Tablet computers in assessing performance in a high stakes exam : opinion matters

The authors would like to thank Dr Craig brown, University of Aberdeen for assistance with data analysis.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Intensity of Rainfall and Severity of Melioidosis, Australia

In a 12-year prospective study of 318 culture-confirmed cases of melioidosis from the Top End of the Northern Territory of Australia, rainfall data for individual patient locations were correlated with patient risk factors, clinical parameters, and outcomes. Median rainfall in the 14 days before admission was highest for those dying with melioidosis (211 mm), in comparison to 110 mm for those surviving (p = 0.0002). Median 14-day rainfall was also significantly higher for those admitted with pneumonia. On univariate analysis, a prior 14-day rainfall of ≥125 mm was significantly correlated with pneumonia (odds ratio [OR] 1.70 [confidence interval [CI] 1.09 to 2.65]), bacteremia (OR 1.93 [CI 1.24 to 3.02]), septic shock (OR 1.94 [CI 1.14 to 3.29]), and death (OR 2.50 [CI 1.36 to 4.57]). On multivariate analysis, rainfall in the 14 days before admission was an independent risk factor for pneumonia (p = 0.023), bacteremic pneumonia (p = 0.001), septic shock (p = 0.005), and death (p < 0.0001). Heavy monsoonal rains and winds may cause a shift towards inhalation of Burkholderia pseudomallei

Automated reduction of submillimetre single-dish heterodyne data from the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope using ORAC-DR

With the advent of modern multi-detector heterodyne instruments that can result in observations generating thousands of spectra per minute it is no longer feasible to reduce these data as individual spectra. We describe the automated data reduction procedure used to generate baselined data cubes from heterodyne data obtained at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. The system can automatically detect baseline regions in spectra and automatically determine regridding parameters, all without input from a user. Additionally it can detect and remove spectra suffering from transient interference effects or anomalous baselines. The pipeline is written as a set of recipes using the ORAC-DR pipeline environment with the algorithmic code using Starlink software packages and infrastructure. The algorithms presented here can be applied to other heterodyne array instruments and have been applied to data from historical JCMT heterodyne instrumentation.Comment: 18 pages, 13 figures, submitted to Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Societ

On the General Ericksen-Leslie System: Parodi's Relation, Well-posedness and Stability

In this paper we investigate the role of Parodi's relation in the well-posedness and stability of the general Ericksen-Leslie system modeling nematic liquid crystal flows. First, we give a formal physical derivation of the Ericksen-Leslie system through an appropriate energy variational approach under Parodi's relation, in which we can distinguish the conservative/dissipative parts of the induced elastic stress. Next, we prove global well-posedness and long-time behavior of the Ericksen-Leslie system under the assumption that the viscosity $\mu_4$ is sufficiently large. Finally, under Parodi's relation, we show the global well-posedness and Lyapunov stability for the Ericksen-Leslie system near local energy minimizers. The connection between Parodi's relation and linear stability of the Ericksen-Leslie system is also discussed

Seeing statistics at the upgraded 3.8m UK infrared telescope (UKIRT)

From 1991 until 1997, the 3.8m UK Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) underwent a programme of upgrades aimed at improving its intrinsic optical performance. This resulted in images with a FWHM of 0."17 at 2.2 um in September 1998. To understand and maintain the improvements to the delivered image quality since the completion of the upgrades programme, we have regularly monitored the overall atmospheric seeing, as measured by radial displacements of subaperture images (i.e. seeing-generated focus fluctuations), and the delivered image diameters. The latter have been measured and recorded automatically since the beginning of 2001 whenever the facility imager UFTI (UKIRT Fast Track Imager) has been in use. In this paper we report the results of these measurements. We investigate the relation between the delivered image diameter and the RMS atmospheric seeing (as measured by focus fluctuations, mentioned above). We find that the best seeing occurs in the second half of the night, generally after 2am HST and that the best seeing occurs in the summer between the months of July and September. We also find that the relationship between Zrms and delivered image diameter is uncertain. As a result Zrms frequently predicts a larger FWHM than that measured in the images. Finally, we show that there is no correlation between near-infrared seeing measured at UKIRT and sub-mm seeing measured at the Caltech Submillimetre Observatory (CSO).Comment: 10 pages to appear in the SPIE proceeding vol. 4484 on Observatory Operations to Maximize Scientific Retur

Remarks on separating words

The separating words problem asks for the size of the smallest DFA needed to distinguish between two words of length <= n (by accepting one and rejecting the other). In this paper we survey what is known and unknown about the problem, consider some variations, and prove several new results

Enumeration and Decidable Properties of Automatic Sequences

We show that various aspects of k-automatic sequences -- such as having an unbordered factor of length n -- are both decidable and effectively enumerable. As a consequence it follows that many related sequences are either k-automatic or k-regular. These include many sequences previously studied in the literature, such as the recurrence function, the appearance function, and the repetitivity index. We also give some new characterizations of the class of k-regular sequences. Many results extend to other sequences defined in terms of Pisot numeration systems

Associations between children's diet quality and watching television during meal or snack consumption: a systematic review

Studies have identified an association between watching television (TV) and childhood obesity. This review adds context to existing research by examining the associations between TV viewing, whilst eating, and children's diet quality. Web of Science and PubMed databases were searched from January 2000 to June 2014. Cross-sectional trials of case control or cohort studies, which included baseline data, measuring the associations between eating whilst watching TV and children's food and drink intake. Quality of selected papers was assessed. Thirteen studies, representing 61,674 children aged 1–18 yrs, met inclusion criteria. Of six studies reporting overall food habits, all found a positive association between TV viewing and consumption of pizza, fried foods, sweets, and snacks. Of eight studies looking at fruit and vegetable consumption, seven identified a negative association with eating whilst watching TV (p < .0001). Four out of five studies identified a positive association between watching TV whilst eating and servings of sugar-sweetened beverages (p < .0001). Four studies identified an association between low socioeconomic status and increased likelihood of eating whilst watching TV (p ≤ .01). Family meals did not overcome the adverse impact on diet quality of having the TV on at mealtimes. Eating whilst watching television is associated with poorer diet quality among children, including more frequent consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and high-fat, high-sugar foods and fewer fruits and vegetables. Although these differences in consumption are small, the cumulative effect may contribute to the positive association between eating whilst watching TV and childhood obesity