The status of the world's public-domain digital topography of the land and ice

There has been no reasonably comprehensive survey of what digital, elevation models of the Earth's land surface exist in the public‐domain. We have performed a survey of these data, and we report on the coverage and cost of the data we have established. To qualify for inclusion in our coverage, we required the data to be available to the general public, obtainable from a specific, identified institution, and to have a determined cost. We have established that at 100 m resolution coverage exists of most of the the developed world. In the United States and Australia, the data are available at cost, at around 3000 km^{2} £^{-1}. In the remaining countries, the data are available from mapping agencies with varying commercial pricing strategies. The total cost of the data we have identified is £ 1,688,312. For much of the world we are unable to confirm the existence of such data, and our experience is that in these regions it will prove difficult to obtain digital, elevation data, if, indeed, it exists at all

Uncertainty in mass-balance trends derived from altimetry: a case study along the EGIG line, central Greenland

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from The International Glaciological Society via http://dx.doi.org/10.3189/2015JoG14J123AbstractRepeated measurements of density profiles and surface elevation along a 515 km traverse of the Greenland ice sheet are used to determine elevation change rates and the error in determining mass-balance trends from these rates which arises from short-term fluctuations in mass input, compaction and surface density. Mean values of this error, averaged over 100 km sections of the traverse, decrease with time from the start of observations in 2004, with a half-time of ∼4 years. After 7 years the mean error is less than the ice equivalent mass imbalance.This project is a contribution to the calibration and validation of the European Space Agency (ESA) CryoSat satellite altimeter and is supported by ESA and by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Consortium grant NER/O/S/2003/00620. We are grateful to the NERC Geo- physical Equipment Facility and the University of Edinburgh for the loan of Leica GPS systems. Logistic support for the traverses was provided by CH2M HILL Polar Services, G. Somers, J. Pailthorpe, H. Chamberlain, M. Hignell and J. Sweeny gave invaluable assistance in the field and T. Benham provided Figure 1. Finally, we thank R. Arthern for useful discussions and our Scientific Editor, H. Fricker, and two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments

Commissioning and Calibrating the CMS Silicon Strip Tracker

The data acquisition system for the CMS Silicon Strip Tracker (SST) is based around a custom analogue front-end ASIC, an analogue optical link system and an off-detector VME board that performs digitization, zero-suppression and data formatting. A complex procedure is required to optimally configure, calibrate and synchronize the 107 channels of the SST readout system. We present an overview of this procedure, which will be used to commission and calibrate the SST during the integration, Start-Up and operational phases of the experiment. Recent experiences from the CMS Magnet Test Cosmic Challenge and system tests at the Tracker Integration Facility are also reported

Monitoring the CMS strip tracker readout system

The CMS Silicon Strip Tracker at the LHC comprises a sensitive area of approximately 200 m2 and 10 million readout channels. Its data acquisition system is based around a custom analogue front-end chip. Both the control and the readout of the front-end electronics are performed by off-detector VME boards in the counting room, which digitise the raw event data and perform zero-suppression and formatting. The data acquisition system uses the CMS online software framework to configure, control and monitor the hardware components and steer the data acquisition. The first data analysis is performed online within the official CMS reconstruction framework, which provides many services, such as distributed analysis, access to geometry and conditions data, and a Data Quality Monitoring tool based on the online physics reconstruction. The data acquisition monitoring of the Strip Tracker uses both the data acquisition and the reconstruction software frameworks in order to provide real-time feedback to shifters on the operational state of the detector, archiving for later analysis and possibly trigger automatic recovery actions in case of errors. Here we review the proposed architecture of the monitoring system and we describe its software components, which are already in place, the various monitoring streams available, and our experiences of operating and monitoring a large-scale system

A temperate former West Antarctic ice sheet suggested by an extensive zone of bed channels

Several recent studies predict that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet will become increasingly unstable under warmer conditions. Insights on such change can be assisted through investigations of the subglacial landscape, which contains imprints of former ice-sheet behavior. Here, we present radio-echo sounding data and satellite imagery revealing a series of ancient large sub-parallel subglacial bed channels preserved in the region between the Möller and Foundation Ice Streams, West Antarctica. We suggest that these newly recognized channels were formed by significant meltwater routed along the icesheet bed. The volume of water required is likely substantial and can most easily be explained by water generated at the ice surface. The Greenland Ice Sheet today exemplifies how significant seasonal surface melt can be transferred to the bed via englacial routing. For West Antarctica, the Pliocene (2.6–5.3 Ma) represents the most recent sustained period when temperatures could have been high enough to generate surface melt comparable to that of present-day Greenland. We propose, therefore, that a temperate ice sheet covered this location during Pliocene warm periods

Data acquisition software for the CMS strip tracker

The CMS silicon strip tracker, providing a sensitive area of approximately 200 m2 and comprising 10 million readout channels, has recently been completed at the tracker integration facility at CERN. The strip tracker community is currently working to develop and integrate the online and offline software frameworks, known as XDAQ and CMSSW respectively, for the purposes of data acquisition and detector commissioning and monitoring. Recent developments have seen the integration of many new services and tools within the online data acquisition system, such as event building, online distributed analysis, an online monitoring framework, and data storage management. We review the various software components that comprise the strip tracker data acquisition system, the software architectures used for stand-alone and global data-taking modes. Our experiences in commissioning and operating one of the largest ever silicon micro-strip tracking systems are also reviewed

Involving caregivers in self‐management interventions for patients with heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Aim: To quantify the impact of involving caregivers in self‐management interventions on health‐related quality of life of patients with heart failure or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Design: Systematic review, meta‐analysis. Data sources: Searched: Medline Ebsco, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Embase, Web of Science, The British Library and ProQuest. Search time frame; January 1990–March 2018. Review Methods: Randomized controlled trials involving caregivers in self‐management interventions (≥2 components) compared with usual care for patients with heart failure or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. A matched sample based on publication year, geographic location and inclusion of an exercise intervention of studies not involving caregivers were identified. Primary outcome of analysis was patient health‐related quality of life. Results: Thirteen randomized controlled trials (1,701 participants: 1,439 heart failure; 262 chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) involving caregivers (mean age 59; 58% female) were identified. Reported patient health‐related quality of life measures included; Minnesota Living with Heart Failure questionnaire, St. George's respiratory questionnaire and Short‐Form‐36. Compared with usual care, there was similar magnitude in mean improvement in patient health‐related quality of life with self‐management interventions in trials involving caregivers (SMD: 0.23, 95% confidence interval: −0.15–0.61) compared with trials without caregivers (SMD: 0.27, 0.08–0.46). Conclusion: Within the methodological constraints of this study, our results indicate that involving caregivers in self‐management interventions does not result in additional improvement in patient health‐related quality of life in heart failure or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. However, involvement of caregivers in intervention delivery remains an important consideration and key area of research. Impact: Greater understanding and awareness is needed of the methodology of caregiver engagement in intervention development and delivery and its impact on patient outcomes