Solutions-Based Approach to Urban Cat Management-Case Studies of a One Welfare Approach to Urban Cat Management.

Urban free-roaming cats create concern about their impacts on wildlife and human health, leading to the use of trap-adopt-kill methods to manage these populations. This method is ineffective at decreasing the free-roaming cat population and has a negative impact on cat caregivers' well-being. Using semi-structured interviews, this study explored the relationship that semi-owners (people who feed cats but do not perceive ownership) and owners of multiple cats have with the cats they care for, and the social and psychological impacts of an alternative assistive-centered approach to urban cat management. This approach to semi-owned and owned cats provided free sterilization and preventative healthcare. Our findings demonstrate that the caregivers had a strong emotional bond with the cats they cared for. The caregivers also experienced a positive impact on their quality of life, and indicated an improvement in the cats' welfare after having the cats sterilized through this program. Additionally, the cat caregivers indicated that they had a negative view of agencies, such as the municipal council. It is recommended that an assistive-centered approach to urban cat management be prioritized by local councils and welfare agencies to improve caregivers' quality of life and psychological well-being, whilst also improving cat welfare. The implementation of this assistive-centered management approach could improve the relationship between communities and the agencies involved, leading to the continuous reporting of free-roaming cats for sterilization. This assistive-centered approach has the potential to reduce the free-roaming cat population, their effects on wildlife, nuisance complaints, and council impoundments, and is aligned with the One Welfare philosophy.

Study of the Thermoelectric Properties of Bi2Te3/Sb2Te3 Core-Shell Heterojunction Nanostructures.

Thermoelectric materials convert heat energy into electricity, hold promising capabilities for energy waste harvesting, and may be the future of sustainable energy utilization. In this work, we successfully synthesized core-shell Bi2Te3/Sb2Te3 (BTST) nanostructured heterojunctions via a two-step solution route. Samples with different Bi2Te3 core to Sb2Te3 shell ratios could be synthesized by controlling the reaction precursors. Scanning electron microscopy images show well-defined hexagonal nanoplates and the distinct interfaces between Bi2Te3 and Sb2Te3. The similarity of the area ratios with the precursor ratios indicates that the growth of the Sb2Te3 shell mostly took place on the lateral direction rather than the vertical. Transmission electron microscopy revealed the crystalline nature of the as-synthesized Bi2Te3 core and Sb2Te3 shell. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy verified the lateral growth of a Sb2Te3 shell on the Bi2Te3 core. Thermoelectric properties were measured on pellets obtained from powders via spark plasma sintering with two different directions, in-plane and out-of-plane, showing anisotropic properties due to the nanostructure alignment in the pellets. All samples showed a degenerate semiconducting character with the electrical resistivity increasing with the temperature. Starting from Sb2Te3, the electrical resistivity increases with the increase in amounts of Bi2Te3. Thermal conductivity is lowered due to the increase in interfaces and additional phonon scattering. We show that the out-of-plane direction of the BTST 1-3 sample (where 1-3 indicates the ratio of BT to ST) demonstrates a high Seebeck value of 145 µV/K at 500 K which may be attributed to an energy filtering effect across the heterojunction interfaces. The highest overall zT is observed for the BTST 1-3 sample in the out-of-plane direction at 500 K. The zT values increase continuously over the measured temperature range, indicating a probable higher value at increased temperatures.

Experimental and computational phase boundary mapping of Co4Sn6Te6.

Binary Co4Sb12 skutterudite (also known as CoSb3) has been extensively studied; however, its mixed-anion counterparts remain largely unexplored in terms of their phase stability and thermoelectric properties. In the search for complex anionic analogs of the binary skutterudite, we begin by investigating the Co4Sb12-Co4Sn6Te6 pseudo-binary phase diagram. We observe no quaternary skutterudite phases and as such, focus our investigations on the ternary Co4Sn6Te6 via experimental phase boundary mapping, transport measurements, and first-principles calculations. Phase boundary mapping using traditional bulk syntheses reveals that the Co4Sn6Te6 exhibits electronic properties ranging from a degenerate p-type behavior to an intrinsic behavior. Under Sn-rich conditions, Hall measurements indicate degenerate p-type carrier concentrations and high hole mobility. The acceptor defect SnTe, and donor defects TeSn and Coi are the predominant defects and rationally correspond to regions of high Sn, Te, and Co, respectively. Consideration of the defect energetics indicates that p-type extrinsic doping is plausible; however, SnTe is likely a killer defect that limits n-type dopability. We find that the hole carrier concentration in Co4Sn6Te6 can be further optimized by extrinsic p-type doping under Sn-rich growth conditions.

Antenatal determinants of early childhood talking delay and behavioural difficulties.

The determinants of talking delay alone or its comorbidity with behavioural difficulties was examined in 5768 two-year-old members of the Growing Up in New Zealand longitudinal study. Using the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development inventories and the total difficulties score from the preschool Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, a composite measure was created so that children were categorised as showing no language or behavioural concerns (72.5%), behavioural only difficulties (6.1%), language only difficulties (18.1%), and comorbid language and behavioural difficulties (3.3%). Analyses revealed that antenatal factors such as maternal perceived stress, inadequate folate intake, vitamin intake, alcohol consumption during the first trimester and maternal smoking all had a significant effect on child outcomes. In particular, low multivitamin intake and perceived stress during pregnancy were associated with coexisting language and behavioural difficulties. These findings support international research in showing that maternal factors during pregnancy are associated with developmental outcomes in the early childhood period, and demonstrate these associations within a NZ context. Interventions which address maternal stress management and health behaviours during pregnancy could be beneficial to offspring development.

ß Cell Aging Markers Have Heterogeneous Distribution and Are Induced by Insulin Resistance.

We hypothesized that the known heterogeneity of pancreatic ß cells was due to subpopulations of ß cells at different stages of their life cycle with different functional capacities and that further changes occur with metabolic stress and aging. We identified new markers of aging in ß cells, including IGF1R. In ß cells IGF1R expression correlated with age, dysfunction, and expression of known age markers p16ink4a, p53BP1, and senescence-associated ß-galactosidase. The new markers showed striking heterogeneity both within and between islets in both mouse and human pancreas. Acute induction of insulin resistance with an insulin receptor antagonist or chronic ER stress resulted in increased expression of aging markers, providing insight into how metabolic stress might accelerate dysfunction and decline of ß cells. These novel findings about ß cell and islet heterogeneity, and how they change with age, open up an entirely new set of questions about the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes.

Electrophysiological evidence of different loci for case-mixing and word frequency effects in visual word recognition.

Do word frequency and case mixing affect different processing stages in visual word recognition? Some studies of online reading have suggested that word frequency affects an earlier, perceptual-encoding stage and that case mixing affects a later, central decision stage (e.g., Reingold, Yang, & Rayner, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 36:1677-1683 2010); others have suggested otherwise (e.g., Allen, Smith, Lien, Grabbe, & Murphy, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 31:713-721 2005; Besner & McCann, 1987). To determine the locus of the word frequency and case-mixing effects, we manipulated word frequency (high vs. low) and case type (consistent lower case vs. mixing case) in a lexical-decision paradigm. We measured two event-related-potential components: the N170 (an early peak occurring 140-240 ms after stimulus onset, related to structural encoding) and the P3 (a late peak occurring 400-600 ms after stimulus onset, related to stimulus categorization). The critical finding was that the N170 amplitude was sensitive to case mixing, but the P3 amplitude was sensitive to word frequency and lexicality. These results suggest that case mixing affects an earlier processing stage than does word frequency, at least with respect to lexical-decision processes.