A sociological investigation in to the dynamic power balance between the Football League and Football Association: Using the Football League Cup as a window for exploration

This thesis suggests that the Football League Cup was introduced as part of a wider social policy to challenge the Football Association’s position in power. Therefore, testing the figurational perspective and, using the Football League Cup as a window for exploration, this thesis has investigated the dynamic power relationship between the Football Association and Football League and, later, on to the emerging relationship with international football governing bodies – FIFA and UEFA. Therefore, this investigation has; (1) Traced the development, sociologically, of the Football League Cup and; (2) investigated the fluctuating relationship between differing football governing bodies. Such analysis is unique in that academics have failed to recognise the sociological significance in that football is the only sport in England governed by two separate authorities and, as such, this is the first dedicated investigation of its kind. Furthermore, this is the first sociological study to examine England’s ‘secondary’ football cup competition – the Football League Cup. Documentary analysis was the chosen research method for investigation. Specifically, to investigate the controversy surrounding the Football League Cup, newspaper analysis was conducted using two online resources – The Times Digital Archive and NewsBank Info Web. To help understand the shifting power balance between the FA and Football League, research took place at the FA headquarters in Soho, London – here, a systematic analysis of FA minutes and literature within the FA library took place. This thesis has identified that the Football League Cup was introduced as part of an ulterior motive to challenge the position of the Football Association. In fact, this dissertation highlights that the FA have been in conflict with other associations since before their advent in 1863. Furthermore, this investigation has contradicted the claim, made by some, that the Football League Cup is ‘pointless’ or ‘worthless’. In fact, this investigation has found that the Football League cup has proven to be extremely useful to the lesser sides that have a second opportunity to draw a ‘bigger’ club (as they already have this opportunity in the FA Cup) and, also, the tournament is an important asset to the Football League who were able to use the competition as a ‘tool’ for negotiation. Nevertheless, although the FA has been challenged throughout their existence, the organisation remains the number one authority for English professional football, formally speaking

The composition of aerial insect communities varies across habitats in an endangered oak ecosystem

Insect communities are sensitive to changes in their habitat including light and moisture levels, and as such can be considered important indicators of environmental change. We studied the abundance, diversity, and composition of insect families within three contrasting habitats in a 100-ha endangered oak ecosystem in central Oregon in order to gain baseline knowledge of these communities and how they might change with habitat restoration. Sampled habitats included an open-grassy savannah, semi-open woodland, and a conifer-deciduous mixed forest. Approximately 500 insects were collected and identified in Fall 2019. There was no significant difference in the mean number or diversity of insects collected in the different habitats. However, there was a difference in the composition of insect communities, with mixed conifer-oak forests having significantly different types of insects than the relatively interchangeable savannah and woodland. This important baseline information will allow us to assess the success of our restoration efforts in this endangered ecosystem

Interacting stressors and the potential for adaptation in a changing world: responses of populations and individuals

To accurately predict the impact of environmental change, it is necessary to assay effects of key interacting stressors on vulnerable organisms, and the potential resiliency of their populations. Yet, for the most part, these critical data are missing. We examined the effects of two common abiotic stressors predicted to interact with climate change, salinity and temperature, on the embryonic survival and development of a model freshwater vertebrate, the rough-skinned newt (Taricha granulosa) from different populations. We found that salinity and temperature significantly interacted to affect newt embryonic survival and development, with the negative effects of salinity most pronounced at temperature extremes. We also found significant variation among, and especially within, populations, with different females varying in the performance of their eggs at different salinity–temperature combinations, possibly providing the raw material for future natural selection. Our results highlight the complex nature of predicting responses to climate change in space and time, and provide critical data towards that aim

Concurrent infection with the filarial helminth Litomosoides sigmodontis attenuates or worsens Influenza A virus pathogenesis in a stage-dependent manner

Filarial helminths infect approximately 120 million people worldwide initiating a type 2 immune response in the host. Influenza A viruses stimulate a virulent type 1 pro-inflammatory immune response that in some individuals can cause uncontrolled immunopathology and fatality. Although coinfection with filariasis and influenza is a common occurrence, the impact of filarial infection on respiratory viral infection is unknown. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of pre-existing filarial infection on concurrent infection with influenza A virus. A murine model of co-infection was established using the filarial helminth Litomosoides sigmodontis and the H1N1 (A/WSN/33) influenza A virus (IAV). Co-infection was performed at 3 different stages of L. sigmodontis infection (larval, juvenile adult, and patency), and the impact of co-infection was determined by IAV induced weight loss and clinical signs, quantification of viral titres, and helminth counts. Significant alterations of IAV pathogenesis, dependent upon stage of infection, was observed on co-infection with L. sigmodontis. Larval stage L. sigmodontis infection alleviated clinical signs of IAV co-infection, whilst more established juvenile adult infection also significantly delayed weight loss. Viral titres remained unaltered at either infection stage. In contrast, patent L. sigmdodontis infection led to a reversal of age-related resistance to IAV infection, significantly increasing weight loss and clinical signs of infection as well as increasing IAV titre. These data demonstrate that the progression of influenza infection can be ameliorated or worsened by pre-existing filarial infection, with the outcome dependent upon the stage of filarial infection

Exploring ICMetrics to detect abnormal program behaviour on embedded devices

Execution of unknown or malicious software on an embedded system may trigger harmful system behaviour targeted at stealing sensitive data and/or causing damage to the system. It is thus considered a potential and significant threat to the security of embedded systems. Generally, the resource constrained nature of Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) embedded devices, such as embedded medical equipment, does not allow computationally expensive protection solutions to be deployed on these devices, rendering them vulnerable. A Self-Organising Map (SOM) based and Fuzzy C-means based approaches are proposed in this paper for detecting abnormal program behaviour to boost embedded system security. The presented technique extracts features derived from processor's Program Counter (PC) and Cycles per Instruction (CPI), and then utilises the features to identify abnormal behaviour using the SOM. Results achieved in our experiment show that the proposed SOM based and Fuzzy C-means based methods can identify unknown program behaviours not included in the training set with 90.9% and 98.7% accuracy

Artificial Light at Night as a Driver of Evolution Across Urban–Rural Landscapes

Light is fundamental to biological systems, affecting the daily rhythms of bacteria, plants, and animals. Artificial light at night ( ALAN ), a ubiquitous feature of urbanization, interferes with these rhythms and has the potential to exert strong selection pressures on organisms living in urban environments. ALAN also fragments landscapes, altering the movement of animals into and out of artificially lit habitats. Although research has documented phenotypic and genetic differentiation between urban and rural organisms, ALAN has rarely been considered as a driver of evolution. We argue that the fundamental importance of light to biological systems, and the capacity for ALAN to influence multiple processes contributing to evolution, makes this an important driver of evolutionary change, one with the potential to explain broad patterns of population differentiation across urban–rural landscapes. Integrating ALAN ’ s evolutionary potential into urban ecology is a targeted and powerful approach to understanding the capacity for life to adapt to an increasingly urbanized world

Advancing Monitoring Infrastructure for Oregon’s Native Freshwater Turtles with Citizen Science Platforms

Monitoring is a core component of conservation plans as well as an opportunity for local stakeholders to contribute. Our objective was to advance monitoring infrastructure for the protection of native, threatened freshwater turtles in the Pacific Northwest through the creation of a citizen science application. This was done by researching previous designs of citizen science projects over the past ten years and improving the platform based on recommendations by practitioners. Current platforms can be improved by better crediting the work of citizen scientists, improving communication between scientists and users, building in flexibility for scientists, and accommodating for disabilities through ergonomic design. This set the framework to design and build a new multi-platform monitoring application. The final product is a mobile and web application that embodies these concepts and is ready for user-testing in the summer, providing scientists with critical data to help monitor multiple species of conservation concern, while engaging the public in this important task

A cross-sectional survey of the acceptability of data collection processes for validation of a European point prevalence survey of healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial use

BACKGROUND: Statistical measurements alone are insufficient to ensure robust data for point prevalence surveys (PPS) of healthcare-associated infections (HAI). Data quality is determined by the type of data, data collection methods and available resources. Data collectors’ views regarding the acceptability of data collection process for validation studies are also important to consider. AIM: To explore data collectors’ views on the acceptability of data collection processes used for a European validation PPS of HAI and antimicrobial use (AMU). METHODS: An anonymous online survey was conducted with 67 data collectors from 10 European countries involved in the study. FINDINGS: Twenty-five (64.1%) participants viewed AMU data collection as easy/quite easy whereas only five (12.8%) thought HAI data collection was easy/quite easy. Six (17%) participants indicated that incentives and 21 (56.8%) that disincentives were possibly/definitely present for reporting cases of HAI. Engagement of staff was not thought to have adversely affected data collection as only one (2.6%) and five (15.4%) participants thought involvement of hospital PPS teams and administration was low/very low, respectively. DISCUSSION: Participants believed the approaches used were appropriate but that more training was required prior to data collection, some case definitions should be reviewed and the number of variables reduced

An increasing role for solvent emissions and implications for future measurements of volatile organic compounds : Solvent emissions of VOCs

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are a broad class of air pollutants which act as precursors to tropospheric ozone and secondary organic aerosols. Total UK emissions of anthropogenic VOCs peaked in 1990 at 2,840 kt yr -1 and then declined to approximately 810 kt yr -1 in 2017 with large reductions in road transport and fugitive fuel emissions. The atmospheric concentrations of many non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHC) in the UK have been observed to fall over this period in broadly similar proportions. The relative contribution to emissions from solvents and industrial processes is estimated to have increased from approximately 35% in 1990 to approximately 63% in 2017. In 1992, UK national monitoring quantified 19 of the 20 most abundant individual anthropogenic VOCs emitted (all were NMHCs), but by 2017 monitoring captured only 13 of the top 20 emitted VOCs. Ethanol is now estimated to be the most important VOC emitted by mass (in 2017 approx. 136 kt yr -1 and approx. 16.8% of total emissions) followed by n-butane (52.4 kt yr -1) and methanol (33.2 kt yr -1). Alcohols have grown in significance representing approximately 10% of emissions in 1990 rising to approximately 30% in 2017. The increased role of solvent emissions should now be reflected in European monitoring strategies to verify total VOC emission reduction obligations in the National Emissions Ceiling Directive. Adding ethanol, methanol, formaldehyde, acetone, 2-butanone and 2-propanol to the existing NMHC measurements would provide full coverage of the 20 most significant VOCs emitted on an annual mass basis. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Air quality, past present and future'

Clinicopathological Determinants of Recurrence Risk and Survival in Mucinous Ovarian Carcinoma

Mucinous ovarian carcinoma (MOC) is a unique form of ovarian cancer. MOC typically presents at early stage but demonstrates intrinsic chemoresistance; treatment of advanced-stage and relapsed disease is therefore challenging. We harness a large retrospective MOC cohort to identify factors associated with recurrence risk and survival. A total of 151 MOC patients were included. The 5 year disease-specific survival (DSS) was 84.5%. Risk of subsequent recurrence after a disease-free period of 2 and 5 years was low (8.3% and 5.6% over the next 10 years). The majority of cases were FIGO stage I (35.6% IA, 43.0% IC). Multivariable analysis identified stage and pathological grade as independently associated with DSS (p p < 0.001). Grade 1 stage I patients represented the majority of cases (53.0%) and demonstrated exceptional survival (10 year DSS 95.3%); survival was comparable between grade I stage IA and stage IC patients, and between grade I stage IC patients who did and did not receive adjuvant chemotherapy. At 5 years following diagnosis, the proportion of grade 1, 2 and 3 patients remaining disease free was 89.5%, 74.9% and 41.7%; the corresponding proportions for FIGO stage I, II and III/IV patients were 91.1%, 76.7% and 19.8%. Median post-relapse survival was 5.0 months. Most MOC patients present with low-grade early-stage disease and are at low risk of recurrence. New treatment options are urgently needed to improve survival following relapse, which is associated with extremely poor prognosis