Inequalities in COVID19 mortality related to ethnicity and socioeconomic deprivation - pre-print paper

Background: Initial reports suggest that ethnic minorities may be experiencing more severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID19) outcomes. We therefore assessed the association between ethnic composition, income deprivation and COVID19 mortality rates in England. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional ecological analysis across England's upper-tier local authorities. We assessed the association between the proportion of the population from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds, income deprivation and COVID19 mortality rates using multivariable negative binomial regression, adjusting for population density, proportion of the population aged 50-79 and 80+ years, and the duration of the epidemic in each area. Findings: Local authorities with a greater proportion of residents from ethnic minority backgrounds had statistically significantly higher COVID19 mortality rates, as did local authorities with a greater proportion of residents experiencing deprivation relating to low income. After adjusting for income deprivation and other covariates, each percentage point increase in the proportion of the population from BAME backgrounds was associated with a 1% increase in the COVID19 mortality rate [IRR=1.01, 95%CI 1.01-1.02]. Each percentage point increase in the proportion of the population experiencing income deprivation was associated with a 2% increase in the COVID19 mortality rate [IRR=1.02, 95%CI 1.01-1.04]. Interpretation: This study provides evidence that both income deprivation and ethnicity are associated with greater COVID19 mortality. To reduce these inequalities, Government needs to target effective control and recovery measures at these disadvantaged communities, proportionate to their greater needs and vulnerabilities, during and following the pandemic

GasNets and other evovalble neural networks applied to bipedal locomotion

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Incorporating Energy Expenditure into Evolutionary Robotics Fitness Measures.

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Quadrupedal locomotion: GasNets, CTRNNs and Hybrid CTRNN/PNNs compared

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Long term outcomes for elderly patients after emergency intensive care admission: A cohort study

Background Elderly patients (≥ 80 years of age) surviving an episode of critical illness suffer long-term morbidity and risk of mortality. Identifying high risk groups could assist in informing discussions with patients and families. Aim To determine factors associated with long-term survival following ICU admission. Design A cohort study of patients aged ≥ 80 years of age admitted to the ICU as an emergency. Methods Patients admitted from January 2010 to December 2018 were included in the study. Primary outcome was five year survival. Mortality was assessed using a multivariable flexible parametric survival analysis adjusted for demographics, and clinically relevant covariates. Results There were 828 patients. Mean age was 84 years (SD 3.2) and 419 (51%) were male. Patients were categorised into medical (423 (51%)) and surgical (405 (49%)) admissions. Adjusted hazard ratios (aHR) for mortality were highest for serum lactate (>8 mmol/l aHR 2.56 (C.I. 1.79–3.67)), lowest systolic blood pressure ( 8 mmol/l respectively). Relative survival for medical patients was below that expected for the general population for the duration of the study. Conclusion Overall five-year survival was 27%. For medical and surgical patients it was 19% and 35% respectively. Survival at 30 days and one year was 61% and 46%. The presence of features of circulatory shock predicted poor short and long term survival

Importance of within-lake processes in affecting the dynamics of dissolved organic carbon and dissolved organic and inorganic nitrogen in an Adirondack forested lake/watershed

Publisher's PDFLakes nested in forested watersheds play an important role in mediating the concentrations and fluxes of dissolved organic matter. We compared long-term patterns of concentrations and fluxes of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and dissolved organic (DON) and inorganic nitrogen (DIN) in aquatic ecosystems of the Arbutus Lake watershed to evaluate how a lake nested in a forested watershed affects the sources (e.g., production) and sinks (e.g., retention) of DOC and DON in the Adirondack Mountains of New York, USA. We observed no significant long-term changes of DOC and DON in the lake outlet since 1983 and 1994, respectively. However, the temporal patterns of DOC and DON concentrations in the lake inlet showed significant seasonality such as increases during the vegetation growing season along with notable decreases in the dormant season. A comparison of mass balances between inlet and outlet for the period from 2000 to 2009 suggested that the lake was a sink of DOC (mean of influx minus out flux: +1140 mol C ha(-1) yr(-1)). In contrast, the difference of discharge-weighted DON concentrations (mean of inlet minus outlet: 1.0 mu mol N L-1) between inlet and outlet was much smaller than the discharge-weighted DOC concentrations (average of inlet minus outlet: + 87 mu mol C L-1). DON fluxes showed considerable variation among years (mean of influx minus outflux: +8 mol N ha(-1) yr(-1); range of differences: -15 to 27 mol N ha(-1) yr(-1)). DON exhibited low percent retention ((influx-outflux)/influx) (mean: 6.9 %, range: 34.8 to +31.2) compared to DOC (mean: 30.1 %, range: +9.2 to +44.1). The resultant increase of DON within the lake was closely linked with a net decrease of DIN through monthly Pearson correlation analysis, suggesting the importance of biotic factors in mediating lake DON dynamics Our results show different relative retentions of DOC compared with DON, along with a larger retention of DIN than DON, suggesting that DOC and DON might display substantially different biogeochemical relationships in oligo-mesotrophic lakes nested forested watersheds and therefore different roles for a sink behavior for DOC compared to a producer of DON.University of Delaware, Department of Plant and Soil Science