Isolation and Characterization of Hot Water-Soluble Lipophilic Extractives From Wheat Straw. Part II. Spectroscopic and Thermal Characterization

The chemical composition of the six extractives, isolated with hot water at 80-95°C for 0.5 h at pH 6.0-8.0 from wheat straw, consists mainly of free fatty acids, waxes, sterols, triglycerides, and sterol esters, together with minor amounts of diglycerides, resin acid, and phenolic compounds. In this continuing study, the six lipophilic extractives were further investigated by Fourier transform infrared, and 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance as well as thermal analysis, and the results are reported

Electrochemical Quantification of D-Glucose during the Production of Bioethanol from Thermo-Mechanically Pre-treated Wheat Straw

Mechanical pre-treatment (disc refining) of wheat straw, at both atmospheric and elevated pressure, is shown to be an efficient process to access fermentable monosaccharides, with the potential to integrate within the infrastructure of existing first-generation bioethanol plants. The mild, enzymatic degradation of this sustainable lignocellulosic biomass affords ca. 0.10-0.13 g/g (dry weight) of D-glucose quantifiable voltammetrically in real time, over a two hundred-fold range in experimental laboratory scales (25 mL to 5.0 L), with pressure disc refining of the wheat straw enabling almost twice the amount of D-glucose to be generated during the hydrolysis stage than experiments using atmospheric refining (0.06 – 0.09 g/g dry weight). Fermentation of the resulting hydrolysate affords 0.08 – 0.10 g/g (dry weight) of ethanol over similar scales, with ethanol productivity at ca. 37 mg/(L h). These results demonstrate that minimal cellulose decomposition occurs during pressure refining of wheat straw, in contrast to hemicellulose, and suggest that the development of green, mechanochemical processes for the scalable and cost-effective manufacture of second-generation bioethanol requires improved cellulose decomposition

Extracting primary care records for prostate cancer patients in the CHHiP multicentre randomised control trial: A healthcare data linkage study

Introduction The aim is to investigate the effect of cardiovascular and diabetes comorbidities on radiotherapy-related side-effects in prostate cancer. Previous research suggests that comorbidities increase the risk of side-effects, but some cardiovascular medications may reduce symptoms by protecting against radiation damage. The evidence is inconclusive and mechanisms are not fully understood. Objective To explore whether routine primary care data can supplement clinical trial data in evaluating the impact of comorbidities and prescription medications on patient outcomes. Approach The CHHiP radiotherapy trial (CRUK/06/16) recruited 3,216 prostate cancer patients from 71 centres in UK, Ireland, Switzerland, and New Zealand between 2002 and 2011. Baseline comorbidity and radiotherapy-related side-effects over time were recorded. This was linked to computerised medical records (CMRs) from the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Research and Surveillance Centre (RSC) database. RCGP RSC is a network of 192 English general practices with over 2 million patients (2.8% of the population). Results The English population of CHHiP patients (N=2811) was used. 120 CMRs were linked, which exceeded the estimation of 79 linked records. However, six CMRs showed no evidence of regular GP care and a further eight patients were not recruited into the CHHiP trial until after they had de-registered from an RCGP RSC practice. Information on cardiovascular and diabetes comorbidities was extracted for 106 patients. The mean age was 69±7 years, representative of the CHHiP population. From the CMRs, 23 (22%) patients had diabetes and 47 (44%) had hypertension including 37 (35%) who took angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors (medications lowering blood pressure). In addition, 44 (41%) patients took aspirin, 65 (61%) statins (lowering blood lipids) and 14 (13%) took metformin (lowering blood sugar levels).  Conclusion/Implications The small sample limits statistical analysis. However, a clinical trial was successfully linked to GP data to determine comorbidities and medications of patients. This will serve as a pilot for further research. The advantage of data linkage is that it may provide a mechanism for long-term follow-up of radiotherapy-related side-effects

The geology, geochemistry and petrology of a number of gold deposits in the southern Appalachians

