10,005 research outputs found
Posaconazole-induced hypertension and hypokalemia due to inhibition of the 11b-hydroxylase enzyme
TALON - The Telescope Alert Operation Network System: Intelligent Linking of Distributed Autonomous Robotic Telescopes
The internet has brought about great change in the astronomical community,
but this interconnectivity is just starting to be exploited for use in
instrumentation. Utilizing the internet for communicating between distributed
astronomical systems is still in its infancy, but it already shows great
potential. Here we present an example of a distributed network of telescopes
that performs more efficiently in synchronous operation than as individual
instruments. RAPid Telescopes for Optical Response (RAPTOR) is a system of
telescopes at LANL that has intelligent intercommunication, combined with
wide-field optics, temporal monitoring software, and deep-field follow-up
capability all working in closed-loop real-time operation. The Telescope ALert
Operations Network (TALON) is a network server that allows intercommunication
of alert triggers from external and internal resources and controls the
distribution of these to each of the telescopes on the network. TALON is
designed to grow, allowing any number of telescopes to be linked together and
communicate. Coupled with an intelligent alert client at each telescope, it can
analyze and respond to each distributed TALON alert based on the telescopes
needs and schedule.Comment: Presentation at SPIE 2004, Glasgow, Scotland (UK
Changing assessment practice in engineering: how can understanding lecturer perspectives help?
Assessment in engineering disciplines is typically oriented to demonstrating competence in specific tasks. Even where assessments are intended to have a formative component, little priority may be given to feedback. Engineering departments are often criticized, by their students and by external quality reviewers, for paying insufficient attention to formative assessment. The e3an project set out to build a question bank of peer-reviewed questions for use within electrical and electronic engineering. As a part of this process, a number of engineers from disparate institutions were required to work together in teams, designing a range of assessments for their subject specialisms. The project team observed that lecturers were especially keen to develop formative assessment but that their understanding of what might be required varied considerably. This paper describes the various ways in which the processes of the project have engaged lecturers in actively identifying and developing their conceptions of teaching, learning and assessment in their subject. It reports on an interview study that was conducted with a selection of participants. It is concluded that lecturers' reflections on and understanding of assessment are closely related to the nature of the subject domain and that it is essential when attempting to improve assessment practice to start from the perspective of lecturers in the discipline
EdShare: towards sharing resources for learning and teaching at the University of Southampton
At the University of Southampton, in the UK, we have been developing the Research Repository (e-Prints Soton) since 2005, to showcase the research output and make it more accessible. As a significant next step, the University has taken the strategic decision to develop a repository for educational materials. In developing EdShare at Southampton, we are promoting a cultural shift to a more open and collaborative approach to scholarship as well as research.Successful implementation in such a context requires a lightweight and very simple approach to sharing content facilitated by web 2.0 functionality.<br/
Extracting quantum dynamics from genetic learning algorithms through principal control analysis
Genetic learning algorithms are widely used to control ultrafast optical
pulse shapes for photo-induced quantum control of atoms and molecules. An
unresolved issue is how to use the solutions found by these algorithms to learn
about the system's quantum dynamics. We propose a simple method based on
covariance analysis of the control space, which can reveal the degrees of
freedom in the effective control Hamiltonian. We have applied this technique to
stimulated Raman scattering in liquid methanol. A simple model of two-mode
stimulated Raman scattering is consistent with the results.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures. Presented at coherent control Ringberg conference
200
A Test of Kangaroo Care on Preterm Infant Breastfeeding
To test the effects of kangaroo care (KC) on breastfeeding outcomes in preterm infants compared to two control groups and to explore whether maternal-infant characteristics and the mother’s choice to use KC were related to breastfeeding measures
Libcitations: A Measure for Comparative Assessment of Book Publications in the Humanities and Social Sciences
Bibliometric measures for evaluating research units in the book-oriented humanities and social sciences are underdeveloped relative to those available for journal-oriented science and technology. We therefore present a new measure designed for book-oriented fields: the “libcitation count.” This is a count of the libraries holding a given book, as reported in a national or international union catalog. As librarians decide what to acquire for the audiences they serve, they jointly constitute an instrument for gauging the cultural impact of books. Their decisions are informed by knowledge not only of audiences but also of the book world, e.g., the reputations of authors and the prestige of publishers. From libcitation counts, measures can be derived for comparing research units. Here, we imagine a matchup between the departments of history, philosophy, and political science at the University of New South Wales and the University of Sydney in Australia. We chose the 12 books from each department that had the highest libcitation counts in the Libraries Australia union catalog during 2000–2006. We present each book’s raw libcitation count, its rank within its LC class, and its LC-class normalized libcitation score. The latter is patterned on the item-oriented field normalized citation score used in evaluative bibliometrics. Summary statistics based on these measures allow the departments to be compared for cultural impact. Our work has implications for programs such as Excellence in Research for Australia and the Research Assessment Exercise in the United Kingdom. It also has implications for data mining in OCLC’s WorldCat
CMB anisotropy predictions for a model of double inflation
We consider a double-inflationary model with two massive scalar fields
interacting only gravitationally in the context of a flat cold dark matter
(CDM) Universe. The cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature anisotropies
produced in this theory are investigated in great details for a window of
parameters where the density fluctuation power spectrum P(k) is in good
agreement with observations. The first Doppler (``acoustic'') peak is a crucial
test for this model as well as for other models. For the ``standard'' values of
the cosmological parameters of CDM, our model is excluded if the height of the
Doppler peak is sensibly higher than about three times the Sachs-Wolfe plateau.Comment: 12 pages LaTeX using revtex, to be published in Phys. Rev.
Chandra Observation of the Dipping Source XB 1254-690
We present the results of a 53 ks long Chandra observation of the dipping
source XB 1254--690. During the observation neither bursts or dips were
observed. From the zero-order image we estimated the precise X-ray coordinates
of the source with a 90% uncertainty of 0.6\arcsec. Since the lightcurve did
not show any significant variability, we extracted the spectrum corresponding
to the whole observation. We confirmed the presence of the \ion{Fe}{xxvi}
K absorption lines with a larger accuracy with respect to the previous
XMM EPIC pn observation. Assuming that the line width were due to a bulk motion
or a turbulence associated to the coronal activity, we estimate that the lines
were produced in a photoionized absorber between the coronal radius and the
outer edge of the accretion disk.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figs, accepted by A&A on 6 December 200
Delineation of individual human chromosomes in metaphase and interphase cells by in situ suppression hybridization using recombinant DNA libraries
A method of in situ hybridization for visualizing individual human chromosomes from pter to qter, both in metaphase spreads and interphase nuclei, is reported. DNA inserts from a single chromosomal library are labeled with biotin and partially preannealed with a titrated amount of total human genomic DNA prior to hybridization with cellular or chromosomal preparations. The cross-hybridization of repetitive sequences to nontargeted chromosomes can be markedly suppressed under appropriate preannealing conditions. The remaining single-stranded DNA is hybridized to specimens of interest and detected with fluorescent or enzymelabeled avidin conjugates following post-hybridization washes. DNA inserts from recombinant libraries for chromosomes 1, 4, 7, 8, 13, 14, 18, 20, 21, 22, and X were assessed for their ability to decorate specifically their cognate chromosome; most libraries proved to be highly specific. Quantitative densitometric analyses indicated that the ratio of specific to nonspecific hybridization signal under optimal preannealing conditions was at least 8:1. Interphase nuclei showed a cohesive territorial organization of chromosomal domains, and laserscanning confocal fluorescence microscopy was used to aid the 3-D visualization of these domains. This method should be useful for both karyotypic studies and for the analysis of chromosome topography in interphase cells
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