Gathering preliminary data

Prior to any large-scale basic science or clinical research project being funded, it is important for researchers to gather preliminary data. This is essential for providing evidence for the feasibility of research projects and helping to design larger-scale studies. When gathering preliminary data one needs to consider how many data are required, how this work is to be funded and where and when the data will be generated. Most importantly researchers should ensure that the planned data collection will be meaningful, serve its intended purpose and follow the principles of good clinical practice

Ordovician volcanic and hypabyssal rocks in the central and southern Miramichi Highlands: their tectonic setting and relationship to contemporary volcanic rocks in northern New Brunswick

New analyses of mafic igneous rocks from the central Miramichi Highlands have led us to modify the interpretation of its tectonic setting. New samples have been obtained from the Bam ford Brook and Trousers Lake areas of New Brunswick, and the Danforth area in Maine. All subalkalic mafic rocks, including the Trousers Lake striped amphibolites, are associated with a thick sequence of metasedimentary rocks and all are continental tholeiites, analogous to tholeiitic suites in the Tetagouche Group of the northern Miramichi Highlands. The presence of alkalic basalt and comendite in this area supports this correlation. In the southern Miramichi Highlands of Maine, silicic and intermediate volcanic rocks form part of the Woodstock-Meductic arc-related volcanic suite. RÉSUMÉ De nouvelles analyses de roches ignées mafiques provenant du centre des hautes-terres de la Miramichi nous ont conduit à modifier l’interprétation de leur environnement tectonique. De nouveaux échantillons ont été recueillis dans les régions du ruisseau Bamford et du lac Trousers au Nouveau-Brunswick, et dans la région de Danforth au Maine. Toutes les roches mafiques subalcalines, incluant les amphibolites rubannées du lac Trousers, sont associées avec une séquence épaisse de roches métasédimentaires et sont toutes des tholéiites continentales, similaires aux suites tholéiitiques appartenant au Groupe de Tétagouche du nord des hautes-terres de la Miramichi. La présence de basaltes alcalins et de comendites dans cette région appuie cette corrélation. Dans le sud des hautes-terres de la Miramichi au Maine, les volcanites siliceuses et inlermddiaires constituent une partie de la suite volcanique d'arc de Woodstock-Meductic. [Traduit par le journal

Evaluation of Commercial Off-the-Shelf Sorbents and Catalysts for Control of Ammonia and Carbon Monoxide

Designers of future space vehicles envision simplifying the Atmosphere Revitalization (AR) system by combining the functions of trace contaminant (TC) control and carbon dioxide removal into one swing-bed system. Flow rates and bed sizes of the TC and CO2 systems have historically been very different. There is uncertainty about the ability of trace contaminant sorbents to adsorb adequately in high-flow or short bed length configurations, and to desorb adequately during short vacuum exposures. There is also concern about ambient ammonia levels in the absence of a condensing heat exchanger. In addition, new materials and formulations have become commercially available, formulations never evaluated by NASA for purposes of trace contaminant control. The optimal air revitalization system for future missions may incorporate a swing-bed system for carbon dioxide (CO2) and partial trace contaminant control, with a reduced-size, low-power, targeted trace contaminant system supplying the remaining contaminant removal capability. This paper describes the results of a comparative experimental investigation into materials for trace contaminant control that might be part of such a system. Ammonia sorbents and low temperature carbon monoxide (CO) oxidation catalysts are the foci. The data will be useful to designers of AR systems for future flexible path missions. This is a continuation of work presented in a prior year, with extended test results

Inkjet printed GPS antenna on a 3D printed substrate using low-cost machines

Additive manufacturing (AM), also known as 3D printing, is a process of fabricating a 3D digital design by printing layer after layer. 3D printing has advanced very rapidly in recent years and has become an alternative to traditional manufacture methods for customized objects. Originally intended for the prototyping of mechanical objects, this technique has expanded into different areas such as biomedical [1] and electronics [2]. Within electronics, antennas and microwave engineering can greatly benefit from this technology. Researchers have already demonstrated the potential applicability of 3D printing in this field. Light weight waveguides have been fabricated by copper plating plastics forms [3]. Substrates for antenna applications have been modified and new properties have been found with the assistance of additive manufacturing [4]. Novel frequency selective structures (FSS) have been developed by fully [5] and partially [6] metalizing 3D printed elements. Non-uniform electromagnetic band gap structures have been fabricated on printed substrates [7]. Antennas have been placed onto wearables and tested on 3D printed phantoms [8]–[9]. Fig. 1

Zinc oxide thin-film transistors fabricated at low temperature by chemical spray pyrolysis

We report the electrical behavior of undoped zinc oxide thin-film transistors (TFTs) fabricated by low-temperature chemical spray pyrolysis. An aerosol system utilizing aerodynamic focusing was used to deposit the ZnO. Polycrystalline films were subsequently formed by annealing at the relatively low temperature of 140°C. The saturation mobility of the TFTs was 2 cm2/Vs, which is the highest reported for undoped ZnO TFTs manufactured below 150°C. The devices also had an on/off ratio of 104 and a threshold voltage of −3.5 V. These values were found to depend reversibly on measurement conditions

Developing a serocorrelate of protection against invasive group B streptococcus disease in pregnant women: a feasibility study.

BACKGROUND: Group B streptococcus is the leading cause of infection in infants. Currently, intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis is the major strategy to prevent invasive group B streptococcus disease. However, intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis does not prevent maternal sepsis, premature births, stillbirths or late-onset disease. Maternal vaccination may offer an alternative strategy. Multivalent polysaccharide protein conjugate vaccine development is under way and a serocorrelate of protection is needed to expedite vaccine licensure. OBJECTIVES: The ultimate aim of this work is to determine the correlate of protection against the major group B streptococcus disease-causing serotypes in infants in the UK. The aim of this feasibility study is to test key operational aspects of the study design. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study of pregnant women and their infants in a 6-month period (1 July to 31 December 2018). SETTING: Five secondary and tertiary hospitals from London and South England. National iGBS disease surveillance was conducted in all trusts in England and Wales. PARTICIPANTS: Pregnant women aged ≥ 18 years who were delivering at one of the selected hospitals and who provided consent during the study period. There were no exclusion criteria. INTERVENTIONS: No interventions were performed. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: (1) To test the feasibility of collecting serum at delivery from a large cohort of pregnant women. (2) To test the key operational aspects for a proposed large serocorrelates study. (3) To test the feasibility of collecting samples from those with invasive group B streptococcus. RESULTS: A total of 1823 women were recruited during the study period. Overall, 85% of serum samples were collected at three sites collecting only cord blood. At the two sites collecting maternal, cord and infant blood samples, the collection rate was 60%. A total of 614 women were screened for group B streptococcus with a colonisation rate of 22% (serotype distribution: 30% III, 25% Ia, 16% II, 14% Ib, 14% V and 1% IV). A blood sample was collected from 34 infants who were born to colonised women. Maternal and infant blood and the bacterial isolates for 15 newborns who developed invasive group B streptococcal disease during the study period were collected (serotype distribution: 29% III, 29% II, 21% Ia, 7% Ib, 7% IV and 7% V). LIMITATIONS: Recruitment and sample collection were dependent on the presence of research midwives rather than the whole clinical team. In addition, individualised consent limited the number of women who could be approached each day, and site set-up for the national surveillance study and the limited time period of this feasibility study limited recruitment of all eligible participants. CONCLUSIONS: We have verified the feasibility of collecting and processing rectovaginal swabs and blood samples in pregnant women, as well as samples from those with invasive group B streptococcal disease. We have made recommendations for the recruitment of cases within the proposed GBS3 study and for controls both within GBS3 and as an extension of this feasibility study. FUTURE WORK: A large case-control study comparing specific immunoglobulin G levels in mothers whose infants develop invasive group B streptococcal disease with those in colonised mothers whose infants do not develop invasive group B streptococcal disease is recommended. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN49326091; IRAS project identification number 246149/REC reference number 18/WM/0147. FUNDING: This project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme and will be published in full in Health Technology Assessment; Vol. 23, No. 67. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information

English individualism refuted - and reasserted: the land market of Earls Colne (Essex), 1550-1750

This is the author's post-print version of an article whose final and definitive form has been published in The Economic History Review. © 2003 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. The definitive version is available at: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118509292/homeEarls Colne first came to the notice of historians through Macfarlane's study of its seventeenth-century vicar, Ralph Josselin, and then Macfarlane's use of evidence from the village in his The Origins of English Individualism (1978). This article presents preliminary results drawn from a computer-based reconstruction of the copyhold land market, 1546-1750, to contest Macfarlane's reading of the family-land bond in the manor. The familial possession of land over long periods is shown to be normal, and consistent with an active land market predominantly in smaller parcels. Little consolidation took place in the manor although some growth in holding size was achieved through subtenancy. Finally, the article asks whether the experience of copyholders is typical of the general.University of Central Lancashir