17 research outputs found
Large Hadron Collider phenomenology of vector-like quarks beyond the Narrow Width Approximation
No full textThe topic of this thesis is the phenomenology of Vector-Like Quarks (VLQs) at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), with a focus on understanding the difference between the commonly adopted experimental VLQ search strategies that use the Narrow Width Approximation (NWA) in comparison to search strategies aimed at exploring signals arising from the production and propagation of VLQs at large width (LW). The effects on the cross sections are found to be non-negligible, with particularly important contributions from the topologies where the VLQ is coupled to the light generation Standard Model (SM) quarks. These off-shell effects are studied in a model-independent way for final states compatible with processes of pair production of VLQs, compared to the on-shell topologies in the NWA with the same final state. An analogous analysis has been performed for VLQs interacting with bosonic Dark Matter (DM) candidates and SM quarks to explore at the same time the potential to characterise VLQs with LW and the discrimination of scalar or vector DM states. A study is also performed for processes of single VLQ production, where a model-independent interpretation of the results has been obtained by exploiting a suitable factorisation of the VLQ couplings. The topologies considered where those containing the production of a single VLQ decaying into a three particle final state This analysis found similar results compared to the two previously mentioned studies. The model-independent parametrisation for the interpretation of results of VLQ single production is currently being used in experimental searches by CMS, and as such I have been included as an author of a CMS analysis for single production of a Vector-Like (VL) top partner
Assisted reproductive technology in Australia and New Zealand 2016. Sydney: National Perinatal Epidemiology and Statistics Unit, the University of New South Wales
Get PDFFitzgerald O, Paul RC, Harris K, Chambers GM 2018
Assisted reproductive technology in Australia and New Zealand 2017. Sydney: National Perinatal Epidemiology and Statistics Unit, the University of New South Wales
Get PDF10. Newman J, Fitzgerald O, Paul RC, Chambers GM 2019
Real-world evidence for the management of blood glucose in the intensive care unit
Get PDFGlycaemic control is a core aspect of patient management in the intensive care unit (ICU). Blood glucose has a well-known U-shaped relationship with mortality and morbidity in ICU patients, with both hypo- and hyper-glycaemia associated with poor patient outcomes. As a result, up to 40-90% of ICU patients receive insulin, depending on illness severity and variation in clinical practice. Generally, clinical guidelines for glycaemic control are based on a series of trials that culminated in the NICE-SUGAR study in 2009, a multicentre study demonstrating that tight glycaemic control (a target of 80-110 mg/dL) did not improve patient outcomes compared to moderate control (<180 mg/dL). However, there remain open questions around the potential for more personalised blood glucose management, which real-world evidence sources such as electronic medical records (EMRs) can play a role in answering.
This thesis investigates the role that EMRs can play in glycaemic control in the ICU using open access EMR databases, covering a heterogenous 208 hospital USA based patient cohort (the eICU collaborative research database, eICU-CRD) and a large tertiary medical centre in Boston, USA (MIMIC-III and MIMIC-IV). This thesis covers: i) curation and characterisation of the eICU-CRD cohort as a data resource for real-world evidence in glycaemic control; ii) investigation of whether blood lactate modifies the relationship between blood glucose and patient outcome across different subgroups; and iii) the development and comparison of machine learning and deep learning probabilistic forecasting algorithms for blood glucose.
The analysis of the eICU-CRD demonstrated that there is wide variety in clinical practice around glycaemic control in the ICU. The results enable comparison with other data resources and assessment of the suitability of the eICU-CRD for addressing specific research questions related to glycaemic control and nutrition support. Informed by this descriptive analysis, the eICU-CRD was used to examine whether blood lactate modifies the relationship between blood glucose and patient outcome across different subgroups. While adjustment for blood lactate attenuated the relationship between blood glucose and patient outcome, blood glucose remained a marker of poor prognosis. Diabetic status was found to influence this relationship, in line with increasing evidence that diabetics and non-diabetics should be considered distinct populations for the purpose of glycaemic control in the ICU.
