Immunology knowledge as one of the basic sciences that forms the foundations to developing sound clinicians

Objective: The aim of this study was to (1) generate a valid questionnaire to determine immunology knowledge, (2) compare immunology knowledge across 3 different cohorts of chiropractic students that had already studied immunology, (3) examine the attitudes of chiropractic students to the study of immunology, and (4) examine whether students' attitudes affected their knowledge levels. Methods: Factor analysis was used to refine an immunology knowledge and perceptions questionnaire that was generated by a group of experts that was then completed by 90 students. Immunology knowledge level of each of the cohorts was compared using a 1-way analysis of variance. Kappa statistics were used to measure agreement between 2 statements, and logistic regression was used to determine whether students' attitudes were associated with their knowledge levels. Results: There was a significant difference in the immunology knowledge levels across the 3 year groups (F[2, 87] = 4.78, p = .011). Fifth-year students (n = 26) demonstrated 25% less immunology knowledge than third-year students (n = 35; p = .005). Of 90 students, 64 agreed that immunology knowledge was important to chiropractors, and 53 agreed that immunology knowledge was important for the average person. No relationship existed between their value of immunology knowledge and their score on the multiple-choice questions. Conclusion: Third-year students' immunology knowledge was significantly higher than that of the fifth-year students. Students value immunology knowledge, but this does not translate to retention of this knowledge. The validated questionnaire is a useful tool for assessing immunology knowledge retention for undergraduate students

UK Geoenergy Observatories Glasgow : groundwater chemistry data collected during the borehole construction phase

