On the fine structure of medium energy electron fluxes in the auroral zone and related effects in the ionospheric D-region

This study is based on measurements of trapped and precipitated electrons of energy &gt;30 keV and &gt;100 keV observed by polar orbiting environmental satellites during overpasses of the imaging riometer at Kilpisjärvi, Finland. The satellites are in sun-synchronous orbits of about 850 km altitude, recording the electron fluxes at 2-s time resolution. The riometer measures the radiowave absorption at 38.2 MHz, showing the spatial pattern within a 240 km field of view. <br><br> The analysis has focussed on two areas. Having found a close correlation between the radiowave absorption and the medium-energy electron fluxes during satellite overpasses, empirical relationships are derived, enabling one quantity to be predicted from the other for three sectors of local time. It is shown that small-scale variations observed during a pass are essentially spatial rather than temporal. <br><br> Other properties, such as the spectra and the relation between precipitated and trapped components, are also considered in the light of the theory of pitch angle scattering by VLF waves. It is found that the properties and behaviour depend strongly on the time of day. In the noon sector, the precipitated and trapped fluxes are highly correlated through a square law relationship

On the importance of paleoclimate modelling for improving predictions of future climate change

We use an ensemble of runs from the MIROC3.2 AGCM with slab-ocean to explore the extent to which mid-Holocene simulations are relevant to predictions of future climate change. The results are compared with similar analyses for the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and pre-industrial control climate. We suggest that the paleoclimate epochs can provide some independent validation of the models that is also relevant for future predictions. Considering the paleoclimate epochs, we find that the stronger global forcing and hence larger climate change at the LGM makes this likely to be the more powerful one for estimating the large-scale changes that are anticipated due to anthropogenic forcing. The phenomena in the mid-Holocene simulations which are most strongly correlated with future changes (i.e., the mid to high northern latitude land temperature and monsoon precipitation) do, however, coincide with areas where the LGM results are not correlated with future changes, and these are also areas where the paleodata indicate significant climate changes have occurred. Thus, these regions and phenomena for the mid-Holocene may be useful for model improvement and validation

An investigation of the nature and reactivity of the carbonaceous species deposited on mordenite by reaction with methanol

An investigation of the nature of the carbonaceous species deposited upon mordenite by reaction with methanol has been undertaken. The nature of the species has been shown to be a strong function of both temperature and time on stream. Upon reaction at 300 degrees C a range of alkyl and aromatic species, consistent with the development of an active hydrocarbon pool, are evident and time on stream studies have shown that these are developed within 5 min. Upon reaction at 500 degrees C, a narrower range of hydrogen deficient aromatic species is evident. Thermal volatilisation analysis (TVA), not previously applied to the study of coked zeolites, is shown to be complementary to the more commonly applied C analysis, C-13 MAS NMR and TGA techniques

Reaching older people with PA delivered in football clubs: the reach, adoption and implementation characteristics of the Extra Time Programme.

Background Older adults (OA) represent a core priority group for physical activity and Public Health policy. As a result, significant interest is placed on how to optimise adherence to interventions promoting these approaches. Extra Time (ET) is an example of a national programme of physical activity interventions delivered in professional football clubs for OA aged 55+ years. This paper aims to examine the outcomes from ET, and unpick the processes by which these outcomes were achieved. Methods This paper represents a secondary analysis of data collected during the evaluation of ET. From the 985 OA reached by ET, n=486 adopted the programme and completed post-intervention surveys (typically 12 weeks). We also draw on interview data with 18 ET participants, and 7 staff who delivered the programme. Data were subject to thematic analysis to generate overarching and sub themes. Results Of the 486 participants, the majority 95%, (n= 462) were White British and 59.7% (n=290) were female. Most adopters (65.4%/n=318) had not participated in previous interventions in the host clubs. Social interaction was the most frequently reported benefit of participation (77.2%, n=375). While the reach of the club badge was important in letting people know about the programme, further work enhanced adoption and satisfaction. These factors included (i) listening to participants, (ii) delivering a flexible age-appropriate programme of diverse physical and social activities, (iii) offering activities which satisfy energy drives and needs for learning and (iv) extensive opportunities for social engagement. Conclusions Findings emerging from this study indicate that physical activity and health interventions delivered through professional football clubs can be effective for engaging OA

