Richmond Mural Tour

In the past years Richmond has been growing in popularity in the world of street art. This popularity is due in part to the many projects that brought in artists from around the world to create beautiful artwork. There is so much art outside in Richmond as a result of these projects, but no great way to navigate the streets of the city in an efficient manner to see all of it. Richmond Mural Tour is a mobile cross-platform application that allows users to explore all of the amazing outdoor artwork around the city. This application is built on ionic 2, a cross-platform framework that allows developers to write code in one language, Javascript. The project can then be built into a native iOS, Android, and Windows phone applications. The app utilizes the Google Maps Javascript API to display a map of all the murals in Richmond. It then allows users to build and customize “Tours” or routes with any number of murals that have been selected. It also takes advantage of the Mapquest Web API to find the most optimal route between a list of waypoints. To serve all of this data to mobile phones this application uses a simple ASP.NET Core web API to transmit the data to devices via the internet.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/capstone/1159/thumbnail.jp

Level of adherence to prescribed exercise in spondyloarthritis and factors affecting this adherence: a systematic review

Adherence is a primary determinant of the effectiveness of any intervention. Exercise is considered essential in the management of spondyloarthritis (SpA); however, the overall adherence to exercise programmes and factors affecting adherence are unknown. The aim of this systematic review was to examine measures of, and factors influencing adherence to, prescribed exercise programmes in people with SpA. A search was performed in August 2018 using five data bases; the Cochrane library, CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE, and Web of Science Collections. Inclusion criteria were: studies with adults (> 18 years) with SpA, with a prescribed exercise intervention or educational programme with the aim of increasing exercise participation. Article quality was independently assessed by two assessors. Extracted descriptive data included: populations, interventions, measures of adherence and factors affecting adherence. Percentage adherence rates to prescribed exercises were calculated if not reported. Nine studies were included with a total of 658 participants, 95% of participants had a diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis. Interventions and measurement of adherence varied, making comparisons difficult. Rates of adherence ranged from 51.4 to 95%. Single studies identified; adherence improved following educational programmes, and higher disease severity and longer diagnostic delays were associated with higher adherence. Conflicting evidence was found as to whether supervision of exercise improved adherence. Three consecutive studies demonstrated adherence reduced over time. Adherence to prescribed exercise in SpA was poorly reported and predominately for people with AS. The levels of adherence and factors affecting prescribed exercise in SpA remain unclear. Future research should measure adherence across a longer time period and investigate possible factors which may influence adherence

Role of the microbiome, probiotics, and 'dysbiosis therapy' in critical illness.

Purpose of reviewLoss of 'health-promoting' microbes and overgrowth of pathogenic bacteria (dysbiosis) in ICU is believed to contribute to nosocomial infections, sepsis, and organ failure (multiple organ dysfunction syndrome). This review discusses new understanding of ICU dysbiosis, new data for probiotics and fecal transplantation in ICU, and new data characterizing the ICU microbiome.Recent findingsICU dysbiosis results from many factors, including ubiquitous antibiotic use and overuse. Despite advances in antibiotic therapy, infections and mortality from often multidrug-resistant organisms (i.e., Clostridium difficile) are increasing. This raises the question of whether restoration of a healthy microbiome via probiotics or other 'dysbiosis therapies' would be an optimal alternative, or parallel treatment option, to antibiotics. Recent clinical data demonstrate probiotics can reduce ICU infections and probiotics or fecal microbial transplant (FMT) can treat Clostridium difficile. This contributes to recommendations that probiotics should be considered to prevent infection in ICU. Unfortunately, significant clinical variability limits the strength of current recommendations and further large clinical trials of probiotics and FMT are needed. Before larger trials of 'dysbiosis therapy' can be thoughtfully undertaken, further characterization of ICU dysbiosis is needed. To addressing this, we conducted an initial analysis demonstrating a rapid and marked change from a 'healthy' microbiome to an often pathogen-dominant microbiota (dysbiosis) in a broad ICU population.SummaryA growing body of evidence suggests critical illness and ubiquitous antibiotic use leads to ICU dysbiosis that is associated with increased ICU infection, sepsis, and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome. Probiotics and FMT show promise as ICU therapies for infection. We hope future-targeted therapies using microbiome signatures can be developed to correct 'illness-promoting' dysbiosis to restore a healthy microbiome post-ICU to improve patient outcomes

Responsive socio-cultural contexts: Supporting five year olds to become literate in a second language.

Learning one's own indigenous language and culture as a second language learner within formal mainstream education settings can pose many challenges, especially for students who have been raised in the dominant first language and who are just beginning school. This paper discusses a Māori language resource used by a Māori immersion teacher to respond to these challenges. This resource utilises community support to develop students' phonological awareness while simultaneously increasing their oral language. This study shows that within a relatively short period of time, students' phonological knowledge improved along with their confidence and ability to speak in Māori. With these skills they were then able to progress more successfully to becoming literate in Māori, their second language

Use of the Físchlár video library system

Físchlár is a shared video retrieval system that lets users record, browse and watch television programmes using their web browser. In Físchlár, the programmes users can watch and record are organised by channel, by theme and by personal recommendation as provided by the ChangingWorlds’ ClixSmart personalisation engine. Our initial results from user trials illustrate the usage of each of these features

Reproductive success, dimorphism and sex allocation in the brown falcon Falco berigora

This project describes various aspects of the breeding ecology and behaviour of the brown falcon Falco berigora, a common but poorly study Australian raptor. In particular it examines (a) the main influences on reproductive success; (b) tests predictions of theories proposed to explain the evolution and maintenance of sexual size dimorphism (RSD; females the larger sex) in raptors; and (c) investigates sex allocation patterns in the light of current sex ratio and parental investment theory. The study was conducted between July 1999 and June 2002 approximately 35 km southwest of Melbourne, at the Western Treatment Plant (WTP), Werribee (38°0’S 144°34’E) and surrounds, a total area of approximately 150 km2.¶ ..

The Uptake and Distribution of Radionuclides in Marine Organisms

The behaviour and distribution of alpha-emitting radionuclides in the mussel (Mytilus edulis), winkle (Littorina littorea) and Dublin Bay prawn (Nephrops norvegicus) have been investigated under both environmental and laboratory conditions using alpha-autoradiography in conjunction with conventional radio- analytical techniques. Of the samples exposed to environmental levels of radioactivity, Ravenglass mussels, collected between 1983 and 1984, exhibited 239+240 Pu concentrations ranging from 43Bqkg (dry) in muscle tissue to 1658Bqkg-1 in byssal threads, the corresponding 137Cs range being 131Bqkg to 1340Bqkg-1 . Although 210Po concentrations were not determined in byssal threads, muscle tissue still displayed the lowest nuclide concentration (124Bqkg -1), whilst the viscera (containing digestive gland, stomach and kidneys) contained the highest (596Bqkg -1). Subsequent concentration factor calculations for 137 Cs,210 Po and 239+240 Pu in the total soft parts of Ravenglass mussels were, respectively, 9, 25800 and 1400. In Cumbrian winkles, nuclide concentrations ranged a) for 239 Pu, from 18.5Bqkg -1(muscle tissue) to 457Bqkg -1(pallial complex), b) for 137Cs, from 103Bqkg (foot tissue) to 1495Bqkg (pallial complex) and c) for Po, from 12.2Bqkg-1 (muscle tissue) to 145Bqkg (digestive gland). Total soft parts CFs were calculated at 16 for 137Cs, 5500 for Po and 5700 for 239+240 Pu. The magnitude of these CFs, as for those of the mussel is consistent with the respective CF values recommended by IAEA (IAEA, 1985) for molluscs. Radionuclide concentrations in Whitehaven-landed prawns were much lower than those observed in mussels or winkles; no artificial y-emitter activities were present above detection limits and the highest 238+240 Pu concentration was 5.96Bqkg-1 in the carapace. Po activities, however, were more readily detectable throughout the prawn's tissues, concentrations ranging from 2.7Bqkg -1(abdomen muscle) to 144Bqkg (cardiac foregut), producing CFs of the order of 2x10 4 in tissues associated with feeding and digestion. Previous studies have attempted to determine the principal nuclide source to marine organisms by comparing nuclide activity quotients in their tissues, sea water and particulate material. From the environmental samples here, no single transport medium appears to dominate such uptake. Under laboratory conditions, mussels, winkles and prawns all exhibited the ability to accumulate 237 Np, 239Pu and 241 Am from both sea water and food media. Up to 90% of the accumulated activity was located in the hard protective shells of the organisms. In general, of the soft tissues studied, those associated with feeding and digestion accumulated radionuclides most effectively. In digestive glands/hepatopancreas, the site of nuclide uptake was in the digestive tubules. Other active tissues were the gill and heart of the Dublin Bay prawn and the pallial complex and operculum of the winkle. The prawn's gill was the only tissue to exhibit a clear preference between food and sea water labelling media - with higher accumulation via sea water. Heart tissue contained enhanced levels of 239 Pu relative to 237 Np and 241Am. This unusual observation may be associated with metal-detoxification processes. The various glandular and secretory functions of the winkle's pallial complex may account for the comparable magnitude of nuclide activities in this tissue and of those in the digestive gland. Other mucous secretions, on the external layers of the winkle's head and foot tissues, have been observed to accumulate radionuclides but not as efficiently as the pallial complex. The most intense a-track distributions encountered in the project were found in the winkle's operculum. These observations can be attributed to the chitinous nature of the tissue. Laboratory experiments therefore have shown that the accumulation and distribution of transuranic nuclides in marine invertebrates are highly influenced by the presence of scleroproteins, chitinous material and mucous secretions. Despite the relatively low activities present in Ravenglass mussels and winkles, their alpha-autoradiographs exhibited tissue activity trends in general accordance with those obtained experimentally. This finding provides some support for the validity of laboratory-derived information and for its extrapolation to environmental conditions. From radiochemical analysis, it is apparent that the Po contributes significantly to the total alpha-activity of the environmental marine organisms. Because of the decreasing concentrations of a-emitting transuranic nuclides (mainly 238 Pu,239+240 Pu and 241 Am) in the Ravenglass environment, the influence of natural Po in any future a-autoradiographic studies will become increasingly dominant. The primary radiological implication of the observed radionuclide concentrations in Ravenglass mussels and winkles is that, from seafood ingestion, the critical group receives only a small percentage of the ICRP-recommended dose limit. Dose contributions from Po are higher than those from 239+240Pu in mussels but are less than those from 239+240 Pu in winkles

The 2003 Ed Nelson Lecture. Smoking Cessation Revisited. Is It Time to Change Our Approach?

linical approaches to smoking cessation are based on a goal of increasing the odds that a given person will quit smoking. Current treatment recommendations are based on metaanalyses of randomized clinical trials conducted over short intervals. An underlying assumption is that nicotine is the primary reason it is so difficult to quit and that pharmacotherapies are the “best” way to treat the underlying dependency. Data on the relative risk of developing tobacco related disease is used as the basis for selecting priority sub-populations (e.g., those who smoke the most). But should these data be used as the foundation for creating national strategies for the treatment of smokers? The presenter will use data from Canada to offer a different view. He will argue that national strategies should not be simple extrapolations of clinical treatments or relative risk ratios. He will argue that national strategies must employ different goals and outcome measures. For example, our aim should be to use available resources to maximally reduce the health and economic burden of smoking. Policies that create supportive environments, communication campaigns that build self-awareness and efficacy, combined with a triage system that matches smokers to different types of treatment should be the foundation of our approach. Traditional clinical approaches (especially pharmacotherapy) should be used selectively rather than universally