Supernova Environments in Hubble Space Telescope Images

The locations of supernovae in the local stellar and gaseous environment in galaxies contain important clues to their progenitor stars. Access to this information, however, has been hampered by the limited resolution achieved by ground-based observations. High spatial resolution Hubble Space Telescope (HST) images of galaxy fields in which supernovae had been observed can improve the situation considerably. We have examined the immediate environments of a few dozen supernovae using archival post-refurbishment HST images. Although our analysis is limited due to signal-to-noise ratio and filter bandpass considerations, the images allow us for the first time to resolve individual stars in, and to derive detailed color-magnitude diagrams for, several environments. We are able to place more rigorous constraints on the masses of these supernovae. A search was made for late-time emission from supernovae in the archival images, and for the progenitor stars in presupernova images of the host galaxies. In particular, we highlight the results for the Type II SN 1979C in M100. In addition, we have identified the progenitor of the Type IIn SN 1997bs in NGC 3627. We also add to the statistical inferences that can be made from studying the association of SNe with recent star-forming regions

Has the use of computers in radiation therapy improved the accuracy in radiation dose delivery?

Purpose: It is well recognized that computer technology has had a major impact on the practice of radiation oncology. This paper addresses the question as to how these computer advances have specifically impacted the accuracy of radiation dose delivery to the patient. Methods: A review was undertaken of all the key steps in the radiation treatment process ranging from machine calibration to patient treatment verification and irradiation. Using a semi-quantitative scale, each stage in the process was analysed from the point of view of gains in treatment accuracy. Results: Our critical review indicated that computerization related to digital medical imaging (ranging from target volume localization, to treatment planning, to image-guided treatment) has had the most significant impact on the accuracy of radiation treatment. Conversely, the premature adoption of intensity-modulated radiation therapy has actually degraded the accuracy of dose delivery compared to 3-D conformal radiation therapy. While computational power has improved dose calibration accuracy through Monte Carlo simulations of dosimeter response parameters, the overall impact in terms of percent improvement is relatively small compared to the improvements accrued from 3-D/4-D imaging. Conclusions: As a result of computer applications, we are better able to see and track the internal anatomy of the patient before, during and after treatment. This has yielded the most significant enhancement to the knowledge of “in vivo” dose distributions in the patient. Furthermore, a much richer set of 3-D/4-D co-registered dose-image data is thus becoming available for retrospective analysis of radiobiological and clinical responses

Radio Detection of SN 1986E in NGC 4302

Radio observations of SN 1986E have shown a clear detection of emission at 6 cm wavelength about 8 months after optical discovery. Combined with a number of new upper limits and a study of the possible models, it appears that SN 1986E was probably a fairly normal Type IIL supernova, somewhat similar to SN 1980K, with radio emission at roughly expected levels. This detection continues the correlation between radio detection and late time optical emission.Comment: 14 pages, LaTeX (AASTeX), 2 PostScript figures, to appear in ApJ (Letters

Satisfaction with retention factors as predictors of the job embeddedness of medical and information technology services staff

The objective of the study was to determine whether employees’ satisfaction with retention factors (measured by the Retention Factors Scale) significantly predicted their job embeddedness (measured by the Job Embeddedness Scale). A quantitative survey was conducted on a purposive sample (n=206) of early career medical and information technology services staff, identified as scarce skills in a South African client services company. Retention factors such as training and development, career opportunities, supervisor support and the characteristics of the job (skills variety, challenge and autonomy) were shown to significantly predict the participants’ sense of job embeddedness. Satisfaction with training and development opportunities was the best predictor of organisational fit, while satisfaction with career opportunities was the best predictor of organisational sacrifice. The findings add valuable new knowledge that may be used to inform retention strategies for professional staff with scarce skills in the medical and information technology services sector.Key words: retention factors, perceived job embeddedness, training and development, career opportunities, job characteristics, supervisor suppor

Radio emission from SNe and young SNRs

Study of radio supernovae (RSNe), the earliest stages of supernova remnant (SNR) formation, over the past 20 years includes two dozen detected objects and more than 100 upper limits. From this work we are able to identify classes of radio properties, demonstrate conformance to and deviations from existing models, estimate the density and structure of the circumstellar material and, by inference, the evolution of the presupernova stellar wind, and reveal the last stages of stellar evolution before explosion. It is also possible to detect ionized hydrogen along the line of sight, to demonstrate binary properties of the stellar system, and to show clumpiness of the circumstellar material. More speculatively, it may be possible to provide distance estimates to RSNe