European Union and international students in Scottish Higher Education Institutions

In Scotland the share of students attending Scottish Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) who come from countries outside of the UK is higher than for the UK as a whole. Over the last decade, the number of students at Scottish HEIs from other member states of the European Union (EU students) and from countries outside of the European Union (international students) has grown considerably. The tuition fees paid by such students have become a significant source of income for most Scottish HEIs. Therefore, any change to UK immigration rules, regardless of the outcome of the current debate on constitutional change, would likely have more of an impact on Scottish HEIs compared to HEIs in other parts of the UK

Assessment of shoulder active range of motion in prone versus supine:A reliability and concurrent validity study

Background: As swimming and surfing are prone dominant sports, it would be more sport specific to assess shoulder active range of motion in this position. Objectives: To determine the reliability of the inclinometer and HALO© for assessing shoulder active range of motion in supine and prone and the concurrent validity of the HALO©. Concurrent validity is based on the comparison of the HALO© and inclinometer. To determine if active range of motion (AROM) differences exists between prone and supine when assessing shoulder internal (IR) and external rotation (ER). Design: The design included clinical measurement, reliability and validity. Methods: Thirty shoulders (mean age = 26.8 years) without pathology were evaluated. Measurements were taken in supine and prone with both an inclinometer and HALO© device. Results: Active ER ROM in prone was significantly higher than in supine when using both devices. Intra-rater reliability (within and between session) intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) values ranged between 0.82–0.99 for both devices in supine and prone. An ICC test revealed a significant (p \u3c 0.01) correlation for both devices in IR and ER movements (ICC3,1 = 0.87 and ICC3,1 = 0.72), respectively. Conclusion: This study has shown prone assessment of active ER and IR ROM to be a reliable and appropriate method for prone dominant athletes (swimmers and surfers). In this study greater ER ROM was achieved in prone compared to supine. This finding highlights the importance of standardizing the test position for initial and follow up assessments. Furthermore the HALO© and inclinometer have been shown to be reliable tools that show good concurrent validity

The Muddy Creek Formation: Depositional environment, provenance, and tectonic significance in the western Lake Mead area, Nevada and Arizona

In the River Mountains, the Muddy Creek Formation is informally divided into four members; the River Mountain conglomerate, the Boulder Basin conglomerate, the lakeshore member, and The Cliffs member; Clasts in the Muddy Creek Formation are composed of andesite, dacite, basalt, rhyolite, quartz monzonite, and granite. Paleocurrent data for the basal River Mountain conglomerate suggest that the transport direction was to the southeast, parallel to the regional strike of high-angle normal faults. The River Mountain conglomerate may have been transported along the axes of basins that were controlled by these faults; The River Mountain conglomerate was probably deposited during a period of active extensional faulting. Block rotation during faulting resulted in the formation of half-graben basins with coarse-grained sediments of the River Mountain conglomerate forming alluvial fans that were constrained to the basin margins. When extension subsided, coarse-grained material prograded into the basin, forming the Boulder Basin conglomerate. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.)

3D textural and geochemical analyses on carbonado diamond : insights from pores and the minerals within them

Carbonado is an enigmatic variety of polycrystalline diamond found only in placer deposits in Brazil and the Central African Republic, with unknown primary origin. These highly porous dark nodules possess a narrow range of isotopically light carbon (δ13C -31 to -24 ‰), a primarily crustal inclusion suite unusually enriched in REEs and actinides filling the pore spaces, a loosely constrained crystallization age between 2.6 and 3.8 Ga, and other atypical features which have led to a variety of formation theories, from extra-solar to deep mantle. Unravelling the circumstances responsible for the diamond material and inclusion suite may provide evidence of not-yet-understood mantle processes and/or geochemical reservoirs. This study represents the first multi-sample 3D textural analysis of carbonado diamond using high resolution X-ray computed tomography. We document a variety of textures in both pore structure and mineralogy within pores. All samples feature a foliation with a mild preferred orientation. We observe the same fabric in a framesite diamond, a less porous polycrystalline diamond found in kimberlites and thought to crystallize shortly before eruption. The similarity in fabrics suggests a similar process could have formed both. Additionally, spatially coherent 3-D volumes of pores with similarly attenuating filling material juxtaposed against volumes with differently attenuating material suggests that secondary minerals formed from the spatially-limited in-situ breakdown of primary inclusion phases. These observations, combined with the presence of euhedral cavities and pseudomorphs, supports the hypothesis that the material comprising the secondary minerals within carbonado is largely primary. Step-leaching and ICP analysis of three African and two Brazilian samples reveals that the modern-day inclusion suite is highly enriched in REE (average ΣREE = 2.3 wt. %), with REE and trace element patterns that match those of melts derived from low degree (< 1 %) partial melting of primitive mantle (i.e. kimberlite and carbonatite), suggesting a link between carbonado and primitive melts. These textural and chemical findings support the origin of both carbonado and its pore-filling material in a mantle environment. The origin of light carbon in the mantle before 2.6 Ga remains unknown, but subduction of organic material is a possible mechanism.Geological Science

