NATURAL HISTORY AND MERISTICS OF AN ALLOPATRIC POPULATION OF RED CORNSNAKES, PANTHEROPHIS GUTTATUS (LINNAEUS, 1766) IN CENTRAL KENTUCKY, USA

Life history, morphological variation, and basic biology of Pantherophis guttatus (Linnaeus, 1766), the Red Cornsnake, are not well known, particularly for the allopatric populations in Kentucky. To address some of the information gaps for this species, we report field observations, including activity patterns, reproduction, and meristics of P. guttatus in Kentucky. In 2003 and 2004 we conducted field surveys using drift fences, artificial cover, manual searching, and driving on roads and captured 101 P. guttatus in Edmonson and Hart counties, Kentucky. We found that artificial cover was the best method of detection with 77% of snakes captured using this method. Numbers of encounters peaked in April-May and August-September suggesting bimodal activity patterns similar to other colubrid snakes. Males had signifi cantly higher subcaudal scale counts than females while females had significantly higher ventral scale counts than males. We detected more individuals in 2003 than in 2004, most likely influenced by severe drought conditions in Kentucky during 2004. Size-class distribution of snakes was skewed towards large individuals (> 70 cm SVL). The absence of individuals in juvenile size classes (30 cm -70 cm) may be an artifact of lower detection probabilities for smaller size classes, different habitat use by juveniles, or may indicate low recruitment

Development of an optical surface method for transport calculations

The Optical Surface Method (OSM)is a new technique for performing neutron and photon transport calculations for three-dimensional room-like structures An iterative process is used to determine flux values and/or detector responses at points defined by the user. The uncollided fluxes are determined analytically, and one-dimensional discrete ordinates calculations are used to determine transport of radiation through, and reflection from,the walls of the structure The results of these discrete ordinates calculations are stored in response matrix files and are pre-calculated by the MAKERT utility during the problem setup For transport of particles through open space, a simple 1/47π² calculation is used, under the assumption that the air in the room can be treated as a void in most situations The geometry for a given problem is defined as a series of walls. Each wall is defined in terms of its dimensions and material composition. Additionally, the walls are divided into a grid of “patches,” the size and shape of which are determined by the user of the GSM code. The use of these patch grids allow the inclusion of the spatial distribution of the incoming and outgoing radiation fields for each wall of the structure. Results for the initial test cases show close agreement with detector fluxes and responses predicted by MCNP, while using only a fraction of the computer time required for an MCNP calculation. Detector points placed exceedingly close to a wall do not yield accurate results, due to the violation of several assumptions made in the coding of the GSM. This issue will be addressed in future versions of the GSM code

Bright spots, physical activity investments that work: Beat the Street

Programme card Country/locality United Kingdom, Europe (Austria, Greece, Ireland, Italy & Poland), United States, Canada, and Shanghai. Target population Primary focus: the physically inactive and those from socioeconomically disadvantaged groups. However, the programme is open to all members of the public. What modes/types/domains of physical activity does the programme promote? Walking, cycling and running through active travel, recreation and exploration of the local, outdoor environment. Which of the seven best investments the programme addresses? Four of the seven best investments: communication and public education; education; community-wide programs and sport and recreation. What sectors does it involve? NHS, public health, transport, education, physical activity and sport, workforce and nature. The aim is to get the whole community engaged. Estimated programme reach Since 2011, the programme has engaged 877,409 participants, with over 300,000 people taking part in consecutive years in 2016 and 2017. What is special about this programme? The programme uses online, print and face to face engagement to affect behaviour change and help people sustain that change

Assessing The Impact Of Medical Malpractice Awards, Tort Reform, And Investment Returns Upon Medical Malpractice Insurance Premiums

For most doctors, obtaining medical malpractice insurance coverage each year represents a significant expense.  During the past three decades, researchers have developed several competing theories to explain changes in the cost of obtaining medical malpractice insurance in the United States.  This article focuses on the relationship, on a nationwide basis, between medical malpractice awards, the presence of tort reform, investment returns by insurers, and the impact of each upon the cost of obtaining medical malpractice insurance.  The results of a multivariate equation are then used to analyze the relative impacts of these competing theories

Potentially disruptive IS innovation in UK higher education institutions: an actor-network theory analysis of the embedding of m-learning

The use of mobile devices to support students’ learning experiences is a growing area of interest in higher education (Wankel & Blessinger, 2013). This study adopts an ‘umbrella’ term of m-learning to consider the use of mobile and wireless technologies to support students in a blended learning environment. Whilst m-learning pedagogy has received considerable attention (e.g. Attewell, 2005, Sharples et. al. 2007, Kukulska-Hulme, 2012), the process of adopting this potentially disruptive innovation within universities has been neglected. This study addresses this gap by attempting to answer the research question: How do university organizations (business models, modes of operation, people and processes) adapt to a potentially disruptive innovation like m-learning and what factors and working practices support or hinder embedding? Possible frameworks for studying innovation are reviewed, including Rogers’ innovation diffusion framework (Rogers, 1962), Actor-Network Theory (Latour, 2005) , Activity Theory ngestr m 1987), Structuration Theory (Giddens, 1984), theories of disruptive innovation (Christensen, 1997) and the Technology Acceptance Model (Venkatesh and Davis, 2000), Actor-Network Theory (ANT) is chosen as the most promising theoretical lens for an in-depth investigation of m-learning embedding, and a participative fieldwork approach is developed that uses Law and Callon’s ANT notion of ‘points of passage’ between local and global networks (Law and Callon, 1991) to illuminate factors and working practices that affect embedding. A framework based on Law and Callon’s work is developed through a year-long study of competing text messaging projects within a university and developed further through a three-year, longitudinal case study involving five universities using smartphone applications to assess students in medical practice situations. Several institutional issues are identified that help or hinder embedding, such as fragmentation of IT strategy and decision-making, and the need to provide students with a compelling offer of multiple institutional services on their mobiles. The role of people and artefacts in forming a link, or ‘point of passage’ between m-learning projects ‘local networks’) and institutional IT strategies and services ‘global networks’) is found to be of central interest for understanding processes of embedding. A clear path to an ANT analysis is demonstrated starting from interview and observation data, using coding techniques borrowed from grounded theory (Schatzman and Strauss, 1973) and finishing with Law and Callon’s local-global network model, which is used to compare and contrast embedding trajectories of the case study institutions. Systematic comparison enables a three dimensional model of embedding trajectories to be built, which extends Law and Callon’s work and places in sharper focus the importance of establishing a path by which local initiatives can be evaluated strategically and, where appropriate, incorporated in a timely manner into a university’s IT strategy. Grounded in extensive longitudinal research, the study offers a contribution to methodology through its demystification of ANT; a contribution to theory through its three dimensional model for mapping embedding trajectories; and a contribution to practice by highlighting specific issues that affect mobile technology adoption in higher education, such as having a compelling, multi-service offer, appropriate mobile tariffs for undertaking mandatory assessment and guidelines for incorporating knowledge gained from technology experiments into institutional strategies and decision-making. The study concludes by highlighting opportunities for using its model to explore challenges of embedding faced not only by formal projects but by ‘maverick’ innovators and for potentially disruptive technologies other than m-learning, such as Web 2.0 services