1,118 research outputs found
The rise in ocean plastics evidenced from a 60-year time series
Plastic production has increased exponentially since its use became widespread in the 1950s. This has led to increased concern as plastics have become prevalent in the oceanic environment, and evidence of their impacts on marine organisms and human health has been highlighted. Despite their prevalence, very few long-term (>40 years) records of the distribution and temporal trends of plastics in the worldβs oceans exist. Here we present a new time series, from 1957 to 2016 and covering over 6.5 million nautical miles, based on records of when plastics have become entangled on a towed marine sampler. This consistent time series provides some of the earliest records of plastic entanglement, and is the first to confirm a significant increase in open ocean plastics in recent decade
R2P from Below: Does the British Public View Humanitarian Interventions as Ethical and Effective?
One of the major barriers to the implementation of the Responsibility to Protect principle is the lack of a political will. Public attitudes towards intervention will have a crucial impact on elite willingness to prevent mass atrocities, yet we have little understanding of the factors that influence those attitudes. This article provides the first examination of UK public perceptions about the moral justifiability and effectiveness of humanitarian interventions. The article shows that decisions about justifiability and effectiveness are very different. Attitudes towards justification were more easily explained suggesting that judgements about effectiveness are more contextual and less easily accounted for by individualsβ background characteristics and attitudes. Experiences with both Iraq and Afghanistan have contaminated public perceptions of both the ethics and effectiveness of humanitarian interventions. Although the public is broadly supportive about the justifiability of humanitarian interventions they are extremely sceptical about the likelihood that those interventions will be successful
Numerical study of circulation on the inner Amazon Shelf
Author Posting. Β© Springer, 2008. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Springer for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Ocean Dynamics 58 (2008): 187-198, doi:10.1007/s10236-008-0139-4.We studied the circulation on the coastal
domain of the Amazon Shelf by applying the hydrodynamic
module of the Estuarine and Coastal Ocean
Model and Sediment Transport - ECOMSED. The first
barotropic experiment aimed to explain the major bathymetric
effects on tides and those generated by anisotropy
in sediment distribution. We analyzed the continental
shelf response of barotropic tides under realistic bottom
stress parametrization (Cd), considering sediment granulometry
obtained from a faciologic map, where river
mud deposits and reworked sediments areas are well distinguished,
among others classes of sediments. Very low
Cd values were set in the fluid mud regions off the Amapa
coast (1.0 10-4 ), in contrast to values around 3:5 10-3
for coarser sediment regions off the Para coast. Three-dimensional
experiments represented the Amazon River
discharge and trade winds, combined to barotropic tide
influences and induced vertical mixing. The quasi-resonant
response of the Amazon Shelf to the M2 tide act on
the local hydrodynamics by increasing tidal admittance,
along with tidal forcing at the shelf break and extensive
fluid mud regions. Harmonic analysis of modeled
currents agreed well with analysis of the AMASSEDS
observational data set. Tidal-induced vertical shear provided
strong homogenization of threshold waters, which
are subject to a kind of hydraulic control due to the topographic
steepness. Ahead of the hydraulic jump, the
low-salinity plume is disconnected from the bottom and
acquires negative vorticity, turning southeastward. Tides
act as a generator mechanism and topography, via hydraulic
control, as a maintainer mechanism for the low-salinity
frontal zone positioning. Tidally induced southeastward
plume fate is overwhelmed by northwestward
trade winds so that, along with background circulation,
probably play the most important role on the plume fate
and variability over the Amazon Shelf
Factors affecting diet, habitat selection and breeding success of the African Crowned Eagle Stephanoaetus coronatus in a fragmented landscape
This study aimed to identify variables that affect habitat selection and nesting success of the African Crowned Eagle Stephanoaetus coronatus, the largest forest raptor, in north-eastern South Africa. A preference for nesting in the Northern Mistbelt Forest vegetation type was established and 82% of all nests were located in indigenous trees. Nest abandonment was less common when distances to the nearest neighbour were greater. The diet of this species was investigated by examination of prey remains beneath nests and verified by comparison with museum specimens. In total, 156 remains were found, representing a minimum of 75 prey individuals. The diet of African Crowned Eagles constituted almost entirely mammals (99%), which were predominantly antelopes (61%) and monkeys (25%). It was also found that the proportion of primates in the diet correlates with latitude: populations in equatorial latitudes have a higher proportion of primates in their diets, whereas further south antelopes are a much more common diet component
Citrulline malate supplementation does not improve German Volume Training performance or reduce muscle soreness in moderately trained males and females
Background
Use of supplements to aid performance is common practice amongst recreationally active individuals, including those without a sufficient evidence base. This investigation sought to assess whether acute supplementation with 8 g of citrulline malate (CM) (1.11: 1 ratio) would improve anaerobic performance.
Methods
A randomised double blind placebo control trial was employed, using a counterbalanced design. We recruited recreationally active men and women to take part in an isokinetic chair protocol, based on German Volume Training (GVT) whereby participants attempted to perform 10 sets of 10 repetitions against a force representing 70% of their peak concentric force.
Results
The number of repetitions achieved over the course of the GVT was 94.0βΒ±β7.9 and 90.9βΒ±β13.9 for placebo and CM respectively. There was no significant difference between the placebo and CM treatment for number of repetitions (Pβ=β0.33), isometric (Pβ=β0.60), concentric (Pβ=β0.38), or eccentric (Pβ=β0.65) peak force following the GVT. Total muscle soreness was significantly higher in the CM compared to the placebo treatment following the GVT protocol over 72 h (Pβ=β0.01); although this was not accompanied by a greater workload/number of repetitions in the CM group.
Conclusions
We conclude that an acute dose of CM does not significantly affect anaerobic performance using an isokinetic chair in recreational active participants. Practical implications include precaution in recommending CM supplementation. Coaches and athletes should be aware of the disparity between the chemical analyses of the products reviewed in the present investigation versus the manufacturersβ claims
AmbuFlex: tele-patient-reported outcomes (telePRO) as the basis for follow-up in chronic and malignant diseases
Primary headaches in patients with generalized anxiety disorder
Although anxiety disorders and headaches are comorbid conditions, there have been no studies evaluating the prevalence of primary headaches in patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). The aim of this study was to analyze the lifetime prevalence of primary headaches in individuals with and without GAD. A total of 60 individuals were evaluated: 30 GAD patients and 30 controls without mental disorders. Psychiatric assessments and primary headache diagnoses were made using structured interviews. Among the GAD patients, the most common diagnosis was migraine, which was significantly more prevalent among the GAD patients than among the controls, as were episodic migraine, chronic daily headache and aura. Tension-type headache was equally common in both groups. Primary headaches in general were significantly more common and more severe in GAD patients than in controls. In anxiety disorder patients, particularly those with GAD, accurate diagnosis of primary headache can improve patient management and clinical outcomes
Financial control, blame avoidance and Radio Caroline: Talkinβ βbout my generation
This research examines the use of financial mechanisms that simultaneously impose controls and facilitate blame avoidance by public office-holders. A qualitative historical examination is used to examine legislation designed to prevent Radio Caroline, a pirate radio station, from broadcasting into Britain in the 1960s. Radio Caroline made a mockery of the British Governmentβs power to manage radio through a monopolist, the British Broadcasting Corporation. In addition, Radio Caroline played the type of rock music the British Government sought to suppress as representing the undesirable side of youth culture. This research examines the suppression of Radio Caroline through the Marine & Broadcasting (Offences) Act (UK) 1967 and the legislative scapegoating of Radio Caroline by targeting its revenue-earning potential. Inter-generational conflict underpinned the legislative scapegoating of Radio Caroline. This research demonstrates how financial controls can mask scapegoating and blame avoidance strategies by governments
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Professors on the Board: Do They Contribute to Society Outside the Classroom?
According to our data, 38.5 % of S&P 1500 firms have at least one professor on their boards. Given the lack of research examining the roles and effects of academic faculty as members of boards of directors (professorβdirectors) on corporate outcomes, this study investigates whether firms with professorβdirectors are more likely to exhibit higher corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance ratings. Results indicate that firms with professorβdirectors do exhibit higher CSR performance ratings than those without. However, the influence of professorβdirectors on firm CSR performance ratings depends on their academic backgroundβthe positive association between the presence of professorβdirectors and firm CSR performance ratings is significant only when their academic background is specialized (e.g., science, engineering, and medicine). Finally, this positive association weakens when professorβdirectors hold an administrative position at their universities
Jet energy measurement with the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at root s=7 TeV
The jet energy scale and its systematic uncertainty are determined for jets measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of βs = 7TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 38 pb-1. Jets are reconstructed with the anti-kt algorithm with distance parameters R=0. 4 or R=0. 6. Jet energy and angle corrections are determined from Monte Carlo simulations to calibrate jets with transverse momenta pTβ₯20 GeV and pseudorapidities {pipe}Ξ·{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy systematic uncertainty is estimated using the single isolated hadron response measured in situ and in test-beams, exploiting the transverse momentum balance between central and forward jets in events with dijet topologies and studying systematic variations in Monte Carlo simulations. The jet energy uncertainty is less than 2. 5 % in the central calorimeter region ({pipe}Ξ·{pipe}<0. 8) for jets with 60β€pT<800 GeV, and is maximally 14 % for pT<30 GeV in the most forward region 3. 2β€{pipe}Ξ·{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy is validated for jet transverse momenta up to 1 TeV to the level of a few percent using several in situ techniques by comparing a well-known reference such as the recoiling photon pT, the sum of the transverse momenta of tracks associated to the jet, or a system of low-pT jets recoiling against a high-pT jet. More sophisticated jet calibration schemes are presented based on calorimeter cell energy density weighting or hadronic properties of jets, aiming for an improved jet energy resolution and a reduced flavour dependence of the jet response. The systematic uncertainty of the jet energy determined from a combination of in situ techniques is consistent with the one derived from single hadron response measurements over a wide kinematic range. The nominal corrections and uncertainties are derived for isolated jets in an inclusive sample of high-pT jets. Special cases such as event topologies with close-by jets, or selections of samples with an enhanced content of jets originating from light quarks, heavy quarks or gluons are also discussed and the corresponding uncertainties are determined. Β© 2013 CERN for the benefit of the ATLAS collaboration
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