Indicators are Relational: Navigating Knowledge and Power in the Development and Implementation of Coastal-Marine Indicators.

In many environment and resource management contexts (e.g., integrated coastal management, ecosystem-based fisheries management), indicator selection and development are perceived as a largely technical, bureaucratic, and scientific challenge. As such, choices about indicators and their application are often treated as external from everyday politics and dynamics of social power. Our aim here is to highlight the value of a relational perspective that weaves power and knowledge together in the context of indicator development and implementation. We highlight four critical dimensions of this relational perspective that may lead to better indicator process outcomes: 1) centering identity and positionality to reflect power differentials; 2) emphasizing the importance of indicator 'fit' and the politics of scale; 3) engaging rather than erasing social-ecological complexity; and 4) reflecting on social norms and relationships to foster adaptation and learning. These four dimensions are rarely considered in most indicator initiatives, including those that are more participatory in design and implementation. The dimensions we outline here emerge from the grounded experience of managers and practitioners, including indicator processes in which we are currently engaged, as well as a scoping review of the literature on indicators for coastal and marine governance and conservation specifically. However, the four dimensions and relational focus are relevant to a wide range of resource and environmental management contexts and provide a pathway to catalyze more effective indicator processes for decision-making and governance more generally.

Design and operating characteristic of a vacuum furnace for time-of-flight inelastic neutron scattering measurements.

We present the design and operating characteristics of a vacuum furnace used for inelastic neutron scattering experiments on a time-of-flight chopper spectrometer. The device is an actively water cooled radiant heating furnace capable of performing experiments up to 1873 K. Inelastic neutron scattering studies performed with this furnace include studies of phonon dynamics and metallic liquids. We describe the design, control, characterization, and limitations of the equipment. Further, we provide comparisons of the neutron performance of our device with commercially available options. Finally we consider upgrade paths to improve performance and reliability.

A new apparatus design for high temperature (up to 950°C) quasi-elastic neutron scattering in a controlled gaseous environment.

A design for a sample cell system suitable for high temperature Quasi-Elastic Neutron Scattering (QENS) experiments is presented. The apparatus was developed at the Spallation Neutron Source in Oak Ridge National Lab where it is currently in use. The design provides a special sample cell environment under controlled humid or dry gas flow over a wide range of temperature up to 950 °C. Using such a cell, chemical, dynamical, and physical changes can be studied in situ under various operating conditions. While the cell combined with portable automated gas environment system is especially useful for in situ studies of microscopic dynamics under operational conditions that are similar to those of solid oxide fuel cells, it can additionally be used to study a wide variety of materials, such as high temperature proton conductors. The cell can also be used in many different neutron experiments when a suitable sample holder material is selected. The sample cell system has recently been used to reveal fast dynamic processes in quasi-elastic neutron scattering experiments, which standard probes (such as electrochemical impedance spectroscopy) could not detect. In this work, we outline the design of the sample cell system and present results demonstrating its abilities in high temperature QENS experiments.

Access to in-patient stroke services and multidisciplinary team (MDT) rehabilitation: current demands and capacity.

The objective of this project was to analyse the current access to in-patient stroke services and MDT rehabilitation in an acute stroke centre and to compare these services to the recommended "National Clinical Guidelines and Recommendations for the Care of People with Stroke and TIA" (IHF 2010). A retrospective chart review was carried out, recording activity statistics of all patients admitted with acute stroke over a three-month period. 73 patients (male = 40, 54.8%) were included. Patients were discharged from the stroke service after a mean stay of 20.2 days (SD = 19.3). 76.7% (N = 56) of patients were admitted to the acute stroke unit (ASU). The mean length of time from admission to first assessment 3.4 days (SD. = 2.68), with an average of 138 minutes of treatment received per day across all disciplines. This is compared to the IHF's recommendation of patients being assessed within 24-48 hours of admission and receiving 180 minutes of treatment across all disciplines. As demands for stroke MDT services increase, it is important to recognise the benefits of increasing staff and resources to maintain and continue to improve standards of care.

Smart microneedle coatings for controlled delivery and biomedical analysis.

The work presented demonstrates an unconventional approach in the preparation of smart microneedle (MN) coatings utilising electrohydrodynamic atomisation (EHDA) principles. Stainless steel (600-900 µm in height) MNs were coupled to a ground electrode (in the EHDA coating set-up) with the deposition distance and collecting methodology varied for an ethanol:methanol (50:50) vehicle system. The preparation of nano- and micrometre-scaled pharmaceutical coatings was achieved. Fluorescein dye (serving as potential drug, sensory materials or disease state markers) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP, polymer matrix system) formed the remaining components of the coating formulation. Based on these excipients and by varying the coating process, particles (100 nm to 3 µm) and fibres (400 nm to 1 µm) were deposited directly on MNs in controlled and selectable fashion (flow rates variable ∼ 5-50 µL/min, applied voltage variable 6-19 kV). These demonstrated options for multiple targeting and analysis applications. The underlying EHDA process permits room temperature fabrication, controlled output and scale-up potential for emerging MN devices as drug systems or lab-chip testing devices.

