The Growing Necessity for Continuing Education: The Short Course Option

Continuing education is a critical issue in the workplace. Rapid change, the emergence of new technology, and the lack of trained individuals make continuing education an imperative for employers. The desire for individual growth and marketability make it an imperative for the employee also. While there are many options for continuing education, an increasingly popular vehicle is the short course. Time, cost efficiency and instruction by those experienced in real industrial practice are key factors in the success of this educational format. Over the past couple of decades, short course offerings and the number and type of sponsoring organizations have grown significantly. Within the scientific community, courses in basic disciplines (e.g., materials characterization), emergent technologies (e.g., Micro-Electro- Mechanical Systems), equipment operation (e.g., electron microscopes) and even business practices (e.g., ES&H, proposal writing) have emerged and are taught by universities, technical societies and equipment manufacturers. Short course offerings and formats are evolving. Presently, it is possible to find series of courses which define specific curricula. These curricula set the stage for new developments in the future, including increased certification and licensing (e.g., technologists). Along with such certifications will come the need for accreditation. Who will offer such programs, and especially, who will accredit them are significant questions. Perhaps the most dramatic changes will occur with the integration of advanced information technology. While satellite-based remote offerings are available, the use of the web for educating a dispersed group is just beginning to emerge. In its simplest forms, this offers little advantage over a video or a real-time satellite course, but the eventual emergence of tele-operation of experimental equipment will revolutionize remote teaching

Planetary radio astronomy observations from Voyager-2 near Saturn

Voyager-2 planetry radio astronomy measurements obtained near Saturn are discussed. They indicate that Saturnian kilometric radiation is emitted by a strong, dayside source at auroral latitudes in the northern hemisphere and by a weaker (by more than an order of magnitude) source at complementary latitudes in the southern hemisphere. These emissions are variable both due to Saturn's rotation and, on longer time scales, probably due to influences of the solar wind and the satellite Dione. The Saturn electrostatic discharge bursts first discovered by Voyager-1 and attributed to emissions from the B-ring were again observed with the same broadband spectral properties and a 10(h)11(m) + or - 5(m) episodic recurrence period but with an occurrence frequency of only of about 30 percent of that detected with Voyager-1. During the crossing of the ring plane at a distance of 2.88 R sub S, an intense noise event is interpreted to be consequence of the impact/vaporization/ionization of charged micron-size G-ring particles distributed over a total vertical thickness of about 1500 km

Fragmentation and systematics of the Pygmy Dipole Resonance in the stable N=82 isotones

The low-lying electric dipole (E1) strength in the semi-magic nucleus 136Xe has been measured which finalizes the systematic survey to investigate the so-called pygmy dipole resonance (PDR) in all stable even N=82 isotones with the method of nuclear resonance fluorescence using real photons in the entrance channel. In all cases, a fragmented resonance-like structure of E1 strength is observed in the energy region 5 MeV to 8 MeV. An analysis of the fragmentation of the strength reveals that the degree of fragmentation decreases towards the proton-deficient isotones while the total integrated strength increases indicating a dependence of the total strength on the neutron-to-proton ratio. The experimental results are compared to microscopic calculations within the quasi-particle phonon model (QPM). The calculation includes complex configurations of up to three phonons and is able to reproduce also the fragmentation of the E1 strength which allows to draw conclusions on the damping of the PDR. Calculations and experimental data are in good agreement in the degree of fragmentation and also in the integrated strength if the sensitivity limit of the experiments is taken into account

The geographical distribution and prevalence of Echinococcus multilocularis in animals in the European Union and adjacent countries : a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background This study aimed to provide a systematic review on the geographical distribution of Echinococcus multilocularis in definitive and intermediate hosts in the European Union (EU) and adjacent countries (AC). The relative importance of the different host species in the life-cycle of this parasite was highlighted and gaps in our knowledge regarding these hosts were identified. Methods Six databases were searched for primary research studies published from 1900 to 2015. From a total of 2,805 identified scientific papers, 244 publications were used for meta-analyses. Results Studies in 21 countries reported the presence of E. multilocularis in red foxes, with the following pooled prevalence (PP): low (≤ 1 %; Denmark, Slovenia and Sweden); medium (> 1 % to 10 %; Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Liechtenstein and Switzerland). Studies from Finland, Ireland, the United Kingdom and Norway reported the absence of E. multilocularis in red foxes. However, E. multilocularis was detected in Arctic foxes from the Arctic Archipelago of Svalbard in Norway. Conclusions Raccoon dogs (PP 2.2 %), golden jackals (PP 4.7 %) and wolves (PP 1.4 %) showed a higher E. multilocularis PP than dogs (PP 0.3 %) and cats (PP 0.5 %). High E. multilocularis PP in raccoon dogs and golden jackals correlated with high PP in foxes. For intermediate hosts (IHs), muskrats (PP 4.2 %) and arvicolids (PP 6.0 %) showed similar E. multilocularis PP as sylvatic definitive hosts (DHs), excluding foxes. Nutrias (PP 1.0 %) and murids (PP 1.1 %) could play a role in the life-cycle of E. multilocularis in areas with medium to high PP in red foxes. In areas with low PP in foxes, no other DH was found infected with E. multilocularis. When fox E. multilocularis PP was >3 %, raccoon dogs and golden jackals could play a similar role as foxes. In areas with high E. multilocularis fox PP, the wolf emerged as a potentially important DH. Dogs and cats could be irrelevant in the life-cycle of the parasite in Europe, although dogs could be important for parasite introduction into non-endemic areas. Muskrats and arvicolids are important IHs. Swine, insectivores, murids and nutrias seem to play a minor or no role in the life-cycle of the parasite within the EU and ACs

The electric dipole response of 76^{76}Se above 4 MeV

The dipole response of $^{76}_{34}$Se in the energy range 4 to 9 MeV has been analyzed using a $(\vec\gamma,{\gamma}')$ polarized photon scattering technique, performed at the High Intensity $\gamma$-Ray Source facility, to complement previous work performed using unpolarized photons. The results of this work offer both an enhanced sensitivity scan of the dipole response and an unambiguous determination of the parities of the observed J=1 states. The dipole response is found to be dominated by $E1$ excitations, and can reasonably be attributed to a pygmy dipole resonance. Evidence is presented to suggest that a significant amount of directly unobserved excitation strength is present in the region, due to unobserved branching transitions in the decays of resonantly excited states. The dipole response of the region is underestimated when considering only ground state decay branches. We investigate the electric dipole response theoretically, performing calculations in a 3D cartesian-basis time-dependent Skyrme-Hartree-Fock framework.Comment: 20 pages, 18 figures, to be submitted to PR

The high-efficiency {\gamma}-ray spectroscopy setup {\gamma}3 at HI{\gamma}S

The existing Nuclear Resonance Fluorescence (NRF) setup at the HI{\gamma}S facility at the Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory at Duke University has been extended in order to perform {\gamma}-{\gamma} coincidence experiments. The new setup combines large volume LaBr3:Ce detectors and high resolution HPGe detectors in a very close geometry to offer high efficiency, high energy resolution as well as high count rate capabilities at the same time. The combination of a highly efficient {\gamma}-ray spectroscopy setup with the mono-energetic high-intensity photon beam of HI{\gamma}S provides a worldwide unique experimental facility to investigate the {\gamma}-decay pattern of dipole excitations in atomic nuclei. The performance of the new setup has been assessed by studying the nucleus \sulfur at 8.125 MeV beam energy. The {\gamma}-decay branching ratio from the $1^+$ level at 8125.4 keV to the first excited $2^+$ state was determined to 15.7(3)%.Comment: 9 pages, 11 figure

Public health risks associated with food‐borne parasites

Parasites are important food-borne pathogens. Their complex lifecycles, varied transmission routes, and prolonged periods between infection and symptoms mean that the public health burden and relative importance of different transmission routes are often difficult to assess. Furthermore, there are challenges in detection and diagnostics, and variations in reporting. A Europe-focused ranking exercise, using multicriteria decision analysis, identified potentially food-borne parasites of importance, and that are currently not routinely controlled in food. These are Cryptosporidium spp., Toxoplasma gondii and Echinococcus spp. Infection with these parasites in humans and animals, or their occurrence in food, is not notifiable in all Member States. This Opinion reviews current methods for detection, identification and tracing of these parasites in relevant foods, reviews literature on food-borne pathways, examines information on their occurrence and persistence in foods, and investigates possible control measures along the food chain. The differences between these three parasites are substantial, but for all there is a paucity of well-established, standardised, validated methods that can be applied across the range of relevant foods. Furthermore, the prolonged period between infection and clinical symptoms (from several days for Cryptosporidium to years for Echinococcus spp.) means that source attribution studies are very difficult. Nevertheless, our knowledge of the domestic animal lifecycle (involving dogs and livestock) for Echinoccocus granulosus means that this parasite is controllable. For Echinococcus multilocularis, for which the lifecycle involves wildlife (foxes and rodents), control would be expensive and complicated, but could be achieved in targeted areas with sufficient commitment and resources. Quantitative risk assessments have been described for Toxoplasma in meat. However, for T.gondii and Cryptosporidium as faecal contaminants, development of validated detection methods, including survival/infectivity assays and consensus molecular typing protocols, are required for the development of quantitative risk assessments and efficient control measures

Dipole Strength Distributions from HIGS Experiments

A series of photon scattering experiments has been performed on the double-beta decay partners 76Ge and 76Se, in order to investigate their dipole response up to the neutron separation threshold. Gamma-ray beams from bremsstrahlung at the S-DALINAC and from Compton-backscattering at HIGS have been used to measure absolute cross sections and parities of dipole excited states, respectively. The HIGS data allows for indirect measurement of averaged branching ratios, which leads to significant corrections in the observed excitation cross sections. Results are compared to statistical calculations, to test photon strength functions and the Axel-Brink hypothesi