Educational Implications Following Idiopathic Encephalopathy and Prolonged Coma: A Longitudinal Case Study

This paper explores standard considerations of accommodations for paediatric acquired brain injury (ABI) survivors as illustrated through an intensive case study. Specifically, we explore methods by which school systems can enhance a middle school student’s learning environment after losing 30 points in his intellectual functioning (IQ) following a rare coma recovery. For the purpose of this paper, coma is defined as a period following neurological injury or illness during which an individual does not open his/her eyes and does not have sleep–wake cycles. This case emphasises the use of current behavioural evidence-based treatments in young ABI patients. Multiple comparisons are especially beneficial in delineating the strength of intervention modalities and specific challenges unique to this population. Current data are of particular interest because measures of both pre- and post-morbid functioning are available, because of earlier school testing for a pre-existing learning disability. Finally, implications for prognosis and treatment of young ABI patients are discussed

Investigated or ignored? An analysis of race-related deaths since the Macpherson Report

This article examines ninety-three deaths with a known or suspected racial element in the UK that took place between the publication of the Macpherson Report in February 1999, and December 2013. Of these, 97 per cent of the victims were from BAME communities (including those from Gypsy or Traveller communities and European migrant workers). Particular groups of BAME people are at risk – asylum seekers, new migrants, students and those working in the night-time economy. In only a quarter of the cases was the allegation of racism accepted and prosecuted as such, with racial motivation factored into sentencing. The over-strict interpretation of the legal provisions for racial motivation may be inhibiting the (racial) charging of perpetrators and removing the racial context of a crime from the court room. It also appears that if authorities, including the police, had, on occasion, intervened earlier, against persistent harassment and low-level abuse, some deaths might have been prevented

Sea Turtle Conservation Program, Broward County, FL 1996 Report

Since 1978, the Broward County Environmental Protection Department (BCEPD) has provided for the conservation of endangered and threatened sea turtle species within its area of responsibility. Broward County is within the normal nesting areas of three species of sea turtles: the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta), the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) and the leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea). The loggerhead is listed as a threatened species, while the green and leatherback are listed as endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, 1973, and Chapter 370, F.S. Since these statutes strictly forbid any disturbance of sea turtles and their nests, conservation activities involving the relocation of nests from hazardous locations (especially necessary along heavily developed coasts) require permitting by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). In Florida, this permit is issued to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), which subsequently issues permits to individuals. universities and government agencies. This project was administered by the DNRP and conducted by the Nova University Oceanographic Center under Marine Turtle Permit #108, issued to the DNRP by the FDEP Institute of Marine Research, St. Petersburg, Florida. The DNRP is especially concerned with any environmental effects of intermittent beach renourishment projects on shorelines and the offshore reefs. As part of this concern, the DNRP has maintained the sea turtle conservation program in non-renourishment years to provide a continuous data base. Operation of the program is competitively bid and a contract award is issued based on a selection committee review of submitted bids through a weighted point factor procedure. Nova University was awarded the contract to conduct the 1996 program. In addition to fulfilling statutory requirements, the purposes of the project were: to relocate eggs from nests deposited in sites threatened by natural processes or human activities and thus maximize hatchling recruitment, to accurately survey sea turtle nesting patterns to determine any historical trends and assess natural and anthropogenic factors affecting nesting patterns and densities, to assess the success of sea turtle recruitment and of hatchery operations in terms of nesting success, hatching success and total hatchlings released, to dispose of turtle carcasses, respond to strandlngs and other emergencies and maintain a hot-line for reporting of turtle incidents, and to inform and educate the public on sea turtles and their conservation

Predicting Shunt Currents in Stacks of Bipolar Plate Cells with Conducting Manifolds

A method is presented for predicting shunt currents in stacks of bipolar plate cells with conducting manifolds. The method is based on the requirement that the potential drop through the solution in a manifold be large enough to force current to leave the solution and to enter the conducting manifold. The current that leaves the solution in the manifold enters the conducting manifold at the anode end of the stack and returns to the solution at the cathode end. This could cause catastrophic failure of a manifold

