Trends in skin cancer knowledge, sun protection practices and behaviours in the Northern Ireland population

Background: Sun exposure increases risk of skin cancer, especially melanoma, incidence of which continues to rise. Reported skin cancer knowledge and trends in sun care behaviours are documented in a UK region where there has been 20 years of sun-related health promotion campaigns. Methods: In 2000, 2004 and 2008, a 'care in the sun' module was included in the Northern Ireland (NI) Omnibus survey. Randomly selected subjects were asked to complete a sun-related questionnaire and proportions of respondents analysed by demographic and socio-economic factors, with differences tested using z-tests and the chi-squared test. Results: Around 3623 persons responded. Skin cancer knowledge was high (97). Sun avoidance decreased with time and was lowest among younger age groups and males. Sunscreen use was high (70), unchanged over 8 years, and more likely among younger age groups, females, those in paid employment, and those with tertiary level education. Use of sunscreen with minimum Sun Protection Factor (SPF) 15 (a campaign message) increased from 45 to 70 (P

The hydrodynamics of small seabed mounted bottom hinged wave energy converters in shallow water:PhD thesis

This thesis investigates the hydrodynamics of a small, seabed mounted, bottom hinged, wave energy converter in shallow water. The Oscillating Wave Surge Converter is a pitching flap-type device which is located in 10-15m of water to take advantage of the amplification of horizontal water particle motion in shallow water. A conceptual model of the hydrodynamics of the device has been formulated and shows that, as the motion of the flap is highly constrained, the magnitude of the force applied to the flap by the wave is strongly linked to the power absorption.

An extensive set of experiments has been carried out in the wave tank at Queen’s University at both 40th and 20th scales. The experiments have included testing in realistic sea states to estimate device performance as well as fundamental tests using small amplitude monochromatic waves to determine the force applied to the flap by the waves. The results from the physical modelling programme have been used in conjunction with numerical data from WAMIT to validate the conceptual model.

The work finds that tuning the OWSC to the incident wave periods is problematic and only results in a marginal increase in power capture. It is also found that the addition of larger diameter rounds to the edges of the flap reduces viscous losses and has a greater effect on the performance of the device than tuning. As wave force is the primary driver of device performance it is shown that the flap should fill the water column and should pierce the water surface to reduce losses due to wave overtopping.

With the water depth fixed at approximately 10m it is shown that the width of the flap has the greatest impact on the magnitude of wave force, and thus device performance. An 18m wide flap is shown to have twice the absorption efficiency of a 6m wide flap and captures 6 times the power. However, the increase in power capture with device width is not limitless and a 24m wide flap is found to be affected by two-dimensional hydrodynamics which reduces its performance per unit width, especially in sea states with short periods. It is also shown that as the width increases the performance gains associated with the addition of the end effectors reduces. Furthermore, it is shown that as the flap width increases the natural pitching period of the flap increases, thus detuning the flap further from the wave periods of interest for wave energy conversion.

The effect of waves approaching the flap from an oblique angle is also investigated and the power capture is found to decrease with the cosine squared of the encounter angle. The characteristic of the damping applied by the power take off system is found to have a significant effect on the power capture of the device, with constant damping producing between 20% and 30% less power than quadratic damping. Furthermore, it is found that applying a higher level of damping, or a damping bias, to the flap as it pitches towards the beach increases the power capture by 10%.

A further set of experiments has been undertaken in a case study used to predict the power capture of a prototype of the OWSC concept. The device, called the Oyster Demonstrator, has been developed by Aquamarine Power Ltd. and is to be installed at the European Marine Energy Centre, Scotland, in 2009.

The work concludes that OWSC is a viable wave energy converter and absorption efficiencies of up 75% have been measured. It is found that to maximise power absorption the flap should be approximately 20m wide with large diameter rounded edges, having its pivot close to the seabed and its top edge piercing the water surface.

Distributed Region-Based Memory Allocation and Synchronization

We present DRASync, a region-based allocator that implements a global address space abstraction for MPI programs with pointer-based data structures. The main features of DRASync are: (a) it amortizes communication among nodes to allow efficient parallel allocation in a global address space; (b) it takes advantage of bulk deallocation and good locality with pointer-based data structures; (c) it supports ownership semantics of regions by nodes akin to reader–writer locks, which makes for a high-level, intuitive synchronization tool in MPI programs, without sacrificing message-passing performance. We evaluate DRASync against a state-of-the-art distributed allocator and find that it produces comparable performance while offering a higher-level abstraction to programmers.

