The best marker for guiding the clinical management of patients with raised intracranial pressure: the RAP index or the mean pulse amplitude?

Raised intracranial pressure is a common problem in a variety of neurosurgical conditions including traumatic brain injury, hydrocephalus and intracranial haemorrhage. The clinical management of these patients is guided by a variety of haemodynamic, biochemical and clinical factors. However to date there is no single parameter that is used to guide clinical management of patients with raised intracranial pressure (ICP). However, the role of ICP indices, specifically the mean pulse amplitude (AMP) and RAP index [correlation coefficient (R) between AMP amplitude (A) and mean ICP pressure (P); index of compensatory reserve], as an indicator of true ICP has been investigated. Whilst the RAP index has been used both as a descriptor of neurological deterioration in TBI patients and as a way of characterising the compensatory reserve in hydrocephalus, more recent studies have highlighted the limitation of the RAP index due to the influence that baseline effect errors have on the mean ICP, which is used in the calculation of the RAP index. These studies have suggested that the ICP mean pulse amplitude may be a more accurate marker of true intracranial pressure due to the fact that it is uninfluenced by the mean ICP and, therefore, the AMP may be a more reliable marker than the RAP index for guiding the clinical management of patients with raised ICP. Although further investigation needs to be undertaken in order to fully assess the role of ICP indices in guiding the clinical management of patients with raised ICP, the studies undertaken to date provide an insight into the potential role of ICP indices to treat raised ICP proactively rather than reactively and therefore help prevent or minimise secondary brain injury

Energy storage in the UK electrical network : estimation of the scale and review of technology options

This paper aims to clarify the difference between stores of energy in the form of non-rechargeable stores of energy such as fossil-fuels, and the storage of electricity by devices that are rechargeable. The existing scale of these two distinct types of storage is considered in the UK context, followed by a review of rechargeable technology options. The storage is found to be overwhelmingly contained within the fossil-fuel stores of conventional generators, but their scale is thought to be determined by the risks associated with long supply chains and price variability. The paper also aims to add to the debate regarding the need to have more flexible supply and demand available within the UK electrical network in order to balance the expected increase of wind derived generation. We conclude that the decarbonisation challenge facing the UK electricity sector should be seen not only as a supply and demand challenge but also as a storage challenge. (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Using character varieties: Presentations, invariants, divisibility and determinants

If G is a finitely generated group, then the set of all characters from G into a linear algebraic group is a useful (but not complete) invariant of G . In this thesis, we present some new methods for computing with the variety of SL2C -characters of a finitely presented group. We review the theory of Fricke characters, and introduce a notion of presentation simplicity which uses these results. With this definition, we give a set of GAP routines which facilitate the simplification of group presentations. We provide an explicit canonical basis for an invariant ring associated with a symmetrically presented group\u27s character variety. Then, turning to the divisibility properties of trace polynomials, we examine a sequence of polynomials rn(a) governing the weak divisibility of a family of shifted linear recurrence sequences. We prove a discriminant/determinant identity about certain factors of rn( a) in an intriguing manner. Finally, we indicate how ordinary generating functions may be used to discover linear factors of sequences of discriminants. Other novelties include an unusual binomial identity, which we use to prove a well-known formula for traces; the use of a generating function to find the inverse of a map xn ∣→ fn(x); and a brief exploration of the relationship between finding the determinants of a parametrized family of matrices and the Smith Normal Forms of the sequence

Passive fetal monitoring sensor

An ambulatory, passive sensor for use in a fetal monitoring system is discussed. The invention is comprised of a piezoelectric polymer film, combined with a metallic mounting plate fastened to a belt, and electrically connected to a signal processing unit by means of a shielded cable. The purpose of the sensor is to receive pressure pulses emitted by a fetus inside an expectant mother. Additionally, the monitor will filter out pressure pulses arising from other sources, such as the maternal heart

Theoretical Analysis of Jet Fan Performance Using Momentum and Energy Considerations

Jet fans or ductless fans have been analyzed using momentum and energy considerations. This analysis is necessary for the mechanisms of mixing between the jet primary flow and the secondary or induced stream to be understood. In each case it is possible to predict performance in terms of pressure, flow ratios and hence the percentage mechanical efficiency of the whole system using equations derived from momentum and energy principles. The analysis given is suitable for situations where jet fans are utilized as area boosters in a mine ventilation system and in longitudinal vehicular tunnel ventilation. The energy and momentum equations serve as important tools for the analysis and consider all losses in the system. The derivations identified a range of flow ratios of the induced flow to the jet flow which can be used to design effective ventilation systems incorporating jet fans. Each flow ratio (n) is associated with an optimum area ratio (µ) of the jet fan outlet to tunnel, or airway area, for maximum induction or entrainment of the secondary flow. It can be shown that there is an optimum set of conditions for jet fan performance which are explained in detail in the paper

Total skin self-examination at home for people treated for cutaneous melanoma : development and pilot of a digital intervention

This work was funded by the RCUK Digital Economy award to the dot.rural Digital Economy Hub, University of Aberdeen; award reference: EP/G066051/1. The Experience Laboratory event was supported in part by a separate award from the University of Aberdeen Knowledge Exchange and Transfer Fund; award reference: GP057 UZZ0101.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Time Perspective and All-Cause Mortality : Evidence from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

Acknowledgments We gratefully acknowledge funding support from the Economic and Social Research Council (ES/L010437/1, ESRC Future Leaders grant to M. Daly) and European Union’s H2020 Work Programme (2014–2020) (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Career Development Fellowship to M.  Daly funded under the Research Executive Agency grant agreement 750169). We thank the UK Data Archive for providing these data which, along with materials, have been made available to researchers at https://discover.ukdataservice.ac.uk/series/?sn=200011.Peer reviewedPostprin

Tourism innovation policy: Implementation and outcomes

The paper opens the “black box” of tourism innovation policy implementation through an analysis of the Spanish Programme of Innovative Business Groups that foster innovation through hybrid top-down bottom-up collaboration embedded in clusters. The focus is on three main issues: process of policy implementation, types of innovation that emerged, and the outcomes and barriers. The findings show the contradictions of this hybrid model of implementation with mixed outcomes of successful collaborations and abandoned trajectories. The Programme has stimulated the ‘propensity’ to innovate resulting in different types of innovation but has revealed the existence of mutually-reinforcing barriers. Some suggestions for future improvements of tourism innovation policies are offered including the importance of polycentricity in effective policy formulation and implementation.The research paper has been supported by the Spanish National R&D&I Plan 2008-2011 (CSO2011-26396). The authors are grateful to the state owned company "Innovation Management and Tourism Technologies, SEGITTUR" for their generous support and data provision. Isabel Rodriguez thanks the University of Alicante who funded her visit to the University of Surrey, facilitating the author’s collaboration

Contribution of Lake-Effect Snow to the Catskill Mountains Snowpack

Meltwater from snow that falls in the Catskill Mountains in southern New York contributes to reservoirs that supply drinking water to approximately nine million people in New York City. Using the NOAA National Ice Centers Interactive Multisensor Snow and Ice Mapping System (IMS) 4km snow maps, we have identified at least 32 lake-effect (LE) storms emanating from Lake Erie andor Lake Ontario that deposited snow in the CatskillDelaware Watershed in the Catskill Mountains of southern New York State between 2004 and 2017. This represents a large underestimate of the contribution of LE snow to the Catskills snowpack because many of the LE snowstorms are not visible in the IMS snow maps when they travel over snow-covered terrain. Most of the LE snowstorms that we identified originate from Lake Ontario but quite a few originate from both Erie and Ontario, and a few from Lake Erie alone. Using satellite, meteorological and reanalysis data we identify conditions that contributed to LE snowfall in the Catskills. Clear skies following some of the storms permitted measurement of the extent of snow cover in the watershed using multiple satellite sensors. IMS maps tend to overestimate the extent of snow compared to MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Landsat-derived snow-cover extent maps. Using this combination of satellite and meteorological data, we can begin to quantify the important contribution of LE snow to the Catskills Mountain snowpack. Changes that are predicted in LE snowfall from the Great Lakes could impact the distribution of rain vs snow in the Catskills which may affect future reservoir operations in the NYC Water Supply System

On the Frequency of Lake-Effect Snowfall in the Catskill Mountains

Meltwater from snow that falls in the Catskill/Delaware Watershed in the Catskill Mountains in south-central New York contributes to reservoirs that supply drinking water to approximately nine million people in and near New York City (NYC). Using the Interactive Multisensor Snow and Ice Mapping System (IMS) 4km snow maps from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Ice Center, we identified and tracked 28 lake-effect (LE) storms that deposited snow in the Catskill Mountains from 2004-2017. These storms, that generally originated from Lake Ontario, but sometimes from Lake Erie, represent an underestimate of the number of LE storms that contribute snowfall to the total Catskills snowpack because snowstorms are not visible on the IMS maps when they travel over already-snow-covered terrain. Using satellite, meteorological (including NEXRAD and National Weather Service Cooperative Observer Program), and reanalysis data we identify conditions that contributed to the LE snowstorms and map snow-cover extent (SCE) following the storms when possible. IMS 4km maps tend to overestimate SCE compared to MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Landsat. Though the total amount of snow from each LE snow event that contributes snow to the Catskills is often small, there are a large number of events in some years that, together, add up to a great deal of snow. Changes that are predicted in LE snowfall events could impact the distribution of rain vs. snow in the Catskills which may affect future reservoir operations in the NYC Water Supply System and winter recreation in the Catskills