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While concerns about cutting funds to school libraries have been expressed for many years, little investigation has been done into what techniques are effective in reversing this trend. This paper reviews the empirical research from several disciplines as it applies to the question of how school library funding can be positively affected. The results indicate that teacher-librarians can positively use the principles of interpersonal influence to create effective relationships with decision-makers that may in turn impact funding. This paper is one of the first to review the empirical literature on techniques designed to garner support for school libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enterprise resource planning systems and maintenance management systems are commonly used by organisations for handling of maintenance records, through a graphical user interface. A maintenance record consists of a number of data fields, such as drop-down lists, list boxes, check boxes and text entry fields. In contrast to the other data fields, the operator has the freedom to type in any text in the text entry fields, to complement and make the maintenance record as complete as possible. Accordingly, the text entry fields of maintenance records can contain any words, in any number. Data quality is crucial in statistical analysis of maintenance records, and therefore manual analysis of maintenance records' text entry fields is often necessary before any decision making. However, this may be a very tedious and resource consuming process. In this article, natural language processing is applied to text entry fields of maintenance records in a case study, to show how it can bring further value in the assessment of technical assets' performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Advice on the mode of delivery to females born with anorectal malformation (ARM) is needed. The primary aim was to evaluate the anatomy of the pelvic floor muscles in females with ARM operated with posterior sagittal anorectal plasty (PSARP). The second aim was to correlate the extent of muscle defects to the bowel symptoms. Methods This interventional study with perineal 4D/3D ultrasonography describes the smooth muscles in the intestinal wall (neo-IAS), external sphincter, levators and anal canal using a muscle score (0–6 worst). The bowel symptoms were prospectively registered with Krickenbeck criteria score (0–7 worst). Results Forty females with different subtypes of ARM, median age 13 (4–21), were followed up regarding bowel symptoms. Seventeen were examined with ultrasonography. Bowel symptoms were similar for those examined with ultrasonography and those not, median score 5 and 3 (1–7) respectively, (p = 0.223, Fisher’s exact test). All the females had at least one muscular defect. There was no significant correlation between muscle defects and bowel symptoms (p = 0.094, Spearman’s correlation). Conclusion Females with ARM have considerable defects in the pelvic floor without any significant correlation to bowel symptoms. All women with ARM would benefit from individualized predelivery evaluations and caesarian section should be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to enhance understanding of how the resilience of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) systems to hazards can be improved. In turn, this aims to inform different strategies for public and private partnerships (PPPs). In a new approach, to acknowledge the multi levelled nature of resilience; risk at the relevant levels are taken into account, (regional/river basin, urban area, and individual). For these levels, we first describe the different components of risk, vulnerability and resilience of the WASH system that influence people׳s exposure to hazards. We illustrate these components using examples from case studies in the literature. Using a social learning lens - a crucial ingredient of resilience - we examine opportunities for reducing risks through improving public–private engagement. These are presented as strategies which could guide investment decisions: As pressures from climate change and development add up, businesses must become aware of the risks involved in operating and investing without considering ecosystem health, both in terms of the services they provide for mitigating floods and droughts, as well as in terms of the development approaches that define how ecosystems are managed (e.g. “making space” for, rather than controlling water). There is a need to develop an institutional culture that strives towards greener and more resilient urban environments