Aerospace Competitiveness: UK, US and Europe

This paper assesses the UK aerospace industry’s competitiveness. Various statistical indicators are used to measure competitiveness, based on published data at the industry and firm level. The indicators include productivity, output, firm size, development time-scales, labour hoarding, exports and profitability.Aerospace; industry; competitiveness

O Futuro da Política de Aquisições na Indústria Europeia de Defesa

Um dos temas de maior actualidade e debate no domínio da economia de defesa diz respeito ao futuro das indústrias nacionais de defesa e, em particular, aos desafios que se colocam à constituição de uma base industrial de defesa europeia. Neste sentido, esta comunicação aborda questões de índole tecnológica, económica e política que os países europeus e a União Europeia enfrentam e a que necessitam de dar resposta urgente a fim de poder competir com as indústrias norte- americanas de defesa. A importância do papel dos Governos enquanto principais aquisidores de equipamentos e serviços de defesa, a aplicação dos princípios de solidariedade, cooperação, colaboração e compensação entre os estados intervenientes, a análise custo-benefício e o debate sobre políticas industriais alternativas e indústrias estratégicas no domínio da defesa são igualmente postas em destaque

Selenium supplementation of lactating dairy cows: effects on milk production and total selenium content and speciation in blood, milk and cheese

Forty-multiparous Holstein cows were used in a 16-wk continuous design study to determine the effects of either selenium (Se) source, selenized yeast (SY) (derived from a specific strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae CNCM I-3060 Sel-Plex®) or sodium selenite (SS), or inclusion rate of SY on Se concentration and speciation in blood, milk and cheese. Cows received ad libitum a TMR with 1:1 forage:concentrate ratio on a dry matter (DM) basis. There were four diets (T1-T4) which differed only in either source or dose of Se additive. Estimated total dietary Se for T1 (no supplement), T2 (SS), T3 (SY) and T4 (SY) was 0.16, 0.30, 0.30 and 0.45 mg/kg DM, respectively. Blood and milk samples were taken at 28 day intervals and at each time point there were positive linear effects of SY on Se concentration in blood and milk. At day 112 blood and milk Se values for T1-T4 were 177, 208, 248, 279 ± 6.6 and 24, 38, 57, 72 ± 3.7 ng/g fresh material, respectively and indicate improved uptake and incorporation of Se from SY. While selenocysteine (SeCys) was the main selenised amino acid in blood its concentration was not markedly affected by treatment, but the proportion of total Se as selenomethionine (SeMet) increased with increasing inclusion rate of SY. In milk, there were no marked treatment effects on SeCys content, but Se source had a marked effect on the proportion of total Se as SeMet. At day 112 replacing SS (T2) with SY (T3) increased the SeMet concentration of milk from 36 to 111 ng Se/g and its concentration increased further to 157 ng Se/g as the inclusion rate of SY increased further (T4) to provide 0.45 mg Se/kg TMR. Neither Se source nor inclusion rate effected the keeping quality of milk. At day 112, milk from T1, T2, and T3 was made into a hard cheese and Se source had a marked effect on total Se and the proportion of total Se comprised as either SeMet or SeCys. Replacing SS (T2) with SY (T3) increased total Se, SeMet and SeCys content from 180 to 340 ng Se/g, 57 to 153 ng Se/g and 52 to 92 ng Se/g, respectively. Key words: dairy cow, milk and cheese, selenomethionine, selenocysteine, milk keeping qualit

Symbolic Understanding of Pictures in Low-functioning Children with Autism and Typically Developing Children.

This thesis investigates how low-functioning children with autism and language-matched typically developing children comprehend symbolic relations between pictures, words and the objects they represent. Using a series of cognitive-behavioural paradigms, this research documents how these developmental populations use pictures as a source for deducing information about the world and whether they differ in their understanding of what fundamentally relates pictures and referents. Study one tests whether children's mapping of referential picture-object relations is facilitated by iconicity (the extent that a picture resembles its referent) and/or verbal labelling, and study two examines the perceptual cues that direct the generalisation of labels from colour photographs. The third study addresses the factors that influence children's ability to contextualise pictorial symbols and use them to adaptively guide their behaviour in real time and space. Study four investigates the relative importance of artists' communicative intentions and perceptual resemblance to children's mapping of word-picture and picture-object relations, and study five examines whether representational status (as determined by artists' intentions) influences children's naming and reproduction of ambiguous shapes. The findings of this thesis indicate that children with autism can recognise perceptual similarities between pictures and objects, but they do not understand the rules that constrain symbolic word-picture-object mapping. Across studies, iconicity emerges as an important factor that mediates symbolic picture comprehension in autism. Furthermore, unlike their typically developing peers, children with autism do not reflect on the social-communicative intentions underlying pictures when naming, drawing or identifying referent objects. Instead, they derive meaning based exclusively on resemblance, making them naive realists. Theoretically, this thesis contributes to the field by informing our understanding of how low-functioning children with autism, an extremely under-researched population, comprehend symbols. At an applied level, these results have important implications for the design and delivery of picture-based communication interventions

Swelling of a Cell Lumen Filled and A Cell-Wall Bulked Wood Polymer Composite in Water

Liquid water swelling of lumen-filled and cell-wall bulked wood polymer composite (WPC) samples was measured at room temperature and 80 C. Ultimate swelling was greater (approximately that of untreated wood) and moisture diffusion coefficient lower for the lumen filled wood. The higher density, lumen filled sample had lower swelling than the lower density one. At 80 C, fiber saturation points (FSP) were 8% for the cell-wall samples and above 20% for the cell lumen samples. The FSP for more highly loaded cell lumen samples was lower than that for lower loading

Understanding behavioural responses to human-induced rapid environmental change: a meta-analysis

Behavioural responses are often the first reaction of an organism to human-induced rapid environmental change (HIREC), yet current empirical evidence provides no consensus about the main environmental features that animals respond to behaviourally or which behaviours are responsive to HIREC. To understand how changes in behaviour can be predicted by different forms of HIREC, we conducted a meta-analysis of the existing empirical literature focusing on behavioural responses to five axes of environmental change (climate change, changes in CO2, direct human impact, changes in nutrients and biotic exchanges) in five behavioural domains (aggression, exploration, activity, boldness and sociability) across a range of taxa but with a focus on fish and bird species. Our meta-analysis revealed a general absence of directional behavioural responses to HIREC. However, the absolute magnitude of the effect sizes was large. This means that animals have strong behavioural responses to HIREC, but the responses are not clearly in any particular direction. Moreover, the absolute magnitude of the effect sizes differed between different behaviours and different forms of HIREC: Exploration responded more strongly than activity, and climate change induced the strongest behavioural responses. Model heterogeneities identified that effect sizes varied primarily because of study design, and the specific sample of individuals used in a study; phylogeny also explains significant variation in our bird model. Based on these results, we make four recommendations to further our understanding: 1) a more balanced representation of laboratory and field studies, 2) consideration of context dependency, 3) standardisation of the methods and definitions used to quantify and study behaviours and 4) consideration of the role for individual differences in behaviour. © 2021 Nordic Society Oikos. Published by John Wiley & Sons LtdPeer reviewe

Do Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Share Fairly and Reciprocally?

This study investigated whether children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typically developing children matched on receptive language share resources fairly and reciprocally. Children completed age-appropriate versions of the Ultimatum and Dictator Games with real stickers and an interactive partner. Both groups offered similar numbers of stickers (preferring equality over self-interest), offered more stickers in the Ultimatum Game, and verbally referenced ‘fairness’ at similar rates. However, children with ASD were significantly more likely to accept unfair offers and were significantly less likely to reciprocate the puppet’s offers. Failure to reciprocate fair sharing may significantly impact on social cohesion and children’s ability to build relationships. These important differences may be linked to broader deficits in social-cognitive development and potentially self-other understanding

Mine is better than yours:Investigating the ownership effect in children with autism spectrum disorder and typically developing children

Ownership has a unique and privileged influence on human psychology. Typically developing (TD) children judge their objects to be more desirable and valuable than similar objects belonging to others. This ‘ownership effect’ is due to processing one’s property in relation to ‘the self’. Here we explore whether children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) – a population with impaired self-understanding – prefer and over-value property due to ownership. In Experiment 1, we discovered that children with ASD did not favour a randomly endowed toy and frequently traded for a different object. By contrast, TD children showed a clear preference for their randomly endowed toy and traded infrequently. Both populations also demonstrated highly-accurate tracking of owner-object relationships. Experiment 2 showed that both TD children and children with ASD over-value their toys if they are self-selected and different from other-owned toys. Unlike TD children, children with ASD did not over-value their toys in comparison to non-owned identical copies. This finding was replicated in Experiment 3, which also established that mere ownership elicited over-valuation of randomly endowed property in TD children. However, children with ASD did not consistently regard their randomly endowed toys as the most valuable, and evaluated property irrespective of ownership. Our findings show that mere ownership increases preferences and valuations for self-owned property in TD children, but not children with ASD. We propose that deficits in self-understanding may diminish ownership effects in ASD, eliciting a more economically-rational strategy that prioritises material qualities (e.g. what a toy is) rather than whom it belongs to

The exchequer costs of nurse training

This paper estimates the Exchequer costs of nurse training in England. Exchequer costs consist of expenditure by the state through DHSS and the NHS. These outlays are estimated for the training of both:- (i) Registered General Nurses (RGN) which requires three years' training as a General Student Nurse (Gen S) (ii) Enrolled Nurses (General) (EN(G)) which involves two years' training as a General Pupil Nurse (Gen P). Expenditure estimates are provided for 1982/83. In addition, comparisions with earlier years and with two previous studies provide insight into changes in the composition of magnitude of costs over time (Bendall, 1982; Bosanquet and Clifton, 1974).nurse training, expenditure