Groundwater animals

Groundwater animals are adapted to live in environments with no light and limited nutrients, They can provide insights into fundamental questions of evolution, ecology and biodiversity. They also have an important role to play in informing the reconstruction of past changes in geomorphology and climate, and can be used for characterising aquifers. The BGS is undertaking a systematic survey of selected areas and lithologies in the UK where groundwater animals have not been investigated. This is important because little is known about groundwater ecosystems in the UK despite the unique contribution to biodiversity made by these animals. Groundwater organisms are also thought to provide ecosystem services by means of their role in nutrient cycling and natural remediation of pollutants in the subsurface. They may also be useful indicators of human impacts on groundwaters

A Study of the Significant Contributions of Irvin Cooper to Music Education on the Junior High School Level

The purpose of this study has been to determine the significant contributions of Irvin Cooper to the field of junior high school choral music by giving consideration to the following areas: (1) his educational preparation, (2) his professional activities, (3) his research and experimentation in the area of junior high choral music, and (4) his published works

Modest pioneers : a study of a sample of the first-female class at the University of Virginia, 1970-1974

The purpose of this study was to investigate the educational conditions existing for women students during the initial years of coeducation at an institution. The choice of the University of Virginia as a case study was based on its significance as a southern, state university which claims, in addition, national visibility.;A questionnaire was administered to a small sample of first-female students who attended Virginia between the years 1970-1974. The questionnaire, developed from an original set of interview questions prepared by Virginia\u27s Student Affairs office in a 1971 study, asked the sample to respond, retrospectively, to conditions existing at Virginia while they were undergraduate students.;The research was based on the premise that female students attending coeducational institutions confront institutional barriers which interfere with the quality of undergraduate life. This study examined if institutional barriers (which may be either strengthened or created during a transition to coeducation) affected the quality of undergraduate life for Virginia\u27s first class of women.;It was concluded that while Virginia was able to meet some of the needs of its initial class of female undergraduates, overall it fell short of adequately serving these women students. More specifically, the women faced barriers in the areas of academic programming and instruction; social and student services; and career and personal counseling. In addition, it was revealed that the women in the sample felt, as undergraduates, socially isolated and (while not overtly) perceived discrimination towards women students.;The obstacles faced by the first-female class may have been alleviated if the University of Virginia had (1) initially moved towards a more equalized male-female student ratio; and (2) initially established more adequate services for its undergraduate women

Le Community Resources Consultants de Toronto : deux programmes de case management

Cet article décrit deux programmes bien établis de case management qui ont été développés en réponse aux lacunes identifiées au sein du système de soins de santé mentale à Toronto. Le case management y est défini ainsi que la place qu'il occupe au sein du système de soins en santé mentale. On y décrit aussi la philosophie des programmes, comment elle est appliquée au niveau organisationnel et dans la dispensation des services. Des vignettes illustrent ensuite le travail quotidien des case managers et soulignent l'importance de la relation de partenariat avec l'usager.This article describes two well established case management services which were developed in response to clearly identified gaps in the mental health system in Toronto. The significance of case management and its place in the mental health system are addressed. CRCT's service philosophy and how that philosophy is put into operation at an organizational level and in the delivery of case management service is described. Client vignettes illustrate the day-to-day work of the case managers and the importance of a strong working alliance.Este articulo describe dos programas de case management bien establecidos, que han sido desarrolados como respuesta a las lagunas identificadas al interior des sistema de asisencia de salud mental en Toronto. Una definiciôn des case management asî que el lugar que este ocupa al interior del sistema de asistencia en salud mental, son abordados. También se describe la filosoffa de los programas, el como son aplicados de manera organizacional en el dispensario de servicios. En seguida, las vinuelas ilustran el trabajo diario de los case manager y subrayan la importancia de la relation de partenariado con el usuario

New Zealand tobacco retailers' understandings of and attitudes towards selling Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems:A qualitative exploration

Introduction: In 2017, the New Zealand Government signalled its intent to legalise the widespread sale of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS), which many New Zealand retailers have actually sold for several years. Although ENDS uptake may reduce the harm smokers face, it requires them to adopt an entirely new practice; we therefore explored how effectively existing non-specialist tobacco retailers could advise and support potential quitters. Methods: Using in-depth interviews with 18 tobacco retailers (prior to legislative change), we explored knowledge of ENDS, attitudes towards selling ENDS and supporting customers' cessation attempts, perceptions of ENDS' risks and benefits, and views on the proposed legislation. Results: Participants generally had poor knowledge of ENDS products and provided either no advice or gave incorrect information to customers. They believed that the main benefit consumers would realise from using ENDS rather than tobacco would be cost savings; relatively, few saw ENDS as smoking cessation devices. Those who stocked ENDS did so despite reporting very low customer demand, and saw tobacco as more important to their business than ENDS, citing higher repeat business, ancillary sales and rebates. Participants typically supported liberalising ENDS availability, though several expressed concerns about potential youth uptake. Conclusions: Tobacco retailers' limited understanding of ENDS, and the higher value they placed on tobacco, suggests they may have little capacity or inclination to support ENDS users to quit smoking. Licensing schemes for both ENDS and smoked tobacco could simultaneously reduce supply of smoked tobacco while requiring ENDS retailers to meet minimum knowledge standards.</p

