New Zealand Guidelines for cyanobacteria in recreational fresh waters: Interim Guidelines

This document is divided into four main sections, plus 14 appendices. Section 1. Introduction provides an overview of the purpose and status of the document as well as advice on who should use it. Section 2. Framework provides a background to the overall guidelines approach, recommendations on agency roles and responsibilities, and information on the condition of use of this document. Section 3. Guidelines describes the recommended three-tier monitoring and action sequence for planktonic and benthic cyanobacteria. Section 4. Sampling provides advice on sampling planktonic and benthic cyanobacteria. The appendices give further background information and include templates for data collection and reporting, including: • background information on known cyanotoxins and their distribution in New Zealand • information on the derivation of guideline values • photographs of typical bloom events • a list of biovolumes for common New Zealand cyanobacteria • templates for field assessments • suggested media releases and warning sign templates. A glossary provides definitions for abbreviations and terms used in these guidelines

Guidelines for structuring learning and teaching opportunities relevant to educators’ open educational resource (OER) engagement

Six guidelines for structuring learning and teaching opportunities relevant to educators’ open educational resource (OER) engagement are proposed in this document. The guidelines are designed to provide information and guidance to facilitate the design and construction of professional learning opportunities to support educators in building new learning practices around OER. In determining how best to support educators’ learning with and from OER, it is necessary to consider not only the nature and structure of learning opportunities they require but also the knowledge and content these opportunities should encompass. Six areas of knowledge that need to be targeted are proposed by these guidelines

Guidelines Resolve soil restoration techniques ENGLISH

Resolve project aimed to restore soil functionality in vineyards that show areas with reduced vine growth, disease resistance, grape yield and quality. The project individuated in five European country (Italy, France, Spain, Slovenia, and Turkey) the main causes of the soil functionality loss and tested different organic recovering methods : compost, green manure and dry mulching. Main outcomes about the selected strategies are presented

Guidelines for etching silicon MEMS structures using fluorine high-density plasmas at cryogenic temperatures

This paper presents guidelines for the deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) of silicon MEMS structures, employing SF/sub 6//O/sub 2/-based high-density plasmas at cryogenic temperatures. Procedures of how to tune the equipment for optimal results with respect to etch rate and profile control are described. Profile control is a delicate balance between the respective etching and deposition rates of a SiO/sub x/F/sub y/ passivation layer on the sidewalls and bottom of an etched structure in relation to the silicon removal rate from unpassivated areas. Any parameter that affects the relative rates of these processes has an effect on profile control. The deposition of the SiO/sub x/F/sub y/ layer is mainly determined by the oxygen content in the SF/sub 6/ gas flow and the electrode temperature. Removal of the SiO/sub x/F/sub y/ layer is mainly determined by the kinetic energy (self-bias) of ions in the SF/sub 6//O/sub 2/ plasma. Diagrams for profile control are given as a function of parameter settings, employing the previously published "black silicon method". Parameter settings for high rate silicon bulk etching, and the etching of micro needles and micro moulds are discussed, which demonstrate the usefulness of the diagrams for optimal design of etched features. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that in order to use the oxygen flow as a control parameter for cryogenic DRIE, it is necessary to avoid or at least restrict the presence of fused silica as a dome material, because this material may release oxygen due to corrosion during operation of the plasma source. When inert dome materials like alumina are used, etching recipes can be defined for a broad variety of microstructures in the cryogenic temperature regime. Recipes with relatively low oxygen content (1-10% of the total gas volume) and ions with low kinetic energy can now be applied to observe a low lateral etch rate beneath the mask, and a high selectivity (more than 500) of silicon etching with respect to polymers and oxide mask materials is obtained. Crystallographic preference etching of silicon is observed at low wafer temperature (-120/spl deg/C). This effect is enhanced by increasing the process pressure above 10 mtorr or for low ion energies (below 20 eV)

Clinical practice guidelines for the foot and ankle in rheumatoid arthritis: a critical appraisal

Background: Clinical practice guidelines are recommendations systematically developed to assist clinical decision-making and inform healthcare. In current rheumatoid arthritis (RA) guidelines, management of the foot and ankle is under-represented and the quality of recommendation is uncertain. This study aimed to identify and critically appraise clinical practice guidelines for foot and ankle management in RA. Methods: Guidelines were identified electronically and through hand searching. Search terms 'rheumatoid arthritis', 'clinical practice guidelines' and related synonyms were used. Critical appraisal and quality rating were conducted using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE) II instrument. Results: Twenty-four guidelines were included. Five guidelines were high quality and recommended for use. Five high quality and seven low quality guidelines were recommended for use with modifications. Seven guidelines were low quality and not recommended for use. Five early and twelve established RA guidelines were recommended for use. Only two guidelines were foot and ankle specific. Five recommendation domains were identified in both early and established RA guidelines. These were multidisciplinary team care, foot healthcare access, foot health assessment/review, orthoses/insoles/splints, and therapeutic footwear. Established RA guidelines also had an 'other foot care treatments' domain. Conclusions: Foot and ankle management for RA features in many clinical practice guidelines recommended for use. Unfortunately, supporting evidence in the guidelines is low quality. Agreement levels are predominantly 'expert opinion' or 'good clinical practice'. More research investigating foot and ankle management for RA is needed prior to inclusion in clinical practice guidelines

WASH coalition building guidelines

The Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) is an international membership organisation that has worked, since 1990, to achieve sustainable water supply and sanitation for all people, through enhancing collaboration among sector agencies and professionals. As part of its activities within two of its programme areas – Networking & Knowledge Management, and Advocacy & Communications – WSSCC encourages the development of national water supply, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) Coalitions. The role of WASH Coalitions ranges from information sharing to the advocacy of specific policy changes, but they universally address a felt need for improved systematic communication, collaboration and joint action among the sector players in a certain country. As a vehicle for awareness raising and advocacy, most national WASH Coalitions have developed national WASH Campaigns. A special role is given to the National Coordinators, who are expected to maintain the links with the WSSCC Secretariat, exercise quality control and practise a degree of coordination and facilitation of the coalition. However, coalitions, like partnerships, are complicated organisms and some of the existing WASH Coalitions have had only limited impact and varying degrees of success. This is partly due to the complexity of building a successful coalition that responds to the specific needs of the country in which it is created, and partly due to the undefined or open mandate of the WASH Coalitions, resulting in a lack of clarity about what they are intended to do

Updating the Merger Guidelines: Comments

These comments (originally submitted to the DOJ and FTC in November 2009) make a number of comments relevant to revising the Merger Guidelines. The comments focus on the use of the GUPPI (gross upward pricing pressure index) in unilateral effects analysis. They also comment on the deterrence and incipiency standard, exclusionary effects of horizontal mergers and market definition when there are multi-product firms or pre-merger coordination, among other issues

Guidelines on fibrinogen assays

No abstract available