Actions for selected content:

Send content to

To send content items to your account,
please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies.
If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account.
Find out more about sending content to .

To send content items to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org
is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings
on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part
of your Kindle email address below.
Find out more about sending to your Kindle.

Note you can select to send to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations.
‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be sent to your device when it is connected to wi-fi.
‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

By using this service, you agree that you will only keep articles for personal use, and will not openly distribute them via Dropbox, Google Drive or other file sharing services
Please confirm that you accept the terms of use.

We have spectra, colours and morphologies from the CFHT for 240 cluster members and 80 field galaxies over a 7 × 46 arcmin field. The cluster galaxies show strong radial gradients in colour, morphology, and spectrum. The central group has only red early-type galaxies of high central concentration, which must have formed at least 5 Gy ago. The population becomes bluer and shows an increasing fraction of disk morphology and recent star-formation with clustocentric radius, and eventually blends into the field. However, the fraction of blue galaxies is significantly lower than in Butcher-Oemler clusters, and there are only two starburst galaxies (one of which is the cluster cD). Fitting of line measures with stellar population models indicates that star-formation has been truncated in the 15-20% of the cluster galaxies that have strong Hδ absorption, and that these galaxies are not all blue. There is evidence that cluster galaxies are dusty compared with the field. The morphology gradient can be fit with models of disk fading. However, there is a small fraction of interacting and merging galaxies, which must play a part in the population evolution. The cluster is accreting from the field in a non-violent way, including some distinct subgroups. This is different from what is seen at both higher and lower redshift, and if generally true, suggests a high Omega universe.

We have carried out a number of imaging surveys of fields around quasars to study their global environments (e.g. Yee and Green 1987, Ellingson, Yee and Green 1991). The richness of the galaxy cluster environment of each quasar was determined using the galaxy-quasar spatial covariance amplitude, a quantity which is normalized for the expected luminosity and spatial distribution of galaxies (Longair and Seldner 1978, Yee and Green 1987). We find that ~40% of the brightest radio-loud quasars inhabit rich clusters of galaxies (Abell class 1 or higher) at z≳0.5 whereas only fainter AGN inhabit clusters at more recent epochs (Figure 1). This can be understood if quasars in rich clusters evolve much faster than those in poor environments.

Fundamental to our understanding of the universe is the evolution of structures, from galaxies to clusters of galaxies to large-scale sheets and filaments of galaxies and voids. The investigation of the evolution of large-scale structure not only provides us with the key test of theories of structure formation, but also allows us to measure fundamental cosmological parameters. The CNOC2 (Canadian Network for Observational Cosmology) Field Galaxy Redshift Survey is the first large redshift survey of faint galaxies carried out with the explicit goal of investigating the evolution of large scale structure. This survey also provides the largest redshift and photometric data set currently available for the study of galaxy population and evolution at the moderate redshift range between 0.1 and 0.6. In this paper we describe the scope and technique of the survey, its status, and some preliminary results.

Previously published guidelines provide comprehensive recommendations for hand hygiene in healthcare facilities. The intent of this document is to highlight practical recommendations in a concise format, update recommendations with the most current scientific evidence, and elucidate topics that warrant clarification or more robust research. Additionally, this document is designed to assist healthcare facilities in implementing hand hygiene adherence improvement programs, including efforts to optimize hand hygiene product use, monitor and report back hand hygiene adherence data, and promote behavior change. This expert guidance document is sponsored by the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) and is the product of a collaborative effort led by SHEA, the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), the American Hospital Association (AHA), the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), and The Joint Commission, with major contributions from representatives of a number of organizations and societies with content expertise. The list of endorsing and supporting organizations is presented in the introduction to the 2014 updates.

Since the publication of “A Compendium of Strategies to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections in Acute Care Hospitals” in 2008, prevention of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) has become a national priority. Despite improvements, preventable HAIs continue to occur. The 2014 updates to the Compendium were created to provide acute care hospitals with up-to-date, practical, expert guidance to assist in prioritizing and implementing their HAI prevention efforts. They are the product of a highly collaborative effort led by the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), the American Hospital Association (AHA), the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), and The Joint Commission, with major contributions from representatives of a number of organizations and societies with content expertise, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (PIDS), the Society for Critical Care Medicine (SCCM), the Society for Hospital Medicine (SHM), and the Surgical Infection Society (SIS).

Previously published guidelines provide comprehensive recommendations for hand hygiene in healthcare facilities. The intent of this document is to highlight practical recommendations in a concise format, update recommendations with the most current scientific evidence, and elucidate topics that warrant clarification or more robust research. Additionally, this document is designed to assist healthcare facilities in implementing hand hygiene adherence improvement programs, including efforts to optimize hand hygiene product use, monitor and report back hand hygiene adherence data, and promote behavior change. This expert guidance document is sponsored by the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) and is the product of a collaborative effort led by SHEA, the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), the American Hospital Association (AHA), the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), and The Joint Commission, with major contributions from representatives of a number of organizations and societies with content expertise. The list of endorsing and supporting organizations is presented in the introduction to the 2014 updates.

To assess the impact of an electronic surveillance system on isolation practices and rates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

Design.

A pre-post test intervention.

Setting.

Inpatient units (except psychiatry and labor and delivery) in 4 New York City hospitals.

Patients.

All patients for whom isolation precautions were indicated, May 2009–December 2011.

Methods.

Trained observers assessed isolation sign postings, availability of isolation carts, and staff use of personal protective equipment (PPE). Infection rates were obtained from the infection control department. Regression analyses were used to examine the association between the surveillance system, infection prevention practices, and MRSA infection rates.

An electronic surveillance system resulted in small but statistically significant improvements in isolation practices but no reductions in infection rates over the short term. Such innovations likely require considerable uptake time.

Recent studies have demonstrated that central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) are preventable through implementation of evidence-based prevention practices. Hospitals have reported CLABSI data to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) since the 1970s, providing an opportunity to characterize the national impact of CLABSIs over time. Our objective was to describe changes in the annual number of CLABSIs in critical care patients in the United States.

Design.

Monte Carlo simulation.

Setting.

US acute care hospitals.

Patients.

Nonneonatal critical care patients.

Methods.

We obtained administrative data on patient-days for nearly all US hospitals and applied CLABSI rates from the National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance and the National Healthcare Safety Network systems to estimate the annual number of CLABSIs in critical care patients nationally during the period 1990–2010 and the number of CLABSIs prevented since 1990.

Results.

We estimated that there were between 462,000 and 636,000 CLABSIs in nonneonatal critical care patients in the United States during 1990–2010. CLABSI rate reductions led to between 104,000 and 198,000 fewer CLABSIs than would have occurred if rates had remained unchanged since 1990. There were 15,000 hospital-onset CLABSIs in nonneonatal critical care patients in 2010; 70% occurred in medium and large teaching hospitals.

Conclusions.

Substantial progress has been made in reducing the occurrence of CLABSIs in US critical care patients over the past 2 decades. The concentration of critical care CLABSIs in medium and large teaching hospitals suggests that a targeted approach may be warranted to continue achieving reductions in critical care CLABSIs nationally.

Maternal smoking during pregnancy (SDP) has been studied extensively as a risk factor for adverse offspring outcomes and is known to co-occur with other familial risk factors. Accounting for general familial risk factors has attenuated associations between SDP and adverse offspring outcomes, and identifying these confounds will be crucial to elucidating the relationship between SDP and its psychological correlates.

Method

The current study aimed to disentangle the relationship between maternal SDP and co-occurring risk factors (maternal criminal activity, drug problems, teen pregnancy, educational attainment, and cohabitation at childbirth) using a population-based sample of full- (n=206 313) and half-sister pairs (n=19 363) from Sweden. Logistic regression models estimated the strength of association between SDP and co-occurring risk factors. Bivariate behavioral genetic models estimated the degree to which associations between SDP and co-occurring risk factors are attributable to genetic and environmental factors.

Results

Maternal SDP was associated with an increase in all co-occurring risk factors. Of the variance associated with SDP, 45% was attributed to genetic factors and 53% was attributed to unshared environmental factors. In bivariate models, genetic factors accounted for 21% (non-drug-, non-violence-related crimes) to 35% (drug-related crimes) of the covariance between SDP and co-occurring risk factors. Unshared environmental factors accounted for the remaining covariance.

Conclusions

The genetic factors that influence a woman's criminal behavior, substance abuse and her offspring's rearing environment all influence SDP. Therefore, the intergenerational transmission of genes conferring risk for antisocial behavior and substance misuse may influence the associations between maternal SDP and adverse offspring outcomes.

We report photoluminescence, linear absorption and femto-second transient bleaching spectra for a colloidal solution of indium phosphide (InP) quantum dots at ambient temperatures. The photoluminescence quantum yield is shown to depend not only upon the size of the quantum dots, with larger dots exhibiting higher quantum yields, but also upon the excitation wavelength. At short wavelengths, photoluminescence excitation spectra deviate markedly from the absorption spectra indicating that an efficient non-radiative deactivation pathway becomes prominent at these higher photon energies. We interpret this observation in terms of an inefficient relaxation mechanism between the second excited state and the lowest energy excited state from which the emission emanates. The results are consistent with the existence of a phonon bottleneck.

In Ion Microtomography (IMT), material densities are determined from the energy lost by ions as they pass through a specimen. For fine-scale measurements with micron-size beams, mechanical stability and precision of motion can impact the quality of the reconstruction. We describe several preprocessing procedures used to minimize imperfect specimen manipulation, including adjustment of the center of mass motion in sinograms and correction for vertical translations. In addition, the amount of noise in the reconstruction is reduced by utilizing median (as opposed to mean) ion energy loss values for density determinations. Furthermore, particular portions of the sampled image can be enhanced with minimal degradation of spatial resolution by a judicial choice of spatial filter in the reconstruction algorithm. The benefits and limitations of these preprocessing techniques are discussed.

Two NDT techniques were used to characterize low-density, microcellular, carbon foams fabricated from a salt replica process. The two techniques are x-ray computed tomography (CT) and ion microtomography (IMT); data are presented on carbon foams that contain high-density regions. The data show that densities which differ by <10% are easily observable for these low density (<100 mg/cm3) materials. The data reveal that the carbon foams produced by this replica process have small density variations; the density being ∼30% greater at the outer edges than when compared to the interior of the foam. In addition, the density gradient is found to be rather sharp, that is the density drops-off rapidly from the outer edges to a uniform one in the interior of the foam. This edge build-up in carbon density was explained in terms of polymer concentrating on the foam exterior during drying which immediately followed a polymer infusion processing step. Supporting analytical data from other techniques show the foam material to be >99.9 % carbon

A survey is given of recent developments in selected areas of neutron tomography, within the context of several applications Argonne is involved in, including high penetration of reactor-fuel bundles in thick containers (involving TREAT and NRAD facilities), dual-energy hydrogen imaging (performed at IPNS), dynamic coarse-resolution emission tomography of reactor fuel under test (a proposed modification to the TREAT hodoscope), and an associated-particle system that uses neutron flight-time to electronically collimate transmitted neutrons and to tomographically image nuclides identified by reaction gamma-rays.

Polymeric beads are valuable tools for a variety of applications in chemistry, e.g. separation and synthesis support. A common property of all applications is, that diffusion processes and mass transport balances play an important part and are heavily dependent upon matrix parameters such as crosslinking. We have applied 1H and 19F-microscopy to monitor diffusion processes in differently crosslinked polystyrene beads (CL-PS). MRI is used primarily as a medical diagnostic method, but has begun to find increasing application in material science, including studies of fluids in polymers [1,2].

States, including Illinois, have passed legislation mandating the use of International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes for reporting healthcare-associated infections, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

Objective.

To evaluate the sensitivity of ICD-9-CM code combinations for detection of MRSA infection and to understand implications for reporting.

Methods.

We reviewed discharge and microbiology databases from July through August of 2005, 2006, and 2007 for ICD-9-CM codes or microbiology results suggesting MRSA infection at a tertiary care hospital near Chicago, Illinois. Medical records were reviewed to confirm MRSA infection. Time from admission to first positive MRSA culture result was evaluated to identify hospital-onset MRSA (HO-MRSA) infections. The sensitivity of MRSA code combinations for detecting confirmed MRSA infections was calculated using all codes present in the discharge record (up to 15); the effect of reviewing only 9 diagnosis codes, the number reported to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, was also evaluated. The sensitivity of the combination of diagnosis codes for detection of HO-MRSA infections was compared with that for community-onset MRSA (CO-MRSA) infections.

Results.

We identified 571 potential MRSA infections with the use of screening criteria; 403 (71%) were confirmed MRSA infections, of which 61 (15%) were classified as HO-MRSA. The sensitivity of MRSA code combinations was 59% for all confirmed MRSA infections when 15 diagnoses were reviewed compared with 31% if only 9 diagnoses were reviewed (P < .001). The sensitivity of code combinations was 33% for HO-MRSA infections compared with 62% for CO-MRSA infections (P < .001).

Conclusions.

Limiting analysis to 9 diagnosis codes resulted in low sensitivity. Furthermore, code combinations were better at revealing CO-MRSA infections than HO-MRSA infections. These limitations could compromise the validity of ICD-9-CM codes for interfacility comparisons and for reporting of healthcare-associated MRSA infections.

We present the preliminary results of BVRI imaging of six clusters chosen from a follow-up project of the CNOC cluster survey. In an attempt to ascertain the evolution of galaxies in the cluster environment, we focus on the infalling galaxy groups, especially on their characteristics reflected by their color properties. To investigate the role of cluster environment in the evolution of galaxy groups, the color properties of galaxy groups are explored as a function of cluster radius and the local density of cluster galaxies. Both the radius and the local density affect the properties of groups, but evidence suggests that density may be more important in the relationship between cluster environment and galaxy characteristics.To search for other articles by the author(s) go to: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abstract_service.html

A multi-object spectroscopy follow-up survey of galaxy clusters selected from the Red-sequence Cluster Survey (RCS) is being completed. About forty clusters were chosen with redshifts from 0.15 to 0.6, and in a wide range of richnesses. One of the main science drivers of this survey is a study of internal dynamics of clusters. We present some preliminary results for a subset of the clusters, including the correlation of optical richness with mass, and the mass-to-light ratio as a function of cluster mass.To search for other articles by the author(s) go to: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abstract_service.html

Recommend this

Email your librarian or administrator to recommend adding this to your organisation's collection.