Emergency Medicine Society of South Africa guidelines for the training and credentialing in emergency point-of-care ultrasound

This is the second guideline from the Emergency Medicine Society of South Africa (EMSSA) on the use of emergency point-of-care ultrasound in South Africa. It supersedes and replaces the guidelines produced in 2009. This document contains information on the changes from the 2009 guidelines and details of the training and credentialing processes recommended by EMSSA. It also contains detailed information on the curricula of the Core Emergency Point-of-Care Ultrasound and Advanced Emergency Point-of-Care Ultrasound courses

Evaluation of an animal-activated scarecrow and a monofilament fence for reducing deer use of soybean fields

We measured the efficacy of an animal-activated scarecrow (AAS) and a 5-strand monofilament fence (MF) at reducing white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) use of 0.4-ha soybean plots in Missouri, USA. Our study design consisted of 9 soybean plots; 3 served as controls, 3 were surrounded by an MF, and 3 were surrounded by an AAS. Data collected for each protected plot included soybean height and weight taken from within and immediately adjacent to 10 unprotected, equally spaced 1 -m2 exclosures. A measure of deer use for each plot was collected with video cameras. A mixed-effects analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that heights of protected and unprotected soybean plants were significantly different for MF plots (F2 =93.6, P=0.01) and controls (F2 =47.6, P= 0.02) but not different for AAS plots (F2=2.16, P=0.272). Soybean plants in AAS plots were heavier than those from MF or control plots (F2 =10.2, P=0.01). Plant weight differences in protected and unprotected areas for AAS plots were less than those from MF plots (t6=2.55, P=0.04) or control plots (t6=4.46, P=0.004). Plant weight differences between MF and control plots were marginally significant (t6= 1.192, P=0.10). Deer spent less time in AAS plots than MF (t6=2.55, P=0.041 or control plots (t6=2.55, P= 0.01). Scarecrow activations increased over time in all 3 AAS plots (all 95% confidence intervals \u3e0), suggesting that deer were habituating to the devices. We suggest that AAS may be useful for short-term deterrence of deer from small areas

Understanding Pound-Drever-Hall locking using voltage controlled radio-frequency oscillators: An undergraduate experiment

We have developed a senior undergraduate experiment that illustrates frequency stabilization techniques using radio-frequency electronics. The primary objective is to frequency stabilize a voltage controlled oscillator to a cavity resonance at 800 MHz using the Pound-Drever-Hall method. This technique is commonly applied to stabilize lasers at optical frequencies. By using only radio-frequency equipment it is possible to systematically study aspects of the technique more thoroughly, inexpensively, and free from eye hazards. Students also learn about modular radio-frequency electronics and basic feedback control loops. By varying the temperature of the resonator, students can determine the thermal expansion coefficients of copper, aluminum, and super invar.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figure

Roughness analysis applied to niobium thin films grown on MgO(001) surfaces for superconducting radio frequency cavity applications

This paper describes surface studies to address roughness issues inherent to thin film coatings deposited onto superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities. This is particularly relevant for multilayered thin film coatings that are being considered as a possible scheme to overcome technical issues and to surpass the fundamental limit of similar to 50 MV/m accelerating gradient achievable with bulk niobium. In 2006, a model by Gurevich [Appl. Phys. Lett. 88, 012511 (2006)] was proposed to overcome this limit that involves coating superconducting layers separated by insulating ones onto the inner walls of the cavities. Thus, we have undertaken a systematic effort to understand the dynamic evolution of the Nb surface under specific deposition thin film conditions onto an insulating surface in order to explore the feasibility of the proposed model. We examine and compare the morphology from two distinct Nb/MgO series, each with its own epitaxial registry, at very low growth rates and closely examine the dynamical scaling of the surface features during growth. Further, we apply analysis techniques such as power spectral density to the specific problem of thin film growth and roughness evolution to qualify the set of deposition conditions that lead to successful SRF coatings. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevSTAB.16.02200

