Green-Lazarsfeld's Conjecture for Generic Curves of Large Gonality

We use Green's canonical syzygy conjecture for generic curves to prove that the Green-Lazarsfeld gonality conjecture holds for generic curves of genus g, and gonality d, if $g/3<d<[g/2]+2$.Comment: 5 page

Employers skill survey : case study : health and social care

"This report examines the relationship between service delivery strategies and processes, and the deployment of skills, recruitment problems and skill gaps within selected sub-sectors of health and social care. The sub-sectors within health are physiotherapy and radiography. Within social care the focus is on care of the elderly (both residential and domiciliary care). Although subject to similar drivers and associated pressures, the two sub-sectors of health and social care display markedly different characteristics, particularly in terms of service delivery strategies, qualification frameworks and utilisation of skills. In simple terms, the health and social care subsectors considered within this report may be thought of as being situated at opposite poles of the ‘skills spectrum’: with radiography and physiotherapy characterised by high level skills, while care of the elderly is traditionally associated with low level skills. Hence, the two sub-sectors are discussed separately throughout this report. The greater complexity and range of skills required in the two health sub-sectors is reflected in the comparative length of the two sections of the report" - page 9

INVISIBILITY: Bringing Statelessness to the Forefront of U.S. Political Advocacy

Currently, an estimated 218,000 stateless persons are living in the United States. With no legal structure specifically addressing statelessness, stateless persons are left in a perpetual state of legal ambiguity. This project explores current research on statelessness in the United States, examines general awareness and attitudes towards the stateless population, and seeks to further understand how to increase empathy and engagement in the push for stateless rights. Guided by the lens of feminist political theory, I attempt to answer the following research question: Can autobiographical works of art be utilized as healing tools of empowerment and catalysts for political recognition and change for the stateless community in the United States? Beginning with a conceptual overview of statelessness and analysis of the current political positioning of stateless persons in the United States, I explore the use of autobiography as a scholarly resource and art as an educational tool to understand how each can be utilized to increase awareness of and willingness to engage in solidarity work for the stateless community. Through an analysis of quantitative survey data collected to develop measures of current awareness and attitudes towards statelessness along with qualitative data exploring the impact of art exhibitions, I present the design of a website intended to serve as a platform for education, engagement, and active solidarity with the stateless community. The website employs both information-based and art-based educational features, drawing on feminist political theory’s call for understanding power relations, the rejection of essentialism, the critique of theoretical exclusion, and the focus on individual experience. Throughout the life of the website, I hope to further understand the impact of autobiographical art-based education on raising awareness and willingness to engage in solidarity work for the stateless community. Keywords: Statelessness, Relational Aesthetic

A cross sectional study of the prevalence, risk factors and population attributable fractions for limb and body lesions in lactating sows on commercial farms in England

Background: Lesions on sows' limbs and bodies are an abnormality that might impact on their welfare. The prevalence of and risks for limb and body lesions on lactating sows on commercial English pig farms were investigated using direct observation of the sows and their housing. Results: The prevalence of lesions on the limbs and body were 93% (260/279) and 20% (57/288) respectively. The prevalence of limb and body lesions was significantly lower in outdoor-housed sows compared with indoor-housed sows. Indoor-housed sows had an increased risk of wounds (OR 6.8), calluses (OR 8.8) and capped hock (OR 3.8) on their limbs when housed on fully slatted floors compared with solid concrete floors. In addition, there was an increased risk of bursitis (OR 2.7), capped hock (OR 2.3) and shoulder lesions (OR 4.8) in sows that were unwilling to rise to their feet. There was a decreased risk of shoulder lesions (OR 0.3) and lesions elsewhere on the body (OR 0.2) in sows with more than 20 cm between their tail and the back of the crate compared with sows with less than 10 cm. Conclusion: The sample of outdoor housed sows in this study had the lowest prevalence of limb and body lesions. In lactating sows housed indoors there was a general trend for an increased risk of limb and body lesions in sows housed on slatted floors compared with those housed on solid concrete floors with bedding. Sows that were less responsive to human presence and sows that had the least space to move within their crates had an additional increased risk of lesions

The synthesis of aminophosphonic acid derivatives & related compounds

1-Aminoalkanephosphonic acids and their derivatives, have long been claimed to be compounds with a wide variety of application. Numerous examples exist where they have been described as: complex-forming agents with sequestrating properties, extractants, wetting agents, pharmaceutical preparations, ion exchangers, herbicides, compounds with plant growth regulatory activity; inhibitors of aminopeptidases; as structural units in peptide analogues, functioning as antibacterial agents, which inhibit bacterial cell wall biosynthesis; as structural units in peptidic phosphonylating agents that irreversibly inhibit a wide variety of serine proteases; as structural units in butyloxycarbonyl protected phosphonate esters that complex with alpha-lytic proteases; and as structural units in peptidyl phosphonate diphenyl 9 10 esters which powerfully inhibit the enzyme thrombin.

Is there a link between previous exposure to sport injury psychology education and UK sport injury rehabilitation professionals' attitudes and behaviour towards sport psychology?

