Dietary protein insufficiency has been linked to excessive TAG storage and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in developing countries. Hepatic TAG accumulation following a low-protein diet may be due to altered peroxisomal, mitochondrial and gut microbiota function. Hepatic peroxisomes and mitochondria normally mediate metabolism of nutrients to provide energy and substrates for lipogenesis. Peroxisome biogenesis and activities can be modulated by odd-chain fatty acids (OCFA) and SCFA that are derived from gut bacteria, for example, propionate and butyrate. Also produced during amino acid metabolism by peroxisomes and mitochondria, propionate and butyrate concentrations correlate inversely with risk of obesity, insulin resistance and NAFLD. In this horizon-scanning review, we have compiled available evidence on the effects of protein malnutrition on OCFA production, arising from loss in mitochondrial, peroxisomal and gut microbiota function, and its association with lipid accumulation in the liver. The methyl donor amino acid composition of dietary protein is an important contributor to liver function and lipid storage; the presence and abundance of dietary branched-chain amino acids can modulate the composition and metabolic activity of the gut microbiome and, on the other hand, can affect protective OCFA and SCFA production in the liver. In preclinical animal models fed with low-protein diets, specific amino acid supplementation can ameliorate fatty liver disease. The association between low dietary protein intake and fatty liver disease is underexplored and merits further investigation, particularly in vulnerable groups with dietary protein restriction in developing countries.

SNP in the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene is associated with risk of lower respiratory infections. The influence of genetic variation in the vitamin D pathway resulting in susceptibility to upper respiratory infections (URI) has not been investigated. We evaluated the influence of thirty-three SNP in eleven vitamin D pathway genes (DBP, DHCR7, RXRA, CYP2R1, CYP27B1, CYP24A1, CYP3A4, CYP27A1, LRP2, CUBN and VDR) resulting in URI risk in 725 adults in London, UK, using an additive model with adjustment for potential confounders and correction for multiple comparisons. Significant associations in this cohort were investigated in a validation cohort of 737 children in Manchester, UK. In all, three SNP in VDR (rs4334089, rs11568820 and rs7970314) and one SNP in CYP3A4 (rs2740574) were associated with risk of URI in the discovery cohort after adjusting for potential confounders and correcting for multiple comparisons (adjusted incidence rate ratio per additional minor allele ≥1·15, Pfor trend ≤0·030). This association was replicated for rs4334089 in the validation cohort (Pfor trend=0·048) but not for rs11568820, rs7970314 or rs2740574. Carriage of the minor allele of the rs4334089 SNP in VDR was associated with increased susceptibility to URI in children and adult cohorts in the United Kingdom.

A numerical study of the flow-induced vibration of two elastically mounted cylinders in tandem and staggered arrangements at Reynolds number $Re=200$ is presented. The cylinder centres are set at a streamwise distance of 1.5 cylinder diameters, placing the rear cylinder in the near-wake region of the front cylinder for the tandem arrangement. The cross-stream or lateral offset is varied between 0 and 5 cylinder diameters. The two cylinders are identical, with the same elastic mounting, and constrained to oscillate only in the cross-flow direction. The variation of flow behaviours is examined for static cylinders and for elastic mountings of a range of spring stiffnesses, or reduced velocity. At least seven major modes of flow response are identified, delineated by whether the oscillation is effectively symmetric, and the strength of the influence of the flow through the gap between the two cylinders. Submodes of these are also identified based on whether or not the flow remains periodic. More subtle temporal behaviours, such as period doubling, quasi-periodicity and chaos, are also identified and mapped. Across all of these regimes, the amplitudes of vibration and the magnitude of the fluid forces are quantified. The modes identified span the parameter space between two important limiting cases: two static bodies at varying lateral offset; and two elastically mounted bodies in a tandem configuration at varying spring stiffnesses. Some similarity in the response of extremely stiff or static bodies and extremely slack bodies is shown. This is explained by the fact that the slack bodies are free to move to an equilibrium position and stop, effectively becoming a static system. However, the most complex behaviour appears between these limits, when the bodies are in reasonably close proximity, and the natural structural frequency is close to the vortex shedding frequency of a single cylinder. This appears to be driven by the interplay between a series of time scales, including the vortex formation time, the advection time across the gap between the cylinders and the oscillation period of both bodies. This points out an important difference between this multi-body system and the classic single-cylinder vortex-induced vibration: two bodies in close proximity will not oscillate in a synchronised, periodic manner when their natural structural frequencies are close to the nominal vortex shedding frequency of a single cylinder.

In this paper, we place the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) into broader geo-political and economic context given the current Trump Administration's withdrawal from the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the loss of momentum for TTIP. Both TPP and TTIP sought to provide key tactical solutions to the particular trade/investment problems participating states faced. For the U.S. government, these free trade agreements also represented a geo-political undertaking, an attempt to once again set trade rules in light of deadlock in the WTO. Ultimately, the inability of the Obama Administration to successfully complete negotiations for and ratification of these two deals does not alter the underlying motivations that led to them in the first place. The stagnation of these deals, however, has intensified geo-economic and geo-strategic concerns: opening the door to rival articulations of trade governance and undermining U.S. credibility with its partners.