Disseminated Gonorrhea

Sexually transmitted infections have risen sharply over the last decade in the United States. The incidence of gonorrhea has risen to 172 reported cases per 100,000 people over the past year. This likely represents an under-representation due to many cases going unreported. Disseminated gonorrhea can present with nonspecific symptoms including arthralgia, cutaneous lesions, or tenosynovitis. Diagnosis is based upon a degree of high clinical suspicion and serology. Emergency department treatment includes ceftriaxone and azithromycin

Optical trapping using ultrashort 12.9fs pulses

We demonstrate stable three-dimensional optical trapping of 780nm silica particles using a dispersion-compensated 12.9fs infrared pulsed laser and a trapping microscope system with 1.40NA objective. To achieve these pulse durations we use the Multiphoto

Luciano Floridi and contemporary art practice

This article examines how the thinking of Luciano Floridi, especially his emphasis on information, could affect the way we approach art practice. It aims to situate art practice in relation to contemporary informational theories and suggests that the way we view contemporary art practice needs to move beyond existing theories. Key components to Floridi’s philosophy are introduced with relevance to art practice, followed by an analysis of these concepts with examples from the history of art. It is hoped that, by clarifying some of the more complex terms and concepts, readers will form a better understanding of the connections and potential synergy between art practice and the sciences of information, through the philosophy of Floridi

Machine Learning Education for Artists, Musicians, and Other Creative Practitioners

This article aims to lay a foundation for the research and practice of machine learning education for creative practitioners. It begins by arguing that it is important to teach machine learning to creative practitioners and to conduct research about this teaching, drawing on related work in creative machine learning, creative computing education, and machine learning education. It then draws on research about design processes in engineering and creative practice to motivate a set of learning objectives for students who wish to design new creative artifacts with machine learning. The article then draws on education research and knowledge of creative computing practices to propose a set of teaching strategies that can be used to support creative computing students in achieving these objectives. Explanations of these strategies are accompanied by concrete descriptions of how they have been employed to develop new lectures and activities, and to design new experiential learning and scaffolding technologies, for teaching some of the first courses in the world focused on teaching machine learning to creative practitioners. The article subsequently draws on data collected from these courses—an online course as well as undergraduate and masters-level courses taught at a university—to begin to understand how this curriculum supported student learning, to understand learners’ challenges and mistakes, and to inform future teaching and research

Optical micromanipulation using dispersion-compensated and phase-shaped ultrashort pulsed lasers

Ultrashort pulsed lasers offer high peak powers at low average powers, making them ideal for maximising the efficiency of nonlinear excitation. Their broad bandwidths make it possible to tailor the pulse's temporal profile for advanced control of multiphoton excitation, techniques known as pulse shaping. This thesis represents the first combination of ultrashort pulse shaping with optical trapping and axicon dispersion compensation. We construct an optical trapping system which incorporates a 12fs duration pulsed laser, the shortest duration used to date in optical trapping. To achieve 12fs pulse durations at the sample, we must first eliminate temporal dispersion, which stretches and distorts pulses as they travel through microscope systems. We use the Multiphoton Intrapulse Interference Phase Scan (MIIPS) method to measure and compensate all orders of dispersion in our optical trapping system, verifying 12-13fs pulses at the sample. We use the dispersion-compensated optical trapping system to investigate the effects of pulse duration on optical trapping. Our theoretical arguments show that trap stiffness is independent of pulse duration. For experimental verification, we measure the trap stiffness of trapped 780nm silica spheres with back focal plane interferometry as we change pulse duration by more than an order of magnitude using quadratic pulse shaping. We find the trap stiffness unchanged within 9%. We also use quadratic pulse shaping to control two-photon fluorescence in optically trapped fluorescent polymer spheres. Next, we demonstrate two methods for producing selective two-photon excitation in trapped particles: amplitude shaping and 3rd order pulse shaping. Finally, we compensate dispersion in an axicon system, producing a non-diffracting ultrashort Bessel beam with controllable dispersion. This forms the basis for ongoing experiments exploring ultrashort Bessel beams in cellular transfection (photoporation), and examining the spatial profile of the Bessel beam as a function of the pulse's temporal profile

Design of Robust, Low-Threshold Wavelength-Scale Nanolasers using Optical and Thermal Analysis

Wavelength-scale nanolasers are a crucial component of future photonic systems integrated on chip. As nanolasers progress from their first proof-of-concept demonstrations to robust designs working at room temperature far above their lasing threshold, their thermal behavior, as well as the effects of fabrication imperfections, need to be better understood. This dissertation presents the first integrated optical, electrical, thermal, and material analysis of wavelength-scale nanolaser performance, and uses these results to analyze a failed laser design, as well as to suggest design changes to improve robustness and performance. The dissertation begins by describing methods for optical and thermal analysis, including methods to automate long sweeps of operating current and/ or geometry parameters. Next, a nanolaser with poor laboratory performance is analyzed, and the performance- limiting parameter is found not to be thermal issues, as had been expected, but the sloped sidewalls of the fabricated laser. The next chapter expands the analysis of sloped sidewalls and finds that, although this effect is very detrimental to laser performance, an increase in the amount of undercut etching can render the laser insensitive to sidewall slope, with no significant Joule heating penalty near threshold. Finally, the analysis of laser performance is applied to lasers designed to operate well above threshold, showing the thermal benefits of using heat-conducting dielectric shield layers, and analyzing the effect of shield material choice on optimal shield thicknes

Trends in Intra-Aortic Balloon Counterpulsation: Comparison of a 669 Record Australian Dataset with the Multinational Benchmark Counterpulsation Outcomes Registry

The aim of this study was to review and describe indications for intraaortic balloon counterpulsation (IABP) use and identify the impact these have on outcomes at an Australian cardiothoracic tertiary referral hospital. A secondary aim was comparison of the Australian practice with a large multinational IABP data registry. Patient demographics, IABP indication, IABP complication rate and mortality in 662 patients treated with IABP at The Prince Charles Hospital (TPCH), Brisbane between January 1994 and December 2004 inclusive were compared with The Benchmark Counterpulsation Outcomes Registry. Data were collected between 1994 and 2000 by retrospective patient record review and prospectively using the Benchmark database from 2001 to 2004. Statistical analysis was undertaken using SAS (v8.2) software. The mean age of patients managed with IABP at TPCH (71.6% male) was 63.4 years (SD 12.4). In-hospital mortality rate was 22% and the complication rate was 10.3%. TPCH indications for IABP were: weaning from cardiopulmonary bypass (34.2%); cardiogenic shock (24.4%); preoperative support (13%); catheter laboratory support (10.6%); refractory ventricular failure (7.3%); ischaemia related to intractable ventricular arrhythmias (4.5%); unstable refractory angina (4%); mechanical complications due to acute myocardial infarction (1.2%); and other (0.4%) (0.4% not reported). In comparison to Benchmark, IABP at TPCH demonstrated a prejudice toward intraoperative use (34.2% versus 16.6%; P=<0.0001) and an aversion to catheter laboratory support (10.6% versus 19%; P=<0.0001). TPCH and Benchmark IABP outcomes demonstrated comparable mortality (22% versus 20.8%; P=ns) but increased TPCH complications (10.3% versus 6.2%; P=<0.0001) owing to a 2% difference in observed insertion site bleeding

Disseminated Gonorrhea

Sexually transmitted infections have risen sharply over the last decade in the United States. The incidence of gonorrhea has risen to 172 reported cases per 100,000 people over the past year. This likely represents an under-representation due to many cases going unreported. Disseminated gonorrhea can present with nonspecific symptoms including arthralgia, cutaneous lesions, or tenosynovitis. Diagnosis is based upon a degree of high clinical suspicion and serology. Emergency department treatment includes ceftriaxone and azithromycin