16,377 research outputs found
Rational Selection vs. Academic Failure
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68606/2/10.1177_002248715700800203.pd
Illusions of gunk
The possibility of gunk has been used to argue against mereological nihilism. This paper explores two responses on the part of the microphysical mereological nihilist: (1) the contingency defence, which maintains that nihilism is true of the actual world; but that at other worlds, composition occurs; (2) the impossibility defence, which maintains that nihilism is necessary true, and so gunk worlds are impossible. The former is argued to be ultimately unstable; the latter faces the explanatorily burden of explaining the illusion that gunk is possible. It is argued that we can discharge this burden by focussing on the contingency of the microphysicalist aspect of microphysical mereological nihilism. The upshot is that gunk-based arguments against microphysical mereological nihilism can be resisted
Antimicrobial Use in Patients with Dementia: Current Concerns and Future Recommendations
Infections are common in people with dementia, and antibiotic use is widespread, albeit highly variable, across healthcare settings and countries. The few studies conducted to date that consider the appropriateness of antibiotic prescribing specifically for people with dementia focus on people with advanced dementia and suggest that much of the prescribing of antibiotics for these patients may be potentially inappropriate. We suggest that clinicians must consider a number of factors to determine appropriateness of antimicrobial prescribing for people with dementia, including the risks and benefits of assessing and treating infections, the uncertainty regarding the effects of antibiotics on patient comfort, goals of care and treatment preferences, hydration status, dementia severity and patient prognosis. Future research should examine antibiotic prescribing and its appropriateness across the spectrum of common infections, dementia severities, care settings and countries, and should consider how antibiotic therapy should be considered in discussions regarding treatment preferences, goals of care and/or advance care planning between clinicians, patients and families
Microphotonic parabolic light directors fabricated by two-photon lithography
We have fabricated microphotonic parabolic light directors using two-photon lithography, thin-film processing, and aperture formation by focused ion beam lithography. Optical transmission measurements through upright parabolic directors 22 μm high and 10 μm in diameter exhibit strong beam directivity with a beam divergence of 5.6°, in reasonable agreement with ray-tracing and full-field electromagnetic simulations. The results indicate the suitability of microphotonic parabolic light directors for producing collimated beams for applications in advanced solar cell and light-emitting diode designs
Sustainable rice cultivation in the deep flooded zones of the Vietnamese Mekong Delta
This paper explains how the management of the full-dyke system in the deep flooded zones of the Vietnamese Mekong Delta affects rice cultivation, and outlines how alternative dyke management strategies could offer more sustainable adaptations in the face of future environmental threats. The current management of the ‘full-dyke’ network has been successful in promoting triple-cropping rice cultivation, but this practice has prevented sediment deposition on the land surface. River-borne sediments deposited on the delta land surface have high economic value because they are (i) rich in nutrients (potentially 26 million USD/yr of free fertiliser to An Giang Province) and can (ii) help to maintain the Mekong Delta land above sealevel. Without a continuing supply of sediment to the delta, triple-cropping paddies may not continue to be sustainable or profitable for the majority of rice farmers over the next 10 to 20 years. The economic value of sediment as a free fertiliser is particularly important to poor farmers, as without sediment, they run a significant risk of debt due to fluctuations in rice, fertiliser, and other input prices. With incoming loads now declining, sediment must be managed carefully as a resource. Our projections show that the best use of the remaining sediment resource can be achieved by allowing full paddy flooding only in years of high sediment potential, and this would greatly increase the sustainability of rice agriculture in the face of future environmental change. This recommended policy is an option with few regrets, in that its other benefits include maximising groundwater replenishment, ensuring freshwater availability during drought periods (including countering salt water intrusion), cleansing rice paddies of pests and disease, and tempering downstream flooding. If triple-rice-cropping continues to have priority, financial support will particularly be needed to provide help to poorer farmers coping with increases in artificial fertiliser prices
Development and evaluation of a diagnostic cytokine-release assay for Mycobacterium suricattae infection in meerkats (Suricata suricatta)
CITATION: Clarke, C., et al. 2017. Development and evaluation of a diagnostic cytokine-release assay for mycobacterium suricattae infection in meerkats (Suricata suricatta). BMC Veterinary Research, 13:2, doi:10.1186/s12917-016-0927-x.The original publication is available at http://bmcvetres.biomedcentral.comBackground: Sensitive diagnostic tools are necessary for the detection of Mycobacterium suricattae infection in meerkats (Suricata suricatta) in order to more clearly understand the epidemiology of tuberculosis and the
ecological consequences of the disease in this species. We therefore aimed to develop a cytokine release assay to measure antigen-specific cell-mediated immune responses of meerkats.
