When it's (mostly) the taking part that counts: the post-application consequences of employment tribunal claims

This paper uses the 2003 Survey of Employment Tribunal Applications to examine the post-application employment consequences for individuals registering complaints to Employment Tribunals following dismissal or redundancy. In examining this issue, we consider a number of pieces of evidence: (i) the probability of finding another job; (ii) the time taken to get a new job and (iii) the pay/status of the new job. It is found that age plays a significant role in aspects (i) and (iii), whilst those who previously held managerial positions generally took longest to get a new job and found it most difficult to achieve a similar level of pay/status in their current jobs. Long-term health problems/disability is associated with significantly worse outcomes on all three measures. Respondents whose cases were dismissed by the tribunals without hearings fared worst in terms of obtaining a new job and the time it took to do so compared with other outcomes. There were, however, fewer differences by outcome in the relative pay/status of the claimant's current job

The spontaneous hemin release form Lumbricus terrestris hemoglobin

The slow, spontaneous release of hemin from earthworm, Lumbricus terrestris, hemoglobin has been studied under mild conditions in the presence of excess apomyoglobin. This important protein is surprisingly unstable. The reaction is best described as hemin released from the globin into water, followed by quick engulfment by apomyoglobin. The energetics of this reaction are compared with those of other types of hemoglobins. Anomalously low activation energy and enthalpy are counterbalanced by a negative entropy. These values reflect significant low frequency protein motion and dynamics of earthworm hemoglobin and may also indicate an open structure distal to the heme. This is also supported by the infrared spectrum of the carbonyl hemoprotein, which indicates several types of distal interactions with the bound CO. The reported low heme to polypeptide ratio for this protein may be due to facile heme and hemin release by the circulating protein

Olfactory and gustatory dysfunction in patients with autoimmune encephalitis

OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that olfactory (OF) and gustatory function (GF) is disturbed in patients with autoimmune encephalitides (AE). METHODS: The orthonasal OF was tested in 32 patients with AE and 32 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HC) with the standardized Threshold Discrimination Identification (TDI) score. This validated olfactory testing method yields individual scores for olfactory threshold (T), odor discrimination (D), and identification (I), along with a composite TDI score. The GF was determined by the Taste Strip Test (TST). RESULTS: Overall, 24/32 (75%) of patients with AE, but none of 32 HC (p < 0.001) had olfactory dysfunction in TDI testing. The results of the threshold, discrimination and identification subtests were significantly reduced in patients with AE compared to HC (all p < 0.001). Assessed by TST, 5/19 (26.3%) of patients with AE, but none of 19 HC presented a significant limitation in GF (p < 0.001). The TDI score was correlated with the subjective estimation of the olfactory capacity on a visual analog scale (VAS; r(s) = 0.475, p = 0.008). Neither age, sex, modified Rankin Scale nor disease duration were associated with the composite TDI score. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study investigating OF and GF in AE patients. According to unblinded assessment, patients with AE have a reduced olfactory and gustatory capacity compared to HC, suggesting that olfactory and gustatory dysfunction are hitherto unrecognized symptoms in AE. Further studies with larger number of AE patients would be of interest to verify our results

Local decomposition of gray-scale morphological templates

Template decomposition techniques can be useful for improving the efficiency of imageprocessing algorithms. The improved efficiency can be realized either by reorganizing a computation to fit a specialized structure, such as an image-processing pipeline, or by reducing the number of operations used. In this paper two techniques are described for decomposing templates into sequences of 3×3 templates with respect to gray-scale morphological operations. Both techniques use linear programming and are guaranteed to find a decomposition of one exists.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/46623/1/10851_2004_Article_BF00123880.pd

Economic crisis and the construction of a neo-liberal regulatory regime in Korea

A consistent theme of the literature on the ontology of the 1997 South Korean crisis is the key role played by regulatory failures and the growing weakness of the state. This paper seeks to briefly highlight both the insights and the limitations of this approach to understanding the crisis. Having done so, we shall set out the argument that the crisis created an opportunity for reformist Korean élites to advance their longstanding, but previously frustrated, project to create a comprehensive unambiguously neo-liberal regulatory regime. This paper will also seek to highlight the implications of our reading of the development of the Korean political economy for broader debates on economic liberalisation, crisis and the future of the developmental state

