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Family members’ perspectives on the acceptability and impact of a co-facilitated information programme: the EOLAS mental health programme
- Agnes Higgins, Carmel Downes, Mark Monahan, David Hevey, Fiona Boyd, Ned Cusack, Patrick Gibbons
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- Journal:
- Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine / Volume 39 / Issue 1 / March 2022
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 09 September 2019, pp. 64-73
- Print publication:
- March 2022
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Background:
Despite the critical role families play in the care and recovery journeys of people who experience enduring mental distress, they are often excluded by the mental health services in the care and decision-making process. International trends in mental health services emphasise promoting a partnership approach between service users, families and practitioners within an ethos of recovery.
Objective:This paper evaluated the acceptability of and initial outcomes from a clinician and peer co-led family information programme.
Methods:A sequential design was used involving a pre-post survey to assess changes in knowledge, confidence, advocacy, recovery and hope following programme participation and interviews with programme participants. Participants were recruited from mental health services running the information programme. In all, 86 participants completed both pre- and post-surveys, and 15 individuals consented to interviews.
Results:Survey findings indicated a statistically significant change in family members’ knowledge about mental health issues, recovery attitudes, sense of hope and confidence. In addition, the interviews suggested that the programme had a number of other positive outcomes for family members, including increased communication with members of the mental health team and increased awareness of communication patterns within the family unit. Family members valued the opportunity to share their experiences in a ‘safe’ place, learn from each other and provide mutual support.
Conclusion:The evaluation highlights the importance of developing information programmes in collaboration with family members as well as the strength of a programme that is jointly facilitated by a family member and clinician.
ASSESSING THE VALUE OF INNOVATIVE MEDICAL DEVICES AND DIAGNOSTICS: THE IMPORTANCE OF CLEAR AND RELEVANT CLAIMS OF BENEFIT
- Bruce Campbell, Mark Campbell, Lee Dobson, Joanne Higgins, Bernice Dillon, Mirella Marlow, Chris J.D. Pomfrett
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- Journal:
- International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care / Volume 34 / Issue 4 / 2018
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 20 July 2018, pp. 419-424
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Objectives:
Large numbers of new medical devices and diagnostics are developed and health services need to identify which ones offer real advantages. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has introduced a system for assessing technologies that are often notified by companies, based on claims made for their benefits to patients, the National Health Service, and the environment.
Methods:Detailed scrutiny of claims made for the benefits of products and the corresponding evidence, seeking associations between these and the selection of products for full evaluation to produce NICE guidance.
Results:Between 2009 and 2015 a NICE committee considered 169 technologies, of which it selected 74 (44 percent) for full evaluation, based on the claims of benefit and the evidence available. An average of 7.5 claims were made per technology; the total number did not influence selection but presence of studies supporting all the claims (p < .001) or any of the claims (p < .05) had a positive influence, as did claims for quicker patient recovery (p < .001). A greater number of studies to support the claims made selection more likely (p < .001), as did cohort studies (p < .05) and surveys (p < .05) but, unexpectedly, not randomized trials. The Medical Device Directive class had no influence.
Conclusions:This study presents categories of claims that may be useful to those developing new products and to others engaged in health technology assessment. It illustrates the importance of relevant evidence and of having a clear vision of the place of new products in care pathways from an early stage.
Failure to Communicate: Transmission of Extensively Drug-Resistant blaOXA-237-Containing Acinetobacter baumannii—Multiple Facilities in Oregon, 2012–2014
- Genevieve L. Buser, P. Maureen Cassidy, Margaret C. Cunningham, Susan Rudin, Andrea M. Hujer, Robert Vega, Jon P. Furuno, Steven H. Marshall, Paul G. Higgins, Michael R. Jacobs, Meredith S. Wright, Mark D. Adams, Robert A. Bonomo, Christopher D. Pfeiffer, Zintars G. Beldavs
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- Journal:
- Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology / Volume 38 / Issue 11 / November 2017
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 05 September 2017, pp. 1335-1341
- Print publication:
- November 2017
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OBJECTIVE
To determine the scope, source, and mode of transmission of a multifacility outbreak of extensively drug-resistant (XDR) Acinetobacter baumannii.
DESIGNOutbreak investigation.
SETTING AND PARTICIPANTSResidents and patients in skilled nursing facilities, long-term acute-care hospital, and acute-care hospitals.
METHODSA case was defined as the incident isolate from clinical or surveillance cultures of XDR Acinetobacter baumannii resistant to imipenem or meropenem and nonsusceptible to all but 1 or 2 antibiotic classes in a patient in an Oregon healthcare facility during January 2012–December 2014. We queried clinical laboratories, reviewed medical records, oversaw patient and environmental surveillance surveys at 2 facilities, and recommended interventions. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and molecular analysis were performed.
RESULTSWe identified 21 cases, highly related by PFGE or healthcare facility exposure. Overall, 17 patients (81%) were admitted to either long-term acute-care hospital A (n=8), or skilled nursing facility A (n=8), or both (n=1) prior to XDR A. baumannii isolation. Interfacility communication of patient or resident XDR status was not performed during transfer between facilities. The rare plasmid-encoded carbapenemase gene blaOXA-237 was present in 16 outbreak isolates. Contact precautions, chlorhexidine baths, enhanced environmental cleaning, and interfacility communication were implemented for cases to halt transmission.
CONCLUSIONSInterfacility transmission of XDR A. baumannii carrying the rare blaOXA-237 was facilitated by transfer of affected patients without communication to receiving facilities.
Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2017;38:1335–1341
Perspectives From Emerging Researchers: What Next in EE/SE Research?
- Claudio Aguayo, Blanche Higgins, Ellen Field, Jennifer Nicholls, Susan Pudin, Sangion Appiee Tiu, Maia Osborn, Farshad Hashemzadeh, Kevin Kezabu Lubuulwa, Mark Boulet, Belinda A. Christie, Jeremy Mah
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- Journal:
- Australian Journal of Environmental Education / Volume 32 / Issue 1 / March 2016
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 17 March 2016, pp. 17-29
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Following the inaugural Australian Association for Environmental Education (AAEE) research symposium in November 2014, we — a group of emerging researchers in Environmental Education/Sustainability Education (EE/SE) — commenced an online collaboration to identify and articulate our responses to the main themes of the symposium. Identifying as #aaeeer, our discussions coalesced into four main areas that we felt captured not only some of our current research interests, but also ‘under-explored’ areas that need further attention and that also held the potential for meaningful and ‘dangerous’ contributions to EE/SE research and practice. These themes were: (1) uncertain futures, (2) traditional knowledges for the future, (3) community EE/SE, and (4) the rise of the digital, explorations of which we present in this article. By no means intended to capture all that is worth researching in this field, these themes, and this article, are deliberately presented by #aaeeer to spark discussions, as well as showcase an example of online collaboration between researchers in a number of countries.
Diets, habitat preferences, and niche differentiation of Cenozoic sirenians from Florida: evidence from stable isotopes
- Bruce J. MacFadden, Pennilyn Higgins, Mark T. Clementz, Douglas S. Jones
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- Journal:
- Paleobiology / Volume 30 / Issue 2 / Spring 2004
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 08 February 2016, pp. 297-324
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Cenozoic sediments of Florida contain one of the most highly fossiliferous sequences of extinct sirenians in the world. Sirenians first occur in Florida during the Eocene (ca. 40 Ma), have their peak diversity during the late Oligocene–Miocene (including the widespread dugongid Metaxytherium), and become virtually extinct by the late Miocene (ca. 8 Ma). Thereafter during the Pliocene and Pleistocene, sirenians are represented in Florida by abundant remains of fossil manatees (Trichechus sp.). Stable isotopic analyses were performed on 100 teeth of fossil sirenians and extant Trichechus manatus from Florida in order to reconstruct diets (as determined from δ13C values) and habitat preferences (as determined from δ18O values) and test previous hypotheses based on morphological characters and associated floral and faunal remains. A small sample (n = 6) of extant Dugong dugon from Australia was also analyzed as an extant model to interpret the ecology of fossil dugongs.
A pilot study of captive manatees and their known diet revealed an isotopic enrichment (ɛ∗) in δ13C of 14.0‰, indistinguishable from previously reported ɛ∗ for extant medium to large terrestrial mammalian herbivores with known diets. The variation in δ18OV-SMOW reported here is interpreted to indicate habitat preferences, with depleted tooth enamel values (≈25‰) representing freshwater rivers and springs, whereas enriched values (≈30‰) indicate coastal marine environments. Taken together, the Eocene to late Miocene sirenians (Protosirenidae and Dugongidae) differ significantly in both δ13C and δ18O from Pleistocene and Recent manatees (Trichechidae). In general, Protosiren and the fossil dugongs from Florida have carbon isotopic values that are relatively positive (mean δ13C = −0.9‰) ranging from −4.8‰ to 5.6‰, interpreted to represent a specialized diet of predominantly seagrasses. The oxygen isotopic values (mean δ18O = 29.2‰) are likewise relatively positive, indicating a principally marine habitat preference. These interpretations correlate well with previous hypotheses based on morphology (e.g., degree of rostral deflection) and the known ecology of modern Dugong dugon from the Pacific Ocean. In contrast, the fossil and extant Trichechus teeth from Florida have relatively lower carbon isotopic values (mean δ13C = −7.2‰) that range from −18.2‰ to 1.7‰, interpreted as a more generalized diet ranging from C3 plants to seagrasses. The relatively lower oxygen isotopic values (mean δ18O = 28.1 ‰) are interpreted as a more diverse array of freshwater and marine habitat preferences than that of Protosiren and fossil dugongs. This study of Cenozoic sirenians from Florida further demonstrates that stable isotopes can test hypotheses previously based on morphology and associated floral and faunal remains. All these data sets taken together result in a more insightful approach to reconstructing the paleobiology of this interesting group of ancient aquatic mammalian herbivores.
Contributors
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- By Mitchell Aboulafia, Frederick Adams, Marilyn McCord Adams, Robert M. Adams, Laird Addis, James W. Allard, David Allison, William P. Alston, Karl Ameriks, C. Anthony Anderson, David Leech Anderson, Lanier Anderson, Roger Ariew, David Armstrong, Denis G. Arnold, E. J. Ashworth, Margaret Atherton, Robin Attfield, Bruce Aune, Edward Wilson Averill, Jody Azzouni, Kent Bach, Andrew Bailey, Lynne Rudder Baker, Thomas R. Baldwin, Jon Barwise, George Bealer, William Bechtel, Lawrence C. Becker, Mark A. Bedau, Ernst Behler, José A. Benardete, Ermanno Bencivenga, Jan Berg, Michael Bergmann, Robert L. Bernasconi, Sven Bernecker, Bernard Berofsky, Rod Bertolet, Charles J. Beyer, Christian Beyer, Joseph Bien, Joseph Bien, Peg Birmingham, Ivan Boh, James Bohman, Daniel Bonevac, Laurence BonJour, William J. Bouwsma, Raymond D. Bradley, Myles Brand, Richard B. Brandt, Michael E. Bratman, Stephen E. Braude, Daniel Breazeale, Angela Breitenbach, Jason Bridges, David O. Brink, Gordon G. Brittan, Justin Broackes, Dan W. Brock, Aaron Bronfman, Jeffrey E. Brower, Bartosz Brozek, Anthony Brueckner, Jeffrey Bub, Lara Buchak, Otavio Bueno, Ann E. Bumpus, Robert W. Burch, John Burgess, Arthur W. Burks, Panayot Butchvarov, Robert E. Butts, Marina Bykova, Patrick Byrne, David Carr, Noël Carroll, Edward S. Casey, Victor Caston, Victor Caston, Albert Casullo, Robert L. Causey, Alan K. L. Chan, Ruth Chang, Deen K. Chatterjee, Andrew Chignell, Roderick M. Chisholm, Kelly J. Clark, E. J. Coffman, Robin Collins, Brian P. Copenhaver, John Corcoran, John Cottingham, Roger Crisp, Frederick J. Crosson, Antonio S. Cua, Phillip D. Cummins, Martin Curd, Adam Cureton, Andrew Cutrofello, Stephen Darwall, Paul Sheldon Davies, Wayne A. Davis, Timothy Joseph Day, Claudio de Almeida, Mario De Caro, Mario De Caro, John Deigh, C. F. Delaney, Daniel C. Dennett, Michael R. DePaul, Michael Detlefsen, Daniel Trent Devereux, Philip E. Devine, John M. Dillon, Martin C. Dillon, Robert DiSalle, Mary Domski, Alan Donagan, Paul Draper, Fred Dretske, Mircea Dumitru, Wilhelm Dupré, Gerald Dworkin, John Earman, Ellery Eells, Catherine Z. Elgin, Berent Enç, Ronald P. Endicott, Edward Erwin, John Etchemendy, C. Stephen Evans, Susan L. Feagin, Solomon Feferman, Richard Feldman, Arthur Fine, Maurice A. Finocchiaro, William FitzPatrick, Richard E. Flathman, Gvozden Flego, Richard Foley, Graeme Forbes, Rainer Forst, Malcolm R. Forster, Daniel Fouke, Patrick Francken, Samuel Freeman, Elizabeth Fricker, Miranda Fricker, Michael Friedman, Michael Fuerstein, Richard A. Fumerton, Alan Gabbey, Pieranna Garavaso, Daniel Garber, Jorge L. A. Garcia, Robert K. Garcia, Don Garrett, Philip Gasper, Gerald Gaus, Berys Gaut, Bernard Gert, Roger F. Gibson, Cody Gilmore, Carl Ginet, Alan H. Goldman, Alvin I. Goldman, Alfonso Gömez-Lobo, Lenn E. Goodman, Robert M. Gordon, Stefan Gosepath, Jorge J. E. Gracia, Daniel W. Graham, George A. Graham, Peter J. Graham, Richard E. Grandy, I. Grattan-Guinness, John Greco, Philip T. Grier, Nicholas Griffin, Nicholas Griffin, David A. Griffiths, Paul J. Griffiths, Stephen R. Grimm, Charles L. Griswold, Charles B. Guignon, Pete A. Y. Gunter, Dimitri Gutas, Gary Gutting, Paul Guyer, Kwame Gyekye, Oscar A. Haac, Raul Hakli, Raul Hakli, Michael Hallett, Edward C. Halper, Jean Hampton, R. James Hankinson, K. R. Hanley, Russell Hardin, Robert M. Harnish, William Harper, David Harrah, Kevin Hart, Ali Hasan, William Hasker, John Haugeland, Roger Hausheer, William Heald, Peter Heath, Richard Heck, John F. Heil, Vincent F. Hendricks, Stephen Hetherington, Francis Heylighen, Kathleen Marie Higgins, Risto Hilpinen, Harold T. Hodes, Joshua Hoffman, Alan Holland, Robert L. Holmes, Richard Holton, Brad W. Hooker, Terence E. Horgan, Tamara Horowitz, Paul Horwich, Vittorio Hösle, Paul Hoβfeld, Daniel Howard-Snyder, Frances Howard-Snyder, Anne Hudson, Deal W. Hudson, Carl A. Huffman, David L. Hull, Patricia Huntington, Thomas Hurka, Paul Hurley, Rosalind Hursthouse, Guillermo Hurtado, Ronald E. Hustwit, Sarah Hutton, Jonathan Jenkins Ichikawa, Harry A. Ide, David Ingram, Philip J. Ivanhoe, Alfred L. Ivry, Frank Jackson, Dale Jacquette, Joseph Jedwab, Richard Jeffrey, David Alan Johnson, Edward Johnson, Mark D. Jordan, Richard Joyce, Hwa Yol Jung, Robert Hillary Kane, Tomis Kapitan, Jacquelyn Ann K. Kegley, James A. Keller, Ralph Kennedy, Sergei Khoruzhii, Jaegwon Kim, Yersu Kim, Nathan L. King, Patricia Kitcher, Peter D. Klein, E. D. Klemke, Virginia Klenk, George L. Kline, Christian Klotz, Simo Knuuttila, Joseph J. Kockelmans, Konstantin Kolenda, Sebastian Tomasz Kołodziejczyk, Isaac Kramnick, Richard Kraut, Fred Kroon, Manfred Kuehn, Steven T. Kuhn, Henry E. Kyburg, John Lachs, Jennifer Lackey, Stephen E. Lahey, Andrea Lavazza, Thomas H. Leahey, Joo Heung Lee, Keith Lehrer, Dorothy Leland, Noah M. Lemos, Ernest LePore, Sarah-Jane Leslie, Isaac Levi, Andrew Levine, Alan E. Lewis, Daniel E. Little, Shu-hsien Liu, Shu-hsien Liu, Alan K. L. Chan, Brian Loar, Lawrence B. Lombard, John Longeway, Dominic McIver Lopes, Michael J. Loux, E. J. Lowe, Steven Luper, Eugene C. Luschei, William G. Lycan, David Lyons, David Macarthur, Danielle Macbeth, Scott MacDonald, Jacob L. Mackey, Louis H. Mackey, Penelope Mackie, Edward H. Madden, Penelope Maddy, G. B. Madison, Bernd Magnus, Pekka Mäkelä, Rudolf A. Makkreel, David Manley, William E. Mann (W.E.M.), Vladimir Marchenkov, Peter Markie, Jean-Pierre Marquis, Ausonio Marras, Mike W. Martin, A. P. Martinich, William L. McBride, David McCabe, Storrs McCall, Hugh J. McCann, Robert N. McCauley, John J. McDermott, Sarah McGrath, Ralph McInerny, Daniel J. McKaughan, Thomas McKay, Michael McKinsey, Brian P. McLaughlin, Ernan McMullin, Anthonie Meijers, Jack W. Meiland, William Jason Melanson, Alfred R. Mele, Joseph R. Mendola, Christopher Menzel, Michael J. Meyer, Christian B. Miller, David W. Miller, Peter Millican, Robert N. Minor, Phillip Mitsis, James A. Montmarquet, Michael S. Moore, Tim Moore, Benjamin Morison, Donald R. Morrison, Stephen J. Morse, Paul K. Moser, Alexander P. D. Mourelatos, Ian Mueller, James Bernard Murphy, Mark C. Murphy, Steven Nadler, Jan Narveson, Alan Nelson, Jerome Neu, Samuel Newlands, Kai Nielsen, Ilkka Niiniluoto, Carlos G. Noreña, Calvin G. Normore, David Fate Norton, Nikolaj Nottelmann, Donald Nute, David S. Oderberg, Steve Odin, Michael O’Rourke, Willard G. Oxtoby, Heinz Paetzold, George S. Pappas, Anthony J. Parel, Lydia Patton, R. P. Peerenboom, Francis Jeffry Pelletier, Adriaan T. Peperzak, Derk Pereboom, Jaroslav Peregrin, Glen Pettigrove, Philip Pettit, Edmund L. Pincoffs, Andrew Pinsent, Robert B. Pippin, Alvin Plantinga, Louis P. Pojman, Richard H. Popkin, John F. Post, Carl J. Posy, William J. Prior, Richard Purtill, Michael Quante, Philip L. Quinn, Philip L. Quinn, Elizabeth S. Radcliffe, Diana Raffman, Gerard Raulet, Stephen L. Read, Andrews Reath, Andrew Reisner, Nicholas Rescher, Henry S. Richardson, Robert C. Richardson, Thomas