65 research outputs found
Planning and the public : actor-networks and the plan-making process.
This study explores the development plan-making process in two local authorities,
and focuses on the role different groups, including 'the public', play in this. This
research aims to uncover the ways in which the practices of plan making are
constructed through the work of actors and texts, and to trace how these actions
reflect and constitute relations of power.
Plans have been viewed as modernist tools. However this conception has been
criticised in work drawing on the writings of Habermas and Foucault, which will be
critically assessed. Problems associated with these theories and a need to trace how
actions and structures might be constituted led to adopting a theoretical framework
drawing on actor-network theory. This theory has a radical view of structure, agency
and power and forces attention onto how stabilities are constructed. The theoretical
framework adopted draws on these concerns to trace how actors, entities and
networks emerge through social actions. The research questions focus these concerns
onto understanding how plans are written, who is important in this and how entities
such as 'local authorities' and 'the public' are constructed.
Qualitative research was carried out in two cases, examining how the plans were
written and focusing on how techniques of involving 'the public' were constructed.
Case study descriptions trace how networks were built and how were important in
mediating actions. In particular, the ways in which 'councils' 'officers', 'members',
'the public' and 'central government' are defined, form a focus.
Analysis of the two cases revealed significant similarities attributed to a 'central
government' network. Differences arose in the ways in which 'council' networks
composed different practices of plan-writing and how officers and members were
defined. This study shows how texts and actors shape plan-making, and how certain
practices of governance are constructed
Recommendations of the LHC Dark Matter Working Group: Comparing LHC searches for heavy mediators of dark matter production in visible and invisible decay channels
Weakly-coupled TeV-scale particles may mediate the interactions between
normal matter and dark matter. If so, the LHC would produce dark matter through
these mediators, leading to the familiar "mono-X" search signatures, but the
mediators would also produce signals without missing momentum via the same
vertices involved in their production. This document from the LHC Dark Matter
Working Group suggests how to compare searches for these two types of signals
in case of vector and axial-vector mediators, based on a workshop that took
place on September 19/20, 2016 and subsequent discussions. These suggestions
include how to extend the spin-1 mediated simplified models already in
widespread use to include lepton couplings. This document also provides
analytic calculations of the relic density in the simplified models and reports
an issue that arose when ATLAS and CMS first began to use preliminary numerical
calculations of the dark matter relic density in these models.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures; v2: author list and LaTeX problem fixe
Abundance of a chlorophyll a precursor and the oxidation product hydroxychlorophyll a during seasonal phytoplankton community progression in the Western English Channel
This study presents the first in-situ measurements of the chlorophyll a oxidation product, hydroxychlorophyll a as well as the chlorophyll a precursor, chlorophyll aP276 conducted over an annual cycle. Chlorophyll a oxidation products, such as hydroxychlorophyll a may be associated with the decline of algal populations and can act as an initial step in the degradation of chlorophyll a into products which can be found in the geochemical record, important for studying past climate change events. Here, hydroxychlorophyll a and chlorophyll aP276 were measured at the long-term monitoring station L4, Western Channel Observatory (UK, www.westernchannelobservatory.org) over an annual cycle (2012). Weekly measurements of phytoplankton species composition and abundance enabled detailed analysis of possible sources of hydroxychlorophyll a. Dinoflagellates, 2 diatom species, the prymnesiophyte Phaeocystis spp. and the coccolithophorid Emiliania huxleyi were all associated with hydroxychlorophyll a occurrence. However, during alternate peaks in abundance of the diatoms, no association with hydroxychlorophyll a occurred, indicating that the oxidation of chlorophyll a was dependant not only on species but also on additional factors such as the mode of mortality, growth limiting factor (i.e. nutrient concentration) or phenotypic plasticity. Surface sediment samples contained 10 times more hydroxychlorophyll a (relative to chlorophyll a) than pelagic particulate samples, indicating that more chlorophyll a oxidation occurred during sedimentation or at the sediment-water interface, than in the pelagic environment. In addition, chlorophyll aP276 correlated with chl-a concentration, thus supporting its assignment as a chl-a precursor
Quantifying neutralising antibody responses against SARS-CoV-2 in dried blood spots (DBS) and paired sera
The ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic was initially managed by non-pharmaceutical interventions such as diagnostic testing, isolation of positive cases, physical distancing and lockdowns. The advent of vaccines has provided crucial protection against SARS-CoV-2. Neutralising antibody (nAb) responses are a key correlate of protection, and therefore measuring nAb responses is essential for monitoring vaccine efficacy. Fingerstick dried blood spots (DBS) are ideal for use in large-scale sero-surveillance because they are inexpensive, offer the option of self-collection and can be transported and stored at ambient temperatures. Such advantages also make DBS appealing to use in resource-limited settings and in potential future pandemics. In this study, nAb responses in sera, venous blood and fingerstick blood stored on filter paper were measured. Samples were collected from SARS-CoV-2 acutely infected individuals, SARS-CoV-2 convalescent individuals and SARS-CoV-2 vaccinated individuals. Good agreement was observed between the nAb responses measured in eluted DBS and paired sera. Stability of nAb responses was also observed in sera stored on filter paper at room temperature for 28 days. Overall, this study provides support for the use of filter paper as a viable sample collection method to study nAb responses.</p
Viral coinfections in hospitalized coronavirus disease 2019 patients recruited to the international severe acute respiratory and emerging infections consortium WHO clinical characterisation protocol UK study
Background
We conducted this study to assess the prevalence of viral coinfection in a well characterized cohort of hospitalized coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients and to investigate the impact of coinfection on disease severity.
Methods
Multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction testing for endemic respiratory viruses was performed on upper respiratory tract samples from 1002 patients with COVID-19, aged <1 year to 102 years old, recruited to the International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infections Consortium WHO Clinical Characterisation Protocol UK study. Comprehensive demographic, clinical, and outcome data were collected prospectively up to 28 days post discharge.
Results
A coinfecting virus was detected in 20 (2.0%) participants. Multivariable analysis revealed no significant risk factors for coinfection, although this may be due to rarity of coinfection. Likewise, ordinal logistic regression analysis did not demonstrate a significant association between coinfection and increased disease severity.
Conclusions
Viral coinfection was rare among hospitalized COVID-19 patients in the United Kingdom during the first 18 months of the pandemic. With unbiased prospective sampling, we found no evidence of an association between viral coinfection and disease severity. Public health interventions disrupted normal seasonal transmission of respiratory viruses; relaxation of these measures mean it will be important to monitor the prevalence and impact of respiratory viral coinfections going forward
Delayed mucosal anti-viral responses despite robust peripheral inflammation in fatal COVID-19
Background
While inflammatory and immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection in peripheral blood are extensively described, responses at the upper respiratory mucosal site of initial infection are relatively poorly defined. We sought to identify mucosal cytokine/chemokine signatures that distinguished COVID-19 severity categories, and relate these to disease progression and peripheral inflammation.
Methods
We measured 35 cytokines and chemokines in nasal samples from 274 patients hospitalised with COVID-19. Analysis considered the timing of sampling during disease, as either the early (0-5 days post-symptom onset) or late (6-20 days post-symptom onset).
Results
Patients that survived severe COVID-19 showed IFN-dominated mucosal immune responses (IFN-γ, CXCL10 and CXCL13) early in infection. These early mucosal responses were absent in patients that would progress to fatal disease despite equivalent SARS-CoV-2 viral load. Mucosal inflammation in later disease was dominated by IL-2, IL-10, IFN-γ, and IL-12p70, which scaled with severity but did not differentiate patients who would survive or succumb to disease. Cytokines and chemokines in the mucosa showed distinctions from responses evident in the peripheral blood, particularly during fatal disease.
Conclusions
Defective early mucosal anti-viral responses anticipate fatal COVID-19 but are not associated with viral load. Early mucosal immune responses may define the trajectory of severe COVID-19
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