How knowledge of the gastrointestinal absorption of elements could be used to predict transfer to milk

The quality and quantity of data used to derive transfer parameter values for milk are variable and there are many data gaps for elements/radionuclides which may need to be considered for risk assessment of the agricultural foodchain. There has been a recent focus on critically evaluating current methods to fill data gaps and on identifying extrapolation methods to derive suitable values for the elements, and particularly radioisotopes, with no or sparse data. The relationship between fractional absorption of elements in the ruminant gastrointestinal tract and transfer to milk has been explored to determine whether knowledge of the former can be used to predict the latter. A relationship has been derived between fractional absorption of elements and two empirical ratios commonly used to quantify transfer to milk; transfer coefficients (element concentration in milk divided by element daily intake) and concentrations ratios (concentration in milk divided by concentration in feed). We propose that fractional absorption may be used to predict the order of magnitude of the transfer to milk of elements/radionuclides for which no relevant data have yet been identified or collated

Dysfunctional Tissue Correlates of Unrelated Naming Errors in Acute Left Hemisphere Stroke

Most naming error lesion-symptom mapping (LSM) studies have focused on semantic and/or phonological errors. Anomic individuals also produce unrelated word errors, which may be linked to semantic or modality-independent lexical deficits. To investigate the neural underpinnings of rarely-studied unrelated errors, we conducted LSM analyses in 100 individuals hospitalised with a left hemisphere stroke who completed imaging protocols and language assessments. We used least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression to capture relationships between naming errors and dysfunctional brain tissue metrics (regional damage or hypoperfusion in vascular territories) in two groups: participants with and without impaired single-word auditory comprehension. Hypoperfusion—particularly within the parietal lobe—was an important error predictor, especially for the unimpaired group. In both groups, higher unrelated error proportions were associated with primarily ventral stream damage, the language route critical for processing meaning. Nonetheless, brain metrics implicated in unrelated errors were distinct from semantic error correlates

Stimulating a Canadian narrative for climate

ABSTRACT: This perspective documents current thinking around climate actions in Canada by synthesizing scholarly proposals made by Sustainable Canada Dialogues (SCD), an informal network of scholars from all 10 provinces, and by reviewing responses from civil society representatives to the scholars' proposals. Motivated by Canada's recent history of repeatedly missing its emissions reduction targets and failing to produce a coherent plan to address climate change, SCD mobilized more than 60 scholars to identify possible pathways towards a low-carbon economy and sustainable society and invited civil society to comment on the proposed solutions. This perspective illustrates a range of Canadian ideas coming from many sectors of society and a wealth of existing inspiring initiatives. Solutions discussed include climate change governance, low-carbon transition, energy production, and consumption. This process of knowledge synthesis/creation is novel and important because it provides a working model for making connections across academic fields as well as between academia and civil society. The process produces a holistic set of insights and recommendations for climate change actions and a unique model of engagement. The different voices reported here enrich the scope of possible solutions, showing that Canada is brimming with ideas, possibilities, and the will to act

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

TRY plant trait database – enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits - the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants - determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait‐based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits - almost complete coverage for ‘plant growth form’. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait–environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives

Quantifying fracture geometry with X-ray tomography: Technique of Iterative Local Thresholding (TILT) for 3D image segmentation

This paper presents a new method—the Technique of Iterative Local Thresholding (TILT)—for processing 3D X-ray computed tomography (xCT) images for visualization and quantification of rock fractures. The TILT method includes the following advancements. First, custom masks are generated by a fracture-dilation procedure, which significantly amplifies the fracture signal on the intensity histogram used for local thresholding. Second, TILT is particularly well suited for fracture characterization in granular rocks because the multi-scale Hessian fracture (MHF) filter has been incorporated to distinguish fractures from pores in the rock matrix. Third, TILT wraps the thresholding and fracture isolation steps in an optimized iterative routine for binary segmentation, minimizing human intervention and enabling automated processing of large 3D datasets. As an illustrative example, we applied TILT to 3D xCT images of reacted and unreacted fractured limestone cores. Other segmentation methods were also applied to provide insights regarding variability in image processing. The results show that TILT significantly enhanced separability of grayscale intensities, outperformed the other methods in automation, and was successful in isolating fractures from the porous rock matrix. Because the other methods are more likely to misclassify fracture edges as void and/or have limited capacity in distinguishing fractures from pores, those methods estimated larger fracture volumes (up to 80 %), surface areas (up to 60 %), and roughness (up to a factor of 2). These differences in fracture geometry would lead to significant disparities in hydraulic permeability predictions, as determined by 2D flow simulations

