Low-Energy Heavy-Ion Reactions and the Skyrme Effective Interaction

The Skyrme effective interaction, with its multitude of parameterisations, along with its implemen- tation using the static and time-dependent density functional (TDHF) formalism have allowed for a range of microscopic calculations of low-energy heavy-ion collisions. These calculations allow variation of the effective interaction along with an interpretation of the results of this variation informed by a comparison to experimental data. Initial progress in implementing TDHF for heavy-ion collisions necessarily used many approximations in the geometry or the interaction. Over the last decade or so, the implementations have overcome all restrictions, and studies have begun to be made where details of the effective interaction are being probed. This review surveys these studies in low energy heavy-ion reactions, finding significant effects on observables from the form of the spin-orbit interaction, the use of the tensor force, and the inclusion of time-odd terms in the density functional.Comment: submitted to Prog. Part. Nucl. Phy

Rural land mobile radio market assessment and satellite and terrestrial system concepts

Market potential exists; the nature of the market in terms of service needs, usage characteristics, service requirements, and forecasting the demand to the year 2000; alternative system cncepts that show promise in addressing the identified needs, in a cost effective manner; and advanced technology requirements associated with these concepts are considered

Challenging the orthodoxy: union learning representatives as organic intellectuals

Teacher education and continuing professional development have become a key areas of controversy in England since the period of school sector restructuring following the 1988 Education Reform Act. More recently teacher training and professional development have often been used to promote and reinforce a narrow focus on the government’s ‘standards agenda’. However, the emerging discourse of ‘new professionalism’ has raised the profile of professional development in schools, and together with union learning representatives, there are opportunities to secure real improvements in teachers’ access to continuing professional development. This paper argues however that union learning representatives must go beyond advocating for better access to professional development and should raise more fundamental questions about the nature of professional development and the education system it serves. Drawing on Gramsci’s notion of the ‘organic intellectual’, the paper argues that union learning representatives have a key role as organisers of ideas – creating spaces in which the ideological dominance of current policy orthodoxy might be challenged

The clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of inhaler devices used in the routine management of chronic asthma in older children: a systematic review and economic evaluation

Background: This review examines the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of hand-held inhalers to deliver medication for the routine management of chronic asthma in children aged between 5 and 15 years. Asthma is a common disease of the airways, with a prevalence of treated asthma in 5–15-year-olds of around 12% and an actual prevalence in the community as high as 23%. Treatment for the condition is predominantly by inhalation of medication. There are three main types of inhaler device, pressurised metered dose, breath actuated, and dry powder, with the option of the attachment of a spacer to the first two devices under some prescribed circumstances. Two recent reviews have examined the clinical and cost-effectiveness evidence on inhaler devices, but one was for children aged under 5 years and the comparison in the second was made between pressurised metered dose inhalers and other types only. Objectives: This review examines the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of manual pressurised metered dose inhalers, breath-actuated metered dose inhalers, and breath-actuated dry powder inhalers, with and without spacers as appropriate, to deliver medication for the routine management of chronic asthma in children aged between 5 and 15 years. Methods: Two previous HTA reviews have compared the effectiveness of inhaler devices, one focusing on asthma in children aged under 5 years and the other on asthma and chronic obstructive airways disease in all age groups. For the current review, a literature search was carried out to identify all evidence relating to the use of inhalers in older children with chronic asthma. A search of in-vitro studies undertaken for one of the previous reviews was also updated. The data sources used were: 15 electronic bibliographic databases; the reference lists of one of the previous HTA reports and other relevant articles; health services research-related internet resources; and all sponsor submissions. Studies were selected according to strict inclusion and exclusion criteria, and relevant information concerning effectiveness and patient compliance and preference was extracted directly on to an extraction/evidence table. Quality assurance was monitored. Economic evaluation was undertaken by reviewing existing cost-effective evidence. Further economic modelling was carried out, and tables constructed to determine device cost-minimisation and incremental quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) thresholds between devices. Results: Number and quality of studies, and direction of evidence: Fourteen randomised controlled studies were identified relating to the clinical effectiveness of inhaler devices for delivering β2-agonists. A further five were on devices delivering corticosteroids and one concerned the delivery of cromoglicate. Overall, there were no differences in clinical efficacy between inhaler devices, but a pressurised metered dose inhaler with a spacer would appear to be more effective than one without. These findings endorse those of a previous HTA review but extend them to other inhaler devices. Seven randomised controlled trials examined the impact on clinical effectiveness of using a nonchlorofluorocarbon (CFC) propellant in place of a CFC propellant in metered dose inhalers, both pressurised and breath activated, although only one study considered the latter type. No differences were found between inhalers containing either propellant. A further 30 studies of varying quality, from 12 randomised controlled trials to non-controlled studies, were identified that concerned the impact of use by, and preference for, inhaler type, and treatment adherence in children. Differences between the studies, and limitations in comparative data between various inhaler device types, make it difficult to draw any firm conclusions from this evidence. Summary of benefits: No obvious benefits for one inhaler device type over another for use in children aged 5–15 years were identified. Costs and cost per quality-adjusted life-year: Two approaches have been taken: cost-minimisation and QALY threshold. In the QALY threshold approach, additional QALYs that each device must produce compared with a cheaper device to achieve an acceptable cost per QALY were calculated. Using the cheapest and most expensive devices for delivering 200 μg of beclometasone per day, assuming no cost offset for any device, and a threshold of £5000, the largest QALY needed was 0.00807. With such a small QALY increase, no intervention can be categorically rejected as not cost-effective. Conclusions: Generalisability of findings: On the available evidence there are no obvious benefits for one inhaler device over another when used by children aged 5–15 years with chronic asthma. However, the evidence, in the majority of cases, was compiled on children with mild to moderate asthma and restricted to a limited number of drugs. Therefore the findings may not be generalisable to those at the more severe end of the spectrum of the disease or to inhaler devices delivering some of the drugs used in the management of asthma. Need for further research: Many of the previous studies are likely to have been underpowered. Further clinical trials with a robust methodology, sufficient power and qualitative components are needed to demonstrate any differences in clinical resource use and patients’ asthma symptoms. Further studies should also include the behavioural aspects of patients towards their medication and its delivery mechanisms. It is acknowledged that sufficient power may prove impractical owing to the large numbers of patients required

Gemini/GMOS Transmission Spectral Survey: Complete Optical Transmission Spectrum of the hot Jupiter WASP-4b

We present the complete optical transmission spectrum of the hot Jupiter WASP-4b from 440-940 nm at R ~ 400-1500 obtained with the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrometers (GMOS); this is the first result from a comparative exoplanetology survey program of close-in gas giants conducted with GMOS. WASP-4b has an equilibrium temperature of 1700 K and is favorable to study in transmission due to a large scale height (370 km). We derive the transmission spectrum of WASP-4b using 4 transits observed with the MOS technique. We demonstrate repeatable results across multiple epochs with GMOS, and derive a combined transmission spectrum at a precision about twice above photon noise, which is roughly equal to to one atmospheric scale height. The transmission spectrum is well fitted with a uniform opacity as a function of wavelength. The uniform opacity and absence of a Rayleigh slope from molecular hydrogen suggest that the atmosphere is dominated by clouds with condensate grain size of ~1 um. This result is consistent with previous observations of hot Jupiters since clouds have been seen in planets with similar equilibrium temperatures to WASP-4b. We describe a custom pipeline that we have written to reduce GMOS time-series data of exoplanet transits, and present a thorough analysis of the dominant noise sources in GMOS, which primarily consist of wavelength- and time- dependent displacements of the spectra on the detector, mainly due to a lack of atmospheric dispersion correction.Comment: 23 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in AJ, 2017 July

Density distributions of superheavy nuclei

We employed the Skyrme-Hartree-Fock model to investigate the density distributions and their dependence on nuclear shapes and isospins in the superheavy mass region. Different Skyrme forces were used for the calculations with a special comparison to the experimental data in $^{208}$Pb. The ground-state deformations, nuclear radii, neutron skin thicknesses and $\alpha$-decay energies were also calculated. Density distributions were discussed with the calculations of single-particle wavefunctions and shell fillings. Calculations show that deformations have considerable effects on the density distributions, with a detailed discussion on the $^{292}$120 nucleus. Earlier predictions of remarkably low central density are not supported when deformation is allowed for.Comment: 7 pages, 10 figure

Two stage superconducting quantum interference device amplifier in a high-Q gravitational wave transducer

We report on the total noise from an inductive motion transducer for a gravitational-wave antenna. The transducer uses a two-stage SQUID amplifier and has a noise temperature of 1.1 mK, of which 0.70 mK is due to back-action noise from the SQUID chip. The total noise includes thermal noise from the transducer mass, which has a measured Q of 2.60 X 10^6. The noise temperature exceeds the expected value of 3.5 \mu K by a factor of 200, primarily due to voltage noise at the input of the SQUID. Noise from flux trapped on the chip is found to be the most likely cause.Comment: Accepted by Applied Physics Letters tentatively scheduled for March 13, 200