The SHIVir Survey: A Dynamical Catalogue of Virgo Cluster Galaxies and their Scaling Relations

By virtue of its proximity and richness, the Virgo galaxy cluster is a perfect testing ground to expand our understanding of structure formation in the Universe. Here, we present a comprehensive dynamical catalogue based on 190 Virgo cluster galaxies (VCGs) in the "Spectroscopy and H-band Imaging of the Virgo cluster" (SHIVir) survey, including kinematics and dynamical masses. Spectroscopy collected over a multi-year campaign on 4-8m telescopes was joined with optical and near-infrared imaging to create a cosmologically-representative overview of parameter distributions and scaling relations describing galaxy evolution in a rich cluster environment. The use of long-slit spectroscopy has allowed the extraction and systematic analysis of resolved kinematic profiles: Halpha rotation curves for late-type galaxies (LTGs), and velocity dispersion profiles for early-type galaxies (ETGs). The latter are shown to span a wide range of profile shapes which correlate with structural, morphological, and photometric parameters. A study of the distributions of surface brightnesses and circular velocities for ETGs and LTGs considered separately show them all to be strongly bimodal, hinting at the existence of dynamically unstable modes where the baryon and dark matter fractions may be comparable within the inner regions of galaxies. Both our Tully-Fisher relation for LTGs and Fundamental Plane analysis for ETGs exhibit the smallest scatter when a velocity metric probing the galaxy at larger radii (where the baryonic fraction becomes sub-dominant) is used: rotational velocity measured in the outer disc at the 23.5 i-mag arcsec^{-2} level, and velocity dispersion measured within an aperture of 2 effective radii, respectively. Dynamical estimates for gas-poor and gas-rich VCGs are merged into a joint analysis of the stellar-to-total mass relation (STMR), stellar TFR, and Mass-Size relation. These relations are all found to contain strong bimodalities or dichotomies between the ETG and LTG samples, alluding to a "mixed scenario'' evolutionary sequence between morphological/dynamical classes that involves both quenching and dry mergers. The unmistakable differentiation between these two galaxy classes appears robust against different classification schemes, and supports the notion that they are driven by different evolutionary histories. Future observations using integral field spectroscopy and including lower-mass galaxies should solidify this hypothesis.

The IUE INES System: Improved data extraction procedures for IUE

We present the extraction and processing of the IUE Low Dispersion spectra within the framework of the ESA “IUE Newly Extracted Spectra” (INES) System. Weak points of SWET, the optimal extraction implementation to produce the NEWSIPS output products (extracted spectra) are discussed, and the procedures implemented in INES to solve these problems are outlined. The more relevant modifications are: 1) the use of a new noise model, 2) a more accurate representation of the spatial profile of the spectrum and 3) a more reliable determination of the background. The INES extraction also includes a correction for the contamination by solar light in long wavelength spectra. Examples showing the improvements obtained in INES with respect to SWET are described. Finally, the linearity and repeatability characteristics of INES data are evaluated and the validity of the errors provided in the extraction is discussed.

Blue Bomb

Combined media on photographic paper. 43" x 79½", Jargomatique Series. Private Collection

Size selectivity of diamond and square mesh cod ends for four by-catch species in the crustacean fishery off the Portuguese south coast

The effects of an increase in cod end mesh size from 55 to 60 and 70 mm and a change of mesh configuration from 55 mm diamond to 55 turn square mesh on the size selectivity of four by-catch species (the red shrimp Aristeus antennatus, the European hake Merluccius merluccius, the horse mackerel Trachurus trachurus and the blue whiting Micromesistius poutassou) commonly captured in the crustacean fishery off the Portuguese south coast, were evaluated. Selectivity parameters for blue whiting, the most abundant species in the catches, were estimated taking into account between-haul variation, while for the remaining species, captured in much lower quantities, the selectivity estimates were based on pooled data by length class for all hauls within the same cod end. Length at 50% retention, L-50, was found to increase with mesh size and with the change in mesh configuration for all the studied species. For blue whiting trawling depth and cod end catch were found to play a role in between-haul variation by increasing L-50 as well. The results suggest that an increase in the current minimum mesh size of 55-70 mm would be advisable to be compatible with the minimum landing sizes (MLSs) of 29 mm carapace length and 27 cm total length for red shrimp and hake, respectively, while it would greatly reduce the amount of discards, particularly those for blue whiting, that accounted for approximately 50% of the total catch weight. Horse mackerel was the only species for which the use of a larger mesh size would result in a significant escapement of individuals above the MLS of 15 cm. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Microwave-assisted synthesis and local analyses of positive insertion electrodes for Li-ion batteries

Efficient energy storage holds the key to reducing waste energy and enabling the use of advanced handheld electronic devices, hydrid electric vehicles and residential energy storage. Recently, Li-ion batteries have been identified and employed as energy storage devices due to their high gravimetric and volumetric energy densities, in comparison to previous technologies. However, more research is required to enhance the efficiency of Li-ion batteries by discovering electrodes with larger electrochemical discharge capacities, while maintaining electrochemical stability. The aims of this study are to develop new microwave-assisted synthesis routes to nanostructured insertion cathodes, which harbor a greater affinity for lithium extraction and insertion than bulk materials. Subsequent to this, state-of-the-art synchrotron based techniques have been employed to understand structural and dynamic behaviour of nanostructured cathode materials during battery cell operation. In this study, microwave-assisted routes to a-LiFePO4, VO2(B), V3O7, H2V3O8 and V4O6(OH)4 have all been developed. Muon spin relaxation has shown that the presence of b-LiFePO4 has a detrimental effect on the lithium diffusion properties of a-LiFePO4, in agreement with first principles calculations. For the first time, a-LiFePO4 nanostructures have been obtained by employing a deep eutectic solvent reaction media showing near theoretical capacity (162 mAh g–1). Studies on VO2(B) have shown that the discharge capacity obtained is linked to the synthesis method. Electrochemical studies of H2V3O8 nanowires have shown outstanding discharge capacities (323 mAh g–1 at 100 mA g–1) and rate capability (180 mAh g–1 at 1 A g–1). The electrochemcial properties of V4O6(OH)4 have been investigated for the first time and show a promising discharge capacity of (180 mAh g–1). Lastly, in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy has been utilised to track the evolution of the oxidation states in a-LiFePO4, VO2(B) and H2V3O8, and has shown these can all be observed dynamically.

Preparação, caracterização e modificação de adsorventes para remoção de pesticidas de águas

