The Anthropocene Lyric: An Affective Geography of Poetry, Person, Place by Tom Bristow

Review of Tom Bristow\u27s The Anthropocene Lyric: An Affective Geography of Poetry, Person, Place

Geology of the Brixton Deverill - East Knoyle district (Wiltshire), 1:10000 sheets ST83NE (Brixton Deverill) and ST83SE (East Knoyle) : part of 1:50000 sheet 297 (Wincanton)

The Brixton Deverill-East Knoyle d i s t r i c t lies at the western endof Salisbury Plain and encompasses the north-western part of the Vale of Wardour. The central part of the d i s t r i c t forms part of a dissected plateau developed on Upper Chalk (Figure 1); this reaches a maximum height of 238 m south-east of Brixton Deverill. In the north-west, there are prominent escarpments capped by the Lewes Chalk on either side of the Wylye valley. In the south, the Mere Fault and associated monoclinal structure play an important part in shaping the landscape. In the west, the chalk rises steeply on the north side of the fault from the clay vale to the south. Between West Knoyle and East Knoyle, the steeply dipping Upper Greensand and Chalk strata give rise to strongly featured ground. The principal drainage in the northern part of the d i s t r i c t is northwards by the River Wylye, the only permanent river on the chalk outcrop and its tributaries. In the south-central area, drainage is eastwards by a series of valleys that coalesce just west of Hindon and ultimately join the River Nadder at Tisbury. In the south, on the clay vale, drainage is southwestwards by tributaries of the River Lodden, and south-eastwards by tributaries of the River Nadder. The lowest point in the d i s t r i c t , c.96 m OD, lies in the southern tract. Soils developed on the Upper Greensand and most of the Chalk are light and w e l l drained. However, s o i l s on the West Melbury Chalk, together with some on the clay-with-flint deposits and Kimmeridge Clay are much heavier and poorly drained. Agriculture is a mixture of arable and pasture, with the latter dominant on the Kimmeridge Clay Vale. There are few woods, with deciduous woods confined mostly to the clay vale and the relatively newly planted coniferous plantations on the Chalk and Upper Greensand. Agriculture is the only industry in the area

Tinea pedis: diagnosis and management

Tinea pedis is one of the most commonly encountered foot infections. The fact that in most cases it is easily treatable yet still prevalent in the general population suggests it is often undiagnosed or remains untreated by health care professionals and patients. The most common agent is Trichophyton rubrum which is often mistaken for dry skin in its presentation. Treatment should include curative as well as preventative measures where possible

On life, death and radical critique: A non-survival guide to the Brave New Higher Education for the intellectually pregnant

This paper joins the call to arms against the domestication of critique in organisation studies. It argues that we have become too pre-occupied with our professional survival to stand firm against the normalising pressure of the new higher education and its publish-or-perish machinery. We trade away too much radicalism in exchange for legitimacy, which results in widely accepted but toothless forms of critique. The paper draws on two contrasting metaphors of Huxley's Brave New World and intellectual pregnancy to illustrate some of the challenges faced by early-career academics entering the world of the Brave New Higher Education as academic ‘savages’. It discusses the almost imperceptible socialisation of the savage into the ‘rationalised myths’ of the brave new world to the point that alternatives become literally unthinkable. The paper suggests that we can fight this slippage and the associated domestication of critique by giving up our obsession with survival and by remembering/envisioning alternative realities, such as that of intellectual pregnancy deriving from the fragile idealism of the savage's doctoral world

Pro-Confederate Sympathy and Its Results in Northern Kentucky

During the Civil War, Kentucky was deeply divided in sentiment between Union and Confederate sympathies. Although these divides could be found anywhere, even within the smallest of towns, the population of some regions numerically favored one side or the other. Even so, there was always a vocal and active minority present, leading to political and even violent contention. This thesis seeks to understand the role that pro-Confederate sentiment played in northern Kentucky during the war. It will investigate how the region influenced the war and public sentiment statewide, and the nature of the conflict within. It will investigate geographic, social, and economic factors prior to the outbreak of conflict in hopes of better understanding the local culture these people were a part of, and thereby ascertain their viewpoint on the issues related to the war. Some important sources this study relies on include political results, personal accounts, newspaper articles, and the analysis of other historians

A Risk-Adjusted Model for Ovarian Cancer Care and Disparities in Access to High-Performing Hospitals.

