Deployment/retraction mechanism for solar maximum mission high gain antenna system

A mechanism called a deployment/retraction assembly (DRA) which provides not only a stable, but a deployable platform for the high gain antenna system (HGAS) aboard the Solar Maximum Mission (SMM) spacecraft is described. The DRA also has the capability to retract the system upon command

Multiplatform Public Service Broadcasting: The Economic and Cultural Role of UK Digital and TV Independents

In this report, produced as part of a two-year Arts & Humanities Research Council project (AH-H0185622-2) on ‘multiplatform public service broadcasting’, focusing on factual/specialist factual as a case study, we detail the role independent production companies play in PSB. We set out how PSB informs the production cultures of independent companies, the tensions that are experienced between profit and public service and the impact multiplatform commissioning and production practices have had on the sector

Countering Quantum Noise with Supplementary Classical Information

We consider situations in which i) Alice wishes to send quantum information to Bob via a noisy quantum channel, ii) Alice has a classical description of the states she wishes to send and iii) Alice can make use of a finite amount of noiseless classical information. After setting up the problem in general, we focus attention on one specific scenario in which Alice sends a known qubit down a depolarizing channel along with a noiseless cbit. We describe a protocol which we conjecture is optimal and calculate the average fidelity obtained. A surprising amount of structure is revealed even for this simple case which suggests that relationships between quantum and classical information could in general be very intricate.Comment: RevTeX, 5 pages, 2 figures Typo in reference 9 correcte

Semantic categories underlying the meaning of ‘place’

This paper analyses the semantics of natural language expressions that are associated with the intuitive notion of ‘place’. We note that the nature of such terms is highly contested, and suggest that this arises from two main considerations: 1) there are a number of logically distinct categories of place expression, which are not always clearly distinguished in discourse about ‘place’; 2) the many non-substantive place count nouns (such as ‘place’, ‘region’, ‘area’, etc.) employed in natural language are highly ambiguous. With respect to consideration 1), we propose that place-related expressions should be classified into the following distinct logical types: a) ‘place-like’ count nouns (further subdivided into abstract, spatial and substantive varieties), b) proper names of ‘place-like’ objects, c) locative property phrases, and d) definite descriptions of ‘place-like’ objects. We outline possible formal representations for each of these. To address consideration 2), we examine meanings, connotations and ambiguities of the English vocabulary of abstract and generic place count nouns, and identify underlying elements of meaning, which explain both similarities and differences in the sense and usage of the various terms

A Necessary And Sufficient Condition of Distillability with unite fidelity from Finite Copies of a Mixed State: The Most Efficient Purification Protocol

It is well known that any entangled mixed state in $2\otimes 2$ systems can be purified via infinite copies of the mixed state. But can one distill a pure maximally entangled state from finite copies of a mixed state in any bipartite system by local operation and classical communication? This is more meaningful in practical application. We give a necessary and sufficient condition of this distillability. This condition can be expressed as: there exists distillable-subspaces. According to this condition, one can judge whether a mixed state is distillable or not easily. We also analyze some properties of distillable-subspaces, and discuss the most efficient purification protocols. Finally, we discuss the distillable enanglement of two-quibt system for the case of finite copies.Comment: a revised versio

Are nurses the key to the increased uptake of frequent nocturnal home haemodialysis in Australia?

Background: Although there are significant benefits to frequent nocturnal home haemodialysis (NHHD) there has been a low acceptance of this therapy in Australia. Aim: The aim of this paper is to explore and discuss the literature relating to the nursing barriers to frequent nocturnal home haemodialysis. Methods: A search of nursing, medical, social work and psychological literature was performed. Results: Nurses are key contributors to the increase of NHHD within the dialysis population. Knowledge, culture and nurse satisfaction are key areas to address to increase NHHD uptake. Conclusion: Nurses need to challenge the cultural and organisational barriers that are preventing further uptake of NHHD. If nurses do not we cannot claim to be helping patients attain their best possible outcome.<br /

Nurse stress in hospital and satellite haemodialysis units

Focus groups of nurses from both in-centre and satellite dialysis units were undertaken followed by questionnaires. The In-centre nursing staff rated the busy-ness of the unit as the maximum stress. The mostly notable stressor for the staff at the satellite unit related to patient behaviour and the perceived unrealistic expectations of the patient followed by patients arriving unwell at the unit.Nurses suffer stress on a daily basis in both in-centre and satellite dialysis units. The major stressors differ from in-centre to satellite dialysis units.<br /

Negative entropy and information in quantum mechanics

A framework for a quantum mechanical information theory is introduced that is based entirely on density operators, and gives rise to a unified description of classical correlation and quantum entanglement. Unlike in classical (Shannon) information theory, quantum (von Neumann) conditional entropies can be negative when considering quantum entangled systems, a fact related to quantum non-separability. The possibility that negative (virtual) information can be carried by entangled particles suggests a consistent interpretation of quantum informational processes.Comment: 4 pages RevTeX, 2 figures. Expanded discussion of quantum teleportation and superdense coding, and minor corrections. To appear in Phys. Rev. Let

Dissipation signatures of the normal and superfluid phases in torsion pendulum experiments with 3He in aerogel

We present data for energy dissipation factor (Q^{-1}) over a broad temperature range at various pressures of a torsion pendulum setup used to study 3He confined in a 98% open silica aerogel. Values for Q^{-1} above T_c are temperature independent and have a weak pressure dependence. Below T_c, a deliberate axial compression of the aerogel by 10% widens the range of metastability for a superfluid Equal Spin Pairing (ESP) state; we observe this ESP phase on cooling and the B phase on warming over an extended temperature region. While the dissipation for the B phase tends to zero as T goes to 0, Q^{-1} exhibits a peak value greater than that at T_c at intermediate temperatures. Values for Q^{-1} in the ESP phase are consistently higher than in the B phase and are proportional to \rho_s/\rho until the ESP to B phase transition is attained. We apply a viscoelastic collision-drag model, which couples the motion of the helium and the aerogel through a frictional relaxation time \tau_f. Our dissipation data is not sensitive to the damping due to the presumed small but non-zero value of \tau_f. The result is that an additional mechanism to dissipate energy not captured in the collision-drag model and related to the emergence of the superfluid order must exist. The extra dissipation below T_c is possibly associated with mutual friction between the superfluid phases and the clamped normal fluid. The pressure dependence of the measured dissipation in both superfluid phases is likely related to the pressure dependence of the gap structure of the "dirty" superfluid. The large dissipation in the ESP state is consistent with the phase being the A or the Polar with the order parameter nodes oriented in the plane of the cell and perpendicular to the aerogel anisotropy axis.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure

Judging the impact of leadership-development activities on school practice

The nature and effectiveness of professional-development activities should be judged in a way that takes account of both the achievement of intended outcomes and the unintended consequences that may result. Our research project set out to create a robust approach that school staff members could use to assess the impact of professional-development programs on leadership and management practice without being constrained in this judgment by the stated aims of the program. In the process, we identified a number of factors and requirements relevant to a wider audience than that concerned with the development of leadership and management in England. Such an assessment has to rest upon a clear understanding of educational leadership,a clearly articulated model of practice, and a clear model of potential forms of impact. Such foundations, suitably adapted to the subject being addressed, are appropriate for assessing all teacher professional development