Discrete classification and electron energy spectra of Titan's varied magnetospheric environment

We analyse combined electron spectra across the dynamic range of both Cassini electron sensors in order to characterise the background plasma environment near Titan for 54 Cassini-Titan encounters as of May 2009. We characterise the encounters into four broad types: Plasma sheet, Lobe-like, Magnetosheath and Bimodal. Despite many encounters occurring close to the magnetopause only two encounters to date were predominantly in the magnetosheath (T32 and T42). Bimodal encounters contain two distinct electron populations, the low energy component of the bi-modal populations is apparently associated with local water group products. Additionally, a hot lobe-like environment is also occasionally observed and is suggestively linked to increased local pick-up. We find that 34 of 54 encounters analysed are associated with one of these groups while the remaining encounters exhibit a combination of these environments. We provide typical electron properties and spectra for each plasma regime and list the encounters appropriate to each. Citation: Rymer, A.M., H. T. Smith, A. Wellbrock, A.J. Coates, and D.T. Young (2009), Discrete classification and electron energy spectra of Titan's varied magnetospheric environment, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L15109, doi: 10.1029/2009GL039427

Comparing features extractors in EEG-based cognitive fatigue detection of demanding computer tasks

© 2015 IEEE. An electroencephalography (EEG)-based classification system could be used as a tool for detecting cognitive fatigue from demanding computer tasks. The most widely used feature extractor in EEG-based fatigue classification is power spectral density (PSD). This paper investigates PSD and three alternative feature extraction methods, in order to find the best feature extractor for the classification of cognitive fatigue during cognitively demanding tasks. These compared methods are power spectral entropy (PSE), wavelet, and autoregressive (AR). Bayesian neural network was selected as the classifier in this study. The results showed that the use of PSD and PSE methods provide an average accuracy of 60% for each computer task. This finding is slightly improved using the wavelet method which has an average accuracy of 61%. The AR method is the best feature extractor compared with the PSD, PSE and wavelet in this study with accuracy of 75.95% in AX-continuous performance test (AX-CPT), 75.23% in psychomotor vigilance test (PVT) and 76.02% in Stroop task (p-value < 0.05)

Will more of the same achieve malaria elimination? Results from an integrated macroeconomic epidemiological demographic model

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the publisher via the DOI in this recordThe data underlying the model framework are available from the authors on request and selected parameters are also tabulated in the methods paper,22 and from the Malaria Atlas Project http:// www.map.ox.ac.uk/Historic levels of funding have reduced the global burden of malaria in recent years. Questions remain, however, as to whether scaling up interventions, in parallel with economic growth, has made malaria elimination more likely today than previously. The consequences of “trying but failing” to eliminate malaria are also uncertain. Reduced malaria exposure decreases the acquisition of semi-immunity during childhood, a necessary phase of the immunological transition that occurs on the pathway to malaria elimination. During this transitional period, the risk of malaria resurgence increases as proportionately more individuals across all age-groups are less able to manage infections by immune response alone. We developed a robust model that integrates the effects of malaria transmission, demography, and macroeconomics in the context of Plasmodium falciparum malaria within a hyperendemic environment. We analyzed the potential for existing interventions, alongside economic development, to achieve malaria elimination. Simulation results indicate that a 2% increase in future economic growth will increase the US$5.1 billion cumulative economic burden of malaria in Ghana to US$7.2 billion, although increasing regional insecticide-treated net coverage rates by 25% will lower malaria reproduction numbers by just 9%, reduce population-wide morbidity by −0.1%, and reduce prevalence from 54% to 46% by 2034. As scaling up current malaria control tools, combined with economic growth, will be insufficient to interrupt malaria transmission in Ghana, high levels of malaria control should be maintained and investment in research and development should be increased to maintain the gains of the past decade and to minimize the risk of resurgence, as transmission dropsMedical Research Council (MRC

Management and treatment outcomes of patients enrolled in MDR-TB treatment in Viet Nam.

SETTING: The programmatic management of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) in Viet Nam has been rapidly scaled up since 2009. OBJECTIVES: To document the annual numbers of patients enrolled for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) treatment during 2010-2014 and to determine characteristics and treatment outcomes of patients initiating treatment during 2010-2012. DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study using national reports and data from the national electronic data system for drug-resistant TB. RESULTS: The number of patients enrolled annually for MDR-TB treatment increased from 97 in 2010 to 1522 in 2014. The majority of patients were middle-aged men who had pulmonary disease and had failed a retreatment regimen; 77% had received ⩾2 courses of TB treatment. Favourable outcomes (cured and treatment completed) were attained in 73% of patients. Unfavourable outcomes included loss to follow-up (12.5%), death (8%) and failure (6.3%). Having had ⩾2 previous treatment courses and being human immunodeficiency virus-positive were associated with unfavourable outcomes. CONCLUSION: Increasing numbers of patients are being treated for MDR-TB each year with good treatment outcomes under national programme management in Viet Nam. However, there is a need to increase case detection-currently at 30% of the estimated 5100 MDR-TB cases per year, reduce adverse outcomes and improve monitoring and evaluation

Preliminary interpretation of Titan plasma interaction as observed by the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer: Comparisons with Voyager 1

The Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) instrument observed the plasma environment at Titan during the Cassini orbiter's TA encounter on October 26, 2004. Titan was in Saturn's magnetosphere during the Voyager 1 flyby and also during the TA encounter. CAPS measurements from this encounter are compared with measurements made by the Voyager 1 Plasma Science Instrument (PLS). The comparisons focus on the composition and nature of ambient and pickup ions. They lead to: A) the major ion components of Saturn's magnetosphere in the vicinity of Titan are H+, H-2(+) and O+/CH4+ ions; B) finite gyroradius effects are apparent in ambient O+ ions as the result of their absorption by Titan's extended atmosphere; C) the principal pickup ions are composed of H+, H-2(+), N+/CH2+, CH4+, and N-2(+); D) the pickup ions are in narrow energy ranges; and E) there is clear evidence of the slowing down of background ions due to pickup ion mass loading

Evaluating estuarine nursery use and life history patterns of Pomatomus saltatrix in eastern Australia

Estuaries provide important nursery habitats for juvenile fish, but many species move between estuarine and coastal habitats throughout their life. We used otolith chemistry to evaluate the use of estuaries and the coastal marine environment by juvenile Pomatomus saltatrix in eastern Australia. Otolith chemical signatures of juveniles from 12 estuaries, spanning 10° of latitude, were characterised using laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Based upon multivariate otolith elemental signatures, fish collected from most estuaries could not be successfully discriminated from one another. This was attributed to the varying influence of marine water on otolith elemental composition in fish from all estuaries. Using a reduced number of estuarine groups, the multivariate juvenile otolith elemental signatures and univariate Sr:Ca ratio suggest that between 24 and 52% of adult P. saltatrix had a juvenile period influenced by the marine environment. Elemental profiles across adult (age-1) otoliths highlighted a variety of life history patterns, not all consistent with a juvenile estuarine phase. Furthermore, the presence of age-0 juveniles in coastal waters was confirmed from historical length-frequency data from coastal trawls. Combining multiple lines of evidence suggests considerable plasticity in juvenile life history for P. saltatrix in eastern Australia through their utilisation of both estuarine and coastal nurseries. Knowledge of juvenile life history is important for the management of coastal species of commercial and recreational importance such as P. saltatrix.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The macro-economic effects of health co-benefits associated with climate change mitigation strategies

The UK government has specific targets for greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction to lower the risk of dangerous climate change. Strategies to reduce GHG emissions are sometimes perceived as expensive and difficult to implement but previous work has demonstrated significant potential health co-benefits from ‘Active Travel and low carbon driving’, ‘Housing Insulation/Ventilation’, and ‘Healthy Diet’ scenarios which may be attractive to policymakers. Here a Computable General Equilibrium model is used to assess the financial effects of such health co-benefits on the wider economy including changes in labour force, social security payments and healthcare costs averted. Results suggest that for all scenarios the financial impacts of the health co-benefits will be positive and increased active travel in particular is likely to make a substantial contribution, largely due to health care costs averted. Strategies to reduce GHG emissions and improve health are likely to result in substantial and increasing positive contributions to the economy which may offset some potential economic costs and thereby be seen more favourably in times of economic austerity

Terahertz metamaterials on flexible polypropylene substrate

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11468-014-9724-1In this work, we present a metamaterial working at terahertz frequencies made over a flexible polypropylene sub-strate. The experimental measurements, in accordance with the numerical calculations, show the metamaterial reliance on the impinging electric field polarization. The structure s symmetry yields purely electrical resonant responses eliminating bianisotropy effects. The widely used bendable polypropylene polymer may promote the insertion of metamaterial-based structures with special electromagnetic response in a number of objects of our daily lives such as textiles, automotive components, and sensingThis work was supported by the Spanish MICINN under contracts CONSOLIDER EMET CSD2008-00066 and TEC2011-28664-C02-02 and by the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia under the program INNOVA 2011.Ortuño Molinero, R.; García Meca, C.; Martínez Abietar, AJ. (2014). 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Saturn Plasma Sources and Associated Transport Processes

This article reviews the different sources of plasma for Saturn’s magnetosphere, as they are known essentially from the scientific results of the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn and Titan. At low and medium energies, the main plasma source is the H2OH2O cloud produced by the “geyser” activity of the small satellite Enceladus. Impact ionization of this cloud occurs to produce on the order of 100 kg/s of fresh plasma, a source which dominates all the other ones: Titan (which produces much less plasma than anticipated before the Cassini mission), the rings, the solar wind (a poorly known source due to the lack of quantitative knowledge of the degree of coupling between the solar wind and Saturn’s magnetosphere), and the ionosphere. At higher energies, energetic particles are produced by energy diffusion and acceleration of lower energy plasma produced by the interchange instabilities induced by the rapid rotation of Saturn, and possibly, for the highest energy range, by contributions from the CRAND process acting inside Saturn’s magnetosphere. Discussion of the transport and acceleration processes acting on these plasma sources shows the importance of rotation-induced radial transport and energization of the plasma, and also shows how much the unexpected planetary modulation of essentially all plasma parameters of Saturn’s magnetosphere remains an unexplained mystery

The impact of Covid-19, associated behaviours and policies on the UK economy: A computable general equilibrium model

This is the final version. Available on open access from Elsevier via the DOI in this record. We estimate the potential impact of COVID-19 on the United Kingdom economy, including direct disease effects, preventive public actions and associated policies. A sectoral, whole-economy macroeconomic model was linked to a population-wide epidemiological demographic model to assess the potential macroeconomic impact of COVID-19, together with policies to mitigate or suppress the pandemic by means of home quarantine, school closures, social distancing and accompanying business closures. Our simulations indicate that, assuming a clinical attack rate of 48% and a case fatality ratio of 1.5%, COVID-19 alone would impose a direct health-related economic burden of £39.6bn (1.73% of GDP) on the UK economy. Mitigation strategies imposed for 12 weeks reduce case fatalities by 29%, but the total cost to the economy is £308bn (13.5% of GDP); £66bn (2.9% of GDP) of which is attributable to labour lost from working parents during school closures, and £201bn (8.8% of GDP) of which is attributable to business closures. Suppressing the pandemic over a longer period of time may reduce deaths by 95%, but the total cost to the UK economy also increases to £668bn (29.2% of GDP), where £166bn (7.3% of GDP) is attributable to school closures and 502bn (21.9% of GDP) to business closures. Our analyses suggest Covid-19 has the potential to impose unprecedented economic costs on the UK economy, and whilst public actions are necessary to minimise mortality, the duration of school and business closures are key to determining the economic cost. The initial economic support package promised by the UK government may be proportionate to the costs of mitigating Covid-19, but without alternative measures to reduce the scale and duration of school and business closures, the economic support may be insufficient to compensate for longer term suppression of the pandemic which could generate an even greater health impact through major recession.EU Horizon 202