276 research outputs found

    The origin and evolution of urban form in Wanganui East, Gonville and Castlecliff : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Geography at Massey University

    Get PDF
    The decision to study the urban form of Wanganui East, Gonville and Castlecliff (Plates 1,2 and 3) was made in 1968 after discussions with Mr. Ross, the then Town Planner for the City of Wanganui. Tho topic was chosen for two reasons. It was felt that the results could provide an insight into the evolution and nuture of the suburbs concerned, which would be of use to the City Planners. In addition it allowed for study in depth of concepts which appeared to be of considerable relevance not only to the geographer, but to the community as a whole. The three suburbs were selected because they alone within the present Borough of Wanganui had once existed as separate towns (see AppendixA), and it was thought that because of this they might exhibit distinctive characteristics in their physical form. This hypothesis appeared to be supported by a preliminary investigation of the material available. Concomitant with this assumption and resultant hypothesis was the belief that it was in any case important to examine and identify the elements of form in urban areas. It was felt that these, if investigated properly, could be helpful in correcting some of the problems inherent in the suburbs, and in New Zealand towns in general

    The Max-Planck-Institute global ocean/sea ice model with orthogonal curvilinear coordinates

    Get PDF
    The Hamburg Ocean Primitive Equation model has undergone significant development in recent years. Most notable is the treatment of horizontal discretisation which has undergone transition from a staggered E-grid to an orthogonal curvilinear C-grid. The treatment of subgridscale mixing has been improved by the inclusion of a new formulation of bottom boundary layer (BBL) slope convection, an isopycnal diffusion scheme, and a Gent and McWilliams style eddy-induced mixing parameterisation. The model setup described here has a north pole over Greenland and a south pole on the coast of the Weddell Sea. This gives relatively high resolution in the sinking regions associated with the thermohaline circulation. Results are presented from a 450 year climatologically forced integration. The forcing is a product of the German Ocean Model Intercomparison Project and is derived from the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting reanalysis. The main emphasis is on the model's representation of key quantities that are easily associated with the ocean's role in the global climate system. The global and Atlantic northward poleward heat transports have peaks of 1.43 and 0.84 PW, at 18degrees and 21degrees N respectively. The Atlantic meridional overturning streamfunction has a peak of 15.7 Sv in the North Atlantic and an outflow of 11.9 Sv at 30degrees S. Comparison with a simulation excluding BBL shows that the scheme is responsible for up to a 25% increase in North Atlantic heat transport, with significant improvement of the depths of convection in the Greenland, Labrador and Irminger Seas. Despite the improvements, comparison with observations shows the heat transport still to be too weak. Other outstanding problems include an incorrect Gulf Stream pathway, a too strong Antarctic Circumpolar Current, and a too weak renewal of Antarctic Intermediate Water. Nevertheless, the model has been coupled to the atmospheric GCM ECHAM5 and run successfully for over 250 years without any surface flux corrections. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

    Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

    Get PDF
    Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy

    Search for charged Higgs decays of the top quark using hadronic tau decays

    Full text link
    We present the result of a search for charged Higgs decays of the top quark, produced in ppˉp\bar{p} collisions at s=\surd s = 1.8 TeV. When the charged Higgs is heavy and decays to a tau lepton, which subsequently decays hadronically, the resulting events have a unique signature: large missing transverse energy and the low-charged-multiplicity tau. Data collected in the period 1992-1993 at the Collider Detector at Fermilab, corresponding to 18.7±\pm0.7~pb1^{-1}, exclude new regions of combined top quark and charged Higgs mass, in extensions to the standard model with two Higgs doublets.Comment: uuencoded, gzipped tar file of LaTeX and 6 Postscript figures; 11 pp; submitted to Phys. Rev.

    Inclusive jet cross section in pˉp{\bar p p} collisions at s=1.8\sqrt{s}=1.8 TeV

    Full text link
    The inclusive jet differential cross section has been measured for jet transverse energies, ETE_T, from 15 to 440 GeV, in the pseudorapidity region 0.1η\leq | \eta| \leq 0.7. The results are based on 19.5 pb1^{-1} of data collected by the CDF collaboration at the Fermilab Tevatron collider. The data are compared with QCD predictions for various sets of parton distribution functions. The cross section for jets with ET>200E_T>200 GeV is significantly higher than current predictions based on O(αs3\alpha_s^3) perturbative QCD calculations. Various possible explanations for the high-ETE_T excess are discussed.Comment: 8 pages with 2 eps uu-encoded figures Submitted to Physical Review Letter

    Associations between blood pressure across adulthood and late-life brain structure and pathology in the neuroscience substudy of the 1946 British birth cohort (Insight 46): an epidemiological study.

    Get PDF
    BACKGROUND: Midlife hypertension confers increased risk for cognitive impairment in late life. The sensitive period for risk exposure and extent that risk is mediated through amyloid or vascular-related mechanisms are poorly understood. We aimed to identify if, and when, blood pressure or change in blood pressure during adulthood were associated with late-life brain structure, pathology, and cognition. METHODS: Participants were from Insight 46, a neuroscience substudy of the ongoing longitudinal Medical Research Council National Survey of Health and Development, a birth cohort that initially comprised 5362 individuals born throughout mainland Britain in one week in 1946. Participants aged 69-71 years received T1 and FLAIR volumetric MRI, florbetapir amyloid-PET imaging, and cognitive assessment at University College London (London, UK); all participants were dementia-free. Blood pressure measurements had been collected at ages 36, 43, 53, 60-64, and 69 years. We also calculated blood pressure change variables between ages. Primary outcome measures were white matter hyperintensity volume (WMHV) quantified from multimodal MRI using an automated method, amyloid-β positivity or negativity using a standardised uptake value ratio approach, whole-brain and hippocampal volumes quantified from 3D-T1 MRI, and a composite cognitive score-the Preclinical Alzheimer Cognitive Composite (PACC). We investigated associations between blood pressure and blood pressure changes at and between 36, 43, 53, 60-64, and 69 years of age with WMHV using generalised linear models with a gamma distribution and log link function, amyloid-β status using logistic regression, whole-brain volume and hippocampal volumes using linear regression, and PACC score using linear regression, with adjustment for potential confounders. FINDINGS: Between May 28, 2015, and Jan 10, 2018, 502 individuals were assessed as part of Insight 46. 465 participants (238 [51%] men; mean age 70·7 years [SD 0·7]; 83 [18%] amyloid-β-positive) were included in imaging analyses. Higher systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) at age 53 years and greater increases in SBP and DBP between 43 and 53 years were positively associated with WMHV at 69-71 years of age (increase in mean WMHV per 10 mm Hg greater SBP 7%, 95% CI 1-14, p=0·024; increase in mean WMHV per 10 mm Hg greater DBP 15%, 4-27, p=0·0057; increase in mean WMHV per one SD change in SBP 15%, 3-29, p=0·012; increase in mean WMHV per 1 SD change in DBP 15%, 3-30, p=0·017). Higher DBP at 43 years of age was associated with smaller whole-brain volume at 69-71 years of age (-6·9 mL per 10 mm Hg greater DBP, -11·9 to -1·9, p=0·0068), as were greater increases in DBP between 36 and 43 years of age (-6·5 mL per 1 SD change, -11·1 to -1·9, p=0·0054). Greater increases in SBP between 36 and 43 years of age were associated with smaller hippocampal volumes at 69-71 years of age (-0·03 mL per 1 SD change, -0·06 to -0·001, p=0·043). Neither absolute blood pressure nor change in blood pressure predicted amyloid-β status or PACC score at 69-71 years of age. INTERPRETATION: High and increasing blood pressure from early adulthood into midlife seems to be associated with increased WMHV and smaller brain volumes at 69-71 years of age. We found no evidence that blood pressure affected cognition or cerebral amyloid-β load at this age. Blood pressure monitoring and interventions might need to start around 40 years of age to maximise late-life brain health. FUNDING: Alzheimer's Research UK, Medical Research Council, Dementias Platform UK, Wellcome Trust, Brain Research UK, Wolfson Foundation, Weston Brain Institute, Avid Radiopharmaceuticals

    Associations between blood pressure across adulthood and late-life brain structure and pathology in the neuroscience substudy of the 1946 British birth cohort (Insight 46): an epidemiological study

    Get PDF
    BACKGROUND: Midlife hypertension confers increased risk for cognitive impairment in late life. The sensitive period for risk exposure and extent that risk is mediated through amyloid or vascular-related mechanisms are poorly understood. We aimed to identify if, and when, blood pressure or change in blood pressure during adulthood were associated with late-life brain structure, pathology, and cognition. METHODS: Participants were from Insight 46, a neuroscience substudy of the ongoing longitudinal Medical Research Council National Survey of Health and Development, a birth cohort that initially comprised 5362 individuals born throughout mainland Britain in one week in 1946. Participants aged 69-71 years received T1 and FLAIR volumetric MRI, florbetapir amyloid-PET imaging, and cognitive assessment at University College London (London, UK); all participants were dementia-free. Blood pressure measurements had been collected at ages 36, 43, 53, 60-64, and 69 years. We also calculated blood pressure change variables between ages. Primary outcome measures were white matter hyperintensity volume (WMHV) quantified from multimodal MRI using an automated method, amyloid-β positivity or negativity using a standardised uptake value ratio approach, whole-brain and hippocampal volumes quantified from 3D-T1 MRI, and a composite cognitive score-the Preclinical Alzheimer Cognitive Composite (PACC). We investigated associations between blood pressure and blood pressure changes at and between 36, 43, 53, 60-64, and 69 years of age with WMHV using generalised linear models with a gamma distribution and log link function, amyloid-β status using logistic regression, whole-brain volume and hippocampal volumes using linear regression, and PACC score using linear regression, with adjustment for potential confounders. FINDINGS: Between May 28, 2015, and Jan 10, 2018, 502 individuals were assessed as part of Insight 46. 465 participants (238 [51%] men; mean age 70·7 years [SD 0·7]; 83 [18%] amyloid-β-positive) were included in imaging analyses. Higher systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) at age 53 years and greater increases in SBP and DBP between 43 and 53 years were positively associated with WMHV at 69-71 years of age (increase in mean WMHV per 10 mm Hg greater SBP 7%, 95% CI 1-14, p=0·024; increase in mean WMHV per 10 mm Hg greater DBP 15%, 4-27, p=0·0057; increase in mean WMHV per one SD change in SBP 15%, 3-29, p=0·012; increase in mean WMHV per 1 SD change in DBP 15%, 3-30, p=0·017). Higher DBP at 43 years of age was associated with smaller whole-brain volume at 69-71 years of age (-6·9 mL per 10 mm Hg greater DBP, -11·9 to -1·9, p=0·0068), as were greater increases in DBP between 36 and 43 years of age (-6·5 mL per 1 SD change, -11·1 to -1·9, p=0·0054). Greater increases in SBP between 36 and 43 years of age were associated with smaller hippocampal volumes at 69-71 years of age (-0·03 mL per 1 SD change, -0·06 to -0·001, p=0·043). Neither absolute blood pressure nor change in blood pressure predicted amyloid-β status or PACC score at 69-71 years of age. INTERPRETATION: High and increasing blood pressure from early adulthood into midlife seems to be associated with increased WMHV and smaller brain volumes at 69-71 years of age. We found no evidence that blood pressure affected cognition or cerebral amyloid-β load at this age. Blood pressure monitoring and interventions might need to start around 40 years of age to maximise late-life brain health. FUNDING: Alzheimer's Research UK, Medical Research Council, Dementias Platform UK, Wellcome Trust, Brain Research UK, Wolfson Foundation, Weston Brain Institute, Avid Radiopharmaceuticals

    Descent toward the icehouse: Eocene sea surface cooling inferred from GDGT distributions

    Get PDF
    The TEX86 proxy, based on the distribution of marine isoprenoidal glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether lipids (GDGTs), is increasingly used to reconstruct sea surface temperature (SST) during the Eocene epoch (56.0–33.9 Ma). Here we compile published TEX86 records, critically reevaluate them in light of new understandings in TEX86 palaeothermometry, and supplement them with new data in order to evaluate long-term temperature trends in the Eocene. We investigate the effect of archaea other than marine Thaumarchaeota upon TEX86 values using the branched-to-isoprenoid tetraether index (BIT), the abundance of GDGT-0 relative to crenarchaeol (%GDGT-0), and the Methane Index (MI). We also introduce a new ratio, % GDGTRS, which may help identify Red Sea-type GDGT distributions in the geological record. Using the offset between TEX86H and TEX86L(ΔH-L) and the ratio between GDGT-2 and GDGT-3 ([2]/[3]), we evaluate different TEX86 calibrations and present the first integrated SST compilation for the Eocene (55 to 34 Ma). Although the available data are still sparse some geographic trends can now be resolved. In the high latitudes (>55°), there was substantial cooling during the Eocene (~6°C). Our compiled record also indicates tropical cooling of ~2.5°C during the same interval. Using an ensemble of climate model simulations that span the Eocene, our results indicate that only a small percentage (~10%) of the reconstructed temperature change can be ascribed to ocean gateway reorganization or paleogeographic change. Collectively, this indicates that atmospheric carbon dioxide (pCO2) was the likely driver of surface water cooling during the descent toward the icehouse

    Imaging biomarker roadmap for cancer studies.

    Get PDF
    Imaging biomarkers (IBs) are integral to the routine management of patients with cancer. IBs used daily in oncology include clinical TNM stage, objective response and left ventricular ejection fraction. Other CT, MRI, PET and ultrasonography biomarkers are used extensively in cancer research and drug development. New IBs need to be established either as useful tools for testing research hypotheses in clinical trials and research studies, or as clinical decision-making tools for use in healthcare, by crossing 'translational gaps' through validation and qualification. Important differences exist between IBs and biospecimen-derived biomarkers and, therefore, the development of IBs requires a tailored 'roadmap'. Recognizing this need, Cancer Research UK (CRUK) and the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) assembled experts to review, debate and summarize the challenges of IB validation and qualification. This consensus group has produced 14 key recommendations for accelerating the clinical translation of IBs, which highlight the role of parallel (rather than sequential) tracks of technical (assay) validation, biological/clinical validation and assessment of cost-effectiveness; the need for IB standardization and accreditation systems; the need to continually revisit IB precision; an alternative framework for biological/clinical validation of IBs; and the essential requirements for multicentre studies to qualify IBs for clinical use.Development of this roadmap received support from Cancer Research UK and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (grant references A/15267, A/16463, A/16464, A/16465, A/16466 and A/18097), the EORTC Cancer Research Fund, and the Innovative Medicines Initiative Joint Undertaking (grant agreement number 115151), resources of which are composed of financial contribution from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) and European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) companies' in kind contribution
    corecore