A disjunctive Prime Minister: assessing David Cameron’slegacy

David Cameron’s political career was cut short by last year’s dramatic Brexit vote. Chris Byrne, Nick Randall and Kevin Theakston look back on his time in office, and how the history books will judge him

Seasonal Variation in Slipped Capital Femoral Epiphysis: New Findings Using a National Children’s Hospital Database

Background: Slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE) demonstrates seasonal variation in certain latitudes but not others. Is such variation influenced by temperature differences, sunlight exposure and subsequent vitamin D production, or other climate variables? It was the purpose of this study to further investigate the seasonal variation in month of presentation for SCFE. Methods: Data for this study originated from the Pediatric Hospital Information System for all children with a diagnosis of SCFE from January 1, 2004 through December 31, 2014. From this database the patient’s sex, ethnicity, hospital location, and month of presentation was determined. Only those patients treated primarily for SCFE were included. Geographic and climate data [latitude, average annual temperature, precipitation, climate type (Köppen-Geiger and Liss), horticultural plant zone hardiness, and sunlight exposure] for each of the 49 Pediatric Hospital Information System hospitals was determined. Seasonal variation was analyzed using cosinor analysis. A P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: There were 10,350 cases of SCFE with an overall peak presentation in mid August. For those living at a latitude of >35-degree N there was single peak, a less prominent double peak for those 31- to 35-degree N, and no variation for those <31-degree N. As the average annual temperature increased there was less seasonal variability. Humid, temperate and cold winter climates demonstrated seasonal variation, whereas other climate types did not. Those living in areas having <2500 hours of sunlight per year demonstrated seasonal variation. Further, areas having a photovoltaic solar production potential <5.0 kWh/m2/d also demonstrated seasonal variation. Conclusions: We discovered new seasonal variation findings regarding SCFE. These are a double peak pattern for those between 31- and 35-degree N latitude; less variability as the average annual temperature increases; and sunlight exposure correlates with seasonal variability. Potential explanations are a rachitic state due to seasonal variation in vitamin D production, and seasonal variation in physeal growth and strength. These new findings will require further investigation

Stratosphere-troposphere separation of nitrogen dioxide columns from the TEMPO geostationary satellite instrument

Separating the stratospheric and tropospheric contributions in satellite retrievals of atmospheric NO2 column abundance is a crucial step in the interpretation and application of the satellite observations. A variety of stratosphere–troposphere separation algorithms have been developed for sun-synchronous instruments in low Earth orbit (LEO) that benefit from global coverage, including broad clean regions with negligible tropospheric NO2 compared to stratospheric NO2. These global sun-synchronous algorithms need to be evaluated and refined for forthcoming geostationary instruments focused on continental regions, which lack this global context and require hourly estimates of the stratospheric column. Here we develop and assess a spatial filtering algorithm for the upcoming TEMPO geostationary instrument that will target North America. Developments include using independent satellite observations to identify likely locations of tropospheric enhancements, using independent LEO observations for spatial context, consideration of diurnally varying partial fields of regard, and a filter based on stratospheric to tropospheric air mass factor ratios. We test the algorithm with LEO observations from the OMI instrument with an afternoon overpass, and from the GOME-2 instrument with a morning overpass. We compare our TEMPO field of regard algorithm against an identical global algorithm to investigate the penalty resulting from the limited spatial coverage in geostationary orbit, and find excellent agreement in the estimated mean daily tropospheric NO2 column densities (R2=0.999, slope=1.009 for July and R2=0.998, slope=0.999 for January). The algorithm performs well even when only small parts of the continent are observed by TEMPO. The algorithm is challenged the most by east coast morning retrievals in the wintertime (e.g., R2=0.995, slope=1.038 at 14:00 UTC). We find independent global LEO observations (corrected for time of day) provide important context near the field-of-regard edges. We also test the performance of the TEMPO algorithm without these supporting global observations. Most of the continent is unaffected (R2=0.924 and slope=0.973 for July and R2=0.996 and slope=1.008 for January), with 90 % of the pixels having differences of less than ±0.2×1015 molecules cm−2 between the TEMPO tropospheric NO2 column density and the global algorithm. For near-real-time retrieval, even a climatological estimate of the stratospheric NO2 surrounding the field of regard would improve this agreement. In general, the additional penalty of a limited field of regard from TEMPO introduces no more error than normally expected in most global stratosphere–troposphere separation algorithms. Overall, we conclude that hourly near-real-time stratosphere–troposphere separation for the retrieval of NO2 tropospheric column densities by the TEMPO geostationary instrument is both feasible and robust, regardless of the diurnally varying limited field of regard.The authors are grateful to Kelly Chance, Xiong Liu, John Houck, Peter Zoogman, and other members of the TEMPO trace gas retrieval team for their input in preparation of this paper. Work at Dalhousie University was supported by Environment and Climate Change Canada. The authors also gratefully acknowledge the free use of TEMIS NO2 data from the GOME-2 sensor provided by http://www.temis.nl, last access: 12 November 2018, and the NASA Standard Product NO2 data from OMI provided by https://disc.gsfc.nasa.gov/datasets/OMNO2_V003/summary, last access: 9 November 2018. (Environment and Climate Change Canada)https://www.atmos-meas-tech.net/11/6271/2018/Published versio

