264 research outputs found

    In Situ Calls Of The Marine Perciform Glaucosoma Hebraicum

    Get PDF
    West Australian dhufish (Glaucosoma hebraicum), a marine perciform, possess a swim bladder which has associated muscles that are used in sound production. Individuals have been recorded producing sounds during capture that may be associated with disturbance from their normal behaviour. To determine whether individuals produce sound during natural behaviour, a passive sea-noise logger was deployed on the seafloor for one month in close proximity to low-relief artificialsubstrates occupied by G. hebraicum. During this time, both juvenile and sub-adult G. hebraicum were observed within metres of the logger on numerous occasions. At approximately the same time, sounds with characteristics similar to the disturbance calls of G. hebraicum were detected by the logger. Two types of swimbladder generated calls were recorded, one of widely-spaced pulses and the other of pulses in quick succession The maximum received levels and sound exposurelevels of the recorded calls were 132 dB re 1 ÎŒPa and 121 dB re 1 ÎŒPa2.s, respectively. Based on previously determined G. hebraicum source levels and time of arrival techniques (direct and surface-reflected ray paths), the vocalising fish were estimated at between 1 and 19.5 m from the hydrophone and thus within the area where they had been observed. This study has provided evidence that juvenile G. hebraicum produce sounds at similar source levels to those generated during human induced disturbance. This indicates that sound is produced by individuals of this species during normal behaviour, but may or may not be associated with natural sources of disturbance

    Life-threatening hypersensitivity pneumonitis secondary to e-cigarettes

    Get PDF
    © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. We report a case of hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) in a young person secondary to vaping. He presented with a putative diagnosis of asthma and required extracorporeal membrane oxygenation because of intractable respiratory failure. He developed a critical illness and steroid myopathy and required prolonged rehabilitation. Our patient fulfils diagnostic criteria for HP secondary to e-cigarettes with a positive exposure history, deterioration after skin prick testing, specific serum IgM antibodies against the implicated liquid raising the possibility that the relevant antigen was present in that liquid and radiological and histopathological features compatible with acute HP. There are two learning points. The first is always to consider a reaction to e-cigarettes in someone presenting with an atypical respiratory illness. The second is that we consider e-cigarettes as much safer than tobacco' at our peril

    Effects of Non-Pharmacological Interventions as Vaccine Adjuvants in Humans:a systematic review and network meta-analysis

    Get PDF
    Declaration of interest: We have read and understood the policy on declaration of interests and declare that CMT has received funding from Nestle Nutrition for projects unconnected with this study. All other authors do not have any conflicting interests

    Investigation of wurtzite formation in MOVPE-grown zincblende GaN epilayers on AlxGa1−xN nucleation layers

    Get PDF
    The influence of AlGaN nucleation layers on zincblende GaN epilayers was studied to investigate the formation of wurtzite phase inclusions in the epilayer. GaN epilayers grown on AlGaN nucleation layers with varying aluminum contents suffer from the increasing presence of wurtzite inclusions as the aluminum content of the nucleation layer increases. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy along with four-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy is used to investigate the origin of the wurtzite inclusions in the nucleation layer and at the GaN/AlGaN interface. It was observed that a GaN nucleation layer and an Al0.95Ga0.05N nucleation layer grew in the zincblende and wurtzite phase, respectively. These phases were then adopted by the overgrown GaN epilayers. For a GaN epilayer on an Al0.29Ga0.71N nucleation layer, wurtzite inclusions tend to form at the GaN/ Al0.29Ga0.71N interface due to strong {111}-type faceting observed in the zincblende nucleation layer. This strong faceting is correlated with an enrichment of aluminum in the upper part of the nucleation layer, as observed in energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, which may influence the kinetics or thermodynamics controlling the surface morpholog

    Polarity determination of crystal defects in zincblende GaN by aberration-corrected electron microscopy

    Get PDF
    Aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy techniques are used to study the bonding configuration between gallium cations and nitrogen anions at defects in metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy-grown cubic zincblende GaN on vicinal (001) 3C-SiC/Si. By combining high-angle annular dark-field and annular bright-field imaging, the orientation and bond polarity of planar defects, such as stacking faults and wurtzite inclusions, were identified. It is found that the substrate miscut direction toward one of the 3C-SiC ⟹110⟩ in-plane directions is correlated with the crystallographic [1–10] in-plane direction and that the {111} planes with a zone axis parallel to the miscut have a Ga-polar character, whereas the {111} planes in the zone perpendicular to the miscut direction have N-polarity. The polarity of {111}-type stacking faults is maintained in the former case by rotating the coordination of Ga atoms by 180° around the ⟹111⟩ polar axes and in the latter case by a similar rotation of the coordination of the N atoms. The presence of small amounts of the hexagonal wurtzite phase on Ga-polar {111} planes and their total absence on N-polar {111} planes is tentatively explained by the preferential growth of wurtzite GaN in the [0001] Ga-polar direction under non-optimized growth conditions. I. INTRODUCTIO

    E-readiness in construction (ERiC) : self-assessment framework for UK small and medium enterprise building services providers

    Get PDF
    The construction industry’s ability to innovate in order to improve its practices has been widely debated. As organisations in other sectors globally are addressing technology challenges, is the UK construction industry e-ready? Of particular concern is the plethora of small and medium enterprises (SME) that constitute over 80% of the UK construction industry. There are noticeable SME laggards in the uptake of new processes and technologies. This paper aims to assess the e-readiness levels of UK SME building services provider in order to leverage the advantages of technology opportunities in the future. The resultant self-assessment ERiC framework enables SMEs to quantify and measure e-readiness from an organisation, technical and process perspective

    Organization theory and military metaphor: time for a reappraisal?

    Get PDF
    A ‘conventional’ use of military metaphor would use it to convey attributes such as hierarchical organization, vertical communication and limited autonomy. This is often used in contrast to a looser form of organization based on the metaphor of the network. However, this article argues that military practice is more complex, with examples of considerable autonomy within the constraints of central direction. It is suggested that not only might this be a more useful metaphor for many contemporary organizations, but also that simplistic uses of military metaphor divert our attention away from the functions that management hierarchies play. The discussion is embedded within a critical realist account of metaphor, arguing for both its value and the need for its further development

    Face attack in Italian politics:Beppe Grillo’s insulting epithets for other politicians

    Get PDF
    The second largest party in the Italian Parliament, the “5-Star Movement” is led by comedian-turned-politician Beppe Grillo. Grillo is well-known for a distinctive and often inflammatory rhetoric, which includes the regular use of humorous but insulting epithets for other politicians, such as Psiconano (“Psychodwarf”) for Silvio Berlusconi. This paper discusses a selection of epithets used by Grillo on his blog between 2008 and 2015 to refer to Berlusconi and three successive centre-left leaders. We account for the functions of the epithets in terms of Spencer-Oatey’s (2002, 2008) multi-level model of “face” and of Culpeper’s (2011) “entertaining” and “coercive” functions of impoliteness. We suggest that our study has implications for existing models of face and impoliteness and for an understanding of the evolving role of verbal aggression in Italian politics

    The impact of marketisation on postgraduate career preparedness in a high skills economy

    Get PDF
    This study focuses on the consequences for high skills development of the erosion of the once clear demarcation between higher education and business. It contributes to the broader debate about the relevance of higher education for thewell-being of the society of the future. The research explores the effects of marketisation on the postgraduate curriculum and students’ preparedness for careers in public relations and marketing communications. Interviews with lecturers and students in two universities in the UK and Australia indicate that a tension exists between academic rigour and corporate relevancy. The consequences are a diminution of academic attachment to critique and wider social/cultural engagement, with a resulting impoverishment of students’ creative abilities and critical consciences. Subsequently, graduates of public relations and marketing communications, and to some extent those from other profession-related disciplines, are insufficiently prepared for careers as knowledge workers in a future high-skills economy
    • 

    corecore