Continuum Measurements Research Articles

New Measurements of the Lyα Forest Continuum and Effective Optical Depth with LyCAN and DESI Y1 Data

We present the Lyα Continuum Analysis Network (LyCAN), a convolutional neural network that predicts the unabsorbed quasar continuum within the rest-frame wavelength range of 1040–1600 Å based on the red side of the Lyα emission line (1216–1600 Å). We developed synthetic spectra based on a Gaussian mixture model representation of nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) coefficients. These coefficients were derived from high-resolution, low-redshift (z < 0.2) Hubble Space Telescope/Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) quasar spectra. We supplemented this COS-based synthetic sample with an equal number of DESI Year 5 mock spectra. LyCAN performs extremely well on testing sets, achieving a median error in the forest region of 1.5% on the DESI mock sample, 2.0% on the COS-based synthetic sample, and 4.1% on the original COS spectra. LyCAN outperforms principal component analysis (PCA) and NMF-based prediction methods using the same training set by 40% or more. We predict the intrinsic continua of 83,635 DESI Year 1 spectra in the redshift range of 2.1 ≤ z ≤ 4.2 and perform an absolute measurement of the evolution of the effective optical depth. This is the largest sample employed to measure the optical depth evolution to date. We fit a power law of the form τ(z)=τ0(1+z)γ to our measurements and find τ 0 = (2.46 ± 0.14) × 10−3 and γ = 3.62 ± 0.04. Our results show particular agreement with high-resolution, ground-based observations around z = 2, indicating that LyCAN is able to predict the quasar continuum in the forest region with only spectral information outside the forest.

The impact of Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act on HIV care continuum outcomes across the United States.

HIV care continuum outcome disparities by health insurance status have been noted among people with HIV (PWH). We therefore examined associations between state Medicaid expansion and HIV outcomes in the United States. Adults (≥18 years) with ≥1 visit in NA-ACCORD clinical cohorts from 2012-2017 contributed person-time annually between first and final visit or death; in each calendar year, clinical retention was ≥2 completed visits > 90 days apart, antiretroviral therapy (ART) receipt was receipt of ≥3 antiretroviral agents, and viral suppression was last measured HIV-1 RNA < 200 copies/mL. CD4 at enrollment was obtained within 6 months of enrollment in cohort. Difference-in-difference (DID) models quantified associations between Medicaid expansion changes (by state of residence) and HIV outcomes. Across 50 states, 87 290 PWH contributed 325 113 person-years of follow-up. Medicaid expansion had a substantial positive effect on CD4 at enrollment (DID = 93.5, 95% CI: 52.9, 134 cells/mm3), a small negative effect on proportions clinically retained (DID = -0.19, 95% CI: -0.037, -0.01), and no effects on ART receipt (DID = 0.001, 95% CI: -0.003, 0.005) or viral suppression (DID = -0.14, 95% CI: -0.34, 0.07). Medicaid expansion had a positive effect on CD4 at entry, suggesting more timely HIV testing and care linkage, but generally null effects on downstream HIV care continuum measures.

