Scotland’s Geodiversity Charter: a step forward for Scottish Geoparks

Scotland’s Geodiversity Charter was launched in June 2012 to demonstrate and promote the wider values of Scotland’s geological heritage. The four main aims of the charter are to raise awareness of the importance of geodiversity, integrate geodiversity into relevant policies, conserve and enhance geodiversity, and to improve our understanding of the wider role of geodiversity. Led by the voluntary geoconservation sector through the Scottish Geodiversity Forum, the Charter has over 45 signatories to date including public bodies, NGOs, industry and landowner representatives, geoconservation groups and Geoparks. Both Shetland Geopark and North West Highlands Geopark are actively embracing the aims of the charter, primarily by raising awareness of geodiversity and through the integration of geoconservation into relevant policies, both locally and regionally. Ultimately, Scotland’s Geodiversity Charter will encourage a large number of stakeholders to work together to provide positive benefits for both people and the environment

Specific heat study of single crystalline Pr0.63_{0.63} Ca0.37_{0.37} MnO3_{3} in presence of a magnetic field

We present the results of a study of specific heat on a single crystal of Pr$_{0.63}$Ca$_{0.37}$MnO$_3$ performed over a temperature range 3K-300K in presence of 0 and 8T magnetic fields. An estimate of the entropy and latent heat in a magnetic field at the first order charge ordering (CO) transition is presented. The total entropy change at the CO transition which is $\approx$ 1.8 J/mol K at 0T, decreases to $\sim$ 1.5 J/mol K in presence of 8T magnetic field. Our measurements enable us to estimate the latent heat $L_{CO}$ $\approx$ 235 J/mol involved in the CO transition. Since the entropy of the ferromagnetic metallic (FMM) state is comparable to that of the charge-ordered insulating (COI) state, a subtle change in entropy stabilises either of these two states. Our low temperature specific heat measurements reveal that the linear term is absent in 0T and surprisingly not seen even in the metallic FMM state.Comment: 8 pages (in RevTEX format), 12 figures (in postscript format) Submitted to Phys. Rev.

Thickness effects on the plastic collapse of perforated plates with triangular penetration patterns

This paper investigates the effects of plate thickness on the accuracy of limit load solutions obtained using an elastic-perfectly plastic [EPP] equivalent solid [EQS] procedure for flat perforated plates with a triangular array of penetrations. The EQS approach for limit loads is based on an EQS collapse surface that is valid for generalized plane strain. This assumption is applicable for very thick plates but is known to be less reasonable for very thin plates where plane stress may be a better assumption. The limits of applicability of the generalized plane strain assumption are investigated by obtaining limit load solutions for perforated plates of various thicknesses that are subjected to in-plane and bending loads. Plastic limit load solutions obtained using three-dimensional EPP finite element analysis [FEA] of models which include each penetration explicitly are compared with solutions obtained using the EQS approximation. The penetration pattern chosen for this study has a ligament efficiency (ligament width-to-pitch ratio, h/P) of 0.32. For plates thicker than the pitch, the limit load calculated using the EQS method for both in-plane and bending loads is shown to be very accurate (within 4%) of the limit load calculated for the explicit model. On the other hand, for thin plates (t/P< 2), the EQS limit load is 5% greater than the explicit limit load for bending and 8% greater than the explicit limit load for in-plane loads. For thinner plates, the collapse surface is tied to the local geometry deformation and, hence, an equivalent solid plate representation of plastic collapse is a function of deformation mode and thickness

The relationship between knowledge management practices and innovativeness : insights from petroleum firms in Nigeria

Determinants of firm innovativeness are said to be relatively understudied and little is written about firms from the oil industry within the context of African economies. This article attempts to fill that gap by investigating the impact of endogenous factors, particularly the impact of knowledge management practices (KMP) on the technological innovativeness of petroleum firms in Nigeria. Survey data collected from petroleum firms in Nigeria were used to examine the relationship between their technological innovativeness and the KMP engaged by the firms. Our analyses show that in the context of the study, KMP significantly impact the technological innovativeness of firms. The results were largely consistent with extant research on the role of knowledge management on the innovativeness of firms. Our findings provide valuable insights about knowledge as a strategic resource of the firm. Thus, undertaking the relevant KMP will enhance the technological innovativeness of petroleum firms operating in Nigeria.https://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals/view-Journal,id=1332019-09-01hj2019Graduate School of Technology Management (GSTM

Utilidad de los agonistas, moduladores selectivos y antagonistas puros del receptor de estrógenos en estudios morfofuncionales del útero de la rata

