1,006 research outputs found
Development of Cold Cloud Seeding Technology for Use in Precipitation Management
This is a report of the world accomplished and results obtained under a 2-year contract. The primary objective of the Wasatch Weather Modification Project is to assess the effectiveness of selected procedures for increasing the water supply in the Wasatch Mountains by cloud seeding. As part of this overall objective, an airborne seeding experiment has been conducted for two winter seasons. Preliminary results of this experiment indicate a positive seeding effect within and on the periphery of the designated target area. A summary of project designs, procedures, and problems encountered is also included. Data processing, editing, analysis and display procedures, and computer programs are described. Hydrologic and climatological support studies are described and results presented
Environmental Drivers of Holocene Forest Development in the Middle Atlas, Morocco
In semi-arid regions subject to rising temperatures and drought, palaeoecological insights
into past vegetation dynamics under a range of boundary conditions are needed to
develop our understanding of environmental responses to climatic changes. Here, we
present a new high-resolution record of vegetation history and fire activity spanning the
last 12,000 years from Lake Sidi Ali in the southern Middle Atlas Mountains, Morocco.
The record is underpinned by a robust AMS radiocarbon and 210Pb/137Cs chronology
and multi-proxy approach allowing direct comparison of vegetation, hydroclimate, and
catchment tracers. The record reveals the persistence of steppic landscapes until
10,340 cal yr BP, prevailing sclerophyll woodland with evergreen Quercus until 6,300
cal yr BP, predominance of montane conifers (Cedrus and Cupressaceae) until 1,300
cal yr BP with matorralization and increased fire activity from 4,320 cal yr BP, and
major reduction of forest cover after 1,300 cal yr BP. Detailed comparisons between
the pollen record of Lake Sidi Ali (2,080m a.s.l.) and previously published data from
nearby Tigalmamine (1,626m a.s.l.) highlight common patterns of vegetation change in
response to Holocene climatic and anthropogenic drivers, as well as local differences
relating to elevation and bioclimate contrasts between the sites. Variability in evergreen
Quercus and Cedrus at both sites supports a Holocene summer temperature maximum
between 9,000 and 7,000 cal yr BP in contrast with previous large-scale pollen-based
climate reconstructions, and furthermore indicates pervasive millennial temperature
variability. Millennial-scale cooling episodes are inferred from Cedrus expansion around
10,200, 8,200, 6,100, 4,500, 3,000, and 1,700 cal yr BP, and during the Little Ice Age
(400 cal yr BP). A two-part trajectory of Late Holocene forest decline is evident, with
gradual decline from 4,320 cal yr BP linked to synergism between pastoralism, increased
fire and low winter rainfall, and a marked reduction from 1,300 cal yr BP, attributed to
intensification of human activity around the Early Muslim conquest of Morocco. This
trajectory, however, does not mask vegetation responses to millennial climate variability.
The findings reveal the sensitive response ofMiddle Atlas forests to rapid climate changes
and underscore the exposure of the montane forest ecosystems to future warming
The Physicist's Guide to the Orchestra
An experimental study of strings, woodwinds (organ pipe, flute, clarinet,
saxophone and recorder), and the voice was undertaken to illustrate the basic
principles of sound production in music instruments. The setup used is simple
and consists of common laboratory equipment. Although the canonical examples
(standing wave on a string, in an open and closed pipe) are easily reproduced,
they fail to explain the majority of the measurements. The reasons for these
deviations are outlined and discussed.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures (jpg files). Submitted to European Journal of
Physic
Workforce predictive risk modelling: development of a model to identify general practices at risk of a supplyâdemand imbalance
Objective: This study aimed to develop a risk prediction model identifying general practices at risk of workforce supplyâdemand imbalance.
Design: This is a secondary analysis of routine data on general practice workforce, patient experience and registered populations (2012 to 2016), combined with a census of general practitionersâ (GPsâ) career intentions (2016).
Setting/Participants: A hybrid approach was used to develop a model to predict workforce supplyâdemand imbalance based on practice factors using historical data (2012â2016) on all general practices in England (with over 1000 registered patients n=6398). The model was applied to current data (2016) to explore future risk for practices in South West England (n=368).
Primary outcome measure: The primary outcome was a practice being in a state of workforce supplyâdemand imbalance operationally defined as being in the lowest third nationally of access scores according to the General Practice Patient Survey and the highest third nationally according to list size per full-time equivalent GP (weighted to the demographic distribution of registered patients and adjusted for deprivation).
Results: Based on historical data, the predictive model had fair to good discriminatory ability to predict which practices faced supplyâdemand imbalance (area under receiver operating characteristic curve=0.755). Predictions using current data suggested that, on average, practices at highest risk of future supplyâdemand imbalance are currently characterised by having larger patient lists, employing more nurses, serving more deprived and younger populations, and having considerably worse patient experience ratings when compared with other practices. Incorporating findings from a survey of GPâs career intentions made little difference to predictions of future supplyâdemand risk status when compared with expected future workforce projections based only on routinely available data on GPsâ gender and age.
Conclusions: It is possible to make reasonable predictions of an individual general practiceâs future risk of undersupply of GP workforce with respect to its patient population. However, the predictions are inherently limited by the data available
Clergy work-related satisfactions in parochial ministry: the influence of personality and churchmanship
The aim of this study was to test several hypotheses that clergy work-related satisfaction could be better explained by a multidimensional rather than a unidimensional model. A sample of 1071 male stipendiary parochial clergy in the Church of England completed the Clergy Role Inventory, together with the short-form Revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. Factor analysis of the Clergy Role Inventory identified five separate clergy roles: Religious Instruction, Administration, Statutory Duties (conducting marriages and funerals), Pastoral Care, and Role Extension (including extra-parochial activities). Respondents also provided an indication of their predispositions on the catholic-evangelical and liberal-conservative dimensions. The significant associations of the satisfactions derived from each of the roles with the demographic, personality, and churchmanship variables were numerous, varied, and, with few exceptions, small in magnitude. Separate hierarchical regressions for each of the five roles indicated that the proportion of total variance explained by churchmanship was, in general, at least as great as that explained by personality, and was greater for three roles: Religious Instruction, Statutory Duties, and Role Extension. It was concluded that clergy satisfactions derived from different roles are not uniform and that churchmanship is at least as important as personality in accounting for clergy work satisfaction
A falls prevention programme to improve quality of life, physical function and falls efficacy in older people receiving home help services: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial
BACKGROUND:
Falls and fall-related injuries in older adults are associated with great burdens, both for the individuals, the health care system and the society. Previous research has shown evidence for the efficiency of exercise as falls prevention. An understudied group are older adults receiving home help services, and the effect of a falls prevention programme on health-related quality of life is unclear. The primary aim of this randomised controlled trial is to examine the effect of a falls prevention programme on quality of life, physical function and falls efficacy in older adults receiving home help services. A secondary aim is to explore the mediating factors between falls prevention and health-related quality of life.
METHODS:
The study is a single-blinded randomised controlled trial. Participants are older adults, aged 67 or older, receiving home help services, who are able to walk with or without walking aids, who have experienced at least one fall during the last 12 months and who have a Mini Mental State Examination of 23 or above. The intervention group receives a programme, based on the Otago Exercise Programme, lasting 12 weeks including home visits and motivational telephone calls. The control group receives usual care. The primary outcome is health-related quality of life (SF-36). Secondary outcomes are leg strength, balance, walking speed, walking habits, activities of daily living, nutritional status and falls efficacy. All measurements are performed at baseline, following intervention at 3 months and at 6 months' follow-up. Sample size, based on the primary outcome, is set to 150 participants randomised into the two arms, including an estimated 15-20% drop out. Participants are recruited from six municipalities in Norway.
DISCUSSION:
This trial will generate new knowledge on the effects of an exercise falls prevention programme among older fallers receiving home help services. This knowledge will be useful for clinicians, for health managers in the primary health care service and for policy makers
Overexpression of Mcl-1 exacerbates lymphocyte accumulation and autoimmune kidney disease in lpr mice
Cell death by apoptosis has a critical role during embryonic development and in maintaining tissue homeostasis. In mammals,
there are two converging apoptosis pathways: the âextrinsicâ pathway, which is triggered by engagement of cell surface âdeath
receptorsâ such as Fas/APO-1; and the âintrinsicâ pathway, which is triggered by diverse cellular stresses, and is regulated by prosurvival
and pro-apoptotic members of the Bcl-2 family of proteins. Pro-survival Mcl-1, which can block activation of the proapoptotic
proteins, Bax and Bak, appears critical for the survival and maintenance of multiple haemopoietic cell types. To
investigate the impact on haemopoiesis of simultaneously inhibiting both apoptosis pathways, we introduced the vavP-Mcl-1
transgene, which causes overexpression of Mcl-1 protein in all haemopoietic lineages, into Faslpr/lpr mice, which lack functional
Fas and are prone to autoimmunity. The combined mutations had a modest impact on myelopoiesis, primarily an increase in the
macrophage/monocyte population in Mcl-1tg/lpr mice compared with lpr or Mcl-1tg mice. The impact on lymphopoiesis was
striking, with a marked elevation in all major lymphoid subsets, including the non-conventional double-negative (DN) T cells
(TCRÎČ+
CD4â
CD8â
B220+
) characteristic of Faslpr/lpr mice. Of note, the onset of autoimmunity was markedly accelerated in Mcl-1tg/lpr
mice compared with lpr mice, and this was preceded by an increase in immunoglobulin (Ig)-producing cells and circulating
autoantibodies. This degree of impact was surprising, given the relatively mild phenotype conferred by the vavP-Mcl-1 transgene
by itself: a two- to threefold elevation of peripheral B and T cells, no significant increase in the non-conventional DN T-cell
population and no autoimmune disease. Comparison of the phenotype with that of other susceptible mice suggests that the
development of autoimmune disease in Mcl-1tg/lpr mice may be influenced not only by Ig-producing cells but also other
haemopoietic cell types
NP3 Exploratory Study 8:Report from the project New Purposes, New Practices, New Pedagogies (NP3)
New Purposes â New Practices â New Pedagogy (NP3) is a collaboration between The Open University, Lancaster University and Manchester Metropolitan University, led by Professor Peter Twining. NP3 is finding out about how children's digital practices influence teaching and learning. NP3 aims to find out about how children use digital devices outside school and what influence (if any) these practices have on what pupils and teachers do inside primary schools. The focus is on pedagogy across the curriculum (rather than the teaching of computing). Our Research Questions (RQs) for these exploratory studies are: RQ1 What are the digital practices that pupils bring to their learning in school? RQ2 Across subject domains what do teachersâ intended and enacted pedagogic practices indicate about their awareness of and the value accorded to pupilsâ digital competencies, and how do pupilsâ experience these pedagogic practices? RQ3 What institutional circumstances and practices enable or undermine how pupilsâ digital competencies and practices are recognised (RQ1) and integrated into teachersâ practice (RQ2)? This brief report provides a snapshot of the digital practices evident in one of the 10 Exploratory Studies that we conducted between October 2015 and March 2016, with a summary of emerging findings from this Exploratory Study. For further details about NP3 go to http://www.np3.org.uk
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