The forecasting algorithms developed using MIMIC-III and MIMIC-IV were designed to account for the intrinsic statistical difficulties present in EMRs. These include large numbers of potentially sparsely and irregularly measured input variables. The focus was on development of probabilistic approaches given the measurement error in blood glucose measures, and their potential conversion into categorical forecasts if required. Two alternative approaches were proposed. The first was to use gradient boosted tree (GBT) algorithms, along with extensive feature engineering. The second was to use continuous time recurrent neural networks (CTRNNs), which learn their own hidden features and account for irregular measurements through evolving the model hidden state using continuous time dynamics. However, several CTRNN architectures are outperformed by an autoregressive GBT model (Catboost), with only a long short-term memory (LSTM) and neural ODE based architecture (ODE-LSTM) achieving comparable performance on probabilistic forecasting metrics such as the continuous ranked probability score (ODE-LSTM: 0.118±0.001; Catboost: 0.118±0.001), ignorance score (0.152±0.008; 0.149±0.002) and interval score (175±1; 176±1). Further, the GBT method was far easier and faster to train, highlighting the importance of using appropriate non-deep learning benchmarks in the academic literature on novel statistical methodologies for analysis of EMRs.
The findings highlight that EMRs are a valuable resource in medical evidence generation and characterisation of current clinical practice. Future research should aim to continue investigation of subgroup differences and utilise the forecasting algorithms as part of broader goals such as development of personalised insulin recommendation algorithms
Verbien pikapuhemuotojen morfosyntaksia
No full textTämä artikkeli tarkastelee suurtaajuisten verbien ja erityisesti olla-verbin pikapuhemuotoja suomen murteissa. Pikapuheisuus on johtanut verbien olla, tulla, mennä ja panna taivutusmuodoissa konsonantin katoon: ole- > oo-, tule- > tuu-, mene- > mee-, pane- > paa-, esimerkiksi en oo ~ o ’en ole’, tuutte ~ tutte ’tulette’, mees sinne ~ mes sinne ’mene sinne’, paap pois ~ pap pois ’pane pois’. Muotoja voidaan käyttää indikatiivin preesensissä ja perfektissä sekä imperatiivissa ja olla-verbistä myös konditionaalin preesensissä ja perfektissä (oisin ’olisin’, ei ois ’ei olisi’). Kyseessä on hyvin laajalevikkinen murrepiirre, joka on säilynyt ja jopa yleistynyt myös nykypuhekielessä. Analysoidakseen tarkemmin näiden muotojen morfologisia ja syntaktisia vaihteluja kirjoittaja on käynyt läpi olla-verbin pikapuhemuodot Muoto-opin arkiston kokoelmista ja Suomen kielen näytteitä -sarjan litteroiduista teksteistä.
Suomen murteiden äänteelliset vaihtelut ovat usein sidoksissa morfologiaan, ja näin ollen voisi olettaa, että niillä on joissakin tapauksissa yhteyksiä syntaksiin saakka. Esimerkkejä sananmuodon syntaktisen aseman vaikutuksesta variantin valintaan onkin murretutkimuksissa esitetty mm. eri taivutusmuotojen päätteenä (genetiivi, akkusatiivi, yksikön 1. persoonan verbimuodot) esiintyvän sananloppuisen n:n kadosta ja aktiivin 2. partisiipin murrevarianteista (ollux ~ ollunna ~ olt). Murteiden muuttumista selvittelevät sosiolingvistiset tutkimukset ovat 1970─1990-luvulla tuoneet lisävalaisua fonologisten, morfologisten ja syntaktisten vaihtelujen yhteyksiin, kuten esimerkiksi monikon 3. persoonan inkongruenssiin (yksikkömuodon käyttöön päätteellisen monikkomuodon sijasta: vieraat tulee pro tulevat). Murteentutkijat ovat havainneet, että myös verbien olla, tulla, mennä ja panna pikapuhemuodoilla on murteittain morfosyntaktisia rajoituksia, mutta tarkempaa tietoa erilaisten muotojärjestelmien alueellisista vaihteluista ei ole.
Analyysin perusteella suomen murteisiin muodostuu olla-verbin pikapuhemuodoista kolme erilaista morfosyntaktista vyöhykettä: (1) Laajimmassa järjestelmässä lyhyet muodot ovat mahdollisia indikatiivin myönteisessä ja kielteisessä preesensissä ja perfektissä (oon, oon ollu : en oo, en oo ollu), konditionaalimuodoissa (oisin, oisin ollu) sekä imperatiivissa (oo hiljaa!). (2) Toiseksi laajin distribuutio koskee vain indikatiivi- ja imperatiivimuotoja, ei konditionaalia. (3) Suppeimmalla vyöhykkeellä pikapuhemuotoja käytetään imperatiivin lisäksi vain kielteisissä indikatiivimuodoissa (en oo, en oo ollu). Sama rajoitus näyttää koskevan myös tulla, mennä ja panna -verbejä.
Laajin distribuutio kuuluu itämurteisiin, suppein eräisiin hämäläismurteisiin. Itäisten hämäläismurteiden ja läntisten savolaismurteiden väliin, savolaisiin Päijät-Hämeen murteisiin, on syntynyt kahden erilaisen järjestelmän yhdistelmä: Pikapuhemuodot ovat hämäläismurteiden tapaan mahdollisia kaikista neljästä verbistä, vaikka muissa itämurteissa tulla-verbi jää niiden ulkopuolelle. Hämäläismurteiden vaikutusta on myös lyhytvokaalinen vartalo o-, tu-, mä- (itämurteissa männä), pa-. Savolaismurteista on puolestaan saatu laaja morfosyntaktinen järjestelmä (vyöhyke 1). Se on vielä laajentunut analogisesti, niin että pikapuheinen konditionaali on mahdollinen kaikista verbeistä (osin, tusin, mäsin, pasin), kun muissa murteissa sitä käytetään vain olla-verbistä. Samantapaisia konditionaalimuotoja on tavattu myös eteläpohjalaisten murteiden länsilaidalta (oosin ~ oisin, tuusin, meesin, paasin). Ne ovat kuitenkin syntyneet pikemmin yksinkertaisen analogian kuin kokonaisten taivutusjärjestelmien yhteentörmäyksen vaikutuksesta.
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Abstract
This article examines the allegro speech forms of verbs, particularly olla ‘to be’, in Finnish dialects. Allegro speech forms with the verbs olla ‘to be’, tulla ‘to come’, mennä ‘to go’ and panna ‘to place’ have led to the disappearance of certain consonants: ole- > oo-, tule- > tuu-, mene- > mee-, pane- > paa-, as in, for instance, en oo ~ o ‘I am not’, tuutte ~ tutte ‘you (pl.) come’, mees sinne ~ mes sinne ‘go over there’, paap pois ~ pap pois ‘put it away’. These forms can be used in the indicative present and perfect tenses and in the imperative, while with the verb olla they also appear in the conditional present and perfect (oisin = olisin, ‘I would be’; ei ois = ei olisi, ‘it would not be’). This disappearance of these consonants is a widespread dialectical feature, which has been preserved and, indeed, become more common in modern spoken Finnish. To analyse the morphological and syntactical variation in these forms more closely, the author has examined the various allegro forms of the verb olla in texts transliterated for the collections of Muoto-opin arkisto (the Morphology Archives) and the Suomen kielen näytteitä series published by the Research Institute for the Languages of Finland.
The phonological variations in Finnish dialects are often linked to morphology and it can thus be assumed that, in certain instances, they correlate on the level of syntax as well. In dialect research, examples of how the syntactical position of a word affects the selection of variant can be seen, for instance, in the disappearance of the final n in certain endings (genitive and accusative case endings; first-person singular verb forms) and in active second-participial dialect variants (ollux ~ ollunna ~ olt, ‘been’). Sociolinguistic research conducted between 1970–1990 into dialect development has shed more light on the links between phonological, morphological and syntactical variation, for instance the incongruence of the third-person plural (the use of the singular verb form as opposed to the plural, as in vieraat tulee instead of tulevat, ‘the guests are arriving’). Dialect researchers have also observed that the allegro spoken forms of the verbs olla, tulla, mennä and panna display dialect-specific morphosyntactic restrictions, though at present there is no more specific information regarding the regional variation of these forms.
