Quantifying the importance of an L4 or L5 magnetograph for modelling the global solar magnetic field

Currently, space weather observations and predictions are primarily made using observations from the L1 Lagrange point (on the Sun-Earth line). A mission to place a satellite at the L5 viewpoint (60° behind Earth) has been proposed to enhance our space weather predictive capabilities. This thesis explores the potential impact of an additional magnetograph at L5, as well as at the L4 viewpoint (60° in front of the Earth). We first conduct a study utilising a spherical harmonic magnetic flux transport (MFT) and potential field source surface (PFSS) combined model to simulate the Sun’s global magnetic field. We also perform a study employing an MFT and 3D magnetofrictional combined model. In both studies, the first simulation run is called a “Reference Sun” simulation, which assumes a full 360° longitude view of the Sun to produce synthetic bipole data. This simulation, along with every simulation in this thesis, is conducted over 4 solar cycles. In the first study, we conduct 12 “limited data” simulations, where we vary the limited field of view (FOV; L1, L1+L5 or L1+L4+L5), the inclusion of rotational updates (RUs) and the initial polar field strength (B0). For the most accurate scenario, with the addition of an L4 or L5 magnetograph, we find accuracy increases of 38–40% for different flux quantities, 5–9% for the Br polarities, 23–37% for the Br error, 4–13% for the Br correlation, 24–28% for the heliospheric current sheet (HCS) location and 2–3% for the connectivity of the photospheric field. The second study conducts three limited data simulations using bipole data from L1, L1+L5, and L1+L4+L5 FOVs, including RUs and reducing B0 to ensure correct polar field oscillations. In addition to the quantities investigated in the first study, we can examine the non-potential and free magnetic energy, the electric current and the global non-potential magnetic field with this simulating method. Including L5 data with L1, we find accuracy increases of 32–38% for globally integrated quantities, 15–25% for the 3D magnetic field, 10–36% for the 2D spatial distributions of non-potential quantities and 26% for the HCS. Similarly, including L4 with L1+L5 improves the accuracy by 11–37% for globally integrated quantities, 9–17% for the magnetic field, 16– 39% for the 2D non-potential quantities and 13% for the HCS. These potential improvements in modelling accuracy indicate more reliable space weather predictions and the importance for future space programs to incorporate L5 and L4 observations."This research was supported by the UK’s Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) Doctoral Training Partnership Grant ST/S505717/1."--Fundin

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Defining terminology and outcome measures for evaluating overdose response technology : an international Delphi study

Funding: Canadian Institutes of Health Research,Grant/Award Number: 181006; Health Canada Substance Use and Addictions Program, Grant/Award Number:2122-HQ-000021.Introduction: Various novel harm reduction services leverage technology to reduce the rising number of drug poisoning deaths, particularly among those who use drugs alone. There is significant variability in terminology and outcome measures in reporting these interventions, complicating efforts to build a comprehensive knowledge base. Thus, we conducted a Delphi study to establish consensus and heterogeneity in these metrics. Methods: Panellists from three stakeholder groups (people who use drugs, virtual harm reduction service operators and academics) participated in a multi-round Delphi study. The first round included open-ended questions to propose items in three categories: terminology, demographic information and outcomes. Subsequent rounds included options from a previously conducted scoping review for consideration. Likert ratings were used to achieve consensus, with a 70% threshold. Final rounds involved ranking terminology that reached a consensus. Results: Of 23 initial participants, 14 completed the fourth survey round. ?Overdose response technology? was identified as the most appropriate term for these harm reduction technologies. This definition includes drug contamination alerts, overdose response hotlines and applications, wearable overdose detection technology and overdose detection tools. Fourteen demographic outcomes reached a consensus for data collection, including name or handle, neighbourhood, age, gender, past overdose experience, substance used, amount and route of use. Six service use outcomes were recommended: response type, service outcomes, morbidity and mortality, overdose events, responder arrival time and post-rescue care. Discussion and Conclusions: The study results are recommended to standardise terminology and guide future research and knowledge dissemination in the field, ensuring clear communication with a shared language.Peer reviewe

Ecological recovery of benthic fauna from contamination near oil and gas platforms

Funding: CPL, CG, SB, and DJFR were supported by INSITE project EcoSTAR (grant number NE/T010614/1) and NH, CPL, CG, and GT by INSITE project FuECoMMS (grant number NE/T010800/1). CPL was further supported by GES4SEAS (“Achieving Good Environmental Status for maintaining ecosystem services, by assessing integrated impacts of cumulative pressures”, grant agreement no. 101059877, www.ges4seas. eu).Many oil and gas platforms in the North Sea are nearing their end of life and there is an urgent need to understand the legacy effects of associated seabed contamination on benthic communities. We use data from industry-based monitoring surveys, 1985-2015, in a North Sea wide study to investigate change in contaminants and the biomass of benthic functional groups (small infauna, small mobile epifauna, infaunal macrobenthos, and epifaunal macrobenthos). Total hydrocarbon concentrations in sediment samples exceeded 150,000 μg/g between 1992 and 1998 and within 250 m of 6 different platforms. Statistical relationships between chemical concentration, distance from platform and year were modelled using Generalized Additive Mixed Models for 5 environmentally distinct clusters of 236 platforms. Non-linear decreases were identified for total hydrocarbon concentrations as distance from platforms increased for four clusters, but not the deep-water cluster to the north of Scotland. Similarly structured statistical models with benthic biomass as the response variable and total hydrocarbon concentration as the predictor showed that relationships between them varied among clusters and functional groups. Following management measures to reduce contaminant concentrations, the biomass of benthic groups has since returned to reference conditions across many sites. Our results provide a functional perspective that can support ecosystem modelling, inform environmental assessments and support the implementation of management measures. [Abstract copyright: Crown Copyright © 2025. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.]Peer reviewe

orcAI: A machine learning tool to detect and classify acoustic signals of killer whales in audio recordings

Funding: Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zurich; Icelandic Centre for Research. Grant Numbers: 120248042, 163060, 217519, 200229; Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia. Grant Number: SFRH/BD/30303/2006; Earthwatch Institute; National Geographic Global Exploration Fund. Grant Number: GEFNE65-12; Russell Trust Award from the University of St Andrews; US Office of Naval Research. Grant Number: N00014-08-1-0984; US Living Marine Resources. Grant Number: 57; UK Defence Science and Technology Laboratory; French Direction Générale de l’Armement.Acoustic monitoring is an essential tool for investigating animal communication and behavior when visual contact is limited, but the scalability of bioacoustic projects is often limited by time‐intensive manual auditing of focal signals. To address this bottleneck, we introduce orcAI—a novel deep learning framework for the automated detection and classification of a broad acoustic repertoire of killer whales (Orcinus orca), including vocalizations (e.g., pulsed calls, whistles) and incidental sounds (e.g., breathing, tail slaps). orcAI combines a ResNet‐based Convolutional Neural Network (ResNet‐CNN) with Long Short‐Term Memory (LSTM) layers to capture both spatial features and temporal context, enabling the model to classify signals and to accurately determine their temporal boundaries in spectrograms. Trained on a comprehensive dataset from herring‐feeding killer whales off Iceland, the framework was designed to be adaptable to other populations upon training with equivalent data. Our final model achieves up to 98.2% accuracy on test data and is delivered as an open‐source tool with an easy‐to‐use command‐line interface. By providing a ready‐to‐use model that processes raw audio and outputs annotations, orcAI serves as a useful tool for advancing the study of killer whale vocal behavior and, more broadly, for understanding marine mammal communication and ecology.Peer reviewe

Concurrent bycatch and population assessments of Burmeister's porpoises in northern Peru reveal unsustainable levels of mortality

Funding: This project was funded by the International Whaling Commission Small Cetaceans Research Fund to ProDelphinus. C.O.A. was supported by WWF Russel E. Train Fellowship from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Programa Nacional de Becas y Crédito Educativo de la República del Perú, and the Handsel Tuition Fee Scholarship from the University of St Andrews.Fisheries-related mortality has been a threat to Burmeister’s porpoises in Peru for decades. However, the magnitude of its impacts on porpoise populations has not been assessed. This study reports the first concurrent abundance and bycatch estimates to evaluate the status of Burmeister’s porpoises in northern Peru. We conducted systematic line transect surveys with 770 km of effort and concurrent towed passive acoustic monitoring as well as semi-structured interviews with gillnet fishers from Salaverry. We recorded 87 porpoise sightings during 9 survey days in February 2023 using a repurposed gillnet fishing vessel and trained observers. Using density surface modelling of the line transect sighting data Burmeister’s porpoise abundance was estimated at 1 696 individuals (CV = 0.23) in the 3 500 km2 study area. Porpoise distribution showed a spatial gradient with highest densities close to shore (<25 km) and in shallow waters (≤50 m). Visual and acoustic detections and fishers’ descriptons of bycatch areas matched closely in space. The majority (66%) of fishers interviewed (n = 32) reported porpoise bycatch in the previous year. For the area matching the abundance survey, the estimated mean bycatch rate per vessel was 6 porpoises/year which equates to an annual bycatch of 420 (95% CI: 210–700) porpoises when scaled to the entire artisanal gillnet fishing fleet of Salaverry. We then considered the potential biological removal reference limit to put into context abundance and bycatch estimates in the study area which shows that current bycatch rates by far exceed sustainable limits and highlights the urgent need for bycatch mitigation measures.Peer reviewe

Dysregulated inflammation in solid tumor malignancy patients shapes polyfunctional antibody responses to COVID-19 vaccination

Funding: This research was funded in whole or part by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). NHMRC EL2 Investigator grant #2008092 was awarded to A.W.C. and NHMRC L2 Investigator grant #2033783 was awarded to K.K. A.K.W., W.S.L., T.H.O.N., K.S., S.J.K., and K.J.S. are also supported by NHMRC Investigator grants. O.H.L.W. is supported by an NHMRC Ideas grant #2029642 to S.J.R. This study was further supported by a Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) grant #2016062 to J.A.T., A.K.W., T.H.O.N., K.K., S.J.K., and A.W.C. The COVID PROFILE study was supported by WHO Unity funds (2020/1085469-0), and WEHI philanthropic funds. The DISCOVER-HCP study was supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Centers of Excellence for Influenza Research and Response (CEIRR) grant #HHSN272201400005C to the University of Rochester and a subcontract to KS. This work was made possible through Victorian State Government Operational Infrastructure Support and Australian Government NHMRC IRIISS.Solid tumor malignancy (STM) patients experience increased risk of breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 infection owing to reduced COVID-19 vaccine immunogenicity. However, the underlying immunological causes of impaired neutralization remain poorly characterized. Furthermore, non-neutralizing antibody functions can contribute to reduced disease severity but remain understudied within high-risk populations. We dissected polyfunctional antibody responses in STM patients and age-matched controls who received adenoviral vector- or mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine regimens. Elevated inflammatory biomarkers, including agalactosylated IgG, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-18, and an expanded population of CD11c−CD21− double negative 3 (DN3) B cells were observed in STM patients and were associated with impaired neutralization. In contrast, mRNA vaccination induced Fc effector functions that were comparable in patients and controls and were cross-reactive against SARS-CoV-2 variants. These data highlight the resilience of Fc functional antibodies and identify systemic inflammatory biomarkers that may underpin impaired neutralizing antibody responses, suggesting potential avenues for immunomodulation via rational vaccine design.Peer reviewe

Technology, labour, livestock, and the Maoist developmental state : four-wheeled tractors in China, 1953–1963

Four-wheeled, 25–50 horsepower tractors imported to China from other socialist countries in the 1950s were a symbol of modernity and a source of problems. They were introduced to North China to increase multiple cropping. No significant increase in multiple cropping occurred in that region. The cost of tractor services far outweighed what could be earned with the labour they displaced in the 1950s and early 1960s. However, the government remained committed to them, even as it promoted cheaper five horsepower two-wheeled tractors. Greater use of four-wheeled tractors was sustained by the rapid downgrading of the hitherto privileged role of the tractor driver, alongside an ad hoc system of tacit subsidies. These changes meant deviation from the original vision for tractors. The dire fate of draught livestock during the era of rural collectivisation was an important reason for persevering with four-wheeled tractors even as the country turned away from Soviet development models.Peer reviewe

A defense of Aristotelian eudaimonia

Em Two Conceptions of Happiness, Richard Kraut denuncia a desumanidade e restritividade da eudaimonia aristotélica. O presente artigo oferece uma crítica à avaliação de Kraut. A primeira parte do artigo, de caráter exegético, disputa a interpretação intelectualista que Kraut faz da eudaimonia e propõe uma leitura dualista da mesma que procura resolver os maiores problemas do debate clássico entre inclusivistas e intelectualistas. A segunda parte do artigo, por sua vez, defende uma forma de objetivismo contra a concepção subjetiva de felicidade exposta por Kraut: primeiro, argumentando que as acusações de Kraut se aplicam tanto à eudaimonia quanto à sua concepção subjetiva de felicidade sendo que, no caso da última, é impossível lidar com casos de comportamento vicioso “feliz” que são, numa concepção eudaimônica, facilmente descartados; segundo, demonstrando que o subjetivismo de Kraut é, na verdade, um objetivismo velado: na sua tentativa de ir além de uma concepção meramente psicológica de felicidade, Kraut viu-se obrigado a enriquecer normativamente o conceito de felicidade com critérios que vão além das determinações do sujeito. Concluímos assim que a eudaimonia aristotélica nos continua a fornecer a única alternativa cabal a uma visão puramente psicológica de felicidade, sendo, portanto, ainda relevante no debate ético.Peer reviewe