The United Kingdom Geoenergy Observatory (UKGEOS) in Glasgow comprises 11 boreholes at the Cuningar Loop, South Lanarkshire and one seismic observation borehole in Dalmarnock in east Glasgow. Boreholes are drilled into superficial deposits, unmined bedrock and mined bedrock to characterise the geological and hydrogeological setting, and to provide access for baseline monitoring and mine water abstraction/ reinjection. The aims of the Observatory include de-risking key technical barriers to low-temperature shallow mine water heat energy and heat storage from groundwater in former coal mine workings; and providing environmental characterisation and monitoring to assess any change in ambient conditions. This report details baseline groundwater monitoring carried out during the construction phase of the Glasgow Observatory. It includes a description of the sampling methods and hydrochemical data for groundwater samples collected between December 2018 and December 2019. Eight groundwater samples and two mains water samples were analysed to determine the concentrations of selected chemical parameters at the British Geological Survey (BGS) and associated laboratories. The samples were collected to provide an initial indication of groundwater chemistry, primarily for water discharge purposes. The report accompanies the release of the construction phase groundwater hydrochemistry dataset. Sampling locations and methodology Groundwater samples were collected from the main Observatory borehole cluster at the Cuningar Loop, Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire from boreholes GGA02 at Site 1, GGA05 at Site 2, GGB04, GGB05 at Site 5, as well as from the seismic monitoring borehole GGC01 at Site 10 in Dalmarnock, Glasgow City. In the case of boreholes GGA02 and GGC01, they are the only groundwater chemistry samples that will be collected from these boreholes. Water was obtained from the Glasgow Upper mine working in GGA02 and Glasgow Main mine working in GGA05 by stopping the drilling at the mine working and retrieving a sample during and after purging. Groundwater from the bedrock and the superficial deposits was drawn from borehole GGB04 and borehole GGB05, respectively. Scope of analysis Groundwater samples were collected for analysis of major, minor and trace elements, Cr(VI), NPOC and stable isotopes (δ2H, δ18O, δ13C). In addition, field measurements of water temperature, pH, specific electrical conductance (SEC), redox potential (Eh) and dissolved oxygen (DO) were made. Total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) were analysed in samples from GGA02 and GGA05 only. Key Findings Both mine waters are net–alkaline with a near–neutral pH (Glasgow Upper pH 6.92 and Glasgow Main pH 7.12); they have a high alkalinity (as field-HCO3) (Glasgow Upper field-HCO3 609 mg/L and Glasgow Main field-HCO3 792 mg/L) and a high SEC of 1637 to 1723 µS/cm. Similarly, the bedrock and the superficial deposits waters have pH values of ~7.5 and alkalinity as field-HCO3 between 415 mg/L and 462 mg/L. The SEC is also high 1078–1183 µS/cm. All the waters belong to the bicarbonate (HCO3) type, with sodium (Na) as the dominant cation in the superficial deposits and bedrock groundwaters (Na–HCO3 waters), and Na, calcium (Ca) and, to a lesser extent, magnesium (Mg) in the two mine waters (Na–Ca–(Mg)–HCO3 water type). Water from all four lithologies ranges in sulphate (SO4) concentration between 165 and 302 mg/L. The chloride (Cl) range is 51–82 mg/L, with the highest value in the Glasgow Main mine working groundwater. Iron (Fe) concentrations range between 1.8 to 2.6 mg/L in the mine water and bedrock; a much lower concentration of 0.007 mg/L is measured in the superficial deposits groundwater. Chromium(VI), a known industrial contaminant in the area, was not detected above the lower limit of detection (LLD) in any samples. The stable isotope δ2H, δ18O values plot broadly on the global meteoric water line with no evidence of evaporation prior to recharge. The O-isotope values (δ18O -7.4 ‰ and -7.1 ‰) are all within the range of groundwater samples reported previously from Carboniferous sedimentary aquifers across the Midland Valley of Scotland. The mine waters have heavier δ13C (-9.9 and -10.8 ‰) than the bedrock and superficial deposits (-15.6 and -12.1 ‰). All lithologies’ groundwaters fall on the middle to upper range of the δ13C values from -22 ‰ to -10 ‰ of groundwater samples from other studies of the Coal Measures Group across the Midland Valley of Scotland. All samples are saturated with respect to calcite, dolomite, siderite, rhodochrosite, amorphous ferric hydroxide, gibbsite, and barite, and remain undersaturated with respect to gypsum, halite and jarosite. Water was also obtained during the installation of the GGC01 seismic monitoring borehole. However, given the sampling method (a bailer lowered to only a few meters from the top of the borehole) and evidence of dilution during flushing and residual contamination from the tracer/additive and drilling fluid, the chemical analyses of the groundwater samples from this borehole are not to be considered representative of the unmined Coal Measures aquifer(s) intercepting the borehole. Very high concentrations of boron (B) and dissolved organic carbon (NPOC) were found, which decreased between the two sampling dates, showing an increase in groundwater flowing into the borehole after drilling and flushing. The water was alkaline, and with a SEC of 310–650 µS/cm. Sodium was the most enriched cation, with HCO3 and Cl the most enriched anions. Chromium(VI) was not detected above the LLD in either sample. The δ2H, δ18O signature of the groundwater was similar to the samples taken in the four Cuningar Loop boreholes while the δ13C isotope signature was lighter

UK Geoenergy Observatories : Glasgow borehole test pumping - groundwater chemistry

In 2015, the British Geological Survey (BGS) and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) were tasked with developing new centres for research into the subsurface environment to aid the responsible development of new low-carbon energy technologies in the United Kingdom (UK) and internationally. Glasgow is one of two UK Geoenergy Observatories (UKGEOS) (Figure 1). The Glasgow Observatory comprises a network of boreholes across five sites into the superficial deposits, mined and unmined bedrock in the Dalmarnock area in the east of Glasgow City (Site 10 on Figure 1b) and at the Cuningar Loop on the River Clyde in Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire (Sites 1, 2, 3 and 5 on Figure 1b). These were designed to characterise the geological and hydrogeological setting as a research infrastructure to de-risk key technical barriers to lowtemperature shallow mine water heat/storage in an urbanised former mine setting (Monaghan et al. 2017, 2019). The borehole network is intended also for baseline monitoring to assess the environmental status before and during the lifetime of the project. Figure 1c shows the details of the 11 boreholes located at the Cuningar Loop. Test pumping was carried out at nine of the Cuningar Loop boreholes in January and February 2020 to characterise the hydraulic properties of the target aquifer horizons (mine workings, bedrock, and superficial deposits), and to determine the extent to which these are hydraulically connected (Shorter et al. 2021; Figure 1c). Groundwater samples were collected during constantrate pumping tests and analysed to provide an initial hydrochemical characterisation of the aquifers and, where more than one sample was obtained during the test, to measure changes in selected constituents during pumping, to complement observed hydraulic responses. Fifteen groundwater samples were obtained and were analysed to determine the concentrations of selected chemical parameters at the BGS and associated laboratories. This report details the groundwater sampling protocols used during the test pumping, the analysis methods, and the groundwater hydrochemistry. The report accompanies the dataset: UKGEOS Glasgow Test Pumping Groundwater Chemistry Data Release

Feedback-control of quantum systems using continuous state-estimation

We present a formulation of feedback in quantum systems in which the best estimates of the dynamical variables are obtained continuously from the measurement record, and fed back to control the system. We apply this method to the problem of cooling and confining a single quantum degree of freedom, and compare it to current schemes in which the measurement signal is fed back directly in the manner usually considered in existing treatments of quantum feedback. Direct feedback may be combined with feedback by estimation, and the resulting combination, performed on a linear system, is closely analogous to classical LQG control theory with residual feedback.Comment: 12 pages, multicol revtex, revised and extende

Can forest management based on natural disturbances maintain ecological resilience?

Given the increasingly global stresses on forests, many ecologists argue that managers must maintain ecological resilience: the capacity of ecosystems to absorb disturbances without undergoing fundamental change. In this review we ask: Can the emerging paradigm of natural-disturbance-based management (NDBM) maintain ecological resilience in managed forests? Applying resilience theory requires careful articulation of the ecosystem state under consideration, the disturbances and stresses that affect the persistence of possible alternative states, and the spatial and temporal scales of management relevance. Implementing NDBM while maintaining resilience means recognizing that (i) biodiversity is important for long-term ecosystem persistence, (ii) natural disturbances play a critical role as a generator of structural and compositional heterogeneity at multiple scales, and (iii) traditional management tends to produce forests more homogeneous than those disturbed naturally and increases the likelihood of unexpected catastrophic change by constraining variation of key environmental processes. NDBM may maintain resilience if silvicultural strategies retain the structures and processes that perpetuate desired states while reducing those that enhance resilience of undesirable states. Such strategies require an understanding of harvesting impacts on slow ecosystem processes, such as seed-bank or nutrient dynamics, which in the long term can lead to ecological surprises by altering the forest's capacity to reorganize after disturbance

The Large Magellanic Cloud and the Distance Scale

The Magellanic Clouds, especially the Large Magellanic Cloud, are places where multiple distance indicators can be compared with each other in a straight-forward manner at considerable precision. We here review the distances derived from Cepheids, Red Variables, RR Lyraes, Red Clump Stars and Eclipsing Binaries, and show that the results from these distance indicators generally agree to within their errors, and the distance modulus to the Large Magellanic Cloud appears to be defined to 3% with a mean value of 18.48 mag, corresponding to 49.7 Kpc. The utility of the Magellanic Clouds in constructing and testing the distance scale will remain as we move into the era of Gaia.Comment: 23 pages, accepted for publication in Astrophysics and Space Science. From a presentation at the conference The Fundamental Cosmic Distance Scale: State of the Art and the Gaia Perspective, Naples, May 201

Imaging of Spin Dynamics in Closure Domain and Vortex Structures

Time-resolved Kerr microscopy is used to study the excitations of individual micron- scale ferromagnetic thin film elements in their remnant state. Thin (18 nm) square elements with edge dimensions between 1 and 10 $\mu$m form closure domain structures with 90 degree Neel walls between domains. We identify two classes of excitations in these systems. The first corresponds to precession of the magnetization about the local demagnetizing field in each quadrant, while the second excitation is localized in the domain walls. Two modes are also identified in ferromagnetic disks with thicknesses of 60 nm and diameters from 2 $\mu$m down to 500 nm. The equilibrium state of each disk is a vortex with a singularity at the center. As in the squares, the higher frequency mode is due to precession about the internal field, but in this case the lower frequency mode corresponds to gyrotropic motion of the entire vortex. These results demonstrate clearly the existence of well-defined excitations in inhomogeneously magnetized microstructures.Comment: PDF File (Figures at reduced resolution

A Model for the Development of the Rhizobial and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Symbioses in Legumes and Its Use to Understand the Roles of Ethylene in the Establishment of these two Symbioses

We propose a model depicting the development of nodulation and arbuscular mycorrhizae. Both processes are dissected into many steps, using Pisum sativum L. nodulation mutants as a guideline. For nodulation, we distinguish two main developmental programs, one epidermal and one cortical. Whereas Nod factors alone affect the cortical program, bacteria are required to trigger the epidermal events. We propose that the two programs of the rhizobial symbiosis evolved separately and that, over time, they came to function together. The distinction between these two programs does not exist for arbuscular mycorrhizae development despite events occurring in both root tissues. Mutations that affect both symbioses are restricted to the epidermal program. We propose here sites of action and potential roles for ethylene during the formation of the two symbioses with a specific hypothesis for nodule organogenesis. Assuming the epidermis does not make ethylene, the microsymbionts probably first encounter a regulatory level of ethylene at the epidermis–outermost cortical cell layer interface. Depending on the hormone concentrations there, infection will either progress or be blocked. In the former case, ethylene affects the cortex cytoskeleton, allowing reorganization that facilitates infection; in the latter case, ethylene acts on several enzymes that interfere with infection thread growth, causing it to abort. Throughout this review, the difficulty of generalizing the roles of ethylene is emphasized and numerous examples are given to demonstrate the diversity that exists in plants

Toward an internally consistent astronomical distance scale

Accurate astronomical distance determination is crucial for all fields in astrophysics, from Galactic to cosmological scales. Despite, or perhaps because of, significant efforts to determine accurate distances, using a wide range of methods, tracers, and techniques, an internally consistent astronomical distance framework has not yet been established. We review current efforts to homogenize the Local Group's distance framework, with particular emphasis on the potential of RR Lyrae stars as distance indicators, and attempt to extend this in an internally consistent manner to cosmological distances. Calibration based on Type Ia supernovae and distance determinations based on gravitational lensing represent particularly promising approaches. We provide a positive outlook to improvements to the status quo expected from future surveys, missions, and facilities. Astronomical distance determination has clearly reached maturity and near-consistency.Comment: Review article, 59 pages (4 figures); Space Science Reviews, in press (chapter 8 of a special collection resulting from the May 2016 ISSI-BJ workshop on Astronomical Distance Determination in the Space Age

Search for Doubly-Charged Higgs Boson Production at HERA

A search for the single production of doubly-charged Higgs bosons H^{\pm \pm} in ep collisions is presented. The signal is searched for via the Higgs decays into a high mass pair of same charge leptons, one of them being an electron. The analysis uses up to 118 pb^{-1} of ep data collected by the H1 experiment at HERA. No evidence for doubly-charged Higgs production is observed and mass dependent upper limits are derived on the Yukawa couplings h_{el} of the Higgs boson to an electron-lepton pair. Assuming that the doubly-charged Higgs only decays into an electron and a muon via a coupling of electromagnetic strength h_{e \mu} = \sqrt{4 \pi \alpha_{em}} = 0.3, a lower limit of 141 GeV on the H^{\pm\pm} mass is obtained at the 95% confidence level. For a doubly-charged Higgs decaying only into an electron and a tau and a coupling h_{e\tau} = 0.3, masses below 112 GeV are ruled out.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl