The phytogeomorphology of the Niobrara region near Meadville, Nebraska.

One of the most phytogeomorphologically unique areas of Nebraska occurs along the Niobrara River Valley north of the community of Ainsworth. Not only is this an area where the Rocky Mountain, Eastern Deciduous and Northern Boreal Forest converge, but it is also an area of relatively recent geomorphic activity. Landslides are known to have occurred here; there is evidence of very recent, active movement as well as older, stabilized landslides. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between plant communities and geomorphic history. Three 100 m long transects were surveyed in each of the five study areas, all but two having different geomorphic histories. Mature tree, those with a diameter at breast height (DBH) of greater than two centimeters were derived from a statistical analysis of the importance values. Slopes that have not undergone movement display a specific distribution of mature trees: mesic species, such as green ash and linden, on footslopes, an oak-juniper association on midslopes and Ponderosa pine on ridgetops. The distribution is shifted downward in elevation on those slopes that have experience recent land slippages. Landslides also alter the topography of the valley, allowing species normallu found at one particular elevation to become established at another elevation. For example, pine trees can be found along the stream bank, and cotton woods on midslopes. As the landslide area ages, vegetation appears to succeed back to the typical distribution, that is a community adapted to a particular elevation on an undisturbed slope

Workplace Contextual Supports for LGBT Employees: A Review, Meta‐Analysis, and Agenda for future Research

The past decade has witnessed a rise in the visibility of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. This has resulted in some organizational researchers focusing their attention on workplace issues facing LGBT employees. While empirical research has been appropriately focused on examining the impact of workplace factors on the work lives of LGBT individuals, no research has examined these empirical relationships cumulatively. The purpose of this study was to conduct a comprehensive review and meta‐analysis of the outcomes associated with three workplace contextual supports (formal LGBT policies and practices, LGBT‐supportive climate, and supportive workplace relationships) and to compare the relative influence of these workplace supports on outcomes. Outcomes were grouped into four categories: (a) work attitudes, (b) psychological strain, (c) disclosure, and (d) perceived discrimination. Results show that supportive workplace relationships were more strongly related to work attitudes and strain, whereas LGBT supportive climate was more strongly related to disclosure and perceived discrimination compared to the other supports. Our findings also revealed a number of insights concerning the measurement, research design, and sample characteristics of the studies in the present review. Based on these results, we offer an agenda for future research

The experience of sound by teenagers in their everyday environment

Noise is a growing health problem. People are not always aware of the injuries that noise can cause. The media culture of today has a big influence on teenagers. This is caused by portable music players, computers, concerts etc. The schools are having larg classes and that can cause a lot irrelevant speech during lessons. Today studies shows that irrelevant speech from other class-mates actually is the biggest source of disturbance and it cause secondary effects as headache and tiredness. The aim of this study is to gain insight of what teenagers think about different sounds in their everyday environment. We are interested in this because there are not many studies about how teenagers are affected by noise and their knowledge about it. In this qualitative study we have interviewed six high school students from two different high schools. The interviews were analyzed by the use of IPA method (Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis). The results reveal that teenagers do not have much knowledge about affects of noise and the injuries it can cause. The interviewed objects knew about the fact that earplugs protect their hearing, but the knowledge of different types of earplugs and their range of usability was limited

Dotterbolags autonomi och initiativförmåga i en centraliseringsprocess : en studie av Stora Ensos dotterbolag

Papperskoncernen Stora Enso har sedan år 2002 påbörjat arbetet med en process för kostnadseffektivisering. Konceptet benämns Stora Enso Shared Service (SESS). Skalfördelar ska fås genom att funktioner hos dotterbolagen flyttas till gemensamma Service Center. Enheter som lyfts ur är framförallt administrativa tjänster där varje center ansvarar för en specifik administrativ tjänst. Vad som sker är alltså i grund och botten en centraliseringsprocess. Hur påverkar då denna centralisering dotterbolaget? Kommer processen att påverka dotterbolagens självbestämmanderätt (autonomi) och entreprenörsanda (initiativförmåga)? Stora Ensos koncernledning vill dra nytta av skalfördelar och på så sätt kostnadseffektivisera. Men de vill samtidigt inte att detta skall påverka dotterbolagen negativt. Men nu är det så att man inte kan äta kakan och samtidigt ha den kvar! Teoretiska resonemang gör på ett mycket förenklat sätt gällande att om ett dotterbolags autonomi påverkas i endera riktningen, mer eller mindre autonomi, kommer i och med detta även initiativförmågan på något sätt påverkas. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka och kartlägga på vilket sätt dotterbolagens autonomi och initiativförmåga påverkas av en centraliseringsprocess. Resultatet är att dotterbolagens självbestämmanderätt i vissa fall minskat och i och med detta har även initiativförmågan minskat. Detta gäller framför allt dotterbolagens möjlighet att påverka kostnader kopplade till den tjänst Service Centret tillhandahåller. Service Centren ska i princip inte ha en formell beslutanderätt gentemot dotterbolagen, deras enda uppgift är att tillhandahålla en tjänst på ett så kostnadseffektivt sätt som möjligt

Pocket-depths-related effectiveness of an intrapocket anaesthesia gel in periodontal maintenance patients

Aim The aim of this study was to determine the impact of the pocket depth on the effectiveness of an intrapocket anaesthesia gel during SRP in periodontal maintenance patients. Effectiveness was measured by pain levels during SRP via visual analogue scale (VAS) and verbal rating scale (VRS). Secondary endpoint was the evaluation of patients' preferred choice of anaesthesia for SRP. Methods A total of 638 patients undergoing the periodontal maintenance programme and with the need for SRP participated in this observational study. After SRP, patients filled in questionnaires to record pain levels experienced and anaesthesia preference for future use. Mann-Whitney U-test was used to analyse intergroup difference in pain perception and anaesthesia choice. Results Overall, increasing pocket depths were accompanied by higher pain levels, irrespective of maximum or commonest pocket depths (P<0.05). For SRP procedures, patients definitely prefer the anaesthesia gel (72.4%). Conclusions In this study, an effectiveness of local anaesthesia gel (lidocaine/prilocaine) related to pocket depths was found in periodontal maintenance patients during SRP. Increasing pocket depths were accompanied by increasing procedural pain levels. Nevertheless, the anaesthesia gel is well accepted and in the majority of cases was found to be the preferred option for future SRP treatments