Video signal processing system uses gated current mode switches to perform high speed multiplication and digital-to-analog conversion

Video signal processor uses special-purpose integrated circuits with nonsaturating current mode switching to accept texture and color information from a digital computer in a visual spaceflight simulator and to combine these, for display on color CRT with analog information concerning fading

A note on the comparison of three near infrared reflectance spectroscopy calibration strategies for assessing herbage quality of ryegrass

peer-reviewedPerennial ryegrass (n = 1,836), Italian ryegrass (n = 137) and hybrid ryegrass (n = 103) herbage was taken from harvested plots from the Irish national variety evaluation scheme and analysed for in vitro dry matter digestibility, water soluble carbohydrate concentration, crude protein concentration and buffering capacity. Spectral data were obtained using near infrared reflectance spectroscopy and three calibration strategies (global, species-specific or local) were utilised to relate the reference values to the spectral data. The local strategy generally provided the poorest estimation of herbage composition, with global and species-specific calibration strategies producing similarly accurate estimates of each quality trait. The higher accuracy and easier maintenance of the global strategy make it the recommended calibration method for analysing quality of ryegrass.Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine Research Stimulus Fund (07 526

Comparison of herbage yield, nutritive value and ensilability traits of three ryegrass species evaluated for the Irish Recommended List

peer-reviewedThis study examined 169 of the newest varieties of three ryegrass species, perennial (Lolium perenne L.), Italian (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) and hybrid (Lolium boucheanum Kunth), from Recommended List trials in Ireland. The traits examined were yield, dry matter concentration, three nutritive value traits (in vitro dry matter digestibility, water-soluble carbohydrate on a dry matter basis and crude protein concentration) and two ensilability traits (buffering capacity and water soluble carbohydrate concentration on an aqueous phase basis). Varietal monocultures of each species underwent a six cut combined simulated grazing and silage management in each of two years following sowing. Perennial ryegrass yielded less than both other species in one-year-old swards, but less than only Italian ryegrass in two-year-old swards, but generally had the higher in vitro dry matter digestibility and crude protein values. Italian ryegrass displayed the most favourable ensilability characteristics of the three species with perennial ryegrass less favourable and hybrid ryegrass intermediate. Overall, despite the high yields and favourable nutritive value and ensilability traits recorded, the general differences between the three ryegrass species studied were in line with industry expectations. These findings justify assessing the nutritive value and ensilability of ryegrass species, in addition to yield, to allow farmers select species that match farming enterprise requirements.We acknowledge the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine for funding provided through the Research Stimulus Fund (07 526

Selection of calibration sub-sets to predict ryegrass quality using principle component analysis for near infrared spectroscopy

peer-reviewedNear infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) has become the routine method of assessing forage quality on grass evaluation and breeding programmes. NIRS requires predictive calibration models that relate spectral data to reference values developed using a calibration set (Burns et al. 2013). The samples that form the calibration set influence the accuracy and reliability of these models and need to be representative of samples that will likely be analysed (Shenk and Westerhaus, 1991; Burns et al. 2014). Analysing samples from the calibration set using reference techniques has a significant cost and time associated and needs to be considered in the context of the desired accuracy and robustness of calibration models. Calibration selection techniques can therefore maximise the accuracy and robustness of calibration models whilst reducing the number of samples requiring reference analysis. One such method is principal component analysis (PCA; Shenk and Westerhaus, 1991) whereby Shetty et al. (2012) reported that the number of samples could be reduced by up to 80% with a minimal loss in accuracy of calibration model. PCA selects representative calibration sub-sets through plotting all the samples in hyper-dimensional space, based on spectral data, and a sample is selected to represent a local neighbourhood cluster of samples for reference analysis. The aim of this research was to assess the accuracy of NIRS calibration models for buffering capacity, in vitro dry matter digestibility (DMD) and water soluble carbohydrate (WSC) content developed using calibration sub-sets selected by PCA.Funding provided by the National Development Plan, Research Stimulus Fund administrated by DAFM (RSF –07 526)

An evidence-based method for targeting an abusive head trauma prevention media campaign and its evaluation

BACKGROUND: A triple-dose abusive head trauma (AHT) prevention program (Period of PURPLE Crying) was implemented. The third dose consisted of an education media campaign. The study objectives were to describe the qualitative and spatial methods developed to target AHT prevention and to evaluate this campaign. METHODS: A questionnaire on the level of importance of factors, rated on a 7-point Likert scale, was distributed to a panel of experts to determine the best advertising locations. Ranked factors were used to create weights for statistical modeling and mapping within a Geographic Information Systems to determine optimal ad locations. The media campaign was evaluated via a telephone survey of randomly selected households. RESULTS: The survey found locations of new families, high population density, and high percentage of lone parents to be the most important factors for selecting billboard sites. Spatial analysis revealed six areas that ranked highest in our factors. Five billboards, four media posters, and six transit shelters were selected for our advertisements. A population-based telephone survey revealed that 23% of respondents knew the campaign. Nearly half (42%) heard the radio public service announcements, and 9% saw billboards. CONCLUSION: Extending primary prevention efforts to the public helps to create a cultural change in the way inconsolable crying, the trigger for AHT, is viewed. With the use of ranked factors and Geographic Information Systems, geographic locations with high visibility and specific risk factors for AHTwere identified for targeting the campaign, facilitating the likelihood that our message was reaching the population in greatest need