Ricketts, Wayne D. Riggs, Mark Roberts, Robert C. Roberts, Luke Robinson, Alexander Rosenberg, Gary Rosenkranz, Bernice Glatzer Rosenthal, Adina L. Roskies, William L. Rowe, T. M. Rudavsky, Michael Ruse, Bruce Russell, Lilly-Marlene Russow, Dan Ryder, R. M. Sainsbury, Joseph Salerno, Nathan Salmon, Wesley C. Salmon, Constantine Sandis, David H. Sanford, Marco Santambrogio, David Sapire, Ruth A. Saunders, Geoffrey Sayre-McCord, Charles Sayward, James P. Scanlan, Richard Schacht, Tamar Schapiro, Frederick F. Schmitt, Jerome B. Schneewind, Calvin O. Schrag, Alan D. Schrift, George F. Schumm, Jean-Loup Seban, David N. Sedley, Kenneth Seeskin, Krister Segerberg, Charlene Haddock Seigfried, Dennis M. Senchuk, James F. Sennett, William Lad Sessions, Stewart Shapiro, Tommie Shelby, Donald W. Sherburne, Christopher Shields, Roger A. Shiner, Sydney Shoemaker, Robert K. Shope, Kwong-loi Shun, Wilfried Sieg, A. John Simmons, Robert L. Simon, Marcus G. Singer, Georgette Sinkler, Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, Matti T. Sintonen, Lawrence Sklar, Brian Skyrms, Robert C. Sleigh, Michael Anthony Slote, Hans Sluga, Barry Smith, Michael Smith, Robin Smith, Robert Sokolowski, Robert C. Solomon, Marta Soniewicka, Philip Soper, Ernest Sosa, Nicholas Southwood, Paul Vincent Spade, T. L. S. Sprigge, Eric O. Springsted, George J. Stack, Rebecca Stangl, Jason Stanley, Florian Steinberger, Sören Stenlund, Christopher Stephens, James P. Sterba, Josef Stern, Matthias Steup, M. A. Stewart, Leopold Stubenberg, Edith Dudley Sulla, Frederick Suppe, Jere Paul Surber, David George Sussman, Sigrún Svavarsdóttir, Zeno G. Swijtink, Richard Swinburne, Charles C. Taliaferro, Robert B. Talisse, John Tasioulas, Paul Teller, Larry S. Temkin, Mark Textor, H. S. Thayer, Peter Thielke, Alan Thomas, Amie L. Thomasson, Katherine Thomson-Jones, Joshua C. Thurow, Vzalerie Tiberius, Terrence N. Tice, Paul Tidman, Mark C. Timmons, William Tolhurst, James E. Tomberlin, Rosemarie Tong, Lawrence Torcello, Kelly Trogdon, J. D. Trout, Robert E. Tully, Raimo Tuomela, John Turri, Martin M. Tweedale, Thomas Uebel, Jennifer Uleman, James Van Cleve, Harry van der Linden, Peter van Inwagen, Bryan W. Van Norden, René van Woudenberg, Donald Phillip Verene, Samantha Vice, Thomas Vinci, Donald Wayne Viney, Barbara Von Eckardt, Peter B. M. Vranas, Steven J. Wagner, William J. Wainwright, Paul E. Walker, Robert E. Wall, Craig Walton, Douglas Walton, Eric Watkins, Richard A. Watson, Michael V. Wedin, Rudolph H. Weingartner, Paul Weirich, Paul J. Weithman, Carl Wellman, Howard Wettstein, Samuel C. Wheeler, Stephen A. White, Jennifer Whiting, Edward R. Wierenga, Michael Williams, Fred Wilson, W. Kent Wilson, Kenneth P. Winkler, John F. Wippel, Jan Woleński, Allan B. Wolter, Nicholas P. Wolterstorff, Rega Wood, W. Jay Wood, Paul Woodruff, Alison Wylie, Gideon Yaffe, Takashi Yagisawa, Yutaka Yamamoto, Keith E. Yandell, Xiaomei Yang, Dean Zimmerman, Günter Zoller, Catherine Zuckert, Michael Zuckert, Jack A. Zupko (J.A.Z.)
