Spatial habitat patterning of the freshwater pearl mussel, Margaritifera margaritifera, in the River Rede, North East England.

Habitat degradation is prevalent in freshwater ecosystems and acts at multiple scales to impact biodiversity. It has severe consequences for the endangered freshwater pearl mussel (Margaritifera margaritifera). Due to this species’ ecological importance, preservation of the declining population on the River Rede, NE England, is of interest to conservation organisations. Physical habitat parameters in the Rede were assessed across a series of scales relevant to the species’ requirements. Water quality was assessed at the catchment scale. Depth measurements and remotely sensed data on grain size distributions were collected at the meso-scale. Substrate composition, flow type, proximity to the channel edge and adult mussel distribution data were observed at the microhabitat scale. Meso-scale and microhabitat surveys were performed within four 400 m river reaches. A significant contagious distribution of the 310 observed M. margaritifera was identified. All sampled habitat factors related significantly to mussel presence, although flow type displayed a more complex association. Logistic regression and preference modelling further allowed the species’ habitat requirements to be refined, identifying areas of preferred habitat. Mussels were distributed as a function of substrate composition and depth, primarily in areas less than 20 cm deep (above summer low flow). Areas less than 3 m from the bank, run flows, and low turbulence flow types also contributed to the definition of preferred habitat. The Rede M. margaritifera population was found to respond to habitat patchiness. This is in accordance with patchy distributions, related to habitat character, found in recruiting populations and is promising for future conservation efforts. The multiple scale approach employed here could contribute to future catchment management methods

Pets, Purity and Pollution: Why Conventional Models of Disease Transmission Do Not Work for Pet Rat Owners

In the United Kingdom, following the emergence of Seoul hantavirus in pet rat owners in 2012, public health authorities tried to communicate the risk of this zoonotic disease, but had limited success. To explore this lack of engagement with health advice, we conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews with pet rat owners and analysed them using a grounded theory approach. The findings from these interviews suggest that rat owners construct their pets as different from wild rats, and by elevating the rat to the status of a pet, the powerful associations that rats have with dirt and disease are removed. Removing the rat from the contaminated outside world moves their pet rat from being ‘out of place’ to ‘in place’. A concept of ‘bounded purity’ keeps the rat protected within the home, allowing owners to interact with their pet, safe in the knowledge that it is clean and disease-free. Additionally, owners constructed a ‘hierarchy of purity’ for their pets, and it is on this structure of disease and risk that owners base their behaviour, not conventional biomedical models of disease

Yellow Wallpaper. Selections

[2], 20 pages, [5] pages of plates : color ill. ; 29 cm. 5 colograph relief prints; mounted paste paper frontispiece. Illustrated paste-down end papers (collographs). Issued in an illustrated dust-jacket (frottage and acrylic paint on tracing paper, laminated with acrylic medium). The text ... first published in New England Magazine, January 1892 ... This book was designed and produced by Crystal Cawley. It was typeset and printed at Wolfe Editions ... --Colophon. Edition limited to 30 numbered copies. Library has copy no. 22.https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/specialcollections_artistsbooks/1244/thumbnail.jp

A study of the effectiveness of a phonetic and activity approach to the teaching of spelling in grade four,

Includes appendices. Thesis (M.A.)--Boston Universit

A study of perceptual correlates to role-taking ability with fourth through sixth grade children

This study was designed for the purpose of expanding knowledge of the correlates of role-taking as measured by Feffer's Role-Taking Task. The variables of perception, sex, age, reading achievement, and ordinal position were investigated. The perceptual variables measured were visual memory, field dependence/independence, auditory memory, and organizing and synthesizing ability. The instruments used were Memory-For-Designs, Children's Embedded Figures Test, Digit Span, and Block Design, respectively. Reading Achievement was measured by the Metropolitan Achievement Test, One hundred and nine fourth through sixth grade students were administered the Role-Taking Task and the four perceptual tests. Demographic data were obtained through school records. An estimate of verbal intelligence was used as a control. Nine hypotheses were formulated, and were analyzed using Pearson product moment correlations, t-tests and stepwise regression analysis. Means and standard deviations were used to gain additional descriptive data on the variables. The hypotheses were tested using the group considered as a whole. For further analysis purposes the subjects were considered according to three age groupings, 9. 6-10. 5, 10.6-11. 5, and 11. 6- 12. 5, Data using two scoring systems on the Role-Taking Task are presented. Analysis of the data revealed that the Children's Embedded Figures Test and Digit Span had significant correlations (p < . 05) with the Role-Taking Task. Block Design and the Memory-For-Designs were not significantly related to role-taking. Of the four perceptual variables the Children's Embedded Figures Test explained the most variation, using the regression analysis. More variation was explained by the perceptual variables at the 9.6-10. 5 age range than the other age groupings including total sample. There was not a significant difference between the performance of males and females on the Role-Taking Task. However, males performed better than females at the younger age group, but this was reversed for the following two ages. The relationship between age and role-taking was significant for the total and middle age groups at the . 01 level. Reading Achievement and the Role-Taking Task were significantly related for the total group and the ages 10.6-11.5. Later and first borns did not differ significantly in their performance on the Role-Taking Task

‘Chaucer’s World’ study days in Oxford for post-16 students: enhancing learning and encouraging wonder

This collaborative essay, structured as a collection of tales akin to Chaucer’s, provides a multiperspectival reflection on enhancement study days, entitled ‘Chaucer’s World’, co-organised by the University of Oxford, the Ashmolean Museum, the Bodleian Library, and secondary schools from the area. The event is aimed at UK secondary school students in their final two years of study, and is intended not only to help students with their preparation for the A-Level English Literature exam but also to instil in them appreciation for Chaucer’s works, as well as for medieval literature and culture in general

Performance characteristics of five triage tools for major incidents involving traumatic injuries to children

Context Triage tools are an essential component of the emergency response to a major incident. Although fortunately rare, mass casualty incidents involving children are possible which mandate reliable triage tools to determine the priority of treatment. Objective To determine the performance characteristics of five major incident triage tools amongst paediatric casualties who have sustained traumatic injuries. Design, setting, participants Retrospective observational cohort study using data from 31,292 patients aged less than 16 years who sustained a traumatic injury. Data were obtained from the UK Trauma Audit and Research Network (TARN) database. Interventions Statistical evaluation of five triage tools (JumpSTART, START, CareFlight, Paediatric Triage Tape/Sieve and Triage Sort) to predict death or severe traumatic injury (injury severity score >15). Main outcome measures Performance characteristics of triage tools (sensitivity, specificity and level of agreement between triage tools) to identify patients at high risk of death or severe injury. Results Of the 31,292 cases, 1029 died (3.3%), 6842 (21.9%) had major trauma (defined by an injury severity score >15) and 14,711 (47%) were aged 8 years or younger. There was variation in the performance accuracy of the tools to predict major trauma or death (sensitivities ranging between 36.4 and 96.2%; specificities 66.0–89.8%). Performance characteristics varied with the age of the child. CareFlight had the best overall performance at predicting death, with the following sensitivity and specificity (95% CI) respectively: 95.3% (93.8–96.8) and 80.4% (80.0–80.9). JumpSTART was superior for the triaging of children under 8 years; sensitivity and specificity (95% CI) respectively: 86.3% (83.1–89.5) and 84.8% (84.2–85.5). The triage tools were generally better at identifying patients who would die than those with non-fatal severe injury. Conclusion This statistical evaluation has demonstrated variability in the accuracy of triage tools at predicting outcomes for children who sustain traumatic injuries. No single tool performed consistently well across all evaluated scenarios