Field Evaluation of Two External Attachment Location of Radio Transmitters on Non-Venomous Rat Snakes (elaphe obsolete)

The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of external attachment of radio transmitters at one of two locations on mature rat snakes (Elaphe obsolete). Transmitters were attached to mature snakes (n = 10; 136.7cm ± 6.4) on either the ventral surface (n = 5) or dorsal-lateral surface of the rib cage (n = 5), approximately 25cm cranially to the cloaca. Transmitters (18mm × 8mm × 2mm) were attached by one drop of acrylamide gel glue to the adhering side of camouflage duct tape (20cm × 30mm), a single drop of glue on the exposed side of the transmitter, and secured by wrapping the tape to the snake’s body with the transmitter in the appropriate location. A second piece of duct tape (20cm × 40mm) overlapped and secured the first piece of tape with the transmitter. Snakes were placed in a 0.1ha plastic fence enclosure, (128.5cm ± 0.5 height, and 17.1° ± 0.5 inward slope) in an unimproved pasture with numerous hides, water and food. Snakes (n = 4) shed their skin and the transmitter, within 6- 17d post-attachment (11.7d ± 2.4). Snakes (n = 4) escaping the enclosure and not located, ranged from 1- 21d post-attachment, (12.3d ± 4.7). There was no difference (p \u3e 0.05) in functional days snakes were located by radio telemetry due to attachment site or sex. Transmitter reception distance was typically \u3c 50m and often problematic. Results of this study suggest that the location of external attachment of transmitters had no influence on duration of effectiveness. However, shedding and limited telemetry range under these conditions should be considered to determine if the methodology is appropriate for the desired objectives

Rural to Urban Migration and Changes in Cardiovascular risk Factors in Tanzania: A Prospective Cohort Study.

High levels of rural to urban migration are a feature of most African countries. Our aim was to investigate changes, and their determinants, in cardiovascular risk factors on rural to urban migration in Tanzania. Men and women (15 to 59 years) intending to migrate from Morogoro rural region to Dar es Salaam for at least 6 months were identified. Measurements were made at least one week but no more than one month prior to migration, and 1 to 3 monthly after migration. Outcome measures included body mass index, blood pressure, fasting lipids, and self reported physical activity and diet. One hundred and three men, 106 women, mean age 29 years, were recruited and 132 (63.2%) followed to 12 months. All the figures presented here refer to the difference between baseline and 12 months in these 132 individuals. Vigorous physical activity declined (79.4% to 26.5% in men, 37.8% to 15.6% in women, p < 0.001), and weight increased (2.30 kg men, 2.35 kg women, p < 0.001). Intake of red meat increased, but so did the intake of fresh fruit and vegetables. HDL cholesterol increased in men and women (0.24, 0.25 mmoll-1 respectively, p < 0.001); and in men, not women, total cholesterol increased (0.42 mmoll-1, p = 0.01), and triglycerides fell (0.31 mmoll-1, p = 0.034). Blood pressure appeared to fall in both men and women. For example, in men systolic blood pressure fell by 5.4 mmHg, p = 0.007, and in women by 8.6 mmHg, p = 0.001. The lower level of physical activity and increasing weight will increase the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. However, changes in diet were mixed, and may have contributed to mixed changes in lipid profiles and a lack of rise in blood pressure. A better understanding of the changes occurring on rural to urban migration is needed to guide preventive measures

Categorical formulation of quantum algebras

We describe how dagger-Frobenius monoids give the correct categorical description of certain kinds of finite-dimensional 'quantum algebras'. We develop the concept of an involution monoid, and use it to construct a correspondence between finite-dimensional C*-algebras and certain types of dagger-Frobenius monoids in the category of Hilbert spaces. Using this technology, we recast the spectral theorems for commutative C*-algebras and for normal operators into an explicitly categorical language, and we examine the case that the results of measurements do not form finite sets, but rather objects in a finite Boolean topos. We describe the relevance of these results for topological quantum field theory.Comment: 34 pages, to appear in Communications in Mathematical Physic

Poincaré on the Foundation of Geometry in the Understanding

This paper is about Poincaré’s view of the foundations of geometry. According to the established view, which has been inherited from the logical positivists, Poincaré, like Hilbert, held that axioms in geometry are schemata that provide implicit definitions of geometric terms, a view he expresses by stating that the axioms of geometry are “definitions in disguise.” I argue that this view does not accord well with Poincaré’s core commitment in the philosophy of geometry: the view that geometry is the study of groups of operations. In place of the established view I offer a revised view, according to which Poincaré held that axioms in geometry are in fact assertions about invariants of groups. Groups, as forms of the understanding, are prior in conception to the objects of geometry and afford the proper definition of those objects, according to Poincaré. Poincaré’s view therefore contrasts sharply with Kant’s foundation of geometry in a unique form of sensibility. According to my interpretation, axioms are not definitions in disguise because they themselves implicitly define their terms, but rather because they disguise the definitions which imply them

End-Stage Acute Thoracic Aortic Care Patients’ Interventions and Two-Year Survival: the New York State Experience

BACKGROUND: Scarce US-based regional or State-specific reports exist recording the incidence, prevalence, or post-diagnosis clinical outcomes for end-stage thoracic aortic aneurysmal (TAA) disease. This retrospective cohort study of New York State (NYS) patients with newly diagnosed ruptured or dissected thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAA-RD) documents two-year follow-up after elective and emergent procedures. METHODS: Using hospital billing codes, NYS first-time TAA-RD encounters were extracted. As the primary study endpoint, the two-year composite included all-cause death, subsequent rupture or dissection, or non-elective intervention; individual composite sub-components were secondary study endpoints. Multivariable logistic regression models estimated two-year intervention and composite outcome risks. Using multivariable regression models created for the composite endpoints, post-discharge elective TAA procedural impact was evaluated. RESULTS: Of the 5,789 NYS residents identified, 49.92% reached the two-year composite endpoint with 23.98% two-year deaths. Only 1902 (32.86%) of TAA-RD patients had an index intervention. Post-discharge elective TAA interventions dramatically reduced adverse outcome risk (odds ratio [O.R.] = 0.36; 95% confidence interval [C.I.] = 0.26 - 0.51). Multivariable regression models identified patient characteristics associated with the two-year adverse composite outcome including urgent/emergent status, increased Elixhauser comorbidity score, non-rheumatic aortic regurgitation, and carotid disease. CONCLUSIONS: Nearly 50% of NYS TAA-RD patients reached the two-year adverse endpoint. Post-2014, the TAA-RD diagnosis rates increased but emergent thoracic aortic surgery rates decreased. Surprisingly, under 50% of NYS TAA-RD patients received an index admission procedure; this rate is lower than anticipated. Beyond traditional morphologic metrics, “at risk” TAA patient-characteristics were identified. Post-discharge survivors had excellent post-procedural two-year durability rates

A topos for algebraic quantum theory

The aim of this paper is to relate algebraic quantum mechanics to topos theory, so as to construct new foundations for quantum logic and quantum spaces. Motivated by Bohr's idea that the empirical content of quantum physics is accessible only through classical physics, we show how a C*-algebra of observables A induces a topos T(A) in which the amalgamation of all of its commutative subalgebras comprises a single commutative C*-algebra. According to the constructive Gelfand duality theorem of Banaschewski and Mulvey, the latter has an internal spectrum S(A) in T(A), which in our approach plays the role of a quantum phase space of the system. Thus we associate a locale (which is the topos-theoretical notion of a space and which intrinsically carries the intuitionistic logical structure of a Heyting algebra) to a C*-algebra (which is the noncommutative notion of a space). In this setting, states on A become probability measures (more precisely, valuations) on S(A), and self-adjoint elements of A define continuous functions (more precisely, locale maps) from S(A) to Scott's interval domain. Noting that open subsets of S(A) correspond to propositions about the system, the pairing map that assigns a (generalized) truth value to a state and a proposition assumes an extremely simple categorical form. Formulated in this way, the quantum theory defined by A is essentially turned into a classical theory, internal to the topos T(A).Comment: 52 pages, final version, to appear in Communications in Mathematical Physic

On the alleged simplicity of impure proof

Roughly, a proof of a theorem, is “pure” if it draws only on what is “close” or “intrinsic” to that theorem. Mathematicians employ a variety of terms to identify pure proofs, saying that a pure proof is one that avoids what is “extrinsic,” “extraneous,” “distant,” “remote,” “alien,” or “foreign” to the problem or theorem under investigation. In the background of these attributions is the view that there is a distance measure (or a variety of such measures) between mathematical statements and proofs. Mathematicians have paid little attention to specifying such distance measures precisely because in practice certain methods of proof have seemed self- evidently impure by design: think for instance of analytic geometry and analytic number theory. By contrast, mathematicians have paid considerable attention to whether such impurities are a good thing or to be avoided, and some have claimed that they are valuable because generally impure proofs are simpler than pure proofs. This article is an investigation of this claim, formulated more precisely by proof- theoretic means. After assembling evidence from proof theory that may be thought to support this claim, we will argue that on the contrary this evidence does not support the claim

Enterprise Education Competitions: A Theoretically Flawed Intervention?

The demand for including enterprise in the education system, at all levels and for all pupils is now a global phenomenon. Within this context, the use of competitions and competitive learning activities is presented as a popular and effective vehicle for learning. The purpose of this chapter is to illustrate how a realist method of enquiry – which utilises theory as the unit of analysis – can shed new light on the assumed and unintended outcomes of enterprise education competitions. The case developed here is that there are inherent flaws in assuming that competitions will ‘work’ in the ways set out in policy and guidance. Some of the most prevalent stated outcomes – that competitions will motivate and reward young people, that they will enable the development of entrepreneurial skills, and that learners will be inspired by their peers – are challenged by theory from psychology and education. The issue at stake is that the expansion of enterprise education policy into primary and secondary education increases the likelihood that more learners will be sheep dipped in competitions, and competitive activities, without a clear recognition of the potential unintended effects. In this chapter, we employ a realist-informed approach to critically evaluate the theoretical basis that underpins the use of competitions and competitive learning activities in school-based enterprise education. We believe that our findings and subsequent recommendations will provide those who promote and practice the use of competitions with a richer, more sophisticated picture of the potential flaws within such activities.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio