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Investigates the role of the black sorority at a large, integrated state university. Results indicate that its role is often an adaptation to marginality in that it represents a partial retreat from the marginal situation. (Author)

Introduction: BASHH guidelines recommend that male patients presenting with symptoms of urethritis or epididymo-orchitis undergo a urethral swab for microscopy. However, this is resource intensive. The aim of this audit is to determine the proportion of symptomatic patients without urethral discharge who have positive findings on microscopy from a urethral swab, and explore associations between presenting symptoms and microscopy findings.Methods: A retrospective audit of symptomatic male patients who underwent microscopy was conducted.Results: There was a significant difference between the percentage of symptomatic patients with positive findings on microscopy in those with and without urethral discharge (67% vs 33%, p < 0.001). In a patient presenting with symptoms other than urethral discharge, the likelihood that positive findings on microscopy would occur in a patient with dysuria was 4.73 times more likely than if they didnu2019t have dysuria, when controlling for age; urethral discomfort or penile irritation; and testicular pain or discomfort (p < 0.01).Discussion: In situations where there are limited resources, patients without urethral discharge presenting with dysuria could be prioritised for microscopy. However, further research is required to identify and stratify which patients require microscopy.

Background and aim Recycled sources of phosphorus (P), such as struvite extracted from wastewater, have potential to substitute for more soluble manufactured fertilisers and help reduce the long-term threat to food security from dwindling finite reserves of phosphate rock (PR). This study aimed to determine whether struvite could be a component of a sustainable P fertiliser management strategy for arable crops. Methods A combination of laboratory experiments, pot trials and mathematical modelling of the root system examined the P release properties of commercial fertiliser-grade struvite and patterns of P uptake from a low-P sandy soil by two different crop types, in comparison to more soluble inorganic P fertilisers (di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) and triple super phosphate (TSP)). Results Struvite had greatly enhanced solubility in the presence of organic acid anions; buckwheat, which exudes a high level of organic acids, was more effective at mobilising struvite P than the low level exuder, spring wheat. Struvite granules placed with the seed did not provide the same rate of P supply as placed DAP granules for early growth of spring wheat, but gave equivalent rates of P uptake, yield and apparent fertiliser recovery at harvest, even though only 26 % of struvite granules completely dissolved. Fertiliser mixes containing struvite and DAP applied to spring wheat have potential to provide both optimal early and late season P uptake and improve overall P use efficiency. Conclusions We conclude that the potential resource savings and potential efficiency benefits of utilising a recycled slow release fertiliser like struvite offers a more sustainable alternative to only using conventional, high solubility, PR-based fertilisers. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11104-015-2747-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.