Memoir on Hugh Miller (1802–1856) by his son Hugh Miller (1850–1896) in "Calotypes by D. O. Hill and R. Adamson: illustrating an early stage in the development of photography. Selected from his collection by Andrew Elliot", 1928. Transcribed and annotated by Michael A. Taylor 2017.

Memoir on Hugh Miller (1802–1856) by his son Hugh Miller (1850–1896) in "Calotypes by D. O. Hill and R. Adamson: illustrating an early stage in the development of photography. Selected from his collection by Andrew Elliot". Printed for private circulation, Edinburgh, 1928. (pages 13-18). Transcribed and annotated by Michael. A. Taylor, with the kind permission of Henry McKenzie Johnston CB on behalf of the Miller family; and with the kind assistance of Becky Howell and colleagues (Scottish National Portrait Gallery) and technical assistance from Richard C. Harley. Transcript is verbatim except for converting the asterisks, etc., used to indicate the original footnotes into numbers. Modern comments [in square brackets] have also been added, especially to indicate original pagination and identify some references and allusions

Correlation of Clinical Trachoma and Infection in Aboriginal Communities

Repeated episodes of C. trachomatis infection lead to active trachoma clinically characterised by an often intense inflammatory response to chlamydial antigens with later scarring and distortion of the eyelid leading to blindness. However, the clinical signs of trachoma do not correlate well with laboratory tests to detect the presence of Chlamydia. The WHO simplified clinical grading scheme currently used for assessment of trachoma has a poor correlation with C. trachomatis genomic test findings, even though the detection of bacterial genome is strongly correlated with the prevalence and severity of active trachoma. A detailed assessment of the clinical signs using a finer grading system was studied in a population-based survey in five Australian Aboriginal communities. Much clinical activity and infection was found in those with clinical signs below the threshold used in the current WHO grading scheme. Future studies of the distribution of infection and pathogenesis should use finer grading methods than the current WHO scheme. The prevalence of trachoma in these communities confirms that trachoma remains of public health importance and sustained interventions to control trachoma are warranted

The prevalence and causes of vision loss in Indigenous Australians: the National Indigenous Eye Health Survey

Aim: To determine the prevalence and causes of vision loss in Indigenous Australians. Design, setting and participants: A national, stratified, random cluster sample was drawn from 30 communities across Australia that each included about 300 Indigenous people of all ages. A sample of non-Indigenous adults aged 40 years was also tested at several remote sites for comparison. Participants were examined using a standardised protocol that included a questionnaire (self-administered or completed with the help of field staff), visual acuity (VA) testing on presentation and after correction, visual field testing, trachoma grading, and fundus and lens photography. The data were collected in 2008. Main outcome measures: VA; prevalence of low vision and blindness; causes of vision loss; rates of vision loss in Indigenous compared with non-Indigenous adults. Results: 1694Indigenouschildrenand1189Indigenousadultswereexamined, representing recruitment rates of 84% for children aged 5–15 years and 72% for adults aged 40 years. Rates of low vision (VA \u3c 6/12 to 6/60) were 1.5% (95% CI, 0.9%–2.1%) in children and 9.4% (95% CI, 7.8%–11.1%) in adults. Rates of blindness (VA \u3c 6/60) were 0.2% (95% CI, 0.04%–0.5%) in children and 1.9% (95% CI, 1.1%–2.6%) in adults. The principal cause of low vision in both adults and children was refractive error. The principal causes of blindness in adults were cataract, refractive error and optic atrophy. Relative risks (RRs) of vision loss and blindness in Indigenous adults compared with adults in the mainstream Australian population were 2.8 and 6.2, respectively. By contrast, RRs of vision loss and blindness in Indigenous children compared with mainstream children were 0.2 and 0.6, respectively. Conclusion: Many causes of vision loss in our sample were readily avoidable. Better allocation of services and resources is required to give all Australians equal access to eye health services

Allergenicity assessment of genetically modified crops—what makes sense?

GM crops have great potential to improve food quality, increase harvest yields and decrease dependency on certain chemical pesticides. Before entering the market their safety needs to be scrutinized. This includes a detailed analysis of allergenic risks, as the safety of allergic consumers has high priority. However, not all tests currently being applied to assessing allergenicity have a sound scientific basis. Recent events with transgenic crops reveal the fallacy of applying such tests to GM crops

Oblique Shocks As The Origin Of Radio To Gamma-ray Variability In AGN

The `shock in jet' model for cm-waveband blazar variability is revisited, allowing for arbitrary shock orientation with respect to the jet flow direction, and both random and ordered magnetic field. It is shown that oblique shocks can explain events with swings in polarization position angle much less than the 90 deg. associated with transverse structures, while retaining the general characteristics of outbursts, including spectral behavior and level of peak percentage polarization. Models dominated by a force-free, minimum energy magnetic field configuration (essentially helical) display a shallow rise in percentage polarization and frequency dependent swing in polarization position angle not in agreement with the results of single-dish monitoring observations, implying that the field is predominantly random in the quiescent state. Outbursts well-explained by the `shock in jet' model are present during gamma-ray flaring in several sources, supporting the idea that shock events are responsible for activity from the radio to gamma-ray bands.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Reliability of a food frequency questionnaire to assess dietary antioxidant intake

OBJECTIVE: Epidemiologic evidence of a role for antioxidants in the prevention of chronic disease has been inconclusive, in part due to the difficulty of measuring past diets of free-living populations. The purpose of the current study was to examine the reliability of a 19-item, self-administered, semiquantitative, food frequency questionnaire to assess intake of the major dietary antioxidants. METHODS: Reliability was established by administering the food frequency questionnaire a second time by telephone. The subjects comprised 151 participants in the Melbourne Visual Impairment Project, a study of the distribution and determinants of eye disease in Melbourne residents aged 40 and over. RESULTS: Spearman correlation coefficients ranged from 0.39 for spinach to 0.76 for yoghurt, and all were highly significant (all p = 0.001). The reliability of the instrument was not influenced by gender, English speaking ability, or the number of days between the first and second administration of the questionnaire. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, we have shown this 19-item food frequency questionnaire to be highly reliable. It should be useful for anyone involved in the study of the relationship of dietary antioxidant intake to health outcomes in large populations where limitations of time and money prohibit the collection of more detailed dietary intake information

The Radio Sky at Meter Wavelengths: m-Mode Analysis Imaging with the Owens Valley Long Wavelength Array

A host of new low-frequency radio telescopes seek to measure the 21-cm transition of neutral hydrogen from the early universe. These telescopes have the potential to directly probe star and galaxy formation at redshifts $20 \gtrsim z \gtrsim 7$, but are limited by the dynamic range they can achieve against foreground sources of low-frequency radio emission. Consequently, there is a growing demand for modern, high-fidelity maps of the sky at frequencies below 200 MHz for use in foreground modeling and removal. We describe a new widefield imaging technique for drift-scanning interferometers, Tikhonov-regularized $m$-mode analysis imaging. This technique constructs images of the entire sky in a single synthesis imaging step with exact treatment of widefield effects. We describe how the CLEAN algorithm can be adapted to deconvolve maps generated by $m$-mode analysis imaging. We demonstrate Tikhonov-regularized $m$-mode analysis imaging using the Owens Valley Long Wavelength Array (OVRO-LWA) by generating 8 new maps of the sky north of $\delta=-30^\circ$ with 15 arcmin angular resolution, at frequencies evenly spaced between 36.528 MHz and 73.152 MHz, and $\sim$800 mJy/beam thermal noise. These maps are a 10-fold improvement in angular resolution over existing full-sky maps at comparable frequencies, which have angular resolutions $\ge 2^\circ$. Each map is constructed exclusively from interferometric observations and does not represent the globally averaged sky brightness. Future improvements will incorporate total power radiometry, improved thermal noise, and improved angular resolution -- due to the planned expansion of the OVRO-LWA to 2.6 km baselines. These maps serve as a first step on the path to the use of more sophisticated foreground filters in 21-cm cosmology incorporating the measured angular and frequency structure of all foreground contaminants.Comment: 27 pages, 18 figure

Enhancing spaceflight safety with UOS3 cubesat

Earth orbits are becoming increasingly congested. This will not only impact future space operations but also become a concern for the population on the ground; with more spacecraft being flown, more objects will re-enter the atmosphere in an uncontrolled fashion. Parts of these satellites can reach Earth surface and endanger the ground population (e.g. ROSAT or UARS satellites). A student-run project from the University of Southampton aims to build a 1U cubesat (approx. 10 by 10 by 10 cm satellite), which will gather data that will improve the accuracy of re-entry predictions. The cubesat will record and deliver its position and attitude during the orbital decay, thus providing validation data for re-entry prediction tools. This will reduce the risk to the ground population because more accurate prognoses will allow mitigation measures to be implemented in the areas at risk. The mission could also allow the risk of collision between spacecraft to be estimated more accurately thanks to improvement of the atmospheric models. This would give the decision makers more complete information to use, for instance, in collision avoidance manoeuvre plannin