O objectivo principal deste trabalho de mestrado consistiu em avaliar a potencial utilização de materiais adsorventes, nomeadamente, de carvões activados (AC) preparados por activação química com KOH, a partir de PET reciclado, e de materiais com estrutura mesoporosa ordenada, do tipo MCM-41 e SBA-15, na remoção de ácido 4 - cloro - 2 - metilfenoxiacético (MCPA) e de azul de metileno (MB), presentes nas águas. Nesta tese apresentam-se estudos de preparação e caracterização de materiais micro e mesoporosos e também estudos de avaliação da capacidade adsortiva em fase líquida. Prepararam-se três materiais microporosos, nomeadamente, PET-2-700, PET-2-700ox (AC oxidado) e PET-2-700red (AC reduzido), dois materiais constituídos exclusivamente por mesoporos, Si-MCM-41 e Ti-MCM-41-50 e dois materiais contendo maioritariamente mesoporos, mas que também possuem alguma microporosidade, tais corno, Si-SBA-15 e Ti-SBA-15-50. A caracterização textural dos adsorventes foi inferida por adsorção de azoto a 77K e por de difracção de raios X. Recorreu-se a três métodos de análise das isotérmicas, nomeadamente, Dubinin-Radushkevich, Brunauer-Ernrnett-Teller e alfa-s (as). A caracterização química dos AC foi realizada recorrendo-se a técnicas de análise elementar (AE) e espectroscopia de infravermelho com transformadas de Fourier (FTIR) e à determinação do ponto de carga zero. Os três carvões activados possuem valores de área superficial externa idênticos, o PET-2-700 possui o maior volume microporoso e o PET-2-700ox exibe o maior diâmetro de poros. Por outro lado, o PET-2-700ox possui um carácter fortemente ácido, o PET-2-700 exibe carácter ligeiramente ácido e o PET-2-700red apresenta propriedades ligeiramente alcalinas. Com base na AE, todas as amostras possuem percentagens de carbono elevadas, sendo que o PET-2-700red apresenta o valor mais elevado. Os resultados obtidos para a caracterização estrutural dos revelaram a obtenção de materiais mesoporosos de alta qualidade, definida pela elevada regularidade e uniformidade da estrutura porosa. A análise dos parâmetros de caracterização textura! permitiu inferir que os quatro materiais mesoporosos possuem valores de área superficial elevados, e que os materiais SBA-15 apresentam valores de volume poroso total e de tamanho de poros superiores aos manifestados pelos MCM-41. A incorporação de titânio não conduziu a uma perda significativa de qualidade dos materiais substituídos em relação às correspondentes amostras de sílica. Efectuaram-se estudos de adsorção em fase líquida de forma a avaliar a possível aplicação dos vários adsorventes na remoção de MCPA e de MB de efluentes líquidos. concluiu-se que o tempo de equilíbrio de 72 horas seria adequado e que a capacidade de adsorção dos vários AC era superior em meio ácido. Com base nas isotérmicas de adsorção do MCPA e do MB e na aplicação da representação de Langmuir e de Freundlich, foi possível concluir que o PET-2-700 possui a maior capacidade de adsorção do MCPA, 1.42 mmol/g, enquanto que o PET-2-700ox revelou a maior capacidade de adsorção do MB, 1.43 mmol/g. Na realidade, os materiais microporosos estudados apresentaram percentagens de remoção elevadas, tanto do MCPA como do MB. Relativamente aos materiais mesoporosos ordenados preparados neste trabalho, a percentagem de remoção de para os poluentes em estudo foi relativamente baixa, constatando-se que nesta fase dos estudos não constituem uma alternativa viável à utilização dos AC. No entanto, uma funcionalização criteriosa dos mesmos pode eventualmente proporcionar um aumento da capacidade adsortiva. ABSTRACT: The work presented in this master thesis, consisted of evaluating the potential use of different adsorbents materials, like activated carbon (AC) prepared by chemical activation with KOH, from recycled poly (ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and materials with ordered mesoporous structure such as MCM-41 and SBA-15, for removing acid 4-chlorine-2-metilfenoxiacétic and methylene blue from aqueous phase. We had prepared three microporous materials, PET-200-700, PET-2-700ox (AC oxidized) and PET-2-700red (reduced AC), two materials consisting exclusively of mesopores, Si-MCM-41 and Ti-MCM-41-50 and two materials containing mainly mesopores, but also having some microporosity, such as Si-SBA-15 and Ti-SBA-15-50. The textural characterization of the adsorbents was inferred by nitrogen adsorption at 77K and X-ray diffraction. Three methods were used to analyse the isotherms, namely, Dubinin-Radushkevich, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller and alpha-s (as). The chemical characterization of AC was performed using the elementary analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and determination of the point of zero charge. Concerning the AC, the three present almost the same externa! surface area, PET-2-700 has a high micropore volume and PET-2-700ox shows the largest pore size diameter. On the other hand, PET-2-700ox had a strong acid character, PET-2-700 exhibits just a slightly acid character and PET-2-700red presents alkaline properties. The AE analysis allows confirming the high carbon content of theses AC, with PET-2-700red exhibiting the highest carbon proportion. The results from the structural characterization of the mesoporous materials, had disclosed the attainment of materials with high quality, defined by the raised regularity and uniformity of the porous structure. The analysis of the textural parameters allowed inferring that the four studied mesoporous materials possess high superficial area. The SBA-15 type materials present higher values of total porous volume and pores size diameter as the MCM-41. Also, the titanium incorporation did not lead to a significant loss of quality of the materials substituted in relation to the corresponding silica samples. The adsorption studies in liquid phase allow evaluating the possibility of using the different adsorbents for the MCPA and the MB removal. The kinetic studies had allowed to state the equilibrium time as 72 hours and a higher adsorption capacity was achieved in an acid medium. The influence of the pH of the medium, on the MCPA adsorption was evaluated. The MCPA and MB isotherms were analysed based on the Langmuir and Freundlich equation, the representations presented an excellent linearity, indicating the applicability of these equations to these systems. Also, it allows concluded that PET-2-700 had a higher adsorption capacity for MCPA, 1.42 mmol/g, and PET-2-700ox had a higher adsorption capacity for MB, 1.43 mmol/g. The AC used presented high removal percentages for MCPA and MB. Concerning the mesoporous materials prepared in this work, the percentage removal for the pollutants in study was relatively low, and evidencing that at the moment these mesoporous materials do not constitute a viable alternative to the AC. However, an astute funcionalisation of the same ones can, eventually provide an increase of the adsorption capacity.

