Determination of benzo[alpha]pyrene in Turkish döner kebab samples cooked with charcoal or gas fire

peer-reviewedIn order to investigate the levels of the potent carcinogen benzo[a]pyrene (B(a)P), 40 samples of döner kebab were analysed. The samples tested included 20 cooked using a charcoal fire and 20 cooked using a gas fire. A liquid chromatographic method was developed using a fluorescence detector. The mean levels of B(a)P were found to be 24.2 (s.e. 0.84) g/kg for charcoal fire cooked meat samples and 5.7 (s.e. 3.48 g/kg) for gas fire cooked meat samples. Sixteen samples were found to be over the maximum level recommended by FAO/WHO (10 g/kg) and all of the samples exceeded the maximum tolerance level of the Turkish Food Codex (1 g/kg)

Resource allocation, hyperphagia and compensatory growth

Organisms often shown enhanced growth during recovery from starvation, and can even overtake continuously fed conspecifics (overcompensation). In an earlier paper (Ecology 84, 2777-2787), we studied the relative role played by hyperphagia and resource allocation in producing overcompensation in juvenile (non-reproductive) animals. We found that, although hyperphagia always produces growth compensation, overcompensation additionally requires protein allocation control which routes assimilate preferentially to structure during recovery. In this paper we extend our model to cover reproductively active individuals and demonstrate that growth rate overcompensation requires a similar combination of hyperphagia and allocation control which routes the part of enhanced assimilation not used for reproduction preferentially towards structural growth. We compare the properties of our dynamic energy budget model with an earlier proposal, due to Kooijman, which we extend to include hyperphagia. This formulation assumes that the rate of allocation to reserves is controlled by instantaneous feeding rate, and one would thus expect that an extension to include hyperphagia would not predict growth overcompensation. However, we show that a self-consistent representation of the hyperphagic response in Kooijman's model overrides its fundamental dynamics, leading to preferential allocation to structural growth during recovery and hence to growth overcompensation

Electron densities and temperatures in the f-region from backscatter measurements at arecibo

Diurnal variation in electron densities and temperatures in F region from backscatter measurements over Puerto Ric

Benchmarking Public Demand: Russia’s Appetite for Internet Control

This report explores the Russian public demand for internet freedom. Produced by Erik Nisbet with the Center for Global Communication Studies and the Russian Public Opinion Research Center, the study seeks to uncover attitudes and opinions about internet regulation, censorship of online content, and the potential for citizen mobilization and protest. Key findings from the report include: Almost half (49%) of all Russians believe that information on the Internet needs to be censored; A plurality (42%) of Russians believe foreign countries are using the Internet against Russia and its interests. About one-quarter of Russians think the Internet threatens political stability (24%); About four out of five Russians (81%) stated a negative feeling toward calls to protest against the government and change political leadership; The Russian government and the Russian security service were virtually tied in the percentage of Russians (42% and 41% respectively) that cited these organizations as trusted regulators of the Internet; 51% of Russian believe the primary motivation of government legislation creating a blacklist of websites is the maintenance of political stability versus 13% who believe the primarily motivation was limiting democratic freedoms; 39% of Russian believe personal blogs should be regulated the same as mass media websites

Media(ted) fabrications: How the science-media symbiosis helped ‘sell’ cord banking

This paper considers the problematic role of the science–media symbiosis in the dissemination of misleading and emotionally manipulative information regarding services offered by CordBank, New Zealand's only umbilical cord blood banking facility. As this case study illustrates, the growing reliance of health and science reporters on the knowledge capital of medical specialists, biogenetic researchers, and scientists potentially enhances the ability of ‘expert’ sources to set the agenda for media representations of emerging medical and scientific developments, and may undermine the editorial independence of journalists and editors, many of whom in this case failed to critically evaluate deeply problematic claims regarding the current and future benefits of cord banking. Heavy reliance on established media frames of anecdotal personalization and technoboosterism also reinforced a proscience journalistic culture in which claims by key sources were uncritically reiterated and amplified, with journalistic assessments of the value of cord banking emphasizing potential benefits for individual consumers. It is argued that use of these media frames potentially detracts from due consideration of the broader social, ethical, legal, and health implications of emerging biomedical developments, along with the professional, personal, and increasingly also financial interests at stake in their public promotion, given the growing commercialization of biogenetic technologies

