For a contemporary counter-cultural partisan practice!

For a contemporary counter-cultural partisan practice

Water Temperature and Harmful Algal Bloom Rate

Harmful algal blooms, made up of cyanobacteria, is an increasing problem in Midwestern lakes. Nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers used in crops such as corn and soybeans run off into streams and eventually lakes. Nitrogen and phosphorus in the form of nitrate and phosphate respectively is then used by cyanobacteria as a food source, allowing them to bloom at an alarming rate. Massive bloom events can be hazardous to both human health and the natural environment because of the release of neurotoxins, hepatotoxins and others into the air and drinking water. We set out to find if different water temperature can affect the rate at which cyanobacteria can use nitrate. Six different species of cyanobacteria were analyzed. For each species, two solutions with known amounts of nitrate and excess phosphate were mixed, with one solution kept at 31 degrees Celsius and the other kept at room temperature. Overtime, the concentration of nitrate was measured. We found that, on average, the species kept at a higher temperature were able to use nitrate faster than their colder counterpart

Identifying Characteristics of a “Good School” in the British and Saudi Arabian Education Systems

This study aims at establishing whether primary schools in the Saudi education system conform to the characteristics of what are referred to as ‘good schools’ in the British education system. The findings established through this study show that only 43.75% of primary schools in Saudi conform to the characteristics of what are referred to as ‘good schools’ in Britain.  Moreover, it is established that there are more similarities than differences in the roles played by headteachers in these two education systems when it comes to fostering effective schools and developing schools as learning organisations. Nevertheless, it is established that there are more headteachers in British primary schools than in Saudi primary schools who take up roles geared towards fostering effective schools and developing schools as learning organisations. This disparity has been attributed to the fact that in the Saudi education system the role of headteachers is highly regulated and constrained due to the bureaucratic and centralised nature of the country’s education system whereas in the British education system headteachers have more autonomy and control over school management. Generally, this study provides invaluable insights that can be used to improve the professional practice of educators. It illuminates different characteristics and roles that can contribute to the realisation of effective schools and schools as learning organisations. It also provides an explicit outlook towards school leadership in the global context. As the world is increasingly becoming globalised, it is crucial for educators to acquaint themselves with how different systems of education function

Macadamia industry benchmark report: 2009 to 2016 seasons, Project MC15005

The benchmarking project is supporting improved productivity and profitability within the Australian macadamia industry. The current project builds on previous benchmarking and best practice work conducted since 2001. Yield, quality and planting information has been collected annually from macadamia farms throughout Australia since 2009. This information is provided either directly by growers or by processors on their behalf. Cost of production data has also been collected annually since 2013. Each season all benchmarking participants receive a confidential, personalised report that compares their individual farm performance with the average performance of similar farms based on a range of criteria including region, locality, farm size, management structure, irrigation status and tree age. These reports highlight individual and average farm performance trends over multiple seasons. This industry report has been produced to provide growers, processors, consultants, investors and other industry stakeholders with a summary of yield, quality and cost of production trends within the Australian macadamia industry

Convalescent plasma in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised controlled, open-label, platform trial

SummaryBackground Azithromycin has been proposed as a treatment for COVID-19 on the basis of its immunomodulatoryactions. We aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of azithromycin in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19.Methods In this randomised, controlled, open-label, adaptive platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19Therapy [RECOVERY]), several possible treatments were compared with usual care in patients admitted to hospitalwith COVID-19 in the UK. The trial is underway at 176 hospitals in the UK. Eligible and consenting patients wererandomly allocated to either usual standard of care alone or usual standard of care plus azithromycin 500 mg once perday by mouth or intravenously for 10 days or until discharge (or allocation to one of the other RECOVERY treatmentgroups). Patients were assigned via web-based simple (unstratified) randomisation with allocation concealment andwere twice as likely to be randomly assigned to usual care than to any of the active treatment groups. Participants andlocal study staff were not masked to the allocated treatment, but all others involved in the trial were masked to theoutcome data during the trial. The primary outcome was 28-day all-cause mortality, assessed in the intention-to-treatpopulation. The trial is registered with ISRCTN, 50189673, and ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04381936.Findings Between April 7 and Nov 27, 2020, of 16 442 patients enrolled in the RECOVERY trial, 9433 (57%) wereeligible and 7763 were included in the assessment of azithromycin. The mean age of these study participants was65·3 years (SD 15·7) and approximately a third were women (2944 [38%] of 7763). 2582 patients were randomlyallocated to receive azithromycin and 5181 patients were randomly allocated to usual care alone. Overall,561 (22%) patients allocated to azithromycin and 1162 (22%) patients allocated to usual care died within 28 days(rate ratio 0·97, 95% CI 0·87–1·07; p=0·50). No significant difference was seen in duration of hospital stay (median10 days [IQR 5 to >28] vs 11 days [5 to >28]) or the proportion of patients discharged from hospital alive within 28 days(rate ratio 1·04, 95% CI 0·98–1·10; p=0·19). Among those not on invasive mechanical ventilation at baseline, nosignificant difference was seen in the proportion meeting the composite endpoint of invasive mechanical ventilationor death (risk ratio 0·95, 95% CI 0·87–1·03; p=0·24).Interpretation In patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19, azithromycin did not improve survival or otherprespecified clinical outcomes. Azithromycin use in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 should be restrictedto patients in whom there is a clear antimicrobial indication

Exploring the geographical distribution of wealth using the output area classification

SummaryThe results of the first wave of the Wealth and Assets Survey were published in the report, ‘Wealth in Great Britain’ in December 2009 with datasets released in March 2010. However, apart from the presentation of the aggregate results on a Government Office Region basis, no more disaggregated geographical analysis of the data has so far been carried out, not least because of the potential disclosivity of the data when presented for low level geographies. This paper aims to provide an understanding of the geographical distribution of wealth and its components by areas with common socio-economic and demographic characteristics from relatively high to low levels of aggregation while overcoming the disclosivity problem. This is achieved by using the Output Area Classification (OAC) groupings, based on the 2001 Census.

Comme une hantise': La grève des mineurs, trente ans après

ars 1984. Contre un projet annoncé de fermeture de vingt puits de mines et de 20 000 suppressions d’emplois, 140 000 mineurs britanniques commencent une grève qui durera une année. Entre le 8 mars 1984 et le 3 mars 1985, plus de 11 000 d’entre eux seront arrêtés, 5 653 poursuivis en justice, 200 emprisonnés et près d’un millier licencié. Derrière les motifs économiques avancés, une véritable stratégie gouvernementale visait à infliger une défaite définitive à la composante le plus combative du mouvement ouvrier, le Syndicat national des mineurs. Cette expérience, emblématique de la désindustrialisation des années 1980 en Grande-Bretagne, fut largement constitutive de ce que l’on a appelé le thatchérisme. La grève – ses occasions manquées, les défections du monde syndical, mais aussi les solidarités nouvelles qui s’y inventèrent, puis sa défaite – marqua une rupture dans le modèle des relations du travail d’après-guerre, dans la culture ouvrière et syndicale et dans la société britannique tout entière. Cet ouvrage propose de revenir à la fois sur quelques-unes de ses dimensions et sur certains aspects de son rayonnement obscur contemporain, et les hantises qu’elle fait encore ressentir. Toute ressemblance avec ce que nous pouvons connaître aujourd’hui n’est pas fortuite