CONCERTO at APEX On-sky performance in continuum

Context. CarbON CII line in post-rEionisation and ReionisaTiOn epoch (CONCERTO) instrument is a low-resolution mapping spectrometer based on lumped element kinetic inductance detector (LEKIDs) technology, operating at 130-310 GHz. It was installed on the 12-metre APEX telescope in Chile in April 2021 and was in operation until May 2023. CONCERTO’s main goals were the observation of [CII]-emission line fluctuations at high redshift and of the Sunyaev–Zel’dovich (SZ) signal from galaxy clusters. Aims. We present the data processing algorithms and the performance of CONCERTO in continuum by analysing the data from the commissioning and scientific observations. Methods. We developed a standard data processing pipeline to proceed from the raw data to continuum maps. Using a large dataset of calibrators (Uranus, Mars, and quasars) acquired in 2021 and 2022 at the APEX telescope across a wide range of atmospheric conditions, we measured the CONCERTO continuum performance and tested its stability against observing conditions. Further, using observations on the COSMOS field and observations targeting a distant sub-millimetre galaxy in the UDS field, we assessed the robustness of the CONCERTO performance on faint sources and compared our measurements with expectations. Results. The beam pattern is characterised by an effective full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 31.9 ± 0.6″ and 34.4 ± 1.0″ for high-frequency (HF) and low-frequency (LF) bands, respectively. The main beam is slightly elongated with a mean eccentricity of 0.46. Two error beams of ~65″ and ~130″ are characterised, allowing us to estimate a main beam efficiency of ~0.52. The field of view is accurately reconstructed and presents coherent distortions between the HF and LF arrays. LEKID parameters were robustly determined for 80% of the read tones. Cross-talks between LEKIDs are the first cause of flagging, followed by an excess of eccentricity for ~10% of the LEKIDs, all located in a given region of the field of view. Of the 44 scans of Uranus selected for the absolute photometric calibration, 72.5% and 78.2% of the LEKIDs were selected as valid detectors with a probability &gt;70%. By comparing the Uranus measurements with a model, we obtain calibration factors of 19.5±0.6 Hz Jy−1 and 25.6±0.9 Hz Jy−1 for HF and LF, respectively. The point-source continuum measurement uncertainties are 3.0% and 3.4% for the HF and LF bands, ignoring the uncertainty in the model (which is &lt;2%). This demonstrates the accuracy of the methods we deployed to process the data. Finally, the RMS of CONCERTO maps is verified to evolve as proportional to the inverse square root of the integration time. The measured noise-equivalent flux densities (NEFDs) for HF and LF are 115±2 mJy beam−1 s1/2 and 95±1 mJy beam−1 s1/2, respectively, obtained using CONCERTO data on the COSMOS field for a mean precipitable water vapour (pwv) and elevation of 0.81 mm and 55.7 deg. Conclusions. CONCERTO has unique capabilities in fast dual-band spectral mapping at ~30 arcsec resolution and with a ~18.5 arcmin instantaneous field of view. CONCERTO’s performance in continuum is perfectly in line with expectations.

Radio continuum emission from planetary nebulae in the Small Magellanic Cloud

We report 11 new radio continuum measurements of established planetary nebulae (PNe) in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) that we observed at 5.5 and 9 GHz with the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA). These new radio detections are PNe with catalogued names: SMP SMC 2, SMP SMC 3, SMP SMC 5, SMP SMC 8, SMP SMC 13, SMP SMC 14, SMP SMC 19, MGPN SMC 8, SMP SMC 22, SMP SMC 26 and SMP SMC 27. We supplement our data with available high-resolution radio observations from MeerKAT and construct the spectral energy distribution (SED) in the radio regime for each PN. We determine the angular diameters of four of the eleven PNe from radio flux density alone using SED modelling, which are compared to the corresponding Hubble Space Telescope (HST) optical diameters. Our results are in good agreement with the optically-derived angular diameters from independent HST observations. We plot our new diameter estimates against a larger sample of Galactic PNe and compare diameters obtained via the SED method to those found in the literature. Our sample diameters, when compared to the Galactic PNe, suggest that the angular diameter measurement methods are comparable independent of the distance.

Implementation of an impurity diagnostic suite on the Pegasus-III experiment.

A suite of diagnostics used to assess impurity content and dynamics has been updated, upgraded, and installed on the Pegasus-III Experiment. Typical plasma parameters during local helicity injection start-up are τshot ∼ 10 ms, ne ∼ 1 × 1019 m-3, and Te ∼ 50eV. The deployed diagnostics are compatible with this modest temperature and density regime and provide species identification, source localization, and estimation of radiation losses. Impurity species are determined by recording time-evolving, single line-of-sight spectra at 1.25 kfps using a SPRED (Survey, Poor Resolution, Extended Domain) vacuum ultraviolet spectrometer. SPRED is equipped with 450 g/mm grating, giving a spectral resolution of 0.33nm and a spectral range from ∼10 to 110nm, useful to identify light impurity species in this temperature and density range. An absolutely calibrated spectrometer that collects light from the plasma at Rtan = 15.9cm and Δt ≥ 2ms is used as a visible survey spectrometer and for continuum measurements. The radiated power from the plasma is estimated with a photodiode-based diagnostic. Two 16-channel absolute extreme ultraviolet diode arrays are placed behind pinhole apertures, resulting in 32 lines of sight at Z = 0, with a spatial resolution of 2-3cm and a time response of 60kHz. A photometrically calibrated collinear Dα/near infrared filtered photodiode-based system measures the Dα emission and around 1040nm. All these instruments have been designed to suppress electromagnetic interference from megawatt-class switching power supplies.

