Development of a speech autocuer

A wearable, visually based prosthesis for the deaf based upon the proven method for removing lipreading ambiguity known as cued speech was fabricated and tested. Both software and hardware developments are described, including a microcomputer, display, and speech preprocessor

Real Lives II: findings from the All-Ireland Gay Men’s Sex Surveys, 2005 and 2006

All Ireland Gay Men's Sex Survey (Vital Statistics) Duration: March 2000 - September 2010 Sigma Research has been working with Ireland's Gay Health Network (GHN) since 2000. GHN is an umbrella organisation working towards gay men's health and HIV prevention. GHN instigated a community-based, self-completion survey to take place across The Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland during the summer of 2000 and commissioned Sigma Research to work with them. This large-scale community research project was the third such survey among gay men in Ireland, and built on previous findings. After the development and piloting of the survey, recruitment commenced at Dublin Pride in June 2000 and continued throughout the summer at similar events in Belfast, Derry, Galway, Limerick and Waterford. Recruitment in bars and clubs took place in Dublin and Cork, and social groups in more rural area were sent copies of the questionnaire and a request to distribute them to their members. 1,290 questionnaires were returned by gay men (81%), bisexual men (11%) and other homosexually active men living in Ireland. 19% of all respondents lived in Northern Ireland. A full survey report, including implications for HIV prevention planning is available to download. Since 2003 Gay Health Network members - particularly The Gay Men's Health Service (Health Services Executive) and the Rainbow Project, Northern Ireland - have collaborated with our online UK version of the Gay Men’s Sex Survey (Vital Statistics) by promoting it to men in Ireland via community websites and postcards distributed on the gay scene

Upgrading a Social Media Strategy to Increase Twitter Engagement During the Spring Annual Meeting of the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine.

Microblogs known as tweets are a rapid, effective method of information dissemination in health care. Although several medical specialties have described their Twitter conference experiences, Twitter-related data in the fields of anesthesiology and pain medicine are sparse. We therefore analyzed the Twitter content of 2 consecutive spring meetings of the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine using publicly available online transcripts. We also examined the potential contribution of a targeted social media campaign on Twitter engagement during the conferences. The original Twitter meeting content was largely scientific in nature and created by meeting attendees, the majority of whom were nontrainee physicians. Physician trainees, however, represent an important and increasing minority of Twitter contributors. Physicians not in attendance predominantly contributed via retweeting original content, particularly picture-containing tweets, and thus increased reach to nonattendees. A social media campaign prior to meetings may help increase the reach of conference-related Twitter discussion

Explaining trends in alcohol-related harms in Scotland 1991–2011 (II): policy, social norms, the alcohol market, clinical changes and a synthesis

Objective: To provide a basis for evaluating post-2007 alcohol policy in Scotland, this paper tests the extent to which pre-2007 policy, the alcohol market, culture or clinical changes might explain differences in the magnitude and trends in alcohol-related mortality outcomes in Scotland compared to England & Wales (E&W). Study design: Rapid literature reviews, descriptive analysis of routine data and narrative synthesis. Methods: We assessed the impact of pre-2007 Scottish policy and policy in the comparison areas in relation to the literature on effective alcohol policy. Rapid literature reviews were conducted to assess cultural changes and the potential role of substitution effects between alcohol and illicit drugs. The availability of alcohol was assessed by examining the trends in the number of alcohol outlets over time. The impact of clinical changes was assessed in consultation with key informants. The impact of all the identified factors were then summarised and synthesised narratively. Results: The companion paper showed that part of the rise and fall in alcohol-related mortality in Scotland, and part of the differing trend to E&W, were predicted by a model linking income trends and alcohol-related mortality. Lagged effects from historical deindustrialisation and socio-economic changes exposures also remain plausible from the available data. This paper shows that policy differences or changes prior to 2007 are unlikely to have been important in explaining the trends. There is some evidence that aspects of alcohol culture in Scotland may be different (more concentrated and home drinking) but it seems unlikely that this has been an important driver of the trends or the differences with E&W other than through interaction with changing incomes and lagged socio-economic effects. Substitution effects with illicit drugs and clinical changes are unlikely to have substantially changed alcohol-related harms: however, the increase in alcohol availability across the UK is likely to partly explain the rise in alcohol-related mortality during the 1990s. Conclusions: Future policy should ensure that alcohol affordability and availability, as well as socio-economic inequality, are reduced, in order to maintain downward trends in alcohol-related mortality in Scotland

Water implications of foreign direct investment in Ethiopia's agricultural sector

Ethiopia is often highlighted as a country in which a lot of foreign land acquisition is occurring. The extent to which these investments also constitute significant acquisitions of water is the subject of this paper. It is apparent that water availability is a strong driver of the recent surge of investments in agricultural land globally, and in general the investments occur in countries with significant 'untapped' water resources. Ethiopia is no exception. We propose that the perception of unused and abundant water resources, as captured in dominant narratives, that drives and justifies both foreign and domestic investments, fails to reflect the more complex reality on the ground. Based on new collections of lease information and crop modelling, we estimate the potential additional water use associated with foreign investments at various scales. As a consequence of data limitations our analyses provide only crude estimates of consumptive water use and indicate a wide range of possible water consumption depending on exactly how foreign direct investment (FDI) development scenarios unfold. However, they do suggest that if all planned FDI schemes are implemented and expanded in the near future, additional water consumption is likely to be comparable with existing water use in non-FDI irrigation schemes, and a non-trivial proportion of the country's water resources will be effectively utilised by foreign entities. Hence, additional water use as well as local water scarcity ought to be strong considerations in regulating or pricing land leases. If new investments are to increase local food and water security without compromising local and downstream water availability they should be designed to improve often very low agricultural water productivity, and to safeguard access of local populations to water

The effect of forage management on carbon storage in pastureland and rotation

Non-Peer ReviewedDegraded land with less than 1.5% organic carbon (class 4 and 5 land) in the Parkland of Western Canada has significant potential, from 5 to 15 Mg C ha-1 depending on management, for carbon storage with forages in the Parkland. The potential ranges from 5 to 15 Mg C ha-1, over a period from 15 to 20 years, depending on fertility management of forages in pasture and initial levels of soil organic carbon. Nitrogen fertilizer increased organic carbon stored in reseeded pastures at Pathlow and Brandon relative to paddocks without fertilizer. Over a period of 12 years (1978-1989) in the Pathlow study, 21.9 Mg C ha- 1 (0-15 cm) was stored when N fertilizer was applied at an annual rate of 45 kg ha-1 compared to the control treatment, which was attributed to accumulation of plant debris and roots at the surface. Increases in organic carbon did not persist 10 years after N fertilizer was discontinued at the study at Pathlow, Saskatchewan. At Brandon, Manitoba, fertilized grass pasture stored 16.2 Mg C ha-1 (0-50 cm) compared to unfertilized bromegrass from 1994 to 1999. Long-term forage rotations at Melfort showed no significant difference in the wheat phase of a F-W-W-H-H-W rotation due to nitrogen fertilizer (147.3 Mg C ha-1 150.7 Mg C ha-1) over a period from 1957 to 1994. This was attributed to the high levels of soil carbon in soils at Melfort. Forages in rotation had no significant effect on organic carbon in a study at Glenlea MB conducted from 1992 to 1999, though a range from 110.8 to 145.7 Mg C ha-1 was observed. Significant differences may occur in the long term as organic carbon accumulates in the treatments at Glenlea