Violence brief interventions: a rapid review

Provision of a Violence Brief Intervention (VBI) to young men undergoing treatment for a violent injury may represent a teachable moment for the prevention of future interpersonal violence in Scotland. Prior to intervention design, a rapid review of the research literature was necessary to examine existing programmes. After title and abstract screening, eight distinct VBIs were identified from full texts. Whilst none of the programmes were a perfect match for our intervention goals, they did demonstrate the potential effectiveness of brief interventions for violence prevention at both cognitive and behavioural levels. Key themes of successful interventions included brief motivational interviewing as an effective method of engaging with at-risk participants and encouraging change, the utility of social norms approaches for correcting peer norm misperceptions, the usefulness of working with victims of violence in medical settings (particularly oral and maxillofacial surgeries), the importance of addressing the role of alcohol after violent injury, the advantages of a computer-therapist hybrid model of delivery, and the need for adequate follow-up evaluation as part of a randomised control trial. This information has been used to design a VBI which is currently under evaluation

Molecular interactions of plant and algal polysaccharides

This paper gives an overview of the interaction in solution of certain plant and algal polysaccharides with cations and also of their interaction in admixture with other polysaccharides and proteins. The mechanism of gelation of pectin and alginate in the presence of calcium ions is discussed together with the specific binding of potassium ions to kappa carrageenan and its influence on the coli-helix transition. The associative and segregative phase behaviour that is encountered in aqueous solutions of mixed polysaccharide systems is considered together with the formation of soluble and insoluble complexes in mixtures of polysaccharides and proteins

Dispersion of antimony from oxidizing ore deposits

The solubilities of brandholzite, [Mg(H2O)6][Sb(OH)6]2, and bottinoite, [Ni(H2O)6][Sb(OH)6]2, at 25 °C in water have been measured. Solubilities are 1.95(4) × 10-3 and 3.42(11) × 10-4 mol dm-3, respectively. The incongruent dissolution of romeite, Ca2Sb2O7, and bindheimite, Pb2Sb2O7, at 25 °C in 0.100 mol dm-3 aqueous HNO3 was also investigated. Equilibrium dissolved Sb concentrations were 3.3 ± 1.0 × 10-7 and 7.7 ± 2.1 × 10-8 mol dm-3, respectively. These values have been used to re-evaluate the geochemical mobility of Sb in the supergene environment. It is concluded that the element is geochemically immobile in solution and in soils. This was in part validated by an orientation soil geochemical survey over the Bayley Park prospect near Armidale, New South Wales, Australia. Anomalous soil Sb levels are confined to within 100 m of known stibnite mineralizatio

Characterisation and solution properties of a galactomannan from Bauhinia monandra seeds

This study reports on the chemical and physicochemical properties of the polysaccharide isolated from Bauhinia monandra seeds. The seeds were found to contain 17.8% polysaccharide which consisted predominantly of galactose and mannose. The Man/Gal ratio was found to be approximately 4:1and the average molar mass was 2.54 × 105 g/mol. The extracted material was also found to contain a small amount of protein (5.35%). The galactomannan produced highly viscous solution; the viscosity–shear rate profile was best described by the Williamson model. The mechanical spectrum of a 0.5 wt% solution showed that G″ was greater than G′ over the frequency range employed while at higher concentrations G′ became greater than G″ above a critical frequency. The solutions obeyed the Cox-Merz rule at low concentrations, but there was some deviation at higher concentrations. Viscosity measurements were undertaken over a range of temperatures and the activation energy of viscous flow was found to be 20.75 kJ/mol. The rheological properties of solutions of B. monandra galactomannan indicate that it has comparable characteristics to other commercially important galactomannans such as guar gum and locust bean gum and hence has potential as a thickener in the formulation of food and other related products

Conservation of engrailed-like homeobox sequences during vertebrate evolution

AbstractThe Drosophila melanogaster developmental gene engrailed (en) is a member of a distinct subfamily of homeobox genes with a wide phylogenetic distribution. Here we report the use of reduced stringency polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to amplify and clone 8 genes related to en from 5 vertebrate species, including representatives of the most ancient vertebrate lineages. Nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequence comparisons between mouse, toad, zebrafish, lamprey and hagfish genes reveal extensive evolutionary conservation, and suggests that 2 en-like genes have been retained in most vertebrate lineages

Rheological properties of a polysaccharide isolated from Adansonia digitata leaves

The rheological properties of Adansonia digitata leaf polysaccharide were studied in dilute and semi-dilute solutions. The intrinsic viscosity of the polysaccharide obtained by Fedors equation and the combined Huggins and Kraemer extrapolations was ∼3.27 dL/g. The polysaccharide contained random coil macromolecules with mass average molecular mass of 4.01 × 106 g/mol. The polysaccharide in semi-dilute concentrations exhibited strong shear thinning property, and viscoelastic behaviour was observed with solutions within (3–5% (w/w)) consistent with the formation of entangled random coil macromolecules in solution. The polysaccharide solutions were sensitive to temperature and the minimum energy to initiate flow in 4.0% polysaccharide solution calculated from Arrhenius plot of zero shear viscosity as a function of temperature was 48.6 kJ/mol. The FTIR spectral studies of the polysaccharide confirmed the presence of uronic acid groups

The Effect on Meat Quality of Integrating Pasturing Systems into Cattle Finishing Programs

Forage source and quality in finishing cattle programs continue to be a source of concern because of economics and also because of their impact on beef eating qualities. The integration of pasturing systems for cattle finishing programs should allow the producer to produce a leaner and possibly more economical beef supply thus benefiting the consumer and the producer. This experiment was designed to investigate alternative pasture management systems for finishing cattle and to study the impact on meat quality