Steady-state attitude control propulsion systems computer program documentation and user's manual, volume 1

Computer program documentation and user manual for steady state attitude control propulsion system - vol.

How can we minimise negative effects on ocean health? Policy card E1-E2

Rising temperatures and sea levels, acidification, and deoxygenation are carbon dioxide (CO2)-driven stressors that are already affecting the ocean, as well as the life it supports and the benefits it provides. These effects are in addition to pollution, over-fishing and lost habitats and their combination is likely to be worse than the sum of the parts: threatening ecosystems, human well being and the ability of the ocean to absorb CO2. Whilst damage is inevitable, actions can be taken to reduce its severit

What has the UK Ocean Acidification research programme told us? An infographic for Defra.

This is an infographic requested by Defra on the findings of the UK Ocean Acidification research programme

Time series analysis as input for clinical predictive modeling: Modeling cardiac arrest in a pediatric ICU

BACKGROUND: Thousands of children experience cardiac arrest events every year in pediatric intensive care units. Most of these children die. Cardiac arrest prediction tools are used as part of medical emergency team evaluations to identify patients in standard hospital beds that are at high risk for cardiac arrest. There are no models to predict cardiac arrest in pediatric intensive care units though, where the risk of an arrest is 10 times higher than for standard hospital beds. Current tools are based on a multivariable approach that does not characterize deterioration, which often precedes cardiac arrests. Characterizing deterioration requires a time series approach. The purpose of this study is to propose a method that will allow for time series data to be used in clinical prediction models. Successful implementation of these methods has the potential to bring arrest prediction to the pediatric intensive care environment, possibly allowing for interventions that can save lives and prevent disabilities. METHODS: We reviewed prediction models from nonclinical domains that employ time series data, and identified the steps that are necessary for building predictive models using time series clinical data. We illustrate the method by applying it to the specific case of building a predictive model for cardiac arrest in a pediatric intensive care unit. RESULTS: Time course analysis studies from genomic analysis provided a modeling template that was compatible with the steps required to develop a model from clinical time series data. The steps include: 1) selecting candidate variables; 2) specifying measurement parameters; 3) defining data format; 4) defining time window duration and resolution; 5) calculating latent variables for candidate variables not directly measured; 6) calculating time series features as latent variables; 7) creating data subsets to measure model performance effects attributable to various classes of candidate variables; 8) reducing the number of candidate features; 9) training models for various data subsets; and 10) measuring model performance characteristics in unseen data to estimate their external validity. CONCLUSIONS: We have proposed a ten step process that results in data sets that contain time series features and are suitable for predictive modeling by a number of methods. We illustrated the process through an example of cardiac arrest prediction in a pediatric intensive care setting

Future of the Sea: Ocean Acidification

Ocean acidification (OA) and climate change are both influenced by increasing carbon dioxide concentrations coming from the atmosphere. However, the distinction between OA and climate change, is that OA is an alteration of the chemistry of seawater, therefore not a direct climatic process. The ocean is the largest natural reservoir of dissolved carbon and holds an immense buffering capacity for changes in atmospheric CO2 concentrations. The rapid increase of atmospheric CO2 since the industrial revolution has caused oceans and seas to absorb increasingly greater amounts of CO2. This process disturbs the pre-existing chemical equilibrium of the sea, resulting in seas changing their chemical state and altering the ocean pH. Ocean acidification has become one of the most studied topics in the last 10 years (Williamson et al. 2017; Browman 2016). The UK has made a significant contribution in understanding OA effects on biodiversity and biogeochemistry, and the socioecological impacts across species and ecosystems. The evidence suggests that OA will act differently across species with some impacts already occurring for sensitive marine species and with direct and indirect repercussions for ecosystems. The direct effects will include changes in species morphology, ecology and behaviour whilst indirect effects may be repercussions for processes or higher trophic groups (e.g. wider food web effects and interactions within and between species). This review summarises the available ‘state of the art’ information with regards to OA effects, current issues and further recommendations for consideration on what will be the likely future issues for OA. This information intends to support marine planning decisions and future policy adaptations. A detailed section is included on how these changes will affect UK interests (e.g. maritime industries, fishing, health and wellbeing). A summary of key highlights is outlined below. Monitoring data conducted over the North Sea assessments have shown clear pH changes in shelf and coastal sites. Trends of pH variability are still uncertain, and further work to disentangle the observed variability does require additonal investigation. Ocean Acidification 5 By 2100, under medium emissions scenarios, ocean pH is projected to decrease by 0.3 pH units from levels 100 years ago. Evidence suggests that similar trends in acidification during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) (around 56 million years ago), where the rate of release of CO2 was estimated to have been around one-tenth of current rate of anthropogenic emissions, caused the extinction of many seafloor organisms. Though the future impacts of OA on commercial fisheries are still uncertain, recent research has indicated that annual economic losses in the UK resulting from the effects of OA could reach US $97.1 million (GBP £7.47 million) by 2100. The integrity of some UK species and habitats of conservation importance (included under the current Marine Protected Areas – MPAs – designation) could be affected by future changes in pH and temperature. Ocean acidification research has demonstrated that some species may be more susceptible to changes in pH. These results are particularly important for UK shellfisheries and shellfish aquaculture, as these industries could be negatively affected

Ocean acidification

KEY HEADLINES • Global-scale patterns and processes of ocean acidification are superimposed on other factors influencing seawater chemistry over local to regional space scales, and hourly to seasonal time scales. • Future ocean conditions will depend on future CO2 emissions; there is now international agreement that these should be reduced to net zero, thereby reducing the consequences of both climate change and ocean acidification. • Assessments of ocean acidification by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) gave high or very high confidence to chemical aspects, but a much wider range of confidence levels to projected biological and biogeochemical impacts. Biotic impacts will depend on species-specific responses, interactions with other stressors and food-web effects. • Previous MCCIP statements are considered to still be valid, with increased confidence for some aspects. • Observed pH decreases in the North Sea (over 30 years) and at coastal UK sites (over 6 years) seem more rapid than in the North Atlantic as a whole. However, shelf sea and coastal data sets show high variability over a range of timescales, and factors affecting that variability need to be much better understood. • UK research on ocean acidification has been productive and influential. There is no shortage of important and interesting topic areas that would improve scientific knowledge and deliver societally-important outcomes

Rights, responsibilities and redress? Research on policy and practice for Roma inclusion in ten Member States

Roma MATRIX (Mutual Action Targeting Racism, Intolerance and Xenophobia) was a two year project (2013-2015) co-funded by the European Union’s Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme. The project involved ten European Member States (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, and United Kingdom - hereafter referred to as the partner states). A total of 20 organisations were partners on the project representing a diverse range of agencies including non-government organisations (NGOs), Roma-led organisations, local government, universities and two private sector companies. A diverse programme of activities was undertaken which included network development, mentoring of people from Roma communities, conferences and workshops, capturing positive images and developing a public media campaign, etc. This work focused on four core areas which underpinned the Roma MATRIX project: Reporting and redress mechanisms for tackling anti-Gypsyism; Roma children in the care system; Employment; Cross-community relations and mediation. This summary report outlines the key research findings