OzFlux data: Network integration from collection to curation

© Author(s) 2017. Measurement of the exchange of energy and mass between the surface and the atmospheric boundary-layer by the eddy covariance technique has undergone great change in the last 2 decades. Early studies of these exchanges were confined to brief field campaigns in carefully controlled conditions followed by months of data analysis. Current practice is to run tower-based eddy covariance systems continuously over several years due to the need for continuous monitoring as part of a global effort to develop local-, regional-, continental-and global-scale budgets of carbon, water and energy. Efficient methods of processing the increased quantities of data are needed to maximise the time available for analysis and interpretation. Standardised methods are needed to remove differences in data processing as possible contributors to observed spatial variability. Furthermore, public availability of these data sets assists with undertaking global research efforts. The OzFlux data path has been developed (i) to provide a standard set of quality control and post-processing tools across the network, thereby facilitating inter-site integration and spatial comparisons; (ii) to increase the time available to researchers for analysis and interpretation by reducing the time spent collecting and processing data; (iii) to propagate both data and metadata to the final product; and (iv) to facilitate the use of the OzFlux data by adopting a standard file format and making the data available from web-based portals. Discovery of the OzFlux data set is facilitated through incorporation in FLUXNET data syntheses and the publication of collection metadata via the RIF-CS format. This paper serves two purposes. The first is to describe the data sets, along with their quality control and post-processing, for the other papers of this Special Issue. The second is to provide an example of one solution to the data collection and curation challenges that are encountered by similar flux tower networks worldwide

Stoichiometry and thickness dependence of superconducting properties of niobium nitride thin films

The current technology used in linear particle accelerators is based on superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities fabricated from bulk niobium (Nb), which have smaller surface resistance and therefore dissipate less energy than traditional nonsuperconducting copper cavities. Using bulk Nb for the cavities has several advantages, which are discussed elsewhere; however, such SRF cavities have a material-dependent accelerating gradient limit. In order to overcome this fundamental limit, a multilayered coating has been proposed using layers of insulating and superconducting material applied to the interior surface of the cavity. The key to this multilayered model is to use superconducting thin films to exploit the potential field enhancement when these films are thinner than their London penetration depth. Such field enhancement has been demonstrated in MgB2 thin films; here, the authors consider films of another type-II superconductor, niobium nitride (NbN). The authors present their work correlating stoichiometry and superconducting properties in NbN thin films and discuss the thickness dependence of their superconducting properties, which is important for their potential use in the proposed multilayer structure. While there are some previous studies on the relationship between stoichiometry and critical temperature T-C, the authors are the first to report on the correlation between stoichiometry and the lower critical field H-C1. (C) 2016 Author(s). All article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

The contribution of trees and grasses to productivity of an Australian tropical savanna

Savanna ecosystems cover 20 % of the global land surface and account for 25 % of global terrestrial carbon uptake. They support one fifth of the world's human population and are one of the most important ecosystems on our planet. Savanna productivity is a product of the interplay between trees and grass that co-dominate savanna landscapes and are maintained through interactions with climate and disturbance (fire, land use change, herbivory). In this study, we evaluate the temporally dynamic partitioning of overstory and understory carbon dioxide fluxes in Australian tropical savanna using overstory and understory eddy covariance measurements. Over a two year period (September 2012 to October 2014) the overall net ecosystem productivity (NEP) of the savanna was 506.2 (±22 SE) g C m⁻² yr⁻¹. The total gross primary productivity (GPP) was 2267.1 (±80 SE) g C m⁻² yr⁻¹, of which the understory contributed 32 %. The understory contribution was strongly seasonal, with most GPP occurring in the wet season (40 % of total ecosystem in the wet season and 18 % in the dry). This study is the first to elucidate the temporal dynamics of savanna understory and overstory carbon flux components explicitly using observational information. Understanding grass productivity is crucial for evaluating fuel loads, as is tree productivity for quantifying the tree carbon sink. This information will contribute to a significant refinement of the representation of savannas in models, as well as improved understanding of relative tree-grass productivity and competition for resources