Extended brief intervention to address alcohol misuse in people with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities living in the community (EBI-ID): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

There is some evidence that people with intellectual disabilities who live in the community are exposed to the same risks of alcohol use as the rest of the population. Various interventions have been evaluated in the general population to tackle hazardous or harmful drinking and alcohol dependence, but the literature evaluating interventions is very limited regarding intellectual disabilities. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence recommends that brief and extended brief interventions be used to help young persons and adults who have screened as positive for hazardous and harmful drinking. The objective of this trial is to investigate the feasibility of adapting and delivering an extended brief intervention (EBI) to persons with mild/moderate intellectual disability who live in the community and whose level of drinking is harmful or hazardous

Low-complexity motion estimation for the Scalable Video Coding extension of H.264/AVC

The recently standardized Scalable Video Coding(SVC) extension of H.264/AVC allows bitstream scalability with improved rate-distortion efficiency with respect to the classical Simulcasting approach, at the cost of an increased computational complexity of the encoding process. So one critical issue related to practical deployment of SVC is the complexity reduction, fundamental to use it in consumer applications. In this paper, we present a fully scalable fast motion estimation algorithm that enables an excellent complexity performance

New Fast Search Algorithm for Base Layer of H.264 Scalable Video Coding Extension

In this contribution, a fast search motion estimation algorithm for H.264/AVC SVC (scalable video coding) [2] base layer with hierarchical B-frame structure for temporal decomposition is presented and compared with fast search motion estimation algorithm in JSVM software [1], that is the reference software for H.264/AVC SVC. The proposed technique is a block-matching based motion estimation algorithm working in two steps, called Coarse search and Fine search. The Coarse search is performed for each frame in display order, and for each 16x16 macroblock chooses the best motion vector at half pel accuracy. Fine search is performed for each frame in encoding order and finds the best prediction for each block type, reference frame and direction, choosing the best motion vector at quarter pel accuracy using R-D optimization. Both Coarse and Fine Search test 3 spatial and 3 temporal predictors, and add to the best one a set of updates. The spatial predictors for the fine search are the result of the Fine search already performed for the previous blocks, while the temporal predictors are the results of Coarse Search scaled by an appropriate coefficient. This scaling is performed since in the Coarse search each picture is always estimated with respect to the previous one, while in the Fine Search the temporal distance between the current picture and its references depend on the temporaldecomposition level. Moreover in Fine search the number and the value of the updates tested depend on the distance between the current picture and its references. These sets of updates are the result of a huge number of simulations on test sequences with different motion features. The proposed algorithm has been tested on the set of test sequences proposed by JVT group, using different resolutions and temporal decomposition structures. The proposed method can reduce the average coding complexity in terms of motion vector tested from 70 to 90 percent with respect to the Fast-ME JVT method, while the quality loss depends on the GOP dimension, that is the most critical parameter for the performance of the algorithm. In fact for small GOP dimensions (4 or 8) the algorithm has the same quality at equal bit-rate respect to the Fast-ME JVT method for almost all the sequences and better quality for some sequences. For medium and long GOP dimensions (16-32) the algorithm has a quality loss lower than 0.5 dB for all the tested sequences

Detection of Catalase Activity by Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis (PAGE) in Cell Extracts from Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Bacteria in nature and as pathogens commonly face oxidative stress which causes damage to proteins, lipids and DNA. This damage is produced by the action of reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), singlet oxygen, superoxide anion and hydroxyl radical. ROS are generated by antimicrobials, environmental factors (e.g., ultraviolet radiation, osmotic stress), aerobic respiration, and host phagocytes during infective processes. Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a versatile bacterium, is a prevalent opportunistic human pathogen which possesses several defense strategies against ROS. Among them, two catalases (KatA and KatB) have been well characterized by their role on the defense against multiple types of stress. In this protocol, KatA and KatB activities are detected by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). It is also suggested that the detection of KatB is elusive.Fil: Pezzoni, Magdalena. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Pizarro, R. A.. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; ArgentinaFil: Costa, C. S.. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; Argentin

Dieta de pichones de cotorra Myiopsitta m. monachus (Aves: Psittacidae) en la Provincia de Buenos Aires

Dieta de pichones de Cotorra Myiopsitta m. monachus (Aves: Psittacidae) en la Provincia de Buenos Aires. El objetivo de este trabajo fue conocer la composición de la dieta aportada por los progenitores a los pichones durante su permanencia en el nido. Se analizaron los buches de 32 pichones de cotorra cuyos nidos fueron sometidos a control químico, procedentes de Gándara, Cañuelas y Villanueva (Provincia de Buenos Aires). Cada buche fue pesado con balanza analítica. Los distintos ítems integrantes de la dieta fueron separados bajo lupa binocular y pesados. La determinación se realizó en base a caracteres morfológicos externos e internos. Se observó que el 99.5% correspondió a componente vegetal, mientras que el componente mineral sólo se encontró representado en un 0.5%. En la fracción vegetal se destacaron cuatro familias siendo Asteracea y Poacea las de mayor porcentaje (96%)

