Permeability of Broken-Cell Foamed Materials

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/67861/2/10.1177_0021955X7000600604.pd

Performance of Lightweight Waste-Impoundment Dikes

The containment dikes of two sludge disposal lagoons were founded on low strength, highly compressible wetland soils in Madison, Wisconsin. These lagoons, constructed in 1942 and 1967 respectively, encompass 130 acres of digested sludge produced at the sewage treatment plant. The dikes have experienced two previous failures in 1970 and 1973. A dike rehabilitation program was initiated in 1976 to prevent additional failures. New dikes were built using wood chips as a lightweight fill. Non-woven synthetic filter fabric was used to prevent soil intrusion into the chips and to provide resistance to lateral spreading. An investigation was initiated in 1984 to assess the current and long term stability and settlement of the dikes, to determine the fate of the wood chip fill, and to develop recommendations for ways to stabilize the dikes, if necessary. This paper presents the results of the stability and settlement analyses, and the attendant interpretations. The investigation indicated better than marginal stability, predicted minor loss of freeboard between 1987 and the year 2000, and found only minor changes in the wood chips after 10 years of service

Elite sport policies and international sporting success: A panel data analysis of European women’s national football team performance

Research question: While national sporting governing bodies are encouraged to implement programmes which seek to enhance their international sporting success, comparative studies on elite sport policies have provided limited empirical evidence in support of the relationship between such programmes and the achievement of sporting outcomes. Following the SPLISS framework, this study examines the longitudinal impact of four programme-level factors - financial support, human resources, coaching provision and foundation phase activity - on the international success of women’s national football teams. Research methods: Data from 55 Union of European Football Associations’ (UEFA) members were collected over a seven-year-period (2011-2017). The associations between programme-level factors and FIFA ranking points are verified through panel regression analyses. Controls for economic, talent pool, political, socio-cultural, climate and men’s football legacy variables are included. Results and Findings: The results reveal that highly specialised coaching provision has a significant and positive impact on international success in women’s football, while our proxies for financial support, human resources and foundation phase activity have no notable explanatory power for the success of women’s national teams. A country’s economic development, talent pool, climate and men’s football legacy are significant predictors of its women’s football performance level. Implications: This paper offers practical insights into the organisation and management of women’s football in UEFA nations and contributes to the theoretical debate on comparative analysis of the sporting performance of countries. This article confirms that an exclusively quantitative approach does not permit definitive conclusions to be drawn on the complex relationship between elite sport policies and international sporting outcomes

Analysis of Smad nucleocytoplasmic shuttling in living cells

Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) signalling leads to phosphorylation and activation of receptor-regulated Smad2 and Smad3, which form complexes with Smad4 and accumulate in the nucleus. The Smads, however, do not seem to reside statically in the cytoplasm in the absence of signalling or in the nucleus upon TGF-beta stimulation, but have been suggested to shuttle continuously between these cellular compartments in both the absence and presence of TGF-beta. Here we investigate this nucleocytoplasmic shuttling in detail in living cells using fusions of Smad2 and Smad4 with enhanced GFP. We first establish that the GFPSmad fusions behave like wild-type Smads in a variety of cellular assays. We go on to demonstrate directly, using photobleaching experiments, that Smad2 and Smad4 shuttle between the cytoplasm and nucleus in both TGF-beta-induced cells and in uninduced cells. In uninduced cells, GFPSmad2 is less mobile in the cytoplasm than is GFPSmad4, suggesting that it may be tethered there. In addition, we show that both GFPSmad2 and GFPSmad4 undergo a substantial decrease in mobility in the nucleus upon TGF-beta stimulation, suggesting that active complexes of Smads are tethered in the nucleus, whereas unactivated Smads are more freely diffusible. We propose that regulated cytoplasmic and nuclear retention may play a role in determining the distribution of Smads between the cytoplasm and the nucleus in both uninduced cells and upon TGF-beta induction

A Novel Stable Isotope Approach for Determining the Impact of Thickening Agents on Water Absorption

Research on the bioavailability of water from thickened fluids has recently been published and it concluded that the addition of certain thickening agents (namely, modified maize starch, guar gum, and xanthan gum) does not significantly alter the absorption of water from the healthy, mature human gut. Using xanthan gum as an example, our “proof of concept” study describes a simple, accurate, and noninvasive alternative to the methodology used in that first study, and involves the measurement and comparison of the dilution space ratios of the isotopes 2H and 18O and subsequent calculation of total body water. Our method involves the ingestion of a thickening agent labeled with 2H 1 day after ingestion of 18O. Analyses are based on the isotopic enrichment of urine samples collected prior to the administration of each isotope, and daily urine samples collected for 15 days postdosing. We urge that further research is needed to evaluate the impact of various thickening agents on the bioavailability of water from the developing gut and in cases of gut pathology and recommend our methodology

Factors Associated with Short-Term Mortality After Surgical Oncologic Emergencies

The clinical outcome of patients with oncologic emergencies is often poor and mortality is high. It is important to determine which patients may benefit from invasive treatment, and for whom conservative treatment and/or palliative care would be appropriate. In this study, prognostic factors for clinical outcome are identified in order to facilitate the decision-making process for patients with surgical oncologic emergencies. This was a prospective registration study for patients over 18 years of age, who were consulted for surgical oncologic emergencies between November 2013 and April 2014. Multiple variables were registered upon emergency consultation, and the follow-up period was 90 days. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors associated with 30- and 90-day mortality. During the study period, 207 patients experienced surgical oncologic emergencies-101 (48.8 %) men and 106 (51.2 %) women, with a median age of 64 years (range 19-92). The 30-day mortality was 12.6 % and 90-day mortality was 21.7 %. Factors significantly associated with 30-day mortality were palliative intent of cancer treatment prior to emergency consultation (p = 0.006), Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance score (ECOG-PS) > 0 (p for trend: p = 0.03), and raised lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) (p <0.001). Additional factors associated with 90-day mortality were low handgrip strength (HGS) (p = 0.01) and low albumin (p = 0.002). Defining the intent of prior cancer treatment and the ECOG-PS are of prognostic value when deciding on treatment for patients with surgical oncologic emergencies. Additional measurements of HGS, LDH, and albumin levels can serve as objective parameters to support the clinical assessment of individual prognosis

The Trouble with the Weather: a southern response

Research Background At a time when global warming was both urgent and overwhelming, there was a dearth of exhibitions dedicated to the issue that made room for audiences to engage in new ways. There was a need to bring together a range of art works that spoke to the issue, to an exhibition space, and to each other in ways that allowed people (new) ways to engage with global warming, to find their own ways of thinking and responding. As global warming was an emotionally and politically overloaded topic, there was a need for non-didactic exhibitions that opened thinking up as to how the uneasy relationship between technology, nature and culture was being unsettled once more. Research Contribution The artists in the Trouble with the Weather responded to weather events and to the weather as event -- psychically, 'pataphysically, emotionally and aesthetically in ways that opened the issue up for audiences. It featured a range of significant southern hemisphere artists including Elizabeth Day, David Haines & Joyce Hinterding (Aus), Jonathan Jones, Zina Kaye, Dani Marti, Janine Randerson, Te Vaka, John Tonkin and H J Wedge. Research Significance The importance of the exhibition (and its catalogue) was demonstrated by the funding it gained from Luca Belgiorno-Nettis, UTS, City of Sydney and the Australia Council for the Arts. It was featured and reviewed in SMH, RealTime and Loop Magazine. "Despite the undercurrent of urgency and desperation in the subject matter, many of the works took a whimsical approach, from Dani Marti's suburban kitsch sculpture made from pool noodles to Joyce Hinterding's beautiful ink splattered diagrams for cloud engineering and, of course, Neumark and Miranda's own contribution. Consequently, and without stridency, the overarching issues operate as a kind of climate in which the works can dwell and evolve." Gail Priest, RealTme 80, 2007. The catalogue was acquired by the Guggenheim Museum, NYC

A methodology to systematically analyze the hospital discharge of terminally ill patients

To provide an appropriate method to systematically analyze the hospital discharge of terminally ill patients especially the cooperation between hospital and community nurses and the quality of the discharge handovers. To evaluate the hospital discharge process of terminally ill patients in an academic hospital in the Netherlands using the proposed method. Data were collected from a prospective cohort of all terminally ill patients discharged from the University Medical Center Groningen, the Netherlands, between June and November 2014. The hospital discharges were assessed using 2 questionnaires: an inventory questionnaire, to determine the required care, and an evaluation questionnaire, to evaluate the care actually organized and the discharge handovers. The inventory questionnaire was completed prior to discharge and the evaluation questionnaire between 3 to 7 days after discharge. Around 130 consecutive patients were included. The discharge took place on the desired date in 86% of cases and the average overall discharge grade on a 10-point scale was 7.4 (range: 3-9.5). In 23% of cases discrepancies between required and provided care were identified and medication queries existed in 29%. This study provides a methodology to analyze the hospital discharge procedure of terminally ill patients that can be utlized in any hospital. Structured analysis of the discharge process is valuable and identifies where improvements can be made. Within the study cohort the home care could be arranged at short notice and was considered sufficient. However, in a significant proportion of patients a discrepancy between required and arranged care and queries about medication were identified