Sounding out Homer : Christopher Logue's acoustic Homer

This article presents a case study on sound effects in Christopher Logue's adaptation of Homer's Iliad, a project that began when Logue adapted Achilles' fight with the river Scamander from book 21 of the Iliad for BBC radio in 1959. Logue's Homer has been worked, performed, and reworked for almost fifty years (1959-2005). Albeit the result of accident rather than design, the prolonged time-span for publication has produced a complex publication history, with Logue's Homer poems circulating in different print versions and simultaneously existing as audio recordings (both on LP and CD) and live performances. Within the poems themselves, the stress on sound and music suggest that these performances should inform the meaning of the printed text, leading to a complex interdependence between the written and spoken word.1Issue title: Sound Effects

Political Response, Public Representation, and Psychiatric Treatment of Homosexuality Following The Sexual Offences Act of 1967

The legalisation of homosexuality in Britain has often been wrongly credited to the passing of the Sexual Offences Act of 1967: The Sexual Offences Act decriminalized homosexuality in 1967; this act did not make homosexuality legal but made it easier to convict men who were found to be engaging in homosexual acts in public. In public included any building that had other people in it, in this instance engaging in homosexual acts in an apartment could be considered as engaging in homosexual acts in public due to how there were other occupants in the same building. The attitudes of the public did not change with this legislation. This is shown using Film, Television, and Magazines as well as newspaper articles, parliamentary debates, and medical papers to argue that attitudes towards homosexuality did not change with the passing of the 1967 Sexual Offences Act. This thesis finds that attitudes towards homosexuality changed slowly in the period between 1967 and 1988 when Section 28 of the Local Government Act was passed banning the promotion of Homosexuality in schools. It is shown that attitudes in this period changed very little as Gay men and women were continuously pursuing aversion therapy treatments to find a cure for themselves

Well Water Contamination Over Three Different Incubation Time Points

Water contamination is a major issue in eastern North Carolina mainly due to the numerous concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) that are located in these areas. CAFOs accumulate immense amounts of waste and store it in large lagoons. These facilities are poorly regulated and often placed in high flood zones. Past studies have shown that these lagoons frequently overflow and contaminate local groundwater supplies. Public water systems are legally required to test for indicators of contamination, specifically total coliforms and Escherichia coli, however, there is a lack of knowledge surrounding the level of contamination in private well water systems as they are not required to be tested. In order to address these shortcomings, the NSF project in the Gillings School of Public Health investigated the extent of fecal contamination in private water systems. One method that was used to analyze the levels of contamination in private water systems was the EPA’s Method 1604: Total Coliforms and Escherichia Coli in Water by Membrane Filtration Using a Simultaneous Detection Technique. While this method has shown to be useful for determining contaminants in groundwater, preliminary data collected in our laboratory suggest there are shortcomings. While using this method, indicators of contamination continued to appear after the protocol’s recommended incubation period. After studying the effect of various incubation periods, it appears that 48 hours, rather than the recommended 24 hours, is more appropriate for measuring the extent of contamination in private drinking water systems. These findings suggest that a revision may be needed in the EPA’s protocol for membrane filtration, especially in the context of evaluating the safety of water for human consumption.Bachelor of Scienc

Reaching millennium development goal 4 - the Gambia.

UNLABELLED: To describe how, through a DSS in a rural area of The Gambia, it has been possible to measure substantial reductions in child mortality rates and how we investigated whether the decline paralleled the registered fall in malaria incidence in the country. METHODS: Demographic surveillance data spanning 19.5 years (1 April 1989-30 September 2008) from 42 villages around the town of Farafenni, The Gambia, were used to estimate childhood mortality rates for neonatal, infant, child (1-4 years) and under-5 age groups. Data were presented in five a priori defined time periods, and annual rates per 1000 live births were derived from Kaplan-Meier survival probabilities. RESULTS: From 1989-1992 to 2004-2008, under-5 mortality declined by 56% (95% CI: 48-63%), from 165 (95% CI: 151-181) per 1000 live births to 74 (95% CI: 65-84) per 1000 live births. In 1- to 4-year-olds, mortality during the period 2004-2008 was 69% (95% CI: 60-76%) less than in 1989-1992. The corresponding mortality decline in infants was 39% (95% CI: 23-52%); in neonates, it was 38% (95% CI: 13-66%). The derived annual under-5 mortality rates declined from 159 per 1000 live births in 1990 to 45 per 1000 live births in 2008, thus implying an attainment of MDG4 seven years in advance of the target year of 2015. CONCLUSION: Achieving MDG4 is possible in poor, rural areas of Africa through widespread deployment of relatively simple measures that improve child survival, such as immunisation and effective malaria control