Measurement of the self-determination continuum of motivation for engaging in alcohol-related harm reduction behaviors: Improved content coverage of the Treatment Self-Regulation Questionnaire.

Self-determination theory (SDT) proposes that people are more likely to engage in behaviors that reduce the harms associated with alcohol use if they do so for more self-determined reasons. There is growing support for this proposal, but the Treatment Self-Regulation Questionnaire (TSRQ), which assesses the self-determination continuum of motivation for engaging in alcohol-related harm reduction behaviors, lacks content coverage. We generated additional items to improve the content coverage of the TSRQ and evaluated its psychometric properties. We also compared two randomly assigned instruction sets that referenced "responsible drinking" or "protective behavioral strategies" (PBS). Participants (n = 2,236) were college students from psychology departments at 10 universities in eight U.S. states who reported past-month alcohol use and completed the revised TSRQ; the online survey was completed for partial course credit. Exploratory factor analysis supported a three-factor structure representing autonomous motivation, controlled motivation, and amotivation for the PBS version. This factor structure was confirmed using exploratory structural equation modeling for both the PBS and responsible drinking versions. Scalar invariance was achieved across instruction sets. Latent mean differences showed that those who received the PBS version had lower autonomous and controlled motivation scores, but higher amotivation scores. Associations of the three TSRQ factors with alcohol-related outcomes were consistent with SDT, and the magnitude of these associations did not differ across instruction sets. More accurate assessment of the self-determination continuum of motivation for alcohol-related harm reduction behaviors will improve research on this topic which has promising implications for alcohol interventions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Supplemental Material for Measurement of the Self-Determination Continuum of Motivation for Engaging in Alcohol-Related Harm Reduction Behaviors: Improved Content Coverage of the Treatment Self-Regulation Questionnaire

Supplemental Material for Measurement of the Self-Determination Continuum of Motivation for Engaging in Alcohol-Related Harm Reduction Behaviors: Improved Content Coverage of the Treatment Self-Regulation Questionnaire

Psychological distress and mental health diagnoses in adults by disability and functional difficulty status: Findings from the 2021 national health interview survey

BackgroundEvidence suggests that disabled people have worse mental health than non-disabled people, but the degree to which disability contributes to mental health is unclear. ObjectiveThis paper uses 2021 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data to estimate the association between disability and depression and anxiety diagnoses as well as psychological distress among adults. MethodsWe calculated disability population prevalence and mental health diagnoses and associated symptoms among 28,534 NHIS respondents. Logistic regressions estimated the odds of depression or anxiety diagnoses and recent psychological distress, controlling for disability and mental health diagnoses. We measured disability using binary and continuum measures of functional disability with the Washington Group Short Set on Functioning. ResultsDisabled people have significantly greater odds of both depression and anxiety diagnoses compared to non-disabled people. Those with high functional disability have 552 % greater odds of an anxiety diagnosis (95 % CI: 5.61–7.58; p < 0.01) and 697 % greater odds of a depression diagnosis (95 % CI: 6.97–9.12; p < 0.01) compared to those with no functional disability. Similarly, those with any level of functional disability are more likely to have elevated psychological distress in the past 30 days compared to those with no functional disability. ConclusionsFindings support the idea that mental health is worse for disabled people compared to non-disabled people, with increasing functional disability associated with worse mental health. This suggests that mental health is not being adequately addressed for those with the greatest functional disability. Future work should seek to better understand the systemic causes of disparities.

