pinecone/core-2020-05-10-deduplication huggingface dataset:
Social impacts and life cycle assessment: proposals for methodological development for SMEs in the European food and drink sector

Purpose: Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) account for 99 % of companies operating in the European food and drink industry and, often, are part of highly fragmented and complex food chains. The article focuses on the development of a social impact assessment methodology for SMEs in selected food and drink products as part of the EU-FP7 SENSE research project. The proposed methodology employs a top-down and bottom-up approach and focuses on labour rights/working conditions along the product supply chain as the key social impact indicator, limiting key stakeholder classification to workers/employees and local communities impacted by the production process. Problems related to this emerging field are discussed, and questions for further research are expounded. \ud
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Methods: The article reviews both academic and 'grey' literature on life cycle assessment (LCA) and its relationship to social LCA (S-LCA) and SMEs at the beginning of 2013 and includes case study evidence from the food sector. A pilot questionnaire survey sent to European food and drink sector SMEs and trade associations (as partners in the research project) about their knowledge, experience and engagement with social impacts is presented. Proposals are elaborated for a social impact assessment methodology that identifies the key data for SMEs to collect. \ud
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Results and discussion: The literature reveals the complexity of the S-LCA approach as it aims to unite disparate and often conflicting interests. Findings from the pilot questionnaire are discussed. Using a top-down and bottom-up approach, the proposed methodology assesses data from SMEs along the supply chain in order to gauge social improvements in the management of labour-related issues for different product sectors. Issues relating to the 'attributional' choice of a social impact indicator and key stakeholder categories are discussed. How 'scoring' is interpreted and reported and what the intended effect of its use will be are also elaborated upon. \ud
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Conclusions: Whilst recognising the difficulty of devising a robust social impact assessment for SMEs in the food and drink sector, it is argued that the proposed methodology makes a useful contribution in this fast-emerging field
Developing an inverted Barrovian sequence; insights from monazite petrochronology

Supplementary material related to this article can be found online\ud
at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2014.07.006.In the Himalayan region of Sikkim, the well-developed inverted metamorphic sequence of the Main Central Thrust (MCT) zone is folded, thus exposing several transects through the structure that reached similar metamorphic grades at different times. In-situ LA-ICP-MS U–Th–Pb monazite ages, linked to pressure–temperature conditions via trace-element reaction fingerprints, allow key aspects of the evolution of the thrust zone to be understood for the first time. The ages show that peak metamorphic conditions were reached earliest in the structurally highest part of the inverted metamorphic sequence, in the Greater Himalayan Sequence (GHS) in the hanging wall of the MCT. Monazite in this unit grew over a prolonged period between ∼37 and 16 Ma in the southerly leading-edge of the thrust zone and between ∼37 and 14.5 Ma in the northern rear-edge of the thrust zone, at peak metamorphic conditions of ∼790 °C and 10 kbar. Monazite ages in Lesser Himalayan Sequence (LHS) footwall rocks show that identical metamorphic conditions were reached ∼4–6 Ma apart along the ∼60 km separating samples along the MCT transport direction. Upper LHS footwall rocks reached peak metamorphic conditions of ∼655 °C and 9 kbar between ∼21 and 16 Ma in the more southerly-exposed transect and ∼14.5–12 Ma in the northern transect. Similarly, lower LHS footwall rocks reached peak metamorphic conditions of ∼580 °C and 8.5 kbar at ∼16 Ma in the south, and 9–10 Ma in the north. In the southern transect, the timing of partial melting in the GHS hanging wall (∼23–19.5 Ma) overlaps with the timing of prograde metamorphism (∼21 Ma) in the LHS footwall, confirming that the hanging wall may have provided the heat necessary for the metamorphism of the footwall.\ud
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Overall, the data provide robust evidence for progressively downwards-penetrating deformation and accretion of original LHS footwall material to the GHS hanging wall over a period of ∼5 Ma. These processes appear to have occurred several times during the prolonged ductile evolution of the thrust. The preserved inverted metamorphic sequence therefore documents the formation of sequential ‘paleo-thrusts’ through time, cutting down from the original locus of MCT movement at the LHS–GHS protolith boundary and forming at successively lower pressure and temperature conditions. The petrochronologic methods applied here constrain a complex temporal and thermal deformation history, and demonstrate that inverted metamorphic sequences can preserve a rich record of the duration of progressive ductile thrusting.This study was funded by a UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) PhD studentship (NE/1528018/1) awarded to C.M.M and an NERC Advanced Fellowship (NE/H016279/1) awarded to C.J.W. Analytical work was funded by an NERC facility grant awarded to N.B.W.H (IP-1129-0511) and C.M.M for work at NERC Isotope Geosciences Laboratory (NIGL).Peer-reviewedPublisher Versio
Data on CUX1 isoforms in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis lung and systemic sclerosis skin tissue sections

