Tidally discontinuous ocean forcing in bar-built estuaries: The interaction of tides, infragravity motions, and frictional control

Shallow, bar-built estuaries on wave-dominated coasts in Mediterranean climates experience an intermittent connection to the ocean. In the presence of low streamflow, their inlets may completely close as a result of nearshore sand transport, but even in the open condition, these inlets remain constricted. Extensive field measurements in the highly salt-stratified Pescadero estuary in northern California show that the shallow mouth causes these estuaries to experience discontinuous tidal forcing. While the ocean and estuary are fully connected with near-equal water levels, tidal velocities are slow but infragravity motions in the nearshore induce large velocity oscillations within the estuary. As the ocean tide falls, infragravity forcing is cut off, because the estuarine mouth is perched above the low tide ocean water level, and ebbing velocities are set by bed friction. Observations reveal this oscillation between ocean-forced and frictionally controlled conditions characterizes and sets estuarine hydrodynamics. Additional wave setup of the lagoon emphasizes the dependence of these estuaries on nearshore ocean conditions, but the diurnal or semidiurnal retreat of the ocean below the mouth cuts off this nearshore influence so it too is tidally varying. Here we present detailed observations and a framework for understanding hydrodynamics in small, shallow bar-built estuaries

A pilot effectiveness study of the Enhancing Parenting Skills (EPaS) 2014 programme for parents of children with behaviour problems: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND: The Enhancing Parenting Skills (EPaS) 2014 programme is a home-based, health visitor-delivered parenting support programme for parents of children with identified behaviour problems. This trial aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the EPaS 2014 programme compared to a waiting-list treatment as usual control group. METHODS/DESIGN: This is a pragmatic, multicentre randomised controlled trial. Sixty health visitors will each be asked to identify two families that have a child scoring above the clinical cut-off for behaviour problems using the Eyberg Child Behaviour Inventory (ECBI). Families recruited to the trial will be randomised in a 1:1 ratio into an intervention or waiting-list control group. Randomisation will occur within health visitor to ensure that each health visitor has one intervention family and one control family. The primary outcome is change in child behaviour problems as measured by the parent-reported ECBI. Secondary outcomes include other measures of child behaviour, parent behaviour, and parental depression as measured by parent-reports and an independent observation of parent and child behaviour. Follow-up measures will be collected 6-months after the collection of baseline measures. DISCUSSION: This is the first rigorous evaluation of the EPaS 2014 programme. The trial will provide important information on the effectiveness of a one-to-one home-based intervention, delivered by health visitors, for pre-school children with behaviour problems. It will also examine potential mediating (improved parent behaviour and/or improved parental depression) and moderating (single parent, teenage parent, poverty, low education level) factors. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN06867279 (18 June 2014

Joined-up thinking, joined-up services, exploring coalface challenges for making services work for families with complex needs

Purpose– This paper aims to describe coal-face challenges to making services in the UK work to ensure the mental and physical health, safety and wellbeing of children.Design/methodology/approach– After briefly referring to some challenges to effective joined-up service provision, it describes examples from the first author's experience of problems, during 30+ years as an NHS clinical child psychologist, and some solutions. It then describes two challenges that underpin many of these problems: lack of understanding of, or training in, evaluating evidence for interventions and a more general lack of knowledge about effective behaviour change principles.Findings– The paper concludes with recommendations about how to achieve effective joined-up services. Common themes emerging from the research are discussed, including choosing evidence-based programmes, providing adequate training to staff, and increasing people's understanding of behavioural principles.Originality/value– Having effective joined-up services would mean better services for parents and their children, and would be more cost-effective for the NHS. The ideas presented in this paper could also be applied to other services within the NHS.</jats:sec

Comparative egg production analysis of isa brown laying strain raised in three poultry farms in a tropical environment

Data from egg production records involving a total of 1,208 intensively-managed Isa-brown laying strain obtained from three poultry Farms A, B and C located in Calabar Municipality were used for this study. Percent henday production was computed for a period ranging from point-of-lay, 24 weeks of age (Farms A and C) and 20 weeks of age (Farms B). The 40 weeks in-lay for the three farms, was further sub-divided into four discrete production (10- weekly) phases (weeks 1-10; 11-20; 21-30; 31-40) in each of the farms. Maximum hen-day production was obtained as follows: Farm A (70.40% in week 18); Farm B (85.50% in week 20) and Farm C (79.30% in week 25). The percentage hen/day production pattern were fitted into two regression models namely – the simple linear model andexponential function using the age-in-lay as the predictor variable and percentage Hen-day production as the dependent variable. Irrespective of the function used, the rate of increase in percentage egg production was highest within the first quarter (1-10 week) of production in each farm. As the production phase lengthened, the predicted rate of increase in production declined and the predictive ability of the simple linear model as judged by the R2 value became comparatively lower when compared to exponential function. The egg production pattern revealed a period of rapidly increasing production, attainment of peak, and the phase of a gradual declining production. Based on these findings, partitioning the laying period into phases could be a step forward in explaining the concept of phase feeding in which layers are fed at different protein levels at different phases based on their level of production

