The response of tropospheric circulation to perturbations in lower-stratospheric temperature

A multiple regression analysis of the NCEP-NCAR reanalysis dataset shows a response to increased solar activity of a weakening and poleward shift of the subtropical jets. This signal is separable from other influences, such as those of El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), and is very similar to that seen in previous studies using global circulation models (GCMs) of the effects of an increase in solar spectral irradiance. The response to increased stratospheric (volcanic) aerosol is found in the data to be a weakening and equatorward shift of the jets. The GCM studies of the solar influence also showed an impact on tropospheric mean meridional circulation with a weakening and expansion of the tropical Hadley cells and a poleward shift of the Ferrel cells. To understand the mechanisms whereby the changes in solar irradiance affect tropospheric winds and circulation, experiments have been carried out with a simplified global circulation model. The results show that generic heating of the lower stratosphere tends to weaken the subtropical jets and the tropospheric mean meridional circulations. The positions of the jets, and the extent of the Hadley cells, respond to the distribution of the stratospheric heating, with low-latitude heating forcing them to move poleward, and high-latitude or latitudinally uniform heating forcing them equatorward. The patterns of response are similar to those that are found to be a result of the solar or volcanic influences, respectively, in the data analysis. This demonstrates that perturbations to the heat balance of the lower stratosphere, such as those brought about by solar or volcanic activity, can produce changes in the mean tropospheric circulation, even without any direct forcing below the tropopause

Partnerships for education, well-being and work : models of university service in the community

"This five month multi-perspective study, commissioned by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), investigated the nature, forms and practices of three partnership enterprises between the University of Nottingham and its local schools and communities" -- page vii

The synthesis and anion coordination chemistry of novel mono- and multi-functional borylmetallocenes

The synthesis, characterisation and anion binding properties of a series of mono-, tris- and tetiukis-functional boronic esters of ferrocene are reported. Mono- borylated systems: (n5C5H5)Fe(ri5C5H4B02R) where 02R = ethane-1,2-diolato (la) and pinanediolato (lb) , tris-functional borylated systems: (r 5-C5H3EtB02R)Fe(r 5- C5H3(B02R)2 where 02R = ethane-1,2-diolato (3a), stilbenediolato (3b) and pinanediolato (3c) and tetrakis-functional borylated systems: (rj5-C5H3(B02R)2) 2Fe where 02R = ethane-1,2-diolato (4a), stilbenediolato (4b), pinanediolato (4c) and napthalenediolato (4d) have been synthesised and characterised by NMR, UV/Vis and IR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry and in most cases by X-ray diffraction. Electrochemical analyses of most of the above-mentioned boronic esters of ferrocene have demonstrated the influence of the number of boronic ester groups on the redox potential of the ferrocene backbone, and have allowed a comparison of the different substituents. The anion-binding properties of the above-mentioned boronic esters have been monitored by spectroscopic (including NMR and UV/Vis) and electrochemical methods. Bis-functionalised boronic esters of ferrocene have previously shown a colorimetric response to fluoride, and have been shown to bind two equivalents of fluoride per receptor. An analogous colorimetric response to fluoride is observed with the tris- and tetrakis-functionalised boronic esters, which also display a particular affinity for fluoride. The kinetics of the colorimetric response have been probed using time-resolved UV/Vis experiments, with the tris- and tetrakis-functionalised compounds shown to effect a more rapid response to fluoride. Kinetic experiments have revealed that the response to fluoride is greatly enhanced with tris- and tetrakis- functionalised receptors, and also revealed a binding stoichiometry of 2:1 (anion: receptor) in all cases thus the binding of more than two equivalents of fluoride by the additional boryl groups is not responsible for enhanced kinetics. The synthesis and characterisation of a range of dimeric, macrocyclic and polymeric ferroceneboronic esters has been undertaken. Dimeric ferrocene boronic esters (ti5-C5H5)Fe(r 5-C5H4)R(Ti5-C5H4)Fe(ri5-C5H5) where R = B02C8H1202B (7a), B(OCH2)2C(CH20)2B (8a) and B02(C6H2)02B (9a) , macrocyclic ferrocene boronic esters: (Ti5-C5H4)Fe(Ti5-C5H4)BRB 2 where R = B02C8Hi202B (7b) and B(OCH2)2C(CH20)2B (8b) , and the polymeric ferrocene boronic ester (rj5- C5H4)B02CgHi202B(r 5-C5H4)Fe n polymer (7c) have been synthesised and characterised by NMR and UV/Vis spectroscopy, mass spectrometry and in some cases by X-ray diffraction. Electrochemical analyses of some of the above-mentioned boronic esters of ferrocene have demonstrated the lack of electronic communication between iron centres with the saturated pentaerythritol and cyclooctanetetraol linker groups. Investigation into the factors controlling assembly of boronic ester units into poly-, oligomeric or macrocyclic products has been possible. The two different linker groups have revealed very different product distributions under analogous reaction conditions with ferrocene-bis-boronic acid. The pentaerythritol linker favours macrocycle formation, whilst the cyclooctanetetraol linker favours polymer formation. Thus reactions can be driven with high selectivity towards either macrocyclic or polymeric products depending on choice of linker group

Reflections

This publication explores the journey of the Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa since its inception.Founded in 2005, the initiative plays an active role in encouraging open, informed dialogue about issues of public importance through innovative and collaborative processes. It supports individuals and groups to participate in matters that affect them in order to demand fair treatment, delivery of services, and accountability from their leaders and institutions. The Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa awards grants, develops its own programs, and promotes debate on issues of public importance

Maximizing Health or Sufficient Capability in Economic Evaluation? A Methodological Experiment of Treatment for Drug Addiction

Conventional practice within the United Kingdom and beyond is to conduct economic evaluations with "health" as evaluative space and "health maximization" as the decision-making rule. However, there is increasing recognition that this evaluative framework may not always be appropriate, and this is particularly the case within public health and social care contexts. This article presents a methodological case study designed to explore the impact of changing the evaluative space within an economic evaluation from health to capability well-being and the decision-making rule from health maximization to the maximization of sufficient capability. Capability well-being is an evaluative space grounded on Amartya Sen's capability approach and assesses well-being based on individuals' ability to do and be the things they value in life. Sufficient capability is an egalitarian approach to decision making that aims to ensure everyone in society achieves a normatively sufficient level of capability well-being. The case study is treatment for drug addiction, and the cost-effectiveness of 2 psychological interventions relative to usual care is assessed using data from a pilot trial. Analyses are undertaken from a health care and a government perspective. For the purpose of the study, quality-adjusted life years (measured using the EQ-5D-5L) and years of full capability equivalent and years of sufficient capability equivalent (both measured using the ICECAP-A [ICEpop CAPability measure for Adults]) are estimated. The study concludes that different evaluative spaces and decision-making rules have the potential to offer opposing treatment recommendations. The implications for policy makers are discussed

Does detection range matter for inferring social networks in a benthic shark using acoustic telemetry?

Accurately estimating contacts between animals can be critical in ecological studies such as examining social structure, predator–prey interactions or transmission of information and disease. While biotelemetry has been used successfully for such studies in terrestrial systems, it is still under development in the aquatic environment. Acoustic telemetry represents an attractive tool to investigate spatio-temporal behaviour of marine fish and has recently been suggested for monitoring underwater animal interactions. To evaluate the effectiveness of acoustic telemetry in recording interindividual contacts, we compared co-occurrence matrices deduced from three types of acoustic receivers varying in detection range in a benthic shark species. Our results demonstrate that (i) associations produced by acoustic receivers with a large detection range (i.e. Vemco VR2W) were significantly different from those produced by receivers with smaller ranges (i.e. Sonotronics miniSUR receivers and proximity loggers) and (ii) the position of individuals within their network, or centrality, also differed. These findings suggest that acoustic receivers with a large detection range may not be the best option to represent true social networks in the case of a benthic marine animal. While acoustic receivers are increasingly used by marine ecologists, we recommend users first evaluate the influence of detection range to depict accurate individual interactions before using these receivers for social or predator–prey studies. We also advocate for combining multiple receiver types depending on the ecological question being asked and the development of multi-sensor tags or testing of new automated proximity loggers, such as the Encounternet system, to improve the precision and accuracy of social and predator–prey interaction studies

A Direct Interaction with NEDD1 Regulates γ-Tubulin Recruitment to the Centrosome

The centrosome is the primary microtubule organizing centre of the cell. γ-tubulin is a core component of the centrosome and is required for microtubule nucleation and centrosome function. The recruitment of γ-tubulin to centrosomes is mediated by its interaction with NEDD1, a WD40-repeat containing protein. Here we demonstrate that NEDD1 is likely to be oligomeric in vivo and binds directly to γ-tubulin through a small region of just 62 residues at the carboxyl-terminus of the protein. This carboxyl-terminal domain that binds γ-tubulin has a helical structure and is a stable tetramer in solution. Mutation of residues in NEDD1 that disrupt binding to γ-tubulin result in a mis-localization of γ-tubulin away from the centrosome. Hence, this study defines the binding site on NEDD1 that is required for its interaction with γ-tubulin, and shows that this interaction is required for the correct localization of γ-tubulin

Ecosystem-Based Management Indicators for a Marine Planning Process in BC\u27s North Coast - Marine Planning Partnership (MaPP)

The Marine Planning Partnership for the North Pacific Coast (MaPP) is a collaborative planning process for coastal and marine areas in the north coast of British Columbia, Canada. MaPP is a co-led partnership between the Province of British Columbia and First Nations governments, represented by the Coastal First Nations-Great Bear Initiative, the North Coast-Skeena First Nations Stewardship Society, and the Nanwakolas Council. Marine plans are being developed for four sub-regions: Haida Gwaii, North Coast, Central Coast, and Northern Vancouver Island. MaPP is using an ecosystem-based management (EBM) framework and developing indicators for ecological integrity, human well-being, and governance. This talk will briefly outline the methodology and present draft indicators for monitoring EBM in the North Pacific Coast of British Columbia. These indicators are forming the basis of a MaPP EBM Indicator Toolbox to monitor the regional frameworks and sub-regional plans including objectives and strategies for climate change adaptation, marine uses and activities, marine pollution, and marine protected areas. It is too early for us to present on the results of using the indicators because the marine planning process is still underway, however we will discuss the potential use of indicators in connection with our work to analyse the vulnerability of ecosystem types to marine stressors, as well as in the context of a draft cumulative effects assessment framework. Finally, we will briefly discuss ideas for implementation of a monitoring program for the indicators in the toolkit

Psychological Abuse, Mental Health, and Acceptance of Dating Violence Among Adolescents

Purpose Existing literature indicates that acceptance of dating violence is a significant and robust risk factor for psychological dating abuse perpetration. Past work also indicates a significant relationship between psychological dating abuse perpetration and poor mental health. However, no known research has examined the relationship between acceptance of dating violence, perpetration of dating abuse, and mental health. In addition to exploring this complex relationship, the present study examines whether psychological abuse perpetration mediates the relationship between acceptance of dating violence and mental health (i.e., internalizing symptoms of depression, anxiety, and hostility). Methods Three waves of longitudinal data were obtained from 1,042 ethnically diverse high school students in Texas. Participants completed assessments of psychological dating abuse perpetration, acceptance of dating violence, and internalizing symptoms (hostility and symptoms of anxiety and depression). Results As predicted, results indicated that perpetration of psychological abuse was significantly associated with acceptance of dating violence and all internalizing symptoms. Furthermore, psychological abuse mediated the relationship between acceptance of dating violence and internalizing symptoms. Conclusions Findings from the present study suggest that acceptance of dating violence is an important target for the prevention of dating violence and related emotional distress