Free personal care for older people : a wider perspective on its costs

The paper comments on the so-called "Free Personal Care (FPC)" policy established in Scotland in 2002. FPC is the legal entitlement of people aged 65 and older, who have been assessed by the council as having personal care needs, to receive services that will assist them in their day-to-day activities. One view is that FPC may not be affordable in its current form because population ageing will increase dramatically the numbers eligible for assistance in the future. This paper discusses ways in which FPC may actually lower the total per-person cost of accommodating Scotland's ageing population

Settlers from Connecticut in Spanish Florida, 1808-1816

Ambrose Hull was one of the Protestant Americans who answered Spain’s call of 1788 for immigrants to settle and develop the Florida lands. Hull obtained a grant of 2,600 acres in the New Smyrna area early in 1801 and began building his settlement, as narrated in Part I in de last issue of this Quarterly. Unfortunately, his first attempt was cut short by an Indian raid in which he suffered damages amounting to several thousand dollars. Nevertheless, Ambrose and his wife, Abigail, with her sister, Stella Hall, soon began rebuilding

Three Speed 3D Printed Magnetic Gear

Power transmission is traditionally achieved with a mechanical gear. Mechanical gears require maintenance, cause vibration, and have no overload protection. Magnetic gears offer an innovative solution to these drawbacks as they do not require regular maintenance, have no need for lubrication, create very little acoustic noise, have built in overload protection and as a result of these advantages, have a longer lifetime of operation. This research focused upon the design, assembly and demonstration of the magnetic gear concept. The research used a solid works design, 3D printed ABS plastic housing, and use of neodymium magnets and ferromagnetic iron segments. This 3D printed magnetic gear is composed of three main components; low speed rotor with seven pole pairs, the flux-modulating rotor with eleven iron segments, and the high-speed rotor with four pole pairs. The components are mounted on a shared axle and allow the ability to operate in three different gear ratios. To accomplish a desired gear ratio, hold one of the three components stationary while rotating another component, resulting in the third component rotating. This design serves the important purpose of demonstrating the concept of these gears to those inside the research community as well as those in outside fields, with the hope of increasing innovation. These magnetic gears could be used to transmit power in environments under extremely high torque applications. It is the hope of the authors of this research that future researchers will focus on ocean power generation applications. The advantage of these magnetic gears is their ability to continue functioning even after an overload torque situation, common in ocean applications. Once the overload torque is removed, after a storm is over, the magnetic flux that links the rotors will allow the gear to operate as designed resulting in the continued transmission of power

Settlers from Connecticut in Spanish Florida: Letters of Ambrose Hull and Stella Hart 1804-1806

Florida was the northern bastion of Spain’s New World empire from an early period; and, except for brief British possession (1763-1783), the land was hers for almost three hundred years. The era following 1783, when Great Britain returned Florida to Spain, until 1821, when Florida became United States territory, is known as the second Spanish period of Florida history

Improving Understanding of Endocrine-Active Compounds in Pulp and Paper Mill Condensates Using a Mummichog (\u3cem\u3eFundulus heteroclitus\u3c/em\u3e) Bioassay

Since the late 1990s an investigation of cause (IOC) study at Irving Pulp and Paper Ltd (IPP), a bleached kraft mill in Saint John, NB, Canada, has successfully identified an in-mill waste stream (5th effect evaporator condensates) as containing endocrine disrupting substances (EDSs). These EDSs affect levels of reproductive steroids in a native estuarine fish, the mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus). To confirm the minimal concentration at which whole condensates impact reproductive endpoints, adult mummichog were exposed to 2% and 4% (v/v) whole condensates for 14 days. Plasma testosterone was significantly depressed in males in the 4% (v/v) treatment, confirming previous work done with IPP condensates. Also, significant induction of hepatic cytochrome P450 genes 1 and 3 were found in female fish exposed to both condensate concentrations. To chemically isolate suspect EDSs, a solid phase extraction protocol was developed by collaborating researchers. The protocol generates four chemically-distinct fractions, along with residual condensates. Fractionation was completed using 4% (v/v) whole condensates and the resultant fractions, and 4% (v/v) whole condensates, were exposed to adult mummichog in the reproductive endocrine bioassay. There was no significant response in fish exposed to 4% (v/v) whole condensates, making interpretation of specific fraction treatments difficult. While fish were in different reproductive periods in the two bioassays, which may account for some of the differences between the experiments, a more compelling explanation is the variability in the chemical make-up of the condensates. Chemical fingerprinting of both condensate batches by collaborating researchers found a higher androgenic potency in the fractionation condensates. Mummichog were then exposed to model androgens methyltestosterone (100 and 1000 ng/L; MT) and dihydrotestosterone (10 and 100 μg/L; DHT) to determine if androgenic responses paralleled condensate responses. Plasma testosterone was significantly depressed by 10 μg/L DHT in males. Females had significant depression of plasma estradiol when exposed to both DHT concentrations and 1000 ng/L MT. Female mummichog had lower thresholds of effects than males and were more responsive to androgen exposure. Comparison of effects seen in fish exposed to pulp mill condensates and those exposed to model androgens indicate androgens in the condensates may not be the source of reproductive endocrine effects in the condensate-exposed mummichog

Some aspects of aromatic fluorine chemistry involving fused heterocyclic rings

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