A study of the development of urban spheres of influence in Leicestershire

This thesis examines how urban spheres in influence in Leicestershire have impacted upon the development of infrastructure related to transport and commerce and the relationships between urban and rural areas in the county more generally. The thesis looks at the historical development of urban spheres of influence from the medieval period through to the mid-twentieth century. The relationship between town and country is shown to have undergone a significant evolutionary change, one hastened by the changes brought about by the industrial revolution. The thesis concludes by considering the implications which the changes enacted between the town and country may have on local government administrative boundaries which are often historically based

Report from the PredictER Expert Panel Meeting, November 2, 2007

On November 2, 2007, the Indiana University Center for Bioethics convened an expert panel on predictive health research (PHR) as part of the Center’s Program in Predictive Health Ethics Research (http://www.bioethics.iu.edu/predicter.asp) which is supported by a grant from the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. The goal of this meeting was to identify the major obstacles and opportunities for engaging the community in PHR. PredictER intends to use the results of this meeting as a first step toward more fully engaging the Indianapolis community in discussions about PHR.Richard M. Fairbanks Foundatio

American Head and Neck Society Endocrine Section clinical consensus statement: North American quality statements and evidence‐based multidisciplinary workflow algorithms for the evaluation and management of thyroid nodules

BackgroundCare for patients with thyroid nodules is complex and multidisciplinary, and research demonstrates variation in care. The objective was to develop clinical guidelines and quality metrics to reduce unwarranted variation and improve quality.MethodsMultidisciplinary expert consensus and modified Delphi approach. Source documents were workflow algorithms from Kaiser Permanente Northern California and Cancer Care of Ontario based on the 2015 American Thyroid Association management guidelines for adult patients with thyroid nodules and differentiated thyroid cancer.ResultsA consensus‐based, unified preoperative, perioperative, and postoperative workflow was developed for North American use. Twenty‐one panelists achieved consensus on 16 statements about workflow‐embedded process and outcomes metrics addressing safety, access, appropriateness, efficiency, effectiveness, and patient centeredness of care.ConclusionA panel of Canadian and United States experts achieved consensus on workflows and quality metric statements to help reduce unwarranted variation in care, improving overall quality of care for patients diagnosed with thyroid nodules.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/148340/1/hed25526_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/148340/2/hed25526.pd

Rapid Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay for Detection of the Algal Toxin Domoic Acid

Domoic acid (DA) is a potent toxin produced by bloom-forming phytoplankton in the genus Pseudo-nitzschia, which is responsible for causing amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP) in humans. ASP symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, and in more severe cases confusion, loss of memory, disorientation, and even coma or death. This paper describes the development and validation of a rapid, sensitive, enzyme linked immunosorbent assay test kit for detecting DA using a monoclonal antibody. The assay gives equivalent results to those obtained using standard high performance liquid chromatography, fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl high performance liquid chromatography, or liquid chromatography—mass spectrometry methods. It has a linear range from 0.1–3 ppb and was used successfully to measure DA in razor clams, mussels, scallops, and phytoplankton. The assay requires approximately 1.5 h to complete and has a standard 96-well format where each strip of eight wells is removable and can be stored at 4°C until needed. The first two wells of each strip serve as an internal control eliminating the need to run a standard curve. This allows as few as 3 or as many as 36 duplicate samples to be run at a time enabling real-time sample processing and limiting degradation of DA, which can occur during storage. There was minimal cross-reactivity in this assay with glutamine, glutamic acid, kainic acid, epi- or iso-DA. This accurate, rapid, cost-effective, assay offers environmental managers and public health officials an effective tool for monitoring DA concentrations in environment samples

The Nature of Knowledge in Composition and Literary Understanding: The Question of Specificity

↵PETER SMAGORINSKY is Assistant Professor, College of Education, University of Oklahoma, 820 Van Vleet Oval, Norman, OK 73019-0. He specializes in classroom literacy.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

Low back pain status in elite and semi-elite Australian football codes: a cross-sectional survey of football (soccer), Australian rules, rugby league, rugby union and non-athletic controls

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Our understanding of the effects of football code participation on low back pain (LBP) is limited. It is unclear whether LBP is more prevalent in athletic populations or differs between levels of competition. Thus it was the aim of this study to document and compare the prevalence, intensity, quality and frequency of LBP between elite and semi-elite male Australian football code participants and a non-athletic group.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional survey of elite and semi-elite male Australian football code participants and a non-athletic group was performed. Participants completed a self-reported questionnaire incorporating the Quadruple Visual Analogue Scale (QVAS) and McGill Pain Questionnaire (short form) (MPQ-SF), along with additional questions adapted from an Australian epidemiological study. Respondents were 271 elite players (mean age 23.3, range 17–39), 360 semi-elite players (mean age 23.8, range 16–46) and 148 non-athletic controls (mean age 23.9, range 18–39).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Groups were matched for age (p = 0.42) and experienced the same age of first onset LBP (p = 0.40). A significant linear increase in LBP from the non-athletic group, to the semi-elite and elite groups for the QVAS and the MPQ-SF was evident (p < 0.001). Elite subjects were more likely to experience more frequent (daily or weekly OR 1.77, 95% CI 1.29–2.42) and severe LBP (discomforting and greater OR 1.75, 95% CI 1.29–2.38).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Foolers in Australia have significantly more severe and frequent LBP than a non-athletic group and this escalates with level of competition.</p

Courting the South: Lula’s Trade Diplomacy

Scholarly consensus regarding Brazil's Lula government characterizes its economic policy as surprisingly conservative but its foreign policy as roughly in line with the traditionally leftist principles of the Workers' Party. While broadly accurate, this perspective tells us little about trade diplomacy, which cuts across these two policy areas. In this article we explain why Lula's trade diplomacy has hewed much more closely to his broader foreign policy strategy than his economic model, despite the critical role of trade in Brazil's recent economic growth. We argue that two key factors have lowered the costs of adopting a combative, South-South orientation, allowing Lula to use trade diplomacy as a tool for appealing to party loyalists. One is the inherently muted short-term impact of trade diplomacy on key macro-economic outcomes. The other is the failure of the traditional trading powers to offer the incentives necessary to successfully conclude the major North-South trade talks they had initiated

Old stones' song: Use-wear experiments and analysis of the Oldowan quartz and quartzite assemblage from Kanjera South (Kenya)

Evidence of Oldowan tools by w2.6 million years ago (Ma) may signal a major adaptive shift in hominin evolution. While tool-dependent butchery of large mammals was important by at least 2.0 Ma, the use of artifacts for tasks other than faunal processing has been difficult to diagnose. Here we report on use-wear analysis ofw2.0 Ma quartz and quartzite artifacts from Kanjera South, Kenya. A use-wear framework that links processing of specific materials and tool motions to their resultant use-wear patterns was developed. A blind test was then carried out to assess and improve the efficacy of this experimental use-wear framework, which was then applied to the analysis of 62 Oldowan artifacts from Kanjera South. Usewear on a total of 23 artifact edges was attributed to the processing of specific materials. Use-wear on seven edges (30%) was attributed to animal tissue processing,corroborating zooarchaeological evidence for butchery at the site. Use-wear on 16 edges (70%)was attributed to the processing of plant tissues, including wood, grit-covered plant tissues that we interpret asunderground storage organs (USOs), and stems of grass or sedges. These results expand our knowledge of the suite of behaviours carried out in the vicinity of Kanjera South to include the processing of materials that would be ‘invisible’ using standard archaeological methods. Wood cutting and scraping may represent the production and/or maintenance of wooden tools. Use-wear related to USO processing extends the archaeological evidence for hominin acquisition and consumption of this resource by over 1.5 Ma. Cutting of grasses, sedges or reeds may be related to a subsistence task (e.g., grass seed harvesting, cutting out papyrus culm for consumption) and/or a non-subsistence related task (e.g., production of ‘twine,’ simple carrying devices, or bedding). These results highlight the adaptive significance of lithic technology for hominins at Kanjera