William Baxter, Botanist, with particular reference to Kangaroo Island in the 1820s

Transcript of audiocassette 001A from the Borrow CollectionTranscript of an address by Ralph Grandison to the Pioneers' Association of South Australia on 24 August 1989

The Short-Term Youth Exchange Program

The study abroad world is constantly changing and adapting to the diverse needs of the global market. One current trend in France is the demand for students to begin studying abroad at a younger age, when many people believe it is easier to learn new languages and develop intercultural skills. Informed by needs assessment with members of the community at Saint-Denis International School, located in Loches France, I designed the short-term French youth exchange program. This three-week program will take place during the academic year and was designed for preadolescent students in 6th and 7th grade (ages 10 to 13). During the program, participants will stay with a host family, audit classes at a U.S. institution, attend intensive English as a Second Language (ESL) classes, participate in extracurricular activities and field trips, and meet several times a week with a group leader to work on developing intercultural skills and personal growth. Keywords: study abroad, preadolescent, youth, ESL, intercultura

Land Grant Application- Grandison, Simeon (Situate)

Land grant application submitted to the Maine Land Office for Simeon Grandison for service in the Revolutionary War.https://digitalmaine.com/revolutionary_war_mass/1155/thumbnail.jp

Improving the regulatory acceptance and numerical performance of CFD based fire-modelling software

The research of this thesis was concerned with practical aspects of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) based fire modelling software, specifically its application and performance. Initially a novel CFD based fire suppression model was developed (FIREDASS). The FIREDASS (FIRE Detection And Suppression Simulation) programme was concerned with the development of water misting systems as a possible replacement for halon based fire suppression systems currently used in aircraft cargo holds and ship engine rooms. A set of procedures was developed to test the applicability of CFD fire modelling software. This methodology was demonstrated on three CFD products that can be used for fire modelling purposes. The proposed procedure involved two phases. Phase 1 allowed comparison between different computer codes without the bias of the user or specialist features that may exist in one code and not another by rigidly defining the case set-up. Phase 2 allowed the software developer to perform the test using the best modelling features available in the code to best represent the scenario being modelled. In this way it was hoped to demonstrate that in addition to achieving a common minimum standard of performance, the software products were also capable of achieving improved agreement with the experimental or theoretical results. A significant conclusion drawn from this work suggests that an engineer using the basic capabilities of any of the products tested would be likely to draw the same conclusions from the results irrespective of which product was used. From a regulators view, this is an important result as it suggests that the quality of the predictions produced are likely to be independent of the tool used - at least in situations where the basic capabilities of the software were used. The majority of this work has focussed on the use of specialised proprietary hardware generally based around the UNIX operating system. The majority of engineering firms that would benefit from the reduced timeframes offered by parallel processing rarely have access to such specialised systems. However, in recent years with the increasing power of individual office PCs and the improved performance of Local Area Networks (LAN) it has now come to the point where parallel processing can be usefully utilised in a typical office environment where many such PCs maybe connected to a LAN. Harnessing this power for fire modelling has great promise. Modern low cost supercomputers are now typically constructed from commodity PC motherboards connected via a dedicated high-speed network. However, virtually no work has been published on using office based PCs connected via a LAN in a parallel manner on real applications. The SMARTFIRE fire field model was modified to utilise multiple PCs on a typical office based LAN. It was found that good speedup could be achieved on homogeneous PCs, for example for a problem composed of-100,000 cells would run on a network of 12 PCs with a speedup of 9.3 over a single PC. A dynamic load balancing scheme was devised to allow the effective use of the software on heterogeneous PC networks. This scheme also ensured that the impact of the parallel processing on other computer users was minimised. This scheme also minimised the impact of other computer users on the parallel processing performed by the FSE