Reduction of surface contamination and biofilms of Enterococcus sp. and Staphylococcus aureus using a citrus-based vapour.

BACKGROUND: Antibiotic-resistant organisms such as meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus sp. (VRE) are an ongoing problem in hospitals. Essential oil vapours (EOs) have been shown to reduce environmental bacterial contamination. AIMS: To assess the efficacy of Citri-V™, a vaporized blend of citrus EOs (orange: bergamot, 1:1 v/v) (Belmay, Northampton, UK), at removing Enterococcus sp. and S. aureus from stainless steel surfaces; and to investigate its effect on the formation of bacterial biofilms. METHODS: A microplate assay was used to assess the effect of the citrus vapour on the formation of biofilms and their metabolic activity. Biofilm removal from stainless steel surfaces was measured by a colorimetric assay and by digital microscopy. FINDINGS: The citrus vapour reduced VRE and MRSA on stainless steel surfaces by 1.5-3log(10) after 24h exposure. Staphylococcal biofilms were reduced both during and after formation, whereas enterococcal biofilms were significantly reduced (P≤0.05) only after formation. Metabolic activity decreased by up to 72% in strains tested. Two-dimensional digital microscopy showed reductions in biofilm coverage of the stainless steel disc by as much as 99.5%. CONCLUSION: Citrus vapour has potential for application in the clinical environment, for instance as a secondary disinfectant to reduce surface contamination by VRE and MRSA.

Imaging cerebral haemorrhage with magnetic induction tomography: numerical modelling.

Magnetic induction tomography (MIT) is a new electromagnetic imaging modality which has the potential to image changes in the electrical conductivity of the brain due to different pathologies. In this study the feasibility of detecting haemorrhagic cerebral stroke with a 16-channel MIT system operating at 10 MHz was investigated. The finite-element method combined with a realistic, multi-layer, head model comprising 12 different tissues, was used for the simulations in the commercial FE package, Comsol Multiphysics. The eddy-current problem was solved and the MIT signals computed for strokes of different volumes occurring at different locations in the brain. The results revealed that a large, peripheral stroke (volume 49 cm(3)) produced phase changes that would be detectable with our currently achievable instrumentation phase noise level (17 m degrees ) in 70 (27%) of the 256 exciter/sensor channel combinations. However, reconstructed images showed that a lower noise level than this, of 1 m degrees , was necessary to obtain good visualization of the strokes. The simulated MIT measurements were compared with those from an independent transmission-line-matrix model in order to give confidence in the results.

Calculation of the forward problem for absolute image reconstruction in MIT.

Progress made over the last few years in the hardware for magnetic induction tomography makes it possible to detect signal changes for low conductivity, low contrast variations in the target. However, image reconstruction of the data obtained presents a challenge especially when internal features within the target must be imaged. This paper focuses on the image reconstruction problem. A method of computing the forward problem with a lower computational cost than a model which needs to compute all the fields' values every time is presented. The method has been tested for its accuracy. Furthermore, the method can be used to produce a coefficient matrix which relates the contribution of each voxel to the total signal. This linear description of the problem forms the basis for image reconstruction. The images produced by direct linear reconstruction using the proposed matrix have been tested against maps produced by the dot product of the electric fields.

Surface preparation of bioactive Ni-Ti alloy using alkali, thermal treatments and spark oxidation.

The primary aim of this study was to compare different surface treatments used for bioactivation of pure titanium surfaces--thermal, alkali treatment and spark oxidation, and to assess their suitability as treatments for Ni-Ti alloys. This was considered by examining the surface properties, calcium phosphate precipitation from a physiological solution, and nickel ion release. Additionally, changes in the transformation temperature were measured for thermally treated samples. These studies indicate that the native surface of Ni-Ti alloy is highly bioactive when assessing the precipitation of calcium phosphates from Hank's solution. Low temperature heat treatments also produced promising surfaces while high temperature treatment resulted in a very low rate of Ca and P precipitation. Alkali treatment and spark oxidation resulted in some bioactivity. Nickel ion release was greatest for alkali treated and sparks oxidized samples, and the rate of its release from these two samples was on the verge of daily safe dose for adolescent human. The other analyzed samples revealed very low rates of nickel ion release. Heat treatment at 400 degrees C resulted in significant increase in the transformation temperatures, and a further increase of the treatment temperature up to 600 degrees C caused a drop of the transformation temperature.

Time-domain reconstruction using sensitivity coefficients for limited view ultrawide band tomography.

This article addresses time-domain ultrawide band (UWB) electromagnetic tomography for reconstructing the unknown spatial characteristic of an object from observations of the arrivals of short electromagnetic (EM) pulses. Here, the determination of the first peak arrival of the EM traces constitutes the forward problem, and the inverse problem aims to reconstruct the EM property distribution of the media. In this article, the finite-difference time-domain method implementing a perfectly matched layer is used to solve the forward problem from which the system sensitivity maps are determined. Image reconstruction is based on the combination of a linearized update and regularized Landweber minimization algorithm. Experimental data from a laboratory UWB system using targets of different contrasts, sizes, and shapes in an aqueous media are presented. The results show that this technique can accurately detect and locate unknown targets in spite of the presence of significant levels of noise in the data.

Investigating the possible role of benthic macroinvertebrates and zooplankton in the life cycle of the haplosporidian Bonamia ostreae.

Bonamia ostreae is a protistan parasite of the European flat oyster, Ostrea edulis. Though direct transmission of the parasite can occur between oysters, it is unclear if this represents the complete life cycle of the parasite, and the role of a secondary or intermediate host or carrier species cannot be ruled out. In this preliminary study, benthic macroinvertebrates and zooplankton from a B. ostreae-endemic area were screened for the presence of parasite DNA, using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Eight benthic macroinvertebrates and nineteen grouped zooplankton samples gave positive results. Certain species, found positive for the parasite DNA, were then used in laboratory transmission trials, to investigate if they could infect naïve oysters. Transmission of B. ostreae was effected to two naïve oysters cohabiting with the brittle star, Ophiothrix fragilis.

The surface functionalization of 45S5 Bioglass-based glass-ceramic scaffolds and its impact on bioactivity.

The first and foremost function of a tissue engineering scaffold is its role as a substrate for cell attachment, and their subsequent growth and proliferation. However, cells do not attach directly to the culture substrate; rather they bind to proteins that are adsorbed to the scaffold's surface. Like standard tissue culture plates, tissue engineering scaffolds can be chemically treated to couple proteins without losing the conformational functionality; a process called surface functionalization. In this work, novel highly porous 45S5 Bioglass-based scaffolds have been functionalized applying 3-AminoPropyl-TriethoxySilane (APTS) and glutaraldehyde (GA) without the use of organic solvents. The efficiency and stability of the surface modification was assessed by X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS). The bioactivity of the functionalized scaffolds was investigated using simulated body fluid (SBF) and characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). It was found that the aqueous heat-treatment applied at 80 degrees C for 4 hrs during the surface functionalization procedure accelerated the structural transition of the crystalline Na2Ca2Si3O9 phase, present in the original scaffold structure as a result of the sintering process used for fabrication, to an amorphous phase during SBF immersion. The surface functionalized scaffolds exhibited an accelerated crystalline hydroxyapatite layer formation upon immersion in SBF caused by ion leaching and the increased surface roughness induced during the heat treatment step. The possible mechanisms behind this phenomenon are discussed.

Investigation of microcontact transfer of proteins from a selectively plasma treated elastomer stamp by fluorescence microscopy and force microscopy.

Selective plasma treatment of the recessed regions of the elastomer stamps is shown to alter the resultant protein patterns. Fluorescence microscopy is demonstrated to be an excellent tool to discriminate between regions of microcontact printed fluorescent dye-labelled albumin in polystyrene. Atomic force microscopy and shear force microscopy are used to provide high-resolution images of the patterned protein layers. The formation and characteristics of the patterns formed by these alternative strategies is discussed.

Emergency medicine, psychiatry, and the law.

The emergency department physician must assess, initiate treatment, and arrange for the disposition of patients whose presentation reflects disordered thinking, emotions, and behavior. Unique diagnostic, management, and medicolegal challenges must be met daily. Understanding the issues inherent in the various stages of involvement with such patients helps reduce medicolegal risk and facilitates the provision of appropriate health care.

Liquid-crystal integrated silicon spatial light modulator.

The integration issues regarding liquid crystals and silicon-chip technology are discussed. A 12 x 12 active-matrix array is fabricated in silicon and addresses a ferroelectric liquid crystal. The structure and performance of the resulting electronically addressed spatial light modulator are reported.

Effect of antianginal medications on the prognostic value of exercise thallium scintigraphy.

Whether administration of antianginal medications at the time of exercise thallium scintigraphy reduces the prognostic value of this test was retrospectively examined using two year follow-up of 201 patients. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values and accuracy of five test outcomes for prediction of coronary events (unstable angina, myocardial infarction, cardiac death) were compared between groups of patients either taking or not taking antianginal medications. Specificity and negative predictive value of exercise and redistribution thallium scores for prediction of coronary events were greater in patients not taking antianginal medication (P less than 0.05). It was concluded that normal exercise thallium scintigraphy affords greater assurance against future coronary events in patients tested while not taking antianginal medications.

Photoaddressed liquid crystal edge-enhancing spatial light modulator.

Pattern recognition via optical correlation generally requires an incoherent-to-coherent input image converter and benefits from edge enhancement of the input image. We have created a photoaddressed nematic liquid crystal differentiating spatial light modulator that fulfills both these functions. Developments in photoaddressing are discussed, and experimental results on edge enhancement are presented.

Adaptive resonance theory of optical pattern recognition.

We describe here a holographic adaptive resonance theory system which self searches through the data store in a highly logical means.