Age, Metallicity, and the Distance to the Magellanic Clouds From Red Clump Stars

We show that the luminosity dependence of the red clump stars on age and metallicity can cause a difference of up to < ~0.6 mag in the mean absolute I magnitude of the red clump between different stellar populations. We show that this effect may resolve the apparent ~0.4 mag discrepancy between red clump-derived distance moduli to the Magellanic Clouds and those from, e.g., Cepheid variables. Taking into account the population effects on red clump luminosity, we determine a distance modulus to the LMC of 18.36 +/- 0.17 mag, and to the SMC of 18.82 +/- 0.20 mag. Our alternate red clump LMC distance is consistent with the value (m-M){LMC} = 18.50 +/- 0.10 adopted by the HST Cepheid Key Project. We briefly examine model predictions of red clump luminosity, and find that variations in helium abundance and core mass could bring the Clouds closer by some 0.10--0.15 mag, but not by the ~0.4 mag that would result from setting the mean absolute I-magnitude of the Cloud red clumps equal to the that of the Solar neighborhood red clump.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, AASTeX 4.0, 10 pages, 1 postscript figur

Single spin-polarised Fermi surface in SrTiO3_3 thin films

The 2D electron gas (2DEG) formed at the surface of SrTiO$_3$(001) has attracted great interest because of its fascinating physical properties and potential as a novel electronic platform, but up to now has eluded a comprehensible way to tune its properties. Using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy with and without spin detection we here show that the band filling can be controlled by growing thin SrTiO$_3$ films on Nb doped SrTiO$_3$(001) substrates. This results in a single spin-polarised 2D Fermi surface, which bears potential as platform for Majorana physics. Based on our results it can furthermore be concluded that the 2DEG does not extend more than 2 unit cells into the film and that its properties depend on the amount of SrO$_x$ at the surface and possibly the dielectric response of the system

Development of a Meteorologically Instrumented Small Transition Unmanned Aerial System For Urban Boundary Layer Investigations

It is estimated that more than 55% of the world’s population is currently living in urban areas and this number is expected to grow to 70% by 2050. The environment that houses this population is the urban boundary layer (UBL). The UBL is the portion of the atmospheric boundary layer whose characteristics are modified by the presence of a city and is regarded as one of the most complex and least understood environments. In order to investigate this region, an electric hybrid (transition) unmanned aerial system (UAS) was meteorologically instrumented. A hybrid UAS allows the meteorological sensor suite to be protected during vertical launch and recovery, allows for more deployment options in an urban environment, and capitalizes on the efficiency of forward flight. This work, under mentoring by Dr. Kevin Adkins, details the design, assembly and integration of the sensor suite that consists of a multi-hole pressure probe along with a temperature and humidity sensor. Each sensor’s data is time and geo-stamped and subsequently post-processed. The instrumented platform is planned to be fielded during the summer of 2020 and beyond

Small-Area Estimation for the USDA Forest Service, National Woodland Owner Survey: Creating a Fine-Scale Land Cover and Ownership Layer to Support County-Level Population Estimates

Small area estimation is a powerful modeling technique in which ancillary data can be utilized to “borrow” additional information, effectively increasing sample sizes in small spatial, temporal, or categorical domains. Though more commonly applied to biophysical variables within the study of forest inventory analyses, small area estimation can also be implemented in the context of understanding social values, behaviors, and trends among types of forest landowners within small domains. Here, we demonstrate a method for deriving a continuous fine-scale land cover and ownership layer for the state of Delaware, United States, and an application of that ancillary layer to facilitate small-area estimation of several variables from the USDA Forest Service’s National Woodland Owner Survey. Utilizing a proprietary parcel layer alongside the National Land Cover Database, we constructed a continuous layer with 10-meter resolution depicting land cover and land ownership classes. We found that the National Woodland Owner Survey state-level estimations of total acreage and total ownerships by ownership class were generally within one standard error of the population values calculated from the raster layer, which supported the direct calculation of several population-level summary variables at the county levels. Subsequently, we compare design-based and model-based methods of predicting commercial harvesting by family forest ownerships in Delaware in which forest ownership acreage, taken from the parcel map, was utilized to inform the model-based approach. Results show general agreement between the two modes, indicating that a small area estimation approach can be utilized successfully in this context and shows promise for other variables, especially if additional variables, e.g., United States Census Bureau data, are also incorporated

