Comparison of Feed in Tariff, Quota and Auction Mechanisms to Support Wind Power Development

A comparison of policy instruments employed to support onshore wind projects suggests that in terms of capacity installed, policies adopted in Germany have been more effective than those adopted in the UK. Price comparisons have frequently neglected differences in resource base: once accounted for we find the cost of policies to be similar. A developer survey identifies planning constraints as only one reason why installed capacity is greater in Germany, and indicates that price support is also important. Information provided by developers also suggests that although the tendering process adopted in the UK is highly competitive in terms of price paid for energy delivered, competition in other areas of the market is significantly lower than in Germany

Social Cognition and HIV: Exploring the Profile of Cognitive Impairments in HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorders (HAND)

The success of combined antiretroviral therapy has transformed Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection from an acute and life-limiting condition to an enduring but treatable illness, marked by fluctuations in HIV-related health consequences and co-morbidities. HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND) are one such possible consequence and are of particular concern in light of their sustained high prevalence in people with otherwise well-managed HIV infection. Given the neuropsychological profile of HAND (affecting frontostriatal brain regions and associated executive functions), it has been suggested that HAND may have implications for social cognition; that is to say, the cognitive capacities that facilitate social interaction. Thus, the current study aimed to explore social cognitive performance in the neuropsychological profile of HAND. A diverse HIV-positive cohort (N=16), recruited across two outpatient services, were administered the Social Stories Questionnaire (Lawson, Baron-Cohen, & Wheelwright, 2004), Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (Baron-Cohen, Wheelwright, Hill, Raste, & Plumb, 2001), and the Questionnaire of Cognitive & Affective Empathy (Reniers et al., 2011), alongside a standard neuropsychological battery. Using IMB SPSS v22, an exploratory group-level bivariate correlational analysis compared group scores against published normative data, and further Individual Profile Analyses explored cognitive differences within rather than across individuals to investigate trends not apparent at group-level. The sample demonstrated reliable performance weaknesses on both tests of social cognition (RMET and SSQ), independent of executive function and in the absence of global of specific impairments. Individual Profile Analyses revealed that these impairments were unrelated to stage of infection and occurred alongside (not before) cognitive decline in other core domains. Recommendations for further research are offered, drawing upon a critical review of the methodology employed. Clinical implications include; suggestions for increasing professional curiosity and empathy; psychoeducation; and the role of clinical neuropsychology in contributing to the development of the wider understanding of the potential emotional and behavioural sequelae of HAND

HIV Infection and older adults: a retrospective single-site cohort study from Johannesburg South Africa

A research report submitted to the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in fulfilment of the degree of Master of Medicine 2017.Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) treatment in South Africa has had an inconsistent and controversial history. Presently South Africa is home to the largest number of HIV positive people and has the biggest antiretroviral program in the world. [No abstract provided. Information taken from Literature Review]LG201

Diversity and Security in UK Electricity Generation: The Influence of Low Carbon Objectives

We explore the relationship between low carbon objectives and the strategic security of electricity in the context of the UK Electricity System. We consider diversity of fuel source mix to represent one dimension of security - robustness against interruptions of any one source - and apply two different diversity indices to the range of electricity system scenarios produced by the UK government and independent researchers. Using data on wind generation we also consider whether a second dimension of security - the reliability of generation availability - is compromised by intermittency of renewable generation. Our results show that low carbon objectives are uniformly associated with greater long-term diversity in UK electricity. We discuss reasons for this result, explore sensitivities, and briefly discuss possible policy instruments associated with diversity and their limitations

Workplace Theft: A Proposed Model and Research Agenda

Lucy A. McClurg is an associate professor in the W. T. Beebe Institute of Personnel and Employment Relations, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia 30303-4014 Deborah S. Butler is an associate professor in the Department of Management, Robinson College of Business. Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia 30303-4014

Space and Time: Wind in an Investment Planning Model

Investment planning models inform investment decisions and government policies. Current models do not capture the intermittent nature of renewable energy sources, restricting the applicability of the models for high penetrations of renewables. We provide a methodology to capture spatial variation in wind output in combination with transmission constraints. The representation of wind distributions with stochastic approaches or an extensive historic data set would exceed computational constraints for real world application. Hence we restrict the amount of input data, and use boot-strapping to illustrate the robustness of the results. For the UK power system we model wind deployment and the value of transmission capacity

Paternal Depression, Expressed Emotion and Child Emotional and Behavioural Problems

Few studies currently exist which examine expressed emotion in depressed fathers, despite considerable evidence linking expressed emotion and depression in mothers. These findings are important as they indicate that mothers’ depressed mood is associated with an increase in child-directed critical comments and a decrease in positive comments, which have been linked to poorer child emotional and behavioural outcomes. There are limited findings exploring how depressed mood may impact fathers’ expressed emotion, and how this is in turn may impact upon the child. This paper reports findings from part of a longitudinal study examining fathers with depression in the postnatal period. The aim of this study was to determine whether child emotional and behavioural problems at age 2 years were associated with increased critical comments and decreased positive comments made by fathers (N = 143). It was predicted that fathers who were depressed when their child was 3 months or 12 months old would make more critical comments and fewer positive comments about their children at age 24 months, and that fathers’ critical comments would predict child emotional and behavioural problems at 24 months. Fathers’ depression at 12 months was found to be significantly related to child emotional and behavioural problems at 24 months. The children of fathers who made more positive comments had fewer reported emotional and behavioural difficulties at 24 months. Fathers’ positive comments were found to remain stable from 12 months to 24 months. There were no significant relationships found between fathers’ depression and the frequency of positive or critical comments. This study has implications for increasing fathers’ child-directed positive comments in order to prevent the development of child emotional and behavioural difficulties

