The influence of rifle carriage on the kinetics of human gait

The influence that rifle carriage has on human gait has received little attention in the published literature. Rifle carriage has two main effects, to add load to the anterior of the body and to restrict natural arm swing patterns. Kinetic data were collected from 15 male participants, with 10 trials in each of four experimental conditions. The conditions were: walking without a load (used as a control condition); carrying a lightweight rifle simulator, which restricted arm movements but applied no additional load; wearing a 4.4 kg diving belt, which allowed arms to move freely; carrying a weighted (4.4 kg) replica SA80 rifle. Walking speed was fixed at 1.5 m/s (+5%) and data were sampled at 400 Hz. Results showed that rifle carriage significantly alters the ground reaction forces produced during walking, the most important effects being an increase in the impact peak and mediolateral forces. This study suggests that these effects are due to the increased range of motion of the body’s centre of mass caused by the impeding of natural arm swing patterns. The subsequent effect on the potential development of injuries in rifle carriers is unknown

The Effect of Wildfire on Soil Mercury Concentrations in Southern California Watersheds

Mercury (Hg) stored in vegetation and soils is known to be released to the atmosphere during wildfires, increasing atmospheric stores and altering terrestrial budgets. Increased erosion and transport of sediments is well-documented in burned watersheds, both immediately post-fire and as the watershed recovers; however, understanding post-fire mobilization of soil Hg within burned watersheds remains elusive. The goal of the current study is to better understand the impact of wildfire on soil-bound Hg during the immediate post-fire period as well as during recovery, in order to assess the potential for sediment-driven transport to and within surface waters in burned watersheds. Soils were collected from three southern California watersheds of similar vegetation and soil characteristics that experienced wildfire. Sampling in one of these watersheds was extended for several seasons (1.5 years) in order to investigate temporal changes in soil Hg concentrations. Laboratory analysis included bulk soil total Hg concentrations and total organic carbon of burned and unburned samples. Soils were also fractionated into a subset of grain sizes with analysis of Hg on each fraction. Low Hg concentrations were observed in surface soils immediately post-fire. Accumulation of Hg coincident with moderate vegetative recovery was observed in the burned surface soils 1 year following the fire, and mobilization was also noted during the second winter (rainy) season. Hg concentrations were highest in the fine-grained fraction of unburned soils; however, in the burned soils, the distribution of soil-bound Hg was less influenced by grain size. The accelerated accumulation of Hg observed in the burned soils, along with the elevated risk of erosion, could result in increased delivery of organic- or particulate-bound Hg to surface waters in post-fire systems

Análisis de costos y gastos para la determinación de la cuota adecuada de alquiler-venta a los socios de la empresa Transportes Huanchaco S.A. de Trujillo

RESUMEN El presente trabajo de investigación tiene como principal propósito, aportar a la Empresa de Transportes Huanchaco, la determinación de una cuota adecuada de alquiler venta que se cobrará al socio. El objetivo que persigue es determinar si el análisis de costos y gastos permitirá identificar una cuota adecuada de alquiler venta, la cual se le cobrará al socio. Esta identificación se realiza mediante la observación, análisis y clasificación de cada costo (costo de adquisición y costo por el servicio de alquiler) y gastos (gastos administrativos y financieros). La cuota adecuada está compuesta por los costos y gastos antes mencionados de acuerdo al análisis realizado, además se agregó un porcentaje mínimo de rentabilidad por el servicio prestado, con el objeto de no tener diferencias tributarias con SUNAT, más el Impuesto General a las Ventas, que debe ser asumido en sus totalidad por el socio. En el análisis de la cuota cobrada anteriormente se precisaron contingencias tributarias, tales como impuestos presuntos, los cuales pueden afectar a la empresa con sanciones tributarias, por lo que en esta investigación se determinó el importe de estos impuestos omitidos y las multas que se ocasionarían en una posible fiscalización. Las autoras realizan esta investigación con fines académicos y a espera de que la propuesta de la nueva cuota adecuada sirva como base para que a partir de la fecha y futuros planes semejantes sirvan como base y motiven a la Junta General de Accionistas continuar trabajando en la renovación de sus flotas sin perjuicio a la Empresa de Transportes Huanchaco S.A.ABSTRACT The main purpose of this research is to provide the “Empresa de Transportes Huanchaco S.A” with the final figure of an appropriate rental-sale fee, whick will be charged to the associated partners. The objective is to establish whether the cost and expense analysis will deliver an appropriate fee for rental-sales services, which will be charged to the partners. This setting is made through observation, analysis and classification of each cost (cost of acquisition and cost for the rental service) and expenses (administrative and financial expenses) The appropriate fee consists of the costs and expenses mentioned before according to the analysis made, plus a minimum percentage of profitability added for the service provided, in order not to have tax differences with SUNAT plus the General Sales Tax, that must be totally assumed by the partner. In the analysis of the quoted fee previously mentioned tax contingencies were included, such as estimated taxes, those which may affect the company’s liability to tax penalties, therefore in this investigation it was determined the amount of these omitted taxes and the fines that would be incurred in a possible audit. The authors carry out this research for academic purposes and are waiting for the new proposed fee to serve as a basis from now on and for future similar plans and motivate the General Shareholders’ Meeting to continue working on the renewal of its fleet without harm to the Transporte Huanchaco Company S

"We're all the same here"—Investigating the rehabilitative climate of a re-rolled sexual offender prison: a qualitative longitudinal study

Understanding how individuals with sexual convictions experience prison and its environment is important because such experiences can impact on rehabilitation outcomes. This is the first qualitative longitudinal investigation that explores the experiences of prisoners in a prison exclusively for individuals with sexual convictions over time. The purpose of this research was to explore the rehabilitative and therapeutic climate of a recently re-rolled prison (a general prison turned into a prison only for individuals who have sexually offended) at two time points (T1 at reroll and T2 a year later). The study focuses on prisoners perspectives of the purpose of the prison, experience of prison life, relationships in the prison, and the prison regime over time. Twenty interviews were conducted across the time points and revealed two main superordinate themes “‘Being’ in a prison for individuals with sexual convictions” and “obstructions to change". This research adds to the emerging body of knowledge surrounding the importance of the wider prison environment on the rehabilitation of individuals with sexual convictions and on the benefits and risks of co-locating men who have committed sexual offences in the same prison site. It also has implications wider than rehabilitation of those convicted of sexual offences and has insights for the types of environment and prisoner-staff relationships that are conducive to rehabilitation

Mutation update and genotype-phenotype correlations of novel and previously described mutations in TPM2 and TPM3 causing congenital myopathies

Mutations affecting skeletal muscle isoforms of the tropomyosin genes may cause nemaline myopathy, cap myopathy, core-rod myopathy, congenital fiber-type disproportion, distal arthrogryposes, and Escobar syndrome. We correlate the clinical picture of these diseases with novel (19) and previously reported (31) mutations of the TPM2 and TPM3 genes. Included are altogether 93 families: 53 with TPM2 mutations and 40 with TPM3 mutations. Thirty distinct pathogenic variants of TPM2 and 20 of TPM3 have been published or listed in the Leiden Open Variant Database (http://www.dmd.nl/). Most are heterozygous changes associated with autosomal-dominant disease. Patients with TPM2 mutations tended to present with milder symptoms than those with TPM3 mutations, DA being present only in the TPM2 group. Previous studies have shown that five of the mutations in TPM2 and one in TPM3 cause increased Ca2+ sensitivity resulting in a hypercontractile molecular phenotype. Patients with hypercontractile phenotype more often had contractures of the limb joints (18/19) and jaw (6/19) than those with nonhypercontractile ones (2/22 and 1/22), whereas patients with the non-hypercontractile molecular phenotype more often (19/22) had axial contractures than the hypercontractile group (7/19). Our in silico predictions show that most mutations affect tropomyosin–actin association or tropomyosin head-to-tail binding