Book Review: The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Edited by Walter S. Tamopolsky and Gerald-A. Beaudoin.

Book review: The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Edited by Walter S. Tamopolsky and Gerald-A. Beaudoin. Toronto: Carswell Co. Ltd. 1982. Pp. liii, 590. Reviewed by: Stephen Allan Scott

Ion Energy Measurements in Plasma Immersion Ion Implantation

This thesis investigates ion energy distributions (IEDs) during plasma immersion ion implantation (PIII). PIII is a surface modification technique where an object is placed in a plasma and pulse biased with large negative voltages. The energy distribution of implanted ions is important in determining the extent of surface modifications. IED measurements were made during PIII using a pulse biased retarding field energy analyser (RFEA) in a capacitive RF plasma. Experimental results were compared with those obtained from a two dimensional numerical simulation to help explain the origins of features in the IEDs. Time resolved IED measurements were made during PIII of metal and insulator materials and investigated the effects of the use of a metal mesh over the surface and the effects of insulator surface charging. When the pulse was applied to the RFEA, the ion flux rapidly increased above the pulse-off value and then slowly decreased during the pulse. The ion density during the pulse decreased below values measured when no pulse was applied to the RFEA. This indicates that the depletion of ions by the pulsed RFEA is greater than the generation of ions in the plasma. IEDs measured during pulse biasing showed a peak close to the maximum sheath potential energy and a spread of ions with energies between zero and the maximum ion energy. Simulations showed that the peak is produced by ions from the sheath edge directly above the RFEA inlet and that the spread of ions is produced by ions which collide in the sheath and/or arrive at the RFEA with trajectories not perpendicular to the RFEA front surface. The RFEA discriminates ions based only on the component of their velocity perpendicular to the RFEA front surface. To minimise the effects of surface charging during PIII of an insulator, a metal mesh can be placed over the insulator and pulse biased together with the object. Measurements were made with metal mesh cylinders fixed to the metal RFEA front surface. The use of a mesh gave a larger ion flux compared to the use of no mesh. The larger ion flux is attributed to the larger plasma-sheath surface area around the mesh. The measured IEDs showed a low, medium and high energy peak. Simulation results show that the high energy peak is produced by ions from the sheath above the mesh top. The low energy peak is produced by ions trapped by the space charge potential hump which forms inside the mesh. The medium energy peak is produced by ions from the sheath above the mesh corners. Simulations showed that the IED is dependent on measurement position under the mesh. To investigate the effects of insulator surface charging during PIII, IED measurements were made through an orifice cut into a Mylar insulator on the RFEA front surface. With no mesh, during the pulse, an increasing number of lower energy ions were measured. Simulation results show that this is due to the increase in the curvature of the sheath over the orifice region as the insulator potential increases due to surface charging. The surface charging observed at the insulator would reduce the average energy of ions implanted into the insulator during the pulse. Compared to the case with no mesh, the use of a mesh increases the total ion flux and the ion flux during the early stages of the pulse but does not eliminate surface charging. During the pulse, compared to the no mesh case, a larger number of lower energy ions are measured. Simulation results show that this is caused by the potential in the mesh region which affects the trajectories of ions from the sheaths above the mesh top and corners and results in more ions being measured with trajectories less than ninety degrees to the RFEA front surface

