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Identifying the Greatest Earthquakes of the Past 2000 Years at the Nehalem River Estuary, Northern Oregon Coast, USA
No full textWe infer a history of three great megathrust earthquakes during the past 2000 years at the Nehalem
River estuary based on the lateral extent of sharp (≤3 mm) peat-mud stratigraphic contacts in cores and
outcrops, coseismic subsidence as interpreted from fossil diatom assemblages and reconstructed with
foraminiferal assemblages using a Bayesian transfer function, and regional correlation of 14C-modeled
ages for the times of subsidence. A subsidence contact from 1700 CE (contact A), sometimes overlain by
tsunami-deposited sand, can be traced over distances of 7 km. Contacts B and D, which record subsidence during two earlier megathrust earthquakes, are much less extensive but are traced across a 700-m
by 270-m tidal marsh. Although some other Cascadia studies report evidence for an earthquake between
contacts B and D, our lack of extensive evidence for such an earthquake may result from the complexities
of preserving identifiable evidence of it in the rapidly shifting shoreline environments of the lower river
and bay. Ages (95% intervals) and subsidence for contacts are: A, 1700 CE (1.1 ± 0.5 m); B, 942–764 cal
a BP (0.7 ± 0.4 m and 1.0 m ± 0.4 m); and D, 1568–1361 cal a BP (1.0 m ± 0.4 m). Comparisons of contact
subsidence and the degree of overlap of their modeled ages with ages for other Cascadia sites are consistent with megathrust ruptures many hundreds of kilometers long. But these data cannot conclusively
distinguish among different types or lengths of ruptures recorded by the three great earthquake contacts
at the Nehalem River estuary
Insular Celtic: Ogam
No full textOld Irish Ogam (pronounced [ˈoɣəm]), in Modern Irish spelling Ogham [ˈoːm], is the name of a writing system, not of a language.2 The language that is prototypically written in Ogam script is the earliest known stage of the Irish language, called Primitive Irish.
The origin of the name Ogam is disputed (cf. Thurneysen 1937). It displays a blatant simi-larity with Ogma, the name of an Early Irish mythological, semi-divine figure, whose name in turn evokes that of the Gaulish mythological figure Ogmios (Ὄγμιος), mentioned by the 2nd-century Greek author Lucian of Samosata as a psychopompos (Hofeneder 2006) and attested as an underworldly figure on lead-tablets from Bregenz (Austria). The connections, if there are any, among the mythological figures and the writing system are unclear.
In an Isidorian-style etymology it has been suggested to analyse the word Ogam as a compound og-úaimm ‘pricker-pricking’ (McManus 1991: 152‒153, Sims-Williams 2018: 119), despite serious formal difficulties with this explanation (it has the wrong inflectional class; syncope, i.e. loss of the middle vowel, should not occur in the derivative ogmóir ‘one who is skilled in writing Ogam’). This etymology would also remove the basis for a connection with the names Ogma and Ogmios
Incorporating Beauveria bassiana Into an Integrated Pest Management Plan for Coffee Berry Borer in Hawaii
No full textSince its recent establishment in Hawaii, the coffee berry borer (CBB), Hypothenemus hampei (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), threatens yields, quality, and price of coffee production. A limited number of insecticides (primarily Beauveria bassiana) are used to control CBB with minimal disruption in this agroecosystem. We evaluated two insecticide spray strategies across eight coffee farms in the Kona and Ka‘u districts of Hawaii Island. Coffee growers sprayed insecticides approximately monthly (calendar basis) or else in response to CBB field monitoring data (threshold based). Overall, farms adopting spray thresholds performed more insecticide applications early in the season (May to July), but significantly fewer overall, when compared with calendar-based strategies (i.e., 4–5 vs. 7–11 seasonal sprays, respectively). Generalized linear models assessing the variability in CBB infestation rates, berry penetration, and infection by B. bassiana indicated that threshold-based sprays provided equivalent CBB control compared with calendar ones. When corrected for yield, there were economic savings for threshold- vs. calendar-based spray programs (i.e., cost 5.4 vs. 11.8% of gross yield). Total defects in processed coffee after harvest were statistically similar between the two spray regimes, i.e., 8.5 ± 1.0% and 10.4 ± 1.7%, respectively. We hypothesize that B. bassiana applied early in the season is more effective, since the fungus targets initial CBB infestations when the prolonged location of founder females in the outer berry endosperm favors its infection. Our study suggests that spray timing for CBB based on field monitoring data can reduce costs; however, additional measures, such as field and post-harvest sanitation, are necessary to achieve sustainable CBB control in the Islands
A Transdisciplinary Methodology for Introducing Solar Water Disinfection to Rural Communities in Malawi—Formative Research Findings
No full textDespite the increasing volume of evidence demonstrating the efficacy of solar water disinfection (SODIS) as a household water treatment technology, there still appear to be significant barriers to uptake in developing countries. The potential of SODIS is often treated with skepticism in terms of effective treatment, volume, and safety, and is dismissed in preference for more accepted technologies such as ceramic filters and dose chlorination. As part of WATERSPOUTT (EU H2020 688928), our study used a transdisciplinary methodology to cocreate an innovative SODIS system in rural Malawi. The formative work focused on the design of 1) an appropriate and acceptable system and 2) a context-specific intervention delivery program using a behavior-centered design. Initial research identified specific water needs and challenges, which were discussed along with a cocreation process with potential end users, through a series of shared dialogue workshops (SDWs). Specifications from end users outlined a desire for higher volume systems (20 L) that were “familiar” and could be manufactured locally. Development of the “SODIS bucket” was then undertaken by design experts and local manufacturers, with input from end users and subject to controlled testing to ensure efficacy and safety. Concurrent data were collated using questionnaires (n = 777 households), water point mapping (n = 121), water quality testing (n = 46), and behavior change modeling (n = 100 households). These identified specific contextual issues (hydrogeology, water access, gender roles, social capital, and socioeconomic status), and behavioral determinants (normative, ability, and self-regulation factors) that informed the development and delivery mechanism for the implementation toolkit
The Development of EyeMap 2.0
No full textEyeMap was developed for visualising and analysing eye-tracking data.
