Stochastic parameterization: uncertainties from convection

In 2005, the ECMWF held a workshop on stochastic parameterisation, at which the convection was seen as being a key issue. That much is clear from the working group reports and particularly the statement from working group 1 that “it is clear that a stochastic convection scheme is desirable”. The present note aims to consider our current status in comparison with some of the issues raised and hopes expressed in that working group report

A clinically relevant method of analyzing continuous change in robotic upper extremity chronic stroke rehabilitation

BACKGROUND: Robots designed for rehabilitation of the upper extremity after stroke facilitate high rates of repetition during practice of movements and record precise kinematic data, providing a method to investigate motor recovery profiles over time.OBJECTIVE: To determine how motor recovery profiles during robotic interventions provide insight into improving clinical gains.METHODS: A convenience sample (n = 22), from a larger randomized control trial, was taken of chronic stroke participants completing 12 sessions of arm therapy. One group received 60 minutes of robotic therapy (Robot only) and the other group received 45 minutes on the robot plus 15 minutes of translation-to-task practice (Robot + TTT). Movement time was assessed using the robot without powered assistance. Analyses (ANOVA, random coefficient modeling [RCM] with 2-term exponential function) were completed to investigate changes across the intervention, between sessions, and within a session.RESULTS: Significant improvement (P < .05) in movement time across the intervention (pre vs post) was similar between the groups but there were group differences for changes between and within sessions (P < .05). The 2-term exponential function revealed a fast and slow component of learning that described performance across consecutive blocks. The RCM identified individuals who were above or below the marginal model.CONCLUSIONS: The expanded analyses indicated that changes across time can occur in different ways but achieve similar goals and may be influenced by individual factors such as initial movement time. These findings will guide decisions regarding treatment planning based on rates of motor relearning during upper extremity stroke robotic interventions

Support for Integrated Ecosystem Assessments of NOAA’s National Estuarine Research Reserves System (NERRS), Volume I: The Impacts of Coastal Development on the Ecology and Human Well-being of Tidal Creek Ecosystems of the US Southeast

A study was conducted, in association with the Sapelo Island and North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserves (NERRs), to evaluate the impacts of coastal development on sentinel habitats (e.g., tidal creek ecosystems), including potential impacts to human health and well-being. Uplands associated with southeastern tidal creeks and the salt marshes they drain are popular locations for building homes, resorts, and recreational facilities because of the high quality of life and mild climate associated with these environments. Tidal creeks form part of the estuarine ecosystem characterized by high biological productivity, great ecological value, complex environmental gradients, and numerous interconnected processes. This research combined a watershed-level study integrating ecological, public health and human dimension attributes with watershed-level land use data. The approach used for this research was based upon a comparative watershed and ecosystem approach that sampled tidal creek networks draining developed watersheds (e.g., suburban, urban, and industrial) as well as undeveloped sites. The primary objective of this work was to clearly define the relationships between coastal development with its concomitant land use changes and non-point source pollution loading and the ecological and human health and well-being status of tidal creek ecosystems. Nineteen tidal creek systems, located along the southeastern United States coast from southern North Carolina to southern Georgia, were sampled during summer (June-August), 2005 and 2006. Within each system, creeks were divided into two primary segments based upon tidal zoning: intertidal (i.e., shallow, narrow headwater sections) and subtidal (i.e., deeper and wider sections), and watersheds were delineated for each segment. In total, we report findings on 24 intertidal and 19 subtidal creeks. Indicators sampled throughout each creek included water quality (e.g., dissolved oxygen concentration, salinity, nutrients, chlorophyll-a levels), sediment quality (e.g., characteristics, contaminants levels including emerging contaminants), pathogen and viral indicators, and abundance and genetic responses of biological resources (e.g., macrobenthic and nektonic communities, shellfish tissue contaminants, oyster microarray responses). For many indicators, the intertidally-dominated or headwater portions of tidal creeks were found to respond differently than the subtidally-dominated or larger and deeper portions of tidal creeks. Study results indicate that the integrity and productivity of headwater tidal creeks were impaired by land use changes and associated non-point source pollution, suggesting these habitats are valuable early warning sentinels of ensuing ecological impacts and potential public health threats. For these headwater creeks, this research has assisted the validation of a previously developed conceptual model for the southeastern US region. This conceptual model identified adverse changes that generally occurred in the physical and chemical environment (e.g., water quality indicators such as indicator bacteria for sewage pollution or sediment chemical contamination) when impervious cover levels in the watershed reach 10-20%. Ecological characteristics responded and were generally impaired when impervious cover levels exceed 20-30%. Estimates of impervious cover levels defining where human uses are impaired are currently being determined, but it appears that shellfish bed closures and the flooding vulnerability of headwater regions become a concern when impervious cover values exceed 10-30%. This information can be used to forecast the impacts of changing land use patterns on tidal creek environmental quality as well as associated human health and well-being. In addition, this study applied tools and technologies that are adaptable, transferable, and repeatable among the high quality NERRS sites as comparable reference entities to other nearby developed coastal watersheds. The findings herein will be of value in addressing local, regional and national needs for understanding multiple stressor (anthropogenic and human impacts) effects upon estuarine ecosystems and response trends in ecosystem condition with changing coastal impacts (i.e., development, climate change). (PDF contaions 88 pages

Why do some people who had a stroke not receive the recommended 45 min of occupational therapy and physiotherapy? A Delphi study

Objectives To gain a consensus among therapists for reasons why a person who had a stroke may not receive the Royal College of Physicians’ recommended minimum of 45min of daily therapy. Design Three-round remote e-Delphi study. Setting National study, based in the UK. Participants Occupational therapists and physiotherapists with experience of delivering therapy after stroke and awareness of the 45 min guideline. Results Forty-five therapists consented to participate in the study. Thirty-five (78%) completed round one, 29 of 35 (83%) completed round 2 and 26 of 29 (90%) completed round three. A consensus (75%) was reached for 32 statements. Reasons why a person may not receive 45min were related to the suitability of the guideline for the individual (based on factors like therapy tolerance or medical status) or the capability of the service to provide the intervention. In addition to the statements for which there was a consensus, 32 concepts did not reach a consensus. Specifically, there was a lack of consensus concerning the suitability of the guideline for people receiving Early Supported Discharge (ESD) services and a lack of agreement about whether people who need more than 45min of therapy actually receive it. Conclusion Some people do not receive 45min of therapy as they are considered unsuitable for it and some do not receive it due to services’ inability to provide it. It is unclear which reasons for guideline non-achievement are most common. Future research should focus on why the guideline is not achieved in ESD, and why people who require more than 45min may not receive it. This could contribute to practical guidance for therapists to optimise therapy delivery for people after stroke

Why do some people with stroke not receive the recommended 45 min of occupational therapy and physiotherapy after stroke? A qualitative study using focus groups

Objectives To generate qualitative data on the views of Occupational Therapists and Physiotherapists about why people do not receive the Royal College of Physicians’ recommended minimum of 45minutes (min) of daily therapy after stroke, in order to inform a Delphi study. Design Focus group study. Setting Stroke services in the South of England. Participants A total of nine participants, in two groups, including therapists covering inpatient and Early Supported Discharge (ESD) services with awareness of the 45min guideline. Results Thematic analysis of focus group data identified five factors that influence the amount of therapy a person receives: The Person (with stroke), Individual Therapist, Stroke Multidisciplinary Team, the Organisation and the Guideline. Study findings suggest that the reasons why a person does not receive the therapy recommendation in inpatient and ESD services relate to either the suitability of the guideline for the person with stroke, or the ability of the service to deliver the guideline. Conclusion This study provides evidence for possible reasons why some people do not receive a minimum of 45minutes of therapy, 5 days per week, related to (1) the suitability of the guideline for people with stroke and (2) services’ ability to deliver this amount of intervention. These two factors are related; therapists decide who should receive therapy and how much in the context of (a) resource availability and (b) people’s need and the benefit they will experience. The study findings, combined with the findings from other studies, will be used to initiate a Delphi study, which will establish consensus among therapists regarding the reasons why some people do not receive the guideline amount of therap

Bilateral Assessment of Functional Tasks for Robot-assisted Therapy Applications

This article presents a novel evaluation system along with methods to evaluate bilateral coordination of arm function on activities of daily living tasks before and after robot-assisted therapy. An affordable bilateral assessment system (BiAS) consisting of two mini-passive measuring units modeled as three degree of freedom robots is described. The process for evaluating functional tasks using the BiAS is presented and we demonstrate its ability to measure wrist kinematic trajectories. Three metrics, phase difference, movement overlap, and task completion time, are used to evaluate the BiAS system on a bilateral symmetric (bi-drink) and a bilateral asymmetric (bi-pour) functional task. Wrist position and velocity trajectories are evaluated using these metrics to provide insight into temporal and spatial bilateral deficits after stroke. The BiAS system quantified movements of the wrists during functional tasks and detected differences in impaired and unimpaired arm movements. Case studies showed that stroke patients compared to healthy subjects move slower and are less likely to use their arm simultaneously even when the functional task requires simultaneous movement. After robot-assisted therapy, interlimb coordination spatial deficits moved toward normal coordination on functional tasks

Baseline assessment of Guánica Bay, Puerto Rico in support of watershed restoration

Guánica Bay is a major estuary on the southwest coast of Puerto Rico. Significant coral reef ecosystems are present outside the bay. These valuable habitats may be impacted by transport of sediments, nutrients and contaminants from the watershed, through the bay and into the offshore waters. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), in consultation with local and regional experts, conducted an interdisciplinary assessment of coral reef ecosystems, contaminants, sedimentation rates and nutrient distribution patterns in and around Guánica Bay. This work was conducted using many of the same protocols as ongoing monitoring work underway elsewhere in the U.S. Caribbean and has enabled comparisons among coral reef ecosystems between this study and other locations in the region. This characterization of Guánica marine ecosystems establishes benchmark conditions that can be used for comparative documentation of future change, including possible negative outcomes due to future land use change, or improvement in environmental conditions arising from management actions. This report is organized into six chapters that represent a suite of interrelated studies. Chapter 1 provides a short introduction to the study area. Chapter 2 is focused on biogeographic assessments and benthic mapping of the study area, including new surveys of fish, marine debris and reef communities on hardbottom habitats in the study area. Chapter 3 quantifies the distribution and magnitude of a suite of contaminants (e.g., heavy metals, PAHs, PCBs, pesticides) in both surface sediments and coral tissues. Chapter 4 presents results of sedimentation measurements in and outside of the bay. Chapter 5 examines the distribution of nutrients in in the bay, offshore from the bay and in the watershed. Chapter 6 is a brief summary discussion that highlights key findings of the entire suite of studies

Coordination between arm and leg movements during locomotion

To evaluate the contrasting dynamical and biomechanical interpretations of the 2:1 frequency coordination between arm and leg movements that occurs at low walking velocities and the 1:1 frequency coordination that occurs at higher walking velocities, the authors conducted an experiment in which they quantified the effect of walking velocity on the stability of the frequency and phase coordination between the individual limb movements. Spectral analyses revealed the presence of 2:1 frequency coordination as a consistent feature of the data in only 3 out of 8 participants at walking velocities ranging from 1.0 to 2.0 km/h, in spite of the fact that the eigenfrequencies of the arms were rather similar across participants. The degree of interlimb coupling, as indexed by weighted coherence and variability of relative phase, was lower for the arm movements and for ipsilateral and diagonal combinations of arm and leg movements than for the leg movements. Furthermore, the coupling between all pairs of limb movements was found to increase with walking velocity, whereas no clear signs were observed that the switches from 2:1 to 1:1 frequency coordination and vice versa were preceded by loss of stability. Therefore, neither a purely biomechanical nor a purely dynamical model is optimally suited to explain these results. Instead, an integrative model involving elements of both approaches seems to be required