Visitors' reaction to Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage in Sri Lanka

Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage (PEO) is a unique captive elephant-based recreation facility in Sri Lanka. Over 35,000 visitors (both local and foreign) visit the PEO per month on average for a variety of reasons. However, little or no attempt has been made to examine their reaction to its activities. This paper reports preliminary findings from two visitor surveys (one local and one foreign) conducted at the PEO to examine the characteristics of visitors, the satisfaction they gained from the visit, their attitudes towards conservation of the elephant, their reactions to the current facilities available at the orphanage, and their opinions and maximum willingness to pay (WTP) to enter the PEO. It is found that, although some variations occurred between the samples, the majority of all respondents showed a similar reaction to the activities and facilities at the Orphanage. However, some differences are evident between these two samples in relation to satisfaction received, responses to the WTP elicitation and attitudes towards the information and interpretive facilities. Overall, the majority of the respondents indicated that their support for the conservation of the Asian elephant had increased considerably with their visit to the Orphanage. This indicates that considerable unrecorded and as yet unutilised support could be generated both financially and otherwise to conserve this endangered species through wildlife based recreation facilities such as PEO in Sri Lanka.

Polymerization stress, shrinkage and elastic modulus of current low-shrinkage restorative composites

Objective. To compare currently available low-shrinkage composites with others regarding polymerization stress, volumetric shrinkage (total and post-gel), shrinkage rate and elastic modulus. Methods. Seven BisGMA-based composites (Durafill/DU, Filtek Z250/FZ, Heliomolar/HM, Aelite LS Posterior/AP, Point 4/P4, Filtek Supreme/SU, ELS/EL), a silorane-based (Filtek LS, LS), a urethane-based (Venus Diamond, VD) and one based on a dimethacrylate-derivative of dimer acid (N`Durance, ND) were tested. Polymerization stress was determined in 1-mm high specimens inserted between two PMMA rods attached to a universal testing machine. Total volumetric shrinkage was measured using a mercury dilatometer. Maximum shrinkage rate was used as a parameter of the reaction speed. Post-gel shrinkage was measured using strain-gages. Elastic modulus was obtained by three-point bending. Data were submitted to one-way ANOVA/Tukey test (p = 0.05), except for elastic modulus (Kruskal-Wallis). Results. Composites ranked differently for total and post-gel shrinkage. Among the materials considered as ""low-shrinkage"" by the respective manufacturers, LS, EL and VD presented low post-gel shrinkage, while AP and ND presented relatively high values. Polymerization stress showed a strong correlation with post-gel shrinkage except for LS, which presented high stress. Elastic modulus and shrinkage rate showed weak relationships with polymerization stress. Significance. Not all low-shrinkage composites demonstrated reduced polymerization shrinkage. Also, in order to effectively reduce polymerization stress, a low post-gel shrinkage must be associated to a relatively low elastic modulus. (C) 2010 Academy of Dental Materials. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Rental housing provision for lower income older Australians

The number of people aged 65 years or over in low-income rental households will more than double by 2026. The social housing system, at its current growth rate, will not meet their needs. This research involved demographic projections of older renters, examined their housing preferences, and analysed the supply capacity of the public and private rental sectors to respond.

Emerging technologies for the prevention of dental caries. Are current methods of prevention sufficient for the high risk patient?

Fluorides and chlorhexidine are technologies that are 65 and 40 years old, respectively. This overview argues that current methods of caries prevention are not effective for the high caries risk patient. In this review examples, arguments and recommendations are provided to address the high caries risk patient that include: failure of comprehensive chemical modalities treatments to address the high caries risk patient; ecological alteration - would this be an effective approach?; and biomaterials and oral microbiome research to address the high caries risk patient.

Public choice of species for the ark: Phylogenetic similarity and preferred wildlife species for survival

Humans play a role in deciding the fate of species in the current extinction wave. Because of the previous Similarity Principle, physical attractiveness and likeability, it has been argued that public choice favours the survival of species that satisfy these criteria at the expense of other species. This paper empirically tests this argument by considering a hypothetical ‘Ark’ situation. Surveys of 204 members of the Australian public inquired whether they are in favour of the survival of each of 24 native mammal, bird and reptile species (prior to and after information provision about each species). The species were ranked by percentage of ‘yes’ votes received. Species composition by taxon in various fractions of the ranking was determined. If the previous Similarity Principle holds, mammals should rank highly and dominate the top fractions of animals saved in the hierarchical list. We find that although mammals would be over-represented in the ‘Ark’, birds and reptiles are unlikely to be excluded when social choice is based on numbers ‘voting’ for the survival of each species. Support for the previous Similarity Principle is apparent particularly after information provision. Public policy implications of this are noted and recommendations are given.

An analysis of accommodation needs of adults with an intellectual disability in Toowoomba and surrounding areas

Introduction The objective of this study was to analyse the accommodation needs of people with intellectual disability over the age of 18 years in Toowoomba and contiguous shires. In 2004, a group of carers established Toowoomba Intellectual Disability Support Association (TIDSA) to address the issue of the lack of supported accommodation for people with intellectual disability over the age of 18 and the concerns of ageing carers. The Centre for Rural and Remote Area Health (CRRAH) was engaged by TIDSA to ascertain this need and undertook a research project funded by the Queensland Gambling Community Benefit Fund. While data specifically relating to people with intellectual disability and their carers are difficult to obtain, the Australian Bureau of Statistics report that carers of people with a disability are more likely to be female and at least 65 years of age. Projections by the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM) show that disability rates are increasing and carer rates are decreasing. Thus the problem of appropriate support to the increasing number of ageing carers and those who they care for will be a major challenge to policy makers and is an issue of immediate concern. In general, what was once the norm of accommodating people with intellectual disability in large institutions is now changing to accommodating into community-based residences (Annison, 2000; Young, Ashman, Sigafoos, & Grevell, 2001). However, in Toowoomba and contiguous shires, TIDSA have noted that the availability of suitable accommodation for people with intellectual disability over the age of 18 years is declining with no new options available in an environment of increasing demand. Most effort seemed to be directed towards crisis provision. Method This study employed two phases of data gathering, the first being the distribution of a questionnaire through local service providers and upon individual request to the carers of people with intellectual disability over the age of 18. The questionnaire comprised of Likert-type items intended to measure various aspects of current and future accommodation issues. Most questions were followed with space for free-response comments to provide the opportunity for carers to further clarify and expand on their responses. The second phase comprised semi-structured interviews conducted with ten carers and ten people with intellectual disability who had participated in the Phase One questionnaire. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and subjected to content analysis where major themes were explored. Results Age and gender Carer participants in this study totalled 150. The mean age of these carers was 61.5 years and ranged from 40 – 91 years. Females comprised 78% of the sample (mean age = 61.49; range from 40-91) and 22% were male (mean age = 61.7 range from 43-81). The mean age of people with intellectual disability in our study was 37.2 years ranging from 18 – 79 years with 40% female (mean age = 39.5; range from 19-79) and 60% male (mean age = 35.6; range from 18-59). The average age of carers caring for a person over the age of 18 who is living at home is 61 years. The average age of the carer who cares for a person who is living away from home is 62 years. The overall age range of both these groups of carers is between 40 and 81 years. The oldest group of carers (mean age = 70 years) were those where the person with intellectual disability lives away from home in a large residential facility. Almost one quarter of people with an intellectual disability who currently live at home is cared for by one primary carer and this is almost exclusively a parent.

A Randomized Clinical Evaluation of a One- and Two-step Self-etch Adhesive Over 24 Months

Objective: To evaluate the performance of All Bond SE used in a one- or two-step protocol in a 24-month randomized clinical study. Methods: Thirty-three patients with two similarly sized non-carious cervical lesions participated in this study. A total of 66 restorations were placed, half using the one-step All Bond SE protocol (SE-1) and the other half using the two-step All Bond SE protocol (SE-2). The restorations were evaluated at baseline and after 6, 12 and 24 months following the modified USPHS criteria and analyzed by the McNemar`s test and Fisher`s exact test (alpha=0.05). Results: After 24 months, six SE-1 and four SE-2 restorations were rated as Bravo in marginal discoloration The retention rates for SE-1 and SE-2 were 84.8% and 90.9%, respectively, after 24 months. Compared to baseline, the retention rate for SE-1 was statistically lower. Conclusions: All Bond SE used in the one- or two-step protocol resulted in high retention rates after 24 months.

Strong Grobner bases for polynomials over a principal ideal ring

Grobner bases have been generalised to polynomials over a commutative ring A in several ways. Here we focus on strong Grobner bases, also known as D-bases. Several authors have shown that strong Grobner bases can be effectively constructed over a principal ideal domain. We show that this extends to any principal ideal ring. We characterise Grobner bases and strong Grobner bases when A is a principal ideal ring. We also give algorithms for computing Grobner bases and strong Grobner bases which generalise known algorithms to principal ideal rings. In particular, we give an algorithm for computing a strong Grobner basis over a finite-chain ring, for example a Galois ring.

Electron beam current loss at the high-vacuum-high-pressure boundary in the environmental scanning electron microscope

A significant loss in electron probe current can occur before the electron beam enters the specimen chamber of an environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM). This loss results from electron scattering in a gaseous jet formed inside and downstream (above) the pressure-limiting aperture (PLA), which separates the high-pressure and high-vacuum regions of the microscope. The electron beam loss above the PLA has been calculated for three different ESEMs, each with a different PLA geometry: an ElectroScan E3, a Philips XL30 ESEM, and a prototype instrument. The mass thickness of gas above the PLA in each case has been determined by Monte Carlo simulation of the gas density variation in the gas jet. It has been found that the PLA configurations used in the commercial instruments produce considerable loss in the electron probe current that dramatically degrades their performance at high chamber pressure and low accelerating voltage. These detrimental effects are minimized in the prototype instrument, which has an optimized thin-foil PLA design.