Spectral Classification; Old and Contemporary

Beginning with a historical account of the spectral classification, its refinement through additional criteria is presented. The line strengths and ratios used in two dimensional classifications of each spectral class are described. A parallel classification scheme for metal-poor stars and the standards used for classification are presented. The extension of spectral classification beyond M to L and T and spectroscopic classification criteria relevant to these classes are described. Contemporary methods of classifications based upon different automated approaches are introduced.Comment: To be published in "Principles and Perspectives in Cosmochemistry" Lecture Notes on Kodai School on Synthesis of Elements in Stars: Ed Aruna Goswami & Eswar Reddy, Springer Verlag, 2009, 17 pages, 10 figure

Generating SQL queries from visual specifications

Abstract: Structured Query Language (SQL) is the most widely used declarative language for accessing relational databases, and an essential topic in introductory database courses in higher learning institutions. Despite the intuitiveness of SQL, formulating and comprehending written queries can be confusing, especially for undergraduate students. One major reason for this is that the simple syntax of SQL is often misleading and hard to comprehend. A number of tools have been developed to aid the comprehension of queries and improve the mental models of students concerning the underlying logic of SQL. Some of these tools employed visualisation and animation in their approach to aid the comprehension of SQL. This paper presents an interactive comprehension aid based on visualisation, specifically designed to support the SQL SELECT statement, an area identified in the literature as problematic for students. The visualisation tool uses visual specifications depicting SQL operations to build queries. This is expected to reduce the cognitive load of a student who is learning SQL. We have shown with an online survey that adopting visual specifications in teaching systems assist students in attaining a richer learning experience in introductory database courses

Co-designing a dashboard of predictive analytics and decision support to drive care quality and client outcomes in aged care: a mixed-method study protocol

IntroductionThere is a clear need for improved care quality and quality monitoring in aged care. Aged care providers collect an abundance of data, yet rarely are these data integrated and transformed in real-time into actionable information to support evidence-based care, nor are they shared with older people and informal caregivers. This protocol describes the co-design and testing of a dashboard in residential aged care facilities (nursing or care homes) and community-based aged care settings (formal care provided at home or in the community). The dashboard will comprise integrated data to provide an 'at-a-glance' overview of aged care clients, indicators to identify clients at risk of fall-related hospitalisations and poor quality of life, and evidence-based decision support to minimise these risks. Longer term plans for dashboard implementation and evaluation are also outlined.MethodsThis mixed-method study will involve (1) co-designing dashboard features with aged care staff, clients, informal caregivers and general practitioners (GPs), (2) integrating aged care data silos and developing risk models, and (3) testing dashboard prototypes with users. The dashboard features will be informed by direct observations of routine work, interviews, focus groups and co-design groups with users, and a community forum. Multivariable discrete time survival models will be used to develop risk indicators, using predictors from linked historical aged care and hospital data. Dashboard prototype testing will comprise interviews, focus groups and walk-through scenarios using a think-aloud approach with staff members, clients and informal caregivers, and a GP workshop.Ethics and disseminationThis study has received ethical approval from the New South Wales (NSW) Population & Health Services Research Ethics Committee and Macquarie University's Human Research Ethics Committee. The research findings will be presented to the aged care provider who will share results with staff members, clients, residents and informal caregivers. Findings will be disseminated as peer-reviewed journal articles, policy briefs and conference presentations

Heuristics-based detection to improve text/graphics segmentation in complex engineering drawings.

The demand for digitisation of complex engineering drawings becomes increasingly important for the industry given the pressure to improve the efficiency and time effectiveness of operational processes. There have been numerous attempts to solve this problem, either by proposing a general form of document interpretation or by establishing an application dependant framework. Moreover, text/graphics segmentation has been presented as a particular form of addressing document digitisation problem, with the main aim of splitting text and graphics into different layers. Given the challenging characteristics of complex engineering drawings, this paper presents a novel sequential heuristics-based methodology which is aimed at localising and detecting the most representative symbols of the drawing. This implementation enables the subsequent application of a text/graphics segmentation method in a more effective form. The experimental framework is composed of two parts: first we show the performance of the symbol detection system and then we present an evaluation of three different state of the art text/graphic segmentation techniques to find text on the remaining image

The spindle position checkpoint is coordinated by the Elm1 kinase

Localization and activation of Elm1 at the bud neck coordinates SPC activity with mother–daughter polarity during cell division

