Generation and Immunoresponsiveness of Transgenic Mice Expressing T Cell Localised MHC Class II

Imperial Users onl

Food security and sovereignty in Providence Rhode Island local food system

The urban, local food system in Providence Rhode Island has a network of urban gardens and farms throughout the city where food is grown for families and to sell at the many farmers markets. It also has a large food hub selling local food to restaurants, schools, hospitals and universities in the city and further afield. The Providence food system aims to develop the local economy through provision of local, sustainably produced food and to reduce food insecurity for the poorest communities in the city. However, it has been argued that while such systems remain embedded in a market-driven approach to development, significantly addressing food insecurity is problematic (Alkon et al., 2012; Edelman, 2014; Prost et al., 2018). How the Providence local food system addresses food security, both in terms of increasing food resilience against future climate related shocks and currently, for the poorest communities in the city, is discussed in this paper, which also engages with some of the problems faced by local farmers. This research is based on 21 interviews, comprising 32 people from all levels of Providence local food system. It was undertaken over four months in late 2019 through a New Zealand Fulbright Scholarship

Graph-Optimization base multi-sensor fusion for robust UAV pose estimation

ing accurate, high-rate pose estimates from proprioceptive and/or exteroceptive measurements is the first step in the development of navigation algorithms for agile mobile robots such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). In this paper, we propose a decoupled multi-sensor fusion approach that allows the combination of generic 6D visual-inertial (VI) odometry poses and 3D globally referenced positions to infer the global 6D pose of the robot in real-time. Our approach casts the fusion as a real-time alignment problem between the local base frame of the VI odometry and the global base frame. The quasi-constant alignment transformation that relates these coordinate systems is continuously updated employing graph- based optimization with a sliding window. We evaluate the presented pose estimation method on both simulated data and large outdoor experiments using a small UAV that is capable to run our system onboard. Results are compared against different state-of-the-art sensor fusion frameworks, revealing that the proposed approach is substantially more accurate than other decoupled fusion strategies. We also demonstrate comparable results in relation with a finely tuned Extended Kalman Filter that fuses visual, inertial and GPS measurements in a coupled way and show that our approach is generic enough to deal with different input sources in ner, as well as able to run in real-time

The Journey from the Side Chapel to the Main Aisle: Religious Life in the Postconciliar Church

The ecclesiological principles enunciated in the documents of Vatican II have shaped the direction of religious life in ways that could not have been imagined prior to the council. The developments that have taken place in the renewal of religious life over the past thirty years reflect critical paradigmatic shifts in ecclesiology that have both called into question and radically affirmed the very nature and meaning of religious life within the life of the Church. In fact, it could be argued that the changes in the Church’s self-understanding during Vatican II are nowhere more dramatically seen than in the continuing transformation of religious life. Among the many conciliar and postconciliar documents that present and develop the teaching of the council regarding religious life, for the purpose of this discussion, the most significant are, not surprisingly, the two constitutions that treat directly of the Church — Lumen Gentium {Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, November 21, 1964) and Gaudium et Spes {pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modem World, December 7, 1965) — as well as Perfectae Caritatif {Decree on the Up-to-Date Renewal of the Religious Life, October 28, 1965)

Sacred Heart University Alma Mater

On the occasion of its 35th anniversary in 1998, Sacred Heart University adopted its official Alma Mater. Words by Ralph Corrigan et al. Music by Margaret A. Palliser

The Potential Cost to New Zealand Dairy Farmers from the Introduction of Nitrate-Based Stocking Rate Restrictions

Introducing a stocking rate restriction is one possible course of action for regulators to improve water quality where it is affected by nitrate pollution. To determine the impact of a stocking rate restriction on a range of New Zealand dairy farms, a whole-farm model was optimised with and without a maximum stocking rate of 2.5 cows per hectare. Three farm systems, which differ by their level of feed-related capital, were examined for the changes to the optimal stocking rate and optimal level of animal milk production genetics when utility was maximised. The whole-farm model was optimised through the use of an evolutionary algorithm called differential evolution. The introduction of a stocking rate restriction would have a very large impact on the optimally organised high feed-related capital farm systems, reducing their certainty equivalent by almost half. However, there was no impact on the certainty equivalent of low feed-related capital systems.environmental regulation, dairy farms, whole-farm model, evolutionary algorithm, Environmental Economics and Policy, Livestock Production/Industries, Q12, Q52, C61,

Interactions of the Gasotransmitters Contribute to Microvascular Tone (Dys)regulation in the Preterm Neonate

Background & Aims Hydrogen sulphide (H2S), nitric oxide (NO), and carbon monoxide (CO) are involved in transitional microvascular tone dysregulation in the preterm infant; however there is conflicting evidence on the interaction of these gasotransmitters, and their overall contribution to the microcirculation in newborns is not known. The aim of this study was to measure the levels of all 3 gasotransmitters, characterise their interrelationships and elucidate their combined effects on microvascular blood flow. Methods 90 preterm neonates were studied at 24h postnatal age. Microvascular studies were performed by laser Doppler. Arterial COHb levels (a measure of CO) were determined through co-oximetry. NO was measured as nitrate and nitrite in urine. H2S was measured as thiosulphate by liquid chromatography. Relationships between levels of the gasotransmitters and microvascular blood flow were assessed through partial correlation controlling for the influence of gestational age. Structural equation modelling was used to examine the combination of these effects on microvascular blood flow and derive a theoretical model of their interactions. Results No relationship was observed between NO and CO (p = 0.18, r = 0.18). A positive relationship between NO and H2S (p = 0.008, r = 0.28) and an inverse relationship between CO and H2S (p = 0.01, r = -0.33) exists. Structural equation modelling was used to examine the combination of these effects on microvascular blood flow. The model with the best fit is presented. Conclusions The relationships between NO and H2S, and CO and H2S may be of importance in the preterm newborn, particularly as NO levels in males are associated with higher H2S levels and higher microvascular blood flow and CO in females appears to convey protection against vascular dysregulation. Here we present a theoretical model of these interactions and their overall effects on microvascular flow in the preterm newborn, upon which future mechanistic studies may be based.The authors would like to acknowledge the parents of the neonates enrolled in the 2CANS study for their participation, the staff of the Kaleidoscope Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the John Hunter Children’s Hospital, and Kimberly-Clark Australia for providing the diapers used in this stud