A História da Alimentação: balizas historiográficas

Os M. pretenderam traçar um quadro da História da Alimentação, não como um novo ramo epistemológico da disciplina, mas como um campo em desenvolvimento de práticas e atividades especializadas, incluindo pesquisa, formação, publicações, associações, encontros acadêmicos, etc. Um breve relato das condições em que tal campo se assentou faz-se preceder de um panorama dos estudos de alimentação e temas correia tos, em geral, segundo cinco abardagens Ia biológica, a econômica, a social, a cultural e a filosófica!, assim como da identificação das contribuições mais relevantes da Antropologia, Arqueologia, Sociologia e Geografia. A fim de comentar a multiforme e volumosa bibliografia histórica, foi ela organizada segundo critérios morfológicos. A seguir, alguns tópicos importantes mereceram tratamento à parte: a fome, o alimento e o domínio religioso, as descobertas européias e a difusão mundial de alimentos, gosto e gastronomia. O artigo se encerra com um rápido balanço crítico da historiografia brasileira sobre o tema

Dumping, protectionism and free trade

This Discussion Paper addresses the issue of anti-dumping actions and presents an evaluation of such measures in the context of the intemational liberalisation of trade. It concerns the recent General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT) negotiations with respect to anti-dumping and countervailing duty actions and the use by New Zealand of such actions on behalf of New Zealand producers and manufacturers. The Paper presents a brief review of the theoretical basis for anti-dumping actions, examines the concept of discriminatory pricing, looks at the effect on the economy of anti-dumping actions and reviews a recent example of an anti-dumping action in New Zealand. It concludes by asserting that with rare exceptions, anti-dumping actions are protectionist, that countries have more to gain by accepting lower priced imports than by applying anti-dumping duties and that general economic welfare would be enhanced by redefining the basis for anti-dumping actions to include only those actions where predatory dumping is proven to be the reason for the lower than normal import prices. Research on the actual effects of anti-dumping actions in terms of the change in economic welfare is continuing

Naming Errors and Dysfunctional Tissue Metrics Predict Language Recovery After Acute Left Hemisphere Stroke

Language recovery following acute left hemisphere (LH) stroke is notoriously difficult to predict. Global language measures (e.g., overall aphasia severity) and gross lesion metrics (e.g., size) provide incomplete recovery predictions. In this study, we test the hypothesis that the types of naming errors patients produce, combined with dysfunctional brain tissue metrics, can provide additional insight into recovery following acute LH stroke. One hundred forty-eight individuals who were hospitalized with a new LH stroke completed clinical neuroimaging and assessments of naming and global language skills. A subset of participants again completed language testing at subacute, early (5–7 months post-stroke), and late (≥11 months post-stroke) chronic phases. At each time point, we coded naming errors into four types (semantic, phonological, mixed and unrelated) and determined error type totals and proportions. Dysfunctional tissue measures included the percentage of damage to language network regions and hypoperfusion in vascular territories. A higher proportion of semantic errors was associated with better acute naming, but higher proportions of other error types was related to poorer accuracy. Naming and global language skills significantly improved over time , but naming error profiles did not change. Fewer acute unrelated errors and less damage to left angular gyrus resulted in optimal naming and language recovery by the final testing time point, yet patients with more acute errors and damage to left middle temporal gyrus demonstrated the greatest increases in language over time. These results illustrate that naming error profiles, particularly unrelated errors, add power to predictions of language recovery after stroke