318 research outputs found
Two approaches to developing low carbon dwellings in west Wales
In October 2010 Pembrokeshire Housing Association (PHA) completed a development
of six residential units, in Pembroke Dock, in west Wales, as part of a Welsh
Government pilot project to promote the development of low carbon housing in Wales
based on the Code for Sustainable Homes (CfSH). In the same year, in the same town,
a small scale developer undertook the design and construction of two houses based on
ecological principles using strawbale construction. The houses built by this developer
were designed and built outside of the requirements of the CfSH and utilised passive
design approaches along with local and natural materials to reduce operational and
embodied energy. Researchers from the Ecological Built Environment Research and
Enterprise group, at Cardiff Metropolitan University, are working in collaboration with
PHA to develop a best practice model for low carbon housing in rural areas of Wales and
these two projects provide an opportunity for the researchers to investigate and compare
two distinct approaches to low carbon design each with the aim to deliver sustainable,
affordable dwellings. To evaluate these two schemes structured interviews were held
with the design team of the pilot project and the designer/builder of the eco-house to
understand their respective approaches; the influences and obstacles that affected the
development of the schemes; and how they considered user behaviour. The paper
concludes by considering the lessons that registered social landlords might learn from
small scale ecological developers for the design and construction of low and zero energy
housing in rural areas
An exploration of the challenges facing developers of affordable dwellings following low carbon and ecological principles, in rural locations in Wales
This paper discusses the challenges in developing ecological, low carbon and affordable dwellings
in rural areas of Wales; since much of the funding in the UK is often focused on urban
development. The Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) is committed to the aim that the
construction of new homes moves towards zero carbon as soon as possible. There is a need to
ensure that this strategy recognises that one size does not fit all; and understanding and
addressing these issues will be fundamental if WAG objectives are too achieved in rural areas.
This paper discusses a three year research project, which commenced in autumn 2010 in
collaboration with the University of Wales Institute Cardiff (UWIC) and Pembrokeshire Housing
Association (PHA), a registered social landlord and developer of affordable dwellings; to create a
development model for affordable, low carbon, ecological rural dwellings to achieve WAG targets.
This paper will be of use to rural developers, designers and architects
No Effect of Added Sugar Consumed at Median American Intake Level on Glucose Tolerance or Insulin Resistance
Abstract: Excess sugar consumption may promote adverse changes in hepatic and total body insulin resistance. Debate continues over the effects of sugars at more typically consumed levels and whether the identity of the sugar consumed is important. In the present study participants (20-60 years old) were randomly assigned to one of five groups, three that consumed low fat milk with added fructose containing sugars in amounts equivalent to the 50th percentile of fructose consumption (US), one which consumed low-fat milk sweetened with glucose, and one unsweetened low-fat milk control group. The intervention lasted ten weeks. In the entire study population there was less than 1 kg increase in weight (73.6˘13.0 vs. 74.5˘13.3 kg, p < 0.001), but the change in weight was comparable among groups (p > 0.05). There were no changes in fasting glucose (49˘0.4 vs. 5.0˘0.5 mmol/L), insulin (56.9˘38.9 vs. 61.8˘50.0 pmol/L), or insulin resistance, as measured by the Homeostasis Model Assessment method (1.8˘1.3 vs. 2.0˘1.5, all p > 0.05). These data suggest that added sugar consumed at the median American intake level does not produce changes in measures of insulin sensitivity or glucose tolerance and that no sugar has more deleterious effects than others
Psychological risk in long-term survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia and its association with functional health status : A PETALE cohort study
Background: Recent research has suggested that long-term pediatric cancer survivors were at risk of important physical and psychological morbidities. To date, we do not know to what extent functional health status contributes to psychological risk and which domains are most important. The aim of this study was to systematically explore which functional domain could explain anxiety, depression, and distress symptoms.
Procedure: We used data available for 105 adolescents and 182 adults successfully treated for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia at two Canadian sites part of the PETALE cohort. Participants were ≥5 years postdiagnosis, aged 22 ± 6 years, 52% female, and 49% acute lymphoblastic leukemia high-risk status. The contribution of health functional status (15D/16D questionnaires) to self-reported anxiety, depression, and distress (Beck scales and distress thermometer) was evaluated using adjusted logistic regression models.
Results: Prevalence rates found for mild-severe anxiety, depression, and distress were 14%, 21%, and 30% among adolescents and 27%, 20%, and 19% among adults. Frequent health domains associated with psychological risk were sleeping and breathing in adolescents, and vitality/fatigue, discomfort/symptoms, mental function, and sleeping in adults. Mental function was systematically associated with psychological risk across age groups (median OR = 10.00, 95% CI 3.01-33.71). Exploratory mediation bootstrapping analyses suggested that the effect on psychological risk of overall health status and mental function problems was partly explained by social/work/school functioning.
Conclusion: The results identified important functional health domains that could be targeted for interventions preventing psychological risk: vitality/fatigue, discomfort/symptoms, sleeping, and mental function issues. Health domains probably affect mood partly by limiting social/work/school functioning
Deceptive body movements reverse spatial cueing in soccer
This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.The purpose of the experiments was to analyse the spatial cueing effects of the movements of soccer players executing normal and deceptive (step-over) turns with the ball. Stimuli comprised normal resolution or point-light video clips of soccer players dribbling a football towards the observer then turning right or left with the ball. Clips were curtailed before or on the turn (-160, -80, 0 or +80 ms) to examine the time course of direction prediction and spatial cueing effects. Participants were divided into higher-skilled (HS) and lower-skilled (LS) groups according to soccer experience. In experiment 1, accuracy on full video clips was higher than on point-light but results followed the same overall pattern. Both HS and LS groups correctly identified direction on normal moves at all occlusion levels. For deceptive moves, LS participants were significantly worse than chance and HS participants were somewhat more accurate but nevertheless substantially impaired. In experiment 2, point-light clips were used to cue a lateral target. HS and LS groups showed faster reaction times to targets that were congruent with the direction of normal turns, and to targets incongruent with the direction of deceptive turns. The reversed cueing by deceptive moves coincided with earlier kinematic events than cueing by normal moves. It is concluded that the body kinematics of soccer players generate spatial cueing effects when viewed from an opponent's perspective. This could create a reaction time advantage when anticipating the direction of a normal move. A deceptive move is designed to turn this cueing advantage into a disadvantage. Acting on the basis of advance information, the presence of deceptive moves primes responses in the wrong direction, which may be only partly mitigated by delaying a response until veridical cues emerge
Intratumoral Hydrogen Peroxide With Radiation Therapy in Locally Advanced Breast Cancer: Results From a Phase 1 Clinical Trial.
Purpose Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) plays a vital role in normal cellular processes but at supraphysiological concentrations causes oxidative stress and cytotoxicity, a property that is potentially exploitable for the treatment of cancer in combination with radiation therapy (RT). We report the first phase 1 trial testing the safety and tolerability of intratumoral H2O2 + external beam RT as a novel combination in patients with breast cancer and exploratory plasma marker analyses investigating possible mechanisms of action.Methods and materials Twelve patients with breast tumors ≥3 cm (surgically or medically inoperable) received intratumoral H2O2 with either 36 Gy in 6 twice-weekly fractions (n = 6) or 49.5 Gy in 18 daily fractions (n = 6) to the whole breast ± locoregional lymph nodes in a single-center, nonrandomized study. H2O2 was mixed in 1% sodium hyaluronate gel (final H2O2 concentration 0.5%) before administration to slow drug release and minimize local discomfort. The mixture was injected intratumorally under ultrasound guidance twice weekly 1 hour before RT. The primary endpoint was patient-reported maximum intratumoral pain intensity before and 24 hours postinjection. Secondary endpoints included grade ≥3 skin toxicity and tumor response by ultrasound. Blood samples were collected before, during, and at the end of treatment for cell-death and immune marker analysis.Results Compliance with H2O2 and RT was 100%. Five of 12 patients reported moderate pain after injection (grade 2 Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events v4.02) with median duration 60 minutes (interquartile range, 20-120 minutes). Skin toxicity was comparable to RT alone, with maintained partial/complete tumor response relative to baseline in 11 of 12 patients at last follow-up (median 12 months). Blood marker analysis highlighted significant associations of TRAIL, IL-1β, IL-4, and MIP-1α with tumor response.Conclusions Intratumoral H2O2 with RT is well tolerated with no additional toxicity compared with RT alone. If efficacy is confirmed in a randomized phase 2 trial, the approach has potential as a cost-effective radiation response enhancer in multiple cancer types in which locoregional control after RT alone remains poor
A pilot trial to evaluate the acute toxicity and feasibility of tamoxifen for prevention of breast cancer.
Epidemiological and experimental evidence indicates that oestrogens are involved in the carcinogenic promotion of human breast cancer. We have undertaken a pilot trial of tamoxifen, an anti-oestrogen, compared to placebo given to 200 women at a high risk of developing breast cancer. The results of this trial show that acute toxicity is low and that accrual and compliance are satisfactory. Furthermore, biochemical monitoring of lipids and clotting factors indicate that tamoxifen may reduce the risk of cardiovascular deaths. At this stage no untoward long-term risks have been identified, and it is therefore proposed that a large multicentre trial should be started
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