162 research outputs found
Reviews
The following publications have been reviewed by the mentioned authors;Supporting Science, Design and Technology in the Early Years - reviewed by Alan CrossDazzle Plus - reviewed by David FosterDesign and Bake - Wheat and Other Cereals - reviewed by Marion RutlandDesign and Technology and the Historic Environment - reviewed by Michael LawrenceThe Millennium Train - reviewed by Chris SnellGCSE Food Technology for OCR: Pupil Book and Teacher's Resource File - reviewed by Roy BallamRaising Achievement in Design and Technology: Resistant Materials - reviewed by Roman M. GawelThe Possibilities Schools - A Blueprint for Education - reviewed by Andy BreckonKites Resource Pack: Key Stage 3 Design and Technology - reviewed by Mark HudsonICT and the Learning Revolution - reviewed by Les Porte
Automatic Detection of Open and Vegetated Water Bodies Using Sentinel 1 to Map African Malaria Vector Mosquito Breeding Habitats
Providing timely and accurate maps of surface water is valuable for mapping malaria risk and targeting disease control interventions. Radar satellite remote sensing has the potential to provide this information but current approaches are not suitable for mapping African malarial mosquito aquatic habitats that tend to be highly dynamic, often with emergent vegetation. We present a novel approach for mapping both open and vegetated water bodies using serial Sentinel-1 imagery for Western Zambia. This region is dominated by the seasonally inundated Upper Zambezi floodplain that suffers from a number of public health challenges. The approach uses open source segmentation and machine learning (extra trees classifier), applied to training data that are automatically derived using freely available ancillary data. Refinement is implemented through a consensus approach and Otsu thresholding to eliminate false positives due to dry flat sandy areas. The results indicate a high degree of accuracy (mean overall accuracy 92% st dev 3.6) providing a tractable solution for operationally mapping water bodies in similar large river floodplain unforested environments. For the period studied, 70% of the total water extent mapped was attributed to vegetated water, highlighting the importance of mapping both open and vegetated water bodies for surface water mapping
Geographically extensive larval surveys reveal an unexpected scarcity of primary vector mosquitoes in a region of persistent malaria transmission in western Zambia
Background
The Barotse floodplains of the upper Zambezi River and its tributaries are a highly dynamic environment, with seasonal flooding and transhumance presenting a shifting mosaic of potential larval habitat and human and livestock bloodmeals for malaria vector mosquitoes. However, limited entomological surveillance has been undertaken to characterise the vector community in these floodplains and their environs. Such information is necessary as, despite substantial deployment of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) and indoor residual spraying (IRS) against Anopheles vectors, malaria transmission persists across Barotseland in Zambia’s Western Province.
Methods
Geographically extensive larval surveys were undertaken in two health districts along 102 km of transects, at fine spatial resolution, during a dry season and following the peak of the successive wet season. Larvae were sampled within typical Anopheles flight range of human settlements and identified through genetic sequencing of cytochrome c oxidase I and internal transcribed spacer 2 regions of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA. This facilitated detailed comparison of taxon-specific abundance patterns between ecological zones differentiated by hydrological controls.
Results
An unexpected paucity of primary vectors was revealed, with An. gambiae s.l. and An. funestus representing <2% of 995 sequenced anophelines. Potential secondary vectors predominated in the vector community, primarily An. coustani group species and An squamosus. Whilst the distribution of An. gambiae s.l. in the study area was highly clustered, secondary vector species were ubiquitous across the landscape in both dry and wet seasons, with some taxon-specific relationships between abundance and ecological zones by season.
Conclusions
The diversity of candidate vector species and their high relative abundance observed across diverse hydro-ecosystems indicates a highly adaptable transmission system, resilient to environmental variation and, potentially, interventions that target only part of the vector community. Larval survey results imply that residual transmission of malaria in Barotseland is being mediated predominantly by secondary vector species, whose known tendencies for crepuscular and outdoor biting renders them largely insensitive to prevalent vector control methods
‘People don't get cancer, families do’: Co-development of a social physical activity intervention for people recently affected by a cancer diagnosis
Objective: This research took a co-design approach to develop a social intervention to support people affected by a cancer diagnosis to be physically active. Methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews with five key stakeholder groups: (1) adults with a recent breast or prostate cancer diagnosis; (2) family and friends of cancer patients; (3) healthcare professionals; (4) physical activity providers; and (5) cancer charity representatives. Inductive content analysis was used to identify themes in the data. We then worked with a subset of participants to co-develop the intervention. Results: Participants welcomed the idea of a social approach to a physical activity intervention. Input was received on the timing and format of delivery, how to communicate about physical activity to cancer patients and their family and friends and the types of physical activity that would be appropriate. Our findings suggest that interventions need to be flexible in terms of timing and delivery and offer a wide range of physical activity options. These findings directly informed the co-development of ‘All Together Active’. Conclusion: All Together Active is designed to support cancer patients and their family and friends to be active throughout treatment and beyond, benefiting their physical and mental health
2013 Proceedings: The Next Generation
Will it be Adventist?https://knowledge.e.southern.edu/reysymp/1001/thumbnail.jp
Proteomic Profile of Reversible Protein Oxidation Using PROP, Purification of Reversibly Oxidized Proteins
Signal transduction pathways that are modulated by thiol oxidation events are beginning to be uncovered, but these discoveries are limited by the availability of relatively few analytical methods to examine protein oxidation compared to other signaling events such as protein phosphorylation. We report here the coupling of PROP, a method to purify reversibly oxidized proteins, with the proteomic identification of the purified mixture using mass spectrometry. A gene ontology (GO), KEGG enrichment and Wikipathways analysis of the identified proteins indicated a significant enrichment in proteins associated with both translation and mRNA splicing. This methodology also enabled the identification of some of the specific cysteine residue targets within identified proteins that are reversibly oxidized by hydrogen peroxide treatment of intact cells. From these identifications, we determined a potential consensus sequence motif associated with oxidized cysteine residues. Furthermore, because we identified proteins and specific sites of oxidation from both abundant proteins and from far less abundant signaling proteins (e.g. hepatoma derived growth factor, prostaglandin E synthase 3), the results suggest that the PROP procedure was efficient. Thus, this PROP-proteomics methodology offers a sensitive means to identify biologically relevant redox signaling events that occur within intact cells
Current issues in global furniture - Proceedings of the 8th biennial Furniture Research Group Conference. Missenden Abbey. Buckinghamshire New University 20 November 2013
'Current issues in global furniture’ attempted to capture contemporary views of where furniture is currently positioned from a world perspective. The first keynote paper firmly placed kitchen design into the field of furniture products showing that it has a similar stylistic development, but with nuances particular to its form and function. Ecological issues were raised concerning durability and the use of recycled components that perhaps to many is not what is expected within the domestic kitchen. Johnny Grey is no ordinary kitchen designer having designed and built kitchens all over the world within a wide range of budgets. Grey shows innovation in his adoption of green principles and especially in reusing components and materials
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