Introduction: The effectiveness of impact assessment instruments

The global application of impact assessment instruments to achieve a variety of policy integration goals (e.g. the mainstreaming of environmental, gender or economic efficiency concerns) continues to proliferate. These instruments represent important components of contemporary political governance and hence are an important locus for applied research. This special issue of Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal critically examines 'state-of-the-art' knowledge and understanding of the effectiveness of impact assessment instruments. Six articles explore this subject from a variety of orientations (in terms of theoretical versus empirical emphasis, policy integration concerns, contributors' beliefs and framing etc.). Individually and cumulatively, these articles make a powerful contribution to learning about the 'thorny' issue of effectiveness and its implications for the theory and practice of impact assessment

Effect of a culturally safe student placement on students’ understanding of, and confidence with, providing culturally safe podiatry care

Background: For university-based podiatry education there are little data available documenting the delivery method and impact of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health curricula or the use of, and outcomes from, immersive clinical placements generally or specific to podiatry practice. Therefore, the primary aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of undertaking clinical placement in a culturally safe podiatry service for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples on podiatry students’ understanding of, and confidence with, providing culturally safe podiatry care. Methods: Final year University of Newcastle undergraduate podiatry students attending a culturally safe Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student clinic at a local hospital were purposively recruited to participate. Students completed a custom-made and pilot-tested cultural awareness and capability survey before and after placement. Survey domains were determined from a principle component analysis. The Wilcoxon Signed Rank test was used to compare pre-placement scores on each domain of the survey to the post-placements scores. Effect sizes were calculated and interpreted as small (0.1–0.29), medium (0.3–0.49), and large (≥0.5). Results: This study recruited 58 final year University of Newcastle podiatry students to complete baseline and follow-up surveys. For survey domain 1 (level of understanding of power relationships), domain 2 (level of understanding of the interrelationship between culture and self-perceived health), domain 3 (level of understanding of the importance of culture in clinical practice and access to health care), and domain 4 (level of confidence with providing culturally safe care) a statistically significant (p < 0.05) increase in scores was recorded post-placement. The effect sizes were medium to large. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that an immersive student placement at a culturally safe podiatry clinic significantly improved students’ understanding of, and confidence with, providing culturally appropriate care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. This study provides foundation evidence of the role that such placements have on developing students’ cultural capability in a tertiary health care setting, and will help inform future curricula development at both educational institutions and health services, as well as form the basis for ongoing research

A COMPARISON OF MECHANICAL AND FIRE PROPERTIES OF ECO-CORE WITH A COMPATITIVE COMMERCIAL MATERIAL

ABSTRACT A fire resistant insulation panel material called Eco-Core has been developed at North Carolina A&amp;T State University. Eco-Core is composed of about 83% fly ash, a waste material from coalfired power plants. The remainder is a fire resistant organic binder. It is visualized that one application of this new material would be in the construction industry where fire resistance is of primary concern. The mechanical and fire resistant properties of a commercial material, U.S. Gypsum&apos;s Type X SHEETROCK, commonly used for these type applications was compared with those of Eco-Core. The results of this study have indicated that the mechanical properties of the Eco-Core are superior in virtually all respects, for example the compression strength was about 4x greater, the tension strength 3x greater, and the flexural strength was 8x greater. In addition, the fire resistance is comparable and the density is about 40% less. The details of this research are provided in the paper

The effect of a varied NH3 flux on growth of AlN interlayers for InAlN/GaN heterostructures

The effects of AlN interlayer growth conditions on InAlN/AlN/GaN heterostructures are investigated, with interlayers imaged as they would appear prior to InAlN barrier layer deposition using surface atomic force microscopy scans undertaken immediately after growth. Surface morphologies and subsequent heterostructure conductivity suggested minimum on-resistance can be achieved by balancing the underlying GaN channel decomposition and interfacial roughening when deciding AlN interlayer growth parameters on a sapphire substrate of a given miscut. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC. (DOI: 10.1063/1.4818645

Evaluation of striped bass stocks in Virginia, monitoring and tagging studies, 2010-2014 Progress report, 1 September 2013 - 31 August 2014