It was specifically designed to get the most information from eye movements
data in relation to reading research. EyeMap was developed with
more advanced features compared to other software systems for eye movements
data including the ability to automatically generate AOIs, and carry
out variable calculations for over 150 reading variables. However, given
the ever-advancing landscape with software systems, the EyeMap system
has developed several issues. It was developed in the flex programming
language and with each new update to Adobe AIR, it is becoming outdated
and difficult to maintain. Several bugs have arisen in EyeMap that
is making it more and more difficult to use including not being able to
correctly segment the Chinese language.
While talking to expert users of EyeMap that rely heavily on the tool,
they presented ideas on how EyeMap could be improved by developing
EyeMap 2.0. This project had the goal of developing develop EyeMap 2.0
using user participation so that current expert users of EyeMap would be
able to provide input to the features in EyeMap 2.0 that would improve
the features of the original EyeMap. The project used an Agile software development
process, Rapid Application Development, to achieve this goal.
This allowed the expert EyeMap users to participate heavily in the development
and testing of the new system through the Backlog issue tracking
software system. The Backlog system allowed the user to easily report any
issues and follow the status of the issue ass it was being fixed and tested
further.
This thesis discusses the entire process of using the Rapid Application
Development model to develop EyeMap 2.0. It will present the tools, frameworks and libraries that were used to develop this software artefact.
The thesis will show that by using modern software development
techniques and systems such as GitLab, EyeMap 2.0 can be continuously
developed and improved upon, ensuring its future-proofing.
The first contribution of this thesis is to investigate agile software development
models and determine which model has greatest potential for a
small development team. This model would also have to allow the users
of the new software to easily contribute to the development process to
produce an easy to use and reliable software application. The second contribution
will be to show a variety of tools that can can be used during
development. The tools will benefit by maximising the contributions from
the users to the project while also assisting with good software development
practice for any development project. The final contribution will
show how having the intended users of an application advise in the development
of a project can only benefit the project. The users can clearly
explain how a feature should behave and look. They can also aid with the
testing of the created feature, ensuring the correct functionality before the
feature is added to the application
‘Do you really want me to tell ya!’ critical learning in engaging young people in contact with the justice system as peer educators with social work students
No full textThis paper outlines and evaluates an active and experiential learning
project, which gave young people involved with the justice
system, a voice as peer educators engaging with social work
students outside of the traditional educational institution. The
project had two key interconnecting elements. Firstly, by engaging
a hidden population of young people in a realistic and meaningful
way, it enabled them to share their experiences, and allowed
students to understand the complexity of what it means to be
socially excluded. Secondly, through this active participation process
the young people began to see education as a desirable goal.
The project took place over three months and included 10 social
work students and 13 young people involved with the justice system.
