Viewed from above: extracting the built environment from the ancient Purépecha site of Angamuco through development of a new methodology

2019 Fall.Includes bibliographical references.This thesis utilizes commonly used GIS tools to develop a methodology capable of extracting the built environment from the complex topology of the ancient Purépecha site of Angamuco located in Michoacán, Mexico. Unlike lowland areas and coastal regions Angamuco sits upon a volcanic malpaís consisting of rolling hills, small valleys, complex ridgelines, and a multitude of microtopographic features creating a complex physical landscape. This topographically complex landscape creates unique challenges in extracting subtle archaeological features and requires a new methodology to separate the built environment. This new methodology utilizing common GIS tools in a flexible workflow consisting of topographic manipulation, value identification, and analysis preparation. The results of the methodology provides a data set of 87,407 possible archaeological features. These features are all greater than 5m² in area and consist of a wide range of circular to rectilinear, linear, and numerous miscellaneous shaped features throughout the site. The capability of this dataset in further analysis is shown through the application of a density analysis and classification based on the Thinness Ratio to conduct OBIA at the individual feature level. Although, the dataset does require manual clean-up the application of the data to answer certain questions about the urban attributes of the site of Angamuco is valid. Further analysis of this output dataset through GIS can provide detailed answers to questions about urban design for the Purépecha prior to and during the early Empire phase

A Case Study in Tax Reform: The Principal Residence

For most Canadians, tax reform , in the abstract, is almost a motherhood issue: of course we\u27re in favor of it, particularly if we are referring to that most obtrusive and resented of taxes, the income tax. In fact, as of the end of 1983, we shall have lived twelve years under an income tax r6gime that the federal government was pleased to call tax reform . Why, then, should there be at least as much clamor for changes to the income tax now as there was in the early 1960s, when the federal government of the day felt impelled to appoint a Royal Commission on Taxation (the Carter Commission) to make a thorough study of the much criticized income tax law and to recommend major reforms? Plus fa change. While the intention to achieve tax reform was genuine, that term seems most inappropriate to describe the turmoil that has resulted in our income tax system, which is becoming less manageable with each year\u27s massive set of new amendments. In retrospect, it was probably naive to expect any other result from this prolonged process, which began over twenty years ago. Nevertheless, it is ironic that we should be hearing a growing demand for the reform of tax reform

Rad51 Nucleoprotein Filament Disassembly Captured Using Fluorescent \u3cem\u3ePlasmodium falciparum\u3c/em\u3e SSB as a Reporter for Single-Stranded DNA

Single-stranded DNA binding (SSB) proteins coordinate DNA replication, repair, and recombination and are critical for maintaining genomic integrity. SSB binds to single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) rapidly and with very high affinity making it a useful molecular tool to detect free ssDNA in solution. We have labeled SSB from Plasmodium falciparum (Pf-SSB) with the MDCC (7-diethylamino-3-((((2-maleimidyl)ethyl)amino)-carbonyl)coumarin) fluorophore which yields a four-fold increase in fluorescence upon binding to ssDNA. Pf-SSBMDCC binding to DNA is unaffected by NaCl or Mg2+ concentration and does not display salt-dependent changes in DNA binding modes or cooperative binding on long DNA substrates. These features are unique to Pf-SSB, making it an ideal tool to probe the presence of free ssDNA in any biochemical reaction. Using this Pf-SSBMDCC probe as a sensor for free ssDNA, we have investigated the clearing of preformed yeast Rad51 nucleoprotein filaments by the Srs2 helicase during HR. Our studies provide a rate for the disassembly of the Rad51 filament by full length Srs2 on long ssDNA substrates. Mutations in the conserved 2B domain in the homologous bacterial UvrD, Rep and PcrA helicases show an enhancement of DNA unwinding activity, but similar mutations in Srs2 do not affect its DNA unwinding or Rad51 clearing properties. These studies showcase the utility of the Pf-SSB probe in mechanistic investigation of enzymes that function in DNA metabolism

Embarrassment as a Key Emotion in Young People Talking About Sexual Health

This paper highlights embarrassment as one of the often-ignored emotions of young people when it comes to discussing issues around sexual health. There have been many sexual health studies on knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of young people over the past two decades, but emotional aspects have been largely ignored, despite a growing literature in the sociology of emotion. A qualitative approach was adopted in the form of focus group discussions, which included questions on sex education, sexual health campaigns and formal and informal sources of sexual health information and advice. Focus groups were conducted in secondary schools in and around Edinburgh and Aberdeen as part of a four-year evaluation study of a Scottish Demonstration Project on young people's sexual health: 'Healthy Respect'. We conclude that is it important for policy makers and sexual health promoters to understand young people's notions of embarrassment. Not only are there elements of sex education that (some) young people perceive as embarrassing, they also sense embarrassment in those people providing them with sex education. Young people reported that both professionals (e.g. teachers and doctors) and their parents could be embarrassed about raising the topic of sexual health. Moreover, as one of the goals of sex education is to ensure an open and non-embarrassing attitude towards sex and sexuality, there is still a major gap between the aspirations of health educators and policy makers and the ways that young people experience such education.Sexual Health Services, Adolescence, School, Scotland, Emotion, Qualitative Research, Sex Education, Parents, Focus Groups, Relationships

An investigation into the impact of nine catchment characteristics on the accuracy of two phosphorus load apportionment models

Funding: No funding was provided for this study aside from supervisory support through Harper Adams University.Peer reviewedPostprin

A study comparing the educational level and the demonstrated efficiency of enlisted men in a United States Army unit

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1968 H37Master of Scienc

Midwives' competence : is it affected by working in a rural location?

Introduction: Rising health care costs and the need to consolidate expertise in tertiary services have led to the centralisation of services. In the UK, the result has been that many rural maternity units have become midwife-led. A key consideration is that midwives have the skills to competently and confidently provide maternity services in rural areas, which may be geographically isolated and where the midwife may only see a small number of pregnant women each year. Our objective was to compare the views of midwives in rural and urban settings, regarding their competence and confidence with respect to ‘competencies’ identified as being those which all professionals should have in order to provide effective and safe care for low-risk women. Method: This was a comparative questionnaire survey involving a stratified sample of remote and rural maternity units and an ad hoc comparison group of three urban maternity units in Scotland. Questionnaires were sent to 82 midwives working in remote and rural areas and 107 midwives working in urban hospitals with midwife-led units. Results: The response rate from midwives in rural settings was considerably higher (85%) than from midwives in the urban areas (60%). Although the proportion of midwives who reported that they were competent was broadly similar in the two groups, there were some significant differences regarding specific competencies. Midwives in the rural group were more likely to report competence for breech delivery (p = 0.001), while more urban midwives reported competence in skills such as intravenous fluid replacement (p <0.001) and initial and discharge examination of the newborn (p <0.001). Both groups reported facing barriers to continuing professional development; however, more of the rural group had attended an educational event within the last month (p <0.001). Lack of time was a greater barrier for urban midwives (p = 0.02), whereas distance to training was greater for rural midwives (p = 0.009). Lack of motivation or interest was significantly higher in urban units (p = 0.006). Conclusion: It is often assumed that midwives in rural areas where there are fewer deliveries, will be less competent and confident in their practice. Our exploratory study suggests that the issue of competence is far more complex and deserves further attention.NHS Education Scotlan

Gliding in Draco

20 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.Includes bibliographical references (p. 19-20)