Devising quality assurance procedures for assessment of legacy geochronological data relating to deglaciation of the last British-Irish Ice Sheet

This contribution documents the process of assessing the quality of data within a compilation of legacy geochronological data relating to the last British-Irish Ice Sheet, a task undertaken as part of a larger community-based project (BRITICE-CHRONO) that aims to improve understanding of the ice sheet's deglacial evolution. As accurate reconstructions depend on the quality of the available data, some form of assessment is needed of the reliability and suitability of each given age(s) in our dataset. We outline the background considerations that informed the quality assurance procedures devised given our specific research question. We describe criteria that have been used to make an objective assessment of the likelihood that an age is influenced by the technique specific sources of geological uncertainty. When these criteria were applied to an existing database of all geochronological data relating to the last British-Irish Ice Sheet they resulted in a significant reduction in data considered suitable for synthesis. The assessed data set was used to test a Bayesian approach to age modelling ice stream retreat and we outline our procedure that allows us to minimise the influence of potentially erroneous data and maximise the accuracy of the resultant age models

Extent and retreat history of the Barra Fan Ice Stream offshore western Scotland and northern Ireland during the last glaciation

During the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) the marine-terminating Barra Fan Ice Stream (BFIS), a major conduit of the British Irish Ice Sheet (BIIS), drained much of western Scotland and northwest Ireland with ice streaming onto the continental shelf of the Malin Sea. The extent and retreat history of this ice stream across the shelf, until now, is not well known. In particular, geochronological constraints on the history of this ice stream have thus far been restricted to deep-sea cores or terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide dating onshore, with ages across the shelf absent. To understand the possible external forcing factors acting on this marine terminating ice stream during retreat, improved geochronological constraint on its deglaciation is necessary. Here, we present new geophysical data, marine sediment cores and over forty radiocarbon dates to provide important constraints on maximum extent of the BFIS, as well as the timing and pattern of retreat back across the Malin Shelf. Dated moraines and grounding-zone wedges (GZW) seen in seafloor sub-bottom profiles provide evidence that the BFIS reached the Malin Shelf edge during the LGM and was at its maximum extent around 26.7 ka BP. The presence of two sets of GZWs suggests that the style of retreat was episodic. The new radiocarbon chronology shows that retreat from the shelf edge was underway by 25.9 ka BP, with the majority of the continental shelf ice free by 23.2 ka BP, and that glacimarine conditions were present in the Sea of Hebrides by 20.2 ka BP at the latest. Collectively, these results indicate that the majority of the Malin Shelf was free of grounded ice by ∼21.5–20 ka BP, which is up to 4000 years earlier than previously reconstructed. We attribute this early deglaciation to high relative sea level caused by glacial isostatic depression when the BIIS reached its maximum extent promoting ice shelf and grounding line instability. Two deep troughs, forming reverse bed slopes, aided the continued retreat of the BFIS. This suggests that local ice loading and bed morphology can be significant controls on the destabilisation of a marine-terminating ice stream and can override the influence of ocean and atmospheric temperatures

The Impact of Interorganizational Imitation on New Venture International Entry and Performance

We examine the impact of interorganizational imitation on new venture international entry and subsequent performance. Using a sample of 150 U.S.-based publicly held new ventures, we find that new venture international entry is in part an imitative response to the internationalization of other firms in the venture\u27s home country industry and/or subsets of firms with certain traits or outcomes. We also find that interorganizational imitation moderates the relationship between new venture international entry and profitability, but not the relationship between new venture international entry and sales growth. These findings contribute to the growing body of literature on new venture internationalization

Growing up in Bradford:Protocol for the age 7-11 follow up of the Born in Bradford birth cohort

Background: Born in Bradford (BiB) is a prospective multi-ethnic pregnancy and birth cohort study that was established to examine determinants of health and development during childhood and, subsequently, adult life in a deprived multi-ethnic population in the north of England. Between 2007 and 2010, the BiB cohort recruited 12,453 women who experienced 13,776 pregnancies and 13,858 births, along with 3353 of their partners. Forty five percent of the cohort are of Pakistani origin. Now that children are at primary school, the first full follow-up of the cohort is taking place. The aims of the follow-up are to investigate the determinants of children's pre-pubertal health and development, including through understanding parents' health and wellbeing, and to obtain data on exposures in childhood that might influence future health. Methods: We are employing a multi-method approach across three data collection arms (community-based family visits, school based physical assessment, and whole classroom cognitive, motor function and wellbeing measures) to follow-up over 9000 BiB children aged 7-11 years and their families between 2017 and 2021. We are collecting detailed parent and child questionnaires, cognitive and sensorimotor assessments, blood pressure, anthropometry and blood samples from parents and children. Dual x-ray absorptiometry body scans, accelerometry and urine samples are collected on subsamples. Informed consent is collected for continued routine data linkage to health, social care and education records. A range of engagement activities are being used to raise the profile of BiB and to disseminate findings. Discussion: Our multi-method approach to recruitment and assessment provides an efficient method of collecting rich data on all family members. Data collected will enhance BiB as a resource for the international research community to study the interplay between ethnicity, socioeconomic circumstances and biology in relation to cardiometabolic health, mental health, education, cognitive and sensorimotor development and wellbeing.</p

Memory enhancing drugs and Alzheimer’s Disease: Enhancing the self or preventing the loss of it?

