Analytical models for Cross-correlation signal in Time-Distance Helioseismology

In time-distance helioseismology, the time signals (Doppler shifts) at two points on the solar surface, separated by a fixed angular distance are cross-correlated, and this leads to a wave packet signal. Accurately measuring the travel times of these wave packets is crucial for inferring the sub-surface properties in the Sun. The observed signal is quite noisy, and to improve the signal-to-noise ratio and make the cross-correlation more robust, the temporal oscillation signal is phase-speed filtered at the two points in order to select waves that travel a fixed horizontal distance. Hence a new formula to estimate the travel times is derived, in the presence of a phase speed filter, and it includes both the radial and horizontal component of the oscillation displacement signal. It generalizes the previously used Gabor wavelet that was derived without a phase speed filter and included only the radial component of the displacement. This is important since it will be consistent with the observed cross-correlation that is computed using a phase speed filter, and also it accounts for both the components of the displacement. The new formula depends on the location of the two points on the solar surface that are being cross correlated and accounts for the travel time shifts at different locations on the solar surface.Comment: 27 pages, 8 figures, ApJ in pres

Reducing Decisional Conflict and Enhancing Satisfaction with Information among Women Considering Breast Reconstruction following Mastectomy: Results from the BRECONDA Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Deciding whether or not to have breast reconstruction following breast cancer diagnosis is a complex decision process. This randomized controlled trial assessed the impact of an online decision aid [Breast RECONstruction Decision Aid (BRECONDA)] on breast reconstruction decision-making. Methods: Women (n = 222) diagnosed with breast cancer or ductal carcinoma in situ, and eligible for reconstruction following mastectomy, completed an online baseline questionnaire. They were then assigned randomly to receive either standard online information about breast reconstruction (control) or standard information plus access to BRECONDA (intervention). Participants then completed questionnaires at 1 and 6 months after randomization. The primary outcome was participants' decisional conflict 1 month after exposure to the intervention. Secondary outcomes included decisional conflict at 6 months, satisfaction with information at 1 and 6 months, and 6-month decisional regret. Results: Linear mixed-model analyses revealed that 1-month decisional conflict was significantly lower in the intervention group (27.18) compared with the control group (35.5). This difference was also sustained at the 6-month follow-up. Intervention participants reported greater satisfaction with information at 1- and 6-month follow-up, and there was a nonsignificant trend for lower decisional regret in the intervention group at 6-month follow-up. Intervention participants' ratings for BRECONDA demonstrated high user acceptability and overall satisfaction. Conclusions: Women who accessed BRECONDA benefited by experiencing significantly less decisional conflict and being more satisfied with information regarding the reconstruction decisional process than women receiving standard care alone. These findings support the efficacy of BRECONDA in helping women to arrive at their breast reconstruction decision

How Geography Curricula Tackle Global Issues

The late Doreen Massey recently urged teachers to ‘take on the world’ (Massey, 2014). Though we may see the everyday world as a mosaic of different places, nations or regions defined by their boundaries, a global understanding brings different perspectives: of flows and networks and interdependencies. If we take this seriously - if we do take on the world - then young people need ideas in order to provide new ways of seeing and thinking. Geography in this sense is a disciplinary resource that provides access to a particular form of powerful knowledge: in short, the means to be able to ‘think geographically’. This chapter opens up and presents this argument. In the first part we provide a platform in the form of analysis of geography curricula from three countries, identifying both the potentials and the challenges that teachers face. Where is ‘the global’, we ask, and in what ways do formal curriculum documents inspire or constrain us from ‘taking on the world’? The second part seeks to develop a disciplinary view of the school subject, appealing to the sometimes beguiling notion of powerful knowledge. We end by introducing a capabilities approach to thinking about the school subject which demonstrates the responsibility that inevitably falls to well-prepared teachers to enact the curriculum

Caregiver Recognition of Childhood Diarrhea, Care Seeking Behaviors and Home Treatment Practices in Rural Burkina Faso: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Introduction: To design effective national diarrhea control programs, including oral rehydration solution (ORS) and therapeutic zinc supplementation, information is needed on local perceptions of illness, external care seeking behaviors, and home treatment practices. Methods: A cross-sectional, community-based household survey was conducted in the Orodara Health District, Burkina Faso. Caregivers of 10,490 children,27 months were interviewed to assess child diarrhea prevalence and related car

Impact Monitoring of the National Scale Up of Zinc Treatment for Childhood Diarrhea in Bangladesh: Repeat Ecologic Surveys

Charles Larson and colleagues find that 23 months into a national campaign to scale up zinc treatment for diarrhea in children under age 5 years, only 10% of children with diarrhea in rural areas and 20%–25% in urban/municipal areas were getting the treatment

Have Anglo-Saxon concepts really influenced the development of European qualifications policy?

This paper considers how far Anglo-Saxon conceptions of have influenced European Union vocational education and training policy, especially given the disparate approaches to VET across Europe. Two dominant approaches can be identified: the dual system (exemplified by Germany); and output based models (exemplified by the NVQ ‘English style’). Within the EU itself, the design philosophy of the English output-based model proved in the first instance influential in attempts to develop tools to establish equivalence between vocational qualifications across Europe, resulting in the learning outcomes approach of the European Qualifications Framework, the credit-based model of European VET Credit System and the task-based construction of occupation profiles exemplified by European Skills, Competences and Occupations. The governance model for the English system is, however, predicated on employer demand for ‘skills’ and this does not fit well with the social partnership model encompassing knowledge, skills and competences that is dominant in northern Europe. These contrasting approaches have led to continual modifications to the tools, as these sought to harmonise and reconcile national VET requirements with the original design. A tension is evident in particular between national and regional approaches to vocational education and training, on the one hand, and the policy tools adopted to align European vocational education and training better with the demands of the labour market, including at sectoral level, on the other. This paper explores these tensions and considers the prospects for the successful operation of these tools, paying particular attention to the European Qualifications Framework, European VET Credit System and European Skills, Competences and Occupations tool and the relationships between them and drawing on studies of the construction and furniture industries