Research reveals that dialectical spoken forms of the verb olla fall into three distinct morphosyntactical groups. (1) In the most widespread group, shortened forms are possible in the indicative present and perfect, in both affirmative and negative sentences, e.g. oon ‘I am’, oon ollu ‘I have been’ and en oo ‘I am not’, en oo ollu ‘I have not been’, in conditional forms, e.g. oisin ‘I would be’ and oisin ollu ‘I would have been’, and in the imperative, e.g. oo hiljaa ‘be quiet’. (2) The next most widespread distribution of forms includes indicative and imperative forms, but not the conditional. (3) In the smallest of these groups, in addition to imperative forms, these shortened verb forms are used only in the negative indicative, e.g. en oo ‘I am not’ and en oo ollu ‘I have not been’. The same restrictions appear to apply in equal measure to the verbs tulla, mennä and panna.
The most widespread of the above groups belongs to certain Eastern Finnish dialects, while the smallest is specific to a number of dialects in Tavastia. Situated between Eastern Tavastian dialects and Western Savonian dialects, the Savonian dialects of Päijät-Häme form a hybrid of these two different systems: as with the other Tavastian dialects, shortened verb forms are possible in the case of all four verbs, though in other Eastern Finnish dialects the verb tulla is left unaltered. The influence of Tavastian dialects can be seen in, for instance, the shortened vowel in the verb stem o-, tu-, mä- (NB. in Eastern dialects the infinitive form is often männä) and pa-. The Savonian dialects, on the other hand, have contributed to the extensive morphosyntactic system (in group 1). This phenomenon has developed analogously in that a shortened conditional form is possible with all four verbs, i.e. osin ‘I would be’, tusin ‘I would come’, mäsin ‘I would go’, and pasin ‘I would put’, while in other dialects this is only found with the verb olla. Similar conditional forms can also be encountered in certain dialects in the western area of Southern Ostrobothnia (oosin ~ oisin, tuusin, meesin, paasin). These, however, are more the result of simple analogy than of contact between entire declension systems.peerReviewe
Verbien pikapuhemuotojen morfosyntaksia [The morphosyntax of allegro speech forms]
No full textTämä artikkeli tarkastelee suurtaajuisten verbien ja erityisesti olla-verbin pikapuhemuotoja suomen murteissa. Pikapuheisuus on johtanut verbien olla, tulla, mennä ja panna taivutusmuodoissa konsonantin katoon: ole- > oo-, tule- > tuu-, mene- > mee-, pane- > paa-, esimerkiksi en oo ~ o ’en ole’, tuutte ~ tutte ’tulette’, mees sinne ~ mes sinne ’mene sinne’, paap pois ~ pap pois ’pane pois’. Muotoja voidaan käyttää indikatiivin preesensissä ja perfektissä sekä imperatiivissa ja olla-verbistä myös konditionaalin preesensissä ja perfektissä (oisin ’olisin’, ei ois ’ei olisi’). Kyseessä on hyvin laajalevikkinen murrepiirre, joka on säilynyt ja jopa yleistynyt myös nykypuhekielessä. Analysoidakseen tarkemmin näiden muotojen morfologisia ja syntaktisia vaihteluja kirjoittaja on käynyt läpi olla-verbin pikapuhemuodot Muoto-opin arkiston kokoelmista ja Suomen kielen näytteitä -sarjan litteroiduista teksteistä. Suomen murteiden äänteelliset vaihtelut ovat usein sidoksissa morfologiaan, ja näin ollen voisi olettaa, että niillä on joissakin tapauksissa yhteyksiä syntaksiin saakka. Esimerkkejä sananmuodon syntaktisen aseman vaikutuksesta variantin valintaan onkin murretutkimuksissa esitetty mm. eri taivutusmuotojen päätteenä (genetiivi, akkusatiivi, yksikön 1. persoonan verbimuodot) esiintyvän sananloppuisen n:n kadosta ja aktiivin 2. partisiipin murrevarianteista (ollux ~ ollunna ~ olt). Murteiden muuttumista selvittelevät sosiolingvistiset tutkimukset ovat 1970─1990-luvulla tuoneet lisävalaisua fonologisten, morfologisten ja syntaktisten vaihtelujen yhteyksiin, kuten esimerkiksi monikon 3. persoonan inkongruenssiin (yksikkömuodon käyttöön päätteellisen monikkomuodon sijasta: vieraat tulee pro tulevat). Murteentutkijat ovat havainneet, että myös verbien olla, tulla, mennä ja panna pikapuhemuodoilla on murteittain morfosyntaktisia rajoituksia, mutta tarkempaa tietoa erilaisten muotojärjestelmien alueellisista vaihteluista ei ole. Analyysin perusteella suomen murteisiin muodostuu olla-verbin pikapuhemuodoista kolme erilaista morfosyntaktista vyöhykettä: (1) Laajimmassa järjestelmässä lyhyet muodot ovat mahdollisia indikatiivin myönteisessä ja kielteisessä preesensissä ja perfektissä (oon, oon ollu : en