Parents and treatment decision-making for very young children at the end of life: a comparative analysis

It is commonly accepted that parents have the responsibility to make decisions regarding the medical treatment of their very young children. This remains so at the end of their child’s life when the decision must be made to withdraw treatment or pursue further interventions. In practice, this responsibility is conditional on the parents acting in their child’s best interests. When parents make treatment decisions which are deemed by healthcare professionals to be contrary to the child’s best interests, disputes can arise which may require resolution by the courts if an agreement cannot be reached in partnership. Under its inherent jurisdiction, the court then determines the course of action to be taken. This assessment lacks sufficient normative grounding with no guiding principle, resulting in excessive flexibility which is not properly constrained. Given the flexibility of best interests, an inquiry into how—if at all—the decision-making process can be improved may be beneficial. In that sense, this thesis introduces one possible improvement in the form of the application of human dignity in making decisions. It will do this by comparing the German law approach to determining the child’s best interests, based largely on the Grundgesetz, with the English law approach developed through the common law. The German approach is guided by the principle of human dignity, which offers a strong principled basis not just for the decisions made but for the intervention in the parents’ decision-making responsibilities. The thesis will therefore address the level of engagement with the parents’ views and responsibilities in the two jurisdictions and how the courts engage with them whilst discharging the fundamental duty to protect the child’s interests. It will suggest that English law may benefit from closer engagement with human dignity using German law as a model, and it will lay the preparatory foundations for the PhD thesis to follow

Personal relevance and identifying consumer needs in the South African music industry.

Thesis (MBA)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.The South African music industry is in crisis. Recent data suggests that the industry has declined by an average of 13.2% per year for the past 5 years. The industry seems to be unable to accept responsibility for this state of affairs and consistently blames external factors for its woes. A new look at the marketing strategies for the industry is urgently required The primary objective of this dissertation is to raise the debate around current marketing strategies, to show that these strategies are not able to facilitate growth in the industry, and need to be radically reassessed. Anticipated results were achieved during the interviews that were conducted. There is a general belief throughout the industry that the reason for the decline is beyond the control of retailers or suppliers. Blame was placed on the increasing sales of cellular phones, gambling, the national lottery and piracy. None of the interviewed stakeholders considered a change in marketing strategy to be beneficial. It is recommended that marketing strategies be reviewed. The tendency to operate on a 'product and price' advertising strategy should be removed, and a strategy put in place that responds to the wants and needs of consumers. This strategy should include a great degree of personal relevance for the consumer. Retail stores should focus on establishing brand identity for their stores rather than focusing on product and price

The Impact of Crown Conch on Intertidal Oyster Populations in Mosquito Lagoon

Commercial oyster harvesters in Florida have long complained that the Florida crown conch Melongena coronais in competition with them for harvestable-sized eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica). Harvesters also suggest that crown conch, rather than overharvesting, has led to a large decline in oyster populations. To determine the role of M. corona on oysters in Mosquito Lagoon, we must first better understand the biology and ecology of M. corona., and to comprehend crown conch biology in Mosquito Lagoon along the east coast of central Florida, we conducted a three-part experiment in Canaveral National Seashore (northern Mosquito Lagoon). Specifically, we designed a field feeding trial to determine prey oyster size preference. To this end, we executed surveys of oyster reefs to gauge the population density of M. corona in Mosquito Lagoon and tracked conch movements in intervals to determine locomotive capabilities. Our results indicate M. corona: 1) was uncommon in Mosquito Lagoon, with the exception of hotspots, 2) did not selectively forage based on tested oyster shell lengths, and 3) moved a mean of 63.5 meters in 24 hours. Based on our abundance data, we estimate that there are 5137 M. corona across 2802 oyster reefs in Mosquito Lagoon (mean: 0.01 conch/m2, with 0.75 conch/m2 in hotspots). More common were thin stripe hermit crabs (Clibanarius vittatus) occupying shells that once housed M. corona. Therefore, it is not likely that M. corona has played a significant role in oyster population declines in Canaveral National Seashore

Adoption, profitability and future of leucaena feeding systems in Australia

Leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala ssp. glabrata) is a highly palatable and productive forage used mainly by beef producers on extensive properties in northern Australia. When sown into native or sown grass pastures, leucaena provides significant production, economic, environmental and social benefits. Adoption of leucaena was slow initially due to a range of technical, agronomic and landscape factors. These have now been largely overcome through extensive research, development, producer experience and other advances, resulting in around 130,000 ha of cultivated leucaena being utilized across northern Australia. A range of aspects will need to be addressed if the adoption of leucaena is to be accelerated into the future. These include environmental concerns, especially potential weediness, and a range of technological needs, including soil nutritional requirements, grazing and toxicity management, opportunities for companion fodder systems and conservation options. Advances in technology and the ongoing need for a high-quality, profitable and sustainable perennial forage will ensure the continued adoption of leucaena across northern Australia for the foreseeable future. © 2019, Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT)

