470 research outputs found
Environmental Impact Assessment process for deep-sea mining in ‘the Area’
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is key to the robust environmental management of industrial projects; it is used to anticipate, assess and reduce environmental and social risks of a project. It is instrumental in project planning and execution, and often required for financing and regulatory approval to be granted. The International Seabed Authority currently requires an EIA for deep-sea mining (DSM) in areas beyond national jurisdiction (the Area), but the existing regulations present only a portion of a robust EIA process. This article presents an ideal EIA process for DSM, drawing upon the application of EIA from allied industries. It contains screening, scoping and assessment phases, along with the development of an environmental management plan. It also includes external review by experts, stakeholder consultation, and regulatory review. Lessons learned from application of EIA elsewhere are discussed in relation to DSM, including the integration of EIA into UK domestic law, and the reception of EIAs prepared for seabed ore extraction in the Exclusive Economic Zones of New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. Finally, four main challenges of implementing the EIA process to DSM in the Area are presented: 1) EIA process for DSM needs to incorporate mechanisms to address uncertainty; 2) detailed requirements for the EIA process phases should be made clear; 3) mechanisms are needed to ensure that the EIA influences decision making; and, 4) the EIA process requires substantial input and involvement from the regulator
Exploring geometric morphology in shape memory textiles: design of dynamic light filters
Thermo-responsive Shape Memory Alloys are able to adopt a temporary configuration and return to their programmed
shape when heated to a determined activation temperature. The possibility to integrate them in textile substrates
creates potential to develop smart textiles whose shape change explores functional and expressive purposes.
The aim of this research is to develop shape memory woven textiles in which dynamic behavior achieves predefined
geometric shapes. The requirement of geometric morphology was addressed through origami techniques. Combining
foldability properties with shape change, it is possible to design textile structures with a variable number of layers.
Difference in light transmittance is analyzed according to layer variation. Experiments conducted explore methodological
processes aimed at future developments in dynamic light filters research. The results highlight a process to design textiles
with predefined geometric morphologies that can be activated electrically, and delineate a further study in order to
improve the shape memory textile behavior.This work was supported by FEDER funds through the
Operational Programme for Competitiveness Factors –
COMPETE and National Funds through FCT –
Foundation for Science and Technology (project SFRH/
BD/87196/2012) and FCT and FEDER-COMPETE (project
PEst-C/CTM/UI0264/2011)
Matrilineal diversity and population history of Norwegians
Background
While well known for its Viking past, Norway's population history and the influences that have shaped its genetic diversity are less well understood. This is particularly true with respect to its demography, migration patterns, and dialectal regions, despite there being curated historical records for the past several centuries. In this study, we undertook an analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) diversity within the country to elaborate this history from a matrilineal genetic perspective.
Methods
We aggregated 1174 partial modern Norwegian mtDNA sequences from the published literature and subjected them to detailed statistical and phylogenetic analysis by dialectal regions and localities. We further contextualized the matrilineal ancestry of modern Norwegians with data from Mesolithic, Iron Age, and historic period populations.
Results
Modern Norwegian mtDNAs fell into eight West Eurasian (N, HV, JT, I, U, K, X, W), five East Eurasian (A, F, G, N11, Z), and one African (L2) haplogroups. Pairwise analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) estimates for all Norwegians indicated they were differentiated from each other at 1.68% (p < 0.001). Norwegians within the same dialectal region also showed genetic similarities to each other, although differences between subpopulations within dialectal regions were also observed. In addition, certain mtDNA lineages in modern Norwegians were also found among prehistoric and historic period populations, suggesting some level of genetic continuity over hundreds to many thousands of years.
Conclusions
This analysis of mtDNA diversity provides a detailed picture of the genetic variation within Norway in light of its topography, settlement history, and historical migrations over the past several centuries.publishedVersio
Advantages of linking national registries with twin registries for epidemiological research
Linking national registries with twin data represents an opportunity to produce epidemiological research of
high quality. National registries contain information on a broad array of variables, some of which cannot be
measured reliably in regular health surveys. By taking kinship into consideration, twin studies have the
benefit of being able to identify confounding stemming from genetic or shared environmental sources. In
this paper, we use examples from our own interview and questionnaire-based twin studies from the Norwegian
Twin Registry (NTR) on mental disorders, alcohol use and socioeconomic status linked to registry
data on medical benefits to demonstrate the value. In the first example, we examined to what extent genetic
and environmental factors contributed to sick leave and disability pension and the association between these
two types of benefits. In the second example, we explored the genetic and environmental relationship
between personality disorders and sick leave. In the third example, a co-twin control design was applied to
explore whether there is a true protective relationship between moderate alcohol consumption and health.
