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Diets varying in SFA and MUFA content can impact glycaemic control; however, whether underlying differences in genetic make-up can influence blood glucose responses to these dietary fatty acids is unknown. We examined the impact of dietary oils varying in SFA/MUFA content on changes in blood glucose levels (primary outcome) and whether these changes were modified by variants in the stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD) gene (secondary outcome). Obese men and women participating in the randomised, crossover, isoenergetic, controlled-feeding Canola Oil Multicenter Intervention Trial II consumed three dietary oils for 6 weeks, with washout periods of ˜6 weeks between each treatment. Diets studied included a high SFA/low MUFA Control oil (36·6 % SFA/28·2 % MUFA), a conventional canola oil (6·2 % SFA/63·1 % MUFA) and a high-oleic acid canola oil (5·8 % SFA/74·7 % MUFA). No differences in fasting blood glucose were observed following the consumption of the dietary oils. However, when stratified by SCD genotypes, significant SNP-by-treatment interactions on blood glucose response were found with additive models for rs1502593 (P = 0·01), rs3071 (P = 0·02) and rs522951 (P = 0·03). The interaction for rs3071 remained significant (P = 0·005) when analysed with a recessive model, where individuals carrying the CC genotype showed an increase (0·14 (sem 0·09) mmol/l) in blood glucose levels with the Control oil diet, but reductions in blood glucose with both MUFA oil diets. Individuals carrying the AA and AC genotypes experienced reductions in blood glucose in response to all three oils. These findings identify a potential new target for personalised nutrition approaches aimed at improving glycaemic control.
We summarize some of the past year's most important findings within climate change-related research. New research has improved our understanding of Earth's sensitivity to carbon dioxide, finds that permafrost thaw could release more carbon emissions than expected and that the uptake of carbon in tropical ecosystems is weakening. Adverse impacts on human society include increasing water shortages and impacts on mental health. Options for solutions emerge from rethinking economic models, rights-based litigation, strengthened governance systems and a new social contract. The disruption caused by COVID-19 could be seized as an opportunity for positive change, directing economic stimulus towards sustainable investments.
Technical summary
A synthesis is made of ten fields within climate science where there have been significant advances since mid-2019, through an expert elicitation process with broad disciplinary scope. Findings include: (1) a better understanding of equilibrium climate sensitivity; (2) abrupt thaw as an accelerator of carbon release from permafrost; (3) changes to global and regional land carbon sinks; (4) impacts of climate change on water crises, including equity perspectives; (5) adverse effects on mental health from climate change; (6) immediate effects on climate of the COVID-19 pandemic and requirements for recovery packages to deliver on the Paris Agreement; (7) suggested long-term changes to governance and a social contract to address climate change, learning from the current pandemic, (8) updated positive cost–benefit ratio and new perspectives on the potential for green growth in the short- and long-term perspective; (9) urban electrification as a strategy to move towards low-carbon energy systems and (10) rights-based litigation as an increasingly important method to address climate change, with recent clarifications on the legal standing and representation of future generations.
Social media summary
Stronger permafrost thaw, COVID-19 effects and growing mental health impacts among highlights of latest climate science.
Pregnancy and new motherhood are challenging times for families. Promoting positive maternal mental health improves overall health and can prevent mental health problems, which could be detrimental to the woman, her baby, and her family.
Since maternal mental well-being is fundamental to the health of her entire family, it is essential that we promote the development and maintenance of positive mental health in perinatal women. Positive mental health is believed to be the optimal way to minimize the risk of mental illness. It is more than the mere absence of mental illness; it also encompasses strategies that will maximize a woman's mental health throughout the perinatal period. Positive mental health also promotes recovery from mental health problems and should be part of every treatment plan. Therefore, it is critical that we help women learn how to deal with the changes associated with pregnancy and new motherhood in ways that promote mental wellbeing and allow them to adapt and enjoy this important period of their life.
This presentation explores positive mental health, resilience, optimism, wellbeing, and empowerment in pregnant and postpartum woman. In addition, it provides strategies to promote maternal mental health, specifically, incorporating protective assets for mothers and families.
Mental health promotion for pregnant and postpartum women will improve health outcomes for individual women and their families, and will contribute to a more optimistic and thriving society.
Perinatal women undergo changes in their weight and shape, eating problems such as dieting, binge eating, and vomiting/purging may be expected to further stress the pregnant woman or contribute to perinatal anxiety and depression. the limited reports of studies comparing Aboriginal and nonAboriginal women have shown little difference in eating disorders between the two groups.
