We have developed a regional mass balance model for the St. Lawrence River near Cornwall, Ontario that describes the fate and transport of mercury in three forms, elemental mercury (Hg0), divalent mercury (Hg2+), and methyl mercury (MeHg), in a five compartment environment (air, water, sediments, periphyton, and benthos). Our first objective was to construct a steady-state mass balance model to determine the dominant sources and sinks of mercury in this environment. Our second objective was to construct a dynamic mass balance model to predict and hindcast mercury concentrations in this environment. We compiled mercury concentrations, fluxes, and transformation rates from previous studies completed in this section of the river to develop the model in STELLA®. The inflow of mercury was the major source to this system, accounting for 0.42 mol month-1, or 95.5% of all mercury inputs, whereas outflow was 0.28 mol month-1, or 63.6% of all losses, and sediment deposition was 0.12 mol month-1, or 27.3% of all losses. The dynamic mass balance model provides estimated results that are consistent with measured data and predicts historical local industrial emissions to be approximately 400 kg year-1. Uncertainty estimates were greatest for advective fluxes in surface water, porewater, periphyton, and benthic invertebrates. This model is useful for predicting and hindcasting mercury concentrations in other aquatic environments because it contains the three main environmental compartments, all forms of mercury, and compartments (e.g. periphyton) not included in previous mercury multi-media models.

We have developed a regional mass balance model for the St. Lawrence River near Cornwall, Ontario that describes the fate and transport of mercury in three forms, elemental mercury (Hg0), divalent mercury (Hg2+), and methyl mercury (MeHg), in a five compartment environment (air, water, sediments, periphyton, and benthos). Our first objective was to construct a steady-state mass balance model to determine the dominant sources and sinks of mercury in this environment. Our second objective was to construct a dynamic mass balance model to predict and hindcast mercury concentrations in this environment. We compiled mercury concentrations, fluxes, and transformation rates from previous studies completed in this section of the river to develop the model in STELLA®. The inflow of mercury was the major source to this system, accounting for 0.42 mol month-1, or 95.5% of all mercury inputs, whereas outflow was 0.28 mol month-1, or 63.6% of all losses, and sediment deposition was 0.12 mol month-1, or 27.3% of all losses. The dynamic mass balance model provides estimated results that are consistent with measured data and predicts historical local industrial emissions to be approximately 400 kg year-1. Uncertainty estimates were greatest for advective fluxes in surface water, porewater, periphyton, and benthic invertebrates. This model is useful for predicting and hindcasting mercury concentrations in other aquatic environments because it contains the three main environmental compartments, all forms of mercury, and compartments (e.g. periphyton) not included in previous mercury multi-media models.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Adelaide, 1989. / Includes bibliographical references (v. 1, leaves 356-387).

Storm conditions are considered the dominating erosional mechanism for the coastal zone. Morphological changes during storms are hard to measure due to energetic environmental conditions. Surveys are therefore mostly executed right after a storm on a local scale over a single or few storms [days to weeks]. The impact of a single storm might depend on the preceding sequence of storms. Here, a video camera system is deployed in the South-West of England at the beach of Porthtowan to observe and assess short-term storm impact and long-term recovery. The morphological change is observed with a state-of-the-art video-based depth estimation tool that is based on the linear dispersion relationship between depth and wave celerity (cBathy). This work shows the first application of this depth estimation tool in a highly energetic macrotidal environment. Within this application two sources of first-order inaccuracies are identified: 1) camera related issues on the camera boundaries and 2) fixed pixel location for all tidal elevations. These systematic inaccuracies are overcome by 1) an adaptive pixel collection scheme and camera boundary solution and 2) freely moving pixels. The solutions together result in a maximum RMS-error reduction of 60%. From October 2013 to February 2015 depths are hourly estimated during daylight. This period included, the 2013-2014 winter season which was the most energetic winter since wave records began. Inter-tidal beach surveys show 200 m3/m erosion while the sub-tidal video derived bathymetries show a sediment loss of around 20 m3/m. At the same time the sub-tidal (outer) bar changes from 3D to linear due to a significant increase in alongshore wave power during storm conditions. Complex-EOF based storm-by-storm impact reveals that the individual storm impact at Porthtowan can be described as a combined function of storm-integrated incident offshore wave power [P] and disequilibrium and that the tidal range has limited effect on the storm impact. The inter- and sub-tidal domain together gain volume over the 2013-2014 winter and the two domains show an interactive inverse behaviour indicating sediment exchange during relatively calm summer conditions. The inter-tidal domain shows accelerated accretion during more energetic conditions in fall 2014. The outer bar slowly migrated onshore until more energetic wave conditions activate the sub-tidal storm deposits and 3 dimensionality is reintroduced. The inter-tidal beach shows full recovery in November 2014, 8 months after the stormy winter.

We have developed a regional mass balance model for the St. Lawrence River near Cornwall, Ontario that describes the fate and transport of mercury in three forms, elemental mercury (Hg0), divalent mercury (Hg2+), and methyl mercury (MeHg), in a five compartment environment (air, water, sediments, periphyton, and benthos). Our first objective was to construct a steady-state mass balance model to determine the dominant sources and sinks of mercury in this environment. Our second objective was to construct a dynamic mass balance model to predict and hindcast mercury concentrations in this environment. We compiled mercury concentrations, fluxes, and transformation rates from previous studies completed in this section of the river to develop the model in STELLA®. The inflow of mercury was the major source to this system, accounting for 0.42 mol month-1, or 95.5% of all mercury inputs, whereas outflow was 0.28 mol month-1, or 63.6% of all losses, and sediment deposition was 0.12 mol month-1, or 27.3% of all losses. The dynamic mass balance model provides estimated results that are consistent with measured data and predicts historical local industrial emissions to be approximately 400 kg year-1. Uncertainty estimates were greatest for advective fluxes in surface water, porewater, periphyton, and benthic invertebrates. This model is useful for predicting and hindcasting mercury concentrations in other aquatic environments because it contains the three main environmental compartments, all forms of mercury, and compartments (e.g. periphyton) not included in previous mercury multi-media models.

No description available.

Safeguarding adults is a priority in adult social care, and training is one of the main ways in which policy and guidance around it is implemented. Training transfer refers to the use of new learning on the job, and while the transfer literature is well developed, it does not extend to safeguarding adults training. This research aimed to identify, develop and refine a programme theory of safeguarding adults training transfer by identifying factors that facilitate or inhibit the use of safeguarding adults training in practice, and the impact that the training has. A cross sectional mixed methods realist synthesis approach was used to evaluate two safeguarding adults training programmes provided in Cornwall, UK between 2009 and 2011. Realist synthesis aims to uncover what works, for whom, in which circumstances and how, and develops policy makers’ programme theories of interventions using evidence. A systematic review of training transfer generally, and then of health and social care transfer specifically led to a revision of the policy makers’ programme theory of training. Empirical research in the form of a factorial survey and narrative analysis of qualitative interviews was then undertaken, to further revise the programme theory to be specific to safeguarding adults training. Findings emphasise the importance of considering the effect of the training culture and transfer climate on safeguarding adults training effectiveness. Factors such as opportunity to use learning and supervisor support are important to transfer and the conflict between adult learning principles and mandatory training was explored. Safeguarding adults-specific supports were also highlighted, emphasising the importance of supporting practice using mechanisms other than training. Recommendations are provided regarding how the safeguarding related transfer climate can be improved. Limitations of the study include a high likelihood of sampling bias. The limitations of individual methods and problem of generalising findings obtained from a case study of Cornwall were reduced using the realist synthesis approach.

