Opportunities for weed manipulation using GMHT row crops

The herbicides and cultivation systems available in most non-GM crops allow farmers little flexibility as to when they control weeds. However, glyphosate and glufosinate-ammonium, as used in GM herbicide tolerant crops, offer the opportunity to control large weeds and weed control can be timed according to the agronomic and environmental aims of the user. This paper will use sugar beet as a model crop and report results where different approaches to weed control have been used and discuss their relevance in the wider agricultural and environmental contextNon peer reviewe

A ratio model of perceived speed in the human visual system

The perceived speed of moving images changes over time. Prolonged viewing of a pattern (adaptation) leads to an exponential decrease in its perceived speed. Similarly, responses of neurones tuned to motion reduce exponentially over time. It is tempting to link these phenomena. However, under certain conditions, perceived speed increases after adaptation and the time course of these perceptual effects varies widely. We propose a model that comprises two temporally tuned mechanisms whose sensitivities reduce exponentially over time. Perceived speed is taken as the ratio of these filters' outputs. The model captures increases and decreases in perceived speed following adaptation and describes our data well with just four free parameters. Whilst the model captures perceptual time courses that vary widely, parameter estimates for the time constants of the underlying filters are in good agreement with estimates of the time course of adaptation of direction selective neurones in the mammalian visual system

Defining Cultural Agents for Virtual Heritage Environments

This article describes the primary ways in which intelligent agents have been employed in virtual heritage projects and explains how the special requirements of virtual heritage environments necessitate the development of cultural agents. How do we distinguish between social agents and cultural agents? Can cultural agents meet these specific heritage objectives

Gambling problems and help-seeking in serving United Kingdom military personnel: a qualitative study

Introduction In military personnel are vulnerable to gambling problems, yet many are reluctant to seek help. The aim of the current study was to explore the lived experience of problem gambling and help-seeking among serving members of the United Kingdom Armed Forces. Methods Seventeen individuals from a larger, cross-sectional survey of gambling and wellbeing in the Royal Air Force (RAF) completed semi-structured interviews. Interview questions focused on personal experiences, the context of the RAF and its influence, knowledge and experiences of treatment and support services, and the impact of COVID-19. Results Reflexive thematic analysis revealed four themes: (1) harmful and protective occupational factors; (2) socio-cultural and personal influences; (3) organizational attitudes toward mental health and help-seeking, and (4) current support pathways and provision. Discussion Findings also indicated that gambling and alcohol use are common within the RAF, and that personnel are actively coping with mental health challenges

Sexually transmitted infection risk exposure among black and minority ethnic youth in northwest London: findings from a study translating a sexually transmitted infection risk-reduction intervention to the UK setting.

OBJECTIVES: Young black women are disproportionately affected by sexually transmitted infections (STI) in the UK, but effective interventions to address this are lacking. The Young Brent Project explored the nature and context of sexual risk-taking in young people to inform the translation of an effective clinic-based STI reduction intervention (Project SAFE) from the USA to the UK. METHODS: One-to-one in-depth interviews (n = 37) and group discussions (n = 10) were conducted among men and women aged 15-27 years from different ethnic backgrounds recruited from youth and genitourinary medicine clinic settings in Brent, London. The interviews explored the context within which STI-related risks were assessed, experienced and avoided, the skills needed to recognise risk and the barriers to behaviour change. RESULTS: Concurrent sexual partnerships, mismatched perceptions and expectations, and barriers to condom use contributed to STI risk exposure and difficulties in implementing risk-reduction strategies. Women attempted to achieve monogamy, but experienced complex and fluid sexual relationships. Low risk awareness, flawed partner risk assessments, negative perceptions of condoms and lack of control hindered condom use. Whereas men made conscious decisions, women experienced persuasion, deceit and difficulty in requesting condom use, particularly with older partners. CONCLUSIONS: Knowledge of STI and condom use skills is not enough to equip young people with the means to reduce STI risk. Interventions with young women need to place greater emphasis on: entering and maintaining healthy relationships; awareness of risks attached to different forms of concurrency and how concurrency arises; skills to redress power imbalances and building self-esteem

La réinsertion professionnelle des bénéficiaires de l'aide sociale en Suisse et en Allemagne

Parmi les régimes sociaux pour les personnes sans emploi en âge de travailler, l'aide sociale compte parmi ceux qui ont été confrontés aux plus grands changements au cours des vingt dernières années. Durant cette période, le nombre et le profil des bénéficiaires a évolué à un tel point qu'il devient aujourd'hui difficile de considérer l'aide sociale uniquement sous le prisme d'un dernier filet de protection sociale intervenant pour une minorité d'individus fortement marginalisés socialement. Aujourd'hui, accompagnant une hausse régulière du nombre de bénéficiaires, le public de l'aide sociale est devenu beaucoup plus hétérogène, incorporant une frange de plus en plus importante de personnes pour qui le chômage de longue durée ou le sous-emploi constituent de fait le principal problème. Loin d'être un phénomène typiquement suisse, la transformation radicale du public touchant des prestations d'aide sociale a en fait touché l'ensemble des pays européens. Ces développements questionnent fondamentalement la mission de l'aide sociale. Traditionnellement, deux missions ont été au centre de l'aide sociale : garantir le minimum vital et favoriser l'intégration sociale des personnes les plus marginalisées socialement. Toutefois, aujourd'hui, avec l'émergence de nouveaux publics, se pose crucialement la question de la réorientation des régimes d'aide sociale vers une prise en charge visant le retour sur le premier marché du travail à plus ou moins long terme. De quels types de mesures de réinsertion professionnelle et de services de placement les bénéficiaires de l'aide sociale disposent-ils en Suisse ? Quels dispositifs organisationnels permettent-ils de garantir une prise en charge orientée vers l'emploi adaptée aux bénéficiaires de l'aide sociale ? En Suisse, bien que la réinsertion professionnelle soit désormais considérée comme une mission intégrale de l'aide sociale au niveau politique, il existe encore peu d'études empiriques sur les pratiques effectives mises en place dans les différents cantons en matière d'aide à la réinsertion professionnelle des bénéficiaires de l'aide sociale. Sans prétendre à l'exhaustivité, cette étude dresse un état des lieux de la situation actuelle en Suisse sur la base des quelques études existantes et d'une enquête par questionnaire réalisée auprès des responsables cantonaux en 2011. Malgré d'importantes différences entre et à l'intérieur des cantons et de nombreuses lacunes dans les données statistiques, un des principaux résultats qui ressort de cette étude est que l'accès des bénéficiaires de l'aide sociale à une prise en charge orientée emploi en Suisse reste problématique à plusieurs égards. En effet, alors que l'offre développée par les services sociaux en matière de mesures de réinsertion professionnelle reste souvent restreinte, d'autres pratiques telles que la collaboration interinstitutionnelle ou le recours aux ORP pour les services de placement présentent aussi plusieurs limites. Une comparaison avec la situation en Allemagne, qui a complètement réorganisé la prise en charge de ses chômeurs de longue durée en 2005 en créant une prestation financière et une structure de prise en charge spécifique à cette catégorie de sans-emplois, confirme le potentiel d'amélioration des efforts réalisés en Suisse, particulièrement en ce qui concerne l'importance accordée au retour à l'emploi et l'accès aux mesures de réinsertion professionnelle les plus prometteuses. Toutefois, et malgré une réduction significative du nombre de chômeurs de longue durée depuis l'introduction de la réforme Hartz IV en 2005, l'expérience allemande indique que la mise sur pied d'une structure spécialisée n'est pas non plus sans créer des problèmes, et que, plus généralement, il est difficile d'imputer le succès d'une politique de réinsertion professionnelle pour les bénéficiaires de l'aide sociale uniquement à son modèle organisationnel

The Cellular Metabolism and Effects of Gold Complexes

Leads to the cellular effects of the anti-arthritic gold complexes may come from the determination of their metabolism by target cells and, possibly, cells in the immediate environment of the target cells. Polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) and mononuclear cells (monocytes and lymphocytes) are present in inflamed joints of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and these cells have been widely used in pharmacological studies on the gold complexes. It is suggested that the cellular effects of the gold complexes are mediated by the production of aurocyanide. According to this hypothesis, PMN metabolize small quantities of thiocyanate to cyanide which, in turn, converts gold complexes, such as aurothiomalate, to aurocyanide (dicyanogold(I)) which inhibits the functions of PMN and other cells. There is now considerable evidence for this hypothesis from in vitro studies but there is little in vivo work to back up the hypothesis. One of the few in vivo studies which tested the hypothesis involved the examination of the activity of aurothiomalate in the treatment of polyarthritis in Hooded Wistar rats. Activity of aurothiomalate is only shown in animals which received thiocyanate. Hydrogen cyanide is a constituent of cigarette smoke and the aurocyanide formed by the interaction with gold complexes and inhaled hydrogen cyanide rapidly diffuses into red blood cells. Because of the metabolism of hydrogen cyanide to thiocyanate in the liver, there are higher plasma levels of thiocyanate in smokers than in non-smokers. Smokers may have a greater incidence of side effects than non-smokers but there appears to be little difference in therapeutic response, possibly because there is sufficient thiocyanate in extracellular fluid, even in non-smokers, to support the conversion of gold complexes to aurocyanide. The relationship between the metabolism and effects of the orally active gold complex, auranofin are less clear. Auranofin itself is taken up by cells with the loss of the ligands bound to gold while its inhibitory activity against the oxidative burst of PMN decreases with increasing cell density. For example, the lucigenin-dependent chemiluminescence of 106 PMN/ml is 46 percent of control at 0.5 μM auranofin but only 2.2 percent in 2.105 PMN/ml in the presence of the same concentration of auranofin. A potentially active gold complex is a plasma component which is taken up by red blood cells