A point for comparison: the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary

A reoccurring goal listed during the creation of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) is to return the region to a former state. However, limited data is available that describes or characterizes this former condition. Data collected from ecosystems with comparatively limited anthropogenic impacts, can provide invaluable information in suggesting what former states may have looked like. One example is the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary which is located 180 kilometers off the coast of Texas. These relatively isolated and pristine banks are capped by substantial scleractinian coral communities, forming excellent habitat for over 200 species of fish. While fishing is permitted, it is limited by difficulty of access. In 2006, NOAA’s Biogeography Branch, in collaboration with the Sanctuary, initiated the first quantitative assessment of fish resources throughout the diveable portions of the Sanctuary. The sampling design and methodologies employed were identical to those that the Branch has utilized in other more impacted regions of the US Caribbean. Initial analyses reveal that fish density and species richness at the Sanctuary were almost two times greater than that found within the US Caribbean and biomass was approximately six times higher. This was due in large part to the presence of sizeable piscivores of the genera Mycteroperca and Dermatolepis. The Sanctuary is one of few minimally impacted locations remaining within the Tropical Western Atlantic. As such, these findings should be considered when attempting to establish a former state or evaluate effectiveness of an MPA in meeting its management goals

National and State Economic and Environmental Impacts of NETL

This report documents the development of state-level input-output models for Pennsylvania and West Virginia and the augmentation of the national input-output model with employment data. The models were developed to assess the economic and environmental impacts of expenditures and employment at, and research and development awards originating from, the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) sites located in Pittsburgh, PA and Morgantown, WV

The influence of physical sexuality, athletic participation and psychological personality upon an individual's perception of the female athlete

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effect of psychological personality and physical sexuality of athletes and non-athletes upon an individual’s perception of the female sports competitor, as measured by the BEM sex role inventory. The BSRI was used two separate times, to obtain information regarding a person’s perception of himself and an individual’s perception of the female sports competitor. Three dependent variables were calculated form the masculine and feminine scale scores when using the BSRI to rate the female athlete: The psychological perception score: The differentiated perception score: and the undifferentiated perception score. Data from each of the three perception scores were analyzed using two way ANOVA’s for unweighted means. The three-way interaction was sacrificed due to small cell size. The following results were obtained. The female athlete was perceived as being more masculine by females than by males. The female athlete was perceived as being more masculine by non-athletes than by the athletes. The masculine and feminine psychological personalities perceived the female athlete as being more masculine than did the undifferentiated psychological personalities. For Ss who possessed a differentiated perception score, males perceived the female athlete as being more masculine than did the females. For Ss with a differentiated perception score, athletes perceived the female athlete as being more androgynous than did non-athletes. For Ss with an undifferentiated perception score, athletes perceived the female athlete as being more undifferentiated than non-athletes

Tennessee Valley Corridor Leadership Council

No abstract availabl