Environmental determinants of fruit and vegetable consumption among adults: a systematic review

The current ecological approach in health behaviour research recognises that health behaviour needs to be understood in a broad environmental context. This has led to an exponential increase in the number of studies on this topic. It is the aim of this systematic review to summarise the existing empirical evidence pertaining to environmental influences on fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption. The environment was defined as ‘all factors external to the individual’. Scientific databases and reference lists of selected papers were systematically searched for observational studies among adults (18–60 years old), published in English between 1 January 1980 and 31 December 2004, with environmental factor(s) as independent factor(s), and fruit intake, vegetable intake or FV intake combined as one outcome measure as dependent factor(s). Findings showed there was a great diversity in the environmental factors studied, but that the number of replicated studies for each determinant was limited. Most evidence was found for household income, as people with lower household incomes consistently had a lower FV consumption. Married people had higher intakes than those who were single, whereas having children showed mixed results. Good local availability (e.g. access to one’s own vegetable garden, having low food insecurity) seemed to exert a positive influence on intake. Regarding the development of interventions, improved opportunities for sufficient FV consumption among low-income households are likely to lead to improved intakes. For all other environmental factors, more replicated studies are required to examine their influence on FV intake

Infinite systems of non-colliding generalized meanders and Riemann-Liouville differintegrals

Yor's generalized meander is a temporally inhomogeneous modification of the $2(\nu+1)$-dimensional Bessel process with $\nu > -1$, in which the inhomogeneity is indexed by $\kappa \in [0, 2(\nu+1))$. We introduce the non-colliding particle systems of the generalized meanders and prove that they are the Pfaffian processes, in the sense that any multitime correlation function is given by a Pfaffian. In the infinite particle limit, we show that the elements of matrix kernels of the obtained infinite Pfaffian processes are generally expressed by the Riemann-Liouville differintegrals of functions comprising the Bessel functions $J_{\nu}$ used in the fractional calculus, where orders of differintegration are determined by $\nu-\kappa$. As special cases of the two parameters $(\nu, \kappa)$, the present infinite systems include the quaternion determinantal processes studied by Forrester, Nagao and Honner and by Nagao, which exhibit the temporal transitions between the universality classes of random matrix theory.Comment: LaTeX, 35 pages, v3: The argument given in Section 3.2 was simplified. Minor corrections were mad

3D chromatin reprogramming primes human memory T_H2 cells for rapid recall and pathogenic dysfunction

Memory T cells provide long-lasting defense responses through their ability to rapidly reactivate, but how they efficiently "recall" an inflammatory transcriptional program remains unclear. Here, we show that human CD4+ memory T helper 2 (TH2) cells carry a chromatin landscape synergistically reprogrammed at both one-dimensional (1D) and 3D levels to accommodate recall responses, which is absent in naive T cells. In memory TH2 cells, recall genes were epigenetically primed through the maintenance of transcription-permissive chromatin at distal (super)enhancers organized in long-range 3D chromatin hubs. Precise transcriptional control of key recall genes occurred inside dedicated topologically associating domains ("memory TADs"), in which activation-associated promoter-enhancer interactions were preformed and exploited by AP-1 transcription factors to promote rapid transcriptional induction. Resting memory TH2 cells from patients with asthma showed premature activation of primed recall circuits, linking aberrant transcriptional control of recall responses to chronic inflammation. Together, our results implicate stable multiscale reprogramming of chromatin organization as a key mechanism underlying immunological memory and dysfunction in T cells.</p

Correlation Functions for \beta=1 Ensembles of Matrices of Odd Size

Using the method of Tracy and Widom we rederive the correlation functions for \beta=1 Hermitian and real asymmetric ensembles of N x N matrices with N odd.Comment: 15 page

A method to calculate correlation functions for β=1\beta=1 random matrices of odd size

The calculation of correlation functions for $\beta=1$ random matrix ensembles, which can be carried out using Pfaffians, has the peculiar feature of requiring a separate calculation depending on the parity of the matrix size N. This same complication is present in the calculation of the correlations for the Ginibre Orthogonal Ensemble of real Gaussian matrices. In fact the methods used to compute the $\beta=1$, N odd, correlations break down in the case of N odd real Ginibre matrices, necessitating a new approach to both problems. The new approach taken in this work is to deduce the $\beta=1$, N odd correlations as limiting cases of their N even counterparts, when one of the particles is removed towards infinity. This method is shown to yield the correlations for N odd real Gaussian matrices.Comment: 20 pages, corrected typo

Isolation and characterization of two plant growth-promoting bacteria from the rhizoplane of a legume (Lupinus albescens) in sandy soil

Duas linhagens bacterianas que apresentaram amplificação de parte do gene nifH, RP1p e RP2p, pertencentes aos gêneros Enterobacter e Serratia, foram isoladas do rizoplano de Lupinus albescens. Essas bactérias são Gram-negativas, com formato de bastonete, móveis, anaeróbias facultativas e apresentam multiplicação rápida, com colônias alcançando diâmetros de 3–4 mm em 24 h de incubação a 28 ºC. RP1p e RP2p também foram capazes de multiplicação em temperaturas elevadas, como 40 ºC, na presença de alta concentração de NaCl (2–3 % v/v) e em valores de pH que variaram de 4 a 10. A linhagem RP1p foi capaz de utilizar 10 das 14 fontes de carbono avaliadas, enquanto a linhagem RP2p utilizou nove. Os isolados produziram sideróforos e compostos indólicos, mas foram incapazes de solubilizar fosfatos. A inoculação de L. albescens com as linhagens RP1p e RP2p resultou em aumento significativo do peso das plantas secas, o que demonstra que essas bactérias apresentam propriedades que favorecem o crescimento vegetal.Two bacterial strains that amplified part of the nifH gene, RP1p and RP2p, belonging to the genus Enterobacter and Serratia, were isolated from the rhizoplane of Lupinus albescens. These bacteria are Gram-negative, rod-shaped, motile, facultative anaerobic, and fast-growing; the colonies reach diameters of 3–4 mm within 24 h of incubation at 28 °C. The bacteria were also able to grow at temperatures as high as 40 °C, in the presence of high (2–3 % w/v) NaCl concentrations and pH 4 -10. Strain RP1p was able to utilize 10 of 14 C sources, while RP2p utilized nine. The isolates produced siderophores and indolic compounds, but none of them was able to solubilize phosphate. Inoculation of L. albescens with RP1p and RP2p strains resulted in a significant increase in plant dry matter, indicating the plant-growth-promoting abilities of these bacteria

Analysis of Relative Motion of Collocated Geostationary Satellites with Geometric Constraints

This paper investigates the design of the relative motion orbits of geostationary satellites in the presence of geometric constraints. A geometric constraint is defined by a sensor's pointing direction and field of view. An analyis was made of the underlying geometry of the relative orbits associated to geometric constraints. This resulted in the derivation of novel relations between relative orbital elements and geometric constraints. The paper presents a set of guidelines that can support the design of relative orbits, that use the relations between the orbital elements and constraints. These guidelines are applied in a characteristic example that includes a nadir-pointing sensor and a north-looking star sensor. The focus in this paper is on collocated satellites in geostationary orbits. The results were derived for near-circular orbits, where the satellites share the same mean argument of longitude. The developed relations can likewise be applied for other types of collocated satellites