The fourth example shows to what degree anxiety and depression are associated with later sick leave granted
for not only mental disorders, but also somatic disorders, adjusted for confounding by genetic and shared
environmental factors. In the fifth example, we address the socioeconomic gradient in sick leave, adjusting
for non-observed confounders associated with the family in a co-twin control design. Our examples illustrate
some of the potentials obtainable by linking national registries with twin data. The efforts that have been
made to create the NTR in Norway and the International Network of Twin Studies (INTR) internationally
make these types of linkage studies easier to conduct and available to more researchers. As there are still
many areas to explore, we encourage epidemiological researchers to make use of this possibility
The regulatory subunit of PKA-I remains partially structured and undergoes β-aggregation upon thermal denaturation
Background: The regulatory subunit (R) of cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) is a modular flexible protein that responds with large conformational changes to the binding of the effector cAMP. Considering its highly dynamic nature, the protein is rather stable. We studied the thermal denaturation of full-length RIα and a truncated RIα(92-381) that contains the tandem cyclic nucleotide binding (CNB) domains A and B. Methodology/Principal Findings: As revealed by circular dichroism (CD) and differential scanning calorimetry, both RIα proteins contain significant residual structure in the heat-denatured state. As evidenced by CD, the predominantly α-helical spectrum at 25°C with double negative peaks at 209 and 222 nm changes to a spectrum with a single negative peak at 212-216 nm, characteristic of β-structure. A similar α→β transition occurs at higher temperature in the presence of cAMP. Thioflavin T fluorescence and atomic force microscopy studies support the notion that the structural transition is associated with cross-β-intermolecular aggregation and formation of non-fibrillar oligomers. Conclusions/Significance: Thermal denaturation of RIα leads to partial loss of native packing with exposure of aggregation-prone motifs, such as the B' helices in the phosphate-binding cassettes of both CNB domains. The topology of the β-sandwiches in these domains favors inter-molecular β-aggregation, which is suppressed in the ligand-bound states of RIα under physiological conditions. Moreover, our results reveal that the CNB domains persist as structural cores through heat-denaturation. © 2011 Dao et al
Musculoskeletal pain and work absence – a 10 year follow-up study of Norwegian young adult twins
Background and aims: Sickness absence (SA) and disability pension (DP) are increasingly recognized as
major public problems. Musculoskeletal disorders are among the most common diagnoses set by physicians
granting SA and DP. Results from recent twin studies have established that SA and DP are influenced
not only by environmental and social factors, but also moderately to substantially by genes. The aim of the
current study was to examine to what degree musculoskeletal complaints in young adults predict SA and
DP, including SA granted for other diagnoses. As the participants were twins, we were able to perform
within pair analyses, to see if the associations between musculoskeletal pain and later DP or SA were confounded
by unmeasured genetic and shared environmental factors.
Materials and methods: The Norwegian twin registry includes a questionnaire conducted in 1998. From
this, we included three measures of recurrent pain (lower back, neck/shoulders and muscular) as well as
symptoms of anxiety and depression (measured by the Symptom Checklist-5 (SCL-5)). The questionnaire
has been linked to highly reliable official registries on SA and DP, as well as a range of sociodemographic
variables, for a ten-year follow up period. We applied logistic (DP as dependent variable) and binomial
regression (SA as dependent variable) analyses to explore the relationship between musculoskeletal pain
and DP and SA. In the final models, we adjusted for sociodemographic factors and symptoms of anxiety
and depression. Differences between twins in a pair were explored by applying fixed effect models. All
analyses were conducted using STATA version 13.1.
Results: The final sample of 7,626 twins included 3,055 complete pairs (488 monozygotic (MZ) male, 349
dizygotic (DZ) male, 747 MZ female, 589 DZ female, and 882 opposite sex twin pairs) and 1,516 singletons.
By the end of follow up, 181 subjects (44 men and 137 women) received DP, and 63.7% of the sample
(47.4% of males and 76.0% of females) had at least one period of SA extending 16 days. Pain at any site
was significantly associated with DP in both sexes. Any increase in the number of pain sites reported was
associated with about a 60% increased risk for receiving DP (OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.4-1.9), and the strength of
the association was only marginally reduced when adjusted for symptoms of mental disorders (1.4, 1.2-
1.7). In the within pair analyses the effect was no longer significant, indicating possible confounding from
genetic and shared environmental effects. As for all cause SA, musculoskeletal pain predicted SA independently
of all measured confounders, and the results remained significant in the within pair analyses (Incidence
Rate Ratio (IRR) 1.12, 95% CI 1.03-1.23).