In this paper we analyse some ethical and philosophical questions related to the development of memory enhancing drugs (MEDs) and anti-dementia drugs. The world of memory enhancement is coloured by utopian thinking and by the desire for quicker, sharper, and more reliable memories. Dementia is characterized by decline, fragility, vulnerability, a loss of the most important cognitive functions and even a loss of self. While MEDs are being developed for self-improvement, in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) the self is being lost. Despite this it is precisely those patients with AD and other forms of dementia that provide the subjects for scientific research on memory improvement. Biomedical research in the field of MEDs and anti-dementia drugs appears to provide a strong impetus for rethinking what we mean by ‘memory’, ‘enhancement’, ‘therapy’, and ‘self’. We conclude (1) that the enhancement of memory is still in its infancy, (2) that current MEDs and anti-dementia drugs are at best partially and minimally effective under specific conditions, (3) that ‘memory᾿and ‘enhancement᾿are ambiguous terms, (4) that there is no clear-cut distinction between enhancement and therapy, and (5) that the research into MEDs and anti-dementia drugs encourages a reductionistic view of the human mind and of the self

Measurement of the polarisation of W bosons produced with large transverse momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment

This paper describes an analysis of the angular distribution of W->enu and W->munu decays, using data from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2010, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 35 pb^-1. Using the decay lepton transverse momentum and the missing transverse energy, the W decay angular distribution projected onto the transverse plane is obtained and analysed in terms of helicity fractions f0, fL and fR over two ranges of W transverse momentum (ptw): 35 < ptw < 50 GeV and ptw > 50 GeV. Good agreement is found with theoretical predictions. For ptw > 50 GeV, the values of f0 and fL-fR, averaged over charge and lepton flavour, are measured to be : f0 = 0.127 +/- 0.030 +/- 0.108 and fL-fR = 0.252 +/- 0.017 +/- 0.030, where the first uncertainties are statistical, and the second include all systematic effects.Comment: 19 pages plus author list (34 pages total), 9 figures, 11 tables, revised author list, matches European Journal of Physics C versio

Observation of a new chi_b state in radiative transitions to Upsilon(1S) and Upsilon(2S) at ATLAS

The chi_b(nP) quarkonium states are produced in proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV and recorded by the ATLAS detector. Using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.4 fb^-1, these states are reconstructed through their radiative decays to Upsilon(1S,2S) with Upsilon->mu+mu-. In addition to the mass peaks corresponding to the decay modes chi_b(1P,2P)->Upsilon(1S)gamma, a new structure centered at a mass of 10.530+/-0.005 (stat.)+/-0.009 (syst.) GeV is also observed, in both the Upsilon(1S)gamma and Upsilon(2S)gamma decay modes. This is interpreted as the chi_b(3P) system.Comment: 5 pages plus author list (18 pages total), 2 figures, 1 table, corrected author list, matches final version in Physical Review Letter

Search for displaced vertices arising from decays of new heavy particles in 7 TeV pp collisions at ATLAS

We present the results of a search for new, heavy particles that decay at a significant distance from their production point into a final state containing charged hadrons in association with a high-momentum muon. The search is conducted in a pp-collision data sample with a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV and an integrated luminosity of 33 pb^-1 collected in 2010 by the ATLAS detector operating at the Large Hadron Collider. Production of such particles is expected in various scenarios of physics beyond the standard model. We observe no signal and place limits on the production cross-section of supersymmetric particles in an R-parity-violating scenario as a function of the neutralino lifetime. Limits are presented for different squark and neutralino masses, enabling extension of the limits to a variety of other models.Comment: 8 pages plus author list (20 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version to appear in Physics Letters

Measurement of the inclusive isolated prompt photon cross-section in pp collisions at sqrt(s)= 7 TeV using 35 pb-1 of ATLAS data

A measurement of the differential cross-section for the inclusive production of isolated prompt photons in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy sqrt(s) = 7 TeV is presented. The measurement covers the pseudorapidity ranges |eta|<1.37 and 1.52<=|eta|<2.37 in the transverse energy range 45<=E_T<400GeV. The results are based on an integrated luminosity of 35 pb-1, collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The yields of the signal photons are measured using a data-driven technique, based on the observed distribution of the hadronic energy in a narrow cone around the photon candidate and the photon selection criteria. The results are compared with next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculations and found to be in good agreement over four orders of magnitude in cross-section.Comment: 7 pages plus author list (18 pages total), 2 figures, 4 tables, final version published in Physics Letters

Measurement of D*+/- meson production in jets from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper reports a measurement of D*+/- meson production in jets from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The measurement is based on a data sample recorded with the ATLAS detector with an integrated luminosity of 0.30 pb^-1 for jets with transverse momentum between 25 and 70 GeV in the pseudorapidity range |eta| < 2.5. D*+/- mesons found in jets are fully reconstructed in the decay chain: D*+ -> D0pi+, D0 -> K-pi+, and its charge conjugate. The production rate is found to be N(D*+/-)/N(jet) = 0.025 +/- 0.001(stat.) +/- 0.004(syst.) for D*+/- mesons that carry a fraction z of the jet momentum in the range 0.3 < z < 1. Monte Carlo predictions fail to describe the data at small values of z, and this is most marked at low jet transverse momentum.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (22 pages total), 5 figures, 1 table, matches published version in Physical Review