National Nutritional Standards for school lunches were reintroduced in 2001, and included guidance on portion sizes for primary schools. For the first time since 1997, nationally representative data ...on school food portion sizes in England have been collected using direct assessment rather than reported portion sizes. Food portions were weighed directly in foods served in nationally representative samples of primary and secondary school meals. Results were grouped by food or food group. The number of portions weighed was 7975 in primary schools and 3354 in secondary schools. Individual portion weights were grouped by food or food group to yield mean, median, SD and inter-quartile range. For a given food or food group, the number of portions weighed varied from 5 to 210 portions in primary schools and between 5 and 194 portions in secondary schools. The results provide a good representation of typical portion weights for different foods and food groups in primary and secondary schools in England. Portion size is one factor that determines nutrient intake. New standards for school lunches are both nutrient and food-based. Guidance on portion weights will help to ensure that pupils consume the correct balance of foods to obtain the recommended nutrient intake. The present findings complement and extend existing guidance on portion sizes for pupils in schools in England and Scotland.
Hematocrit Change in Tropical Scuba Divers Williams, Simon T.B.; Prior, Frank G.R.; Bryson, Phil
Wilderness & environmental medicine,
03/2007, Letnik:
18, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Objective.—Direct evidence that dehydration results from scuba diving is scanty. Increased hematocrit (Ht) is a commonly used proxy measure for dehydration. This study sought evidence that an ...increase in Ht occurs over the course of a scuba dive in tropical conditions. As a secondary outcome, evidence was sought that the degree of Ht increase is correlated to pressure exposure. Methods.—Twenty male and 21 female scuba divers were recruited at a remote tropical dive site. Water temperature was 30°C (±1°C). Each diver gave venous blood relating to 1 dive only. Mean maximum dive depth was 13.6 m (±3.7 m SD) and mean duration 39.5 minutes (±4.5 minutes SD) using air as the breathing gas. Blood was taken at a mean of 12.4 minutes (±3.5 minutes SD) before diving and a mean of 16.2 minutes (±3.7 minutes SD) after diving. After centrifugation of microcapillaries, Ht was estimated on a visual plate reader. Results.—A paired Wilcoxon test showed evidence (P < .001) for a change in Ht. The mean difference between predive and postdive measurements was 0.0073 (95% confidence interval: 0.0104– 0.0042), equating to a mean relative Ht increase of 1.78%. Similar results were found for the sexes individually. A correlation between maximum depth of dive and Ht increase was statistically significant, although the correlation itself was weak (P = .049, Spearman's r = .326). Conclusions.—There is evidence of a statistically significant increase in Ht over the course of a single warm-water scuba dive. This increase is small and is within the range of error associated with the techniques of Ht estimation employed in this study. Depth exposure was found to correlate with Ht increase. In view of the small magnitude of change in the Ht, there is no reason to amend protocols for fluid resuscitation of recreational scuba divers suspected to have experienced decompression injury in tropical locations.
The venometer is a nurse- or technician-operated machine that uses automated strain gauge plethysmography to detect deep vein thrombosis (DVT). We compared the venometer with contrast venography to ...determine its accuracy, and also used it to triage patients between admission with subsequent anticoagulation and out-patient investigation without anticoagulation. We enrolled 307 consecutive patients presenting to the medical admissions unit with suspected DVT, of whom 270 underwent both plethysmography and venography. Plethysmography produced a negative predictive value (NPV) of 97% and a sensitivity of 90% for proximal DVT. It also produced a false negative rate of 10% for proximal DVT, For distal DVT, sensitivity was 66%, specificity 80%, positive predictive value 36% and NPV 93%. We conclude that the automated venometer report is a quick, non-invasive and easy to use initial screening test. However, it is not sufficiently accurate in a medical admissions unit to be a definitive diagnostic test for DVT and may, therefore, be best used in combination with clinical risk assessment and D-dimer assay with more definitive radiological investigations as necessary.
Space station MMOD shielding Christiansen, Eric L.; Nagy, Kornel; Lear, Dana M. ...
Acta astronautica,
10/2009, Letnik:
65, Številka:
7
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
This paper describes the International Space Station (ISS) micro-meteoroid orbital debris (MMOD) impact shielding including the requirements for protection as well as technical approaches to meeting ...the requirements. Current activities in providing MMOD protection for ISS are described, including efforts to augment MMOD protection by adding shields on-orbit. Another activity is to observe MMOD impact damage on ISS elements and returned hardware, and to compare the observed damage with predicted damage using Bumper code risk assessment software. A conclusion of this paper is that ISS will be protected adequately from MMOD impact after completing augmentation of ISS shielding for service module, and after improving MMOD protection for Soyuz and Progress vehicles. Another conclusion is that impact damage observed to the ISS mini-pressurized logistics module matches the distribution of impacts predicted by Bumper code.
Measurements of the double-differential π± production cross-section in the range of momentum 100 MeV/c≤p< 800 MeV/c and angle 0.35 rad ≤θ< 2.15 rad in proton-beryllium, proton-aluminium and ...proton-lead collisions are presented. The data were taken with the HARP detector in the T9 beam line of the CERN PS. The pions were produced by proton beams in a momentum range from 3 GeV/c to 12.9 GeV/c hitting a target with a thickness of 5% of a nuclear interaction length. The tracking and identification of the produced particles was performed using a small-radius cylindrical time projection chamber (TPC) placed inside a solenoidal magnet. Incident particles were identified by an elaborate system of beam detectors. Results are obtained for the double-differential cross-sections d2σ/dpdθ at six incident proton beam momenta (3 GeV/c, 5 GeV/c, 8 GeV/c, 8.9 GeV/c (Be only), 12 GeV/c and 12.9 GeV/c (Al only)) and compared to previously available data.
Serotonin, an activator of adenylate cyclase, stimulates motility in molluscan gill cilia and sperm flagella. To determine and compare potential targets of cAMP action, dynein was prepared from the ...lateral gill.cilia and sperm flagella of the mussel Mytilus edulis and the clam Spisula solidissima. In the flagella of both species, high-salt extraction removes about half of the ATPase activity, half of the alpha and beta heavy chains, and the outer arms. The dynein from both species sediments at 18-20 S, contains two or three intermediate chains, and three light chains. High-salt plus detergent removes most of the remaining dynein ATPase, alpha and beta heavy chains, and inner arms, also yielding a stable 18-20 S particle. In gill cilia of both species, high-salt extraction removes only 12-18% of the ATPase, up to 1/3 of the alpha heavy chains, an equivalent amount of beta heavy chain, and a subset of the outer arms. The dynein sediments at 18-20 S and, in Spisula, the heavy, intermediate, and light chains precisely co-sediment. High-salt plus detergent removes another 1/3 of the alpha heavy chains, an equivalent amount of beta heavy chain, and the remaining outer arms. The ATPase sediments mainly as a 13-14 S form showing considerable dissociation of co-sedimenting intermediate and light chains. The inner arms and at least half of the ciliary dynein ATPase activity remain unextractable, corresponding in mass mainly to an apparent beta heavy chain that is vanadate-cleavable. Cyclic AMP-dependent, calcium-independent phosphorylation takes place on specific dynein light chains in cilia but on only the dynein alpha heavy chain in flagella. Pre-activation of the flagella prevents subsequent addition of labeled phosphate. Phosphorylation has no effect on the steady-state ATPase properties. The single phosphate added to the flagellar alpha chain is located within the LUV1 vanadate photocleavage fragment. Considering the probable locus of the light chains and the site of the alpha heavy chain phosphorylation, both beyond the active site and toward the base of the molecule, these distinct phosphorylations may regulate dynein action by modulating arm flexibility or interaction.
Neutrino factory Bogomilov, M.; Matev, R.; Tsenov, R. ...
Physical review special topics. Accelerators and beams,
12/2014, Letnik:
17, Številka:
12
Journal Article
Odprti dostop
The properties of the neutrino provide a unique window on physics beyond that described by the standard model. The study of subleading effects in neutrino oscillations, and the race to discover ...CP-invariance violation in the lepton sector, has begun with the recent discovery that θ13>0 . The measured value of θ13 is large, emphasizing the need for a facility at which the systematic uncertainties can be reduced to the percent level. The neutrino factory, in which intense neutrino beams are produced from the decay of muons, has been shown to outperform all realistic alternatives and to be capable of making measurements of the requisite precision. Its unique discovery potential arises from the fact that only at the neutrino factory is it practical to produce high-energy electron (anti)neutrino beams of the required intensity. This paper presents the conceptual design of the neutrino factory accelerator facility developed by the European Commission Framework Programme 7 EUROν Design Study consortium. EUROν coordinated the European contributions to the International Design Study for the Neutrino Factory (the IDS-NF) collaboration. The EUROν baseline accelerator facility will provide 1021 muon decays per year from 12.6 GeV stored muon beams serving a single neutrino detector situated at a source-detector distance of between 1 500 km and 2 500 km. A suite of near detectors will allow definitive neutrino-scattering experiments to be performed.
TPG development Ableev, V.; Ambrosino, F.; Apollonio, M. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
02/2004, Letnik:
518, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
TPG is the acronym for Time Projection chamber with GEM amplification, hexaboard read-out and FADC electronics. We are constructing a TPG read-out module with three GEM foils (30
cm diameter) and a ...read-out board (30
cm diameter active surface) covered with hexagonal pads of 300
μm size. Aligned pads are connected in parallel to one strip out of three sets of parallel strips. Each strip is read by FADC electronics. The test bench for the TPG head will be the HARP-TPC field cage. TPG characteristics, design and expected performances are discussed.
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