Sea Turtle Conservation Program, Broward County, FL 1997 Report

Since 1978, the Broward County Environmental Protection Department (BCEPD) has provided for the conservation of endangered and threatened sea turtle species within its area of responsibility. Broward County is within the normal nesting areas of three species of sea turtles: the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta), the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) and the leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea). The loggerhead is listed as a threatened species, while the green and leatherback are listed as endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, 1973, and Chapter 370, F.S. Since these statutes strictly forbid any disturbance of sea turtles and their nests, conservation activities involving the relocation of nests from hazardous locations (especially necessary along heavily developed coasts) require permitting by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). In Florida, this permit is issued to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), which subsequently issues permits to individuals. universities and government agencies. This project was administered by the DNRP and conducted by the Nova University Oceanographic Center under Marine Turtle Permit #108, issued to the DNRP by the FDEP Institute of Marine Research, St. Petersburg, Florida. The DNRP is especially concerned with any environmental effects of intermittent beach renourishment projects on shorelines and the offshore reefs. As part of this concern, the DNRP has maintained the sea turtle conservation program in non-renourishment years to provide a continuous data base. Operation of the program is competitively bid and a contract award is issued based on a selection committee review of submitted bids through a weighted point factor procedure. Nova University was awarded the contract to conduct the 1997 program. In addition to fulfilling statutory requirements, the purposes of the project were: to relocate eggs from nests deposited in sites threatened by natural processes or human activities and thus maximize hatchling recruitment, to accurately survey sea turtle nesting patterns to determine any historical trends and assess natural and anthropogenic factors affecting nesting patterns and densities, to assess the success of sea turtle recruitment and of hatchery operations in terms of nesting success, hatching success and total hatchlings released, to dispose of turtle carcasses, respond to strandlngs and other emergencies and maintain a hot-line for reporting of turtle incidents, and to inform and educate the public on sea turtles and their conservation

Ocean climate and seal condition

BACKGROUND: The condition of many marine mammals varies with fluctuations in productivity and food supply in the ocean basin where they forage. Prey is impacted by physical environmental variables such as cyclic warming trends. The weaning weight of northern elephant seal pups, Mirounga angustirostris, being closely linked to maternal condition, indirectly reflects prey availability and foraging success of pregnant females in deep waters of the northeastern Pacific. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of ocean climate on foraging success in this deep-diving marine mammal over the course of three decades, using cohort weaning weight as the principal metric of successful resource accrual. RESULTS: The mean annual weaning weight of pups declined from 1975 to the late 1990s, a period characterized by a large-scale, basin-wide warm decadal regime that included multiple strong or long-duration El Niños; and increased with a return to a cool decadal regime from about 1999 to 2004. Increased foraging effort and decreased mass gain of adult females, indicative of reduced foraging success and nutritional stress, were associated with high ocean temperatures. CONCLUSION: Despite ranging widely and foraging deeply in cold waters beyond coastal thermoclines in the northeastern Pacific, elephant seals are impacted significantly by ocean thermal dynamics. Ocean warming redistributes prey decreasing foraging success of females, which in turn leads to lower weaning mass of pups. Annual fluctuations in weaning mass, in turn, reflect the foraging success of females during the year prior to giving birth and signals changes in ocean temperature cycles

Respiration and Heart Rate at the Surface between Dives in Northern Elephant Seals

All underwater activities of diving mammals are constrained by the need for surface gas exchange. Our aim was to measure respiratory rate (fb) and heart rate (fh) at the surface between dives in free-ranging northern elephant seals Mirounga angustirostris. We recorded fb and fh acoustically in six translocated juveniles, 1.8-2. 4 years old, and three migrating adult males from the rookery at Ano Nuevo, California, USA. To each seal, we attached a diving instrument to record the diving pattern, a satellite tag to track movements and location, a digital audio tape recorder or acoustic datalogger with an external hydrophone to record the sounds of respiration and fh at the surface, and a VHF transmitter to facilitate recovery. During surface intervals averaging 2.2+/−0.4 min, adult males breathed a mean of 32.7+/−5.4 times at a rate of 15. 3+/−1.8 breaths min(−)(1) (means +/− s.d., N=57). Mean fh at the surface was 84+/−3 beats min(−)(1). The fb of juveniles was 26 % faster than that of adult males, averaging 19.2+/−2.2 breaths min(−)(1) for a mean total of 41.2+/−5.0 breaths during surface intervals lasting 2.6+/−0.31 min. Mean fh at the surface was 106+/−3 beats min(−)(1). fb and fh did not change significantly over the course of surface intervals. Surface fb and fh were not clearly associated with levels of exertion, such as rapid horizontal transit or apparent foraging, or with measures of immediately previous or subsequent diving performance, such as diving duration, diving depth or swimming speed. Together, surface respiration rate and the duration of the preceding dive were significant predictors of surface interval duration. This implies that elephant seals minimize surface time spent loading oxygen depending on rates of oxygen uptake and previous depletion of stores