oo, en oo ollu), konditionaalimuodoissa (oisin, oisin ollu) sekä imperatiivissa (oo hiljaa!). (2) Toiseksi laajin distribuutio koskee vain indikatiivi- ja imperatiivimuotoja, ei konditionaalia. (3) Suppeimmalla vyöhykkeellä pikapuhemuotoja käytetään imperatiivin lisäksi vain kielteisissä indikatiivimuodoissa (en oo, en oo ollu). Sama rajoitus näyttää koskevan myös tulla, mennä ja panna -verbejä. Laajin distribuutio kuuluu itämurteisiin, suppein eräisiin hämäläismurteisiin. Itäisten hämäläismurteiden ja läntisten savolaismurteiden väliin, savolaisiin Päijät-Hämeen murteisiin, on syntynyt kahden erilaisen järjestelmän yhdistelmä: Pikapuhemuodot ovat hämäläismurteiden tapaan mahdollisia kaikista neljästä verbistä, vaikka muissa itämurteissa tulla-verbi jää niiden ulkopuolelle. Hämäläismurteiden vaikutusta on myös lyhytvokaalinen vartalo o-, tu-, mä- (itämurteissa männä), pa-. Savolaismurteista on puolestaan saatu laaja morfosyntaktinen järjestelmä (vyöhyke 1). Se on vielä laajentunut analogisesti, niin että pikapuheinen konditionaali on mahdollinen kaikista verbeistä (osin, tusin, mäsin, pasin), kun muissa murteissa sitä käytetään vain olla-verbistä. Samantapaisia konditionaalimuotoja on tavattu myös eteläpohjalaisten murteiden länsilaidalta (oosin ~ oisin, tuusin, meesin, paasin). Ne ovat kuitenkin syntyneet pikemmin yksinkertaisen analogian kuin kokonaisten taivutusjärjestelmien yhteentörmäyksen vaikutuksesta.---AbstractThis article examines the allegro speech forms of verbs, particularly olla ‘to be’, in Finnish dialects. Allegro speech forms with the verbs olla ‘to be’, tulla ‘to come’, mennä ‘to go’ and panna ‘to place’ have led to the disappearance of certain consonants: ole- > oo-, tule- > tuu-, mene- > mee-, pane- > paa-, as in, for instance, en oo ~ o ‘I am not’, tuutte ~ tutte ‘you (pl.) come’, mees sinne ~ mes sinne ‘go over there’, paap pois ~ pap pois ‘put it away’. These forms can be used in the indicative present and perfect tenses and in the imperative, while with the verb olla they also appear in the conditional present and perfect (oisin = olisin, ‘I would be’; ei ois = ei olisi, ‘it would not be’). This disappearance of these consonants is a widespread dialectical feature, which has been preserved and, indeed, become more common in modern spoken Finnish. To analyse the morphological and syntactical variation in these forms more closely, the author has examined the various allegro forms of the verb olla in texts transliterated for the collections of Muoto-opin arkisto (the Morphology Archives) and the Suomen kielen näytteitä series published by the Research Institute for the Languages of Finland. The phonological variations in Finnish dialects are often linked to morphology and it can thus be assumed that, in certain instances, they correlate on the level of syntax as well. In dialect research, examples of how the syntactical position of a word affects the selection of variant can be seen, for instance, in the disappearance of the final n in certain endings (genitive and accusative case endings; first-person singular verb forms) and in active second-participial dialect variants (ollux ~ ollunna ~ olt, ‘been’). Sociolinguistic research conducted between 1970–1990 into dialect development has shed more light on the links between phonological, morphological and syntactical variation, for instance the incongruence of the third-person plural (the use of the singular verb form as opposed to the plural, as in vieraat tulee instead of tulevat, ‘the guests are arriving’). Dialect researchers have also observed that the allegro spoken forms of the verbs olla, tulla, mennä and panna display dialect-specific morphosyntactic restrictions, though at present there is no more specific information regarding the regional variation of these forms. Research reveals that dialectical spoken forms of the verb olla fall into three distinct morphosyntactical groups. (1) In the most widespread group, shortened forms are possible in the indicative present and perfect, in both affirmative and negative sentences, e.g. oon ‘I am’, oon ollu ‘I have been’ and en oo ‘I am not’, en oo ollu ‘I have not been’, in conditional forms, e.g. oisin ‘I would be’ and oisin ollu ‘I would have been’, and in the imperative, e.g. oo hiljaa ‘be quiet’. (2) The next most widespread distribution of forms includes indicative and imperative forms, but not the conditional. (3) In the smallest of these groups, in addition to imperative forms, these shortened verb forms are used only in the