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Mangrove and mudflat food webs are segregated across four trophic levels, yet connected by highly mobile top predators
Get PDFSeascape connectivity is crucial for healthy, resilient ecosystems and fisheries. Yet,
our understanding of connectivity in turbid mangrove-lined estuaries—some of the world’s most
productive ecosystems—is limited to macrotidal systems, and rarely incorporates highly mobile
top predators. We analysed δ13C and δ15N isotope values of 7 primary producers, 24 invertebrate
taxa, 13 fishes, 4 birds and 1 reptile to reveal trophic interactions within and between a mangrove
and adjacent mudflat in a microtidal system of the Gulf of Paria, Orinoco River estuary. Primary
producers, invertebrates and fishes collected within the mangrove were significantly depleted in
13C and 15N compared to those collected on the mudflat. Stable isotope mixing models showed that
mangrove-derived carbon was predominantly assimilated by invertebrates (78 ± 5% SE) and fishes
(88 ± 11%) sampled in the mangrove. In contrast, invertebrates and fishes sampled in the mudflat
derived <21% of their carbon from mangrove sources. Instead, microphytobenthos and phytoplankton
underpinned the mudflat food web. Scarlet ibis Eudocimus ruber and yellow-crowned
night heron Nyctanassa violacea were also highly associated with mangrove carbon sources.
However, osprey Pandion haliaetus, snowy egret Egretta thula and spectacled caiman Caiman
crocodilus obtained carbon from both mangrove and mudflat sources, effectively integrating the
food webs. The present study demonstrates simultaneous aspects of food web segregation and
connectivity, as well as the importance of surveying the entire food web across a range of tidal
systems when investigating seascape connectivity
The Significance of Marie Duval’s Drawing Style
Get PDFBook chapterDuval’s drawings were made to provoke laughter, by articulating and rearticulating social stereotypes and contradictions. Duval achieved this in her choice of topics and, more unusually, in her use of ideas of her own position as a humorous visual journalist: her visible lack of training, stage career, gender and social class, relative to the experiences of readers. This chapter will examine this articulation, considering late nineteenth-century gender and class relationships between humour, displays of technical skill and concepts of vulgar behaviour. The chapter will finally exemplify these relationships in two Duval drawings on the topic of the Royal Academy Summer Exhibitions of 1880 and 1876
Accounting and Sustainable Development: A Case of Poverty Reduction in an Emerging Economy
No full textAccounting has been widely used in both public and private sectors across the globe for the sustainable development of corporates as well as economies. However, in the recent past, there has been a wide discussion on poverty reduction and public sector accounting reforms especially in emerging economies in order to enhance the transparency in government expenditure, auditing and accountability as well. Since the governments are responsible on providing essential public services which have a greater impact on poverty, adequate measures in place to monitor the spending is vital for any country with an emerging economy. Moreover, according to the United Nations Millennium Development goals (MDGs) especially on reducing poverty, governments may require to recruit more employees for public sector to fill the gaps in the service in many essential areas such as education, health, and agriculture. Additionally, the recent past financial crisis and recession also have impacted on poverty reduction programs within emerging economies especially which are prone to corruption, fraud, and lack of transparency on government expenditures as well. Due to these various reasons, some emerging economies such as that of Sri Lanka are struggling to minimize the huge budget deficit of the government while leaving with less money for poverty reduction within the country as well. Therefore, unless these gaps are filled, many people in emerging economies will continue to live in poverty (Tridico 2009)
Reflections on 20 years of the Journal of Public Affairs: Public affairs in a rapidly changing and globalising world
Get PDFEditorial for the 20th Year Anniversary Issue which includes a number of world leading figures
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Harris, P. & Moss, D. (2020). Reflections on 20 years of the Journal of Public Affairs: Public affairs in a rapidly changing and globalising world. Journal of Public Affairs, 20, 1 ., which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2095. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.As we commence the twentieth year of publication of the Journal of Public Affairs [JPA],we reflect on having published 20 volumes of the journal, comprising 80 issues with over 1000 academic articles and close to 10 million words of text and illustrations. This endeavour has been superbly supported by a network of 1500 authors and 2000 reviewers contributing from across the world. This remarkable body of work has been generated by an international collection of academics, aficionados, businesses, experts, governments, interest groups, practitioners associated with the vast industry of public affairs. The editorial team would like to acknowledge and thank all our contributors and reviewers for their support over the past two decades
Recruitment to the “Breast—Activity and Healthy Eating After Diagnosis”(B-AHEAD) Randomized Controlled Trial
Get PDFExcess weight at breast cancer diagnosis and weight gain during treatment are linked to increased breast cancer specific and
all-cause mortality. The Breast—Activity and Healthy Eating After Diagnosis (B-AHEAD) trial tested 2 weight loss diet and
exercise programmes versus a control receiving standard written advice during adjuvant treatment. This article identifies
differences in characteristics between patients recruited from the main trial site to those of the whole population from
that site during the recruitment period and identifies barriers to recruitment. A total of 409 patients with operable breast
cancer were recruited within 12 weeks of surgery. We compared demographic and treatment factors between women
recruited from the main trial coordinating site (n = 300) to the whole breast cancer population in the center (n = 532).
Uptake at the coordinating site was 42%, comparable to treatment trials in the unit (47%). Women recruited were younger
(55.9 vs 61.2 years, P < .001), more likely to live in least deprived postcode areas (41.7% vs 31.6%, P = .004), and more likely
to have screen-detected cancers (55.3% vs 48.7%, P = .026) than the whole breast cancer population. The good uptake
highlights the interest in lifestyle change around the time of diagnosis, a challenging time in the patient pathway, and shows
that recruitment at this time is feasible. Barriers to uptake among older women and women with a lower socioeconomic
status should be understood and overcome in order to improve recruitment to future lifestyle intervention programs
Three-dimensional optoacoustic imaging of nailfold capillaries in systemic sclerosis and its potential for disease differentiation using deep learning
Get PDFFrom Springer Nature via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: received 2020-05-07, accepted 2020-09-09, registration 2020-09-16, pub-electronic 2020-10-05, online 2020-10-05, collection 2020-12Publication status: PublishedFunder: Helmholtz Association; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100009318; Grant(s): i3 (ExNet-0022-Phase2-3)Funder: University of Manchester; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000770; Grant(s): MC_PC_16053Funder: Manchester Biomedical Research Centre; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100014653Funder: H2020 European Research Council; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100010663; Grant(s): No 694968 (PREMSOT)Funder: Arthritis Research UK,United Kingdom; Grant(s): 19465Abstract: The autoimmune disease systemic sclerosis (SSc) causes microvascular changes that can be easily observed cutaneously at the finger nailfold. Optoacoustic imaging (OAI), a combination of optical and ultrasound imaging, specifically raster-scanning optoacoustic mesoscopy (RSOM), offers a non-invasive high-resolution 3D visualization of capillaries allowing for a better view of microvascular changes and an extraction of volumetric measures. In this study, nailfold capillaries of patients with SSc and healthy controls are imaged and compared with each other for the first time using OAI. The nailfolds of 23 patients with SSc and 19 controls were imaged using RSOM. The acquired images were qualitatively compared to images from state-of-the-art imaging tools for SSc, dermoscopy and high magnification capillaroscopy. The vascular volume in the nailfold capillaries were computed from the RSOM images. The vascular volumes differ significantly between both cohorts (0.216 ± 0.085 mm3 and 0.337 ± 0.110 mm3; p < 0.0005). In addition, an artificial neural network was trained to automatically differentiate nailfold images from both cohorts to further assess whether OAI is sensitive enough to visualize anatomical differences in the capillaries between the two cohorts. Using transfer learning, the model classifies images with an area under the ROC curve of 0.897, and a sensitivity of 0.783 and specificity of 0.895. In conclusion, this study demonstrates the capabilities of RSOM as an imaging tool for SSc and establishes it as a modality that facilitates more in-depth studies into the disease mechanisms and progression
Refinement of pore size at sub-angstrom precision in robust metal–organic frameworks for separation of xylenes
Get PDFFrom Springer Nature via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: received 2019-07-23, accepted 2020-07-06, registration 2020-07-14, pub-electronic 2020-08-27, online 2020-08-27, collection 2020-12Publication status: PublishedFunder: RCUK | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000266; Grant(s): EP/I011870Funder: EC | EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation H2020 | H2020 Priority Excellent Science | H2020 European Research Council (H2020 Excellent Science - European Research Council); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/100010663; Grant(s): 742401Abstract: The demand for xylenes is projected to increase over the coming decades. The separation of xylene isomers, particularly p- and m-xylenes, is vital for the production of numerous polymers and materials. However, current state-of-the-art separation is based upon fractional crystallisation at 220 K which is highly energy intensive. Here, we report the discrimination of xylene isomers via refinement of the pore size in a series of porous metal–organic frameworks, MFM-300, at sub-angstrom precision leading to the optimal kinetic separation of all three xylene isomers at room temperature. The exceptional performance of MFM-300 for xylene separation is confirmed by dynamic ternary breakthrough experiments. In-depth structural and vibrational investigations using synchrotron X-ray diffraction and terahertz spectroscopy define the underlying host–guest interactions that give rise to the observed selectivity (p-xylene < o-xylene < m-xylene) and separation factors of 4.6–18 for p- and m-xylenes
Retention and sustained viral suppression in HIV patients transferred to community refill centres in Kinshasa, DRC
Get PDFBackground
The adoption of the UNAIDS 90-90-90 targets acceleration plan and the implementation of ‘test and treat’ strategy has resulted in a significant increase in the number of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) receiving lifelong antiretroviral therapy (ART). To improve and sustain ART retention in care and virologic suppression, innovative service delivery models are needed. In 2010, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) set-up decentralized community ART refill centres (“poste de distribution communautaire”, PODI) for follow-up of stable ART patients from Kabinda Hospital (CHK), in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
Objective
To assess retention in care and virologic suppression on ART after transfer to the three main PODIs in Kinshasa.
Methods
A retrospective cohort study was conducted using routine program data for PLWH aged >15 years and stable on ART transferred from CHK to a PODI between January 2015 and June 2017. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to estimate retention in care. Viral load (VL) suppression was defined as a VL ≤ 1000 copies/ml.
Results
A total of 337 patients were transferred to a PODI. Of these, 306 (91%) patients were on ART 12 months after transfer to PODI and were eligible for the 12-month routine VL testing. A total of 118 (39%) had VL done at 12 months; VL suppression was 93% (n=110). Median time from enrolment into PODI to 12-month routine VL was 14.6 months [IQR: 12.2-20.8]. Overall, 189 (62%) patients had at least one VL load test done during follow-up. Retention in PODI at 6, 12 and 18 months was 96%, 92% and 88% respectively. Retention at 18 months was statistically different between PODIs; 91%, 88% and 78% in PODI East, PODI West and PODI Central respectively, (p=0.0349).
Conclusion
Retention and VL suppression in community-based ART refill centers were high, although VL coverage was low. HIV programs need to scale–up VL testing services PLWHA receiving ART in PODIs
Submaximal Exercise Testing in Cardiovascular Rehabilitation Settings (BEST Study)
Get PDFAbstract
BACKGROUND:
This study compared changes in measured versus predicted peak aerobic power (V̇O2 peak) following cardiovascular rehabilitation (CR). Peak cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) results were compared to four V̇O2 peak estimation methods: the submaximal modified Bruce treadmill, Astrand-Ryhming cycle ergometer, and Chester step tests, and the Duke Activity Status Index (DASI).
METHODS:
Adults with cardiovascular disease (CVD) who completed a 12-week CR program were assessed at baseline and 12 weeks follow-up. CPET, the DASI and three subsequent submaximal exercise tests were performed in a random order.
RESULTS:
Of the 50 adults (age: 57 ± 11 years) who participated, 46 completed the 12-week CR program and exercise tests. At baseline 69, 68, and 38% of the treadmill, step and cycle tests were successfully completed, respectively. At follow-up 67, 80, and 46% of the treadmill, step and cycle tests were successfully completed, respectively. No severe adverse events occurred. Significant improvements in V̇O2 peak were observed with CPET (3.6 ± 5.5 mL.kg-1.min-1, p < 0.001) and the DASI (2.3 ± 4.2 mL.kg-1.min-1, p < 0.001). Bland-Altman plots of the change in V̇O2 peak between CPET and the four V̇O2 peak estimation methods revealed the following: a proportional bias and heteroscedastic 95% limits of agreement (95% LoA) for the treadmill test, and for the cycle and step tests and DASI, mean bias' and 95% LoA of 1.0 mL.kg-1.min-1 (21.3, -19.3), 1.4 mL.kg-1.min-1 (15.0, -12.3) and 1.0 mL.kg-1.min-1 (13.8, -11.8), respectively.
CONCLUSION:
Given the greater number of successful tests, no serious adverse events and acceptable mean bias, the step test appears to be a valid and safe method for assessing group-level mean changes in V̇O2 peak among patients in CR. The DASI also appears to be a valid and practical questionnaire. Wide limits of agreement, however, limit their use to predict individual-level changes.
Copyright © 2020 Reed, Cotie, Cole, Harris, Moran, Scott, Terada, Buckley and Pipe.
KEYWORDS:
cardiovascular diseases; exercise test; physiology; rehabilitation; submaxima
The New Map of Barset
No full textA comprehensive map of the County of Barsetshire, based on Anthony Trollope’s original sketch plan (1860) but incorporating all the references contained within the Barchester and Palliser Series of novels and other references within Trollope’s works.A comprehensive map of the County of Barsetshire, based on Anthony Trollope’s original sketch plan (1860) but incorporating all the references contained within the Barchester and Palliser Series of novels and other references within Trollope’s works
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