Iron and zinc status in multiple sclerosis patients with pressure sores

Measurements of weighted dietary intakes and plasma determinations of albumin, iron, zinc, ascorbic acid and TIBC were carried out on twenty female multiple sclerosis patients in a long-stay hospital for disabled people. The group included ten patients with a recent history of pressure sores, closely matched with ten patients without pressure sores. Mean daily intake of carbohydrate was found to be higher in the non-pressure sore group whilst intake of zinc was lower in this group. Intakes of all other nutrients were comparable between the two groups. For both groups, intakes of energy, folate, vitamin D, iron and zinc were less than recommended values. Mean plasma levels of albumin and iron were towards the lower limit of the normal range, whilst that for zinc was considerably less than the normal range. Plasma TIBC was slightly above the normal range. Levels of plasma iron and zinc were significantly lower in the pressure sore group. The data indicate that severely disabled hospitalized patients with multiple sclerosis may be at risk of poor nutritional status. The results suggest that in the presence of pressure sores, there are increased requirements for specific nutrients, notably zinc and iron. Consideration is given to the possible value of supplementation of these individuals.

Linear-wavelet models for non-linear identification applied to a pressure plant

A nonlinear regression structure comprising a wavelet network and a linear term is proposed for system identification. The theoretical foundation of the approach is laid by proving that radial wavelets are orthogonal to linear functions. A constructive procedure for building such models is described and the approach is tested with experimental data.

Consistent approximate models of the global atmosphere: shallow, deep, hydrostatic, quasi-hydrostatic and non-hydrostatic

We study global atmosphere models that are at least as accurate as the hydrostatic primitive equations (HPEs), reviewing known results and reporting some new ones. The HPEs make spherical geopotential and shallow atmosphere approximations in addition to the hydrostatic approximation. As is well known, a consistent application of the shallow atmosphere approximation requires omission of those Coriolis terms that vary as the cosine of latitude and of certain other terms in the components of the momentum equation. An approximate model is here regarded as consistent if it formally preserves conservation principles for axial angular momentum, energy and potential vorticity, and (following R. Müller) if its momentum component equations have Lagrange's form. Within these criteria, four consistent approximate global models, including the HPEs themselves, are identified in a height-coordinate framework. The four models, each of which includes the spherical geopotential approximation, correspond to whether the shallow atmosphere and hydrostatic (or quasi-hydrostatic) approximations are individually made or not made. Restrictions on representing the spatial variation of apparent gravity occur. Solution methods and the situation in a pressure-coordinate framework are discussed. © Crown copyright 2005.

Pressure-jump X-ray studies of liquid crystal transitions in lipids

In this paper, we give an overview of our studies by static and time-resolved X-ray diffraction of inverse cubic phases and phase transitions in lipids. In 1, we briefly discuss the lyotropic phase behaviour of lipids, focusing attention on non-lamellar structures, and their geometric/topological relationship to fusion processes in lipid membranes. Possible pathways for transitions between different cubic phases are also outlined. In 2, we discuss the effects of hydrostatic pressure on lipid membranes and lipid phase transitions, and describe how the parameters required to predict the pressure dependence of lipid phase transition temperatures can be conveniently measured. We review some earlier results of inverse bicontinuous cubic phases from our laboratory, showing effects such as pressure-induced formation and swelling. In 3, we describe the technique of pressure-jump synchrotron X-ray diffraction. We present results that have been obtained from the lipid system 1:2 dilauroylphosphatidylcholine/lauric acid for cubic-inverse hexagonal, cubic-cubic and lamellar-cubic transitions. The rate of transition was found to increase with the amplitude of the pressure-jump and with increasing temperature. Evidence for intermediate structures occurring transiently during the transitions was also obtained. In 4, we describe an IDL-based 'AXCESS' software package being developed in our laboratory to permit batch processing and analysis of the large X-ray datasets produced by pressure-jump synchrotron experiments. In 5, we present some recent results on the fluid lamellar-Pn3m cubic phase transition of the single-chain lipid 1-monoelaidin, which we have studied both by pressure-jump and temperature-jump X-ray diffraction. Finally, in 6, we give a few indicators of future directions of this research. We anticipate that the most useful technical advance will be the development of pressure-jump apparatus on the microsecond time-scale, which will involve the use of a stack of piezoelectric pressure actuators. The pressure-jump technique is not restricted to lipid phase transitions, but can be used to study a wide range of soft matter transitions, ranging from protein unfolding and DNA unwinding and transitions, to phase transitions in thermotropic liquid crystals, surfactants and block copolymers.

