Just a quick update: a new series of pictures of the Dragon capsule as seen by astronauts aboard the International Space Station has just been released, and they’re way cool. Here’s one: [Click to embiggen.] Earlier today , Dragon passed just 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles) from the station, performing a series of tasks to make sure it was ready to dock with ISS tomorrow. I’m sure the folks at SpaceX ...
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Update: the Dragon capsule as seen by the ISS | Bad Astronomy
Early this morning, the SpaceX Dragon capsule passed just 2.4 kilometers below the International Space Station, completing another critical step in its mission profile thatll lead to it docking with the orbiting station Friday morning.
From the station, astronauts captured video as the capsule cruised by:
[You may need to refresh this page to see the video load.]
Very, very cool. You can see the Dragon capsule in this video frame grab: its in the lower left corner, silhouetted against the Earth. The extended solar panels are obvious, and you can just make out the shape of the capsule itself.
This flyby was an important milestone, since it showed that the capsule could approach the station and also abort the approach if needed. Other key elements it demonstrated were that it could float freely (as it will have to when it docks with ISS), that its proximity sensors worked, and that its GPS was operational as well. Astronauts on the ISS were also able to command a strobe light remotely, confirming they could link to the capsule.
All this leads up to the big show on Friday: docking. At about 09:00 UTC (05:00 Eastern US time), NASA will decide if the capsule is ready to approach. If so, over the course of an hour or two it will come with 250 meters of the station. It will then perform some last maneuvers to prove its ready to go, and then it will make its final approach.
Then, around 13:00 UTC, it will come within just a few meters of ISS, and astronauts on board will grab it with the robotic arm, bringing it in to mate. After that, there will be quite a few checks done which will take some time, leading up to the hatch being opened Saturday morning, scheduled to happen around 11:00 UTC.
All the fun stuff so far has been happening in the middle of the night for me in Boulder, but the approach tomorrow morning isnt too bad. Ill get up a little early to watch it live (06:00? Well see). Ill live-tweet the events as they happen.
This is all very exciting! The capsule has been performing essentially flawlessly since launch, so I have high hopes for the next few days.
Image credit: NASA
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SpaceX Dragon capsule buzzed the space station | Bad Astronomy
Asteroid 2012 KP 24, a smallish rock about 25 meters (80 feet) across, will pass pretty close to the Earth on May 28, buzzing us at a distance of about 30,000 kilometers (18,000 miles). Thats close as passes go, but still a clean miss.
Closest approach is at about 15:00 UTC (11:00 a.m. Eastern US time) on May 28. Itll actually pass Earth closer than our geosynchronous satellites! At closest approach, itll whiz by at about 13 km/sec (30,000 mph). Ill note I calculated most of these numbers based on the JPL site linked above, and they may be refined over the next day or two. It was discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey (as so many near-Earth asteroids are) on the evening of May 23/24.
Let me stress, as always, that there is essentially zero chance of impact here. A miss like this is still miss, so dont fret over what will no doubt be a slew of panicky doomsday sites and videos that will pop up about this rock that happens every single time we get a near-Earth pass of an asteroid, and yet were still here! If we see one really and truly on its way to an impact, trust me, Ill let you know.
And actually, things like this make me feel safer: were looking and finding these asteroids! The fact is there are a lot of eyes on the skies right now, scanning the heavens and looking for potential impactors. And note that the JPL page for this rock has all the relevant info there.
Tip o the Whipple shield to BABloggee Terry Hash. Image credit: ESA/Rosetta, NASA/NEAR I photoshopped asteroid Mathilde onto an image of the Earth, so this is not KP24!
Related Posts:
- A brief bit about asteroid 2012 DA14 - No, asteroid 2012 DA14 will not hit us next year - Asteroid 2011 AG5: a football-stadium-sized rock to watch carefully - Updated movie of asteroid YU55, plus bonus SCIENCE - Asteroid 2007 TU24: No Danger to Earth
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Public release date: 25-May-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Kirsten Gottschalk kirsten.gottschalk@icrar.org 61-438-361-876 International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research
Researchers at the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) are celebrating today after hearing that Australia will share in hosting the world's largest telescope the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). ICRAR a joint venture between Curtin University and The University of Western Australia has been working towards the $2 billion SKA since its launch in 2009.
