Moderate Champagne consumption promotes an acute improvement in acute endothelial-independent vascular function in healthy human volunteers

Epidemiological studies have suggested an inverse correlation between red wine consumption and the incidence of CVD. However, Champagne wine has not been fully investigated for its cardioprotective potential. In order to assess whether acute and moderate Champagne wine consumption is capable of modulating vascular function, we performed a randomised, placebo-controlled, cross-over intervention trial. We show that consumption of Champagne wine, but not a control matched for alcohol, carbohydrate and fruit-derived acid content, induced an acute change in endothelium-independent vasodilatation at 4 and 8 h post-consumption. Although both Champagne wine and the control also induced an increase in endothelium-dependent vascular reactivity at 4 h, there was no significant difference between the vascular effects induced by Champagne or the control at any time point. These effects were accompanied by an acute decrease in the concentration of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP-9), a significant decrease in plasma levels of oxidising species and an increase in urinary excretion of a number of phenolic metabolites. In particular, the mean total excretion of hippuric acid, protocatechuic acid and isoferulic acid were all significantly greater following the Champagne wine intervention compared with the control intervention. Our data suggest that a daily moderate consumption of Champagne wine may improve vascular performance via the delivery of phenolic constituents capable of improving NO bioavailability and reducing matrix metalloproteinase activity.

Moderate fish-oil supplementation reverses low-platelet, long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid status and reduces plasma triacylglycerol concentrations in British Indo-Asians

Background: The mechanisms involved in the increased mortality from coronary artery disease in British Indo-Asians are not well understood. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate whether British Indo-Asian Sikhs have higher plasma triacylglycerol concentrations, lower platelet phospholipid levels, and lower dietary intakes of long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) than do age- and weight-matched Europeans and whether moderate dietary fish-oil intake can reverse these differences. Design: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel, fish-oil intervention study was performed. After a 2-wk run-in period, 44 Europeans and 40 Indo-Asian Sikhs were randomly assigned to receive either 4.0 g fish oil [1.5 g eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and 1.0 g docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)] or 4.0 g olive oil (control) daily for 12 wk. Results: At baseline, the Indo-Asians had significantly higher plasma triacylglycerol, small dense LDL, apolipoprotein B, and dietary and platelet phospholipid n-6 PUFA values and significantly lower long-chain n-3 PUFAs (EPA and DHA) than did the Europeans. A significant decrease in plasma triacylglycerol, plasma apolipoprotein B-48, and platelet phospholipid arachidonic acid concentrations and a significant increase in plasma HDL concentrations and platelet phospholipid EPA and DHA levels were observed after fish-oil supplementation. No significant effect of ethnicity on the responses to fish-oil supplementation was observed. Conclusions: Moderate fish-oil supplementation contributes to a reversal of lipid abnormalities and low n-3 PUFA levels in Indo-Asians and should be considered as an important, yet simple, dietary manipulation to reduce CAD risk in Indo-Asians with an atherogenic lipoprotein phenotype.

Bromelain as an adjunctive treatment for moderate-to-severe osteoarthritis of the knee: a randomized placebo-controlled pilot study

Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee is the most prevalent joint disorder. Previous studies suggest that bromelain, a pineapple extract, may be a safer alternative/adjunctive treatment for knee OA than current conventional treatment. Aim: To assess the efficacy of bromelain in treating OA of the knee. Design: Randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled trial. Methods: Subjects (n=47) with a confirmed diagnosis of moderate to severe knee OA were randomized to 12 weeks of bromelain 800 mg/day or placebo, with a 4-week follow-up. Knee (pain, stiffness and function) and quality-of-life symptoms were reported monthly in the WOMAC and SF36 questionnaires, respectively. Adverse events were also recorded. The primary outcome measure was the change in total WOMAC score from baseline to the end of treatment at week 12. Longitudinal models were used to evaluate outcome. Results: Thirty-one patients completed the trial (14 bromelain, 17 placebo). No statistically significant differences were observed between groups for the primary outcome (coefficient 11.16, p=0.27, 95%CI-8.86 to 31.18), nor the WOMAC subscales or SF36. Both treatment groups showed clinically relevant improvement in the WOMAC disability subscale only. Adverse events were generally mild in nature. Discussion: This study suggests that bromelain is not efficacious as an adjunctive treatment of moderate to severe OA, but its limitations support the need for a follow-up study.

Auditory distraction from low-intensity noise: a review of the consequences for learning and workplace environments

The 'irrelevant sound effect' in short-term memory is commonly believed to entail a number of direct consequences for cognitive performance in the office and other workplaces (e.g. S. P. Banbury, S. Tremblay, W. J. Macken, & D. M. Jones, 2001). It may also help to identify what types of sound are most suitable as auditory warning signals. However, the conclusions drawn are based primarily upon evidence from a single task (serial recall) and a single population (young adults). This evidence is reconsidered from the standpoint of different worker populations confronted with common workplace tasks and auditory environments. Recommendations are put forward for factors to be considered when assessing the impact of auditory distraction in the workplace. Copyright (c) 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Surface based hypothesis verification in intensity images using geometric and appearance data

In this paper we discuss current work concerning Appearance-based and CAD-based vision; two opposing vision strategies. CAD-based vision is geometry based, reliant on having complete object centred models. Appearance-based vision builds view dependent models from training images. Existing CAD-based vision systems that work with intensity images have all used one and zero dimensional features, for example lines, arcs, points and corners. We describe a system we have developed for combining these two strategies. Geometric models are extracted from a commercial CAD library of industry standard parts. Surface appearance characteristics are then learnt automatically by observing actual object instances. This information is combined with geometric information and is used in hypothesis evaluation. This augmented description improves the systems robustness to texture, specularities and other artifacts which are hard to model with geometry alone, whilst maintaining the advantages of a geometric description.

The impact of minimum services laws on real estate brokerage competitive intensity

As many as fourteen US states have now mandated minimum service requirements for real estate brokerage relationships in residential transactions. This study attempts to determine whether these minimum service laws have any impact on brokerage competition. Federal government agencies allege such laws discourage competition because they limit the offering of nontraditional brokerage services. However, alternatively, a legislative “bright line” definition of the lowest level of acceptable service may reduce any perceived risk in offering non-traditional brokerage services and therefore encourage competition. Using several empirical strategies and state-level data over nine years (2000-08), we do not find any consistent and significant impact (positive/negative) of minimum services laws on number of licensees per 100 households, our proxy for competition. Interestingly, we also find that association strength, as measured by Realtor association membership penetration, has a strong deterring effect on competition.

An improved lesion detection approach based on similarity measurement between fuzzy intensity segmentation and spatial probability maps

The application of automatic segmentation methods in lesion detection is desirable. However, such methods are restricted by intensity similarities between lesioned and healthy brain tissue. Using multi-spectral magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) modalities may overcome this problem but it is not always practicable. In this article, a lesion detection approach requiring a single MRI modality is presented, which is an improved method based on a recent publication. This new method assumes that a low similarity should be found in the regions of lesions when the likeness between an intensity based fuzzy segmentation and a location based tissue probabilities is measured. The usage of a normalized similarity measurement enables the current method to fine-tune the threshold for lesion detection, thus maximizing the possibility of reaching high detection accuracy. Importantly, an extra cleaning step is included in the current approach which removes enlarged ventricles from detected lesions. The performance investigation using simulated lesions demonstrated that not only the majority of lesions were well detected but also normal tissues were identified effectively. Tests on images acquired in stroke patients further confirmed the strength of the method in lesion detection. When compared with the previous version, the current approach showed a higher sensitivity in detecting small lesions and had less false positives around the ventricle and the edge of the brain

Targeted observations of a polar low in the Norwegian sea

A developing polar low is targeted with dropsonde observations to improve the forecast of its landfall. Accurately forecasting a polar low's strength and location remains a challenge; polar lows form over the ocean in poorly observed regions, therefore initial condition errors may contribute significantly to forecast error. The targeted polar low formed in the Norwegian Sea on 3 March 2008, during the Norwegian IPY-THORPEX field campaign. Two flights, six hours apart, released dense networks of dropsondes into a sensitive region covering the polar low and Arctic front to its west. The impact of the targeted observations is assessed using the limited-area Met Office Unified Model and three-dimensional variational (3D-Var) data assimilation scheme. Forecasts were verified using ECMWF analysis data, which show good agreement with both dropsonde data from a flight through the mature polar low, and 10 m QuikSCAT winds. The impact of the targeted data moved southwards with the polar low as it developed and then hit the Norwegian coast after 24 hours. The results show that the forecast of the polar low is sensitive to the initial conditions; targeted observations from the first flight did not improve the forecast, but those from the second flight clearly improved the forecast polar low position and intensity. However, caution should be applied to attributing the forecast improvement to the assimilation of the targeted observations from a single case-study, especially in this case as the forecast improvement is moderate relative to the spread from an operational ensemble forecast

Will the South Asian monsoon overturning circulation stabilize any further?

