Lightweight starshade position sensing with convolutional neural networks and simulation-based inference

Starshades are a leading technology to enable the direct detection and spectroscopic characterization of Earth-like exoplanets. To keep the starshade and telescope aligned over large separations, reliable sensing of the peak of the diffracted light of the occluded star is required. Current techniques rely on image matching or model fitting, both of which put substantial computational burdens on resource-limited spacecraft computers. We present a lightweight image processing method based on a convolutional neural network paired with a simulation-based inference technique to estimate the position of the spot of Arago and its uncertainty. The method achieves an accuracy of a few centimeters across the entire pupil plane, while only requiring 1.6 MB in stored data structures and 5.3 MFLOPs (million floating point operations) per image at test time. By deploying our method at the Princeton Starshade Testbed, we demonstrate that the neural network can be trained on simulated images and used on real images, and that it can successfully be integrated in the control system for closed-loop formation flying.Comment: submitted to JATI

‘Running Towards the Bullets’: Moral Injury in Critical Care Nursing in the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic placed unprecedented strain on healthcare professionals around the globe, particularly those working in intensive care units. It was reported that instances of moral injury – a betrayal of what is ethically right by those in positions of power – were widespread in these organizational settings. In this paper, we explore these emerging findings to ask: What are the experiences and implications of moral injury in critical care nursing during the pandemic? Drawing on 103 interviews with 54 critical care nurses, we offer insights into the experience of moral injury in a workplace experiencing crisis, focusing on (i) unsafe staffing levels, (ii) inadequate equipment, and (iii) inability to provide patients with a dignified death. We provide accounts of the implications of moral injury ranging from debilitating anxiety to post-traumatic stress disorder and sectioning, as well as widespread feelings of anger and guilt leading to an intention to leave the profession

Toxic Absence: Why Leader Presence Matters in Times of Crisis

Aims. This study examines the importance of senior-leader presence on the “frontline” in times of crisis. Background. The COVID-19 pandemic placed unprecedented demands on nurses charged with delivering critical care. Extant research suggests that the active presence of ward-level leaders has an important role to play in supporting frontline staff and mediating the negative impacts of stress and burnout. There is little evidence on the impact of senior leader presence or absence on the experience of frontline critical care nurses, particularly at times of crisis. Methods. A three-phase qualitative interview study of critical care nurses in the UK and Ireland. A total of 107 semistructured interviews with 54 nurses representing 38 different healthcare units. Results. Senior-leader presence at the time of crisis serves as an important symbol of organisational support. Where senior leaders are not meaningfully present, they risk allowing the necessary pain of difficult work situations to become toxic. Toxicity is manifested with increased staff stress, emotional ills, absence, and turnover. Conclusions. Senior leaders must balance their responsibilities for strategy and structures with the frontline presence required to shape a positive emotional climate. Implications for Nursing Management. Senior managers should consider supplementing their strategic focus with punctuated returns to the floor. Symbolically, leaders who get their hands dirty embody a sense of mutual struggle and practical support. Managerially, time on the floor increases the opportunities for collecting primary data to improve decision-making and support

Life during furlough: Challenges to dignity from a changed employment status

In response to the COVID-19 virus, the UK government introduced the Job Retention Scheme in March 2020. The scheme, a novelty in the United Kingdom, provided income support to those furloughed from work. In this paper, we examine how individuals in several occupations and organisations experienced furlough and how they were treated during this enforced period of work absence. Beyond describing their experiences during the furlough, we examine how these experiences threatened and challenged their sense of dignity. Experientially we report on furlough as a time that elicited both delight and despair. The analysis of dignity relates to how treatment based on their employment status rendered many employees marginalised and cast adrift

The impact of COVID‐19 on mental health and well‐being in critical care nurses – a longitudinal, qualitative study

