Allometric scaling of thermal infrared emitted from UK cities and its relation to urban form

As a result of differences in heat absorption and release between urban and rural landscapes, cities develop a climate different from their surroundings. The rise in global average surface temperature and high rates of urbanization, make it important to understand the energy balance of cities, including whether any energy-balance-related patterns emerge as a function of city size. In this study, images from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectro-radiometer (MODIS) satellite instrument, covering the period between 2000 and 2017, were sampled to examine the seasonal (winter and summer) night-time clear-sky upwelling long-wave energy for 35 UK cities. Total (area-summed) emitted energy per overpass per city is shown to correlate closely (R2 ≥ 0.79) with population on a log-log ‘allometry’ plot. The production of emitted energy from the larger cities is smaller than would be produced from a constellation of smaller cities housing the same population. The mean allometry slope over all overpasses sampled is 0.84±0.06, implying an ‘economy (or parsimony) of scale’ (i.e., a less-than-proportional increase) of about 21% (i.e. 100(2-100.84log(2))) for each doubling of city population. City area shows a very similar economy of scale, so that the scaling of night-time emitted energy with urban area is close to linear (1.0±0.05). This linearity with area indicates that the urban forms used in UK cities to accommodate people more efficiently per unit area as the urban population grows, do not have a large effect on the thermal output per unit area in each city. Although often appearing superficially very different, UK cities appear to be similar in terms of the components of urban form that dictate thermal properties. The difference between the scaling of the heat source and literature reports of the scaling of urban-rural air (or surface) temperature difference is very marked, suggesting that the other factors affecting the temperature difference act to decrease strongly its scaling with population

Expression of Lamin A/C in early-stage breast cancer and its prognostic value

Purpose: Lamins A/C, a major component of the nuclear lamina, plays key roles in maintaining nuclear integrity, regulation of gene expression, cell proliferation and apoptosis. Reduced lamin A/C expression in cancer has been reported to be a sign of poor prognosis. However, its clinical significance in breast cancer remains to be defined. This study aimed to evaluate expression and prognostic significance of lamin A/C in early-stage breast cancer.Methods: Using immunohistochemical staining of tissue microarrays, expression of lamin A/C was evaluated in a large well-characterised series of early-stage operable breast cancer (n=938) obtained from Nottingham Primary Breast Carcinoma Series. Association of lamin A/C expression with clinicopathological parameters and outcome was evaluated.Results: Positive expression rate of lamin A/C in breast cancer was 42.2% (n=398). Reduced/loss of expression of lamin A/C was significantly associated with high histological grade (p [less than] 0.001), larger tumour size (p=0.004), poor Nottingham Prognostic Index (NPI) score (p [less than] 0.001), lymphovascular invasion (p=0.014) and development of distant metastasis (p=0.027). Survival analysis showed that reduced/loss of expression of lamin A/C was significantly associated with shorter breast cancer specific survival (p=0.008).Conclusion: This study suggests lamin A/C plays a role in breast cancer and loss of its expression is associated with variables of poor prognosis and shorter outcome

Predicting and measuring vertical track displacements on soft subgrades

Several analytical models can be used to predict the propagation of bending waves in the track/embankment system. A model of a Euler beam on a Winkler foundation is studied and used to demonstrate how the magnitude of displacements are dependent on train speed and track damping. The methods by which the model parameters may be calculated are discussed and their relative advantages and disadvantages are considered. From this study it is possible to form practical suggestions on methods by which the design of rail tracks can be adjusted to limit the maximum transient deflections as a train passes. This paper compares results from a predictive method with the results of in-situ assessments

Which effective viscosity?

Magmas undergoing shear are prime examples of flows that involve the transport of solids and gases by a separate (silicate melt) carrier phase. Such flows are called multiphase, and have attracted much attention due to their important range of engineering applications. Where the volume fraction of the dispersed phase (crystals) is large, the influence of particles on the fluid motion becomes significant and must be taken into account in any explanation of the bulk behaviour of the mixture. For congested magma deforming well in excess of the dilute limit (particle concentrations >40% by volume), sudden changes in the effective or relative viscosity can be expected. The picture is complicated further by the fact that the melt phase is temperature- and shear-rate-dependent. In the absence of a constitutive law for the flow of congested magma under an applied force, it is far from clear which of the many hundreds of empirical formulae devised to predict the rheology of suspensions as the particle fraction increases with time are best suited. Some of the more commonly used expressions in geology and engineering are reviewed with an aim to home in on those variables key to an improved understanding of magma rheology. These include a temperature, compositional and shear-rate dependency of viscosity of the melt phase with the shear-rate dependency of the crystal (particle) packing arrangement. Building on previous formulations, a new expression for the effective (relative) viscosity of magma is proposed that gives users the option to define a packing fraction range as a function of shear stress. Comparison is drawn between processes (segregation, clustering, jamming), common in industrial slurries, and structures seen preserved in igneous rocks. An equivalence is made such that congested magma, viewed in purely mechanical terms as a high-temperature slurry, is an inherently non-equilibrium material where flow at large Péclet numbers may result in shear thinning and spontaneous development of layering

Peatland afforestation in the UK and consequences for carbon storage

Peatlands are a globally significant store of carbon. During the second half of the 20th century new planting techniques combined with tax incentives encouraged commercial forestry across large areas of peat bog in the UK, particularly in the Flow Country of northern Scotland. Such planting was controversial and was ultimately halted by removal of the tax incentives, and policies to prevent new planting. Here we review the literature on UK peatland afforestation in relation to carbon and climate implications, and identify key issues for future research. The effects of conifer planting on peat bog carbon storage in the UK are poorly understood. A large body of research on peatland forestry exists, particularly from naturally forested fen peatlands in Fennoscandia and Russia, but the different conditions in the UK mean that results are not directly transferable. Data on the responses of UK peat bogs to afforestation are required to address this shortfall. Studies are required that quantify the loss of carbon from the peat and evaluate it against the accumulation of carbon above and below ground in trees, considering the likely residence time of carbon in wood products

Peatland afforestation in the UK and consequences for carbon storage

Peatlands are a globally significant store of carbon. During the second half of the 20th century new planting techniques combined with tax incentives encouraged commercial forestry across large areas of peat bog in the UK, particularly in the Flow Country of northern Scotland. Such planting was controversial and was ultimately halted by removal of the tax incentives, and policies to prevent new planting. Here we review the literature on UK peatland afforestation in relation to carbon and climate implications, and identify key issues for future research. The effects of conifer planting on peat bog carbon storage in the UK are poorly understood. A large body of research on peatland forestry exists, particularly from naturally forested fen peatlands in Fennoscandia and Russia, but the different conditions in the UK mean that results are not directly transferable. Data on the responses of UK peat bogs to afforestation are required to address this shortfall. Studies are required that quantify the loss of carbon from the peat and evaluate it against the accumulation of carbon above and below ground in trees, considering the likely residence time of carbon in wood products

Study protocol for the safety and efficacy of probiotic therapy on days alive and out of hospital in adult ICU patients: The multicentre, randomised, placebo-controlled Restoration Of gut microflora in Critical Illness Trial (ROCIT)

Introduction The effect of early and sustained administration of daily probiotic therapy on patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) remains uncertain. Methods and analysis The Restoration Of gut microflora in Critical Illness Trial (ROCIT) study is a multicentre, randomised, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, two-sided superiority trial that will enrol 220 patients in five ICUs. Adult patients who are within 48 hours of admission to an ICU and are expected to require intensive care beyond the next calendar day will be randomised in a 1:1 ratio to receive early and sustained Lactobacillus plantarum 299v probiotic therapy in addition to usual care or placebo in addition to usual care. The primary endpoint is days alive and out of hospital to day 60. Ethics and dissemination ROCIT has been approved by the South Metropolitan Health Service Human Research Ethics Committee (ref: RGS00000004) and the St John of God Health Care Human Research Ethics Committee (ref: 1183). The trial results will be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. Trial registration number Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR12617000783325); Pre-results

Linear polarization structures in LOFAR observations of the interstellar medium in the 3C 196 field

This study aims to characterize linear polarization structures in LOFAR observations of the interstellar medium (ISM) in the 3C196 field, one of the primary fields of the LOFAR-Epoch of Reionization key science project. We have used the high band antennas (HBA) of LOFAR to image this region and Rotation Measure (RM) synthesis to unravel the distribution of polarized structures in Faraday depth. The brightness temperature of the detected Galactic emission is 5−15 K in polarized intensity and covers the range from -3 to +8 rad m−2 in Faraday depth. The most interesting morphological feature is a strikingly straight filament at a Faraday depth of +0.5 rad m−2 running from north to south, right through the centre of the field and parallel to the Galactic plane. There is also an interesting system of linear depolarization canals conspicuous in an image showing the peaks of Faraday spectra. We used the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT) at 350 MHz to image the same region. For the first time, we see some common morphology in the RM cubes made at 150 and 350~{; ; \rm MHz}; ; . There is no indication of diffuse emission in total intensity in the interferometric data, in line with results at higher frequencies and previous LOFAR observations. Based on our results, we determined physical parameters of the ISM and proposed a simple model that may explain the observed distribution of the intervening magneto- ionic medium. The mean line-of-sight magnetic field component, B∥, is determined to be 0.3±0.1 μG and its spatial variation across the 3C196 field is 0.1 μG. The filamentary structure is probably an ionized filament in the ISM, located somewhere within the Local Bubble. This filamentary structure shows an excess in thermal electron density (neB∥>6.2 cm−3μG) compared to its surroundings

Environment-Induced Decoherence and the Transition From Quantum to Classical

We study dynamics of quantum open systems, paying special attention to those aspects of their evolution which are relevant to the transition from quantum to classical. We begin with a discussion of the conditional dynamics of simple systems. The resulting models are straightforward but suffice to illustrate basic physical ideas behind quantum measurements and decoherence. To discuss decoherence and environment-induced superselection einselection in a more general setting, we sketch perturbative as well as exact derivations of several master equations valid for various systems. Using these equations we study einselection employing the general strategy of the predictability sieve. Assumptions that are usually made in the discussion of decoherence are critically reexamined along with the ``standard lore'' to which they lead. Restoration of quantum-classical correspondence in systems that are classically chaotic is discussed. The dynamical second law -it is shown- can be traced to the same phenomena that allow for the restoration of the correspondence principle in decohering chaotic systems (where it is otherwise lost on a very short time-scale). Quantum error correction is discussed as an example of an anti-decoherence strategy. Implications of decoherence and einselection for the interpretation of quantum theory are briefly pointed out.Comment: 80 pages, 7 figures included, Lectures given by both authors at the 72nd Les Houches Summer School on "Coherent Matter Waves", July-August 199