The development of alternative energy sources with particular reference to wind farms

Numerous study groups and government white papers have concluded that a mixture of energy sources, including gas, clean-coal, alternative energy and possibly nuclear, will be required to meet future energy needs. Foremost amongst alternative energy sources is wind power, seen by the government as a cheap, carbon dioxide free energy source and one which has a history of successful development in Denmark and Germany. Wind power is currently the most developed renewable in the UK and because of its geographical position, Wales has been at the forefront of several new wind developments. This thesis outlines some of the stages in implementing a major wind farm development in Wales and how there is a correlation with developments in Denmark. It examines the challenges facing energy companies during the planning stage; foremost amongst these, the fact that some of the most favourable sites for wind penetration in the UK also coincide with a number of environmentally sensitive and protected areas and whether in the future, major new developments will be sited offshore. Other challenges include the need to gain public approval for this form of alternative energy, through opinion polls, positive media coverage and most importantly a greater willingness by energy companies to engage the public in a sensible debate about the benefits of wind energy. It looks at, in some detail, the more recent concerns being expressed over the intermittency of the wind resource and at more specific issues including local objections to visual intrusion in scenic areas and the well publicised promises for job creation. It examines the opposition to wind farm developments being mounted by well informed groups who question the viability of this form of alternative energy to play a significant part in the UK’s future energy needs. In conclusion, it maintains that wind power, in the form of offshore wind farms, will complement other more traditional forms of energy sources, providing the case for wind power is not overstated

Antimicrobials in animal agriculture: Parables and policy

In addition to the scientific, economic, regulatory and other policy factors that impact on antimicrobial decision-making in different jurisdictions around the world, there exist ethical, social and cultural bases for the contemporary use of these products in animal agriculture. Thus, the use of the word ‘parable’ to describe the contemporary moral stories that help to guide ethical antimicrobial use practices and broader policy decisions in animal agriculture is appropriate. Several of these stories reflect difficult decisions that arise from conflicting moral imperatives (i.e. both towards animal welfare and towards human health). Understanding the factors that combine to define the past and present paradigms of antimicrobial usage is crucial to mapping a path forward. There exist barriers, as well as opportunities, for advancing scenarios for reducing antimicrobial usage under a variety of voluntary, regulatory and legal policy frameworks. Any new approaches will ideally be structured to extend the use of present-day antimicrobials into the future, to provide novel alternatives for regulating any newly introduced antimicrobial products so as to maximize their useful life span and to ensure the optimal use of these products in animal agriculture to protect not only the health of animals and the interests of animal health/agriculture stakeholders, but also the human health and the interests of the public at large. A full range of policy approaches, which span the realm from strictly enforced regulations and laws to voluntary guidelines and compliance, should be explored with respect to their risks and benefits in a variety of worldwide settings and in full consideration of a range of stakeholder values

What contributes to good outcomes? The perspective of young people on short-term psychoanalytic psychotherapy for depressed adolescents

Depression is the fourth leading cause of adolescent illness and disability worldwide. A growing evidence base demonstrates that Short Term Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy [STPP] is an efficacious treatment for moderate to severe adolescent depression. However, with research in its infancy, key factors contributing to efficacy are unknown. Service users' lived experiences provide valuable insight in this area. This study aimed to elucidate what adolescents value in treatment by inductively exploring lived experiences of STPP. Five adolescents with the largest reduction in depressive symptoms scores between baseline and end of treatment, who had taken part in a large-scale randomized controlled trial, were sampled. In-depth interviews carried out soon after the end of therapy were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Three superordinate themes were identified: "Therapy as a Transformational Process", "Explorative and Exposing: The Therapeutic Space" and "Being Heard and Working Together: The Therapeutic Relationship". Adolescents valued a process of collaborative exploration with the therapist which when it was achieved was felt to facilitate a deep-rooted transformation in self-perception. Additionally, they described how an adjustment was needed to the particular frame of a psychoanalytic therapy. However, not all participants with a good treatment outcome experienced therapy in this way, suggesting a potential gap between the quantitative assessment of outcomes, and the way young people experience and understand the change process. Clinical implications and directions for research are discussed

Effect of the killing method on post-mortem change in length of larvae of Thanatophilus micans (Fabricius, 1794) (Coleoptera: Silphidae) stored in 70% ethanol

It is recommended that insect larvae collected for forensic purposes should be killed using the same method as was used to create existing models for rate of development. Certain killing methods have been shown to be preferable because they cause less distortion of the specimens, but these are not always practicable in a particular case, and so a method of correcting for effect of killing method is required. Larvae of all instars of Thanatophilus micans (Fabricius 1794) (Coleoptera: Silphidae) were measured and then killed by immersion in ethanol, immersion in hot water or freezing. Samples were re-measured immediately after death, then stored in excess 70% ethanol and re-measured after 1 week and again after 4 weeks. The change in length was significantly different from zero in all samples (t = -9.07022, p < 0.001). An analysis of covariance showed that instar, killing method and storage time all had a significant effect on the change in length. The results showed that T. micans larvae have a great potential for change in length during storage but that the change is not predictable, as the magnitude and sign of the change are variable

Adopting Minds — a mentalization-based therapy for families in a post-adoption support service: preliminary evaluation and service user experience

Children placed for adoption often face unique challenges and are at higher risk of mental health problems compared to the general population. Yet despite some important clinical developments, there is still a lack of evidence related to effective therapeutic interventions for this population. This study reports on the preliminary evaluation of a mentalization-based family therapy service, Adopting Minds, offered as part of a post-adoption support service. Thirty-six families who had adopted 42 children were referred to the service between September 2015 and December 2016. Demographic information was collected and assessments undertaken on the families at baseline and at the end of therapy, using a range of validated measures. Five families who had completed therapy were also interviewed about their experience of the approach. For those families on which data were available, positive outcomes in mental health and parental self-efficacy were identified, and adoptive parents reported high levels of satisfaction with the mentalization-based family therapy service. Analysis of the interviews revealed that the families found it a containing space that was supportive and non-judgemental. They felt able to express their fears and worries to a therapist who was friendly and knowledgeable and reported that the service helped them to deal with and link struggles they were facing to their own as well as their child's past experiences. However, some adoptive families felt that this short-term, six-session service alone was not enough to address all the difficulties that had brought the family to seek help, and would have preferred a longer-term intervention or therapy in combination with other types of support

Open Space – a collaborative process for facilitating Tourism IT partnerships

The success of IT projects depends on the success of the partnerships on which they are based. However past research by the author has identified a significant rate of failure in these partnerships, predominantly due to an overly technical mindset, leading to the question: “how do we ensure that, as technological solutions are implemented within tourism, due consideration is given to human-centred issues?” The tourism partnership literature is explored for additional insights revealing that issues connected with power, participation and normative positions play a major role. The method, Open Space, is investigated for its ability to engage stakeholders in free and open debate. This paper reports on a one-day Open Space event sponsored by two major intermediaries in the UK travel industry who wanted to consult their business partners. Both the running of the event and its results reveal how Open Space has the potential to address some of the weaknesses associated with tourism partnerships

Understanding the dynamics of cellular responsiveness to modifications of metabolic substrates in perifusion

A novel microperifusion system with capabilities for continuous, real-time, potentiometric monitoring of extracellular hydrogen ion concentration has been used to define the response of HeLa cells to abrupt changes in extracellular energy sources or introduction of an inhibitor of glycolysis. Glycolytic inhibition, induced by removal of glucose or introduction of iodoacetate, each led to a rapid, continuous decrease in acid release. The response to iodoacetate took longer than removal of glucose, perhaps due to the time required for binding and activation. Once inhibition began, however, the rate of change was greater than following glucose removal. Conversely, recovery time following iodoacetate inhibition was much slower than with glucose removal. Unlike the response to short-term glucose depletion, a second pulse of iodoacetate resulted in a faster response followed by an even longer recovery time. The response to switching between glucose and glutamine began almost without evident delay. The response patterns revealed that HeLa cells prefer glutamine to glucose, but, in the presence of both energy sources, some glucose continues to be used. In summary, these results indicate that continuous, real-time monitoring of the kinetics of hydrogen-ion release can be used to gain new insights into the dynamics of cellular response to perturbations of extracellular energy sources. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/49889/1/1041600103_ftp.pd

Collected papers by H. G. Midgley on the mineralogy of silicate building materials with additional papers

Abstract not Provide

Identification of Non-unitary triplet pairing in a heavy Fermion superconductor UPt_3

A NMR experiment recently done by Tou et al. on a heavy Fermion superconductor UPt$_3$ is interpreted in terms of a non-unitary spin-triplet pairing state which we have been advocating. The proposed state successfully explains various aspects of the seemingly complicated Knight shift behaviors probed for major orientations, including a remarkable d-vector rotation under weak fields. This entitles UPt$_3$ as the first example that a charged many body system forms a spin-triplet odd-par ity pairing at low temperatures and demonstrates unambiguously that the putative spin-orbit coupling in UPt$_3$ is weak.Comment: 4 pages, 2 eps figures, to be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 67 (1998) No.