with the help of various quality assurance methods. Partnerships must reach the poorer customer base, encourage informal small entrepreneurs, and boost financial mechanisms (e.g. micro-insurance, micro-finance) to support the most vulnerable in society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: Gender specific outcome for children with anorectal malformations (ARM) is rarely reported although it is important for medical care and in parent counseling. Purpose: To assess bowel function according to the Krickenbeck system in relation to ARM-subtype, gender and age. Method: All children born with ARM in 1998–2008 and referred to two centers in two different countries were followed up. The bowel function in 50 girls and 71 boys, median age 8years, was analyzed. Results: Among those with a perineal fistula, incontinence occurred in 42% of the females and in 10% of the males (p=0.005) whereas constipation occurred in 62% of the females and 35% of the males (p<0.001). No bowel symptoms differed between the females with perineal and vestibular fistulas (p>0.3 for every symptom). Sacral malformations were associated with incontinence only in males with rectourethral fistulas. Constipation among the males differed between the age groups: 58% versus 26% (p=0.013). Bowel symptoms did not change with age among the females. Conclusion: Gender differences in outcome for children with ARM must be considered. Males with perineal fistulas had less incontinence and constipation than the females with perineal fistulas. The females with perineal and vestibular fistulas had similar outcomes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance through insufficiently treated effluents from wastewater treatment systems are detrimental to the receiving environment and human health. Metagenomic and transcriptomic approaches were employed to assess the diversity and the removal of bacterial pathogens, antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs) and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) in three wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Durban, South Africa. In total, 23 pathogenic bacterial genera, including enteric and emerging opportunistic pathogens, were found abundant in the samples. Aeromonas and Acinetobacter spp were the most dominant pathogens detected in the influent metagenomes, while the influent transcripts showed Escherichia and Acinetobacter spp as the most dominant pathogens. Shannon-Wiener indices showed that the bacterial diversity increased from influents to final effluents in two selected treatment plants. ARG types, including those conferring resistance to aminoglycosides, beta-lactamases, tetracycline and sulfonamide were abundant in both influent and effluent samples. Results further exposed that MGE-ARGs associations were the main drivers of ARG persistence into final effluents. This included 5 plasmids: R338-R151 (sulI), pRH-1238 (strB), pPM91 (aadA), pRH-1238 (aadA4–5), pRH-1238 (sulII); two class 1 integrons (aadA and arr) and 1 transposon Tn4351(tetX). In transcripts, MGE-ARG association showed two plasmids: pRH-1238 (aadA) and pPM91(aadA) and one hybrid plasmid R338-R151 (sulI). It was apparent across all the WWTPs that chlorination had little or no effect on MGE-ARG association. Combined, this study has highlighted the presence of bacterial pathogens, ARGs and MGEs in treated effluents, which can encourage the propagation of antibiotic resistance and potential sharing of genes in the downstream environments. [Display omitted] • Metagenomic and transcriptomic profiling of pathogens and antibiotic resistant genes and MGEs in wastewater in South Africa. • Aeromonas and Acinetobacter spp were the most dominant pathogens detected in the influent metagenomes. • Escherichia and Acinetobacter were the most abundant in the trsncripts. • Antibiotic resistant genes aaminoglycosides, beta-lactamases, tetracycline and sulfonamide were the most abundant. • Chlorination has little or no effect on MGE-ARG association was apparent across all WWTPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article assesses the potential for leaching of glyphosate and aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) in agricultural soils. Glyphosate adsorption, glyphosate degradation, and the formation of AMPA and its degradation are determined using topsoil and subsoil samples. It was found that glyphosate adsorption gives slow degradation rate in the clay soil and the degradation rate of AMPA can be faster than that of glyphosate. Glyphosate and AMPA residues have low mobility as they constitute up to 59 percent of the glyphosate added in the topsoil.

The article presents a study which identifies the biological age of human atherosclerotic plaque components. It states that the tissue levels of 14C of patients who underwent carotid surgery were analyzed using the accelerator mass spectrometry. It reveals that the turnover of most atherosclerotic plaque tissue happens at a very low level. It adds that the biological rate of human atherosclerotic plaque components differs between 5 and 15 years of age.

The article presents a study that investigates the hygienic barrier efficiency and related health risks of an on-site wastewater treatment system exceeding its design capacity for five years. The wastewater treatment system comprises a pressure-dosed biofilter, septic tank, and up-flow filter unit. The system was analyzed for both bacteria and virus removal with potential health risk assessment using Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium for bacterial and viral indicators respectively. Findings suggest that although a decrease in the removal of E. coli during the first three years of operation occured, risks of rotavirus infection and disease were higher from the acceptable level based on the standards of World Health Organization.

This corpus-based article explores London and Madrid teenagers' use of phatic expressions as a politeness device in their everyday conversations. The starting-point for the study is Leech's 'Phatic Maxim', which he suggests as a supplement to the four maxims making up Grice's Cooperative Principle. The purport of the maxim is to avoid silence by keeping talking, which may involve anything from loose formulaic talk to connectors and the use of taboo words, all of which are phatic devices with a strong bonding effect. The teenage talk studied here is largely void of the formulaic expressions that characterize conversational openings and closings in adult speakers' casual encounters. Both groups are frequent users of turn-final appealers which trigger turn-initial uptakes and of reaction signals realized by interjections and taboo words, all with a strongly bonding effect. Boys in particular are not only allowed but even expected to use taboo language as a sign of camaraderie and a means to reinforce the phatic strength of an exchange. In both corpora, there is ample use of fillers that help the speaker to hold the turn, and hedges, which often act as fillers in addition to helping the speaker avoid self-commitment. And whereas the Spanish teenagers use certain vocatives as a purely conversational resource to establish and maintain contact, the English teenagers insert 'unsolicited' minimal feedback signals (for example, realized by mhm or mm) which encourage the current speaker to go on speaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the results of a four-year study of 14C in different waste streams of both boiling reactors (BWR) and pressurized water reactors (PWR). The results from individual batch samples of spent resins show that the major part of 14C in PWRs seems to be accumulated during power operation and not during shutdown. From the survey of 14C in the reactor coolant of a PWR, it was discovered that the concentration as well as the distribution of different 14C species showed large variations during the fuel cycle.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine whether applied force and time interval of force exposure varied within and between physiotherapists (PTs) when they used sacroiliac (SI) distraction testing to provoke pain among subjects with sacroiliitis. Methods: Two force plates recording 3 orthogonal forces and time intervals were used during repetitive testing. Eleven subjects with sacroiliitis were examined with the use of distraction testing by each of 3 PTs. Subjects lay on an examination board equipped with one force plate for each SI joint. They indicated provoked pain by pressing a button that gave a mark in the data collection. Results: Applied force and time interval of force exposure varied within and between PTs. Significant differences between PTs were found in the impulse (force × time) for the vertical and lateral force components (P ⩽ .05). A significant decrease was found in the amplitude of force during the time interval of force exposure (P ⩽ .05) for 2 of the 3 PTs. The median level of pain was lowest when examined by the PT who applied the least magnitude of force. Conclusions: Recording force and time events indicates that variation in examination technique within and between PTs may influence the outcome of the distraction test. Such recording, simultaneously monitored by the investigator, would therefore seem to offer standardized testing and improve clinical evaluation of SI pain over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article attempts to identify the main sources of variation in pesticide losses at field and catchment scales using the dual permeability macropore flow model MACRO. Stochastic simulations of the leaching of the herbicide 4-chloro-2-methylphenoxyacetic acid (MCPA) were compared with seven years of measured concentrations in a stream draining a small agricultural catchment and one year of measured concentrations at the outlet of a field located within the catchment. MACRO was parameterized from measured probability distributions accounting for spatial variability of soil properties and local pedotransfer functions derived from information gathered in field- and catchment-scale soil surveys. At the field scale, a single deterministic simulation using the means of the input distributions was also performed. The deterministic run failed to reproduce the summer outflows when most leaching occurred, and greatly underestimated pesticide leaching. In contrast, the stochastic simulations successfully predicted the hydrologic response of the field and catchment and there was a good resemblance between the simulations and measured MCPA concentrations at the field outlet.

Examines the long-term fate of the fungicide triticonazole (TTZ) applied at a normal field dose via seed treatment, which is the normal alternative in practice. Percentages of the total TTZ applied which remained in the soil and seed treatments, with corresponding half-lives of 27- and 29-days; Number of days before the microbial biomass returned to its normal levels after soil treatment.

Surgical treatment of Hirschsprung's disease commonly involves resection of the aganglionic segment of the colon and endorectal pull-through. Postoperative complications include anastomotic leakage and/or stricture, both believed to be caused by inadequate perfusion of the mobilized bowel or high tension in the anastomosis, but this has never been investigated. In this case, laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI) was used for the first time to monitor colonic perfusion during endorectal pull-through. A 6-week-old child with a 24-cm aganglionosis underwent laparoscopic-assisted endorecto pull-through with mobilization of the left colonic flexure to be able to reach the anus. LSCI perfusion monitoring showed that perfusion was 41% in the tip of the colon without tension, and was reduced 17% by a stretching force of 2 N. In conclusion, perfusion of the colonic end can be monitored by LSCI during surgery for Hirschsprung's disease. This provides new opportunities to evaluate the effects of such surgical interventions in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]