857 research outputs found
Fabrication of light guides for astrophysics experiments
The fabrication techniques and procedures utilized in the preparation of isochronal irregular shaped light guides for astrophysics experiments are described
Effectiveness of a social support intervention on infant feeding practices : randomised controlled trial
Background: To assess whether monthly home visits from trained volunteers could improve infant feeding practices at age 12 months, a randomised controlled trial was carried out in two disadvantaged inner city London boroughs.
Methods: Women attending baby clinics with their infants (312) were randomised to receive monthly home visits from trained volunteers over a 9-month period (intervention group) or standard professional care only (control group). The primary outcome was vitamin C intakes from fruit. Secondary outcomes included selected macro and micro-nutrients, infant feeding habits, supine length and weight. Data were collected at baseline when infants were aged approximately 10 weeks, and subsequently when the child was 12 and 18 months old.
Results: Two-hundred and twelve women (68%) completed the trial. At both follow-up points no significant differences were found between the groups for vitamin C intakes from fruit or other nutrients. At first follow-up, however, infants in the intervention group were significantly less likely to be given goats’ or soya milks, and were more likely to have three solid meals per day. At the second follow-up, intervention group children were significantly less likely to be still using a bottle. At both follow-up points, intervention group children also consumed significantly more specific fruit and vegetables.
Conclusions: Home visits from trained volunteers had no significant effect on nutrient intakes but did promote some other recommended infant feeding practices
Radial Velocity Variations in Pulsating Ap Stars III. The Discovery of 16.21 min Oscillations in Beta CrB
We present the analysis of 3 hrs of a rapid time series of precise stellar
radial velocity (RV) measurements (sigma = 4.5 m/s) of the cool Ap star Beta
CrB. The integrated RV measurements spanning the wavelength interval 5000-6000
Ang. show significant variations (false alarm probability = 10^-5) with a
period of 16.21 min (nu = 1028.17 micro Hz) and an amplitude of 3.54 +/- 0.56
m/s. The RV measured over a much narrower wavelength interval reveals one
spectral feature at 6272 Ang. pulsating with the same 16.21 min period and an
amplitude of 138 +/- 23 m/s. These observations establish Beta CrB to be a
low-amplitude rapidly oscillating Ap star.Comment: 5 Pages, 5 figure
GMA Instrumentation of the Athena Framework using NetLogger
Grid applications are, by their nature, wide-area distributed applications.
This WAN aspect of Grid applications makes the use of conventional monitoring
and instrumentation tools (such as top, gprof, LSF Monitor, etc) impractical
for verification that the application is running correctly and efficiently. To
be effective, monitoring data must be "end-to-end", meaning that all components
between the Grid application endpoints must be monitored. Instrumented
applications can generate a large amount of monitoring data, so typically the
instrumentation is off by default. For jobs running on a Grid, there needs to
be a general mechanism to remotely activate the instrumentation in running
jobs. The NetLogger Toolkit Activation Service provides this mechanism.
To demonstrate this, we have instrumented the ATLAS Athena Framework with
NetLogger to generate monitoring events. We then use a GMA-based activation
service to control NetLogger's trigger mechanism. The NetLogger trigger
mechanism allows one to easily start, stop, or change the logging level of a
running program by modifying a trigger file. We present here details of the
design of the NetLogger implementation of the GMA-based activation service and
the instrumentation service for Athena. We also describe how this activation
service allows us to non-intrusively collect and visualize the ATLAS Athena
Framework monitoring data
Forbidden Transitions in a Magneto-Optical Trap
We report the first observation of a non-dipole transition in an ultra-cold
atomic vapor. We excite the 3P-4P electric quadrupole (E2) transition in
Na confined in a Magneto-Optical Trap(MOT), and demonstrate its
application to high-resolution spectroscopy by making the first measurement of
the hyperfine structure of the 4P level and extracting the magnetic
dipole constant A 30.6 0.1 MHz. We use cw OODR (Optical-Optical
Double Resonance) accompanied by photoinization to probe the transition
The process of establishing implementing and maintaining a social support infant feeding programme
Objective To describe the process of establishing and implementing a social support infant feeding intervention.
Design This paper outlines the initial stages of a randomised controlled trial which assessed the effectiveness of a social support intervention on a range of infant feeding outcomes. Details are presented of the processes involved in recruiting, training and supporting a group of volunteers who provided support to the study sample.
Setting Camden and Islington, London, UK.
Results Initial networking with local agencies and organisations provided invaluable information and contacts. Employing a dedicated volunteer co-ordinator is vitally important in the recruitment, training and support of volunteers. Providing child care and travel expenses is an essential incentive for volunteers with young children. Advertisements placed in local newspapers were the most successful means of recruiting volunteers. Appropriate training is needed to equip volunteers with the necessary knowledge and skills to provide effective support. Particular emphasis in the training focused upon developing the necessary interpersonal skills and self-confidence. The evaluation of the training programme demonstrated that it improved volunteers’ knowledge and reported confidence. The provision of ongoing support is also essential to maintain volunteers’ interest and enthusiasm. The retention of volunteers is, however, a key challenge.
Conclusions The processes outlined in this paper have demonstrated the feasibility of successfully establishing, implementing and maintaining a community-based social support infant feeding programme. The experiences described provide useful insights into the practical issues that need to be addressed in setting up a social support intervention
Optimization of Software on High Performance Computing Platforms for the LUX-ZEPLIN Dark Matter Experiment
High Energy Physics experiments like the LUX-ZEPLIN dark matter experiment
face unique challenges when running their computation on High Performance
Computing resources. In this paper, we describe some strategies to optimize
memory usage of simulation codes with the help of profiling tools. We employed
this approach and achieved memory reduction of 10-30\%. While this has been
performed in the context of the LZ experiment, it has wider applicability to
other HEP experimental codes that face these challenges on modern computer
architectures.Comment: Contribution to Proceedings of CHEP 2019, Nov 4-8, Adelaide,
Australi
lmmunoadjuvant Activities of Cell Walls and Their Water-Soluble Fractions Prepared from Various Gram-Positive Bacteria
Impact of different diagnostic thresholds and the anaemia-ferritin-transferrin receptor model on the prevalence of anaemia and impaired iron status in older people
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