Tweeting For a Better World

Recognizing the need to build the social media capacity of nonprofits, the Rita Allen Foundation began a pilot project last spring, engaging the expertise and assistance of The Bridgespan Group, to help six grantees plan effective social media strategies. We and these six smaller-sized nonprofits (on average $1.8 million in annual revenue) worked together to determine if and how social media could advance each organization's mission, to develop implementation plans and measurement systems, and to collectively identify and address social media challenges

The use of the Gospel of Luke for teaching young people

https://place.asburyseminary.edu/ecommonsatsdissertations/2397/thumbnail.jp

Replacement of dietary fish oil with vegetable oils: effects on fish health

The work presented in this thesis examined the effects of dietary fish oil replacement on fish innate and adaptive immune function, disease resistance tissue histopathology and fatty acid composition of lipids in peripheral blood leukocytes. Dietary trials with Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), Sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax), Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) and Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) were conducted in which fish oil was replaced by rapeseed oil, linseed oil, olive oil, palm oil, echium oil or a mixture of these oils. A significant reduction in respiratory burst activity was most pronounced in salmon and sea bass fed high levels of rapeseed oil-containing diets. In addition, rapeseed and olive oil inclusion in the diets of salmon and sea bass significantly reduced the head kidney macrophage phagocytic capacity to engulf yeast particles. A reduction in prostaglandin E2 levels was found to be related to a reduction in macrophage respiratory burst activity in salmon fed linseed oil diets and sea bass fed a dietary blend of linseed, palm and rapeseed oils. Changes in macrophage function may be a contributing factor causing a reduction in serum lysozyme activity observed in some trials. No significant differences were detected in cumulative mortality of Atlantic salmon fed an equal blend of linseed and rapeseed oils challenged with Aeromonas salmonicida. However, resistance to Vibrio anguillarium was significantly impaired in Atlantic salmon fed a blended oil diet containing linseed, rapeseed and palm oil. The major histological difference of fish fed vegetable oil diets was the accumulation of lipid droplets in their livers. Dietary fatty acid composition significantly affected the fatty acid composition of peripheral blood leukocytes. Generally, fish fed vegetable oil diets had increased levels of oleic acid, linoleic acid and a-linolenic acid and decreased levels of eicosapentaenoic acid, docosahexaenoic acid and a lower n-3/n-6 ratio than fish fed a FO diet. In conclusion, the results from these studies suggest that farmed fish species can be cultured on diets containing vegetable oils as the added oil source. However, feeding high levels of some vegetable oils may significantly alter some immune responses in the fish, especially head kidney macrophage function, disease resistance and, in addition, may cause an increase in tissue histopathology

Call to Action: Climate Change is Calling

The sustainability movement found in many popular companies (i.e. Patagonia, Toms Shoes, Rareform) promotes helping the changing climate as part of their marketing strategy. Our research begins to uncover the benefits of these movements that shape student’s thinking towards sustainability. This study aims to evaluate sustainability on the campus of Pepperdine University from the students’ point-of-view after participating in a sustainability project in marketing classes. A convenience non-probability sample of 75 participants engaged in the quantitative Qualtrics online survey. Our results reveal that Pepperdine students who participated in the marketing campaign consider sustainability important, have positive attitudes toward the environment and participate in sustainable behaviors. Grounded in transformative learning theory, we provide a call to action for students at Pepperdine University as a means to engage in the changing sustainability climate

Satellite-based sunshine duration for Europe

In this study, two different methods were applied to derive daily and monthly sunshine duration based on high-resolution satellite products provided by the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) Satellite Application Facility on Climate Monitoring using data from Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) SEVIRI (Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager). The satellite products were either hourly cloud type or hourly surface incoming direct radiation. The satellite sunshine duration estimates were not found to be significantly different using the native 15-minute temporal resolution of SEVIRI. The satellite-based sunshine duration products give additional spatial information over the European continent compared with equivalent in situ-based products. An evaluation of the satellite sunshine duration by product intercomparison and against station measurements was carried out to determine their accuracy. The satellite data were found to be within ±1 h/day compared to high-quality Baseline Surface Radiation Network or surface synoptic observations (SYNOP) station measurements. The satellite-based products differ more over the oceans than over land, mainly because of the treatment of fractional clouds in the cloud type-based sunshine duration product. This paper presents the methods used to derive the satellite sunshine duration products and the performance of the different retrievals. The main benefits and disadvantages compared to station-based products are also discussed

A spatiotemporal analysis of the relationship between near-surface air temperature and satellite land surface temperatures using 17 years of data from the ATSR series

The relationship between satellite land surface temperature (LST) and ground-based observations of 2m air temperature (T2m) is characterised in space and time using >17 years of data. The analysis uses a new monthly LST climate data record (CDR) based on the Along-Track Scanning Radiometer (ATSR) series, which has been produced within the European Space Agency GlobTemperature project (http://www.globtemperature.info/). Global LST-T2m differences are analysed with respect to location, land cover, vegetation fraction and elevation, all of which are found to be important influencing factors. LSTnight (~10 pm local solar time, clear-sky only) is found to be closely coupled with minimum T2m (Tmin, all-sky) and the two temperatures generally consistent to within ±5 °C (global median LSTnight- Tmin= 1.8 °C, interquartile range = 3.8 °C). The LSTday (~10 am local solar time, clear-sky only)-maximum T2m (Tmax, all-sky) variability is higher (global median LSTday- Tmax= -0.1°C, interquartile range = 8.1 °C) because LST is strongly influenced by insolation and surface regime. Correlations for both temperature pairs are typically >0.9 outside of the tropics. The monthly global and regional anomaly time series of LST and T2m – which are completely independent data sets - compare remarkably well. The correlation between the data sets is 0.9 for the globe with 90% of the CDR anomalies falling within the T2m 95% confidence limits. The results presented in this study present a justification for increasing use of satellite LST data in climate and weather science, both as an independent variable, and to augment T2m data acquired at meteorological stations

Replacement of dietary fish oil with vegetable oils : effects on fish health

The work presented in this thesis examined the effects of dietary fish oil replacement on fish innate and adaptive immune function, disease resistance tissue histopathology and fatty acid composition of lipids in peripheral blood leukocytes. Dietary trials with Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), Sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax), Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) and Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) were conducted in which fish oil was replaced by rapeseed oil, linseed oil, olive oil, palm oil, echium oil or a mixture of these oils. A significant reduction in respiratory burst activity was most pronounced in salmon and sea bass fed high levels of rapeseed oil-containing diets. In addition, rapeseed and olive oil inclusion in the diets of salmon and sea bass significantly reduced the head kidney macrophage phagocytic capacity to engulf yeast particles. A reduction in prostaglandin E2 levels was found to be related to a reduction in macrophage respiratory burst activity in salmon fed linseed oil diets and sea bass fed a dietary blend of linseed, palm and rapeseed oils. Changes in macrophage function may be a contributing factor causing a reduction in serum lysozyme activity observed in some trials. No significant differences were detected in cumulative mortality of Atlantic salmon fed an equal blend of linseed and rapeseed oils challenged with Aeromonas salmonicida. However, resistance to Vibrio anguillarium was significantly impaired in Atlantic salmon fed a blended oil diet containing linseed, rapeseed and palm oil. The major histological difference of fish fed vegetable oil diets was the accumulation of lipid droplets in their livers. Dietary fatty acid composition significantly affected the fatty acid composition of peripheral blood leukocytes. Generally, fish fed vegetable oil diets had increased levels of oleic acid, linoleic acid and a-linolenic acid and decreased levels of eicosapentaenoic acid, docosahexaenoic acid and a lower n-3/n-6 ratio than fish fed a FO diet. In conclusion, the results from these studies suggest that farmed fish species can be cultured on diets containing vegetable oils as the added oil source. However, feeding high levels of some vegetable oils may significantly alter some immune responses in the fish, especially head kidney macrophage function, disease resistance and, in addition, may cause an increase in tissue histopathology.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Temporal Stability of the Location of the Esophagus in Patients Undergoing a Repeat Left Atrial Ablation Procedure for Atrial Fibrillation or Flutter

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/71884/1/j.1540-8167.2007.01051.x.pd