Rapid climate change did not cause population collapse at the end of the European Bronze Age

The impact of rapid climate change on contemporary human populations is of global concern. To contextualize our understanding of human responses to rapid climate change it is necessary to examine the archeological record during past climate transitions. One episode of abrupt climate change has been correlated with societal collapse at the end of the northwestern European Bronze Age. We apply new methods to interrogate archeological and paleoclimate data for this transition in Ireland at a higher level of precision than has previously been possible. We analyze archeological 14C dates to demonstrate dramatic population collapse and present high-precision proxy climate data, analyzed through Bayesian methods, to provide evidence for a rapid climatic transition at ca. 750 calibrated years B.C. Our results demonstrate that this climatic downturn did not initiate population collapse and highlight the nondeterministic nature of human responses to past climate change.

Classification the geographical origin of corn distillers dried grains with solubles by near infrared reflectance spectroscopy combined with chemometrics: A feasibility study

In this study, 137 corn distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) samples from a range of different geographical origins (Jilin Province of China, Heilongjiang Province of China, USA and Europe) were collected and analysed. Different near infrared spectrometers combined with different chemometric packages were used in two independent laboratories to investigate the feasibility of classifying geographical origin of DDGS. Base on the same dataset, one laboratory developed a partial least square discriminant analysis model and another laboratory developed an orthogonal partial least square discriminant analysis model. Results showed that both models could perfectly classify DDGS samples from different geographical origins. These promising results encourage the development of larger scale efforts to produce datasets which can be used to differentiate the geographical origin of DDGS and such efforts are required to provide higher level food security measures on a global scale.

Endothelial NADPH oxidase-2 promotes interstitial cardiac fibrosis and diastolic dysfunction through proinflammatory effects and endothelial-mesenchymal transition

Objectives: This study sought to investigate the effect of endothelial dysfunction on the development of cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis.
Background: Endothelial dysfunction accompanies cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis, but its contribution to these conditions is unclear. Increased nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase-2 (NOX2) activation causes endothelial dysfunction.
Methods: Transgenic mice with endothelial-specific NOX2 overexpression (TG mice) and wild-type littermates received long-term angiotensin II (AngII) infusion (1.1 mg/kg/day, 2 weeks) to induce hypertrophy and fibrosis.
Results: TG mice had systolic hypertension and hypertrophy similar to those seen in wild-type mice but developed greater cardiac fibrosis and evidence of isolated left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (p < 0.05). TG myocardium had more inflammatory cells and VCAM-1-positive vessels than did wild-type myocardium after AngII treatment (both p < 0.05). TG microvascular endothelial cells (ECs) treated with AngII recruited 2-fold more leukocytes than did wild-type ECs in an in vitro adhesion assay (p < 0.05). However, inflammatory cell NOX2 per se was not essential for the profibrotic effects of AngII. TG showed a higher level of endothelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) than did wild-type mice after AngII infusion. In cultured ECs treated with AngII, NOX2 enhanced EMT as assessed by the relative expression of fibroblast versus endothelial-specific markers.
Conclusions: AngII-induced endothelial NOX2 activation has profound profibrotic effects in the heart in vivo that lead to a diastolic dysfunction phenotype. Endothelial NOX2 enhances EMT and has proinflammatory effects. This may be an important mechanism underlying cardiac fibrosis and diastolic dysfunction during increased renin-angiotensin activation.

Consensus and Confusion in Molluscan Trees: Evaluating Morphological and Molecular Phylogenies