negative indicative, e.g. en oo ‘I am not’ and en oo ollu ‘I have not been’. The same restrictions appear to apply in equal measure to the verbs tulla, mennä and panna. The most widespread of the above groups belongs to certain Eastern Finnish dialects, while the smallest is specific to a number of dialects in Tavastia. Situated between Eastern Tavastian dialects and Western Savonian dialects, the Savonian dialects of Päijät-Häme form a hybrid of these two different systems: as with the other Tavastian dialects, shortened verb forms are possible in the case of all four verbs, though in other Eastern Finnish dialects the verb tulla is left unaltered. The influence of Tavastian dialects can be seen in, for instance, the shortened vowel in the verb stem o-, tu-, mä- (NB. in Eastern dialects the infinitive form is often männä) and pa-. The Savonian dialects, on the other hand, have contributed to the extensive morphosyntactic system (in group 1). This phenomenon has developed analogously in that a shortened conditional form is possible with all four verbs, i.e. osin ‘I would be’, tusin ‘I would come’, mäsin ‘I would go’, and pasin ‘I would put’, while in other dialects this is only found with the verb olla. Similar conditional forms can also be encountered in certain dialects in the western area of Southern Ostrobothnia (oosin ~ oisin, tuusin, meesin, paasin). These, however, are more the result of simple analogy than of contact between entire declension systems
Predicting the propagation of concentration and saturation fronts in fixed-bed filters
No full textThe phenomenon of adsorption is widely exploited across a range of industries to remove contaminants from gases and liquids. Much recent research has focused on identifying low-cost adsorbents which have the potential to be used as alternatives to expensive industry standards like activated carbons. Evaluating these emerging adsorbents entails a considerable amount of labor intensive and costly testing and analysis. This study proposes a simple, low-cost method to rapidly assess the potential of novel media for potential use in large-scale adsorption filters. The filter media investigated in this study were low-cost adsorbents which have been found to be capable of removing dissolved phosphorus from solution, namely: i) aluminum drinking water treatment residual, and ii) crushed concrete. Data collected from multiple small-scale column tests was used to construct a model capable of describing and predicting the progression of adsorbent saturation and the associated effluent concentration breakthrough curves. This model was used to predict the performance of long-term, large-scale filter columns packed with the same media. The approach proved highly successful, and just 24-36 hours of experimental data from the small-scale column experiments was found to provide sufficient information to predict the performance of the large-scale filters for up to three months.The first author would like to acknowledge the Irish Research Council (GOIPG/2013/75) for funding.2018-01-0
The relationship between hyperglycaemia on admission and patient outcome is modified by hyperlactatemia and diabetic status: a retrospective analysis of the eICU collaborative research database
No full textAbstract Both blood glucose and lactate are well-known predictors of organ dysfunction and mortality in critically ill patients. Previous research has shown that concurrent adjustment for glucose and lactate modifies the relationship between these variables and patient outcomes, including blunting of the association between blood glucose and patient outcome. We aim to investigate the relationship between ICU admission blood glucose and hospital mortality while accounting for lactate and diabetic status. Across 43,250 ICU admissions, weighted to account for missing data, we assessed the predictive ability of several logistic regression and generalised additive models that included blood glucose, blood lactate and diabetic status. We found that inclusion of blood glucose marginally improved predictive performance in all patients: AUC-ROC 0.665 versus 0.659 (p = 0.005), with a greater degree of improvement seen in non-diabetics: AUC-ROC 0.675 versus 0.663 (p < 0.001). Inspection of the estimated risk profiles revealed the standard U-shaped risk profile for blood glucose was only present in non-diabetic patients after controlling for blood lactate levels. Future research should aim to utilise observational data to estimate whether interventions such as insulin further modify this effect, with the goal of informing future RCTs of interventions targeting glycaemic control in the ICU
