Gas sensing based on optical fibre coupled diode laser spectroscopy : a new approach to sensor systems for safety monitoring

We describe an entirely passive fibre optic network which senses, amongst other species, CH¬4¬ and CO¬¬2 , with sensitivity and selectivity compatible with safety sensing in the mine environment. The basic principle is that a single laser diode source targeted to a particular species addresses up to 200 sensing points which may be spread over an area of dimensions ten or more km. The detection and processing electronics is typically located with the laser source. Several laser sources can be introduced in parallel to enable monitoring multiple species. The network itself, entirely linked through optical fibre, is inherently intrinsically safe. It is self checking for faults at the sensing location and continuously self calibrating. In the methane sensing mode its sensitivity is sub 100ppm and it responds accurately up to 100% methane. It is therefore capable of detecting extremely hazardous gas pockets which are completely missed by other sensor technologies. The network has demonstrated stability with zero maintenance or recalibration over periods in excess of two years. We believe that this system offers unique benefits in the context of mine safety and ventilation system monitoring

Oral Argument in Meyer v. Holley (No. 01-1120)

The matter of Meyer v. Holley, 537 U.S. 280 (2003) was argued before the United States Supreme Court on Tuesday, December 3, 2002. Professor Robert G. Schwemm argued on behalf of the Respondents. This document is a transcript of the oral argument

An evidence-based method for targeting an abusive head trauma prevention media campaign and its evaluation

BACKGROUND: A triple-dose abusive head trauma (AHT) prevention program (Period of PURPLE Crying) was implemented. The third dose consisted of an education media campaign. The study objectives were to describe the qualitative and spatial methods developed to target AHT prevention and to evaluate this campaign. METHODS: A questionnaire on the level of importance of factors, rated on a 7-point Likert scale, was distributed to a panel of experts to determine the best advertising locations. Ranked factors were used to create weights for statistical modeling and mapping within a Geographic Information Systems to determine optimal ad locations. The media campaign was evaluated via a telephone survey of randomly selected households. RESULTS: The survey found locations of new families, high population density, and high percentage of lone parents to be the most important factors for selecting billboard sites. Spatial analysis revealed six areas that ranked highest in our factors. Five billboards, four media posters, and six transit shelters were selected for our advertisements. A population-based telephone survey revealed that 23% of respondents knew the campaign. Nearly half (42%) heard the radio public service announcements, and 9% saw billboards. CONCLUSION: Extending primary prevention efforts to the public helps to create a cultural change in the way inconsolable crying, the trigger for AHT, is viewed. With the use of ranked factors and Geographic Information Systems, geographic locations with high visibility and specific risk factors for AHTwere identified for targeting the campaign, facilitating the likelihood that our message was reaching the population in greatest need

Relative energy deficiency in sport and the role of ultrarunning coaches according to two female ultrarunners

Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) is a complex syndrome that occurs as a result of prolonged Low Energy Availability (LEA) leading to health and performance impairments. However, whilst the coach plays an important role when working with athletes with RED-S, no research exists specifically exploring their role. Therefore, this study investigates the role of the coach from the athletes’ perspective within an ultrarunning context. Ultrarunners are at risk of LEA due to large training volumes and record high incidences of psychological and physiological conditions linked to RED-S, such as disordered eating and bone stress injuries. Two female ultrarunners who had experience with RED-S each participated in three semi-structured interviews. The findings highlight the multifaceted role of the coach which changes depending on the stage of the athletes’ RED-S Journey. Of primary importance was that the coach should be educated on RED-S in order to provide value throughout. Secondly, for effective recovery, the coach should embrace working with a multidisciplinary support team of experts. Thirdly, the coach should actively work on establishing strong relationships with the athlete and their support network. This will propagate trust and honest conversations, a key requirement for recovery from, and ongoing training post, RED-S.Output Status: Forthcoming/Available Onlin

Evaluation of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of Families for Health V2 for the treatment of childhood obesity : study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background: Effective programs to help children manage their weight are required. Families for Health focuses on a parenting approach, designed to help parents develop their parenting skills to support lifestyle change within the family. Families for Health V1 showed sustained reductions in overweight after 2 years in a pilot evaluation, but lacks a randomized controlled trial (RCT) evidence base. Methods/design: This is a multi-center, investigator-blind RCT, with parallel economic evaluation, with a 12-month follow-up. The trial will recruit 120 families with at least one child aged 6 to 11 years who is overweight (≥91st centile BMI) or obese (≥98th centile BMI) from three localities and assigned randomly to Families for Health V2 (60 families) or the usual care control (60 families) groups. Randomization will be stratified by locality (Coventry, Warwickshire, Wolverhampton). Families for Health V2 is a family-based intervention run in a community venue. Parents/carers and children attend parallel groups for 2.5 hours weekly for 10 weeks. The usual care arm will be the usual support provided within each NHS locality. A mixed-methods evaluation will be carried out. Child and parent participants will be assessed at home visits at baseline, 3-month (post-treatment) and 12-month follow-up. The primary outcome measure is the change in the children’s BMI z-scores at 12 months from the baseline. Secondary outcome measures include changes in the children’s waist circumference, percentage body fat, physical activity, fruit/vegetable consumption and quality of life. The parents’ BMI and mental well-being, family eating/activity, parent–child relationships and parenting style will also be assessed. Economic components will encompass the measurement and valuation of service utilization, including the costs of running Families for Health and usual care, and the EuroQol EQ-5D health outcomes. Cost-effectiveness will be expressed in terms of incremental cost per quality-adjusted life year gained. A de novo decision-analytic model will estimate the lifetime cost-effectiveness of the Families for Health program. Process evaluation will document recruitment, attendance and drop-out rates, and the fidelity of Families for Health delivery. Interviews with up to 24 parents and children from each arm will investigate perceptions and changes made. Discussion: This paper describes our protocol to assess the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a parenting approach for managing childhood obesity and presents challenges to implementation. Trial registration: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN4503220

T-Cell Responses to the M3 Immune Evasion Protein of Murid Gammaherpesvirus 68 Are Partially Protective and Induced with Lytic Antigen Kinetics

DNA vaccination with the M3 gene, encoding an immune evasion molecule expressed during both the acute lytic and persistent phases of murid gammaherpesvirus 68 infection, yielded a significantly lower titer of virus in the lung than controls. The protection seen was dependent on T cells, and we mapped an epitope recognized by CD8 T cells. The immune response to this epitope follows the same kinetics as lytic cycle antigens, despite the fact that this gene is expressed in both lytic and persistent stages of infection. This has important implications for our understanding of T-cell responses to putative latency-associated gammaherpesvirus proteins and how vaccination may improve control of these viruses

Happy Soldiers are Highest Performers

17 USC 105 interim-entered record; under review.The article of record as published may be found at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-021-00441-xWe examined the prediction of affective well-being to work performance in the United States Army. We found that high positive affect (PA), low negative affect (NA), and high optimism predicted awards for performance and heroism in a sample of 908,096 U.S. Army soldiers (mean age 29.60 years old, SD = 9.16 years; with over 1⁄4 of a million ethnic minor- ities and over 150,000 women). Baseline high PA, low NA, and high optimism predicted awards over a four-year follow up window, in which 114,443 soldiers (12.60%) received an award. Each well-being variable predicted future awards for both women and men, for enlisted soldiers as well as officers, for several ethnicities, for varying levels of education, and controlling for a number of other potential explanatory variables. The effects of high positive and low negative affect were additive, with each predicting significantly beyond the other. Comparing the soldiers highest vs. lowest in well-being predicted an almost four- fold greater award recognition in the high group. Awards were predicted by both high and low arousal positive emotions, as well as low sadness and low anger. The relations between PA, NA, and optimism with award attainment were curvilinear, with the greatest difference in award attainment occurring between low and moderate levels of affective well-being, with little effect between moderate and high well-being.Identified in text as U.S. Government work

Mechanism of Vanadium Leaching during Surface Weathering of Basic Oxygen Furnace Steel Slag Blocks: A Microfocus X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy and Electron Microscopy Study

© 2017 American Chemical Society. Basic oxygen furnace (BOF) steelmaking slag is enriched in potentially toxic V which may become mobilized in high pH leachate during weathering. BOF slag was weathered under aerated and air-excluded conditions for 6 months prior to SEM/EDS and μXANES analysis to determine V host phases and speciation in both primary and secondary phases. Leached blocks show development of an altered region in which free lime and dicalcium silicate phases were absent and Ca-Si-H was precipitated (CaCO 3 was also present under aerated conditions). μXANES analyses show that V was released to solution as V(V) during dicalcium silicate dissolution and some V was incorporated into neo-formed Ca-Si-H. Higher V concentrations were observed in leachate under aerated conditions than in the air-excluded leaching experiment. Aqueous V concentrations were controlled by Ca 3 (VO 4 ) 2 solubility, which demonstrate an inverse relationship between Ca and V concentrations. Under air-excluded conditions Ca concentrations were controlled by dicalcium silicate dissolution and Ca-Si-H precipitation, leading to relatively high Ca and correspondingly low V concentrations. Formation of CaCO 3 under aerated conditions provided a sink for aqueous Ca, allowing higher V concentrations limited by kinetic dissolution rates of dicalcium silicate. Thus, V release may be slowed by the precipitation of secondary phases in the altered region, improving the prospects for slag reuse

Women, know your limits: Cultural sexism in academia

Despite the considerable advances of the feminist movement across Western societies, in Universities women are less likely to be promoted, or paid as much as their male colleagues, or even get jobs in the first place. One way in which we can start to reflect on why this might be the case is through hearing the experiences of women academics themselves. Using feminist methodology, this article attempts to unpack and explore just some examples of ‘cultural sexism’ which characterise the working lives of many women in British academia.This article uses qualitative methods to describe and make sense of just some of those experiences. In so doing, the argument is also made that the activity of academia is profoundly gendered and this explicit acknowledgement may contribute to our understanding of the under-representation of women in senior positions

Carbon and nitrogen fixation and metabolite exchange in and between individual cells of Anabaena oscillarioides

Filamentous nitrogen fixing cyanobacteria are key players in global nutrient cycling, but the relationship between CO"2- and N"2-fixation and intercellular exchange of these elements remains poorly understood in many genera. Using high-resolution nanometer-scale secondary ion mass spectrometry (NanoSIMS) in conjunction with enriched H13CO"3- and 15N"2 incubations of Anabaena oscillarioides, we imaged the cellular distributions of C, N and P and 13C and 15N enrichments at multiple time points during a diurnal cycle as proxies for C and N assimilation. The temporal and spatial distributions of the newly fixed C and N were highly heterogeneous at both the intra- and inter-cellular scale, and indicative of regions performing active assimilation and biosynthesis. Subcellular components such as the neck region of heterocycts, cell division septae and putative cyanophycin granules were clearly identifiable by their elemental composition. Newly fixed nitrogen was rapidly exported from heterocysts and was evenly allocated among vegetative cells, with the exception of the most remote vegetative cells between heterocysts, which were N limited based on lower 15N enrichment. Preexisting functional heterocysts had the lowest levels of 13C and 15N enrichment, while heterocysts that were inferred to have differentiated during the experiment had higher levels of enrichment. This innovative approach, combining stable isotope labeling and NanoSIMS elemental and isotopic imaging, allows characterization of cellular development (division, heterocyst differentiation), changes in individual cell composition and cellular roles in metabolite exchange