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BACKGROUND: Long-term conditions pose major challenges for healthcare systems. Optimizing self-management of people with long-term conditions is an important strategy to improve quality of life, health outcomes, patient experiences in healthcare, and the sustainability of healthcare systems. Much research on self-management focuses on individual competencies, while the social systems of support that facilitate self-management are underexplored. The presented study aims to explore the role of social systems of support for self-management and quality of life, focusing on the social networks of people with diabetes and community organisations that serve them. METHODS: The protocol concerns a cross-sectional study in 18 geographic areas in six European countries, involving a total of 1800 individuals with diabetes and 900 representatives of community organisations. In each country, we include a deprived rural area, a deprived urban area, and an affluent urban area. Individuals are recruited through healthcare practices in the targeted areas. A patient questionnaire comprises measures for quality of life, self-management behaviours, social network and social support, as well as individual characteristics. A community organisations' survey maps out interconnections between community and voluntary organisations that support patients with chronic illness and documents the scope of work of the different types of organisations. We first explore the structure of social networks of individuals and of community organisations. Then linkages between these social networks, self-management and quality of life will be examined, taking deprivation and other factors into account. DISCUSSION: This study will provide insight into determinants of self-management and quality of life in individuals with diabetes, focusing on the role of social networks and community organisations. Contains fulltext : 136843.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)

Fragments of optically flat silica discs embedded in synthetic gouge were deformed to examine the relationship between the development of striations and slickenlines, and deformation mechanisms, conditions, and fault rheology. Experiments were performed under hydrothermal conditions in a rotary shear apparatus at 100°C or 450°C, to shear strains of 2.02 < γ < 8.25. Slip hardening and softening prevail at low and high temperatures, respectively. In recovered samples, disc fragment surfaces are decorated by fine gouge, sometimes arranged in trails, pits, and scratch marks. Prominent grooves—inferred slickenlines—with constant orientation, wavelength <10 μm, and amplitude <0.7 μm are only observed on disc fragments deformed at 450°C. Some parts of the grooves below the original disc fragment surface contain scattered rounded beads of silica ~200 nm diameter. Conversely, close examination of pits in 100°C experiments reveals they contain angular particles <2 μm diameter. The 200 nm diameter crystalline quartz can precipitate at 450°C in only 250 s, well within the time frame of the experiments but precipitation at 100°C would take at least 8 years. No systematic dislocation arrays were observed in the quartz disc fragments, but microfractures are sporadically present. This indicates that at both temperatures brittle failure generated microfractures and microcomminution occurred where gouge particles impacted disc fragment surfaces. These observations suggest formation of silica beads by precipitation from amorphous silica facilitates slip weakening, smoothing of the fault surface parallel to the slip vector, development of undulations perpendicular to the slip vector by a pressure solution creep mechanism, weakening, and maintenance of a constant slip direction. This research was originally published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences. © 2017 American Geophysical Union

Databases gathering atmospheric data have great potential not only as data storages but also in serving as platforms for coherent quality assurance (QA). We report on the flagging system and QA tools designed for and implemented in the European UV DataBase (EUVDB; http://uv.fmi.fi/uvdb/) for measured data on solar spectral UV irradiance. We confine the study on the data measured by Brewer #037 MkII spectroradiometer in Sodankylä (67.37° N, 26.63° E) in 1990–2014. The quality indicators associated with the UV irradiance spectra uploaded into the database are retrieved from the database and subjected to a statistical analysis. The study demonstrates the performance of the QA tools of the EUVDB. In addition, it yields an overall view of the availability and quality of the solar UV spectra recorded in Sodankylä over a quarter of a century. Over 90 % of the four main quality indicators are flagged as GREEN, indicating the highest achievable quality. For the BLACK flags, denoting data not meeting the pre-defined requirements, the percentages for all the indicators remain below 0.12 %. European Union/FP4-ENV 2C European Union/FP5-EESD

Abstract Background The granivorous house sparrow Passer domesticus is thought to have developed its commensal relationship with humans with the rise of agriculture in the Middle East some 10,000 years ago, and to have expanded with the spread of agriculture in Eurasia during the last few thousand years. One subspecies, P. d. bactrianus, residing in Central Asia, has apparently maintained the ancestral ecology, however. This subspecies is not associated with human settlements; it is migratory and lives in natural grass- and wetland habitats feeding on wild grass seeds. It is well documented that the agricultural revolution was associated with an increase in grain size and changes in seed structure in cultivated cereals, the preferred food source of commensal house sparrow. Accordingly, we hypothesize that correlated changes may have occurred in beak and skull morphology as adaptive responses to the change in diet. Here, we test this hypothesis by comparing the skull shapes of 101 house sparrows from Iran, belonging to five different subspecies, including the non-commensal P. d. bactrianus, using geometric morphometrics. Results The various commensal house sparrow subspecies share subtle but consistent skeletal features that differ significantly from those of the non-commensal P. d. bactrianus. Although there is a marked overall size allometry in the data set, the shape difference between the ecologically differentiated sparrows cannot be explained by differences in size alone. Relative to the size allometry commensal house sparrows exhibit a skull shape consistent with accelerated development (heterochrony), resulting in a more robust facial cranium and a larger, more pointed beak. Conclusion The difference in skull shape and robustness of the beak between commensal and non-commensal house sparrows is consistent with adaptations to process the larger and rachis encapsulated seeds of domesticated cereals among human associated populations.

Many goose species feed on agricultural land, and with growing goose numbers, conflicts with agriculture are increasing. One possible solution is to designate refuge areas where farmers are paid to leave geese undisturbed. Here, we present a generic modelling tool that can be used to designate the best locations for refuges and to gauge the area needed to accommodate the geese. With a species distribution model, locations are ranked according to goose suitability. The size of the area to be designated as refuge can be chosen by including more or less suitable locations. A resource depletion model is then used to estimate whether enough resources are available within the designated refuge to accommodate all geese, taking into account the dynamics of food resources, including depletion by geese. We illustrate this with the management scheme for pink-footed goose Anser brachyrhynchus implemented in Norway. Here, all geese can be accommodated, but damage levels appear to depend on weather, land use and refuge size. ISSN:0044-7447 ISSN:1654-7209 Ambio, 46