Opportunities and challenges in high pressure processing of foods

Consumers increasingly demand convenience foods of the highest quality in terms of natural flavor and taste, and which are freedom additives and preservatives. This demand has triggered the need for the development of a number of nonthermal approaches to food processing, of which high-pressure technology has proven to be very valuable. A number of recent publications have demonstrated novel and diverse uses of this technology. Its novel features, which include destruction of microorganisms at room temperature or lower, have made the technology commerically attractive. Enzymes forming bacteria can be by the application of pressure-thermal combinations. This review aims to identify the opportunities and challenges associated with this technology. In addition to discussing the effects of high pressure on food components, this review covers the combined effects of high pressure processing with: gamma irradiation, alternating current, ultrasound, and carbon dioxide or anti-microbial treatment. Further, the applications of this technology in various sectors-fruits and vegetables, dairy and meat processing-have been dealt with extensively. The integration of high-pressure with other matured processing operations such as blanching, dehydration, osmotic dehydration, rehyrdration, frying, freezing/thawing and solid-liquid extraction has been shown to open up new processing options. The key challenges identified include: heat transfer problems and resulting non-uniformity in processing, obtaining reliable and reproducible data, for process validation, lack of detailed knowledge about the interaction between high pressure, and a number of food constituents, packaging and statutory issues.

New mathematical modeling approach for predicting microbial inactivation by high hydrostatic pressure

A new primary model based on a thermodynamically consistent first-order kinetic approach was constructed to describe non-log-linear inactivation kinetics of pressure-treated bacteria. The model assumes a first-order process in which the specific inactivation rate changes inversely with the square root of time. The model gave reasonable fits to experimental data over six to seven orders of magnitude. It was also tested on 138 published data sets and provided good fits in about 70% of cases in which the shape of the curve followed the typical convex upward form. In the remainder of published examples, curves contained additional shoulder regions or extended tail regions. Curves with shoulders could be accommodated by including an additional time delay parameter and curves with tails shoulders could be accommodated by omitting points in the tail beyond the point at which survival levels remained more or less constant. The model parameters varied regularly with pressure, which may reflect a genuine mechanistic basis for the model. This property also allowed the calculation of (a) parameters analogous to the decimal reduction time D and z, the temperature increase needed to change the D value by a factor of 10, in thermal processing, and hence the processing conditions needed to attain a desired level of inactivation; and (b) the apparent thermodynamic volumes of activation associated with the lethal events. The hypothesis that inactivation rates changed as a function of the square root of time would be consistent with a diffusion-limited process.

Turbulence dynamics near a turbulent/non-turbulent interface

The characteristics of the boundary layer separating a turbulence region from an irrotational (or non-turbulent) flow region are investigated using rapid distortion theory (RDT). The turbulence region is approximated as homogeneous and isotropic far away from the bounding turbulent/non-turbulent (T/NT) interface, which is assumed to remain approximately flat. Inviscid effects resulting from the continuity of the normal velocity and pressure at the interface, in addition to viscous effects resulting from the continuity of the tangential velocity and shear stress, are taken into account by considering a sudden insertion of the T/NT interface, in the absence of mean shear. Profiles of the velocity variances, turbulent kinetic energy (TKE), viscous dissipation rate (epsilon), turbulence length scales, and pressure statistics are derived, showing an excellent agreement with results from direct numerical simulations (DNS). Interestingly, the normalized inviscid flow statistics at the T/NT interface do not depend on the form of the assumed TKE spectrum. Outside the turbulent region, where the flow is irrotational (except inside a thin viscous boundary layer), epsilon decays as z^{-6}, where z is the distance from the T/NT interface. The mean pressure distribution is calculated using RDT, and exhibits a decrease towards the turbulence region due to the associated velocity fluctuations, consistent with the generation of a mean entrainment velocity. The vorticity variance and epsilon display large maxima at the T/NT interface due to the inviscid discontinuities of the tangential velocity variances existing there, and these maxima are quantitatively related to the thickness delta of the viscous boundary layer (VBL). For an equilibrium VBL, the RDT analysis suggests that delta ~ eta (where eta is the Kolmogorov microscale), which is consistent with the scaling law identified in a very recent DNS study for shear-free T/NT interfaces.