Method:
In a longitudinal study of depression and its correlates in socially high-risk, perinatal women, we also collected data about diet, binge and vomiting/purge behaviours. We were interested in understanding more about these eating problems and their association with perinatal health. Descriptive, bivariate and regression analyses were done.
Findings:
Data were available on 283 women, 60% of whom were Aboriginal. the average age was 22.4 years and gestation was 15.4 weeks at onset of the study. Most women (84%) stated that they had no history of eating problems. Women who engaged in one eating problem behavior were significantly more likely to engage in another. NonAboriginal women were significantly more likely to report dieting, binging, or vomiting/purging (p < 0.0001). Overall, eating problems were associated with depression, mood swings, history of physical and sexual abuse, stress and recreational drug use. Women with eating problems were more likely to have gestational hypertension than those without, but confirming the literature, there were no other differences in pregnancy or birth outcomes.
Conclusion:
NonAboriginal perinatal women experience significantly more eating problems, but Aboriginal women with a history of depression, abuse, stress and drug use are at increased risk for eating problems.
We describe an ultra-wide-bandwidth, low-frequency receiver recently installed on the Parkes radio telescope. The receiver system provides continuous frequency coverage from 704 to 4032 MHz. For much of the band (
${\sim}60\%$
), the system temperature is approximately 22 K and the receiver system remains in a linear regime even in the presence of strong mobile phone transmissions. We discuss the scientific and technical aspects of the new receiver, including its astronomical objectives, as well as the feed, receiver, digitiser, and signal processor design. We describe the pipeline routines that form the archive-ready data products and how those data files can be accessed from the archives. The system performance is quantified, including the system noise and linearity, beam shape, antenna efficiency, polarisation calibration, and timing stability.
Further research is still needed to demonstrate the benefits of animal-assisted therapy (AAT) for specific participant profiles, such as children with behavioural disorders.
Objectives
We wanted to find out if AAT could be considered an efficient therapeutic strategy for the treatment of children with behavioural disorders.
Aims
We wanted to study the effects of a preestablished AAT program on the behaviour of children with emotional and behavioural issues in 6 different reception centres for children under government guardianship.
Methods
Forty-five children (12 to 17 years old) with emotional and behavioural issues participated in a 14-session AAT program. Behavioural measures were those routinely scored as part of therapy; an observational report of 3 different problematic behaviours (such as impulsivity, lack of social skills or lack of personal recognition) was made twice a week for each child (with a score of frequency and intensity). A pre- and post-treatment “global behaviour score” was calculated for each child, as an average value of the 3 problematic behaviours measured during the month pre-treatment and the month post-treatment.
Results
The 45 participants attended, on average, 72.8% of AAT sessions. Independent behaviour scores differed between the pre- and post-intervention evaluations (n = 135 behaviours) (Wilcoxon test; P < 0.0001). Based on the global behaviour score for each child (n = 45), significant change was found between pre- and post-intervention evaluations (Wilcoxon test; P = 0.0011).
Conclusions
Our results suggest AAT could be a beneficial intervention for children with behavioural issues in terms of program adherence and behaviour improvement.
Disclosure of interest
The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.
Animal hoarding is considered an under-reported problem, which affects the welfare of both people and animals. Few reports on animal hoarding are available in scientific literature, particularly outside North America.
Objectives
We designed a study to analyse cases of animal hoarding in Catalonia.
Aims
We wanted to expose the presence and consequences of this disorder in our area and to check for cross-cultural similarities with previous studies in other countries.
Methods
Data was obtained retrospectively from 23 case reports of animal hoarding in Catalonia collected by city councils and the Catalonian police from 1992 to 2015.
Results
Thirty-three people (20 women and 13 men) and 1521 animals, mainly dogs and cats, were involved. Most cases (n = 13) involved a sole animal hoarder. Most cases (n = 14) were chronic (lasting longer than 5 years). Object hoarding co-morbidity was found in most cases (n = 17). All hoarders were over 40-years-old, with half of them aged over 65. Only in 4 cases was an intervention by the healthcare system reported. Most of the hoarders (9 out of 13) actively opposed animal removal. In more than 50% of cases, the hoarder's personal care, health and financial situation were precarious. No awareness of the impaired welfare of the animals was found in most cases.
