Age and growth of longfinned eels (Anguilla dieffenbachii) in pastoral and forested streams in the Waikato River basin, and in two hydro-electric lakes in the North Island, New Zealand

Growth rates of New Zealand endemic longfinned eels (Anguilla dieffenbachii) from streams in pasture and indigenous forest, and from two hydroelectric lakes (Lakes Karapiro and Matahina), were estimated by otolith examination. Habitat-specific growth was further investigated with measurement of widths of annual bands in otoliths. Longfinned eels 170-1095 mm in length ranged between 4 and 60 years old (N=252). Eels in pastoral streams grew faster (mean annual length increment ±95% CL = 24 ± 3 mm to 36 ± 7 mm) than eels in streams in indigenous forest (annual length increment 12 ± 2 mm to 15 ± 3 mm). Eels from the hydro-electric lakes had growth rates (annual length increments 19 ± 4 and 19 + 7 mm) similar to eels from pastoral streams. Otoliths of most eels showed annual band widths that indicated growth in several different habitats, corresponding to growth during upstream migration, and limited movement among adult habitats. Estimated age at marketable size (220 g) ranged between 7 and 26 years. The particularly slow growth of longfinned eels in streams in indigenous forest has considerable implications for management. The fast growth rates of eels in hydro-electric lakes provides evidence for the potential of increased eel production by stocking. The probable selective production of female eels in these lakes may be nationally important to allow enhancement of breeding stocks

Is communications a strategic activity in UK Education?

This qualitative exploratory paper investigates whether communications/public relations is regarded by opinion formers in UK education as a strategic business activity or a tactical marketing tool. It is based upon depth interviews with 16 senior managers with strategic roles in UK higher or further education, or Government bodies, conducted between June and September 2004. The findings seem to suggest that communications/PR is ideally seen by leaders as a strategic function, but that there are limitations to this vision becoming a reality. The research goes on to offer initial conclusions on some of the issues surrounding perception, resource, and implementation of strategic communications/PR in UK education, with implications for practitioners considered

Autonomic visualisation.

This thesis introduces the concept of autonomic visualisation, where principles of autonomic systems are brought to the field of visualisation infrastructure. Problems in visualisation have a specific set of requirements which are not always met by existing systems. The first half of this thesis explores a specific problem for large scale visualisation; that of data management. Visualisation algorithms have somewhat different requirements to other external memory problems, due to the fact that they often require access to all, or a large subset, of the data in a way that is highly dependent on the view. This thesis proposes a knowledge-based approach to pre-fetching in this context, and presents evidence that such an approach yields good performance. The knowledge based approach is incorporated into a five-layer model, which provides a systematic way of categorising and designing out-of-core, or external memory, systems. This model is demonstrated with two example implementations, on in the local and one in the remote context. The second half explores autonomic visualisation in the more general case. A simulation tool, created for the purpose of designing autonomic visualisation infrastructure is presented. This tool, SimEAC, provides a way of facilitating the development of techniques for managing large-scale visualisation systems. The abstract design of the simulation system, as well as details of the implementation are presented. The architecture of the simulator is explored, and then the system is evaluated in a number of case studies indicating some of the ways in which it can be used. The simulator provides a framework for experimentation and rapid prototyping of large scale autonomic systems

Music as Dialogic Sounding Device in the Novels of Thomas Pynchon

Combining key aspects of literary, musical, and cultural theory, my thesis investigates the significance of music in the work of the contemporary American novelist Thomas Pynchon. His novels, along with a handful of short stories, are so saturated with musical references and fictional songs that it borders on eccentricity. It is my argument that understanding musical presence and the way it is represented here is of crucial importance to our understanding one of the overarching themes of Pynchon’s writing: that of communication, and specifically the persistence of communication from the margins of society in the face of restricting and divisive political forces. My aim is to establish a positive view of Pynchon’s representation of music as a site of social intercourse, in the literal sense – a shared territory between language and artistic expression, through which both listener and performer are placed in a socially communicative framework; but also metaphorically, as a model for dialogic interaction that can undercut official discourse. As with all things in Pynchon, hope is tempered with a degree of cynicism: his depiction of musical media, for example, is varied and complex, and can be seen as a commentary on issues such as authenticity, the commodification of art, and corporate co-optation of subcultural expression. Nonetheless, the ubiquity of music in Pynchon is such that the attempt to communicate is persistently foregrounded. Chapter one establishes the techniques by which Pynchon incorporates the subject of music into his writing, before setting the significance of the author’s enterprise against the light of critical debates concerning the social efficacy and political energy of musical expression. The subsequent four chapters offer an in-depth look at Pynchon’s engagement with music in the light of themes that feed into the broader, overarching compulsion signalled above

Evaluation of the Primary Care Mental Health Specialist role: Final Report

This report details an evaluation to assess the impact of the new primary care mental health specialist (PCMHS) role in Kent and Medway. The evaluation was undertaken by the Centre for Health Services Studies (CHSS) at the University of Kent and was conducted June 2013 to December 2014. The evaluation was commissioned by NHS Kent and Medway and supported by Kent and Medway Commissioning Support. The evaluation encompasses six CCG areas across Kent and Medway, with 13 PCMHS employed in these areas (see Table 1-1 for breakdown). The number of posts per CCG is dependent on the amount CCGs invest (roughly equating to population size), rather than prevalence of illness. The PCMHS have been seconded from Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust (KMPT) for the duration of the pilot, and are either community psychiatric nurses (CPN) or occupational therapists (OT) by profession. The majority of PCMHS are hosted by a voluntary organisation (mcch); three are hosted by GP practices and two by a community Interest Company, Invicta CIC. The main objectives of the evaluation are: 1. To assess the impact on patients by capturing their experience of the service; 2. To assess the impact by capturing experiences of those delivering the service (i.e., PCMHS); 3. To assess the impact by capturing experiences of other professions who work alongside the service (i.e., mental health professionals in secondary care, GPs); 4. To assess the economic cost of the new service via a unit cost analysis

Feasibility of a UK community-based, eTherapy mental health service in Greater Manchester: repeated-measures and between-groups study of ‘Living Life to the Full Interactive’, ‘Sleepio’ and ‘Breaking Free Online’ at ‘Self Help Services’

Objectives: There is increasing evidence to support the effectiveness of eTherapies for mental health, although limited data have been reported from community-based services. Therefore, this service evaluation reports on feasibility and outcomes from an eTherapy mental health service. Setting: ‘Self Help Services’, an Increasing Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) eTherapy service in Greater Manchester. Participants: 1068 service users referred to the service for secondary care for their mental health difficulties. Interventions: Participants were triaged into one of three eTherapy programmes: ‘Living Life to the Full Interactive’ for low mood, stress and anxiety; ‘Sleepio’ for insomnia; and ‘Breaking Free Online’ for substance misuse, depending on clinical need. Primary outcomes measures: Standardised psychometric assessments of depression, anxiety and social functioning, collected as part of the IAPT Minimum Data Set, were conducted at baseline and post-treatment. Results: Data indicated baseline differences, with the Breaking Free Online group having higher scores for depression and anxiety than the Living Life to the Full Interactive (depression CI 1.27 to 3.21, p<0.0001; anxiety CI 077 to 1.72, p<0.0001) and Sleepio (depression CI 1.19 to 4.52, p<0.0001; anxiety CI 2.16 to 5.23, p<0.0001) groups. Promising improvements in mental health scores were found within all three groups (all p<0.0001), as were significant reductions in numbers of service users reaching clinical threshold scores for mental health difficulties (p<0.0001). Number of days of engagement was not related to change from baseline for the Living Life to the Full or Sleepio programmes but was associated with degree of change for Breaking Free Online. Conclusion: Data presented provide evidence for feasibility of this eTherapy delivery model in supporting service users with a range of mental health difficulties and suggest that eTherapies may be a useful addition to treatment offering in community-based services

Barriers to Brand Building in UK Universities

Branding in universities has become an increasingly topical issue with practitioners, with some institutions committing substantial financial resources to branding activities. It has, however, received only limited academic investigation, and as the particular characteristics of the sector present challenges for those seeking to build brands, it seems to be timely and appropriate to investigate potential barriers to branding. This exploratory study investigates the opinions of the ‘brand guardians’ of UK universities – Vice Chancellors, Principals and Rectors – on the barriers to successfully building brands and draws conclusions on their views of the key challenges facing successful branding activity in the sector. Implications for practitioners are also explored

The impact of maternity service restrictions related to COVID-19 on women's experiences of giving birth in England: A qualitative study

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic led to significant changes in maternity service delivery in England, including: antenatal appointments being cancelled or held by phone; women having to attend antenatal scans alone; partners not being allowed to accompany women during labor; visitor restrictions on postnatal wards; and limited postnatal support. METHODS: We conducted semi-structured interviews with 46 women aged 18–45 who had low-risk pregnancies and gave birth to their babies using NHS services in England between 1st March 2020 and 1st March 2021. RESULTS: Our thematic analysis of interview data generated key themes: profound negative impacts of birth partners not being allowed to accompany women (including on emotional wellbeing, birth preferences and care-seeking choices); deep frustration about policy variation between trusts and inconsistent implementation of guidance; women being more concerned about the risk of giving birth alone than of COVID-19 infection; and women turning towards private care or delaying seeking NHS care so that they could have the birth experience they desired. The latter two results are, to the best of our knowledge, unique to this paper. CONCLUSION: Our participants reported significant negative affects to their emotional and physical wellbeing because of maternity service restrictions. Going forward, efforts are required by policymakers and health service providers to re-establish trust in NHS maternity care and ensure capacity to provide for potential shifts in birthplace preferences. Health systems strengthening efforts should prioritise protecting the rights of women to access high quality, person-centred care in the event of future health emergencies that strain NHS capacity

A Taste for Consumption: Food Waste Generation in New Zealand Cafés and Restaurants

Globally, approximately one-third (1.3 billion tons) of all food produced for human consumption each year ends up wasted throughout the food supply chain. This food waste has social, environmental and economic impacts which have been well documented. In developed countries, such as New Zealand, food waste primarily occurs during ‘consumption’, involving retail, domestic, and foodservice settings. Foodservices are estimated to waste up to 20% of all food entering their operations, but little is known about food waste within the growing café and restaurant sector. Food waste generation in a randomised representative sample of New Zealand cafés and restaurants was investigated using a mixed methods approach. A convenience sample was later instigated in response to low participation rates from the randomised sample during data collection, within the first component of this research. The second data collection component of this research involved a sub-sample of participants recruited solely from convenience sample responders. Data collection techniques involved self-reported questionnaires during the first component (n=13, 5.2% of representative sample; n=18, 26.5% of convenience sample), researcher-measured 24-hour audits during the second component (n=11, 16% of convenience sample) and informal conversations during both components. International best-practice techniques were used to quantify and classify food waste, to identify where in the system waste occurs, and to explore staff perceptions regarding food waste generation and reduction opportunities. Most cafés and restaurants (21 of 29) reported food waste as less than 20% of total business waste. Audited food waste found most businesses (7 of 11) generated around 4kg-10kg daily, with a high proportion considered avoidable. Nearly all had quantified avoidable food waste proportions of more than 50%, while every business self-reported the amount of avoidable food waste they generated as being less than their corresponding audit quantified amount. Customer plate waste and food preparation waste were the dominant food waste streams, with vegetables, accompaniments and lower-value carbohydrates featuring highly among commonly wasted food types cited. Food waste generation was generally perceived as minimal and businesses were comfortable with how much food waste they generated. Most businesses identified both financial (30 of 31) and environmental (23 of 31) outcomes as important motivators for reducing food waste. These findings indicate that New Zealand cafés and restaurants generate a significant amount of food waste. The magnitude, location and causes of food waste must be understood, and a targeted action plan established. Accordingly, businesses should utilise the ‘United Nations Sustainable Development Goal Target 12.3 strategy’ steps (i.e. Target, Measure, and Act) to reduce food waste. Reduction initiatives may be most effective if they tap into financial and environmental motives, and consider customer behaviours driving plate waste