Innovative system for delivery of low temperature district heating

An innovative low temperature district heating (LTDH) local network is developed in Nottingham, supported by the REMOURBAN project, part of the H2020 Smart City and Community Lighthouse scheme. It was proposed that a branch emanating from the return pipe of the existing district heating system in Nottingham would be created to use low temperature heating for the first time on such scale in the UK. The development is aimed to extract unused heat from existing district heating system and to make it more efficient and profitable. The 94 low-raised flats in four maisonette blocks in Nottingham demo site have been selected to be connected to this new LTDH system. The scheme will provide a primary supply of space heating and hot water at approximately 50°C to 60°C. Innovated solutions have been put forward to overcome certain barriers, such as legionella related risks and peak loads during extreme heating seasons and occasional maintenance

Faculty Perceptions of Competencies in the Nursing Profession

In order to respond to the needs of a rapidly changing health care environment, nursing educators must redefine the competencies needed by the beginning registered nurse. The study was designed to assess nursing faculty members\u27 perceptions of competencies used by the beginning registered nurse in practice and their perceptions of the degree to which those same nursing competencies were presented in the nursing curriculum. Faculty members\u27 perceptions were compared also to the results of a previous study which included a survey of beginning nurses to identify their perceptions of such competencies. Nursing faculty members who teach in professional nursing programs in the state of Minnesota were surveyed using an instrument developed by Hyndman (1999). The instrument identified 35 competencies cited in Hyndman\u27s literature review as needed by beginning registered nurses. Faculty members were asked to rate how frequently the faculty member perceived the competency to be used in practice by beginning registered nurses and to rate how frequently the faculty member perceived the competency to be presented in the nursing curriculum. The 35 competencies were categorized into five domains according to the following constructs: intellectual competencies, interpersonal competencies, technical competencies, care management competencies, and community-based competencies. The findings of this study revealed that nursing faculty members and beginning registered nurses are in general agreement on the competencies needed by beginning nurses. Care management was seen as the most important facet of nursing practice by both beginning registered nurses and faculty members. Community-based competencies were perceived to be used the least in practice and presented the least in the nursing curriculum. Economic aspects of health care were perceived by nursing faculty members and beginning nurses to be of a lower importance than other competencies. This may be of concern given the market-driven aspects of the health care environment. Beginning registered nurses reported documentation was the most frequently used competency in practice but perceived the competency was presented less frequently in nursing programs

Tropical Forests Of Oceania. Anthropological Perspectives

The tropical forests of Oceania are an enduring source of concern for indigenous communities, for the migrants who move to them, for the states that encompass them within their borders, for the multilateral institutions and aid agencies, and for the non-governmental organisations that focus on their conservation. Grounded in the perspective of political ecology, contributors to this volume approach forests as socially alive spaces produced by a confluence of local histories and global circulations. In doing so, they collectively explore the multiple ways in which these forests come into view and therefore into being. Exploring the local dynamics within and around these forests provides an insight into regional issues that have global resonance. Intertwined as they are with cosmological beliefs and livelihoods, as sites of biodiversity and Western desire, these forests have been and are still being transformed by the interaction of foreign and local entities. Focusing on case studies from Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and the Gambier Islands, this volume brings new perspectives on how Pacific Islanders continue to creatively engage with the various processes at play in and around their forests

Cytokines and Inflammatory Mediators [30-39]: 30. The LPS Stimulated Production of Interleukin-10 is not Associated with -819C/T and -592C/A Promoter Polymorphisms in Healthy Indian Subjects

Background: Interleukin-10 is a pivotal immunoregulatory cytokine with pleiotropic effects on the immune system. IL-10 promoter polymorphisms have been associated with disease susceptibility and the ability to secrete IL-10 in vitro. We suspected that the association of the widely studied -819C/T and -592C/A polymorphisms with the IL-10 production might vary between ethnic groups. Therefore, we examined the association of -819 C/T and -592 C/A promoter polymorphisms with in vitro LPS stimulated secretion of IL-10 in normal healthy Indian volunteers. Methods: Peripheral blood was collected from 103 healthy volunteers and diluted whole blood cultures were set up with 100 ng/ml of LPS as stimulant: supernatant was collected at 24 h and IL-10 levels were assayed by ELISA. Genotyping was done for -819C/T polymorphism in 101 individuals and -592C/A polymorphism in 68 individuals by polymerase chain reaction followed by RFLP. The differences in IL-10 production between the genotypes were analysed by ANOVA. Results: There were 30, 47 and 24 individuals with the CC, CT and TT genotypes with a minor allele (T) frequency of 47% for the -819C/T polymorphism. The CC and TT genotypes at position -819 were strongly associated with CC and AA genotypes at -592 position suggestive of strong linkage disequilibrium. There was no association between the -819 genotype and the in vitro LPS stimulated IL-10 levels. Conclusions: The -819C/T and the -592 C/A polymorphisms of the IL-10 promoter region are not significantly associated with LPS stimulated IL-10 production healthy Indian subjects. Disclosure statement: All authors have declared no conflicts of interes

Integrated Model of Chemical Perturbations of a Biological Pathway Using 18 In Vitro High Throughput Screening Assays for the Estrogen Receptor

We demonstrate a computational network model that integrates 18 in vitro, high-throughput screening assays measuring estrogen receptor (ER) binding, dimerization, chromatin binding, transcriptional activation and ER-dependent cell proliferation. The network model uses activity patterns across the in vitro assays to predict whether a chemical is an ER agonist or antagonist, or is otherwise influencing the assays through a manner dependent on the physics and chemistry of the technology platform (“assay interference”). The method is applied to a library of 1812 commercial and environmental chemicals, including 45 ER positive and negative reference chemicals. Among the reference chemicals, the network model correctly identified the agonists and antagonists with the exception of very weak compounds whose activity was outside the concentration range tested. The model agonist score also correlated with the expected potency class of the active reference chemicals. Of the 1812 chemicals evaluated, 111 (6.1%) were predicted to be strongly ER active in agonist or antagonist mode. This dataset and model were also used to begin a systematic investigation of assay interference. The most prominent cause of false-positive activity (activity in an assay that is likely not due to interaction of the chemical with ER) is cytotoxicity. The model provides the ability to prioritize a large set of important environmental chemicals with human exposure potential for additional in vivo endocrine testing. Finally, this model is generalizable to any molecular pathway for which there are multiple upstream and downstream assays available

The anthropology of extraction: critical perspectives on the resource curse

Attempts to address the resource curse remain focussed on revenue management, seeking technical solutions to political problems over examinations of relations of power. In this paper, we provide a review of the contribution anthropological research has made over the past decade to understanding the dynamic interplay of social relations, economic interests and struggles over power at stake in the political economy of extraction. In doing so, we show how the constellation of subaltern and elite agency at work within processes of resource extraction is vital in order to confront the complexities, incompatibilities, and inequities in the exploitation of mineral resources

DECOR: Distributed construction of load balanced routing trees for many to one sensor networks

Many sensor networks suffer from the energy hole problem which is a special case of load imbalance caused by the funnelling effect of many sensor nodes transmitting their data to a single, central sink. In order to mitigate the problem, a balanced routing tree is often required and this can be constructed with either a centralised or distributed algorithm. Distributed solutions are typically less effective but are significantly cheaper than centralised solutions in terms of communication overhead and they scale better for the same reason. In this paper we propose a novel distributed algorithm for the construction of a load balanced routing tree. Our proposed solution, Degree Constrained Routing, is unique in that it aims to maximise global balance during construction rather that relying on rebalancing an arbitrary tree or only maximising local balance. The underlying principle is that if all nodes adopt the same number of children as each other while the routing tree grows, then the final tree will be globally balanced. Simulation results show that our algorithm can produce trees with improved balance which results in lifetimes increased by up to 80% compared to the next best distributed algorithm

Cytokines and inflammatory mediators: 25. Certolizumab Pegol has a Different Profile from the other Anti-TNFS, Including Golimumab, in a Variety of in Vitro Assays

