A New Framework for Modelling Fine Sediment Transport in Rivers Includes Flocculation to Inform Reservoir Management in Wildfire Impacted Watersheds

Fine-grained cohesive sediment is the primary vector for nutrient and contaminant redistribution through aquatic systems and is a critical indicator of land disturbance. A critical limitation of most existing sediment transport models is that they assume that the transport characteristics of fine sediment can be described using the same approaches that are used for coarse-grained non-cohesive sediment, thereby ignoring the tendency of fine sediment to flocculate. Here, a modelling framework to simulate flow and fine sediment transport in the Crowsnest River, the Castle River, the Oldman River and the Oldman Reservoir after the 2003 Lost Creek wildfire in Alberta, Canada was developed and validated. It is the first to include explicit description of fine sediment deposition/erosion processes as a function of bed shear stress and the flocculation process. This framework integrates four existing numerical models: MOBED, RIVFLOC, RMA2 and RMA4 using river geometry, flow, fine suspended sediment characteristics and bathymetry data. Sediment concentration and particle size distributions computed by RIVFLOC were used as the upstream boundary condition for the reservoir dispersion model RMA4. The predicted particle size distributions and mass of fine river sediment deposited within various sections of the reservoir indicate that most of the fine sediment generated by the upstream disturbance deposits in the reservoir. Deposition patterns of sediment from wildfire-impacted landscapes were different than those from unburned landscapes because of differences in settling behaviour. These differences may lead to zones of relatively increased internal loading of phosphorus to reservoir water columns, thereby increasing the potential for algae proliferation. In light of the growing threats to water resources globally from wildfire, the generic framework described herein can be used to model propagation of fine river sediment and associated nutrients or contaminants to reservoirs under different flow conditions and land use scenarios. The framework is thereby a valuable tool to support decision making for water resources management and catchment planning

Leadership in Improving Schools: A Qualitative Perspective

This article reports early case-study data gathered from 20 schools involved in the ‘Impact of School Leadership on Pupil Outcomes’ project. We present and discuss the perceptions of headteachers and other school leaders regarding leadership factors that directly and indirectly affect pupil outcomes in these improving schools. Included are issues relating to the pivotal role played by the headteacher in setting and communicating a strategic vision for the school; models of distributed leadership; and the building of leadership capacity so as to build a collective responsibility for the improvement of pupil outcomes

How can the skills of Early Years leaders support other leaders in a primary school setting?

This study investigated the leadership skills Early Years leaders demonstrated through their daily practice of teaching, assessing and teamwork within their setting. It explored how revealing the potential of Early Years leaders could have a positive impact on the leadership practice of other leaders in the same setting to improve pupil outcomes. A qualitative approach using interviews with Early Years leaders in 20 primary settings from the East Midlands and Bedfordshire areas was undertaken by two academics from two different UK based universities. Ethical guidelines ensuring anonymity and trustworthiness were followed. Using verbatim comments, data were analysed in themes against contemporary Early Years literature. Findings showed the skills of Early Years leaders could support pedagogy and practice but some of these skills were not utilized beyond this age phase. Our conclusion suggested that Early Years leaders had a range of leadership skills which were deemed specialist as they were unique to the success of the age phase, but needed to be exposed beyond Early Years for wider success and impact

PARP-1 Val762Ala Polymorphism Is Associated with Risk of Cervical Carcinoma

PARP-1 is a nuclear enzyme that plays an important role in DNA repair, recombination, proliferation and the genome stability. The PARP-1 Val762Ala polymorphism has been associated with increased risk of developing cancers of the prostate, esophagus and lung. The aim of this study was to determine whether the PARP-1 Val762Ala polymorphism is associated with the risk of cervical carcinoma. MA-PCR was used to genotype the PARP-1 Val762Ala polymorphism in 539 women with cervical carcinoma, 480 women with CIN and 800 controls. The genotyping method was confirmed by the DNA sequencing analysis. The PARP-1 Val762Ala polymorphism was not associated with the risk of CIN. However, women carrying the PARP-1 Ala762Ala genotype were significantly susceptible to cervical carcinoma (OR: 2.70, 95% CI: 1.47–3.70), and the similar results were also found in squamous cell carcinoma (OR: 2.56, 95% CI: 1.47–3.70). In HPV positive population, the PARP-1 Ala762Ala genotype was also associated with increased risk of cervical carcinoma (OR: 5.56, 95% CI: 2.08–14.3). Our results indicate that the PARP-1 Ala762Ala genotype increases the risk of cervical carcinoma

Detection of sexually transmitted infection and human papillomavirus in negative cytology by multiplex-PCR

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) and 15 species that cause sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in negative cytology. In addition, we compared the diagnostic performance of multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with widely available techniques used to detect HPV.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We recruited 235 women of reproductive age who had negative cytology findings in a liquid-based cervical smear. STIs were identified by multiplex PCR, and HPV genotypes by multiplex PCR, hybrid capture 2, and DNA microaray; discordant results were analyzed by direct sequencing.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Approximately 96.6% of patients with negative cytology results were positive for pathogens that cause STIs. The pathogens most frequently detected were <it>Gardnerella vaginalis, Ureaplasma urealyticum</it>. The incidence of HPV in negative cytology was 23.3%. Low-risk HPV infection was significantly correlated with <it>Chalmaydia trachomatis</it>, and high-risk HPV infection was significantly correlated with <it>Group β streptococcus</it>. The analytical sensitivities of the multiplex PCR and DNA microarray were higher than 80%, and the analytical specificity was nearly 100% for all tests.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Multiplex PCR yielded results that most of patients with negative cytology were positive for pathogens that cause STIs, and were more similar to that of DNA microarray, than that of hybrid capture 2 in terms of analytical sensitivity and prediction value of HPV infection.</p

Population-based type-specific prevalence of high-risk human papillomavirus infection in Estonia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Effective prophylactic vaccines are available against human papillomavirus (HPV) types 6, 11, 16, and 18 which are licensed for routine use among young women. Monitoring is needed to demonstrate protection against cervical cancer, to verify duration of protection, and assess replacement frequency of non-vaccine types among vaccinated cohorts.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data from a population-based study were used to assess the type-specific prevalence of HPV in a non-vaccinated population in Estonia: 845 self-administered surveys and self-collected vaginal swabs were distributed, 346 were collected by mail and tested for HPV DNA from female participants 18-35 years of age.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The overall HPV prevalence (weighted estimate to account for the sampling method) in the study population (unvaccinated women aged 18-35) was calculated to be 38% (95% CI 31-45%), with estimated prevalences of high- and low-risk HPV types 21% (95% CI 16-26%), and 10% (95% CI 7-14%), respectively. Of the high-risk HPV types, HPV 16 was detected most frequently (6.4%; 95% CI 4.0-9.8%) followed by HPV 53 (4.3%; 95% CI 2.3-7.2%) and HPV 66 (2.8%; 95% CI 1.3-5.2%).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We observed a high prevalence of total and high-risk type HPV in an Eastern European country. The most common high-risk HPV types detected were HPV 16, 53, and 66.</p

"Cognitive Penetrability" - Ch 3 of Seemings and Epistemic Justification

In this chapter I introduce the thesis that perceptual appearances are cognitively penetrable and analyse cases made against phenomenal conservatism hinging on this thesis. In particular, I focus on objections coming from the externalist reliabilist camp and the internalist inferentialist camp. I conclude that cognitive penetrability doesn’t yield lethal or substantive difficulties for phenomenal conservatism