The galaxy's 157 micron (C 2) emission: Observations by means of a spectroscopic lunar-occultation technique

Galactic (C II) 157 micron, fine-structure emission was estimated. At a Galactic longitude of 8 deg, the peak power observed in a 7' x 7' field is approx. 5 x 10 to the -9 Watt. The method used to detect this radiation involved chopping against the cold side of the Moon

Highly ejected J = 16 to 15 rotational transitions of CO at 162.8 mirons in the Orion cloud

The first observations of the J = 16 to J = 15, 162.8 microns transition of CO from an astronomical source are reported. Measurements were carried out on the Kleinmann-Low Nebula. The intensity observed is in good agreement with predictions from previous spectroscopic work carried out in the far infrared. The observation strengthens the previous claim that approximately 1.5 solar mass of molecular hydrogen is heated to a temperature above 750 K within the shocked region in the Nebula. Upper limits to he OH intensity in the F2 (2Pi 1/2) transitions J = 3/2 to J = 1/2 which fall into two groups centered respectively at 163.12 and 163.40 are presented

Observations of the 145.5 micron (OI) emission line in the Orion nebula

A first set of observations of the (OI) 3P to 3P1 (145.5 micron) transition was obtained. The line was observed both in a beam centered on the Trapezium, and in a 7 times wider beam encompassing most of the Orion Nebula. A wide beam map of the region was constructed which shows that most of the emission is confined to the central regions of the nebula. These observations may be compared with reported measurement of the 3P1 to 3P2 (63.2 micron) transition in Orion and are consistent with optically thin emission in the 145.5 micron line and self-adsorbed 63.2 micron emission lines. Mechanisms are discussed for the excitation of neutral oxygen. It is included that much of the observed emission originates in the thin, radio-recombination-line-emitting CII/HI envelope bordering on the HII region

Addressing health literacy in patient decision aids

MethodsWe reviewed literature for evidence relevant to these two aims. When high-quality systematic reviews existed, we summarized their evidence. When reviews were unavailable, we conducted our own systematic reviews.ResultsAim 1: In an existing systematic review of PtDA trials, lower health literacy was associated with lower patient health knowledge (14 of 16 eligible studies). Fourteen studies reported practical design strategies to improve knowledge for lower health literacy patients. In our own systematic review, no studies reported on values clarity per se, but in 2 lower health literacy was related to higher decisional uncertainty and regret. Lower health literacy was associated with less desire for involvement in 3 studies, less question-asking in 2, and less patient-centered communication in 4 studies; its effects on other measures of patient involvement were mixed. Only one study assessed the effects of a health literacy intervention on outcomes; it showed that using video to improve the salience of health states reduced decisional uncertainty. Aim 2: In our review of 97 trials, only 3 PtDAs overtly addressed the needs of lower health literacy users. In 90% of trials, user health literacy and readability of the PtDA were not reported. However, increases in knowledge and informed choice were reported in those studies in which health literacy needs were addressed.ConclusionLower health literacy affects key decision-making outcomes, but few existing PtDAs have addressed the needs of lower health literacy users. The specific effects of PtDAs designed to mitigate the influence of low health literacy are unknown. More attention to the needs of patients with lower health literacy is indicated, to ensure that PtDAs are appropriate for lower as well as higher health literacy patients

The Gravitomagnetic Influence on Gyroscopes and on the Lunar Orbit

Gravitomagnetism--a motional coupling of matter analogous to the Lorentz force in electromagnetism--has observable consequences for any scenario involving differing mass currents. Examples include gyroscopes located near a rotating massive body, and the interaction of two orbiting bodies. In the former case, the resulting precession of the gyroscope is often called ``frame dragging,'' and is the principal measurement sought by the Gravity Probe-B experiment. The latter case is realized in the earth-moon system, and the effect has in fact been confirmed via lunar laser ranging (LLR) to approximately 0.1% accuracy--better than the anticipated accuracy of the Gravity-Probe-B result. This paper shows the connnection between these seemingly disparate phenomena by employing the same gravitomagnetic term in the equation of motion to obtain both gyroscopic precession and modification of the lunar orbit. Since lunar ranging currently provides a part in a thousand fit to the gravitomagnetic contributions to the lunar orbit, this feature of post-Newtonian gravity is not adjustable to fit any anomalous result beyond the 0.1% level from Gravity Probe-B without disturbing the existing fit of theory to the 36 years of LLR data.Comment: 4 pages; accepted for publication in Physical Review Letter

Earth Matter Effects in Detection of Supernova Neutrinos

We calculated the matter effect, including both the Earth and supernova, on the detection of neutrinos from type II supernovae at the proposed Daya Bay reactor neutrino experiment. It is found that apart from the dependence on the flip probability P_H inside the supernova and the mass hierarchy of neutrinos, the amount of the Earth matter effect depends on the direction of the incoming supernova neutrinos, and reaches the biggest value when the incident angle of neutrinos is around 93^\circ. In the reaction channel \bar{\nu}_e + p --> e^+ + n the Earth matter effect can be as big as about 12%. For other detection processes the amount of the Earth matter effect is a few per cent.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figure

Labour Commodification in the Employment Heartland: Union Responses to Teachers’ Temporary Work

This article analyses the commodification of professional labour and union responses to these processes within the employment heartland. It explores the category of fixed-contract or ‘temporary’ employment using Australian public school teaching as the empirical lens. Established to address intensifying conditions of labour market insecurity, the union-led creation of the temporary category was intended to partly decommodify labour by providing intermediate security between permanent and ‘casual’ employment. However, using historical case and contemporary survey data, we discern that escalation of temporary teacher numbers and intensifying work-effort demands concurrently increased insecurity within the teacher workforce, constituting recommodification. The article contributes to scant literature on unions and commodification, highlighting that within the current marketised context, labour commodification may occur through contradictory influences at multiple levels, and that union responses to combat this derogation of work must similarly be multi-level and sustained

Collaborating for policy impact: Academic-practitioner collaboration in industrial relations research

Knowledge co-production between academics and practitioners is increasingly a focus for university workplace contexts. While there is emerging interest in how social science academics can engage with industry to generate impact, little attention has been paid to how one form of practitioner organisation, trade unions, engages with academics to influence policy and member outcomes. In this article, we examine a case of research collaboration with an education trade union based in New South Wales, Australia, to explore the process of knowledge co-production with this partnership and its impact on education policy. In examining this decade-long partnership, we contribute to the literature on union strategy by depicting collaboration with researchers as a unique strategy for influencing policy outcomes (in this case, addressing teacher workload), while also contributing to emerging scholarship on knowledge co-production as a means to generate impact beyond the academy. As such, this article contributes a rare example of ‘cross-over’ between the worlds of academia and industry, which may inform future engagement and impact processes