Background: Activities of the anti-TNFs, certolizumab pegol (CZP), etanercept (ETA), infliximab (IFX) and adalimumab (ADA), have been compared in a range of in vitro assays. CZP is the only licensed PEGylated Fab' anti-TNF; ETA is a fusion protein with an IgG1 Fc, and IFX and ADA are both antibodies with an IgG1 Fc. Golimumab (GLM) is a monoclonal IgG1 TNF inhibitor recently approved for a number of indications; it is thus of interest to assess the in vitro activity of GLM. In vitro assays previously used were neutralisation of TNF in the L929 bioassay, inhibition of LPS-driven cytokine production by monocytes, induction of apoptosis in activated lymphocytes and monocytes, and induction of neutrophil necrosis. Methods: Neutralisation of human TNF was assessed in the L929 bioassay using a range of concentrations of the anti-TNFs and a fixed concentration of TNF (100 pg/mL). Activity of the anti-TNFs at inhibiting LPS-driven IL-1β secretion by monocytes was assessed by incubating peripheral blood monocytes with various concentrations of the anti-TNF for 1 hour (hr) and then washing the cells. LPS was added for 4 hrs, the supernatants collected and the IL-1β level measured by ELISA. To assess induction of apoptosis, peripheral blood lymphocytes were activated for 2 days with 2 μg/mL CD3/CD28 and monocytes with 300 U/mL IL-4 and GMCSF for 3 days. The effect of the anti-TNFs on apoptosis was assessed by Annexin V staining using flow cytometry 24 hrs later. The effect of the anti-TNFs on neutrophil necrosis was determined by measuring myeloperoxidase release after 12 hrs. An isotype-matched control was used in all assays except the L929 bioassay. Results: IC90 neutralisation activity of the anti-TNFs in the L929 bioassay was 0.3 ng/mL for ETA, 4 ng/mL for GLM, 15 ng/mL for ADA, and 20 ng/mL for IFX, compared with 2.5 ng/mL for CZP. CZP was the most potent inhibitor of LPS-driven IL-1β secretion (IC50 ∼0.1 ng/mL), followed by GLM (20 ng/mL) and IFX (50 ng/mL). GLM, ADA, IFX and ETA induced apoptosis of monocytes and lymphocytes to a similar degree reaching a level of 23% and ∼40% at 100 μg/mL, respectively. CZP caused no increase in apoptosis above the levels seen with the isotype-matched control. In the neutrophil necrosis assay, ADA,IFX and GLM caused ∼70% necrosis at 100 μg/mL, and ETA 48%. CZP did not increase the level of necrosis above the level of the control. Conclusions: Bioactivity of the IgG1 molecules GLM, IFX and ADA in neutralising human TNF was inferior to that of CZP and ETA. CZP, the only PEGylated anti-TNF, had a different profile to the other anti-TNFs as it was the most potent at inhibiting LPS-driven IL-1β production by monocytes, did not induce apoptosis of activated monocytes and lymphocytes, and did not cause neutrophil necrosis. The clinical relevance of these in vitro effects is unknown. Nevertheless, these assays show interesting in vitro differences between the anti-TNFs. Disclosure statement: G.F. and A.N. are employees of UC

The Dichotomous Pattern of IL-12R and IL-23R Expression Elucidates the Role of IL-12 and IL-23 in Inflammation

IL-12 and IL-23 cytokines respectively drive Th1 and Th17 type responses. Yet, little is known regarding the biology of these receptors. As the IL-12 and IL-23 receptors share a common subunit, it has been assumed that these receptors are co-expressed. Surprisingly, we find that the expression of each of these receptors is restricted to specific cell types, in both mouse and human. Indeed, although IL-12Rβ2 is expressed by NK cells and a subset of γδ T cells, the expression of IL-23R is restricted to specific T cell subsets, a small number of B cells and innate lymphoid cells. By exploiting an IL-12- and IL-23-dependent mouse model of innate inflammation, we demonstrate an intricate interplay between IL-12Rβ2 NK cells and IL-23R innate lymphoid cells with respectively dominant roles in the regulation of systemic versus local inflammatory responses. Together, these findings support an unforeseen lineage-specific dichotomy in the in vivo role of both the IL-12 and IL-23 pathways in pathological inflammatory states, which may allow more accurate dissection of the roles of these receptors in chronic inflammatory diseases in humans