The endocannabinoid system (ECS), modulated by metabolites of linoleic acid (LA), is important in regulating cardiovascular function. In pregnancy, LA is vital for foetal development. We investigated the effects of elevated LA in H9c2 cardiomyoblasts in vitro and of a high linoleic acid (HLA, 6.21%) or low linoleic acid (LLA, 1.44%) diet during pregnancy in maternal and offspring hearts. H9c2 cell viability was reduced following LA exposure at concentrations between 300 and 1000 µM. HLA diet decreased cannabinoid receptor type 2 (CB2) mRNA expression in foetal hearts from both sexes. However, HLA diet increased CB2 expression in maternal hearts. The mRNA expression of fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) in foetal hearts was higher in females than in males irrespective of diet and N-acyl phosphatidylethanolamine-specific phospholipase D (NAPE-PLD) mRNA expression showed an interaction between diet and sex. Data indicate that a high LA diet alters cell viability and CB2 expression, potentially influencing cardiac function during pregnancy and development of the offspring’s heart.

Considering the important role that paid support workers play in care of older people with dementia, it is vital that researchers and relevant organisations understand the factors that lead to them feeling valued for the work that they do, and the consequences of such valuing (or lack thereof). The current study employed semi-structured interviews to understand the individual experiences of 15 support workers based both in residential care homes and private homes. The General Inductive Approach was used to analyse the interview transcriptions and to develop a conceptual model that describes the conditions that lead to support workers feeling valued for the work that they do. This model consists of organisational or individual strategies, the context in which support work takes place, and various interactions, actions and intervening conditions that facilitate or prevent support workers feeling valued. A significant finding in this research was the role of interpersonal relationships and interactions which underlie all other aspects of the conceptual model developed here. By understanding the importance of how employers, families of older adults with dementia and peers interact with support workers, we may promote not only the quality of work that support workers deliver, but also the wellbeing of the support workers themselves.

This article will outline the experience of researchers at De Montfort University (DMU) (Leicester, UK) in devising and delivering workshops on sound-based creativity (sbc). These workshops supported and guided participants through the process of listening training, recording and composing their own sound-based pieces. As well as engaging participants in sound-based composition, the aim of these workshops was to introduce them to examples from the repertoire of sbm. The final workshops involved the collection of Intention/Reception (I/R) data from participants in response to a piece of sbm. Nearly 180 participants from a diverse range of ages and backgrounds took part in the workshops and the data indicate that engagement with sbm was high. This article will provide the context for the project, describe the methodology and analyse and evaluate the data that were collected. Finally, the implications for future work will be discussed.

This article describes the federal government's little-known effort to remunerate civilians who lost private property during the War of 1812. It shows how wartime “sufferers” pressured their congressional representatives for redress. In response, their representatives created a new federal office to adjudicate claims for lost property. But this office quickly came under scrutiny for making allegedly erroneous disbursements. Although Congress curtailed the office's power, representatives of the claimants continued to push for a more generous policy. To garner more free state support, they pointed out that officials had sought indemnities for the slaves the British had liberated during the war, but not for other forms of lost property. To remedy this preferential treatment, most northern congressmen began to support enacting a more generous compensation policy. In response, southerners demanded payment for slaves who had been lost in the war. Ultimately, northerners joined with the representatives of the sufferers from the South to pass a new law. However, this law only offered remuneration for buildings, which, in effect, tabled the discussion over slavery. This article therefore reveals how legislators employed the politics of slavery to build a coalition to create a law, which, in turn, was limited by those same politics.

A striking new species of Begonia, B. joshii, is described from Amazonas Region, Peru. The new species is unusual among the South American members of the genus both in its combination of tuberous habit with peltate leaves and in living in a seasonally dry tropical forest environment. A phylogeny of this and closely related species is presented, and its sectional affiliation and IUCN conservation status are discussed. A key to the peltate Peruvian species of Begonia is provided.

The Hamming graph H(d, n) is the Cartesian product of d complete graphs on n vertices. Let ${m=d(n-1)}$ be the degree and $V = n^d$ be the number of vertices of H(d, n). Let $p_c^{(d)}$ be the critical point for bond percolation on H(d, n). We show that, for $d \in \mathbb{N}$ fixed and $n \to \infty$ ,

$$p_c^{(d)} = {1 \over m} + {{2{d^2} - 1} \over {2{{(d - 1)}^2}}}{1 \over {{m^2}}} + O({m^{ - 3}}) + O({m^{ - 1}}{V^{ - 1/3}}),$$

$O(m^{-1}V^{-1/3})$

$d=4,5,6$

$m^{-3} = O(m^{-1}V^{-1/3})$

$p_c^{(d)}$

$d=2,3,4$

Ice scallops are a small-scale (5–20 cm) quasi-periodic ripple pattern that occurs at the ice–water interface. Previous work has suggested that scallops form due to a self-reinforcing interaction between an evolving ice-surface geometry, an adjacent turbulent flow field and the resulting differential melt rates that occur along the interface. In this study, we perform a series of laboratory experiments in a refrigerated flume to quantitatively investigate the mechanisms of scallop formation and evolution in high resolution. Using particle image velocimetry, we probe an evolving ice–water boundary layer at sub-millimetre scales and 15 Hz frequency. Our data reveal three distinct regimes of ice–water interface evolution: a transition from flat to scalloped ice; an equilibrium scallop geometry; and an adjusting scallop interface. We find that scalloped-ice geometry produces a clear modification to the ice–water boundary layer, characterized by a time-mean recirculating eddy feature that forms in the scallop trough. Our primary finding is that scallops form due to a self-reinforcing feedback between the ice-interface geometry and shear production of turbulent kinetic energy in the flow interior. The length of this shear production zone is therefore hypothesized to set the scallop wavelength.