The accelerated scaling attractor solution of the interacting agegraphic dark energy in Brans-Dicke theory

We investigate the interacting agegraphic dark energy in Brans-Dicke theory and introduce a new series general forms of dark sector coupling. As examples, we select three cases involving a linear interaction form (Model I) and two nonlinear interaction form (Model II and Model III). Our conclusions show that the accelerated scaling attractor solutions do exist in these models. We also find that these interacting agegraphic dark energy modes are consistent with the observational data. The difference in these models is that nonlinear interaction forms give more approached evolution to the standard $\Lambda$CDM model than the linear one. Our work implies that the nonlinear interaction forms should be payed more attention.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures, accepted in Eur. Phys. J.

Petermann Ice Island 'A' survey results, offshore labrador

In August 2010 a 265 km2 ice island calved from the Petermann Glacier in northern Greenland. Soon after the initial calving event the mass broke into several pieces, some of which exited Baffin Bay and drifted south toward the Labrador coast. By June 2011 PII-A, a large fragment of the initial Petermann Ice Island, was situated offshore Labrador and in one week it had moved 225 km down the coast. Concern arose that if PII-A continued its trajectory it could reach the Grand Banks by August 2011, posing a potential risk for existing infrastructure in the offshore region of Newfoundland. To properly assess the potential risk a realistic estimate of ice mass was necessary. This in turn required field measurements of the ice islands thickness. A three-day field program was carried out on the Petermann Ice Islands, PII-A and PII-A-a, from June 17-19, 2011. At this time PII-A and PII-A-a were situated offshore Labrador, Canada, approximately 100 km northeast of the town of Rigolet. Geophysical survey methods, including Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and Seismic Reflection, were used to identify the base of the islands and obtain ice thickness measurements at various locations. Eight satellite tracking beacons were deployed on PII-A and one was deployed on PII-A-a. Ablation data, photographs and video footage were also obtained during the program. On July 22, 2011, PII-A was revisited while it was situated off the southern Labrador coast. GPR measurements were acquired at the pre-existing stations; the measurements allowed for deterioration rates due to surface and basal melting to be calculated for PII-A. Results of the field measurements indicate that ice thickness varied between 50 to 80 m on PII-A; the thickness of PII-A-a was 30 m at a single survey location. Surface melt rates of 2.7-6.3 cm day"1 were observed over a 1-day period in June. For the 35-day period between June and July visits, average surface and basal melt of 5.0 cm day"1 and 3.4 cm day"1, respectively, were calculated. Copyright 2012, Offshore Technology Conference

A review of evidence on the environmental impact of Ireland’s Rural Environment Protection Scheme (REPS)

peer-reviewedSince its inception in 1994, there has been strong demand for evidence of the environmental effectiveness of the Rural Environment Protection Scheme (REPS), which paid farmers in the Republic of Ireland over €3 billion by 2010. A variety of research projects have been undertaken that investigate the environmental effects of REPS through an examination of either specific environmental measures or specific geographical areas. A review of available publications confirmed the absence of a comprehensive, national-scale study of the environmental impacts of REPS. Because of this, there is insufficient evidence with which to judge the environmental effectiveness of the national-scale implementation of the whole scheme. For some specific measures, however, sufficient evidence is available to inform an objective assessment in some cases, and to help learn how to improve environmental effectiveness in most cases. The majority of the REPS payments are now dedicated toward biodiversity objectives. Thus, biodiversity measures and options should be a priority for any national-scale environmental assessment of the scheme. Such a study would help identify the environmental benefits of REPS, the specific elements of REPS that are performing adequately, and those elements that are in need of improvement. Given the considerable overlap between REPS measures and options and those included in the 2010 Agri-Environment Options Scheme (AEOS), assessment of REPS measures could also be used to inform the likely environmental performance of the AEOS

State of the climate in 2015

In 2015, the dominant greenhouse gases released into Earth\u2019s atmosphere\u2014carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide\u2014all continued to reach new high levels. At Mauna Loa, Hawaii, the annual CO2 concentration increased by a record 3.1 ppm, exceeding 400 ppm for the first time on record. The 2015 global CO2 average neared this threshold, at 399.4 ppm. Additionally, one of the strongest El Ni\uf1o events since at least 1950 developed in spring 2015 and continued to evolve through the year. The phenomenon was far reaching, impacting many regions across the globe and affecting most aspects of the climate system. Owing to the combination of El Ni\uf1o and a long-term upward trend, Earth observed record warmth for the second consecutive year, with the 2015 annual global surface temperature surpassing the previous record by more than 0.1\ub0C and exceeding the average for the mid- to late 19th century\u2014commonly considered representative of preindustrial conditions\u2014by more than 1\ub0C for the first time. Above Earth\u2019s surface, lower troposphere temperatures were near-record high. Across land surfaces, record to near-record warmth was reported across every inhabited continent. Twelve countries, including Russia and China, reported record high annual temperatures. In June, one of the most severe heat waves since 1980 affected Karachi, Pakistan, claiming over 1000 lives. On 27 October, Vredendal, South Africa, reached 48.4\ub0C, a new global high temperature record for this month. In the Arctic, the 2015 land surface temperature was 1.2\ub0C above the 1981\u20132010 average, tying 2007 and 2011 for the highest annual temperature and representing a 2.8\ub0C increase since the record began in 1900. Increasing temperatures have led to decreasing Arctic sea ice extent and thickness. On 25 February 2015, the lowest maximum sea ice extent in the 37-year satellite record was observed, 7% below the 1981\u20132010 average. Mean sea surface temperatures across the Arctic Ocean during August in ice-free regions, representative of Arctic Ocean summer anomalies, ranged from ~0\ub0C to 8\ub0C above average. As a consequence of sea ice retreat and warming oceans, vast walrus herds in the Pacific Arctic are hauling out on land rather than on sea ice, raising concern about the energetics of females and young animals. Increasing temperatures in the Barents Sea are linked to a community-wide shift in fish populations: boreal communities are now farther north, and long-standing Arctic species have been almost pushed out of the area. Above average sea surface temperatures are not confined to the Arctic. Sea surface temperature for 2015 was record high at the global scale; however, the North Atlantic southeast of Greenland remained colder than average and colder than 2014. Global annual ocean heat content and mean sea level also reached new record highs. The Greenland Ice Sheet, with the capacity to contribute ~7 m to sea level rise, experienced melting over more than 50% of its surface for the first time since the record melt of 2012. Other aspects of the cryosphere were remarkable. Alpine glacier retreat continued, and preliminary data indicate that 2015 is the 36th consecutive year of negative annual mass balance. Across the Northern Hemisphere, late-spring snow cover extent continued its trend of decline, with June the second lowest in the 49-year satellite record. Below the surface, record high temperatures at 20-m depth were measured at all permafrost observatories on the North Slope of Alaska, increasing by up to 0.66\ub0C decade\u20131 since 2000. In the Antarctic, surface pressure and temperatures were lower than the 1981\u20132010 average for most of the year, consistent with the primarily positive southern annular mode, which saw a record high index value of +4.92 in February. Antarctic sea ice extent and area had large intra-annual variability, with a shift from record high levels in May to record low levels in August. Springtime ozone depletion resulted in one of the largest and most persistent Antarctic ozone holes observed since the 1990s. Closer to the equator, 101 named tropical storms were observed in 2015, well above the 1981\u20132010 average of 82. The eastern/central Pacific had 26 named storms, the most since 1992. The western north Pacific and north and south Indian Ocean basins also saw high activity. Globally, eight tropical cyclones reached the Saffir\u2013Simpson Category 5 intensity level. Overlaying a general increase in the hydrologic cycle, the strong El Ni\uf1o enhanced precipitation variability around the world. An above-normal rainy season led to major floods in Paraguay, Bolivia, and southern Brazil. In May, the United States recorded its all-time wettest month in its 121-year national record. Denmark and Norway reported their second and third wettest year on record, respectively, but globally soil moisture was below average, terrestrial groundwater storage was the lowest in the 14-year record, and areas in \u201csevere\u201d drought rose from 8% in 2014 to 14% in 2015. Drought conditions prevailed across many Caribbean island nations, Colombia, Venezuela, and northeast Brazil for most of the year. Several South Pacific countries also experienced drought. Lack of rainfall across Ethiopia led to its worst drought in decades and affected millions of people, while prolonged drought in South Africa severely affected agricultural production. Indian summer monsoon rainfall was just 86% of average. Extremely dry conditions in Indonesia resulted in intense and widespread fires during August\u2013November that produced abundant carbonaceous aerosols, carbon monoxide, and ozone. Overall, emissions from tropical Asian biomass burning in 2015 were almost three times the 2001\u201314 average

A randomised, blinded, trial of clopidogrel versus aspirin in patients at risk of ischaemic events (CAPRIE). CAPRIE Steering Committee

Many clinical trials have evaluated the benefit of long-term use of antiplatelet drugs in reducing the risk of clinical thrombotic events. Aspirin and ticlopidine have been shown to be effective, but both have potentially serious adverse effects. Clopidogrel, a new thienopyridine derivative similar to ticlopidine, is an inhibitor of platelet aggregation induced by adenosine diphosphate. METHODS: CAPRIE was a randomised, blinded, international trial designed to assess the relative efficacy of clopidogrel (75 mg once daily) and aspirin (325 mg once daily) in reducing the risk of a composite outcome cluster of ischaemic stroke, myocardial infarction, or vascular death; their relative safety was also assessed. The population studied comprised subgroups of patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease manifested as either recent ischaemic stroke, recent myocardial infarction, or symptomatic peripheral arterial disease. Patients were followed for 1 to 3 years. FINDINGS: 19,185 patients, with more than 6300 in each of the clinical subgroups, were recruited over 3 years, with a mean follow-up of 1.91 years. There were 1960 first events included in the outcome cluster on which an intention-to-treat analysis showed that patients treated with clopidogrel had an annual 5.32% risk of ischaemic stroke, myocardial infarction, or vascular death compared with 5.83% with aspirin. These rates reflect a statistically significant (p = 0.043) relative-risk reduction of 8.7% in favour of clopidogrel (95% Cl 0.3-16.5). Corresponding on-treatment analysis yielded a relative-risk reduction of 9.4%. There were no major differences in terms of safety. Reported adverse experiences in the clopidogrel and aspirin groups judged to be severe included rash (0.26% vs 0.10%), diarrhoea (0.23% vs 0.11%), upper gastrointestinal discomfort (0.97% vs 1.22%), intracranial haemorrhage (0.33% vs 0.47%), and gastrointestinal haemorrhage (0.52% vs 0.72%), respectively. There were ten (0.10%) patients in the clopidogrel group with significant reductions in neutrophils (< 1.2 x 10(9)/L) and 16 (0.17%) in the aspirin group. INTERPRETATION: Long-term administration of clopidogrel to patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease is more effective than aspirin in reducing the combined risk of ischaemic stroke, myocardial infarction, or vascular death. The overall safety profile of clopidogrel is at least as good as that of medium-dose aspirin