This report presents the results of striped bass (Morone saxatilis) tagging and monitoring activities in Virginia during the period 1 September 2013 through 31 August 2014. It includes an assessment of the biological characteristics of striped bass taken from the 2014 spring spawning run, estimates of annual survival and fishing mortality based on annual spring tagging, and the results of the study that documents the prevalence of mycobacterial infections of striped bass in Chesapeake Bay. Also included is information on gear selectivity of recreational anglers for striped bass and on impacts of dermal mycobacteriosis on striped bass. The information contained in this report is required by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and is used to implement a coordinated management plan for striped bass in Virginia, and along the eastern seaboard

The Role of Mycobacteriosis in Elevated Natural Mortality of Chesapeake Bay Striped Bass: Developing Better Models for Stock Assessment and Management : a final report

Mycobacteriosis is a chronic systemic disease of fishes caused by bacteria belonging to the genus Mycobacterium. The disease currently affects striped bass throughout Chesapeake Bay and prevalence is higher than 90% in certain age groups. Two recently described species, M. shottsii and M. pseudoshottsii, are the most common isolates obtained from diseased fish and are considered the primary etiologic agents. Recent indications that natural mortality (M) has become elevated in Chesapeake Bay striped bass and that mycobacteriosis may be the underlying cause, has caused concern among fishermen, fisheries managers and scientists. However, fundamental questions, such as transmission mode, duration of disease states, impacts of disease on fish movements, feeding and reproduction remain unanswered. A central unanswered question is whether the disease causes mortality. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop new approaches for estimating the contribution of mycobacteriosis to natural mortality in the striped bass (e.g., disease-associated mortality component of M)

Evaluation of striped bass stocks in Virginia, monitoring and tagging studies, 2010-2014 : Progress report, 1 September 2010 - 31 August 2011

This report presents the results of striped bass (Morone saxatilis) tagging and monitoring activities in Virginia during the period 1 September 2010 through 31 August 2011. It includes an assessment of the biological characteristics of striped bass taken from the 2011 spring spawning run, estimates of annual survival and fishing mortality based on annual spring tagging, and the results of the study that documents the prevalence of mycobacterial infections of striped bass in Chesapeake Bay. The information contained in this report is required by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and is used to implement a coordinated management plan for striped bass in Virginia, and along the eastern seaboard

Quantitative single shot and spatially resolved plasma wakefield diagnostics

Diagnosing plasma conditions can give great advantages in optimizing plasma wakefield accelerator experiments. One possible method is that of photon acceleration. By propagating a laser probe pulse through a plasma wakefield and extracting the imposed frequency modulation, one can obtain an image of the density modulation of the wakefield. In order to diagnose the wakefield parameters at a chosen point in the plasma, the probe pulse crosses the plasma at oblique angles relative to the wakefield. In this paper, mathematical expressions relating the frequency modulation of the laser pulse and the wakefield density profile of the plasma for oblique crossing angles are derived. Multidimensional particle-in-cell simulation results presented in this paper confirm that the frequency modulation profiles and the density modulation profiles agree to within 10%. Limitations to the accuracy of the measurement are discussed in this paper. This technique opens new possibilities to quantitatively diagnose the plasma wakefield density at known positions within the plasma column

Quantitative single shot and spatially resolved plasma wakefield diagnostics

Diagnosing plasma conditions can give great advantages in optimizing plasma wakefield accelerator experiments. One possible method is that of photon acceleration. By propagating a laser probe pulse through a plasma wakefield and extracting the imposed frequency modulation, one can obtain an image of the density modulation of the wakefield. In order to diagnose the wakefield parameters at a chosen point in the plasma, the probe pulse crosses the plasma at oblique angles relative to the wakefield. In this paper, mathematical expressions relating the frequency modulation of the laser pulse and the wakefield density profile of the plasma for oblique crossing angles are derived. Multidimensional particle-in-cell simulation results presented in this paper confirm that the frequency modulation profiles and the density modulation profiles agree to within 10%. Limitations to the accuracy of the measurement are discussed in this paper. This technique opens new possibilities to quantitatively diagnose the plasma wakefield density at known positions within the plasma column