4,226 research outputs found
Keynote Address
No full textGreetings and Introduction Judith Eisen, JD (Hofstra Law, ’86) Partner/Director, Garfunkel Wild, P.C.
Moderator Andrew Yacht, MD Chief Academic Officer, North Shore-LIJ Health System
Wendell Potter President, Wendell Potter Consultin
Keynote Address
No full textGreetings and Introduction Judith Eisen, JD (Hofstra Law, ’86) Partner/Director, Garfunkel Wild, P.C.
Moderator Andrew Yacht, MD Chief Academic Officer, North Shore-LIJ Health System
Wendell Potter President, Wendell Potter Consultin
A.J. Potter (1918-1980): The career and creative achievement of an Irish composer in social and cultural context
No full textA. J. Potter (1918-1980) was one of the most significant composers working in Ireland in the latter part of the twentieth century. This thesis surveys his career and creative achievement, which have not hitherto been subjected to detailed scrutiny. The opening chapter presents a biographical overview: its first part outlines the circumstances of Potter's childhood and early adulthood, including his studies with Vaughan Williams at the Royal College of Music in London, his period of service in the British Army during World War II and his subsequent three-year sojourn in Africa; the second continues the narrative from 1951, when he settled permanently in Ireland, up to his death in 1980. In addition to detailing events of note in his private and professional life, an important subsidiary focus of this section is to depict the impoverished and culturally marginalised nature of Irish musical life at this period and describe the frustrations that these conditions engendered for the composer and his contemporaries. The remaining chapters are devoted to an examination of Potter's major works. Chapter 2 considers four student compositions that were written or conceived in the late 1930s and were subsequently revised when he resumed composing in 1949 after a creative silence of over a decade. Chapter 3 is divided in two parts: the first delineates the salient features of his mature creative aesthetic, while the second provides an account of his later orchestral works. The remaining chapters explore his choral music and stage works, which, in addition to the scores previously described, constitute his most noteworthy achievements
Absence of PMS2 mutations in colon-CFR participants whose colorectal cancers demonstrate unexplained loss of MLH1 expression
No full textLetter to the EditorM Clendenning, FA Macrae, MD Walsh, RJ Walters, SN Thibodeau, SR Gunawardena, JD Potter, RW Haile, S Gallinger, Colorectal Cancer Family Registry, JL Hopper, MA Jenkins, C Rosty, JP Young, and DD Buchana
Consideration of Interference Correlation Properties in a JD-CDMA Mobile Radio System with Coherent Receiver Antenna Diversity
No full textIn code division multiple access (CDMA) mobile radio systems, both intersymbol interference and multiple access interference arise which can be combatted by using Joint Detection (JD) techniques, to reduce the degradation in performance resulting from time variance, coherent receiver antenna diversity (CRAD) can be used. The application of JD techniques offers the possibility to exploit the knowledge of noise covariances at the receiver. If only intercell (cochannel) interference is considered, the noise covariances in the uplink receiver of a multiple receiver antenna CDMA mobile radio system depend mainly on the directions of arrival (DOAs) of the interfering signals and the receiver antenna placement. Therefore, if the interferer DOAs are known at the base station, these covariances could be estimated. In this thesis, a realistic model of the uplink of a JD CDMA mobile radio system with CRAD is described in which the above mentioned interference cancelling method is used. Simulation results according to this model are given and evaluated.Applied SciencesElectrical EngineeringTelecommunications and Traffic Control Systems Grou
Dairy farmers’ perceptions toward the implementation of on-farm Johne’s disease prevention and control strategies
No full textmplementation of specific management strategies on dairy farms is currently the most effective way to reduce the prevalence of Johne’s disease (JD), an infectious chronic enteritis of ruminants caused by Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP). However, dairy farmers often fail to implement recommended strategies. The objective of this study was to assess perceptions of farmers participating in a JD prevention and control program toward recommended practices, and explore factors that influence whether or not a farmer adopts risk-reducing measures for MAP transmission. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 25 dairy farmers enrolled in a voluntary JD control program in Alberta, Canada. Principles of classical grounded theory were used for participant selection, interviewing, and data analysis. Additionally, demographic data and MAP infection status were collected and analyzed using quantitative questionnaires and the JD control program database. Farmers’ perceptions were distinguished according to 2 main categories: first, their belief in the importance of JD, and second, their belief in recommended JD prevention and control strategies. Based on these categories, farmers were classified into 4 groups: proactivists, disillusionists, deniers, and unconcerned. The first 2 groups believed in the importance of JD, and proactivists and unconcerned believed in proposed JD prevention and control measures. Groups that regarded JD as important had better knowledge about best strategies to reduce MAP transmission and had more JD risk assessments conducted on their farm. Although not quantified, it also appeared that these groups had more JD prevention and control practices in place. However, often JD was not perceived as a problem in the herd and generally farmers did not regard JD control as a “hot topic” in communications with their herd veterinarian and other farmers. Recommendations regarding how to communicate with farmers and motivate various groups of farmers according to their specific perceptions were provided to optimize adoption of JD prevention and control measures and thereby increase success of voluntary JD control programs
The use of sodium birnessite as a curing agent for liquid polysulfide sealant
No full textThis thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Manganese (IV) oxide phases are widely used as curing agents for polysulfide sealants. The manganese based curing agents, however, do not give a reproducible cure and this results in material waste. As the market for insulating glass applications is increasing, efficient curing becomes more significant both commercially and environmentally. The research described in this portfolio focuses on using a laboratory synthesised manganese (IV) oxide phase, sodium birnessite, as a polysulfide curing agent. The synthesis and full characterisation of sodium birnessite is described and its curing ability measured in terms of the following properties of the cured polysulfide: rate of cure. surface condition, hardness build-up, stress-strain data, low and high temperature properties. and moisture transmission. The results obtained are compared with those of polysulfides cured with a good commercial product. Different concentrations of curing agents, and types and concentrations of accelerators, plasticisers and inert diluents were investigated to optimise the curing process, reduce material use and product wastage. Sodium birnessite is an active and reliable curing agent when used at half of the concentration of the commercial agent in the presence and absence of inert diluents. Diluted sodium birnessite (1: 1 with inert diluent) cures polysulfide to levels comparable in terms of stress-strain properties, moisture transmission rate, hardness, surface condition, low- and high- temperature properties, and degree of polysulfide cross linking to that achieved with commercial agent. The mechanism of the curing of polysulfide with sodium birnessite, as with all curing agents is conversion of mercaptan groups -S-H into disulfide linkages (-S-S-). Sodium birnessite is a mixed oxidation state compound and its synthesis results in the inclusion of Mn 2+ in addition to Mn 4+ ions in the manganese oxide based lattice. A rationale for the improved curing ability of sodium birnessite is presented. It is based on the ability of Mn 2+ to create vacancies in the Mn4+ sub-lattice thus increasing the mobility of the Mn4 in the structure and its transport to the surface of the curing agent where the oxidation reduction reaction responsible for the cure takes place.Financial support was obtained from Twinstar Chemicals Ltd, and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC
Knowledge gaps that hamper prevention and control of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis infection
No full textIn the last decades, many regional and country‐wide control programmes for Johne's disease (JD ) were developed due to associated economic losses, or because of a possible association with Crohn's disease. These control programmes were often not successful, partly because management protocols were not followed, including the introduction of infected replacement cattle, because tests to identify infected animals were unreliable, and uptake by farmers was not high enough because of a perceived low return on investment. In the absence of a cure or effective commercial vaccines, control of JD is currently primarily based on herd management strategies to avoid infection of cattle and restrict within‐farm and farm‐to‐farm transmission. Although JD control programmes have been implemented in most developed countries, lessons learned from JD prevention and control programmes are underreported. Also, JD control programmes are typically evaluated in a limited number of herds and the duration of the study is less than 5 year, making it difficult to adequately assess the efficacy of control programmes. In this manuscript, we identify the most important gaps in knowledge hampering JD prevention and control programmes, including vaccination and diagnostics. Secondly, we discuss directions that research should take to address those knowledge gaps
Evaluation of an alternative method of herd classification for infection with paratuberculosis in cattle herds in the United States
No full textObjective - To develop a better system for classification of herd infection status for paratuberculosis (Johne's disease JD]) in US cattle herds on the basis of the risk of potential transmission of Mycobacterium avium subsp paratubeculosis. Sample - Simulated data for herd size and within-herd prevalence; sensitivity and specificity for test methods obtained from consensus-based estimates. Procedures - Interrelationships among variables influencing interpretation and classification of herd infection status for JD were evaluated by use of simulated data for various herd sizes, true within-herd prevalences, and sampling and testing methods. The probability of finding ≥1 infected animal in herds was estimated for various testing methods and sample sizes by use of hypergeometric random sampling. Results - 2 main components were required for the new herd JD classification system: the probability of detection of infection determined on the basis of test results from a sample of animals and the maximum detected number of animals with positive test results. Tables were constructed of the estimated probability of detection of infection, and the maximum number of cattle with positive test results or fecal pools with positive culture results with 95% confidence for classification of herd JD infection status were plotted. Herd risk for JD was categorized on the basis of 95% confidence that the true within-herd prevalence was ≤15%, ≤10%, ≤5%, or ≤2%. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance - Analysis of the findings indicated that a scientifically rigorous and transparent herd classification system for JD in cattle is feasible.Source type: Electronic(1
Factors associated with participation of Alberta dairy farmers in a voluntary, management-based Johne’s disease control program
No full textThe Alberta Johne's Disease Initiative (AJDI) is a voluntary, management-based prevention and control program for Johne's disease (JD), a wasting disease in ruminants that causes substantial economic losses to the cattle industry. Despite extensive communication about the program's benefits and low cost to participating producers, approximately 35% of Alberta dairy farmers have not enrolled in the AJDI. Therefore, the objective was to identify differences between AJDI nonparticipants and participants that may influence enrollment. Standardized questionnaires were conducted in person on 163 farms not participating and 61 farms participating in the AJDI. Data collected included demographic characteristics, internal factors (e.g., attitudes and beliefs of the farmer toward JD and the AJDI), external factors (e.g., farmers' JD knowledge and on-farm goals and constraints), as well as farmers' use and influence of various information sources. Nonparticipants and participants differed in at least some aspects of all studied categories. Based on logistic regression, participating farms had larger herds, higher self-assessed knowledge of JD, better understanding of AJDI details before participation, and used their veterinarian more often to get information about new management practices and technologies when compared with nonparticipants. In contrast, nonparticipants indicated that time was a major on-farm constraint and that participation in the AJDI would take too much time. They also indicated that they preferred to wait and see how the program worked on other farms before they participated
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