626 research outputs found
Combustion and Society: A Fire-Centred History of Energy Use
No full textFire is a force that links everyday human activities to some of the most powerful energetic movements of the Earth. Drawing together the energy-centred social theory of Georges Bataille, the fire-centred environmental history of Stephen Pyne, and the work of a number of ‘pyrotechnology’ scholars, the paper proposes that the generalized study of combustion is a key to contextualizing human energetic practices within a broader ‘economy’ of terrestrial and cosmic energy flows. We examine the relatively recent turn towards fossil-fuelled ‘internal combustion’ in the light of a much longer human history of ‘broadcast’ burning of vegetation and of artisanal pyrotechnologies – the use of heat to transform diverse materials. A combustion-centred analysis, it is argued, brings human collective life into closer contact with the geochemical and geologic conditions of earthly existence, while also pointing to the significance of explorative, experimental and even playful dispositions towards energy and matter. © 2014, SAGE Publications. All rights reserved
Maternal iron status in early pregnancy and birth outcomes : insights from the Baby's Vascular health and Iron in Pregnancy study
No full textDate of Acceptance: 16/03/2015 Acknowledgements N. A. A. was funded by a Wellcome Trust Research Training Fellowship (WT87789). H. J. M. and H. E. H. are supported by the Scottish Government’s Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services. N. A. B. S. is supported by Cerebra. The authors’ contributions are as follows: N. A. A. was responsible for organising the study conduct, data collection and database management, performed the statistical analysis, interpreted the results and drafted the paper. N. A. A., N. A. B. S., J. E. C., H. J. M. and D. C. G. contributed to the study concept and design, and interpretation of results. H. J. M. and H. E. H. analysed the laboratory samples. J. E. C. and D. C. G. provided advice on statistical strategy and analysis. All authors have fully participated in the reporting stage and have critically reviewed and approved the final draft of the paper. The authors declare no conflict of interestPeer reviewe
Semiometrics: Applying Ontologies across Large-Scale Digital Libraries
No full textAs large-scale digital libraries become more available and complete, not to mention more numerous, it is clear there is a need for services that can draw together and perform inference calculations on the metadata produced. However, the traditional Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) model, while efficiently constructed and optimised for many business structures, does not necessarily cope well with issues of concurrent data updates and retrieval at the scale of hundreds of thousands of papers. At the same time the growth of RDF and the increasing interest in Semantic Web technologies perhaps begins to present a viable alternative at a scalable, practical level. This paper considers a specific application of large-scale metadata analysis and conducts scalability tests using real-world data. It concludes that RDF technologies are both a scalable and performance-realistic alternative to traditional RDBMS approaches. It also shows that for relationship-based queries on large-scale metadata stores, RDF technologies can significantly out-perform traditional RDBMS approaches by allowing both retrieval and updating of data in a timely manner
Is infant arterial stiffness associated with maternal blood pressure in pregnancy? Findings from a UK birth cohort (Baby VIP study)
No full textBackground: In adults, arterial stiffness measured by pulse wave velocity (PWV) is regarded as a predictor of cardiovascular disease. Infant vascular development depends on factors related to pregnancy, including maternal blood pressure (BP). This study assessed the association between maternal BP in pregnancy and infant brachio-femoral PWV at age 2–6 weeks.
Methods: The Baby Vascular health and Iron in Pregnancy (Baby VIP) study is a birth cohort which measured PWV and heart rate (HR) in 284 babies in Leeds, UK, at 2–6 weeks after birth. Maternal BP measurements at 12 and 36 weeks gestation was collected from antenatal clinical records. Multivariable linear regression models assessed associations between maternal systolic and diastolic BPs, and BP change from booking to 36 weeks, with infant PWV adjusting for covariables at both mother and baby level.
Results: There was no evidence of an association between infant PWV and maternal systolic BP at booking (adjusted regression coefficient -0.01 m/s per 10mmHg, 95% CI -0.11, 0.14, p = 0.84) or at 36 weeks (adjusted regression coefficient 0.00 m/s per 10mmHg, 95% CI -0.12, 0.11, p = 0.95). Change between 12 and 36 weeks gestation of more than 30 mmHg in systolic BP or 15 mmHg in diastolic BP was also not associated with infant PWV. There was an inverse relationship between infant HR and infant PWV (regression coefficient -0.14 m/s per 10 bpm, 95% CI -0.22, -0.05, p<0.01).
Conclusions: This study has shown no evidence of association between infant PWV at 2–6 weeks of age and maternal BP in early or late pregnancy. Infant HR was inversely associated with infant PWV. Further studies are required to determine the predictors of infant PWV as well as the importance and long term implications of PWV measurements in infants
Dietary iron intake during early pregnancy and birth outcomes in a cohort of British women
No full textBackground: Iron deficiency during pregnancy is associated with adverse birth outcomes, particularly, if present during early gestation. Iron supplements are widely recommended during pregnancy, but evidence of their benefit in relation to infant outcomes is not established. This study was performed in the UK, where iron supplements are not routinely recommended during pregnancy, to investigate the association between iron intake in pregnancy and size at birth. Methods: From a prospective cohort of 1274 pregnant women aged 18–45 years, dietary intake was reported in a 24-h recall administered by a research midwife at 12-week gestation. Dietary supplement intake was ascertained using dietary recall and three questionnaires in the first, second and third trimesters. Results: Of the cohort of pregnant women, 80% reported dietary iron intake below the UK Reference Nutrient Intake of 14.8 mg/day. Those reported taking iron-containing supplements in the first, second and third trimesters were 24, 15 and 8%, respectively. Women with dietary iron intake >14.8 mg/day were more likely to be older, have a higher socioeconomic profile and take supplements during the first trimester. Vegetarians were less likely to have low dietary iron intake [odds ratio = 0.5, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.4, 0.8] and more likely to take supplements during the first and second trimesters. Total iron intake, but not iron intake from food only, was associated with birthweight centile (adjusted change = 2.5 centiles/10 mg increase in iron, 95% CI: 0.4, 4.6). This association was stronger in the high vitamin C intake group, but effect modification was not significant. Conclusion: There was a positive relationship between total iron intake, from food and supplements, in early pregnancy and birthweight. Iron intake, both from diet and supplements, during the first trimester of pregnancy was higher in vegetarians and women with a better socioeconomic profile. <br/
Why won't aliens talk to us? Content and community dynamics in online citizen science
No full textWe conducted a quantitative analysis of ten citizen science projects hosted on the Zooniverse platform, using a data set of over 50 million activity records and more than 250,000 users, collected between December 2010 and July 2013. We examined the level of participation of users in Zooniverse discussion forums in relation to their contributions toward the completion of scientific (micro-)tasks. As Zooniverse is home to a multitude of projects, we were also interested in the emergence of cross-projects effects, and identified those project characteristics, most importantly the subject domain and the duration of a project. We also looked into the adoption of expert terminology, showing that this phenomenon is dependent on the scientific domain which a project addresses but also affected by how the communication features are actually used by a community. This is the first study of this kind in this increasingly important class of online community, and its insights will inform the design and further development of the Zooniverse platform, and of citizen science systems as a whol
Infant arterial stiffness and maternal iron status in pregnancy : a UK birth cohort (Baby VIP study)
No full textAcknowledgements We are sincerely grateful to all study participants. Our thanks go to Angela Wray, Julie Grindey and Viv Dolby for data collection; Antony Hales, Russel Booth, Ruth Owen and Christine Kennedy for facilitating laboratory analysis, and Stephen Greenwald for advice on PWV measurement. Source of funding: N.A.A. is funded by a Wellcome Trust Research Training Fellowship (WT87789). H.J.M. and H.E.H. are supported by the Scottish Government Rural and Environmental Services (RESAS). N.A.B.S. is supported by Cerebra.Peer reviewe
A puzzle in stemmatic theory solved
No full textS. Timpanaro recently observed that if the dates usually assigned to Mss. Ambr. 120 (B 98 sup.) and Athos, Vatopedi 671 are correct, one of the principles of Maas's stemmatic theory is undermined. The author therefore examined the dates afresh and discovered that the Vatopedi codex was written by the scribe Girard of Old Patras ; this means that it belongs to the fifteenth century and can be a copy of the Ambrosianus, in which case there is no stemmatic difficulty. Other manuscripts recently identified as the work of Girard are discussed, and the importance of this prolific but neglected scribe are indicated.Solution des problèmes posés par un stemma.
S. Timpanaro a récemment signalé que, si les dates proposées pour les manuscrits Ambr. 120 (B 98 sup.) et Athos, Vatopédi 671 sont correctes, un principe de la théorie stemmatique de Maas est ébranlé. Après un nouvel examen, l'auteur a découvert que le manuscrit de Vatopédi a été copié par Girard de Vieux Patras, ce qui signifie qu'il appartient au XVe siècle et peut être une copie de l'Ambrosianus ; dans ce cas, la difficulté stemmatique n'existe plus. L'auteur dresse un inventaire préliminaire des autres manuscrits copiés par Girard qu'on a pu identifier et signale l'importance de ce copiste productif que l'on a trop négligé.Wilson Nigel G. A puzzle in stemmatic theory solved. In: Revue d'histoire des textes, bulletin n°4 (1974), 1975. pp. 139-142
Clinical prediction in early pregnancy of infants small for gestational age by customised birthweight centiles: findings from a healthy nulliparous cohort
No full texton behalf of the SCOPE ConsortiumOBJECTIVE Small for gestational age (SGA) infants comprise up to 50% of all stillbirths and a minority are detected before birth. We aimed to develop and validate early pregnancy predictive models for SGA infants. METHODS 5628 participants from SCOPE, a prospective study of nulliparous pregnant women, were interviewed at 15±1 weeks’ gestation. Fetal anthropometry, uterine and umbilical Doppler studies were performed at 20±1 weeks’. The cohort was divided into training (n = 3735) and validation datasets (n = 1871). All-SGA (birthweight 12 months to conceive, university student, cigarette smoking, proteinuria, daily vigorous exercise and diastolic blood pressure ≥80. Recreational walking ≥4 times weekly, rhesus negative blood group and increasing random glucose were protective. AUC for clinical risk factors was 0.63. Fetal abdominal or head circumference z scores <10th centile and increasing uterine artery Doppler resistance at 20±1 weeks’ were associated with increased risk. Addition of these parameters increased the AUC to 0.69. Clinical predictors of Normotensive and Hypertensive-SGA were sub-groups of All-SGA predictors and were quite different. The combined clinical and ultrasound AUC for Normotensive and Hypertensive-SGA were 0.69 and 0.82 respectively. CONCLUSION Predictors for SGA of relevance to clinical practice were identified. The identity and predictive potential differed in normotensive women and those who developed hypertension.Lesley M. E. McCowan, John M. D. Thompson, Rennae S. Taylor, Robyn A. North, Lucilla Poston, Philip N. Baker, Jenny Myers, Claire T. Roberts, Gustaaf A. Dekker, Nigel A. B. Simpson, James J. Walker, Louise C. Kenn
[In Press] Profiling the Australasian paramedicine tertiary academic sector and workforce : a cross-sectional study
No full textIntroduction: In 1994, the first Australasian paramedicine tertiary program commenced as an off-campus offering not required as an entry-to-practice qualification A quarter of a century later, university programs have proliferated with ter-tiary qualifications becoming mandatory to acquire Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency registration. Despite this progression, concerns have been voiced regarding student enrolment volume and sustainability of the paramedicine academic workforce. To date, a census of the sector and the workforce has not been conducted, limiting capacity for data-informed strategic planning. The aim of this study was to profile the Australasian paramedicine tertiary sector and describe the academic workforce working in it. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in May 2022 using an online survey designed specifically for this research. The participants were discipline leaders from 19 universities or polytechnics offering entry-to-practice courses in Australia and New Zealand. Participants were asked to provide data on their course structure, organisational position, student enrolment loads and academic and non-academic staffing profiles. Simple descriptive statistics were generated to describe these data. Results: Of the 19 eligible programs, 18 participated (response rate 90%). All but one course was at the undergraduate level; of the undergraduate courses, all but one were 3 years in duration. The academic workforce comprised 161 full-time or fractional and 727 casual paramedicine academics. Of the full-time academics, 131/161 were registered, with 45% of those holding 'non-practicing' status. Twenty-nine paramedicine academics (18%) had PhDs. There was 1 Professor and 10 Associate Professors, whilst 65% overall were Lecturers or Associate Lecturers. Conclusion: This analysis represents the first description of the Australasian paramedicine tertiary sector. It reveals a diverse sector with large student enrolments and diverse course structures. The seniority of the academic workforce is skewed substantially towards lower academic levels; this shortfall in senior academics creates risk for the sector and may be symptomatic of a workforce sustainability issue
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