- Edited by Robert Audi, University of Notre Dame, Indiana
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- The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy
- Published online:
- 05 August 2015
- Print publication:
- 27 April 2015, pp ix-xxx
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Contributors
- Edited by Gerry Canavan, Marquette University, Wisconsin, Eric Carl Link, University of Memphis
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- The Cambridge Companion to American Science Fiction
- Published online:
- 05 February 2015
- Print publication:
- 26 January 2015, pp xi-xiv
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Authors' biographies
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- By Alfredo Aguilar, Klaus Ammann, Tina Barsby, David Baulcombe, Roger Beachy, David J. Bennett, Jack A. Bobo, Graham Brookes, Samuel Burckhardt, Claudia Canales Holzeis, Mark F. Cantley, Eugenio J. Cap, Danuta Cichocka, Gordon Conway, Adrian Dubock, Jim M. Dunwell, Ioannis Economidis, Claude Fischler, George Gaskell, Ian Graham, Julian Gray, Jonathan Gressel, Brian Heap, T. J. V. Higgins, Jens Högel, Richard C. Jennings, Drew L. Kershen, Christopher J. Leaver, Lu Bao-rong, Diran Makinde, Carel du Marchie Sarvaas, Nathalie Moll, Larry Murdock, Martin Porter, Wayne Powell, Tim Radford, Chavali Kameswara Rao, Pamela Ronald, Piet Schenkelaars, Idah Sithole-Niang, Sally Stares, Eduardo J. Trigo, Piero Venturi, Katy Wilson
- Edited by David J. Bennett, St Edmund's College, Cambridge, Richard C. Jennings, University of Cambridge
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- Book:
- Successful Agricultural Innovation in Emerging Economies
- Published online:
- 05 March 2013
- Print publication:
- 07 March 2013, pp viii-xxviii
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26 - Societal choice and communicating the European nitrogen challenge
- from Part V - European nitrogen policies and future challenges
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- By Dave S. Reay, University of Edinburgh School of Geosciences, Clare M. Howard, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Albert Bleeker, Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands, Pete Higgins, University of Edinburgh, Keith Smith, University of Edinburgh, Henk Westhoek, Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, Trudy Rood, Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, Mark R. Theobald, Technical University of Madrid/Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Alberto Sanz Cobeña, Technical University of Madrid, Robert M. Rees, Scottish Agricultural College, Dominic Moran, Scottish Agricultural College, Stefan Reis, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
- Edited by Mark A. Sutton, NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, UK, Clare M. Howard, NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, UK, Jan Willem Erisman, Gilles Billen, Albert Bleeker, Peringe Grennfelt, Hans van Grinsven, Bruna Grizzetti
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- Book:
- The European Nitrogen Assessment
- Published online:
- 16 May 2011
- Print publication:
- 14 April 2011, pp 585-601
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Summary
Executive summary
Nature of the problem
Increased public and institutional awareness of both the benefits and threats of nitrogen has the potential to greatly increase the efficacy of nitrogen policy.
Insufficient recognition of the financial, behavioural and cultural barriers to achieving an optimal nitrogen future risks policy antagonisms and failure.
Here we examine some of the key societal levers for and barriers to achieving an optimal nitrogen future in Europe, drawing lessons from the more-developed societal and policy challenge of climate change mitigation.
Key findings/state of knowledge
There is currently a very low level of public and media awareness of nitrogen impacts and policies. However, awareness is high regarding the threats and benefits of ‘carbon’ to society (e.g. energy use and enhanced climate change).
Many national climate change mitigation policies now overtly recognize the importance of societal choice, and are increasingly utilizing behavioural change strategies to achieve greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.
In achieving an optimal nitrogen future, lessons can and should be learned from existing climate change-focused communication and behavioural science (e.g. use of a ‘segmented strategy’ to reach disparate groups of stakeholders).
Key sectors where societal choice has the potential to greatly influence nitrogen use efficiency include food production, consumption and waste.
Are floristic and edaphic patterns in Amazonian rain forests congruent for trees, pteridophytes and Melastomataceae?
