Quantitative Evaluation of NDE Reliability

A comprehensive reliability programme is being performed by the UKAEA and CEGB which is studying aspects such as inspection procedures, equipment, and data interpretation and reporting(1). The influence of management and organisational aspects, and psychological and environmental factors are also being investigated, and the importance of these aspects has recently been highlighted by Behravesh et al(2). The information produced will enable recommendations to be made on methods of eliminating or controlling potential errors. These recommendations should, when coupled with a demonstration of the capability of the procedures, lead to objective and auditable assurance of the overall reliability of the inspection

Strategic analysis of the drought resilience of water supply systems

Severe droughts can result in shortages of water supplies, with widespread social and economic consequences. Here we use a coupled simulation model to assess the reliability of public water supplies in England, in the context of changing scenarios of water demand, water regulation and climate change. The coupled simulation model combines climate simulations, a national-scale hydrological model and a national-scale water resource systems model to demonstrate how extreme meteorological droughts translate into hydrological droughts and water shortages for water users. We use this model to explore the effectiveness of strategic water resource options that are being planned in England to secure water supplies to most of England's population up to a drought return period of 1 in 500 years. We conclude that it is possible to achieve a 1-in-500-years standard in locations where strategic resource options are used, while also reducing water abstraction to restore the aquatic environment. However, the target will be easier to achieve if effective steps are also taken to reduce water demand. This article is part of the Royal Society Science+ meeting issue ‘Drought risk in the Anthropocene’

Cityscapes without figures: geophysics, computing and the future of urban studies

Ye

Rates of referable eye disease in the Scottish National Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Programme

Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Thermoregulatory, metabolic, and cardiovascular responses during 88 min of full-body ice immersion - A case study.

Exposure to extreme cold environments is potentially life-threatening. However, the world record holder of full-body ice immersion has repeatedly demonstrated an extraordinary tolerance to extreme cold. We aimed to explore thermoregulatory, metabolic, and cardiovascular responses during 88 min of full-body ice immersion. We continuously measured gastrointestinal temperature (Tgi ), skin temperature (Tskin), blood pressure, and heart rate (HR). Oxygen consumption (VO2 ) was measured at rest, and after 45 and 88 min of ice immersion, in order to calculate the metabolic heat production. Tskin dropped significantly (28-34°C to 4-15°C) and VO2 doubled (5.7-11.3 ml kg-1  min-1 ), whereas Tgi (37.6°C), HR (72 bpm), and mean arterial pressure (106 mmHg) remained stable during the first 30 min of cold exposure. During the remaining of the trial, Tskin and VO2 remained stable, while Tgi gradually declined to 37.0°C and HR and mean arterial blood pressure increased to maximum values of 101 bpm and 115 mmHg, respectively. Metabolic heat production in rest was 169 W and increased to 321 W and 314 W after 45 and 80 min of ice immersion. Eighty-eight minutes of full-body ice immersion resulted in minor changes of Tgi and cardiovascular responses, while Tskin and VO2 changed markedly. These findings may suggest that our participant can optimize his thermoregulatory, metabolic, and cardiovascular responses to challenge extreme cold exposure

A meta-analysis of peripheral tocopherol levels in age-related cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease.

Objectives: Findings from observational studies and clinical trials on the associations between vitamin E and dementia remain controversial. Here we conducted a meta-analysis to determine the difference in blood tocopherols levels between patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) or age-related poor cognitive function and healthy controls.Methods: Standardised mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated and entered into a random effects model. Study quality, heterogeneity and publication bias were also investigated.Results: Thirty-one articles were included in the meta-analysis, which included analyses for α-, β-, γ- and δ-tocopherols. These results indicated that individuals with AD or age-related cognitive deficits and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) had lower circulatory concentrations of α-tocophenol compared with healthy controls (AD: SMD = -0.97, 95% confidence interval [CI] = -1.27 to -0.68, Z = 6.45, P < 0.00001; age-related cognitive deficits and MCI: SMD = -0.72, 95% CI = -1.12 to -0.32, Z = -3., P < 0.0005). Levels of β-, γ- and δ-tocophenols did not significantly differ between groups of AD and age-related cognitive deficits compared to controls.Discussion: These results suggest that lower α-tocopherol levels have a strong association with AD and MCI supporting evidence for the role of diet and vitamin E in AD risk and age-related cognitive decline

Band gap reduction in InNxSb1-x alloys: Optical absorption, k . P modeling, and density functional theory

Using infrared absorption, the room temperature band gap of InSb is found to reduce from 174 (7.1 μm) to 85 meV (14.6 μm) upon incorporation of up to 1.13% N, a reduction of ∼79 meV/%N. The experimentally observed band gap reduction in molecular-beam epitaxial InNSb thin films is reproduced by a five band k ⋅· P band anticrossing model incorporating a nitrogen level, EN, 0.75 eV above the valence band maximum of the host InSb and an interaction coupling matrix element between the host conduction band and the N level of β = 1.80 eV. This observation is consistent with the presented results from hybrid density functional theory

A restatement of the natural science evidence concerning catchment-based "natural” flood management in the United Kingdom

Flooding is a very costly natural hazard in Great Britain and is expected to increase further under future climate change scenarios. Flood defences are commonly deployed to protect communities and property from flooding, but in recent years flood management policy has looked towards solutions that seek to mitigate flood risk at flood-prone sites through targeted interventions throughout the catchment, sometimes using techniques which involve working with natural processes. This paper describes a project to provide a succinct summary of the natural science evidence base concerning the effectiveness of catchment-based “natural” flood management in the United Kingdom. The evidence summary is designed to be read by an informed but not technically-specialist audience. Each evidence statement is placed into one of four categories describing the nature of the underlying information. The evidence summary forms the appendix to this paper and an annotated bibliography is provided in the electronic supplementary material

Proton and Pion Production in Au+Au Collisions at 10.8A GeV/c

We present proton and pion tranverse momentum spectra and rapidity distributions for Au+Au collisions at 10.8A GeV/c. The proton spectra exhibit collective transverse flow effects. Evidence of the influence of the Coulomb interaction from the fireball is found in the pion transverse momentum spectra. The data are compared with the predictions of the RQMD event generator.Comment: plain tex (revtex), 24 pages Submitted to Phys. Rev.