A synthesis of sand seas throughout the world

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

‘I’m paying for my son’s upbringing with other people’s wages’. Community psychology praxis in a Sure Start Children’s Centre: The Great Yarmouth Father’s Project

THE GREAT YARMOUTH Father’s Project (GYFP) is presented as a community psychology example of ‘formulation beyond therapy’. A co-produced formulation is described that attempts to broaden under- standing of father’s experiences of early-years child and family services

Evidence for the Gompertz Curve in the Income Distribution of Brazil 1978-2005

This work presents an empirical study of the evolution of the personal income distribution in Brazil. Yearly samples available from 1978 to 2005 were studied and evidence was found that the complementary cumulative distribution of personal income for 99% of the economically less favorable population is well represented by a Gompertz curve of the form $G(x)=\exp [\exp (A-Bx)]$, where $x$ is the normalized individual income. The complementary cumulative distribution of the remaining 1% richest part of the population is well represented by a Pareto power law distribution $P(x)= \beta x^{-\alpha}$. This result means that similarly to other countries, Brazil's income distribution is characterized by a well defined two class system. The parameters $A$, $B$, $\alpha$, $\beta$ were determined by a mixture of boundary conditions, normalization and fitting methods for every year in the time span of this study. Since the Gompertz curve is characteristic of growth models, its presence here suggests that these patterns in income distribution could be a consequence of the growth dynamics of the underlying economic system. In addition, we found out that the percentage share of both the Gompertzian and Paretian components relative to the total income shows an approximate cycling pattern with periods of about 4 years and whose maximum and minimum peaks in each component alternate at about every 2 years. This finding suggests that the growth dynamics of Brazil's economic system might possibly follow a Goodwin-type class model dynamics based on the application of the Lotka-Volterra equation to economic growth and cycle.Comment: 22 pages, 15 figures, 4 tables. LaTeX. Accepted for publication in "The European Physical Journal B

NASA Microgravity Materials Science Conference

The Microgravity Materials Science Conference was held June 10-11, 1996 at the Von Braun Civic Center in Huntsville, AL. It was organized by the Microgravity Materials Science Discipline Working Group, sponsored by the Microgravity Science and Applications Division at NASA Headquarters, and hosted by the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and the Alliance for Microgravity Materials Science and Applications (AMMSA). It was the second NASA conference of this type in the microgravity materials science discipline. The microgravity science program sponsored approximately 80 investigations and 69 principal investigators in FY96, all of whom made oral or poster presentations at this conference. The conference's purpose was to inform the materials science community of research opportunities in reduced gravity in preparation for a NASA Research Announcement (NRA) scheduled for release in late 1996 by the Microgravity Science and Applications Division at NASA Headquarters. The conference was aimed at materials science researchers from academia, industry, and government. A tour of the MSFC microgravity research facilities was held on June 12, 1996. This volume is comprised of the research reports submitted by the principal investigators after the conference and presentations made by various NASA microgravity science managers

FK506 IN PEDIATRIC KIDNEY-TRANSPLANTATION - PRIMARY AND RESCUE EXPERIENCE

Between December 14, 1989, and December 17, 1993,43 patients undergoing kidney transplantation alone at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh received FK506 as the primary immunosuppressive agent. The mean recipient age was 10.2 ± 4.8 years (range 0.7–17.4), with 7 (16%) children under 5 years of age and 2 (5%) under 2 years of age. Fifteen (35%) children underwent retransplantation, and 5 (12%) had a panel reactive antibody level greater than 40%. Twenty-two (51%) cases were with cadaveric donors, and 21 (49%) were with living donors. The mean follow-up is 25 ± 14 months. There were no deaths. One and three year actuarial graft survival was 98% and 85%. The mean serum creatinine and BUN were 1.2 ± 0.6 mg/dl and 26 ± 11 mg/dl; the calculated creatinine clearance was 75 ± 23 ml/min/1.73 m(2). Twenty-four (62%) patients have been successfully withdrawn from steroids, and 24 (62%) require no anti-hypertensive medication. Improved growth was seen, particularly in pre-adolescent children off steroids. Between July 28, 1990, and December 2, 1993, 24 children were referred for rescue therapy with FK506, 14.6 ± 16.4 months (range 1.1–53.2) after transplantation. Nineteen (79%) were referred because of resistant rejection; 4 (17%) were referred because of proteinuria; 1 (4%) was switched because of steroid-related obesity. There were no deaths. One and two year graft survival was 75% and 68%. Seventeen (71%) patients were successfully rescued, including 1 of 2 patients who arrived on dialysis. Four (24%) of the successfully rescued patients were weaned off steroids. While not without side effects, which include nephrotoxicity, neurotoxicity, diabetogenicity, and viral complications, FK506 appears to be an effective immunosuppressive agent for both primary and rescue therapy after kidney transplantation. Its steroid-sparing qualities may be of particular importance in the pediatric population

Contrasting responses of lizard occurrences to burrowing by a critically endangered seabird

Abstract Seabirds are considered ecosystem engineers, because they facilitate ecosystem functioning (e.g., nutrient cycling), crucial for other marine and terrestrial species, including reptiles. However, studies of seabird-reptile interactions are limited. Here, we assessed the influence of the ‘Critically Endangered’ Whenua Hou Diving Petrel (Pelecanoides whenuahouensis) on the occurrence of two threatened skinks, Stewart Island green skink (Oligosoma aff. chloronoton) and southern grass skink (O. aff. polychroma). We surveyed skinks for 26 consecutive days at 51 sites with and 48 sites without Diving Petrel burrows in the dunes on Codfish Island (Whenua Hou), New Zealand. We used occupancy modelling to assess the influence of burrows on the occurrence of skinks, while accounting for other factors affecting occupancy (Ψ) and detection probabilities (p). Diving Petrel burrows had a contrasting effect on the occurrence of skinks. On average, Ψ̂ of Stewart Island green skinks was 114% higher at sites with burrows compared to sites without, while Ψ̂ of southern grass skinks was only 2% higher. Occurrence of both skinks was negatively influenced by the presence of the other skink species. On average p̂ were low: 0.013 and 0.038 for Stewart Island green and southern grass skinks, respectively. Stewart Island green skinks appear attracted to burrows, which might facilitate thermoregulation (i.e., shelter from temperature extremes). The larger Stewart Island green skinks may subsequently exclude the smaller southern grass skinks at burrows, causing the contrasting relationships. We suggest that these interspecific interactions should be considered when implementing conservation management, e.g., through the order of species reintroductions

Outcomes of Salvage Arthrodesis and Arthroplasty for Failed Osteochondral Allograft Transplantation of the Ankle

Background: Osteochondral allograft (OCA) transplantation is a useful treatment for posttraumatic ankle arthritis in young patients, but failure rates are high and reoperations are not uncommon. The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcomes of failed ankle OCA transplantation converted to ankle arthrodesis (AA) or total ankle arthroplasty (TAA). Methods: We evaluated 24 patients who underwent salvage procedures (13 AA and 11 TAA) after primary failed ankle OCA transplantation. Reoperations were assessed. Failure of the salvage procedure was defined as an additional surgery that required a revision AA/TAA or amputation. Evaluation among nonfailing ankles included the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Foot and Ankle Module (AAOS-FAM), pain, and satisfaction. Results: In the salvage AA cohort, 3 patients were classified as failures (2 revision AA and 1 amputation). The 10 nonfailing patients had a mean follow-up of 7.4 years. Eighty-eight percent were satisfied with the procedure, but 63% reported continued problems with their ankle (eg, pain, swelling, stiffness). Mean pain level was 1.9 and AAOS-FAM core score was 83±13. In the salvage TAA cohort, 2 patients were classified as failures (both revision TAA). The 9 nonfailing patients had a mean follow-up of 3.8 years. Fifty percent were satisfied with the procedure, but 40% reported continued problems with their ankle. The mean pain level was 1.3, and the median AAOS-FAM core score was 82±26. Conclusion: Revision and reoperation rates for salvage procedures following failed OCA transplantation of the ankle are higher compared to published data for primary AA and TAA procedures. However, we believe OCA transplantation can serve as an interim procedure for younger patients with advanced ankle joint disease who may not be ideal candidates for primary AA or TAA at the time of initial presentation. Level of Evidence: Level IV, case series

SCROD: School Cosmic Ray Outreach Detector

We report progress on applying technologies developed for LHC-era experiments to cosmic ray detection, using scintillating tiles with embedded wavelength-shifting fibers and avalanche photodiode readouts as parts of a robust, inexpensive cosmic air shower detector. We are planning to deploy such detectors in high schools as part of an outreach effort able to search for long-distance correlations between airshowers.Comment: To be published in the Proceedings of the 28th International Cosmic Ray Conference http://www.icrr.u-tokyo.ac.jp/icrc2003