Calibration of BVRI Photometry for the Wide Field Channel of the HST Advanced Camera for Surveys

We present new observations of two Galactic globular clusters, PAL4 and PAL14, using the Wide-Field Channel of the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) on board the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), and reanalyze archival data from a third, NGC2419. We matched our photometry of hundreds of stars in these fields from the ACS images to existing, ground-based photometry of faint sequences which were calibrated on the standard BVRI system of Landolt. These stars are significantly fainter than those generally used for HST calibration purposes, and therefore are much better matched to supporting precision photometry of ACS science targets. We were able to derive more accurate photometric transformation coefficients for the commonly used ACS broad-band filters compared to those published by Sirianni, et al. (2005), owing to the use of a factor of several more calibration stars which span a greater range of color. We find that the inferred transformations from each cluster individually do not vary significantly from the average, except for a small offset of the photometric zeropoint in the F850LP filter. Our results suggest that the published prescriptions for the time-dependent correction of CCD charge-transfer efficiency appear to work very well over the ~3.5 yr interval that spans our observations of PAL4 and PAL14 and the archived images of NGC2419.Comment: 22 pages, 12 figures. Accepted for publication in PAS

Ergonomic redesign using quality improvement for pre-hospital care of acute myocardial infarction

Context: Frontline emergency ambulance clinicians collaborated in a national quality improvement (QI) initiative to improve pre-hospital care for patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Problem: The National Ambulance Clinical Performance Indicator (CPI) care bundle for AMI (consisting of aspirin, GTN, pain assessment and administration of analgesia) highlighted a consistent shortfall in patient pain assessment and inadequate provision of analgesia. Ineffective pain management in AMI has negative physiological and psychological effects that can be detrimental to patient outcomes. The aim is to increase the delivery of the entire AMI care bundle to 90% by March 2012 Assessment of problem and analysis of its causes: We explored barriers to effective pain management using process maps, cause-and-effect diagrams and thematic analysis of audio recordings from QI collaborative workshops and semi-structured interviews. We found that ergonomic factors (interaction between human and system factors), which included ineffective and inefficient pain assessment methods, ineffective feedback processes and poor access to analgesia were root causes for suboptimal pain management in AMI. Intervention: Through collaboration with frontline ambulance clinicians, solutions were found to overcome these root causes. These included: •Provider prompts (e.g. aide memoires and checklists) to prompt care bundle delivery. •Modified pain assessment tools (integrating Wong-baker faces, numerical verbal scores from 0 to 10 and descriptive intensity scales). •Individual clinical feedback by a clinical leader. •The introduction of small nitrous oxide canisters to increase availability and administration of analgesia earlier in the care pathway. Strategy for change: We used Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles to improve processes of care in AMI. Once improvements developed through PDSA cycles were identified, these were spread to county divisions and then trust-wide. Results were shared through QI workshops, face-to-face dialogue, e-forums, bulletins, newsletters and magazines locally and nationally. Measurement of improvement: Statistical Process Control (SPC) control methods were used to evaluate the effects of changes implemented. Improvements in the delivery of analgesia and the entire care bundle were achieved through initial awareness raising and implementation of system changes; e.g. provider prompts and revised pain assessment tool etc. We have already seen improvements in performance in the delivery of analgesia and also the care bundle as a whole. Effects of changes: An increase in pain assessment and the delivery of analgesia for patients experiencing AMI will help improve patient outcomes. The preliminary results of this study show improvement in the pain management in AMI. The sustainability of improvements recognised so far, and any variations that may occur as a consequence of subsequent interventions, continue to be monitored. Lessons learnt: A deeper understanding of the current system of care has been achieved by adopting a collaborative approach using QI methods focusing on ergonomics. Greater efforts earlier in the project to nurture a culture for improvement and to foster ownership and support from senior executives could have been an additional facilitator for these activities. Message for others: Systems of care can be ergonomically designed using QI methods to foster an environment that minimises opportunities for mistakes, accidental slips, lapses as well as routine (i.e. purposeful) and exceptional (i.e. unavoidable) violations in pre-hospital pain management

Solar Powered Electric Vehicle Charger

This project will look into how to create an efficiently-operated solar powered electric vehicle charger. The solar panel will harvest energy from the sun that will be stored a battery pack to be readily available to charge an electric vehicle. These stations could be commercialized to be located along a highway, or personalized for a in-house installation

Additively manufacturable micro-mechanical logic gates.

Early examples of computers were almost exclusively based on mechanical devices. Although electronic computers became dominant in the past 60 years, recent advancements in three-dimensional micro-additive manufacturing technology provide new fabrication techniques for complex microstructures which have rekindled research interest in mechanical computations. Here we propose a new digital mechanical computation approach based on additively-manufacturable micro-mechanical logic gates. The proposed mechanical logic gates (i.e., NOT, AND, OR, NAND, and NOR gates) utilize multi-stable micro-flexures that buckle to perform Boolean computations based purely on mechanical forces and displacements with no electronic components. A key benefit of the proposed approach is that such systems can be additively fabricated as embedded parts of microarchitected metamaterials that are capable of interacting mechanically with their surrounding environment while processing and storing digital data internally without requiring electric power

Saturated gain spectrum of VECSELs determined by transient measurement of lasing onset

We describe time-resolved measurements of the evolution of the spectrum of radiation emitted by an optically-pumped continuous-wave InGaAs-GaAs quantum well laser, recorded as lasing builds up from noise to steady state. We extract a fitting parameter corresponding to the gain dispersion of the parabolic spectrum equal to ?79 ± 30 fs2 and ?36 ± 6 fs2 for a resonant and anti-resonant structure, respectively. Furthermore the recorded evolution of the spectrum allows for the calculation of an effective FWHM gain bandwidth for each structure, of 11 nm and 18 nm, respectively

The efficacy of downhill running as a method to enhance running economy in trained distance runners

© 2018 European College of Sport Science Running downhill, in comparison to running on the flat, appears to involve an exaggerated stretch-shortening cycle (SSC) due to greater impact loads and higher vertical velocity on landing, whilst also incurring a lower metabolic cost. Therefore, downhill running could facilitate higher volumes of training at higher speeds whilst performing an exaggerated SSC, potentially inducing favourable adaptations in running mechanics and running economy (RE). This investigation assessed the efficacy of a supplementary 8-week programme of downhill running as a means of enhancing RE in well-trained distance runners. Nineteen athletes completed supplementary downhill (−5% gradient; n = 10) or flat (n = 9) run training twice a week for 8 weeks within their habitual training. Participants trained at a standardised intensity based on the velocity of lactate turnpoint (vLTP), with training volume increased incrementally between weeks. Changes in energy cost of running (E C ) and vLTP were assessed on both flat and downhill gradients, in addition to maximal oxygen uptake (⩒O 2max). No changes in E C were observed during flat running following downhill (1.22 ± 0.09 vs 1.20 ± 0.07 Kcal kg −1  km −1 , P = .41) or flat run training (1.21 ± 0.13 vs 1.19 ± 0.12 Kcal kg −1  km −1 ). Moreover, no changes in E C during downhill running were observed in either condition (P  >  .23). vLTP increased following both downhill (16.5 ± 0.7 vs 16.9 ± 0.6 km h −1 ,P = .05) and flat run training (16.9 ± 0.7 vs 17.2 ± 1.0 km h −1 , P = .05), though no differences in responses were observed between groups (P = .53). Therefore, a short programme of supplementary downhill run training does not appear to enhance RE in already well-trained individuals

Virus and host factors affecting the clinical outcome of bluetongue virus infection

Bluetongue is a major infectious disease of ruminants caused by bluetongue virus (BTV), an arbovirus transmitted by Culicoides. Here, we assessed virus and host factors influencing the clinical outcome of BTV infection using a single experimental framework. We investigated how mammalian host species, breed, age, BTV serotypes, and strains within a serotype, affect the clinical course of bluetongue. Results obtained indicate that in small ruminants there is a marked difference in the susceptibility to clinical disease induced by BTV at the host species level, but less so at the breed level. No major differences in virulence were found between divergent serotypes (BTV-8 and BTV-2). However, we observed striking differences in virulence between closely related strains of the same serotype collected towards the beginning and the end of the European BTV-8 outbreak. As observed previously, differences in disease severity were also observed when animals were infected with either blood from a BTV-infected animal or from the same virus isolated in cell culture. Interestingly, with the exception of two silent mutations, full viral genome sequencing showed identical consensus sequences of the virus before and after cell culture isolation. However, deep sequencing analysis revealed a marked decrease in the genetic diversity of the viral population after passaging in mammalian cells. In contrast, passaging in Culicoides cells increased the overall number of low frequency variants compared to virus never passaged in cell culture. Thus, Culicoides might be a source of new viral variants and viral population diversity can be another factor influencing BTV virulence

A Chandra X-ray Study of Cygnus A - II. The Nucleus

We report Chandra ACIS and quasi-simultaneous RXTE observations of the nearby, powerful radio galaxy Cygnus A, with the present paper focusing on the properties of the active nucleus. In the Chandra observation, the hard (> a few keV) X-ray emission is spatially unresolved with a size \approxlt 1 arcsec (1.5 kpc, H_0 = 50 km s^-1 Mpc^-1) and coincides with the radio and near infrared nuclei. In contrast, the soft (< 2 keV) emission exhibits a bi-polar nebulosity that aligns with the optical bi-polar continuum and emission-line structures and approximately with the radio jet. In particular, the soft X-ray emission corresponds very well with the [O III] \lambda 5007 and H\alpha + [N II] \lambda\lambda 6548, 6583 nebulosity imaged with HST. At the location of the nucleus there is only weak soft X-ray emission, an effect that may be intrinsic or result from a dust lane that crosses the nucleus perpendicular to the source axis. The spectra of the various X-ray components have been obtained by simultaneous fits to the 6 detectors. The compact nucleus is detected to 100 keV and is well described by a heavily absorbed power law spectrum with \Gamma_h = 1.52^{+0.12}_{-0.12} (similar to other narrow line radio galaxies) and equivalent hydrogen column N_H (nuc) = 2.0^{+0.1}_{-0.2} \times 10^{23} cm^-2. (Abstract truncated).Comment: To be published in the Astrophysical Journal, v564 January 1, 2002 issue; 34 pages, 11 figures (1 color

Prevalence of liver fluke (Fasciola hepatica) in wild Red Deer (Cervus elaphus): coproantigen ELISA is a practicable alternative to faecal egg counting for surveillance in remote populations

Red deer (Cervus elaphus) are hosts of liver fluke (Fasciola hepatica); yet, prevalence is rarely quantified in wild populations. Testing fresh samples from remote regions by faecal examination (FE) can be logistically challenging; hence, we appraise frozen storage and the use of a coproantigen ELISA (cELISA) for F. hepatica surveillance. We also present cELISA surveillance data for red deer from the Highlands of Scotland. Diagnoses in faecal samples (207 frozen, 146 fresh) were compared using a cELISA and by FE. For each storage method (frozen or fresh), agreement between the two diagnostics was estimated at individual and population levels, where population prevalence was stratified into cohorts (e.g., by sampling location). To approximate sensitivity and specificity, 65 post-slaughter whole liver examinations were used as a reference. At the individual level, FE and cELISA diagnoses agreed moderately (κfrozen = 0.46; κfresh = 0.51), a likely reflection of their underlying principles. At the population level, FE and cELISA cohort prevalence correlated strongly (Pearson’s R = 0.89, p &lt; 0.0001), reflecting good agreement on relative differences between cohort prevalence. In frozen samples, prevalence by cELISA exceeded FE overall (42.8% vs. 25.8%) and in 9/12 cohorts, alluding to differences in sensitivity; though, in fresh samples, no significant difference was found. In 959 deer tested by cELISA across the Scottish Highlands, infection prevalence ranged from 9.6% to 53% by sampling location. We highlight two key advantages of cELISA over FE: i) the ability to store samples long term (frozen) without apparent loss in diagnostic power; and ii) reduced labour and the ability to process large batches. Further evaluation of cELISA sensitivity in red deer, where a range of fluke burdens can be obtained, is desirable. In the interim, the cELISA is a practicable diagnostic for F. hepatica surveillance in red deer, and its application here has revealed considerable geographic, temporal, sex and age related differences in F. hepatica prevalence in wild Scottish Highland red deer

Change in urban arterial street design

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2007.Includes bibliographical references (p. 84-91).The highway-building industry and highway governance was born in the minds of progressive engineers bent on ushering in a new era of efficiency, progress and modern transport. Governance and standards in California heavily influenced other state highway organizations. This research traces the evolution of values in urban arterial street design and standards in the United States and California. For nearly 100 years, the design criteria of geometric street standards have been based on increasing automobility, as if without end. Since the 1960s, liability concerns have guided significant changes in design standards, mostly based on passive driver safety design. Since then, legal action has given rise to bicycle and ADA-based design standards. Right-of-way constraints have lowered minimum widths and "flexibility" has impacted design philosophy and process. However, these latter forces are not driving fundamental or enforceable change to design standards. Change to mandatory standards remains driven by automobility and liability concerns. Despite conventional standards, unconventional values manifest in the design and planning of streets.(cont.) Using the case of El Camino Real in Palo Alto, this research explores the difficulty of implementing unconventional street design through the process of changing standards. It then draws on the case of Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles to demonstrate that individual projects under local jurisdiction are more likely to impact the design of streets. Further research is warranted on state highway relinquishment, the philosophy of context-sensitive design, and methods of selecting design speed.by Jeremy A. Shaw.M.C.P