Urban regeneration and tenure mix: exploring the dynamics of neighbour interactions

This article draws on in-depth research on the nature and intensity of neighbour relations in an area in Peckham, London, which underwent urban regeneration aimed at improving the urban environment and increasing the area’s tenure mix. Drawing on the literature on neighbouring, the article explores residents’ perceptions and attitudes towards their neighbours and the dynamics of their routine interactions. Despite findings pointing towards a general atmosphere of cordiality and solidarity, interactions were casual, coexisted with prejudiced views towards certain groups and areas, and were viewed by residents as part of their everyday social practices of community. As a result, very little else was exchanged between tenures, putting into question some policy assumptions that the increased physical proximity between housing tenures can potentially lead to instrumental interaction that can benefit low-income households in social housing. Reflecting on these findings, the article discusses some implications that have relevance for policy and research

Data compression in smart distribution systems via singular value decomposition

Electrical distribution systems have been experiencing many changes in recent times. Advances in metering system infrastructure and the deployment of a large number of smart meters in the grid will produce a big volume of data that will be required for many different applications. Despite the significant investments taking place in the communications infrastructure, this remains a bottleneck for the implementation of some applications. This paper presents a methodology for lossy data compression in smart distribution systems using the singular value decomposition technique. The proposed method is capable of significantly reducing the volume of data to be transmitted through the communications network and accurately reconstructing the original data. These features are illustrated by results from tests carried out using real data collected from metering devices at many different substations

Re-assessing the influence of particle-hosted sulphide precipitation on the marine cadmium cycle

It has been inferred that the marine distributions of the micronutrient cadmium (Cd) and its stable isotope composition (expressed as δ114Cd) bear widespread and unambiguous evidence for loss of Cd from the shallow water column through the formation of particle-associated cadmium sulphide (CdS) in oxygen minimum zones (OMZs). In this review, we bring together elemental and isotopic datasets from the dissolved and particulate Cd pools in order to unravel the multiple, overlapping controls on the distribution of Cd and δ114Cd, and demonstrate that the global dataset challenges this view. By far the most important control on the marine Cd distribution is the extreme plasticity in the cadmium:phosphorus (Cd:P) stoichiometry of biological uptake and, in consequence, particulate export. We show that δ114Cd systematics in low-latitude OMZs that have been taken to reflect Cd loss in fact come about mainly through the interaction between the physical circulation and the variable stoichiometry of biological Cd uptake at high and low latitudes; water-column evidence for Cd loss is thus much less widespread than has previously been inferred. Subtle but consistent signals in particulate elemental and dissolved isotopic data from the open tropical Atlantic and Pacific Oceans allow us to identify the signal of a Cd loss associated with the oxycline of the shallow tropical subsurface, as has previously been suggested. However, this Cd loss appears to be ubiquitous throughout the tropics, rather than confined to oxygen-poor waters, speaking against CdS formation as the driving mechanism. Although its true identity remains unknown, this tropical Cd loss may be related to biological activity. Finally, we show how the processes we consider – the remineralisation of biogenic particles with variable Cd:P stoichiometry, and ubiquitous tropical oxycline Cd loss – bear upon the role of particle-hosted CdS formation in the marine mass balance of Cd, which is likely to be much smaller than recent estimates have suggested

Identification of disease-causing genes using microarray data mining and gene ontology

Background: One of the best and most accurate methods for identifying disease-causing genes is monitoring gene expression values in different samples using microarray technology. One of the shortcomings of microarray data is that they provide a small quantity of samples with respect to the number of genes. This problem reduces the classification accuracy of the methods, so gene selection is essential to improve the predictive accuracy and to identify potential marker genes for a disease. Among numerous existing methods for gene selection, support vector machine-based recursive feature elimination (SVMRFE) has become one of the leading methods, but its performance can be reduced because of the small sample size, noisy data and the fact that the method does not remove redundant genes. Methods: We propose a novel framework for gene selection which uses the advantageous features of conventional methods and addresses their weaknesses. In fact, we have combined the Fisher method and SVMRFE to utilize the advantages of a filtering method as well as an embedded method. Furthermore, we have added a redundancy reduction stage to address the weakness of the Fisher method and SVMRFE. In addition to gene expression values, the proposed method uses Gene Ontology which is a reliable source of information on genes. The use of Gene Ontology can compensate, in part, for the limitations of microarrays, such as having a small number of samples and erroneous measurement results. Results: The proposed method has been applied to colon, Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) and prostate cancer datasets. The empirical results show that our method has improved classification performance in terms of accuracy, sensitivity and specificity. In addition, the study of the molecular function of selected genes strengthened the hypothesis that these genes are involved in the process of cancer growth. Conclusions: The proposed method addresses the weakness of conventional methods by adding a redundancy reduction stage and utilizing Gene Ontology information. It predicts marker genes for colon, DLBCL and prostate cancer with a high accuracy. The predictions made in this study can serve as a list of candidates for subsequent wet-lab verification and might help in the search for a cure for cancers

In vitro and in vivo assessment of the anti-malarial activity of Caesalpinia pluviosa

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To overcome the problem of increasing drug resistance, traditional medicines are an important source for potential new anti-malarials. <it>Caesalpinia pluviosa</it>, commonly named "sibipiruna", originates from Brazil and possess multiple therapeutic properties, including anti-malarial activity.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Crude extract (CE) was obtained from stem bark by purification using different solvents, resulting in seven fractions. An MTT assay was performed to evaluate cytotoxicity in MCF-7 cells. The CE and its fractions were tested <it>in vitro </it>against chloroquine-sensitive (3D7) and -resistant (S20) strains of <it>Plasmodium falciparum</it> and <it>in vivo </it>in <it>Plasmodium chabaudi</it>-infected mice. <it>In vitro </it>interaction with artesunate and the active <it>C. pluviosa </it>fractions was assessed, and mass spectrometry analyses were conducted.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>At non-toxic concentrations, the 100% ethanolic (F4) and 50% methanolic (F5) fractions possessed significant anti-malarial activity against both 3D7 and S20 strains. Drug interaction assays with artesunate showed a synergistic interaction with the F4. Four days of treatment with this fraction significantly inhibited parasitaemia in mice in a dose-dependent manner. Mass spectrometry analyses revealed the presence of an ion corresponding to <it>m/z </it>303.0450, suggesting the presence of quercetin. However, a second set of analyses, with a quercetin standard, showed distinct ions of <it>m/z </it>137 and 153.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The findings show that the F4 fraction of <it>C. pluviosa </it>exhibits anti-malarial activity <it>in vitro </it>at non-toxic concentrations, which was potentiated in the presence of artesunate. Moreover, this anti-malarial activity was also sustained <it>in vivo </it>after treatment of infected mice. Finally, mass spectrometry analyses suggest that a new compound, most likely an isomer of quercetin, is responsible for the anti-malarial activity of the F4.</p