Mean grain diameters from thin sections: matching the average to the problem

It is common practice to estimate a mean diameter for spherical or sub-spherical particles or vesicles in a rock by multiplying the average diameter of the approximately circular cross-sections visible in thin-section by a factor of 1.273. This number-weighted average may be dominated by the hard-to-measure fine tail of the size distribution, and is unlikely to be representative of the average particle diameter of greatest interest for a wide range of geological problems or processes. Average particle size can be quantified in a variety of ways, based on the mass or surface area of the particles, and here we provide exact relations of these different average measures to straightforward measurements possible in thin-section, including an analysis of how many particles to measure to achieve a desired level of uncertainty. The use of average particle diameter is illustrated firstly with a consideration of the accumulation of olivine phenocrysts on the floor of the 135m thick picrodolerite/crinanite unit of the Shiant Isles Main Sill. We show that the 45m thick crystal pile on the sill floor could have formed by crystal settling within a few months. The second geological example is provided by an analysis of the sizes of exsolved Fe-rich droplets during unmixing of a basaltic melt in a suite of experimental charges. We show that the size distribution cannot be explained by sudden nucleation, followed by either Ostwald ripening or Brownian coalescence. We deduce that a continuous process of droplet nucleation during cooling is likely to have occurred

Aldebaran b's temperate past uncovered in planet search data

The nearby red giant Aldebaran is known to host a gas giant planetary companion from decades of ground-based spectroscopic radial velocity measurements. Using Gaussian Process-based Continuous Auto-Regressive Moving Average (CARMA) models, we show that these historic data also contain evidence of acoustic oscillations in the star itself, and verify this result with further dedicated ground-based spectroscopy and space-based photometry with the Kepler Space Telescope. From the frequency of these oscillations we determine the mass of Aldebaran to be $1.16 \pm 0.07 \, M_\odot$, and note that this implies its planet will have been subject to insolation comparable to the Earth for some of the star's main sequence lifetime. Our approach to sparse, irregularly sampled time series astronomical observations has the potential to unlock asteroseismic measurements for thousands of stars in archival data, and push to lower-mass planets around red giant stars.Comment: 24 pages, 7 figures (including appendices); submitted to ApJL; paper text, figures, data, and code at https://github.com/farr/Aldebara

Manual de la Sala Amiga de la Familia Lactante: Lineamientos para la instalación de espacios de extracción segura de leche humana en entornos laborales

Teniendo en cuenta el valor de la lactancia en los procesos de salud de mujeres y niños/as, y considerando la importancia de las características de los contextos para favorecer la continuidad, se destaca el valor de las salas de extracción de leche humana como espacios que brindan a las mujeres madres las condiciones adecuadas para realizar la extracción y conservación de la leche materna bajo normas técnicas de seguridad, para luego transportarla y disponer de ella para alimentar al niño/a. De esta manera se favorece la reincorporación a la actividad laboral luego de haber cumplido la licencia por maternidad, con la finalidad de contribuir a garantizar los derechos de la mujer que trabaja fuera del hogar, a practicar la lactancia humana y a tomar decisiones informadas libres de presiones comerciales, a la vez que garantiza el derecho de los niños y niñas a una alimentación saludable como lo es la leche de su propia mamá.A través de este manual se propone promover el sostenimiento de la práctica del amamantamiento en mujeres-madres que regresan a las actividades laborales reconociendo los derechos de la madre, del/la niño/a y de la familia.¿Cuál es el objetivo de este manual?Brindar herramientas para la transformación de los entornos laborales en ámbitos favorables a la práctica de la lactancia humana.¿A quién está dirigido este manual?Este manual está dirigido a todas las personas, instituciones, empresas y agrupaciones gremiales interesadas en mejorar los espacios de trabajo para adecuarlos a las necesidades de las mujeres lactantes trabajadoras, contribuyendo así a una mejor experiencia en la práctica de la lactancia y a un mayor rendimiento laboral.Fil: Grande, María del Carmen. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Medicina. Escuela de Nutrición; ArgentinaFil: Román, María Dolores. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Salud. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Salud; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Medicina. Escuela de Salud Pública; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Medicina. Escuela de Nutrición; ArgentinaFil: Niclis, Camila. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Salud. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Salud; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Medicina. Escuela de Nutrición; ArgentinaFil: Lambert, Victoria de Los Milagros. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Medicina. Escuela de Nutrición; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Salud. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Salud; ArgentinaFil: Miranda, Virginia. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Medicina. Escuela de Nutrición; ArgentinaFil: Vallejos, Florencia. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Medicina. Escuela de Nutrición; ArgentinaFil: Farr, Ailín. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Medicina. Escuela de Nutrición; ArgentinaFil: Campero, Micaela. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Medicina. Escuela de Nutrición; ArgentinaFil: Carreño, Paula. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Medicina. Escuela de Nutrición; Argentin

Public Private Partnerships in California: Phase II Report: Section VI: Market for Private Capital

This section of the report assesses the current US transportation P3 market based on research, historical data, and interviews with people who work at firms in the P3 industry. It includes three parts: P3-market data sources, a summary of the interviews, and our conclusions

The cost of implementing the COVID-19 shielding policy in Wales

Background: The EVITE Immunity study investigated the effects of shielding Clinically Extremely Vulnerable (CEV) people during the COVID-19 pandemic on health outcomes and healthcare costs in Wales, United Kingdom, to help prepare for future pandemics. Shielding was intended to protect those at highest risk of serious harm from COVID-19. We report the cost of implementing shielding in Wales. Methods: The number of people shielding was extracted from the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage Databank. Resources supporting shielding between March and June 2020 were mapped using published reports, web pages, freedom of information requests to Welsh Government and personal communications (e.g. with the office of the Chief Medical Officer for Wales). Results: At the beginning of shielding, 117,415 people were on the shielding list. The total additional cost to support those advised to stay home during the initial 14 weeks of the pandemic was £13,307,654 (£113 per person shielded). This included the new resources required to compile the shielding list, inform CEV people of the shielding intervention and provide medicine and food deliveries. The list was adjusted weekly over the 3-month period (130,000 people identified by June 2020). Therefore the cost per person shielded lies between £102 and £113 per person. Conclusion: This is the first evaluation of the cost of the measures put in place to support those identified to shield in Wales. However, no data on opportunity cost was available. The true costs of shielding including its budget impact and opportunity costs need to be investigated to decide whether shielding is a worthwhile policy for future health emergencies

The ethics of fertility treatment for same-sex male couples:Considerations for a modern fertility clinic

Social and legal equality for same-sex male couples continues to grow in many countries. Consequently, increasing numbers of same-sex male couples are seeking assisted reproductive technology to achieve parenthood. Fertility treatment for same-sex male couples is an undoubtedly complex issue and raises a variety of ethical concerns. Relevant considerations include ethical issues relating to the surrogate and a possible egg donor, the commissioning same-sex couple, the welfare of the child and the fertility clinic itself. This work analyses these arguments in the context of modern fertility services, providing reflection on the evidence present and what it means for clinicians today. Herein, we argue that fertility treatment for same-sex male couples via surrogacy agreements are acceptable, subject to considerations of each individual case, as in all assisted reproductive treatment. It is in the interest of open and equal access to health services that barriers to assisted reproductive technology for same-sex male couples should be minimised where possible.</p

Potent Innate Immune Response to Pathogenic Leptospira in Human Whole Blood

Background: Leptospirosis is caused by pathogenic spirochetes of the genus Leptospira. The bacteria enter the human body via abraded skin or mucous membranes and may disseminate throughout. In general the clinical picture is mild but some patients develop rapidly progressive, severe disease with a high case fatality rate. Not much is known about the innate immune response to leptospires during haematogenous dissemination. Previous work showed that a human THP-1 cell line recognized heat-killed leptospires and leptospiral LPS through TLR2 instead of TLR4. The LPS of virulent leptospires displayed a lower potency to trigger TNF production by THP-1 cells compared to LPS of non-virulent leptospires. Methodology/Principal Findings: We investigated the host response and killing of virulent and non-virulent Leptospira of different serovars by human THP-1 cells, human PBMC's and human whole blood. Virulence of each leptospiral strain was tested in a well accepted standard guinea pig model. Virulent leptospires displayed complement resistance in human serum and whole blood while in-vitro attenuated non-virulent leptospires were rapidly killed in a complement dependent manner. In vitro stimulation of THP-1 and PBMC's with heat-killed and living leptospires showed differential serovar and cell type dependence of cytokine induction. However, at low, physiological, leptospiral dose, living virulent complement resistant strains were consistently more potent in whole blood stimulations than the corresponding non-virulent complement sensitive strains. At higher dose living virulent and non-virulent leptospires were equipotent in whole blood. Inhibition of different TLRs indicated that both TLR2 and TLR4 as well as TLR5 play a role in the whole blood cytokine response to living leptospires. Conclusions/Significance: Thus, in a minimally altered system as human whole blood, highly virulent Leptospira are potent inducers of the cytokine response