Investigations on the Peach 4 Debrite, a Late Pleistocene Mass Movement on the Northwest British Continental Margin

The Peach 4 debrite is the most recent in a series of large scale Pleistocene MTDs within the Barra fan on the northwest British continental margin. Geophysical data indicate that Peach 4 was formed through a combination of blocky and muddy debris flows and affects an area of ~ 700 km2. BGS core sample 56 -10 36, located directly over the Peach 4 debrite, provides a minimum age of 14.68 ka cal BP for the last major failure. An upwards fining turbidite sequence in BGS core sample 56 -10 239 is associ-ated with increased As and S concentrations, indicators of diagenetic pyrite which forms under anoxic conditions. It is proposed that As and S concentrations may pro-vide a method of distinguishing between contourite and turbidite sedimentation, though further research is required

Application of Compromise Programming to a semi-detached housing development in order to balance economic and environmental criteria

This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Journal of the Operational Research Society. The definitive publisher-authenticated version: Ruá Aguilar, MJ.; Guadalajara Olmeda, MN. (2012). Application of Compromise Programming to a semi-detached housing development in order to balance economic and environmental criteria. Journal of the Operational Research Society. 64(3):459-468, is available online at: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/jors/journal/v64/n3/full/jors201276a.html.European Energy Performance of Buildings Directives DE promote energy efficiency in buildings. Under these Directives, the European Union States must apply minimum requirements regarding the energy performance of buildings and ensure the certification of their energy performance. The Directives set only the basic principles and requirements, leaving a significant amount of room for the Member States to establish their specific mechanisms, numeric requirements and ways to implement them, taking into account local conditions. With respect to the Spanish case, the search for buildings that are more energy efficient results in a conflict between users¿ economic objectives and society's environmental objectives. In this paper, Compromise Programming is applied to help in the decision-making process. An appropriate distribution of types of dwellings, according to their energy performance and to the climatic zone considered in Spain, will be suggested. Results provide a compromise solution between both objectives.Ruá Aguilar, MJ.; Guadalajara Olmeda, MN. (2012). Application of Compromise Programming to a semi-detached housing development in order to balance economic and environmental criteria. Journal of the Operational Research Society. 64(3):459-468. doi:10.1057/jors.2012.76S459468643Andaloro, A. P. F., Salomone, R., Ioppolo, G., & Andaloro, L. (2010). Energy certification of buildings: A comparative analysis of progress towards implementation in European countries. Energy Policy, 38(10), 5840-5866. doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2010.05.039André, F. J., Cardenete, M. A., & Romero, C. (2008). Using compromise programming for macroeconomic policy making in a general equilibrium framework: theory and application to the Spanish economy. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 59(7), 875-883. doi:10.1057/palgrave.jors.2602415Baja, S., Chapman, D. M., & Dragovich, D. (2006). Spatial based compromise programming for multiple criteria decision making in land use planning. Environmental Modeling & Assessment, 12(3), 171-184. doi:10.1007/s10666-006-9059-1Ballestero, E., & Romero, C. (1991). A theorem connecting utility function optimization and compromise programming. Operations Research Letters, 10(7), 421-427. doi:10.1016/0167-6377(91)90045-qBallestero, E., & Romero, C. (1993). Weighting in compromise programming: A theorem on shadow prices. Operations Research Letters, 13(5), 325-329. doi:10.1016/0167-6377(93)90055-lDavies, H., & Wyatt, D. (2004). Appropriate use of the ISO 15686-1 factor method for durability and service life prediction. Building Research & Information, 32(6), 552-553. doi:10.1080/0961321042000291938Diakaki, C., Grigoroudis, E., Kabelis, N., Kolokotsa, D., Kalaitzakis, K., & Stavrakakis, G. (2010). A multi-objective decision model for the improvement of energy efficiency in buildings. Energy, 35(12), 5483-5496. doi:10.1016/j.energy.2010.05.012Dı́az-Balteiro, L., & Romero, C. (2003). Forest management optimisation models when carbon captured is considered: a goal programming approach. Forest Ecology and Management, 174(1-3), 447-457. doi:10.1016/s0378-1127(02)00075-0Diaz-Balteiro, L., & Rodriguez, L. C. E. (2006). Optimal rotations on Eucalyptus plantations including carbon sequestration—A comparison of results in Brazil and Spain. Forest Ecology and Management, 229(1-3), 247-258. doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2006.04.005Fattahi, P., & Fayyaz, S. (2009). A Compromise Programming Model to Integrated Urban Water Management. Water Resources Management, 24(6), 1211-1227. doi:10.1007/s11269-009-9492-4Hamdy, M., Hasan, A., & Siren, K. (2011). Applying a multi-objective optimization approach for Design of low-emission cost-effective dwellings. Building and Environment, 46(1), 109-123. doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2010.07.006Johnstone, I. M. (2001). Energy and mass flows of housing: a model and example. Building and Environment, 36(1), 27-41. doi:10.1016/s0360-1323(99)00065-7Johnstone, I. M. (2001). Energy and mass flows of housing: estimating mortality. Building and Environment, 36(1), 43-51. doi:10.1016/s0360-1323(99)00066-9Linares, P., & Romero, C. (2000). A multiple criteria decision making approach for electricity planning in Spain: economic versus environmental objectives. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 51(6), 736-743. doi:10.1057/palgrave.jors.2600944Rey, F. J., Velasco, E., & Varela, F. (2007). Building Energy Analysis (BEA): A methodology to assess building energy labelling. Energy and Buildings, 39(6), 709-716. doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2006.07.009Rudbeck, C. (2002). Service life of building envelope components: making it operational in economical assessment. Construction and Building Materials, 16(2), 83-89. doi:10.1016/s0950-0618(02)00003-xSan-José, J. T., Losada, R., Cuadrado, J., & Garrucho, I. (2007). Approach to the quantification of the sustainable value in industrial buildings. Building and Environment, 42(11), 3916-3923. doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2006.11.013Yu, P. L. (1973). A Class of Solutions for Group Decision Problems. Management Science, 19(8), 936-946. doi:10.1287/mnsc.19.8.936Zelany, M. (1974). A concept of compromise solutions and the method of the displaced ideal. Computers & Operations Research, 1(3-4), 479-496. doi:10.1016/0305-0548(74)90064-

Coexistence of the topological state and a two-dimensional electron gas on the surface of Bi2Se3

Topological insulators are a recently discovered class of materials with fascinating properties: While the inside of the solid is insulating, fundamental symmetry considerations require the surfaces to be metallic. The metallic surface states show an unconventional spin texture, electron dynamics and stability. Recently, surfaces with only a single Dirac cone dispersion have received particular attention. These are predicted to play host to a number of novel physical phenomena such as Majorana fermions, magnetic monopoles and unconventional superconductivity. Such effects will mostly occur when the topological surface state lies in close proximity to a magnetic or electric field, a (superconducting) metal, or if the material is in a confined geometry. Here we show that a band bending near to the surface of the topological insulator Bi$_2$Se$_3$ gives rise to the formation of a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG). The 2DEG, renowned from semiconductor surfaces and interfaces where it forms the basis of the integer and fractional quantum Hall effects, two-dimensional superconductivity, and a plethora of practical applications, coexists with the topological surface state in Bi$_2$Se$_3$. This leads to the unique situation where a topological and a non-topological, easily tunable and potentially superconducting, metallic state are confined to the same region of space.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure

Assay strategies for the discovery and validation of therapeutics targeting <i>Brugia pahangi</i> Hsp90

The chemotherapy of lymphatic filariasis relies upon drugs such as diethylcarbamazine and ivermectin that largely target the microfilarial stages of the parasite, necessitating continued treatment over the long reproductive life span of the adult worm. The identification of compounds that target adult worms has been a long-term goal of WHO. Here we describe a fluorescence polarization assay for the identification of compounds that target Hsp90 in adult filarial worms. The assay was originally developed to identify inhibitors of Hsp90 in tumor cells, and relies upon the ability of small molecules to inhibit the binding of fluorescently labelled geldanamycin to Hsp90. We demonstrate that the assay works well with soluble extracts of Brugia, while extracts of the free-living nematode C. elegans fail to bind the probe, in agreement with data from other experiments. The assay was validated using known inhibitors of Hsp90 that compete with geldanamycin for binding to Hsp90, including members of the synthetic purine-scaffold series of compounds. The efficacy of some of these compounds against adult worms was confirmed in vitro. Moreover, the assay is sufficiently sensitive to differentiate between binding of purine-scaffold compounds to human and Brugia Hsp90. The assay is suitable for high-throughput screening and provides the first example of a format with the potential to identify novel inhibitors of Hsp90 in filarial worms and in other parasitic species where Hsp90 may be a target

Assessment of fatigue in chronic disease: a bibliographic study of fatigue measurement scales

A large number of fatigue scales exist and there is no consensus on which fatigue measuring scales that are most appropriate for use in assessment of fatigue in different diseases. We aimed to describe the use of fatigue scales in studies of disease-related fatigue during the last three decades. We searched databases from 1975 to 2004 for original studies reporting on disease-related fatigue and extracted information on method used to assess fatigue, diseases under study and year of publication. A total of 2285 papers reported measures of fatigue in chronic non-acute diseases of which 80% were published during the last decade. We identified 252 different ways to measure fatigue, of which 150 were use only once. Multi-symptom scales (n = 156) were used in 670 studies, while 71 scales specifically designed to measure fatigue were applied in 416 studies. The majority of these studies used scales with a multidimensional approach to fatigue, and most studies used scales that were disease-specific or only applied to few different diseases. Research in disease-related fatigue has increased exponentially during the last three decades, even if we adjust for the general increase in publishing activity. The number of scales has also increased and the majority of scales were developed for specific diseases. There is need for measure instruments with different sizes and dimensionality, and due to ceiling and floor effects, the same scale may not be useful for patients with different severity of fatigue. However, since fatigue is an unspecific symptom there should not be need for adopting disease specific fatigue scales for each individual disease. There may be differences in characteristics of fatigue between diseases and generic measurement instruments may facilitate documentation of such differences, which may be of clinical importance

Comparisons of mortality and pre-discharge respiratory outcomes in small-for-gestational-age and appropriate-for-gestational-age premature infants

BACKGROUND: There are differences in the literature regarding outcomes of premature small-for-gestational-age (SGA) and appropriate-for gestational-age (AGA) infants, possibly due to failure to take into account gestational age at birth. OBJECTIVE: To compare mortality and respiratory morbidity of SGA and AGA premature newborn infants. DESIGN/METHODS: A retrospective study was done of the 2,487 infants born without congenital anomalies at ≤36 weeks of gestation and admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at John Dempsey Hospital, between Jan. 1992 and Dec. 1999. Recent (1994–96) U.S. birth weight percentiles for gestational age (GA), race and gender were used to classify neonates as SGA (<10th percentile for GA) or AGA (10(th)–90th percentile for GA). Using multivariate logistic regression and survival analyses to control for GA, SGA and AGA infants were compared for mortality and respiratory morbidity. RESULTS: Controlling for GA, premature SGA infants were at a higher risk for mortality (Odds ratio 3.1, P = 0.001) and at lower risk of respiratory distress syndrome (OR = 0.71, p = 0.02) than AGA infants. However multivariate logistic regression modeling found that the odds of having respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) varied between SGA and AGA infants by GA. There was no change in RDS risk in SGA infants at GA ≤ 32 wk (OR = 1.27, 95% CI 0.32 – 1.98) but significantly decreased risk for RDS at GA > 32 wk (OR = 0.41, 95% CI 0.27 – 0.63; p < 0.01). After controlling for GA, SGA infants were observed to be at a significantly higher risk for developing chronic lung disease as compared to AGA infants (OR = 2.2, 95% CI = 1.2 – 3.9, P = 0.01). There was no significant difference between SGA and AGA infants in total days on ventilator. Among infants who survived, mean length of hospital stay was significantly higher in SGA infants born between 26–36 wks GA than AGA infants. CONCLUSIONS: Premature SGA infants have significantly higher mortality, significantly higher risk of developing chronic lung disease and longer hospital stay as compared to premature AGA infants. Even the reduced risk of RDS in infants born at ≥32 wk GA, (conferred possibly by intra-uterine stress leading to accelerated lung maturation) appears to be of transient effect and is counterbalanced by adverse effects of poor intrauterine growth on long term pulmonary outcomes such as chronic lung disease

