310 research outputs found
The STACEE-32 Ground Based Gamma-ray Detector
We describe the design and performance of the Solar Tower Atmospheric
Cherenkov Effect Experiment detector in its initial configuration (STACEE-32).
STACEE is a new ground-based gamma ray detector using the atmospheric Cherenkov
technique. In STACEE, the heliostats of a solar energy research array are used
to collect and focus the Cherenkov photons produced in gamma-ray induced air
showers. The large Cherenkov photon collection area of STACEE results in a
gamma-ray energy threshold below that of previous detectors.Comment: 45 pages, 25 figures, Accepted for publication in Nuclear Instruments
and Methods
Health and social care professionals’ experiences of providing end of life care during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study
Background:
Health and social care professionals’ ability to address the needs of patients and their relatives at end of life is likely to have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Aim:
To explore health and social care professionals’ experiences of providing end of life care during the COVID-19 pandemic to help inform current/future clinical practice and policy.
Design:
A qualitative interview study. Data were analysed using thematic analysis.
Setting/participants:
Sixteen health and social care professionals working across a range of clinical settings in supporting dying patients during the first wave (March–June 2020) of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.
Results:
Participants reported emotional and practical challenges to providing end of life care during the pandemic, including increases in patient numbers, reduced staffing levels and relying on virtual platforms for sensitive, emotive conversations with relatives. Participants were central to promoting connections between patients and their families at end of life and creating opportunities for a final contact before the death. However, the provision of support varied as a consequence of the pressures of the pandemic. Results are discussed under two themes: (1) challenges and facilitators to providing end of life care, and (2) support needs of relatives when a family member was dying during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Conclusion:
There is a need for flexible visiting arrangements at end of life during a pandemic. A systems-level approach is necessary to promote the wellbeing of health and social care professionals providing end of life care during and after a pandemic
The <i>Castalia</i> mission to Main Belt Comet 133P/Elst-Pizarro
We describe Castalia, a proposed mission to rendezvous with a Main Belt Comet (MBC), 133P/Elst-Pizarro. MBCs are a recently discovered population of apparently icy bodies within the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, which may represent the remnants of the population which supplied the early Earth with water. Castalia will perform the first exploration of this population by characterising 133P in detail, solving the puzzle of the MBC’s activity, and making the first in situ measurements of water in the asteroid belt. In many ways a successor to ESA’s highly successful Rosetta mission, Castalia will allow direct comparison between very different classes of comet, including measuring critical isotope ratios, plasma and dust properties. It will also feature the first radar system to visit a minor body, mapping the ice in the interior. Castalia was proposed, in slightly different versions, to the ESA M4 and M5 calls within the Cosmic Vision programme. We describe the science motivation for the mission, the measurements required to achieve the scientific goals, and the proposed instrument payload and spacecraft to achieve these
D* Production in Deep Inelastic Scattering at HERA
This paper presents measurements of D^{*\pm} production in deep inelastic
scattering from collisions between 27.5 GeV positrons and 820 GeV protons. The
data have been taken with the ZEUS detector at HERA. The decay channel
(+ c.c.) has been used in the study. The
cross section for inclusive D^{*\pm} production with
and is 5.3 \pms 1.0 \pms 0.8 nb in the kinematic region
{ GeV and }. Differential cross
sections as functions of p_T(D^{*\pm}), and are
compared with next-to-leading order QCD calculations based on the photon-gluon
fusion production mechanism. After an extrapolation of the cross section to the
full kinematic region in p_T(D^{*\pm}) and (D^{*\pm}), the charm
contribution to the proton structure function is
determined for Bjorken between 2 10 and 5 10.Comment: 17 pages including 4 figure
Observation of Scaling Violations in Scaled Momentum Distributions at HERA
Charged particle production has been measured in deep inelastic scattering
(DIS) events over a large range of and using the ZEUS detector. The
evolution of the scaled momentum, , with in the range 10 to 1280
, has been investigated in the current fragmentation region of the Breit
frame. The results show clear evidence, in a single experiment, for scaling
violations in scaled momenta as a function of .Comment: 21 pages including 4 figures, to be published in Physics Letters B.