Coherent Captain Mills: The Search for Sterile Neutrinos

The observation of neutrino oscillations confirms that the active neutrinos (νe, νμ, ντ) are comprised of three mass eigenstates with Δm2 values between 10-3 to 10-5 eV2 . However, a persistent phenomenon has been observed at LSND, MiniBooNE and other shortbaseline experiments (SBE) where Δm2 ~ 1eV2 and is not compatible with the current mixing between mass eigenstates. However, a 4th neutrino, a sterile neutrino (νs) that doesn’t participate in weak interactions could explain the phenomena observed as SBE’s. An experiment has been constructed at TA-53 at Los Alamos National Laboratory to investigate this large Δm2 ~ 1eV2 and determine conclusively whether or not this large Δm2 is due to a “new” sterile neutrino. POSTER PRESENTATION IGNITE AWAR

A trial of intermittent preventive treatment and home-based management of malaria in a rural area of The Gambia

BACKGROUND: Individual malaria interventions provide only partial protection in most epidemiological situations. Thus, there is a need to investigate whether combining interventions provides added benefit in reducing mortality and morbidity from malaria. The potential benefits of combining IPT in children (IPTc) with home management of malaria (HMM) was investigated. METHODS: During the 2008 malaria transmission season, 1,277 children under five years of age resident in villages within the rural Farafenni demographic surveillance system (DSS) in North Bank Region, The Gambia were randomized to receive monthly IPTc with a single dose of sulphadoxine/pyrimethamine (SP) plus three doses of amodiaquine (AQ) or SP and AQ placebos given by village health workers (VHWs) on three occasions during the months of September, October and November, in a double-blind trial. Children in all study villages who developed an acute febrile illness suggestive of malaria were treated by VHWs who had been taught how to manage malaria with artemether-lumefantrine (Coartem™). The primary aims of the project were to determine whether IPTc added significant benefit to HMM and whether VHWs could effectively combine the delivery of both interventions. RESULTS: The incidence of clinical attacks of malaria was very low in both study groups. The incidence rate of malaria in children who received IPTc was 0.44 clinical attacks per 1,000 child months at risk while that for control children was 1.32 per 1,000 child months at risk, a protective efficacy of 66% (95% CI -23% to 96%; p = 0.35). The mean (standard deviation) haemoglobin concentration at the end of the malaria transmission season was similar in the two treatment groups: 10.2 (1.6) g/dL in the IPTc group compared to 10.3 (1.5) g/dL in the placebo group. Coverage with IPTc was high, with 94% of children receiving all three treatments during the study period. CONCLUSION: Due to the very low incidence of malaria, no firm conclusion can be drawn on the added benefit of IPTc in preventing clinical episodes of malaria among children who had access to HMM in The Gambia. However, the study showed that VHWs can successfully combine provision of HMM with provision of IPTc

Interfacility Patient Transfers During COVID-19 Pandemic: Mixed-Methods Study

Introduction: The United States lacks a national interfacility patient transfer coordination system. During the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, many hospitals were overwhelmed and faced difficulties transferring sick patients, leading some states and cities to form transfer centers intended to assist sending facilities. In this study we aimed to explore clinician experiences with newly implemented transfer coordination centers. Methods: This mixed-methods study used a brief national survey along with in-depth interviews. The American College of Emergency Physicians Emergency Medicine Practice Research Network (EMPRN) administered the national survey in March 2021. From September–December 2021, semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with administrators and rural emergency clinicians in Arizona and New Mexico, two states that started transfer centers during COVID-19. Results: Among 141 respondents (of 765, 18.4% response rate) to the national EMPRN survey, only 30% reported implementation or expansion of a transfer coordination center during COVID-19. Those with new transfer centers reported no change in difficulty of patient transfers during COVID-19 while those without had increased difficulty. The 17 qualitative interviews expanded upon this, revealing four major themes: 1) limited resources for facilitating transfers even before COVID-19; 2) increased number of and distance to transfer partners during the COVID-19 pandemic; 3) generally positive impacts of transfer centers on workflow, and 4) the potential for continued use of centers to facilitate transfers. Conclusion: Transfer centers may have offset pandemic-related transfer challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Clinicians who frequently need to transfer patients may particularly benefit from ongoing access to such transfer coordination services

