A hierarchy of factors influence discontinuous gas exchange in the grasshopper Paracinema tricolor (Orthoptera: Acrididae)

The evolutionary origin and maintenance of discontinuous gas exchange (DGE) in tracheate arthropods are poorly understood and highly controversial. We investigated prioritization of abiotic factors in the gas exchange control cascade by examining oxygen, water and haemolymph pH regulation in the grasshopper Paracinema tricolor. Using a full-factorial design, grasshoppers were acclimated to hypoxic or hyperoxic (5% O2, 40% O2) gas conditions, or dehydrated or hydrated, whereafter their CO2 release was measured under a range of O2 and relative humidity (RH) conditions (5%, 21%, 40% O2 and 5%, 60%, 90% RH). DGE was significantly less common in grasshoppers acclimated to dehydrating conditions compared with the other acclimations (hypoxia, 98%; hyperoxia, 100%; hydrated, 100%; dehydrated, 67%). Acclimation to dehydrating conditions resulted in a significant decrease in haemolymph pH from 7.0±0.3 to 6.6±0.1 (mean ± s.d., P=0.018) and also significantly increased the open (O)-phase duration under 5% O2 treatment conditions (5% O2, 44.1±29.3 min; 40% O2, 15.8±8.0 min; 5% RH, 17.8±1.3 min; 60% RH, 24.0±9.7 min; 90% RH, 20.6±8.9 min). The observed acidosis could potentially explain the extension of the O-phase under low RH conditions, when it would perhaps seem more useful to reduce the O-phase to lower respiratory water loss. The results confirm that DGE occurrence and modulation are affected by multiple abiotic factors. A hierarchical framework for abiotic factors influencing DGE is proposed in which the following stressors are prioritized in decreasing order of importance: oxygen supply, CO2 excretion and pH modulation, oxidative damage protection and water savings

Supporting the externalisation of thinking in criminal intelligence analysis

At the end of the criminal intelligence analysis process there are relatively well established and understood approaches to explicit externalisation and representation of thought that include theories of argumentation, narrative and hybrid approaches that include both of these. However the focus of this paper is on the little understood area of how to support users in the process of arriving at such representations from an initial starting point where little is given. The work is based on theoretical considerations and some initial studies with end users. In focusing on process we discuss the requirements of fluidity and rigor and how to gain traction in investigations, the processes of thinking involved including abductive, deductive and inductive reasoning, how users may use thematic sorting in early stages of investigation and how tactile reasoning may be used to externalize and facilitate reasoning in a productive way. In the conclusion section we discuss the issues raised in this work and directions for future work

How analysts think: how do criminal intelligence analysts recognise and manage significant information?

The Criminal Intelligence Analyst's role is to create exhibits which are relevant, accurate and unbiased. Exhibits can be used as input to assist decision-making in intelligence-led policing. It may also be used as evidence in a court of law. The aim of this study was to determine how Criminal Intelligence Analysts recognise and manage significant information as a method to determine what is relevant for their attention and for the creation of exhibits. This in turn may provide guidance on how to design and incorporate loose and flexible argumentation schemas into sense-making software. The objective is to be informed on how to design software, which affords Criminal Intelligence Analysts with the ability to effortlessly determine the relevance of information, which subsequently could assist with the process of assessing and defending the quality of exhibits

Quality of cause of death certification at an academic hospital in Cape Town, South Africa

Objectives. To investigate the quality of cause of deathcertification and assess the level of under-reporting of HIV/AIDS as a cause of death at an academic hospital.Design. Cross-sectional descriptive retrospective review ofdeath notification forms (DNFs) of deaths due to naturalcauses in an academic hospital in Cape Town during 2004.Errors in cause of death certification and ability to code causesof death according to the 10th revision of the InternationalStatistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems(ICD-10) were assessed. The association between seriouserrors and age, gender, cause of death and hospital ward wasanalysed. A sample of DNFs (N=243) was assessed for level ofunder-reporting of HIV/AIDS.Results. A total of 983 death certificates were evaluated.Almost every DNF had a minor error; serious errors werefound in 32.2% (95% confidence interval (CI) 29.3 - 35.1%).Errors increased with patient age, and cause of death wasthe most important factor associated with serious errors.Compared with neoplasms, which had the lowest error rate,the odds ratios for errors in endocrine and metabolic diseasesand genito-urinary diseases were 17.2 (95% CI 8.7 - 34.0) and17.3 (95% CI 7.8 - 38.2), respectively. Based on the sub-sample,the minimum prevalence of HIV among the deceased patientswas 15.7% (95% CI 11.1 - 20.3%) and the under-reporting ofdeaths due to AIDS was 53.1% (95% CI 35.8 - 70.4%).Conclusion. Errors were sufficiently serious to affectidentification of underlying cause of death in almost a thirdof the DNFs, confirming the need to improve the quality ofmedical certification

How analysts think: navigating uncertainty – aspirations, considerations and strategies

While there has been considerable research in understanding the process of sense making in criminal intelligence analysis as well as the formulation of arguments in the domain of law, there remain gaps in our understanding of how to move seamlessly from the fluidity of the sense making activities to the rigour of argumentation construction. This matter is complicated further with high uncertainty which accompanies sense making and which propagates through to the rigour that accompanies argumentation. This paper attempts to understand how Criminal Intelligence Analysts navigate uncertainty from fluidity to rigour constructs and outlines some of the considerations and strategies deployed by the Criminal Intelligence Analyst to reach, or increase, certainty at a given point in time during the analysis process. This paper concludes by proposing preliminary suggestions with the aim to narrow the gaps in this journey from fluidity to rigour, at least, marginall

Accelerated energy capacity measurement of lithium-ion cells to support future circular economy strategies for electric vehicles

Within the academic and industrial communities there has been an increasing desire to better understand the sustainability of producing vehicles that contain embedded electrochemical energy storage. Underpinning a number of studies that evaluate different circular economy strategies for the electric vehicle (EV) or Hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) battery system are implicit assumptions about the retained capacity or State of Health (SOH) of the battery. International standards and bestpractice guides exist that address the performance evaluation of both EV and HEV battery systems. However, a common theme is that the test duration can be excessive and last for a number of hours. The aim of this research is to assess whether energy capacity measurements of Li-ion cells can be accelerated; reducing the test duration to a value that may facilitate further EOL options. Experimental results are presented that highlight it is possible to significantly reduce the duration of the battery characterisation test by 70% - 90% while still retaining levels of measurement accuracy for retained energy capacity in the order of 1% for cell temperatures equal to 250C. Even at elevated temperatures of 400C, the peak measurement error was found to be only 3%. Based on these experimental results, a simple cost-function is formulated to highlight the flexibility of the proposed test framework. This approach would allow different organizations to prioritize the relative importance of test accuracy verses experimental test time when grading used Li-ion cells for different end-of-life (EOL) applications

How can we design tactile interactive software for argument construction in criminal intelligence analysis?

Argumentation construction refers to the different ways in which people can formulate a well defined argument that can withstand scrutiny in a court of law. Different domains have enhanced the research on argumentation construction, but each enhancement relates either to ‘evidence’ or to the ‘relevance of evidence’, thus making these elements the corner stone elements of argumentation construction. By attempting to understand how Criminal Intelligence Analysts understand and manage these corner stone elements, as well as how these elements differ to the law domain counterparts, we aspire to formulate design guidelines for a software program that is tailored to how Criminal Intelligence Analysts think and argue during sense-making activities. This paper outlines the relevant literature and why the researchers consider ‘evidence’ and the ‘relevance of evidence’ as the corner stone elements of argumentation construction. The results section summarises the outcomes of two qualitative studies. The first study aims to understand how Criminal Intelligence Analysts perceive and manage uncertain information and how this eventually leads to the creation of evidence (as exhibits) for a court of law. The second study aims to understand how Criminal Intelligence Analysts know which information is relevant for the task at hand, especially when uncertainty is high. The results of the two studies still need to be combined and put into practise (as design guidelines) to test the effectiveness and validity of the results obtained in the two studies. This is listed as future work in the conclusion section