- Kalle Ruokolainen, Hanna Tuomisto, Manuel J. Macía, Mark A. Higgins, Markku Yli-Halla
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- Journal:
- Journal of Tropical Ecology / Volume 23 / Issue 1 / January 2007
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 12 January 2007, pp. 13-25
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Studies in western Amazonian forests have found that similarities in soil cation concentration and texture explain floristic similarities between sites, when these are measured using trees, pteridophytes or Melastomataceae. However, it is not known to what extent the three plant groups react to the same soil characteristics, because tree studies have almost always been conducted in different areas than studies on the understorey plant groups. We made inventories in 23 sites representing non-inundated rain forests on clayey to loamy soil in three regions of western Amazonia. Significant Mantel correlations between the floristic patterns of trees and pteridophytes were found in all three regions when floristic differences were measured with species presence–absence data. When species abundance data were used, and when the floristic patterns of trees and Melastomataceae were compared, significant correlations were found in one or two regions. Mantel correlations between plant groups were highest in the two regions where the observed variation in soil characteristics was largest. In all regions, the same soil variables emerged with significant Mantel correlations with trees, pteridophytes and Melastomataceae. Soil calcium and magnesium were most frequently retained in the models of multiple regression on distance matrices. On average, soil differences explained 50% of the variation in floristic differences (range = 14–84%), and geographical distances explained 16% (range = 0–64%). Our results demonstrate that beta diversities of the three plant groups are highly correlated, and that much of this congruence is explained by similar reactions to soil variation. These results support the idea that pteridophytes, and to a lesser degree Melastomataceae, can be used as indicators of general floristic and edaphic patterns in Amazonian rain forests. Since understorey plants are much quicker to inventory than trees, this would make it possible to recognize and map floristic patterns over huge areas of lowland Amazonia within a reasonable time.
Reliable Suzuki Chemistry For Functionalised Polythiophene Synthesis
- Simon Higgins, Iain Liversedge, Samer Badriya, Martin Heeney, Mark Giles, Iain McCulloch
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- Journal:
- MRS Online Proceedings Library Archive / Volume 1003 / 2008
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 01 February 2011, 1003-O01-06
- Print publication:
- 2008
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Until recently, the synthesis of polythiophenes using Suzuki chemistry has proven difficult because of the ready protodeborylation of thiophene boronates. However, we now report that the new generation of bulky, electron-rich Pd(0)-phosphane catalysts are effective and reliable for the preparation of regioregular polyalkylthiophenes using Suzuki coupling. Moreover, the monomers can be prepared in high yield by Ir-catalysed borylation, without the need for strong organolithium bases, making this potentially a highly functional group-tolerant approach to polyalkylthiophene derivatives. Perfluoroalkylthiophenes also undergo this reaction.
The Physicochemical Properties Of Vpi-7: A Microporous Zincosilicate With Three-Membered Rings
- Michael J. Annen, Mark E. Davis, John B. Higgins, John L. Schlenker
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- Journal:
- MRS Online Proceedings Library Archive / Volume 233 / 1991
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 15 February 2011, 245
- Print publication:
- 1991
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The synthesis of materials with void volumes in excess of 50% is an ongoing challenge in molecular sieve science. It has been shown that a correlation exists between the minimum framework density (FD) and the smallest ring in which all tetrahedral atoms reside (MINR). Based on this evidence it appears that materials containing 3-membered rings (3MR) will be necessary in order to obtain FDs lower than those currently attainable. Several framework beryllosilicate minerals including the natural zeolite, lovdarite, contain 3MRs. Unfortunately, beryllium can form highly toxic compounds that limit its suitability for many applications. Thus, in this study we have searched for a replacement for Be and have found that zinc is a suitable substitute with respect to the formation of three-membered rings.
We report here VPI-7, a novel zincosilicate molecular sieve which contains three-membered rings. The VPI-7 framework contains rings composed of 3–, 4– and 5 T-atoms which form unidimensional 8– and intersecting 9MR channels.