Barriers to the use of a diagnostic oral microbiology laboratory by general dental practitioners

OBJECTIVE: To identify barriers on the use of diagnostic microbiology facilities in general dental practice. DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey using a postal questionnaire. SETTING: Primary/secondary care interface between the diagnostic oral microbiology laboratory, University of Glasgow Dental Hospital and School, Glasgow and dental practitioners within the surrounding health boards, 1998. SUBJECTS: All GDPs (797) within Argyll and Clyde, Ayrshire and Arran, Lanarkshire and Greater Glasgow Health Boards. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The responses were expressed as both absolute and relative frequencies. RESULTS: Responses were received from 430 (55%). The most frequent reason for failure to use the service was lack of information, with more than half of the respondents claiming to be unaware of the facility. Lack of request forms and sampling equipment were also viewed as barriers to using the service. CONCLUSIONS: The laboratory is failing to successfully communicate its role in addressing the growing burden of antibiotic resistance in the community and must be more proactive in encouraging appropriate use and increasing accessibility of the service to GDPs

Enhancing Biodiversity and Multifunctionality of an Organic Farmscape in California’s Central Valley

Organic farmers in the USA increasingly manage the margins of previously monocultured farmed landscapes to increase biodiversity, e.g. they restore and protect riparian corridors, plant hedgerows and construct vegetated tailwater ponds. This study attempts to link habitat enhancements, biodiversity and changes in ecosystem functions by: 1. inventorying the existing biodiversity and the associated belowground community structure and composition in the various habitats of an organic farm in California’s Central Valley; and 2. monitoring key ecosystem functions of these habitats. Two years of inventories show greater native plant diversity in non-cropped areas. While nematode diversity did not differ between habitats, functional groups were clearly associated with particular habitats as were soil microbial communities (phospholipid fatty acid analysis). Earthworm diversity did not differ between habitats, but biomass was higher in non-cropped areas. Habitats with woody vegetation stored 20% of the farmscape’s total carbon (C), despite their relatively small size (only 5% of the total farm). Two years of monitoring data of farmscape C and nitrogen (N) through emissions, run-off and leaching showed distinct tradeoffs in function associated with each habitat. Clearly habitat restoration in field margins will increase both landscape biodiversity and the multifunctionality of the farmscape as a whole

How easy can the barley brie : drinking culture and accounting failure at the end of the nineteenth century in Britain

Purpose &ndash; This paper seeks to extend the development of the historical accounting research agenda further into the area of popular culture. The work examines the discourses that surrounded the drinking of alcohol in nineteenth century Britain and explores how an accounting failure disrupted the tension between the two established competing discourses, leading to a significant impact on UK drinking culture at the end of the nineteenth century. Design/methodology/approach &ndash; The paper employs both primary and secondary sources. Secondary sources are used to develop the main themes of the discourses deployed by the temperance societies and the whisky companies. Primary sources derived from the contemporary press are employed, as necessary, in support. Findings &ndash; The paper demonstrates that accounting, although it may not be central to a discourse or other social structure, can still have a profound impact upon cultural practices. The potential for research into culture and accounting should not therefore be dismissed if no immediate or concrete relationship between culture and accounting can be determined. Further support is provided for studies that seek to expand the accounting research agenda into new territories. Originality/value &ndash; The study of popular culture is relatively novel in accounting research. This paper seeks to add to this research by exploring an area of cultural activity that has hitherto been neglected by researchers, i.e. by exploring how an accounting incident impacted upon the historical consumption of Scotch whisky in the UK.<br /

CMAS challenges to CMC-T/EBC systems

Gas turbine technology is undergoing a major transition with the recent implementation of SiC based ceramic composites (CMCs) in aircraft engines. While the potential improvement in temperature capability (≥1500°C) is unprecedented, there are a number of issues that limit the full exploitation of such potential. In addition to the longstanding concern for low temperature oxidative embrittlement and the limited temperature capability of current bond coats and matrices, the susceptibility of the protective SiO2 to volatilization in the combustion environment requires the use of environmental barrier coatings (EBCs) to achieve durability targets. Most EBC concepts, however, are based on silicates and are thus susceptible to degradation by molten silicate deposits generically known as CMAS originating from mineral debris ingested into engines with the intake air. This presentation will discuss the thermodynamic and mechanistic foundation of the degradation of EBCs by CMAS, recent progress in establishing the relevant phase equilibria for these systems, and the role of the CMAS composition on the extent of degradation, as well as perspective on mitigation. (Research supported by ONR, AFOSR and the P&W Center of Excellence in Composites at UCSB.

Magnetic ordering, electronic structure and magnetic anisotropy energy in the high-spin Mn10_{10} single molecule magnet

We report the electronic structure and magnetic ordering of the single molecule magnet [Mn$_{10}$O$_{4}$(2,2'-biphenoxide)$_{4}$Br$_{12}$]$^{4-}$ based on first-principles all-electron density-functional calculations. We find that two of the ten core Mn atoms are coupled antiferromagnetically to the remaining eight, resulting in a ferrimagnetic ground state with total spin S=13. The calculated magnetic anisotropy barrier is found to be 9 K in good agreement with experiment. The presence of the Br anions impact the electronic structure and therefore the magnetic properties of the 10 Mn atoms. However, the electric field due to the negative charges has no significant effect on the magnetic anisotropy.Comment: 4 pages, submitted to PR

Tragedy revisited

“Freedom in a commons brings ruin to all.” So argued ecologist Garrett Hardin in “The Tragedy of the Commons” in the 13 December 1968 issue of Science (1). Hardin questioned society's ability to manage shared resources and avoid an environmentally and socially calamitous free-for-all. In the 50 years since, the essay has influenced discussions ranging from climate change (see page 1217) to evolution, from infectious disease to the internet, and has reached far beyond academic literature—but not without criticism. Considerable work, notably by Nobelist Elinor Ostrom (2), has challenged Hardin, particularly his emphasis on property rights and government regulatory leviathans as solutions. Instead, research has documented contexts, cases, and principles that reflect the ability of groups to collectively govern common resources. To mark this anniversary and celebrate the richness of research and practice around commons and cooperation, Science invited experts to share some contemporary views on such tragedies and how to avert them. —Brad Wibl

Large non-Gaussian Halo Bias from Single Field Inflation

We calculate Large Scale Structure observables for non-Gaussianity arising from non-Bunch-Davies initial states in single field inflation. These scenarios can have substantial primordial non-Gaussianity from squeezed (but observable) momentum configurations. They generate a term in the halo bias that may be more strongly scale-dependent than the contribution from the local ansatz. We also discuss theoretical considerations required to generate an observable signature.Comment: 30 pages, 14 figures, typos corrected and minor changes to match published version JCAP09(2012)00

Microstructural evolution of a delta containing nickel-base superalloy during heat treatment and isothermal forging

The next generation of aerospace gas turbine engines need to operate at higher temperatures and stresses to improve their efficiency and reduce emissions. These operating conditions are beyond the capability of existing nickel-base superalloys, requiring the development of new high temperature materials. Controlling the microstructures of these new materials is key to obtaining the required properties and, therefore, it is critical to understand how these alloys respond to processing and heat treatment. Here, the microstructural evolution of V207M, a new δ containing, nickel-base superalloy, has been investigated following heat treatment and forging. The solvus temperatures of the γ′ and δ phases, determined by differential scanning calorimetry and microscopy, were found to be ~985 and ~1060 °C respectively. Isothermal forging of the alloy was conducted at 1000, 1050 and 1100 °C, corresponding to different volume fractions of retained δ. Considerable softening was observed prior to steady state flow when forging at 1000 °C, whilst only steady state flow occurred at 1050 and 1100 °C. The steady state flow process was believed to be dominated by dynamic recovery in the γ phase, with an activation energy of 407 kJmol−1. Samples that exhibited flow softening also showed a significant change in the orientation of the δ precipitates, preferentially aligning normal to the forging axis, and this reorientation was thought to be the cause of the observed flow softening

The position of graptolites within Lower Palaeozoic planktic ecosystems.

An integrated approach has been used to assess the palaeoecology of graptolites both as a discrete group and also as a part of the biota present within Ordovician and Silurian planktic realms. Study of the functional morphology of graptolites and comparisons with recent ecological analogues demonstrates that graptolites most probably filled a variety of niches as primary consumers, with modes of life related to the colony morphotype. Graptolite coloniality was extremely ordered, lacking any close morphological analogues in Recent faunas. To obtain maximum functional efficiency, graptolites would have needed varying degrees of coordinated automobility. A change in lifestyle related to ontogenetic changes was prevalent within many graptolite groups. Differing lifestyle was reflected by differing reproductive strategies, with synrhabdosomes most likely being a method for rapid asexual reproduction. Direct evidence in the form of graptolithophage 'coprolitic' bodies, as well as indirect evidence in the form of probable defensive adaptations, indicate that graptolites comprised a food item for a variety of predators. Graptolites were also hosts to a variety of parasitic organisms and provided an important nutrient source for scavenging organisms

Field Measurements of Terrestrial and Martian Dust Devils

Surface-based measurements of terrestrial and martian dust devils/convective vortices provided from mobile and stationary platforms are discussed. Imaging of terrestrial dust devils has quantified their rotational and vertical wind speeds, translation speeds, dimensions, dust load, and frequency of occurrence. Imaging of martian dust devils has provided translation speeds and constraints on dimensions, but only limited constraints on vertical motion within a vortex. The longer mission durations on Mars afforded by long operating robotic landers and rovers have provided statistical quantification of vortex occurrence (time-of-sol, and recently seasonal) that has until recently not been a primary outcome of more temporally limited terrestrial dust devil measurement campaigns. Terrestrial measurement campaigns have included a more extensive range of measured vortex parameters (pressure, wind, morphology, etc.) than have martian opportunities, with electric field and direct measure of dust abundance not yet obtained on Mars. No martian robotic mission has yet provided contemporaneous high frequency wind and pressure measurements. Comparison of measured terrestrial and martian dust devil characteristics suggests that martian dust devils are larger and possess faster maximum rotational wind speeds, that the absolute magnitude of the pressure deficit within a terrestrial dust devil is an order of magnitude greater than a martian dust devil, and that the time-of-day variation in vortex frequency is similar. Recent terrestrial investigations have demonstrated the presence of diagnostic dust devil signals within seismic and infrasound measurements; an upcoming Mars robotic mission will obtain similar measurement types