Introduction/Background: Suicide in older people is a historically neglected research area. Local audits had suggested that Cornwall had a higher than average suicide rate, and people aged 75 years and over appeared to be at particularly high risk. Heterogeneity between studies and variations in presenting suicide statistics can make comparison of rates difficult. Aims: The study aimed to explore in depth the epidemiology of suicide in elderly people in Cornwall, to develop an understanding of the risk factors (including sources of stress), suicide methods, locations, and warnings, and consequently to identify potential preventive strategies. Methods: A mixed methods approach was taken, combining quantitative epidemiological study of suicide using Office for National Statistics (ONS) Public Health Mortality Files with qualitative retrospective case study analysis using coroner’s records and local audit database. All completed suicides (and some systematically selected open verdicts) in people aged 75 years and over occurring in Cornwall between 2006 and 2010 were included. A questionnaire survey of rural community dwelling people aged 75 years and over (n = 49) in a part of Cornwall was also carried out to identify the main sources of stress associated with ageing in the local area. Results: Some discrepancies in the number of open verdicts reported by the coroner and ONS were noted. Although suicide in the over 75 age group was responsible for only 0.3 % of all-cause mortality in males and 0.1 % in females, the overall suicide rate in this age group in Cornwall was significantly higher than the average for the UK, with a Standardised Mortality Ratio of 172 (95 % CI 123 to 236). Males aged between 75 and 84 years had the highest suicide rate in Cornwall (mean of 25.8 deaths per 100,000 population, 95 % CI 1.1 to 50.5). Jumping from a height and suffocation were the most frequently used methods, accounting for 8 and 7 of the 34 deaths respectively. 28 of the 34 suicides took place at home. Depressive illness, physical illness and bereavement were the most commonly identified risk factors. Concerns revealed in survey responses were closely related to suicide risk factors, including fear of losing independence, bereavement, physical illness, isolation, and fear of becoming a burden. Warnings included previous self-harm or attempted suicide, suicide ideation or plans, behavioural changes and researching euthanasia. Discussion: As persons aged 75 and over are at significantly higher risk of suicide in Cornwall than other regions, there is a need to reduce the number of suicides in this group. Possible preventive measures include reducing access to means (in particular for jumping incidents), earlier detection of depression in the physically ill, bereavement counselling, more social groups and support groups in rural areas, helping people to retain their independence, and a change in societal attitudes towards elderly people. There may also be a need to improve the accuracy of suicide statistics. Conclusion: Health services, councils, voluntary groups and the community as a whole should work together to prevent suicide in older people. Future controlled studies should assess the effectiveness of interventions and focus more on differences between subgroups of elderly people.

Cornwall is a peripheral rural location in the South West of the UK, and has experienced almost continual socio-economic decline for more than a century. It has a nationalist heritage and is a popular tourist resort. It is also one of the poorest parts of the UK. Academic work has addressed poverty in Cornwall, but has failed to adequately answer why various development programmes have not improved the economy. Part of the reason for this may be that traditional approaches to regional development utilise identity politics as a development tool, and yet lack sufficient attention to the lived experience of local residents. This work takes the opposite approach, seeking to address this omission by using narratives of identity to understand why Cornwall is still so poor. Supporting data uses a qualitative, grounded methodology, using interviews to explore how decision makers and members of the public construct Cornwall. The research finds that policy is based on a perception of the region which lacks a foundation in lived reality for local residents, and which carries a number of implications. The area and its inhabitants are constructed as being a lifestyle choice, impacting on economic activity and the kinds of investment attracted, which has a negative impact on long term economic growth. The solution proposed is that successful development needs to use a politics of identity that incorporates the realities of life in Cornwall, rather than emphasising an idealised perception. This can be done through adopting a more ‘evolutionary’ method, encouraging economic development to come to accept and work with what already exists, rather than trying to create anew.

The 19th century is recognised as a period of mass emigration from Cornwall, with a significant proportion of the male population leaving to work overseas, mainly in the mining industry. Less appreciated is that many of these migrants were married men who left wives and children behind in Cornwall. This study seeks to shed some light on the experiences of these women, known as 'married widows'. It adopts a multi-faceted approach, which draws upon crowd-sourcing and digital resources, in combination with more traditional methodologies. Scattered and fragmentary qualitative evidence (drawn from correspondence, newspapers, remittance and poor law records, supplemented by personal testimony recorded in family histories) is examined within a quantitative framework produced by an innovative database created from census records and a longitudinal study of outcomes. This thesis describes how tens of thousands of wives were 'left behind' in the mining communities of Cornwall, and the wide range of resources they drew upon in the absence of their husbands. It examines the interaction between the wives and the State in the form of the Poor Law and the Courts, identifying a pragmatic response to the needs of the emerging transnational nuclear family. Male migration from Cornwall is revealed to vary widely in type, intent and duration, leading to great diversity of experiences and outcomes for the wives 'left behind'. The establishment of temporary male labour emigration from the Cornish mining communities is shown to have occurred earlier than in many other emigration centres, creating greater potential for cultural acclimatisation to the challenges of spousal separation. The findings of this study challenge existing, generalised, perceptions of the wives as passive victims in the Cornish emigration story. Levels of destitution or desertion appear low compared to the scale of the phenomenon, and wives are shown as active participants and influential voices in family strategies. Nonetheless, this study highlights the vulnerability and greater risks faced by the wives 'left behind', and identifies financial and emotional insecurity as common elements of their experience. This thesis demonstrates a methodology and reveals insights that might be applied to the study of wives 'left behind' in other parts of the British Isles, and a comparator for existing studies of those elsewhere in the world.