Understanding the response of the South Asian monsoon (SAM) system to global climate change is an interesting scientific problem that has enormous implications from the societal viewpoint. While the CMIP3 projections of future changes in monsoon precipitation used in the IPCC AR4 show major uncertainties, there is a growing recognition that the rapid increase of moisture in a warming climate can potentially enhance the stability of the large-scale tropical circulations. In this work, the authors have examined the stability of the SAM circulation based on diagnostic analysis of climate datasets over the past half century; and addressed the issue of likely future changes in the SAM in response to global warming using simulations from an ultrahigh resolution (20 km) global climate model. Additional sensitivity experiments using a simplified atmospheric model have been presented to supplement the overall findings. The results here suggest that the intensity of the boreal summer monsoon overturning circulation and the associated southwesterly monsoon flow have significantly weakened during the past 50-years. The weakening trend of the monsoon circulation is further corroborated by a significant decrease in the frequency of moderate-to-heavy monsoon rainfall days and upward vertical velocities particularly over the narrow mountain ranges of the Western Ghats. Based on simulations from the 20-km ultra high-resolution model, it is argued that a stabilization (weakening) of the summer monsoon Hadley-type circulation in response to global warming can potentially lead to a weakened large-scale monsoon flow thereby resulting in weaker vertical velocities and reduced orographic precipitation over the narrow Western Ghat mountains by the end of the twenty-first century. Supplementary experiments using a simplified atmospheric model indicate a high sensitivity of the large-scale monsoon circulation to atmospheric stability in comparison with the effects of condensational heating.

Spatial disaggregation and intensity correction of TRMM-based rainfall time series for hydrological applications in dryland catchments

A novel approach is presented for combining spatial and temporal detail from newly available TRMM-based data sets to derive hourly rainfall intensities at 1-km spatial resolution for hydrological modelling applications. Time series of rainfall intensities derived from 3-hourly 0.25° TRMM 3B42 data are merged with a 1-km gridded rainfall climatology based on TRMM 2B31 data to account for the sub-grid spatial distribution of rainfall intensities within coarse-scale 0.25° grid cells. The method is implemented for two dryland catchments in Tunisia and Senegal, and validated against gauge data. The outcomes of the validation show that the spatially disaggregated and intensity corrected TRMM time series more closely approximate ground-based measurements than non-corrected data. The method introduced here enables the generation of rainfall intensity time series with realistic temporal and spatial detail for dynamic modelling of runoff and infiltration processes that are especially important to water resource management in arid regions.

Symmetry-break in Voronoi tessellations

We analyse in a common framework the properties of the Voronoi tessellations resulting from regular 2D and 3D crystals and those of tessellations generated by Poisson distributions of points, thus joining on symmetry breaking processes and the approach to uniform random distributions of seeds. We perturb crystalline structures in 2D and 3D with a spatial Gaussian noise whose adimensional strength is α and analyse the statistical properties of the cells of the resulting Voronoi tessellations using an ensemble approach. In 2D we consider triangular, square and hexagonal regular lattices, resulting into hexagonal, square and triangular tessellations, respectively. In 3D we consider the simple cubic (SC), body-centred cubic (BCC), and face-centred cubic (FCC) crystals, whose corresponding Voronoi cells are the cube, the truncated octahedron, and the rhombic dodecahedron, respectively. In 2D, for all values α>0, hexagons constitute the most common class of cells. Noise destroys the triangular and square tessellations, which are structurally unstable, as their topological properties are discontinuous in α=0. On the contrary, the honeycomb hexagonal tessellation is topologically stable and, experimentally, all Voronoi cells are hexagonal for small but finite noise with α<0.12. Basically, the same happens in the 3D case, where only the tessellation of the BCC crystal is topologically stable even against noise of small but finite intensity. In both 2D and 3D cases, already for a moderate amount of Gaussian noise (α>0.5), memory of the specific initial unperturbed state is lost, because the statistical properties of the three perturbed regular tessellations are indistinguishable. When α>2, results converge to those of Poisson-Voronoi tessellations. In 2D, while the isoperimetric ratio increases with noise for the perturbed hexagonal tessellation, for the perturbed triangular and square tessellations it is optimised for specific value of noise intensity. The same applies in 3D, where noise degrades the isoperimetric ratio for perturbed FCC and BCC lattices, whereas the opposite holds for perturbed SCC lattices. This allows for formulating a weaker form of the Kelvin conjecture. By analysing jointly the statistical properties of the area and of the volume of the cells, we discover that also the cells shape heavily fluctuates when noise is introduced in the system. In 2D, the geometrical properties of n-sided cells change with α until the Poisson-Voronoi limit is reached for α>2; in this limit the Desch law for perimeters is shown to be not valid and a square root dependence on n is established, which agrees with exact asymptotic results. Anomalous scaling relations are observed between the perimeter and the area in the 2D and between the areas and the volumes of the cells in 3D: except for the hexagonal (2D) and FCC structure (3D), this applies also for infinitesimal noise. In the Poisson-Voronoi limit, the anomalous exponent is about 0.17 in both the 2D and 3D case. A positive anomaly in the scaling indicates that large cells preferentially feature large isoperimetric quotients. As the number of faces is strongly correlated with the sphericity (cells with more faces are bulkier), in 3D it is shown that the anomalous scaling is heavily reduced when we perform power law fits separately on cells with a specific number of faces.