Urinary tract infections and reduced risk of bladder cancer in Los Angeles

We investigated the association between urinary tract infections (UTIs) and transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder in a population-based case–control study in Los Angeles covering 1586 cases and age-, gender-, and race-matched neighbourhood controls. A history of bladder infection was associated with a reduced risk of bladder cancer among women (odds ratio (OR), 0.66; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.46–0.96). No effect was found in men, perhaps due to power limitations. A greater reduction in bladder cancer risk was observed among women with multiple infections (OR, 0.37; 95% CI, 0.18–0.78). Exclusion of subjects with a history of diabetes, kidney or bladder stones did not change the inverse association. A history of kidney infections was not associated with bladder cancer risk, but there was a weak association between a history of other UTIs and slightly increased risk among men. Our results suggest that a history of bladder infection is associated with a reduced risk of bladder cancer among women. Cytotoxicity from antibiotics commonly used to treat bladder infections is proposed as one possible explanation

A Phase 1 Randomized, Double Blind, Placebo Controlled Rectal Safety and Acceptability Study of Tenofovir 1% Gel (MTN-007)

Objective: Rectal microbicides are needed to reduce the risk of HIV acquisition associated with unprotected receptive anal intercourse. The MTN-007 study was designed to assess the safety (general and mucosal), adherence, and acceptability of a new reduced glycerin formulation of tenofovir 1% gel. Methods: Participants were randomized 1:1:1:1 to receive the reduced glycerin formulation of tenofovir 1% gel, a hydroxyethyl cellulose placebo gel, a 2% nonoxynol-9 gel, or no treatment. Each gel was administered as a single dose followed by 7 daily doses. Mucosal safety evaluation included histology, fecal calprotectin, epithelial sloughing, cytokine expression (mRNA and protein), microarrays, flow cytometry of mucosal T cell phenotype, and rectal microflora. Acceptability and adherence were determined by computer-administered questionnaires and interactive telephone response, respectively. Results: Sixty-five participants (45 men and 20 women) were recruited into the study. There were no significant differences between the numbers of ≥ Grade 2 adverse events across the arms of the study. Likelihood of future product use (acceptability) was 87% (reduced glycerin formulation of tenofovir 1% gel), 93% (hydroxyethyl cellulose placebo gel), and 63% (nonoxynol-9 gel). Fecal calprotectin, rectal microflora, and epithelial sloughing did not differ by treatment arms during the study. Suggestive evidence of differences was seen in histology, mucosal gene expression, protein expression, and T cell phenotype. These changes were mostly confined to comparisons between the nonoxynol-9 gel and other study arms. Conclusions: The reduced glycerin formulation of tenofovir 1% gel was safe and well tolerated rectally and should be advanced to Phase 2 development. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01232803

The Role of Interleukin-1 and Interleukin-18 in Pro-Inflammatory and Anti-Viral Responses to Rhinovirus in Primary Bronchial Epithelial Cells

Human Rhinovirus (HRV) is associated with acute exacerbations of chronic respiratory disease. In healthy individuals, innate viral recognition pathways trigger release of molecules with direct anti-viral activities and pro-inflammatory mediators which recruit immune cells to support viral clearance. Interleukin-1alpha (IL-1α), interleukin-1beta (IL-1β) and interleukin-18 (IL-18) have critical roles in the establishment of neutrophilic inflammation, which is commonly seen in airways viral infection and thought to be detrimental in respiratory disease. We therefore investigated the roles of these molecules in HRV infection of primary human epithelial cells. We found that all three cytokines were released from infected epithelia. Release of these cytokines was not dependent on cell death, and only IL-1β and IL-18 release was dependent on caspase-1 catalytic activity. Blockade of IL-1 but not IL-18 signaling inhibited up-regulation of pro-inflammatory mediators and neutrophil chemoattractants but had no effect on virus induced production of interferons and interferon-inducible genes, measured at both mRNA and protein level. Similar level of virus mRNA was detected with and without IL-1RI blockade. Hence IL-1 signaling, potentially involving both IL-1β and IL-1α, downstream of viral recognition plays a key role in induction of pro-inflammatory signals and potentially in recruitment and activation of immune cells in response to viral infection instigated by the epithelial cells, whilst not participating in direct anti-viral responses