ObjectiveTo validate the observed/expected ratio for adherence to ovarian cancer treatment guidelines as a risk-adjusted measure of hospital quality care, and to identify patient characteristics associated with disparities in access to high-performing hospitals.MethodsThis was a retrospective population-based study of stage I-IV invasive epithelial ovarian cancer reported to the California Cancer Registry between 1996 and 2014. A fit logistic regression model, which was risk-adjusted for patient and disease characteristics, was used to calculate the observed/expected ratio for each hospital, stratified by hospital annual case volume. A Cox proportional hazards model was used for survival analyses, and a multivariable logistic regression model was used to identify independent predictors of access to high-performing hospitals.ResultsThe study population included 30,051 patients who were treated at 426 hospitals: low observed/expected ratio (n=304) 23.5% of cases; intermediate observed/expected ratio (n=92) 57.8% of cases; and high observed/expected ratio (n=30) 18.7% of cases. Hospitals with high observed/expected ratios were significantly more likely to deliver guideline-adherent care (53.3%), compared with hospitals with intermediate (37.8%) and low (27.5%) observed/expected ratios (P<.001). Median disease-specific survival time ranged from 73.0 months for hospitals with high observed/expected ratios to 48.1 months for hospitals with low observed/expected ratios (P<.001). Treatment at a hospital with a high observed/expected ratio was an independent predictor of superior survival compared with hospitals with intermediate (hazard ratio [HR] 1.06, 95% CI 1.01-1.11, P<.05) and low (HR 1.10, 95% CI 1.04-1.16, P<.001) observed/expected ratios. Being of Hispanic ethnicity (odds ratio [OR] 0.85, 95% CI 0.78-0.93, P<.001, compared with white), having Medicare insurance (OR 0.74, 95% CI 0.68-0.81 P<.001, compared with managed care), having a Charlson Comorbidity Index score of 2 or greater (OR 0.91, 95% CI 0.83-0.99, P<.05), and being of lower socioeconomic status (lowest quintile OR 0.41, 95% CI 0.36-0.46, P<.001, compared with highest quintile) were independent negative predictors of access to a hospital with a high observed/expected ratio.ConclusionOvarian cancer care at a hospital with a high observed/expected ratio is an independent predictor of improved survival. Barriers to high-performing hospitals disproportionately affect patients according to sociodemographic characteristics. Triage of patients with suspected ovarian cancer according to a performance-based observed/expected ratio hospital classification is a potential mechanism for expanded access to expert care

Aircraft Noise: Annoyance, House Prices and Valuation

“Nobody wants to buy your house. It’s the aircraft noise. You’ll have to reduce the price a lot.” Aircraft noise around airports causes annoyance, and tends to reduce the price of affected properties. Can annoyance be ‘costed’ by examining house price reductions? Are there other ways of valuing annoyance in monetary terms? This short paper summarises key research results and poses some questions

Meta-analysis of the Cepheid Xpert® CT/NG assay for extragenital detection of Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) infections.

Background Most studies evaluating extragenital testing performance for Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) detection by the Xpert® CT/NG show high per cent agreement with comparison assays; however, the precision around positive per cent agreement is low and thus the values that have been reported are not highly informative. Therefore, a systematic review was conducted and data from five studies were combined to better assess positive per cent agreement.MethodsThe literature indexed on PubMed.gov was searched. Included studies were those that were an evaluation of the Xpert CT/NG assay with rectal and/or pharyngeal specimen types compared with another nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT), the Aptima transcription mediated amplification assay. A full Bayesian method was used for bivariate fixed-effect meta-analysis of positive and negative per cent agreement and pooled estimates (and 95% confidence intervals (CI)) were presented for each.ResultsThe pooled positive and negative per cent agreement for detection of CT in rectal specimens was 89.72% (95% CI: 84.97%, 93.64%) and 99.23% (95% CI: 98.74%, 99.60%), and in pharyngeal specimens, they were 89.96% (95% CI: 66.38%, 99.72%) and 99.62% (95% CI: 98.95%, 99.95%) respectively. For NG detection in rectal specimens, the pooled positive and negative per cent agreement was 92.75% (95% CI: 87.91%, 96.46%) and 99.75% (95% CI: 99.46%, 99.93%), and in pharyngeal specimens, they were 92.51% (95% CI: 85.84%, 97.18%) and 98.56% (95% CI: 97.69%, 99.23%) respectively.ConclusionsIt was found that the Xpert CT/NG assay performed similarly to the Aptima transcription mediated amplification assay for the detection of CT and NG in extragenital specimens. The Xpert assay has the benefit of providing faster results at the point-of-care, thus reducing the turnaround time for results, potentially enabling same-day treatment

Solid-phase phosphorus speciation in Saharan Bodélé depression dusts and source sediments

Phosphorus (P) is one of the most important limiting nutrients for the growth of oceanic phytoplankton and terrestrial ecosystems, which in turn contributes to CO2 sequestration. The solid-phase speciation of P will influence its solubility and hence its availability to such ecosystems. This study reports on the results of X-ray diffraction, electron microprobe chemical analysis and X-ray mapping, chemical extractions and X-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy analysis carried out to determine the solid-phase speciation of P in dusts and their source sediments from the Saharan Bodélé Depression, the world’s largest single source of dust. Chemical extraction data suggest that the Bodélé dusts contain 28 to 60% (mean 49%) P sorbed to, or co-precipitated with Fe (hydr)oxides, < 10% organic P, 21-50% (mean 32%) detrital apatite P, and 10-22% (mean 15%) authigenic-biogenic apatite P. This is confirmed by the other analyses, which also suggest that the authigenic-biogenic apatite P is likely fish bone and scale, and that this might form a larger proportion of the apatite pool (33 +/− 22%) than given by the extraction data. This is the first-ever report of fish material in aeolian dust, and it is significant because P derived from fish bone and scale is relatively soluble and is often used as a soil fertilizer. Therefore, the fish-P will likely be the most readily form of Bodélé P consumed during soil weathering and atmospheric processing, but given time and acid dissolution, the detrital apatite, Fe-P and organic-P will also be made available. The Bodélé dust input of P to global ecosystems will only have a limited life, however, because its major source materials, diatomite in the Bodélé Depression, undergo persistent deflation and have a finite thickness