This data article contains complementary figures related to the\ud
research article entitled, “Transforming growth factor-β-induced\ud
CUX1 isoforms are associated with fibrosis in systemic sclerosis\ud
lung fibroblasts” (Ikeda et al. (2016) [2], http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.\ud
bbrep.2016.06.022), which presents that TGF-β increased CUX1\ud
binding in the proximal promoter and enhancer of the COL1A2 and\ud
regulated COL1. Further, in the scleroderma (SSc) lung and diffuse\ud
alveolar damage lung sections, CUX1 localized within the α-\ud
smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) positive cells (Fragiadaki et al., 2011)\ud
[1], “High doses of TGF-beta potently suppress type I collagen via\ud
the transcription factor CUX1” (Ikeda et al., 2016) [2]. Here we\ud
show that CUX1 isoforms are localized within α-smooth muscle\ud
actin-positive cells in SSc skin and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis\ud
(IPF) lung tissue sections. In particular, at the granular and prickle\ud
cell layers in the SSc skin sections, CUX1 and α-SMA are colocalized.\ud
In addition, at the fibrotic loci in the IPF lung tissue\ud
sections, CUX1 localized within the α-smooth muscle actin (α-\ud
SMA) positive cells
On supersymmetric AdS6 solutions in 10 and 11 dimensions

We prove a non-existence theorem for smooth, supersymmetric, warped AdS6
solutions with connected, compact without boundary internal space in D=11 and
(massive) IIA supergravities. In IIB supergravity we show that if such AdS6
solutions exist, then the NSNS and RR 3-form fluxes must be linearly
independent and certain spinor bi-linears must be appropriately restricted.
Moreover we demonstrate that the internal space admits an so(3) action which
leaves all the fields invariant and for smooth solutions the principal orbits
must have co-dimension two. We also describe the topology and geometry of
internal spaces that admit such a so(3) action and show that there are no
solutions for which the internal space has topology F * S^2, where F is an
oriented surface.Comment: 26 pages, late
Prolonging in utero-like oxygenation after birth diminishes oxidative stress in the lung and brain of mice pups

AbstractBackgroundFetal-to-neonatal transition is associated with oxidative stress. In preterm infants, immaturity of the antioxidant system favours supplemental oxygen-derived morbidity and mortality.ObjectivesTo assess if prolonging in utero-like oxygenation during the fetal-to-neonatal transition limits oxidative stress in the lung and brain, improving postnatal adaptation of mice pups.Material and methodsInspiratory oxygen fraction (FiO2) in pregnant mice was reduced from 21% (room air) to 14% (hypoxia) 8–12h prior to delivery and reset to 21% 6–8h after birth. The control group was kept at 21% during the procedure. Reduced (GSH) and oxidized (GSSG) glutathione and its precursors [γ-glutamyl cysteine (γ-GC) and L-cysteine (CySH)] content and expression of several redox-sensitive genes were evaluated in newborn lung and brain tissue 1 (P1) and 7 (P7) days after birth.ResultsAs compared with control animals, the GSH/GSSG ratio was increased in the hypoxic group at P1 and P7 in the lung, and at P7 in the brain. In the hypoxic group a significant increase in the mRNA levels of NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 (noq1), Sulfiredoxin 1 (srnx1) and Glutathione Peroxidase 1 (gpx) was found in lung tissue at P1, as well as a significant increase in gpx in brain tissue at P7.ConclusionsDelaying the increase in tissue oxygenation to occur after birth reduces short-and-long-term oxidative stress in the lung. Similar yet more subtle effects were found in the brain. Apparently, the fetal-to-neonatal transition under hypoxic conditions appears to have protective qualities
Genome-wide Polygenic Burden of Rare Deleterious Variants in Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy

AbstractSudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) represents the most severe degree of the spectrum of epilepsy severity and is the commonest cause of epilepsy-related premature mortality. The precise pathophysiology and the genetic architecture of SUDEP remain elusive. Aiming to elucidate the genetic basis of SUDEP, we analysed rare, protein-changing variants from whole-exome sequences of 18 people who died of SUDEP, 87 living people with epilepsy and 1479 non-epilepsy disease controls. Association analysis revealed a significantly increased genome-wide polygenic burden per individual in the SUDEP cohort when compared to epilepsy (P=5.7×10−3) and non-epilepsy disease controls (P=1.2×10−3). The polygenic burden was driven both by the number of variants per individual, and over-representation of variants likely to be deleterious in the SUDEP cohort. As determined by this study, more than a thousand genes contribute to the observed polygenic burden within the framework of this study. Subsequent gene-based association analysis revealed five possible candidate genes significantly associated with SUDEP or epilepsy, but no one single gene emerges as common to the SUDEP cases. Our findings provide further evidence for a genetic susceptibility to SUDEP, and suggest an extensive polygenic contribution to SUDEP causation. Thus, an overall increased burden of deleterious variants in a highly polygenic background might be important in rendering a given individual more susceptible to SUDEP. Our findings suggest that exome sequencing in people with epilepsy might eventually contribute to generating SUDEP risk estimates, promoting stratified medicine in epilepsy, with the eventual aim of reducing an individual patient's risk of SUDEP
Cardy–Verlinde formula and asymptotically de Sitter spaces

AbstractIn this Letter we discuss the question of whether the entropy of cosmological horizon in some asymptotically de Sitter spaces can be described by the Cardy–Verlinde formula, which is supposed to be an entropy formula of conformal field theory in any dimension. For the Schwarzschild–de Sitter solution, although the gravitational mass is always negative (in the sense of the prescription in hep-th/0110108 to calculate the conserved charges of asymptotically de Sitter spaces), we find that indeed the entropy of cosmological horizon can be given by using naively the Cardy–Verlinde formula. The entropy of pure de Sitter spaces can also be expressed by the Cardy–Verlinde formula. For the topological de Sitter solutions, which have a cosmological horizon and a naked singularity, the Cardy–Verlinde formula also works well. Our result is in favour of the dS/CFT correspondence
Boundary element dynamical energy analysis: A versatile method for solving two or three dimensional wave problems in the high frequency limit

AbstractDynamical energy analysis was recently introduced as a new method for determining the distribution of mechanical and acoustic wave energy in complex built up structures. The technique interpolates between standard statistical energy analysis and full ray tracing, containing both of these methods as limiting cases. As such the applicability of the method is wide ranging and additionally includes the numerical modelling of problems in optics and more generally of linear wave problems in electromagnetics. In this work we consider a new approach to the method with enhanced versatility, enabling three-dimensional problems to be handled in a straightforward manner. The main challenge is the high dimensionality of the problem: we determine the wave energy density both as a function of the spatial coordinate and momentum (or direction) space. The momentum variables are expressed in separable (polar) coordinates facilitating the use of products of univariate basis expansions. However this is not the case for the spatial argument and so we propose to make use of automated mesh generating routines to both localise the approximation, allowing quadrature costs to be kept moderate, and give versatility in the code for different geometric configurations
Sensitive Period for a Multimodal Response in Human Visual Motion Area MT/MST