Comparative evaluation of reproductive performance and some egg quality parameters of black and white skinned snails

One hundred sexually matured snails, fifty each of the black skinned and white skinned ectotypes were used in the evaluation of reproductive performance and egg quality traits in a study that lasted for eighty-four days. The reproductive performance traits measured included clutch size (number of eggs laid per clutch), incubation period (days) of eggs, percent hatchability, and percent mortality and survivability, while the egg quality traits evaluated included egg weight and length. Results obtained showed significant differences at different levels among parameters measured in the two ectotypes of snails studied. The results of reproductive traits showed that mean clutch sizes were 5 and 4 for black skinned and white skinned ectotypes respectively. Mean incubation periods were 25.8 days for the black skinned ectotype and 22 days for the white skinned ectotype. The values for mean percent hatchability were 26.8 % and 22.8 % for the black skinned and white skinned ectotypes respectively. Mean survivability values were 22.8 % for black skinned ectotype and 20 % for the white skinned ecotype. The mean egg quality parameters were 2.7 g and 2.4 g, weight for black skinned and white skinned ectotypes respectively. The mean egg lengths were 4.6 mm and 4.2 mm for black skinned and white skinned ectotypes respectively. Among the measured parameters, clutch size and egg length had very high significant difference (

Long-term perturbations due to a disturbing body in elliptic inclined orbit

In the current study, a double-averaged analytical model including the action of the perturbing body's inclination is developed to study third-body perturbations. The disturbing function is expanded in the form of Legendre polynomials truncated up to the second-order term, and then is averaged over the periods of the spacecraft and the perturbing body. The efficiency of the double-averaged algorithm is verified with the full elliptic restricted three-body model. Comparisons with the previous study for a lunar satellite perturbed by Earth are presented to measure the effect of the perturbing body's inclination, and illustrate that the lunar obliquity with the value 6.68\degree is important for the mean motion of a lunar satellite. The application to the Mars-Sun system is shown to prove the validity of the double-averaged model. It can be seen that the algorithm is effective to predict the long-term behavior of a high-altitude Martian spacecraft perturbed by Sun. The double-averaged model presented in this paper is also applicable to other celestial systems.Comment: 28 pages, 6 figure

Critical properties of loop percolation models with optimization constraints

We study loop percolation models in two and in three space dimensions, in which configurations of occupied bonds are forced to form closed loop. We show that the uncorrelated occupation of elementary plaquettes of the square and the simple cubic lattice by elementary loops leads to a percolation transition that is in the same universality class as the conventional bond percolation. In contrast to this an optimization constraint for the loop configurations, which then have to minimize a particular generic energy function, leads to a percolation transition that constitutes a new universality class, for which we report the critical exponents. Implication for the physics of solid-on-solid and vortex glass models are discussed.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure

Hepatic effects of tartrazine (E 102) after systemic exposure are independent of oestrogen receptor interactions in the mouse

Tartrazine is a food colour that activates the transcriptional function of the human oestrogen receptor alpha in an in vitro cell model. Since oestrogens are cholestatic, we hypothesised tartrazine will cause periportal injury to the liver in vivo. To test this hypothesis, tartrazine was initially administered systemically to mice resulting in a periportal recruitment of inflammatory cells, increased serum alkaline phosphatase activity and mild periportal fibrosis. To determine whether an oestrogenic effect may be a key event in this response, tartrazine, sulphonated metabolites and a food additive contaminant were screened for their ability to interact with murine oestrogen receptors. In all cases, there were no interactions as agonists or antagonists and further, no oestrogenicity was observed with tartrazine in an in vivo uterine growth assay. To examine the relevance of the hepatic effects of tartrazine to its use as a food additive, tartrazine was orally administered to transgenic NF-κB-Luc mice. Pre- and concurrent oral treatment with alcohol was incorporated given its potential to promote gut permeability and hepatic inflammation. Tartrazine alone induced NF- κB activities in the colon and liver but there was no periportal recruitment of inflammatory cells or fibrosis. Tartrazine, its sulphonated metabolites and the contaminant inhibited sulphotransferase activities in murine hepatic S9 extracts. Given the role of sulfotransferases in bile acid excretion, the initiating event giving rise to periportal inflammation and subsequent hepatic pathology through systemic tartrazine exposure is therefore potentially associated an inhibition of bile acid sulphation and excretion and not on oestrogen receptor-mediated transcriptional function. However, these effects were restricted to systemic exposures to tartrazine and did not occur to any significant effect after oral exposure