29 resultados para 623


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The US Clean Air Act Amendments introduce an emissions trading system to regulate SO2 emissions. This study finds that changes in SO2 emissions prices are related to innovations induced by these amendments. We find that electricity-generating plants are able to increase electricity output and reduce emissions of SO2 and NOx from 1995 to 2007 due to the introduction of the allowance trading system. However, compared to the approximate 8% per year of exogenous technological progress, the induced effect is relatively small, and the contribution of the induced effect to overall technological progress is about 1-2%.

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The adhesion molecule L1, which is extensively characterized in the nervous system, is also expressed in dendritic cells (DCs), but its function there has remained elusive. To address this issue, we ablated L1 expression in DCs of conditional knockout mice. L1-deficient DCs were impaired in adhesion to and transmigration through monolayers of either lymphatic or blood vessel endothelial cells, implicating L1 in transendothelial migration of DCs. In agreement with these findings, L1 was expressed in cutaneous DCs that migrated to draining lymph nodes, and its ablation reduced DC trafficking in vivo. Within the skin, L1 was found in Langerhans cells but not in dermal DCs, and L1 deficiency impaired Langerhans cell migration. Under inflammatory conditions, L1 also became expressed in vascular endothelium and enhanced transmigration of DCs, likely through L1 homophilic interactions. Our results implicate L1 in the regulation of DC trafficking and shed light on novel mechanisms underlying transendothelial migration of DCs. These observations might offer novel therapeutic perspectives for the treatment of certain immunological disorders.

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The evidence for nutritional support in COPD is almost entirely based on oral nutritional supplements (ONS) yet despite this dietary counseling and food fortification (DA) are often used as the first line treatment for malnutrition. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of ONS vs. DA in improving nutritional intake in malnourished outpatients with COPD. 70 outpatients (BMI 18.4 SD 1.6 kg/m2, age 73 SD 9 years, severe COPD) were randomised to receive a 12-week intervention of either ONS or DA (n 33 ONS vs. n 37 DA). Paired t-test analysis revealed total energy intakes significantly increased with ONS at week 6 (+302 SD 537 kcal/d; p = 0.002), with a slight reduction at week 12 (+243 SD 718 kcal/d; p = 0.061) returning to baseline levels on stopping supplementation. DA resulted in small increases in energy that only reached significance 3 months post-intervention (week 6: +48 SD 623 kcal/d, p = 0.640; week 12: +157 SD 637 kcal/d, p = 0.139; week 26: +247 SD 592 kcal/d, p = 0.032). Protein intake was significantly higher in the ONS group at both week 6 and 12 (ONS: +19.0 SD 25.0 g/d vs. DA: +1.0 SD 13.0 g/d; p = 0.033 ANOVA) but no differences were found at week 26. Vitamin C, Iron and Zinc intakes significantly increased only in the ONS group. ONS significantly increased energy, protein and several micronutrient intakes in malnourished COPD patients but only during the period of supplementation. Trials investigating the effects of combined nutritional interventions are required.

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Objectives To estimate the incidence of serious suicide attempts (SSAs, defined as suicide attempts resulting in either death or hospitalisation) and to examine factors associated with fatality among these attempters. Design A surveillance study of incidence and mortality. Linked data from two public health surveillance systems were analysed. Setting Three selected counties in Shandong, China. Participants All residents in the three selected counties. Outcome measures Incidence rate ( per 100 000 person-years) and case fatality rate (%). Methods Records of suicide deaths and hospitalisations that occurred among residents in selected counties during 2009–2011 (5 623 323 person-years) were extracted from electronic databases of the Disease Surveillance Points (DSP) system and the Injury Surveillance System (ISS) and were linked by name, sex, residence and time of suicide attempt. A multiple logistic regression model was developed to examine the factors associated with a higher or lower fatality rate. Results The incidence of SSAs was estimated to be 46 (95% CI 44 to 48) per 100 000 person-years, which was 1.5 times higher in rural versus urban areas, slightly higher among females, and increased with age. Among all SSAs, 51% were hospitalised and survived, 9% were hospitalised but later died and 40% died with no hospitalisation. Most suicide deaths (81%) were not hospitalised and most hospitalised SSAs (85%) survived. The fatality rate was 49% overall, but was significantly higher among attempters living in rural areas, who were male, older, with lower education or with a farming occupation. With regard to the method of suicide, fatality was lowest for non-pesticide poisons (7%) and highest for hanging (97%). Conclusions The incidence of serious suicide attempts is substantially higher in rural areas than in urban areas of China. The risk of death is influenced by the attempter’s sex, age, education level, occupation, method used and season of year.

