All the colours of the rainbow.

Our perception of colour has always been a source of fascination, so it's little wonder that studies of the phenomenon date back hundreds of years. What, though, can modern scientists learn from medieval literature — and how do we go about it

Automated Data Management Information System (ADMIS)

ADMIS stores and controls data and documents associated with manned space flight effort. System contains all data oriented toward a specific document; it is primary source of reports generated by the system. Each group of records is composed of one document record, one distribution record for each recipient of the document, and one summary record

Experimental investigation of the effect of spatial aggregation on reproductive success in a rewardless orchid

Plant reproductive success within a patch may depend on plant aggregation through pollinator attraction. For rewardless plants that lack rewards for pollinators, reproductive success may rely strongly on the learning abilities of pollinators. These abilities depend on relative co-flowering rewarding and rewardless plant species spatial distributions. We investigated the effect of aggregation on the reproductive success of a rewardless orchid by setting up 16 arrays in a factorial design with two levels of intraspecific aggregation for both a rewardless orchid and a rewarding co-flowering species. Our results show that increasing aggregation of both species negatively influenced the reproductive success of the rewardless plants. To our knowledge, this is the first experimental study demonstrating negative effects of aggregation on reproductive success of a rewardless species due both to its own spatial aggregation and that of a co-flowering rewarding species. We argue that pollinator learning behaviour is the key driver behind this result

Do rewardless orchids show a positive relationship between phenotypic diversity and reproductive success?

Among rewardless orchids, pollinator sampling behavior has been suggested to drive a positive relationship between population phenotypic variability and absolute reproductive success, and hence population fitness. We tested this hypothesis by constructing experimental arrays using the rewardless orchid Dactylorhiza sambucina, which is dimorphic for corolla color. We found no evidence that polymorphic arrays had higher mean reproductive success than monomorphic arrays for pollinia removal, pollen deposition, or fruit set. For pollinia removal, monomorphic yellow arrays had significantly greater reproductive success, and monomorphic red the least. A tendency for yellow arrays to have higher pollen deposition was also found. We argue that differential population fitness was most likely to reflect differential numbers of pollinators attracted to arrays, through preferential long-distance attraction to arrays with yellow inflorescences. Correlative studies of absolute reproductive success in 52 populations of D. sambucina supported our experimental results. To our knowledge this is the first study to suggest that attraction of a greater number of pollinators to rewardless orchids may be of greater functional importance to population fitness, and thus ecology and conservation, than are the behavioral sequences of individual pollinators

Preventing and lessening exacerbations of asthma in school-age children associated with a new term (PLEASANT) : Study protocol for a cluster randomised control trial

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly citedBackground: Within the UK, during September, there is a pronounced increase in the number of unscheduled medical contacts by school-aged children (4-16 years) with asthma. It is thought that that this might be caused by the return back to school after the summer holidays, suddenly mixing with other children again and picking up viruses which could affect their asthma. There is also a drop in the number of prescriptions administered in August. It is possible therefore that children might not be taking their medication as they should during the summer contributing to them becoming ill when they return to school. It is hoped that a simple intervention from the GP to parents of children with asthma at the start of the summer holiday period, highlighting the importance of maintaining asthma medication can help prevent increased asthma exacerbation, and unscheduled NHS appointments, following return to school in September.Methods/design: PLEASANT is a cluster randomised trial. A total of 140 General Practices (GPs) will be recruited into the trial; 70 GPs randomised to the intervention and 70 control practices of "usual care" An average practice is expected to have approximately 100 children (aged 4-16 with a diagnosis of asthma) hence observational data will be collected on around 14000 children over a 24-month period. The Clinical Practice Research Datalink will collect all data required for the study which includes diagnostic, prescription and referral data.Discussion: The trial will assess whether the intervention can reduce exacerbation of asthma and unscheduled medical contacts in school-aged children associated with the return to school after the summer holidays. It has the potential to benefit the health and quality of life of children with asthma while also improving the effectiveness of NHS services by reducing NHS use in one of the busiest months of the year. An exploratory health economic analysis will gauge any cost saving associated with the intervention and subsequent impacts on quality of life. If results for the intervention are positive it is hoped that this could be adopted as part of routine care management of childhood asthma in general practice. Trial registration: Current controlled trials: ISRCTN03000938 (assigned 19/10/12) http://www.controlled-trials.com/ISRCTN03000938/.UKCRN ID: 13572.Peer reviewe

Physicians' experiences and perspectives regarding the use of continuous sedation until death for cancer patients in the context of psychological and existential suffering at the end of life

OBJECTIVE: The use of continuous sedation until death for terminally ill cancer patients with unbearable and untreatable psychological and existential suffering remains controversial, and little in-depth insight exists into the circumstances in which physicians resort to it. METHODS: Our study was conducted in Belgium, the Netherlands, and the UK in hospitals, PCUs/hospices, and at home. We held interviews with 35 physicians most involved in the care of cancer patients who had psychological and existential suffering and had been continuously sedated until death. RESULTS: In the studied countries, three groups of patients were distinguished regarding the origin of their psychological and existential suffering. The first group had preexisting psychological problems before they became ill, the second developed psychological and existential suffering during their disease trajectory, and the third presented psychological symptoms that were characteristic of their disease. Before they resorted to the use of sedation, physicians reported that they had considered an array of pharmacological and psychological interventions that were ineffective or inappropriate to relieve this suffering. Necessary conditions for using sedation in this context were for most physicians the presence of refractory symptoms, a short life expectancy, and an explicit patient request for sedation. CONCLUSIONS: Physicians in our study used continuous sedation until death in the context of psychological and existential suffering after considering several pharmacological and psychological interventions. Further research and debate are needed on how and by whom this suffering at the end of life should be best treated, taking into account patients' individual preferences

The Relationship among Social Connectedness, Meaning in Life, and Wellness for Adult Women in Levinson\u27s Mid-Life Transition Stage

While developmental research on the period of midlife has received increased attention in the literature, limited focus has been paid to the transitional stage into midlife, particularly for women. In this study, 286 women between the ages of 38 - 47 years completed online surveys comprised of a demographic questionnaire, the Social Connectedness Scale – Revised (SCS-R; Lee, Draper, & Lee, 2001), the Life Regard Index – Revised (LRI-R; Debats, 1998), and the Five Factor Wellness Inventory – Adult (FFWel-A; Myers & Sweeney, 1999). Participants were recruited through local community-based organizations and snowballing efforts. Participants resided in a major southern metropolitan city. Results from this study indicate that wellness was significantly higher for women who had advanced degrees, higher income levels, and were in a parenting role. Full-time employment and higher education levels were significantly related to higher feelings of meaning in life for women, but being in a parenting role was not linked to higher meaning in life. Implications for counseling women in the Mid-Life Transition Stage are explored and directions for future research are discussed

Quiet Sun magnetic fields from simultaneous inversions of visible and infrared spectropolarimetric observations

We study the quiet Sun magnetic fields using spectropolarimetric observations of the infrared and visible Fe I lines at 6301.5, 6302.5, 15648 and 15653 A. Magnetic field strengths and filling factors are inferred by the simultaneous fit of the observed Stokes profiles under the MISMA hypothesis. The observations cover an intra-network region at the solar disk center. We analyze 2280 Stokes profiles whose polarization signals are above noise in the two spectral ranges, which correspond to 40% of the field of view. Most of these profiles can be reproduced only with a model atmosphere including 3 magnetic components with very different field strengths, which indicates the co-existence of kG and sub-kG fields in our 1.5" resolution elements. We measure an unsigned magnetic flux density of 9.6 G considering the full field of view. Half of the pixels present magnetic fields with mixed polarities in the resolution element. The fraction of mixed polarities increases as the polarization weakens. We compute the probability density function of finding each magnetic field strength. It has a significant contribution of kG field strengths, which concentrates most of the observed magnetic flux and energy. This kG contribution has a preferred magnetic polarity, while the polarity of the weak fields is balanced.Comment: 16 pages and 14 figure

Researching the home using architectural and social science methods

This article explores the possibilities of using innovative, interdisciplinary methods for understanding home-making. Drawing on a study of Claremont Court (1959–1962), a post-war social housing scheme designed by Sir Basil Spence in Edinburgh, we discuss the methodological potentials of combining architectural and social science methods to study the home. Claremont Court was built in the post-war era as part of Scotland’s social housing drive. It was designed following the principles of ‘cross-class’ living in order to foster a sense of community. In subsequent years, inhabitants of the court have adapted their dwellings in numerous ways and the population of the court has changed dramatically. But, while meanings of home and understandings of the division between public and private have been reconfigured, the spatial layouts of the dwellings continue to shape residents’ sense of home. To explore how residents make home at Claremont Court, we use ‘facet methodology’, which opens up new ways of thinking about the research process through a ‘playful’ approach to epistemology. In doing so, we develop an innovative approach which combines architectural methods (including survey drawings and visual mappings of both dwellings and communal areas) with social science methods (including ‘traditional’ interviews and walk-along interviews). To conclude, we discuss the possibility of widening the scope of qualitative research by bringing architectural and social science methods into dialogue through visual methods, in order to attend to spatial and material aspects of the home. We argue that our novel cross-disciplinary approach broadens understandings of home, by bringing attention to the unspoken dimensions of physical space, embodied elements of home and what people said about their homes, all of which are central to home-making