The Manchester Color Wheel: validation in secondary school pupils.

Background: As part of our research programme into facilitating improved ways of communicating with patients, especially about more sensitive clinical issues, we have been investigating whether there are any non-verbal methods that might aid this process. One such approach is to ask patients to choose a color in response to a particular question, for instance about health or psychological status, and for this purpose we developed the Manchester Color Wheel (MCW). This instrument consists of positive, neutral and negative colors and its validation in normal adults and those with anxiety or depression showed that it is responsive to change and reproducible.

Types, structure and potential for axial water flow in the deepest roots of field-grown cereals.

Deep root systems that extend into moist soil can significantly increase plant productivity. Here, the components of soil-grown root systems of wheat, barley and triticale are characterized, and types and water conducting potential of deep roots in the field are assessed. Root system components were characterized in plants grown in soil in PVC tubes, based on their origin and number and the arrangement of xylem tracheary elements (XTE) viewed using fluorescence microscopy.

A novel approach for documentation and evaluation of activity patterns in owl monkeys during development of environmental enrichment programs.

Documenting and evaluating the appropriateness of environmental enrichment programs has posed a challenge to many institutions. This paper describes a method for documenting and evaluating activity patterns for developing an environmental enrichment program. A colony of owl (or night) monkeys (Aotus lemurinus griseimembra) at the University of Hawaii were videotaped using infrared sensitive cameras and the duration and frequency of numerous activities were scored using an ethological analysis software program (Hindsight).