Adjustable mount for electro-optic transducers in an evacuated cryogenic system

The invention is an adjustable mount for positioning an electro-optic transducer in an evacuated cryogenic environment. Electro-optic transducers are used in this manner as high sensitivity detectors of gas emission lines of spectroscopic analysis. The mount is made up of an adjusting mechanism and a transducer mount. The adjusting mechanism provided five degrees of freedom, linear adjustments and angular adjustments. The mount allows the use of an internal lens to focus energy on the transducer element thereby improving the efficiency of the detection device. Further, the transducer mount, although attached to the adjusting mechanism, is isolated thermally such that a cryogenic environment can be maintained at the transducer while the adjusting mechanism remains at room temperature. Radiation shields also are incorporated to further reduce heat flow to the transducer location

Comparison of outcome measures for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in an outpatient setting

BACKGROUND: To assist clinicians and researchers in choosing outcome measures for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease attending routine outpatient clinics, a comparative assessment was undertaken of four questionnaires designed to reflect the patients' perception of their physical and emotional health in terms of their feasibility, validity, reliability, and responsiveness to health change. METHODS: Two condition specific questionnaires, the St George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) and Guyatt's Chronic Respiratory Questionnaire (CRQ), and two generic questionnaires, the Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36) and Euroqol (EQ), were compared for their discriminative and evaluative properties. Spirometric tests and a walking test were also performed. One hundred and fifty six adults who were clinically judged to have COPD and who attended an outpatient chest clinic were assessed at recruitment and six and 12 months later. Patients were also asked whether their health had changed since their last assessment. RESULTS: Completion rates and consistency between items for dimensions of the SGRQ were lower than for dimensions of the other questionnaires. The distributions of responses were skewed for certain dimensions in all questionnaires except the CRQ. Validity was supported for all instruments insofar as patients' scores were associated with differences in disease severity. The generic questionnaires better reflected other health problems. All instruments were reliable over time. The condition specific questionnaires were more responsive between baseline and first follow up visit but this difference did not persist. While certain dimensions of the SF-36 were responsive to patient perceived changes, this did not apply to the derived single index of the EQ. The rating scale of the EQ, however, provided a quick and easy indicator of change. CONCLUSIONS: Evidence from this study supports the CRQ and the SF-36 as comprehensive outcome measures for patients with longstanding COPD

Firm productivity in the Western Balkans: the impact of European Union membership and access to finance.

This study examines the productivity performance of Balkan firms within and outside the European Union (EU), including the influence of loans. A multiple treatment model is used to compare the effects on productivity of membership and loans both separately and collectively, which in the case of loans allows a separate analysis of their influence on firms in non-member states. The use of conditional quantile regressions measures the effect on productivity of membership and loans separately as treatment variables. This provides an analysis of where the treatment influence is greatest across the distribution curve and identifies the significance of selected control variables on the outcome. In the full sample, the findings indicate that EU membership and loans have a positive effect on productivity, with membership being more important than loans. Outside the EU, firms in receipt of loans are more productive than those without. However, the significance of both membership and loans is restricted to the lower end of the productivity distribution curve. The manufacturing sample shows that EU membership has a significant positive effect across 70% of the deciles measured, whilst the influence of loans is restricted to the lower deciles, with rental capital (leasing) also positively significant in the lower four deciles. In the services sector, however, membership is significant up to 90% of the distribution, with loans at 60%

Intellectual Property and Opportunities for Food Security in the Philippines

By 2050, the Philippine population is projected to increase by as much as 41 percent, from 99.9 million to nearly 153 million people. Producing enough food for such an expanding population and achieving food security remain a challenge for the Philippine government. This paper argued that intellectual property rights (IPR) can play a key role in achieving the nation’s current goal to be food-secure and provided examples to illustrate that the presence of sound intellectual property (IP) helps foster research, development, and deployment of agricultural innovations. This paper also offered key recommendations about how the IP system can be further leveraged to enable access, creation, and commercialization of new and innovative agricultural practices and technologies to enhance the nation’s agricultural productivity, meet rice self-sufficiency, and sustain food security

Hyaluronan Modulated Expression of MMPs 2, 9, and 12 in Macrophages

Hyaluronan (HA) is a ubiquitously expressed Glycosaminoglycan (GAG) found as a main component of the extracellular matrix (ECM). Matrix metalloproteases (MMPs) are class of enzyme responsible for the degradation of multiple ECM components, including HA. Following a myocardial infarction (MI), ECM remodeling occurs in the infarct tissue and involves an accumulation of HA. Remodeling is facilitated by multiple cell types, including macrophages. During post-MI ECM remodeling, macrophages degrade and ingulf dead cells and ECM components, a process which requires the expression of MMPs. MMPs 2, 9, and 12 are known to be elevated post-MI; MMPs 9 and 12 are known to have HA as a substrate. These factors make MMPs 2, 9, and 12 especially relevant to the post-MI ECM remodeling process. The effect of increased HA present post-MI on levels of MMP expression in macrophages has yet to be investigated

Glycoprotein IIb/IIIa Inhibitors Use and Outcome after Percutaneous Coronary Intervention for Non-ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction

Aims. We investigate the effect of glycoprotein IIb/IIIa (GP IIb/IIIa) inhibitors on long-term outcomes following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) after non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI). Meta-analyses indicate that these agents are associated with improved short-term outcomes. However, many trials were undertaken before the routine use of P2Y12 inhibitors. Recent studies yield conflicting results and registry data have suggested that GP IIb/IIIa inhibitors may cause more bleeding than what trials indicate. Methods and Results. This retrospective observational study involves 3047 patients receiving dual-antiplatelet therapy who underwent PCI for NSTEMI. Primary outcome was all-cause mortality. Major adverse cardiac events (MACE) were a secondary outcome. Mean follow-up was 4.6 years. Patients treated with GP IIb/IIIa inhibitors were younger with fewer comorbidities. Although the unadjusted Kaplan-Meier analysis suggested that GP IIb/IIIa inhibitor use was associated with improved outcomes, multivariate analysis (including propensity scoring) showed no benefit for either survival (P=0.136) or MACE (P=0.614). GP IIb/IIIa inhibitor use was associated with an increased risk of major bleeding (P=0.021). Conclusion. Although GP IIb/IIIa inhibitor use appeared to improve outcomes after PCI for NSTEMI, patients who received GP IIb/IIIa inhibitors tended to be at lower risk. After multivariate adjustment we observed no improvement in MACE or survival and an increased risk of major bleeding

Exploring Environmental Influences on Infant Development and Their Potential Role in Processes of Cultural Transmission and Long-Term Technological Change

Emerging understanding of the extent to which the childhood environment can influence long-term neural and cognitive development may justify greater attention to its role in prehistory. In this review, we attempt to identify a range of ways in which changes to the rearing environment might impact on cognitive function with the potential to modify processes of cultural transmission. We focus on the types of change to the infant environment that may arise when moving from mobile hunter-gather to more settled agrarian lifeways. We consider the evidence for such early environmental factors bringing about enduring effects on perceptual tuning, shared attention, behavioural regulation and observational learning, and how these might contribute to differences in processes of cultural transmission across lifeways. We conclude that the potential developmental significance of cultural changes to the infant environment suggests more attention should be paid by archaeologists to lines of evidence related to early childhood environments in prehistory

IMBES pre-conference: using insight from research to improve education

In September 2016, the International Mind, Brain, and Education Society (IMBES) biennial conference took place in Toronto, Canada. The pre-conference (organized by the Wellcome Trust) was designed to share new findings, lessons learned, and inspirational innovation within the field, and to encourage the community to not only identify current challenges, but to start planning potential ways to address them. This article provides a brief summary of the discussions from the day, and suggests steps that members of the community, conference organizers, and funders can take in helping to move the field forward. Finally, it outlines new work Wellcome has commissioned since the conference in response to some of the challenges defined on the day

Assessing rotation-invariant feature classification for automated wildebeest population counts

Accurate and on-demand animal population counts are the holy grail for wildlife conservation organizations throughout the world because they enable fast and responsive adaptive management policies. While the collection of image data from camera traps, satellites, and manned or unmanned aircraft has advanced significantly, the detection and identification of animals within images remains a major bottleneck since counting is primarily conducted by dedicated enumerators or citizen scientists. Recent developments in the field of computer vision suggest a potential resolution to this issue through the use of rotation-invariant object descriptors combined with machine learning algorithms. Here we implement an algorithm to detect and count wildebeest from aerial images collected in the Serengeti National Park in 2009 as part of the biennial wildebeest count. We find that the per image error rates are greater than, but comparable to, two separate human counts. For the total count, the algorithm is more accurate than both manual counts, suggesting that human counters have a tendency to systematically over or under count images. While the accuracy of the algorithm is not yet at an acceptable level for fully automatic counts, our results show this method is a promising avenue for further research and we highlight specific areas where future research should focus in order to develop fast and accurate enumeration of aerial count data. If combined with a bespoke image collection protocol, this approach may yield a fully automated wildebeest count in the near future