A case study of MMO2's Madic: A framework for creating mobile internet systems

Mobile Internet applications on ubiquitous mobile networks allows real-time, anywhere, anytime connectivity to services. Due to its scalability and potential cost savings, mobile communication is being increasingly applied in the business and consumer communities to create innovative data and voice application, which run over the Internet infrastructure. This paper reports on a case study at an organisation that created an innovative approach to developing mobile applications developed by third party independent developers. A conceptual wireless reference model is presented that was used to define the various system components required to create effective mobile applications

Food elimination based on IgG antibodies in irritable bowel syndrome: a randomised controlled trial

Background: Patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) often feel they have some form of dietary intolerance and frequently try exclusion diets. Tests attempting to predict food sensitivity in IBS have been disappointing but none has utilised IgG antibodies. Aims: To assess the therapeutic potential of dietary elimination based on the presence of IgG antibodies to food. Patients: A total of 150 outpatients with IBS were randomised to receive, for three months, either a diet excluding all foods to which they had raised IgG antibodies ( enzyme linked immunosorbant assay test) or a sham diet excluding the same number of foods but not those to which they had antibodies. Methods: Primary outcome measures were change in IBS symptom severity and global rating scores. Non-colonic symptomatology, quality of life, and anxiety/depression were secondary outcomes. Intention to treat analysis was undertaken using a generalised linear model. Results: After 12 weeks, the true diet resulted in a 10% greater reduction in symptom score than the sham diet ( mean difference 39 (95% confidence intervals (CI) 5 - 72); p = 0.024) with this value increasing to 26% in fully compliant patients ( difference 98 ( 95% CI 52 - 144); p< 0.001). Global rating also significantly improved in the true diet group as a whole ( p = 0.048, NNT = 9) and even more in compliant patients ( p = 0.006, NNT = 2.5). All other outcomes showed trends favouring the true diet. Relaxing the diet led to a 24% greater deterioration in symptoms in those on the true diet ( difference 52 ( 95% CI 18 - 88); p = 0.003). Conclusion: Food elimination based on IgG antibodies may be effective in reducing IBS symptoms and is worthy of further biomedical research

Pattern avoidance classes and subpermutations

Pattern avoidance classes of permutations that cannot be expressed as unions of proper subclasses can be described as the set of subpermutations of a single bijection. In the case that this bijection is a permutation of the natural numbers a structure theorem is given. The structure theorem shows that the class is almost closed under direct sums or has a rational generating function.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures (all in-line

Institutionalizing health impact assessment in London as a public health tool for increasing synergy between policies in other areas

Objectives: To describe the background to the inclusion of health impact assessment (HIA) in the development process for the London mayoral strategies, the HIA processes developed, how these evolved, and the role of HIA in identifying synergies between and conflicting priorities of different strategies.Study design: Case series.Methods: Early HIAs had just a few weeks for the whole HIA process. A rapid appraisal approach was developed. Stages included: scoping, reviewing published evidence, a stakeholder workshop, drafting a report, review of the report by the London Health Commission, and submission of the final report to the Mayor. The process evolved as more assessments were conducted. More recently, an integrated impact assessment (IIA) method has been developed that fuses the key aspects of this HIA method with sustainability assessment, strategic environmental assessment and equalities assessment.Results: Whilst some of the early strategy drafts encompassed some elements of health, health was not a priority. Conducting HIAs was important both to ensure that the strategies reflected health concerns and to raise awareness about health and its determinants within the Greater London Authority (GLA). HIA recommendations were useful for identifying synergies and conflicts between strategies. HIA can be successfully integrated into other impact assessment processes.Conclusions: The HIAs ensured that health became more integral to the strategies and increased understanding of determinants of health and how the GLA impacts on health and health inequalities. Inclusion of HIA within IIA ensures that health and health inequalities impacts are considered robustly within statutory impact assessments. (C) 2010 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

A new camera for high-resolution infrared imaging of works of art

A new camera – SIRIS (scanning infrared imaging system) – developed at the National Gallery in London allows high-resolution images to be made in the near infrared region (900–1700 nm). The camera is based on a commercially available 320 × 256 pixel indium gallium arsenide area array sensor. This relatively small sensor is moved across the focal plane of the camera using two orthogonal translation stages to give images of c. 5000 × 5000 pixels. The main advantages of the SIRIS camera over scanning infrared devices or sequential image capture and mosaic assembly are its comparative portability and rapid image acquisition – making a 5000 × 5000 pixel image takes less than 20 minutes. The SIRIS camera can operate at a range of resolutions; from around 2.5 pixels per millimetre over an area of up to 2 × 2 m to 10 pixels per millimetre when examining an area measuring 0.5 × 0.5 m. The development of the mechanical, optical and electronic components of the camera, including the design of a new lens, is described. The software used to control image capture and to assemble the individual frames into a seamless mosaic image is mentioned. The camera was designed primarily to examine underdrawings in paintings; preliminary results from test targets and paintings imaged in situ are presented and the quality of the images compared with those from other cameras currently used for this application

AN ANALYSIS OF HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION OF RABBIT MEAT IN THE SOUTHERN UNITED STATES

Results from a random sample of 1421 households in the southern United States suggest that the most likely consumers of rabbit meat are men, non-college graduates, those with household incomes at or below $50,000, households with children, and Louisiana residents. The current market for rabbit meat is small. However, the meat is lower in fat, cholesterol, and calories, and higher in protein than beef, chicken, turkey, or pork, and these desirable nutritional attributes may spark future demand.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

SIRIS: a high resolution scanning infrared camera for examining paintings

The new SIRIS (Scanning InfraRed Imaging System) camera developed at the National Gallery in London allows highresolution images of paintings to be made in the near infrared region (900–1700 nm). Images of 5000 × 5000 pixels are made by moving a 320 × 256 pixel InGaAs array across the focal plane of the camera using two orthogonal translation stages. The great advantages of this camera over scanning infrared devices are its relative portability and that image acquisition is comparatively rapid – a full 5000 × 5000 pixel image can be made in around 20 minutes. The paper describes the development of the mechanical, optical and electronic components of the camera, including the design of a new lens. The software routines used to control image capture and to assemble the individual 320 × 256 pixel frames into a seamless mosaic image are also mentioned. The optics of the SIRIS camera have been designed so that the camera can operate at a range of resolutions; from around 2.5 pixels per millimetre on large paintings of up to 2000 × 2000 mm to 10 pixels per millimetre on smaller paintings or details of paintings measuring 500 × 500 mm. The camera is primarily designed to examine underdrawings in paintings; preliminary results from test targets and paintings are presented and the quality of the images compared with those from other cameras currently used in this field