Targeting Mr Average: Participation, gender equity and school sport partnerships

The School Sport Partnership Programme (SSPP) is one strand of the national strategy for physical education and school sport in England, the physical education and school sport Club Links Strategy (PESSCL). The SSPP aims to make links between school physical education (PE) and out of school sports participation, and has a particular remit to raise the participation levels of several identified under-represented groups, of which girls and young women are one. National evaluations of the SSPP show that it is beginning to have positive impacts on young people's activity levels by increasing the range and provision of extra curricular activities (Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED), 2003, 2004, 2005; Loughborough Partnership, 2005, 2006). This paper contributes to the developing picture of the phased implementation of the programme by providing qualitative insights into the work of one school sport partnership with a particular focus on gender equity. The paper explores the ways in which gender equity issues have been explicitly addressed within the 'official texts' of the SSPP; how these have shifted over time and how teachers are responding to and making sense of these in their daily practice. Using participation observation, interview and questionnaire data, the paper explores how the coordinators are addressing the challenge of increasing the participation of girls and young women. The paper draws on Walby's (2000) conceptualisation of different kinds of feminist praxis to highlight the limitations of the coordinators' work. Two key themes from the data and their implications are addressed: the dominance of competitive sport practices and the PE professionals' views of targeting as a strategy for increasing the participation of under-represented groups. The paper concludes that coordinators work within an equality or difference discourse with little evidence of the transformative praxis needed for the programme to be truly inclusive. © 2008 Taylor & Francis

The Influence of Binary Stars on Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy Kinematics

We have completed a Monte-Carlo simulation to estimate the effect of binary star orbits on the measured velocity dispersion in dwarf spheroidal galaxies. This paper analyses previous attempts at this calculation, and explains the simulations which were performed with mass, period and ellipticity distributions similar to that measured for the solar neighbourhood. The conclusion is that with functions such as these, the contribution of binary stars to the velocity dispersion is small. The distributions are consistent with the percentage of binaries detected by observations, although this is quite dependent on the measuring errors and on the number of years over which measurements have been taken. For binaries to be making a significant contribution to the dispersion measured in dSph galaxies, the distributions of the orbital parameters would need to be very different from those of stars in the solar neighbourhood. In particular more smaller period orbits with higher mass secondaries would be required. The shape of the velocity distribution may help to resolve this issue when more data becomes available. In general, the scenarios producing a larger apparent dispersion have a velocity distribution which deviates more clearly from Gaussian.Comment: MNRAS in press, uuencoded ps fil

Parameter estimation in an atmospheric GCM using the Ensemble Kalman Filter

International audienceWe demonstrate the application of an efficient multivariate probabilistic parameter estimation method to a spectral primitive equation atmospheric GCM. The method, which is based on the Ensemble Kalman Filter, is effective at tuning the surface air temperature climatology of the model to both identical twin data and reanalysis data. When 5 parameters were simultaneously tuned to fit the model to reanalysis data, the model errors were reduced by around 35% compared to those given by the default parameter values. However, the precipitation field proved to be insensitive to these parameters and remains rather poor. The model is computationally cheap but chaotic and otherwise realistic, and the success of these experiments suggests that this method should be capable of tuning more sophisticated models, in particular for the purposes of climate hindcasting and prediction. Furthermore, the method is shown to be useful in determining structural deficiencies in the model which can not be improved by tuning, and so can be a useful tool to guide model development. The work presented here is for a limited set of parameters and data, but the scalability of the method is such that it could easily be extended to a more comprehensive parameter set given sufficient observational data to constrain them

The lived experiences of access to healthcare for people seeking and refused asylum

This research aims to explore the lived experiences of accessing healthcare among people currently seeking asylum and those who have had their claim for asylum refused, as well as the experiences of health service providers working with these communities. It examines the extent to which people are able to exercise their rights to access healthcare. It looks at the differences between those currently in the asylum system and those who have had their claim refused in England, Scotland and Wales. This report, and the partner report providing a review of evidence (https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/publication-download/access-healthcare-people-seeking-and-refused-asylum-great-britain-review), will be of interest to people who play an important role in delivering healthcare and related support services to people seeking or refused asylum. We have also made recommendations for what changes are needed (https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/publication-download/making-sure-people-seeking-and-refused-asylum-can-access-healthcare-what-needs) to make sure that people seeking and refused asylum have full enjoyment of their right to health. This report was produced in collaboration with Imperial College London and Doctors of the World UK

Affective and evaluative responses to pop music

From reviews published in the “serious” pop music press, twenty recordings were selected which had received consistently favourable appraisals on affective and evaluative bases. A further twenty recordings were selected on the basis of high levels of chart performance but a lack of critical acclaim. Sixty-four subjects rated representative excerpts of these recordings on 11-point scales of either liking or artistic merit. The results indicated significantly lower liking and artistic merit ratings of critically praised excerpts; a positive liking-artistic merit correlation; and some “fragmentation” between affective and evaluative responses. The apparent discrepancy between the attitudes of the music press and subjects' ratings is discussed in terms of the availability and sophistication of evaluation cues