De acuerdo con el Instituto Nacional de la Salud, la especie murina es una de las especies más importantes en el estudio de la fisiología y de un gran número de procesos que tienen lugar en el organismo, tanto en la especie humana como en los animales. Se estima que en el 90-95 % de los estudios realizados en biomedicina se utilizan ratones y ratas. En la rata, la función reproductora es debida a las hormonas esteroideas ováricas, estrógenos (E) y progesterona (P). Durante las distintas fases del ciclo estral, el útero sufre cambios morfológicos y funcionales que dependen de la acción de los E y la P y que incluyen la proliferación celular y la síntesis de receptores de progesterona en el epitelio, y la proliferación celular del estroma y su consecuente decidualización, respectivamente. La acción de los E y la P en el útero está mediada por receptores intracelulares, los receptores de E (RE) y los receptores de P (RP). Ambos receptores tienen dos isofomas, α y β para los RE y A y B para los RP. Estudios previos realizados tanto en ratones knock-out (KO) para una de las isoformas del RE y las dos del RP, como en ratas ovariectomizadas (OVX) a las que se administran agonistas estrogénicos selectivos para una de las isoformas del RE, han revelado que la mayoría de las acciones de los E en el útero son mediadas por la isoforma α del RE, aunque en la actualidad el papel específico de cada una de las isoformas se conoce solo parcialmente. Tanto el conocimiento molecular del RE como los avances farmacológicos han permitido el desarrollo de nuevos agentes agonistas y antagonistas para las distintas isoformas del RE que hacen posible estudiar la acción que desempeña en el útero cada una de las isoformas del RE

Risk of incident dementia and cognitive impairment in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): A large UK population-based study

Background: Although cognitive impairment and dementia are common comorbidities in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), estimates of incidence following a diagnosis of COPD are inconclusive. Objective: To determine the incidence of cognitive impairment and dementia in people with and without a COPD diagnosis. Methods: A population-based study using UK General Practice (GP) health records from The Health Improvement Network database was conducted. Patients with confirmed COPD diagnosis, ≥40 years old, were matched to up to four subjects without a COPD diagnosis by age, sex and GP practice. Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess the incidence rates of cognitive impairment and dementia. Results: Of patients with COPD (n = 62,148), 9% developed cognitive impairment, compared with 7% of subjects without COPD (n = 230,076), p < 0.001. The incidence of cognitive impairment following COPD diagnosis was greater than in subjects without COPD following index date (adjusted Hazard Ratio (aHR), 1.21; 95% CI: 1.16 ─ 1.26, p < 0.001). The coded incidence of either cognitive impairment or dementia was also greater in patients with COPD following adjustment for confounders (aHR: 1.13, 95% CI: 1.09 ─ 1.18, p < 0.001). Coded incident dementia alone was not different between patients with COPD and subjects without COPD (aHR, 0.91, 95% CI: 0.83 ─ 1.01, p = 0.053). Conclusion: Despite the increased incidence of cognitive impairment in patients with COPD, incidence of dementia was not as frequently recorded in patients with COPD. This raises the concern of undiagnosed dementia and emphasises the need for a systematic assessment in this population

Ovarian stimulation with FSH reduces phosphorylation of gonadotrope progesterone receptor and LH secretion in the rat

Administration of human FSH(hFSH) to cyclic rats during the dioestrous phase attenuates progesterone receptor (PR)-dependent events of the preovulatory LH surge in pro-oestrus. The increased bioactivity of the putative ovarian gonadotropin surge inhibiting/attenuating factor induced by hFSH treatment is not associated with a decrease in PR protein expression, and the possibility of its association at a PR posttranslational effect has been raised. The present experiments aimed to analyse PR phosphorylation status in the gonadotrope of ratswith impaired LH secretion induced by in vivo hFSH injection. Two experimental approaches were used. First, incubated pro-oestrous pituitaries from hFSH-injected cycling and oestrogen-treated ovariectomized (OVX) rats were used to analyze the effect of calyculin, an inhibitor of intracellular phosphatases, on PR-dependent LH release, which was measured in the incubation medium by RIA. Second, pituitaries taken from hFSH-injected intact cycling and OVX rats and later incubated with P or GNRH1 were used to assess the phosphorylation rate of gonadotrope. The latter was analysed in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections by immunohistochemistry using a MAB that recognizes the phosphorylated (p) form of PR at Ser294. Calyculin reduced the ovary-mediated inhibition of hFSH in GNRH1-stimulated LH secretion. In addition, the immunohistochemical expression of pSer294 PR was significantly reduced after ovarian stimulation with hFSH in pituitaries frompro-oestrous rats incubated with PorGNRH1.Altogether, these results suggested that the ovarian-dependent inhibitory effect of FSH injection on the preovulatory LH secretion in the rat may involve an increase in dephosphorylation of PR

Natural Resource Protection and Petroleum Development in Alaska: A Summary

Performed for Office of Biological Services Fish and Wildlife Service U.S. Department of the Interior Contract No. 14-16-0009-79-123 Job No. 6347-011-2

Reconstruction of field theory from excitation spectra of defects

We show how to reconstruct a field theory from the spectrum of bound states on a topological defect. We apply our recipe to the case of kinks in 1+1 dimensions with one or two bound states. Our recipe successfully yields the sine-Gordon and $\lambda \phi^4$ field theories when suitable bound state spectra are assumed. The recipe can also be used to globally reconstruct the inflaton potential of inflationary cosmology if the inflaton produces a topological defect. We discuss how defects can provide ``smoking gun'' evidence for a class of inflationary models.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures. Included proof (Appendix B) that wall fluctuation potentials have supersymmetric form. Added reference