Poverty and Ethnicity in Northern Ireland: An Evidence Review

This report provides an overview of the research evidence on the relationship between poverty and ethnicity in Northern Ireland. After a period of increasing ethnic diversity, the review was concerned with understanding how issues of poverty affect people from different minority ethnic communities and their ability to access and secure good outcomes from key services. A comprehensive literature review and focus groups with people from the Roma, Somali, Chinese and Polish communities, and with local stakeholders, provide the basis for the report. The report discusses: ��� how new migrants have joined long-standing communities of people from minority ethnic groups; ��� how the policy framework to address racial inequalities in Northern Ireland is relatively new; ��� how people from minority ethnic groups experience low incomes and access services; and ��� how the legacy of conflict in the region may affect minority ethnic groups.

Increasing Fruit and Vegetable Intake Has No Dose-Response Effect on Conventional Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Overweight Adults at High Risk of Developing Cardiovascular Disease

<p>BACKGROUND: Improving diet and lifestyle is important for prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Observational evidence suggests that increasing fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption may lower CVD risk, largely through modulation of established risk factors, but intervention data are required to fully elucidate the mechanisms by which FVs exert benefits on vascular health.</p><p>OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine the dose-response effect of FV intake on cardiovascular risk factors in adults at high CVD risk.</p><p>METHODS: This was a randomized controlled parallel group study involving overweight adults (BMI: &gt;27 and ���35 kg/m(2)) with a habitually low FV intake (���160 g/d) and a high total risk of developing CVD (estimated ���20% over 10 y). After a 4-wk run-in period where FV intake was limited to &lt;2 portions/d (&lt;160 g/d), 92 eligible participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups: to consume either 2, 4, or 7 portions (equivalent to 160 g, 320 g, or 560 g, respectively) of FVs daily for 12 consecutive weeks. Fasting venous blood samples were collected at baseline (week 4) and post-intervention (week 16) for analysis of lipid fractions and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) concentrations. Compliance with the FV intervention was determined with use of self-reported FV intake and biomarkers of micronutrient status. Ambulatory blood pressure and body composition were also measured pre- and post-intervention.</p><p>RESULTS: A total of 89 participants completed the study and body composition remained stable throughout the intervention period. Despite good compliance with the intervention, no significant difference was found between the FV groups for change in measures of ambulatory blood pressure, plasma lipids, or hsCRP concentrations.</p><p>CONCLUSIONS: There was no evidence of a dose-response effect of FV intake on conventional CVD risk factors measured in overweight adults at high CVD risk. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00874341.</p>

Double ionization in R-matrix theory using a two-electron outer region

We have developed a two-electron outer region for use within R-matrix theory to describe double ionisation processes. The capability of this method is demonstrated for single-photon double ionisation of He in the photon energy region between 80 eV to 180 eV. The cross sections are in agreement with established data. The extended RMT method also provides information on higher-order processes, as demonstrated by the identification of signatures for sequential double ionisation processes involving an intermediate He⁺ state with n=2.

Photoionization cross sections for O-like S IX: a Breit-Pauli R-matrix calculation

In this paper we present photoionization cross sections for the lowest five states of O-like S IX (1s(2)2s(2)2p(4) P-3(0,1,2), D-1(2), S-1(0)). The relativistic Breit-Pauli R-matrix codes were utilized including all terms of the 2s(2)2p(3), 2s2p(4), 2p(5), 2s(2)2p(2)3s, 3p, 3d and 2s2p(3)3s, 3p, 3d configurations in the expansion of the collision wavefunction for S X. It was also found that to achieve convergence of the low-lying energy separations of the target levels, an additional 21 configuration functions needed to be included in the configuration interaction expansion, incorporating two-electron excitations from the 2s and 2p shells to the 3s, 3p and 3d shells. The present work thus constitutes the most sophisticated photoionization evaluation for ground and metastable levels of the S IX ion. Direct comparisons have been made with the only available data found on the OPEN-ADAS database between level resolved contributions of the spectrum. This comparison for the background cross section exhibits excellent agreement at all photon energies for each partial photoionization cross section contribution investigated. Finally, the autoionizing bound states arising from numerous open channels have also been investigated and identified using the QB approach, a procedure for analyzing resonances in atomic and molecular collision theory which exploits the analytic properties of R-matrix theory. Major Rydberg resonance series are also presented and tabulated for the dominant linewidths considered.

Total Synthesis of the Potent HIF-1 Inhibitory Antitumor Natural Product, (8<i>R</i>)-Mycothiazole, via Baldwin���Lee CsF/CuI sp³���sp²-Stille Cross-Coupling. Confirmation of the Crews Reassignment

A convenient asymmetric total synthesis of the potent HIF-1 inhibitory antitumor natural product, (���)- or (+)-(8<i>R</i>)-mycothiazole (<b>1</b>), is described. Not only does our synthesis confirm the 2006 structural reassignment made by Crews (Crews, P., et al. <i>J. Nat. Prod</i>. <b>2006</b>, <i>69</i>, 145), it revises the [��]_D data previously reported for this molecule in MeOH from ���13.7�� to +42.3��. The newly developed route to (8<i>R</i>)-<b>1</b> sets the C(8)���OH stereocenter via Sharpless AE/2,3-epoxy alcohol reductive ring opening and utilizes two Baldwin���Lee CsF/cat. CuI Stille cross-coupling reactions with vinylstannanes <b>8</b> and <b>3</b> to efficiently elaborate the C(1)���C(4) and C(14)���C(18) sectors.

The reliability of R₅₀ as a measure of vulnerability of food webs to sequential species deletions

<p>Recent studies predict elevated and accelerating rates of species extinctions over the 21st century, due to climate change and habitat loss. Considering that such primary species loss may initiate cascades of secondary extinctions and push systems towards critical tipping points, we urgently need to increase our understanding of if certain sequences of species extinctions can be expected to be more devastating than others Most theoretical studies addressing this question have used a topological (non-dynamical) approach to analyse the probability that food webs will collapse, below a fixed threshold value in species richness, when subjected to different sequences of species loss. Typically, these studies have neither considered the possibility of dynamical responses of species, nor that conclusions may depend on the value of the collapse threshold. Here we analyse how sensitive conclusions on the importance of different species are to the threshold value of food web collapse. Using dynamical simulations, where we expose model food webs to a range of extinction sequences, we evaluate the reliability of the most frequently used index, R&lt;inf&gt;50&lt;/inf&gt;, as a measure of food web robustness. In general, we find that R&lt;inf&gt;50&lt;/inf&gt; is a reliable measure and that identification of destructive deletion sequences is fairly robust, within a moderate range of collapse thresholds. At the same time, however, focusing on R&lt;inf&gt;50&lt;/inf&gt; only hides a lot of interesting information on the disassembly process and can, in some cases, lead to incorrect conclusions on the relative importance of species in food webs.</p>

STRIBOB: Authenticated Encryption from GOST R 34.11-2012 LPS Permutation.

Authenticated encryption algorithms protect both the confidentiality and integrity of messages in a single processing pass. We show how to utilize the L���P ���S transform of the Russian GOST R 34.11-2012 standard hash ���Streebog��� to build an efficient, lightweight algorithm for Authenticated Encryption with Associated Data (AEAD) via the Sponge construction. The proposed algorithm ���StriBob��� has attractive security properties, is faster than the Streebog hash alone, twice as fast as the GOST 28147-89 encryption algorithm, and requires only a modest amount of running-time memory. StriBob is a Round 1 candidate in the CAESAR competition.