307 research outputs found
Developing an e-infrastructure for social science
We outline the aims and progress to date of the National Centre for e-Social
Science e-Infrastructure project. We examine the challenges faced by the project, namely in
ensuring outputs are appropriate to social scientists, managing the transition from research
projects to service and embedding software and data within a wider infrastructural
framework. We also provide pointers to related work where issues which have ramifications
for this and similar initiatives are being addressed
A study of cyber hate on Twitter with implications for social media governance strategies
This paper explores ways in which the harmful effects of cyber hate may be mitigated through mechanisms for enhancing the self-governance of new digital spaces. We report findings from a mixed methods study of responses to cyber hate posts, which aimed to: (i) understand how people interact in this context by undertaking qualitative interaction analysis and developing a statistical model to explain the volume of responses to cyber hate posted to Twitter, and (ii) explore use of machine learning techniques to assist in identifying
cyber hate counter-speech
Human effect on twin antenna on-body for three diversity techniques at 2.4 GHz
Since the user is generally in the near field On-body
antennas are accepted as more complex to optimise than their
free space counterparts. Use of the body as a platform for
wearable electronics is a topical subject. Omnidirectional
antennas are thought to be useful for antennas in body area
networks. However, the desirable properties of omnidirectional
radiation patterns close to humans are severely diminished due
to the lossy load nature of biological matter and high levels of
scattering due to shadowing and mismatch. To alleviate these
problems two or more antennas can be used on the body. In this
paper, two on body antennas are used with three different
combination techniques in order to evaluate the diversity
performance and then compared with their free space
equivalents. Three diversity techniques are used â Selective,
Maximal Ratio and Equal Gain.
The frequency of operation was 2.4GHz
Comparative effectiveness of endovascular versus open repair of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm in the Medicare population
ObjectiveEndovascular aortic repair (EVAR) for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is increasingly used for emergent treatment of ruptured AAA (rAAA). We sought to compare the perioperative and long-term mortality, procedure-related complications, and rates of reintervention of EVAR vs open aortic repair of rAAA in Medicare beneficiaries.MethodsWe examined perioperative and long-term mortality and complications after EVAR or open aortic repair performed for rAAA in all traditional Medicare beneficiaries discharged from a United States hospital from 2001 to 2008. Patients were matched by propensity score on baseline demographics, coexisting conditions, admission source, and hospital volume of rAAA repair. Sensitivity analyses were performed to evaluate the effect of bias that might have resulted from unmeasured confounders.ResultsOf 10,998 patients with repaired rAAA, 1126 underwent EVAR and 9872 underwent open repair. Propensity score matching yielded 1099 patient pairs. The average age was 78Â years, and 72.4% were male. Perioperative mortality was 33.8% for EVAR and 47.7% for open repair (PÂ < .001), and this difference persisted for >4Â years. At 36Â months, EVAR patients had higher rates of AAA-related reinterventions than open repair patients (endovascular reintervention, 10.9% vs 1.5%; PÂ < .001), whereas open patients had more laparotomy-related complications (incisional hernia repair, 1.8% vs 6.2%; PÂ < .001; all surgical complications, 4.4% vs 9.1%; PÂ < .001). Use of EVAR for rAAA increased from 6% of cases in 2001 to 31% in 2008, whereas during the same interval, overall 30-day mortality for admission for rAAA, regardless of treatment, decreased from 55.8% to 50.9%.ConclusionsEVAR for rAAA is associated with lower perioperative and long-term mortality in Medicare beneficiaries. Increasing adoption of EVAR for rAAA is associated with an overall decrease in mortality of patients hospitalized for rAAA during the last decade
The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health in individuals with pre-existing mental illness
BACKGROUND: There is evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected mental health, but most studies have been conducted in the general population. AIMS: To identify factors associated with mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in individuals with pre-existing mental illness. METHOD: Participants (N = 2869, 78% women, ages 18â94 years) from a UK cohort (the National Centre for Mental Health) with a history of mental illness completed a cross-sectional online survey in June to August 2020. Mental health assessments were the GAD-7 (anxiety), PHQ-9 (depression) and WHO-5 (well-being) questionnaires, and a self-report question on whether their mental health had changed during the pandemic. Regressions examined associations between mental health outcomes and hypothesised risk factors. Secondary analyses examined associations between specific mental health diagnoses and mental health. RESULTS: A total of 60% of participants reported that mental health had worsened during the pandemic. Younger age, difficulty accessing mental health services, low income, income affected by COVID-19, worry about COVID-19, reduced sleep and increased alcohol/drug use were associated with increased depression and anxiety symptoms and reduced well-being. Feeling socially supported by friends/family/services was associated with better mental health and well-being. Participants with a history of anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder or eating disorder were more likely to report that mental health had worsened during the pandemic than individuals without a history of these diagnoses. CONCLUSIONS: We identified factors associated with worse mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in individuals with pre-existing mental illness, in addition to specific groups potentially at elevated risk of poor mental health during the pandemic
Improving the science-policy dialogue to meet the challenges of biodiversity conservation: having conversations rather than talking at one-another
A better, more effective dialogue is needed between biodiversity science and policy to underpin the sustainable use and conservation of biodiversity. Many initiatives exist to improve communication, but these largely conform to a âlinearâ or technocratic model of communication in which scientific âfactsâ are transmitted directly to policy advisers to âsolve problemsâ. While this model can help start a dialogue, it is, on its own, insufficient, as decision taking is complex, iterative and often selective in the information used. Here, we draw on the literature, interviews and a workshop with individuals working at the interface between biodiversity science and government policy development to present practical recommendations aimed at individuals, teams, organisations and funders. Building on these recommendations, we stress the need to: (a) frame research and policy jointly; (b) promote inter- and trans-disciplinary research and âmulti-domainâ working groups that include both scientists and policy makers from various fields and sectors; (c) put in place structures and incentive schemes that support interactive dialogue in the long-term. These are changes that are needed in light of continuing loss of biodiversity and its consequences for societal dependence on and benefits from nature
C3dâpositive donorâspecific antibodies have a role in pretransplant risk stratification of crossâmatchâpositive HLAâincompatible renal transplantation : United Kingdom multicentre study
AntiâHLAâantibody characteristics aid to riskâstratify patients and improve longâterm renal graft outcomes. Complement activation by donorâspecific antibody (DSA) is an important characteristic that may determine renal allograft outcome. There is heterogeneity in graft outcomes within the moderate to high immunological risk cases (crossâmatchâpositive). We explored the role of C3dâpositive DSAs in subâstratification of crossâmatchâpositive cases and relate to the graft outcomes. We investigated 139 crossâmatchâpositive livingâdonor renal transplant recipients from four transplant centres in the United Kingdom. C3d assay was performed on serum samples obtained at pretreatment (predesensitization) and Day 14 postâtransplant. C3dâpositive DSAs were found in 52 (37%) patients at pretreatment and in 37 (27%) patients at Day 14 postâtransplant. Median followâup of patients was 48 months (IQR 20.47â77.57). In the multivariable analysis, pretreatment C3dâpositive DSA was independently associated with reduced overall graft survival, the hazard ratio of 3.29 (95% CI 1.37â7.86). The relative risk of deathâcensored fiveâyear graft failure was 2.83 (95% CI 1.56â5.13). Patients with both pretreatment and Day 14 C3dâpositive DSAs had the worst fiveâyear graft survival at 45.5% compared with 87.2% in both pretreatment and Day 14 C3dânegative DSA patients with the relative risk of deathâcensored fiveâyear graft failure was 4.26 (95% CI 1.79, 10.09). In this multicentre study, we have demonstrated for the first time the utility of C3d analysis as a distinctive biomarker to subâstratify the risk of poor graft outcome in crossâmatchâpositive livingâdonor renal transplantation
Climate warming, marine protected areas and the ocean-scale integrity of coral reef ecosystems
Coral reefs have emerged as one of the ecosystems most vulnerable to climate variation and change. While the contribution
of a warming climate to the loss of live coral cover has been well documented across large spatial and temporal scales, the
associated effects on fish have not. Here, we respond to recent and repeated calls to assess the importance of local
management in conserving coral reefs in the context of global climate change. Such information is important, as coral reef
fish assemblages are the most species dense vertebrate communities on earth, contributing critical ecosystem functions
and providing crucial ecosystem services to human societies in tropical countries. Our assessment of the impacts of the
1998 mass bleaching event on coral cover, reef structural complexity, and reef associated fishes spans 7 countries, 66 sites
and 26 degrees of latitude in the Indian Ocean. Using Bayesian meta-analysis we show that changes in the size structure,
diversity and trophic composition of the reef fish community have followed coral declines. Although the ocean scale
integrity of these coral reef ecosystems has been lost, it is positive to see the effects are spatially variable at multiple scales,
with impacts and vulnerability affected by geography but not management regime. Existing no-take marine protected areas
still support high biomass of fish, however they had no positive affect on the ecosystem response to large-scale disturbance.
This suggests a need for future conservation and management efforts to identify and protect regional refugia, which should
be integrated into existing management frameworks and combined with policies to improve system-wide resilience to
climate variation and change
The exceptionally powerful TeV gamma-ray emitters in the Large Magellanic Cloud
The Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, has been
observed with the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) above an energy of
100 billion electron volts for a deep exposure of 210 hours. Three sources of
different types were detected: the pulsar wind nebula of the most energetic
pulsar known N 157B, the radio-loud supernova remnant N 132D and the largest
non-thermal X-ray shell - the superbubble 30 Dor C. The unique object SN 1987A
is, surprisingly, not detected, which constrains the theoretical framework of
particle acceleration in very young supernova remnants. These detections reveal
the most energetic tip of a gamma-ray source population in an external galaxy,
and provide via 30 Dor C the unambiguous detection of gamma-ray emission from a
superbubble.Comment: Published in Science Magazine (Jan. 23, 2015). This ArXiv version has
the supplementary online material incorporated as an appendix to the main
pape
Thermohaline forcing and interannual variability of northwestern inflows into the northern North Sea
A long-established, 127 km-long hydrographic section in the northern North Sea at 59.28°N that runs from the eastern coast of Orkney (2.23°W) to the central North Sea (0°) crosses the path of the main inflows of Atlantic water. Data from 122 occupations between 1989 and 2015 are examined to determine the annual cycle and long-term trends of temperature, salinity and depth-varying geostrophic flow across the section. In an average year, the geostrophic flow referenced to the seafloor is at its narrowest (40 km) in winter, during which time it is driven by the strong horizontal salinity gradient; the horizontal temperature gradient is very weak. Velocity exceeds 4 cm sâ1, but transport is at a minimum (0.11 Sv). In the deeper water in the east of the section, thermal stratification develops throughout summer and persists until October, whereas the west is tidally mixed all year. The bottom temperature gradient becomes the primary driver of the geostrophic flow, which is fastest (9 cm sâ1) in September and broadest (100 km) in October. Maximum transport (0.36 Sv) occurs in October. Throughout the summer, the horizontal salinity gradient weakens, as does its contribution to the flow. However, it nevertheless acts to broaden the flow west of the location of the strongest horizontal temperature gradient. Section-mean de-seasoned temperature is found to be positively correlated to the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation and negatively correlated to the North Atlantic Oscillation. These results refine our understanding of the thermohaline forcing of Atlantic inflow into the northern North Sea, particularly in relation to the salinity distribution. Understanding the variability of this inflow is important for understanding the dynamics of the North Sea ecosystem
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