Morphological response to a North Sea bed depression induced by gas mining

Gas mining leads to saucer-like surface depressions. In the North Sea, gas is currently mined at several offshore locations. The associated bed depression has a similar spatial extent as offshore tidal sandbanks, which are large-scale bed patterns covering a significant part of the North Sea bottom. The morphological time scales of bed depressions and tidal sandbanks are similar, so that significant interaction between these features is expected. In this paper we allow the bed depression to become morphologically active. A simple depression model based on a homogeneous soil is tuned with data of a bed depression near the Dutch barrier island of Ameland. Next, this subsidence model is included in a morphodynamic model. We show that this model is able to explain tidal sandbanks, which represent natural bed behavior. Here we approximate the solution by an expansion up to first order. The zeroth-order solution of the model is a flat bed with a spatially uniform, time-independent current. The first-order solution is investigated using a Fourier transformation. In general, we observe significant interaction between the bed depression and the natural sandbank formation process. The process of induced bed depression triggers and intensifies the natural morphological behavior of the offshore seabed. The model also shows essential differences between modeling a morphodynamically active marine bottom depression and a bottom depression below the threshold for sediment motion. The maximum bed level depression in the active case is significantly larger, and the circular shape of depression contours is affected by stretching toward the preferred orientation of the tidal sandbank formation process

AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF SENIORS’ EXPERIENCES OF PARTNERING/NON-PARTNERING WITH IN-HOME CARE PROVIDERS IN THE PROMOTION OF THEIR HEALTH

While research suggests that partnering with care providers enhances seniors’ independence and health, little is known about how seniors actually experience partnering/non-partnering with in-home care providers. Phenomenology was used to explore eight seniors’ experiences of partnering/non-partnering with in-home care providers in the promotion of their health. Interpretive analysis of audiotapes of in-depth interviews revealed three themes which together captured seniors’ holistic experience of partnering/non partnering: (1) the psycho-social-cultural contextual attributes of partnering/non-partnering; (2) the process o f enacting partnering/non-partnering; and (3) the subjective experience o f partnering/non-partnering. Findings revealed partnering to constitute relational health promotion, and non-partnering, the traditional expert approach o f care. Insights into social and practice norms and attitudes as impediments to partnering, and desire for involvement, interdependence and relationship-building as facilitators o f partnering, may enhance health promotion practice. These insights suggest the merit of evolving health promotion agendas beyond behavioural approaches to embrace partnering, thus relational health promotion, to optimize health as a resource for everyday living

AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF SENIORS’ EXPERIENCES OF PARTNERING/NON-PARTNERING WITH IN-HOME CARE PROVIDERS IN THE PROMOTION OF THEIR HEALTH

While research suggests that partnering with care providers enhances seniors’ independence and health, little is known about how seniors actually experience partnering/non-partnering with in-home care providers. Phenomenology was used to explore eight seniors’ experiences o f partnering/non-partnering with in-home care providers in the promotion o f their health. Interpretive analysis o f audiotapes o f in-depth interviews revealed three themes which together captured seniors’ holistic experience of partnering/non partnering: (1) the psycho-social-cultural contextual attributes of partnering/non-partnering; (2) the process o f enacting partnering/non-partnering; and (3) the subjective experience o f partnering/non-partnering. Findings revealed partnering to constitute relational health promotion, and non-partnering, the traditional expert approach of care. Insights into social and practice norms and attitudes as impediments to partnering, and desire for involvement, interdependence and relationship-building as facilitators of partnering, may enhance health promotion practice. These insights suggest the merit of evolving health promotion agendas beyond behavioural approaches to embrace partnering, thus relational health promotion, to optimize health as a resource for everyday living

Autism Spectrum Disorder Symptomatology in Verbal Children with Williams Syndrome

Many genetic disorders of known etiology share behavioral characteristic with the autism spectrum disorders (ASD), including language delays, social difficulties, and unusual patterns of behavior. There exist tendencies to either over- or under-pathologize these similarities, resulting in both false diagnoses and diagnostic overshadowing. Recent findings in Williams syndrome (WS), a genetic disorder often contrasted with ASDs, have demonstrated a significant overlap between these two phenotypes in young children with limited language. Using a gold-standard autism diagnostic tool, the ADOS, the present study aimed to further characterize the nature of socio-communicative behaviors in verbal children with WS, both within WS and in comparison to children with Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) and developmental conditions of mixed etiology (ME). Results indicated that approximately one-third of the children with WS met threshold for classification on the autism spectrum. There were a number of items on which the children classified ASD and those classified non-spectrum received different scores, such as conversation difficulties, quality of social overtures including integrated eye contact and facial expressions, and play behaviors. Consistent with previous studies, children with WS who have significant socio-communicative difficulties (i.e., those classified ASD ) demonstrate a behavioral profile similar to that seen in children with Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified. Implications for understanding the nature of the behavioral pattern in WS, and in genetic disorders in general, will be discussed

Genetic Variation in Spatio-Temporal Confined USA300 Community-Associated MRSA Isolates: A Shift from Clonal Dispersion to Genetic Evolution?

NTRODUCTION: Community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) are increasingly isolated, with USA300-0114 being the predominant clone in the USA. Comparative whole genome sequencing of USA300 isolates collected in 2002, 2003 and 2005 showed a limited number of single nucleotide polymorphisms and regions of difference. This suggests that USA300 has undergone rapid clonal expansion without great genomic diversification. However, whole genome comparison of CA-MRSA has been limited to isolates belonging to USA300. The aim of this study was to compare the genetic repertoire of different CA-MRSA clones with that of HA-MRSA from the USA and Europe through comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) to identify genetic clues that may explain the successful and rapid emergence of CA-MRSA. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Hierarchical clustering based on CGH of 48 MRSA isolates from the community and nosocomial infections from Europe and the USA revealed dispersed clustering of the 19 CA-MRSA isolates. This means that these 19 CA-MRSA isolates do not share a unique genetic make-up. Only the PVL genes were commonly present in all CA-MRSA isolates. However, 10 genes were variably present among 14 USA300 isolates. Most of these genes were present on mobile elements. CONCLUSION: The genetic variation present among the 14 USA300 isolates is remarkable considering the fact that the isolates were recovered within one month and originated from a confined geographic area, suggesting continuous evolution of this clone

Исследование методов декомпозиции моделей системы функционирования книжно-журнальных изданий с измененяемым информационным наполнением

In the article solved the problem of decomposition of the synthesized model of the functioning the book and magazine editions and introduced the notion of pseudoorthogonality transformation of synthesis and transformation of decomposition

Sputtering yields exceeding 1000 by 80keV Xe irradiation of Au nanorods

Using experiments and computer simulations, we find that 80 keV Xe ion irradiation of Au nanorods can produce sputtering yields exceeding 1000, which to our knowledge are the highest yields reported for sputtering by single ions in the nuclear collision regime. This value is enhanced by more than an order of magnitude compared to the same irradiation of flat Au surfaces. Using MD simulations, we show that the very high yield can be understood as a combination of enhanced yields due to low incoming angles at the sides of the nanowire, as well as the high surface-to-volume ratio causing enhanced explosive sputtering from heat spikes. We also find, both in experiments and simulations, that channeling has a strong effect on the sputtering yield: if the incoming beam happens to be aligned with a crystal axis of the nanorod, the yield can decrease to about 100

Lio kinship terminology

This work focuses on kinship terms in Lio, an understudied Austronesian language spoken in Flores, Indonesia. We describe the Lio kinship terms and compare them to available data on other nearby Austronesian languages. Preliminary observations show examples of alternate generation terms which have not been discussed in previous literature. These alternate generation terms are also divided by gender, a quality that has not been discussed in the Central Flores languages literature

Segmenting citizens according to their self-sufficiency:A tool for local government

Identifying subgroups of citizens with varying levels of self-sufficiency in a large local or regional population provides local government with essential input for providing matching services and well-grounded spending of health and well-being expenditures. This paper identifies self-sufficiency levels of citizens by segmenting a broad adult population. We used data from a citizen survey based on a randomly selected response group containing questions on a wide range of topics, including finances, health and living conditions, and complemented these data with registration data, including information on housing type and household composition. We conducted a latent class cluster analysis using six indicators: perception of making ends meet, perceived health, quality of life, self-efficacy, access to social support and social network. High scores on the indicators translate to high levels of self-sufficiency. We used a biased-adjusted, three-step approach to characterise the segments. Six meaningful segments were identified and labelled as ‘highly self-sufficient,’ ‘self-sufficient – medium access to social support,’ ‘self-sufficient – medium self-efficacy,’ ‘moderately self-sufficient – low self-efficacy &amp; high social network,’ ‘moderately self-sufficient – low access to social support/social network &amp; high perceived health’ and ‘not self-sufficient.’ At a macro level, perception of making ends meet and quality of life have discriminating value in assessing self-sufficiency. For a more detailed differentiation between groups with similar levels of self-sufficiency, perceived health, self-efficacy, access to social support, and social network are valuable indicators. Overall, this study introduces a comprehensive tool to assess self-sufficiency in larger groups of citizens by using a parsimonious number of indicators. Local and regional governments can apply this tool to effectively assess the self-sufficiency levels of their population and signal potentially vulnerable groups. In this way, the tool makes the identification of self-sufficiency levels of larger populations more feasible and more efficient and can be widely adopted in different contexts.</p