Paleomagnetism of Late Jurassic Rocks in the Northern Canelo Hills, Southeastern Arizona

The Canelo Hills volcanics are exposed in the Canelo Hills, a northwest trending range in Santa Cruz County, southeast Arizona. The formation is composed of silicic tuffs and flows as well as volcaniclastic conglomerates and sandstones. Strikes of the rocks are generally to the northwest with moderate dips to the southwest and northeast. Apparent age results from the sequence studied paleomagnetically include two published isotopic dates of 147 ± 6 Ma (K-Ar, biotite) and 149 ± 11 Ma (whole rock, Rb-Sr) and a Rb/Sr isochron age, reported here, which indicates an age of 151 ± 2 Ma. Paleomagnetic samples were collected from 17 cooling units in the northern Canelo Hills. Samples from most of these units responded to alternating field (af) demagnetization, and secondary components were generally erased by peak af between 10 and 50 mT. Samples from five sites showed no response to af demagnetization. Thermal demagnetization of samples from these units produced no significant changes in direction of natural remanent magnetization (NRM), although within-site clustering of NRM directions was improved. Data from two sites were rejected because of failure to isolate a well-determined characteristic NRM. Of the remaining 15 sites, 10 sites were of normal polarity, while five sites showed reversed polarity. Intensities of the characteristic NRM ranged from 4 × 10−3 to 3 × 10−1 A/m. The data from these 15 cooling units yield a formation mean direction of I = 29.9°, D = 334.9° with k = 33.4 and α95 = 6.7°. The resulting paleomagnetic pole is at 62.2°N, 130.3° (dp = 4.1°, dm = 7.4°). This pole is between poles obtained from the Summerville and lower Morrison formations. The Canelo Hills pole is thus consistent both in position and age with the Late Jurassic episode of rapid apparent polar wander originally defined by paleomagnetic data from the Summerville and Morrison formations

The effect of exogenous glucose infusion on early embryonic development in lactating dairy cows

peer-reviewedThe objective of this study was to examine the effect of intravenous infusion of glucose on early embryonic development in lactating dairy cows. Nonpregnant, lactating dairy cows (n = 12) were enrolled in the study (276 ± 17 d in milk). On d 7 after a synchronized estrus, cows were randomly assigned to receive an intravenous infusion of either 750 g/d of exogenous glucose (GLUC; 78 mL/h of 40% glucose wt/vol) or saline (CTRL; 78 mL/h of 0.9% saline solution). The infusion period lasted 7 d and cows were confined to metabolism stalls for the duration of the study. Coincident with the commencement of the infusion on d 7 after estrus, 15 in vitro-produced grade 1 blastocysts were transferred into the uterine horn ipsilateral to the corpus luteum. All animals were slaughtered on d 14 to recover conceptuses, uterine fluid, and endometrial tissue. Glucose infusion increased circulating glucose concentrations (4.70 ± 0.12 vs. 4.15 ± 0.12 mmol/L) but did not affect milk production or dry matter intake. Circulating β-hydroxybutyrate concentrations were decreased (0.51 ± 0.01 vs. 0.70 ± 0.01 mmol/L for GLUC vs. CTRL, respectively) but plasma fatty acids, progesterone, and insulin concentrations were unaffected by treatment. Treatment did not affect either uterine lumen fluid glucose concentration or the mRNA abundance of specific glucose transporters in the endometrium. Mean conceptus length, width, and area on d 14 were reduced in the GLUC treatment compared with the CTRL treatment. A greater proportion of embryos in the CTRL group had elongated to all length cut-off measurements between 11 and 20 mm (measured in 1-mm increments) compared with the GLUC treatment. In conclusion, infusion of glucose into lactating dairy cows from d 7 to d 14 post-estrus during the critical period of conceptus elongation had an adverse impact on early embryonic development

Applicability of the ParaDNA(®) Screening System to Seminal Samples.

Seminal fluid represents a common biological material recovered from sexual assault crime scenes. Such samples can be prescreened using different techniques to determine cell type and relative amount before submitting for full STR profiling. The ParaDNA(®) Screening System is a novel forensic test which identifies the presence of DNA through amplification and detection of two common STR loci (D16S539 and TH01) and the Amelogenin marker. The detection of the Y allele in samples could provide a useful tool in the triage and submission of sexual assault samples by enforcement authorities. Male template material was detected on a range of common sexual assault evidence items including cotton pillow cases, condoms, swab heads and glass surfaces and shows a detection limit of 1 in 1000 dilution of neat semen. These data indicate this technology has the potential to be a useful tool for the detection of male donor DNA in sexual assault casework