Public attitudes towards e-cigarette regulations and policies in Taiwan

Background: There are various approaches to e-cigarette regulation globally. In Taiwan, the term “e-cigarette” is not found in existing regulations, but health authorities apply explanatory notes derived from standing laws to e-cigarette. Taiwan health authority is in the process of regulative reform to include “e-cigarette” in standing tobacco law. Our objective was to investigate the public’s attitudes towards potential policy options for e-cigarette regulations in Taiwan.Design and Methods: We conduct an anonymous online survey in the general public. A questionnaire in Mandarin was posted on the website Stop-tabac.ch between July and November 2017.Results: Participants (n=236) were mostly male, young, highly educated, employed, and smoked or had smoked cigarettes in the past. Half were e-cigarette users. Four measures banning e-cigarettes, labelling content and nicotine level and establishing a maximum-allowable nicotine level were supported by more than 70% of participants. Vaping status was strongly associated with support for most measures after controlling for other factors in multivariate models.Conclusion: We documented attitudes of a self-selected sample of the general public in Taiwan regarding e-cigarette regulations and policies. These results may be useful to design studies in more representative samples and to inform e-cigarette regulations, policies and education campaigns

From non-Markovian dissipation to spatiotemporal control of quantum nanodevices

Funding: TL, AWC and BWL thank the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and Direction Générale de l’Armement (DGA) for support through the Anglo-French PhD scheme. BWL acknowledges support from EPSRC grant EP/T014032/1.Nanodevices exploiting quantum effects are critically important elements of future quantum technologies (QT), but their real-world performance is strongly limited by decoherence arising from local `environmental' interactions. Compounding this, as devices become more complex, i.e. contain multiple functional units, the `local' environments begin to overlap, creating the possibility of environmentally mediated decoherence phenomena on new time-and-length scales. Such complex and inherently non-Markovian dynamics could present a challenge for scaling up QT, but – on the other hand – the ability of environments to transfer `signals' and energy might also enable sophisticated spatiotemporal coordination of inter-component processes, as is suggested to happen in biological nanomachines, like enzymes and photosynthetic proteins. Exploiting numerically exact many body methods (tensor networks) we study a fully quantum model that allows us to explore how propagating environmental dynamics can instigate and direct the evolution of spatially remote, non-interacting quantum systems. We demonstrate how energy dissipated into the environment can be remotely harvested to create transient excited/reactive states, and also identify how reorganisation triggered by system excitation can qualitatively and reversibly alter the `downstream' kinetics of a `functional' quantum system. With access to complete system-environment wave functions, we elucidate the microscopic processes underlying these phenomena, providing new insight into how they could be exploited for energy efficient quantum devices.Peer reviewe

Towards an automatic classification of protein structural domains based on structural similarity

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Formal classification of a large collection of protein structures aids the understanding of evolutionary relationships among them. Classifications involving manual steps, such as SCOP and CATH, face the challenge of increasing volume of available structures. Automatic methods such as FSSP or Dali Domain Dictionary, yield divergent classifications, for reasons not yet fully investigated. One possible reason is that the pairwise similarity scores used in automatic classification do not adequately reflect the judgments made in manual classification. Another possibility is the difference between manual and automatic classification procedures. We explore the degree to which these two factors might affect the final classification.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We use DALI, SHEBA and VAST pairwise scores on the SCOP C class domains, to investigate a variety of hierarchical clustering procedures. The constructed dendrogram is cut in a variety of ways to produce a partition, which is compared to the SCOP fold classification.</p> <p>Ward's method dendrograms led to partitions closest to the SCOP fold classification. Dendrogram- or tree-cutting strategies fell into four categories according to the similarity of resulting partitions to the SCOP fold partition. Two strategies which optimize similarity to SCOP, gave an average of 72% true positives rate (TPR), at a 1% false positive rate. Cutting the largest size cluster at each step gave an average of 61% TPR which was one of the best strategies not making use of prior knowledge of SCOP. Cutting the longest branch at each step produced one of the worst strategies.</p> <p>We also developed a method to detect irreducible differences between the best possible automatic partitions and SCOP, regardless of the cutting strategy. These differences are substantial. Visual examination of hard-to-classify proteins confirms our previous finding, that global structural similarity of domains is not the only criterion used in the SCOP classification.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Different clustering procedures give rise to different levels of agreement between automatic and manual protein classifications. None of the tested procedures completely eliminates the divergence between automatic and manual protein classifications. Achieving full agreement between these two approaches would apparently require additional information.</p

The Impact of Eddies on Nutrient Supply, Diatom Biomass and Carbon Export in the Northern South China Sea

We have investigated the effect of eddies (cold and warm eddies, CEs and WEs) on the nutrient supply to the euphotic zone and the organic carbon export from the euphotic zone to deeper parts of the water column in the northern South China Sea. Besides basic hydrographic and biogeochemical parameters, the flux of particulate organic carbon (POC), a critical index of the strength of the oceanic biological pump, was also measured at several locations within two CEs and one WE using floating sediment traps deployed below the euphotic zone. The POC flux associated with the CEs (85 ± 55 mg-C m −2 d −1) was significantly higher than that associated with the WE (20 ± 7 mg-C m −2 d −1). This was related to differences in the density structure of the water column between the two types of eddies. Within the core of the WE, downwelling created intense stratification which hindered the upward mixing of nutrients and favored the growth of small phytoplankton species. Near the periphery of the WE, nutrient replenishment from below did take place, but only to a limited extent. By far the strongest upwelling was associated with the CEs, bringing nutrients into the lower portion (∼50 m) of the euphotic zone and fueling the growth of larger-cell phytoplankton such as centric diatoms (e.g., Chaetoceros, Coscinodiscus) and dinoflagellates (e.g., Ceratium). A significant finding that emerged from all the results was the positive relationship between the phytoplankton carbon content in the subsurface layer (where the chlorophyll a maximum occurs) and the POC flux to the deep sea

On the performance of online and offline green path establishment techniques

© 2015, Ruiz-Rivera et al. To date, significant effort has gone into designing green traffic engineering (TE) techniques that consolidate traffic onto the minimal number of links/switches/routers during off-peak periods. However, little works exist that aim to green Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) capable networks. Critically, no work has studied the performance of green label switched paths (LSPs) establishment methods in terms of energy savings and acceptance rates. Henceforth, we add to the current state-of-the-art by studying green online and offline (LSP) establishment methods. Online methods rely only on past and current LSP requests while offline ones act as a theoretical benchmark whereby they also have available to them future LSP requests. We introduce a novel metric that takes into account both energy savings and acceptance rates. We also identify a new simpler heuristic that minimizes energy use by routing source–destination demands over paths that contain established links and require the fewest number of new links. Our evaluation of two offline and four online LSP establishment methods over the Abilene and AT&T topologies with random LSP setup requests show that energy savings beyond 20 % are achievable with LSP acceptance rates above 90 %

Antimicrobial resistance among migrants in Europe: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are rising globally and there is concern that increased migration is contributing to the burden of antibiotic resistance in Europe. However, the effect of migration on the burden of AMR in Europe has not yet been comprehensively examined. Therefore, we did a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify and synthesise data for AMR carriage or infection in migrants to Europe to examine differences in patterns of AMR across migrant groups and in different settings. METHODS: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, and Scopus with no language restrictions from Jan 1, 2000, to Jan 18, 2017, for primary data from observational studies reporting antibacterial resistance in common bacterial pathogens among migrants to 21 European Union-15 and European Economic Area countries. To be eligible for inclusion, studies had to report data on carriage or infection with laboratory-confirmed antibiotic-resistant organisms in migrant populations. We extracted data from eligible studies and assessed quality using piloted, standardised forms. We did not examine drug resistance in tuberculosis and excluded articles solely reporting on this parameter. We also excluded articles in which migrant status was determined by ethnicity, country of birth of participants' parents, or was not defined, and articles in which data were not disaggregated by migrant status. Outcomes were carriage of or infection with antibiotic-resistant organisms. We used random-effects models to calculate the pooled prevalence of each outcome. The study protocol is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42016043681. FINDINGS: We identified 2274 articles, of which 23 observational studies reporting on antibiotic resistance in 2319 migrants were included. The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or AMR infection in migrants was 25·4% (95% CI 19·1-31·8; I2 =98%), including meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (7·8%, 4·8-10·7; I2 =92%) and antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (27·2%, 17·6-36·8; I2 =94%). The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or infection was higher in refugees and asylum seekers (33·0%, 18·3-47·6; I2 =98%) than in other migrant groups (6·6%, 1·8-11·3; I2 =92%). The pooled prevalence of antibiotic-resistant organisms was slightly higher in high-migrant community settings (33·1%, 11·1-55·1; I2 =96%) than in migrants in hospitals (24·3%, 16·1-32·6; I2 =98%). We did not find evidence of high rates of transmission of AMR from migrant to host populations. INTERPRETATION: Migrants are exposed to conditions favouring the emergence of drug resistance during transit and in host countries in Europe. Increased antibiotic resistance among refugees and asylum seekers and in high-migrant community settings (such as refugee camps and detention facilities) highlights the need for improved living conditions, access to health care, and initiatives to facilitate detection of and appropriate high-quality treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections during transit and in host countries. Protocols for the prevention and control of infection and for antibiotic surveillance need to be integrated in all aspects of health care, which should be accessible for all migrant groups, and should target determinants of AMR before, during, and after migration. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, Imperial College Healthcare Charity, the Wellcome Trust, and UK National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare-associated Infections and Antimictobial Resistance at Imperial College London

Chalk-Ex—fate of CaCO3 particles in the mixed layer : evolution of patch optical properties

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2009. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research 114 (2009): C07020, doi:10.1029/2008JC004902.The fate of particles in the mixed layer is of great relevance to the global carbon cycle as well as to the propagation of light in the sea. We conducted four manipulative field experiments called “Chalk-Ex” in which known quantities of uniform, calcium carbonate particles were injected into the surface mixed layer. Since the production term for these patches was known to high precision, the experimental design allowed us to focus on terms associated with particle loss. The mass of chalk in the patches was evaluated using the well-calibrated light-scattering properties of the chalk plus measurements from a variety of optical measurements and platforms. Patches were surveyed with a temporal resolution of hours over spatial scales of tens of kilometers. Our results demonstrated exponential loss of the chalk particles with time from the patches. There was little evidence for rapid sinking of the chalk. Instead, horizontal eddy diffusion appeared to be the major factor affecting the dispersion of the chalk to concentrations below the limits of detection. There was unequivocal evidence of subduction of the chalk along isopycnals and subsequent formation of thin layers. Shear dispersion is the most likely mechanism to explain these results. Calculations of horizontal eddy diffusivity were consistent with other mixed layer patch experiments. Our results provide insight into the importance of physics in the formation of subsurface particle maxima in the sea, as well as the importance of rapid coccolith production and critical patch size for maintenance of natural coccolithophore blooms in nature.We would like to thank the Office of Naval Research/Optical and Biological Oceanography Program for their support of Chalk-Ex with awards N000140110042 (WMB) and N00014-01-1-0141 (AJP). Additional funding for this work came from ONR (N00014-05-1- 0111) and NASA (NNG04Gl11G, NNX08AC27G, NNG04HZ25C) to W.M.B