Results: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) were evaluated for the detection of interferon-gamma
(IFN-γ) and IFN-γ inducible protein 10 (IP-10) in meerkat plasma. An IP-10 ELISA was selected to measure the release of this cytokine in whole blood in response to Bovigam® PC-HP Stimulating Antigen, a commercial peptide pool of M. bovis antigens. Using this protocol, captive meerkats with no known M. suricattae exposure (n = 10) were tested and results were used to define a diagnostic cut off value (mean plus 2 standard deviations). This IP-10 release
assay (IPRA) was then evaluated in free-living meerkats with known M. suricattae exposure, categorized as having either a low, moderate or high risk of infection with this pathogen. In each category, respectively, 24.7%, 27.3% and 82.4% of animals tested IPRA-positive. The odds of an animal testing positive was 14.0 times greater for animals
with a high risk of M. suricattae infection compared to animals with a low risk.
Conclusion: These results support the use of this assay as a measure of M. suricattae exposure in meerkat
populations. Ongoing longitudinal studies aim to evaluate the value of the IPRA as a diagnostic test of M. suricattae infection in individual animals.http://bmcvetres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12917-016-0927-xPublisher's versio
Observations of the Crab Nebula with H.E.S.S. Phase II
The High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) phase I instrument was an
array of four mirror area Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov
Telescopes (IACTs) that has very successfully mapped the sky at photon energies
above GeV. Recently, a telescope was added to
the centre of the existing array, which can be operated either in standalone
mode or jointly with the four smaller telescopes. The large telescope lowers
the energy threshold for gamma-ray observations to several tens of GeV, making
the array sensitive at energies where the Fermi-LAT instrument runs out of
statistics. At the same time, the new telescope makes the H.E.S.S. phase II
instrument. This is the first hybrid IACT array, as it operates telescopes of
different size (and hence different trigger rates) and different field of view.
In this contribution we present results of H.E.S.S. phase II observations of
the Crab Nebula, compare them to earlier observations, and evaluate the
performance of the new instrument with Monte Carlo simulations.Comment: In Proceedings of the 34th International Cosmic Ray Conference
(ICRC2015), The Hague, The Netherland
Calibration of the Cherenkov Telescope Array
The construction of the Cherenkov Telescope Array is expected to start soon.
We will present the baseline methods and their extensions currently foreseen to
calibrate the observatory. These are bound to achieve the strong requirements
on allowed systematic uncertainties for the reconstructed gamma-ray energy and
flux scales, as well as on the pointing resolution, and on the overall duty
cycle of the observatory. Onsite calibration activities are designed to include
a robust and efficient calibration of the telescope cameras, and various
methods and instruments to achieve calibration of the overall optical
throughput of each telescope, leading to both inter-telescope calibration and
an absolute calibration of the entire observatory. One important aspect of the
onsite calibration is a correct understanding of the atmosphere above the
telescopes, which constitutes the calorimeter of this detection technique. It
is planned to be constantly monitored with state-of-the-art instruments to
obtain a full molecular and aerosol profile up to the stratosphere. In order to
guarantee the best use of the observation time, in terms of usable data, an
intelligent scheduling system is required, which gives preference to those
sources and observation programs that can cope with the given atmospheric
conditions, especially if the sky is partially covered by clouds, or slightly
contaminated by dust. Ceilometers in combination with all-sky-cameras are
plannned to provide the observatory with a fast, online and full-sky knowledge
of the expected conditions for each pointing direction. For a precise
characterization of the adopted observing direction, wide-field optical
telescopes and Raman Lidars are planned to provide information about the
height-resolved and wavelength-dependent atmospheric extinction, throughout the
field-of-view of the cameras
- …