SummaryThe middle temporal complex (MT/MST) is a brain region specialized for the perception of motion in the visual modality [1–4]. However, this specialization is modified by visual experience: after long-standing blindness, MT/MST responds to sound [5]. Recent evidence also suggests that the auditory response of MT/MST is selective for motion [6, 7]. The developmental time course of this plasticity is not known. To test for a sensitive period in MT/MST development, we used fMRI to compare MT/MST function in congenitally blind, late-blind, and sighted adults. MT/MST responded to sound in congenitally blind adults, but not in late-blind or sighted adults, and not in an individual who lost his vision between ages of 2 and 3 years. All blind adults had reduced functional connectivity between MT/MST and other visual regions. Functional connectivity was increased between MT/MST and lateral prefrontal areas in congenitally blind relative to sighted and late-blind adults. These data suggest that early blindness affects the function of feedback projections from prefrontal cortex to MT/MST. We conclude that there is a sensitive period for visual specialization in MT/MST. During typical development, early visual experience either maintains or creates a vision-dominated response. Once established, this response profile is not altered by long-standing blindness
On the singular Weyl–Titchmarsh function of perturbed spherical Schrödinger operators

AbstractWe investigate the singular Weyl–Titchmarsh m-function of perturbed spherical Schrödinger operators (also known as Bessel operators) under the assumption that the perturbation q(x) satisfies xq(x)∈L1(0,1). We show existence plus detailed properties of a fundamental system of solutions which are entire with respect to the energy parameter. Based on this we show that the singular m-function belongs to the generalized Nevanlinna class and connect our results with the theory of super singular perturbations
Menarche, menopause, and breast cancer risk: individual participant meta-analysis, including 118 964 women with breast cancer from 117 epidemiological studies

SummaryBackgroundMenarche and menopause mark the onset and cessation, respectively, of ovarian activity associated with reproduction, and affect breast cancer risk. Our aim was to assess the strengths of their effects and determine whether they depend on characteristics of the tumours or the affected women.MethodsIndividual data from 117 epidemiological studies, including 118 964 women with invasive breast cancer and 306 091 without the disease, none of whom had used menopausal hormone therapy, were included in the analyses. We calculated adjusted relative risks (RRs) associated with menarche and menopause for breast cancer overall, and by tumour histology and by oestrogen receptor expression.FindingsBreast cancer risk increased by a factor of 1·050 (95% CI 1·044–1·057; p<0·0001) for every year younger at menarche, and independently by a smaller amount (1·029, 1·025–1·032; p<0·0001), for every year older at menopause. Premenopausal women had a greater risk of breast cancer than postmenopausal women of an identical age (RR at age 45–54 years 1·43, 1·33–1·52, p<0·001). All three of these associations were attenuated by increasing adiposity among postmenopausal women, but did not vary materially by women's year of birth, ethnic origin, childbearing history, smoking, alcohol consumption, or hormonal contraceptive use. All three associations were stronger for lobular than for ductal tumours (p<0·006 for each comparison). The effect of menopause in women of an identical age and trends by age at menopause were stronger for oestrogen receptor-positive disease than for oestrogen receptor-negative disease (p<0·01 for both comparisons).InterpretationThe effects of menarche and menopause on breast cancer risk might not be acting merely by lengthening women's total number of reproductive years. Endogenous ovarian hormones are more relevant for oestrogen receptor-positive disease than for oestrogen receptor-negative disease and for lobular than for ductal tumours.FundingCancer Research UK
Study of the process e+e−→KS0KL0 in the center-of-mass energy range 1004–1060 MeV with the CMD-3 detector at the VEPP-2000 e+e− collider

AbstractThe e+e−→KS0KL0 cross section has been measured in the center-of-mass energy range 1004–1060 MeV at 25 energy points using 6.1×105 events with KS0→π+π− decay. The analysis is based on 5.9 pb−1 of an integrated luminosity collected with the CMD-3 detector at the VEPP-2000 e+e− collider. To obtain ϕ(1020) meson parameters the measured cross section is approximated according to the Vector Meson Dominance model as a sum of the ρ,ω,ϕ-like amplitudes and their excitations. This is the most precise measurement of the e+e−→KS0KL0 cross section with a 1.8% systematic uncertainty
Joint distribution of the process and its sojourn time in a half-line [a,+∞) for pseudo-processes driven by a high-order heat-type equation