Discovery of Asymmetric Spike-like Structures of the 10 au Disk around the Very Low-luminosity Protostar Embedded in the Taurus Dense Core MC 27/L1521F with ALMA

Recent Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations have revealed an increasing number of compact protostellar disks with radii of less than a few tens of astronomical units and that young Class 0/I objects have an intrinsic size diversity. To deepen our understanding of the origin of such tiny disks, we have performed highest-resolution configuration observations with ALMA at a beam size of ∼0.″03 (4 au) on the very low-luminosity Class 0 protostar embedded in the Taurus dense core MC 27/L1521F. The 1.3 mm continuum measurement successfully resolved a tiny, faint (∼1 mJy) disk with a major axis length of ∼10 au, one of the smallest examples in the ALMA protostellar studies. In addition, we detected spike-like components in the northeastern direction at the disk edge. Gravitational instability or other fragmentation mechanisms cannot explain the structures, given the central stellar mass of ∼0.2 M ⊙ and the disk mass of ≳10−4 M ⊙. Instead, we propose that these small spike structures were formed by a recent dynamic magnetic flux transport event due to interchange instability that would be favorable to occur if the parental core has a strong magnetic field. The presence of complex arc-like structures on a larger (∼2000 au) scale in the same direction as the spike structures suggests that the event was not single. Such episodic, dynamical events may play an important role in maintaining the compact nature of the protostellar disk in the complex gas envelope during the main accretion phase.

Tracing dense gas in six resolved GMCs of the Andromeda Galaxy

ABSTRACT We present dense-gas-tracing molecular observations of six resolved Giant Molecular Clouds (GMCs) in the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). Using the NOEMA interferometer, we observed the transitions of HCN(1–0), HCO+(1–0), and HNC(1–0), as well as 13CO(1–0) and 100 GHz continuum emission. This complements our earlier work with the Submillimetre Array, including resolved dust continuum detections of these clouds at 230 GHz. In this work, we first compare different continuum measurements to conclude that the average free–free contamination of the observed flux is 71 per cent at 3 mm but only 13 per cent at 1 mm, confirming that emission at 3 mm is less reliable than that at 1 mm for calculating dust masses of star-forming clouds. While the 13CO emission is more extended than both HCN and HCO+ emission, which in turn is more extended than HNC emission, we find that both HCN and HCO+ are spatially coincident with, and similarly extended as, the 230 GHz dust emission. This suggests that both the 230 GHz dust continuum and most importantly the HCN emission traces the dense gas component of these GMCs. From comparison of the molecular emission with dust masses derived from the 230 GHz continuum emission, we obtain the first direct measurements of the dust-mass-to-light ratios ($\alpha ^\prime _{\rm HCN}$ and $\alpha ^\prime _{\rm HCO^+}$) in GMCs of an external galaxy. For HCN, the result is broadly similar to a measurement in the local Perseus cloud suggesting that these are indeed dense gas conversion factors. A larger cloud sample will be required to assess whether HCN is tracing comparable cloud-scale density regimes across the environments of M31.

New sediment continuum measurements in the Brda River (Poland): the results of the functioning of the 50-year Koronowo dam

PurposeAs documented by multiple studies, the construction of artificial reservoirs influences fluvial processes. The hydrographic barrier causes a water regime change, and the effects are evident in the accumulation of sediment in the reservoir as well as the intensification of the erosion process below the dam due to the lack of sediments for transport in the river. Moreover, the use of lateral canals on the reservoirs causes additional transformations of the river system, excluding the river part below the dam from the natural system of the catchment area. This research aimed to determine the impact of the creation and functioning of the Koronowo Reservoir dam on the Brda River and its lateral canal on the continuum of sediment transport, with particular emphasis on suspended sediment.MethodsThe research was based on analysing the available hydrological data and the measurements of suspended sediment concentration during the water flushing maintenance works into the Brda River channel. In addition, a set of morphometric indices obtained through dedicated terrain analysis were necessary to understand the area’s morphodynamics and sediment sources. The suspended sediment concentration (SSC), suspended sediment volume concentration (SVC), and Sauter mean diameter (SMD) data were measured by a LISST-25X, and spatial data were obtained through the System for Automated Geoscientific Analyses (SAGA GIS) software.Results and conclusionThe results were combined with the Connectivity Index evaluation as well as field surveys and made it possible to identify new sources of material supply to the Brda catchment below the dam, thus identifying a disturbance in the sediment transport continuum in the catchment area. Research is a critical element in sustainable sediment management in the catchment, using a controlled sediment flushing operation and identifying local new sources of sediment supply.

