Executive summary climate change and the East Midlands economy

This report examines the way in which the weather has influenced the East Midlands economy in recent years and considers how climate change may influence this relationship during the 21st century. It considers how changing weather patterns will impact upon energy, water and flood risk, transport, agriculture, the built environment, tourism and health in the region

Modélisations de la Topique chez Francis Ponge

Les grands modèles rhétoriques, topiques et gnomiques sont au coeur de la réflexion et de la pratique de Francis Ponge. L'exemple de La Seine (1947-48), rapproché en amont comme en aval d'un chapelet de textes, en particulier « Bords de mer » (1933-34) et «Texte sur TÉlectricité » (1954), où dominent des questions tantôt de liminalité et de métapoéticité, tantôt de sources et de plagiat, permet de dégager un lieu commun fondamental entre rhétorique et géométrie, ainsi qu'une dialectique constante du propre et de l'universel. Plus largement, il apparaît que c'est en confrontant et/ou en produisant différents paradigmes esthétiques que Ponge parvient à inventer sa propre topique.Francis Ponge's theorical and practical approach to poetry has always been infused with rhetorical, topical and gnomic concerns. La Seine (1947-48J is a case in point, particularly when it is read against other earlier or later texts such as "Bords de mer" (1933-34) and "Texte sur l'Électricité" (1954) where the emphasis is either on liminality and metapoeticity or on sources of plagiarism. An essential common place bringing together geometry and rhetoric is thus delineated, along with an ongoing dialectic of the peculiar and the general. More largely, the invention of Ponge's own Topic appears to stem from a comparison with and/or a production of various aesthetic paradigms

Rings Around Us

Pages 58-5

Atmospheric boundary layer characteristics from ceilometer measurements. Part 1: a new method to track mixed layer height and classify clouds

The use of Automatic Lidars and Ceilometers (ALC) is increasingly extended beyond monitoring cloud base height to the study of atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) dynamics. Therefore, long-term sensor networks observations require robust algorithms to automatically detect the mixed layer height (ZML). Here, a novel automatic algorithm CABAM (Characterise the Atmospheric Boundary layer based on ALC Measurements) is presented . CABAM is the first, non-proprietary mixed layer height algorithm specifically designed for the commonly deployed Vaisala CL31 ceilometer. The method: tracks ZML, takes into account precipitation, classifies the ABL based on cloud cover and cloud type, and determines the relation between ZML and cloud base height. CABAM relies solely on ALC measurements. Results perform well against independent reference (AMDAR: Aircraft Meteorological Data Relay) measurements and supervised ZML detection. AMDAR derived temperature inversion heights allow ZML evaluation throughout the day. Very good agreement is found in the afternoon when the mixed layer height extends over the full ABL. However, during night or the morning transition the temperature inversion is more likely associated with the top of the residual layer. From comparison with SYNOP reports, the ABL classification scheme generally correctly distinguishes between convective and stratiform boundary layer clouds, with slightly better performance during daytime. Applied to six years of ALC observations in central London, Kotthaus and Grimmond (2018) demonstrate CABAM results are valuable to characterise the urban boundary layer over London, UK, where clouds of various types are frequent

Climate change and the East Midlands economy appendix

This report examines the way in which the weather has influenced the East Midlands economy in recent years and considers how climate change may influence this relationship during the 21st century. It considers how changing weather patterns will impact upon energy, water and flood risk, transport, agriculture, the built environment, tourism and health in the region

An ecological evaluation approach for dam project development in Malaysia

Dams are built to provide water for irrigated agriculture, domestic or industrial use, to generate hydropower or help control floods. Decisions to build dams are made, as human knowledge and experiences expand and new technologies develop, parallel with the fact that the decision-making process is also increasingly becoming more open, inclusive and transparent. Despite the benefits provided by the dams to humankind, much environmental damage has occurred as a consequence of these projects. In particular, dam projects often lead to considerable changes in the natural ecosystem. As the changes are related to the fundamental ecological issues, ecological input should be mandatory and play a major role in all dam project decisions. This paper looks into various studies on the application of ecological evaluation methods in regards to the EIA for the land-use development projects, particularly the dam projects. It details the limitation and challenges faced by the ecological evaluation. Alternative approaches are considered and elucidated as the way forward to enhance the ecological evaluation framework. Towards this end, an ecological evaluation method for the EIA of dams based on ecosystem rarity is proposed. This method allows the loss and fragmentation of the ecosystem of the alternative dam site to be determined in an objective and replicable way

Biomarkers of coronary endothelial health: correlation with invasive measures of collateral function, flow and resistance in chronically occluded coronary arteries and the effect of recanalization

Objectives: In the presence of a chronically occluded coronary artery, the collateral circulation matures by a process of arteriogenesis; however, there is considerable variation between individuals in the functional capacity of that collateral network. This could be explained by differences in endothelial health and function. We aimed to examine the relationship between the functional extent of collateralization and levels of biomarkers that have been shown to relate to endothelial health. Methods: We measured four potential biomarkers of endothelial health in 34 patients with mature collateral networks who underwent a successful percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for a chronic total coronary occlusion (CTO) before PCI and 6-8 weeks after PCI, and examined the relationship of biomarker levels with physiological measures of collateralization. Results: We did not find a significant change in the systemic levels of sICAM-1, sE-selectin, microparticles or tissue factor 6-8 weeks after PCI. We did find an association between estimated retrograde collateral flow before CTO recanalization and lower levels of sICAM-1 (r=0.39, P=0.026), sE-selectin (r=0.48, P=0.005) and microparticles (r=0.38, P=0.03). Conclusion: Recanalization of a CTO and resultant regression of a mature collateral circulation do not alter systemic levels of sICAM-1, sE-selectin, microparticles or tissue factor. The identified relationship of retrograde collateral flow with sICAM-1, sE-selectin and microparticles is likely to represent an association with an ability to develop collaterals rather than their presence and extent

Do tablets cure the pedagogy headache?

Tablet devices have made a huge impact in schools and in 2015 they were predicted to outsell personal computers (Gartner, 2014). 70 per cent of UK schools are estimated to be using tablets (BBC, online) and across Europe, “laptops, tablets and net-books are becoming pervasive” (EU schoolnet, 2014). As these devices become established in schools they both support and develop existing practice (Burden, Hopkins, Male, Martin and Trala, 2012; Baran, 2014), but are also starting to challenge some existing models of thinking and pedagogy (Fullan and Langworth, 2014; Kearney, Schuck, Burden and Aubusson, 2012) and also teachers’ attitudes towards learning and teaching (Ertmer, 1999; Burden and Hopkins, 2015). In offering opportunities for learning to become more authentic, personal and collaborative (Kearney et al., 2012) there are opportunities for teachers to start to redesign the ways in which learning is taking place (Puentedura, 2010; McCormick and Scrimshaw, 2001). Traxler defines mobile learning as “an educational process, in which handheld devices or palmtops are the only or dominant used technology tools” (2007: 2) and Kearney et al. (2012) argue that it has the potential to revolutionise the learning process in allowing individuals to determine their own independent paradigms and frameworks of learning. These devices are also sophisticated producers of digital artefacts and children and teachers are capable of being co-producers of learning materials