On Linear Information Systems

Scott's information systems provide a categorically equivalent, intensional description of Scott domains and continuous functions. Following a well established pattern in denotational semantics, we define a linear version of information systems, providing a model of intuitionistic linear logic (a new-Seely category), with a "set-theoretic" interpretation of exponentials that recovers Scott continuous functions via the co-Kleisli construction. From a domain theoretic point of view, linear information systems are equivalent to prime algebraic Scott domains, which in turn generalize prime algebraic lattices, already known to provide a model of classical linear logic

Influence of selected plant extracts on bacterial motility, aggregation, hydrophobicity, exopolysaccharide production and quorum sensing during biofilm formation of enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7

Diarrhoeagenic Escherichia coli is a serious threat to human and animal health, with antimicrobial drug resistance contributing to the problem. Alternative mechanisms of prevention and treatment of E. coli-induced diarrhoea include those targeting biofilm production and quorum sensing, properties that have been associated with some investigated plant extracts. Plants were selected from various genera, including Vachellia, Senegalia, Morus, Leucaena, Salix, Grewia, Ziziphus, Searsia, Dichrostachys and Ceratonia, based on their known antimicrobial activity. The antibacterial effects of leaf extracts against multidrug-resistant E. coli O157:H7 were investigated using a broth microdilution method, and cytotoxicity to normal mammalian cell lines was studied using a tetrazolium colorimetric assay. Subsequently, antibiofilm activity and inhibition of extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) production by plant extracts against E. coli O157:H7 was investigated using crystal violet as a staining dye after 0 and 24 h incubation and carbohydrate estimation 5 % phenol-sulfuric assay. The biosensor strain Chromobacterium violaceum ATCC 12472 was used to study the anti-quorum sensing potential of the selected plant extracts. Cell motility, cell surface hydrophobicity (CSH), and aggregation were also investigated. All plant extracts had weak antibacterial activity (MIC > 0.62 mg/ml) with relatively low cytotoxicity. The acetone extracts of Salix babylonica and Leucaena leucocephala prevented bacterial cell attachment (0 h) by 81.21 % and 89.36 %, respectively. Approximately 28 % of plant extracts eradicated established biofilms by more than 50 %, however, they were unable to inhibit EPS production above 30 %. The half-maximal concentration of extracts generally inhibited violacein production (ranging from 0.01 to 0.02 mg/ml), with V. erioloba acetone extract being the most effective at quorum quenching. Some plant extracts exhibited a significant difference (p<0.05) in motility, aggregation and hydrophobicity compared to untreated cells. This study highlights the potential of selected plant extracts to act via different mechanisms of action to decrease virulence of enteric E. coli, motivating further investigation of the bioactive compounds in the leaves.The National Research Foundation and Red Meat Research Development South Africa.http://www.elsevier.com/locate/sajbhj2024Paraclinical SciencesNon

Circulating pancreatic polypeptide concentrations predict visceral and liver fat content

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: No current biomarker can reliably predict visceral and liver fat content, both of which are risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Vagal tone has been suggested to influence regional fat deposition. Pancreatic polypeptide (PP) is secreted from the endocrine pancreas under vagal control. We investigated the utility of PP in predicting visceral and liver fat. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fasting plasma PP concentrations were measured in 104 overweight and obese subjects (46 men and 58 women). In the same subjects, total and regional adipose tissue, including total visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and total subcutaneous adipose tissue (TSAT), were measured using whole-body magnetic resonance imaging. Intrahepatocellular lipid content (IHCL) was quantified by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy. RESULTS: Fasting plasma PP concentrations positively and significantly correlated with both VAT (r = 0.57, P < .001) and IHCL (r = 0.51, P < .001), but not with TSAT (r = 0.02, P = .88). Fasting PP concentrations independently predicted VAT after controlling for age and sex. Fasting PP concentrations independently predicted IHCL after controlling for age, sex, body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio, homeostatic model assessment 2-insulin resistance, (HOMA2-IR) and serum concentrations of triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT). Fasting PP concentrations were associated with serum ALT, TG, TC, low- and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and blood pressure (P < .05). These associations were mediated by IHCL and/or VAT. Fasting PP and HOMA2-IR were independently significantly associated with hepatic steatosis (P < .01). CONCLUSIONS: Pancreatic polypeptide is a novel predictor of visceral and liver fat content, and thus a potential biomarker for cardiovascular risk stratification and targeted treatment of patients with ectopic fat deposition

Characterizing steroid hormone receptor chromatin binding landscapes in male and female breast cancer

Male breast cancer (MBC) is rare and largely hormonally driven. Here, the authors examine the action of steroid hormone receptors in male and female breast cancers and find gender selective hormone receptor action that associates with the survival of MBC patients