New insights into the application of pair distribution function studies to biogenic and synthetic hydroxyapatites

Biogenic and synthetic hydroxyapatites are confounding materials whose properties remain uncertain, even after years of study. Pair distribution function (PDF) analysis was applied to hydroxyapatites in the 1970’s and 1980’s, but this area of research has not taken full advantage of the relatively recent advances in synchrotron facilities. Here, synchrotron X-ray PDF analysis is compared to techniques commonly used to characterise hydroxyapatite (such as wide angle X-ray scattering, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis) for a range of biogenic and synthetic hydroxyapatites with a wide range of carbonate substitution. Contributions to the pair distribution function from collagen, carbonate and finite crystallite size were examined through principal component analysis and comparison of PDFs. Noticeable contributions from collagen were observed in biogenic PDFs when compared to synthetic PDFs (namely r < 15 Å), consistent with simulated PDFs of collagen structures. Additionally, changes in local structure were observed for PDFs of synthetic hydroxyapatites with differing carbonate content, notably in features near 4 Å, 8 Å and 19 Å. Regression models were generated to predict carbonate substitution from peak position within the PDFs

The use of μCT and fractal dimension for fracture prediction in osteoporotic individuals

Osteoporosis (OP) is a widespread condition with commonly associated fracture sites at the hip, vertebra and wrist. This study examines the effects of age and osteoporosis on bone quality by comparing the efficacy of using parameters which indicate bone quality (both traditional clinical parameters such as bone mineral density (BMD), as well as apparent Young's modulus determined by finite element analysis, among others) to predict fracture. Non-fracture samples were collected from the femoral heads of 83 donors (44 males, 39 females), and fracture samples were obtained from the femoral heads of 17 donors (female). Microarchitectural parameters (Bone Volume/Total Volume [BV/TV], Bone Surface/Bone Volume [BS/BV], Tissue Mineral Density [TMD, etc.]) were measured from μCT of each sample as well as 2D and 3D fractal dimension (D2D and D3D respectively). A cube was cropped from μCT images and an isotropic hexahedral element was assigned to each voxel. Finite element analysis was used to calculate the Young's modulus for each sample. Overall, values for microarchitectural characteristics, fractal dimension measurements and Young's Modulus were consistent with values within literature. Significant correlations are observed between age and BV/TV for non-fracture males and females, as well as between age and volumetric BMD (vBMD) for the same groups. Significant differences are present between age-matched non-fracture and fracture females for BV/TV, BS/BV, vBMD, TMD, D2D, D3D, (p < 0.01 for all). Properties which are not age dependent are significantly different between age-matched non-fracture and fracture specimens, indicating OP is a disease, and not just an accelerated aging process

Towards cleaner environment: recycling microalgal co-product to reduce emissions and impacts while eliminating fishmeal in rainbow trout feed for sustainable aquaculture.

The rapid increase in aquaculture over the last several decades has led to concerns about the environmental impact of fish feeds relying on marine resources for fishmeal (FM). We aim to assess Nannochloropsis sp. QH25 co-product as a viable and sustainable replacement for FM in juvenile rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, feeds. We formulated four experimental diets: a reference (FM based), 33N, 66N, and 100N diet (33%, 66%, and 100% co-product replacement). Rainbow trout were randomly assigned to one of 16 tanks and randomly assigned an experimental diet to consume throughout the experiment (64&nbsp;days total), with four replicate tanks per diet. We compared the phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) digestibility, emissions, and growth between diets and, compared six environmental impacts (biotic resource use (BRU), global warming potential (GWP), water use, land use, marine eutrophication potential (MEP), and freshwater eutrophication potential (FEP)) of each diet. Our results indicate that replacing FM with co-product did not significantly alter growth. P digestibility of the experimental and reference diets was comparable. BRU conversion ratio was significantly lower in the experimental diets. However, there were significantly higher water and land use conversion ratios but insignificantly higher results in GWP, MEP, and FEP between the reference and 100N diet