Craftsmanship Alone is Not Enough

An exhibition co-curated with Anthony Quinn celebrating a century of ceramics at the Central School of Art and Central Saint Martins. The exhibition featured work drawn from the CSM Museum and Study Collection dating back to the 1940's alongside photographic documentary images from the earliest days of the course in the 1920's. Works loaned from graduates and former lecturers from 1951 till the present formed the largest part of the exhibition. An illustrated publication of the same title was produced to accompany the show with reflections on the course by its graduates and essays by current members of BA Ceramic Design. A programme of events and lectures was developed running alongside the exhibition. In addition a further collection of work was curated for the windows of the Pangolin Gallery in Kings Place to extend the reach of the exhibition. A collection of original glaze samples belonging to Dora Billington, the founder of the course were loaned to the college and have since been donated to the Museum and Study Collection

Segmentation of brain tumors in MRI images using three-dimensional active contour without edge

Brain tumor segmentation in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is considered a complex procedure because of the variability of tumor shapes and the complexity of determining the tumor location, size, and texture. Manual tumor segmentation is a time-consuming task highly prone to human error. Hence, this study proposes an automated method that can identify tumor slices and segment the tumor across all image slices in volumetric MRI brain scans. First, a set of algorithms in the pre-processing stage is used to clean and standardize the collected data. A modified gray-level co-occurrence matrix and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) are employed for feature extraction and feature selection, respectively. A multi-layer perceptron neural network is adopted as a classifier, and a bounding 3D-box-based genetic algorithm is used to identify the location of pathological tissues in the MRI slices. Finally, the 3D active contour without edge is applied to segment the brain tumors in volumetric MRI scans. The experimental dataset consists of 165 patient images collected from the MRI Unit of Al-Kadhimiya Teaching Hospital in Iraq. Results of the tumor segmentation achieved an accuracy of 89% +/- 4.7% compared with manual processes

Antecedents and performance consequences of international outsourcing

The outsourcing of intermediate products to international suppliers is believed to improve firm performance. We investigate this claim and test key dimensions of the decision to outsource internationally using survey data on 200 manufacturing firms located in the Netherlands. We find that most international outsourcing is intra-regional in nature. Furthermore international outsourcing is a consequence of a firm‟s ability to search and evaluate foreign suppliers, which is co-determined by its size, multinationality, and frequency of cross-border communications. Finally, no performance effects were observed for international or global outsourcing. We conclude international outsourcing is a balancing act between lower production costs abroad and lower transaction costs locally

Monsoon drought over Java, Indonesia, during the past two centuries

Monsoon droughts, which often coincide with El Nino warm events, can have profound impacts on the populations of Southeast Asia. Improved understanding and prediction of such events can be aided by high-resolution proxy climate records, but these are scarce for the tropics. Here we reconstruct the boreal autumn (October-November) Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) for Java, Indonesia (1787-1988). This reconstruction is based on nine ring-width chronologies derived from living teak trees growing on the islands of Java and Sulawesi, and one coral delta O-18 series from Lombok. The PDSI reconstruction correlates significantly with El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO)-related sea surface temperatures and other historical and instrumental records of tropical climate, reflecting the strong coupling between the climate of Indonesia and the large scale tropical Indo-Pacific climate system.</p

Metagenomic characterisation of the viral community of lough neagh, the largest freshwater lake in Ireland

Lough Neagh is the largest and the most economically important lake in Ireland. It is also one of the most nutrient rich amongst the world's major lakes. In this study, 16S rRNA analysis of total metagenomic DNA from the water column of Lough Neagh has revealed a high proportion of Cyanobacteria and low levels of Actinobacteria, Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi, and Firmicutes. The planktonic virome of Lough Neagh has been sequenced and 2,298,791 2×300 bp Illumina reads analysed. Comparison with previously characterised lakes demonstrates that the Lough Neagh viral community has the highest level of sequence diversity. Only about 15% of reads had homologs in the RefSeq database and tailed bacteriophages (Caudovirales) were identified as a major grouping. Within the Caudovirales, the Podoviridae and Siphoviridae were the two most dominant families (34.3% and 32.8% of the reads with sequence homology to the RefSeq database), while ssDNA bacteriophages constituted less than 1% of the virome. Putative cyanophages were found to be abundant. 66,450 viral contigs were assembled with the largest one being 58,805 bp; its existence, and that of another 34,467 bp contig, in the water column was confirmed. Analysis of the contigs confirmed the high abundance of cyanophages in the water column

Comparison of automated versus traditional methods of RGP lens verification

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study is two-fold. First, it will be demonstrated that there is no mean offset between base curve verification measurements obtained using a hand-held autokeratometer as opposed to the traditional verification method using a radiuscope. Secondly, the clinical perspective will be explored by presenting the likelihood of any significant difference which may be expected by a practitioner when measuring RGP base curves by automated means. METHODS Ninety-six RGP lens base curves were measured by two clinicians five times each by traditional radiuscope method and by use of an autokeratometer. RESULTS A statistical significant difference between the mean values of the traditional and automated methods of 0.007 mm existed. Clinically, this value is insignificant due to the +1- 0.02 mm error allowed by the ANSI standard for rigid gas permeable lenses. CONCLUSIONS Automated RGP base curve parameter verification using an Alcon Renaissance autokeratometer was found to be as clinically accurate as that done with the use of a radiuscope. Autokeratometer base curve verification also proved to be time efficient and cost effective

The reconstructed Indonesian warm pool sea surface temperatures from tree rings and corals: Linkages to Asian monsoon drought and El Niño–Southern Oscillation

[ 1] The west Pacific warm pool is the heat engine for the globe's climate system. Its vast moisture and heat exchange profoundly impact conditions in the tropics and higher latitudes. Here, September - November sea surface temperature (SST) variability is reconstructed for the warm pool region (15 degrees S - 5 degrees N, 110 - 160 degrees E) surrounding Indonesia using annually resolved teak ring width and coral delta O-18 records. The reconstruction dates from A. D. 1782 - 1992 and accounts for 52% of the SST variance over the most replicated period. Significant correlations are found with El Nino - Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and monsoon indices at interannual to decadal frequency bands. Negative reconstructed SST anomalies coincide with major volcanic eruptions, while other noteworthy extremes are at times synchronous with Indian and Indonesian monsoon drought, particularly during major warm ENSO episodes. While the reconstruction adds to the sparse network of proxy reconstructions available for the tropical Indo-Pacific, additional proxies are needed to clarify how warm pool dynamics have interacted with global climate in past centuries to millennia.</p

Physical activity self-management and coaching compared to social interaction in huntington disease: results from the ENGAGE-HD randomized, controlled, pilot feasibility trial.

Abstract Background: Self-management and self-efficacy for physical activity is not routinely considered in neurologic rehabilitation. Objective: We assessed feasibility and outcomes of a 14 week physical activity self-management and coaching intervention compared with social contact in Huntington's disease (HD) to inform the design of a future full-scale trial. Design: Assessor blind, multi-site, randomized pilot feasibility trial. Setting: Participants were recruited and assessed at baseline, 16 weeks following randomisation, and then again at 26 weeks in HD specialist clinics with intervention delivery by trained coaches in the participants’ homes. Patients and Intervention: People with HD were allocated to the ENGAGE-HD physical activity coaching intervention or a social interaction intervention. Measurements: Eligibility, recruitment, retention and intervention adherence were determined at 16 weeks. Other outcomes of interest included measures of functional, home and community mobility, self-efficacy, physical activity and disease-specific measures of motor and cognition. Fidelity and costs for both the physical activity and social comparator interventions were established. Results: Forty % (n=46) of eligible patients were enrolled and 22 randomised to the physical intervention and 24 to social intervention. Retention rates in the physical intervention and social intervention were 77% and 92% respectively. Minimum adherence criteria were achieved by 82% of participants in the physical intervention and 100% in the social intervention. There was no indication of between group treatment effects on function, however increases in self-efficacy for exercise and self-reported levels of physical activity in the physical intervention lends support to our pre-defined intervention logic model. Limitations: The use of self-report measures may have introduced bias. Conclusions: An HD physical activity self-management and coaching intervention is feasible and worthy of further investigation.Health and Care Research Wale

TESS Discovery of a Transiting Super-Earth in the π\pi Mensae System

We report the detection of a transiting planet around $\pi$ Mensae (HD 39091), using data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). The solar-type host star is unusually bright (V=5.7) and was already known to host a Jovian planet on a highly eccentric, 5.7-year orbit. The newly discovered planet has a size of $2.04\pm 0.05$ $R_\oplus$ and an orbital period of 6.27 days. Radial-velocity data from the HARPS and AAT/UCLES archives also displays a 6.27-day periodicity, confirming the existence of the planet and leading to a mass determination of $4.82\pm 0.85$ $M_\oplus$. The star's proximity and brightness will facilitate further investigations, such as atmospheric spectroscopy, asteroseismology, the Rossiter--McLaughlin effect, astrometry, and direct imaging.Comment: Accepted for publication ApJ Letters. This letter makes use of the TESS Alert data, which is currently in a beta test phase. The discovery light curve is included in a table inside the arxiv submissio

Molecular and Microbial Microenvironments in Chronically Diseased Lungs Associated with Cystic Fibrosis.

To visualize the personalized distributions of pathogens and chemical environments, including microbial metabolites, pharmaceuticals, and their metabolic products, within and between human lungs afflicted with cystic fibrosis (CF), we generated three-dimensional (3D) microbiome and metabolome maps of six explanted lungs from three cystic fibrosis patients. These 3D spatial maps revealed that the chemical environments differ between patients and within the lungs of each patient. Although the microbial ecosystems of the patients were defined by the dominant pathogen, their chemical diversity was not. Additionally, the chemical diversity between locales in the lungs of the same individual sometimes exceeded interindividual variation. Thus, the chemistry and microbiome of the explanted lungs appear to be not only personalized but also regiospecific. Previously undescribed analogs of microbial quinolones and antibiotic metabolites were also detected. Furthermore, mapping the chemical and microbial distributions allowed visualization of microbial community interactions, such as increased production of quorum sensing quinolones in locations where Pseudomonas was in contact with Staphylococcus and Granulicatella, consistent with in vitro observations of bacteria isolated from these patients. Visualization of microbe-metabolite associations within a host organ in early-stage CF disease in animal models will help elucidate the complex interplay between the presence of a given microbial structure, antibiotics, metabolism of antibiotics, microbial virulence factors, and host responses.IMPORTANCE Microbial infections are now recognized to be polymicrobial and personalized in nature. Comprehensive analysis and understanding of the factors underlying the polymicrobial and personalized nature of infections remain limited, especially in the context of the host. By visualizing microbiomes and metabolomes of diseased human lungs, we reveal how different the chemical environments are between hosts that are dominated by the same pathogen and how community interactions shape the chemical environment or vice versa. We highlight that three-dimensional organ mapping methods represent hypothesis-building tools that allow us to design mechanistic studies aimed at addressing microbial responses to other microbes, the host, and pharmaceutical drugs