Letter from Francis A. Wood to John Muir, 1906 Mar 7.

March 7th 1906[letterhead]Mr. John Muir.Martinez, California.My dear Mr. Muir,I have great pride and pleasure in acknowledging gift of your autograph to our library collection, [illegible]l [illegible]gh the kindness of Miss Jessie Wheeler.With warmest thanks and appreciation, I am Cordially yours,Frances A. WoodLibrarian0370

Chalk streams and grazing mute swans

The evidence shows that swan grazing can reduce plant abundance, prevent flowering, reduce water depth and reduce fishery value. However, these effects seem to be limited to a small number of sites on larger chalk streams. The results of attempted management have been disappointing, and we currently have no simple effective means of preventing grazing damage. However, our understanding of the effects of swans on the chalk stream ecosystem has been growing rapidly, which gives us hope for future solutions. In particular, combining strategies which improve river condition and move swans away from sensitive areas could offer a way of managing grazing effects

Association between reduced stillbirth rates in England and regional uptake of accreditation training in customised fetal growth assessment

Objective: To assess the effect that accreditation training in fetal growth surveillance and evidence-based protocols had on stillbirth rates in England and Wales. Design: Analysis of mortality data from Office of National Statistics. Setting: England and Wales, including three National Health Service (NHS) regions (West Midlands, North East and Yorkshire and the Humber) which between 2008 and 2011 implemented training programmes in customised fetal growth assessment. Population: Live births and stillbirths in England and Wales between 2007 and 2012. Main: outcome measure Stillbirth. Results: There was a significant downward trend (p=0.03) in stillbirth rates between 2007 and 2012 in England to 4.81/1000, the lowest rate recorded since adoption of the current stillbirth definition in 1992. This drop was due to downward trends in each of the three English regions with high uptake of accreditation training, and led in turn to the lowest stillbirth rates on record in each of these regions. In contrast, there was no significant change in stillbirth rates in the remaining English regions and Wales, where uptake of training had been low. The three regions responsible for the record drop in national stillbirth rates made up less than a quarter (24.7%) of all births in England. The fall in stillbirth rate was most pronounced in the West Midlands, which had the most intensive training programme, from the preceding average baseline of 5.73/1000 in 2000–2007 to 4.47/1000 in 2012, a 22% drop which is equivalent to 92 fewer deaths a year. Extrapolated to the whole of the UK, this would amount to over 1000 fewer stillbirths each year. Conclusions: A training and accreditation programme in customised fetal growth assessment with evidence-based protocols was associated with a reduction in stillbirths in high-uptake areas and resulted in a national drop in stillbirth rates to their lowest level in 20 years

Parents' and clinicians' views of an interactive booklet about respiratory tract infections in children: a qualitative process evaluation of the EQUIP randomised controlled trial

Background: ‘When should I worry?’ is an interactive booklet for parents of children presenting with respiratory tract infections (RTIs) in primary care and associated training for clinicians. A randomised controlled trial (the EQUIP study) demonstrated that this intervention reduced antibiotic prescribing and future consulting intentions. The aims of this qualitative process evaluation were to understand how acceptable the intervention was to clinicians and parents, how it was implemented, the mechanisms for any observed effects, and contextual factors that could have influenced its effects.<p></p> Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 parents and 13 clinicians who participated in the trial. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed using a framework approach, which involved five stages; familiarisation, development of a thematic framework, indexing, charting, and interpretation.<p></p> Results: Most parents and clinicians reported that the ‘When should I worry’ interactive booklet (and online training for clinicians) was easy to use and valuable. Information on recognising signs of serious illness and the usual duration of illness were most valued. The interactive use of the booklet during consultations was considered to be important, but this did not always happen. Clinicians reported lack of time, lack of familiarity with using the booklet, and difficulty in modifying their treatment plan/style of consultation as barriers to use. Increased knowledge and confidence amongst clinicians and patients were seen as key components that contributed to the reductions in antibiotic prescribing and intention to consult seen in the trial. This was particularly pertinent in a context where decisions about the safe and appropriate management of childhood RTIs were viewed as complex and parents reported frequently receiving inconsistent messages. Conclusions: The ‘When should I worry’ booklet, which is effective in reducing antibiotic prescribing, has high acceptability for clinicians and parents, helps address gaps in knowledge, increases confidence, and provides a consistent message. However, it is not always implemented as intended. Plans for wider implementation of the intervention in health care settings would need to address clinician-related barriers to implementation

Orbiter Entry Aeroheating Working Group Viscous CFD Boundary Layer Transition Trailblazer Solutions