Conclusions
To the author's knowledge, this is the first study on animal hoarding in Catalonia and one of the few available in Europe. Our results are aligned with previous research, adding evidence of cross-cultural common elements of animal hoarding.
Disclosure of interest
The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.
The radiocarbon (14C) content of simultaneously deposited substrates in lacustrine archives may differ due to reservoir and detrital effects, complicating the development of age models and interpretation of proxy records. Multi-substrate 14C studies quantifying these effects remain rare, however, particularly for large, terminal lake systems, which are excellent recorders of regional hydroclimate change. We report 14C ages of carbonates, brine shrimp cysts, algal mat biomass, total organic carbon (TOC), terrestrial macrofossils, and n-alkane biomarkers from Holocene sediments of the Great Salt Lake (GSL), Utah. 14C ages for co-deposited aquatic organic substrates are generally consistent, with small offsets that may reflect variable terrestrial organic matter inputs to the system. Carbonates and long-chain n-alkanes derived from vascular plants, however, are ∼1000–4000 14C years older than other substrates, reflecting deposition of pre-aged detrital materials. All lacustrine substrates are 14C-depleted compared to terrestrial macrofossils, suggesting that the reservoir age of the GSL was > 1200 years throughout most of the Holocene, far greater than the modern reservoir age of the lake (∼300 years). These results suggest good potential for multi-substrate paleoenvironmental reconstruction from Holocene GSL sediments but point to limitations including reservoir-induced uncertainty in 14C chronologies and attenuation and time-shifting of some proxy signals due to detrital effects.
H2D+ and D2H+ are important chemical tracers of prestellar cores due to their pure rotational spectra that can be excited at the ~20 K temperature of these environments. The use of these molecules as probes of prestellar cores requires understanding the chemistry that forms and destroys these molecules. Of the eight key reactions that have been identified (Albertssonet al. 2013), five are thought to be well understood. The remaining three are the isotope exchange reactions of atomic D with H
$${ + \over 3}$$
, H2D+, and D2H+. Semi-classical results differ from the classical Langevin calculations by an order of magnitude (Moyano et al. 2004). To resolve this discrepancy, we have carried out laboratory measurements for these three reactions. Absolute cross sections were measured using a dual-source, merged fast-beams apparatus for relative collision energies between ~10 meV to ~10 eV (Hillenbrand et al. 2019). A semi-empirical model was developed incorporating high level quantum mechanical ab initio calculations for the zero-point-energy-corrected potential energy barrier in order to generate thermal rate coefficients for astrochemical models. Based on our studies, we find that these three reactions proceed too slowly at prestellar core temperatures to play a significant role in the deuteration of H
$${ + \over 3}$$
isotopologues.
Interaction between the peoples of northern Africa has thrived for millennia; isotopic analysis of skeletal remains is an excellent method to examine this interface and better understand the associated social implications. Here, we discuss the applicability of strontium (87Sr/86Sr) and oxygen (δ18O) isotope analysis to osteological specimens. These elements, characterised by geological, locale-specific, atomic ratios, are incorporated into human dental enamel during young adulthood and into bone continuously via food and/or water. This information can then be compared to the individual’s place of burial and, thus, can infer mobility and identity.
Specifically, we address migration between Egypt and Nubia during various periods. The Upper Nubian archaeological site of Tombos, located on the Third Cataract of the Nile in modern Sudan (Fig. 7.1), functioned as an Egyptian colonial outpost during the New Kingdom Period (1550–1069 BC).
To modify the non-porous surface membrane of a tissue-engineered laryngeal scaffold to allow effective cell entry.
Methods
The mechanical properties, surface topography and chemistry of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane poly(carbonate-urea) urethane were characterised. A laser technique introduced surface perforations. Micro computed tomography generated porosity data. Scaffolds were seeded with cells, investigated histologically and proliferation studied. Incubation and time effects were assessed.
Results
Laser cutting perforated the polymer, connecting the substructure with the ex-scaffold environment and increasing porosity (porous, non-perforated = 87.9 per cent; porous, laser-perforated at intensities 3 = 96.4 per cent and 6 = 89.5 per cent). Cellular studies confirmed improved cell viability. Histology showed cells adherent to the scaffold surface and cells within perforations, and indicated that cells migrated into the scaffolds. After 15 days of incubation, scanning electron microscopy revealed an 11 per cent reduction in pore diameter, correlating with a decrease in Young's modulus.
