Does the prescriptive lifestyle of Seventh-Day Adventists provide 'immunity' from the secular effects of changes in BMI?

Objective: To examine the effect of Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) membership on ‘immunity’ to the secular effects of changes in BMI.

Design: Three independent, cross-sectional, screening surveys conducted by Sydney Adventist Hospital in 1976, 1986 and 1988 and a survey conducted among residents of Melbourne in 2006.

Subjects: Two hundred and fifty-two SDA and 464 non-SDA in 1976; 166 SDA and 291 non-SDA in 1986; 120 SDA and 300-non SDA in 1988; and 251 SDA and 294 non-SDA in 2006.

Measurements: Height and weight measured by hospital staff in 1976, 1986 and 1988; self-reported by respondents in 2006.

Results: The mean BMI of non-SDA men increased between 1986 and 2006 (P < 0·001) but did not change for SDA men or non-SDA women. Despite small increases in SDA women’s mean BMI (P = 0·030) between 1988 and 2006, this was no different to that of SDA men and non-SDA women in 2006. The diet and eating patterns of SDA men and women were more ‘prudent’ than those of non-SDA men and women, including more fruit, vegetables, grains, nuts and legumes, and less alcohol, meat, sweetened drinks and coffee. Many of these factors were found to be predictors of lower BMI.

Conclusion: The ‘prudent’ dietary and lifestyle prescriptions of SDA men appear to have ‘immunised’ them to the secular effects of changes that occurred among non-SDA men’s BMI. The dietary and lifestyle trends of SDA women did not reflect the increase in their BMI observed in 2006.

Advances in infection and immunity : from bench to bedside

Following the successful inaugural Lorne Infection and Immunity Conference in 2011, scientists have gathered again on 15–17 February 2012 for a second round of this multidisciplinary international meeting. Sessions covered a range of different topics, including innate and adaptive immune responses to infection, host–pathogen interactions, systems biology, as well as clinical and translational research. Here we summarize some of the main concepts discussed at the meeting and the progress on the development of new therapeutic approaches for the control of infectious diseases.

Further experiments concerning the production of immunity from hog cholera /

"January 18, 1908."

Advances in gastropod immunity from the study of the interaction between the snail Biomphalaria glabrata and its parasites: A review of research progress over the last decade

This review summarizes the research progress made over the past decade in the field of gastropod immunity resulting from investigations of the interaction between the snail Biomphalaria glabrata and its trematode parasites. A combination of integrated approaches, including cellular, genetic and comparative molecular and proteomic approaches have revealed novel molecular components involved in mediating Biomphalaria immune responses that provide insights into the nature of host-parasite compatibility and the mechanisms involved in parasite recognition and killing. The current overview emphasizes that the interaction between B. glabrata and its trematode parasites involves a complex molecular crosstalk between numerous antigens, immune receptors, effectors and anti-effector systems that are highly diverse structurally and extremely variable in expression between and within host and parasite populations. Ultimately, integration of these molecular signals will determine the outcome of a specific interaction between a B. glabrata individual and its interacting trematodes. Understanding these complex molecular interactions and identifying key factors that may be targeted to impairment of schistosome development in the snail host is crucial to generating new alternative schistosomiasis control strategies.

La inmunidad de jurisdiccion como fuente de responsabilidad patrimonial del estado en Colombia

El acuerdo militar entre Colombia y los Estados Unidos, la Ley 418 de 1997, la ley 975 de 2005, y la amnistia e indulto como casos de inmunidad de jurisdicción para establecer los títulos de imputación que pueden configurar una responsabilidad del estado patrimonial en Colombia.

Germany v Italy:The Triumph of Sovereign Immunity over Human Rights Law

This article analyses the doctrine of State immunity within the context of the recent judgment of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) concerning the Jurisdictional Immunities of the State (Germany v Italy: Greece intervening). The object of this article is to explore the implications of the State immunity from foreign judicial proceedings in cases of jus cogens crimes. Challenging the assumption that the law of immunity is merely procedural in nature, this article argues that there can be no immunity in cases of undisputed international crimes.

On Not Reading Fifty Shades:Feminism and the Fantasy of Romantic Immunity

This paper explores the politics of feminist criticism of the Fifty Shades novels as seen in both traditional media commentary and popular online news and cultural websites and blogs. I argue that much media commentary, in broadsheet and other ‘respectable’ outlets particularly, has featured avowedly feminist writers dismissing the books as ‘bad’, not only containing bad writing and bad sex but, ultimately, as being bad for their women readers. Situating these responses within a history of feminist discomfort with popular erotic and romantic fiction marketed to women I read these responses as a form of ‘anti-romantic’ fantasy in which the reader/critic is able to assert both her immunity from the romantic fantasy offered in the text and her cultural distance from those women who are subject to it. Further, this act of disavowal is often linked to a professed concern for the women who read the novel who the critic argues will, inevitably, replicate the abusive and harmful relationship dynamics that the novel represent. Such a move then positions the feminist critic as not only more culturally intelligent than women readers of the novel but enacts a fantasy of respectable, middle-class feminist cultural custodianship. Such a fantasy, I argue, is connected to the post-feminist era in which we live, which has produced a class of self-appointed ‘feminist’ cultural critics who seek to contest their own cultural marginalisation through enacting a governmental authority to worry about other women. This paper, therefore, is a critical investigation of the pleasures and politics of very publicly not reading Fifty Shades and its significance for analysing the contemporary politics of popular culture and feminism.

