The apparent paradox indicates how actual practices differ from general ideas about REDD+ due to ongoing conflict over forest, and how contestations over the meaning of justice are a core element in negotiations over REDD+. We explore these politics of justice by examining how the actors involved in the REDD+ pilot negotiate the particular subjects, dimensions, and authority of justice considered relevant, and show how politics of justice are implicit to practical decisions in project implementation. Contestations over the meaning of justice are an important element in the practices and processes constituting REDD+ at global, national and local levels, challenging uniform definitions of forest justice and how forests ought to be managed

Unchanged incidence and increased survival in children with neuroblastoma in Denmark 1981–2000: a population-based study

Treatment results for neuroblastoma in Denmark have been poorer than in other Nordic countries, so we investigated whether a change in incidence, stage distribution and survival had occurred between 1981 and 2000. Clinical data were retrieved from the medical charts of 160 children <15 years of age with extra-cranial neuroblastoma (n=139) or ganglioneuroblastoma (n=21) diagnosed in Denmark between 1981 and 2000. The minimal follow-up time was 52 months. Statistical analyses were performed in STATA. The incidence was 8.55 per million children below 15 years of age (world standard 9.6) and 42.6 per million children below 12 months of age, and it has remained unchanged since 1970. The median age at diagnosis was 27 months. In all, 32% of the children were aged below 12 months at diagnosis, 53% had metastatic disease and in 12% the diagnosis was made incidentally. Prognostic factors such as age, stage and site of primary tumour were the same as in other studies and did not change. During the study period, the mortality rate decreased steadily, and the 5-year survival rate increased from 38% in 1981–1985 to 59% in 1996–2000, corresponding to the level found in other Western countries. Increased survival was also seen in children with metastatic disease. Participation in international studies, better supportive care and possibly postoperative autologous stem cell transplantation may have contributed to the increased survival

Ionizing Radiation and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

The U.S. government recently implemented rules for awarding compensation to individuals with cancer who were exposed to ionizing radiation while working in the nuclear weapons complex. Under these rules, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is considered to be a nonradiogenic form of cancer. In other words, workers who develop CLL automatically have their compensation claim rejected because the compensation rules hold that the risk of radiation-induced CLL is zero. In this article we review molecular, clinical, and epidemiologic evidence regarding the radiogenicity of CLL. We note that current understanding of radiation-induced tumorigenesis and the etiology of lymphatic neoplasia provides a strong mechanistic basis for expecting that ionizing radiation exposure increases CLL risk. The clinical characteristics of CLL, including prolonged latency and morbidity periods and a low case fatality rate, make it relatively difficult to evaluate associations between ionizing radiation and CLL risk via epidemiologic methods. The epidemiologic evidence of association between external exposure to ionizing radiation and CLL is weak. However, epidemiologic findings are consistent with a hypothesis of elevated CLL mortality risk after a latency and morbidity period that spans several decades. Our findings in this review suggest that there is not a persuasive basis for the conclusion that CLL is a nonradiogenic form of cancer

On the experimental intradiscal pressure measurement techniques : a review

Series : Mechanisms and machine science, ISSN 2211-0984, vol. 24The intradiscal pressure has been essential for prevent the spinal complaints by forming a basis for clinical advice to promote the correct sitting postures. As a consequence, it is evident the need of an accurate method for measure the intradiscal pressure, to better understand the disc response to hydorstatic pressure fluctuations. Numerous reviews regarding disc mechanics are available, including intradiscal pressure benchmarks; however, an analysis on the techniques of intradiscal pressure measurement is needed. Therefore, this review will remain focused on the methodologies adopted for measure the intradiscal pressure in several conditions: for different daily activities, under external loads and for values where occurs annulus fibrosus disruption. The importance of the intradiscal pressure on disc function will be discussed as well as the some guidelines for design new measurement techniques will be defined

Association between respiratory tract diseases and secondhand smoke exposure among never smoking flight attendants: a cross-sectional survey

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Little is known about long-term adverse health consequences experienced by flight attendants exposed to secondhand smoke (SHS) during the time smoking was allowed on airplanes. We undertook this study to evaluate the association between accumulated flight time in smoky airplane cabins and respiratory tract diseases in a cohort of never smoking flight attendants.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We conducted a mailed survey in a cohort of flight attendants. Of 15,000 mailed questionnaires, 2053 (14%) were completed and returned. We excluded respondents with a personal history of smoking (n = 748) and non smokers with a history of respiratory tract diseases before the age of 18 years (n = 298). The remaining 1007 respondents form the study sample.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The overall study sample was predominantly white (86%) and female (89%), with a mean age of 54 years. Overall, 69.7% of the respondents were diagnosed with at least one respiratory tract disease. Among these respondents, 43.4% reported a diagnosis of sinusitis, 40.3% allergies, 30.8% bronchitis, 23.2% middle ear infections, 13.6% asthma, 13.4% hay fever, 12.5% pneumonia, and 2.0% chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. More hours in a smoky cabin were observed to be significantly associated with sinusitis (OR = 1.21; p = 0.024), middle ear infections (OR = 1.30; p = 0.006), and asthma (OR = 1.26; p = 0.042).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We observed a significant association between hours of smoky cabin exposure and self-reported reported sinusitis, middle ear infections, and asthma. Our findings suggest a dose-response between duration of SHS exposure and diseases of the respiratory tract. Our findings add additional evidence to the growing body of knowledge supporting the need for widespread implementation of clean indoor air policies to decrease the risk of adverse health consequences experienced by never smokers exposed to SHS.</p

