Modelling the consequences of a reduction in alcohol consumption among patients with alcohol dependence based on real-life observational data.

BACKGROUND: Most available pharmacotherapies for alcohol-dependent patients target abstinence; however, reduced alcohol consumption may be a more realistic goal. Using randomized clinical trial (RCT) data, a previous microsimulation model evaluated the clinical relevance of reduced consumption in terms of avoided alcohol-attributable events. Using real-life observational data, the current analysis aimed to adapt the model and confirm previous findings about the clinical relevance of reduced alcohol consumption. METHODS: Based on the prospective observational CONTROL study, evaluating daily alcohol consumption among alcohol-dependent patients, the model predicted the probability of drinking any alcohol during a given day. Predicted daily alcohol consumption was simulated in a hypothetical sample of 200,000 patients observed over a year. Individual total alcohol consumption (TAC) and number of heavy drinking days (HDD) were derived. Using published risk equations, probabilities of alcohol-attributable adverse health events (e.g., hospitalizations or death) corresponding to simulated consumptions were computed, and aggregated for categories of patients defined by HDDs and TAC (expressed per 100,000 patient-years). Sensitivity analyses tested model robustness. RESULTS: Shifting from >220 HDDs per year to 120-140 HDDs and shifting from 36,000-39,000 g TAC per year (120-130 g/day) to 15,000-18,000 g TAC per year (50-60 g/day) impacted substantially on the incidence of events (14,588 and 6148 events avoided per 100,000 patient-years, respectively). Results were robust to sensitivity analyses. CONCLUSIONS: This study corroborates the previous microsimulation modeling approach and, using real-life data, confirms RCT-based findings that reduced alcohol consumption is a relevant objective for consideration in alcohol dependence management to improve public health.

Transgression et initiation : tendances idéologiques et développement littéraire du récit de Genèse 2-3

Several questions about the story of Gen 2-3 remain unresolved in current scholarship. For instance, the implications and manifold consequences of the transgression act - the consumption of the forbidden fruit - are much debated. Interpreters generally agree that the story is connected to several "J" / "non-P" narratives of the primeval history. Besides the use of the tetragrammaton as the designation for God, a common characteristic of these stories is the strong opposition between Yhwh as a harsh deity on one hand and disobedient and transgressing humankind on the other. This paper reconsiders several open questions as well as the aforementioned consensus. The analysis of important motifs in Gen 2-3 leads to the conclusion that this story differs in theologically important ways from the postulated "J"-narrative in Genesis. This indicates that it was not composed as an integral part of that narrative. There are, in Gen 2-3, ideological features and linguistic elements typical of the "J" stratum, but they are all found in the sections that present Yhwh God's investigation and punishment of the couple (3,8-19.24). Since these verses are in tension with or even contradict their immediate context, it should be assigned to a redactional ("J") layer. According to this analysis, the transgression in Gen 2-3 should not be considered a sin. Rather, it is an important step in human evolution towards a self-conscious and autonomous being. The plot has a structure similar to some episodes in ancient Near Eastern myths. 'Initiation' functions as a central theme. Finally, the article discusses the literary milieu of the story. Because of several linguistic and thematic similarities with Gen 1, with P-texts in general, and with the book of Ezekiel, the relationship of Gen 2-3 to these literary entities needs to be reconsidered.

Strong decline in the consumption of invertebrates by barn owls from 1860 to 2012 in Europe

Capsule The analysis of 616 papers about the diet of the European Barn Owl Tyto alba showed that 9678 invertebrates were captured out of 3.13 million prey items (0.31%). The consumption of invertebrates strongly decreased between 1860 and 2012. This further demonstrates that the Barn Owl diet changed to a large extent during the last 150 years.

Simulating fuel consumption and vehicle emissions in an Australian context

Road transport is a major source of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions around the world. There is an increasing interest in accurate information on local vehicle emission levels for policy development and sustainable traffic management. Previous studies have shown that emission predictions for the Australian situation need to reflect both the Australian fleet and driving behaviour to avoid unreliable outcomes. This paper discusses a new Australian vehicle emission software (PΔP) and a case-study where traffic simulation software (Aimsun) is combined with PΔP to demonstrate how consistent results can be achieved for the Australian situation. The case-study is an Australian city modelled using the microscopic simulator to generate the required trajectory data of each individual vehicle for the emission model. The simulation results are used in a number of ways: to assess the impacts of urban driving behaviour on fuel consumption, to create maps showing where and when elevated emission levels occur and to compare results with another program (COPERT Australia). The paper will also discuss where further research is required.

Power Consumption in Carbon Capture and Storage Systems (CCS) and Possibilities to Reduce Power Consumption with Variable Speed Drives

The aim of this master´s thesis is to study which processes increase the auxiliary power consumption in carbon capture and storage processes and if it is possible to reduce the auxiliary power consumption with variable speed drives. Also the cost of carbon capture and storage is studied. Data about auxiliary power consumption in carbon capture is gathered from various studies and estimates made by various research centres. Based on these studies a view is presented how the power auxiliary power consumption is divided between different processes in carbon capture processes. In a literary study, the operation of three basic carbon capture systems is described. Also different methods to transport carbon dioxide and carbon dioxide storage options are described in this section. At the end of the thesis processes that consume most of the auxiliary power are defined and possibilities to reduce the auxiliary power consumption are evaluated. Cost of carbon capture, transport and storage are also evaluated at this point and in the case that the carbon capture and storage systems are fully deployed. According to the results, it can be estimated what are the processes are where variable speed drives can be used and what kind of cost and power consumption reduction could be achieved. Results also show how large a project carbon capture and storage is if it is fully deployed.

The relevance of theobromine for the beneficial effects of cocoa consumption.

Cocoa consumption began in America and in the mid sixteenth Century it quickly spread to Europe. Beyond being considered a pleasant habit due to its rich sweet lingering taste, chocolate was considered a good nutrient and even a medicine. Traditionally, health benefits of cocoa have been related with the high content of antioxidants of Theobroma cocoa beans. However, the direct psychoactive effect due to methylxanthines in cocoa is notable. Theobromine and caffeine, in the proportions found in cocoa, are responsible for the liking of the food/beverage. These compounds influence in a positive way our moods and our state of alertness. Theobromine, which is found in higher amounts than caffeine, seems to be behind several effects attributed to cocoa intake. The main mechanisms of action are inhibition of phosphodiesterases and blockade of adenosine receptors. Further mechanisms are being explored to better understand the health benefits associated to theobromine consumption. Unlike what happens in other mammals -pets- included, theobromine is safe for humans and has fewer unwanted effects than caffeine. Therefore, theobromine deserves attention as one of the most attractive molecules in cocoa.

Taxation of unhealthy consumption of food and drinks: An updated literature review

By means of a literature review this paper aims at shedding more light on the potentialities of unhealthy food/drink taxation in changing eating patterns and life styles and hence combating the obesity epidemic. One remarkable point that emerges when assessing the set of selected papers is the existence of a wide diversity of objectives, methodologies, settings and datasets, policies implemented and results achieved by all these studies, which undoubtedly adds complexity to any attempt to draw a general conclusion on fast food taxation. Most of the examined studies predict a rather modest fiscal impact on unhealthy food and drinks consumption and/or nutrition intake and consequently a poor result on weight loss and obesity, by the interplay of several factors among them the effects of cross-price elasticities.

Taxation of unhealthy consumption of food and drinks: An updated literature review

By means of a literature review this paper aims at shedding more light on the potentialities of unhealthy food/drink taxation in changing eating patterns and life styles and hence combating the obesity epidemic. One remarkable point that emerges when assessing the set of selected papers is the existence of a wide diversity of objectives, methodologies, settings and datasets, policies implemented and results achieved by all these studies, which undoubtedly adds complexity to any attempt to draw a general conclusion on fast food taxation. Most of the examined studies predict a rather modest fiscal impact on unhealthy food and drinks consumption and/or nutrition intake and consequently a poor result on weight loss and obesity, by the interplay of several factors among them the effects of cross-price elasticities.

Control de 6 respiròmetres i anàlisi de les dades

L’aplicació de tècniques respiromètriques és de recent innovació dins l’estudi dels tractaments d’aigües residuals. Aquest conjunt de tècniques ens permeten analitzar dos processos importants dins una planta de tractament biològic: el creixement de la biomassa i el consum del substrat. Això fa que siguin una eina amb gran potencial en l’avaluació dels sistemes de tractament biològic d’aigües residuals. L’objectiu principal d’aquest treball es la realització d’una aplicació capaç de controlar el funcionament de 6 respiròmetres, gestionant el procés del mostreig de les respirometries i l’anàlisi de les dades obtingudes, per obtenir el substrat ràpidament biodegradable (Ss) per a mostres d’aigua residual, i la taxa màxima de creixement específic per a mostres de compost. L’aplicació s’ha desenvolupat sobre l’entorn Microsoft Access, on s’integren la base de dades amb les mostres i els resultats de les respirometries, i els formularis de control que ens permeten gestionar i controlar els processos de mostreig i anàlisi. L’aplicació es comunica amb els sensors i actuadors dels respiròmetres a través del control ActiveX, ADS-OCX, subministrat per TwinCAT, que ens permet capturar les lectures dels sensors i controlar el funcionament dels actuadors. Aquests elements estan connectats a mòduls descentralitzats d’entrades i sortides, comunicats mitjançant el bus Ethernet amb el PC-Industrial, on s’executa l’aplicació. Un cop finalitzada l’aplicació, aquesta controla correctament el mostreig de les respirometries, registrant les lectures de les sondes a la base de dades i controlant l’activació de les vàlvules del respiròmetre. Partint de les mostres obtingudes, o de respirometries externes, importades des de Microsoft Excel, s’ha comprovat el correcte funcionament en el càlcul del substrat ràpidament biodegradable (Ss) i la taxa màxima de creixement específic. Amb l’aplicació desenvolupada, s’ha comprovat el funcionament i les possibilitats que ens ofereix TwinCAT alhora de controlar mòduls d’entrades i sortides, així com la seva comunicació amb aplicacions com Microsoft Access. Això pot afavorir a la utilització d’aquest tipus de tecnologia, per aplicacions futures.

Sensory and Non-sensory Factors Behind the Liking and Choice of Healthy Food Products

A healthy and balanced diet can reduce health problems, such as overweight and metabolic syndrome. In general, people have a considerably good knowledge of what constitutes a healthy diet and how they could achieve it with their food choices. Besides, people argue that health is among their top five food choice motives. Nevertheless, the prevalence of overweight is increasing and other food choice motives, such as taste, seem to conflict with the health. Liking for food does not necessarily determine acceptance alone, thus several non-sensory factors, such as brand, country of origin and nutrition claim, can also influence. Moreover, consumers are individuals in how they prioritize sensory and nonsensory factors of foods, but e.g. increasing age, female gender and health concern have been connected to a more health-oriented dietary behaviour. To sum up, identifying different factors that can increase the liking and consumption of healthy food is essential in order to develop more attractive healthful food products. Adding vitamins, minerals, fibre or other ingredients to a food product can be used to enrich the nutritional quality of the products. However, this may be difficult in practice as regards the sensory quality and pleasantness of the foods. Generally, consumers are not willing to compromise on taste in food. On the other hand, consumers are very heterogeneous in their likings, and their personal values and attitudes may interact with preferences for specific sensory characteristics. The aims of this study were to investigate the effects of intrinsic product characteristics on sensory properties and hedonic responses; to determine the impact of few non-sensory factors; and to examine the interaction between sensory and non-sensory factors with consumers’ demographics, values and attitudes in liking of healthy model foods. The results showed that product composition influenced sensory quality and had an effect on hedonic responses. Adding flaxseed to bakery products showed a significant improvement in the nutritional quality without negative effects on sensory properties. On the other hand, the fortification of wellness beverages with vitamins and minerals may impart off-flavours. In general, sweetness of yoghurts, freshness of wellness beverages and low intensity of rye bread flavour appealed to consumers. Information about the domestic origin of yoghurts and claiming a specific function for wellness beverages enhanced liking. However, consumers who were more concerned about their health and considered natural content as an important food choice motive, rated sourer and less sweet yoghurts and wellness beverages as more pleasant. In addition, interest in health increased the consumption of rye breads and other whole grain breads among adolescents. The results showed that the optimal product quality in terms of intrinsic and extrinsic factors differs between individual consumers, and personal values and food choice motives can be connected to preferences for specific sensory characteristics of foods. This indicates that each food product needs to be considered in relation to its specific market niche, and to which segment of consumer will respond most positively to its characteristics.

Uudisrakennusalueen lämmitysratkaisujen valinta – tulevaisuuden haasteet ja niihin vastaaminen

Matalaenergiarakentaminen asettaa uudenlaisia haasteita ja mahdollisuuksia lämpöenergian tuotannolle. Lämmitysjärjestelmien mitoitustehot eivät laske samassa suhteessa kuin lämmitysenergiankulutus, mikä suosii alhaisia investointeja muuttuvien kulujen kustannuksella. Työssä tutkittiin viittä vaihtoehtoista tapaa tuottaa kohdealueen rakennuskannan vuotuinen lämpöenergiantarve. Kohdealue koostui pääasiallisesti matalaenergiakerrostaloista. Neljä vaihtoehtoa perustui kaukolämpöön ja yksi matalaenergiaverkkoon varustettuna kiinteistökohtaisilla lämpöpumpuilla. Lähialueen jätevedenpuhdistamolle sijoitettu keskitetty lämpöpumppuratkaisu muodostui kokonaiskustannuksiltaan edullisimmaksi vaihtoehdoksi tuottaa kohdealueen rakennuskannan lämpöenergiantarve. Haketta polttoaineenaan käyttävä pien-CHPlaitos omasi vastaavasti pienimmän hiilijalanjäljen, mutta oli kustannusrakenteeltaan epäedullinen. Kohdealue ja vaihtoehtoiset lämmitysjärjestelmät mallinnettiin GaBi 4.3 elinkaarimallinnusohjelmistolla vaihtoehtojen hiilijalanjälkien selvittämiseksi.