Towards an institutional PLE

PLEs in their broader sense (the ad-hoc, serendipitous and potentially chaotic set of tools that learners bring to their learning) are increasingly important for learners in the context of formal study. In this paper we outline the approach that we are taking at the University of Southampton in redesigning our teaching and learning infrastructure into an Institutional PLE. We do not see this term as an oxymoron. We define an Institutional PLE as an environment that provides a personalised interface to University data and services and at the same time exposes that data and services to a student’s personal tools. Our goal is to provide a digital platform that can cope with an evolving learning and teaching environment, as well as support the social and community aspects of the institution

Analysis of the optical design for the SAFIR telelscope

SAFIR, the Single Aperture Far Infra Red Observatory, is a very powerful space mission that will achieve background-limited sensitivity in the far infrared-submillimeter spectral region. Many processes of enormous interest to astronomers can best be studied in this wavelength range, but require the demanding combination of high sensitivity, good angular resolution, and spectroscopic capability. SAFIR is a 10m class telescope offering good angular resolution, cooled to below 5 K in order to achieve background-limited sensitivity, and equipped with a complement of large-format cameras and broadband spectrometers. Successful operation of such a facility is critically dependent on achieving the level of sensitivity expected, but this is rendered difficult by potential pickup from unwanted sources of radiation. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that the emission from the optical system itself is minimal due to its low temperature, thus emphasizing the importance of minimizing pickup from unwanted astronomical sources of radiation, including the emission from dust in our solar system (analogous to the zodiacal light, hence "zodi"), and the emission from warm dust in the Milky Way (Galactic "cirrus"). The extreme sensitivity of SAFIR to these unwanted sources of radiation makes it essential to understand the relative sensitivity of the telescope/detector system to radiation coming from angles far outside the main beam, and to develop designs which minimize this pickup. In this paper we analyze in some detail the relative telescope sensitivity (referred to as the antenna pattern by microwave engineers) for different designs of SAFIR. These calculations include edge diffraction from the secondary and primary reflector, and also the effect of blockage by the secondary and blockage and scattering by support legs in a symmetric system. By convolving the antenna pattern with the brightness of the sky due to the zodi and cirrus, we can calculate the power received when the antenna is pointed in any specified direction. We can also compare the undesired pickup for different designs, in particular symmetric vs. asymmetric (off-axis or unblocked) antenna configurations. These considerations are vital for achieving the most efficient SAFIR design possible, in terms of achieving maximum sensitivity while being able to observe over a large fraction of the sky

Management of the respiratory distress symptom cluster in lung cancer: a randomised controlled feasibility trial.

BACKGROUND: Breathlessness, cough and fatigue are distressing symptoms for patients with lung cancer. There is evidence that these three symptoms form a discreet symptom cluster. This study aimed to feasibly test a new non-pharmacological intervention for the management of the Respiratory Distress Symptom Cluster (breathlessness-cough-fatigue) in lung cancer. METHOD: This was a multi-centre, randomised controlled non-blinded parallel group feasibility trial. Eligible patients (patients with primary lung cancer and 'bothered' by at least two of the three cluster symptoms) received usual care plus a multicomponent intervention delivered over two intervention training sessions and a follow-up telephone call or usual care only. Follow-up was for 12 weeks, and end-points included six numerical rating scales for breathlessness severity, Dyspnoea-12, Manchester Cough in Lung Cancer scale, FACIT-Fatigue scale, Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale, Lung Cancer Symptom Scale and the EQ-5D-3L, collected at baseline, week 4 and week 12. RESULTS: One hundred seven patients were randomised over 8 months; however, six were removed from further analysis due to protocol violations (intervention group n = 50 and control group n = 51). Of the ineligible patients (n = 608), 29 % reported either not experiencing two or more symptoms or not being 'bothered' by at least two symptoms. There was 29 % drop-out by week 4, and by week 12, a further two patients in the control group were lost to follow-up. A sample size calculation indicated that 122 patients per arm would be needed to detect a clinically important difference in the main outcome for breathlessness, cough and fatigue. CONCLUSIONS: The study has provided evidence of the feasibility and acceptability of a new intervention in the lung cancer population and warrants a fully powered trial before we reach any conclusions. The follow-on trial will test the hypothesis that the intervention improves symptom cluster of breathlessness, cough and fatigue better than usual care alone. Full economic evaluation will be conducted in the main trial

Threonine 57 is required for the post-translational activation of Escherichia coli aspartate α-decarboxylase.

Aspartate α-decarboxylase is a pyruvoyl-dependent decarboxylase required for the production of β-alanine in the bacterial pantothenate (vitamin B5) biosynthesis pathway. The pyruvoyl group is formed via the intramolecular rearrangement of a serine residue to generate a backbone ester intermediate which is cleaved to generate an N-terminal pyruvoyl group. Site-directed mutagenesis of residues adjacent to the active site, including Tyr22, Thr57 and Tyr58, reveals that only mutation of Thr57 leads to changes in the degree of post-translational activation. The crystal structure of the site-directed mutant T57V is consistent with a non-rearranged backbone, supporting the hypothesis that Thr57 is required for the formation of the ester intermediate in activation

Probing ISM Structure in Trumpler 14 & Carina I Using The Stratospheric Terahertz Observatory 2

We present observations of the Trumpler 14/Carina I region carried out using the Stratospheric Terahertz Observatory 2 (STO2). The Trumpler 14/Carina I region is in the west part of the Carina Nebula Complex, which is one of the most extreme star-forming regions in the Milky Way. We observed Trumpler 14/Carina I in the 158 $\mu$m transition of [C\,{\sc ii}] with a spatial resolution of 48$''$ and a velocity resolution of 0.17 km s$^{-1}$. The observations cover a 0.25$^\circ$ by 0.28$^\circ$ area with central position {\it l} = 297.34$^\circ$, {\it b} = -0.60$^\circ$. The kinematics show that bright [C\,{\sc ii}] structures are spatially and spectrally correlated with the surfaces of CO clouds, tracing the photodissociation region and ionization front of each molecular cloud. Along 7 lines of sight that traverse Tr 14 into the dark ridge to the southwest, we find that the [C\,{\sc ii}] luminosity from the HII region is 3.7 times that from the PDR. In same los we find in the PDRs an average ratio of 1:4.1:5.6 for the mass in atomic gas:dark-CO gas: molecular gas traced by CO. Comparing multiple gas tracers including HI 21cm, [C\,{\sc ii}], CO, and radio recombination lines, we find that the HII regions of the Carina Nebula Complex are well-described as HII regions with one-side freely expanding towards us, consistent with the champagne model of ionized gas evolution. The dispersal of the GMC in this region is dominated by EUV photoevaporation; the dispersal timescale is 20-30 Myr.Comment: ApJ accepte

Massive star formation and feedback in W49A: The source of our Galaxy's most luminous water maser outflow

We present high spatial resolution mid-IR images of the ring of UCHII regions in W49A obtained at Gemini North, allowing us to identify the driving source of its powerful H2O maser outflow. These data also confirm our previous report that several radio sources in the ring are undetected in the mid-IR because they are embedded deep inside the cloud core. We locate the source of the water maser outflow at the position of the compact mid-IR peak of source G (source G:IRS1). This IR source is not coincident with any identified compact radio continuum source, but is coincident with a hot molecular core, so we propose that G:IRS1 is a hot core driving an outflow analogous to the wide-angle bipolar outflow in OMC-1. G:IRS1 is at the origin of a larger bipolar cavity and CO outflow. The water maser outflow is orthogonal to the bipolar CO cavity, so the masers probably reside near its waist in the cavity walls. Models of the IR emission require a massive protostar of 45Msun, 3e5Lsun, and an effective envelope accretion rate of 1e-3Msun/yr. Feedback from the central star could potentially drive the H2O maser outflow, but it has insufficient radiative momentum to have driven the large-scale CO outflow, requiring that this massive star had an active accretion disk over the past 10^4 yr. Combined with the spatialy resolved morphology in IR images, G:IRS1 in W49 provides compelling evidence for a massive protostar that formed by accreting from a disk, accompanied by a bipolar outflow.Comment: 14 pages, MNRAS accepte

Analysis of the optical design for the SAFIR telelscope

SAFIR, the Single Aperture Far Infra Red Observatory, is a very powerful space mission that will achieve background-limited sensitivity in the far infrared-submillimeter spectral region. Many processes of enormous interest to astronomers can best be studied in this wavelength range, but require the demanding combination of high sensitivity, good angular resolution, and spectroscopic capability. SAFIR is a 10m class telescope offering good angular resolution, cooled to below 5 K in order to achieve background-limited sensitivity, and equipped with a complement of large-format cameras and broadband spectrometers. Successful operation of such a facility is critically dependent on achieving the level of sensitivity expected, but this is rendered difficult by potential pickup from unwanted sources of radiation. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that the emission from the optical system itself is minimal due to its low temperature, thus emphasizing the importance of minimizing pickup from unwanted astronomical sources of radiation, including the emission from dust in our solar system (analogous to the zodiacal light, hence "zodi"), and the emission from warm dust in the Milky Way (Galactic "cirrus"). The extreme sensitivity of SAFIR to these unwanted sources of radiation makes it essential to understand the relative sensitivity of the telescope/detector system to radiation coming from angles far outside the main beam, and to develop designs which minimize this pickup. In this paper we analyze in some detail the relative telescope sensitivity (referred to as the antenna pattern by microwave engineers) for different designs of SAFIR. These calculations include edge diffraction from the secondary and primary reflector, and also the effect of blockage by the secondary and blockage and scattering by support legs in a symmetric system. By convolving the antenna pattern with the brightness of the sky due to the zodi and cirrus, we can calculate the power received when the antenna is pointed in any specified direction. We can also compare the undesired pickup for different designs, in particular symmetric vs. asymmetric (off-axis or unblocked) antenna configurations. These considerations are vital for achieving the most efficient SAFIR design possible, in terms of achieving maximum sensitivity while being able to observe over a large fraction of the sky