Influenza in 1775.

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Testing of the LSST's photometric calibration strategy at the CTIO 0.9 meter telescope

The calibration hardware system of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) is designed to measure two quantities: a telescope's instrumental response and atmospheric transmission, both as a function of wavelength. First of all, a "collimated beam projector" is designed to measure the instrumental response function by projecting monochromatic light through a mask and a collimating optic onto the telescope. During the measurement, the light level is monitored with a NIST-traceable photodiode. This method does not suffer from stray light effects or the reflections (known as ghosting) present when using a flat-field screen illumination, which has a systematic source of uncertainty from uncontrolled reflections. It allows for an independent measurement of the throughput of the telescope's optical train as well as each filter's transmission as a function of position on the primary mirror. Second, CALSPEC stars can be used as calibrated light sources to illuminate the atmosphere and measure its transmission. To measure the atmosphere's transfer function, we use the telescope's imager with a Ronchi grating in place of a filter to configure it as a low resolution slitless spectrograph. In this paper, we describe this calibration strategy, focusing on results from a prototype system at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) 0.9 meter telescope. We compare the instrumental throughput measurements to nominal values measured using a laboratory spectrophotometer, and we describe measurements of the atmosphere made via CALSPEC standard stars during the same run

Big Data Analytics Capability: Antecedents and Business Value

Big data has managed in a very short time to dominate the interest of researchers and managers, vastly changing the way information is generated and used in decision making. Nevertheless, there has been disproportionate focus on the technical aspects of this emerging technology, and limited attention on other relevant organizational elements. Past research in IT business value has demonstrated that investments alone do not generate business value; rather, firms need to develop idiosyncratic and difficult to imitate capabilities. Drawing on the resource based view and dynamic capabilities view of the firm, this study examines the resources that are necessary to develop a big data analytics capability, identifies the organizational capabilities they enable, and determines factors that moderate or condition the value of a big data analytics capability. Employing a multiple case study approach on six international firms, we develop a deeper understanding of the importance of big data analytics resources and the mechanisms through which they leveraged towards the strengthening of organizational capabilities

Ação Coletiva E A Necessidade De Superação Do Processo Na Tutela Ambiental

O processo civil brasileiro se apresenta como instrumento capaz na preservação do meio ambiente, contudo interesses ambientais não podem ser tratados da mesma maneira que interesses patrimoniais. Assim é necessário uma mudança no modo de produção do direito, bem como dos operadores para que, consequentemente o processo consiga tutelar de forma adequada questões ambientais. Desta forma é feita uma análise histórica da coletivização das demandas e uma posterior abordagem da ação coletiva passiva, demonstrando que utilização de institutos estrangeiros, se traduz em um importante mecanismo para proteção do meio ambiente, e evidenciando a necessidade de superação do processo civil na tutela ambiental.

An assessment of discretizations for convection-dominated convection-diffusion equations

The performance of several numerical schemes for discretizing convection-dominated convection-diffusion equations will be investigated with respect to accuracy and efficiency. Accuracy is considered in measures which are of interest in applications. The study includes an exponentially fitted finite volume scheme, the Streamline-Upwind Petrov--Galerkin (SUPG) finite element method, a spurious oscillations at layers diminishing (SOLD) finite element method, a finite element method with continuous interior penalty (CIP) stabilization, a discontinuous Galerkin (DG) finite element method, and a total variation diminishing finite element method (FEMTVD). A detailed assessment of the schemes based on the Hemker example will be presented

An assessment of discretizations for convection-dominated convection-diffusion equations

The performance of several numerical schemes for discretizing convection-dominated convection-diffusion equations will be investigated with respect to accuracy and efficiency. Accuracy is considered in measures which are of interest in applications. The study includes an exponentially fitted finite volume scheme, the Streamline-Upwind Petrov--Galerkin (SUPG) finite element method, a spurious oscillations at layers diminishing (SOLD) finite element method, a finite element method with continuous interior penalty (CIP) stabilization, a discontinuous Galerkin (DG) finite element method, and a total variation diminishing finite element method (FEMTVD). A detailed assessment of the schemes based on the Hemker example will be presented

Wrist-worn pervasive gaze interaction

This paper addresses gaze interaction for smart home control, conducted from a wrist-worn unit. First we asked ten people to enact the gaze movements they would propose for e.g. opening a door or adjusting the room temperature. On basis of their suggestions we built and tested different versions of a prototype applying off-screen stroke input. Command prompts were given to twenty participants by text or arrow displays. The success rate achieved by the end of their first encounter with the system was 46% in average; it took them 1.28 seconds to connect with the system and 1.29 seconds to make a correct selection. Their subjective evaluations were positive with regard to the speed of the interaction. We conclude that gaze gesture input seems feasible for fast and brief remote control of smart home technology provided that robustness of tracking is improved

Medical students’ challenges and suggestions regarding research training: a synthesis of comments from a cross-sectional survey

Background: We previously reported on a cross-sectional study of students from the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University that found most respondents wanted more opportunities to participate in research. Students provided additional comments that we synthesized to enrich the findings of our quantitative analysis.   Methods: From our previously administered 13-item, online questionnaire, run across three campuses in Ontario, Canada, 498 of 618 medical students completed our survey and 360 (72%) provided optional written comments, which we synthesized using thematic analysis in this current study.  Results: Major themes that emerged were: (1) Active student participation to identify research opportunities and interested mentors are needed; (2) Types of research involvement; (3) Uncertainty whether research training translates into useable skills; (4) Desire for a formalized research curriculum and centralization of research opportunities across campuses.  Conclusion: Programs should stress to interested students the importance of actively looking for research opportunities and consider both large and small-group educational sessions