Boundary layer transition correlations for the Shuttle Orbiter have been previously developed utilizing a two-layer boundary layer prediction technique. The particular two-layer technique that was used is limited to Mach numbers less than 20. To allow assessments at Mach numbers greater than 20, it is proposed to use viscous CFD to the predict boundary layer properties. This report addresses if the existing Orbiter entry aeroheating viscous CFD solutions, which were originally intended to be used for heat transfer rate predictions, adequately resolve boundary layer edge properties and if the existing two-layer results could be leveraged to reduce the number of needed CFD solutions. The boundary layer edge parameters from viscous CFD solutions are extracted along the wind side centerline of the Space Shuttle Orbiter at reentry conditions, and are compared with results from the two-layer boundary layer prediction technique. The differences between the viscous CFD and two-layer prediction techniques vary between Mach 6 and 18 flight conditions and Mach 6 wind tunnel conditions, and there is not a straightforward scaling between the viscous CFD and two-layer values. Therefore: it is not possible to leverage the existing two-layer Orbiter flight boundary layer data set as a substitute for a viscous CFD data set; but viscous CFD solutions at the current grid resolution are sufficient to produce a boundary layer data set suitable for applying edge-based boundary layer transition correlations

Report of the panel on volcanology, section 4

Two primary goals are identified as focal to NASA's research efforts in volcanology during the 1990s: to understand the eruption of lavas, gases, and aerosols from volcanoes, the dispersal of these materials on the Earth's surface and through the atmosphere, and the effects of these eruptions on the climate and environment; and to understand the physical processes that lead to the initiation of volcanic activity, that influence the styles of volcanic eruptions, and that dictate the morphology and evolution of volcanic landforms. Strategy and data requirements as well as research efforts are discussed

Bio-inspired Distributed Strain and Airflow Sensing for Small Unmanned Air Vehicle Flight Control

Flying animals such as birds, bats and insects all have extensive arrays of sensory or- gans distributed in their wings which provide them with detailed information about the airflow over their wings and the forces generated by this airflow. Using two small modified unmanned air vehicle platforms (UAVs), one with a distributed array of 12 strain gauge sensors and one with a chord-wise array of 4 pressure sensors, we have examined the dis- tribution of the strain and air pressure signals over the UAV wings in relation to flight conditions, including wind tunnel testing, indoor free flight and outdoor free flight. We have also characterised the signals provided by controlled gusts and natural turbulence. These sensors were then successfully used to control roll motions in the case of the strain sensor platform and pitch motions in the case of the pressure sensor platform. These results suggest that distributed mechanosensing and airflow sensing both offer advantages beyond traditional flight control based on rigid body state estimation using inertial sensing. These advantages include stall detection, gust alleviation and model-free measurement of aerodynamic forces. These advantages are likely to be important in the development of future aircraft with increasing numbers of degrees of freedom both through flexibility and active morphing.</p

Multi-Level Risk and Protective Factors for Substance Use among Zambian Street Youth

Background: High rates of substance use have been reported among youth in Zambia. This is particularly concerning given that substance use is one of the biggest risk factors placing young people at risk for HIV infection. Objectives: The purpose of the current study is to examine how multilevel risk and protective factors (i.e., community, family, peers, individual) influence alcohol and marijuana use. Methods: A total of 250 street youth in Lusaka, Zambia, were interviewed in the summer of 2014 about their alcohol and marijuana use and reasons for usage. Data were analyzed using descriptive and multivariate methods. Results: Youth reported high rates of alcohol use. At the multivariate level, peer- and individual-level variables (e.g., using alcohol or drugs for coping or for fun) explained the most variance, followed by family-level factors. Community-level variables explained the least variance in all models. Conclusion/Importance: A better understanding of multilevel risk and protective factors for young people’s alcohol and marijuana use could lead to the development of better intervention strategies to reduce this behavior among Zambian street youth

Can sacrificial feeding areas protect aquatic plants from herbivore grazing? Using behavioural ecology to inform wildlife management

Effective wildlife management is needed for conservation, economic and human well-being objectives. However, traditional population control methods are frequently ineffective, unpopular with stakeholders, may affect non-target species, and can be both expensive and impractical to implement. New methods which address these issues and offer effective wildlife management are required. We used an individual-based model to predict the efficacy of a sacrificial feeding area in preventing grazing damage by mute swans (Cygnus olor) to adjacent river vegetation of high conservation and economic value. The accuracy of model predictions was assessed by a comparison with observed field data, whilst prediction robustness was evaluated using a sensitivity analysis. We used repeated simulations to evaluate how the efficacy of the sacrificial feeding area was regulated by (i) food quantity, (ii) food quality, and (iii) the functional response of the forager. Our model gave accurate predictions of aquatic plant biomass, carrying capacity, swan mortality, swan foraging effort, and river use. Our model predicted that increased sacrificial feeding area food quantity and quality would prevent the depletion of aquatic plant biomass by swans. When the functional response for vegetation in the sacrificial feeding area was increased, the food quantity and quality in the sacrificial feeding area required to protect adjacent aquatic plants were reduced. Our study demonstrates how the insights of behavioural ecology can be used to inform wildlife management. The principles that underpin our model predictions are likely to be valid across a range of different resource-consumer interactions, emphasising the generality of our approach to the evaluation of strategies for resolving wildlife management problems