Conclusion
Introducing surface perforations presents a viable method of improving polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane poly(carbonate-urea) urethane as a tissue-engineered scaffold.
Streptococcus pyogenes (or Group A Streptococcus, GAS) is a Gram-positive human pathogen responsible for a diverse array of superficial, invasive and immune-related diseases. GAS infections have historically been diseases of poverty and overcrowding, and remain a significant problem in the developing world and in disadvantaged populations within developed countries. With improved living conditions and access to antibiotics, the rates of GAS diseases in developed societies have gradually declined during the 20th century. However, genetic changes in circulating GAS strains and/or changes in host susceptibility to infection can lead to dramatic increases in the rates of specific diseases. No situations exemplify this more than the global upsurge of invasive GAS disease that originated in the 1980s and the regional increases in scarlet fever in north-east Asia and the UK. In each case, increased disease rates have been associated with the emergence of new GAS strains with increased disease-causing capability. Global surveillance for new GAS strains with increased virulence is important and determining why certain populations suddenly become susceptible to circulating strains remains a research priority. Here, we overview the changing epidemiology of GAS infections and the genetic alterations that accompany the emergence of GAS strains with increased capacity to cause disease.
Impetigo is common in remote Indigenous children of northern Australia, with the primary driver in this context being Streptococcus pyogenes [or group A Streptococcus (GAS)]. To reduce the high burden of impetigo, the transmission dynamics of GAS must be more clearly elucidated. We performed whole genome sequencing on 31 GAS isolates collected in a single community from children in 11 households with ⩾2 GAS-infected children. We aimed to determine whether transmission was occurring principally within households or across the community. The 31 isolates were represented by nine multilocus sequence types and isolates within each sequence type differed from one another by only 0–3 single nucleotide polymorphisms. There was evidence of extensive transmission both within households and across the community. Our findings suggest that strategies to reduce the burden of impetigo in this setting will need to extend beyond individual households, and incorporate multi-faceted, community-wide approaches.
This paper describes the system architecture of a newly constructed radio telescope – the Boolardy engineering test array, which is a prototype of the Australian square kilometre array pathfinder telescope. Phased array feed technology is used to form multiple simultaneous beams per antenna, providing astronomers with unprecedented survey speed. The test array described here is a six-antenna interferometer, fitted with prototype signal processing hardware capable of forming at least nine dual-polarisation beams simultaneously, allowing several square degrees to be imaged in a single pointed observation. The main purpose of the test array is to develop beamforming and wide-field calibration methods for use with the full telescope, but it will also be capable of limited early science demonstrations.
This paper describes a study of the hydraulic reactions between metakaolin (MK) and air lime using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR). Tests were carried out at 20, 25 and 30°C on lime-MK pastes with 10:1 w/w ratio. Tests over 28 days allowed identification of relevant changes in the EIS signals and characterization of pastes using thermal analysis (TGA/DSC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) and uni-axial compressive tests. Tests over shorter periods of time (up to 42 h) allowed more detailed studies of the hydraulic phases formed at the very beginning of the reactions.
Results of thermal analyses demonstrate formation of hydraulic compounds such as CSH, C4AH13 and C3ASH6 and show their evolution over time. MIP analysis demonstrates changes in pore size distribution related to the formation and trasformation of hydraulic phases. Variations of impedance response with time are shown to be associated with reaction kinetics. Changes in the NMR signal within the first 42 h of reaction are shown to be associated with the dissolution of calcium hydroxide in the pore solution. Overall, this paper demonstrates the importance of NMR in the study of hydraulic reactions in lime based materials and the ability of EIS to detect the formation of hydraulic compounds and the end of the calcium hydroxide dissolution process.
The apparatus for X-ray diffraction imaging (XRDI) of 450-mm wafers, is now placed at the ANKA synchrotron radiation source in Karlsruhe, is described in the context of the drive to inspect wafers for plastic deformation or mechanical damage. It is shown that full wafer maps at high resolution can be expected to take a few hours to record. However, we show from experiments on 200-, 300-, and 450-mm wafers that a perimeter-scan on a 450-mm wafer, to pick up edge damage and edge-originated slip sources, can be achieved in just over 10 min. Experiments at the Diamond Light Source, on wafers still in their cassettes, suggest that clean-room conditions may not be necessary for such characterization. We conclude that scaling up of the 300-mm format Jordan Valley tools, together with the existing facility at ANKA, provides satisfactory capability for future XRDI analysis of 450-mm wafers.