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has had both a psychological and physiological effect on the human race. For those working in health care, particularly in critical care, the pandemic has put unprecedented strain on staff. Witnessing suffering during crisis in an organizational setting can be a traumatic experience and critical care nurses often risked, not only their own lives, but their psychological well-being, so that those infected with the virus might have a better chance at survival.AimsThe aim of this study was to explore the challenges to mental health and psychological well-being experienced by Critical Care Nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic.Study DesignA longitudinal, qualitative study involving semi-structured interviews with 54 critical care nurses across 38 hospitals in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis.ResultsFour key themes were identified which represent the challenges faces by critical care nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic: Lack of control, Psychological trauma, Unexpected leadership, Public-political betrayal.ConclusionWhile public-political praise may lead to a short-term lift in morale for front line workers; where it is not accompanied by practical support in terms of appropriate equipment, leadership, emotional support and renumeration it is likely to be damaging in the longer term.Relevance to Clinical PracticeThis study has provided a greater understanding of the factors which affected the well-being and mental health of critical care nurses during a global pandemic

Emotional Labor: Concept and Practical Categorizations in Light of COVID Critical Care Nursing

This chapter considers the changing nature and recognition of emotional labor as a category of work. Over 40 years of scholarship have tracked and conceptualized emotion at work; marking those features that link or delineate one occupation from another according to task, performance and context. Utilizing research with Critical Care Nurses in the UK, this chapter illuminates the changing face of emotional labor. We show how and why emotional labor has come to be recognized, the different forms that it takes, its relation to reason and its impact on workers. We pay particular attention to the ways in which emotional labor is altered by contextual factors such as the site of enactment, temporality and embodied verses virtual encounters. In terms of its affects, we consider the ways in which emotional labor can act as a source of professional pride and occupational virtue, while also carrying the threat of dissonance, burnout and alienation. These affects draw attention to the obligations that might attend such categories of work. We conclude by noting that responsibilities for these affects are likely diffused, touching upon individuals, educators, occupational bodies and, perhaps most importantly, the managers, leaders and systems that constitute employers

The impact of COVID-19 on mental health and well-being in critical care nurses – a longitudinal, qualitative study

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had both a psychological and physiological effect on the human race. For those working in health care, particularly in critical care, the pandemic has put unprecedented strain on staff. Witnessing suffering during crisis in an organizational setting can be a traumatic experience and critical care nurses often risked, not only their own lives, but their psychological well-being, so that those infected with the virus might have a better chance at survival. Aims: The aim of this study was to explore the challenges to mental health and psychological well-being experienced by Critical Care Nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Study design: A longitudinal, qualitative study involving semi-structured interviews with 54 critical care nurses across 38 hospitals in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis. Results: Four key themes were identified which represent the challenges faces by critical care nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic: Lack of control, Psychological trauma, Unexpected leadership, Public-political betrayal. Conclusion: While public-political praise may lead to a short-term lift in morale for front line workers; where it is not accompanied by practical support in terms of appropriate equipment, leadership, emotional support and renumeration it is likely to be damaging in the longer term. Relevance to clinical practice: This study has provided a greater understanding of the factors which affected the well-being and mental health of critical care nurses during a global pandemic.</p

Mitigating avian collision with power lines: a proof of concept for installation of line markers via unmanned aerial vehicle

Abstract: Avian collisions with overhead power lines are a global conservation concern. Collisions are mitigated primarily through marking power lines to increase the visibility of lines. Line marking is typically accomplished via an expensive and potentially dangerous process of hovering a helicopter within 1 m of a wire and installing line markers by hand. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) may offer a less dangerous, less costly alternative that is also less disturbing to wildlife. Herein we describe equipping a commercially available UAV with an installation arm designed in collaboration with the Colorado State University Department of Mechanical Engineering to install line markers on a power line. The UAV installed line markers within a 30 cm target window on a model power line. The proof of concept described here demonstrates the potential utility of UAVs in mitigating avian collision with overhead power lines.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author