Comments and corrections on 3D modeling studies of locomotor muscle moment arms in archosaurs

© 2015 Bates et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited. The attached file is the published version of the article

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)-based spatially distributed model for runoff routing

A method is proposed for routing spatially distributed excess precipitation over a watershed to produce runoff at its outlet. The land surface is represented by a (raster) digital elevation model from which the stream network is derived. A routing response function is defined for each digital elevation model cell so that water movement from cell to cell can be convolved to give a response function along a flow path and responses from all cells can be summed to give the outlet hydrograph. An example application of analysis of runoff on Waller Creek in Austin, Texas, is presented.Waller Creek Working Grou

Opportunities and challenges for waste heat in energy systems - from sustainable cooling to heat recovery.

This paper tracks a research journey over a number of years from sustainable cooling to heat recovery. It includes an investigation of the decarbonisation of heating and cooling by working across commercial boundaries as part of a smart energy system. Many cooling applications exist close to a demand for heat and by sharing energy between applications can deliver near zero carbon heating and cooling in a cost effective way. The paper describes the evolution of research at London South Bank University in sustainable cooling and heating. It starts with describing the challenges associated with decarbonisation of the UK energy system and then links this with the need to develop more sustainable cooling concepts. Research carried out on sustainable cooling of London Underground is described including the challenges associated with heat exchange, followed by the evolution of a heat recovery scheme for connection to the Bunhill Heat Network which bivalently cooled the Tube and delivered heating to local housing. The paper then describes the development of smart local energy systems, using a case study called GreenSCIES which integrates heating and cooling with mobility (Electric Vehicles) and power to create a smart local energy system. Wider opportunities for integration of heating and cooling are then described with some specific case studies. The paper concludes by looking ahead to future policy opportunities

Limb-Bone Scaling Indicates Diverse Stance and Gait in Quadrupedal Ornithischian Dinosaurs

Background The most primitive ornithischian dinosaurs were small bipeds, but quadrupedality evolved three times independently in the clade. The transition to quadrupedality from bipedal ancestors is rare in the history of terrestrial vertebrate evolution, and extant analogues do not exist. Constraints imposed on quadrupedal ornithischians by their ancestral bipedal bauplan remain unexplored, and consequently, debate continues about their stance and gait. For example, it has been proposed that some ornithischians could run, while others consider that none were cursorial. Methodology/Principal Findings Drawing on biomechanical concepts of limb bone scaling and locomotor theory developed for extant taxa, we use the largest dataset of ornithischian postcranial measurements so far compiled to examine stance and gait in quadrupedal ornithischians. Differences in femoral midshaft eccentricity in hadrosaurs and ceratopsids may indicate that hadrosaurs placed their feet on the midline during locomotion, while ceratopsids placed their feet more laterally, under the hips. More robust humeri in the largest ceratopsids relative to smaller taxa may be due to positive allometry in skull size with body mass in ceratopsids, while slender humeri in the largest stegosaurs may be the result of differences in dermal armor distribution within the clade. Hadrosaurs are found to display the most cursorial morphologies of the quadrupedal ornithischian cades, indicating higher locomotor performance than in ceratopsids and thyreophorans. Conclusions/Significance Limb bone scaling indicates that a previously unrealised diversity of stances and gaits were employed by quadrupedal ornithischians despite apparent convergence in limb morphology. Grouping quadrupedal ornithischians together as a single functional group hides this disparity. Differences in limb proportions and scaling are likely due to the possession of display structures such as horns, frills and dermal armor that may have affected the center of mass of the animal, and differences in locomotor behaviour such as migration, predator escape or home range size

The Extent to which Laws and Regulations on Environmental Liability Protect the Environment and Compensate the Victims

This article provides an examination and analysis of the laws and regulations on environmental liability, in light of the growing global concern of oil pollution of the marine environment. It considers several fundamental legal provisions that have attempted to protect the environment and compensate the victims of oil pollution and assesses the extent to which these provisions have achieved these aims. A recent high profile incident has reinstated the issue as a worldwide public concern and provides context for this article

In the Public Interest? Planning in the Peak District National Park

The recent history of the public interest is one of misappropriation. Practitioners have been found to value the concept but have struggled to articulate how it guides day-to-day planning practice. It has been used to portray a homogenous public, furthering the interests of the powerful at the expense of recognising social diversity, and leading to calls for the concept’s abandonment (Sandercock, 1998). Yet this article starts from the argument that the public interest remains the justification that fundamentally underpins planning activities, in light of a continuing need to address collective concerns. To this end the article adopts the typology put forward by Campbell and Marshall (2002a; 2000), outlining different ways in which the public interest may practically be addressed. Alongside this Dewey’s (1954) work is used to understand how the extent of the public may vary, leading to the use of scale as a way of recognising when different conceptions of the public interest might be practically drawn upon. Following this approach, the typology is brought together with scale, as a lens for understanding the extent of a public with a common interest, to form a framework for analysing practice. This framework is used to analyse how the interests of different publics are addressed in a case study of the Peak District, a national park in England. From the case conclusions are drawn around the need to pay greater attention to the extent of different publics with a common interest, and, in turn, how the interests of different publics can be reconciled

Social recovery following first-episode psychosis: the role of negative symptoms and motivation

Background Impairment in social functioning following psychosis is associated with negative symptoms, particularly reduced motivation (Foussias & Remington, 2010). Cognitive models of negative symptoms propose that expectancy appraisals are involved in the expression and maintenance of negative symptoms (Rector, Beck, & Stolar, 2005; Staring & Van der Gaag, 2010). Theories of motivation (e.g. expectancy-value theory; Eccles and Wigfield 2002) describe how self-efficacy beliefs, appraisals of task value, and self-schema may influence behaviour, but minimal research has applied these models to the understanding of negative symptoms and functional outcomes in first-episode psychosis. This was the aim of the current study. Method A cross-sectional, correlational study was conducted to explore relationships between negative symptoms and appraisals of self-efficacy, task value and self-schema in a clinical sample of individuals with first-episode psychosis. Fifty-one participants completed measures examining psychotic symptoms, functioning, and appraisals. Results Relationships between negative symptoms and appraisals of self-efficacy, task value and self-schema were found, however these relationships were not significant when controlling for depression and anxiety symptoms. Contrary to expectations, there was no difference in the strength of relationships between self-efficacy, subjective task value and self-schema and the negative symptoms associated with motivation compared with other negative symptoms. Self-efficacy and self-schema were not significantly correlated with social functioning, but negative symptoms significantly mediated the relationship between subjective task value and social functioning. Discussion Although some hypotheses were partially supported, depressive symptoms accounted for the most variance in negative symptoms in this sample. The findings support a psychological approach for treatment to assist functional recovery of individuals with first-episode psychosis. This study addresses some methodological limitations of previous research, though was itself limited by small sample size. Theoretical implications for the applicability of cognitive models of negative symptoms and theories of motivation in first-episode psychosis are also discussed

Report on Phase Three: The professional capabilities framework

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