Hip Fracture Types in Men and Women Change Differently with Age

BACKGROUND: Hip fractures are expensive and a frequent cause of morbidity and mortality in the elderly. In most studies hip fractures have been viewed as a unitary fracture but recently the two main types of fracture (intertrochanteric and subcapital) have been viewed as two fractures with a different etiology and requiring a different approach to prevention. The relative proportion of intertrochanteric fractures increases with age in women. In previous studies no particular pattern in men has been noted. In this study, we explored changes in the relative proportion of the two fracture types with age in the two genders. METHODS: Patients of 50 years and older, with a diagnosis of hip fracture, discharged from two local acute care hospitals over a 5 year period (n = 2150) were analyzed as a function of age and gender to explore the relative proportions of intertrochanteric and subcapital fractures, and the change in relative proportion in the two genders with age. RESULTS: Overall, for the genders combined, the proportion of intertrochanteric fractures increases with age (p = .007). In women this increase is significant (p \u3c .001), but in men the opposite pattern is observed, with the proportion of intertrochanteric fractures falling significantly with age (p = .025). CONCLUSIONS: The pattern of hip fractures is different in men and women with aging. It is likely that the pattern difference reflects differences in type and rate of bone loss in the genders, but it is conjectured that the changing rate and pattern of falling with increasing age may also be important. The two main hip fracture types should be considered distinct and different and be studied separately in studies of cause and prevention

Kepler Mission Stellar and Instrument Noise Properties

Kepler Mission results are rapidly contributing to fundamentally new discoveries in both the exoplanet and asteroseismology fields. The data returned from Kepler are unique in terms of the number of stars observed, precision of photometry for time series observations, and the temporal extent of high duty cycle observations. As the first mission to provide extensive time series measurements on thousands of stars over months to years at a level hitherto possible only for the Sun, the results from Kepler will vastly increase our knowledge of stellar variability for quiet solar-type stars. Here we report on the stellar noise inferred on the timescale of a few hours of most interest for detection of exoplanets via transits. By design the data from moderately bright Kepler stars are expected to have roughly comparable levels of noise intrinsic to the stars and arising from a combination of fundamental limitations such as Poisson statistics and any instrument noise. The noise levels attained by Kepler on-orbit exceed by some 50% the target levels for solar-type, quiet stars. We provide a decomposition of observed noise for an ensemble of 12th magnitude stars arising from fundamental terms (Poisson and readout noise), added noise due to the instrument and that intrinsic to the stars. The largest factor in the modestly higher than anticipated noise follows from intrinsic stellar noise. We show that using stellar parameters from galactic stellar synthesis models, and projections to stellar rotation, activity and hence noise levels reproduces the primary intrinsic stellar noise features.Comment: Accepted by ApJ; 26 pages, 20 figure

Seasonal variation in hospital encounters with hypoglycaemia and hyperglycaemia

Aim To assess whether rates of hospital encounters with hypoglycaemia and hyperglycaemia display seasonal variation. Methods Time series analyses of the monthly rates of hospital encounters (emergency room visits or inpatient admissions) with hypoglycaemia and hyperglycaemia from 2003 to 2012 using linked healthcare databases in Ontario, Canada. Results Over the study period, there were 129 887 hypoglycaemia and 79 773 hyperglycaemia encounters. The characteristics of people at the time of their encounters were similar across the seasons in 2008 (median age 68 years for hypoglycaemia encounters and 53 years for hyperglycaemia encounters; 50% female; 90% with diabetes). We observed moderate seasonality in both types of encounters (R2 autoregression coefficient 0.58 for hypoglycaemia; 0.59 for hyperglycaemia). The rate of hypoglycaemia encounters appeared to peak between April and June, when on average, there was an additional 49 encounters per month (0.36 encounters per 100 000 persons per month) compared with the other calendar months (5% increase). The rate of hyperglycaemia encounters appeared to peak in January, when on average, there was an additional 69 encounters per month (0.50 encounters per 100 000 persons per month) compared with the other calendar months (11% increase). Conclusions In our region, there is seasonal variation in the rate of hospital encounters with hypoglycaemia and hyperglycaemia. Our findings may help to highlight periods of vulnerability for people, may inform future epidemiological studies and may aid in the appropriate planning of healthcare resources

Hubble Space Telescope Transmission Spectroscopy of the Exoplanet HD 189733b: High-altitude atmospheric haze in the optical and near-UV with STIS

We present Hubble Space Telescope optical and near-ultraviolet transmission spectra of the transiting hot-Jupiter HD189733b, taken with the repaired Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) instrument. The resulting spectra cover the range 2900-5700 Ang and reach per-exposure signal-to-noise levels greater than 11,000 within a 500 Ang bandwidth. We used time series spectra obtained during two transit events to determine the wavelength dependance of the planetary radius and measure the exoplanet's atmospheric transmission spectrum for the first time over this wavelength range. Our measurements, in conjunction with existing HST spectra, now provide a broadband transmission spectrum covering the full optical regime. The STIS data also shows unambiguous evidence of a large occulted stellar spot during one of our transit events, which we use to place constraints on the characteristics of the K dwarf's stellar spots, estimating spot temperatures around Teff~4250 K. With contemporaneous ground-based photometric monitoring of the stellar variability, we also measure the correlation between the stellar activity level and transit-measured planet-to-star radius contrast, which is in good agreement with predictions. We find a planetary transmission spectrum in good agreement with that of Rayleigh scattering from a high-altitude atmospheric haze as previously found from HST ACS camera. The high-altitude haze is now found to cover the entire optical regime and is well characterised by Rayleigh scattering. These findings suggest that haze may be a globally dominant atmospheric feature of the planet which would result in a high optical albedo at shorter optical wavelengths.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figures, 4 tables, accepted to MNRAS, revised version has minor change