Mollusks are the most morphologically disparate living animal phylum, they have diversified into all habitats, and have a deep fossil record. Monophyly and identity of their eight living classes is undisputed, but relationships between these groups and patterns of their early radiation have remained elusive. Arguments about traditional morphological phylogeny focus on a small number of topological concepts but often without regard to proximity of the individual classes. In contrast, molecular studies have proposed a number of radically different, inherently contradictory, and controversial sister relationships. Here, we assembled a dataset of 42 unique published trees describing molluscan interrelationships. We used these data to ask several questions about the state of resolution of molluscan phylogeny compared to a null model of the variation possible in random trees constructed from a monophyletic assemblage of eight terminals. Although 27 different unique trees have been proposed from morphological inference, the majority of these are not statistically different from each other. Within the available molecular topologies, only four studies to date have included the deep-sea class Monoplacophora; but 36.4% of all trees are not significantly different. We also present supertrees derived from 2 data partitions and 3 methods, including all available molecular molluscan phylogenies, which will form the basis for future hypothesis testing. The supertrees presented here were not constructed to provide yet another hypothesis of molluscan relationships, but rather to algorithmically evaluate the relationships present in the disparate published topologies. Based on the totality of available evidence, certain patterns of relatedness among constituent taxa become clear. The internodal distance is consistently short between a few taxon pairs, particularly supporting the relatedness of Monoplacophora and the chitons, Polyplacophora. Other taxon pairs are rarely or never found in close proximity, such as the vermiform Caudofoveata and Bivalvia. Our results have specific utility for guiding constructive research planning in order to better test relationships in Mollusca as well as other problematic groups. Taxa with consistently proximate relationships should be the focus of a combined approach in a concerted assessment of potential genetic and anatomical homology, while unequivocally distant taxa will make the most constructive choices for exemplar selection in higher-level phylogenomic analyses.

Inhabiting Sound: Tactile-sonic links in musical meaning

Connections can be suggested between music’s occupation of physical space, its relative ‘presence’ (using Edward Hall’s notion of proxemics), and the various senses of movement which pervade it. Movement might be seen to operate with respect to music at a variety of levels of metaphorisation – as increasingly complex chains of analogy which point back to our early physical experience of the world. But of course music is, fundamentally, action. Humans put energy into systems - external or internal to themselves - which transduce that energy into the movement of air. At the acoustic level music is, emphatically and unmetaphorically, movement. Perhaps such simple physical perceptions form one route through which we might understand and explore shared senses of meaning and their capacity for ‘transduction’ between multiple individuals. Our (developmentally) early sensory models of the world, built from encounters with its physical resistances and affordances, might be a route to understanding our more clearly encultured and abstracted ('higher' level) understandings of music.

SWAT-1: The effectiveness of a 'site visit' intervention on recruitment rates in a multi-centre randomised trial

Background: Recruitment rates in multi-centre randomised trials often fall below target recruitment rates, causing problems for study outcomes. The Studies Within A Trial (SWAT) Programme, established by the All-Ireland Hub for Trials Methodology Research in collaboration with the Medical Research Council Network of Hubs in the United Kingdom and others, is developing methods for evaluating aspects of trial methodology through the conduct of research within research. A recently published design for a SWAT-1 provides a protocol for evaluating the effect of a site visit by the principal investigator on recruitment in multi-centre trials.

Methods: Using the SWAT-1 design, the effect of a site visit, with the sole purpose of discussing trial recruitment, on recruitment rates in a large multicentre trial in the Republic of Ireland was evaluated. A controlled before and after intervention comparison was used, where the date of the site visit provides the time point for the intervention, and for the comparison to control sites. Site A received the intervention. Site B and Site C acted as the controls. Z-scores for proportions were calculated to determine within site recruitment differences. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated to determine between site recruitment differences.

Results: Recruitment rates were increased in Site A post-intervention (17% and 14% percentage point increases at 1 and 3 months, respectively). No differences in recruitment occurred in Site B or in Site C. Comparing between site differences, at 3 months post-intervention, a statistically significant difference was detected in favour of higher recruitment in Site A (34% versus 25%; odds ratio 1.57, 95% confidence interval 1.09 to 2.26).

Conclusions: This is the first reported example of a study in the SWAT programme.. It provides evidence that a site visit, combined with a scheduled meeting, increases recruitment in a clinical trial. Using this example, other researchers might be encouraged to consider conducting a similar study, allowing the findings of future SWAT-1s to be compared and combined, so that higher level evidence on the effect of a site visit by the principal investigator can be obtained.

Seasonal and geographical differences in aflatoxin exposures in Senegal

The aim of the study was to determine the geographical and seasonal variations in aflatoxin dietary exposure levels in adults from Senegal. A total of 168 adults (50% male) were recruited from three districts: Nioro du Rip (n=90), located in the Sudan Savannah agro-ecological zone where rainfall is sufficient for groundnut growth; Saint-Louis (n=40) and Mboro (n=38), located in the Sahel zone where groundnuts are produced under irrigated conditions. Diet information and samples were collected at groundnut harvest and post-harvest seasons. Plasma aflatoxin-albumin adducts (AF-alb) and total aflatoxin in household groundnut samples were measured by ELISA and a quantitative thin layer chromatography method, respectively. The blood AF-alb geometric mean was 45.7 pg/mg albumin (range 5.5-588.2 pg/mg). Nioro du Rip had a higher AF-alb level at harvest than Saint-Louis and Mboro (80.0 vs 15.6 and 33.3 pg/mg, P<0.001). Similar trends were observed at post-harvest (P<0.05). Seasonal trends were not consistent across the districts as Nioro du Rip had a higher AF-alb level at harvest than post-harvest (80.0 vs 58.6 pg/mg, P=0.026), whereas Saint-Louis had a higher level at post-harvest than harvest (25.6 vs 15.6 pg/mg, P=0.032). It is clear that aflatoxin exposure is prevalent in adults from Senegal and that season and geographical location are strong determinants of aflatoxin exposure.

Predictability in high-stakes examinations: students' perspectives on a perennial assessment dilemma

Key debates within educational assessment continuously encourage us to reflect on the design, delivery and implementation of examination systems as well as their relevance to students. In more recent times, such reflections have also required a rethinking of who is authoritative about assessment issues and whose views we seek in order to better understand these perennial assessment dilemmas. This paper considers one such dilemma, predictability in high-stakes assessment, and presents students’ perspectives on this issue. The context is the Irish Leaving Certificate (LC) taken by upper secondary students (aged between 16 and 18) in order (mainly) to enter tertiary-level education. The data come from 13 group interviews with 81 students across a range of schools in Ireland. Listening to students about complex, high-stakes examining problems has a limited history within the educational assessment literature. The findings from the study address this shortcoming and depict how students’ insightful reflections can improve our understanding of these dilemmas. Further, students are more than able to reflect on their own situations with regard to high stakes examining contexts and have important contributions to make to our fuller understanding of those elements that will promote high quality and fair assessment.

Biomass allocation, phosphorus nutrition and vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal infection in clones of Yorkshire Fog, Holcus lanatus L. (Poaceae) that differ in their phosphate uptake kinetics and tolerance to arsenate

Biomass and phosphorus allocation were determined in arsenate tolerant and non-tolerant clones of the grass Holcus lanatus L. in both solution culture and in soil. Arsenate is a phosphate analogue and is taken up by the phosphate uptake system. Tolerance to arsenate in this grass is achieved by suppression of arsenate (and phosphate) influx. When clones differing in their arsenate tolerance were grown in solution culture with a range of phosphate levels, a tolerant clone did not fare as well as a non-tolerant at low levels of phosphate nutrition in that it had reduced shoot biomass production, increased biomass allocation to the roots and lower shoot phosphorus concentration. At a higher level of phosphate nutrition there was little or no difference in these parameters, suggesting that differences at lower levels of phosphate nutrition were due solely to differences in the rates of phosphate accumulation. In experiments in sterile soil (potting compost) the situation was more complicated with tolerant plants having lower growth rates but higher phosphorus concentrations. The gene for arsenate tolerance is polymorphic in arsenate uncontaminated populations. When phosphorus concentration of tolerant phenotypes was determined in one such population, again tolerants had a higher phosphorus status than non-tolerants. Tolerants also had higher rates of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM) infection. The ecological implications of these results are that it appears that suppression of the high affinity uptake system, is at least in part, compensated by increased mycorrhizal infection. © 1994 Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Genetic structure of the lumpfish Cyclopterus lumpus across the North Atlantic

Lumpfish, or lumpsucker, Cyclopterus lumpus (Linnaeus, 1758) is widely distributed in the North Atlantic Ocean. It has a considerable economic value and substantial fisheries occur in several North Atlantic regions owing to the use of its fully ripe internal egg masses in the ovaries as an alternative to sturgeon caviar. Despite being intensively fished in several locations, biological knowledge is limited and no genetic structure information is available. In this study, the stock structure of C. lumpus was investigated across the North Atlantic using ten microsatellite loci. Out of ten loci, two exhibited higher level of differentiation but their inclusion/ exclusion from the analyses did not drastically change the observed genetic pattern. A total of three distinct genetic groups were detected: Maine-Canada-Greenland, Iceland-Norway and Baltic Sea. These results, discussed in terms of origin of differentiation, gene flow, and selection, showed that gene flow was rather limited among the detected groups, and also between Greenland and Maine-Canada.

