“Combat Mission Kandahar: The Canadian Experience in Afghanistan (Book Review)” by T. Robert Fowler

Review of Combat Mission Kandahar: The Canadian Experience in Afghanistan by T. Robert Fowle

Valour Road (Book Review) by John Nadler

Review of Valour Road. John Nadler. Toronto: Viking, 2014. pp. 360

Age really is an issue

The majority of the source and reservoir rocks for the hydrocarbons in North Sea and the North West Shelf are Jurassic (200–146 Ma) in age. In both the exploration and production phases, the study of palynology, especially fossil dinoflagellate cysts, is one of the principal techniques used in subdividing the hydrocarbon-bearing successions. High-resolution zonal schemes have been developed for both these areas, and have been routinely applied for around thirty years. The BGS has been a key player in the formulation and refinement of the standard Jurassic scheme and we have shown that integrated studies using these microfossils can resolve interregional geological problems

Comments on “Ochratoxin A: In utero Exposure in Mice Induces Adducts in Testicular DNA. Toxins 2010, 2, 1428–1444”—Mis-Citation of Rat Literature to Justify a Hypothetical Role for Ochratoxin A in Testicular Cancer

A manuscript in the journal recently cited experimental rat data from two manuscripts to support plausibility of a thesis that ochratoxin A might be a cause of human testicular cancer. I believe that there is no experimental evidence that ochratoxin A produces testicular cancer in rats or mice

The disability football player pathway: aiming to improve participation rates at the University of Lincoln

The Lincolnshire FA aims to support players with disabilities play football either as a part of a structured club, a team that plays in the school games, within the Lincolnshire Ability Counts League or more recreationally learning how to play. However, despite the FA’s best efforts and their disability football strategy 2010-2012, only 141,000 disabled players are involved in the game, from a total population of 11 million disabled people in the UK. (The Football Association, 2012, p.12). Indeed, although football is arguably the most popular sport in the country, the participation rates with Lincoln are relatively low. This project presents data from a programme evaluation (Rossi et al 2004, Evaluation: A systematic approach) of a project delivered in partnership with the Lincolnshire county F.A which aimed to investigate the barriers which prevent students which are partially sighted, blind, or those that suffer cerebral palsy, from participating in football. Furthermore, the study aimed to evaluate the impact of football taster sessions designed to increase participation among disabled children through the use of the ‘Mars play’ scheme. This scheme provides qualified coaches, who set up a football session for an hour, with no commitments for the players. However, the intention is that, if players were talented enough, they could be directed into of the disability player pathway in local player development centres. The primary aim of this research was to complete a programme evaluation of the scheme in order to investigate whether it met disabled students’ expectations of disability football during the ‘Mars Play’ scheme at the University of Lincoln. Participants completed questionnaires which aimed to discover why participants’ perceived barriers to participation in disability football, what is preventing them from playing, whether they were aware of how they can begin to participate and is whether they perceived disability football to be an appropriate activity for them. Once the results from the questionnaires had been analysed, interviews were completed with participants in the scheme in order to assess their perceptions of disability football, and to examine whether their perceived barriers had been addressed by our actions. With regards to the programme evaluation, the data will take both quantitative and qualitative forms with the intention of discovering whether or not the project met the intended aims. The implications of study findings were discussed in relation to the FA’s strategy for inclusion in disability football

Contrasting Nephropathic Responses to Oral Administration of Extract of Cultured Penicillium polonicum in Rat and Primate

Liquid- or solid substrate-cultured Penicillium polonicum administered in feed to rats over several days evokes a histopathological response in kidney involving apoptosis and abnormal mitosis in proximal tubules. The amphoteric toxin is yet only partly characterized, but can be isolated from cultured sporulating biomass in a fraction that is soluble in water and ethanol, and exchangeable on either anion- or cation-exchange resins. After several weeks of treatment renal proximal tubule distortion became striking on account of karyocytomegaly, but even treatment for nearly two years remained asymptomatic. Extract from a batch of solid substrate fermentation of P. polonicum on shredded wheat was incorporated into feed for rats during four consecutive days, and also given as an aqueous solution by oral gavage to a vervet monkey daily for 10 days. Treatment was asymptomatic for both types of animal. Rat response was evident as the typical renal apoptosis and karyomegaly. In contrast there was no such response in the primate; and neither creatinine clearance nor any haematological characteristic or serum component concentration deviated from a control or from historical data for this primate. The contrast is discussed concerning other negative findings for P. polonicum in pigs and hamsters. Renal karyomegaly, as a common rat response to persistent exposure to ochratoxin A, is not known in humans suspected as being exposed to more than the usual trace amounts of dietary ochratoxin A. Therefore the present findings question assumptions that human response to ochratoxin A conforms to that in the rat

Strengthening Urban Green: Planning and design considerations for ecological networks using green infrastructure for target species biodiversity improvement

Increasing recognition of the world’s expanding population and current global ruralto- urban migration necessitates a better understanding and integration of urban ecological processes into the framework for urban design (Sandström, 2006). Urban areas have seen a significant increase in recent decades in the number of inhabitants with the current rural-to-urban migration pushing the percentage of people living in urban areas over 50% worldwide for the first time in history (United Nations, 2001). Urban development has been found to disrupt ecological processes resulting in fragmentation of wildlife habitats and reduced connectivity - ultimately reducing urban biodiversity (McKinney, 2002). Incorporating ecological processes and characteristics such as species dispersal and resilience into urban design requires special attention to urban landscape features such as green infrastructure that are capable of supporting biodiversity. This research developed a general method for the assessment of the potential of green infrastructure to support biodiversity based on: urban form, structure, composition, configuration, and diversity. The method developed analyzes the spatial configuration and composition of green infrastructure based on the habitat requirements of specific target species. The assessment method uses the spatial analysis program FRAGSTATS to analyze biodiversity-related spatial characteristics of land-cover types and built-environment features. By applying the urban biodiversity assessment method, green infrastructure can be assessed for its potential to support or increase urban biodiversity and to build urban ecological networks at the neighborhood scale. This assessment is based on specific target species that are selected to represent the potential of an urban environment to support a larger guild of urban wildlife species