Excess mortality during heat waves in Ireland

Ireland is not known for having extreme high temperatures, with values above 30C uncommon. Ireland has significant excess winter mortality compared to summer. The objective of this study is to estimate the impact of nation-wide heat waves on the total, cardiovascular and respiratory relationship, for the period 1981–2003, to determine if there are any periods of excess summer mortality

Circuit approach to photonic heat transport

We discuss the heat transfer by photons between two metals coupled by a linear element with a reactive impedance. Using a simple circuit approach, we calculate the spectral power transmitted from one resistor to the other and find that it is determined by the photon transmission coefficient, which depends on the impedances of the metals and the coupling element. We study the total photonic power flow for different coupling impedances, both in the linear regime, where the temperature difference between the metals is small, and in the non-linear regime of large temperature differences.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure

Octave Spanning Frequency Comb on a Chip

Optical frequency combs have revolutionized the field of frequency metrology within the last decade and have become enabling tools for atomic clocks, gas sensing and astrophysical spectrometer calibration. The rapidly increasing number of applications has heightened interest in more compact comb generators. Optical microresonator based comb generators bear promise in this regard. Critical to their future use as 'frequency markers', is however the absolute frequency stabilization of the optical comb spectrum. A powerful technique for this stabilization is self-referencing, which requires a spectrum that spans a full octave, i.e. a factor of two in frequency. In the case of mode locked lasers, overcoming the limited bandwidth has become possible only with the advent of photonic crystal fibres for supercontinuum generation. Here, we report for the first time the generation of an octave-spanning frequency comb directly from a toroidal microresonator on a silicon chip. The comb spectrum covers the wavelength range from 990 nm to 2170 nm and is retrieved from a continuous wave laser interacting with the modes of an ultra high Q microresonator, without relying on external broadening. Full tunability of the generated frequency comb over a bandwidth exceeding an entire free spectral range is demonstrated. This allows positioning of a frequency comb mode to any desired frequency within the comb bandwidth. The ability to derive octave spanning spectra from microresonator comb generators represents a key step towards achieving a radio-frequency to optical link on a chip, which could unify the fields of metrology with micro- and nano-photonics and enable entirely new devices that bring frequency metrology into a chip scale setting for compact applications such as space based optical clocks

In vitro activity of antimalarials against clinical isolates of Plasmodium falciparum in Yaounde, Cameroon

The in vitro activity of nine antimalarials was determined against 119 fresh clinical isolates of #Plasmodium falciparum$ obtained from symptomatic indigenous patients in Yaounde, Cameroun, using the isotopic semimicrotest. Seventy-four parasites were resistant to chloroquine (mean 50% inhibitory concentration [IC50] 337 nM) ; 45 were chloroquine-sensitive (mean IC50 35.6 nM). Twenty-five of 58 chloroquine-resistant parasites were resistant to monodesethylamodiaquine, the biologically active metabolite of amodiaquine. None of the chloroquine-sensitive isolates was resistant to monodesethylamodiaquine (IC50 17.3 nM). Pyronaridine, quinine, mefloquine, halofantrine, and artemether were highly active against the chloroquine-sensitive and the chloroquine-resistant isolates. Of the 43 isolates tested, 25 were sensitive to both pyrimethamine and cycloguanil, the biologically active metabolite of proguanil. The in vitro responses of chloroquine and monodesethylamodiaquine, chloroquine and quinine, quinine and mefloquine, mefloquine and halofantrine, artemether and mefloquine or halofantrine, and pyrimethamine and cycloguanil were significantly correlated. The present study suggests that chloroquine resistance is highly prevalent in vitro in Yaounde and that the alternative drugs are generally highly active against the chloroquine-resistant parasites. (Résumé d'auteur

RKKY and magnetic field interactions in coupled Kondo quantum dots

We investigate theoretically the transport properties of two independent artificial Kondo impurities. They are coupled together via a tunable Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yoshida (RKKY) interaction. For strong enough antiferromagnetic RKKY interaction, the impurity density of states increases with the applied in-plane magnetic field. This effect can be used to distinguish between antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic RKKY interactions. These results may be relevant to explain some features of recent experiments by Craig et al. (cond-mat/0404213).Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Nurturing the young shoots of talent: Using action research for exploration and theory building

This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 19(4), 433-450, 2011, copyright Taylor & Francis, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/1350293X.2011.623515.This paper reports the outcomes of a set of action research projects carried out by teacher researchers in 14 local education authorities in England, working collaboratively with university tutors, over a period of three years. The common aim of all the projects was to explore practical ways of nurturing the gifts and talents of children aged four–seven years. The project was funded by the Department of Education and Skills in England as part of the government's gifted and talented programme. The project teachers felt that their understanding of issues relating to nurturing the gifts and talents of younger children was enhanced through their engagement in the project. It was possible to map the findings of the projects to the English government's National Quality Standards for gifted and talented education which include: (1) identification; (2) effective provision in the classroom; (3) enabling curriculum entitlement and choice; (4) assessment for learning; (5) engaging with community, families and beyond. The findings are also analysed within the framework of good practice in educating children in the first years of schooling. Participating practitioners felt that action research offered them a suitable methodology to explore the complexity of the topic of giftedness through cycles of planning, action and reflection and personal theory building

Northern Range Expansion and Invasion by the Common Carp, Cyprinus carpio, of the Churchill River System in Manitoba

Recent fisheries data from northern Manitoba indicates that the Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio) has extended the northern limit of its range. Additionally, it also appears that carp have invaded and established viable populations in the Manitoba portion of the Churchill River. Habitat degradation and altered flow regimes as result of hydroelectric development in northern Manitoba may have facilitated the expansion of carp in the region

Vorrichtung zur Beobachtung der dreidimensionalen Bewegung von Objekten, die in einer Flüssigkeit gehalten sind

Vorrichtung zur Beobachtung der dreidimensionalen Bewegung von Objekten (2), die in einer Flüssigkeit gehalten sind und deren Bewegung abhängig ist von den in der Flüssigkeit herrschenden örtlichen Eigenschaften wie der Temperatur, der chemischen Zusammensetzung oder den Lichtverhältnissen, wobei die Vorrichtung umfasst:- eine Beobachtungkammer (5) zur Aufnahme der mit den Objekten (2) versehenen Flüssigkeit,- eine erste Belichtungseinrichtung (6) mit einer Lichtquelle (7), eingerichtet zur lokalen Änderung der Eigenschaften in der Flüssigkeit,- eine optische Aufnahmeeinheit (12), eingerichtet zur optischen Erfassung der Objekte (2) in der Flüssigkeit, dadurch gekennzeichnet,dass die erste Belichtungseinrichtung (6) eingerichtet ist, gezielt eine Lichtmenge in einer gewünschten dreidimensionalen Verteilung in die Flüssigkeit der Beobachtungskammer (5) einzubringen, wobei die Flüssigkeit Bestandteile aufweist, die bei Einwirkung von optischen Lichtstrahlen einer bestimmten Wellenlänge ihre Eigenschaften ändern unddass die optische Aufnahmeeinheit eingerichtet ist, die Bewegung der Objekte (2) räumlich zu erfassen und in entsprechende elektronische Signale umzuwandeln

A Statistical Analysis of Intergalactic Medium Transmission Approaching Reionization

We use hydrodynamic cosmological simulations in a 9.6 Mpc box to explore the evolution of the intergalactic medium (IGM) transmissivity from z=2 through the epoch of reionization. Reionization is achieved through an ultraviolet background (UVB) that includes evolving stellar and QSO source populations. We construct and analyze noiseless synthetic HI Lya absorption spectra along lines of sight through our continuously evolving box and find a smooth evolution of the effective optical depth under a power law up to the epoch of reionization. Crossing into the epoch of reionization, both the mean transmitted flux (MTF) and variance to the mean transmitted flux sharply deviate from a smooth evolution and hence such observables have large margins of error. Despite the statistical uncertainty in inferring the reionization profile from spectra, the end of an opacity phase transition of the IGM correlates well with the redshift when both the mean and variance of the transmitted flux rapidly deviate from the post-reionization profile. However, an unobtainable number of lines of sight is needed to allow an estimate of the MTF with less than 10% relative margin of error. In addition to optical transmission, we compare the predicted dark gap length distribution with observations. We show that this statistic is sensitive to spectral resolution at reionization redshifts, but overall in agreement with results by Songaila and Cowie (2002). Finally, we derive a positive correlation between the mean optical depth within a gap and the size of the gap, in attempt to relate "transmission statistics" to "dark gap statistics" in high redshift studies of the IGM.Comment: 53 pages, 24 figure