Structural Sex Discrimination: Why Gynecology Patients Suffer Avoidable Injuries and What the Law Can Do About It

Nearly four million Americans undergo gynecological surgeries each year, but these procedures are unnecessarily risky, as many suffer avoidable lifelong, painful, and disabling injuries. This Article diagnoses the root cause in our legal framework for healthcare finance. It then identifies solutions. America’s public–private system for reimbursing healthcare pays for procedures rather than outcomes, and it pays substantially more for work on male rather than female anatomies. This disparity is due to the federal government’s reliance on a secretive industry committee to set those rates, and the committee’s reliance on junk science surveys, allowing self-interested and gender-biased responses, contrary to objective measures. As payors disvalue the bodies of those needing gynecological care, the medical profession has organized accordingly. Surgical training for Obstetrician Gynecologists (OB-GYNs) is truncated as compared to other surgical disciplines. OB-GYNs are incentivized to pursue a mix of better-paid work, rather than pursue the advanced training and specialized experience necessary to perform surgery consistently. Instead, most OB‑GYNs may perform particular surgeries only a few times per year, a context shown to magnify the risk of preventable injuries. Traditional approaches, under informed consent and medical malpractice laws, take for granted the fundamental economic structure that sets aggregate levels of risk. A range of laws, including a provision in the Affordable Care Act, do promise equal treatment. Close analysis, however, reveals a range of barriers to redress. Congress has made federal payment rates unreviewable by courts, even if illegal. Notwithstanding the federal government’s ironic immunity from its own laws, this Article suggests that private health insurers may be held liable for going along with the federal government’s discrimination. Still it will be difficult for individual patients to assert their interests in reorganizing the medical profession. There are narrow and uncertain paths for legal accountability, but the political economy of this problem is no less daunting. Presently, overall Medicare payments are conceived as a zero-sum game, pitting patients (and doctors) against each other. Nonetheless, Constitutional litigation under the Equal Protection Clause may give voice to those working for the health of women in America

The biology of benthic cladocerans in flowing freshwaters

A community of benthic cladocerans (Crustacea) from the River Thames at Twickenham, comprising seven chydorid and two macrothricid species, was studied. The species present were Alona affinis, A. quadrangularis, A. rectangula, Disparalona rostrata, Leydigia leydigi, Pleuroxus uncinatus, P. trigonellus, Iliocryptus sordidus and Macrothrix laticornis. A general trend, among the chydorid species, of a midsummer peak in abundance followed by a rapid decline was noted. Alona affinis, A. rectangula and Pleuroxus uncinatus also exhibited an autumn peak in abundance. The Iliocryptus sordidus (Macrothricidae) population did not follow this pattern. Birth and death rates were calculated for the populations of Alona affinis, Disparalona rostrata and Leydigia leydigi. Results obtained from qualitative sampling of rivers in Southeast England, and from a survey of the literature, indicated the presence of a taxocene of benthic cladocerans characteristic of the unvegetated substrate of lakes and rivers. The life histories of Disparalona rostrata and Leydigia leydigi were examined in detail. The number and duration of adult and juvenile instars, duration of egg development and mean length of life were determined at four temperatures. A study of the relationship between egg volume and parent length for Alona affinis, Disparalona rostrata and Leydigia leydigi revealed a highly significant positive regression of egg volume on parent length. The life cycle strategy of the Chydoridae as a whole was examined and found to differ from that of both the large and small planktonic Cladocera. Like the small planktonic cladocerans, the Chydoridae produce large young relative to their size at maturity. However, unlike these, the Chydoridae exhibit curtailment of growth after maturity and in this resemble the large planktonic Cladocera. The annual production of the benthic chydorid community in the River Thames, Twickenham was calculated and was found to be 0.876g C m-2 in 1982.<p

