'Do the resilient things.' Residents' perspectives on responsibilities for flood risk adaptation in England

Residents should take adaptive action to reduce flood risk – this claim increasingly resonates in the academic debate on flood risk management (FRM). Hence it must be assumed that a change in the division of responsibilities between actors involved is an imperative, i.e., beyond the public authorities, residents should become more responsible for their own flood resilience. However, residents’ perspectives on their own and other’s responsibility for adaptive action has not yet been explored extensively. In this contribution, we distinguish between four notions of responsibility in analysing the perspectives of residents regarding flood risk adaptation measures undertaken by public authorities, insurance companies and residents themselves. A qualitative study in England shows how residents perceive responsibilities for flood risk adaptation across the various notions and actors, including themselves. We found that residents have clear expectations and perceptions on how they think responsibility is divided among stakeholders and how they would like it to be. Additionally, the discourse on responsibility division in FRM raises questions and causes mismatches between the formal legal parameters and residents’ perceptions. With the insights into residents’ perceptions, opportunities arise to better inform and encourage them to take flood risk adaptation measures and thereby improve flood resilience

Melt block copolymerization of ε-caprolactone and L-lactide

AB block copolymers of ε-caprolactone and (L)-lactide could be prepared by ring-opening polymerization in the melt at 110°C using stannous octoate as a catalyst and ethanol as an initiator provided ε-caprolactone was polymerized first. Ethanol initiated the polymerization of ε-caprolactone producing a polymer with ε-caprolactone derived hydroxyl end groups which after addition of L-lactide in the second step of the polymerization initiated the ring-opening copolymerization of L-lactide. The number-average molecular weights of the poly(ε-caprolactone) blocks varied from 1.5 to 5.2 × 103, while those of the poly(L-lactide) blocks ranged from 17.4 to 49.7 × 103. The polydispersities of the block copolymers varied from 1.16 to 1.27. The number-average molecular weights of the polymers were controlled by the monomer/hydroxyl group ratio, and were independent on the monomer/stannous octoate ratio within the range of experimental conditions studied. When L-lactide was polymerized first, followed by copolymerization of ε-caprolactone, random copolymers were obtained. The formation of random copolymers was attributed to the occurrence of transesterification reactions. These side reactions were caused by the ε-caprolactone derived hydroxyl end groups generated during the copolymerization of ε-caprolactone with pre-polymers of L-lactide. The polymerization proceeds through an ester alcoholysis reaction mechanism, in which the stannous octoate activated ester groups of the monomers react with hydroxyl groups

Students' voice on literature teacher excellence:Towards a teacher-organized model of continuing professional development

This study contributes to the development of empirically based, domain-specific teaching standards in upper secondary education. It is part of a Dutch project to develop ecologically valid teaching standards and to find a teacher-organized model for continuing professional development. A previous study about teachers' perceptions of what constitutes an excellent teacher of literature resulted in a set of six domain-specific teaching standards. In this study, an exploratory factor analysis was performed to find out which dimensions or characteristics of an excellent teacher of literature could be gleaned from the students' perspective. We found four similar and two complementary dimensions

{\bf τ\tau-Function Evaluation of Gap Probabilities in Orthogonal and Symplectic Matrix Ensembles}

It has recently been emphasized that all known exact evaluations of gap probabilities for classical unitary matrix ensembles are in fact $\tau$-functions for certain Painlev\'e systems. We show that all exact evaluations of gap probabilities for classical orthogonal matrix ensembles, either known or derivable from the existing literature, are likewise $\tau$-functions for certain Painlev\'e systems. In the case of symplectic matrix ensembles all exact evaluations, either known or derivable from the existing literature, are identified as the mean of two $\tau$-functions, both of which correspond to Hamiltonians satisfying the same differential equation, differing only in the boundary condition. Furthermore the product of these two $\tau$-functions gives the gap probability in the corresponding unitary symmetry case, while one of those $\tau$-functions is the gap probability in the corresponding orthogonal symmetry case.Comment: AMS-Late

Correlation of chlorophyll, suspended matter, and related parameters of waters in the lower Chesapeake Bay area to LANDSAT-1 imagery

The author has identified the following significant results. An effort to relate water parameters of the lower Chesapeake Bay area to multispectral scanner images of LANDSAT 1 has shown that some spectral bands can be correlated to water parameters, and has demonstrated the feasibility of synoptic mapping of estuaries by satellite. Bands 5 and 6 were shown to be useful for monitoring total particles. Band 5 showed high correlation with suspended sediment concentration. Attenuation coefficients monitored continuously by ship along three baselines were cross correlated with radiance values on three days. Improved correlations resulted when tidal conditions were taken into consideration. A contouring program was developed to display sediment variation in the lower Chesapeake Bay from the MSS bands

Determination of ceftiofur derivatives in serum, endometrial tissue, and lochia in puerperal dairy cows after subcutaneous administration of ceftiofur crystalline free acid

Puerperal uterine infections are often associated with decreased reproductive performance in dairy cows. Routine treatment protocols include the systemic administration of antibiotics. Antibiotic drugs, however, should be administered daily over at least 5 d. The objective of this study was to determine concentrations of ceftiofur derivatives in serum, endometrial tissue, and lochia after subcutaneous administration of ceftiofur crystalline free acid in 6 clinically healthy puerperal dairy cows with normal parturition. Samples were taken immediately before treatment, 2 h after, and then every 24 h over a 7-d period. Concentrations of ceftiofur derivatives were quantified using an HPLC assay. In serum and endometrial tissue, ceftiofur derivatives could be detected above the reported minimum drug concentrations required to inhibit relevant pathogens such as Escherichia coli and Arcanobacterium pyogenes over a 7-d period. Concentrations of desfuroylceftiofuracetamide at 5 d after administration of ceftiofur crystalline free acid were 1.21±0.61 μg/mL in serum, 0.86±0.61 μg/mg in endometrial tissue, and 0.96±1.15 μg/mL in lochia. In lochia, mean concentrations of ceftiofur derivatives also remained above the minimal inhibitory concentration of relevant pathogens, but showed greater variations between cows

Boundary conditions associated with the Painlev\'e III' and V evaluations of some random matrix averages

In a previous work a random matrix average for the Laguerre unitary ensemble, generalising the generating function for the probability that an interval $(0,s)$ at the hard edge contains $k$ eigenvalues, was evaluated in terms of a Painlev\'e V transcendent in $\sigma$-form. However the boundary conditions for the corresponding differential equation were not specified for the full parameter space. Here this task is accomplished in general, and the obtained functional form is compared against the most general small $s$ behaviour of the Painlev\'e V equation in $\sigma$-form known from the work of Jimbo. An analogous study is carried out for the the hard edge scaling limit of the random matrix average, which we have previously evaluated in terms of a Painlev\'e \IIId transcendent in $\sigma$-form. An application of the latter result is given to the rapid evaluation of a Hankel determinant appearing in a recent work of Conrey, Rubinstein and Snaith relating to the derivative of the Riemann zeta function