60 research outputs found
Considerate constructors scheme : Glenfarg water treatment works
The project to modify Glenfarg Water Treatment Works by Scottish Water, working in conjunction with its partners Black and Veatch Ltd. and Scottish Water Solutions, received a gold award and ‘the ultimate accolade’ of ‘The Most Considerate Site 2009’ at the considerate constructors scheme (CCS) awards. Although previous projects undertaken by Scottish Water have achieved high considerate constructor scores, Glenfarg exceeded previous projects’ standards. This level of performance was delivered across the eight categories of the scheme: considerate, environment, cleanliness, good neighbour, respectful, safe responsible and accountable. The steps the project team took under each of these categories to deliver the project are reviewed in this article. The article also outlines some of the challenges the project team faced while delivering such a high level of performance. Furthermore, the article makes particular reference to ‘soft’ management skills and the development of a project organisational culture that emphasised pride and passion through engagement of the workforce. Overall, the article presents valuable insights into how performing beyond the CCS requirements remains a dynamic and ongoing activity for all parties involved with the scheme
A Quantitative Link Between Globular Clusters and the Stellar Halos in Elliptical Galaxies
This paper explores the quantitative connection between globular clusters and
the diffuse stellar population of the galaxies they are associated with. Both
NGC 1399 and NGC 4486 (M87) are well suited for this kind of analysis due to
their large globular cluster populations. The main assumption of our Monte
Carlo based models is that each globular cluster is formed along with a given
diffuse stellar mass that shares the same spatial distribution, chemical
composition and age. The main globular clusters subpopulations, that determine
the observed bimodal colour distribution, are decomposed avoiding a priori
parametric (e.g. Gaussian) fits and using a new colour (C-T1)-metallicity
relation. The eventual detectability of a blue tilt in the colour magnitude
diagrams of the blue globulars subpopulation is also addressed. A successful
link between globular clusters and the stellar galaxy halo is established by
assuming that the number of globular clusters per associated diffuse stellar
mass t is a function of total abundance [Z/H] and behaves as
t=gamma*exp(delta[Z/H]) (i.e. increases when abundance decreases).Comment: 19 pages, 24 figures and 4 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRA
Imaging drugs, metabolites and biomarkers in rodent lung: a DESI MS strategy for the evaluation of drug-induced lipidosis
© The Author(s) 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.Within drug development and pre-clinical trials, a common, significant and poorly understood event is the development of drug-induced lipidosis in tissues and cells. In this manuscript, we describe a mass spectrometry imaging strategy, involving repeated analysis of tissue sections by DESI MS, in positive and negative polarities, using MS and MS/MS modes. We present results of the detected distributions of the administered drug, drug metabolites, lipid molecules and a putative marker of lipidosis, di-docosahexaenoyl (22:6)-bis(monoacylglycerol) phosphate (di-22:6-BMP). A range of strategies have previously been reported for detection, isolation and identification of this compound, which is an isomer of di-docosahexaenoic (22:6 n-3) phosphatidylglycerol (di-22:6 PG), a commonly found lipid that acts as a surfactant in lung tissues. We show that MS imaging using MS/MS can be used to differentiate these compounds of identical mass, based upon the different distributions of abundant fragment ions. Registration of images of these fragments, and detected drugs and metabolites, is presented as a new method for studying drug-induced lipidosis in tissues. Graphical abstract.Peer reviewe
The Ages, Metallicities and Alpha Element Enhancements of Globular Clusters in the Elliptical NGC 5128: A Homogeneous Spectroscopic Study with Gemini/GMOS
We present new integrated light spectroscopy of globular clusters (GCs) in
NGC 5128 in order to measure radial velocities and derive ages, metallicities,
and alpha-element abundance ratios. Using Gemini-S 8-m/GMOS, we obtained
spectroscopy in the range of ~3400-5700 AA for 72 GCs with S/N > 30 /AA and we
have also discovered 35 new GCs within NGC 5128 from our radial velocity
measurements. We measured and compared the Lick indices from HdeltaA through
Fe5406 with the single stellar population (SSP) models of Thomas et
al.(2003,2004). We also measure Lick indices for 41 Milky Way GCs from Puzia et
al. (2002) and Schiavon et al. (2005) with the same methodology for direct
comparison. Our results show that 68% of the NGC 5128 GCs have old ages (> 8
Gyr), 14% have intermediate ages (5-8 Gyr), and 18% have young ages (< 5 Gyr).
However, when we look at the metallicity of the GCs as a function of age, we
find 92% of metal-poor GCs and 56% of metal-rich GCs in NGC 5128 have ages > 8
Gyr, indicating that the majority of both metallicity subpopulations of GCs
formed early, with a significant population of young and metal-rich GCs forming
later. Our metallicity distribution function generated directly from
spectroscopic Lick indices is clearly bimodal, as is the color distribution of
the same set of GCs. Thus the metallicity bimodality is real and not an
artifact of the color to metallicity conversion. The [alpha/Fe] values are
supersolar with a mean value of 0.14pm0.04, indicating a fast formation
timescale. However, the GCs in NGC 5128 are not as [alpha/Fe] enhanced as the
Milky Way GCs also examined in this study. Our results support a rapid, early
formation of the GC system in NGC 5128, with subsequent major accretion and/or
GC and star forming events in more recent times (abridged).Comment: Accepted to The Astrophysical Journal, 36 pages, 14 figures, 7 table
The Kinematics of the Globular Cluster System of NGC 5128 with a New, Large Sample of Radial Velocity Measurements
New radial velocity measurements for previously known and newly confirmed
globular clusters (GCs) in the nearby massive galaxy NGC 5128 are presented. We
have obtained spectroscopy from LDSS-2/Magellan, VIMOS/VLT, and Hydra/CTIO from
which we have measured the radial velocities of 218 known, and identified 155
new, GCs. The current sample of confirmed GCs in NGC 5128 is now 605 with 564
of these having radial velocity measurements. We have performed a new kinematic
analysis of the GC system that extends out to 45 arcmin in galactocentric
radius. We have examined the systemic velocity, projected rotation amplitude
and axis, and the projected velocity dispersion of the GCs as functions of
galactocentric distance and metallicity. Our results indicate that the
metal-poor GCs have a very mild rotation signature of (26 pm 15) km/s. The
metal-rich GCs are rotating with a higher, though still small signature of (43
pm 15) km/s around the isophotal major axis of NGC 5128 within 15 arcmin. Their
velocity dispersions are consistent within the uncertainties and the profiles
appear flat or declining within 20 arcmin. We note the small sample of
metal-rich GCs with ages less than 5 Gyr in the literature appear to have
different kinematic properties than the old, metal-rich GC subpopulation. The
mass and mass-to-light ratios have also been estimated using the GCs as tracer
particles for NGC 5128. Out to a distance of 20 arcmin, we have obtained a mass
of (5.9 pm 2.0) x 10^(11) M_(sun) and a mass-to-light ratio in the B-band of 16
M_(sun)/L_(B,sun). Combined with previous work on the ages and metallicities of
its GCs, as well as properties of its stellar halo, our findings suggest NGC
5128 formed via hierarchical merging over other methods of formation, such as
major merging at late times.Comment: Accepted for The Astronomical Journal, 14 pages plus 12 figures and 7
table
Morphometric Characterization of Rat and Human Alveolar Macrophage Cell Models and their Response to Amiodarone using High Content Image Analysis
© The Author(s) 2017. This article is an open access publication. Open Access: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.Purpose. Progress to the clinic may be delayed or prevented when vacuolated or “foamy” alveolar macrophages are observed during non-clinical inhalation toxicology assessment. The first step in developing methods to study this response in vitro is to characterize macrophage cell lines and their response to drug exposures.Methods. Human (U937) and rat (NR8383) cell lines and primary rat alveolar macrophages obtained by bronchoalveolar lavage were characterized using high content fluorescence imaging analysis quantification of cell viability, morphometry, and phospholipid and neutral lipid accumulation. Results. Cell health, morphology and lipid content were comparable (p<0.05) for both cell lines and the primary macrophages in terms of vacuole number, size and lipid content. Responses to amiodarone, a known inducer of phospholipidosis, required analysis of shifts in cell population profiles (the proportion of cells with elevated vacuolation or lipid content) rather than average population data which was insensitive to the changes observed.Conclusions. A high content image analysis assay was developed and used to provide detailed morphological characterization of rat and human alveolar-like macrophages and their response to a phospholipidosis-inducing agent. This provides a basis for development of assays to predict or understand macrophage vacuolation following inhaled drug exposure.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio
UK guideline on transition of adolescent and young persons with chronic digestive diseases from paediatric to adult care
The risks of poor transition include delayed and inappropriate transfer that can result in disengagement with healthcare. Structured transition care can improve control of chronic digestive diseases and long-term health-related outcomes. These are the first nationally developed guidelines on the transition of adolescent and young persons (AYP) with chronic digestive diseases from paediatric to adult care. They were commissioned by the Clinical Services and Standards Committee of the British Society of Gastroenterology under the auspices of the Adolescent and Young Persons (A&YP) Section. Electronic searches for English-language articles were performed with keywords relating to digestive system diseases and transition to adult care in the Medline (via Ovid), PsycInfo (via Ovid), Web of Science and CINAHL databases for studies published from 1980 to September 2014. The quality of evidence and grading of recommendations was appraised using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system. The limited number of studies in gastroenterology and hepatology required the addition of relevant studies from other chronic diseases to be included. These guidelines deal specifically with the transition of AYP living with a diagnosis of chronic digestive disease and/or liver disease from paediatric to adult healthcare under the following headings; 1. Patient populations involved in AYP transition 2. Risks of failing transition or poor transition 3. Models of AYP transition 4. Patient and carer/parent perspective in AYP transition 5. Surgical perspectiv
- …