The measurement of angular differential cross sections at the SSL Atomic Scattering Facility

The design of the SSL Atomic Scattering Facility (ASF) located at the NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center as well as some of the initial experiments to be performed with it, are covered. The goal is to develop an apparatus capable of measuring angular differential cross sections (ADCS) for the scattering of 2 to 14 eV atomic oxygen from various gaseous targets. At present little is known about atomic oxygen scattering with kinetic energies of a few eV. This apparatus is designed to increase the understanding of collisions in this energy region. Atomic oxygen scattering processes are of vital interest to NASA because the space shuttle as well as other low earth orbit satellites will be subjected to a flux of 5 eV atomic oxygen on the ram surfaces while in orbit. The primary experiments will involve the measurements of ADCS for atomic oxygen scattering from gaseous targets (in particular, molecular nitrogen). These, as well as the related initial experiments involving thermal He scattering from N2 and O2 targets will be described

Ensemble updating of binary state vectors by maximising the expected number of unchanged components

In recent years, several ensemble-based filtering methods have been proposed and studied. The main challenge in such procedures is the updating of a prior ensemble to a posterior ensemble at every step of the filtering recursions. In the famous ensemble Kalman filter, the assumption of a linear-Gaussian state space model is introduced in order to overcome this issue, and the prior ensemble is updated with a linear shift closely related to the traditional Kalman filter equations. In the current article, we consider how the ideas underlying the ensemble Kalman filter can be applied when the components of the state vectors are binary variables. While the ensemble Kalman filter relies on Gaussian approximations of the forecast and filtering distributions, we instead use first order Markov chains. To update the prior ensemble, we simulate samples from a distribution constructed such that the expected number of equal components in a prior and posterior state vector is maximised. We demonstrate the performance of our approach in a simulation example inspired by the movement of oil and water in a petroleum reservoir, where also a more na\"{i}ve updating approach is applied for comparison. Here, we observe that the Frobenius norm of the difference between the estimated and the true marginal filtering probabilities is reduced to the half with our method compared to the na\"{i}ve approach, indicating that our method is superior. Finally, we discuss how our methodology can be generalised from the binary setting to more complicated situations

Diagnosis and Treatment of Gonorrhea

The various methods for diagnosis of gonorrhea are reviewed. Gram-stained smear of urethral exudate in the mate is appropriate, but for the female emphasis is placed on the use of culture on Thayer-Martin medium. Currently effective modalities of treatment are detailed, pointing out that higher doses of antibiotics are generally required for females with pelvic inflammatory disease than for males with acute gonococcal urethritis. The necessity for follow-up is also discussed

Paleoenvironments and tectonic significance of the Upper Jurassic Morrison/Lower Cretaceous Cloverly formations, Bighorn Basin, Wyoming

The Upper Jurassic Morrison and Lower Cretaceous Cloverly formations of the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming consist of mostly fluvial and lacustrine sediments deposited in a foreland basin east of the developing Sevier fold-thrust belt. Sediment source areas include the fold-thrust belt in eastern Idaho, arc volcanic vents in central Idaho, intraforeland basin uplifts and volcanic vents, and the craton. The Morrison Formation, in the northern part of the Bighorn Basin is transitional with the tide dominated marine deposits of the upper SunDance; The Morrison records deposition in a seasonally arid to semiarid coastal plain, changing upsection from a marginal lagoonal and tidal flat or lacustrine setting to a fluvial setting. The Morrison and Cloverly formations are separated by a regional unconformity. Two members are recognized in the Cloverly: (1) the Little Sheep Mudstone Member and (2) the overlying Himes Member. The Little Sheep Mudstone is part of an extensive clay playa mudflat which interfingers with ephemeral and perennial stream deposits. The Himes Member can be separated into two informal units. The lower Himes is a volcaniclastic-rich, low sinuosity channel sequence which drained western volcanic highlands in the Yellowstone region. It is restricted to the northern reaches of the Bighorn Basin. The upper Himes (informally referred to as the Greybull interval) unconformably overlies the lower Himes or Little Sheep Mudstone. The upper Himes is an estuary complex which marks the beginning of the Early Cretaceous marine transgression. Three distinct channel types are recognized in the upper Himes sequence and represent deposition in (1) an upper estuary, (2) tidal creeks and (3) small meandering fluvial channels. The upper estuary channels are characterized by sand bodies which are usually 15m or more thick and consist of fine to medium grained, well-sorted quartz arenites. The sands within this interval were derived from the east, possibly the craton

Feminist family therapy: a client based description

The purpose of this study is to discover how family therapy is experienced by clients of feminist therapists. A client-based description generates data from clients\u27 stories, narratives and responses;A qualitative method is used in the study. The format is a long interview, based on McCracken (1988). This method of interviewing is semi-structured and has open ended questions;The findings show that there is a great deal of congruence between the literature pertaining to feminist family therapy and the experience of therapy as described by the client. Three major themes emerge. They are respect for the client, integrated feminism and mechanics of therapy. The themes describe both content and process issues

Dead trees do tell tales: investigations into the role of fires on archaeological site location and recognition in the Piney Creek drainage of the greater Yellowstone ecosystem

2012 Spring.Includes bibliographical references.The discovery and documentation of an archaeological site is dependent on three conditions. First, that people in the past left something behind; second, that those materials preserved; finally, that location is observed and documented by a researcher. Fires impact all three. Past fires would have interacted with available resources and caused changes to local and regional geomorphologic processes (conditions one and two). Perishable artifacts can be burned and destroyed in the heat of a fire. Even durable items such as projectile points can be modified by heat fracturing, spalling, and potlidding (condition two). Modern fires substantially increase the efficiency of the discovery and surface documentation of this material (condition three). During the summer of 2006, a large stand replacing fire, the Little Venus Fire (LVF), burned 14,164 ha acres of the Greybull River Drainage in Northwestern Wyoming. Under the burn were hundreds of archaeological sites that had been recorded before the LVF burned. After the fire, most of the reexamined sites revealed a wealth of new cultural material and added a previously undocumented Protohistoric record to this region. Fire scars on the whitebark pines in the Piney Creek Drainage in the Shoshone National Forest of Northwestern Wyoming show evidence of past fires. Crossdating these fire scars to tree ring samples from this drainage showed when this drainage burned in the past. Multiple fire scars dated to 1648. Temporally diagnostic artifacts including obsidian tri-notched projectile points, metal arrow points, and trade beads, as well as radiocarbon samples taken from processed bison bone, suggest that humans were present in this drainage in the years surrounding this fire. This research examines impacts of fires on both the resources available to prehistoric humans, and to research conducted by present-day archaeologists

Changes in health-related quality of life from 6 months to 2 years after discharge from intensive care

BACKGROUND: Intensive care patients have, both before and after the ICU stay, a health-related quality of life (HRQOL) that differs from that of the normal population. Studies have described changes in HRQOL in the period from before the ICU stay and up to 12 months after. The aim of this study was to investigate possible longitudinal changes in HRQOL in adult patients (>18 years) from 6 months to 2 years after discharge from a general, mixed intensive care unit (ICU) in a university hospital. METHODS: This is a prospective cohort study. Follow-up patients were found using the ICU database and the Peoples Registry. HRQOL was measured with the Short Form 36 (SF-36) questionnaire. Answers at 6 months and 2 years were compared for all patients, surgical and medical patients, and different admission cohorts. Differences are presented with 95% confidence intervals. The SF-36 data were scored according to designed equations. SPSS 11.0 was used to perform t-tests and Mann-Whitney tests. RESULTS: A total of 100 patients (26 medical and 74 surgical) answered the SF-36 after 6 months and again after 2 years. There was overall moderate improvement in 6 out of 8 dimensions of the SF-36, and the average increase in score was + 4.0 for all 8 dimensions. The changes for surgical and medical patients were similar. Neurological and respiratory patients reported increased average HRQOL scores, while cardiovascular patients did not. Patients with worsening of scores from 6 months to 2 years were insignificantly older than patients with improved scores (55.3 vs. 49.7 years), and both groups had comparable severity scores (simplified acute physiology score, SAPS II, 37.2 vs. 36.3) and length of ICU stay (2.7 vs. 3.2 days). The statistically significant changes in HRQOL (in the Role Physical and Social Functioning dimensions) were, due to sample size, barely clinically relevant. CONCLUSION: In a mixed ICU population we found moderate increases in HRQOL both for medical and surgical patients from 6 months to 2 years after ICU discharge, but the sample size is a limitation in this study

Understanding the Data Management Plan as a Boundary Object through a Multi-stakeholder perspective

A three-phase Delphi study was used to investigate an emerging community for research data management in Norway and their understanding and application of data management plans (DMPs). The findings reveal visions of what the DMP should be as well as different practice approaches, yet the stakeholders present common goals. This paper discusses the different perspectives on the DMP by applying Star and Griesemer’s theory of boundary objects (Star & Griesemer, 1989). The debate on what the DMP is and the findings presented are relevant to all research communities currently implementing DMP procedures and requirements. The current discussions about DMPs tend to be distant from the active researchers and limited to the needs of funders and institutions rather than to the usefulness for researchers. By analysing the DMP as a boundary object, plastic and adaptable yet with a robust identity (Star & Griesemer, 1989), and by translating between worlds where collaboration on data sharing can take place we expand the perspectives and include all stakeholders. An understanding of the DMP as a boundary object can shift the focus from shaping a DMP which fulfils funders’ requirements to enabling collaboration on data management and sharing across domains using standardised forms.  [This paper is a conference pre-print presented at IDCC 2020 after lightweight peer review.

Understanding the Data Management Plan as a Boundary Object through a Multi-stakeholder perspective

A three-phase Delphi study was used to investigate an emerging community for research data management in Norway and their understanding and application of data management plans (DMPs). The findings reveal visions of what the DMP should be as well as different practice approaches, yet the stakeholders present common goals. This paper discusses the different perspectives on the DMP by applying Star and Griesemer’s theory of boundary objects (Star & Griesemer, 1989). The debate on what the DMP is and the findings presented are relevant to all research communities currently implementing DMP procedures and requirements. The current discussions about DMPs tend to be distant from the active researchers and limited to the needs of funders and institutions rather than to the usefulness for researchers. By analysing the DMP as a boundary object, plastic and adaptable yet with a robust identity (Star & Griesemer, 1989), and by translating between worlds where collaboration on data sharing can take place we expand the perspectives and include all stakeholders. An understanding of the DMP as a boundary object can shift the focus from shaping a DMP which fulfils funders’ requirements to enabling collaboration on data management and sharing across domains using standardised forms

Customer Journeys: A Systematic Literature Review

Purpose – Customer journeys has become an increasingly important topic in service management and design. The study reviews customer journey terminology and approaches within the research literature prior to 2013, mainly from the fields of design, management, and marketing. Design/methodology/approach - The study was conducted as a systematic literature review. Searches in Google Scholar, Scopus, Web of Knowledge, ACM Digital Library, and ScienceDirect identified 45 papers for analysis. The papers were analysed with respect to customer journey terminology and approaches, the relation to customer experience, the referenced background, and the use of visualizations. Findings – Across the reviewed literature, customer journeys are described not only as a means to take the viewpoint of the customer, but also to reach insight into their experiences. A rich and at times incoherent customer journey terminology is analysed and discussed, as are two emerging customer journey approaches: customer journey mapping (analysis of a service process "as is") and customer journey proposition (generative activities leading towards a possible service "to be"). Research limitations/implications – The review is limited to analysing and making claims on research papers that explicitly apply the term customer journey. In most of the reviewed papers, customer journeys are not the main object of interest but are discussed as one of several topics. Practical implications - A nuanced discussion of customer journey terminology and approaches is provided, supporting the practical application of a customer journey perspective. Originality/value - The review contributes a needed common basis for future customer journey research and practice.acceptedVersio