Objectives: The use of sport psychology strategies during sport injury rehabilitation can lead to several positive outcomes such as improved adherence and self-efficacy. The purpose of this study was to compare the sport psychology related attitudes and behaviours of UK sport injury rehabilitation professionals (SIRPs) who had studied the psychological aspects of sport injury to those who had not. Participants and design: Ninety-four SIRPs (54 physiotherapists and 40 sports therapists with a mean of 9.22 years' experience of working in sport) completed an online survey and were grouped according to their level of previous exposure to sport injury psychology education at an undergraduate/postgraduate level. Analyses were undertaken to establish whether there were any differences in sport psychology related attitude (MANOVA), usage (MANOVA), and referral behaviours (chi square) between the groups. Results: The MANOVA and chi square tests conducted revealed that those who had studied the psychological aspects of sport injury reported using significantly more sport psychology in their practice and making more referrals to sport psychologists. Conclusions: It was concluded that sport injury psychology education appears to be effective in increasing the sport psychology related behaviours (use of sport psychology and referral) of SIRPs and should be integrated into professional training

The impact of a sport psychology education intervention on physiotherapists

The purpose of this study was to measure the impact of an online sport psychology education module on the attitudes and behaviours of qualified sports physiotherapists in the UK. Ninety-five sport physiotherapists studied either a sport psychology module or a control module, and their attitudes and behaviours towards sport psychology were measured prior to studying the module and at three points over a six-month period following its completion. It was found that those who had studied the sport psychology module demonstrated an improvement in their attitudes towards sport psychology immediately following its completion that was significantly higher than those who had studied the control module. Use of sport psychology also increased following the sport psychology module, with significant differences seen between the intervention and control group on the sport psychology subscale, indicating that those who had studied the sport psychology module were integrating more sport psychology techniques into their practice than those who had studied the control module. It was concluded that the online sport psychology module was effective in improving the attitudes and behaviours of UK physiotherapists and that more sport psychology education opportunities should be made available

How to make climate change research relevant for Indigenous communities in Torres Strait, Australia

Several Torres Strait communities have significant infrastructure and sacred sites located only a few metres above sea level. As a consequence, these areas are vulnerable to erosion due to the projected increase in storm surge intensity caused by climate change. Common sense suggests that Islanders would welcome new scientific research about how climate change might affect them, in order to understand the significance of these impacts and the timeframes involved. However, one leader has taken a seemingly counterintuitive stance, and has refused to let new climate research occur. We explore why this position was taken, and the implications of this decision for ongoing scientific research. In order to carry out this analysis, we provide a contextual background by assessing Islanders’ recent experience with scientific researchers, and the response of policy-makers to it. We find that despite a clearly documented problem with “top-down” decision-making, this process remains. In this instance, we find that there is a systemic lack of collaboration with Islanders to allow them to prioritise their concerns, and a lack of adequate resources to allow them to build their resilience to climate impacts. We conclude that only through a genuine collaborative approach to climate adaptation can activities be properly developed, prioritised and undertaken

Land sparing to make space for species dependent on natural habitats and high nature value farmland.

Empirical evidence from four continents indicates that human food demand may be best reconciled with biodiversity conservation through sparing natural habitats by boosting agricultural yields. This runs counter to the conservation paradigm of wildlife-friendly farming, which is influential in Europe, where many species are dependent on low-yielding high nature value farmland threatened by both intensification and abandonment. In the first multi-taxon population-level test of land-sparing theory in Europe, we quantified how population densities of 175 bird and sedge species varied with farm yield across 26 squares (each with an area of 1 km2) in eastern Poland. We discovered that, as in previous studies elsewhere, simple land sparing, with only natural habitats on spared land, markedly out-performed land sharing in its effect on region-wide projected population sizes. However, a novel 'three-compartment' land-sparing approach, in which about one-third of spared land is assigned to very low-yield agriculture and the remainder to natural habitats, resulted in least-reduced projected future populations for more species. Implementing the three-compartment model would require significant reorganization of current subsidy regimes, but would mean high-yield farming could release sufficient land for species dependent on both natural and high nature value farmland to persist.Supported by a NERC CASE studentship to C.F

A longitudinal study of factors associated with acute and chronic mastitis and their impact on lamb growth rate in 10 suckler sheep flocks in Great Britain

A 2-year prospective, longitudinal study of 10 suckler sheep flocks in Great Britain was run to identify factors associated with acute mastitis (AM) and chronic mastitis, and their impact on lamb growth rate. Data were collected on AM, intramammary masses (IMM; a marker for chronic mastitis), udder and teat conformation, teat lesions, body condition, ewe nutrition, litter size, lamb weight and general flock management. Each flock was visited twice each year, approximately 4 weeks before lambing and 9 weeks into lactation, for two years and all ewes present at a visit were examined. There were 7021 examinations in total. AM was reported in 2.1–3.0% of ewes/year; this ranged from 0.0% to 37.1% by flock. IMM were detected in 4.7% of ewes in pregnancy and 10.9% of ewes in lactation. Once an IMM had been detected there was an increased risk of future IMM although IMM were not consistently present. The majority of ewes had good udder conformation to suckle lambs. Factors associated with AM, IMM in pregnant and lactating ewes, udder conformation and lamb daily live weight gain were explored using mixed effect multivariable models. An increased risk of AM was associated with underfeeding protein in pregnancy (OR 4.05), forward pointing teats (OR 2.54), downward pointing teats (OR 4.68), rearing ≥ 2 lambs (OR 2.65), non-traumatic teat lesions (OR 2.09); and marginally associated with the presence of IMM. An increased risk of IMM in lactation was associated with AM during lactation (OR 12.39), IMM in pregnancy (OR 4.79), IMM in the previous lactation (OR 4.77), underfeeding energy in pregnancy (OR 6.66) and traumatic teat lesions (OR 2.48). An increased risk of IMM in pregnancy was associated with IMM in the previous pregnancy, IMM in the previous lactation and underfeeding energy in the previous lactation (OR 2.95). Lower lamb daily live weight gain was associated with traumatic teat lesions, IMM in lactation (−0.01 kg/day) and AM (−0.04 kg/day). We conclude that inadequate nutrition is an important cause of mastitis in suckler ewes which farmers could address in part using current nutritional guidelines but further work is needed. The relationship between AM and IMM indicates that separating or culling ewes with IMM would help reduce AM