Medics as influencers: a historical analysis of British Army military medical exercises in Kenya over two decades.

INTRODUCTION: Annual British Army medical training exercises have run in Kenya since the early 1990s, initially with a dual purpose-to deliver the Kenyan Extended Programme of Immunisation (in remote locations) and to undertake austere training. This provided a specific response to a capability gap request from the partner nation, but as this gap closed, the exercise changed in various ways. This study aimed to qualitatively explore the impact of these exercises on the Kenyan healthcare system and the influence and relationships between the nations. METHODS: Semistructured interviews were conducted for 10 former senior commanders and medical officers who had deployed in key command and clinical positions from 1993 to 2019. Three researchers conducted thematic content analysis on the key-informant interviews. RESULTS: Five domains with 18 subdomains formed the study's analysis framework. 16 recurring themes were identified and placed into four categories that denote if they were of benefit to the engagement, enabled success, had the potential to cause harm or were a barrier to successful engagement. Three distinct phases of the exercise were identified: supporting Kenyan vaccinations, direct clinical care, training and education. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first qualitative analysis of the impact of a British Defence Engagement (Health) on the partner nation and UK influence gained through it. It has identified factors which may improve outcomes, namely, ensuring sustainability and continuity between iterations; maintaining enduring stakeholder relationships; responding to a capability gap request; intelligence-led planning with incorporated assessment, monitoring and evaluation; adapting to changes in needs or contextual settings; while ensuring mutual benefit in objective setting. These may be used as the basis for a conceptual framework supporting the planning and execution of high-quality, mutually beneficial Defence Engagement (Health) activities in future. This framework and future research would also benefit from gaining perspectives from the partner nation.

Pre-Flight Calibration of the Mars 2020 Rover Mastcam Zoom (Mastcam-Z) Multispectral, Stereoscopic Imager.

The NASA Perseverance rover Mast Camera Zoom (Mastcam-Z) system is a pair of zoomable, focusable, multi-spectral, and color charge-coupled device (CCD) cameras mounted on top of a 1.7 m Remote Sensing Mast, along with associated electronics and two calibration targets. The cameras contain identical optical assemblies that can range in focal length from 26 mm ( 25.5 ∘ × 19.1 ∘ FOV ) to 110 mm ( 6.2 ∘ × 4.2 ∘ FOV ) and will acquire data at pixel scales of 148-540 µm at a range of 2 m and 7.4-27 cm at 1 km. The cameras are mounted on the rover's mast with a stereo baseline of 24.3 ± 0.1  cm and a toe-in angle of 1.17 ± 0.03 ∘ (per camera). Each camera uses a Kodak KAI-2020 CCD with 1600 × 1200 active pixels and an 8 position filter wheel that contains an IR-cutoff filter for color imaging through the detectors' Bayer-pattern filters, a neutral density (ND) solar filter for imaging the sun, and 6 narrow-band geology filters (16 total filters). An associated Digital Electronics Assembly provides command data interfaces to the rover, 11-to-8 bit companding, and JPEG compression capabilities. Herein, we describe pre-flight calibration of the Mastcam-Z instrument and characterize its radiometric and geometric behavior. Between April 26 t h and May 9 t h , 2019, ∼45,000 images were acquired during stand-alone calibration at Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS) in San Diego, CA. Additional data were acquired during Assembly Test and Launch Operations (ATLO) at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Kennedy Space Center. Results of the radiometric calibration validate a 5% absolute radiometric accuracy when using camera state parameters investigated during testing. When observing using camera state parameters not interrogated during calibration (e.g., non-canonical zoom positions), we conservatively estimate the absolute uncertainty to be < 10 % . Image quality, measured via the amplitude of the Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) at Nyquist sampling (0.35 line pairs per pixel), shows MTF Nyquist = 0.26 - 0.50 across all zoom, focus, and filter positions, exceeding the > 0.2 design requirement. We discuss lessons learned from calibration and suggest tactical strategies that will optimize the quality of science data acquired during operation at Mars. While most results matched expectations, some surprises were discovered, such as a strong wavelength and temperature dependence on the radiometric coefficients and a scene-dependent dynamic component to the zero-exposure bias frames. Calibration results and derived accuracies were validated using a Geoboard target consisting of well-characterized geologic samples. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11214-021-00795-x.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Mast Camera Zoom (Mastcam-Z) Multispectral, Stereoscopic Imaging Investigation.

Mastcam-Z is a multispectral, stereoscopic imaging investigation on the Mars 2020 mission's Perseverance rover. Mastcam-Z consists of a pair of focusable, 4:1 zoomable cameras that provide broadband red/green/blue and narrowband 400-1000 nm color imaging with fields of view from 25.6° × 19.2° (26 mm focal length at 283 µrad/pixel) to 6.2° × 4.6° (110 mm focal length at 67.4 µrad/pixel). The cameras can resolve (≥ 5 pixels) ∼0.7 mm features at 2 m and ∼3.3 cm features at 100 m distance. Mastcam-Z shares significant heritage with the Mastcam instruments on the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover. Each Mastcam-Z camera consists of zoom, focus, and filter wheel mechanisms and a 1648 × 1214 pixel charge-coupled device detector and electronics. The two Mastcam-Z cameras are mounted with a 24.4 cm stereo baseline and 2.3° total toe-in on a camera plate ∼2 m above the surface on the rover's Remote Sensing Mast, which provides azimuth and elevation actuation. A separate digital electronics assembly inside the rover provides power, data processing and storage, and the interface to the rover computer. Primary and secondary Mastcam-Z calibration targets mounted on the rover top deck enable tactical reflectance calibration. Mastcam-Z multispectral, stereo, and panoramic images will be used to provide detailed morphology, topography, and geologic context along the rover's traverse; constrain mineralogic, photometric, and physical properties of surface materials; monitor and characterize atmospheric and astronomical phenomena; and document the rover's sample extraction and caching locations. Mastcam-Z images will also provide key engineering information to support sample selection and other rover driving and tool/instrument operations decisions.

History-driven population structure and asymmetric gene flow in a recovering large carnivore at the rear-edge of its European range.

Understanding the mechanisms and patterns involved in population recoveries is challenging and important in shaping conservation strategies. We used a recovering rear-edge population of brown bears at their southernmost European range in Greece as a case study (2007-2010) to explore the recovery genetics at a species' distribution edge. We used 17 microsatellite and a mitochondrial markers to evaluate genetic structure, estimate effective population size and genetic diversity, and infer gene flow between the identified subpopulations. To understand the larger picture, we also compared the observed genetic diversity of each subpopulation with other brown bear populations in the region. The results indicate that the levels of genetic diversity for bears in western Greece are the lowest recorded in southeastern Europe, but still higher than those of other genetically depauperate bear populations. Apart from a complete separation of bear populations in eastern and western Greece, our results also indicate a considerable genetic sub-structuring in the West. As bear populations in Greece are now recovering, this structure is dissolving through a "recovery cascade" of asymmetric gene flow from South to North between neighboring subpopulations, mediated mainly by males. Our study outlines the importance of small, persisting populations, which can act as "stepping stones" that enable a rapid population expansion and recovery. This in turn makes their importance much greater than their numeric or genetic contribution to a species as a whole.

Prevalence and Correlates of Smoking among Low-Income Adults Residing in New York City Public Housing Developments-2015.

To guide targeted cessation and prevention programming, this study assessed smoking prevalence and described sociodemographic, health, and healthcare use characteristics of adult smokers in public housing. Self-reported data were analyzed from a random sample of 1664 residents aged 35 and older in ten New York City public housing developments in East/Central Harlem. Smoking prevalence was 20.8%. Weighted log-binomial models identified to be having Medicaid, not having a personal doctor, and using health clinics for routine care were positively associated with smoking. Smokers without a personal doctor were less likely to receive provider quit advice. While most smokers in these public housing developments had health insurance, a personal doctor, and received provider cessation advice in the last year (72.4%), persistently high smoking rates suggest that such cessation advice may be insufficient. Efforts to eliminate differences in tobacco use should consider place-based smoking cessation interventions that extend cessation support beyond clinical settings.