Environmental equity in southeast Louisiana: oil, people, policy, and the geography of industrial hazards

This dissertation explores issues and concepts underlying the creation of Louisiana’s rural-industrial petrochemical complex as they relate to environmental equity and industrial development’s deleterious consequences. Cumulative hazards models examine the distribution of technological hazards associated with petroleum extraction and processing and explores how this varies among different socioeconomic groups in three coastal Louisiana parishes. Considerable onshore oil extraction occurs in Jefferson Parish. Lafourche Parish is the primary land-based supply center for the majority of the offshore oil activity in the Gulf of Mexico. The refineries of Saint Bernard Parish represent the endpoint of the flow of raw product and the staging point from which the refined product is transported to the wider market. Transportation infrastructure and a web of oil and gas pipelines connect these three parishes to each other and the areas beyond. The hazards models found a range of potential impacts affecting a wide swath of communities. Chalmette, for example, faces the greatest immediate risk from Saint Bernard Parish’s two large refineries and has the lowest proportion of minority residents within the study area. Conversely, Houma Indians residing on the wetland fringe stand at risk from the petroleum industry, both directly, through potential residential exposure, and indirectly, through potentially impacted hunting and fishing grounds. These results highlight the importance of using a fine grained localized environmental equity model. Historic process-based analyses examined the development of environmental inequity in communities identified by the hazards models. The historical development of environmental inequity is an extremely dynamic process. Generally, industry arrived first followed by population. After the initial siting, industry and population grew concomitantly. Industry growth continued even after the communities became predominantly minority or low-income. This research examined regional migration patterns over the last decade to explore why people move into potentially hazardous areas. Statistical analysis reveals that historic segregation patterns are a primary factor in most population movement. Additionally, populations are moving into neighborhoods proximate to their place of employment. Finally, this dissertation describes how the results achieved compare to those of other environmental equity studies and identifies six tenets of a practical, attainable, place-specific model of environmental equity

Reversal of cardiac dysfunction by selective ET-A receptor antagonism

1. The effectiveness of a selective endothelin receptor-A (ET-A) antagonist, A-127722 (approximately 10 mg kg-1 day-1 as 200 mg kg-1 powdered food), to reverse existing cardiac remodelling and prevent further remodelling was tested in deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA)-salt hypertensive rats. 2. Uninephrectomised rats (UNX) administered DOCA (25mg every 4th day sc) and 1% NaCl in drinking water for 28 days developed hypertension (systolic BP: UNX 128 6, DOCA-salt 182 5* mmHg; *P<0.05 vs UNX), left ventricular hypertrophy (UNX 1.99 0.06, DOCA-salt 3.30 0.08* mg/kg body wt), decreased left ventricular internal diameter (UNX 6.69 0.18, DOCA-salt 5.51 0.37* mm), an increased left ventricular monocyte/macrophage infiltration together with an increased interstitial collagen from 2.7 0.3 to 11.7 1.3%, increased passive diastolic stiffness (UNX 21.1 0.5, DOCA-salt 30.1 1.3*), prolongation of the action potential duration at 20% and 90% of repolarization (APD20 - UNX 6.8 1.1, DOCA-salt 10.1 1.5* msec; APD90 - UNX 34.4 3.5, DOCA-salt 64.3 10.4* msec) and vascular dysfunction (2.6 fold decrease in maximal contractile response to noradrenaline, 3.5 fold decrease in maximal relaxation response to acetylcholine). 3. Administration of A-127722 for 14 days starting 14 days after surgery attenuated the increases in systolic blood pressure (150 6** mmHg, **P<0.05 vs DOCA-salt), left ventricular wet weight (2.65 0.06** mg/kg body wt) and internal diameter (6.39 0.31** mm), prevented left ventricular monocyte/macrophage accumulation, attenuated the increased left ventricular interstitial collagen (7.6 1.3%**), reversed the increased passive diastolic stiffness (22.1 1.2**), attenuated the action potential duration prolongation (APD20 - 7.6 1.4**, APD90 - 41.5 6.9** msec) and normalized changes in vascular function. 4. ET-A receptor antagonism both reverses and prevents the cardiac and vascular remodelling in DOCA-salt hypertension and improves cardiovascular function