"We've been working very hard to make SKA a reality and we're glad to see the project reach this major milestone. ICRAR is looking forward to taking part in the next stage of the SKA through our expertise in Engineering, Information Technology and Astronomy," says ICRAR Director Professor Peter Quinn.
Two candidate sites have been bidding to host the SKA, one in Southern Africa and one in Australia and New Zealand, since 2005. It was announced earlier today by the International SKA Organisation that the SKA would be split between both sites.
Professor Quinn said sharing the SKA between Africa and Australia allows the project to benefit from the best of both sites, building on the substantial investment in infrastructure and expertise that already exists in both locations.
The new plan to share the SKA will see Australia's Mid West hosting two key components of the telescope a group of dishes equipped with Australian-designed multi-pixel radio cameras and the 'Aperture Array' portion, made up of innovative non-moving antennas designed to collect lower frequency radio waves from the whole sky.
This part of the SKA will be optimised to survey large portions of the sky quickly, a particular strength of Australian astronomy.
South Africa will host a complementary group of dish-shaped telescopes designed to observe smaller sections of the sky in more detail, following up on regions of interest discovered using the survey portion.
"This model for splitting the SKA closely follows the workings of other observatories around the world; often separate instruments will survey the sky and inform where another telescope should look closer," says Professor Quinn.
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A NASA-sponsored astronomy program for 9-14 year-olds will be held this summer at the Nahant Public Library and at East Point Solar Observatory.
The program will begin the week of Monday, July 9, and run for six weeks, through the week of Monday, August 13. Two approximately 1 1 hour sessions will be offered each week; one for each of two age groups. The exact dates and times will be decided after registration.
The program will feature several lessons and hands-on projects covering the Earth, Solar System, the Milky Way, and other galaxies.
The activities will be supervised by Mary Ann Szatkowski, science teacher at the Swampscott Middle School, assisted by high-school aged student aides. Program staff also includes Dr. Luke Conlin of Tufts University. The program is free to Nahant and Swampscott residents.
Registration forms are available at the library, or from Peter Foukal at pvfoukal@comcast.net. Limited enrollment will be necessary on a first-come, first-served basis, given the space limitations at the library.
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At 16:02 UTC, Friday, May 25, 2012, the SpaceX Dragon officially became the first privately-owned commercial spacecraft to be captured by and berthed at the International Space Station. It is (if I’ve done the math correctly) the 114th spacecraft to dock with ISS, including the missions sent up to build the station. It is the first privately-owned commercial spacecraft in history to do so. You ...
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S PERRY - Last Saturday, eager members of the Southeastern Iowa Astronomy Club opened up a 9-inch-by-3-foot metal box stuffed with 25 years of memories.
The time capsule was caulked, bolted shut and placed inside the John H. Witte Observatory classroom when the facility was completed in 1987, and astronomy club members finally opened the box Saturday night to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the observatory and the adjoining classroom.
"The highlights were 'The Hawk Eye' newspaper clippings," said founding astronomy club member Jim Hilkin. "All in all, there weren't a lot of juicy things in there."
The clippings detailed the two-year construction process of the observatory, as well as the passing of Halley's Comet. The comet last appeared in the sky in 1986 and isn't due to come back until 2061.
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The one thing Hilkin didn't find was an action figure from his 30-year-old son, John Hilkin. Though Jim thought the action figure was in there, his son (who was 5 years old when the capsule was placed) didn't want to give up one of his toys for the next 25 years.
Hilkin said new items will be added to the box so it can be sealed away for another quarter of a century, though some members want to wait until December to do that.
"We want to see if the world is going to end," said Hilkin.
According to many interpretations of the Mayan Calendar, the world is supposed to end in December of this year. However, recently discovered Mayan wall writings found in Guatemala show calendars that go well past 2012.
Though attendance was sparse at the observatory Saturday night because of cloudy skies, the astronomy club got together again Sunday evening to watch a rare annular solar eclipse, which was best viewed in the southwestern portion of the U.S. Though the sun went down before the local astronomers were able to view the ring around it, Hilkin still was pleased with what he saw.
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Our brains seem obsessed with the laws of gravity everyones had terrifying dreams where theyre plummeting from great heights, or uplifting dreams of taking flight while on foot. Gravity Rush, from Sonys Japan Studio, combines these two sensations with such a wonderful, vivid approach that its worth playing for its physics-warping mechanics alone. But as luck would have it, the gravity powers are only one piece of the pleasing puzzle GR also brings a lively setting, charming characters, and wonderful music and graphics to the palm of your hands. As of this moment, its the best reason to own - or consider buying - a Vita.
You play as Kat, an endearing super-heroine-in-the-making who cant remember how she arrived in the quaint, open-world city of Hekseville. Things go from quiet to chaotic when the Nevi start to appear; these are giant monsters that look like Salvador Dali creatures sculpted from strawbelly jelly. Right in the nick of time, ethereal astro-cat Dusty grants Kat domain over the forces of gravity, bestowing her with the powers to better the city and help its gentle folk by squashing the Nevi menace.
Youll be eager to save the townsfolk, too the cel-shaded cast of characters is full of lovable anime archetypes who exchange pleasant banter or grimace menacingly as needed. Kat herself steals the show as the nave but well-meaning peoples champ, but youll also encounter memorable secondary characters, like a God-like figure named Gade or the inept young detective Syd.
When playing as Kat, jumping to your would-be death isnt a problem. With a tap of a button, shell suspend herself in midair, floating aimlessly for as long as your depleting gravity gauge will allow. Tapping the button again will direct gravity in the chosen direction, letting you plummet skyward or walk on walls with ease. GR makes great use of the Vitas gyro sensor: tilting the Vita around will intuitively guide Kats gravity-aiming reticule (though you can use the right analog stick if you prefer). Youll also use touchscreen swipes and taps to evade attacks, cover ground with gravity slides, and unleash flashy, rainbow-charged finishing moves.
It initially takes some time to come to grips with the bizarre z-axis movement that Kat employs, but it wont be long before youre soaring through the air or gliding across ceilings at a whim. Things never get exasperating during this learning period, either Kats completely immune to fall damage (though youll feel guilty when she crashes to the pavement), and failing a mission sends you right back to a checkpoint in a jiffy.
The combat also emphasizes bending gravity to your advantage: though you can string together some decent kick combos on the ground, your main source of damage comes from rushing skyward, taking aim at a Nevi, then plunging foot-first into their heads at Mach 3 speed. The targeting can be a little spotty from time to time, but the guttural satisfaction of nailing a gravity-driven flying kick will make you forget all the times you sailed past your intended mark. Youll also get to bust out some great special moves, like a spinning drill attack or a miniature black hole.
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This isn't your typical artificial intelligence robot, but scientists at the University of Hawaii have created bubble "robots" that can be directed using lasers. They hope to use the bubble robots to build micro-structures. And once the bubble bots are no longer of use, they can be popped.
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May 25, 2012, 4:48 AM PDT
Takeaway: Mankind has long been fascinated by the idea of intelligent machines, but in the information age the sci-fi dream of creating a human-like AI appears increasingly anachronistic.
The idea of creating a sentient machine has fascinated mankind for centuries. And while sci-fi offers artificial intelligences that rival our own, the fiction bears little resemblance to real world AI.
AI is all around us, not as a synthetic overlord, but as specialised software that help fly planes and run factory production lines. For many, the idea of creating thinking machines has become a distant dream.
However, not everyone has given up on the idea of creating a machine that can think like a man. Inventor Hugh Loebner is at the forefront of the hunt: each year for more than two decades Loebner has run a competition based on the Turing Test, the game devised by British mathematician and father of computing Alan Turing in 1950 to identify a thinking machine.
In the Loebner Prize competition, software known as chatbots conduct instant messenger or verbal conversations with human judges, attempting to fool them into believing they are a real person.
Any bot that fools half the judges can win up to $100,000 for its creator, and each year there is a $2,000 prize for bot deemed to be most human-like.
Turing predicted that a machine able to fool people into thinking it was human in one third of conversations would exist by 2000.
And yet so far the performance of the chatbots has been underwhelming: after 22 years of contests no bot has come close to fooling half of the judges into thinking it is human. Bots make convincing humans during short chats, but their credibility breaks down in a prolonged conversation.
Even Loebner, for all of the time and effort he has invested, says he has little passion for event, and continues to run it largely out of a sense of obligation.
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Artificial Intelligence: What happened to the hunt for thinking machines?
LONGUEUIL, Que. The Canadian Press Published Friday, May. 25, 2012 7:55AM EDT Last updated Friday, May. 25, 2012 8:21AM EDT
Quebec-based aerospace manufacturer Hroux-Devtek Inc. HRX-T says its fourth-quarter profit was $8.9-million, up 12 per cent from the same time last year and ahead of analyst estimates.
The Montreal-area companys profit amounted to 29 cents per share, which was two cents above a consensus estimate compiled by Thomson Reuters.
The company, headquartered in Longueuil, Que., specializes in the design, development, manufacture and repair and overhaul of related systems and components for the aerospace and industrial products segments.
It supplies the commercial and military aerospace sectors with landing gear systems and airframe structural components from 12 manufacturing facilities. Its industrial segment provides large components for power generation equipment.
Hroux-Devteks revenue was $109-million in the fourth quarter, also ahead of analyst estimates. The company says its aerospace sales were stable but sales increased in the industrial division.
For the full 2012 financial year ended March 31, Hroux-Devtek had $380.3-million in revenue up 6.4 per cent from last year. Net income for the year was $26.5-million or 86 cents per share on a diluted basis.
Thats up from $357.6-million in revenue and $19.1-million of net income, or 63 cents per share in fiscal 2011.
Fiscal 2012 was a very successful year for Hroux-Devtek, chief executive officer Gilles Labbe said in a statement.
While the overall economy remained hesitant, the majority of our strategic markets, both in the Aerospace and Industrial segments, gained momentum. As a result, we generated record sales and net income.
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DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Dublin - Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/5hzdhx/gulfstream_aerospa) has announced the addition of the "Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation - Strategic Snapshot, SWOT Analysis, Strategic Initiatives & Developments, Key Trends & Outlook - H1 2012" company profile to their offering.
This strategic report provides key insights into the strategic business aspects of Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation based on a holistic assessment as well as comprehensive analysis of business structure, performance, strategies, plans, initiatives & outlook.
The report also includes an insightful SWOT framework analysis on the company. The framework generates a snapshot of the company's inherent strengths & weaknesses as part of the internal environment assessment and outlines potential growth opportunities as well as threats as part of the external environment assessment.
Useful For:
The report provides insights & inputs to be incorporated into the broader strategic planning & decision making processes and will be essential from a competitive analysis standpoint as well.
For Whom:
The analysis will be essential for those having strategic interest in the company or the industry & will be especially useful for key decision makers, top management of companies, suppliers, vendors, current & potential investors, industry & company analysts & those associated with the industry or the company.
Topics Covered:
Section - 1
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By Navjot Kaur | More Articles May 24, 2012 |
Aircraft interior component maker BE Aerospace (Nasdaq: BEAV) seems to have benefited lately from the increase in demand for air travel as more and more airlines are buying new planes that invariably lead to more contracts for this company. So does that really make BE Aerospace a foolproof stock to invest in?
Let's put BE Aerospace under the microscope and analyze the company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to reach our conclusion.
Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Threats
The Foolish takeawayBE Aerospace looks like a winner in the long run, thanks to increased airline passenger traffic. The company does have some significant areas of strength that clearly outweigh its weaknesses. If BE's growth story interests you, add this stock to your watchlist to stay updated on all its news and analysis for free. Click here!
But if the airline industry is not the only one you have set your sights on, Motley Fool analysts have identified three big-name companies that are particularly well-positioned to profit, and you can learn more about them right now with our new free report: "3 American Companies Set to Dominate the World." It's completely free for Fool readers but only for a limited time -- sograb your copy now.
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LONGUEUIL, Que. - Quebec-based aerospace manufacturer Heroux-Devtek Inc. (TSX:HRX) says its fourth-quarter profit was $8.9 million, up 12 per cent from the same time last year and ahead of analyst estimates.
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Aerospace manufacturer Heroux-Devtek Q4 profit, sales growth beat estimates
DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/zjfbn4/critical_care_mana) has announced the addition of John Wiley and Sons Ltd's new book "Critical Care Management of the Obese Patient" to their offering.
This book provides health professionals with sound clinical advice on management of the obese patient admitted into hospital. It addresses all aspects of the patient's care, as well as serving as a resource to facilitate the management of services, use of clinical information, and negotiation of ethical issues that occur in intensive care. As the number of obese patients in intensive care continues to grow, this book will serve as a comprehensive clinical resource for everyday use by both obesity specialists and emergency medicine physicians.
Key Topics Covered:
Part I Physiology and Consequences of Obesity
- Cardiovascular Physiology in Obesity,
- Effects of Obesity on Respiratory Physiology,
- Gastrointestinal Physiology in Obesity,
- Metabolic and Endocrine Physiology in Obesity,
- Renal Physiology in the Critically Ill Obese Patient,
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Research and Markets: Critical Care Management of the Obese Patient
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Senior Andrew Root, 18, prepares to dissect a cat in his anatomy/physiology class at Dartmouth High School.Peter Pereira
By JENNIFER LADE
May 22, 2012 12:00 AM
"It's cat dissection season!"
Only a science teacher could deliver that announcement with such excitement. Yet Peter Bangs, science chairman at Dartmouth High School, was genuinely eager for the high school's anatomy and physiology students to get going on one of the most anticipated projects of the semester.
Bangs is not alone in his enthusiasm. Science teachers and curriculum directors at local high schools said even in a high tech age of virtual everythings, dissection remains a part of the curriculum and is approached with seriousness by the students.
"I think the kids take it much more seriously and really get into it, and for us, motivation's everything," said Craig Berriault, a biology, zoology and anatomy and physiology teacher at Wareham High School.
Zoology students usually do a frog dissection, while anatomy and physiology students dissect cow eyes and hearts and culminate with a rat dissection at the end of the year, he said. Whether a dissection is undertaken in biology is up to the teacher.
Anne Oliveira, director of science and technology for New Bedford Public Schools, was a classroom science teacher until she took her current position six years ago. She said it was the hands-on learning that had the greatest impact on her students.
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Cutting up in the classroom: dissections still hands-on, not virtual
This post was originally published on April 09, 2006.
This April 09, 2006 post places another paper from my old lab (Reference #17) within a broader context of physiology, behavior, ecology and evolution. The paper was a result of a communal experiment in the lab, i.e., it was not included in anyones Thesis. My advisor designed it and started the experiment with the first couple of birds. When I joined the lab, I did the experiment in an additional number of animals. When Chris Steele joined the lab, he took over the project and did the rest of the lab work, including bringing in the idea for an additional experiment that was included, and some of the analysis. We all talked about it in our lab meetings for a long time. In the end, the boss did most of the analysis and all of the writing, so the order of authors faithfully reflects the relative contributions to the work.
What is not mentioned in the post below is an additional observation that return of the food after the fasting period induced a phase-shift of the circadian system, so we also generated a Phase-Response Curve, suggesting that food-entrainable pacemaker in quail is, unlike in mammals, not separate from the light-entrainable system.
Finally, at the end of the post, I show some unpublished data a rare event in science blogging.
If you know what Chossats Effect is, I guess you are a) a physiologist, b) expert in thermoregulation, and c) old. This is term that got expunged from the scientific lexicon a few decades ago, in an effort correct me if I am wrong on this spearheaded by the U.S. textbook companies, to replace scientific terminology named after the discoverers (and sometimes even Latin and Greek terms) with bland English neologisms.
But I love Schwanns Cells, Fallopian Tubes (or Mullerian Ducts), Purkinje Fibers, Broccas Area and the amazing Bundle of His! Those terms are memorable, make it easy to sneak in some historical context into teaching science, and have an emotional effect of bringing forth images of ancient scientists working under candlelight, sacrificing their eyesight and health, their social standing and sometimes even their lives, in the feverish hunger for knowledge.
So, what is Chossats Effect? It comes from a 19th century French scientist who was studying the physiology of starvation [1]. The modern term for this effect is fasting-induced nocturnal hypothermia (doesnt that sound like something that would prompt the students in the classroom to immediatelly stop paying attention to the teacher and instead pick-up their cell-phones and start text-messaging their friends?).
Actually, this is a very interesting area of research that is very tightly connected to circadian biology. This post is likely to be long, so feel free to skim and just focus on the first part if you are into birds, second part if you are interested in mammals, and the last part if you are into humans.
Birds
All warm-blooded animals (and yes, that includes at least some reptiles, not to mention a few heat-producing plants like stink-cabbage) exhibit a daily rhythm of body temperature. If an animal is active during the day (diurnal) and sleeps during the night, reducing the metabolic rate during the night is a good way to save energy.
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Chossat's Effect in humans and other animals
Newswise Bethesda, MD, May 22, 2012: The Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) today announced that it is close to finalizing a framework proposal for CPT coding of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) assays. These technologies make it possible to deliver large amounts of genomic information at reasonable cost on panels of genes up to whole exomes and genomes. Clinical testing using NGS has begun to be offered by early adopters and is being explored by many academic medical centers and reference laboratories given the rapidly expanding array of scientific and clinical studies. These developments emphasize the importance of incorporating NGS services into the CPT coding system to assist payers in understanding what testing has been performed and to make coverage decisions.
AMPs expertise in the technical aspects and clinical impact of molecular testing and the success it has had with previous molecular CPT coding proposals uniquely positions it to address CPT coding for Next Generation Sequencing, said Jeffrey Kant, MD, PhD, Chair of AMPs Economic Affairs Committee.
The Committee plans to complete its proposal by the end of June and release it for feedback from stakeholders in the laboratory and payer community before submitting a formal proposal to the AMA CPT Editorial Panel.
Iris Schrijver, MD, President of AMP stated, AMP members have been involved with the development and application of NGS technologies since their inception. We are proud to provide leadership in this area as well as to collaborate with other professional associations to bring these powerful tools to patient care.
CPT is a registered trademark of the American Medical Association.
ABOUT AMP: The Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) is an international medical professional association dedicated to the advancement, practice, and science of clinical molecular laboratory medicine and translational research based on the applications of molecular biology, genetics, and genomics. For more information, please visit http://www.amp.org.
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AMP Developing a CPT(r) Coding Proposal for Next Generation Sequencing
A set of unique modern equipment has been installed at the infant pathology department of Donetsk Regional Clinical Hospital. AFP Infant pathology department of Donetsk Regional Hospital receives unique equipment Today at 12:09 | Interfax-UkraineA set of unique modern equipment has been installed at the infant pathology department of Donetsk Regional Clinical Hospital, and no other hospital in the region and only a few clinics all over Ukraine have similar equipment, according to the press service of Oleksandr Yanukovych Foundation.
"Thanks to the capital re-equipment of the infant pathology department, we will significantly reduce infant mortality and have new capabilities for treating babies. We have [already] saved the first lives, and the department treats up to 700 children per year," reads the statement.
"I was related to medicine. I understand many problems and issues in medicine. Due to my business opportunities, I think, I will manage to deal with these problems effectively," the press service cited Yanukovych as saying.
As reported, Oleksandr Yanukovych, a son of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, in 2011 paid Hr 8,524,470 in taxes.
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Infant pathology department of Donetsk Regional Hospital receives unique equipment
Hospital chiefs announce pathology plans
8:00am Sunday 20th May 2012 in News
Hospital chiefs announce pathology plans
Chief executives of four south-west London hospital trusts have announced plans to develop a single pathology service located at St George's Hospital.
In a joint statement, the chief executives of Croydon Health Services, Kingston Hospital, Epsom and St Helier's NHS Trusts and St George's Healthcare Trust, said the decision meant they could "develop and future proof our pathology services across south west London".
The decision to develop a new single pathology service was agreed at a Pathology Programme Board meeting on Thursday.
The recommendations will be presented to each of the Trust boards for approval in the coming weeks.
Patients should not experience a change in service and will continue to have their tests where they have them now- either at their local hospital or at their GP surgery, the board said.
However, the plans mean the behind the scenes laboratory aspects of the service will run from a single 'hub' for the majority of pathology work.
There will be labs at each acute hospital site to manage each Trust's very urgent work and to support services such as A&E.
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Hospital chiefs announce pathology plans