Understanding Public Library Services and Use: A Structural Equation Modeling Framework

This dissertation describes the process of fitting publicly available data from the 2015 Public Libraries Survey and 2015 American Community Survey to a structural equation model based on a theory of action for public libraries relating operating revenue to latent factors measuring service availability and library use within the context of matched community demographic data. The process of using theory-based data analysis to investigate publicly-available data is examined. Key findings include acceptable estimates of goodness-of-fit for hypothesized factors representing public library service availability and public library use, an inconsistent mediation effect of service availability on the relationship between public library operating revenue and public library use, and identification of disparities between local community descriptors associated with library revenue and local community descriptors associated with library use. Suggestions for further investigation of these disparities are presented

Electrokinetic and other transport properties of charged membranes under pressure forces : an irreversible thermodynamic analysis

Abstract available p.

Combined hyperspatial and hyperspectral imaging spectrometer concept

There is a user need for increasing spatial and spectral resolution in Earth Observation (EO) optical instrumentation. Higher spectral resolution will be achieved by the introduction of spaceborne imaging spectrometers. Higher spatial resolutions of 1 - 3m will be achieved also, but at the expense of sensor redesign, higher communications bandwidth, high data processing volumes, and therefore, at the risk of time delays due to large volume data-handling bottlenecks. This paper discusses a design concept whereby the hyperspectral properties of a spaceborne imaging spectrometer can be used to increase the image spatial resolution, without such adverse cost impact

What Are They Thinking? Scientific Horsemanship and the Mind of the Horse

Horse behavior in an arena is examined to determine their Umwelt, or point of view. When in an arena singly, horses displayed home base behavior, spending their time near the entrance, and excursion behavior, trips into the arena. At home bases, horses paced against the wall, pushed against the gate, looked out, and rolled. On excursions, they displayed a “sniff, look, and loop” pattern; sniffing the ground on the outward leg, looking with ears forward down the arena at the apex, making a faster return with ears back. When free with a pair mate, the area of its excursions expanded and if a pair mate was tethered at the far end of the arena, a horse shifted its home base to that location. When ridden, horses displayed similar sniff, look, and loop behavior centered toward the entrance. Experiments on memory for the arena showed it was good but was reset each day. A model suggests that behavior is shaped by a spatial gradient, in which stress expands in proportion to distance from home, and an exploratory gradient, in which patrolling is a part of each day’s outing. Science-based horsemanship can provide insight into a horse’s view of its world and is relevant to safe horse handling

Circles of support and accountability: an interpretative phenomenological analysis of the nature of the relationship between volunteers and the core member

Introduction: The rehabilitation and management of mentally ill offenders represents a significant challenge for secure facilities and is an important issue for public safety. Considering the high financial costs associated with secure care and the complex clinical presentations of forensic patients, the importance of ensuring that the most effective and evidence-based treatment practices are in place is both an issue of ethical and fiscal concern. Over the past decade, there has been a shift within psychology to a 'third wave' of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). The aim of this systematic review is to review the current evidence for the use of this third wave CBT in forensic mental health settings, with a view to assessing its current impact as well as discussing the potential benefits such an approach might bring Method: A systematic search for studies involving third wave CBT in forensic mental health settings was conducted Results: A total of nine papers were included in the review. The review focussed on Acceptance and Commitment therapy, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, Meta Cognitive Therapy, and Compassion Focussed Therapy. Overall, the quality of the studies that met the inclusion criteria was assessed as ‘fair’. Conclusion: The findings across the nine studies evaluated, suggest that third wave therapies may be effective in forensic settings, however the evidence base is in its infancy and therefore further research is required before this can be concluded with more confidence

A Comparison of Dietary Intake of Children/Adolescents with and without Myopia

Myopia is caused by an eye which has grown too long. The prevalence of myopia has increased drastically in recent years and half of the world’s population is expected to be myopic by 2050.(1) Consequently, a significant increase in sight threatening diseases will follow.(1) Myopia most commonly develops in youth, and we now know that environmental factors affect its development. Nutritional status strongly influences growth and development, including that of the eye. It has been hypothesised, therefore, that nutrition may play a role in this excessive eye growth. Current findings are conflicted, with a clear gap in the evidence.(2,3) Therefore, the aim of this study is to examine differences in dietary intake of myopic and non-myopic Irish children/adolescents, and identify any potential relationship between macro and/or micronutrient intake and myopia. A hundred healthy children/adolescents aged 6–16 years were recruited into the study, seventy myopes and thirty non-myopes. Each participant was asked to complete two 24hr diet recalls online, using the ‘INTAKE24’ software. Spherical equivalent refraction was measured by non-cycloplegic auto refraction. Myopia was defined as ≤-1.00 dioptres [D]. Energy mis-reporters were identified using Goldberg et al cut-offs. Descriptive analysis was preformed using SAS (Version 9.4). Nutrient intakes were reported as medians and interquartile range, as they were not normally distributed. Dietary data was log transformed, and the residual method was used to adjust for energy intake. Multivariate logistic regression was carried out to examine any potential relationships between nutrient intake and myopia. Both the myopic and non-myopic groups had similar energy, protein, carbohydrate and total fat intake. However, the non-myopes had a significantly higher intake of vitamin D (p= Preliminary results show a statistically significant relationship between dietary vitamin D intake and myopia. Interestingly, previous studies have found an association between vitamin D status and myopia,(4) but few have examined dietary intake alone, indicating a potential difference in diets of myopes and non-myopes. This study does have its limitations; the sample size is small, the use of a dietary intake tool is dependent on recall, and data on dietary supplement use was not available. However, given the corroboration of previous findings, further investigation is warranted, perhaps in a larger population with an extended focus on dietary patterns. 1. Holden BA, Fricke TR, Wilson DA et al. (2016) Ophthalmology 123, 1036–1042. 2. Fedor M, Socha K, Urban B et al. (2017) Biol Trace Elem 176, 1–9 3. Lim LS, Gazzard G, Low YL, et al. (2010) Ophthalmology 117:993–997.e4. 4. Yazar S, Hewitt AW, Black LJ, et al. (2014) Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 55:4552–9

Development of Passive Fuel Cell Thermal Management Technology

The NASA Glenn Research Center is developing advanced passive thermal management technology to reduce the mass and improve the reliability of space fuel cell systems for the NASA exploration program. The passive thermal management system relies on heat conduction within the cooling plate to move the heat from the central portion of the cell stack out to the edges of the fuel cell stack rather than using a pumped loop cooling system to convectively remove the heat. Using the passive approach eliminates the need for a coolant pump and other cooling loop components which reduces fuel cell system mass and improves overall system reliability. Previous analysis had identified that low density, ultra-high thermal conductivity materials would be needed for the cooling plates in order to achieve the desired reductions in mass and the highly uniform thermal heat sink for each cell within a fuel cell stack. A pyrolytic graphite material was identified and fabricated into a thin plate using different methods. Also a development project with Thermacore, Inc. resulted in a planar heat pipe. Thermal conductivity tests were done using these materials. The results indicated that lightweight passive fuel cell cooling is feasible

Investigation of the Toxic Plant-Rayless Goldenrod (Aplopappus heterophyllus)

Chemistr