AbstractLet (X(t))t≥0 be the pseudo-process driven by the high-order heat-type equation ∂u∂t=±∂Nu∂xN, where N is an integer greater than 2. We consider the sojourn time spent by (X(t))t≥0 in [a,+∞) (a∈R), up to a fixed time t>0: Ta(t)=∫0t1[a,+∞)(X(s))ds. The purpose of this paper is to provide an explicit expression for the joint pseudo-distribution of the vector (Ta(t),X(t)) when the pseudo-process starts at a point x∈R at time 0. The method consists in solving a boundary value problem satisfied by the Laplace transform of the aforementioned distribution
Axial vector transition form factors of N→Δ in QCD

AbstractThe isovector axial vector form factors of N→Δ transition are calculated by employing Light-cone QCD sum rules. The analytical results are analyzed by both the conventional method, and also by a Monte Carlo based approach which allows one to scan all of the parameter space. The predictions are also compared with the results in the literature, where available. Although the Monte Carlo analysis predicts large uncertainties in the predicted results, the predictions obtained by the conventional analysis are in good agreement with other results in the literature
Interacting HDE and NADE in Brans–Dicke chameleon cosmology

AbstractMotivated by the recent work of one of us Setare and Jamil (2010) [1], we generalize this work to the case where the pressureless dark matter and the holographic dark energy do not conserve separately but interact with each other. We investigate the cosmological applications of interacting holographic dark energy in Brans–Dicke theory with chameleon scalar field which is non-minimally coupled to the matter field. We find out that in this model the phantom crossing can be constructed if the model parameters are chosen suitably. We also perform the study for the new agegraphic dark energy model and calculate some relevant cosmological parameters and their evolution
Paying people to eat or not to eat? Carryover effects of monetary incentives on eating behaviour

AbstractThere is no evidence comparing head-to-head the effects of monetary incentives to act and to abstain from acting on behaviour. We present an experiment, conducted between June and September 2012, that directly compares the effects of those two different monetary incentive schemes on eating behaviour: we evaluate incentives to eat against incentives not to eat. A large number of participants (n = 353) had bowls of sweets next to them while they watched different videos over two experimental sessions that were two days apart. Sweets eating was monitored and monetary incentives to eat or not to eat were introduced during one of the videos for participants randomly allocated to these conditions. Our results show that, while both types of incentives were effective in changing sweets-eating behaviour when they were in place, only incentives not to eat had significant carryover effects after they were removed. Those effects were still significant two days after the monetary incentives had been eliminated. We also present some additional results on personality and health-related variables that shed further light on these effects. Overall, our study shows that incentives not to eat can be more effective in producing carryover effects on behaviour in domains like the one explored here
Compile-time derivation of variable dependency using abstract interpretation

AbstractTraditional schemes for abstract interpretation-based global analysis of logic programs generally focus on obtaining procedure-argument mode and type information. Variable-sharing information is often given only the attention needed to preserve the correctness of the analysis. However, such sharing information can be very useful. In particular, it can be used for predicting run-time goal independence, which can eliminate costly run-time checks in AND-parallel execution. In this paper, a new algorithm for doing abstract interpretation in logic programs is described which concentrates on inferring the dependencies of the terms bound to program variables with increased precision and at all points in the execution of the program, rather than just at a procedure level. Algorithms are presented for computing abstract entry and success substitutions which extensively keep track of variable-aliasing and term-dependence information. In addition, a new, abstract domain-independent fixpoint algorithm is presented and described in detail. The algorithms are illustrated with examples. Finally, results from an implementation of the abstract interpreter are presented
B-strings on non-Kählerian manifolds

AbstractWe explain how to couple topological B-models whose targets are non-Kählerian manifolds to topological gravity and to thus define corresponding topological strings. We emphasize the need to take into account the coupling to the superghost field of topological gravity in order to obtain a consistent definition of the string model. We also review the importance of the superghost for correctly interpreting the holomorphic anomaly of the string amplitudes. We perform our analysis in the BV framework in order to make it completely gauge independent