Serum Cytokines and Adipokines in Periodontitis

Objective: To investigate whether there was an association between serum levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, adipokines and periodontitis in 60-70 year-old men in Northern Ireland. Methods: Test subjects (n=61) with established periodontitis, categorised by loss of periodontal attachment (PAL) and pocketing of at least 5mm, were matched for age, smoking and BMI with controls (n=60) who were periodontitis resistant (no PAL or pocketing over 3mm). Serum levels of IL 1 alpha, TNF alpha, IL 6, adiponectin, resistin, leptin and C-reactive protein (CRP) were measured from serum using a multiplex array (Randox, UK). Mann Whitney analysis was used with the level of significance set at p<0.05. Results: There was considerable inter-individual variability in all the analytes measured. There was a significantly higher level of IL 6 in men with periodontitis (3.25 pg/ml, SD 2.29) than in those with no periodontitis (2.38 pg/ml, SD1.62), p=0.0041 (after Bonferroni correction for multiple testing p=0.029). Serum IL 6 was strongly correlated with CRP: r=0.52 (95% CI 0.38-0.64), p<0.0001. There was a lower serum level of adiponectin in men with periodontitis (3662.1 ng/ml, SD 2383.4) compared with those who were periodontitis resistant (4265.9 ng/ml, SD 2266.0), which just escaped statistical significance at p=0.068. There were no significant differences in the serum levels of any of the other analytes measured in relation to periodontal status. Conclusions: There was evidence in the 60-70 year-old male population investigated that periodontitis was associated with an increased serum level of IL 6.

Stress, suporte social, optimismo e saúde em estudantes de enfermagem em ensino clínico

O stress é um processo presente nas vivências do quotidiano dos indivíduos com implicações a nível do seu bem-estar e saúde. No caso específico dos estudantes de Enfermagem, o ensino clínico tem sido identificado como uma componente de formação geradora de elevados níveis de stress. O presente estudo tem como principal objectivo analisar as inter-relações que se estabelecem entre a percepção de situações de stress, saúde, coping, suporte social, auto-estima e optimismo-pessimismo. Pretende-se construir e validar dois instrumentos, um de avaliação das situações indutoras de stress em ensino clínico de Enfermagem (ECE) e outro de avaliação dos sintomas de stress. Outro objectivo consiste em traduzir e adaptar duas escalas, uma de avaliação da auto-estima e outra do optimismo-pessimismo. Pretende-se ainda estudar referidos constructos em função de variáveis sócio-demográficas e de caracterização do ensino clínico realizado. O estudo desenvolvido, de natureza quantitativo, correlacional e transversal, baseou-se numa amostra de 1283 estudantes do Curso de Licenciatura em Enfermagem, de cinco Escolas Superiores de Saúde da Região Centro de Portugal. Foi utilizado um protocolo de investigação constituído por 7 instrumentos: Caracterização sócio-demográfica e do ECE, Escala de Stress em ECE, Escala de Sintomas de Stress, Questionário de Estratégias de Coping, Escala de Satisfação com o Suporte Social, Escala de Auto-Estima e Escala de Optimismo-Pessimismo. Os resultados obtidos sugerem que, ao nível das escalas, tanto as construídas no âmbito deste trabalho, como as traduzidas apresentam validade e valores satisfatórios ao nível da fidelidade, constituindo-se então como instrumentos adequados e úteis para o estudo dos constructos em questão. As situações percebidas como geradoras de maior stress referem-se à avaliação, aspectos pessoais e gestão do tempo e do trabalho. Em termos de sintomas de stress, os mais frequentes são de natureza física e cognitivoemocional. Em termos de estratégias de coping, os estudantes parecem recorrer com mais frequência às estratégias centradas nos problemas. Os estudantes da nossa amostra referem uma maior satisfação a nível do suporte social com a intimidade e evidenciam níveis positivos em termos de autoestima e optimismo. O sexo dos estudantes, o ano de frequência do curso e variáveis de caracterização do ECE exercem um efeito diferencial nas problemáticas em estudo. Consideramos que a identificação das situações indutoras de stress em ECE, bem como a avaliação dos seus efeitos na saúde dos estudantes e a compreensão dos mecanismos de coping podem contribuir para o desenvolvimento de programas de gestão e controlo do stress que os capacitem para transformar os desafios em potenciais situações de desenvolvimento pessoal, social, académico e profissional.