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Morphological and physiological characteristics of neurons located in the dorsolateral and two ventral subdivisions of the lateral amygdala (LA) have been compared in order to differentiate their roles in the formation and storage of fear memories (Alphs et al, SfN abs 623.1, 2003). Briefly, in these populations, significant differences are observed in input resistance, membrane time constant, firing frequency, dendritic tortuosity, numbers of primary dendrites, dendritic segments and dendritic nodes...

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We undertook deep sequencing of gill transcriptomes from two freshwater crayfish, Cherax cainii and Cherax destructor, in order to generate genomic resources for future genomics research. Over 83 and 100 million high quality (quality score (Q) ≥ 30) paired-end Illumina reads (150 bp) were assembled into 147,101 and 136,622 contigs in C. cainii and C. destructor, respectively. A total of 24,630 and 23,623 contigs received significant BLASTx hits and allowed the identification of multiple gill expressed candidate genes associated with pH and salinity balance. These functionally annotated transcripts will provide a resource to facilitate comparative genomic research in the genus Cherax, and in particular allow insights into respiratory and osmoregulatory physiology of this group of animals.

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Hollow flange channel section is a cold-formed high-strength and thin-walled steel section with a unique shape including two rectangular hollow flanges and a slender web. Due to its mono-symmetric characteristics, it will also be subjected to torsion when subjected to transverse loads in practical applications. Past research on steel beams subject to torsion has concentrated on open sections while very few steel design standards give suitable design rules for torsion design. Since the hollow flange channel section is different from conventional open sections, its torsional behaviour remains unknown to researchers. Therefore the elastic behaviour of hollow flange channel sections subject to uniform and non-uniform torsion, and combined torsion and bending was investigated using the solutions of appropriate differential equilibrium equations. The section torsion shear flow, warping normal stress distribution, and section constants including torsion constant and warping constant were obtained. The results were compared with those from finite element analyses that verified the accuracy of analytical solutions. Parametric studies were undertaken for simply supported beams subject to a uniformly distributed torque and a uniformly distributed transverse load applied away from the shear centre. This paper presents the details of this research into the elastic behaviour and strength of hollow flange channel sections subject to torsion and bending and the results.

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The invasive fruit fly, Bactrocera invadens Drew, Tsuruta & White, is a highly polyphagous fruit pest that occurs predominantly in Africa yet has its origins in the Indian subcontinent. It is extremely morphologically and genetically similar to the Oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel); as such the specific relationship between these two species is unresolved. We assessed prezygotic compatibility between B. dorsalis and B. invadens using standardized field cage mating tests, which have proven effectiveness in tephritid cryptic species studies. These tests were followed by an assessment of postzygotic compatibility by examining egg viability, larval and pupal survival, and sex ratios of offspring produced from parental and subsequent F1 crosses to examine for hybrid breakdown as predicted under a two-species hypothesis. B. dorsalis was sourced from two countries (Pakistan and China), and each population was compared with B. invadens from its type locality of Kenya. B. invadens mated randomly with B. dorsalis from both localities, and there were generally high levels of hybrid viability and survival resulting from parental and F1 crosses. Furthermore, all but one hybrid cross resulted in equal sex ratios, with the single deviation in favor of males and contrary to expectations under Haldane's rule. These data support the hypothesis that B. dorsalis and B. invadens represent the same biological species, an outcome that poses significant implications for pest management and international trade for sub-Saharan Africa.

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This paper presents an essay aimed at prompting broad discussion crucial in keeping the interaction design discourse fresh, critical, and in motion. We trace the changing role of people who have advanced from consumers to producers, from stationary office workers to mobile urban nomads, from passive members of the plebs to active instigators of change. Yet, interaction designers often still refer to them only as ‘users.’ We follow some of the historic developments from the information superhighway to the smart city in order to provide the backdrop in front of which we critically analyse three core areas. First, the issue of echo chambers and filter bubbles in social media results in a political polarisation that jeopardises the formation of a functioning public sphere. Second, pretty lights and colourful façades in media architecture are increasingly making way for situated installations and interventions fostering community engagement. And third, civic activism is often reduced to forms of slacktivism. We synthesise our discussion to propose ‘citizen-ability’ as an alternative goal for interaction designers to aspire to in order to create new polities and civics for a better quality of life.

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Background The Global Burden of Disease Study 2013 (GBD 2013) aims to bring together all available epidemiological data using a coherent measurement framework, standardised estimation methods, and transparent data sources to enable comparisons of health loss over time and across causes, age–sex groups, and countries. The GBD can be used to generate summary measures such as disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) and healthy life expectancy (HALE) that make possible comparative assessments of broad epidemiological patterns across countries and time. These summary measures can also be used to quantify the component of variation in epidemiology that is related to sociodemographic development. Methods We used the published GBD 2013 data for age-specific mortality, years of life lost due to premature mortality (YLLs), and years lived with disability (YLDs) to calculate DALYs and HALE for 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2013 for 188 countries. We calculated HALE using the Sullivan method; 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs) represent uncertainty in age-specific death rates and YLDs per person for each country, age, sex, and year. We estimated DALYs for 306 causes for each country as the sum of YLLs and YLDs; 95% UIs represent uncertainty in YLL and YLD rates. We quantified patterns of the epidemiological transition with a composite indicator of sociodemographic status, which we constructed from income per person, average years of schooling after age 15 years, and the total fertility rate and mean age of the population. We applied hierarchical regression to DALY rates by cause across countries to decompose variance related to the sociodemographic status variable, country, and time. Findings Worldwide, from 1990 to 2013, life expectancy at birth rose by 6·2 years (95% UI 5·6–6·6), from 65·3 years (65·0–65·6) in 1990 to 71·5 years (71·0–71·9) in 2013, HALE at birth rose by 5·4 years (4·9–5·8), from 56·9 years (54·5–59·1) to 62·3 years (59·7–64·8), total DALYs fell by 3·6% (0·3–7·4), and age-standardised DALY rates per 100 000 people fell by 26·7% (24·6–29·1). For communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional disorders, global DALY numbers, crude rates, and age-standardised rates have all declined between 1990 and 2013, whereas for non–communicable diseases, global DALYs have been increasing, DALY rates have remained nearly constant, and age-standardised DALY rates declined during the same period. From 2005 to 2013, the number of DALYs increased for most specific non-communicable diseases, including cardiovascular diseases and neoplasms, in addition to dengue, food-borne trematodes, and leishmaniasis; DALYs decreased for nearly all other causes. By 2013, the five leading causes of DALYs were ischaemic heart disease, lower respiratory infections, cerebrovascular disease, low back and neck pain, and road injuries. Sociodemographic status explained more than 50% of the variance between countries and over time for diarrhoea, lower respiratory infections, and other common infectious diseases; maternal disorders; neonatal disorders; nutritional deficiencies; other communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional diseases; musculoskeletal disorders; and other non-communicable diseases. However, sociodemographic status explained less than 10% of the variance in DALY rates for cardiovascular diseases; chronic respiratory diseases; cirrhosis; diabetes, urogenital, blood, and endocrine diseases; unintentional injuries; and self-harm and interpersonal violence. Predictably, increased sociodemographic status was associated with a shift in burden from YLLs to YLDs, driven by declines in YLLs and increases in YLDs from musculoskeletal disorders, neurological disorders, and mental and substance use disorders. In most country-specific estimates, the increase in life expectancy was greater than that in HALE. Leading causes of DALYs are highly variable across countries. Interpretation Global health is improving. Population growth and ageing have driven up numbers of DALYs, but crude rates have remained relatively constant, showing that progress in health does not mean fewer demands on health systems. The notion of an epidemiological transition—in which increasing sociodemographic status brings structured change in disease burden—is useful, but there is tremendous variation in burden of disease that is not associated with sociodemographic status. This further underscores the need for country-specific assessments of DALYs and HALE to appropriately inform health policy decisions and attendant actions.

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The male-to-female sex ratio at birth is constant across world populations with an average of 1.06 (106 male to 100 female live births) for populations of European descent. The sex ratio is considered to be affected by numerous biological and environmental factors and to have a heritable component. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of common allele modest effects at autosomal and chromosome X variants that could explain the observed sex ratio at birth. We conducted a large-scale genome-wide association scan (GWAS) meta-analysis across 51 studies, comprising overall 114 863 individuals (61 094 women and 53 769 men) of European ancestry and 2 623 828 common (minor allele frequency >0.05) single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Allele frequencies were compared between men and women for directly-typed and imputed variants within each study. Forward-time simulations for unlinked, neutral, autosomal, common loci were performed under the demographic model for European populations with a fixed sex ratio and a random mating scheme to assess the probability of detecting significant allele frequency differences. We do not detect any genome-wide significant (P < 5 x 10(-8)) common SNP differences between men and women in this well-powered meta-analysis. The simulated data provided results entirely consistent with these findings. This large-scale investigation across ~115 000 individuals shows no detectable contribution from common genetic variants to the observed skew in the sex ratio. The absence of sex-specific differences is useful in guiding genetic association study design, for example when using mixed controls for sex-biased traits.

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OBJECTIVES Based on self-reported measures, sedentary time has been associated with chronic disease and mortality. This study examined the validity of the wrist-worn GENEactiv accelerometer for measuring sedentary time (i.e. sitting and lying) by posture classification, during waking hours in free living adults. DESIGN Fifty-seven participants (age=18-55 years 52% male) were recruited using convenience sampling from a large metropolitan Australian university. METHODS Participants wore a GENEActiv accelerometer on their non-dominant wrist and an activPAL device attached to their right thigh for 24-h (00:00 to 23:59:59). Pearson's Correlation Coefficient was used to examine the convergent validity of the GENEActiv and the activPAL for estimating total sedentary time during waking hours. Agreement was illustrated using Bland and Altman plots, and intra-individual agreement for posture was assessed with the Kappa statistic. RESULTS Estimates of average total sedentary time over 24-h were 623 (SD 103) min/day from the GENEActiv, and 626 (SD 123) min/day from the activPAL, with an Intraclass Correlation Coefficient of 0.80 (95% confidence intervals 0.68-0.88). Bland and Altman plots showed slight underestimation of mean total sedentary time for GENEActiv relative to activPAL (mean difference: -3.44min/day), with moderate limits of agreement (-144 to 137min/day). Mean Kappa for posture was 0.53 (SD 0.12), indicating moderate agreement for this sample at the individual level. CONCLUSIONS The estimation of sedentary time by posture classification of the wrist-worn GENEActiv accelerometer was comparable to the activPAL. The GENEActiv may provide an alternative, easy to wear device based measure for descriptive estimates of sedentary time in population samples

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Pangasianodon hypophthalmus is a commercially important freshwater fish used in inland aquaculture in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. The current study using Ion Torrent technology generated EST resources from the kidney for Tra catfish reared at a salinity level of 9 ppt. We obtained 2,623,929 reads after trimming and processing with an average length of 104 bp. De novo assemblies were generated using CLC Genomic Workbench, Trinity and Velvet/Oases with the best overall contig performance resulting from the CLC assembly. De novo assembly using CLC yielded 29,940 contigs, and allowing identification of 5,710 putative genes when comppared with NCBI non-redundant database. A large number of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were also detected. The sequence collection generated in our study represents the most comprehensive transcriptomic resource for P. hypophthalmus available to date.

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This paper investigates the cointegration and causal relationships between Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and economic output in Australia using data for about five decades. The framework used in this paper is the single-sector aggregate production function, which is the first comprehensive approach of this kind to include ICT and non-ICT capital and other factors to examine long-run Granger causality. The empirical evidence points to a cointegration relationship between ICT capital and output, and implies that ICT capital Granger causes economic output and multifactor productivity, as does non-ICT capital.