The Haile Mine and Kiff prospect are two low-grade gold deposits hosted by the volcanic and sedimentary rocks of the Carolina slate belt, South Carolina, U.S.A. Both deposits are of similar type consisting of cleavage parallel zones on intense deformation cutting finely laminated phyllites. The zones of deformation are characterized by sericite-pyrite phyllonites, featureless quartzites, zones of intense quartz veining, and, at the Haile Mine, lensoidal bodies of massive pyrite. Petrologically the phyllonites can be seen to be derived from the phyllites by progressive flattening, loss of quartz, conversion of chlorite to sericite and pyritization. The silicified rocks at the Haile Mine and zones of quartz veining at the Kiff prospect appear to have arisen by an influx of SiO2 during ductile and brittle-ductile deformation. Pyrite and molybdenite are the chief sulphides in the zones with rare sphalerite, chalcopyrite, arsenopyrite, and pyrrhotite. Gold is commonly found intimately associated with pyrite and rarely in the free state. Using ratios of immobile components to overcome chemical trends due to volume changes it is shown that the phyllonites are characterized by loss of SiO2, MgO, and MnO with enrichment in K2O, Fe (t), Au, As, Mo, Ag, and S whilst the quartzites and veined rocks are enriched in SiO2, Au, Ag, Mo, and S. The immobile element ratios are consistent with derivation of all the rocks in the zones from a phyllite protolith. The role of cleavage has been critical in formation of the mineralization and it is proposed that the mineralized zones originated by attentuation, pressure solution and shearing during folding. Formation of cleavage allowed fluids expelled during metamorphism to be focused into the zones where the interplay of physical and chemical parameters promoted precipitation of sulphides and gold. The mineralized zones lie within large linear features visible on LANDSAT and aeromagnetic surveys. The importance of these structures in localizing mineralization is emphasized and guidelines are suggested on which future exploration for similar deposits might be based. (D73022/87)</p

Manufacturing Consent for Vaccine Mandates: A Comparative Case Study of Communication Campaigns in France and Australia

International audienceGovernments making childhood vaccination more mandatory is controversial, and can be met with pushback from the public. Hence such policies may be accompanied by some form of communication to manufacture consent for either vaccination, mandatory vaccination policies, or both. This paper engages in case studies of two countries which recently made vaccination more mandatory and accompanied this policy change with concerted communication campaigns. It examines the French and Australian governments’ new mandatory vaccination regimes, the communication strategies undertaken to manufacture consent for them, and the complex ways these policies interact. The analytical focus is the content of the websites at the center of the communications campaigns, “Vaccination-Info-Service” and “Get the Facts,” as well as relevant academic articles, government press releases, documents and reports, and key informant interviews conducted in both countries. We report three key findings. First, we demonstrate how both countries’ governance strategies intertwine persuasion with coercion in complex ways. Second, we examine how each country’s website reflects local constructions of under-vaccination, especially regarding social groups and motivations. Third, we consider their vastly different communication styles and how these reflect alternative ways of constructing the public as well as differences in the use of communication expertise in the websites’ production. These factors produce different tactics regarding manufacturing consent for vaccination and for vaccine mandates. We conclude that manufacturing consent for vaccination is a laudable exercise, but find that the involvement of numerous actors and institutions results in various interests, objectives, and conceptions of what drives audience reception, resulting in divergent strategies. This is particularly the case when it comes to manufacturing consent for vaccine mandates themselves; a more complex task that relies on strong understandings of community, knowledge, and effective channels of state power

Research priorities for child and adolescent physical activity and sedentary behaviours : an international perspective using a twin-panel Delphi procedure

BACKGROUND: The quantity and quality of studies in child and adolescent physical activity and sedentary behaviour have rapidly increased, but research directions are often pursued in a reactive and uncoordinated manner. AIM:To arrive at an international consensus on research priorities in the area of child and adolescent physical activity and sedentary behaviour. METHODS:Two independent panels, each consisting of 12 experts, undertook three rounds of a Delphi methodology. The Delphi methodology required experts to anonymously answer questions put forward by the researchers with feedback provided between each round. RESULTS:The primary outcome of the study was a ranked set of 29 research priorities that aimed to be applicable for the next 10years. The top three ranked priorities were: developing effective and sustainable interventions to increase children's physical activity long-term; policy and/or environmental change and their influence on children's physical activity and sedentary behaviour; and prospective, longitudinal studies of the independent effects of physical activity and sedentary behaviour on health. CONCLUSIONS:These research priorities can help to guide decisions on future research directions

From the Sacral to the Moral: Sleeping Practices, Household Worship and Confessional Cultures in Late Seventeenth-Century England

This article examines sleeping practices and their spiritual meanings in English society. Sleep is one of the most fundamental experiences of everyday life, and this article examines how its temporal and spatial dimensions were shaped by a wide range of confessional groups according to theologies of salvation and resurrection from 1660 to 1700. The practices, rituals and objects that surrounded and sanctified the bedside highlight distinctive forms of sleep-piety that were supported by shifts in the provision and use of domestic space, by the pastoral objectives of Church divines and dissenting ministers, and by a flourishing genre of published spiritual guides that promoted private household devotions. This comparative study of sleeping practices nuances existing historical narratives about the fragmented religious landscape of these years. Most importantly, however, it offers a justification of the centrality of pious sleeping routines to the everyday experience of devotional practice by tracing the ways in which religious beliefs were embodied through subjective physical performances of sleep