New very high resolution radar studies of the Moon

As part of an effort to further understand the geologic utility of radar studies of the terrestrial planets, investigators at the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics are collaborating with NEROC Haystack Observatory, MIT and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the analysis of existing 3.8 and 70 cm radar images of the Moon, and in the acquisition of new data for selected lunar targets. The intent is to obtain multi-polarization radar images at resolutions approaching 75 meters (3.8 cm wavelength) and 400 meters (70 cm wavelength) for the Apollo landing sites (thereby exploiting available ground truth) or regions covered by the metric camera and geochemical experiments onboard the command modules of Apollos 15, 16 and 17. These data were collected in both like- and cross-polarizations, and, in the case of the 70 cm data, permit the phase records to be used to assess the scattering properties of the surface. The distribution of surface units on the Moon that show a mismatch between the surface implied by like- and cross-polarized scattering data is being analyzed, based on the scattering models of Evans and Hagfors

Local Government Finance: A Projection for North Logan, Utah

This study was developed to determine the future fiscal condition of a small rural municipality, North Logan, Utah. An effort was made to determine whether or not present revenue sources would be able to keep pace with future expenditures at the local government level by projecting North Logan, Utah\u27s, revenues and expenditures for 1975 and 1980. North Logan, Utah, should not have an expenditure-revenue gap within the next 10 years. At this time, it would appear that because of the construction growth and sales tax proportional increases, both due to large population increases, North Logan should have sufficient revenue to provide all future public goods and services demanded by the community

Laparoscopic fundoplication compared with medical management for gastro-oesophageal reflux disease : cost effectiveness study

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Association is not causation: treatment effects cannot be estimated from observational data in heart failure

Aims: Treatment ‘effects’ are often inferred from non-randomized and observational studies. These studies have inherent biases and limitations, which may make therapeutic inferences based on their results unreliable. We compared the conflicting findings of these studies to those of prospective randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in relation to pharmacological treatments for heart failure (HF). Methods and results: We searched Medline and Embase to identify studies of the association between non-randomized drug therapy and all-cause mortality in patients with HF until 31 December 2017. The treatments of interest were: angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, beta-blockers, mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRAs), statins, and digoxin. We compared the findings of these observational studies with those of relevant RCTs. We identified 92 publications, reporting 94 non-randomized studies, describing 158 estimates of the ‘effect’ of the six treatments of interest on all-cause mortality, i.e. some studies examined more than one treatment and/or HF phenotype. These six treatments had been tested in 25 RCTs. For example, two pivotal RCTs showed that MRAs reduced mortality in patients with HF with reduced ejection fraction. However, only one of 12 non-randomized studies found that MRAs were of benefit, with 10 finding a neutral effect, and one a harmful effect. Conclusion: This comprehensive comparison of studies of non-randomized data with the findings of RCTs in HF shows that it is not possible to make reliable therapeutic inferences from observational associations. While trials undoubtedly leave gaps in evidence and enrol selected participants, they clearly remain the best guide to the treatment of patients

G-133: A soft x ray solar telescope

The GOLDHELOX Project, NASA payload number G-133, is a robotic soft x ray solar telescope designed and built by an organization of undergraduate students. The telescope is designed to observe the sun at a wavelength of 171 to 181 A. Since we require observations free from atmospheric interference, the telescope will be launched in a NASA Get-Away-Special (GAS) canister with a Motorized Door Assembly (MDA). In this paper we primarily discuss the most important elements of the telescope itself. We also elaborate on some of the technical difficulties associated with doing good science in space on a small budget (about $100,000) and mention ways in which controlling the instrument environment has reduced the complexity of the system and thus saved us money

Designing Interfaces with Social Presence: Using Vividness and Extraversion to Create Social Recommendation Agents

Interfaces now employ a variety of media-rich, social, and advanced decision-making components, including recommendation agents (RA) designed to assist users with their tasks. Social presence has been identified as a key consideration in website design to overcome the lack of warmth, social cues, and face-to-face interaction, but few studies have investigated the interface features that may increase social presence. Recent research on RAs has similarly acknowledged social presence as a key factor in the design of online RAs and in building trust in this technology, but there has been limited empirical work on the topic. In this study an experiment was conducted to explore how social technology cues, media capabilities, and individual differences influence social presence and trust in an RA. RA personality (extraversion), vividness (text, voice, and animation), and computer playfulness were found to influence social presence, with social presence serving in a mediating role and increasing user trust in the RA. Vividness also had a moderating effect on the relationship between RA extraversion and social presence such that increased levels of vividness strengthen this relationship

Surviving the effects of barotrauma: assessing treatment options and a ‘natural’ remedy to enhance the release survival of line caught pink snapper (Pagrus auratus)

A new technique to ameliorate the effects of barotrauma was tested based on observations of pink snapper, Pagrus auratus (Forster), inadvertently piercing their everted stomach with their teeth and releasing trapped swim bladder gases. This technique was termed buccal venting and involved piercing the everted stomach protruding into the buccal cavity or out of the mouth with a 16-gauge hypodermic needle (a practice previously not encouraged). Short-term (~3 days) survival of buccal-vented fish was not significantly different from laterally vented fish nor untreated controls. Both buccal and lateral venting techniques were shown to cause no harm and allowed fish to return to depth. The short-term (1–3 days) post-release survival of line caught snapper was 88% with no significant difference in survival across three depth ranges tested (37–50, 51–100 and 101–180 m). Survival of sublegal pink snapper ( 0.05) from that of legal-sized fish (≥35 cm TL). Healing of the swim bladder was observed in 27% of pink snapper dissected after ≤3 days in captivity, and healing of stomachs was observed in 64% of pink snapper that had been buccal vented. Relatively high post-release survival rates of line caught pink snapper may offer some protection for snapper stocks where high fishing pressure and legal size restrictions result in the majority of the catch having to be released