Seeing statistics at the upgraded 3.8m UK infrared telescope (UKIRT)

From 1991 until 1997, the 3.8m UK Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) underwent a programme of upgrades aimed at improving its intrinsic optical performance. This resulted in images with a FWHM of 0."17 at 2.2 um in September 1998. To understand and maintain the improvements to the delivered image quality since the completion of the upgrades programme, we have regularly monitored the overall atmospheric seeing, as measured by radial displacements of subaperture images (i.e. seeing-generated focus fluctuations), and the delivered image diameters. The latter have been measured and recorded automatically since the beginning of 2001 whenever the facility imager UFTI (UKIRT Fast Track Imager) has been in use. In this paper we report the results of these measurements. We investigate the relation between the delivered image diameter and the RMS atmospheric seeing (as measured by focus fluctuations, mentioned above). We find that the best seeing occurs in the second half of the night, generally after 2am HST and that the best seeing occurs in the summer between the months of July and September. We also find that the relationship between Zrms and delivered image diameter is uncertain. As a result Zrms frequently predicts a larger FWHM than that measured in the images. Finally, we show that there is no correlation between near-infrared seeing measured at UKIRT and sub-mm seeing measured at the Caltech Submillimetre Observatory (CSO).Comment: 10 pages to appear in the SPIE proceeding vol. 4484 on Observatory Operations to Maximize Scientific Retur

Suppression of Classical and Quantum Radiation Pressure Noise via Electro-Optic Feedback

We present theoretical results that demonstrate a new technique to be used to improve the sensitivity of thermal noise measurements: intra-cavity intensity stabilisation. It is demonstrated that electro-optic feedback can be used to reduce intra-cavity intensity fluctuations, and the consequent radiation pressure fluctuations, by a factor of two below the quantum noise limit. We show that this is achievable in the presence of large classical intensity fluctuations on the incident laser beam. The benefits of this scheme are a consequence of the sub-Poissonian intensity statistics of the field inside a feedback loop, and the quantum non-demolition nature of radiation pressure noise as a readout system for the intra-cavity intensity fluctuations.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur

On a concept of genericity for RLC networks

A recent definition of genericity for resistor-inductor-capacitor (RLC) networks is that the realisability set of the network has dimension one more than the number of elements in the network. We prove that such networks are minimal in the sense that it is not possible to realise a set of dimension n with fewer than n-1 elements. We provide an easily testable necessary and sufficient condition for genericity in terms of the derivative of the mapping from element values to impedance parameters, which is illustrated by several examples. We show that the number of resistors in a generic RLC network cannot exceed k+1 where k is the order of the impedance. With an example, we show that an impedance function of lower order than the number of reactive elements in the network need not imply that the network is non-generic. We prove that a network with a non-generic subnetwork is itself non-generic. Finally we show that any positive-real impedance can be realised by a generic network. In particular we show that sub-networks that are used in the important Bott-Duffin synthesis method are in fact generic.A. Morelli was supported by the MathWorks studentship - a Cambridge University Trust fund

The wootton bassett mud spings (Wiltshire, U.K.): an unusual Largerstatten for jurassic foraminifera

Abstrac

In vitro susceptibility of thioredoxins and glutathione to redox modification and aging-related changes in skeletal muscle

AbstractThioredoxins (Trx's) regulate redox signaling and are localized to various cellular compartments. Specific redox-regulated pathways for adaptation of skeletal muscle to contractions are attenuated during aging, but little is known about the roles of Trx's in regulating these pathways. This study investigated the susceptibility of Trx1 and Trx2 in skeletal muscle to oxidation and reduction in vitro and the effects of aging and contractions on Trx1, Trx2, and thioredoxin reductase (TrxR) 1 and 2 contents and nuclear and cytosolic Trx1 and mitochondrial Trx2 redox potentials in vivo. The proportions of cytosolic and nuclear Trx1 and mitochondrial Trx2 in the oxidized or reduced forms were analyzed using redox Western blotting. In myotubes, the mean redox potentials were nuclear Trx1, −251mV; cytosolic Trx1, −242mV; mitochondrial Trx2, −346mV, data supporting the occurrence of differing redox potentials between cell compartments. Exogenous treatment of myoblasts and myotubes with hydrogen peroxide or dithiothreitol modified glutathione redox status and nuclear and cytosolic Trx1, but mitochondrial Trx2 was unchanged. Tibialis anterior muscles from young and old mice were exposed to isometric muscle contractions in vivo. Aging increased muscle contents of Trx1, Trx2, and TrxR2, but neither aging nor endogenous ROS generated during contractions modified Trx redox potentials, although oxidation of glutathione and other thiols occurred. We conclude that glutathione redox couples in skeletal muscle are more susceptible to oxidation than Trx and that Trx proteins are upregulated during aging, but do not appear to modulate redox-regulated adaptations to contractions that fail during aging

Control in chronic condition self-care management: how it occurs in the health worker–client relationship and implications for client empowerment

This item is under embargo for a period of 12 months from the date of publication, in accordance with the publisher's policy.Aim. To examine health worker–client interactions during care planning to understand processes that foster client empowerment and disempowerment. Background. It is unclear how health worker–client exchanges and information sharing through chronic condition care planning currently operate in primary health care. Moreover, it is unclear how control in these exchanges either enhances collaborative decision-making, partnership and client empowerment, or works to create client disempowerment and dependency on workers and health services. Design. Critical discourse analysis of qualitative data from ethnographic observations and audio-taped worker–client consultations. Method. Multidisciplinary teams in two Australian community-based primary healthcare sites participated. This included nurses, general practitioners and allied health workers and their clients who had a chronic condition care plan. Nineteen worker–client consultations were observed/recorded in 2011. Results. Control was expressed through multiple processes inherent in the worker role and in their interactions with clients. When workers exercised disproportionate control and clients relinquished their own control, client disempowerment and dependency were evident. Clients’ attempts to gain control and workers’ attempts to relinquish control alleviated clients’ disempowerment and dependency. However, structural features of information sharing systems and workers’ care planning behaviours diminished such efforts. Conclusion. Worker awareness of their communication style and the power of their role must improve for client chronic condition self-care management to be achieved. Training on the impacts of control in worker communication and systems where they work must be provided if unbeneficial forms of client dependency are to be overcome and true self-care management is to be realized

Grid methods for Bayes-optimal continuous-discrete filtering and utilizing a functional tensor train representation

Optimal continuous-discrete filtering for a nonlinear system requires evolving the forward Kolmogorov equation, that is a Fokker–Planck equation, in alternation with Bayes' conditional updating. We present two numerical grid-methods that represent density functions on a mesh, or grid. For low-dimensional, smooth systems the finite-volume method is an effective solver that gives estimates that converge to the optimal continuous-time values. We give numerical examples to show that this finite-volume filter is able to handle multi-modal filtering distributions that result from rank-deficient observations, and that Bayes-optimal parameter estimation may be performed within the filtering process. The naïve discretization of density functions used in the finite-volume filter leads to an exponential increase of computational cost and storage with increasing dimension, that makes the finite-volume filter unfeasible for higher-dimensional problems. We circumvent this ‘curse of dimensionality’ by using a tensor train representation (or approximation) of density functions and employ an efficient implicit PDE solver that operates on the tensor train representation. We present numerical examples of tracking n weakly coupled pendulums in continuous time to demonstrate filtering with complex density functions in up to 80 dimensions.</p

Information sharing for the management of chronic conditions in primary health care: How does it work and what are the outcomes?

The prevalence of chronic health problems is increasing across Australia. Finding ways to maximise effective use of resources in this area is particularly important given that expenditure on chronic conditions already accounts for the majority of all health care spending. Prior research indicates that chronic health problems are most effectively managed through a collaborative approach where clients and health workers from various disciplines work together to achieve defined goals. The use of care plans can assist in facilitating this collaboration and in fostering effective communication. To address the gaps in knowledge about how these processes are currently operating, our research investigated the information sharing processes that are used within the care planning process to identify how they work and to explore client and health worker experiences of them.The research reported in this paper is a project of the Australian Primary Health Care Research Institute, which is supported by a grant from the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing under the Primary Health Care Research, Evaluation and Development Strategy

Grid methods for Bayes-optimal continuous-discrete filtering and utilizing a functional tensor train representation

Optimal continuous-discrete filtering for a nonlinear system requires evolving the forward Kolmogorov equation, that is a Fokker–Planck equation, in alternation with Bayes' conditional updating. We present two numerical grid-methods that represent density functions on a mesh, or grid. For low-dimensional, smooth systems the finite-volume method is an effective solver that gives estimates that converge to the optimal continuous-time values. We give numerical examples to show that this finite-volume filter is able to handle multi-modal filtering distributions that result from rank-deficient observations, and that Bayes-optimal parameter estimation may be performed within the filtering process. The naïve discretization of density functions used in the finite-volume filter leads to an exponential increase of computational cost and storage with increasing dimension, that makes the finite-volume filter unfeasible for higher-dimensional problems. We circumvent this ‘curse of dimensionality’ by using a tensor train representation (or approximation) of density functions and employ an efficient implicit PDE solver that operates on the tensor train representation. We present numerical examples of tracking n weakly coupled pendulums in continuous time to demonstrate filtering with complex density functions in up to 80 dimensions.</p

Loss of testosterone impairs anti-tumor neutrophil function.

In men, the incidence of melanoma rises rapidly after age 50, and nearly two thirds of melanoma deaths are male. The immune system is known to play a key role in controlling the growth and spread of malignancies, but whether age- and sex-dependent changes in immune cell function account for this effect remains unknown. Here, we show that in castrated male mice, neutrophil maturation and function are impaired, leading to elevated metastatic burden in two models of melanoma. Replacement of testosterone effectively normalized the tumor burden in castrated male mice. Further, the aberrant neutrophil phenotype was also observed in prostate cancer patients receiving androgen deprivation therapy, highlighting the evolutionary conservation and clinical relevance of the phenotype. Taken together, these results provide a better understanding of the role of androgen signaling in neutrophil function and the impact of this biology on immune control of malignancies