The broadening of Fe II lines by neutral hydrogen collisions

Data for the broadening of 24188 Fe II lines by collisions with neutral hydrogen atoms have been computed using the theory of Anstee & O'Mara as extended to singly ionised species and higher orbital angular momentum states by Barklem & O'Mara. Data have been computed for all Fe II lines between observed energy levels in the line lists of Kurucz with log gf > -5 for which the theory is applicable. The variable energy debt parameter Ep used in computing the second order perturbation theory potential is chosen to be consistent with the long range dispersion interaction constant C6 computed using the f-values from Kurucz.Comment: Accepted for A&A. 5 pages, 5 figures, 2 electronic tables. Tables will be available via CDS; presently also at http://www.astro.uu.se/~barklem/papers/fe2_data.tar.g

Unavoidable Multicoloured Families of Configurations

Balogh and Bollob\'as [{\em Combinatorica 25, 2005}] prove that for any $k$ there is a constant $f(k)$ such that any set system with at least $f(k)$ sets reduces to a $k$-star, an $k$-costar or an $k$-chain. They proved $f(k)<(2k)^{2^k}$. Here we improve it to $f(k)<2^{ck^2}$ for some constant $c>0$. This is a special case of the following result on the multi-coloured forbidden configurations at 2 colours. Let $r$ be given. Then there exists a constant $c_r$ so that a matrix with entries drawn from $\{0,1,...,r-1\}$ with at least $2^{c_rk^2}$ different columns will have a $k\times k$ submatrix that can have its rows and columns permuted so that in the resulting matrix will be either $I_k(a,b)$ or $T_k(a,b)$ (for some $a\ne b\in \{0,1,..., r-1\}$), where $I_k(a,b)$ is the $k\times k$ matrix with $a$'s on the diagonal and $b$'s else where, $T_k(a,b)$ the $k\times k$ matrix with $a$'s below the diagonal and $b$'s elsewhere. We also extend to considering the bound on the number of distinct columns, given that the number of rows is $m$, when avoiding a $t k\times k$ matrix obtained by taking any one of the $k \times k$ matrices above and repeating each column $t$ times. We use Ramsey Theory.Comment: 16 pages, add two application

Diplomacy and Peace-Building

The author discusses six points important in the diplomatic process of peace building. She begins in her first point outlining the development or evolution of peacekeeping in the modern world and details five more points that are important to the peace building process including the fact that peace must be home grown, there are mediators, allied states have a role, the role of diplomacy, and finally the role of institution building

High precision determination of the atmospheric parameters and abundances of the COROT main targets

One of the main goals of the COROT mission is to get precise photometric observations of selected bright stars in order to allow the modelling of their interior through asteroseismology. However, in order to interpret the asteroseismological data, the effective temperature, surface gravity, and chemical composition of the stars must be known with sufficient accuracy. To carry out this task, we have developed a spectroscopic method called APASS (Atmospheric Parameters and Abundances from Synthetic Spectra) which allows precise analysis of stars with a moderate to high rotational velocity, which is the case for most primary COROT targets. Our method is based on synthetic spectra and works differentially with respect to the Sun. Using high signal-to-noise spectra and the APASS method, we determined the atmospheric parameters and chemical abundances of 13 primary COROT targets. Our results agree well with those obtained by Bruntt using his software VWA and with those obtained with the software TEMPLOGG. However, in both cases, our error bars are significantly smaller than those of other methods. Our effective temperatures are also in excellent agreement with those obtained with the IR photometry method. For five stars with relatively low rotational velocity, we also performed an analysis with a classical equivalent-width method to test agreement with APASS results. We show that equivalent-width measurements by Gaussian or Voigt profile-fitting are sensitive to the rotational broadening, leading to systematic errors whenever the projected rotation velocity is non-negligible. The APASS method appears superior in all cases and should thus be preferred.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, 4 tables. Accepted in A&

The completeness of intervention descriptions in published National Institute of Health Research HTA-funded trials: a cross-sectional study

ObjectivesThe objective of this study was to assess whether National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment (HTA)-funded randomised controlled trials (RCTs) published in the HTA journal were described in sufficient detail to replicate in practice.SettingRCTs published in the HTA journal.Participants98 RCTs published in the HTA journal up to March 2011. Completeness of the intervention description was assessed independently by two researchers using a checklist, which included assessments of participants, intensity, schedule, materials and settings. Disagreements in scoring were discussed in the team; differences were then explored and resolved.Primary and secondary outcome measuresProportion of trials rated as having a complete description of the intervention (primary outcome measure). The proportion of drug trials versus psychological and non-drug trials rated as having a complete description of the intervention (secondary outcome measures).ResultsComponents of the intervention description were missing in 68/98 (69.4%) reports. Baseline characteristics and descriptions of settings had the highest levels of completeness with over 90% of reports complete. Reports were less complete on patient information with 58.2% of the journals having an adequate description. When looking at individual intervention types, drug intervention descriptions were more complete than non-drug interventions with 33.3% and 30.6% levels of completeness, respectively, although this was not significant statistically. Only 27.3% of RCTs with psychological interventions were deemed to be complete, although again these differences were not significant statistically.ConclusionsEnsuring the replicability of study interventions is an essential part of adding value in research. All those publishing clinical trial data need to ensure transparency and completeness in the reporting of interventions to ensure that study interventions can be replicated

Evidence for behavioural interventions addressing condom use fit and feel issues to improve condom use : A Systematic Review

© CSIRO 2019. Open Access Article (CC BY-NC-ND)Continuing high rates of sexually transmissible infections (STIs) in many countries highlight the need to identify effective behavioural interventions. Consistent and correct use of male condoms is a key strategy for the prevention of STIs. However, some men report problems with condom fit (e.g. the size and shape of the condom) and feel (e.g. tightness, irritation, sensitivity), which inhibits their use. We conducted a systematic review to identify existing interventions addressing condom use fit and feel problems. We searched electronic databases for peer-reviewed articles and searched reference lists of retrieved studies. Five studies met the inclusion criteria. These were generally small-scale pilot studies evaluating behavioural interventions to promote safer sex with men aged under 30 years, addressing, among other things, barriers to condom use relating to fit and feel. There were significant increases in the reported use of condoms, including condom use with no errors and problems. Improvements in some condom use mediators were reported, such as condom use self-efficacy, knowledge, intentions and condom use experience. There were mixed findings in terms of the ability of interventions to reduce STI acquisition. Behavioural interventions addressing condom fit and feel are promising in terms of effectiveness but require further evaluation.Peer reviewe