A Service Evaluation of the use of Mealtime Advice Mats within an Adult Learning Disability Service

This study aimed to gather the views of residential support staff and multidisciplinary team members (MDT) in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the current mealtime advice mats. It aimed to use the information to plan improvements to the mats themselves or their provision. Methods: This service evaluation of a NHS Learning Disability team was granted approval by the local audit and development committee and registered so with City, University of London in partial fulfilment of an MSc in SLT. Consenting participants (42: 21 paid support staff, 21 MDT professionals) answered specifically created questionnaires. Areas explored included; frequency of mat use, adherence with mat guidelines, knowledge of the potential consequences of dysphagia and the format and design of the mats. The results were analysed using descriptive statistics and review of the free text comments. Results: Results indicated high levels of awareness of mealtime mats and reported use by support staff. The MDT had less awareness and reported reduced use of the mats by themselves and support staff. Support and MDT staff shared differing facilitators and barriers for adherence to mealtime mat guidelines. The current format was viewed positively with differing views on potential improvements e.g. increased picture recommended by MDT but not support staff. There was general awareness of many consequences of dysphagia but not all, with the MDT less aware. Conclusion: This study’s findings contribute to the limited literature on dysphagia recommendations for people with LD. Implications for service development, improvements to mats and future research avenues are discussed

Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2013

A joint effort by the Bureau of Justice Statistics and National Center for Education Statistics, this annual report examines crime occurring in schools and colleges. This report presents data on crime at school from the perspectives of students, teachers, principals, and the general population from an array of sources--the National Crime Victimization Survey, the School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey, the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, the School Survey on Crime and Safety, the School and Staffing Survey and the Campus Safety and Security Survey

Conventional Protections for Commercial Fan Art Under the U.S. Copyright Act

For many years, artists and consumers of pop culture have channeled their artistic skills into creating derivative works of their favorite fictional stories and characters. In the United States, fans of Japanese anime and manga have made a living selling artwork of their favorite characters at anime conventions, large gatherings that bring in fellow fans from all around the country. Despite the prevalence of this practice, there is a glaring legal issue: these fictional characters are the intellectual property of the authors who created them, and fan art is blatant copyright infringement. However, there are still many economic advantages to permitting the sale of fan art. This Note will propose a way to apply the fair use defense to commercial fan art in a way that protects the economic interests of both authors and fans

Optical Modeling, Alignment, and Testing for the Deformable Mirror Demonstration Mission (DeMi) CubeSat Payload

Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) Deformable Mirrors (DMs) are a promising technology to enable the wavefront control required for high contrast imaging and characterization of exoplanets with coronagraph instruments. MEMS DMs are a key technology option for future exoplanet imaging space telescopes because they can provide precise wavefront control with low size, weight, and power required. The Deformable Mirror Demonstration Mission (DeMi) is flying a MEMS DM-based adaptive optics instrument on a CubeSat in order to demonstrate this technology in the space environment for the first time. The DeMi payload will characterize the on-orbit performance of a 140 actuator MEMS DM with 5.5 μm maximum stroke, with a goal of measuring individual actuator wavefront displacement contributions to a precision of 12 nm. The payload will be able to measure low order aberrations to λ/10 accuracy and λ/50 precision, and will correct static and dynamic wavefront phase errors to less than 100 nm RMS. The DeMi payload contains both a Shack Hartmann wavefront sensor and an image plane wavefront sensor to monitor the DM behavior on orbit. This paper describes an optical diffraction model of the payload and the flight payload alignment and integration process. The optical model is validated with relevant data from the flight payload. The DeMi satellite was launched successfully to the International Space Station on February 15, 2020 and deployment is expected in early Summer 2020

Redefining Truths: Manuela Rosas as a subject of Imaginative Reconstruction in the Argentine Literary Realm

Manuela Rosas, the daughter of Federalist dictator Juan Manuel de Rosas, is an important nineteenth century political figure who was a consistent subject of imaginative reconstruction during the Rosas era. Much like her fellow women revolutionaries, namely Eva Perón and her mother, Encarnación Ezcurra de Rosas, Manuela assumed an active role in the Argentine political arena and was instrumental maintaining her father’s unparalleled political supremacy, acting as chief mediator between the government and the marginalised Argentine masses. This article argues how, in a series of nineteenth-century fictional works, namely those of renowned Unitarians José Mármol (Amalia; El retrato de Manuela Rosas, 1851) and Juana Manuela Gorriti (El guante negro; La hiza del mashorquero, 1865), Manuela has been inaccurately depicted as ‘la primera victíma de la tiranía de su padre’ who desperately needed rescuing. Both writers maintain that Rosas curtailed his daughter’s social freedom, and that she would have reached her true potential had she been raised by civilised Unitarians and not in a Federalist environment. However, María Rosa Lojo’s La princesa federal (2010) contests the claim that Manuela suffered, instead postulating that she was a resilient and empowered individual who was passionate about promoting the causa federalista, remaining loyal to her father out of choice. I offer an original critical analysis of the unacknowledged and divergent literary and historical representations of Manuela, examining how writers use the lack of historical evidence to manipulate and imaginatively reconstruct her life story and in doing so, blur the line between fact and fiction

Perceptions of accident risk among on-track machine workers : an interview study

Although non-fatal injuries remain a frequent occurrence in safety-critical work, very few studies have examined the ways in which organisational systems and processes influence individual safety behaviour. Even fewer have explored the perceived factors contributing to accident risk using qualitative research methods. This short paper presents the initial results from a thematic analysis of ten interviews with On Track Machine (OTM) operatives. Issues arising from two key themes (fatigue, and safety communication and training) are briefly described. Implications, planned organisational response, and opportunities for further research are discussed

Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2014

A joint effort by the Bureau of Justice Statistics and National Center for Education Statistics, this annual report examines crime occurring in schools and colleges. This report presents data on crime at school from the perspectives of students, teachers, principals, and the general population from an array of sources--the National Crime Victimization Survey, the School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey, the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, the School Survey on Crime and Safety, the Schools and Staffing Survey, EDFacts, and the Campus Safety and Security Survey. The report covers topics such as victimization, bullying, school conditions, fights, weapons, the presence of security staff at school, availability and student use of drugs and alcohol, student perceptions of personal safety at school, and criminal incidents at postsecondary institutions

Impacts of Feeding Baleage to Beef Calves During the Backgrounding Period

Two hundred forty beef calves (BW = 217 ± 20.6 kg) were used to evaluate performance, blood metabolites, and rumen development from feeding bermudagrass or ryegrass and rye baleage. Calves were stratified by BW, sex, and breed and assigned to one of 12 paddocks (0.40 ha each) with 4 treatment diets and fed for a 60 d backgrounding period. Diets included: early boot stage bermudagrass hay, (BERH); early boot stage ryegrass and rye baleage (ERRG); late bloom stage ryegrass and rye baleage, (LRRG); and early boot stage bermudagrass baleage, (BERB). Calves on BERH, LRRG, and BERB had free choice access to a 35% CP (as fed basis) liquid supplement. Body weights and rectal temperatures were collected on d -1, 0, 29, 30, 60, and 61 for comparison of BW, BW gain, ADG, and body temperature. Ruminal fluid and blood samples were collected for analysis of pH, NH3, VFA, PUN, and glucose from calves (n = 5 and 10/paddock, respectively) on d 0, 30, and 60. There was a treatment by day interaction (P \u3c 0.01) for BW, temperature, PUN and ruminal pH. Body weights were heavier (P \u3c 0.05) for LRRG compared with BERB and BERH, and heavier (P = 0.01) for ERRG compared with BERB on d 60, respectively. Body temperatures declined (P \u3c0.01) from day 0 to 60. Plasma urea nitrogen was lowest (P \u3c0.01) LRRG on d 30 compared with BERB and BERH; whereas, LRRG has the lowest (P \u3c0.01) PUN on d 60 compared with the remaining treatments. Ruminal pH was lowest (P \u3c0.01) for BERH and LRRG compared with ERRG on d 30, and highest (P \u3c0.01) for ERRG on d 60 compared with BERB, respectively. Body weight gain and ADG were greater (P \u3c 0.01) during the 60 d backgrounding period for calves fed ERRG and LRRG. A treatment effect existed for glucose where concentrations in the ERRG and BERH fed calves were greater (P \u3c0.05) compared with the LRRG and BERB fed calves. A day effect for NH3 and glucose existed where concentrations decreased (P\u3c0.01) from d 0 to 30 among all treatments. A treatment by day interaction existed (P =0.05) for butyrate where levels were greater for BERH and LRRG on d 30 compared with LRRG on d 60. Main effect of treatment (P \u3c0.01) was observed for acetate and propionate, where BERB and LRRG had the lowest concentrations compared with ERRG and BERH. Performance of backgrounded calves fed ryegrass and rye baleage with or without supplementation, based on harvest stage, was improved over feeding bermudagrass hay with supplementation