Superfast non-linear diffusion: capillary transport in particulate porous media

The migration of liquids in porous media, such as sand, has been commonly considered at high saturation levels with liquid pathways at pore dimensions. In this letter we reveal a low saturation regime observed in our experiments with droplets of extremely low volatility liquids deposited on sand. In this regime the liquid is mostly found within the grain surface roughness and in the capillary bridges formed at the contacts between the grains. The bridges act as variable-volume reservoirs and the flow is driven by the capillary pressure arising at the wetting front according to the roughness length scales. We propose that this migration (spreading) is the result of interplay between the bridge volume adjustment to this pressure distribution and viscous losses of a creeping flow within the roughness. The net macroscopic result is a special case of non-linear diffusion described by a superfast diffusion equation (SFDE) for saturation with distinctive mathematical character. We obtain solutions to a moving boundary problem defined by SFDE that robustly convey a time power law of spreading as seen in our experiments.

Characterization and antimicrobial efficacy against E. coli of a helium/air plasma at atmospheric pressure created in a plastic package

A plasma source, sustained by the application of a floating high voltage (±15 kV) to parallel-plate electrodes at 50 Hz, has been achieved in a helium/air mixture at atmospheric pressure (P = 105 Pa) contained in a zip-locked plastic package placed in the electrode gap. Some of the physical and antimicrobial properties of this apparatus were established with a view to ascertain its performance as a prototype for the disinfection of fresh produce. The current–voltage (I–V) and charge–voltage (Q–V) characteristics of the system were measured as a function of gap distance d, in the range (3 × 103 ≤ Pd ≤ 1.0 × 104 Pa m). The electrical measurements showed this plasma source to exhibit the characteristic behaviour of a dielectric barrier discharge in the filamentary mode and its properties could be accurately interpreted by the two-capacitance in series model. The power consumed by the discharge and the reduced field strength were found to decrease quadratically from 12.0 W to 4.5 W and linearly from 140 Td to 50 Td, respectively, in the range studied. Emission spectra of the discharge were recorded on a relative intensity scale and the dominant spectral features could be assigned to strong vibrational bands in the 2+ and 1− systems of N2 and ${\rm N}_2^+$ , respectively, with other weak signatures from the NO and OH radicals and the N+, He and O atomic species. Absolute spectral intensities were also recorded and interpreted by comparison with the non-equilibrium synthetic spectra generated by the computer code SPECAIR. At an inter-electrode gap of 0.04 m, this comparison yielded typical values for the electron, vibrational and translational (gas) temperatures of (4980 ± 100) K, (2700 ± 200) K and (300 ± 100) K, respectively and an electron density of 1.0 × 1017 m−3. A Boltzmann plot also provided a value of (3200 ± 200 K) for the vibrational temperature. The antimicrobial efficacy was assessed by studying the resistance of both Escherichia coli K12 its isogenic mutants in soxR, soxS, oxyR, rpoS and dnaK selected to identify possible cellular responses and targets related with 5 min exposure to the active gas in proximity of, but not directly in, the path of the discharge filaments. Both the parent strain and mutants populations were significantly reduced by more than 1.5 log cycles in these conditions, showing the potential of the system. Post-treatment storage studies showed that some transcription regulators and specific genes related to oxidative stress play an important role in the E. coli repair mechanism and that plasma exposure affects specific cell regulator systems.

Evaluating the potential of high pressure high temperature and thermal processing on volatile compounds, nutritional and structural properties of orange and yellow carrots

The present study compares the impact of thermal and high pressure high temperature(HPHT) processing on volatile profile (via a non-targeted headspace fingerprinting) and structural and nutritional quality parameter (via targeted approaches) of orange and yellow carrot purees. The effect of oil enrichment was also considered. Since oil enrichment affects compounds volatility, the effect of oil was not studied when comparing the volatile fraction. For the targeted part, as yellow carrot purees were shown to contain a very low amount of carotenoids, focus was given to orange carrot purees. The results of the non-targeted approach demonstrated HPHT processing exerts a distinct effect on the volatile fractions compared to thermal processing. In addition, different colored carrot varieties are characterized by distinct headspace fingerprints. From a structural point of view, limited or no difference could be observed between orange carrot purees treated with HPHT or HT processes, both for samples without and with oil. From nutritional point of view, only in samples with oil, significant isomerisation of all-trans-β-carotene occurred due to both processing. Overall, for this type of product and for the selected conditions, HPHT processing seems to have a different impact on the volatile profile but rather similar impact on the structural and nutritional attributes compared to thermal processing.

Casein-derived lactotripeptides reduce systolic and diastolic blood pressure in a meta-analysis of randomised clinical trials

There is an urgent need to treat individuals with high blood pressure (BP) with effective dietary strategies. Previous studies suggest a small, but significant decrease in BP after lactotripeptides (LTP) ingestion, although the data are inconsistent. The study aim was to perform a comprehensive meta-analysis of data from all relevant randomised controlled trials (RCT). Medline, Cochrane library, EMBASE and Web of Science were searched until May 2014. Eligibility criteria were RCT that examined the effects of LTP on BP in adults, with systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) as outcome measures. Thirty RCT met the inclusion criteria, which resulted in 33 sets of data. The pooled treatment effect for SBP was −2.95 mmHg (95% CI: −4.17, −1.73; p < 0.001), and for DBP was −1.51 mmHg (95% CI: −2.21, −0.80; p < 0.001). Sub-group analyses revealed that reduction of BP in Japanese studies was significantly greater, compared with European studies (p = 0.002 for SBP and p < 0.001 for DBP). The 24-h ambulatory BP (AMBP) response to LTP supplementation was statistically non-significant (p = 0.101 for SBP and p = 0.166 for DBP). Both publication bias and “small-study effect” were identified, which shifted the treatment effect towards less significant SBP and non-significant DBP reduction after LTP consumption. LTP may be effective in BP reduction, especially in Japanese individuals; however sub-group, meta-regression analyses and statistically significant publication biases suggest inconsistencies.

Preferred response of the East Asian summer monsoon to local and non-local anthropogenic sulphur dioxide emissions

In this study, the atmospheric component of a state-of-the-art climate model (HadGEM2-ES) that includes earth system components such as interactive chemistry and eight species of tropospheric aerosols considering aerosol direct, indirect, and semi-direct effects, has been used to investigate the impacts of local and non-local emissions of anthropogenic sulphur dioxide on the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM). The study focuses on the fast responses (including land surface feedbacks, but without sea surface temperature feedbacks) to sudden changes in emissions from Asia and Europe. The initial responses, over days 1–40, to Asian and European emissions show large differences. The response to Asian emissions involves a direct impact on the sulphate burden over Asia, with immediate consequences for the shortwave energy budget through aerosol–radiation and aerosol–cloud interactions. These changes lead to cooling of East Asia and a weakening of the EASM. In contrast, European emissions have no significant impact on the sulphate burden over Asia, but they induce mid-tropospheric cooling and drying over the European sector. Subsequently, however, this cold and dry anomaly is advected into Asia, where it induces atmospheric and surface feedbacks over Asia and the Western North Pacific (WNP), which also weaken the EASM. In spite of very different perturbations to the local aerosol burden in response to Asian and European sulphur dioxide emissions, the large scale pattern of changes in land–sea thermal contrast, atmospheric circulation and local precipitation over East Asia from days 40 onward exhibits similar structures, indicating a preferred response, and suggesting that emissions from both regions likely contributed to the observed weakening of the EASM. Cooling and drying of the troposphere over Asia, together with warming and moistening over the WNP, reduces the land–sea thermal contrast between the Asian continent and surrounding oceans. This leads to high sea level pressure (SLP) anomalies over Asia and low SLP anomalies over the WNP, associated with a weakened EASM. In response to emissions from both regions warming and moistening over the WNP plays an important role and determines the time scale of the response.

Can a native rodent species limit the invasive potential of a non-native rodent species in tropical agroforest habitats?

BACKGROUND Little is known about native and non-native rodent species interactions in complex tropical agro-ecosystems. We hypothesised that the native non-pest rodent Rattus everetti may be competitively dominant over the invasive pest rodent Rattus tanezumi within agroforests. We tested this experimentally by using pulse removal for three consecutive months to reduce populations of R. everetti in agroforest habitat and assessed over 6-months the response of R. tanezumi and other rodent species. RESULTS Following removal, R. everetti individuals rapidly immigrated into removal sites. At the end of the study period, R. tanezumi were larger and there was a significant shift in their microhabitat use with respect to the use of ground vegetation cover following the perturbation of R. everetti. Irrespective of treatment, R. tanezumi selected microhabitat with less tree canopy cover, indicative of severely disturbed habitat, whereas, R. everetti selected microhabitat with a dense canopy. CONCLUSION Our results suggest that sustained habitat disturbance in agroforests favours R. tanezumi, whilst the regeneration of agroforests towards a more natural state would favour native species and may reduce pest pressure in adjacent crops. In addition, the rapid recolonisation of R. everetti suggests this species would be able to recover from non-target impacts of short-term rodent pest control.

Civilian casualties – do we really care? The failure of the revolution in military affairs of non-lethal weapons in the U.S., Russia and Israel

Causing civilian casualties during military operations has become a much politicised topic in international relations since the Second World War. Since the last decade of the 20th century, different scholars and political analysts have claimed that human life is valued more and more among the general international community. This argument has led many researchers to assume that democratic culture and traditions, modern ethical and moral issues have created a desire for a world without war or, at least, a demand that contemporary armed conflicts, if unavoidable, at least have to be far less lethal forcing the military to seek new technologies that can minimise civilian casualties and collateral damage. Non-Lethal Weapons (NLW) – weapons that are intended to minimise civilian casualties and collateral damage – are based on the technology that, during the 1990s, was expected to revolutionise the conduct of warfare making it significantly less deadly. The rapid rise of interest in NLW, ignited by the American military twenty five years ago, sparked off an entirely new military, as well as an academic, discourse concerning their potential contribution to military success on the 21st century battlefields. It seems, however, that except for this debate, very little has been done within the military forces themselves. This research suggests that the roots of this situation are much deeper than the simple professional misconduct of the military establishment, or the poor political behaviour of political leaders, who had sent them to fight. Following the story of NLW in the U.S., Russia and Israel this research focuses on the political and cultural aspects that have been supposed to force the military organisations of these countries to adopt new technologies and operational and organisational concepts regarding NLW in an attempt to minimise enemy civilian casualties during their military operations. This research finds that while American, Russian and Israeli national characters are, undoubtedly, products of the unique historical experience of each one of these nations, all of three pay very little regard to foreigners’ lives. Moreover, while it is generally argued that the international political pressure is a crucial factor that leads to the significant reduction of harmed civilians and destroyed civilian infrastructure, the findings of this research suggest that the American, Russian and Israeli governments are well prepared and politically equipped to fend off international criticism. As the analyses of the American, Russian and Israeli cases reveal, the political-military leaderships of these countries have very little external or domestic reasons to minimise enemy civilian casualties through fundamental-revolutionary change in their conduct of war. In other words, this research finds that employment of NLW have failed because the political leadership asks the militaries to reduce the enemy civilian casualties to a politically acceptable level, rather than to the technologically possible minimum; as in the socio-cultural-political context of each country, support for the former appears to be significantly higher than for the latter.

High hydrostatic pressure blanching of baby spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.)

Given the high susceptibility of baby spinach leaves to thermal processing, the use of high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) is explored as a non-thermal blanching method. The effects of HHP were compared with thermal blanching by following residual activity of polyphenol oxidases and peroxidases, colour retention, chlorophyll and carotenoids content, antioxidant capacity and total polyphenols content. Spinach subjected to 700 MPa at 20 ºC for 15 min represented the best treatment among the conditions studied due to its balanced effect on target enzymes and quality indices. The latter treatment reduced enzyme activities of polyphenol oxidases and peroxidases by 86.4 and 76.7 %, respectively. Furthermore, leaves did not present changes in colour and an increase by 13.6 % and 15.6 % was found in chlorophyll and carotenoids content, respectively; regarding phytochemical compounds, retentions of 28.2 % of antioxidant capacity and 77.1 % of polyphenols content were found. Results demonstrated that HHP (700 MPa) at room temperature, when compared with thermal treatments, presented better retention of polyphenols, not significantly different chlorophyll and carotenoids content and no perceptible differences in the instrumental colour evaluated through ΔE value; therefore, it can be considered a realistic practical alternative to the widely used thermal blanching.