Variability in surface chlorophyll a at a shelf-break front

We report an extensive underway sampling of temperature and chlorophyll a in the region of the shelf/slope front in the New York Bight in early spring. Variability in chlorophyll a and frontal structure is analyzed at three spatial scales…

A universal characterization of higher algebraic K-theory

In this paper we establish a universal characterization of higher algebraic K-theory in the setting of small stable infinity categories. Specifically, we prove that connective algebraic K-theory is the universal additive invariant, i.e., the universal functor with values in spectra which inverts Morita equivalences, preserves filtered colimits, and satisfies Waldhausen's additivity theorem. Similarly, we prove that non-connective algebraic K-theory is the universal localizing invariant, i.e., the universal functor that moreover satisfies the "Thomason-Trobaugh-Neeman" localization theorem. To prove these results, we construct and study two stable infinity categories of "noncommutative motives"; one associated to additivity and another to localization. In these stable infinity categories, Waldhausen's S. construction corresponds to the suspension functor and connective and non-connective algebraic K-theory spectra become corepresentable by the noncommutative motive of the sphere spectrum. In particular, the algebraic K-theory of every scheme, stack, and ring spectrum can be recovered from these categories of noncommutative motives. In order to work with these categories of noncommutative motives, we establish comparison theorems between the category of spectral categories localized at the Morita equivalences and the category of small idempotent-complete stable infinity categories. We also explain in detail the comparison between the infinity categorical version of Waldhausen K-theory and the classical definition. As an application of our theory, we obtain a complete classification of the natural transformations from higher algebraic K-theory to topological Hochschild homology (THH) and topological cyclic homology (TC). Notably, we obtain an elegant conceptual description of the cyclotomic trace map.Comment: Various revisions and correction

Preterm birth is associated with immune dysregulation which persists in infants exposed to histologic chorioamnionitis

IntroductionPreterm infants are at increased risk of exposure to histologic chorioamnionitis (HCA) when compared to term-born controls, and this is associated with several neonatal morbidities involving brain, lungs and gut. Preterm infants could benefit from immunomodulatory therapies in the perinatal period, but development of rational treatment strategies requires improved characterization of the perinatal response to HCA. We had two objectives: The first, to characterize the umbilical cord blood immune profile in preterm infants compared to term-born controls; the second, to investigate the postnatal immune response in preterm infants exposed to HCA versus those who were not.PopulationFor objective one 59 term infants [mean gestational age (GA) 39+4 (37+3 to 42+0)] and 55 preterm infants [mean GA29+0(23+3 to 32+0)] with umbilical cord samples available were included; for objective two we studied 96 preterm infants [mean GA29+1(23+2 to 32+0)] for whom placental histology and postnatal blood samples were available.MethodsPlacental histopathology was used to identify reaction patterns indicative of HCA, and a customized immunoassay of 24 inflammatory markers and trophic proteins selected to reflect the perinatal immune response was performed on umbilical cord blood in term and preterm participants and postnatal day 5 blood in the preterm group.ResultsThe umbilical cord blood immune profile classified gestational age category with 86% accuracy (95% CI 0.78-0.92), p-value=1.242x10-14. Pro-inflammatory proteins IL-6, MCP-1 and CRP were elevated in the cord blood of preterm infants whilst BDNF, C3, C9, IL-18, MMP-9 and RANTES were decreased, compared to infants born at term. In preterm infants, exposure to HCA was associated with elevations in 8 immune proteins on postnatal day 5 (BDNF, C3, C5a, C9, IL-8, MCP-1, MIP-1β and MMP-9) when compared to preterm infants who were not exposed.ConclusionPreterm birth is associated with a distinct immune profile in umbilical cord blood and preterm infants exposed to HCA with evidence of a fetal inflammatory response have specific alterations in immune function that are apparent on day 5 of postnatal life

The mineralogy and fabric of 'Brickearths' in Kent, UK and their relationship to engineering behaviour

Mineralogical and petrographical investigation of two loessic brickearth profiles from Ospringe and Pegwell Bay in north Kent, UK have differentiated two types of brickearth fabric that can be correlated with different engineering behaviour. Both sequences comprise metastable (collapsing) calcareous brickearth, overlain by non collapsing ‘non-calcareous’ brickearth. This study has demonstrated that the two types of brickearth are discretely different sedimentary units, with different primary sedimentary characteristics and an erosional junction between the two units. A palaeosol is developed on the calcareous brickearth, and is associated with the formation of rhizolithic calcrete indicating an arid or semi-arid environment. No evidence has been found for decalcification being responsible for the fabric of the upper ‘non-calcareous’ brickearth. Optically-stimulated dates lend further support for the calcareous and ‘non-calcareous’ brickearth horizons being of different age or origins. The calcareous brickearth is metastable in that it undergoes rapid collapse settlement when wetted under applied stresses. It is characterised by an open-packed arrangement of clay-coated, silt-sized quartz particles and pelletised aggregate grains (peds) of compacted silt and clay, supported by an interped matrix of loosely packed, silt/fine-grained sand, in which the grains are held in place by a skeletal framework of illuviated clay. The illuviated clay forms bridges and pillars separating and binding the dispersed component silt/sand grains. There is little direct grain-to-grain contact and the resultant fabric has a very high voids ratio. Any applied load is largely supported by these delicate clay bridge and pillar microfabrics. Collapse of this brickearth fabric can be explained by a sequence of processes involving: (1) dispersion and disruption of the grain-bridging clay on saturation, leading to initial rapid collapse of the loose packed inter-ped silt/sand; (2) rearrangement and closer stacking of the compact aggregate silt/clay peds; (3) with increasing stress further consolidation may result from deformation and break up of the peds as they collapse into the inter-ped regions. Smectite is a significant component of the clay assemblage and will swell on wetting, further encouraging disruption and breaking of the clay bonds. In contrast, the ‘non-calcareous’ brickearth already possesses a close-packed and interlocking arrangement of silt/sand grains with only limited scope for further consolidation under load. Minor authigenic calcite and dolomite may also form meniscus cements between silt grains. These have either acted as ‘‘scaffolds’’ on which illuviated clay has subsequently been deposited or have encrusted earlier formed grain-bridging clay. In either case, the carbonate cements may help to reinforce the clay bridge fabrics. However, these carbonate features are a relatively minor feature and not an essential component of the collapsible brickearth fabric. Cryoturbation and micromorphological features indicate that the calcareous brickearth fabric has probably been developed through periglacial freeze–thaw processes. Freezing could have produced the compact silt/clay aggregates and an open porous soil framework containing significant inter-ped void space. Silt and clay were remobilised and translocated deeper into the soil profile by water percolating through the active layer of the sediment profile during thawing cycles, to form the loosed packed inter-ped silt matrix and grain-bridging meniscus clay fabrics. In contrast, the upper ‘non-calcareous’ brickearth may represent a head or solifluction deposit. Mass movement during solifluction will have destroyed any delicate grain-bridging clay microfabrics that may have been present in this material

Using a knowledge exchange event to assess study participants’ attitudes to research in a rapidly evolving research context

Grant information: DJP, IJD and AMM are supported by Wellcome Trust Grant 104036. IJD, DJP, JPB and AMM, IB, EJK and SFW are supported by MRC Mental Health Data Pathfinder Grant MC_PC_17209. AMM and SML are supported by MRC Grant MC_PC_MR/R01910X/1. AMM is supported by MRC Grant MR/S035818/1. Theirworld Edinburgh Birth Cohort is funded by the charity Theirworld (www.theirworld.org), and is undertaken in the MRC Centre for Reproductive Health, which is funded by MRC Centre Grant (G1002033). CB and DJP are supported by Health Data Research UK, an initiative funded by UK Research and Innovation, Department of Health and Social Care (England) and the devolved administrations, and leading medical research charities.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Assessing the number of users who are excluded by domestic heating controls

This is the pre-print version of the Article. This Article is also referred to as: "Assessing the 'Design Exclusion' of Heating Controls at a Low-Cost, Low-Carbon Housing Development". - Copyright @ 2011 Taylor & FrancisSpace heating accounts for almost 60% of the energy delivered to housing which in turn accounts for nearly 27% of the total UK's carbon emissions. This study was conducted to investigate the influence of heating control design on the degree of ‘user exclusion’. This was calculated using the Design Exclusion Calculator, developed by the Engineering Design Centre at the University of Cambridge. To elucidate the capability requirements of the system, a detailed hierarchical task analysis was produced, due to the complexity of the overall task. The Exclusion Calculation found that the current design placed excessive demands upon the capabilities of at least 9.5% of the UK population over 16 years old, particularly in terms of ‘vision’, ‘thinking’ and ‘dexterity’ requirements. This increased to 20.7% for users over 60 years old. The method does not account for the level of numeracy and literacy and so the true exclusion may be higher. Usability testing was conducted to help validate the results which indicated that 66% of users at a low-carbon housing development could not programme their controls as desired. Therefore, more detailed analysis of the cognitive demands placed upon the users is required to understand where problems within the programming process occur. Further research focusing on this cognitive interaction will work towards a solution that may allow users to behave easily in a more sustainable manner

Fanny Copeland and the geographical imagination

Raised in Scotland, married and divorced in the English south, an adopted Slovene, Fanny Copeland (1872 – 1970) occupied the intersection of a number of complex spatial and temporal conjunctures. A Slavophile, she played a part in the formation of what subsequently became the Kingdom of Yugoslavia that emerged from the First World War. Living in Ljubljana, she facilitated the first ‘foreign visit’ (in 1932) of the newly formed Le Play Society (a precursor of the Institute of British Geographers) and guided its studies of Solčava (a then ‘remote’ Alpine valley system) which, led by Dudley Stamp and commended by Halford Mackinder, were subsequently hailed as a model for regional studies elsewhere. Arrested by the Gestapo and interned in Italy during the Second World War, she eventually returned to a socialist Yugoslavia, a celebrated figure. An accomplished musician, linguist, and mountaineer, she became an authority on (and populist for) the Julian Alps and was instrumental in the establishment of the Triglav National Park. Copeland’s role as participant observer (and protagonist) enriches our understanding of the particularities of her time and place and illuminates some inter-war relationships within G/geography, inside and outside the academy, suggesting their relative autonomy in the production of geographical knowledge