Real world 3D accuracy achievable of Australian standard 5488-2013 classification of subsurface utility information using electromagnetic field detection

There are hundreds of kilometres of underground services - pipes and cables that carry vital services such as water, electricity, communications and gas are buried throughout Australia and that number is increasing every year. Damage to these vital services is not only costly it is also disruptive to the surrounding community; there is also the risk of personal injury and or death that could be caused by damaging underground infrastructure.(Dial Before You Dig, 2015. The importance of locating these vital utilities before construction to aid in avoiding them is well known. Currently the most readily used technology used to locate these services is electromagnetic field detection. This technology is used to pinpoint the service location to an X, Y and Z position. Can this technology meet the new Australia Standard - Classification of Subsurface Utility Information for positional accuracy in a real world test? To determine this, a test site was chosen that contains an underground line. After using a range of electromagnetic field detection equipment to locate the line, the true position will be revealed using non-destructive digging methods. The derived position of the line from different electromagnetic field detection equipment will be compared against the true position surveyed points. An error analysis will be provided showing a comparison of the methods and thus determine if they meet the quality specified in the Australian Standard

Prognostic model to predict postoperative acute kidney injury in patients undergoing major gastrointestinal surgery based on a national prospective observational cohort study.

Background: Acute illness, existing co-morbidities and surgical stress response can all contribute to postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients undergoing major gastrointestinal surgery. The aim of this study was prospectively to develop a pragmatic prognostic model to stratify patients according to risk of developing AKI after major gastrointestinal surgery. Methods: This prospective multicentre cohort study included consecutive adults undergoing elective or emergency gastrointestinal resection, liver resection or stoma reversal in 2-week blocks over a continuous 3-month period. The primary outcome was the rate of AKI within 7 days of surgery. Bootstrap stability was used to select clinically plausible risk factors into the model. Internal model validation was carried out by bootstrap validation. Results: A total of 4544 patients were included across 173 centres in the UK and Ireland. The overall rate of AKI was 14·2 per cent (646 of 4544) and the 30-day mortality rate was 1·8 per cent (84 of 4544). Stage 1 AKI was significantly associated with 30-day mortality (unadjusted odds ratio 7·61, 95 per cent c.i. 4·49 to 12·90; P < 0·001), with increasing odds of death with each AKI stage. Six variables were selected for inclusion in the prognostic model: age, sex, ASA grade, preoperative estimated glomerular filtration rate, planned open surgery and preoperative use of either an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or an angiotensin receptor blocker. Internal validation demonstrated good model discrimination (c-statistic 0·65). Discussion: Following major gastrointestinal surgery, AKI occurred in one in seven patients. This preoperative prognostic model identified patients at high risk of postoperative AKI. Validation in an independent data set is required to ensure generalizability

The Science Performance of JWST as Characterized in Commissioning

This paper characterizes the actual science performance of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), as determined from the six month commissioning period. We summarize the performance of the spacecraft, telescope, science instruments, and ground system, with an emphasis on differences from pre-launch expectations. Commissioning has made clear that JWST is fully capable of achieving the discoveries for which it was built. Moreover, almost across the board, the science performance of JWST is better than expected; in most cases, JWST will go deeper faster than expected. The telescope and instrument suite have demonstrated the sensitivity, stability, image quality, and spectral range that are necessary to transform our understanding of the cosmos through observations spanning from near-earth asteroids to the most distant galaxies.Comment: 5th version as accepted to PASP; 31 pages, 18 figures; https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1538-3873/acb29

Do Human Rights Offenders Oppose Human Rights Resolutions in the United Nations?

We investigate voting behavior on human rights in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). Our central question is whether countries with a low human rights record systematically oppose human rights resolutions. An instrumental account of voting would suggest that these countries aim to weaken UN human rights resolutions since they could be future targets of these policies. If reputation aspects and other non-instrumental motives dominate, the influence can go in either direction. We estimate determinants of voting on the basis of 13,000 individual voting decisions from 1980 to 2002. Our results from ordered probit estimation show that a country’s human rights situation is irrelevant to voting behavior if regional dependence of voting is controlled for. This suggests that countries’ voting decisions are not made independently from each other. The results also show that simple rulesfor aggregating voting choices can lead to misleading results

'Working with Allies: The United States, the United Kingdom, and the War on Terror'

This article considers the special case of the United States' relationship with Great Britain—America's closest ally—in the context of the post-9/11 debate over unilateralism and multilateralism. It explains the development of unilateral preferences in the post-Cold War order and, latterly, in the foreign policies of the George W. Bush Administration. The Bush Administration's outlook is seen as much more complex than many commentators assume, notwithstanding its acceptance of the logic of unilateralism and "coalitions of the willing" in pursuing the "War on Terror." The putative "specialness" of the U.S.–U.K. relationship is examined through a skeptical eye, from both the U.S. and British perspectives. Its contemporary manifestation is placed to a considerable degree by the personal leadership style and convictions of Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain. In the final part of the article, the U.S.–U.K. alliance is assessed in light of the broader debate about America's need for allies in the new international order and its capacity to "work with allies" effectively