Stories of Young Migrants' Cross-Cultural Educational Transitions

New Zealand society can benefit socially, culturally and economically when migrants feel as if they belong and are included. Given that Aotearoa/New Zealand is becoming increasingly multicultural, it is important that the education system meets the needs of migrants and makes them feel that they are included. Previous research has shown that this is not always the case – that migrants do not always feel that they belong at school in New Zealand. Much of the literature that has investigated migrants’ educational transition experiences has conceptualised “belonging” and “identity” as fixed states. This research took a different approach and used a narrative inquiry method underpinned by social constructionism. The purpose of this research was to contribute to our understandings of migrants’ transitions into the New Zealand education system. The study had three aims. The first was to investigate the stories young migrants told about their transition to secondary school in New Zealand; the second was to look at how belonging and inclusion were narrated by the participants; the third was to examine how the education system could better develop a culture of inclusion. Seven young migrants who moved to New Zealand when they were secondary school age took part in this research. The participants were from countries in South East Asia, East Asia and the Pacific Islands. Their stories were gathered through narrative interviews. The interviews were initially analysed individually and were presented as summaries. Next, analysis across the interviews was conducted, with a particular focus on looking at how the stories were performed. Based on my interaction with the stories, I described three of the stories as “opening up” stories and four as “closing down” stories. Those who told “opening up” stories had many connections to people and opportunities to tell their stories. They positioned themselves as belonging at school. Those who told “closing down” stories appeared to have had fewer opportunities to share their stories with others compared to those who told “opening up” stories. These individuals positioned themselves as socially isolated. The way the participants’ stories were performed in the interviews was also related to the previous storytelling opportunities the participants had access to. Some of the stories participants told about their lives in their home countries became unavailable to tell in the New Zealand context and, as a result, these stories had to change when they migrated. This study suggests that, in order to tell new stories, migrants need opportunities to interact with other New Zealanders to create and practise new storylines. Furthermore, New Zealanders also need to be able to tell new stories about themselves and find ways to connect with migrants in order to promote a culture of belonging. A relational view of identity and belonging is presented, in which these are conceptualised as negotiated processes that can occur through stories. It is suggested that it would be beneficial if spaces within the education system were created in order to allow new possible storylines to emerge which support a culture of belonging

Mouse genome modification and investigation of episodic disease

Mouse models are essential tools for biomedical research, allowing researchers to investigate gene function and model human diseases. The mouse genome can be manipulated to ablate (“knockout”) gene function, create targeted point mutations or insert transgenes or small epitope tags. Previous gene targeting methods for creating these modifications were slow and inefficient. The arrival of CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technology has revolutionised the production of genetically modified mice as it is easy to use, efficient and cost-effective. The research comprised in this PhD thesis explores the use of genetically modified mice to better understand human diseases, as well as developing new technologies for mouse genome editing. The first manuscript describes a phenotypic investigation of the transgenic Prrt2 knockout (Prrt2 KO) mouse. In humans, mutations in PRRT2 cause an infantile epilepsy syndrome (benign familial infantile epilepsy; BFIE) and a movement disorder in adolescence (paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia; PKD). We identifed a spontaneous paroxysmal phenotype in Prrt2 KO animals, as well as premature death in HET and KO mice. Behavioural tests also revealed learning deficits and gait abnormalities in KO mice that may reflect phenotypes in homozygous patients, confirming the utility of this model for investigating PRRT2-related disorders. The second manuscript examines variants of the Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9 endonuclease (WT SpCas9) commonly used for CRISPR genome editing. Numerous Cas9 variants have recently been characterised, each recognising different PAM sequences. Most of these variants remain untested for genome editing in mice. In this study, we tested a selection of endonuclease variants (SpCas9 VQR, SpCas9 VRER, SaCas9 KKH and AsCpf1) for their ability to edit the mouse genome via mouse zygote injection, with the aim of expanding PAM targeting options. We showed that all variants are able to mutate the mouse genome, albeit with different efficiencies. We also highlighted the propensity of SaCas9 KKH to generate heterozygotes or mosaic offspring in which at least one allele remains unmodified. When editing using a ssDNA oligonucleotide repair template, SaCas9 KKH consistently left a wild type allele in correctly targeted offspring, whilst WT SpCas9 frequently mutated the other allele. This characteristic could be beneficial when targeting genes in which nullizygous mutations cause embryonic lethality, as the high efficiency of WT SpCas9 commonly prevents the production of viable offspring. With CRISPR/Cas9 technology, it has become quick and efficient to tag endogenous proteins with small epitope tags. The third manuscript in this thesis compares a series of commercially available antibodies for their efficacy to detect epitope tags on Pcdh19 HA-FLAG expression in mouse brain tissue. This model was generated within the laboratory to allow specific staining of PCDH19 for investigating protocadherin 19 girls clustering epilepsy. Of the 8 antibodies tested, only two (one HA and one FLAG) were specific for PCDH19. This data will provide guidance for researchers designing similar studies, preventing extensive optimisation of immunofluorescent staining. Together, the data presented in this thesis demonstrate the versatility and importance of mouse models for the study of gene function and neurological disease. This research provides more options for producing genetically modified mice and streamlines the downstream applications of endogenous epitope tagged genes.Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Biological Sciences, 201