Medidas cautelares de embargo de bienes estatales en procesos ejecutivos ante la jurisdicción contencioso-administrativa

A partir del principio general de inembargabilidad de bienes del Estado, el contenido de este documento incursiona en el tema de las excepciones al mismo legalmente contempladas, a efectos de verificar la aplicabilidad de la medida cautelar de embargo sobre tales bienes en los casos procedentes, cuando los particulares adelantan procesos ejecutivos ante la jurisdicción contenciosoadministrativa, en procura de defender sus intereses y del pago de dineros a cargo del Estado como consecuencia de contratos, sentencias, acreencias laborales, laudos arbitrales u otro tipo de documento eficaz. El propósito fue establecer claramente la normatividad aplicable en este tipo de eventos, aportando de este modo respuesta objetiva y confiable frente a la problemática generada tanto por las distintas posiciones en torno al tema adoptadas por el legislador, como igualmente por dificultades para clasificar los bienes y rentas estatales en orden a determinar su carácter y la posibilidad real de su embargo. Todo ello, además, con el referente de pronunciamientos jurisprudenciales adoptados como soporte conceptual básico puesto que desde esta perspectiva dan cuenta de una línea coincidente de pensamiento por parte de los altos organismos pertinentes.

A brush with the real world : the future of inertial motion capture in live performance

3D Motion capture is a medium that plots motion, typically human motion, converting it into a form that can be represented digitally. It is a fast evolving field and recent inertial technology may provide new artistic possibilities for its use in live performance. Although not often used in this context, motion capture has a combination of attributes that can provide unique forms of collaboration with performance arts. The inertial motion capture suit used for this study has orientation sensors placed at strategic points on the body to map body motion. Its portability, real-time performance, ease of use, and its immunity from line-of-sight problems inherent in optical systems suggest it would work well as a live performance technology. Many animation techniques can be used in real-time. This research examines a broad cross-section of these techniques using four practice-led cases to assess the suitability of inertial motion capture to live performance. Although each case explores different visual possibilities, all make use of the performativity of the medium, using either an improvisational format or interactivity among stage, audience and screen that would be difficult to emulate any other way. A real-time environment is not capable of reproducing the depth and sophistication of animation people have come to expect through media. These environments take many hours to render. In time the combination of what can be produced in real-time and the tools available in a 3D environment will no doubt create their own tree of aesthetic directions in live performance. The case study looks at the potential of interactivity that this technology offers.

A simple triggered vacuum gap

A simple triggered vacuum gap has previously been described by the authors in this journal (see ibid., vol.5, 415, 1972). Further studies have resulted in improvement of the performance with regard to sensitivity and consistency of the trigger characteristics and immunity from bridging due to metal particles eroded from the arc. The earlier design suffered from rather frequent bridging of the auxiliary gap and showed rather wide scatter in its trigger characteristics. In the present design thermally stable materials like fused quartz, machinable ceramic 'Supramica 500' (Mycalex Corporation of America), lead titanate, barium titanate (LCC HTD) and silicon carbide have been used to insulate the trigger electrode from the cathode. Consistent triggerings free from bridging, at relatively low voltages of 200-400 V have been obtained.

Health Monitoring Of Composite Structures Based On Acoustic Wave Sensing Using Fiber Optic Sensors

Structural Health Monitoring has gained wide acceptance in the recent past as a means to monitor a structure and provide an early warning of an unsafe condition using real-time data. Utilization of structurally integrated, distributed sensors to monitor the health of a structure through accurate interpretation of sensor signals and real-time data processing can greatly reduce the inspection burden. The rapid improvement of the Fiber Optic Sensor technology for strain, vibration, ultrasonic and acoustic emission measurements in recent times makes it feasible alternative to the traditional strain gauges, PVDF and conventional Piezoelectric sensors used for Non Destructive Evaluation (NDE) and Structural Health Monitoring (SHM). Optical fiber-based sensors offer advantages over conventional strain gauges, and PZT devices in terms of size, ease of embedment, immunity from electromagnetic interference (EMI) and potential for multiplexing a number of sensors. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the acoustic wave sensing using Extrinsic Fabry-Perot Interferometric (EFPI) sensor on a GFRP composite laminates. For this purpose experiments have been carried out initially for strain measurement with Fiber Optic Sensors on GFRP laminates with intentionally introduced holes of different sizes as defects. The results obtained from these experiments are presented in this paper. Numerical modeling has been carried out to obtain the relationship between the defect size and strain.

基于偏振度检测的光纤电流传感方案

本文提出了一种将光学谐振腔中多次来回反射所产生的法拉第旋转积累效应转化为光学信号偏振度变化的光纤电流传感方案。这种方案的主要优点是可以克服环境等因素的扰动带来偏振态变化所产生的影响。文中对所提出方案的特性进行了简单的理论分析和模拟计算，并给出了相应的实验结果验证。

Os conflitos tributários internacionais e sua possível solução pela via arbitral

O fenômeno da globalização teve o condão de aproximar os diversos povos, cada um com seus interesses e culturas próprios. A existência de um consenso internacional na definição de princípios a serem seguidos quando das relações externas não consegue impedir, contudo, o surgimento de possíveis conflitos e divergências, tendo em vista a pluralidade cultural das diversas nações mundiais, fato que induziu a sociedade internacional a desenvolver meios que pudessem dirimir pacificamente as controvérsias, porventura, surgidas entre elas. A adoção dos meios para solução pacífica dos conflitos internacionais encontra-se incentivada pela Constituição da República Federativa do Brasil (art. 4., incisos VI e VII) e sua utilização não importa qualquer renúncia ao exercício da soberania, nem tampouco à imunidade de jurisdição. Para que se tenha uma eficácia maior da submissão dos conflitos surgidos no âmbito externo aos meios admitidos para resolvê-los, é importante que os países envolvidos no litígio possuam orientação interna no sentido de privilegiar o Direito Internacional frente à sua legislação infraconstitucional doméstica. A eventual primazia do direito interno pode resultar na inocuidade da adoção dos meios pacíficos de solução de controvérsias internacionais, uma vez que as autoridades dos países litigantes poderão se esquivar do cumprimento do acordo ou decisão alegando uma possível contrariedade com os ditames legais domésticos. Nesse contexto, a seara tributária tem despertado constantes divergências internacionais. As diferentes interpretações conferidas pelas diversas nações, dentre elas o Brasil, quando da aplicação dos tratados por elas firmados e que tenham vertente fiscal, em especial aqueles que visam evitar a dupla imposição fiscal da renda, ou garantir o livre trânsito de bens, pessoas e serviços, acaba trazendo grande insegurança àqueles investidores que possuem operações conectadas a dois ou mais sistemas tributários diferentes. Assim, ganham cada vez mais corpo, os debates em torno da extensão dos mecanismos pacíficos para resolução de divergências, também ao âmbito de aplicação de todo e qualquer tratado que verse sobre a matéria tributária. Tal fato propicia a busca de uma possível uniformização dos métodos hermenêuticos aplicáveis àqueles fatos geradores tributáveis que se encontrem vinculados a dois ou mais entes soberanos. É nesse contexto que se apresenta o presente estudo, o qual aborda a possibilidade de a República Federativa do Brasil submeter ao procedimento arbitral aquelas controvérsias de cunho tributário que eventualmente decorram da interpretação divergente das convenções internacionais das quais seja parte e que tratem de matéria fiscal.

Variety of antimicrobial peptides in the Bombina maxima toad and evidence of their rapid diversification

Antimicrobial peptides secreted by the skin of many amphibians play an important role in innate immunity. From two skin cDNA libraries of two individuals of the Chinese red belly toad (Bombina maxima), we identified 56 different antimicrobial peptide cDNA sequences, each of which encodes a precursor peptide that can give rise to two kinds of antimicrobial peptides, maximin and maximin H. Among these cDNA, we found that the mean number of nucleotide substitution per non-synonymous site in both the maximin and maximin H domains significantly exceed the mean number of nucleotide substitution per synonymous site, whereas the same pattern was not observed in other structural regions, such as the signal and propiece peptide regions, suggesting that these antimicrobial peptide genes have been experiencing rapid diversification driven by Darwinian selection. We cloned and sequenced seven genes amplified from skin or liver genomic DNA. These genes have three exons and share the same gene structure, in which both maximin and maximin H are encoded by the third exon. This suggests that alternative splicing and somatic recombination are less likely to play a role in creating the diversity of maximins and maximin Hs. The gene trees based on different domain regions revealed that domain shuffling or gene conversion among these genes might have happened frequently.

Human Dignity and judicial Interpretation of Human Rights

The Universal Declaration on Human Rights was pivotal in popularizing the use of 'dignity' or 'human dignity' in human rights discourse. This article argues that the use of 'dignity', beyond a basic minimum core, does not provide a universalistic, principled basis for judicial decision-making in the human rights context, in the sense that there is little common understanding of what dignity requires substantively within or across jurisdictions. The meaning of dignity is therefore context-specific, varying significantly from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and (often) over time within particular jurisdictions. Indeed, instead of providing a basis for principled decision-making, dignity seems open to significant judicial manipulation. increasing rather than decreasing judicial discretion. That is one of its significant attractions to both judges and litigators alike. Dignity provides a convenient language for the adoption of substantive interpretations of human rights guarantees which appear to be intentionally, not just coincidentally. highly contingent on local circumstances. Despite that, however, I argue that the concept of 'human dignity' plays an important role in the development of human rights adjudication, not in providing an agreed content to human rights but in contributing to particular methods of human rights interpretation and adjudication.