Classifying the full SDSS-IV MaNGA Survey using optical diagnostic diagrams: Presentation of AGN catalogs in flexible apertures

Accurate active galactic nucleus (AGN) identifications in large galaxy samples are crucial for the assessment of the role of AGN and AGN feedback in the co-evolution of galaxies and their central supermassive black holes. Emission-line flux-ratio diagnostics are commonly used to identify AGN in optical spectra. New large samples of integral field unit observations allow exploration of the role of aperture size in the classification process. In this paper, we present galaxy classifications for all 10010 galaxies observed within the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) survey. We use Baldwin-Philips-Terlevich line flux-ratio diagnostics combined with an Hα equivalent threshold in 60 apertures of varying size for the classification, and provide the corresponding catalogs. MaNGA-selected AGN primarily lie below the main sequence of star-forming galaxies, and reside in massive galaxies with stellar masses of ~1011 M⊙ and a median Hα-derived star formation rate of ~1.44M⊙ yr−1. We find that the number of “fake” AGN increases significantly beyond selection apertures of &gt;1.0 Reff because of increased contamination from diffuse ionized gas (DIG). A comparison with previous works shows that the treatment of the underlying stellar continuum and flux measurements can significantly impact galaxy classification. Our work provides the community with AGN catalogs and galaxy classifications for the full MaNGA survey.

The long and the short of it: the benefits and leverage of ultraviolet-radio galaxy fitting

ABSTRACT Traditionally, the far-ultraviolet (FUV) to far-infrared (FIR) and radio spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of galaxies have been considered separately despite the common physical process shaping them. In this work, we explore the utility of simultaneously fitting FUV-radio SEDs using an extended version of the ProSpect SED fitting code considering contributions from both free–free and synchrotron emission. We use a small sample of galaxies from the Deep Extragalactic VIsible Legacy Survey (DEVILS) and the Key Insights on Nearby Galaxies: a Far-Infrared Survey with Herschel (KINGFISH) where high-quality and robust FUV-radio data are available to provide an ideal sample for testing a radio extension of ProSpect. As the parametrization of the radio extension links the radio continuum to the FIR emission, we explore the benefit of using radio continuum measurements as a constraint on the energy balance between dust attenuation and emission. We find that for situations where mid-IR–FIR photometry is unavailable, including a 1.4 GHz continuum measurement allows for improved accuracy in recovered star formation rates and dust luminosities of galaxies reducing the median uncertainty by 0.1 and 0.2 dex, respectively. We also demonstrate that incorporating 3 and 10 GHz measurements allows for further constraint on the energy balance and therefore the star formation rate and dust luminosity. This demonstrates the advantage of extending FUV–FIR SED fitting techniques to radio frequencies, especially as we move into an era where FIR surveys will remain limited and radio data become abundant (i.e. with the SKA and precursors).

The effect of vaccine on COVID-19 spread by function-on-scalar regression model: a case study of Africa.

This paper aimed to study the effect of the vaccine on the reproduction rate of coronavirus in Africa from January 2021 to November 2021. Functional data analysis (FDA), a relatively new area in statistics, can describe, analyze, and predict data collected over time, space, or other continuum measures in many countries every day and is increasingly common across scientific domains. For our data, the first step of functional data is smoothing. We used the B-spline method to smooth our data. Then, we apply the function-on-scalar and Bayes function-on-scalar models to fit our data. Our results indicate a statistically significant relationship between the vaccine and the rate of virus reproduction and spread. When the vaccination rate falls, the reproduction rate also decreases. Furthermore, we found that the effect of latitude and the region on the reproduction rate depends on the region. We discovered that in Middle Africa, from the beginning of the year until the end of the summer, the impact is negative, implying that the virus spread due to a decrease in the vaccination rates. The study found that vaccination rates significantly impact the virus's reproduction rate.

Broad Emission Lines in Optical Spectra of Hot, Dust-obscured Galaxies Can Contribute Significantly to JWST/NIRCam Photometry

Selecting the first galaxies at z > 7 − 10 from JWST surveys is complicated by z < 6 contaminants with degenerate photometry. For example, strong optical nebular emission lines at z < 6 may mimic JWST/NIRCam photometry of z > 7–10 Lyman-break galaxies (LBGs). Dust-obscured 3 < z < 6 galaxies in particular are potentially important contaminants, and their faint rest-optical spectra have been historically difficult to observe. A lack of optical emission line and continuum measures for 3 < z < 6 dusty galaxies now makes it difficult to test their expected JWST/NIRCam photometry for degenerate solutions with NIRCam dropouts. Toward this end, we quantify the contribution by strong emission lines to NIRCam photometry in a physically motivated manner by stacking 21 Keck II/NIRES spectra of hot, dust-obscured, massive () and infrared (IR) luminous galaxies at z ∼ 1–4. We derive an average spectrum and measure strong narrow (broad) [O iii]5007 and Hα features with equivalent widths of 130 ± 20 Å (150 ± 50 Å) and 220 ± 30 Å (540 ± 80 Å), respectively. These features can increase broadband NIRCam fluxes by factors of 1.2 − 1.7 (0.2–0.6 mag). Due to significant dust attenuation (A V ∼ 6), we find Hα+[N ii] to be significantly brighter than [O iii]+Hβ and therefore find that emission-line dominated contaminants of high −z galaxy searches can only reproduce moderately blue perceived UV continua of S λ ∝ λ β with β > − 1.5 and z > 4. While there are some redshifts (z ∼ 3.75) where our stack is more degenerate with the photometry of z > 10 LBGs at λ rest ∼ 0.3–0.8 μm , redder filter coverage beyond λ obs > 3.5 μm and far-IR/submillimeter follow-up may be useful for breaking the degeneracy and making a crucial separation between two fairly unconstrained populations, dust-obscured galaxies at z ∼ 3–6 and LBGs at z > 10.

The Emotional Resilience Scale (ERS): Measuring employee well-being

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a severe impact on employees’ well-being and business outcomes throughout the world. The purpose of the present study was to develop a short measure of well-being to identify vulnerable employees. The Emotional Resilience Scale (ERS) was validated in a longitudinal design, using a sample of 193 participants. Results revealed high internal and test-retest reliability. Factor Analysis showed that the ERS is best viewed as unidimensional. The ERS exhibited a strong association with the mental health continuum (short form) measure, and moderate associations with emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction. Implications and limitations for future research are discussed.

Toward measuring supermassive black hole masses with interferometric observations of the dust continuum

This work focuses on active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and on the relation between the sizes of the hot dust continuum and the broad-line region (BLR). We find that the continuum size measured using optical/near-infrared interferometry (OI) is roughly twice that measured by reverberation mapping (RM). Both OI and RM continuum sizes show a tight relation with the Hβ BLR size, with only an intrinsic scatter of 0.25 dex. The masses of supermassive black holes (BHs) can hence simply be derived from a dust size in combination with a broad line width and virial factor. Since the primary uncertainty of these BH masses comes from the virial factor, the accuracy of the continuum-based BH masses is close to those based on the RM measurement of the broad emission line. Moreover, the necessary continuum measurements can be obtained on a much shorter timescale than those required monitoring for RM, and they are also more time efficient than those needed to resolve the BLR with OI. The primary goal of this work is to demonstrate a measuring of the BH mass based on the dust-continuum size with our first calibration of the RBLR–Rd relation. The current limitation and caveats are discussed in detail. Future GRAVITY observations are expected to improve the continuum-based method and have the potential of measuring BH masses for a large sample of AGNs in the low-redshift Universe.

The water vapor foreign continuum in the 8100-8500 cm−1 spectral range

In the Earth's atmosphere, the foreign absorption continuum of water vapor is due to the interaction of water molecules with other atmospheric gases (mostly N2 and O2). Following our study of the self-continuum in the high energy edge of the 1.25 µm transparency window (Korovela et al, J. Quant. Spectrosc. Radiat. Transfer 286 (2022) 108206), we report here the first room temperature measurements of water vapor foreign continuum in the same spectral region. Foreign continuum cross-sections, CF, are derived at several selected spectral points between 8120 and 8500 cm−1 for humidified nitrogen, humidified oxygen and humidified air (10000 ppm of H2O). The absorption signal is measured by cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) using pressure ramps up to 750 Torr. While the measured total continuum absorption follows nicely the expected quadratic dependence versus the total pressure, the uncertainty on the retrieved weak foreign continuum is strongly affected by other contributions which have to be subtracted from the measured absorption (far wings of the resonance lines, O2 collision induced absorption, self-continuum, Rayleigh scattering). The obtained H2O-air and H2O-N2CF cross-section values are found to be comparable while the H2O-O2CF values appear to be significantly smaller. Overall, the retrieved CF values for H2O-air mixture validate the MT_CKD model in the considered region.

What implementation strategies are relational? Using Relational Theory to explore the ERIC implementation strategies.

The identification and use of implementation strategies in implementation research and practice have strengthened our understanding of the implementation process as well as the causal pathways between mechanisms, strategies, and implementation outcomes. Although these contributions have advanced the application of strategies, there is still a need to learn more about how strategies might integrate relational exchanges and interactions. The inclusion of critical perspectives has been limited in implementation science, and theories such as Relational Theory can expand our understanding of the relational nature of implementation and enhance rigor through alternative theoretical applications. This study applied Relational Theory through a qualitative directed content analysis of the 73 Expert Recommendations for Implementation Change (ERIC) implementation strategies and examine relational components in strategy descriptions. Three reviewers used the structured approach to review and categorize the implementation strategies based on the Relational and Transactional Strategy Continuum measure, which operationalizes types of interactions, exchanges and alliances. Relational alliance strategies are those in which there is mutual growth and accountability, frequent interaction, shared power, and potential vulnerability. Operational alliances include forms of working exchanges between parties with balanced transactional and relational features. Operational alliances can be somewhat interactive in nature, with minor exchanges and limited accountability. Transactional alliance strategies are mostly uni-directional, influenced by power differentials, and do not require mutual growth, commitment, or exchange; thus, the power of growth is inherently one-sided. Results from the review suggest more implementation strategies with relational alliance features (highly relational, n = 17, semi-relational, n = 19) compared to transactional (highly transactional, n = 9, semi-transactional, n = 10) and 18 strategies coded as operational alliances. The qualitative review revealed opportunities to further expand how relational exchanges are considered within the implementation strategies descriptions, as well as the role of actors and power dynamics within strategy exchanges. The Relational and Transactional Strategy Continuum measure can help practitioners and researchers consider the sequencing, pairing, and impact on outcomes of different types and combinations of strategies in implementation practice and research. Additionally, the measure can support reflection on strategies that promote positive alliances, frequent connections, bi-directional communication, and power sharing.

Decolonised law degrees: A misnomer

Despite evidence of efforts to embed Indigenous cultural competencies in law degrees there is a distinct absence of an instrument to measure a university’s performance. Currently, broad statements are the norm, with a subjective assessment focus. Instead, a tool that objectively measures embeddedness is required. This article raises the concept of a decolonising continuum measure with basic, intermediate and advanced attributes. It embraces the inclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander scholarship and the possible risks of poor implementation.