Catholicism in The United States: Between liberalism and conservatism

"Harvey Mansfield has always taken the long view. As he sees it, the way to approach an American topic is to ask first what the Founding Fathers said about it, then see what Tocqueville added. In the same way, his approach to any European issue starts out with a word from Plato and Aristotle, then moves along through Augustine and Aquinas to the opinions of Machiavelli and Edmund Burke. In this sense he’s just like the Catholic Church, which has always specialized in taking the long view, while trying to avoid being paralyzed by the weight of tradition. Taking the long view means being aware of oneself as part of an extended historical process, of being indebted to the insights of earlier generations, without being blind to those generations’ limitations. It usually guards against provincialism of time and place steers us away from utopianism, while helping us to see sensible ways forward."(...

Improving the applicability of radar rainfall estimates for urban pluvial flood modelling and forecasting

This work explores the possibility of improving the applicability of radar rainfall estimates (whose accuracy is generally insufficient) to the verification and operation of urban storm-water drainage models by employing a number of local gauge-based radar rainfall adjustment techniques. The adjustment techniques tested in this work include a simple mean-field bias (MFB) adjustment, as well as a more complex Bayesian radar-raingauge data merging method which aims at better preserving the spatial structure of rainfall fields. In addition, a novel technique (namely, local singularity analysis) is introduced and shown to improve the Bayesian method by better capturing and reproducing storm patterns and peaks. Two urban catchments were used as case studies in this work: the Cranbrook catchment (9 km2) in North-East London, and the Portobello catchment (53 km2) in the East of Edinburgh. In the former, the potential benefits of gauge-based adjusted radar rainfall estimates in an operational context were analysed, whereas in the latter the potential benefits of adjusted estimates for model verification purposes were explored. Different rainfall inputs, including raingauge, original radar and the aforementioned merged estimates were fed into the urban drainage models of the two catchments. The hydraulic outputs were compared against available flow and depth records. On the whole, the tested adjustment techniques proved to improve the applicability of radar rainfall estimates to urban hydrological applications, with the Bayesian-based methods, in particular the singularity sensitive one, providing more realistic and accurate rainfall fields which result in better reproduction of the urban drainage system’s dynamics. Further testing is still necessary in order to better assess the benefits of these adjustment methods, identify their shortcomings and improve them accordingly

Predicting neural recording performance of implantable electrodes

Recordings of neural activity can be used to aid communication, control prosthetic devices or alleviatedisease symptoms. Chronic recordings require a high signal-to-noise ratio that is stable for years. Currentcortical devices generally fail within months to years after implantation. Development of novel devices toincrease lifetime requires valid testing protocols and a knowledge of the critical parameters controllingelectrophysiological performance. Here we present electrochemical and electrophysiological protocolsfor assessing implantable electrodes. Biological noise from neural recording has significant impact on signal-to-noise ratio. A recently developed surgical approach was utilised to reduce biological noise. This allowed correlation of electrochemical and electrophysiological behaviour. The impedance versus frequency of modified electrodes was non-linear. It was found that impedance at low frequencies was astronger predictor of electrophysiological performance than the typically reported impedance at 1 kHz.Low frequency impedance is a function of electrode area, and a strong correlation of electrode area with electrophysiological response was also seen. Use of these standardised testing protocols will allow future devices to be compared before transfer to preclinical and clinical trials

Medication management in community care: using hierarchical task analysis to describe complex systems

This paper presents an investigation into medication management at a UK Community Healthcare Trust. Data were collected at two community in-patient facilities to review practice at the two sites against the Standard Operating Procedures for (1) Medicines Management and (2) Controlled Drugs Management for four key tasks: ordering, transportation, receipt and storage of medicines. The variances in practice were discussed with senior management with the recommendation to simplify the system with a single SOP and provision of in-house pharmacy services at both sites

A perspective on mental health literacy and mental health issues among Australian youth: Cultural, social, and environmental evidence!

Mental health literacy (MHL) helps improve mental health outcomes and reduce the impacts of mental illness. This study aims to reflect on scientific evidence on MHL levels, barriers to MHL, their impacts on mental health among Australian youth and interventions to overcome these barriers. The factors explored in the Perspective included; influence of social determinants, culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities, help-seeking attitudes and behaviors. MHL intervention programs and MHL for improving mental health outcomes due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic were also explored. Adequate levels of youth MHL significantly improved one's ability to recognize own mental health status as well as provide peer support. Practical considerations such as designing more gender and culturally specific youth MHL programs are proposed

Development of Superconducting Tuning Quadrupole Corrector (MQT) Prototypes for the LHC

The main quadrupoles of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are connected in families of focusing and defocusing magnets. In order to make tuning corrections in the machine a number of quadrupole corrector magnets (designated MQT) are necessary. These 56 mm diameter aperture magnets have to be compact, with a maximum length of 395 mm and a coil radial thickness of 5 to 7.5 mm, while generating a minimum field gradient of 110 T/m. Two design options have been explored, both using the "counter-winding" system developed at CERN for the fabrication of low cost corrector coils. The first design, with the poles composed of two double-pancake coils, each counter-wound using a single wire, superposed to create 4-layer coils, was developed and built by ACCEL Instruments GmbH. A second design where single coils were counter-wound using a 3-wire ribbon to obtain 6-layer coils was developed at CERN. This paper describes the two designs and reports on the performance of the prototypes during testing

Further Development of the Sextupole and Decapole Spool Corrector Magnets for the LHC

In the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) the main dipoles will be equipped with sextupole (MCS) and decapole (MCD) spool correctors to meet the very high demands of field quality required for the satisfactory operation of the machine. Each decapole corrector will in addition have an octupole insert (MCO) and the assembly of the two is designated MCDO. These correctors are needed in relatively large quantities, i.e. 2464 MCS Sextupoles and 1232 MCDO Decapole-Octupole assemblies. Half the number of the required spool correctors will be made in India through a collaboration between CERN and CAT (Centre for Advanced Technology, Indore, India), the other half will be built by European industry. The paper describes final choices concerning design, materials, production techniques, and testing so as to assure economic magnet manufacture but while maintaining a homogenous magnetic quality that results in a robust product

Creative forms: booklets by the hospital senses collective.

This article details the creation of a series of booklets designed to explore sensory encounters with hospitals and healthcare environments. The booklets were devised as a series of prompts or provocations, created to attend to and examine embodied, sensory encounters with health/care settings rather than to present research findings. Bringing together an expansive range of backgrounds and skill sets the booklets were created to sit within and beyond language through their design, form and content. Within this article we share the ways in which the works are deliberately unfinished and exploratory as this necessitates that those interacting with them create their own meanings and explore how they think and feel about health/care environments. The form and design promote a certain attentiveness and embodied engagement. For example, users must engage with the works carefully, gently turning and unfurling the fragile pages. This is further illustrated through qualitative insights collected from users of the booklets. Throughout this paper we argue for multiplicity in the ways in which we explore and present sensory-focused research. Our attention to multiplicity is supported not only through the design, form and content of the physical booklets but through the creative audio description, text and images created to complement and support these works. These are available online to ensure that our provocations are widely accessible. Within this paper we critique how a reliance on narrative form can limit the ways in which we engage with spatial, sensory and emotional concepts. Such concepts are by their very nature challenging to articulate and arguably require more-than-text-based approaches. We propose that embracing creative, exploratory and seemingly risky routes to examining and presenting such concepts is critical in expanding research. [Abstract copyright: © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ.

Controlling Nerve Growth with an Electric Field Induced Indirectly in Transparent Conductive Substrate Materials

N.C.-P., A.M.R., and C.D.M. conceived and designed the study. N.-C.P., J.M.-V., and A.M.C. prepared the substrate materials and conducted electrochemical and AFM analysis. Z.Z. performed time lapse nerve growth experiments and analysis under the supervision of A.M.R. A.M.R. and N.C.-P. drafted the manuscript from an early draft prepared by Z.Z. All the authors participated in refining drafts. Equal contribution from the University of Aberdeen and Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona-CSIC is acknowledged. This work was funded by the European Commission FP6 NEST Program (Contract 028473), MAT2011-24363 and MAT2015-65192-R from the Spanish Science Ministry, La Marato de TV3 Foundation (Identification Number 110131), and Severo Ochoa Programme for Centres of Excellence in R&D (SEV-2015-0496).Peer reviewedPostprin