Use of amendments in a peat soil to reduce phosphorus losses from forestry operations
No full textForestry harvesting on peats is known to result in significant losses of soil phosphorus (P) to adjacent waters, and the issue is becoming an increasingly serious concern as peatland forest stocks mature and reach harvestable age. One potential solution could be the use of low-cost P recovery techniques based on the chemical precipitation and/or adsorption of the dissolved fraction of soil P, which would otherwise be lost. Such recovery techniques have shown promise in similar applications on mineral soils. However, the interaction of peat with P adsorbing materials can significantly alter their adsorptive characteristics, and it is consequentially not known what materials might be suitable for this application. This study compared the performance of six potential soil amendments (aluminum water treatment residual (Al-WTR), crushed concrete, gypsum, magnesium hydroxide, magnesium oxide, and steel wool) in removing P from aqueous solution in the presence of a typical forest peat soil. Comparison of adsorption isotherms plotted from these batch adsorption studies showed that the observed P adsorption maxima of Al-WTR and steel wool were increased by the presence of peat, from 10.6 mg g-1 and 20.4 mg g-1, to 11.8 mg g-1 and 52.5 mg g-1, respectively. In contrast, the observed P adsorption maxima of crushed concrete, gypsum, and magnesium oxide were reduced in the presence of peat, by 44%, 87%, and 37%, respectively. The maximum P adsorption achieved by magnesium hydroxide was increased from 29.8 mg g-1 to 59 mg g-1 at an amendment to peat-solid ratio of 1:4, but decreased from 73.9 mg g-1 to 23.6 mg g-1 at an amendment to peat-solid ratio of 1:10. It was concluded that Al-WTR, in particular, shows considerable promise for use as a soil amendment for P immobilization in a peat environment.The first author would like to acknowledge the Irish Research Council for funding.2017-10-1
Irish Women Writers: An Uncharted Tradition
Get PDFFrom the legendary poet Oisin to modernist masters like James Joyce, William Butler Yeats, and Samuel Beckett, Ireland’s literary tradition has made its mark on the Western canon. Despite its proud tradition, the student who searches the shelves for works on Irish women’s fiction is liable to feel much as Virginia Woolf did when she searched the British Museum for work on women by women. Critic Nuala O’Faolain, when confronted with this disparity, suggested that “modern Irish literature is dominated by men so brilliant in their misanthropy . . . [that] the self-respect of Irish women is radically and paradoxically checkmated by respect for an Irish national achievement.”
While Ann Owens Weekes does not argue with the first part of O’Faolain’s assertion, she does with the second. In Irish Women Writers: An Uncharted Tradition, she suggests that it is the critics rather than the writers who have allowed themselves to be checkmated. Beginning with Maria Edgeworth’s Castle Rackrent (1800) and ending with Jennifer Johnston’s The Railway Station (1980), she surveys the best of the Ireland’s female literature to show its artistic and historic significance and to demonstrate that it has its own themes and traditions related to, yet separate from, that of male Irish writers.
Weekes examines the work of writers like E.OE. Somerville and Martin Ross (pen names for cousins Edith Somerville and Violet Martin), Elizabeth Bowen, Kate O’Brien, Mary Lavin, and Molly Keane, among others. She teases out the themes that recur in these writers’ works, including the link between domestic and political violence and re-visioning of traditional stories, such as Julia O’Faolain’s use of the Cuchulain and Diarmuid and Grainne myths to reveal the negation of women’s autonomy. In doing so, she demonstrates that the literature of Anglo- and Gaelic-Irish women presents a unified tradition of subjects and techniques, a unity that might become an optimistic model not only for Irish literature but also for Irish people.
Ann Owens Weekes is a retired associate professor of humanities and English at the University of Arizona and author of Unveiling Treasures: Attic Guide to Published Works of Irish Women Literary Writers.https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_english_language_and_literature_ireland/1004/thumbnail.jp
