Protective eyewear and educational interventions for the prevention of ocular injuries among stone quarry workers

Introduction: Vision remains a defining character of our interaction within society and loss of this sense can be devastating to the individual. Eye injuries are common and of global concern. An important world-wide public health problem is ocular trauma. In India the impact of trauma on visual acuity is particularly important because of the repercussions on the socio-economic status of the individual and the family. The personal impact of ocular injury is difficult to define, although the lifestyle of the affected individual may be permanently altered. Ocular trauma is a result of the redistribution of kinetic energy to the various ocular structures. This is a force that can disturb any organic or inorganic substance. The extent of ocular injury depends on the nature of trauma, extent of damage to the intraocular structures, presence of intraocular foreign body, and the site of injury. Aim: The overall aims of this study were to: 1. To document the pattern of ocular injuries among quarry workers in quarries around Vellore. 2. To evaluate the efficacy of protective eyewear in reducing ocular injuries. 3. To evaluate the durability of protective eyewear 4. To enhance the acceptance of protective eyewear among quarry workers using educational interventions. For this last aim, a pragmatic cluster randomized trial was designed to compare the effectiveness of enhanced educational interventions over a simpler educational procedure. The unit of randomization were quarries and this cluster design was chosen to prevent contamination of educational interventions between quarries. Discussion: Indian data on prevalence of ocular injuries among quarry workers is scarce and there is no published study on the result of any preventive intervention. In this regards we didn’t have any comparison to make with our study. Most of the workers were males as compared to females Conclusions: Mandatory provision of protective eyewear by the employers to the quarry workers and ensuring their continual usage may go a long way in reducing ocular injuries. Longer periods of follow up would determine the long term acceptability of protective eyewear, the frequency with which they need to be replaced and the continued effectiveness of this strategy in prevention of ocular injuries in stone quarry workers

Accelerated Hatching of Southern Leopard Frog (Rana sphenocephala) Eggs in Response to the Presence of a Crayfish (Procambarus nigrocinctus) Predator

Phenotypic plasticity, such as morphological and behavioral changes in response to predators, is common in larval anurans. Less is known about inducible defenses in the embryonic stages of development. We investigated the predation risk imposed by crayfish (Procambarus nigrocinctus) on southern leopard frog (Rana sphenocephala) eggs aud whether crayfish presence induces a change in the timing of hatching of R. sphenocephala eggs. We found that crayfish significantly reduce the hatching success of R. sphenocephala eggs by eating them and that eggs hatch significantly faster in the presence of crayfish than when crayfish are not present. We also found that the nonlethal presence of crayfish (caged with no access to eggs) induced accelerated hatching, indicating that injured conspecifics are not required to elicit the response. Reception of chemical cues produced or released by crayfish may play an important role in survival of R. sphenocephala eggs

The influence of predator threat on the timing of a life-history switch point: predator-induced hatching in the southern leopard frog (Rana sphenocephala)

We tested the hypotheses that potential egg predators, crayfish Procambarus nigrocinctus and dytiscid Cybister sp. larvae, would accelerate the timing of hatching and that a larval predator, dragonfly naiad Anax junius, would delay hatching in the southern leopard frog (Rana sphenocephala). We also tested the hypothesis that differences in response would be proportional to predator lethality. Our results indicate that our hypotheses were partially supported. The presence of an efficient egg predator (crayfish) induces hatching faster than a less efficient predator (dytiscid larvae). However, the presence of a larval predator (naiads) did not delay hatching. Eggs that developed in the presence of egg predators produced hatchlings that were shorter (total length) than those reared in the presence of larval predators or those reared in the absence of predators. We suggest that earlier hatching times should decrease vulnerability to egg predators but result in shorter hatchlings

University Faculty and Their Knowledge & Acceptance of Biological Evolution

Misconceptions about biological evolution specifically and the nature of science in general are pervasive in our society and culture. The view that biological evolution explains life’s origin(s) and that hypotheses become theories, which then become laws are just two examples of commonly held misconceptions. These misconceptions are reinforced in the media, in people’s personal lives, and in some unfortunate cases in the science classroom. Misconceptions regarding the nature of science (NOS) have been shown to be related to understanding and acceptance of biological evolution. Previous work has looked at several factors that are related to an individual’s understanding of biological evolution, acceptance of biological evolution, and his/her understanding of the NOS. The study presented here investigated understanding and acceptance of biological evolution among a highly educated population: university faculty. To investigate these variables we surveyed 309 faculty at a major public Midwestern university. The questions at the core of our investigation covered differences across and between faculty disciplines, what influence theistic position or other demographic responses had, and what model best described the relationships detected. Our results show that knowledge of biological evolution and acceptance of biological evolution are positively correlated for university faculty. Higher knowledge of biological evolution positively correlates with higher acceptance of biological evolution across the entire population of university faculty. This positive correlation is also present if the population is broken down into distinct theistic views (creationist and non-creationist viewpoints). Greater knowledge of biological evolution also positively correlates with greater acceptance of biological evolution across different levels of science education. We also found that of the factors we examined, theistic view has the strongest relationship with knowledge and acceptance of biological evolution. These results add support to the idea that a person’s theistic view is a driving force behind his or her resistance to understanding and accepting biological evolution. We also conclude that our results support the idea that effective science instruction can have a positive effect on both understanding and acceptance of biological evolution and that understanding and acceptance are closely tied variables

Real-Time On-Board Airborne Demonstration of High-Speed On-Board Data Processing for Science Instruments (HOPS)

The project called High-Speed On-Board Data Processing for Science Instruments (HOPS) has been funded by NASA Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO) Advanced Information Systems Technology (AIST) program since April, 2012. The HOPS team recently completed two flight campaigns during the summer of 2014 on two different aircrafts with two different science instruments. The first flight campaign was in July, 2014 based at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) in Hampton, VA on the NASA's HU-25 aircraft. The science instrument that flew with HOPS was Active Sensing of CO2 Emissions over Nights, Days, and Seasons (ASCENDS) CarbonHawk Experiment Simulator (ACES) funded by NASA's Instrument Incubator Program (IIP). The second campaign was in August, 2014 based at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC) in Palmdale, CA on the NASA's DC-8 aircraft. HOPS flew with the Multifunctional Fiber Laser Lidar (MFLL) instrument developed by Excelis Inc. The goal of the campaigns was to perform an end-to-end demonstration of the capabilities of the HOPS prototype system (HOPS COTS) while running the most computationally intensive part of the ASCENDS algorithm real-time on-board. The comparison of the two flight campaigns and the results of the functionality tests of the HOPS COTS are presented in this paper

Effect of a vitamin/mineral supplement on children and adults with autism

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Vitamin/mineral supplements are among the most commonly used treatments for autism, but the research on their use for treating autism has been limited.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>This study is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled three month vitamin/mineral treatment study. The study involved 141 children and adults with autism, and pre and post symptoms of autism were assessed. None of the participants had taken a vitamin/mineral supplement in the two months prior to the start of the study. For a subset of the participants (53 children ages 5-16) pre and post measurements of nutritional and metabolic status were also conducted.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The vitamin/mineral supplement was generally well-tolerated, and individually titrated to optimum benefit. Levels of many vitamins, minerals, and biomarkers improved/increased showing good compliance and absorption. Statistically significant improvements in metabolic status were many including: total sulfate (+17%, p = 0.001), S-adenosylmethionine (SAM; +6%, p = 0.003), reduced glutathione (+17%, p = 0.0008), ratio of oxidized glutathione to reduced glutathione (GSSG:GSH; -27%, p = 0.002), nitrotyrosine (-29%, p = 0.004), ATP (+25%, p = 0.000001), NADH (+28%, p = 0.0002), and NADPH (+30%, p = 0.001). Most of these metabolic biomarkers improved to normal or near-normal levels.</p> <p>The supplement group had significantly greater improvements than the placebo group on the Parental Global Impressions-Revised (PGI-R, Average Change, p = 0.008), and on the subscores for Hyperactivity (p = 0.003), Tantrumming (p = 0.009), Overall (p = 0.02), and Receptive Language (p = 0.03). For the other three assessment tools the difference between treatment group and placebo group was not statistically significant.</p> <p>Regression analysis revealed that the degree of improvement on the Average Change of the PGI-R was strongly associated with several biomarkers (adj. R²= 0.61, p < 0.0005) with the initial levels of biotin and vitamin K being the most significant (p < 0.05); both biotin and vitamin K are made by beneficial intestinal flora.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Oral vitamin/mineral supplementation is beneficial in improving the nutritional and metabolic status of children with autism, including improvements in methylation, glutathione, oxidative stress, sulfation, ATP, NADH, and NADPH. The supplement group had significantly greater improvements than did the placebo group on the PGI-R Average Change. This suggests that a vitamin/mineral supplement is a reasonable adjunct therapy to consider for most children and adults with autism.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p><b>Clinical Trial Registration Number: </b><a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01225198">NCT01225198</a></p

On Visible Homelessness and the Micro-Aesthetics of Public Space

In this article, we investigate the circumstances that have produced the current municipal regulatory approach to homelessness in the City of Melbourne, Victoria, and the ways in which visibly homeless people are policed through a micro-aesthetics of their presence in public space, which involves the monitoring of their bodily demeanour and their physical possessions. Our study contributes to and draws from a range of debates, including studies of the governmental conjunction of poverty and crime, analysis of the co-implication of law and spatiality, research on the criminalisation of homelessness and homeless people, and the burgeoning criminological interest in the significance of the visual field for our understandings of crime and criminality. This article recounts how homelessness, public space and questions of aesthetics have recently coalesced in debates about the regulation of homelessness in the public space of Melbourne’s city centre. It approaches the issues through comparative consideration of genres of municipal management frameworks in other jurisdictions, detailed textual consideration of the Protocol on Homelessness in the City of Melbourne and an empirical study of visible homelessness in the public places of central Melbourne

Ecosystem-scale measurements of biomass water using cosmic ray neutrons

Accurate estimates of biomass are imperative for understanding the global carbon cycle. However, measurements of biomass and water in the biomass are difficult to obtain at a scale consistent with measurements of mass and energy transfer, ~1 km, leading to substantial uncertainty in dynamic global vegetation models. Here we use a novel cosmic ray neutron method to estimate a stoichiometric predictor of ecosystem-scale biomass and biomass water equivalent over tens of hectares. We present two experimental studies, one in a ponderosa pine forest and the other in a maize field, where neutron-derived estimates of biomass water equivalent are compared and found consistent with direct observations. Given the new hectometer scale of nondestructive observation and potential for continuous measurements, we anticipate this technique to be useful to many scientific disciplines

Come to Daddy? Claiming Chris Cunningham for British Art Cinema

Twenty years after he came to prominence via a series of provocative, ground-breaking music videos, Chris Cunningham remains a troubling, elusive figure within British visual culture. His output – which includes short films, advertisements, art gallery commissions, installations, music production and a touring multi-screen live performance – is relatively slim, and his seemingly slow work rate (and tendency to leave projects uncompleted or unreleased) has been a frustration for fans and commentators, particularly those who hoped he would channel his interests and talents into a full-length ‘feature’ film project. There has been a diverse critical response to his musical sensitivity, his associations with UK electronica culture – and the Warp label in particular – his working relationship with Aphex Twin, his importance within the history of the pop video and his deployment of transgressive, suggestive imagery involving mutated, traumatised or robotic bodies. However, this article makes a claim for placing Cunningham within discourses of British art cinema. It proposes that the many contradictions that define and animate Cunningham's work – narrative versus abstraction, political engagement versus surrealism, sincerity versus provocation, commerce versus experimentation, art versus craft, a ‘British’ sensibility versus a transnational one – are also those that typify a particular terrain of British film culture that falls awkwardly between populism and experimentalism