Radar backscattering data for surfaces of geological interest

Radar backscattering data for surfaces of geological interes

The Mutual Interpretation of Active and Passive Microwave Sensor Outputs

Mutual interpretation of active and passive microwave sensor output

‘The show must go on!’ Fieldwork, mental health and wellbeing in Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Fieldwork is central to the identity, culture and history of academic Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences (GEES). However, in this paper we recognise that, for many academic staff, fieldtrips can be a profoundly challenging “ordeal,” ill‐conducive to wellness or effective pedagogic practice. Drawing on research with 39 UK university‐based GEES academics who self‐identify as having a mental health condition, we explore how mental health intersects with spaces and expectations of fieldwork in Higher Education. We particularly focus on their accounts of undertaking undergraduate residential fieldtrips and give voice to these largely undisclosed experiences. Their narratives run counter to normative, romanticised celebrations of fieldwork within GEES disciplines. We particularly highlight recurrent experiences of avoiding fieldwork, fieldwork‐as‐ ordeal, and “coping” with fieldwork, and suggest that commonplace anxieties within the neoliberal academy – about performance, productivity, fitness‐to‐work, self‐presentation, scrutiny and fear‐of‐falling‐behind – are felt particularly intensely during fieldwork. In spite of considerable work to make fieldwork more accessible to students, we find that field‐based teaching is experienced as a focal site of distress, anxiety and ordeal for many GEES academics with common mental health conditions. We conclude with prompts for reflection about how fieldwork could be otherwise

Chemotherapy versus supportive care in advanced non-small cell lung cancer: improved survival without detriment to quality of life

BACKGROUND: In 1995 a meta-analysis of randomised trials investigating the value of adding chemotherapy to primary treatment for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) suggested a small survival benefit for cisplatin-based chemotherapy in each of the primary treatment settings. However, the metaanalysis included many small trials and trials with differing eligibility criteria and chemotherapy regimens. METHODS: The aim of the Big Lung Trial was to confirm the survival benefits seen in the meta-analysis and to assess quality of life and cost in the supportive care setting. A total of 725 patients were randomised to receive supportive care alone (n = 361) or supportive care plus cisplatin-based chemotherapy (n = 364). RESULTS: 65% of patients allocated chemotherapy (C) received all three cycles of treatment and a further 27% received one or two cycles. 74% of patients allocated no chemotherapy (NoC) received thoracic radiotherapy compared with 47% of the C group. Patients allocated C had a significantly better survival than those allocated NoC: HR 0.77 (95% CI 0.66 to 0.89, p = 0.0006), median survival 8.0 months for the C group v 5.7 months for the NoC group, a difference of 9 weeks. There were 19 (5%) treatment related deaths in the C group. There was no evidence that any subgroup benefited more or less fromchemotherapy. No significant differences were observed between the two groups in terms of the pre-defined primary and secondary quality of life end points, although large negative effects of chemotherapy were ruled out. The regimens used proved to be cost effective, the extra cost of chemotherapy being offset by longer survival. CONCLUSIONS: The survival benefit seen in this trial was entirely consistent with the NSCLC meta-analysis and subsequent similarly designed large trials. The information on quality of life and cost should enablepatients and their clinicians to make more informed treatment choices

Communications Biophysics

Contains reports on three research projects.United States Air Force (Contract AF19(602)-4112

Communications Biophysics

Contains reports on four research projects.U.S. Air Force under Contract AF19(604)-411

Control of rotorcraft retreating blade stall using air-jet vortex generators

A series of low-speed wind tunnel tests were carried out on an oscillating airfoil fitted with two rows of air-jet vortex generators (AJVGs). The airfoil used had an RAE 9645 section and the two spanwise arrays of AJVGs were located at x/c=0.12 and 0.62. The devices and their distribution were chosen to assess their ability to modify/control dynamic stall; the goal being to enhance the aerodynamic performance of helicopter rotors on the retreating blade side of the disc. The model was pitched about the quarter chord with a reduced frequency (k) of 0.1 in a sinusoidal motion defined by a=15o+10sin_ t. The measured data indicate that, for continuous blowing from the front row of AJVGs with a momentum blowing coefficient (C μ) greater than 0.008, modifications to the stalling process are encouraging. In particular, the pitching moment behavior exhibits delayed stall and there is a marked reduction in the normal force hysteresis

Communications Biophysics

Contains a summary of research publications and reports on four research projects.National Science Foundation (Grant GP-2495)National Institutes of Health (Grant MH-04737-04)National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Grant NsG-496

Communications Biophysics

Contains reports on three research projects

In vivo microdialysis to determine subcutaneous interstitial fluid penetration and pharmacokinetics of fluconazole in intensive care unit patients with sepsis

The objective of the study was to describe the subcutaneous interstitial fluid (ISF) pharmacokinetics of fluconazole in critically ill patients with sepsis. This prospective observational study was conducted at two tertiary intensive care units in Australia. Serial fluconazole concentrations were measured over 24 h in plasma and subcutaneous ISF using microdialysis. The concentrations in plasma and microdialysate were measured using a validated high-performance liquid chromatography system with electrospray mass spectrometer detector method. Noncompartmental pharmacokinetic analysis was performed. Twelve critically ill patients with sepsis were enrolled. The mean in vivo fluconazole recovery rates +/- standard deviation (SD) for microdialysis were 51.4% +/- 16.1% with a mean (+/- SD) fluconazole ISF penetration ratio of 0.52 +/- 0.30 (coefficient of variation, 58%). The median free plasma area under the concentration-time curve from 0 to 24 h (AUC(0-24)) was significantly higher than the median ISF AUC(0-24) (340.4 versus 141.1 mg . h/liter; P = 0.004). There was no statistical difference in median fluconazole ISF penetration between patients receiving and not receiving vasopressors (median, 0.28 versus 0.78; P = 0.106). Both minimum and the maximum concentrations of drug in serum (C-max and C-min) showed a significant correlation with the fluconazole plasma exposure (Cmax, R-2 = 0.86, P < 0.0001; Cmin, R-2 = 0.75, P < 0.001). Our data suggest that fluconazole was distributed variably, but incompletely, from plasma into subcutaneous interstitial fluid in this cohort of critically ill patients with sepsis. Given the variability of fluconazole interstitial fluid exposures and lack of clinically identifiable factors by which to recognize patients with reduced distribution/exposure, we suggest higher than standard doses to ensure that drug exposure is adequate at the site of infection