Markets, Government And Environmental Policy Issues For Public Transit

This paper considers the wider transport policy implications of bus deregulation, especially the links with environmental objectives. The major themes are the role of markets in creating opportunities through incentives to innovate which impact positively on the environment without the intervention of government, but which accord with political agendas, defining an appropriate set of goals and performance criteria for urban passenger transport which give credence to environmental sustainability, distinguishing outcome and outputs and structuring the regulator to deliver. We use the experience with mini-buses in Britain to show how markets create environmentally compatible incentives

Ultrastructural Assessment of Lesion Development in the Collared Rabbit Carotid Artery Model

Cellular reactions associated with the formation of lesions generated in the carotid artery of rabbits fed either normal or high cholesterol diets by the placement of a flexible, silastic collar around the artery, were studied by electron microscopy. Endothelial cells remained as a monolayer throughout lesion development. The endothelial cell surface in both experimental and sham operated carotids, 4 hours and 8 hours after the initiation of the experiments, were covered with platelets and leukocytes. Neutrophils were present until 7 days in the arteries from within the collar of animals maintained on a normal diet, but only to 1 day in the cholesterol-fed animals. Neutrophils were observed within the medial layer. Few monocytes were identified. An intimal lesion had formed after 7 days in both groups of animals. Macrophage-like cells and foam cells were identified in the cholesterol-fed animals. The size of the lesion increased up to 56 days in animals maintained on a high cholesterol diet, but regression occurred after the 14-days sample in those animals on a normal diet. Concurrently a proportion of the smooth muscle cells changed from contractile to synthetic phenotype within the intimal and medial region of the collared artery of both high cholesterol and normocholesterolaemic animals. Lesions did not form in the contralateral, sham operated arteries

Strategies for Recruitment and Retention of Secondary Teachers in Central U.S. Rural Schools

This study sought to identify differences in strategies used for teacher recruitment and retention by successful and non-successful rural high schools. According to data from the 2003-2004 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), small towns and rural areas in the central U.S. states did have relatively more difficuly in recruiting teachers than did larger communities. However, when the successful and unsuccessful school districts were compared on the strategies and benefits included in the SASS, the only difference was with signing bonuses, which were offered significantly more often in the unsuccessful group than the successful group. The researchers also interviewed seven principals identified as successful by their state agencies. Their responses revealed minimal reliance on the strategies addressed in the SASS. however, there was some alignment between many of the strategies they did use and the three approaches investigated in previous research: grow-your-own, using federal funding opportunities, and using targeted incentives

HFST—Framework for Compiling and Applying Morphologies

HFST–Helsinki Finite-State Technology ( hfst.sf.net ) is a framework for compiling and applying linguistic descriptions with finite-state methods. HFST currently connects some of the most important finite-state tools for creating morphologies and spellers into one open-source platform and supports extending and improving the descriptions with weights to accommodate the modeling of statistical information. HFST offers a path from language descriptions to efficient language applications in key environments and operating systems. HFST also provides an opportunity to exchange transducers between different software providers in order to get the best out of each finite-state library.Peer reviewe

Barriers and facilitators to social prescribing in child and youth mental health: Perspectives from the frontline

There is growing interest in the role of Social Prescribing (SP) to help promote mental wellbeing and support individuals with mental health difficulties. Yet, implementation of SP to children and young people (CYP) has proved slow and underdeveloped compared with adult populations. Understanding the barriers and facilitators will help key stakeholders to better embed SP for CYP into practice. Using the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF), a comprehensive, theoretical-led framework, underpinned by 33 behaviour change theories and 128 constructs, perceived barriers and facilitators to SP were investigated. The sample comprised of 11 Link Workers and 9 individuals involved in facilitating SP with CYP, who took part in semi-structured interviews. Transcripts were analysed using a deductive thematic analysis, and themes were coded under each theoretical domain. Overall, 33 barriers and facilitators for SP were identified across 12 domains of the TDF. Under capability, barriers and facilitators were found for knowledge, skills, memory/attention/decision making processes, and behavioural regulation. For opportunity, barriers and facilitators were found for social/professional influences, as well as environmental context and resources. Finally, for motivation, domains covered included: beliefs about consequences, beliefs about capabilities, optimism, motivations/goals, reinforcement, and emotions. Findings suggest that a wide range of barriers and facilitators affect the implementation of CYP SP to improve mental health and wellbeing. Interventions which target different domains related to capability, opportunity and motivation should be developed to better facilitate CYP SP

Elevated CO2induces a bloom of microphytobenthos within a shell gravel mesocosm

The geological storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) is expected to be an important component of future global carbon emission mitigation, but there is a need to understand the impacts of a CO2 leak on the marine environment and to develop monitoring protocols for leakage detection. In the present study, sediment cores were exposed to CO2-acidified seawater at one of five pH levels (8.0, 7.5, 7.0, 6.5 and 6.0) for 10 weeks. A bloom of Spirulina sp. and diatoms appeared on sediment surface exposed to pH 7.0 and 7.5 seawater. Quantitative PCR measurements of the abundance of 16S rRNA also indicated an increase within the pH 7.0 and 7.5 treatments after 10 weeks incubation. More detailed analysis of the microbial communities from the pH 7.0, 7.5 and 8.0 treatments confirmed an increase in the relative abundance of Spirulina sp. and Navicula sp. sequences, with changes in the relative abundance of major archaeal and bacterial groups also detected within the pH 7.0 treatment. A decreased flux of silicate from the sediment at this pH was also detected. Monitoring blooms of microphytobenthos may prove useful as an indicator of CO2 leakage within coastal area

Barriers and facilitators to social prescribing in child and youth mental health: perspectives from the frontline

There is growing interest in the role of Social Prescribing (SP) to help promote mental well-being and support individuals with mental health difficulties. Yet, implementation of SP to children and young people (CYP) has proved slow and underdeveloped compared with adult populations. Understanding the barriers and facilitators will help key stakeholders to better embed SP for CYP into practice. Using the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF), a comprehensive, theoretical-led framework, underpinned by 33 behaviour change theories and 128 constructs, perceived barriers and facilitators to SP were investigated. The sample comprised of 11 Link Workers and 9 individuals involved in facilitating SP with CYP, who took part in semi-structured interviews. Transcripts were analysed using a deductive thematic analysis, and themes were coded under each theoretical domain. Overall, 33 barriers and facilitators for SP were identified across 12 domains of the TDF. Under capability, barriers and facilitators were found for knowledge, skills, memory/attention/decision making processes, and behavioural regulation. For opportunity, barriers and facilitators were found for social/professional influences, as well as environmental context and resources. Finally, for motivation, domains covered included: beliefs about consequences, beliefs about capabilities, optimism, motivations/goals, reinforcement, and emotions. Findings suggest that a wide range of barriers and facilitators affect the implementation of CYP SP to improve mental health and well-being. Interventions which target different domains related to capability, opportunity and motivation should be developed to better facilitate CYP SP

Profile of the U 5f magnetization in U/Fe multilayers

Recent calculations, concerning the magnetism of uranium in the U/Fe multilayer system have described the spatial dependence of the 5f polarization that might be expected. We have used the x-ray resonant magnetic reflectivity technique to obtain the profile of the induced uranium magnetic moment for selected U/Fe multilayer samples. This study extends the use of x-ray magnetic scattering for induced moment systems to the 5f actinide metals. The spatial dependence of the U magnetization shows that the predominant fraction of the polarization is present at the interfacial boundaries, decaying rapidly towards the center of the uranium layer, in good agreement with predictions.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure