Combined operations and the European theatre during the Nine Years' War, 1688-97

This is the author's PDF version of an article published in Historical research© 2005. The definitive version is available at www.blackwell-synergy.com.This article discusses the strategic and operational purpose of England's combined army-navy operations within the European theatre during the Nine Years' War, 1688-97. Specifically, the historical consensus that these operations were simply a compromise product of the contemporary political discourse, and consistently suffered from poor preparation and implementation, is reassessed. In so doing, the article considers the combined service descents planned and executed against the northern French coastline between 1691 and 1694, including in particular the renowned operation at Brest in June 1694, and also those operations undertaken by Admiral Russell's Mediterranean fleet in 1695.This article was submitted to the RAE2008 for the University of Chester - History

Soil-landscape modelling and soil property variability for forestry land evaluation in Longwood Forest, Southland. Phase 1: soil-landscape model development

Large scale, quantitative information about the variability of target soil properties is required for forest management. This project is attempting to determine whether or not the New Zealand Soil Classification system (NZSC), when used in combination with a soillandscape model, adequately communicates this information. In the first phase of this project a soil-landscape model was developed and a pilot variability study conducted. The soils in the study area, located in the W oodlaw Block of the Longwood Range, are formed from either Permian andesite or greywacke on moderately steep to steep hill slopes under a moist cool climate and a vegetation cover of beech and podocarp forests. The soil-landscape model was developed using the land systems approach. The model consists of predictive relationships between topographic features and soil classes. There is a clear relationship between slope steepness, the abundance of surface boulders and the gravel content of the soil. A soil-landscape unit map showing the distribution of predicted soil classes has been produced. The results of the pilot variability study have showed that the soils sampled are acidic and have moderate to high P-retention values. An analysis of variance indicated that both of these properties are significantly variable between sites and between horizons. There appears to be a relationship between land component type and the magnitude and variability of these properties. The clay mineralogical analysis revealed that the dominant clay minerals present in all the soils sampled are chlorite-vermiculite, kaolinite, sepiolite, and allophane. The presence of allophane and kaolinite may be related to the moderate to high P-retention values

Adequate Levels of Adherence with Controller Medication Is Associated with Increased Use of Rescue Medication in Asthmatic Children

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

A portfolio analysis of autism research funding in Aotearoa New Zealand 2007–2021

Previously documented global trends in autism research funding have been skewed towards biology research, which is at odds with the priorities expressed by autistic and autism community members. We aimed to document the areas of autism research that have previously been funded in Aotearoa New Zealand, and to explore the views of the autistic and autism communities on this funding distribution. We searched for research grants awarded to autism research in Aotearoa New Zealand between 2007 and 2021. We categorised the funding for autism research to enable comparison to that previously documented in other countries. We elicited the views of the autistic and autism communities in relation to the funded autism research, through an online survey and a series of focus groups. The largest proportion of money and number of grants was awarded to biological research. Community members expressed dissatisfaction with this pattern of funding, and noted that it does not address the needs and priorities of the autistic community. Community members suggested that the funding pattern indicated a lack of autistic consultation and engagement in research design and funding allocation. The priorities of the autistic and autism communities need to be considered by researchers and funders alike. We discuss how autistic inclusion in research can be supported through decision-making regarding funding and ethics relating to autism research. Lay Abstract: We aimed to document the areas of autism research that have previously been funded in Aotearoa New Zealand. We searched for research grants awarded to autism research in Aotearoa New Zealand between 2007 and 2021. We compared the funding distribution in Aotearoa New Zealand to other countries. We asked people from the autistic community and broader autism community whether they were satisfied with this funding pattern, and whether it aligned with what is important to them and to autistic people. We found that the majority of funding for autism research was awarded to biology research (67%). Members of the autistic and autism communities were dissatisfied with the funding distribution, and expressed a lack of alignment with what is important to them. People from the community indicated that the funding distribution did not address the priorities of autistic people, and that it indicated a lack of engagement with autistic people. Autism research funding needs to reflect the priorities of the autistic and autism communities. Autistic people need to be included in autism research and related funding decisions

A soil-landscape model for southern Mahurangi Forest, Northland

Exotic plantation forestry has a productive area of about 75 000 ha in Northland (L. Cannon, personal communication). Forestry is thus an important land use of both economic and environmental significance in Northland as well as elsewhere in New Zealand. Therefore, it is of considerable importance that forestlands be managed sustainably by employing approaches such as site-specific management. The establishment of site-specific forest management practices requires information regarding the distribution of key soil properties (Turvey and Poutsma, 1980). Quantitative modelling to predict key soil properties of sustainable forestry from observable landscape features may be a cost-effective approach to mapping forestlands. We are investigating the efficacy of such an approach within Mahurangi Forest, Northland

A soil-landscape model for Mahurangi Forest, Northland, New Zealand

Exotic plantation forestry is an important land use of both economic and environmental significance in Northland and elsewhere in New Zealand. It is therefore of considerable importance that forestlands be managed sustainably by employing approaches such as site-specific management. The establishment of site-specific forest management practices requires information regarding the distribution of key soil properties (Turvey and Poutsma, 1980). Quantitative modelling to predict key soil properties from landscape features may be an effective approach to mapping forestlands. A study investigating the efficacy of such an approach is being conducted within Mahurangi Forest, Northland, New Zealand. As a pilot to the study, a detailed qualitative soil-landscape model was developed in order to gain a greater understanding of the soil-landscape relationships and soil pattern of the area. The qualitative soil-landscape model developed in the pilot study is presented here

feature Should medicinal chemists do molecular modelling?

In this article we discuss the pros and cons of medicinal chemists undertaking three-dimensional (3D) computer-aided Q2 drug design (CADD) activities for themselves, from the viewpoint of both medicinal chemists and computational chemists. We describe how best this can be implemented, the potential benefits that can be obtained and the pitfalls that are often encountered. It is not common practice for a computational chemist or molecular modeller to leave his or her workstation, don a white coat and perform organic chemistry experiments in a medicinal chemistry lab. Indeed many people would consider this to be rather reckless behaviour. Conversely there has always been a school of thought that medicinal chemists should carry out, to a greater or lesser extent, some elements of computer-aided drug design (CADD) for themselves, but is this suggestion just as reckless? In this article we discuss the reasoning behind this approach, how it could be implemented and the potential advantages and pitfalls that can accompany this endeavour. Medicinal chemists use computer programs on a daily basis during the course of their work, for example to generate experiments in an electronic laboratory notebook, perform database searches, retrieve biological test results, calculate physicochemical properties and generate plots to examine structure-activity relationships. When chemical structures are involved, they are usually considered in two dimensions. For the purposes of this article, the definition of CADD will not cover such activities, but rather focus on computational approaches using three-dimensional (3D) molecular structures, such as conformational analysis, molecular overlays, pharmacophore modelling and searching, ligand-protein docking, among others. A comprehensive review of CADDrelated software and resources has recently been publishe

Prevalence and causes of prescribing errors: the prescribing outcomes for trainee doctors engaged in clinical training (PROTECT) study

Objectives Study objectives were to investigate the prevalence and causes of prescribing errors amongst foundation doctors (i.e. junior doctors in their first (F1) or second (F2) year of post-graduate training), describe their knowledge and experience of prescribing errors, and explore their self-efficacy (i.e. confidence) in prescribing. Method A three-part mixed-methods design was used, comprising: prospective observational study; semi-structured interviews and cross-sectional survey. All doctors prescribing in eight purposively selected hospitals in Scotland participated. All foundation doctors throughout Scotland participated in the survey. The number of prescribing errors per patient, doctor, ward and hospital, perceived causes of errors and a measure of doctors' self-efficacy were established. Results 4710 patient charts and 44,726 prescribed medicines were reviewed. There were 3364 errors, affecting 1700 (36.1%) charts (overall error rate: 7.5%; F1:7.4%; F2:8.6%; consultants:6.3%). Higher error rates were associated with : teaching hospitals (p&#60;0.001), surgical (p = &#60;0.001) or mixed wards (0.008) rather thanmedical ward, higher patient turnover wards (p&#60;0.001), a greater number of prescribed medicines (p&#60;0.001) and the months December and June (p&#60;0.001). One hundred errors were discussed in 40 interviews. Error causation was multi-factorial; work environment and team factors were particularly noted. Of 548 completed questionnaires (national response rate of 35.4%), 508 (92.7% of respondents) reported errors, most of which (328 (64.6%) did not reach the patient. Pressure from other staff, workload and interruptions were cited as the main causes of errors. Foundation year 2 doctors reported greater confidence than year 1 doctors in deciding the most appropriate medication regimen. Conclusions Prescribing errors are frequent and of complex causation. Foundation doctors made more errors than other doctors, but undertook the majority of prescribing, making them a key target for intervention. Contributing causes included work environment, team, task, individual and patient factors. Further work is needed to develop and assess interventions that address these.</p

Veterinary aid clinic assessments of working ponies in West Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia: A retrospective study

Working ponies in the West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) province of Indonesia are relied upon as the principal mode of transport. They have important cultural, logistical and One Health significance for the local community. Given the tropical climate, these ponies face well recognised health and welfare challenges . Parameters relating to the general health and welfare of the ponies were assessed following data analysis of clinical records from three veterinary clinics held in 2018 and 2019. Records relating to 454 clinical examinations of ponies (n=365 stallions) aged between 1 to 25 years (mean 7.59 ± 4.70) were analysed. The mean body condition score (1 to 5 scoring system) across all clinics was 2.89 (±0.49; range 1.5, 4.5), with no significant difference between clinics (P= 0.297). The majority of ponies (84.57%; 95% CI 80.50, 87.92; 307/363) assessed presented with tachypnoea, 37.24% presented with tachycardia (95% CI 32.78, 41.92; 159/427), 14.80% (95% CI 11.10, 19.46; 41/277) recorded rectal temperatures considered hyperthermic (&gt;38.5°C), and 38.0% did not show obvious evidence of sweating (95% CI 32.21, 44.16; 95/250). Ponies examined at the April/May 2019 clinic were more likely to be considered hyperthermic (P=0.009) and/or presented with tachycardia (P&lt;0.001), whereas ponies examined in the November 2019 clinic were more likely to present with tachypnoea (P=0.001). In general, the objective measures of body condition and health indices of these ponies were considered adequate. Some abnormalities relating to prolonged recovery following exercise whilst working were considered likely related to thermoregulatory stress. Parasite burdens were found to be low, no haemoprotozoan parasites were detected and median faecal egg count was zero. Measures to encourage cooling and greater frequent rest periods continued surveillance and monitoring the health of these ponies will result in both enhanced welfare and advances in One Health initiatives