CosmoDM and its application to Pan-STARRS data

The Cosmology Data Management system (CosmoDM) is an automated and flexible data management system for the processing and calibration of data from optical photometric surveys. It is designed to run on supercomputers and to minimize disk I/O to enable scaling to very high throughput during periods of reprocessing. It serves as an early prototype for one element of the ground-based processing required by the Euclid mission and will also be employed in the preparation of ground based data needed in the eROSITA X-ray all sky survey mission. CosmoDM consists of two main pipelines. The first is the single-epoch or detrending pipeline, which is used to carry out the photometric and astrometric calibration of raw exposures. The second is the co- addition pipeline, which combines the data from individual exposures into deeper coadd images and science ready catalogs. A novel feature of CosmoDM is that it uses a modified stack of As- tromatic software which can read and write tile compressed images. Since 2011, CosmoDM has been used to process data from the DECam, the CFHT MegaCam and the Pan-STARRS cameras. In this paper we shall describe how processed Pan-STARRS data from CosmoDM has been used to optically confirm and measure photometric redshifts of Planck-based Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect selected cluster candidates.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures. Proceedings of Precision Astronomy with Fully Depleted CCDs Workshop (2014). Accepted for publication in JINS

An evaluation of the technique of use of metered dose inhaler administration in bronchial asthma children

Background: Inadequate understanding and performance of drug administration using metered-dose inhaler (MDI) in paediatric population affects therapeutic outcome. Hence, this study aimed to evaluate the impact of two educational interventional methods for usage of MDI in paediatric patients of bronchial asthma.Methods: This prospective, interventional study was done in paediatric asthma patients who were prescribed drugs with (MDI) with/without spacer at outpatient department of pediatrics. Patients were divided in group A (video) or group B (leaflet) as per random table method and method to use MDI was assessed by using checklist as per WHO guide to good prescribing at baseline. Investigator taught the technique by a video (group A) and leaflet (group B) to the selected population. Patients were followed up after 15 days and assessed for use of MDI using the same checklist. Data were analysed by using paired and unpaired ‘t’-test.Results: A total of 100 pediatric asthma patients were included in study group A (50) and group B (50). The average no. of steps (WHO checklist) followed was significantly improved at post intervention in both group A (with spacer, p<0.0001) as well as B (without spacer, p<0.05). Although average no. of steps followed were more in group A, no significant difference was found between two groups after intervention.Conclusions: As video is an audio-visual method of demonstration, and hence help us memorise the step of inhalational technique in pediatric patients. Repeated demonstration/education to patients/caregivers may improve the method of MDI usage

An intensive monitoring of adverse drug reactions in pediatric hospitalized patients of a tertiary care hospital

Background: Children are at a higher risk of therapeutic failure due to major difference in pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamics of drugs, off-label use and divergence of their illness from adult. The safety of drugs used in adult patients cannot be extrapolated to a pediatric age group. Hence, this study aimed to evaluate the incidence and overall pattern of adverse drug reactions in pediatric patients hospitalized in pediatric wards at a tertiary care hospital in India.Methods: Pediatric patients up to 12 years hospitalized in two randomly selected pediatric units were enrolled and followed up daily till discharge. Detailed information of patients and ADRs (adverse drug reactions) if any were recorded from case records. ADRs were assessed for incidence, onset, duration, management, outcome, causality, severity, preventability, seriousness and risk factors. Appropriateness of drug treatment in patients with ADRs was analyzed using Phadke’s criteria. Data was analyzed using student’s t test, ANOVA and Chi square test.Results: A total of 700 patients were enrolled (mean age 3.95±0.12 years). A total of 66 ADRs observed in 58 patients. Intravenous (70.4%) being most common route for ADRs. The incidence of ADRs was 8.28%. Majority of ADRs occurred within 1 day, commonly affected skin and appendages followed by (28.78%), GI (25.75%) ADRs were frequently associated with antimicrobials (69.38%) and vaccines and sera (12.24%). Majority of reactions were mild (56%%), non-serious (77.2%), not preventable (95.4%), recovered completely at discharge (83.33%) and had possible (77.2%) causal association with suspect drug. Age group 0-3 years and prescription of ≥5 drugs were risk factors for occurrence of ADRs. Semi rational drug therapy was observed in 65.5% patients.Conclusions: Clinicians should be vigilant regarding occurrence of ADRs in pediatrics especially during the first week of hospitalization. Risk factors like 0-3 years of age and multiple drugs should be taken into consideration during treatment of these patients to help minimize adverse drug reactions

Attitudes to self-sampling for HPV among Indian, Pakistani, African-Caribbean and white British women in Manchester, UK

Objective: To examine attitudes to self-sampling for human papillomavirus (HPV) testing among women from contrasting ethnic groups.Setting: Manchester, UK.Methods: Two hundred women of Indian, Pakistani, African-Caribbean and white British origin were recruited from social and community groups to participate in a questionnaire survey. The questionnaire included items on attitudes to self-sampling and intention to use the test.Results: Willingness to try to use the test was high, and women did not foresee religious or cultural barriers to self-sampling; however, a large proportion of women were concerned about doing the test properly. This concern was greatest in the Indian and African-Caribbean groups.Conclusions: Although women's willingness to try self-sampling for HPV is encouraging, worries about carrying out the procedure correctly must be addressed if women are to feel confident about the results of self-sampling methods and reassured by a negative result

The Sizes of 1720 MHz OH Masers: VLBA and MERLIN Observations of the Supernova Remnants W44 and W28

We have used the NRAO Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) to image OH(1720 MHz) masers in the supernova remnants W28 and W44 at a resolution of 40 mas. We also used MERLIN to observe the same OH(1720 MHz) masers in W44 at a resolution of 290 x 165 mas. All the masers are resolved by these VLBA and MERLIN observations. The measured sizes range from 50 to 180 mas and yield brightness temperature estimates from 0.3--20 x 10**8 K. We investigate whether these measured angular sizes are intrinsic and hence originate as a result of the physical conditions in the supernova remnant shock, or whether they are scatter broadened sizes produced by the turbulent ionized gas along the line of sight. While the current data on the temporal and angular broadening of pulsars, masers and extragalactic soures toward W44 and W28 can be understood in terms of scattering, we cannot rule out that these large sizes are intrinsic. Recent theoretical modeling by Lockett et al. suggests that the physical parameters in the shocked region are indicative of densities and OH abundances which lead to estimates of sizes as large as what we measure. If the sizes and structure are intrinsic, then the OH(1720 MHz) masrs may be more like the OH(1612 MHz) masers in circumstellar shells than OH masers associated with HII regions. At two locations in W28 we observe the classical S-shapes in the Stokes V profiles caused by Zeeman splitting and use it to infer magnetic fields of order 2 milliGauss.Comment: 24 pages, 6 figures, accepted by Ap

Complex networks generated by the Penna bit-string model: emergence of small-world and assortative mixing

The Penna bit-string model successfully encompasses many phenomena of population evolution, including inheritance, mutation, evolution, and aging. If we consider social interactions among individuals in the Penna model, the population will form a complex network. In this paper, we first modify the Verhulst factor to control only the birth rate, and introduce activity-based preferential reproduction of offspring in the Penna model. The social interactions among individuals are generated by both inheritance and activity-based preferential increase. Then we study the properties of the complex network generated by the modified Penna model. We find that the resulting complex network has a small-world effect and the assortative mixing property

Persistent time intervals between features in solar flare hard X-ray emission

Several solar hard X-ray events (greater than 100 keV) were observed simultaneously with identical instruments on the Venera 11, 12, 13, 14, and Prognoz spacecraft. High time resolution (= 2 ms) data were stored in memory when a trigger occurred. The observations of modulation are presented with a period of 1.6 s for the event on December 3, 1978. Evidence is also presented for fast time fluctuations from an event on November 6, 1979, observed from Venera 12 and another on September 6, 1981, observed from the Solar Maximum Mission. Power spectrum analysis, epoch folding, and Monte Carlo simulation were used to evaluate the statistical significance of persistent time delays between features. The results are discussed in light of the MHD model proposed by Zaitsev and Stepanov

Glass/epoxy fiber orientation effects on translaminar fracture toughness under Mixed mode(I/II) load using FPB specimen

To study glass/epoxy fiber orientation effects on translaminar fracture toughness under Mixed mode(I/II) load using asymmetric Four Point Bend specimen. Fracture toughness values for different fiber-oriented glass/epoxy laminates under Mixed modes are compared with unidirectional glass/epoxy laminates. Specimens were fabricated using hand layup technique with (0/45)° and (0/90)° fiber oriented glass fiber. The experimental study was conducted for 6 crack positions varying from 0 to 1 with an increment of 0.2 for Four Point Bend specimen. The specimens were tested under universal testing machine to obtain peak loads and further evaluate fracture toughness. The experimental test results show fracture toughness can be increased by orienting the fiber in the laminate. Fracture toughness is highly dominating for (0/90)° fiber-oriented laminates compared to 0° and (0/45)° glass/epoxy laminates

A γ\gamma-ray determination of the Universe's star-formation history

The light emitted by all galaxies over the history of the Universe produces the extragalactic background light (EBL) at ultraviolet, optical, and infrared wavelengths. The EBL is a source of opacity for $\gamma$ rays via photon-photon interactions, leaving an imprint in the spectra of distant $\gamma$-ray sources. We measure this attenuation using {739} active galaxies and one gamma-ray burst detected by the {\it Fermi} Large Area Telescope. This allows us to reconstruct the evolution of the EBL and determine the star-formation history of the Universe over 90\% of cosmic time. Our star-formation history is consistent with independent measurements from galaxy surveys, peaking at redshift $z\sim2$. Upper limits of the EBL at the epoch of re-ionization suggest a turnover in the abundance of faint galaxies at $z\sim 6$.Comment: Published on Science. This is the authors' version of the manuscrip

Earth‐Moon‐Mars Radiation Environment Module framework

[1] We are preparing to return humans to the Moon and setting the stage for exploration to Mars and beyond. However, it is unclear if long missions outside of low-Earth orbit can be accomplished with acceptable risk. The central objective of a new modeling project, the Earth-Moon-Mars Radiation Exposure Module (EMMREM), is to develop and validate a numerical module for characterizing time-dependent radiation exposure in the Earth-Moon-Mars and interplanetary space environments. EMMREM is being designed for broad use by researchers to predict radiation exposure by integrating over almost any incident particle distribution from interplanetary space. We detail here the overall structure of the EMMREM module and study the dose histories of the 2003 Halloween storm event and a June 2004 event. We show both the event histories measured at 1 AU and the evolution of these events at observer locations beyond 1 AU. The results are compared to observations at Ulysses. The model allows us to predict how the radiation environment evolves with radial distance from the Sun. The model comparison also suggests areas in which our understanding of the physics of particle propagation and energization needs to be improved to better forecast the radiation environment. Thus, we introduce the suite of EMMREM tools, which will be used to improve risk assessment models so that future human exploration missions can be adequately planned for