Recover:designing a videogame to assist with recovery from PTSD

Recover is a game prototype that was developed to explore the potential of videogames to provide users recovering from PTSD with an alternative form of immersive self-help. The game is presented as a playable concept that focuses on mindfulness techniques whilst aiming to engage and retain users. The concept also includes a companion application for mobile, whilst the main videogame has been designed for use with Virtual Reality (VR) headsets

Digital analysis of Potomac River Basin ERTS imagery: Sedimentation levels at the Potomac-Anacostia confluence and strip mining in Allegheny County, Maryland

Two simple algorithms for classification of sedimentation levels in water and for delineation of active strip mines are in use as part of the development of a more general resource management information system. ERTS MSS CCT's are processed so that each pixel in each channel is geographically referenced and can be accessed individually during whole frame, multi-channel analysis or partial frame analysis. The sedimentation analysis clearly separates classes representing the turbid Anacostia water, the less disturbed Potomac (really), and mud flats resulting from effluent of a major sewage treatment plant. Mud flats of organic or mineral origin are easily distinguished

Electro-optic bunch diagnostics on ALICE

An electro-optic longitudinal bunch profile monitor has been implemented on ALICE (Accelerators and Lasers in Combined Experiments) at the Daresbury Laboratories and will be used both to characterise the electron bunch and to provide a testbed for electro-optic techniques. The electro-optic station is located immediately after the bunch compressor, within the FEL cavity; its location allows nearby OTR, beam profile monitors and Coherent Synchrontron Radiation (CSR) diagnostics to be used for calibration and benchmarking. We discuss the implementation and the planned studies on electro-optic diagnostics using this diagnostic station

Upconversion of a relativistic Coulomb field terahertz pulse to the near infrared

We demonstrate the spectral upconversion of a unipolar subpicosecond terahertz (THz) pulse, where the THz pulse is the Coulomb field of a single relativistic electron bunch. The upconversion to the optical allows remotely located detection of long wavelength and nonpropagating components of the THz spectrum, as required for ultrafast electron bunch diagnostics. The upconversion of quasimonochromatic THz radiation has also been demonstrated, allowing the observation of distinct sum- and difference-frequency mixing components in the spectrum. Polarization dependence of first and second order sidebands at ωopt±ωTHz, and ωopt±2ωTHz, respectively, confirms the χ(2) frequency mixing mechanism

Preliminary report on sand-streaming in Agadez and Tahoua Departments, Republic of Niger

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

Recover

Recover is a VR game prototype in which the player is tasked with exploring a large pillow fort. In this safe space, and their aim is to light up the world by completing puzzles that encourage deep breathing and other mindfulness based tasks.This game artefact was developed in conjunction with a research project that explored the potential efficacy in player engagement when combining immersive game design practices with post psychotherapy treatment for those recovering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Sensitivity and specificity of substrate mapping: An in silico framework for the evaluation of electroanatomical substrate mapping strategies

pre-printBackground - Voltage mapping is an important tool for characterizing proarrhythmic electrophysiological substrate, yet it is subject to geometric factors that influence bipolar amplitudes and thus compromise performance. The aim of this study was to characterize the impact of catheter orientation on the ability of bipolar amplitudes to accurately discriminate between healthy and diseased tissues. Methods and Results - We constructed a three-dimensional, in-silico, bidomain model of cardiac tissue containing transmural lesions of varying diameter. A planar excitation wave was stimulated and electrograms were sampled with a realistic catheter model at multiple positions and orientations. We carried out validation studies in animal experiments of acute ablation lesions mapped with a clinical mapping system. Bipolar electrograms sampled at higher inclination angles of the catheter with respect to the tissue demonstrated improvements in both sensitivity and specificity of lesion detection. Removing low voltage electrograms with concurrent activation of both electrodes, suggesting false attenuation of the bipolar electrogram due to alignment with the excitation wavefront, had little effect on the accuracy of voltage mapping. Conclusions - Our results demonstrate possible mechanisms for the impact of catheter orientation on voltage mapping accuracy. Moreover, results from our simulations suggest that mapping accuracy may be improved by selectively controlling the inclination of the catheter to record at higher angles with respect to the tissue

Methanol Masers as Tracers of Circumstellar Disks

We show that in many methanol maser sources the masers are located in lines, with a velocity gradient along them which suggests that the masers are situated in edge-on circumstellar, or protoplanetary, disks. We present VLBI observations of the methanol maser source G309.92+0.48, in the 12.2 GHz transition, which confirm previous observations that the masers in this source lie along a line. We show that such sources are not only linear in space but, in many cases, also have a linear velocity gradient. We then model these and other data in both the 6.7 GHz and the 12.2 GHz transition from a number of star formation regions, and show that the observed spatial and velocity distribution of methanol masers, and the derived Keplerian masses, are consistent with a circumstellar disk rotating around an OB star. We consider this and other hypotheses, and conclude that about half of these methanol masers are probably located in edge-on circumstellar disks around young stars. This is of particular significance for studies of circumstellar disks because of the detailed velocity information available from the masers.Comment: 38 pages, 13 figures accepted by Ap

Awareness of lifestyle and colorectal cancer risk:findings from the BeWEL study

It is estimated that 47% of colorectal cancers (CRC) could be prevented by appropriate lifestyles. This study aimed to identify awareness of the causes of CRC in patients who had been diagnosed with a colorectal adenoma through the Scottish Bowel Screening Programme and subsequently enrolled in an intervention trial (using diet and physical activity education and behavioural change techniques) (BeWEL). At baseline and 12-month follow-up, participants answered an open-ended question on factors influencing CRC development. Of the 329 participants at baseline, 40 (12%) reported that they did not know any risk factors and 36 (11%) failed to identify specific factors related to diet and activity. From a potential knowledge score of 1 to 6, the mean score was 1.5 (SD 1.1, range 0 to 5) with no difference between intervention and control groups. At follow-up, the intervention group had a significantly greater knowledge score and better weight loss, diet, and physical activity measures than the control group. Awareness of relevant lifestyle factors for CRC remains low in people at increased risk of the disease. Opportunities within routine NHS screening to aid the capability (including knowledge of risk factors) of individuals to make behavioural changes to reduce CRC risk deserve exploration.Additional co-author: The BeWEL team. The BeWEL Team consists of Shaun Treweek, Fergus Daly, Jill Belch, Jackie Rodger, Alison Kirk, Anne Ludbrook, Petra Rauchhaus, Patricia Norwood, Joyce Thompson, and Jane Wardle

Longtitudinal electron beam diagnostics via upconversion of THz to visible radiation

Longitudinal electro-optic electron bunch diagnostics has been successfully applied at several accelerators. The electro-optic effect can be seen as an upconversion of the Coulomb field of the relativistic electron bunch (THz radiation) to the visible spectral range, where a variety of standard diagnostic tools are available. Standard techniques to characterise femtosecond optical laser pulses (auto- and cross-correlators) have led to the schemes that can measure electron bunch profiles with femtosecond resolution. These techniques require, however, well synchronized femtosecond laser pulses, in order to obtain the desired temporal resolution. Currently, we are exploring other electro-optic variants which require less advanced laser systems and will be more amenable to beam based longitudinal feedback applications. The first results of one such new scheme will be presented in this paper