Turbulence and wind speed profiles for simulating the TMT AO performances

The site testing campaign of the Thirty Meter Telescope gathered an extensive amount of turbulence profiles. This data is modeled to describe the statistical characteristics of each site and act as "standard atmospheres" for use in AO simulations

Heating and cooling rates and their effects upon heart rate in the angulate tortoise, Chersina angulata

The heating and cooling rates of adult Chersina angulata were investigated to ascertain whether these tortoises can physiologically alter their rates of heat exchange. In addition, heart rates were recorded to provide an insight into the control of heat exchange. C. angulata heats significantly faster than it cools. Heart rates increase with increasing body temperature, and for all body temperatures heart rates were greater during heating than during cooling. This suggests that the cardiovascular system plays a role in the heat exchange of the tortoises, but further study is required to completely understand the thermoregulatory process

The protection of personal and medical data - a call for confidentiality

Personal data and privacy are increasingly being threatened by a boom in technological development - the replacement of conventional networks of communication with the perfected combination of computer and telecommunications. The subsequent high degree of transparency has the potential to damage the individual's right to 'informational self-determination'. The most common ways of unlawfully entering a computer data system, the reasons why an individual's information is treated as confidential and the ethical issues involved, international and local statutory instruments that protect such personal information, and ways to stop the outflow of personal information are discussed

Transthyretin levels in the vitreous correlate with change in visual acuity after vitrectomy

Background/aim: Little is known about biochemical markers related to change in visual acuity after vitrectomy. The potential use of transthyretin (TTR), a carrier of the retinol/retinol-binding protein, as a biochemical marker protein, was investigated. Methods: TTR was measured using immunonephelometry in a group of patients (n = 77) in longstanding (> 1 week) retinal detachment (n = 29), fresh (< 1 week) retinal detachment (n = 17), macular holes (n = 20) or diabetic retinopathy (n = 11). Vitreous samples were taken at the start of every vitrectomy procedure. For reference values, cadaver specimens (n = 73) were used. Results: Reference values for vitreous TTR (median 18 mg/l; IQR 4 to 24 mg/l) comprised 2.2% of reference values for vitreous protein levels (median 538 mg/l; IQR 269 to 987 mg/l). Vitreous TTR values of patients were comparable in all disorders. Vitreous TTR values were higher in phakic (median 22.5 mg/l; IQR 10 to 27 mg/l) than in pseudophakic patients (median 12 mg/l; IQR 8 to 19 mg/l; p = 0.06). Postoperative change in visual acuity correlated well with vitreous TTR values found peroperatively (r(s) = 0.408; p = 0.012). Both change in visual acuity and lens status were the only variables which proved to explain the variance of TTR (multiple correlation coefficient: 0.494; phakic status: t = 2.767; p = 0.0084; and change in visual acuity t = 2.924: p = 0.0056). Conclusion: Vitreous fluid concentrations of TTR can be regarded as a biochemical marker for retinal function

Seeing what teachers see: Exploring the use of eye tracking in teacher expertise studies

Wolff, C., Van ’T Zelfde, H., Jarodzka, H., & Boshuizen, H. P. A. (2012, August). Seeing what teachers see: Exploring the use of eye tracking in teacher expertise studies. Poster presented at the EARLI SIG Learning and Professional Development, Antwerp, Belgium.The exploratory study presented in the poster is part of a larger research project investigating teachers’ cognitive processing and knowledge structuring and how these are expressed at varying levels of expertise development. The experiment is guided by an interest in determining which processes underlie expert teachers’ ability to deal with complex classroom settings and which research methods support such inquiries. As questions about cognitive and perceptual processes are difficult to investigate with traditional methods, we propose the use of process-tracing methods to capture and investigate these processes. Verbalization techniques will be employed to uncover teachers’ cognitive processes. However, as teaching is a highly visual task which places demands on teachers’ visual attention, eye-tracking is proposed as a method for capturing the perceptual and attentional processes of teachers. Eye tracking is a method which allows for the measurement and analysis of eye activity. Eye movements are recorded, measured, and analyzed in relation to the environment in which they occur to infer information about where a person’s gaze (and attention) is directed, the gaze duration, and the order in which gaze (and attention) is allocated. Eye tracking technology currently offers a number of options for collecting eye tracking data. This study considers two systems: a mobile, head-mounted system and a stationary, remote system. These systems were compared to determine the extent to which each system is able to capture covert cognitive and perceptual processes as well as overt behaviour of teachers. The mobile eye tracker is employed directly in the classroom while the stationary eye tracker is applied to a video-taped classroom lesson. The study also explores the effectiveness of eye tracking in combination with other methods, namely think aloud and questionnaires, to detect differences in the skills and knowledge expressed by experienced mentor teachers and inexperienced student teachers

Tetanus in the dog: review and a case-report of concurrent tetanus with hiatal hernia

<p/> <p>Tetanus with hiatal hernia was diagnosed in a four-month-old female sheepdog pup. The animal was treated with tetanus antitoxin, antibiotics, fluids and intensive nursing care for three weeks and subsequently made a full recovery.</p