Acoustic Scale from the Angular Power Spectra of SDSS-III DR8 Photometric Luminous Galaxies

We measure the acoustic scale from the angular power spectra of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III) Data Release 8 imaging catalog that includes 872, 921 galaxies over ~10,000 deg2 between 0.45 \u3c z \u3c 0.65. The extensive spectroscopic training set of the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey luminous galaxies allows precise estimates of the true redshift distributions of galaxies in our imaging catalog. Utilizing the redshift distribution information, we build templates and fit to the power spectra of the data, which are measured in our companion paper, to derive the location of Baryon acoustic oscillations (BAOs) while marginalizing over many free parameters to exclude nearly all of the non-BAO signal. We derive the ratio of the angular diameter distance to the sound horizon scale DA(z)/rs = 9.212+0.416-0.404 at z = 0.54, and therefore DA (z) = 1411 ± 65 Mpc at z = 0.54; the result is fairly independent of assumptions on the underlying cosmology. Our measurement of angular diameter distance DA(z) is 1.4σ higher than what is expected for the concordance ΛCDM, in accordance to the trend of other spectroscopic BAO measurements for z ≳ 0.35. We report constraints on cosmological parameters from our measurement in combination with the WMAP7 data and the previous spectroscopic BAO measurements of SDSS and WiggleZ. We refer to our companion papers (Ho et al.; de Putter et al.) for investigations on information of the full power spectrum

Clustering of Sloan Digital Sky Survey III Photometric Luminous Galaxies: The Measurement, Systematics, and Cosmological Implications

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) surveyed 14,555 deg2, and delivered over a trillion pixels of imaging data. We present a study of galaxy clustering using 900,000 luminous galaxies with photometric redshifts, spanning between z = 0.45 and z = 0.65, constructed from the SDSS using methods described in Ross et al. This data set spans 11,000 deg2 and probes a volume of 3 h-3 Gpc3, making it the largest volume ever used for galaxy clustering measurements. We describe in detail the construction of the survey window function and various systematics affecting our measurement. With such a large volume, high-precision cosmological constraints can be obtained given careful control and understanding of the observational systematics. We present a novel treatment of the observational systematics and its applications to the clustering signals from the data set. In this paper, we measure the angular clustering using an optimal quadratic estimator at four redshift slices with an accuracy of ~5%, with a bin size of δ1 = 10 on scales of the baryon acoustic oscillations (BAOs; at ℓ ~ 40-400). We also apply corrections to the power spectra due to systematics and derive cosmological constraints using the full shape of the power spectra. For a flat ΛCDM model, when combined with cosmic microwave background Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe 7 (WMAP7) and H0 constraints from using 600 Cepheids observed by Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3; HST), we find Ω˄ = 0.73 ± 0.019 and H0 to be 70.5 ± 1.6 s-1 Mpc-1 km. For an open ΛCDM model, when combined with WMAP7 + HST, we find ΩK = 0.0035 ± 0.0054, improved over WMAP7+HST alone by 40%. For a wCDM model, when combined with WMAP7+HST+SN, we find ω = -1.071 ± 0.078, and H0 to be 71.3 ± 1.7 s-1 Mpc-1 km, which is competitive with the latest large-scale structure constraints from large spectroscopic surveys such as the SDSS Data Release 7 (DR7) and WiggleZ. We also find that systematic-corrected power spectra give consistent constraints on cosmological models when compared with pre-systematic correction power spectra in the angular scales of interest. The SDSS-III Data Release 8 (SDSS-III DR8) Angular Clustering Data allow a wide range of investigations into the cosmological model, cosmic expansion (via BAO), Gaussianity of initial conditions, and neutrino masses. Here, we refer to our companion papers for further investigations using the clustering data. Our calculation of the survey selection function, systematics maps, and likelihood function for the COSMOMC package will be released at http://portal.nersc.gov/project/boss/galaxy/photoz/

Telehealth for patients at high risk of cardiovascular disease: pragmatic randomised controlled trial

Objective: To assess whether non-clinical staff can effectively manage people at high risk of cardiovascular disease using digital health technologies. Design: Pragmatic, multicentre, randomised controlled trial. Setting: 42 general practices in three areas of England. Participants: Between 3 December 2012 and 23 July 2013 we recruited 641 adults aged 40 to 74 years with a 10 year cardiovascular disease risk of 20% or more, no previous cardiovascular event, at least one modifiable risk factor (systolic blood pressure ≥140 mm Hg, body mass index ≥30, current smoker), and access to a telephone, the internet, and email. Participants were individually allocated to intervention (n=325) or control (n=316) groups using automated randomisation stratified by site, minimised by practice and baseline risk score. Interventions: Intervention was the Healthlines service (alongside usual care), comprising regular telephone calls from trained lay health advisors following scripts generated by interactive software. Advisors facilitated self-management by supporting participants to use online resources to reduce risk factors, and sought to optimise drug use, improve treatment adherence, and encourage healthier lifestyles. The control group comprised usual care alone. Main outcome measures: The primary outcome was the proportion of participants responding to treatment, defined as maintaining or reducing their cardiovascular risk after 12 months. Outcomes were collected six and 12 months after randomisation and analysed masked. Participants were not masked. Results: 50% (148/295) of participants in the intervention group responded to treatment compared with 43% (124/291) in the control group (adjusted odds ratio 1.3, 95% confidence interval 1.0 to 1.9; number needed to treat=13); a difference possibly due to chance (P=0.08). The intervention was associated with reductions in blood pressure (difference in mean systolic −2.7 mm Hg (95% confidence interval −4.7 to −0.6 mm Hg), mean diastolic −2.8 (−4.0 to −1.6 mm Hg); weight −1.0 kg (−1.8 to −0.3 kg), and body mass index −0.4 (−0.6 to −0.1) but not cholesterol −0.1 (−0.2 to 0.0), smoking status (adjusted odds ratio 0.4, 0.2 to 1.0), or overall cardiovascular risk as a continuous measure (−0.4, −1.2 to 0.3)). The intervention was associated with improvements in diet, physical activity, drug adherence, and satisfaction with access to care, treatment received, and care coordination. One serious related adverse event occurred, when a participant was admitted to hospital with low blood pressure. Conclusions: This evidence based telehealth approach was associated with small clinical benefits for a minority of people with high cardiovascular risk, and there was no overall improvement in average risk. The Healthlines service was, however, associated with improvements in some risk behaviours, and in perceptions of support and access to care

Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a telehealth intervention to support the management of long-term conditions: study protocol for two linked randomized controlled trials

Background: As the population ages, more people are suffering from long-term health conditions (LTCs). Health services around the world are exploring new ways of supporting people with LTCs and there is great interest in the use of telehealth: technologies such as the Internet, telephone and home self-monitoring. Methods/Design: This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a telehealth intervention delivered by NHS Direct to support patients with LTCs. Two randomized controlled trials will be conducted in parallel, recruiting patients with two exemplar LTCs: depression or raised cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. A total of 1,200 patients will be recruited from approximately 42 general practices near Bristol, Sheffield and Southampton, UK. Participants will be randomly allocated to either usual care (control group) or usual care plus the NHS Direct Healthlines Service (intervention group). The intervention is based on a conceptual model incorporating promotion of self-management, optimisation of treatment, coordination of care and engagement of patients and general practitioners. Participants will be provided with tailored help, combining telephone advice from health information advisors with support to use a range of online resources. Participants will access the service for 12 months. Outcomes will be collected at baseline, four, eight and 12 months for the depression trial and baseline, six and 12 months for the CVD risk trial. The primary outcome will be the proportion of patients responding to treatment, defined in the depression trial as a PHQ-9 score <10 and an absolute reduction in PHQ-9 ≥5 after 4 months, and in the CVD risk trial as maintenance or reduction of 10-year CVD risk after 12 months. The study will also assess whether the intervention is cost-effective from the perspective of the NHS and personal social services. An embedded qualitative interview study will explore healthcare professionals’ and patients’ views of the intervention. Discussion: This study evaluates a complex telehealth intervention which combines evidence-based components and is delivered by an established healthcare organisation. The study will also analyse health economic information. In doing so, the study hopes to address some of the limitations of previous research by demonstrating the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a real world telehealth interventio

The engagement of social media technologies by undergraduate informatics students for academic purpose in Malaysia

The increase usage and employment of Social Media Technologies (SMTs) in personal, business and education activities is credited to the advancement of Internet broadband services, mobile devices, smart phones and web-based technologies. Informatics programs are technological-oriented in nature, hence students and academics themselves would arguably be quite adept at using SMTs. Students undertaking Informatics programs are trained to thrive in challenging, advanced technical environments as manifestations of the fast-paced world of Information Technology. Students must be able to think logically and learn “how to learn” as “knowledge upon demand” is one of the expected capabilities of Informatics graduates. This rapid change in knowledge and skill sets requires learners to not only be lifelong learners, but to be constantly connected to the field of computing science. SMTs may be the conduit that supports these needs. Despite being an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) hub and having advanced ICT Infrastructure nationally, the use of social media beyond young people in Malaysia for education purposes is still relatively new and little is known about the user experience, intentions, perceptions and acceptance of these technologies by students. This paper reports on a work-in-progress that investigates the perceptions, acceptance, usage and access to social media by undergraduate Informatics students in higher education institutions in Malaysia. Preliminary findings from 331 responses collected from an online questionnaires administered to students, academics and administrators from Informatics and Non-Informatics programs show that whilst students reported SMTs use mainly for personal social activities, the data from online questionnaires show that many students and instructors have started to explore and accept the use of SMTs as a tool for engaging with their Institution and their peers as well as for teaching and learning purposes. The paper also presents a conceptual model based on Connectivism and Communities of Practice (CoP) that has been developed to inform the study in terms of the role SMTs can play in building virtual learning communities. The intended outcome from this study is the development of a design framework for implementing SMTs as supporting tools for student engagement and to inform future practice

On simple continued fractions

This thesis presents a study concerning a sequence of real numbers which gives rise to a continued fraction whenever the second equation is substituted to the first equation and each fraction after the second is substituted to the denominator of the fraction which precedes it in the sequence.Simple continued fractions are governed by certain theorems, that cover rational numbers expressible as simple finite continued fractions and vice versa, and irrational numbers expressible as simple infinite continued fractions and vice versa. These theorems are organized, analyzed, proven and completed. In addition, examples are provided for better understanding of such theorems

The development, validation, reliability and norming of the panukat ng pagkamapagbahala

The main goal of this study is to contribute to the filipinization of psychological testing in the Philippines by constructing a paper and pencil instrument. This instrument, the Panukat ng Pagkamapagbahala (PP), measures the level of anxiety trait of Filipinos and determines the sources of their anxiety. Items were constructed based on the data gathered from Filipino respondents regarding the sources of their anxiety. The indigenous method of research, particularly, the pagtatanung-tanong approach was utilized to determine the anxiety sources. Unstructured questionnaires were also distributed to gather data. The items underwent a rigid item review before it was pre-tested. The sample consisted of 150 Filipino adults, within the age range of 21-40 years old. They were equally represented from the government, industrial and educational settings in Metro Manila. The test results were subjected to item analysis and factor analysis. For its final form, the test consists of 44 items, distributed under three factors, namely: Pagkabahala Ukol sa Ekonomiya at Pulitika , Pagkabahala Ukol sa Kalagayang Panlipunan , and Pagkabahala Ukol sa Kapakanan at Kinabukasan . Reliability was established through the coefficient alpha method. Factor I has a reliability coefficient of .9254681 Factor II ha .9182893 and Factor III has a reliability coefficient of .7082398. Four norm tables were constructed using the percentile ranks

A Marketing plan for 1993 of the Metro Ferry

The Pasig River Transit Co., Inc. owns and operates the Metro Ferry, a water transport system which ferries people from Escolta to Guadalupe and vice-versa using the Pasig river. At present, the company has seven riverbuses or vessels in Metro Manila. These operate from 7 am to 7 pm with 30 minute intervals during peak hours and hourly intervals during slack hours. To utilize the riverbuses during slack hours, the company has introduced the Pasig River Educational Tour which takes in students on a charter basis and provides an educational, guided tour of Pasig river aboard the Metro Ferry. The Metro Ferry as a public transport service is being positioned as an alternative mode of transportation in Metro Manila. This mode of transportation is fast, economical and generally pollution-free (from smoke belchers). There is also no long lines, no overcrowding and no traffic. Meanwhile, the Pasig River Educational Tour is positioned as a supplement for classroom learning as it provides students with a historical and ecological experience of the Pasig river. The marketing plan for 1993 focuses on both the Metro Ferry as a public transport system and as a charter service for the Pasig River Educational Tour. Short term objectives include increasing regular passenger ridership by 20% and increasing charter ridership by 50%. A 30% increase in product awareness is also expected. The main thrust of the marketing plan is to increase ridership. To do this, there should be an improvement of the people\u27s image of the Metro Ferry. Hence, an improvement of the quality of service is the main concern. This includes improvements of the Metro Ferry, the crew, the operations, boat signages and the stations. Meanwhile, itineraries, annotations, tour costs, summer packages will be improved to increase the usership of charter services. An increase in tour costs for charter services is recommended to increase the revenues generated from these activities. Likewise, the plan includes the increase of sales force, the provision of sales trainings, the use of sales brochures, clear books and other sales paraphernalia as part of the sales and distribution strategies. It is also recommended that Metro Ferry go into advertising and promotional activities to increase product awareness and usership. Print and radio ads will be used throughout the year. The advertising concept will emphasize Metro Ferry as an alternative mode of transportation where people can avail of a comfortable, economic, fast and hassle-free ride. A series of PR activities have also been prepared to supplement the radio and print ads throughout the year. The PR objective is to create a more favorable image for Pasig river and consequently, for Metro Ferry. Total investments for the marketing plan will amount to P 2,160,408 but profits of P 306,012.46 can be expected. Evaluations will be done quarterly and annually by the marketing and operations manager