Climate change and rising energy costs: a threat but also an opportunity for a healthier future?

Health problems caused by overconsumption, growing inequalities and diminished well-being are issues that have been attributed to the prioritization of economic growth as the central purpose of society. It is also known that climate change and rising energy prices will inevitably bring changes to the globe's economic models. Doctors and the wider public health community have campaigned successfully in the past on issues such as the threat of nuclear war. Is it now time for this constituency to make its distinctive contribution to these new threats to health

Place matters: but does local leadership?

The arrival of New Labour into Government witnessed the prominent re-emergence of place onto the policy agenda. This heralded a range of area-based-initiatives designed to both tackle neighbourhood forms of deprivation and to re-establish a sense of identity and connection between individuals and their local community. In terms of place-making, effective and inclusive participation, representation and leadership were all identified as prerequisites for the creation of sustainable communities . But how important is local leadership and strategic vision within local public service organisations in achieving the desired place-making outcomes? This paper examines the extent to which local leadership and strategic vision represents a significant factor in promoting higher levels of satisfaction, belonging, cohesion and participation across single tier councils in England. The ensuing empirical evidence raises significant questions not only about the importance of local leadership in place-making, but also the environmental and organizational factors that shape local places

Review of BEIS3 formulation and consequences relative to air quality standards

Issued as final repor

THE EFFECT OF MONENSIN ON LACTATION DAIRY COWS: A DOSE RESPONSE EVALUATION

Monensin (Rumensin®) was fed at doses of 0, 8, 16, or 24 ppm to 966 dairy cows in nine different geographical locations in the USA and Canada. A dose response analysis was conducted on the primary variable, milk production efficiency, to determine the most appropriate dose response function, establish a minimum effective dose, and, when possible, determine a maximum effective dose. Linear mixed models (SAS® Proc Mixed v6.12) were fit to the data. Linear contrasts comparing the non-zero doses of monensin to the control were done to initially determine a minimum effective dose from the 3 non-zero design points. In addition, eight predefined linear contrasts were used to initially determine the general linear-plateau shape of a dose response function for each primary variable. A weighted regression analysis of the least squares means and corresponding standard errors was used when it was necessary to discriminate between the competing linear-plateau functions. A non-overlapping confidence interval process was followed, if it was deemed appropriate, to establish a minimum effective dose for a nondesign point. In cases where the dose response function had a plateau, the dose where the plateau began was classified as the “maximum effective dose” (minimum dose for maximum effect). In cases where the dose response function did not have a plateau, the maximum effective dose was the largest dose used in the study if the response rate was significant

Characteristics of temporal patterns of cortisol and luteinizing hormone in primiparous, postpartum, anovular, suckled, beef cows exposed acutely to bulls

BACKGROUND: The physiological mechanism by which bulls stimulate resumption of ovarian cycling activity in postpartum, anovular, suckled cows after calving may involve the concurrent activation of the hypothalamic-hypophyseal-ovarian (HPO) axis and hypothalamic-hypophyseal-adrenal (HPA) axis. Thus, the objectives of this experiment were to determine if characteristics of temporal patterns of cortisol and luteinizing hormone (LH) in postpartum, anovular, beef cows are influenced by acute exposure to bulls. The null hypotheses were that daily, temporal characteristics of cortisol and LH concentration patterns do not differ between cows exposed acutely to bulls or steers. METHODS: Sixteen cows were assigned randomly 67 +/- 4 (+/- SE) after calving to be exposed to bulls (EB, n = 8) or steers (ES, n = 8) 5 h daily for 9 d (D 0 to 8). Blood samples were collected daily from each cow via jugular catheters at 15-min intervals for 6 h from 1000 to 1600 h each day. The 5-h exposure period began 1 h after the start of the intensive bleeding period. Characteristics of cortisol and LH concentration patterns (mean, baseline, pulse frequency, pulse amplitude, and pulse duration) were identified by PULSAR analyses. RESULTS: Mean cortisol concentrations decreased (P < 0.05) in cows in both treatments from D 0 to D 2. Thereafter, mean cortisol concentrations stabilized and did not differ (P > 0.10) between EB and ES cows. The decrease in mean cortisol concentrations in EB and ES cows from D 0 to D 2 was attributed to cows acclimatizing to intensive blood sampling and handling procedures. Consequently, analyses for characteristics of cortisol and LH concentration patterns included D 2 through 8 only. Cortisol mean and baseline concentrations, and pulse amplitude did not differ (P > 0.10) between EB and ES cows. However, cortisol pulse duration tended to be longer (P = 0.09) and pulse frequency was lower (P = 0.05) in EB than ES cows. LH pulse frequency was greater (P = 0.06) in EB than ES cows. All other characteristics of LH concentration patterns did not differ (P > 0.10) between EB and ES cows. Characteristics of cortisol concentration patterns were not related to characteristics of LH concentration patterns for ES cows (P > 0.10). However, as cortisol pulse amplitude increased, LH pulse amplitude decreased (b1 = -0.04; P < 0.05) for EB cows. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, exposing primiparous, postpartum, anovular, suckled cows to bulls for 5-h daily over a 9-d period did not alter mean concentrations of cortisol or LH compared to mean concentrations of cortisol and LH in cows exposed to steers. However, exposing cows to bull in this manner altered characteristics of temporal patterns of both LH and cortisol by increasing LH pulse frequency and decreasing cortisol pulse frequency. Interestingly, in cows exposed to bulls, as amplitude and frequency of cortisol pulses decreased, amplitudes of LH pulses increased and frequency of LH pulses tended to increase. Thus, the physiological mechanism of the biostimulatory effect of bulls may initially involve modification of the HPA axis and these changes may facilitate activation of the HPO axis and resumption of ovulatory cycles in postpartum, anovular, suckled cows

High-resolution Sr/Ca ratios in a Porites lutea coral from Lakshadweep Archipelago, southeast Arabian Sea: An example from a region experiencing steady rise in the reef temperature

Here we present the first record of Sr/Ca variability in a massive Porites lutea coral from the Lakshadweep Archipelago, Arabian Sea. The annual mean sea surface temperature (SST) in this region and the surrounding areas has increased steadily in the recent past. During some major El Nino events, SSTs are even higher, imposing additional thermal-stress on corals, episodically leading to coral bleaching. We infer from the coral-Sr/Ca record (1981-2008) that during some of these events high and persistent SSTs lead to a dampening of the temperature signal in coral-Sr/Ca, impairing the coral's ability to record full scale warming. Thus, coral-Sr/Ca may provide a history of past El Nino Southern-Oscillation (ENSO) induced thermal-stress episodes, which are a recurrent feature also seen in cross-spectral analysis between coral-Sr/Ca and the Nino3.4 index. Despite the impact of episodical thermal-stress during major El Nino events, our coral proxy faithfully records the seasonal monsoon-induced summer cooling on the order of approximate to 2.3 degrees C. Calibration of coral-Sr/Ca with instrumental grid-SST data shows significant correlation to regional SST and monsoon variability. Hence, massive Porites corals of this region are highly valuable archives for reconstructing long-term changes in SST, strongly influenced by monsoon variability on seasonal scales. More importantly, our data show that this site with increasing SST is an ideal location for testing the future effects of the projected anthropogenic SST increase on coral reefs that are already under thermal-stress worldwide

Comparison of social resistance to Ebola response in Sierra Leone and Guinea suggests explanations lie in political configurations not culture

Sierra Leone and Guinea share broadly similar cultural worlds, straddling the societies of the Upper Guinea Coast with Islamic West Africa. There was, however, a notable difference in their reactions to the Ebola epidemic. As the epidemic spread in Guinea, acts of violent or everyday resistance to outbreak control measures repeatedly followed, undermining public health attempts to contain the crisis. In Sierra Leone, defiant resistance was rarer. Instead of looking to ‘culture’ to explain patterns of social resistance (as was common in the media and in the discourse of responding public health authorities) a comparison between Sierra Leone and Guinea suggests that explanations lie in divergent political practice and lived experiences of the state. In particular, the structures of authority in which the government-sanctioned epidemic response was channeled relate very differently to communities of trust in each country. Predicting and addressing social responses to epidemic control measures should assess such political-trust configurations when planning interventions

Computational Complexity of Iterated Maps on the Interval (Extended Abstract)

The exact computation of orbits of discrete dynamical systems on the interval is considered. Therefore, a multiple-precision floating point approach based on error analysis is chosen and a general algorithm is presented. The correctness of the algorithm is shown and the computational complexity is analyzed. As a main result, the computational complexity measure considered here is related to the Ljapunow exponent of the dynamical system under consideration