Two references adde
Observation of hard scattering in photoproduction events with a large rapidity gap at HERA
Events with a large rapidity gap and total transverse energy greater than 5
GeV have been observed in quasi-real photoproduction at HERA with the ZEUS
detector. The distribution of these events as a function of the
centre of mass energy is consistent with diffractive scattering. For total
transverse energies above 12 GeV, the hadronic final states show predominantly
a two-jet structure with each jet having a transverse energy greater than 4
GeV. For the two-jet events, little energy flow is found outside the jets. This
observation is consistent with the hard scattering of a quasi-real photon with
a colourless object in the proton.Comment: 19 pages, latex, 4 figures appended as uuencoded fil
Pregnancy during COVID-19: social contact patterns and vaccine coverage of pregnant women from CoMix in 19 European countries
CoMix Europe Working Group: Daniela Paolotti, André Karch, Veronika Jäger, Joaquin Baruch, Tanya Melillo, Henrieta Hudeckova, Magdalena Rosinska, Marta Niedzwiedzka-Stadnik, Krista Fischer, Sigrid Vorobjov, Hanna Sõnajalg, Christian Althaus, Nicola Low, Martina Reichmuth, Kari Auranen, Markku Nurhonen, Goranka Petrović, Zvjezdana Lovric Makaric, Sónia Namorado, Constantino Caetano, Ana João Santos, Gergely Röst, Beatrix Oroszi, Márton Karsai, Mario Fafangel, Petra Klepac, Natalija Kranjec, Cristina Vilaplana, Jordi Casabona.CoMix Europe Working Group: Sónia Namorado, Constantino Caetano, and Ana João Santos (Department of Epidemiology, National Institute of Health Dr Ricardo Jorge, Portugal)Background: Evidence and advice for pregnant women evolved during the COVID-19 pandemic. We studied social contact behaviour and vaccine uptake in pregnant women between March 2020 and September 2021 in 19 European countries.
Methods: In each country, repeated online survey data were collected from a panel of nationally-representative participants. We calculated the adjusted mean number of contacts reported with an individual-level generalized additive mixed model, modelled using the negative binomial distribution and a log link function. Mean proportion of people in isolation or quarantine, and vaccination coverage by pregnancy status and gender were calculated using a clustered bootstrap.
Findings: We recorded 4,129 observations from 1,041 pregnant women, and 115,359 observations from 29,860 non-pregnant individuals aged 18-49. Pregnant women made slightly fewer contacts (3.6, 95%CI = 3.5-3.7) than non-pregnant women (4.0, 95%CI = 3.9-4.0), driven by fewer work contacts but marginally more contacts in non-essential social settings. Approximately 15-20% pregnant and 5% of non-pregnant individuals reported to be in isolation and quarantine for large parts of the study period. COVID-19 vaccine coverage was higher in pregnant women than in non-pregnant women between January and April 2021. Since May 2021, vaccination in non-pregnant women began to increase and surpassed that in pregnant women.
Interpretation: Limited social contact to avoid pathogen exposure during the COVID-19 pandemic has been a challenge to many, especially women going through pregnancy. More recognition of maternal social support desire is needed in the ongoing pandemic. As COVID-19 vaccination continues to remain an important pillar of outbreak response, strategies to promote correct information can provide reassurance and facilitate informed pregnancy vaccine decisions in this vulnerable group.HPRU in Modelling & Health Economics,NIHR200908,European
Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme,EpiPose
101003688,TransMID 682540,TransMID 682540,TransMID 682540,EpiPose 101003688,Wellcome Trust,213589/Z/18/Z,National Institute for
Health Research,CV220-088—COMIX,CV220-088—COMIX,CV220-088—
COMIX,Global Challenges Research Fund,ES/P010873/1,Medical Research
Council,MC_PC_19065,NIHR,PR-OD-1017-20002
HPRU in Modelling & Health Economics (NIHR200908: KLMW);
European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme – (EpiPose
101,003,688: AG, WJE). Wellcome Trust (213,589/Z/18/Z: ESP).
European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020
research and innovation programme (TransMID 682,540: CF, PN, NH).
This research was partly funded by the Global Challenges Research Fund
(GCRF) project RECAP managed through RCUK and ESRC (ES/P010873/1: CIJ).
NIHR (PR-OD-1017–20,002: WJE) UK MRC (MC_PC_19065—Covid 19: Understanding the dynamics and drivers
of the COVID-19 epidemic using real-time outbreak analytics: WJE).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Social contact patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic in 21 European countries - evidence from a two-year study
CoMix Europe Working Group: Daniela Paolotti, Michele Tizzani, Ciro Cattuto, Andrea Schmidt, Gerald Gredinger, Sophie Stumpfl, Joaquin Baruch, Tanya Melillo, Henrieta Hudeckova, Jana Zibolenova, Zuzana Chladna, Magdalena Rosinska, Marta Niedzwiedzka-Stadnik, Krista Fischer, Sigrid Vorobjov, Hanna Sõnajalg, Christian Althaus, Nicola Low, Martina Reichmuth, Kari Auranen, Markku Nurhonen, Goranka Petrović, Zvjezdana Lovric Makaric, Sónia Namorado, Constantino Caetano, Ana João Santos, Gergely Röst, Beatrix Oroszi, Márton Karsai, Mario Fafangel, Petra Klepac, Natalija Kranjec, Cristina Vilaplana, Jordi Casabona.Sónia Namorado, Constantino Caetano, and Ana João Santos (Department of
Epidemiology, National Institute of Health Dr Ricardo Jorge, Portugal).Background: Most countries have enacted some restrictions to reduce social contacts to slow down disease transmission during the COVID-19 pandemic. For nearly two years, individuals likely also adopted new behaviours to avoid pathogen exposure based on personal circumstances. We aimed to understand the way in which different factors affect social contacts - a critical step to improving future pandemic responses.
Methods: The analysis was based on repeated cross-sectional contact survey data collected in a standardized international study from 21 European countries between March 2020 and March 2022. We calculated the mean daily contacts reported using a clustered bootstrap by country and by settings (at home, at work, or in other settings). Where data were available, contact rates during the study period were compared with rates recorded prior to the pandemic. We fitted censored individual-level generalized additive mixed models to examine the effects of various factors on the number of social contacts.
Results: The survey recorded 463,336 observations from 96,456 participants. In all countries where comparison data were available, contact rates over the previous two years were substantially lower than those seen prior to the pandemic (approximately from over 10 to < 5), predominantly due to fewer contacts outside the home. Government restrictions imposed immediate effect on contacts, and these effects lingered after the restrictions were lifted. Across countries, the relationships between national policy, individual perceptions, or personal circumstances determining contacts varied.
Conclusions: Our study, coordinated at the regional level, provides important insights into the understanding of the factors associated with social contacts to support future infectious disease outbreak responses.The following funding sources are acknowledged as providing funding for the
named authors. HPRU in Modelling & Health Economics (NIHR200908: KLMW);
European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (EpiPose
101003688: AG, WJE); European Research Council under the European Union
Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (TransMID 682540: CF, PB,
NH) This research was partly funded by the Global Challenges Research Fund
(GCRF) project RECAP managed through RCUK and ESRC (ES/P010873/1: CIJ)
NIHR (PR_OD_1017_20002: WJE) UK MRC (MC_PC_19065—Covid 19: Under standing the dynamics and drivers of the COVID-19 epidemic using real-time
outbreak analytics: WJE).
In Belgium, CoMix data collection in Belgium was made possible with fnancial
support of Janssen Pharmaceuticals and the national public health institute of
Belgium, Sciensano.
In Germany, the COVIMOD project is funded by intramural funds of the
Institute of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, University of Münster, and of
the Institute of Medical Epidemiology, Biometry and Informatics, Martin Luther
University Halle-Wittenberg, as well as by funds provided by the Robert Koch
Institute, Berlin, the Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft Deutscher Forschungszentren
e.V. via the HZEpiAdHoc "The Helmholtz Epidemiologic Response against the
COVID-19 Pandemic" project, the Saxonian COVID-19 Research Consortium
SaxoCOV (co-fnanced with tax funds on the basis of the budget passed by
the Saxon state parliament), the Federal Ministry of Education and Research
(BMBF) as part of the Network University Medicine (NUM) via the egePan
Unimed project (funding code: 01KX2021) and the Deutsche Forschungsge meinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation, project number 458526380)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
State of the climate in 2013
In 2013, the vast majority of the monitored climate variables reported here maintained trends established in recent decades. ENSO was in a neutral state during the entire year, remaining mostly on the cool side of neutral with modest impacts on regional weather patterns around the world. This follows several years dominated by the effects of either La Niña or El Niño events. According to several independent analyses, 2013 was again among the 10 warmest years on record at the global scale, both at the Earths surface and through the troposphere. Some regions in the Southern Hemisphere had record or near-record high temperatures for the year. Australia observed its hottest year on record, while Argentina and New Zealand reported their second and third hottest years, respectively. In Antarctica, Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station reported its highest annual temperature since records began in 1957. At the opposite pole, the Arctic observed its seventh warmest year since records began in the early 20th century. At 20-m depth, record high temperatures were measured at some permafrost stations on the North Slope of Alaska and in the Brooks Range. In the Northern Hemisphere extratropics, anomalous meridional atmospheric circulation occurred throughout much of the year, leading to marked regional extremes of both temperature and precipitation. Cold temperature anomalies during winter across Eurasia were followed by warm spring temperature anomalies, which were linked to a new record low Eurasian snow cover extent in May. Minimum sea ice extent in the Arctic was the sixth lowest since satellite observations began in 1979. Including 2013, all seven lowest extents on record have occurred in the past seven years. Antarctica, on the other hand, had above-average sea ice extent throughout 2013, with 116 days of new daily high extent records, including a new daily maximum sea ice area of 19.57 million km2 reached on 1 October. ENSO-neutral conditions in the eastern central Pacific Ocean and a negative Pacific decadal oscillation pattern in the North Pacific had the largest impacts on the global sea surface temperature in 2013. The North Pacific reached a historic high temperature in 2013 and on balance the globally-averaged sea surface temperature was among the 10 highest on record. Overall, the salt content in nearsurface ocean waters increased while in intermediate waters it decreased. Global mean sea level continued to rise during 2013, on pace with a trend of 3.2 mm yr-1 over the past two decades. A portion of this trend (0.5 mm yr-1) has been attributed to natural variability associated with the Pacific decadal oscillation as well as to ongoing contributions from the melting of glaciers and ice sheets and ocean warming. Global tropical cyclone frequency during 2013 was slightly above average with a total of 94 storms, although the North Atlantic Basin had its quietest hurricane season since 1994. In the Western North Pacific Basin, Super Typhoon Haiyan, the deadliest tropical cyclone of 2013, had 1-minute sustained winds estimated to be 170 kt (87.5 m s-1) on 7 November, the highest wind speed ever assigned to a tropical cyclone. High storm surge was also associated with Haiyan as it made landfall over the central Philippines, an area where sea level is currently at historic highs, increasing by 200 mm since 1970. In the atmosphere, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide all continued to increase in 2013. As in previous years, each of these major greenhouse gases once again reached historic high concentrations. In the Arctic, carbon dioxide and methane increased at the same rate as the global increase. These increases are likely due to export from lower latitudes rather than a consequence of increases in Arctic sources, such as thawing permafrost. At Mauna Loa, Hawaii, for the first time since measurements began in 1958, the daily average mixing ratio of carbon dioxide exceeded 400 ppm on 9 May. The state of these variables, along with dozens of others, and the 2013 climate conditions of regions around the world are discussed in further detail in this 24th edition of the State of the Climate series. © 2014, American Meteorological Society. All rights reserved
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