NOACs versus warfarin for stroke prevention in patients with AF : a systematic review and meta-analysis

Acknowledgments Revman software was used for meta-analysis, a free download from the Cochrane Collaboration. GRADE pro software was used to formulate the GRADE summary of findings table, a free download from the GRADE working group.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Creation and uptake of language classroom research

The “First JACET Summer and English Education Joint Seminar” held at Kyoto in August 2018 had a classroom research theme framed by the following three questions: Why revisit classroom research now? Who are the practitioners? How might we approach classroom research now? This paper explores these three questions about language classroom research by raising some of the key issues in the English language teaching field about publication (engagement in research) related to practice and the uptake of ideas in published research (engagement with research). A primary focus of this paper is on the relevance to classroom practitioners of articles published in prestigious journals in the ELT field. The paper concludes with suggestions for closing the gap between what researchers write for consumption and what second/foreign language teachers want to consume in terms of research on teaching

Rock, Rap, or Reggaeton?: Assessing Mexican Immigrants' Cultural Assimilation Using Facebook Data

The degree to which Mexican immigrants in the U.S. are assimilating culturally has been widely debated. To examine this question, we focus on musical taste, a key symbolic resource that signals the social positions of individuals. We adapt an assimilation metric from earlier work to analyze self-reported musical interests among immigrants in Facebook. We use the relative levels of interest in musical genres, where a similarity to the host population in musical preferences is treated as evidence of cultural assimilation. Contrary to skeptics of Mexican assimilation, we find significant cultural convergence even among first-generation immigrants, which problematizes their use as assimilative "benchmarks" in the literature. Further, 2nd generation Mexican Americans show high cultural convergence vis-\`a-vis both Anglos and African-Americans, with the exception of those who speak Spanish. Rather than conforming to a single assimilation path, our findings reveal how Mexican immigrants defy simple unilinear theoretical expectations and illuminate their uniquely heterogeneous character.Comment: WebConf 201

Effects of sower type and seedbed density on bareroot seedling morphology and early field performance of an East Texas family of loblolly pine

Precision sowing is commonly used at forest tree nurseries in order to improve the growing space uniformity of seedlings in the beds. Temple-Inland Forest Products Corporation recently purchased a vacuum sower and requested a study be conducted comparing their new sower with a drill sower on the morphological characteristics of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) at lifting. The study was conducted in 2000 and repeated in 2001. The seed were sown using the two sower types to achieve four densities of 161 , 215, 269, and 323 seedlings/m2• Two half-sibling families were tested in 2000, and one halfsibling family was tested in 2001 . For both studies, the experimental design was a randomized complete block with four replications. Cultural practices used to grow the seedlings were typical for the nursery. The seedlings were hand-lifted mid-winter for measurements of stem height, root-collar diameter, and oven-dry biomass. For the 2001 study, seedlings were handplanted 1 week after lifting in a clearcut near Etoile, TX. The mean morphology of the seedlings was similar when comparing the two sowers. When averaged for all densities, more seedlings with small root-collar diameters (s; 3 mm) were sampled in the 2000 study from the drill sower plots than from the vacuum sower plots. For the 2001 study, slightly more seedlings with small diameters were sampled from the vacuum sower plots. At typical operational densities of 215 and 269 seedlings/m2, the use of the vacuum sower resulted in more seedlings at lifting, fewer small-diameter seedlings, and more large-diameter seedlings (~ 5 mm). As seedbed density was reduced, mean seedling root-collar diameter and oven-dry biomass increased. Seedlings grown in the nursery at 161 seedlings/m2 were taller after the first and second growing season following planting

The effects of sower and bed density on bareroot loblolly pine seedling morphology and early height growth

Precision sowing is commonly used at forest tree nurseries in order to improve the growing space uniformity of seedlings in the beds. Temple-Inland Forest Products Corporation recently purchased a vacuum sower and requested a study be conducted comparing their new sower with a drill sower on the morphological characteristics of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) at lifting. The study was conducted in 2000 and repeated in 2001. The seed were sown using the two sower types to achieve four densities of 161, 215, 269, and 323 seedlings/m2. Two half-sibling families were tested in 2000, and one halfsibling family was tested in 2001. For both studies, the experimental design was a randomized complete block with four replications. Cultural practices used to grow the seedlings were typical for the nursery. The seedlings were hand-lifted mid-winter for measurements of stem height, root-collar diameter, and oven-dry biomass. For the 2001 study, seedlings were handplanted 1 week after lifting in a clearcut near Etoile, TX. The mean morphology of the seedlings was similar when comparing the two sowers. hen averaged for all densities, more seedlings with small root-collar diameters (≤ 3 mm) were sampled in the 2000 study from the drill sower plots than from the vacuum sower plots. For the 2001 study, slightly more seedlings with small diameters were sampled from the vacuum sower plots. At typical operational densities of 215 and 269 seedlings/m2, the use of the vacuum sower resulted in more seedlings at lifting, fewer small-diameter seedlings, and more large-diameter seedlings (≥ 5 mm). As seedbed density was reduced, mean seedling root-collar diameter and oven-dry biomass increased. Seedlings grown in the nursery at 161 seedlings/m2 were taller after the first and second growing season following planting

Collisional stripping of planetary crusts

Geochemical studies of planetary accretion and evolution have invoked various degrees of collisional erosion to explain differences in bulk composition between planets and chondrites. Here we undertake a full, dynamical evaluation of 'crustal stripping' during accretion and its key geochemical consequences. We present smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations of collisions between differentiated rocky planetesimals and planetary embryos. We find that the crust is preferentially lost relative to the mantle during impacts, and we have developed a scaling law that approximates the mass of crust that remains in the largest remnant. Using this scaling law and a recent set of N-body simulations, we have estimated the maximum effect of crustal stripping on incompatible element abundances during the accretion of planetary embryos. We find that on average one third of the initial crust is stripped from embryos as they accrete, which leads to a reduction of ~20% in the budgets of the heat producing elements if the stripped crust does not reaccrete. Erosion of crusts can lead to non-chondritic ratios of incompatible elements, but the magnitude of this effect depends sensitively on the details of the crust-forming melting process. The Lu/Hf system is fractionated for a wide range of crustal formation scenarios. Using eucrites (the products of planetesimal silicate melting, thought to represent the crust of Vesta) as a guide to the Lu/Hf of planetesimal crust partially lost during accretion, we predict the Earth could evolve to a superchondritic 176-Hf/177-Hf (3-5 parts per ten thousand) at present day. Such values are in keeping with compositional estimates of the bulk Earth. Stripping of planetary crusts during accretion can lead to detectable changes in bulk composition of lithophile elements, but the fractionation is relatively subtle, and sensitive to the efficiency of reaccretion.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures. Accepted for publication in EPSL. Abstract shortened. Accompanying animations can be found at http://www.star.bris.ac.uk/pcarter/crust_strip

Sustainable lifestyles: sites, practices and policy

Author's draft. Final version published in Environment and Planning A. Available online at http://www.envplan.com/A.htmlPro-environmental behaviour change remains a high priority for many governments and agencies and there are now numerous programmes aimed at encouraging citizens to adopt sustainable forms of living. However, although programmes for addressing behaviour change in and around the home are well developed, there has been significantly less attention paid to activities beyond this site of practice. This is despite the environmental implications of consumption choices for leisure, tourism and work-related activities. Notwithstanding the extensive literatures which have explored environmental practices at a wide range of specific sites, there has been little research on the relationships between sites of practice and environmental behaviours. Using data from a series of in-depth interviews, this paper identifies two major challenges for academics and practitioners concerned with understanding and promoting more environmentally-responsible behaviour. First, attention must shift beyond the home as a site of environmental practice to consider the ways in which individuals respond to exhortations towards ‘greener’ lifestyles in other high-consumption and carbon-intensive contexts, particularly leisure and tourism. Second, in broadening the scope of environmental practice, policy makers need to re-visit their reliance on segmentation models and related social marketing approaches. This is in the light of data that suggest those with strong environmental commitments in the home are often reluctant to engage in similar commitments in other sites of practice

Compact Airborne Image Mapping System (CAIMS)

Airborne image mapping systems, to a large extent, remain the preserve of specialist aerial survey companies and research groups. This paper describes the current status of the CAIMS project, established in July 2006 at the National Centre of Geocomputation, National University of Ireland, Maynooth with their industrial partner; Compass Informatics, Dublin. It’s chief objective is to develop a compact, less complex, mobile airborne mapping system. Historically, aerial survey systems comprise technically complex and expensive image mapping systems. These high-end camera and navigation systems are usually installed in aircraft that have been specially adapted to carry out this activity. A dedicated full time team, including Survey Manager, Pilots and Observers are required to support this activity. Compounding the situation is the cost of advanced software modules and associated Data Processing specialists required to turn these data into useful georectified and orthorectified image products. Meanwhile, more advanced, less complex, reasonably priced imaging and navigation sensors continue to appear on the market. Allied to this trend are less complex, cheaper data processing modules enabling data to be collected and processed in a cost effective and timely manner. The CAIMS project was setup to review current technology for compact, relatively in-expensive, mobile aerial image mapping systems. The chief research objective was to develop a complete system in terms of survey operation, data acquisition and processing. Some secondary objectives include: (i) the development of a compact acquisition system that could be installed in common light-aircraft, using a removable, fully licensed mounting system; and (ii) the development of in-flight survey management software tools and downstream pre-processing modules enabling rapid turnaround of georectified mosaics. No attempt is made to reduce the role of conventional image survey systems but rather it is to look at areas where this new technology could be used to complement existing survey work and, indeed, open up new sectors. Some examples of the latter include development of rapid mobile aerial mapping methodologies and route corridor surveys. The results of this work will help develop novel solutions for some age-old aerial survey problems and so enable a wider audience access to this rapidly evolving technology