Adoption, profitability and future of leucaena feeding systems in Australia

Leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala ssp. glabrata) is a highly palatable and productive forage used mainly by beef producers on extensive properties in northern Australia. When sown into native or sown grass pastures, leucaena provides significant production, economic, environmental and social benefits. Adoption of leucaena was slow initially due to a range of technical, agronomic and landscape factors. These have now been largely overcome through extensive research, development, producer experience and other advances, resulting in around 130,000 ha of cultivated leucaena being utilized across northern Australia. A range of aspects will need to be addressed if the adoption of leucaena is to be accelerated into the future. These include environmental concerns, especially potential weediness, and a range of technological needs, including soil nutritional requirements, grazing and toxicity management, opportunities for companion fodder systems and conservation options. Advances in technology and the ongoing need for a high-quality, profitable and sustainable perennial forage will ensure the continued adoption of leucaena across northern Australia for the foreseeable future. © 2019, Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT)

Characterization of Knots and Links Arising From Site-specific Recombination on Twist Knots

We develop a model characterizing all possible knots and links arising from recombination starting with a twist knot substrate, extending previous work of Buck and Flapan. We show that all knot or link products fall into three well-understood families of knots and links, and prove that given a positive integer $n$, the number of product knots and links with minimal crossing number equal to $n$ grows proportionally to $n^5$. In the (common) case of twist knot substrates whose products have minimal crossing number one more than the substrate, we prove that the types of products are tightly prescribed. Finally, we give two simple examples to illustrate how this model can help determine previously uncharacterized experimental data.Comment: 32 pages, 7 tables, 27 figures, revised: figures re-arranged, and minor corrections. To appear in Journal of Physics

Transcriptomic responses of the heart and brain to anoxia in the Western Painted turtle

Painted turtles are the most anoxia-tolerant tetrapods known, capable of surviving without oxygen for more than four months at 3°C and 30 hours at 20°C. To investigate the transcriptomic basis of this ability, we used RNA-seq to quantify mRNA expression in the painted turtle ventricle and telencephalon after 24 hours of anoxia at 19°C. Reads were obtained from 22,174 different genes, 13,236 of which were compared statistically between treatments for each tissue. Total tissue RNA contents decreased by 16% in telencephalon and 53% in ventricle. The telencephalon and ventricle showed ≥ 2x expression (increased expression) in 19 and 23 genes, respectively, while only four genes in ventricle showed ≤ 0.5x changes (decreased expression). When treatment effects were compared between anoxic and normoxic conditions in the two tissue types, 31 genes were increased (≥ 2x change) and 2 were decreased (≤ 0.5x change). Most of the effected genes were immediate early genes and transcription factors that regulate cellular growth and development; changes that would seem to promote transcriptional, translational, and metabolic arrest. No genes related to ion channels, synaptic transmission, cardiac contractility or excitation-contraction coupling changed. The generalized expression pattern in telencephalon and across tissues, but not in ventricle, correlated with the predicted metabolic cost of transcription, with the shortest genes and those with the fewest exons showing the largest increases in expression

Probing the interplay between factors determining reaction rates on silica gel using termolecular systems

In this study we have compared energy and electron transfer reactions in termolecular systems using a nanosecond diffuse reflectance laser flash photolysis technique. We have previously investigated these processes on silica gel surfaces for bimolecular systems and electron transfer in termolecular systems. The latter systems involved electron transfer between three arene molecules with azulene acting as a molecular shuttle. In this study we present an alternative electron transfer system using trans β-carotene as an electron donor in order to effectively immobilise all species except the shuttle, providing the first unambiguous evidence for radical ion mobility. In the energy transfer system we use naphthalene, a structural isomer of azulene, as the shuttle, facilitating energy transfer from a selectively excited benzophenone sensitiser to 9-cyanoanthracene. Bimolecular rate constants for all of these processes have been measured and new insights into the factors determining the rates of these reactions on silica gel have been obtained

The effect of a behaviour change intervention on the diets and physical activity levels of women attending Sure Start Children's Centres:results from a complex public health intervention

OBJECTIVES: The UK government's response to the obesity epidemic calls for action in communities to improve people's health behaviour. This study evaluated the effects of a community intervention on dietary quality and levels of physical activity of women from disadvantaged backgrounds. DESIGN: Non-randomised controlled evaluation of a complex public health intervention. PARTICIPANTS: 527 women attending Sure Start Children's Centres (SSCC) in Southampton (intervention) and 495 women attending SSCCs in Gosport and Havant (control). INTERVENTION: Training SSCC staff in behaviour change skills that would empower women to change their health behaviours. OUTCOMES: Main outcomes dietary quality and physical activity. Intermediate outcomes self-efficacy and sense of control. RESULTS: 1-year post-training, intervention staff used skills to support behaviour change significantly more than control staff. There were statistically significant reductions of 0.1 SD in the dietary quality of all women between baseline and follow-up and reductions in self-efficacy and sense of control. The decline in self-efficacy and control was significantly smaller in women in the intervention group than in women in the control group (adjusted differences in self-efficacy and control, respectively, 0.26 (95% CI 0.001 to 0.50) and 0.35 (0.05 to 0.65)). A lower decline in control was associated with higher levels of exposure in women in the intervention group. There was a statistically significant improvement in physical activity in the intervention group, with 22.9% of women reporting the highest level of physical activity compared with 12.4% at baseline, and a smaller improvement in the control group. The difference in change in physical activity level between the groups was not statistically significant (adjusted difference 1.02 (0.74 to 1.41)). CONCLUSIONS: While the intervention did not improve women's diets and physical activity levels, it had a protective effect on intermediate factors-control and self-efficacy-suggesting that a more prolonged exposure to the intervention might improve health behaviour. Further evaluation in a more controlled setting is justified