Small Circles: Mobile Telephony and the Cultivation of the Private Sphere

This article examines how we use mobile telephony to maintain our physically and socially closest social circle. The analysis is based on traffic data gathered from Norway using approximately 24 million calls and texts made by private individuals. Previous research has shown that our temporal and spatial movement is highly predictable and that the majority of calls and text messages are sent to only four to six different persons. This article extends this research by examining both tie strength and the distance between the interlocutors in urban and rural settings. The findings show that even as information and communication technologies (ICTs) potentially put the world at our fingertips, the mobile phone is an instrument of a more limited geographical and social sphere. Approximately two-thirds of our calls/texts go to strong ties that are within a 25-km radius.     

Biochemical Evaluation of Patients of Alcoholic Liver Disease and Non-alcoholic Liver Disease

Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is due to excessive alcohol intake for long duration. Distinguishing ALD from non-ALD (non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, hepatitis of viral origin) is difficult as patient may deny alcohol abuse. Clinical examination, histology and serology may not differentiate these conditions. Accurate diagnosis is important as management of ALD differs from non-ALD patients. The aim of our study was (1) To evaluate the patients of ALD and non-ALD by biochemical parameters compared to controls, (2) To assess whether these parameters can differentiate ALD from non-ALD. Study was carried out on 50 patients of ALD in group I and 35 patients of NASH (non-alcoholic steatohepatitis) and acute viral hepatitis each in group II. Age matched healthy controls n = 50. Selection criteria—history of alcohol intake (amount and duration), clinical examination, sonography of abdomen, serum alanine transaminase (ALT) and bilirubin levels. Blood samples were analyzed for bilirubin, aspartate transaminase (AST), ALT, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT) by kinetic method. Statistical analysis was done by Student unpaired ‘t’ test. Patients of ALD have raised AST/ALT ratio (De Ritis ratio) (>2), ALP and GGT compared to controls (P < 0.01).There is significant difference in AST/ALT ratio, serum GGT and ALP in ALD group compared to that in NASH and acute viral hepatitis (P < 0.05). This study suggests that De Ritis ratio >2 in ALD patients may be due to alcohol induced hepatic mitochondrial injury and pyridoxine deficiency. High GGT and ALP values may indicate enzyme induction by alcohol and mild cholestasis. Thus ALD patients have severe hepatic damage. De Ritis ratio <1 and normal to mild elevation in GGT level in NASH and acute viral hepatitis suggest mild hepatic injury of non-alcoholic origin. Our study concludes that ALD patients can be differentiated from NASH and acute viral hepatitis with certainty by measuring serum AST/ALT ratio, GGT and ALP. These biochemical parameters may help clinicians to support the diagnosis of ALD and non-ALD.     

Finite-time sliding mode flow control design via reduced model for a connection-oriented communication network

This paper addresses the flow control design of a connection-oriented communication network from the robust control theory perspective. Network is modelled as a nth order discrete system whose first order model is obtained using the two-time scale property associated with the process. The proposed scheme is characterised by an equivalent control based discrete sliding mode design for the first order model which is applied to nth order systems through aggregation. Besides its design simplicity, the proposed method exhibits finite time convergence property for the states while applied to the full order system emulating the characteristics of terminal sliding mode in a certain way. Simulation results via Matlab and ns-2 validate the efficacy of the proposed algorithm as an effective flow controller for connection-oriented networks.     

“P53 Codon 72 Single Base Substitution in Viral Hepatitis C and Hepatocarcinoma Incidences”

Viral infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) has a high propensity in becoming chronic and it is the major cause of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) worldwide. This review was basically established to illustrate the putative role of the P53 gene Arg72Pro polymorphism on various cancer models and viral infections, focusing on HCV and HCC incidences. Authors studied the 72 G/C single base substitution of P53 gene at codon 72 using various polymorphic techniques. Intriguingly, authors investigated that the P53 codon 72 plays a crucial role as risk factor in several cancer models. Others found that there is no association between codon 72 genotypes and HCV disease severity or liver cancer. Moreover, the lack of a significant relationship between this polymorphism and risk of HCC shows that it does not predispose towards hepatocarcinogenesis and the frequent loss of the proline allele in HCV-associated carcinogenesis of the liver plays some critical role in hepatocarcinogenesis. Amazingly, there is a significant correlation between male homozygotes for P53 72Pro with HCV type 1b infection. However, there was no significant difference between the P53 polymorphism and HCV genotypes 2a and 2b. It was concluded that the P53 gene polymorphism at codon 72 has been investigated as potential risk factor in several cancer models and HCV infections.     

Growth influences biomechanical profile of talented swimmers during the summer break

This study aimed to analyse the effect of growth during a summer break on biomechanical profile of talented swimmers. Twenty-five young swimmers (12 boys and 13 girls) undertook several anthropometric and biomechanical tests at the end of the 2011–2012 season (pre-test) and 10 weeks later at the beginning of the 2012–2013 season (post-test). Height, arm span, hand surface area, and foot surface area were collected as anthropometric parameters, while stroke frequency, stroke length, stroke index, propelling efficiency, active drag, and active drag coefficient were considered as biomechanical variables. The mean swimming velocity during an all-out 25 m front crawl effort was used as the performance outcome. After the 10-week break, the swimmers were taller with an increased arm span, hand, and foot areas. Increases in stroke length, stroke index, propelling efficiency, and performance were also observed. Conversely, the stroke frequency, active drag, and drag coefficient remained unchanged. When controlling the effect of growth, no significant variation was determined on the biomechanical variables. The performance presented high associations with biomechanical and anthropometric parameters at pre-test and post-test, respectively. The results show that young talented swimmers still present biomechanical improvements after a 10-week break, which are mainly explained by their normal growth.     

Anticipatory postural adjustments during cutting manoeuvres in football and their consequences for knee injury risk

Abstract

Anticipatory postural adjustments (APAs), i.e. preparatory positioning of the head, the trunk and the foot, are essential to initiate cutting manoeuvres during football games. The aim of the present study was to determine how APA strategies during cutting manoeuvres are influenced by a reduction of the time available to prepare the movement.

Thirteen football players performed different cutting tasks, with directions of cutting either known prior to the task or indicated by a light signal occurring 850, 600 or 500 ms before ground contact.

With less time available to prepare the cutting manoeuvre, the head was less orientated towards the cutting direction (P = 0.033) and the trunk was even more rotated in the opposite direction (P = 0.002), while the foot placement was not significantly influenced. Moreover, the induced higher lateral trunk flexion correlated with the increased knee abduction moment (r = 0.41; P = 0.009).

Increasing lateral trunk flexion is the main strategy used to successfully perform a cutting manoeuvre when less time is available to prepare the movement. However, higher lateral trunk flexion was associated with an increased knee abduction moment and therefore an increased knee injury risk. Reducing lateral trunk flexion during cutting manoeuvres should be part of training programs seeking the optimisation of APAs.