A temperature-controlled device for volumetric measurements of Helium adsorption in porous media

We describe a set-up for studying adsorption of helium in silica aerogels, where the adsorbed amount is easily and precisely controlled by varying the temperature of a gas reservoir between 80 K and 180 K. We present validation experiments and a first application to aerogels. This device is well adapted to study hysteresis, relaxation, and metastable states in the adsorption and desorption of fluids in porous media

Internationalisation, cultural distance and country characteristics: a Bayesian analysis of SME's financial performance

Relying on the accounting data of a panel of 403 Italian manufacturing SMEs collected over a period of 5 years, we find results suggesting that multinationality per se does not impact on the economic performance of international small and medium sized firms. It is the characteristics of the country selected i.e. the political hazard, the financial stability and the economic performance that significantly influence SMEs financial performance. The management implication for small and medium sized firms selecting and entering new geographic markets is significant, since our results show that for SMEs it is the market selection process that really matters and not the degree of multinationality

The Association of Surgeons in Training Conference: #ASiT2015 Glasgow

AbstractThe Association of Surgeons in Training (ASiT) is a professional body and registered charity working to promote excellence in surgical training for the benefit of junior doctors and patients alike. ASiT is in-dependent of the National Health Service (NHS), Surgical Royal Colleges, and specialty associations and represents trainees in all ten surgical specialties.ASiT was delighted to welcome a number of distinguished guests and speakers to Glasgow for #ASiT2015. The theme of ‘The Future of Surgery’ delved into challenges surgical training faces, exciting developments into using technology to help patients, a glance at the past with the development of the Glasgow Coma Score and whether mortality truly is the future of measured outcomes. More than £3500 of prizes was awarded by the incoming President, Miss. Rhiannon Harries to the highest scoring papers presented selected from over 1000 abstracts submitted

Bumpy Moments and Joyful Breakthroughs: The Place of Threshold Concepts in Academic Staff Development Programs About Online Learning and Teaching

In this article the authors address the situation in higher education of academic staff facing what they conceptualise as “bumpy moments and joyful breakthroughs” as they work through the process of becoming teachers in online learning environments. The article comes from a research project, which gathered and analysed data from systematic observations and questionnaires. The authors base their study on the known fact that while many academics have grounded experience in on-campus teaching and learning situations they do not necessarily have the skills required today for extending learning through on-line environments. The authors discover that when academics start teaching in online environments, or at least start facing the fact that there are requirements to do so, and they begin to explore this environment both personally and theoretically, “they encounter threshold concepts that can unsettle their most deeply held personal and pedagogical beliefs about what it means to teach and learn, and what it means to be an effective teacher and learner”. This paper gives an account of the research into these new conditions for educators and offers a set of recommendations “to inform the design of a multi-strategy academic staff learning program, which facilitated the development of online teaching skills”. [From Introduction to issue of ACCESS]

Brief Report: An evaluation of an Australian autism-specific, early intervention programme

There is a relative paucity of evidence examining the effectiveness of early intervention for young children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, in particular those delivered through educationally-based programmes. This study aimed to evaluate the real world effectiveness of a community-based autism-specific early learning and intervention programme in Australia. Children enrolled between February 2010 and May 2013 who had a diagnosis of an Autism Spectrum Disorder was eligible to participate in the study. Fifty-nine children with a mean age of 3.98 years participated. Cognitive ability, language, autistic symptoms, and motor skills were assessed at baseline and follow up (12 months or at programme exit) using standardised measures. Pre- and post-measures were compared using paired sample t-tests. Significant improvements were found in receptive and expressive language, autism symptoms, and overall adaptive behaviour. No significant change was found in motor skills. Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder attending the community-based programme had significant gains particularly in domains of cognition and language. Study limitations are discussed

Evaluation of an online youth ambassador program to promote mental health

To evaluate an online Youth Ambassador (YA) program designed to promote internet resources for mental health in an adolescent population, 56 YAs and 357 of their Year 10 peers from 11 Tasmanian schools completed e-mental health questionnaires before and after the YAs attended a single workshop session. The workshops, which were delivered in the high school setting, were either facilitated or self-directed. Self-reported awareness of e-mental health resources increased among both YAs and their peers. The peer group also showed increased frequency of recommending help-seeking to others. There were no differences in outcomes for facilitated or self-directed workshop formats. The results suggest that an online YA program delivered in school is useful in improving mental health awareness for workshop participants. While their Year 10 peer groups also showed increased awareness, this could not necessarily be attributed to the participation of all 11 schools in the YA program

Hydrological assessment and monitoring of wetlands

The physical and chemical characteristics which favour wetland plant communities, primarily high soil water levels and anaerobic soil chemistry, are related directly to the hydrology/hydrogeology of the wetland and often its surrounding catchment. Appreciation and successful management of a wetland therefore almost always requires an understanding of its hydrological functioning, including the influences on hydrological functioning which often lie beyond the designated boundary of the sit

The effects of parasitism and body length on positioning within wild fish shoals

The influence of body length and parasitism on the positioning behaviour of individuals in wild fish shoals was investigated by a novel means of capturing entire shoals of the banded killifish (Fundulus diaphanus, Lesueur) using a grid-net that maintained the two-dimensional positions of individuals within shoals. Fish in the front section of a shoal were larger than those in the rear. Individuals parasitized by the digenean trematode (Crassiphiala bulboglossa, Haitsma) showed a tendency to occupy the front of shoals. Parasitized fish were also found more in peripheral positions than central ones in a significant number of shoals. Shoal geometry was affected by the overall parasite prevalence of shoal members; shoals with high parasite prevalence displayed increasingly phallanx-like shoal formations, whereas shoals with low prevalence were more elliptical. There was no relationship between body length and parasite abundance or prevalence in the fish population which suggests body length and parasite status are independent predictors of positioning behaviour. Solitary individuals found outside shoals were both more likely to be parasitized and had higher parasite abundance than individuals engaged in shoaling. Differences in the shoaling behaviour of parasitized and unparasitized fish are discussed in the context of the adaptive manipulation hypothesis