The distal fascicle of the anterior inferior tibiofibular ligament as a cause of tibiotalar impingement syndrome: a current concepts review

Impingement syndromes of the ankle involve either osseous or soft tissue impingement and can be anterior, anterolateral, or posterior. Ankle impingement syndromes are painful conditions caused by the friction of joint tissues, which are both the cause and the effect of altered joint biomechanics. The distal fascicle of the anterior inferior tibiofibular ligament (AITFL) is possible cause of anterior impingement. The objective of this article was to review the literature concerning the anatomy, pathogenesis, symptoms and treatment of the AITFL impingement and finally to formulate treatment recommendations. The AITFL starts from the distal tibia, 5 mm in average above the articular surface, and descends obliquely between the adjacent margins of the tibia and fibula, anterior to the syndesmosis to the anterior aspect of the lateral malleolus. The incidence of the accessory fascicle differs very widely in the several studies. The presence of the distal fascicle of the AITFL and also the contact with the anterolateral talus is probably a normal finding. It may become pathological, due to anatomical variations and/or anterolateral instability of the ankle resulting from an anterior talofibular ligament injury. When observed during an ankle arthroscopy, the surgeon should look for the criteria described to decide whether it is pathological and considering resection of the distal fascicle. The presence of the AITFL and the contact with the talus is a normal finding. An impingement of the AITFL can result from an anatomical variant or anteroposterior instability of the ankle. The diagnosis of ligamentous impingement in the anterior aspect of the ankle should be considered in patients who have chronic ankle pain in the anterolateral aspect of the ankle after an inversion injury and have a stable ankle, normal plain radiographs, and isolated point tenderness on the anterolateral aspect of the talar dome and in the anteroinferior tibiofibular ligament. The impingement syndrome can be treated arthroscopically

Objectively assessed physical activity and subsequent health service use of UK adults aged 70 and over: A four to five year follow up study

Objectives: To examine the associations between volume and intensity of older peoples' physical activity, with their subsequent health service usage over the following four to five years. Study Design: A prospective cohort design using baseline participant characteristics, objectively assessed physical activity and lower limb function provided by Project OPAL (Older People and Active Living). OPAL-PLUS provided data on numbers of primary care consultations, prescriptions, unplanned hospital admissions, and secondary care referrals, extracted from medical records for up to five years following the baseline OPAL data collection. Participants and Data Collection: OPAL participants were a diverse sample of 240 older adults with a mean age of 78 years. They were recruited from 12 General Practitioner surgeries from low, middle, and high areas of deprivation in a city in the West of England. Primary care consultations, secondary care referrals, unplanned hospital admissions, number of prescriptions and new disease diagnoses were assessed for 213 (104 females) of the original 240 OPAL participants who had either consented to participate in OPAL-PLUS or already died during the follow-up period. Results: In regression modelling, adjusted for socio-economic variables, existing disease, weight status, minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per day predicted subsequent numbers of prescriptions. Steps taken per day and MVPA also predicted unplanned hospital admissions, although the strength of the effect was reduced when further adjustment was made for lower limb function. Conclusions: Community-based programs are needed which are successful in engaging older adults in their late 70s and 80s in more walking, MVPA and activity that helps them avoid loss of physical function. There is a potential for cost savings to health services through reduced reliance on prescriptions and fewer unplanned hospital admissions. © 2014 Simmonds et al

Performance of CMS muon reconstruction in pp collision events at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

The performance of muon reconstruction, identification, and triggering in CMS has been studied using 40 inverse picobarns of data collected in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the LHC in 2010. A few benchmark sets of selection criteria covering a wide range of physics analysis needs have been examined. For all considered selections, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify a muon with a transverse momentum pT larger than a few GeV is above 95% over the whole region of pseudorapidity covered by the CMS muon system, abs(eta) < 2.4, while the probability to misidentify a hadron as a muon is well below 1%. The efficiency to trigger on single muons with pT above a few GeV is higher than 90% over the full eta range, and typically substantially better. The overall momentum scale is measured to a precision of 0.2% with muons from Z decays. The transverse momentum resolution varies from 1% to 6% depending on pseudorapidity for muons with pT below 100 GeV and, using cosmic rays, it is shown to be better than 10% in the central region up to pT = 1 TeV. Observed distributions of all quantities are well reproduced by the Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO