We present high-resolution observations of nearby ($z\lesssim0.1$) galaxies that have hosted Type Ia supernovae to measure systemic spectroscopic redshifts using the wide field spectrograph (WiFeS) instrument on the Australian National University 2.3 m telescope at Siding Spring Observatory. While most of the galaxies targeted have previous spectroscopic redshifts, we provide demonstrably more accurate and precise redshifts with competitive uncertainties, motivated by potential systematic errors that could bias estimates of the Hubble constant ($H_0$). The WiFeS instrument is remarkably stable; after calibration, the wavelength solution varies by $\lesssim$0.5 Å in red and blue with no evidence of a trend over the course of several years. By virtue of the $25\times 38$ arcsec field of view, we are always able to measure the redshift of the galactic core, or the entire galaxy in the cases where its angular extent is smaller than the field of view, reducing any errors due to galaxy rotation. We observed 185 southern SN Ia host galaxies and measured the redshift of each via at least one spatial region of (a) the core and (b) the average over the full-field/entire galaxy. Overall, we find stochastic differences between historical redshifts and our measured redshifts on the order of $\lesssim10^{-3}$ with a mean offset of 4.3${\times 10^{-5}}$ and normalised median absolute deviation of 1.2${\times 10^{-4}}$. We show that a systematic redshift offset at this level is not enough to bias cosmology, as $H_0$ shifts by $+0.1$ km s$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-1}$ when we replace Pantheon+ redshifts with our own, but the occasional large differences are interesting to note.

This study uses a modified online version of the “draw-a-map” task and Garrett, Williams, and Evans’ (2005b) “keywords” methodology to explore the geospatial distribution of different accent and dialect labels and descriptors in Greater Manchester, UK. Specifically, we consider the distribution of the three most frequent labels related to “accentedness”: Broad, Strong, and Soft, as provided by 349 Greater Manchester residents. This analysis finds that these descriptors were clustered in separate areas of Greater Manchester, suggesting that they were being used to describe perceptually distinct varieties of English. In order to uncover the nuances in these folk-linguistic terms, we consider how they correlate with other concepts emerging from the dataset, finding that they are being used to differentiate between varieties with contrasting social associations. By combining innovative approaches, this study demonstrates how the subtleties of folk-linguistic modes of awareness can be uncovered through in-depth analysis of the terminology employed to describe linguistic variation on a very local scale. In so doing, it paves the way for further development of draw-a-map techniques that will enable similarly nuanced analysis in different regions, thus pushing the sub-discipline forward.

In July 2021, Public Health Wales received two notifications of salmonella gastroenteritis. Both cases has attended the same barbecue to celebrate Eid al–Adha, two days earlier. Additional cases attending the same barbecue were found and an outbreak investigation was initiated. The barbecue was attended by a North African community’s social network. On same day, smaller lunches were held in three homes in the social network. Many people attended both a lunch and the barbecue. Cases were defined as someone with an epidemiological link to the barbecue and/or lunches with diarrhoea and/or vomiting with date of onset following these events. We undertook a cohort study of 36 people attending the barbecue and/or lunch, and a nested case-control study using Firth logistic regression. A communication campaign, sensitive towards different cultural practices, was developed in collaboration with the affected community. Consumption of a traditional raw liver dish, ‘marrara’, at the barbecue was the likely vehicle for infection (Firth logistic regression, aOR: 49.99, 95%CI 1.71–1461.54, p = 0.02). Meat and offal came from two local butchers (same supplier) and samples yielded identical whole genome sequences as cases. Future outbreak investigations should be relevant to the community affected by considering dishes beyond those found in routine questionnaires.

The International Design Engineering Annual (IDEA) Challenge is a virtually hosted hackathon for Engineering Design researchers with aims of: i) generating open access datasets; ii) fostering community between researchers; and, iii) applying great design minds to develop solutions to real design problems. This paper presents the 2022 IDEA challenge and elements of the captured dataset with the aim of providing insights into prototyping behaviours at virtually hosted hackathons, comparing it with the 2021 challenge dataset and providing reflections and learnings from two years of running the challenge. The dataset is shown to provide valuable insights into how designers spend their time at hackathon events and how, why and when prototypes are used during their design processes. The dataset also corroborates the findings from the 2021 dataset, demonstrating the complementarity of physical and sketch prototypes. With this paper, we also invite the wider community to contribute to the IDEA Challenge in future years, either as participants or in using the platform to run their own design studies.

The authors present the application of a retarding field between the electron objective lens and sample in an integrated fluorescence and electron microscope. The retarding field enhances signal collection and signal strength in the electron microscope. This is beneficial for samples prepared for integrated fluorescence and electron microscopy as the amount of staining material added to enhance electron microscopy signal is typically lower compared to conventional samples in order to preserve fluorescence. We demonstrate signal enhancement through the applied retarding field for both 80-nm post-embedding immunolabeled sections and 100-nm in-resin preserved fluorescence sections. Moreover, we show that tuning the electron landing energy particularly improves imaging conditions for ultra-thin (50 nm) sections, where optimization of both retarding field and interaction volume contribute to the signal improvement. Finally, we show that our integrated retarding field setup allows landing energies down to a few electron volts with 0.3 eV dispersion, which opens new prospects for assessing electron beam induced damage by in situ quantification of the observed bleaching of the fluorescence following irradiation.

Background: Water management programs (WMPs) are needed to minimize the growth and transmission of opportunistic pathogens in healthcare facility water systems. In 2017, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service (CMS) began requiring that certified hospitals in the United States have water management policies and procedures; in response, the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) Annual Hospital Survey included new, voluntary questions on practices regarding water management and monitoring. Of 4,929 hospitals surveyed in 2017, 3,821 (77.5%) reported having a WMP. Of these 3,821 facilities, 86.9% reported regular monitoring of water temperature; 66.2% monitored disinfectant (eg, residual chlorine); 63.1% used specific tests for Legionella; and 35.6% performed heterotrophic plate counts (HPCs). We analyzed new, 2018 hospital survey data to assess further progress toward meeting CMS requirements for WMPs. Methods: We analyzed 2018 NHSN Annual Hospital Survey responses for facilities that reported on WMPs in 2017. Responses included information regarding risk assessments for Legionella and other waterborne pathogens as well as details regarding WMP teams and water-monitoring practices. WMP team members were categorized as administrative (hospital administrator, compliance officer, risk or quality management), epidemiology or infection control (epidemiologist or infection preventionist, other clinical), or environmental or facilities (consultant, facility manager or engineer, equipment or chemical supplier, maintenance). Statistical significance was assessed using the McNemar test, where appropriate. Results: Of hospitals reporting on WMPs in 2017, 4,087 of 4,929 (83%) responded again in 2018. The proportion of facilities that reported having a WMP increased from 3,258 of 4,087 (79.7%) in 2017 to 3,647 of 4,087 (89.2%) in 2018 (P < .0001). Of the 3,647 hospitals that reported having a WMP in 2018, 95.9% had conducted a risk assessment for waterborne pathogens; 67.3% of these facilities had most recently done so within 1 year of the survey. WMP teams had representation from environmental or facilities staff at 98.8% of hospitals, epidemiology or infection control staff at 89.8% of hospitals, and administrative staff at 71.7% of hospitals. Of facilities with WMPs in 2018, 90.5% reported regular monitoring of water temperature, 72.2% disinfectant, 67.4% tests for Legionella, and 48.8% HPCs. Conclusions: More hospitals reported having a WMP in 2018 than 2017. However, ~1 in 10 respondents lacked a WMP. Differences in water monitoring practices across facilities potentially reflect a lack of standardization in how WMPs are implemented. Some hospital WMPs do not incorporate routine monitoring of water temperature and disinfectant, which is a basic practice. CDC continues to develop tools, resources, and training to support facility WMP teams in meeting CMS requirements and protecting patients from water-associated pathogens.

Funding: None

Disclosures: None

Health research remains a vital activity of Indigenous health workforces. This paper reports on the main findings of yarning interviews with 14 Indigenous researchers, that was central to a project analysing the role of research training infrastructures in strengthening the Indigenous health research workforce in Australia. The findings highlighted Indigenous researcher peers as core sources of inspiration, moral support and sustenance in academia and in life. Peer generative power arising from peer groups provide a unique enriching to the educational and research experience. Indigenous researcher peers have a strong shared aspiration to champion change to health research and higher education as a key pathway to widespread positive impacting on health and well-being. We suggest the (revived) development at a collective level of a strategic and planned approach to capitalising on the positive outcomes of peer generated leadership and support.

We describe an ultra-wide-bandwidth, low-frequency receiver recently installed on the Parkes radio telescope. The receiver system provides continuous frequency coverage from 704 to 4032 MHz. For much of the band ( ${\sim}60\%$ ), the system temperature is approximately 22 K and the receiver system remains in a linear regime even in the presence of strong mobile phone transmissions. We discuss the scientific and technical aspects of the new receiver, including its astronomical objectives, as well as the feed, receiver, digitiser, and signal processor design. We describe the pipeline routines that form the archive-ready data products and how those data files can be accessed from the archives. The system performance is quantified, including the system noise and linearity, beam shape, antenna efficiency, polarisation calibration, and timing stability.

Electrodynamic screens (EDS) are transparent dielectric films, consisting of embedded, interdigitated parallel conducting electrodes that can be integrated onto the optical surface of a photovoltaic (PV) module or concentrated solar power (CSP) mirror for their self-cleaning function to mitigate the energy yield losses caused by soiling. The EDS film removes dust particles using electrostatic forces thus eliminating the need for water or robotic devices to clean the solar devices. In this paper we report the methods experimented to produce EDS film stacks integrated onto individual PV modules (33 cm x 28 cm) for solar field applications using an industrial vacuum lamination process for the purpose of outdoor testing. Steps taken to optimize the lamination process to provide high optical transparency, resistance against moisture ingress and to withstand dust abrasion are described. The experiments performed to arrive at the optimal curing temperature, curing time, and vacuum pressure maintenance for the lamination process are elaborated. Details on the construction, functionality and operation of the outdoor testing units are provided. Measurements of the optical transmission efficiency (TE) and output power restoration (OPR) of the EDS film stack laminated onto PV modules are presented along with a model for full-scale lamination with an aim for advancing the EDS film technology as a commercially available product.

Conservation researchers are increasingly drawing on a wide range of philosophies, methods and values to examine conservation problems. Here we adopt methods from social psychology to develop a questionnaire with the dual purpose of illuminating diversity within conservation research communities and providing a tool for use in cross-disciplinary dialogue workshops. The questionnaire probes the preferences that different researchers have with regards to conservation science. It elicits insight into their motivations for carrying out research, the scales at which they tackle problems, the subjects they focus on, their beliefs about the connections between nature and society, their sense of reality as absolute or socially constituted, and their propensity for collaboration. Testing the questionnaire with a group of 204 conservation scientists at a student conference on conservation science, we illustrate the latent and multidimensional diversity in the research preferences held by conservation scientists. We suggest that creating opportunities to further explore these differences and similarities using facilitated dialogue could enrich the mutual understanding of the diverse research community in the conservation field.