Holographic enhanced remote sensing system

The Holographic Enhanced Remote Sensing System (HERSS) consists of three primary subsystems: (1) an Image Acquisition System (IAS); (2) a Digital Image Processing System (DIPS); and (3) a Holographic Generation System (HGS) which multiply exposes a thermoplastic recording medium with sequential 2-D depth slices that are displayed on a Spatial Light Modulator (SLM). Full-parallax holograms were successfully generated by superimposing SLM images onto the thermoplastic and photopolymer. An improved HGS configuration utilizes the phase conjugate recording configuration, the 3-SLM-stacking technique, and the photopolymer. The holographic volume size is currently limited to the physical size of the SLM. A larger-format SLM is necessary to meet the desired 6 inch holographic volume. A photopolymer with an increased photospeed is required to ultimately meet a display update rate of less than 30 seconds. It is projected that the latter two technology developments will occur in the near future. While the IAS and DIPS subsystems were unable to meet NASA goals, an alternative technology is now available to perform the IAS/DIPS functions. Specifically, a laser range scanner can be utilized to build the HGS numerical database of the objects at the remote work site

Induction of Prdx1 and Prdx6 in liver cells by serum and TPA

Peroxiredoxins are thiol-specific antioxidants that protect cells from oxidative damage and have proliferative and anti-apoptotic activity. We investigated the effect of serum and phorbol ester treatment on expression of Prdx1 and Prdx6 in H2.35 cells, and the possible role of Sp1 on Prdx6 induction. Serum stimulation induced a 30% increase in Prdx1 mRNA and a three-fold increase in Prdx6 mRNA. We showed a similar effect of phorbol ester treatment, which led to a 30% increase in Prdx1 mRNA, and over a two-fold increase in Prdx6 expression. Analysis of the Prdx6 proximal promoter sequence revealed four consensus Sp1 sites. Inhibition of Sp1 with mithramycin A blocked Prdx6 induction by TPA and inhibited the serum-induced transcriptional activity of the Prdx6 proximal promoter. These data suggest an important role for Prdx6 in the cellular response to serum and TPA, and implicate Sp1 as a possible mediator of Prdx6 regulation

An Examination of Employment Model and Policy and Procedure Practices of Secondary School Athletic Trainers

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the policy and procedure practices of secondary school athletic trainers based on employment models. Methods: Following an online informed consent confirmation, participants completed a Policies and procedures status questionnaire, including demographics. This was distributed to certified athletic trainers currently employed in the secondary school setting in the United States. The survey consisted of 49 questions about the status of policies and procedures being in operation and/or written form. Results from the policies and procedures questionnaire were combined with the recorded employment model type to compare the status of policies and procedures between employment models. This study utilized descriptive and inferential statistics consisting of means, frequencies, percentages, and chi square analyses to report results that described and compared the current status of policies and procedures based on employment model. Results: There was a total of 232 participants. Fifty-nine percent (59.9%) of participants were directly employed athletic trainers and 40.1% were outreach employed athletic trainers. Policy and procedure manuals were in existence according to 72% of the participants. A total of 49 variables were inquired about. Of the 26 clinically significant (pConclusion: The results revealed that athletic trainers who identified the outreach employment model were more likely to have policies in both operation and in written form over those identifying with the directly employed model

An Examination of Policy and Procedure Practices of Secondary School Athletic Trainers

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify and describe the status of P&P practices of secondary school athletic trainers. Methods: Following an online informed consent confirmation, participants completed a Policies and Procedures Status questionnaire, including demographics. This was distributed to certified athletic trainers currently employed in the secondary school setting in the United States. The survey consisted of 49 questions about the status of P&Ps using one of the following responses: the practice is in operation and it appears in written form; the practice is in operation but does not appear in written form; the practice is not in operation but does appear in written form; and the practice is not in operation and it does not appear in written form. This study utilized descriptive statistics, consisting of means, frequencies, and percentages, to report results that described the current status of policies and procedures Results: There was a total of 232 participants. 72.6% of secondary school athletic trainers had existing P&P manuals and 37.9% reported the P&P manual existed when they acquired the position. 31.9% who did not have an existing P&P manual upon starting their position never developed a manual. 45.7% of all P&Ps were reported to exist in both written and operational form and 25.9% reported having neither written nor operational forms of P&Ps. 54.5% used the BOC Guiding Principles for AT Policy and Procedure Development and 45.2% used the BOC Facility Principles document. Conclusion: The results revealed almost half of participants reported the risk management practices in the P&P manual were in operational and written form. P&Ps that have been described in NATA Position Statements were more likely to be in both written and operational form when compared to those that were not. Secondary school athletic trainers may have limited guidance and training in risk management, with even less guidance on resources specifically for developing and reviewing P&Ps

Bridging the Gap: A Program to Enhance Medical Students\u27 Learning Experience in the Foundation Year

Objective: To evaluate students’ perceptions of the intervention program based on small group teaching, regular continuous assessment, science-based tailored study skills program and recorded attendance on students’ enhanced learning experience in the first year of study in an outcome-based medical course. Design: Descriptive study. Setting: RCSI Bahrain. Method: A Twenty-seven-item questionnaire was administered to foundation year students at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland – Medical University of Bahrain (RCSI Bahrain) after the completion of the first semester to explore whether these interventions enriched the students’ learning experience or not. Comparisons of pass rates in all modules over the four years were also included. Students’ perceptions of the academic study skills course were collected through a questionnaire activity (version 2007120102) via the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). Result: The results suggest that local adaptations of undergraduate programs may lead to pedagogical expertise that contribute to enhanced learning experience of students and better integration of pre-university and third-level courses. The majority of questionnaire items were rated positively and the comparison of pass rates showed the highest results in the year the intervention was implemented. Conclusion: Making local adaptations to medical programs without changing the core curriculum can mark good academic practice. Considering specific socio-cultural frameworks of students may lead to improvements in the delivery of programs in universities

Sex-independent senescence in a cooperatively breeding mammal.

Researchers studying mammals have frequently interpreted earlier or faster rates of ageing in males as resulting from polygyny and the associated higher costs of reproductive competition. Yet, few studies conducted on wild populations have compared sex-specific senescence trajectories outside of polygynous species, making it difficult to make generalized inferences on the role of reproductive competition in driving senescence, particularly when other differences between males and females might also contribute to sex-specific changes in performance across lifespan. Here, we examine age-related variation in body mass, reproductive output and survival in dominant male and female meerkats, Suricata suricatta. Meerkats are socially monogamous cooperative breeders where a single dominant pair virtually monopolizes reproduction in each group and subordinate group members help to rear offspring produced by breeders. In contrast to many polygynous societies, we find that neither the onset nor the rate of senescence in body mass or reproductive output shows clear differences between males and females. Both sexes also display similar patterns of age-related survival across lifespan, but unlike most wild vertebrates, survival senescence (increases in annual mortality with rising age) was absent in dominants of both sexes, and as a result, the fitness costs of senescence were entirely attributable to declines in reproductive output from mid- to late-life. We suggest that the potential for intrasexual competition to increase rates of senescence in females-who are hormonally masculinized and frequently aggressive-is offset by their ability to maintain longer tenures of dominance than males, and that these processes when combined lead to similar patterns of senescence in both sexes. Our results stress the need to consider the form and intensity of sexual competition as well as other sex-specific features of life history when investigating the operation of senescence in wild populations

Disseminated Mycobacterium genavense Infection in Two Patients with AIDS

Mycobacterium genavense is a recently defined fastidious organism that has been identified as a cause of disseminated infection in patients with AIDS. We report the cases of two patients who had advanced AIDS and a clinical syndrome of fever, anorexia, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and weight loss. In addition, splenomegaly and lymphadenopathy were prominent in both cases, and in one patient's case radiographic findings were suggestive of splenic abscesses. Mycobacteria isolated from specimens of blood and bone marrow grew in liquid media but not on solid media. The results of DNA probe tests for Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium avium complex were false-positive for both patients. After treatment of the broth cultures to lyse red blood cells, the results of DNA probe tests were negative for these pathogens. Amplification and sequencing of 16S rRNA with use of the polymerase chain reaction indicated that the mycobacterial isolates from both patients had sequences identical to those previously reported for M. genavense. One patient survived 5 months after diagnosis, the other 2 months after diagnosis; only one patient responded (transiently) to antimycobacterial chemotherap

Eliminating Trachoma in Areas with Limited Disease

The common wisdom is that a trachoma program cannot eliminate ocular chlamydia from a community, just reduce infection to a level where there would be minimal blindness. We describe the success of multiple mass antibiotic treatments, demonstrating that complete elimination of infection may be an attainable goal in an area with modest disease

Non-resonant Coherent Amplitude Transfer in Attosecond Four-Wave Mixing Spectroscopy

Attosecond four-wave mixing spectroscopy using an XUV pulse and two noncollinear near-infrared pulses is employed to measure Rydberg wavepacket dynamics resulting from extreme ultraviolet excitation of a 3s electron in atomic argon into a series of autoionizing 3s-1np Rydberg states around 29 eV. The emitted signals from individual Rydberg states exhibit oscillatory structure and persist well beyond the expected lifetimes of the emitting Rydberg states. These results reflect substantial contributions of longer-lived Rydberg states to the four wave mixing emission signals of each individually detected state. A wavepacket decomposition analysis reveals that coherent amplitude transfer occurs predominantly from photoexcited 3s-1(n+1)p states to the observed 3s-1np Rydberg states. The experimental observations are reproduced by time-dependent Schr\"odinger equation simulations using electronic structure and transition moment calculations. The theory highlights that coherent amplitude transfer is driven non-resonantly to the 3s-1np states by the near-infrared light through 3s-1(n+1)s and 3s-1(n-1)d dark states during the four-wave mixing process

Deepening democracy within Ireland's social partnership

Ireland's social partnership process, now under attack from a number of quarters, has repeatedly been charged with being 'undemocratic' in that it undermines the sovereign position of elected political representatives, with key policy formulation and decision-making taking place in fora outside the institutions of representative democracy. These critiques echo those against new forms of networked governance more globally. A key question therefore is how (and if) democracy may be deepened within social partnership or its potential successor(s). This article addresses this question by employing a post-liberal democratic framework to examine social partnership in practice, and by drawing lessons from another partnership process, Malawi's PRSP. Drawing from Malawi's experience, it is argued that democracy can be deepened within social partnership when governance deliberations and negotiations are conducted under conditions of vibrant public debate and genuine perspective-based representation, and when the communicative and discursive norms are widened to allow for such representation