Tracing the Cambro-Ordovician ferrosilicic to calc-alkaline magmatic

U–Pb geochronological study of zircons from nodular granites and Qtz-diorites comprising part of Variscan high- grade metamorphic complexes in Gredos massif (Spanish Central System batholith) points out the significant presence of Cambro-Ordovician protoliths among the Variscan migmatitic rocks that host the Late Carboniferous intrusive granitoids. Indeed, the studied zone was affected by two contrasted tectono-magmatic episodes, Car- boniferous (Variscan) and Cambro-Ordovician. Three main characteristics denote a close relation between the Cambro-Ordovician protholiths of the Prado de las Pozas high-grade metamorphic complex, strongly reworked during the Variscan Orogeny, and other Cambro-Ordovician igneous domains in the Central Iberian Zone of the Iberian Massif: (1) geochemical features show the ferrosilicic signature of nodular granites. They plot very close to the average analysis of themetavolcanic rocks of the Ollo de Sapo formation (Iberia). Qtz-diorites present typical calc-alkaline signatures and are geochemically similar to intermediate cordilleran granitoids. (2) Both Qtz-diorite and nodular granite samples yield a significant population of Cambro-Ordovician ages, ranging between 483 and 473 Ma and between 487 and 457 Ma, respectively. Besides, (3) the abundance of zircon inher- itance observed on nodular granites matches the significant component of inheritance reported on Cambro- Ordovician metagranites and metavolcanic rocks of central and NW Iberia. The spatial and temporal coincidence of both peraluminous and intermediate granitoids, and specifically in nodular granites and Qtz-diorite enclaves of the Prado de las Pozas high-grade complex, is conducive to a common petrogenetic context for the formation of both magmatic types. Tectonic and geochemical characteristics describe the activity of a Cambro-Ordovician arc-back-arc tectonic set- ting associated with the subduction of the Iapetus–Tornquist Ocean and the birth of the Rheic Ocean. The exten- sional setting is favorable for the generation, emplacement, and fast rise of subduction-related cold diapirs, supported by the presence of typical calc-alkaline cordilleran granitoids contemporary with ferrosilicic volcanism.

The use of narrative text for injury surveillance research : a systematic review

Objective: To summarise the extent to which narrative text fields in administrative health data are used to gather information about the event resulting in presentation to a health care provider for treatment of an injury, and to highlight best practise approaches to conducting narrative text interrogation for injury surveillance purposes.----- Design: Systematic review----- Data sources: Electronic databases searched included CINAHL, Google Scholar, Medline, Proquest, PubMed and PubMed Central.. Snowballing strategies were employed by searching the bibliographies of retrieved references to identify relevant associated articles.----- Selection criteria: Papers were selected if the study used a health-related database and if the study objectives were to a) use text field to identify injury cases or use text fields to extract additional information on injury circumstances not available from coded data or b) use text fields to assess accuracy of coded data fields for injury-related cases or c) describe methods/approaches for extracting injury information from text fields.----- Methods: The papers identified through the search were independently screened by two authors for inclusion, resulting in 41 papers selected for review. Due to heterogeneity between studies metaanalysis was not performed.----- Results: The majority of papers reviewed focused on describing injury epidemiology trends using coded data and text fields to supplement coded data (28 papers), with these studies demonstrating the value of text data for providing more specific information beyond what had been coded to enable case selection or provide circumstantial information. Caveats were expressed in terms of the consistency and completeness of recording of text information resulting in underestimates when using these data. Four coding validation papers were reviewed with these studies showing the utility of text data for validating and checking the accuracy of coded data. Seven studies (9 papers) described methods for interrogating injury text fields for systematic extraction of information, with a combination of manual and semi-automated methods used to refine and develop algorithms for extraction and classification of coded data from text. Quality assurance approaches to assessing the robustness of the methods for extracting text data was only discussed in 8 of the epidemiology papers, and 1 of the coding validation papers. All of the text interrogation methodology papers described systematic approaches to ensuring the quality of the approach.----- Conclusions: Manual review and coding approaches, text search methods, and statistical tools have been utilised to extract data from narrative text and translate it into useable, detailed injury event information. These techniques can and have been applied to administrative datasets to identify specific injury types and add value to previously coded injury datasets. Only a few studies thoroughly described the methods which were used for text mining and less than half of the studies which were reviewed used/described quality assurance methods for ensuring the robustness of the approach. New techniques utilising semi-automated computerised approaches and Bayesian/clustering statistical methods offer the potential to further develop and standardise the analysis of narrative text for injury surveillance.

Enhancing an Incremental Clustering Algorithm for Web Page Collections

With the size and state of the Internet today, a good quality approach to organizing this mass of information is of great importance. Clustering web pages into groups of similar documents is one approach, but relies heavily on good feature extraction and document representation as well as a good clustering approach and algorithm. Due to the changing nature of the Internet, resulting in a dynamic dataset, an incremental approach is preferred. In this work we propose an enhanced incremental clustering approach to develop a better clustering algorithm that can help to better organize the information available on the Internet in an incremental fashion. Experiments show that the enhanced algorithm outperforms the original histogram based algorithm by up to 7.5%.

Geological control of physiography in Southeast Queensland: A multi-scale analysis using GIS

The study reported here, constitutes a full review of the major geological events that have influenced the morphological development of the southeast Queensland region. Most importantly, it provides evidence that the region’s physiography continues to be geologically ‘active’ and although earthquakes are presently few and of low magnitude, many past events and tectonic regimes continue to be strongly influential over drainage, morphology and topography. Southeast Queensland is typified by highland terrain of metasedimentary and igneous rocks that are parallel and close to younger, lowland coastal terrain. The region is currently situated in a passive margin tectonic setting that is now under compressive stress, although in the past, the region was subject to alternating extensional and compressive regimes. As part of the investigation, the effects of many past geological events upon landscape morphology have been assessed at multiple scales using features such as the location and orientation of drainage channels, topography, faults, fractures, scarps, cleavage, volcanic centres and deposits, and recent earthquake activity. A number of hypotheses for local geological evolution are proposed and discussed. This study has also utilised a geographic information system (GIS) approach that successfully amalgamates the various types and scales of datasets used. A new method of stream ordination has been developed and is used to compare the orientation of channels of similar orders with rock fabric, in a topologically controlled approach that other ordering systems are unable to achieve. Stream pattern analysis has been performed and the results provide evidence that many drainage systems in southeast Queensland are controlled by known geological structures and by past geological events. The results conclude that drainage at a fine scale is controlled by cleavage, joints and faults, and at a broader scale, large river valleys, such as those of the Brisbane River and North Pine River, closely follow the location of faults. These rivers appear to have become entrenched by differential weathering along these planes of weakness. Significantly, stream pattern analysis has also identified some ‘anomalous’ drainage that suggests the orientations of these watercourses are geologically controlled, but by unknown causes. To the north of Brisbane, a ‘coastal drainage divide’ has been recognized and is described here. The divide crosses several lithological units of different age, continues parallel to the coast and prevents drainage from the highlands flowing directly to the coast for its entire length. Diversion of low order streams away from the divide may be evidence that a more recent process may be the driving force. Although there is no conclusive evidence for this at present, it is postulated that the divide may have been generated by uplift or doming associated with mid-Cenozoic volcanism or a blind thrust at depth. Also north of Brisbane, on the D’Aguilar Range, an elevated valley (the ‘Kilcoy Gap’) has been identified that may have once drained towards the coast and now displays reversed drainage that may have resulted from uplift along the coastal drainage divide and of the D’Aguilar blocks. An assessment of the distribution and intensity of recent earthquakes in the region indicates that activity may be associated with ancient faults. However, recent movement on these faults during these events would have been unlikely, given that earthquakes in the region are characteristically of low magnitude. There is, however, evidence that compressive stress is building and being released periodically and ancient faults may be a likely place for this stress to be released. The relationship between ancient fault systems and the Tweed Shield Volcano has also been discussed and it is suggested here that the volcanic activity was associated with renewed faulting on the Great Moreton Fault System during the Cenozoic. The geomorphology and drainage patterns of southeast Queensland have been compared with expected morphological characteristics found at passive and other tectonic settings, both in Australia and globally. Of note are the comparisons with the East Brazilian Highlands, the Gulf of Mexico and the Blue Ridge Escarpment, for example. In conclusion, the results of the study clearly show that, although the region is described as a passive margin, its complex, past geological history and present compressive stress regime provide a more intricate and varied landscape than would be expected along typical passive continental margins. The literature review provides background to the subject and discusses previous work and methods, whilst the findings are presented in three peer-reviewed, published papers. The methods, hypotheses, suggestions and evidence are discussed at length in the final chapter.

The osteogenic differentiation of adipose tissue-derived precursor cells in A 3D scaffold/matrix environment

Abstract: This paper details an in-vitro study using human adipose tissue-derived precursor/stem cells (ADSCs) in three-dimensional (3D) tissue culture systems. ADSCs from 3 donors were seeded onto NaOH-treated medical grade polycaprolactone-tricalcium phosphate (mPCL-TCP) scaffolds with two different matrix components; fibrin glue and lyophilized collagen. ADSCs within these scaffolds were then induced to differentiate along the osteogenic lineage for a 28-day period and various assays and imaging techniques were performed at Day 1, 7, 14, 21 and 28 to assess and compare the ADSC’s adhesion, viability, proliferation, metabolism and differentiation along the osteogenic lineage when cultured in the different scaffold/matrix systems. The ADSC cells were proliferative in both collagen and fibrin mPCL-TCP scaffold systems with a consistently higher cell number (by comparing DNA amounts) in the induced group over the non-induced groups for both scaffold systems. In response to osteogenic induction, these ADSCs expressed elevated osteocalcin, alkaline phosphatase and osteonectin levels. Cells were able to proliferate within the pores of the scaffolds and form dense cellular networks after 28 days of culture and induction. The successful cultivation of osteogenic by FDM process manufactured ADSCs within a 3D matrix comprising fibrin glue or collagen, immobilized within a robust synthetic scaffold is a promising technique which should enhance their potential usage in the regenerative medicine arena, such as bone tissue engineering.

Compression for preventing recurrence of venous ulcers

Background: Up to 1% of adults will suffer from leg ulceration at some time. The majority of leg ulcers are venous in origin and are caused by high pressure in the veins due to blockage or weakness of the valves in the veins of the leg. Prevention and treatment of venous ulcers is aimed at reducing the pressure either by removing / repairing the veins, or by applying compression bandages / stockings to reduce the pressure in the veins. The vast majority of venous ulcers are healed using compression bandages. Once healed they often recur and so it is customary to continue applying compression in the form of bandages, tights, stockings or socks in order to prevent recurrence. Compression bandages or hosiery (tights, stockings, socks) are often applied for ulcer prevention. Objectives To assess the effects of compression hosiery (socks, stockings, tights) or bandages in preventing the recurrence of venous ulcers. To determine whether there is an optimum pressure/type of compression to prevent recurrence of venous ulcers. Search methods The searches for the review were first undertaken in 2000. For this update we searched the Cochrane Wounds Group Specialised Register (October 2007), The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) - The Cochrane Library 2007 Issue 3, Ovid MEDLINE - 1950 to September Week 4 2007, Ovid EMBASE - 1980 to 2007 Week 40 and Ovid CINAHL - 1982 to October Week 1 2007. Selection criteria Randomised controlled trials evaluating compression bandages or hosiery for preventing venous leg ulcers. Data collection and analysis Data extraction and assessment of study quality were undertaken by two authors independently. Results No trials compared recurrence rates with and without compression. One trial (300 patients) compared high (UK Class 3) compression hosiery with moderate (UK Class 2) compression hosiery. A intention to treat analysis found no significant reduction in recurrence at five years follow up associated with high compression hosiery compared with moderate compression hosiery (relative risk of recurrence 0.82, 95% confidence interval 0.61 to 1.12). This analysis would tend to underestimate the effectiveness of the high compression hosiery because a significant proportion of people changed from high compression to medium compression hosiery. Compliance rates were significantly higher with medium compression than with high compression hosiery. One trial (166 patients) found no statistically significant difference in recurrence between two types of medium (UK Class 2) compression hosiery (relative risk of recurrence with Medi was 0.74, 95% confidence interval 0.45 to 1.2). Both trials reported that not wearing compression hosiery was strongly associated with ulcer recurrence and this is circumstantial evidence that compression reduces ulcer recurrence. No trials were found which evaluated compression bandages for preventing ulcer recurrence. Authors' conclusions No trials compared compression with vs no compression for prevention of ulcer recurrence. Not wearing compression was associated with recurrence in both studies identified in this review. This is circumstantial evidence of the benefit of compression in reducing recurrence. Recurrence rates may be lower in high compression hosiery than in medium compression hosiery and therefore patients should be offered the strongest compression with which they can comply. Further trials are needed to determine the effectiveness of hosiery prescribed in other settings, i.e. in the UK community, in countries other than the UK.

A further step in the modelling of the mechanical behaviour of bagasse

A better understanding of the behaviour of prepared cane and bagasse during the crushing process is believed to be an essential prerequisite for further improvements to the crushing process. Improvements could be made, for example, in throughput, sugar extraction, and bagasse moisture. The ability to model the mechanical behaviour of bagasse as it is squeezed in a milling unit to extract juice would help identify how to improve the current process to reduce final bagasse moisture. However an adequate mechanical model for bagasse is currently not available. Previous investigations have proven with certainty that juice flow through bagasse obeys Darcy’s permeability law, that the grip of the rough surface of the grooves on the bagasse can be represented by the Mohr- Coulomb failure criterion for soils, and that the internal mechanical behaviour of the bagasse is critical state behaviour similar to that for sand and clay. Current Finite Element Models (FEM) available in commercial software have adequate permeability models. However, the same commercial software do not contain an adequate mechanical model for bagasse. Progress has been made in the last ten years towards implementing a mechanical model for bagasse in finite element software code. This paper builds on that progress and carries out a further step towards obtaining an adequate material model.

PLGA-based microparticles for the sustained release of BMP-2

The development of growth factor delivery strategies to circumvent the burst release phenomenon prevalent in most current systems has driven research towards encapsulating molecules in resorbable polymer matrices. For these polymer release techniques to be efficacious in a clinical setting, several key points need to be addressed. This present study has investigated the encapsulation of the growth factor, BMP-2 within PLGA/PLGA-PEG-PLGA microparticles. Morphology, size distribution, encapsulation efficiency and release kinetics were investigated and we have demonstrated a sustained release of bioactive BMP-2. Furthermore, biocompatibility of the PLGA microparticles was established and released BMP-2 was shown to promote the differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells towards the osteogenic lineage to a greater extent than osteogenic supplements (as early as day 10 in culture), as determined using alkaline phosphatase and alizarin red assays. This study showcases a potential BMP-2 delivery system which may now be translated into more complex delivery systems, such as 3D, mechanically robust scaffolds for bone tissue regeneration applications.

Loculus : an ontology-based information management framework for the motion picture industry

"How do you film a punch?" This question can be posed by actors, make-up artists, directors and cameramen. Though they can all ask the same question, they are not all seeking the same answer. Within a given domain, based on the roles they play, agents of the domain have different perspectives and they want the answers to their question from their perspective. In this example, an actor wants to know how to act when filming a scene involving a punch. A make-up artist is interested in how to do the make-up of the actor to show bruises that may result from the punch. Likewise, a director wants to know how to direct such a scene and a cameraman is seeking guidance on how best to film such a scene. This role-based difference in perspective is the underpinning of the Loculus framework for information management for the Motion Picture Industry. The Loculus framework exploits the perspective of agent for information extraction and classification within a given domain. The framework uses the positioning of the agent’s role within the domain ontology and its relatedness to other concepts in the ontology to determine the perspective of the agent. Domain ontology had to be developed for the motion picture industry as the domain lacked one. A rule-based relatedness score was developed to calculate the relative relatedness of concepts with the ontology, which were then used in the Loculus system for information exploitation and classification. The evaluation undertaken to date have yielded promising results and have indicated that exploiting perspective can lead to novel methods of information extraction and classifications.