Optical tracking telescope compensation

In order to minimize the effects of parameter variations in the dynamics of an optical tracking telescope, a model referenced parameter adaptive control system is described that - in conjunction with more traditional forms of compensation - achieves a reduction of rms pointing error by more than a factor of six. The adaptive compensation system utilizes open loop compensation, closed loop compensation, and model reference compensation to provide the precise input to force telescope axis velocity to follow the ideal velocity

Non-purulent low-grade infection as cause of pain following shoulder surgery: preliminary results

Low-grade infection was systematically searched for in all revision shoulder surgeries by harvesting tissue samples. Ten consecutive patients were identified with a non-purulent low-grade infection of the shoulder. All of these patients suffered from pain and eight were stiff. Preoperative aspiration in eight patients yielded bacterial growth in only one case. Serum C-reactive protein levels were normal in seven out of 10 cases. Propionibacterium acnes was identified in seven, coagulase-negative Staphylococcus in two and Staphylococcus saccharolyticus in one case. The delay between harvesting the tissue samples and detection of bacterial growth averaged eight days (range, 2-17). After debridement and antibiotic treatment for a mean of 4.5 months, tissue samples were repeatedly harvested in nine patients due to persistent pain. The infection was microbiologically eradicated in six out of nine cases that had a repeated biopsy. However, nine out of 10 patients continued to suffer from moderate to severe pain. Low-grade infection of the shoulder can be a cause of persistent pain and stiffness. The results of antibiotic treatment are disappointing. Further studies are necessary to analyse this difficult patholog

Spacelike surfaces with free boundary in the Lorentz-Minkowski space

We investigate a variational problem in the Lorentz-Minkowski space \l^3 whose critical points are spacelike surfaces with constant mean curvature and making constant contact angle with a given support surface along its common boundary. We show that if the support surface is a pseudosphere, then the surface is a planar disc or a hyperbolic cap. We also study the problem of spacelike hypersurfaces with free boundary in the higher dimensional Lorentz-Minkowski space \l^{n+1}.Comment: 16 pages. Accepted in Classical and Quantum Gravit

An evaluation of pump-level service as a locational variable within Canada\u27s retail gasoline industry

Marketers who are searching for prime retail locations for gasoline outlets, and other automobile-oriented activities, in today’s market are faced with an increasingly complex process. As land and development costs escalate, competition increases and margins are tightened, there is a greater need for marketers within the retail gasoline industry to pinpoint sites that offer the best profit potential (Gilbart, 1994). In turn, large gasoline chains attempt to develop networks of stations that optimize market coverage and consumer convenience while minimizing costs. In response to the evolution of an increasingly dynamic marketplace, experts within the retail gasoline industry have invested a great deal of time and money researching the key factors for station success. Traditional location analysis has involved the use of variables such as traffic volume and the number of trade area households to evaluate locations within the marketplace. While such variables are still essential, modern marketers must now consider a much wider range of locational factors which affect the success or failure of individual sites and/or aggregate networks

The primitive mystique : romance and realism in the depiction of the native Indian in English-Canadian fiction

Although several critics since the nineteenth century have written about the variety of interpretations of the native Indian in English-Canadian literature, no one has yet devoted a full-length study to the way the Indian is depicted in fiction alone. This dissertation thus examines a large cross-section of adult long fiction and investigates the degree to which the modes of romance and realism and the genres of romance and novel have informed these depictions. The dissertation is organized according to four major topics: love, religion, fighting, and community life. Each of these is divided into appropriate sub-topics, organized along roughly chronological lines. The chapter about love is the longest and focuses on fiction in which a white person and an Indian marry or have a love relationship, either potential or consummated. The chapter about religion focuses on fiction about the various kinds of relationships between native religions and Christianity. The chapter about fighting analyzes fiction about inter-tribal fighting, fighting along the frontier, and fighting between modern Indians and white authority. The chapter on community life focuses on fiction describing daily Indian life, from the pre-contact community to the contemporary reserve. Several conclusions emerge. First, the basic attitude to Indians reflects prevailing social attitudes. Second, the choice and use of genre are influenced to a significant degree by literary fashion. But more specific conclusions also emerge. Most importantly, romance is the dominant genre and romantic conventions of primitivism pervade almost all serious fiction on the subject, from variations on the Pastoral and Noble Savage conventions to a recent development approaching fertility myth. Instances of the realistic-novel as such are relatively rare, but realism of a documentary sort is frequent in romances which focus on social issues and is present for verisimilitude or ornamentation in many other romances. Finally,the best romances tend to have a sound basis in observable fact, just as the good novels have the subjective psychological dimension provided by romantic convention

The clinical effectiveness of individual behaviour change interventions to reduce risky sexual behaviour after a negative human immunodeficiency virus test in men who have sex with men: systematic and realist reviews and intervention development

Background: Men who have sex with men (MSM) experience significant inequalities in health and well-being. They are the group in the UK at the highest risk of acquiring a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Guidance relating to both HIV infection prevention, in general, and individual-level behaviour change interventions, in particular, is very limited. Objectives: To conduct an evidence synthesis of the clinical effectiveness of behaviour change interventions to reduce risky sexual behaviour among MSM after a negative HIV infection test. To identify effective components within interventions in reducing HIV risk-related behaviours and develop a candidate intervention. To host expert events addressing the implementation and optimisation of a candidate intervention. Data sources: All major electronic databases (British Education Index, BioMed Central, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, EMBASE, Educational Resource Index and Abstracts, Health and Medical Complete, MEDLINE, PsycARTICLES, PsycINFO, PubMed and Social Science Citation Index) were searched between January 2000 and December 2014. Review methods: A systematic review of the clinical effectiveness of individual behaviour change interventions was conducted. Interventions were examined using the behaviour change technique (BCT) taxonomy, theory coding assessment, mode of delivery and proximity to HIV infection testing. Data were summarised in narrative review and, when appropriate, meta-analysis was carried out. Supplemental analyses for the development of the candidate intervention focused on post hoc realist review method, the assessment of the sequential delivery and content of intervention components, and the social and historical context of primary studies. Expert panels reviewed the candidate intervention for issues of implementation and optimisation. Results: Overall, trials included in this review (n = 10) demonstrated that individual-level behaviour change interventions are effective in reducing key HIV infection risk-related behaviours. However, there was considerable clinical and methodological heterogeneity among the trials. Exploratory meta-analysis showed a statistically significant reduction in behaviours associated with high risk of HIV transmission (risk ratio 0.75, 95% confidence interval 0.62 to 0.91). Additional stratified analyses suggested that effectiveness may be enhanced through face-to-face contact immediately after testing, and that theory-based content and BCTs drawn from ‘goals and planning’ and ‘identity’ groups are important. All evidence collated in the review was synthesised to develop a candidate intervention. Experts highlighted overall acceptability of the intervention and outlined key ways that the candidate intervention could be optimised to enhance UK implementation. Limitations: There was a limited number of primary studies. All were from outside the UK and were subject to considerable clinical, methodological and statistical heterogeneity. The findings of the meta-analysis must therefore be treated with caution. The lack of detailed intervention manuals limited the assessment of intervention content, delivery and fidelity. Conclusions: Evidence regarding the effectiveness of behaviour change interventions suggests that they are effective in changing behaviour associated with HIV transmission. Exploratory stratified meta-analyses suggested that interventions should be delivered face to face and immediately after testing. There are uncertainties around the generalisability of these findings to the UK setting. However, UK experts found the intervention acceptable and provided ways of optimising the candidate intervention. Future work: There is a need for well-designed, UK-based trials of individual behaviour change interventions that clearly articulate intervention content and demonstrate intervention fidelity