There Will Be A Tomorrow

After her young daughter is killed in the aftermath of an apocalypse, a mother travels back in time to save her by stopping the apocalypse from ever happening

Perfect countably infinite Steiner triple systems

We use a free construction to prove the existence of perfect Steiner triple systems on a countably infinite point set. We use a specific countably infinite family of partial Steiner triple systems to start the construction, thus yielding 2ℵ0 non-isomorphic perfect systems

A stochastic model of nosocomial epidemics in hospital intensive care units

A stochastic differential equation model is developed to portray an epidemic of antibiotic resistant infections in a hospital intensive care unit. The dynamical behaviors of the solutions of this model are analyzed and numerical simulations are given to illustrate the dynamics of the solutions

How close is the dose? Manipulation of 10 mg hydrocortisone tablets to provide appropriate doses to children

This study explores the methodology advised by healthcare professionals and the methods used by parents/carers to identify whether there is a best practice method for manipulation of 10 mg hydrocortisone tablets to provide an accurate dose to children. Bespoke surveys were used to identify methods recommended and used in manipulation of tablets. Hydrocortisone tablets were manipulated to provide a specified dose by both naïve participants and parents/carers. The accuracy of manipulation was assessed using HPLC analysis. Competed surveys were received from 159 parent/carers reporting doses that ranged from 0.25 to 15 mg. Parents/carers most commonly reported splitting the tablet and administering the solid fraction; however more than 30% of those reporting physically splitting tablets were preparing doses that were not simply halving or quartering tablets. In a naïve population the dose accuracy, defined as percent of doses within 20% of the theoretical dose ranged from 57 to 58% depending on the tablet brand and the method of manipulation used. Almost three-quarters (74.1%) of parent/carers (n = 27) were able to produce a dose within 20% of the theoretical value and the most accurate method was to split tablets and administer the solid fraction. This study shows that a lack of age-appropriate medicines results in children being at risk of sub-optimal dosing

Educating for Indigenous health equity: An international consensus statement

The determinants of health inequities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations include factors amenable to medical education’s influence, for example, the competence of the medical workforce to provide effective and equitable care to Indigenous populations. Medical education institutions have an important role to play in eliminating these inequities. However, there is evidence that medical education is not adequately fulfilling this role, and in fact may be complicit in perpetuating inequities. This article seeks to examine the factors underpinning medical education’s role in Indigenous health inequity, in order to inform interventions to address these factors. The authors developed a consensus statement that synthesizes evidence from research, evaluation, and the collective experience of an international research collaboration including experts in Indigenous medical education. The statement describes foundational processes that limit Indigenous health development in medical education and articulates key principles that can be applied at multiple levels to advance Indigenous health equity. The authors recognize colonization, racism, and privilege as fundamental determinants of Indigenous health that are also deeply embedded in Western medical education. In order to contribute effectively to Indigenous health development, medical education institutions must engage in decolonization processes and address racism and privilege at curricular and institutional levels. Indigenous health curricula must be formalized and comprehensive, and must be consistently reinforced in all educational environments. Institutions’ responsibilities extend to advocacy for health system and broader societal reform to reduce and eliminate health inequities. These activities must be adequately resourced and underpinned by investment in infrastructure and Indigenous leadership

High-Speed Thermographic Analysis of Diesel Injector Nozzle Tip Temperature

The temperature of fuel injectors can affect the flow inside nozzles and the subsequent spray and liquid films on the injector tips. These processes are known to impact fuel mixing, combustion and the formation of deposits that can cause engines to go off calibration. However, there is a lack of experimental data for the transient evolution of nozzle temperature throughout engine cycles and the effect of operating conditions on injector tip temperature. Although some measurements of engine surface temperature exist, they have relatively low temporal resolutions and cannot be applied to production injectors due to the requirement for a specialist coating which can interfere with the orifice geometry. To address this knowledge gap, we have developed a high-speed infrared imaging approach to measure the temperature of the nozzle surface inside an optical diesel engine. We investigated ways of increasing the emissivity of the nozzle surface with minimal intrusion by applying thin carbon coatings. We compare our measurements with those from a production injector that was instrumented with internal thermocouples. Our steady-state off-engine investigation showed that nozzle surface temperature measured by infrared imaging could yield data at 1200 fps with uncertainties of #x0002B;20K to -1K compared to simultaneous thermocouple measurements. We applied this approach to an optical diesel engine to investigate the effect of injection duration and increased swirl ratio on injector nozzle temperature and surface homogeneity.</p

Mosquito Consumption by Insectivorous Bats: Does Size Matter?

Abstract Insectivorous bats have often been touted as biological control for mosquito populations. However, mosquitoes generally represent only a small proportion of bat diet. Given the small size of mosquitoes, restrictions imposed on prey detectability by low frequency echolocation, and variable field metabolic rates (FMR), mosquitoes may not be available to or profitable for all bats. This study investigated whether consumption of mosquitoes was influenced by bat size, which is negatively correlated with echolocation frequency but positively correlated with bat FMR. To assess this, we investigated diets of five eastern Australian bat species (Vespadelus vulturnus Thomas, V. pumilus Gray, Miniopterus australis Tomes, Nyctophilus gouldi Tomes and Chalinolobus gouldii Gray) ranging in size from 4-14 g in coastal forest, using molecular analysis of fecal DNA. Abundances of potential mosquito and non-mosquito prey were concurrently measured to provide data on relative prey abundance. Aedes vigilax was locally the most abundant mosquito species, while Lepidoptera the most abundant insect order. A diverse range of prey was detected in bat feces, although members of Lepidoptera dominated, reflecting relative abundance at trap sites. Consumption of mosquitoes was restricted to V. vulturnus and V. pumilus, two smaller sized bats (4 and 4.5 g). Although mosquitoes were not commonly detected in feces of V. pumilus, they were present in feces of 55 % of V. vulturnus individuals. To meet nightly FMR requirements, Vespadelus spp. would need to consume ~600-660 mosquitoes on a mosquito-only diet, or ~160-180 similar sized moths on a moth-only diet. Lower relative profitability of mosquitoes may provide an explanation for the low level of mosquito consumption among these bats and the absence of mosquitoes in feces of larger bats. Smaller sized bats, especially V. vulturnus, are likely to be those most sensitive to reductions in mosquito abundance and should be monitored during mosquito control activities