EFFECTS OF STORMS ON NITRATE REMOVAL AND GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS FROM FLUVIAL WETLAND DOMINATED SURFACE WATER FLOW PATHS

Fluvial wetlands, wetlands connected to streams and rivers, can act as buffers in headwaters to limit nitrogen (N) from reaching downstream coastal ecosystems and causing problems, such as coastal eutrophication and loss of habitat. However, as significant hotspots for N removal, fluvial wetland dominated streams are also natural sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) to the atmosphere and contribute to global climate change. With ongoing changes to the flow regime from increased climate variability and intensification of storm events, as well as landscape development, the ability for fluvial wetland dominated streams to regulate downstream N fluxes may decline and come at a greater cost of GHG emissions. To better understand these tradeoffs, I investigated storm influence on nitrate (NO3-) removal and GHG evasion along two fluvial wetland dominated flow paths with differing nutrient inputs (high vs. low) in an urbanizing coastal watershed in New England. Results suggest that flow paths with abundant fluvial wetlands are able to remove most NO3- (median NO3--N removal = 95%) over a wide range of flow conditions. Due to their substantial demand for NO3-, fluvial wetland dominated streams were greater sinks of NO3- than upstream channels. Although emissions by fluvial wetland dominated reaches are much larger than those by channels when total area is considered, fluvial wetland dominated streams were found to emit lower GHG compared to channelized streams on a per unit area basis. After storms during heightened flow conditions, the flow paths maintained high NO3- removal but showed tendencies for greater GHG evasion, as areal GHG evasion by wetland dominated streams increased on average by more than 19,000 mg m-2 d-1 for carbon dioxide (CO2), 49 mg m-2 d-1 for methane (CH4), and 0.15 mg m-2 d-1 for nitrous oxide (N2O) over an order of magnitude change in discharge. Thus, as climate variability intensifies, we can expect to see pulses in GHG emissions along whole flow paths. However, GHG evasion by wetland dominated streams did not increase in association with higher nutrient loads. Ultimately, the ability for fluvial wetland dominated streams to effectively remove NO3- from surface water flow paths draining higher N inputs does not come at the expense of greater GHG emissions beyond those that naturally occur. Understanding these tradeoffs in river networks is important for improving the management of coastal watersheds and predicting how diverse fluvial systems will respond as N loading increases in a changing climate

Deaf pupils' experiences of inclusion within a mainstream primary school: a case-study

The aims of the study are: To research, and document, deaf pupils' experiences of inclusion, their perceptions of the way teachers view deafness, and to observe the effect of using sign language to educate the children within a mainstream setting. This study has as its focus 5 deaf pupils who are part of a Hearing Impaired Unit of 20 deaf children within the Greenview mainstream primary school for 700 pupils. I focus on three research themes: 1) Inclusion. Firstly: how do deaf pupils describe/feel about their learning experience in an inclusive classroom? Secondly: are deaf pupils a unique group in tenns of their needs? 2) Pedagogy. Firstly: what educational strategies are in place to make inclusion of deaf pupils work? Secondly: how do teachers' perceptions of deafness affect their pedagogy? 3) Communication. How does the presence of a facilitator, and their participation in the classroom, influence the situation? The philosophy influencing this study stems from a socio-constructivist perspective, and the three themes of inclusion, pedagogy and communication are revisited in each chapter. This study follows an ethnographic case study methodology, using an adaptation of Stake's (1995) 7 step methodology to address pupil issues, and Wood et aI's (1986) Moves Matrix codes to analyse pupl/teacher dialogue. Within its framework, the study uses observation and interview techniques to gain insights, from the child's perspective, as to how one school's 'inclusive' policy is experienced in practice. The study reveals surprising observations, finding that, for example: Within the theme of inclusion: Deaf pupils felt they could flourish within a mainstream classroom provided their unique identity and language needs were recognised and valued. They felt comfortable with "deaf aware" mainstream teachers who improved acoustic conditions within the classroom, managed audio equipment to amplify speech and kept background noise low. Within the theme of pedagogy: Experienced "deaf aware" teachers actively planned lessons with specialist staff to use a range of strategies suitable for deaf children's' learning. These experienced teachers adapted their communication strategies to use a more flexible approach to talking and listening. Within the theme of communication: BSL provides good language learning opportunities for the deaf pupils, but this is not always matched by the attitudes of mainstream staff. The mode of communication does not influence pupils as much as the strategy the teacher uses to introduce lessons. Deaf adults are necessary in the classroom to provide deaf children with mature BSL language experience and adult role models. A summary emerges of the experiences of deaf pupils at Greenview, and the aspects of inclusion that they find most helpful to learning. Such a multi-faceted glimpse into the children's educational experience will be of interest to teachers, parents and all those involved in the disability/inclusion debate

The effect of using social pressure in cover letters to improve retention in a longitudinal health study: an embedded randomised controlled retention trial

BackgroundRetention of participants in cohort studies is important for validity. One way to promote retention is by sending a persuasive cover letter with surveys. The study aimed to compare the effectiveness of a covering letter containing social pressure with a standard covering letter on retention in a health cohort study. Social pressure involves persuading people to behave in a certain way by the promise that their actions will be made know to others. We implemented a mild form of social pressure, where the recipient was told that information about whether they responded to the current survey would be noted by the research team and printed on future correspondence from the research team to the recipient.MethodsThe design was an embedded randomised controlled retention trial, conducted between July 2015 and April 2016 in Salford, UK. Participants in the host health cohort study were eligible. They received either: (1) a covering letter with two consecutive surveys (sent six and twelve months after recruitment), containing a social pressure intervention; or (2) a matching letter without the social pressure text. The primary outcome was retention in the host study, defined as return of both surveys. Randomisation was computer-generated, with stratification by household size. Participants were blinded to group assignment. Researchers were blinded for outcome ascertainment.ResultsAdults (n = 4447) aged over 65 years, with a long-term condition and enrolled in the host study, were randomly allocated to receive a social pressure covering letter (n = 2223) or control (n = 2224). All 4447 participants were included in the analysis. Both questionnaires were returned by 1577 participants (71%) sent the social pressure letters and 1511 (68%) sent control letters, a risk difference of 3 percentage points (adjusted odds ratio = 1.16 (95% confidence interval = 1.02–1.33)).ConclusionA mild form of social pressure made a small but significant improvement in retention of older adults in a health cohort study. Investigation of social pressure across other research contexts and stronger social pressure messages is warranted

Mentoring Characteristics and Functions Important to Men and Women within Intercollegiate Athletic Administration

Female athletic administrators were asked about the role of mentoring in their careers as women while male athletic administrators were asked about the role of mentoring in their careers as men working in intercollegiate athletic administration.  The researchers gathered and compared information on mentor characteristics as well as career and psychosocial benefits of having a mentor. Participants were 518 female and 778 male athletic administrators working at NCAA Division I, II, and IIII, NAIA, NCCAA, and NJCAA schools. A three-step content-analytic procedure was used to analyze the qualitative data. Men identified being trustworthy, supportive, respected, and a good listener while women identified being supportive, hardworking, and knowledgeable as the most important mentor characteristics. Men most frequently named coaching and challenging assignments as career benefits from mentors while women named exposure/visability and coaching. Both men and women most frequently identified counseling and role modeling as psychosocial benefits from mentors

The Non-homogeneous Poisson Process for Fast Radio Burst Rates

This paper presents the non-homogeneous Poisson process (NHPP) for modeling the rate of fast radio bursts (FRBs) and other infrequently observed astronomical events. The NHPP, well-known in statistics, can model changes in the rate as a function of both astronomical features and the details of an observing campaign. This is particularly helpful for rare events like FRBs because the NHPP can combine information across surveys, making the most of all available information. The goal of the paper is two-fold. First, it is intended to be a tutorial on the use of the NHPP. Second, we build an NHPP model that incorporates beam patterns and a power law flux distribution for the rate of FRBs. Using information from 12 surveys including 15 detections, we find an all-sky FRB rate of 586.88 events per sky per day above a flux of 1 Jy (95\% CI: 271.86, 923.72) and a flux power-law index of 0.91 (95\% CI: 0.57, 1.25). Our rate is lower than other published rates, but consistent with the rate given in Champion et al. 2016.Comment: 19 pages, 2 figure

Inversion tectonic in the Carboniferous basins of northern England : with special reference to Northumberland

The Northumberland basin is a member of the Carboniferous syn-orogenic complex that developed in the nonhern continental foreland of the Variscan orogeny. The basin occupies pan of the Iapetus province, forming a generalised half-graben between the Southern Uplands and the Alston block. It straddles the Caledonian Iapetus suture, over lower Palaeozoic crust in the north and lower Palaeozoic and older crust in the south. The basin was initiated in the Early Tournaisian by major extension along E/W normal syn-sedimentary growth faults. These dominated the southern margin of the basin where up to 6km of sediment accumulated. Fault activity was accompanied by localised dewatering and gravitational folding and slumping. Basin asymmetry was maintained in the Late Carboniferous when the basin suffered inversion in the widespread Asturian compression event. Over 3km of pre-Permian erosion was achieved over the northern half of the basin compared with <lkm in the south. The inversion event is characterised by four structural elements: Reactivated basement controlled regional scale reverse fault bounded NE/SW to N/S anticlines (confined exclusively to the north): Minimal strike-slip reactivation and butressing around the southern margin and E/W faults: Positive flower structures associated with surface monoclines and original basin hinge-lines: Extensive transpressional deformation along the North Pennine Fault line. A basin synthesis aided by palaeomagnetism suggests local dextral strike-slip modified NW/SE compression best explains the deformation. Basin modelling suggests mechanisms for the process e.g. thick skinned shortening for the north and foot-wall butressing against the southern margin. Modelling further indicated that subsidence was resumed after the onset of inversion prior to the intrusion of the Whin Sill

Grappling with tradition: the experiences of cisgender, heterosexual mothers and fathers in elective co-parenting arrangements

Elective co-parenting families, meaning two (or more parents) who are not in a romantic relationship having a child together, are becoming more common amongst cisgender, heterosexual parents. The study of elective co-parenting families offers researchers a unique opportunity to decouple co-parenting relationships from romantic relationships, but little research to date has explored their experiences. This study explored two research questions: why do individuals decide to enter into elective co-parenting arrangements? And how do they manage their co-parenting arrangement and their relationship with their co-parent? Interview data from 10 elective co-parents (5 mothers and 5 fathers) were analyzed according to the principles of reflexive thematic analysis. Sociological theorisations of family practices, family display and family thinking were utilized to make sense of the data. The results centred around two organizing themes (‘Reproducing the traditional family’ and ‘Modernising the traditional family’), and participants experienced a tension between these two ideas. Participants aimed to manage their co-parenting relationship with shared values and friendship, but defining their relationship was complex and gendered parenting patterns were ubiquitous. Findings add nuance to theorisations of family life and demonstrate that traditional parenthood ideologies remain pervasive, as parents aim to imagine and pursue parenthood on their own terms

Grappling with tradition:The experiences of cisgender, heterosexual mothers and fathers in elective co-parenting arrangements

Elective co-parenting families, meaning two (or more parents) who are not in a romantic relationship having a child together, are becoming more common amongst cisgender, heterosexual parents. The study of elective co-parenting families offers researchers a unique opportunity to decouple co-parenting relationships from romantic relationships, but little research to date has explored their experiences. This study explored two research questions: why do individuals decide to enter into elective co-parenting arrangements? And how do they manage their co-parenting arrangement and their relationship with their co-parent? Interview data from 10 elective co-parents (5 mothers and 5 fathers) were analyzed according to the principles of reflexive thematic analysis. Sociological theorisations of family practices, family display and family thinking were utilized to make sense of the data. The results centred around two organizing themes (‘Reproducing the traditional family’ and ‘Modernising the traditional family’), and participants experienced a tension between these two ideas. Participants aimed to manage their co-parenting relationship with shared values and friendship, but defining their relationship was complex and gendered parenting patterns were ubiquitous. Findings add nuance to theorisations of family life and demonstrate that traditional parenthood ideologies remain pervasive, as parents aim to imagine and pursue parenthood on their own terms

Health technologies ‘In the wild’: experiences of engagement with computerised CBT

The widespread deployment of technology by professional health services will provide a substantial opportunity for studies that consider usage in naturalistic settings. Our study has documented experiences of engaging with technologies intended to support recovery from common mental health problems, often used as a part of a multi-year recovery process. In analyzing this material, we identify issues of broad interest to effective health technology design, and reflect on the challenge of studying engagement with health technologies over lengthy time periods. We also consider the importance of designing technologies that are sensitive to the needs of users experiencing chronic health problems, and discuss how the term sensitivity might be defined in a technology design context