Neuropeptides in the myenteric ganglia and nerve fibres of the forestomach and abomasum of grey, white and black Karakul lambs

Previous studies indicated large, thin-walled, milk-filled rumens in lethal grey and white Karakul lambs. There was also a significant decrease in the number and size of the myenteric plexuses and the number of ganglion cells in these lambs. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the myenteric ganglia of the affected lambs are functional, by testing for the presence of vaso-active intestinal peptide, somatostatin, neurotensin, neuropeptide Y, met-enkephalin, calcitonin gene-related peptide and substance P in the myenteric ganglia and nerve fibres in the forestomach and abomasum of grey, white and black Karakul lambs. Four 1-cm² samples were taken from analogous areas of the wall of the rumen, reticulum, omasum and abomasum of five grey, five white and five black newborn Karakul lambs. They were pinned to wax squares, fixed for 18 h in Zamboni's fixative, dehydrated and rehydrated through graded alcohols and stored in phosphate-buffered saline. The outer longitudinal muscle layer of each sample of the rumen, reticulum, omasum and abomasum was separated from the rest of the tissue layers, stained for each of the seven neuropeptides by employment of the immunofluorescence technique, and studied with a Leitz Orthoplan fluorescent microscope. All the material studied tested positive for all the neuropeptides. It is concluded that all the peptides tested for were present in all the lambs and that the myenteric ganglia are therefore functional in the lethal lambs.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat XI Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.mn201

Ultrastructure of the myenteric ganglia in the rumen, reticulum, omasum and abomasum of grey, white and black Karakul lambs

Homozygous grey and white Karakul lambs die after they have reached weaning age. This is due to a lethal gene causing digestive disturbances. Previous studies revealed that grey and white lambs have large, milk-filled rumens; the phenomenon was attributed to a significant decrease in the number of myenteric ganglia and neurons in the rumen wall. This study was undertaken to determine whether any morphological differences exist in the ultrastructure of the myenteric ganglia in the forestomach and abomasum of grey, white and black Karakul lambs. Samples of the forestomach and abomasum of grey, white and black Karakul lambs were prepared routinely for electron microscopy and studied with a Phillips electron microscope. No morphological differences could be detected in the structure of the components of the myenteric ganglia in the forestomachs and abomasums of grey, white and black Karakul lambs. It was therefore concluded that the lethal gene in grey and white Karakul lambs results in a paucity of the myenteric ganglia, but does not affect the ultrastructure of these structures.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat XI Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.mn201

Ultrastructure of the epithelium of the rumen, reticulum and omasum of grey, white and black Karakul lambs

Mortalities due to digestive disturbances occur in homozygous grey and white lambs after they have reached weaning age. Milk-filled, distended rumens, due to malfunctioning of the oesophageal groove, are found 24 h after birth. Scanning electron microscopical studies revealed that milk caused sloughing of the luminal cells in the forestomachs of the affected lambs, while no sloughing of cells was apparent in control black lambs. The purpose of this study was to compare the ultrastructure of the forestomach mucosa of grey, white and black Karakul lambs; to determine whether the sloughing of luminal cells was evident in sections; and, if possible, to find a reason for the desquamation of the cells. Samples of the forestomach of grey, white and black Karakul lambs were prepared routinely for electron microscopy and studied with a Phillips electron microscope. In all the lambs the mucosa of the forestomach was a stratified squamous epithelium consisting of a stratum basale, stratum spinosum and stratum corneum. In the grey and white lambs the luminal cells of the stratum corneum were electron dense, non-nucleated and vacuolated. Sloughing of luminal cells was observed. In the black lambs no sloughing of cells was evident and the luminal cells were moderately electron-dense, nucleated elements. Desquamation of the luminal cells in the affected lambs revealed the underlying layer with its exposed desmosomal attachment sites. This explained the differences in the appearance of the luminal cells in the three groups of lambs as revealed by the scanning electron microscope.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat XI Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.mn201