15,313 research outputs found
Reflections on preserving the state of new media art
As part of its work to explore emerging issues associated
with characterisation of digital materials, Planets has explored vocabularies and information structures for expressing the properties integral to the value of digital art. Value encompasses those qualities that must be understood and captured in order to ensure that art worksâ sensory, emotional, mental and spiritual resonance remain. Facets of interactivity, modularity and temporality associated with digital art present some critical questions that the preservation community must increasingly be equipped to answer. Because digital art materials exhibit fundamental multidimensionality, validating the successful preservation of creative experience demands the explication of more than just file characteristics.
Understanding relationships between objects also implies
an understanding of their respective functional qualities.
This paper presents a Planetsâ vocabulary for encapsulating contextual and implicit characteristics of digital art, optimised for preservation planning and validation
Exploring the acceptability of two self-sampling devices for human papillomavirus testing in the cervical screening context: a qualitative study of Muslim women in London
Objectives We explored Muslim women's attitudes to self-sampling for human papillomavirus (HPV) in the context of cervical cancer screening and their responses to two self-sampling devices.Setting A Muslim community centre in north-east London.Methods Following a talk given on the subject of cervical cancer and HPV at the community centre, 28 women were recruited to take part in three focus group discussions. The discussion covered cervical screening, self-sampling and HPV testing. Women were also asked for their responses to a swab self-sampling kit and a cervico-vaginal lavage device. Discussions were recorded and transcribed verbatim and the qualitative data were analysed using Framework Analysis.Results Participants were generally positive about cervical screening but acknowledged that some women in their community were reluctant to offend because of embarrassment, language difficulties, fear or because they were unmarried and did not want to communicate implicit messages about being sexually active. Self-sampling met a mixed response - women were concerned about not doing the test correctly, but thought that it might overcome barriers to screening for some women. HPV testing itself was thought to raise potentially difficult issues relating to trust and fidelity within marriages. Although most women said they would prefer to continue to have screening by a health professional, if they were to perform self-sampling, there was overwhelming preference for the swab over the lavage kit.Conclusions There was limited enthusiasm for self-sampling in this group of Muslim women who had mostly attended for cervical screening, but a clear preference for a swab rather than a cervico-vaginal lavage
Risk factors for failure of outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy (OPAT) in infective endocarditis
Objectives:
To identify risk factors for failure of outpatient antibiotic therapy (OPAT) in infective endocarditis (IE).
Patients and methods:
We identified IE cases managed at a single centre over 12 years from a prospectively maintained database. âOPAT failureâ was defined as unplanned readmission or antibiotic switch due to adverse drug reaction or antibiotic resistance. We analysed patient and disease-related risk factors for OPAT failure by univariate and multivariate logistic regression. We also retrospectively collected follow-up data on adverse disease outcome (defined as IE-related death or relapse) and performed KaplanâMeier survival analysis up to 36 months following OPAT.
Results:
We identified 80 episodes of OPAT in IE. Failure occurred in 25/80 episodes (31.3%). On multivariate analysis, cardiac or renal failure [pooled OR 7.39 (95% CI 1.84â29.66), Pâ=â0.005] and teicoplanin therapy [OR 8.69 (95% CI 2.01â37.47), Pâ=â0.004] were independently associated with increased OPAT failure. OPAT failure with teicoplanin occurred despite therapeutic plasma levels. OPAT failure predicted adverse disease outcome up to 36 months (Pâ=â0.016 log-rank test).
Conclusions:
These data caution against selecting patients with endocarditis for OPAT in the presence of cardiac or renal failure and suggest teicoplanin therapy may be associated with suboptimal OPAT outcomes. Alternative regimens to teicoplanin in the OPAT setting should be further investigated
Ruling out a higher spin field solution to the cosmological constant problem
We consider the modification of Newton's gravity law in Dolgov's higher spin
models designed to compensate the cosmological constant. We find that the
effective Planck mass is unacceptably large in these models. We also point out
that the properties of gravitational waves are entirely different in these
models as compared to general relativity.Comment: 7 pages, LaTe
The stransverse mass, MT2, in special cases
This document describes some special cases in which the stransverse mass,
MT2, may be calculated by non-iterative algorithms. The most notable special
case is that in which the visible particles and the hypothesised invisible
particles are massless -- a situation relevant to its current usage in the
Large Hadron Collider as a discovery variable, and a situation for which no
analytic answer was previously known. We also derive an expression for MT2 in
another set of new (though arguably less interesting) special cases in which
the missing transverse momentum must point parallel or anti parallel to the
visible momentum sum. In addition, we find new derivations for already known
MT2 solutions in a manner that maintains manifest contralinear boost invariance
throughout, providing new insights into old results. Along the way, we stumble
across some unexpected results and make conjectures relating to geometric forms
of M_eff and H_T and their relationship to MT2.Comment: 11 pages, no figures. v2 corrects minor typos. v3 corrects an
incorrect statement in footnote 8 and inserts a missing term in eq (3.9). v4
and v5 correct minor typos spotted by reader
Control System for the LEDA 6.7-MeV Proton Beam Halo Experiment
Measurement of high-power proton beam-halo formation is the ongoing
scientific experiment for the Low Energy Demonstration Accelerator (LEDA)
facility. To attain this measurement goal, a 52-magnet beam line containing
several types of beam diagnostic instrumentation is being installed. The
Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) and commercial
software applications are presently being integrated to provide a real-time,
synchronous data acquisition and control system. This system is comprised of
magnet control, vacuum control, motor control, data acquisition, and data
analysis. Unique requirements led to the development and integration of
customized software and hardware. EPICS real-time databases, Interactive Data
Language (IDL) programs, LabVIEW Virtual Instruments (VI), and State Notation
Language (SNL) sequences are hosted on VXI, PC, and UNIX-based platforms which
interact using the EPICS Channel Access (CA) communication protocol.
Acquisition and control hardware technology ranges from DSP-based diagnostic
instrumentation to the PLC-controlled vacuum system. This paper describes the
control system hardware and software design, and implementation.Comment: LINAC2000 Conference, 4 pg
The Chandra Large Area Synoptic X-ray Survey (CLASXS) of the Lockman Hole-Northwest: The X-ray Catalog
We present the X-ray catalog and basic results from our Chandra Large Area
Synoptic X-ray Survey (CLASXS) of the Lockman Hole-Northwest field. Our 9
ACIS-I fields cover a contiguous solid angle of ~0.4 sq. deg. and reach fluxes
of 5E-16 cgs (0.4-2 keV) and 3E-15 cgs (2-8keV). Our survey bridges the gap
between ultradeep pencil-beam surveys, such as the Chandra Deep Fields (CDFs),
and shallower, large area surveys, allowing a better probe of the X-ray sources
that contribute most of the 2-10 keV cosmic X-ray background (CXB). We find a
total of 525 X-ray point sources and 4 extended sources. At ~10E-14 cgs 2-8
keV, our number counts are significantly higher than those of several
non-contiguous, large area surveys. On the other hand, the integrated flux from
the CLASXS field, combined with ASCA and Chandra ultradeep surveys, is
consistent with results from other large area surveys, within the variance of
the CXB. Spectral evolution is seen in the hardening of the sources at fluxes
below 1E-14 cgs Above 4E1-14 cgs(0.4-8 keV), ~60 of the sources are variable.
Four extended sources in CLASXS is consistent with the previously measured
LogN-LogS of galaxy clusters. We report the discovery of a gravitational
lensing arc associated with one of these sources. (Abridged)Comment: 67 pages, 26 figures, accepted for publication in the Astronomical
Journa
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