Conclusion: In young adults, musculoskeletal pain strongly predicted SA and DP for a 10 year follow-up
period. Musculoskeletal pain was associated with higher levels of all cause SA, even within discordant MZ
twin pairs. Our results indicate that interventions to prevent musculoskeletal pain in young adults can
reduce levels of SA and DP
Results from the intercalibration of optical low light calibration sources 2011
Following the 38th Annual European Meeting on Atmospheric Studies by Optical Methods in Siuntio in Finland, an intercalibration workshop for optical low light calibration sources was held in Sodankylä, Finland. The main purpose of this workshop was to provide a comparable scale for absolute measurements of aurora and airglow. All sources brought to the intercalibration workshop were compared to the Fritz Peak reference source using the Lindau Calibration Photometer built by Wilhelm Barke and Hans Lauche in 1984. The results were compared to several earlier intercalibration workshops. It was found that most sources were fairly stable over time, with errors in the range of 5–25%. To further validate the results, two sources were also intercalibrated at UNIS, Longyearbyen, Svalbard. Preliminary analysis indicates agreement with the intercalibration in Sodankylä within about 15–25%.publishedVersio
Improving education in primary care: development of an online curriculum using the blended learning model
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Standardizing the experiences of medical students in a community preceptorship where clinical sites vary by geography and discipline can be challenging. Computer-assisted learning is prevalent in medical education and can help standardize experiences, but often is not used to its fullest advantage. A blended learning curriculum combining web-based modules with face-to-face learning can ensure students obtain core curricular principles.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This course was developed and used at The Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and its associated preceptorship sites in the greater Cleveland area. Leaders of a two-year elective continuity experience at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine used adult learning principles to develop four interactive online modules presenting basics of office practice, difficult patient interviews, common primary care diagnoses, and disease prevention. They can be viewed at <url>http://casemed.case.edu/cpcp/curriculum</url>. Students completed surveys rating the content and technical performance of each module and completed a Generalist OSCE exam at the end of the course.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Participating students rated all aspects of the course highly; particularly those related to charting and direct patient care. Additionally, they scored very well on the Generalist OSCE exam.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Students found the web-based modules to be valuable and to enhance their clinical learning. The blended learning model is a useful tool in designing web-based curriculum for enhancing the clinical curriculum of medical students.</p
Mapping of quantitative trait loci for flesh colour and growth traits in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Flesh colour and growth related traits in salmonids are both commercially important and of great interest from a physiological and evolutionary perspective. The aim of this study was to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) affecting flesh colour and growth related traits in an F2 population derived from an isolated, landlocked wild population in Norway (Byglands Bleke) and a commercial production population.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>One hundred and twenty-eight informative microsatellite loci distributed across all 29 linkage groups in Atlantic salmon were genotyped in individuals from four F2 families that were selected from the ends of the flesh colour distribution. Genotyping of 23 additional loci and two additional families was performed on a number of linkage groups harbouring putative QTL. QTL analysis was performed using a line-cross model assuming fixation of alternate QTL alleles and a half-sib model with no assumptions about the number and frequency of QTL alleles in the founder populations.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A moderate to strong phenotypic correlation was found between colour, length and weight traits. In total, 13 genome-wide significant QTL were detected for all traits using the line-cross model, including three genome-wide significant QTL for flesh colour (Chr 6, Chr 26 and Chr 4). In addition, 32 suggestive QTL were detected (chromosome-wide P < 0.05). Using the half-sib model, six genome-wide significant QTL were detected for all traits, including two for flesh colour (Chr 26 and Chr 4) and 41 suggestive QTL were detected (chromosome-wide P < 0.05). Based on the half-sib analysis, these two genome-wide significant QTL for flesh colour explained 24% of the phenotypic variance for this trait.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>A large number of significant and suggestive QTL for flesh colour and growth traits were found in an F2 population of Atlantic salmon. Chr 26 and Chr 4 presented the strongest evidence for significant QTL affecting flesh colour, while Chr 10, Chr 5, and Chr 4 presented the strongest evidence for significant QTL affecting growth traits (length and weight). These QTL could be strong candidates for use in marker-assisted selection and provide a starting point for further characterisation of the genetic components underlying flesh colour and growth.</p
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