522 research outputs found
Response of three semi-arid savannas on contrasting soils to the removal of the woody component
A thesis submitted to the
Faculty of Science
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
for the
Degree or Doctor or Philosophy
October 1987A t h r e e - y e a r study was un dertaken in the semi-arid (500mm p a . )
n o rth -eastern lowland area of South Afric a. All the woody plants were
removed from one -hectare savanna plots on three d i f f e r e n t soil types ,
and key hydrological and biological changes were monitored relative to
adjacent controls.
Runoff increased initially, but decreased once the grass cover increased.
Deep drainage and lateral subsurface flow increased on the sandiest site.
Evaporation from the soil surface increased on the heavier t e x t u r e d soils.
The duration of plant - available water in the soil increased on all cleared
p l o t s .
&
The p re - c l e a r in g woody plant abo veground biomass was in the range of
of which 0 . 6 6 to 0 . 8 0 t ha was 5.6 to 11.2 t ha -1 leaf biomass. The
annual herbaceous production was stron gly rainfal' dep endent, averaging
1 to 1.5 t ha -1 , and increased by 0 . 4 - 0 6 t .ha -1 except on the most
f erti le site ( 0 . 6 - 2 0 t ha ) . Total available forage increased with c l e a ring,
but so did its variability The observed changes in herbaceous layer
palatability could not be a t trib u t e d to clearing.
Woody plants and grasses wore shown to have w a te r- u s e niche separation
in both rooting depth and time of water use. Simulation over forty years
of wetting patterns indicated 75 to 85 % niche overlap, w t h separation
on the depth axis more important in sandy sites, and on the time axis
in clayey sites. Competition between woody plants and grasses was
strongly asymmetrical in favour of woody plants.
w
Sam Sondnokkur’s Ryde fro Ratchda to Manchistur: Iz Visit to Manchester Mechaniks Hinstitushun Sho; Wi o Full Okeawnt o wot he Seed un wheer hee Went, wi o iz Adventurs. By Sam iz sel.
Literatura dialectal inglesa.-- Lancashire.-- Pertenece a la colección 1800-1950 del Salamanca Corpus.-- John Scholes.-- Sam Sondnokkur’s Ryde fro Ratchda to
Manchistur: Iz Visit to Manchester Mechaniks Hinstitushun Sho; Wi o Full Okeawnt o wot he Seed un wheer hee Went, wi o iz Adventurs. By Sam iz sel. -- Cuarta edición. -- Publicado en torno a 1857.[EN] Prose work written in the Lancashire dialect [ES] Obra en prosa escrita en el dialecto de Lancashir
Minimising the use of physical restraint in acute mental health services: The outcome of a restraint reduction programme (‘REsTRAIN YOURSELF)
Background
Physical restraint is a coercive intervention used to prevent individuals from harming themselves or others. However, serious adverse effects have been reported. Minimising the use of restraint requires a multimodal approach to target both organisational and individual factors. The ‘Six Core Strategies’ developed in America, underpinned by prevention and trauma informed principles, is one such approach.
Objective
An adapted version of the Six Core Strategies was developed and its impact upon physical restraint usage in mental health Trusts in the United Kingdom evaluated. This became known as ‘REsTRAIN YOURSELF. The hypothesis was that restraint would be reduced by 40% on the implementation wards over a six-month period.
Design
A non-randomised controlled trial design was employed.
Setting
Fourteen, adult, mental health wards from seven mental health hospitals in the North West of England took part in the study. Two acute care wards were targeted from all eligible acute wards within each site in negotiation with each Trust. The intervention wards (total n = 144 beds, mean = 20.1 beds per ward) and control wards (total n = 147 beds, mean = 21.0 beds per ward) were primarily mixed gender but included single sex wards also (2 female-only and 1 male-only in each group). All wards offered pharmacological and psychosocial interventions over short admission durations (circa 15 days) for patients with a mixture of enduring mental health problems.
Method
As part of a pre and post-test method, physical restraint figures were collected using prospective, routine hospital records before and 6 months after the intervention. Restraint rates on seven wards receiving the REsTRAIN YOURSELF intervention were compared with those on seven control wards over three study phases (baseline, implementation and adoption).
Results
In total, 1680 restraint incidents were logged over the study period. The restraint rate was significantly lower on the intervention wards in the adoption phase (6.62 events/1000 bed-days, 95% CI 5.53-7.72) compared to the baseline phase (9.38, 95% CI 8.19-10.55). Across all implementation wards there was an average reduction of restraint by 22%, with some wards showing a reduction of 60% and others less so (8%). The association between ward type and study phase was statistically significant.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is possible that reductions in the use of physical restraint are achievable using a model such as the Six Core Strategies. This approach can be adapted for global settings and changes can be sustained over time with continued support
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Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center Sodium-Bearing Waste Treatment Research and Development FY-2002 Status Report
The Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) is considering several optional processes for disposal of liquid sodium-bearing waste. During fiscal year 2002, immobilization-related research included of grout formulation development for sodium-bearing waste, absorption of the waste on silica gel, and off-gas system mercury collection and breakthrough using activated carbon. Experimental results indicate that sodium-bearing waste can be immobilized in grout at 70 weight percent and onto silica gel at 74 weight percent. Furthermore, a loading of 11 weight percent mercury in sulfur-impregnated activated carbon was achieved with 99.8% off-gas mercury removal efficiency
Striking the Right Balance of Intermolecular Coupling for High-Efficiency Singlet Fission
Singlet fission is a process that splits collective excitations, or excitons, into two with unity efficiency. This exciton splitting process, unique to molecular photophysics, has the potential to considerably improve the efficiency of optoelectronic devices through more efficient light harvesting. While the first step of singlet fission has been characterized in great detail, subsequent steps critical to achieving overall highly-efficient singlet-to-triplet conversion are only just beginning to become well understood. One of the most elementary suggestions, which has yet to be tested, is that an appropriately balanced coupling is necessary to ensure overall highly efficient singlet fission; that is, the coupling needs to be strong enough so that the first step is fast and efficient, yet weak enough to ensure the independent behavior of the resultant triplets. In this work, we show how high overall singlet-to-triplet conversion efficiencies can be achieved in singlet fission by ensuring that the triplets comprising the triplet pair behave as independently as possible. We show that side chain sterics govern local packing in amorphous pentacene derivative nanoparticles, and that this in turn controls both the rate at which triplet pairs form and the rate at which they decay. We show how compact side chains and stronger couplings promote a triplet pair that effectively couples to the ground state, whereas bulkier side chains promote a triplet pair that appears more like two independent and long-lived triplet excitations. Our results show that the triplet pair is not emissive, that its decay is best viewed as internal conversion rather than triplet–triplet annihilation, and perhaps most critically that, in contrast to a number of recent suggestions, the triplets comprising the initially formed triplet pair cannot be considered independently. This work represents a significant step toward better understanding intermediates in singlet fission, and how molecular packing and couplings govern overall triplet yields
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