Development and evaluation of a manual for extended brief intervention for alcohol misuse for adults with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities living in the community: The EBI-LD study manual

BACKGROUND: Extended brief interventions for alcohol misuse are effective in the general population. The process of manualising the first ever such intervention for people with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities in the UK is the focus of this study. METHODS: The manual was an adaptation of existing manuals based on Motivational Enhancement and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and was used in a feasibility randomized controlled trial, the EBI-LD study. The sessions were recorded and scored using an adapted version of the Yale Adherence and Competence Scale (YACS II). Feedback was provided by therapists. The trial is closed. Registered: isrctn.com; ISRCTN58783633. RESULTS: The quality of the sessions provided was rated as good. Therapists were able to cover all topics within each session. Main challenges included session duration and homework task completion. CONCLUSIONS: We recommend the duration of the sessions to be extended to 40 min to accommodate carers in the session and to enhance their support in homework task completion

The polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1) inhibitor NMS-P937 is effective in a new model of disseminated primary CD56+ acute monoblastic leukaemia

CD56 is expressed in 15–20% of acute myeloid leukaemias (AML) and is associated with extramedullary diffusion, multidrug resistance and poor prognosis. We describe the establishment and characterisation of a novel disseminated model of AML (AML-NS8), generated by injection into mice of leukaemic blasts freshly isolated from a patient with an aggressive CD56+ monoblastic AML (M5a). The model reproduced typical manifestations of this leukaemia, including presence of extramedullary masses and central nervous system involvement, and the original phenotype, karyotype and genotype of leukaemic cells were retained in vivo. Recently Polo-Like Kinase 1 (PLK1) has emerged as a new candidate drug target in AML. We therefore tested our PLK1 inhibitor NMS-P937 in this model either in the engraftment or in the established disease settings. Both schedules showed good efficacy compared to standard therapies, with a significant increase in median survival time (MST) expecially in the established disease setting (MST = 28, 36, 62 days for vehicle, cytarabine and NMS-P937, respectively). Importantly, we could also demonstrate that NMS-P937 induced specific biomarker modulation in extramedullary tissues. This new in vivo model of CD56+ AML that recapitulates the human tumour lends support for the therapeutic use of PLK1 inhibitors in AML

CpG methylation potentiates pixantrone and doxorubicin-induced DNA damage and is a marker of drug sensitivity

DNA methylation is an epigenetic modification of the mammalian genome that occurs predominantly at cytosine residues of the CpG dinucleotide. Following formaldehyde activation, pixantrone alkylates DNA and particularly favours the CpG motif. Aberrations in CpG methylation patterns are a feature of most cancer types, a characteristic that may determine their susceptibility to specific drug treatments. Given their common target, DNA methylation may modulate the DNA damage induced by formaldehyde-activated pixantrone. In vitro transcription, mass spectrometry and oligonucleotide band shift assays were utilized to establish that pixantrone–DNA adduct formation was consistently enhanced 2–5-fold at discrete methylated CpG doublets. The methylation-mediated enhancement was exquisitely sensitive to the position of the methyl substituent since methylation at neighboring cytosine residues failed to confer an increase in pixantrone–DNA alkylation. Covalent modification of DNA by formaldehyde-activated doxorubicin, but not cisplatin, was augmented by neighbouring CpG methylation, indicating that modulation of binding by CpG methylation is not a general feature of all alkylators. HCT116 colon cancer cells vastly deficient in CpG methylation were 12- and 10-fold more resistant to pixantrone and doxorubicin relative to the wild-type line, suggesting that these drugs may selectively recognize the aberrant CpG methylation profiles characteristic of most tumour types

Location determinants of green technological entry: evidence from European regions

In this paper, we explore the spatial distribution and the location determinants of new green technology-based firms across European regions. Integrating insights from evolutionary economic geography and the literature on knowledge spillovers, we study the importance of new knowledge creation and the conditioning role played by regional technological relatedness in fostering combinatorial opportunities underlying the process of green technological entry. The analysis is based on a dataset covering over 900 NUTS3 regions for 15 European countries obtained merging economic data from ESPON-Eurostat and patent information from the PATSTAT-CRIOS database for the period 1996–2006. Our results show that the geographical distribution of green technological entry across European regions is not evenly distributed, offering evidence of spatial path dependence. In line with this, we find evidence of a significant role played by the characteristics of the regional innovation system. New green innovators are more likely to develop in regions defined by higher levels of technological activity underlying knowledge spillovers and more dynamism in technological entry. Moreover, our findings point to an inverted-U relationship between regional technological relatedness and green technological entry. Regions whose innovation activity is defined by cognitive proximity to environmental technologies support interactive learning and knowledge spillovers underlying entrepreneurship in this specific area. However, too much relatedness may cause technological lock-ins and reduce the set of combinatorial opportunities