A Prompt to the Web: The Media and Health Information Seeking Behaviour

UNLABELLED: OBJECTIVE, DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: The objective was to investigate media influence on consumers' health related behaviours. A cross-sectional survey of randomly selected adults (18+ years) residing in the Hunter Region of New South Wales Australia was conducted. The sample was selected using a combination of the white pages and random digit dialling. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The proportions of respondents who recalled seeing or hearing about conditions or treatments in the media over the 12 months prior to interview (August 2009-August 2010) and their subsequent health related behaviour. RESULTS: Although most survey participants reported seeking health information from their doctors, around two-thirds of survey participants (551, 68.8%) recalled hearing, seeing or reading about one or more medical conditions (total = 1097 instances) in the mainstream media over the past 12 months. Almost 40% of respondents (307, 38.4%) stated that they had looked for more information about a condition as a result of hearing about it in the media, and most used the internet (269, 87.4%). More than a quarter of respondents (215, 26.9%) indicated that they had asked their doctor about a condition they had heard about in the media. Around half of those who asked their doctor (109, 50.6%) reported that their inquiry resulted in them receiving treatment, of whom almost half (53, 48.3%) reported being prescribed a medicine. CONCLUSION: The survey results show that consumers become aware of medicines through traditional media and then to learn more often turn to the internet where quality of information may be poor

Persistent Organic Chemicals in the Pacific Basin Countries: An Overview

The Pacific Basin is a unique geographical region representing tropical, temperate and polar zones. This region is home to 2/3 of world’s population and consists of rapidly growing economies (countries) and highly developed countries. The Pacific Basin countries have had a history of use of persistent organic chemicals (POCs) at varying proportions during the last five decades. Due to diverse climatic and socio-economic conditions, the environment and biota in different countries in this basin have varying degrees of environmental contamination and effects on wildlife and humans. In this chapter, the historical background of POCs including, discovery, production, use, regulations/restrictions imposed, current status and possible future trends are reviewed especially focusing on the countries in the Pacific Rim

Sphagnum farming from species selection to the production of growing media : a review

Sphagnum farming - the production of Sphagnum biomass on rewetted bogs - helps towards achieving global climate goals by halting greenhouse gas emissions from drained peat and by replacing peat with a renewable biomass alternative. Large-scale implementation of Sphagnum farming requires a wide range of know-how, from initial species selection up to the final production and use of Sphagnum biomass based growing media in horticulture. This article provides an overview of relevant knowledge accumulated over the last 15 years and identifies open questions.Peer reviewe

Emergence of new Salmonella Enteritidis phage types in Europe? Surveillance of infections in returning travellers

BACKGROUND: Among human Salmonella Enteritidis infections, phage type 4 has been the dominant phage type in most countries in Western Europe during the last years. This is reflected in Salmonella infections among Swedish travellers returning from abroad. However, there are differences in phage type distribution between the countries, and this has also changed over time. METHODS: We used data from the Swedish infectious disease register and the national reference laboratory to describe phage type distribution of Salmonella Enteritidis infections in Swedish travellers from 1997 to 2002, and have compared this with national studies conducted in the countries visited. RESULTS: Infections among Swedish travellers correlate well with national studies conducted in the countries visited. In 2001 a change in phage type distribution in S. Enteritidis infections among Swedish travellers returning from some countries in southern Europe was observed, and a previously rare phage type (PT 14b) became one of the most commonly diagnosed that year, continuing into 2002 and 2003. CONCLUSIONS: Surveillance of infections among returning travellers can be helpful in detecting emerging infections and outbreaks in tourist destinations. The information needs to be communicated rapidly to all affected countries in order to expedite the implementation of appropriate investigations and preventive measures