PIRATE: A Remotely-Operable Telescope Facility for Research and Education

We introduce PIRATE, a new remotely-operable telescope facility for use in research and education, constructed from 'off-the-shelf' hardware, operated by The Open University. We focus on the PIRATE Mark 1 operational phase where PIRATE was equipped with a widely- used 0.35m Schmidt-Cassegrain system (now replaced with a 0.425m corrected Dall Kirkham astrograph). Situated at the Observatori Astronomic de Mallorca, PIRATE is currently used to follow up potential transiting extrasolar planet candidates produced by the SuperWASP North experiment, as well as to hunt for novae in M31 and other nearby galaxies. It is operated by a mixture of commercially available software and proprietary software developed at the Open University. We discuss problems associated with performing precision time series photometry when using a German Equatorial Mount, investigating the overall performance of such 'off-the-shelf' solutions in both research and teaching applications. We conclude that PIRATE is a cost-effective research facility, and also provides exciting prospects for undergraduate astronomy. PIRATE has broken new ground in offering practical astronomy education to distance-learning students in their own homes.Comment: Accepted for publication in PASP. 14 pages, 11 figure

Quantum signatures of chaos in the dynamics of a trapped ion

We show how a nonlinear chaotic system, the parametrically kicked nonlinear oscillator, may be realised in the dynamics of a trapped, laser-cooled ion, interacting with a sequence of standing wave pulses. Unlike the original optical scheme [G.J.Milburn and C.A.Holmes, Phys. Rev A, 44, p4704, (1991)], the trapped ion enables strongly quantum dynamics with minimal dissipation. This should permit an experimental test of one of the quantum signatures of chaos; irregular collapse and revival dynamics of the average vibrational energy.Comment: 9 pages, 9 Postscript figures, Revtex, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Quantum and classical chaos for a single trapped ion

In this paper we investigate the quantum and classical dynamics of a single trapped ion subject to nonlinear kicks derived from a periodic sequence of Guassian laser pulses. We show that the classical system exhibits diffusive growth in the energy, or 'heating', while quantum mechanics suppresses this heating. This system may be realized in current single trapped-ion experiments with the addition of near-field optics to introduce tightly focussed laser pulses into the trap.Comment: 8 pages, REVTEX, 8 figure

Ab Initio Liquid Hydrogen Muon Cooling Simulations with ELMS in ICOOL

This paper presents new theoretical results on the passage of muons through liquid hydrogen which have been confirmed in a recent experiment. These are used to demonstrate that muon bunches may be compressed by ionisation cooling more effectively than suggested by previous calculations. Muon cooling depends on the differential cross section for energy loss and scattering of muons. We have calculated this cross section for liquid H2 from first principles and atomic data, avoiding traditional assumptions. Thence, 2-D probability maps of energy loss and scattering in mm-scale thicknesses are derived by folding, and stored in a database. Large first-order correlations between energy loss and scattering are found for H2, which are absent in other simulations. This code is named ELMS, Energy Loss & Multiple Scattering. Single particle trajectories may then be tracked by Monte Carlo sampling from this database on a scale of 1 mm or less. This processor has been inserted into the cooling code ICOOL. Significant improvements in 6-D muon cooling are predicted compared with previous predictions based on GEANT. This is examined in various geometries. The large correlation effect is found to have only a small effect on cooling. The experimental scattering observed for liquid H2 in the MUSCAT experiment has recently been reported to be in good agreement with the ELMS prediction, but in poor agreement with GEANT simulation.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

Simulation of Beam-Beam Effects and Tevatron Experience

Effects of electromagnetic interactions of colliding bunches in the Tevatron had a variety of manifestations in beam dynamics presenting vast opportunities for development of simulation models and tools. In this paper the computer code for simulation of weak-strong beam-beam effects in hadron colliders is described. We report the collider operational experience relevant to beam-beam interactions, explain major effects limiting the collider performance and compare results of observations and measurements with simulations.Comment: 23 pages, 17 figure

An assessment of potential unintended consequences following a national antimicrobial stewardship programme in England: an interrupted time series analysis

Background: The 'Quality Premium' (QP) introduced in England in 2015 aimed to financially reward local healthcare commissioners for targeted reductions in primary care antibiotic prescribing. We aimed to evaluate possible unintended clinical outcomes related to this QP. Methods: Using Clinical Practice Research Datalink and Hospital Episode Statistics datasets, we examined general practitioner (GP) consultations (visits) and emergency hospital admissions related to a series of pre-defined conditions of unintended consequences of reduced prescribing. Monthly age and sex-standardised rates were calculated using a direct method of standardisation. We used segmented regression analysis of interrupted time series to evaluate the impact of the QP on seasonally adjusted outcome rates. Results: We identified 27,334 GP consultations and over five million emergency hospital admissions with pre-defined conditions. There was no evidence that the QP was associated with changes in GP consultation and hospital admission rates for the selected conditions combined. However, when each condition was considered separately, a significant increase in hospital admission rates was noted for quinsy, and significant decreases were seen for hospital-acquired pneumonia, scarlet fever, pyelonephritis and complicated urinary tract conditions. A significant decrease in GP consultation rates was estimated for empyema and scarlet fever. No significant changes were observed for other conditions. Conclusions: Findings from this study show that overall there was no significant association between the intervention and unintended clinical consequences, with the exception of a few specific conditions, most of which could be explained through other parallel policy changes or should be interpreted with caution due to small numbers

Young people's uses of celebrity: Class, gender and 'improper' celebrity

This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 34(1), 2013, copyright Taylor & Francis, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/01596306.2012.698865.In this article, we explore the question of how celebrity operates in young people's everyday lives, thus contributing to the urgent need to address celebrity's social function. Drawing on data from three studies in England on young people's perspectives on their educational and work futures, we show how celebrity operates as a classed and gendered discursive device within young people's identity work. We illustrate how young people draw upon class and gender distinctions that circulate within celebrity discourses (proper/improper, deserving/undeserving, talented/talentless and respectable/tacky) as they construct their own identities in relation to notions of work, aspiration and achievement. We argue that these distinctions operate as part of neoliberal demands to produce oneself as a ‘subject of value’. However, some participants produced readings that show ambivalence and even resistance to these dominant discourses. Young people's responses to celebrity are shown to relate to their own class and gender position.The Arts and Humanities Research Council, the British Academy, the Economic and Social Research Council, and the UK Resource Centre for Women in Science Engineering and Technology

How do surgeons feel about the “Getting it Right First Time” national audit? Results from a qualitative assessment.

The implementation of thenational“Getting It Right First Time” (GIRFT)was assessed by interviewing six surgeonsinvolvedat various levelsinsurgical site infection (SSI) audit.The positive impacts were to create new professional collaboration, improve stakeholder engagement, and increase the profile of SSIs. One particular knowledgegap highlighted was that some participantshad been unaware until that point of the criteria for diagnosing an SSI. The quality of data collected was felt poor due to methodological flaws. The audit was described as highly time-consuming and unsustainableif leaning on junior surgeons, without protectedtimeanddesignatedresponsibility

Filling minimality of Finslerian 2-discs

We prove that every Riemannian metric on the 2-disc such that all its geodesics are minimal, is a minimal filling of its boundary (within the class of fillings homeomorphic to the disc). This improves an earlier result of the author by removing the assumption that the boundary is convex. More generally, we prove this result for Finsler metrics with area defined as the two-dimensional Holmes-Thompson volume. This implies a generalization of Pu's isosystolic inequality to Finsler metrics, both for Holmes-Thompson and Busemann definitions of Finsler area.Comment: 16 pages, v2: improved introduction and formattin