The visual complexity of coronal mass ejections follows the solar cycle

The Heliospheric Imagers on board National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)'s twin STEREO spacecraft show that coronal mass ejections (CMEs) can be visually complex structures. To explore this complexity, we created a citizen science project with the U.K. Science Museum, in which participants were shown pairs of CME images and asked to decide which image in each pair appeared the most “complicated.” A Bradley‐Terry model was then applied to these data to rank the CMEs by their “complicatedness,” or “visual complexity.” This complexity ranking revealed that the annual average visual complexity values follow the solar activity cycle, with a higher level of complexity being observed at the peak of the cycle. The average complexity of CMEs observed by STEREO‐A was also found to be significantly higher than those observed by STEREO‐B. Visual complexity was found to be associated with CME size and brightness, but our results suggest that complexity may be influenced by the scale‐sizes of structure in the CMEs

The post-ICU presentation screen (PICUPS) and rehabilitation prescription (RP) for intensive care survivors part I: Development and preliminary clinimetric evaluation

BANCKGROUND: Patients who have had prolonged stays in intensive care have ongoing rehabilitation needs. This is especially true of COVID-19 ICU patients, who can suffer diverse long-term ill effects. Currently there is no systematic data collection to guide the needs for therapy input for either of these groups nor to inform planning and development of rehabilitation services. These issues could be resolved in part by the systematic use of a clinical tool to support decision-making as patients progress from the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), through acute hospital care and onwards into rehabilitation. We describe (i) the development of such a tool (the Post-ICU Presentation Screen (PICUPS)) and (ii) the subsequent preparation of a person-centred Rehabilitation Prescription (RP) to travel with the patient as they continue down the care pathway. METHODS: PICUPS development was led by a core group of experienced clinicians representing the various disciplines involved in post-ICU rehabilitation. Key constructs and item-level descriptors were identified by group consensus. Piloting was performed as part of wider clinical engagement in 26 acute hospitals across England. Development and validation of such a tool requires clinimetric analysis, and this was based on classical test theory. Teams also provided feedback about the feasibility and utility of the tool. RESULTS: Initial PICUPS design yielded a 24-item tool. In piloting, a total of 552 records were collated from 314 patients, of which 121 (38.5%) had COVID-19. No obvious floor or ceiling effects were apparent. Exploratory factor analysis provided evidence of uni-dimensionality with strong loading on the first principal component accounting for 51% of the variance and Cronbach’s alpha for the full-scale score 0.95 – although a 3-factor solution accounted for a further 21%. The PICUPS was responsive to change both at full scale- and item-level. In general, positive responses were seen regarding the tool’s ability to describe the patients during their clinical course, engage and flag the relevant professionals needed, and to inform what should be included in an RP. CONCLUSIONS: The PICUPS tool has robust scaling properties as a clinical measure and is potentially useful as a tool for identifying rehabilitation needs as patients step down from ICU and acute hospital care

The Post-ICU presentation screen (PICUPS) and rehabilitation prescription (RP) for intensive care survivors part II: Clinical engagement and future directions for the national Post-Intensive care Rehabilitation Collaborative

Background: Many Intensive Care Unit (ICU) survivors suffer from a multi- system disability, termed the post-intensive care syndrome. There is no current national coordination of either rehabilitation pathways or related data collection for them. In the last year, the need for tools to systematically identify the multidisciplinary rehabilitation needs of severely affected COVID-19 survivors has become clear. Such tools offer the opportunity to improve rehabilitation for all critical illness survivors through provision of a personalised Rehabilitation Prescription (RP). The initial development and secondary refinement of such an assessment and data tools is described in the linked paper. We report here the clinical and workforce data that was generated as a result. Methods: Prospective service evaluation of 26 acute hospitals in England using the Post-ICU Presentation Screen (PICUPS) tool and the RP. The PICUPS tool comprised items in domains of a) Medical and essential care, b) Breathing and nutrition; c) Physical movement and d) Communication, cognition and behaviour. Results: No difference was seen in total PICUPS scores between patients with or without COVID-19 (77 (IQR 60-92) vs. 84 (IQR 68-97); Mann-Whitney z = −1.46, p = 0.144. A network analysis demonstrated that requirements for physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, dietetics and clinical psychology were closely related and unaffected by COVID-19 infection status. A greater proportion of COVID-19 patients were referred for inpatient rehabilitation (13% vs. 7%) and community-based rehabilitation (36% vs.15%). The RP informed by the PICUPS tool generally specified a greater need for multi-professional input when compared to rehabilitation plans instituted. Conclusions: The PICUPS tool is feasible to implement as a screening mechanism for post-intensive care syndrome. No differences are seen in the rehabilitation needs of patients with and without COVID-19 infection. The RP could be the vehicle that drives the professional interventions across the transitions from acute to community care. No single discipline dominates the rehabilitation requirements of these patients, reinforcing the need for a personalised RP for critical illness survivors

Christian Higher Education in Europe: A Historical Overview

The history of Christian higher education in Europe may be analyzed in terms of seven eras. From their medieval origins in scholasticism and the practical needs of students and rulers, universities passed through Renaissance humanism to a period of decay, yet remained substantially Christian in intent. The Enlightenment exercised a partially secularizing influence, and the neohumanist reaction against it also tended to dilute the faith. The recent era of the late 20th and early 21st centuries has been associated with the rise of postmodernism and the involvement of the state in the quest for relevance. A Christian response to contemporary circumstances is to engage with the cultural currents of the present day and, in drawing on the thought of John Henry Newman and Sir Walter Moberly, to ensure the integration of Christianity into higher education so that discussion of ultimate questions is informed by the Christian faith

Genotyping an Emiliania huxleyi (prymnesiophyceae) bloom event in the North Sea reveals evidence of asexual reproduction

Due to the unprecedented rate at which our climate is changing, the ultimate consequence for many species is likely to be either extinction or migration to an alternate habitat. Certain species might, however, evolve at a rate that could make them resilient to the effects of a rapidly changing environment. This scenario is most likely to apply to species that have large population sizes and rapid generation times, such that the genetic variation required for adaptive evolution can be readily supplied. Emiliania huxleyi (Lohm.) Hay and Mohler (Prymnesiophyceae) is likely to be such a species, as it is the most conspicuous extant calcareous phytoplankton species in our oceans with growth rates of 1 day−1. Here we report on a validated set of microsatellites, in conjunction with the coccolithophore morphology motif genetic marker, to genotype 93 clonal isolates collected from across the world. Of these, 52 came from a single bloom event in the North Sea collected on the D366 United Kingdom Ocean Acidification cruise in June–July 2011. There were 26 multilocus genotypes (MLGs) encountered only once in the North Sea bloom and 8 MLGs encountered twice or up to six times. Each of these repeated MLGs exhibited Psex values of less than 0.05, indicating each repeated MLG was the product of asexual reproduction and not separate meiotic events. In addition, we show that the two most polymorphic microsatellite loci, EHMS37 and P01E05, are reporting on regions likely undergoing rapid genetic drift during asexual reproduction. Despite the small sample size, there were many more repeated genotypes than previously reported for other bloom-forming phytoplankton species, including a previously genotyped E. huxleyi bloom event. This study challenges the current assumption that sexual reproduction predominates during bloom events. Whilst genetic diversity is high amongst extant populations of E. huxleyi, the root cause for this diversity and ultimate fate of these populations still requires further examination. Nonetheless, we show that certain CMM genotypes are found everywhere, while others appear to have a regional bias

Transport of Proteins into Mitochondria

The mitochondrial ADP/ATP carrier is an integral transmembrane protein of the inner membrane. It is synthesized on cytoplasmic ribosomes. Kinetic data suggested that this protein is transferred into mitochondria in a posttranslational manner. The following results provide further evidence for such a mechanism and provide information on its details. 1. In homologous and heterologous translation systems the newly synthesized ADP/ATP carrier protein is present in the postribosomal supernatant. 2. Analysis by density gradient centrifugation and gel filtration shows, that the ADP/ATP carrier molecules in the postribosomal fraction are present as soluble complexes with apparent molecular weights of about 120000 and 500000 or larger. The carrier binds detergents such as Triton X-100 and deoxycholate forming mixed micelles with molecular weights of about 200000–400000. 3. Incubation of a postribosomal supernatant of a reticulocyte lysate containing newly synthesized ADP/ATP carrier with mitochondria isolated from Neurospora spheroplasts results in efficient transfer of the carrier into mitochondria. About 20–30% of the transferred carrier are resistant to proteinase in whole mitochondria. The authentic mature protein is also largely resistant to proteinase in whole mitochondria and sensitive after lysis of mitochondria with detergent. Integrity of mitochondria is a prerequisite for translocation into proteinase resistant position. 4. The transfer in vitro into a proteinase-resistant form is inhibited by the uncoupler carbonyl-cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone but not the proteinase-sensitive binding. These observations suggest that the posttranslational transfer of ADP/ATP carrier occurs via the cytosolic space through a soluble oligomeric precursor form. This precursor is taken up by intact mitochondria into an integral position in the membrane. These findings are considered to be of general importance for the intracellular transfer of insoluble membrane proteins. They support the view that such proteins can exist in a water-soluble form its precursors and upon integration into the membrane undergo a conformational change. Uptake into the membrane may involve the cleavage of an additional sequence in some proteins, but this appears not to be a prerequisite as demonstrated by the ADP/ATP carrier protein

Windfield: Learning Wind Meteorology with Handheld Haptic Robots

This article presents a learning activity and its user study involving the Cellulo platform, a novel versatile robotic tool designed for education. In order to show the potential of Cellulo in the classroom as part of standard curricular activities, we designed a learning activity called Windfield that aims to teach the atmospheric formation mechanism of wind to early middle school children. The activity involves a didactic sequence, introducing the Cellulo robots as hot air balloons and enabling children to feel the wind force through haptic feedback. We present a user study, designed in the form of a real hour-long lesson, conducted with 24 children in 8 groups who had no prior knowledge in the subject. Collaborative metrics within groups and individual performances about the learning of key concepts were measured with only the hardware and software integrated in the platform in a completely automated manner. The results show that almost all participants showed learning of symmetric aspects of wind formation while about half showed learning of asymmetric vectorial aspects that are more complex