Normothermic versus hypothermic cardiopulmonary bypass in children undergoing open heart surgery (thermic-2):study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: During open heart surgery, patients are connected to a heart-lung bypass machine that pumps blood around the body (“perfusion”) while the heart is stopped. Typically the blood is cooled during this procedure (“hypothermia”) and warmed to normal body temperature once the operation has been completed. The main rationale for “whole body cooling” is to protect organs such as the brain, kidneys, lungs, and heart from injury during bypass by reducing the body’s metabolic rate and decreasing oxygen consumption. However, hypothermic perfusion also has disadvantages that can contribute toward an extended postoperative hospital stay. Research in adults and small randomized controlled trials in children suggest some benefits to keeping the blood at normal body temperature throughout surgery (“normothermia”). However, the two techniques have not been extensively compared in children. OBJECTIVE: The Thermic-2 study will test the hypothesis that the whole body inflammatory response to the nonphysiological bypass and its detrimental effects on different organ functions may be attenuated by maintaining the body at 35°C-37°C (normothermic) rather than 28°C (hypothermic) during pediatric complex open heart surgery. METHODS: This is a single-center, randomized controlled trial comparing the effectiveness and acceptability of normothermic versus hypothermic bypass in 141 children with congenital heart disease undergoing open heart surgery. Children having scheduled surgery to repair a heart defect not requiring deep hypothermic circulatory arrest represent the target study population. The co-primary clinical outcomes are duration of inotropic support, intubation time, and postoperative hospital stay. Secondary outcomes are in-hospital mortality and morbidity, blood loss and transfusion requirements, pre- and post-operative echocardiographic findings, routine blood gas and blood test results, renal function, cerebral function, regional oxygen saturation of blood in the cerebral cortex, assessment of genomic expression changes in cardiac tissue biopsies, and neuropsychological development. RESULTS: A total of 141 patients have been successfully randomized over 2 years and 10 months and are now being followed-up for 1 year. Results will be published in 2015. CONCLUSIONS: We believe this to be the first large pragmatic study comparing clinical outcomes during normothermic versus hypothermic bypass in complex open heart surgery in children. It is expected that this work will provide important information to improve strategies of cardiopulmonary bypass perfusion and therefore decrease the inevitable organ damage that occurs during nonphysiological body perfusion. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN Registry: ISRCTN93129502, http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN93129502 (Archived by WebCitation at http://www.webcitation.org/6Yf5VSyyG)

Surgical-PEARL protocol:a multicentre prospective cohort study exploring aetiology, management and outcomes for patients with congenital anomalies potentially requiring surgical intervention

INTRODUCTION: Congenital anomalies affect over 2% of pregnancies. Surgical advances have reduced mortality and improved survival for patients with congenital anomalies potentially requiring surgical (CAPRS) intervention. However, our understanding of aetiology, diagnostic methods, optimal management, outcomes and prognostication is limited. Existing birth cohorts have low numbers of individual heterogenous CAPRS. The Surgical Paediatric congEnital Anomalies Registry with Long term follow-up (Surgical-PEARL) study aims to establish a multicentre prospective fetal, child and biological parent cohort of CAPRS. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: From 2022 to 2027, Surgical-PEARL aims to recruit 2500 patients with CAPRS alongside their biological mothers and fathers from up to 15 UK centres. Recruitment will be antenatal or postnatal dependent on diagnosis timing and presentation to a recruitment site. Routine clinical data including antenatal scans and records, neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) records, diagnostic and surgical data and hospital episode statistics will be collected. A detailed biobank of samples will include: parents’ blood and urine samples; amniotic fluid if available; children’s blood and urine samples on admission to NICU, perioperatively or if the child has care withdrawn or is transferred for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation; stool samples; and surplus surgical tissue. Parents will complete questionnaires including sociodemographic and health data. Follow-up outcome and questionnaire data will be collected for 5 years. Once established we will explore the potential of comparing findings in Surgical-PEARL to general population cohorts born in the same years and centres. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical and health research authority approvals have been granted (IRAS Project ID: 302251; REC reference number 22/SS/0004). Surgical-PEARL is adopted onto the National Institute for Health Research Clinical Research Network portfolio. Findings will be disseminated widely through peer-reviewed publication, conference presentations and through patient organisations and newsletters. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN12557586

Three-Dimensional Printing of Fetal Models of Congenital Heart Disease Derived From Microfocus Computed Tomography: A Case Series

This article presents a case series of n = 21 models of fetal cardiovascular anatomies obtained from post mortem microfocus computed tomography (micro-CT) data. The case series includes a broad range of diagnoses (e.g., tetralogy of Fallot, hypoplastic left heart syndrome, dextrocardia, double outlet right ventricle, atrio-ventricular septal defect) and cases also had a range of associated extra-cardiac malformations (e.g., VACTERL syndrome, central nervous system anomalies, renal anomalies). All cases were successfully reconstructed from the microfocus computed tomography data, demonstrating the feasibility of the technique and of the protocols, including in-house printing with a desktop 3D printer (Form2, Formlabs). All models were printed in 1:1 scale as well as with the 5-fold magnification, to provide insight into the intra-cardiac structures. Possible uses of the models include education and training