The Certification of the Mass fractions of PAH Metabolites (1-hydroxyphenanthrene, 1-hydroxypyrene, and 3-hydroxybenzo(a)pyrene) in Two Fish Bile Materials, BCR-720 (sedement-exposed flounder bile), BCR-721 (oil-exposed plaice bile).

Abstract not availableJRC.D-Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (Geel

Pérdidas económicas en un brote de tripanosomiasis bovina causada por Trypanosoma vivax.

Durante un brote de trypanosoamisis bovina, causado por Trypanosoma vivax y ocurrido en una explotación lechera ubicada en el municipio de Puerto Tejada, departamento del Cauca, en Colombia, se efectuaron observaciones con el fín de estimar las pérdidas económicas resultantes del episodio. Para el efecto se recolectó información sobre población ganadera, nacimientos, muertes, abortos, producción de leche, venta de animales, y, gastos en productos y servicios veterinarios. El análisis de tales datos, antes, durante y después del brote, reveló que mientras se controló la infección, por dos semanas, el propietario perdió {dollar}203.565.50. Las pérdidas estuvieron representadas principalmente por muertes y descarte forzoso de animales adultos, también generaron pérdidas económicas la reducción en la producción de leche, los abortos, los nacimientos de animales débiles y el incremento en gastos por drogas y servicios veterinarios. Se estimó, que de no haberse detenido el brote, las pérdidas se hubieran duplicado. Se concluyó que, bajo condiciones epidémicas, las pérdidas por T. vivax pueden ser cuantiosas. Se sugiere realizar estimaciones económicas similares bajo condiciones endémicasGanado de leche-Ganadería lech

Energy Spectra of Reactor Neutrinos at KamLAND

The upcoming reactor neutrino experiment, KamLAND, has the ability to explore the Large Mixing Angle (LMA) solution to the solar neutrino problem. Here, we investigate the precision to which KamLAND should be able to measure these parameters, utilizing the distortion of the energy spectrum of reactor neutrinos. Incomplete knowledge of the fuel composition of the reactors will lead to some error on this measurement. We estimate the size of this effect.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures. References added. Minor changes in wordin

Supersymmetry and the positron excess in cosmic rays

Recently the HEAT balloon experiment has confirmed an excess of high-energy positrons in cosmic rays. They could come from annihilation of dark matter in the galactic halo. We discuss expectations for the positron signal in cosmic rays from the lightest superpartner. The simplest interpretations are incompatible with the size and shape of the excess if the relic LSPs evolved from thermal equilbrium. Non-thermal histories can describe a sufficient positron rate. Reproducing the energy spectrum is more challenging, but perhaps possible. The resulting light superpartner spectrum is compatible with collider physics, the muon anomalous magnetic moment, Z-pole electroweak data, and other dark matter searches.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, references added, minor wording change

Precise Calculation of the Relic Density of Kaluza-Klein Dark Matter in Universal Extra Dimensions

We revisit the calculation of the relic density of the lightest Kaluza-Klein particle (LKP) in the model of Universal Extra Dimensions. The Kaluza-Klein (KK) particle spectrum at level one is rather degenerate, and various coannihilation processes may be relevant. We extend the calculation of hep-ph/0206071 to include coannihilation processes with all level one KK particles. In our computation we consider a most general KK particle spectrum, without any simplifying assumptions. In particular, we do not assume a completely degenerate KK spectrum and instead retain the dependence on each individual KK mass. As an application of our results, we calculate the Kaluza-Klein relic density in the Minimal UED model, turning on coannihilations with all level one KK particles. We then go beyond the minimal model and discuss the size of the coannihilation effects separately for each class of level 1 KK particles. Our results provide the basis for consistent relic density computations in arbitrarily general models with Universal Extra Dimenions.Comment: 44 pages, 19 figures, typeset in JHEP styl

Talking in Time: the development of a self-administered Conversation Analysis based training programme for cochlear implant users

Objectives: Training software to facilitate participation in conversations where overlapping talk is common was to be developed with the involvement of Cochlear implant (CI) users. Methods: Examples of common types of overlap were extracted from a recorded corpus of 3.5 hours of British English conversation. In eight meetings, an expert panel of five CI users tried out ideas for a computer-based training programme addressing difficulties in turn-taking. Results: Based on feedback from the panel, a training programme was devised. The first module consists of introductory videos. The three remaining modules, implemented in interactive software, focus on non-overlapped turn-taking, competitive overlaps and accidental overlaps. Discussion: The development process is considered in light of feedback from panel members and from an end of project dissemination event. Benefits, limitations and challenges of the present approach to user involvement and to the design of self-administered communication training programmes are discussed. Conclusion: The project was characterized by two innovative features: the involvement of service users not only at its outset and conclusion but throughout its course; and the exclusive use of naturally occurring conversational speech in the training programme. While both present practical challenges, the project has demonstrated the potential for ecologically valid speech rehabilitation training

The influence of gene expression time delays on Gierer-Meinhardt pattern formation systems

There are numerous examples of morphogen gradients controlling long range signalling in developmental and cellular systems. The prospect of two such interacting morphogens instigating long range self-organisation in biological systems via a Turing bifurcation has been explored, postulated, or implicated in the context of numerous developmental processes. However, modelling investigations of cellular systems typically neglect the influence of gene expression on such dynamics, even though transcription and translation are observed to be important in morphogenetic systems. In particular, the influence of gene expression on a large class of Turing bifurcation models, namely those with pure kinetics such as the Gierer–Meinhardt system, is unexplored. Our investigations demonstrate that the behaviour of the Gierer–Meinhardt model profoundly changes on the inclusion of gene expression dynamics and is sensitive to the sub-cellular details of gene expression. Features such as concentration blow up, morphogen oscillations and radical sensitivities to the duration of gene expression are observed and, at best, severely restrict the possible parameter spaces for feasible biological behaviour. These results also indicate that the behaviour of Turing pattern formation systems on the inclusion of gene expression time delays may provide a means of distinguishing between possible forms of interaction kinetics. Finally, this study also emphasises that sub-cellular and gene expression dynamics should not be simply neglected in models of long range biological pattern formation via morphogens

Environmental SLAPPs in the UK: threat or opportunity?

Strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) brought against the environmental movement in the UK since the 1990s are examined. SLAPPs, a form of Green backlash, have been mobilised across a wide range of policy areas that have seen vigorous campaigning and protest by the movement, including roads, GMOs and, more recently, climate change. SLAPPs are typically regarded as a threat, designed to close down democratic free speech and protest. However, in the UK, there are some notable cases where the environmental movement has been able to use agency to convert what may appear as a legal threat into a positive legal or media opportunity

Aberrant behaviours of reaction diffusion self-organisation models on growing domains in the presence of gene expression time delays

Turing’s pattern formation mechanism exhibits sensitivity to the details of the initial conditions suggesting that, in isolation, it cannot robustly generate pattern within noisy biological environments. Nonetheless, secondary aspects of developmental self-organisation, such as a growing domain, have been shown to ameliorate this aberrant model behaviour. Furthermore, while in-situ hybridisation reveals the presence of gene expression in developmental processes, the influence of such dynamics on Turing’s model has received limited attention. Here, we novelly focus on the Gierer–Meinhardt reaction diffusion system considering delays due the time taken for gene expression, while incorporating a number of different domain growth profiles to further explore the influence and interplay of domain growth and gene expression on Turing’s mechanism. We find extensive pathological model behaviour, exhibiting one or more of the following: temporal oscillations with no spatial structure, a failure of the Turing instability and an extreme sensitivity to the initial conditions, the growth profile and the duration of gene expression. This deviant behaviour is even more severe than observed in previous studies of Schnakenberg kinetics on exponentially growing domains in the presence of gene expression (Gaffney and Monk in Bull. Math. Biol. 68:99–130, 2006). Our results emphasise that gene expression dynamics induce unrealistic behaviour in Turing’s model for multiple choices of kinetics and thus such aberrant modelling predictions are likely to be generic. They also highlight that domain growth can no longer ameliorate the excessive sensitivity of Turing’s mechanism in the presence of gene expression time delays. The above, extensive, pathologies suggest that, in the presence of gene expression, Turing’s mechanism would generally require a novel and extensive secondary mechanism to control reaction diffusion patterning

Validation of the NANA (Novel Assessment of Nutrition and Ageing) touch screen system for use at home by older adults

Prospective measurement of nutrition, cognition, and physical activity in later life would facilitate early detection of detrimental change and early intervention but is hard to achieve in community settings. Technology can simplify the task and facilitate daily data collection. The Novel Assessment of Nutrition and Ageing (NANA) toolkit was developed to provide a holistic picture of an individual's function including diet, cognition and activity levels. This study aimed to validate the NANA toolkit for data collection in the community. Forty participants aged 65 years and over trialled the NANA toolkit in their homes for three 7-day periods at four-week intervals. Data collected using the NANA toolkit were compared with standard measures of diet (four-day food diary), cognitive ability (processing speed) and physical activity (self-report). Bland–Altman analysis of dietary intake (energy, carbohydrates, protein fat) found a good relationship with the food diary and cognitive processing speed and physical activity (hours) were significantly correlated with their standard counterparts. The NANA toolkit enables daily reporting of data that would otherwise be collected sporadically while reducing demands on participants; older adults can complete the daily reporting at home without a researcher being present; and it enables prospective investigation of several domains at onc