Establishing a role for specific nutrients in Drosophila dietary restriction

Dietary restriction (DR), the reduction in food intake that falls short of starvation, has been shown to be the most robust and reproducible intervention to extend lifespan in diverse organisms ranging from yeast to mammals, including the fruit fly Drosophila. Despite over 70 years of research, primarily on rodents, the mechanisms by which DR extend lifespan in any organism are poorly understood, partially due to the variation in how DR is defined and applied between laboratories. Lifespan extension by DR commonly trade-offs with reduced fecundity, leading to evolutionary-based theories predicting that DR elicits an evolved response to food shortage in nature, through reallocation of resources away from reproduction and towards somatic maintenance, hence increasing the chance of survival until food supply becomes more abundant. In Drosophila, DR is typically implemented by dilution of sucrose and yeast in an agar-based medium, with yeast being the key component regulating lifespan. Firstly, this thesis presents an investigation of the response of the model organism Drosophila to different DR diets and protocols, thereby creating one standardized and optimized DR diet for use. Secondly, using the optimized diet, this project investigates the role of specific nutrients mediating the effects of DR and the potential pathways controlling these effects. Essential amino acids were shown to directly regulate the trade-off between high fecundity and reduced lifespan observed with full feeding. However, methionine addition alone was necessary and sufficient to increase fecundity to levels seen with full feeding, without reducing lifespan, demonstrating that reallocation of nutrients cannot explain the DR responses. The results of this thesis highlight the importance for a standard DR protocol and suggest that in other organisms, including mammals, the beneficial effects of DR may be achieved without impairing fertility by using a suitable balance of nutrients in the diet

Effect of a standardised dietary restriction protocol on multiple laboratory strains of Drosophila melanogaster

Background: Outcomes of lifespan studies in model organisms are particularly susceptible to variations in technical procedures. This is especially true of dietary restriction, which is implemented in many different ways among laboratories. Principal Findings: In this study, we have examined the effect of laboratory stock maintenance, genotype differences and microbial infection on the ability of dietary restriction (DR) to extend life in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. None of these factors block the DR effect. Conclusions: These data lend support to the idea that nutrient restriction genuinely extends lifespan in flies, and that any mechanistic discoveries made with this model are of potential relevance to the determinants of lifespan in other organisms

Evaluation of the Implementation of the Munro Pressure Ulcer Risk Assessment Scale to Mitigate Pressure Ulcers in the Perioperative Setting

Background: The process of implementing appropriate skin assessment and documentation throughout the patient’s operative experience assists in the early detection of pressure ulcers. Purpose: This Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project had two goals. The first was to determine a practical tool that would ensure that surgical nurses demonstrate competence and comply with the process of identifying compromised skin integrity, and the second goal was to effectively communicate the findings with other clinical team members. Methods: The DNP project focused on the use of the Munro Pressure Ulcer Risk Scale Assessment Tool to identify pressure ulcers and to promote collaboration among the surgical team, the physician, and the wound care specialists. Results: There was a 75% increase since 2021 in completing the intra-operative portion of the Munro Assessment Tool after educating the surgical nurses. The post-operative portion of the assessment tool addresses the length of surgery (LOS) and the estimated blood loss (EBL), which remained at zero. However, the nurses explained that the surgeon documented the LOS and the EBL in the operative reports, rather than using the assessment tool. After the writer captured the data, the overall total of the patients’ “risk factor score” remained high and placed each patient at risk for developing pressure injuries during surgery. Conclusions: Compliance rates increased after educating the surgical nurses regarding their responsibilities in completing the intra-operative portion of the Munro Pressure Ulcer Risk Assessment Scale for Perioperative Patients. The compliance rate will likely continue to increase with continued education and the development of a surgical pressure ulcer risk-assessment team

Strategies to Reduce Employee Turnover for Frontline Cashiers in the Retail Business

Employee turnover is 1 of the most significant concerns for organizations because it involves loss of investments and increased costs of hiring, training, and replacement. The turnover rate in the U.S. retail industry is relatively high at 60% for full-time employees, and this rate continues to increase rapidly. The purpose of this case study was to explore the retention strategies retail managers in big-box retail stores use to decrease frontline cashier turnover. Using Herzberg\u27s two-factor hygiene theory, as the conceptual framework, the study was conducted with a sample of 8 retail managers, located in Huntsville, Alabama, who have decreased frontline cashier turnover. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews with participants, and an interview protocol was used. To ensure that the data were captured correctly, data triangulation was used by combining company data, detail notes, and interview recordings. Data were analyzed using Yin\u27s data analysis method: compiling, disassembling, reassembling, interpreting, and concluding to develop themes. Three prominent themes were found for retention strategies that may decrease turnover of frontline cashier\u27s pay, training, and voluntary turnover. These themes suggest retention strategies that may decrease turnover of frontline cashiers, cultivate staff relationships, and enhance quality of work life for frontline cashiers. The implications for positive social change include the potential to increase work life balance for frontline cashiers by reducing turnover rates