Creative use of multimedia facilitated production of a learning
resource to capture the young people’s lived experiences with statutory
social work and justice systems. Young people were fundamentally
challenged in their beliefs about themselves being involved in
education to achieve a qualification. Students were challenged in
their creativity and versatility responding to the task, when collaborating
with ‘hard to reach’ young people. They were furthermore
challenged in terms of their attitudes and assumptions in relation
to offending and social justice
Risk factors associated with general and specific dimensions of psychosis in a nationally representative sample of adults from the United States
No full textGeneral and specific dimensions of psychosis have been identified in both clinical and general population samples. Demographic and clinical correlates, however, have only been explored within models derived from clinical data. Data were drawn from Wave 3 of the National Epidemiological Survey
on Alcohol and Related Conditions (N = 36,309). Confirmatory factor analysis and confirmatory bifactor modelling were used to determine the optimal measurement model of psychosis symptoms among this sample. Structural equation modelling was used to identify variables correlated with the
different psychosis dimensions, as per the best fitting measurement model. Measurement modelling results indicated that the latent structure of psychosis was best represented by a bifactor model including a general dimension orthogonal to four specific dimensions representing “Positive”,
“Negative”, “Mania”, and “Disorganized” symptoms. Childhood interpersonal trauma, lack of social support, lower socio-economic status and suicidal attempts were associated with higher scores on the general dimension. These results provide further support for the validity of a bifactor model of psychosis in the general population and identify unique risk correlates of specific and general factors of psychosi
Understanding strategic alliance life cycle: a 30 year literature review of leading management journals
No full textThis paper contributes to the strategic alliance literature by undertaking a literature review of the burgeoning strategic alliance literature published in the last three decades in the mainstream management journals to fulfil two primary objectives. First, to bring a coherent structure into the fairly vast and growing alliance literature and second, to serve as a medium for a holistic understanding of the major life stages of strategic alliances. This is done by first dividing the alliance literature into three distinct yet related alliance life stages namely the pre-alliance stage, alliance formation stage and the alliance management and performance stage, and then by discussing in detail the three alliance stages individually. The paper would be useful for academics as well as practitioners looking to get a holistic understanding of strategic alliances and its three distinct yet related life stages and the key research papers which have been published focussing on each of these alliance stages
Providers’ Initial Trust on an Organization-Sponsored Sharing Platform: The Framing of Coworker Collaborative Consumption
No full textOrganization-sponsored sharing platforms extend the sharing economy to workplaces by connecting employees in a private online community where they can socially exchange goods and services with coworkers. Employees share costs but do not earn income during this collaborative consumption. Furthermore, employers pay for their employees to have access to the platform technology and any related transaction fees. Trust is a crucial antecedent for engagement on sharing platforms because it helps mitigate risks during collaborative consumption. However, the literature on trust in the sharing economy has focused almost exclusively on platforms that broker peer-to-peer rental transactions rather than social exchanges. There is also a lack of research about providers’ perspectives. We address these gaps by investigating the nature of trust among employees who initially provide goods and services on an organization-sponsored sharing platform. We also explore how these employees’ initial trust influences their collaborative consumption with coworkers. Through abductive analysis of 22 interviews with 15 providers on an organization-sponsored sharing platform, we shed light on how employees initially develop trust when providing goods and services to coworkers. By integrating prior research on initial trust among employees and cognitive framing with in-depth qualitative insights, we develop a conceptual model depicting how identity, interaction and issue frames shape these providers’ beliefs about coworker trustworthiness and intended sharing strategy. In particular, our empirical findings reveal that employees’ social categorization, illusions of control and engagement motive framed their initial trust and enactment of collaborative consumption as citizens in a community or consumers in a marketplace
Acute Inflammation Alters Brain Energy Metabolism in Mice and Humans: Role in Suppressed Spontaneous Activity, Impaired Cognition, and Delirium
No full textSystemic infection triggers a spectrum of metabolic and behavioral changes, collectively termed sickness behavior, which while adaptive, can affect mood and cognition. In vulnerable individuals, acute illness can also produce profound, maladaptive, cognitive dysfunction including delirium, but our understanding of delirium pathophysiology remains limited. Here, we used bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in female C57BL/6J mice and acute hip fracture in humans to address whether disrupted energy metabolism contributes to inflammation-induced behavioral and cognitive changes. LPS (250 µg/kg) induced hypoglycemia, which was mimicked by interleukin (IL)-1β (25 µg/kg) but not prevented in IL-1RI-/- mice, nor by IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RA; 10 mg/kg). LPS suppression of locomotor activity correlated with blood glucose concentrations, was mitigated by exogenous glucose (2 g/kg), and was exacerbated by 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG) glycolytic inhibition, despite preventing IL-1β synthesis. Using the ME7 model of chronic neurodegeneration in female mice, to examine vulnerability of the diseased brain to acute stressors, we showed that LPS (100 µg/kg) produced acute cognitive dysfunction, selectively in those animals. These acute cognitive impairments were mimicked by insulin (11.5 IU/kg) and mitigated by glucose, demonstrating that acutely reduced glucose metabolism impairs cognition selectively in the vulnerable brain. To test whether these acute changes might predict altered carbohydrate metabolism during delirium, we assessed glycolytic metabolite levels in CSF in humans during inflammatory trauma-induced delirium. Hip fracture patients showed elevated CSF lactate and pyruvate during delirium, consistent with acutely altered brain energy metabolism. Collectively, the data suggest that disruption of energy metabolism drives behavioral and cognitive consequences of acute systemic inflammation.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Acute systemic inflammation alters behavior and produces disproportionate effects, such as delirium, in vulnerable individuals. Delirium has serious short and long-term sequelae but mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we show that both LPS and interleukin (IL)-1β trigger hypoglycemia, reduce CSF glucose, and suppress spontaneous activity. Exogenous glucose mitigates these outcomes. Equivalent hypoglycemia, induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or insulin, was sufficient to trigger cognitive impairment selectively in animals with existing neurodegeneration and glucose also mitigated those impairments. Patient CSF from inflammatory trauma-induced delirium also shows altered brain carbohydrate metabolism. The data suggest that the degenerating brain is exquisitely sensitive to acute behavioral and cognitive consequences of disrupted energy metabolism. Thus "bioenergetic stress" drives systemic inflammation-induced dysfunction. Elucidating this may offer routes to mitigating delirium