7,854 research outputs found
Medium-term prognosis of an incident cohort of parkinsonian patients compared to controls
Funding This work was supported by Parkinson's UK (grant numbers G0502, G0914), BMA Doris Hillier Award, the BUPA Foundation, NHS Grampian Endowments, RS MacDonald Trust.Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Scottish theme towns: have new identities enhanced development?
Three small towns in southwest Scotland have recently been branded as distinct theme towns, based on books, artists and food. This is an attempt to make them more attractive to visitors and thereby improve their economy. The objective of this research is to establish whether the new identities possessed by the towns have enhanced their development. It is argued, using data reviewing the past decade, that they have all developed, albeit at different rates, in terms of the economy and culture. Moreover, it is maintained that social capital has been enhanced and is a factor whose importance has been under-appreciated by planners and observers of this type of process. The relevance of the new identity to the pre-branding identity is also seen as a factor in successful development and ideas of authenticity and heritage are brought to bear on the relationship
Preliminary report on sand-streaming in Agadez and Tahoua Departments, Republic of Niger
There are no author-identified significant results in this report
Paraoxonase gene polymorphisms and haplotype analysis in a stroke population
Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Development of probabilistic models for quantitative pathway analysis of plant pest introduction for the EU territory
This report demonstrates a probabilistic quantitative pathway analysis model that can be used in risk assessment for plant pest introduction into EU territory on a range of edible commodities (apples, oranges, stone fruits and wheat). Two types of model were developed: a general commodity model that simulates distribution of an imported infested/infected commodity to and within the EU from source countries by month; and a consignment model that simulates the movement and distribution of individual consignments from source countries to destinations in the EU. The general pathway model has two modules. Module 1 is a trade pathway model, with a Eurostat database of five years of monthly trade volumes for each specific commodity into the EU28 from all source countries and territories. Infestation levels based on interception records, commercial quality standards or other information determine volume of infested commodity entering and transhipped within the EU. Module 2 allocates commodity volumes to processing, retail use and waste streams and overlays the distribution onto EU NUTS2 regions based on population densities and processing unit locations. Transfer potential to domestic host crops is a function of distribution of imported infested product and area of domestic production in NUTS2 regions, pest dispersal potential, and phenology of susceptibility in domestic crops. The consignment model covers the several routes on supply chains for processing and retail use. The output of the general pathway model is a distribution of estimated volumes of infested produce by NUTS2 region across the EU28, by month or annually; this is then related to the accessible susceptible domestic crop. Risk is expressed as a potential volume of infested fruit in potential contact with an area of susceptible domestic host crop. The output of the consignment model is a volume of infested produce retained at each stage along the specific consignment trade chain
Simulations of a Scintillator Compton Gamma Imager for Safety and Security
We are designing an all-scintillator Compton gamma imager for use in security
investigations and remediation actions involving radioactive threat material.
To satisfy requirements for a rugged and portable instrument, we have chosen
solid scintillator for the active volumes of both the scatter and absorber
detectors. Using the BEAMnrc/EGSnrc Monte Carlo simulation package, we have
constructed models using four different materials for the scatter detector:
LaBr_3, NaI, CaF_2 and PVT. We have compared the detector performances using
angular resolution, efficiency, and image resolution. We find that while PVT
provides worse performance than that of the detectors based entirely on
inorganic scintillators, all of the materials investigated for the scatter
detector have the potential to provide performance adequate for our purposes.Comment: Revised text and figures, Presented at SORMA West 2008, Published in
IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Scienc
Experimental and numerical investigation into the influence of loading conditions in biomechanical testing of locking plate fracture fixation devices
Improved methods for detecting gravitational waves associated with short gamma-ray bursts
In the era of second generation ground-based gravitational wave detectors,
short gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) will be among the most promising astrophysical
events for joint electromagnetic and gravitational wave observation. A targeted
search for gravitational wave compact binary merger signals in coincidence with
short GRBs was developed and used to analyze data from the first generation
LIGO and Virgo instruments. In this paper, we present improvements to this
search that enhance our ability to detect gravitational wave counterparts to
short GRBs. Specifically, we introduce an improved method for estimating the
gravitational wave background to obtain the event significance required to make
detections; implement a method of tiling extended sky regions, as required when
searching for signals associated to poorly localized GRBs from Fermi Gamma-ray
Burst Monitor or the InterPlanetary Network; and incorporate astrophysical
knowledge about the beaming of GRB emission to restrict the search parameter
space. We describe the implementation of these enhancements and demonstrate how
they improve the ability to observe binary merger gravitational wave signals
associated with short GRBs.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figure
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Quantifying the value of ecosystem services: a case study of honeybee pollination in the UK
There is concern that insect pollinators, such as honey bees, are currently declining in abundance, and are under serious threat from environmental changes such as habitat loss and climate change; the use of pesticides in intensive agriculture, and emerging diseases. This paper aims to evaluate how much public support there would be in preventing further decline to maintain the current number of bee colonies in the UK. The contingent valuation method (CVM) was used to obtain the willingness to pay (WTP) for a theoretical pollinator protection policy. Respondents were asked whether they would be WTP to support such a policy and how much would they pay? Results show that the mean WTP to support the bee protection policy was £1.37/week/household. Based on there being 24.9 million households in the UK, this is equivalent to £1.77 billion per year. This total value can show the importance of maintaining the overall pollination service to policy makers. We compare this total with estimates obtained using a simple market valuation of pollination for the UK
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