Large Area Crop Inventory Experiment (LACIE). A wheat yield model for Punjab, India

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

Permanent Way for Viaducts.

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Risk factors for unsuccessful lumbar puncture in children

Background. This descriptive study provides the first information on an association between the use of sedation and a reduction in the prevalence of unsuccessful lumbar puncture (LP) in African children of all races.Objective. Our hypothesis was that children who do not receive any procedural sedation are more likely to have unsuccessful LPs.Methods. A cross-sectional observational study examined LPs performed from February to April 2013, including details of the procedure, sedation or analgesia used, and techniques. The setting was the Medical Emergency Unit at Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa, and the participants all children aged 0 - 13 years who had an LP in the unit during the time period.Results. Of 350 children, 62.9% were <12 months of age, the median age being 4.8 months (interquartile range 1.5 - 21.7). The prevalence of unsuccessful (traumatic or dry) LP was 32.3% (113/350). Sedation was used in 107 children (30.6%) and was associated with a reduction in the likelihood of unsuccessful LP (p=0.002; risk ratio (RR) 0.5 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.34 - 0.78)) except in those <3 months of age, where sedation did not significantly reduce the likelihood (p=0.56; RR 1.20 (95% CI 0.66 - 2.18)).Conclusions. Unsuccessful LP was common. Sedation was not routinely used, but the results suggest that it may be associated with a reduction in the rate of unsuccessful LP. Unsuccessful LP may lead to diagnostic uncertainty, prolonged hospitalisation and unnecessary antibiotic use. Whether a procedural sedation protocol would reduce the rate of unsuccessful LP requires further study

Teamworking and Lean revisited: a reply to Carter et al

This paper is a reply to Carter et al.’s response to an earlier paper of ours in this journal on the subject of teamworking under Lean in the UK public services . Our reply covers the following issues which Carter et al. have raised: the literature we used to structure our findings; the way in which we used concepts such as autonomy and teamworking; our research methods and approach; how Carter et al.’s newly available data on teamworking might be interpreted; and how data drawn from an official employee attitude survey might best be understood. On the basis of this, we conclude that Carter et al.’s paper fails to meet its objectives. On some things, the authors are simply wrong; on others, they grossly misrepresent our position; on still others, their interpretations are, at best, highly questionable

Synthesis of Phospho-Amino Acid Analogues as Tissue Adhesive Cement Additives

In this paper we report the synthesis of a library of phospho-amino acid analogues, via a novel single-step allyl-phosphoester protection/Pd-mediated deprotection strategy. These phosphoserine and phosphotyrosine analogues were then applied as additives to create adhesive calcium phosphate cements, allowing us to probe the chemical origins of the increased surface binding strength. We demonstrate the importance of multiple calcium binding motifs in mediating adhesion, as well as highlighting the crucial role played by substrate hydrophobicity and orientation in controlling binding strength

A study of cyber hate on Twitter with implications for social media governance strategies

This paper explores ways in which the harmful effects of cyber hate may be mitigated through mechanisms for enhancing the self-governance of new digital spaces. We report findings from a mixed methods study of responses to cyber hate posts, which aimed to: (i) understand how people interact in this context by undertaking qualitative interaction analysis and developing a statistical model to explain the volume of responses to cyber hate posted to Twitter, and (ii) explore use of machine learning techniques to assist in identifying cyber hate counter-speech

Computed tomographic findings in the canine external ear canal and their associations with duration of otitis externa.

Introduction / Purpose: Computed tomography (CT) is commonly used in suspected canine otitis externa (OE) and media. Ear canal wall mineralisation is thought to be associated with chronic otitis externa. Contrast enhancement is used in other organs as a marker of inflammation. The aim of this study was to establish whether external ear canal mineralisation and contrast enhancement were associated with duration of canine otitis externa. Methods: Two observers blindly reviewed head-CT studies in a cohort of dogs to assess external ear wall mineralisation and contrast enhancement. Ears were classified by otoscopic examination as disease-free or diseased (OE), with diseased subdivided into acute (≤ 4 weeks) and chronic (&gt; 4 weeks). We hypothesized that disease duration and external canal mineralisation were not associated, and that external ear canal wall contrast enhancement was associated with OE.Results: Forty dogs were included in the study. The presence of external ear canal mineralisation on CT was independent of disease duration (p=0.49), with mineralisation in 80% (20/25) of disease-free, 77.8% (35/45) of chronic and 80% (8/10) of acute OE. The presence of external ear canal wall contrast enhancement was dependent on disease (p&lt;0.001). with significant enhancement in chronic OE compared to disease-free (p &lt;0.001).Discussion / Conclusion: Mineralisation of the canine external ear canal wall on CT is not necessarily related to chronic otitis externa, a degenerative process should also be considered. CT contrast enhancement of the external ear canal can be used as an indicator for active canine otitis externa in chronic, but not acute cases.<br/