Plasma Dynamics

Contains a report on a research project

Benchmarking Demand: Pakistan and the Internet Users’ Perspective

This report is the third in a series that examines public attitudes and preferences about Internet censorship and regulation in states in which media and Internet use are subject to increasing restrictions. In the context of Pakistan, where rapid increases in internet access and usage are accompanied by a propensity to regulate this new cyber-territory, the goal of this report is to uncover the views of Pakistani Internet users with respect to the regulation and control of online spaces. In each of these reports, we seek to provide insight into who uses the Internet in each country and the most used and trusted sources of online and offline information. But more than that, the surveys seek to add to a process: learning how to plumb general views about the influence of the Internet on politics and society and chart attitudes concerning censorship on various political, religious and social grounds. The reports test an approach to determining who, among competing institutions, people trust to regulate the Internet, what constitutes their policy preferences about Internet regulation, and the extent to which Internet regulation issues might figure in political mobilization efforts in furtherance of Internet freedom

Public Health England's recovery tools: potential teaching resources?

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version.Training to combat chemical and radiation accidents, incidents or attacks is critical for health professionals due to recent events involving these hazards or their use as unconventional weapons, such as the use of the nerve agent novichok in Salisbury, UK. Health professionals need to have appropriate knowledge and skills to effectively respond to future events involving any of these substances, which requires a rapid and coordinated response from different professionals to protect the environment and minimise the number of people exposed and reduce morbidity and mortality. However, despite chemical and radiation incidents becoming increasingly prevalent, literature reviews have shown that there is a lack of teaching of appropriate competences to face future crises in Europe, particularly amongst clinicians and other health professionals that would be part of the initial response. Thus, De Montfort University (DMU, UK) in collaboration with different academics from the University of Alcalá (Spain) and researchers from Public Health England (PHE) with comprehensive experience in environmental decontamination and restoration, have created a short training course for providing undergraduate/postgraduate students with basic skills to respond to chemical incidents, basic skills that are based on the major competences recently identified by the European Commission [1]. This novel training has been tested with students from different backgrounds in various European universities, recording high degrees of acquisition of the various basic competences that we developed to initially respond to chemical events [2]. To develop the practical part of this chemical training, we have incorporated the novel guidance and methodology developed by PHE to successfully tailor a protection and recovery response to any incident involving chemical substances, which is available in the “UK Recovery Handbook for Chemical Incidents” [3] and its web-based tools: “Chemical Recovery Navigation Tool” (CRNT, [4]) and “Chemical Recovery Record Form” (CRRF, [5]). These innovative resources aid the user to select effective protection, decontamination and restoration techniques or strategies from a pool of up-to-date options applicable to different environments according to the physicochemical properties of the chemical(s) involved and the area affected. The CRNT is accompanied by the CRRF, which facilitates collection and analysis of the necessary data to inform decisions, and an e-learning resource named “Chemical Recovery: Background” (CRB, [6]), which could facilitate the learning of environmental decontamination and restoration. We are currently developing a short training course to cover minor radiation incidents; this radiation training will follow the same methods used to develop the chemical training, but with the specific PHE recovery tools to tackle such events, specifically the “UK Recovery Handbooks for Radiation Incidents” [7] and its associated web-based tools “Radiation Recovery Navigation Tool” (Rad RNT, [8]), one for each environment: food production systems, inhabited areas and drinking water supplies. This communication will explore the use of the PHE’s Recovery Navigation Tools as potential resources to facilitate the acquisition of basic knowledge to tailor protection and recovery interventions for minor chemical and radiation incidents to protect the public

UK adaptive radiotherapy practices for head and neck cancer patients

Objective: To provide evidence on the extent and manner in which adaptive practices have been employed in the UK and identify the main barriers for the clinical implementation of adaptive radiotherapy (ART) in head and neck (HN) cancer cases. Methods: In December 2019, a Supplementary Material 1, of 23 questions, was sent to all UK radiotherapy centres (67). This covered general information to current ART practices and perceived barriers to implementation. Results: 31 centres responded (46%). 56% responding centres employed ART for between 10 and 20 patients/annum. 96% of respondents were using CBCT either alone or with other modalities for assessing "weight loss" and "shell gap," which were the main reasons for ART. Adaptation usually occurs at week three or four during the radiotherapy treatment. 25 responding centres used an online image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) approach and 20 used an offline ad hoc ART approach, either with or without protocol level. Nearly 70% of respondents required 2 to 3 days to create an adaptive plan and 95% used 3-5 mm adaptive planning target volume margins. All centres performed pre-treatment QA. "Limited staff resources" and "lack of clinical relevance" were identified as the two main barriers for ART implementation. Conclusion: There is no consensus in adaptive practice for HN cancer patients across the UK. For those centres not employing ART, similar clinical implementation barriers were identified. Advances in knowledge: An insight into contemporary UK practices of ART for HN cancer patients indicating national guidance for ART implementation for HN cancer patients may be required