Tree-code simulations of proton acceleration from laser-irradiated wire targets

Recent experiments using Terawatt lasers to accelerate protons deposited on thin wire targets are modeled with a new type of gridless plasma simulation code. In contrast to conventional mesh-based methods, this technique offers a unique capability in emulating the complex geometry and open-ended boundary conditions characteristic of contemporary experimental conditions. Comparisons of ion acceleration are made between the tree code and standard particle-in-cell simulations for a typical collisionless

Tree-Based Adaptive Spatial Detection for Adaptive Modulated MIMO Systems

Adaptive Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) systems achieve a much higher information rate than conventional fixed schemes due to their ability to adapt their configurations according to the wireless communications environment. However, current adaptive MIMO detection schemes exhibit either low performance (and hence low spectral efficiency) or huge computational
complexity. In particular, whilst deterministic Sphere Decoder (SD) detection schemes are well established for static MIMO systems, exhibiting deterministic parallel structure, low computational complexity and quasi-ML detection performance, there are no corresponding adaptive schemes. This paper solves
this problem, describing a hybrid tree based adaptive modulation detection scheme. Fixed Complexity Sphere Decoding (FSD) and Real-Values FSD (RFSD) are modified and combined into a hybrid scheme exploited at low and medium SNR to provide the highest possible information rate with quasi-ML Bit Error
Rate (BER) performance, while Reduced Complexity RFSD, BChase and Decision Feedback (DFE) schemes are exploited in the high SNR regions. This algorithm provides the facility to balance the detection complexity with BER performance with compatible information rate in dynamic, adaptive MIMO communications
environments.

Arsenic limits Trace Mineral Nutrition (Selenium, Zinc, and Nickel) in Bangladesh Rice Grain

A reconnaissance of 23 paddy fields, from three Bangladesh districts, encompassing a total of 230 soil and rice plant samples was conducted to identify the extent to which trace element characteristics in soils and irrigation waters are reflected by the harvested rice crop. Field sites were located on two soil physiographic units with distinctly different As soil baseline and groundwater concentrations. For arsenic (As), both straw and grain trends closely fitted patterns observed for the soils and water. Grain concentration characteristics for selenium (Se), zinc (Zn), and nickel (Ni), however, were markedly different. Regressions of shoot and grain As against grain Se, Zn, and Ni were highly significant (P <0.001), exhibiting a pronounced decline in grain trace-nutrient quality with increasing As content. To validate this further, a pot experiment cultivar screening trial, involving commonly cultivated high yielding variety (HYV) rice grown alongside two U.S. rice varieties characterized as being As tolerant and susceptible, was conducted on an As-amended uniform soil. Findings from the trial confirmed that As perturbed grain metal(loid) balances, resulting in severe yield reductions in addition to constraining the levels of Se, Zn, and Ni in the grain.

VQ tree search system based on bit level systolic arrays

A bit-level systolic array system for performing a binary tree vector quantization (VQ) codebook search is described. This is based on a highly regular VLSI building block circuit. The system in question exhibits a very high data rate suitable for a range of real-time applications. A technique is described which reduces the storage requirements of such a system by 50%, with a corresponding decrease in hardware complexity.

A bit-level systolic architecture for implementing a VQ tree search

A bit-level systolic array system for performing a binary tree Vector Quantization codebook search is described. This consists of a linear chain of regular VLSI building blocks and exhibits data rates suitable for a wide range of real-time applications. A technique is described which reduces the computation required at each node in the binary tree to that of a single inner product operation. This method applies to all the common distortion measures (including the Euclidean distance, the Weighted Euclidean distance and the Itakura-Saito distortion measure) and significantly reduces the hardware required to implement the tree search system. © 1990 Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Tea tree oil (5%) body wash versus standard care (Johnson's Baby Softwash) to prevent colonization with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in critically ill adults::a randomized controlled trial

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether the daily use of 5% tea tree oil (TTO) body wash (Novabac 5% Skin Wash) compared with standard care [Johnson's Baby Softwash (JBS)] had a lower incidence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) colonization.

PATIENTS: The study setting was two intensive care units (ICUs; mixed medical, surgical and trauma) in Northern Ireland between October 2007 and July 2009. The study population comprised 391 patients who were randomized to JBS or TTO body wash.

METHODS: This was a Phase 2/3, prospective, open-label, randomized, controlled trial. Trial registration: ISRCTN65190967. The primary outcome was new MRSA colonization during ICU stay. Secondary outcomes included the incidence of MRSA bacteraemia and maximum increase in sequential organ failure assessment score.

RESULTS: A total of 445 patients were randomized to the study. After randomization, 54 patients were withdrawn; 30 because of a positive MRSA screen at study entry, 11 due to lack of consent, 11 were inappropriately randomized and 2 had adverse reactions. Thirty-nine (10%) patients developed new MRSA colonization (JBS n?=?22, 11.2%; TTO body wash n?=?17, 8.7%). The difference in percentage colonized (2.5%, 95% CI -?8.95 to 3.94; P?=?0.50) was not significant. The mean maximum increase in sequential organ failure assessment score was not significant (JBS 1.44, SD 1.92; TTO body wash 1.28, SD 1.79; P?=?0.85) and no study patients developed MRSA bacteraemia.

CONCLUSIONS: Compared with JBS, TTO body wash cannot be recommended as an effective means of reducing MRSA colonization.

Integrating nutrition and immunology: A new frontier

Nutrition is critical to immune defence and parasite resistance, which not only affects individual organisms, but also has profound ecological and evolutionary consequences. Nutrition and immunity are complex traits that interact via multiple direct and indirect pathways, including the direct effects of nutrition on host immunity but also indirect effects mediated by the host's microbiota and pathogen populations. The challenge remains, however, to capture the complexity of the network of interactions that defines nutritional immunology. The aim of this paper is to discuss the recent findings in nutritional research in the context of immunological studies. By taking examples from the entomological literature, we argue that insects provide a powerful tool for examining the network of interactions between nutrition and immunity due to their tractability, short lifespan and ethical considerations. We describe the relationships between dietary composition, immunity, disease and microbiota in insects, and highlight the importance of adopting an integrative and multi-dimensional approach to nutritional immunology. 

Session 4: Getting balanced nutrition messages across Nutrition communication: consumer perceptions and predicting intentions

Health claims on food products, which aim at informing the public about the health benefits of the product, represent one type of nutrition communication; the use of these is regulated by the European Union. This paper provides an overview of the research on health claims, including consumers' perceptions of such claims and their intention to buy products that carry health-related claims. This is followed by a discussion on the results from some recent studies investigating public perceptions and willingness to use products with health claims. In these studies, claims are presented in the form of messages of different lengths, types, framing, with and without qualifying words and symbols. They also investigate how perceptions and intentions are affected by individual needs and product characteristics. Results show that adding health claims to products does increase their perceived healthiness. Claim structure was found to make a difference to perceptions, but its influence depended on the level of relevance, familiarity and individuals' need for information. Further, the type of health benefit proposed and the base product used also affected perceptions of healthiness. The paper concludes that while healthiness perceptions relating to products with health claims may vary between men and women, old and young and between countries, the main factor influencing perceived healthiness and intention to buy a product with health claim is personal relevance.