Maternal depression is associated with DNA methylation changes in cord blood T lymphocytes and adult hippocampi

Depression affects 10-15% of pregnant women and has been associated with preterm delivery and later developmental, behavioural and learning disabilities. We tested the hypothesis that maternal depression is associated with DNA methylation alterations in maternal T lymphocytes, neonatal cord blood T lymphocytes and adult offspring hippocampi. Genome-wide DNA methylation of CD3+ T lymphocytes isolated from 38 antepartum maternal and 44 neonatal cord blood samples were analyzed using Illumina Methylation 450 K microarrays. Previously obtained methylation data sets using methylated DNA immunoprecipitation and array-hybridization of 62 postmortem hippocampal samples of adult males were re-analyzed to test associations with history of maternal depression. We found 145 (false discovery rate (FDR) q<0.05) and 2520 (FDR q<0.1) differentially methylated CG-sites in cord blood T lymphocytes of neonates from the maternal depression group as compared with the control group. However, no significant DNA methylation differences were detected in the antepartum maternal T lymphocytes of our preliminary data set. We also detected 294 differentially methylated probes (FDR q<0.1) in hippocampal samples associated with history of maternal depression. We observed a significant overlap (P=0.002) of 33 genes with changes in DNA methylation in T lymphocytes of neonates and brains of adult offspring. Many of these genes are involved in immune system functions. Our results show that DNA methylation changes in offspring associated with maternal depression are detectable at birth in the immune system and persist to adulthood in the brain. This is consistent with the hypothesis that system-wide epigenetic changes are involved in life-long responses to maternal depression in the offspring. © 2015 Translational Psychiatry

Corticosteroid effects on ventilator-induced diaphragm dysfunction in anesthetized rats depend on the dose administered

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>High dose of corticosteroids has been previously shown to protect against controlled mechanical ventilation (CMV)-induced diaphragmatic dysfunction while inhibiting calpain activation. Because literature suggests that the calpain inhibiting effect of corticosteroid depends on the dose administered, we determined whether lower doses of corticosteroids would also provide protection of the diaphragm during CMV. This may be important for patients undergoing mechanical ventilation and receiving corticosteroids.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Rats were assigned to controls or to 24 hours of CMV while being treated at the start of mechanical ventilation with a single intramuscular administration of either saline, or 5 mg/kg (low MP) or 30 mg/kg (high MP) of methylprednisolone.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Diaphragmatic force was decreased after CMV and this was exacerbated in the low MP group while high MP rescued this diaphragmatic dysfunction. Atrophy was more severe in the low MP group than after CMV while no atrophy was observed in the high MP group. A significant and similar increase in calpain activity was observed in both the low MP and CMV groups whereas the high dose prevented calpain activation. Expression of calpastatin, the endogenous inhibitor of calpain, was decreased in the CMV and low MP groups but its level was preserved to controls in the high MP group. Caspase-3 activity increased in all CMV groups but to a lesser extent in the low and high MP groups. The 20S proteasome activity was increased in CMV only.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Administration of 30 mg/kg methylprednisolone during CMV protected against CMV-induced diaphragm dysfunction while 5 mg/kg was more deleterious. The protective effect is due mainly to an inhibition of the calpain system through preservation of calpastatin levels and to a lesser extent to a caspase-3 inhibition.</p

Observation and study of baryonic B decays: B -> D(*) p pbar, D(*) p pbar pi, and D(*) p pbar pi pi

We present a study of ten B-meson decays to a D(*), a proton-antiproton pair, and a system of up to two pions using BaBar's data set of 455x10^6 BBbar pairs. Four of the modes (B0bar -> D0 p anti-p, B0bar -> D*0 p anti-p, B0bar -> D+ p anti-p pi-, B0bar -> D*+ p anti-p pi-) are studied with improved statistics compared to previous measurements; six of the modes (B- -> D0 p anti-p pi-, B- -> D*0 p anti-p pi-, B0bar -> D0 p anti-p pi- pi+, B0bar -> D*0 p anti-p pi- pi+, B- -> D+ p anti-p pi- pi-, B- -> D*+ p anti-p pi- pi-) are first observations. The branching fractions for 3- and 5-body decays are suppressed compared to 4-body decays. Kinematic distributions for 3-body decays show non-overlapping threshold enhancements in m(p anti-p) and m(D(*)0 p) in the Dalitz plots. For 4-body decays, m(p pi-) mass projections show a narrow peak with mass and full width of (1497.4 +- 3.0 +- 0.9) MeV/c2, and (47 +- 12 +- 4) MeV/c2, respectively, where the first (second) errors are statistical (systematic). For 5-body decays, mass projections are similar to phase space expectations. All results are preliminary.Comment: 28 pages, 90 postscript figures, submitted to LP0

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente