Measurements of static and dynamic displacement from visual monitoring of the Humber Bridge

Author's manuscript version. The final published version is available from the publisher via doi:10.1016/0141-0296(93)90054-8. Copyright © 1993 Published by Elsevier Ltd.A visual tracking system has been employed in the measurement of deck displacements at the centre of the 1410 m span of the Humber Bridge in the UK. The transputer-based system was developed for applications such as the monitoring or testing of large physical structures, where the actual displacements may not easily be otherwise determined. The system employs parallel processing techniques to track predictively the motion of multiple, independent objects at video frame rate. Results obtained using the system in a monitoring programme of the bridge are presented and discussed. © 1993

Care farming and green care in Salford

This report presents a University of Salford (UoS) investigation into the potential for care farming in Salford as part of the University’s teaching, research and enterprise activities. The work has critically engaged with the notion of care farming with a view to better understand how this approach can contribute to helping communities with diverse needs in terms of physical and mental health as well as wider determinants of health such as social inclusion and employability. Through the establishment of, and engagement with a network of key local stakeholders, the work developed a model that has explored the potential of a care farm. What has emerged is a first step towards the design and establishment of an urban care farm that that could serve as a centre for learning and research as well as integrate existing activities as part of a green and blue network identified through the stakeholder engagement work. This report provides a direction for future work on care farming in Salford in general, and in terms of the University’s teaching and learning activities in particular

Coopetition Balance and Coopetition Capability in Platform Ecosystems: Complementors’ Perspective

In a platform ecosystem, complementors can utilize various resources from a platform owner that receives a variety of products/services via complementors for better customers’ choice and satisfaction. The literature has focused on the cooperative nature of the platform ecosystem. Less attention, however, has been given to coopetition (i.e., simultaneous strategic use of cooperation and competition). Drawing upon paradox theory, this study develops a research model that explains the individual and joint impact of coopetition balance and coopetition capability on relationship performance in a platform ecosystem. Based on survey data from 365 complementors to Amazon, this study illustrates that coopetition balance and coopetition capability have a significant impact on relationship performance. Additionally, coopetition capability moderates the relationship between coopetition balance and relationship performance. In particular, results show that coopetition capability is the most critical variable to enhance relationship performance. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed in this paper

Connectivity-based parcellation of the thalamus explains specific cognitive and behavioural symptoms in patients with bilateral thalamic infarct

A novel approach based on diffusion tractography was used here to characterise the cortico-thalamic connectivity in two patients, both presenting with an isolated bilateral infarct in the thalamus, but exhibiting partially different cognitive and behavioural profiles. Both patients (G.P. and R.F.) had a pervasive deficit in episodic memory, but only one of them (R.F.) suffered also from a dysexecutive syndrome. Both patients had an MRI scan at 3T, including a T1-weighted volume. Their lesions were manually segmented. T1-volumes were normalised to standard space, and the same transformations were applied to the lesion masks. Nineteen healthy controls underwent a diffusion-tensor imaging (DTI) scan. Their DTI data were normalised to standard space and averaged. An atlas of Brodmann areas was used to parcellate the prefrontal cortex. Probabilistic tractography was used to assess the probability of connection between each voxel of the thalamus and a set of prefrontal areas. The resulting map of corticothalamic connections was superimposed onto the patients' lesion masks, to assess whether the location of the thalamic lesions in R.F. (but not in G. P.) implied connections with prefrontal areas involved in dysexecutive syndromes. In G.P., the lesion fell within areas of the thalamus poorly connected with prefrontal areas, showing only a modest probability of connection with the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Conversely, R.F.'s lesion fell within thalamic areas extensively connected with the ACC bilaterally, with the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and with the left supplementary motor area. Despite a similar, bilateral involvement of the thalamus, the use of connectivity-based segmentation clarified that R.F.'s lesions only were located within nuclei highly connected with the prefrontal cortical areas, thus explaining the patient's frontal syndrome. This study confirms that DTI tractography is a useful tool to examine in vivo the effect of focal lesions on interconnectivity brain patterns

New leaders' managerial background and the performance of public organizations: The theory of publicness fit

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Oxford University Press via the DOI in this recordWe develop a theory of the effect of top management succession on the performance of public organizations. The theory is rooted in the fundamental characteristics of an organization's publicness: ownership, funding, and regulation. We construct the concept of publicness fit-the match between the organization and the leader's previous managerial experience. We argue that the effect of publicness fit on performance depends on the balance of adaptation benefits and disruption costs, which in turn depends on the prior performance of an organization. We propose a research agenda to empirically evaluate propositions developed from the theory of publicness fit.Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC

Testis and Antler Dysgenesis in Sitka Black-Tailed Deer on Kodiak Island, Alaska: Sequela of Environmental Endocrine Disruption?

It had been observed that many male Sitka black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus sitkensis) on Kodiak Island, Alaska, had abnormal antlers, were cryptorchid, and presented no evidence of hypospadias. We sought to better understand the problem and investigated 171 male deer for phenotypic aberrations and 12 for detailed testicular histopathology. For the low-lying Aliulik Peninsula (AP), 61 of 94 deer were bilateral cryptorchids (BCOs); 70% of these had abnormal antlers. Elsewhere on the Kodiak Archipelago, only 5 of 65 deer were BCOs. All 11 abdominal testes examined had no spermatogenesis but contained abnormalities including carcinoma in situ–like cells, possible precursors of seminoma; Sertoli cell, Leydig cell, and stromal cell tumors; carcinoma and adenoma of rete testis; and microlithiasis or calcifications. Cysts also were evident within the excurrent ducts. Two of 10 scrotal testes contained similar abnormalities, although spermatogenesis was ongoing. We cannot rule out that these abnormalities are linked sequelae of a mutation(s) in a founder animal, followed by transmission over many years and causing high prevalence only on the AP. However, based on lesions observed, we hypothesize that it is more likely that this testis–antler dysgenesis resulted from continuing exposure of pregnant females to an estrogenic environmental agent(s), thereby transforming testicular cells, affecting development of primordial antler pedicles, and blocking transabdominal descent of fetal testes. A browse (e.g., kelp) favored by deer in this locale might carry the putative estrogenic agent(s)

Where does Everyday Design Innovation come from?: Case studies in IKEA Product Hacking

Background Design is no longer owned only by skilled designers. Product hacking, which has to emerge as a major phenomenon in industrial and consumer products, is an everyday design activity aimed at remaking and remanufacturing existing products that provide new meanings. This paper aims to contribute to identifying design innovation within cases of product hacking as examples of everyday design. Methods Product hacking workshops were conducted to explore the potential of conceptual blending as means to identify innovation in everyday design activity. Results Through a trial and error morphological approach, participants appeared to arrive at Aha! moments that then acted as a catalyst for the identification of a feasible blend possibility. Rather than the explicit operation or application of meaning blends in product hacking, participants relied upon the juxtaposition of existing products as both opportunity and constraint on product combination and meaning change. Conclusions Conceptual meaning blending may have the potential as means to identify and assess innovation in everyday design activity, including product hacking. However, results indicate that meaning blending and their meanings were not an explicit approach to meaning innovation through the blending of existing products. ?? 2021. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/), which permits unrestricted educational and non-commercial use, provided the original work is properly cited

The conceptual and practical ethical dilemmas of using health discussion board posts as research data.

Increasing numbers of people living with a long-term health condition are putting personal health information online, including on discussion boards. Many discussion boards contain material of potential use to researchers; however, it is unclear how this information can and should be used by researchers. To date there has been no evaluation of the views of those individuals sharing health information online regarding the use of their shared information for research purposes

Posterior Vitreous Detachment and the Posterior Hyaloid Membrane

PURPOSE: Despite posterior vitreous detachment being a common ocular event affecting most individuals in an aging population, there is little consensus regarding its precise anatomic definition. We investigated the morphologic appearance and molecular composition of the posterior hyaloid membrane to determine whether the structure clinically observed enveloping the posterior vitreous surface after posterior vitreous detachment is a true basement membrane and to postulate its origin. Understanding the relationship between the vitreous (in both its attached and detached state) and the internal limiting membrane of the retina is essential to understanding the cause of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment and vitreoretinal interface disorders, as well as potential future prophylactic and treatment strategies. DESIGN: Clinicohistologic correlation study. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty-six human donor globes. METHODS: Vitreous bodies identified to have posterior vitreous detachment were examined with phase-contrast microscopy and confocal microscopy after immunohistochemically staining for collagen IV basement membrane markers, in addition to extracellular proteins that characterize the vitreoretinal junction (fibronectin, laminin) and vitreous gel (opticin) markers. The posterior retina similarly was stained to evaluate the internal limiting membrane. Findings were correlated to the clinical appearance of the posterior hyaloid membrane observed during slit-lamp biomicroscopy after posterior vitreous detachment and compared with previously published studies. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Morphologic appearance and molecular composition of the posterior hyaloid membrane. RESULTS: Phase-contrast microscopy consistently identified a creased and distinct glassy membranous sheet enveloping the posterior vitreous surface, correlating closely with the posterior hyaloid membrane observed during slit-lamp biomicroscopy in patients with posterior vitreous detachment. Immunofluorescent confocal micrographs demonstrated the enveloping membranous structure identified on phase-contrast microscopy to show positive stain results for type IV collagen. Immunofluorescence of the residual intact internal limiting membrane on the retinal surface also showed positive stain results for type IV collagen. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study provide immunohistochemical evidence that the posterior hyaloid membrane is a true basement membrane enveloping the posterior hyaloid surface. Because this membranous structure is observed only after posterior vitreous detachment, the results of this study indicate that it forms part of the internal limiting membrane when the vitreous is in its attached state

Structure and dynamics of aqueous 2-propanol: a THz-TDS, NMR and neutron diffraction study.

Aqueous liquid mixtures, in particular, those involving amphiphilic species, play an important role in many physical, chemical and biological processes. Of particular interest are alcohol/water mixtures; however, the structural dynamics of such systems are still not fully understood. Herein, a combination of terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) and NMR relaxation time analysis has been applied to investigate 2-propanol/water mixtures across the entire composition range; while neutron diffraction studies have been carried out at two specific concentrations. Excellent agreement is seen between the techniques with a maximum in both the relative absorption coefficient and the activation energy to molecular motion occurring at ∼90 mol% H2O. Furthermore, this is the same value at which well-established excess thermodynamic functions exhibit a maximum/minimum. Additionally, both neutron diffraction and THz-TDS have been used to provide estimates of the size of the hydration shell around 2-propanol in solution. Both methods determine that between 4 and 5 H2O molecules per 2-propanol are found in the 2-propanol/water clusters at 90 mol% H2O. Based on the acquired data, a description of the structure of 2-propanol/water across the composition range is presented.The authors would like to acknowledge CASTech (EPSRC grant EP/G011397/1), RCUK Basic Technology Grant (EP/E048811/1), STFC for beamtime allocation (RB910286) and Jon Mitchell (Cambridge) for valuable discussions.This is the final version of the article. It was first available from RSC via http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C5CP01132