Impact of sudden stratospheric warmings on United Kingdom mortality

Sudden stratospheric warmings (SSWs) during boreal winter are one of the main drivers of sub‐seasonal climate variability in the Northern Hemisphere. Although the impact of SSW events on surface climate and climate extremes has been clearly demonstrated, the impact of the resulting climate anomalies on society has not been so widely considered. In the United Kingdom (UK), SSWs are associated with cold weather, which is linked to significant increases in mortality. This study demonstrates, for the first time, that SSWs are linked to increases in mortality in the UK. A distributed lag nonlinear model and standard parameter settings from the literature is used to construct a daily time series of UK deaths attributable to cold weather between 1991 and 2018. Weekly mortality associated with SSWs is diagnosed using a superposed epoch analysis of attributed mortality for the 15 SSW events in this period. SSW associated mortality peaks between 3 and 5 weeks after SSW central date and leads to, on average, 620 additional deaths in the same period. Given that the impacts of SSWs can be skilfully predicted on sub‐seasonal timescales, this suggests that health and social care systems could derive substantial benefit from sub‐seasonal forecasts during SSWs

Stratosphere-troposphere coupling during stratospheric extremes in the 2022/23 winter

Using the ERA5 reanalysis, sea surface temperature, sea ice observations, and the real-time multivariate Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) index, the evolution of the stratospheric extreme circulation in the winter of 2022/2023 is explored. The stratospheric polar vortex was disturbed three times in the 2022/23 winter, contrasted with only one disturbance during the other three recent winters with an SSW. Possible favorable conditions for the strong stratospheric disturbances and their effects on stratospheric ozone, water vapor distribution, and near-surface temperature were examined. Around 7 December 2022 when a short but strong pulse of planetary wavenumber 2 appeared from the troposphere to stratosphere, a weakened and elongated stratospheric polar vortex formed at 10 hPa. This pulse is related to the intensifying Ural ridge and the deepening East Asian trough. After the first stratospheric disturbance, a large fraction of cold anomalies occurred in the Eurasian continent. A lagged impact after these stratospheric disturbances was observed as strong cold anomalies formed in North America from 13 to 23 December. On 28 January 2023, a minor SSW event occurred due to a displacement of the stratospheric polar vortex. A strong pulse of eddy heat flux contributed alternately by planetary wavenumber 1 and 2 showed a large accumulative effect on the stratospheric disturbance. However, the downward impact of this second disturbance was weak, and cold surges were not noticeable after this minor SSW. The third stratospheric disturbance this winter is a major displace-type SSW that occurred on 16 February 2023, and the total eddy heat flux primarily contributed by planetary wavenumber 1 increased rapidly. Following the major SSW, the North American continent was covered by large patches of strong cold anomalies until the end of March. During the three disturbances, the residual circulation correspondingly strengthened. The water vapor and ozone in the middle and lower layers of the polar stratosphere showed positive anomaly disturbances, especially after the major SSW onset. The unprecedented frequent stratospheric disturbances in winter 2022/23 were accompanied by severe loss of Barents-Laptev Sea ice and anomalously cold tropical Pacific sea surface temperatures (La Niña), which have been reported to be conducive to the enhancement of planetary waves 1 and 2 respectively. Further, two weeks before the major SSW, existing MJO developed into phases 4–6, also contributing to the occurrence of major SSW

A Solution to the Cosmological Constant Problem

According to general relativity, the present analysis shows on geometrical grounds that the cosmological constant problem is an artifact due to the unfounded link of this fundamental constant to vacuum energy density of quantum fluctuations.Comment: 7 pages. to appear in IJMP

An Issue to the Cosmological Constant Problem

According to general relativity, the present analysis shows on geometrical grounds that the cosmological constant problem is an artifact due to the unfounded link of this fundamental constant to vacuum energy density of quantum fluctuations.Comment: 7 page

Complications of Resection Arthroplasty in Two-Stage Revision for the Treatment of Periprosthetic Hip Joint Infection

Little data is available regarding complications associated with resection arthroplasty in the treatment of hip periprosthetic joint infection (PJI). We assessed complications during and after two-stage revision using resection arthroplasty. In this retrospective study, 93 patients undergoing resection arthroplasty for hip PJI were included. Patients were assigned to a prosthesis-free interval of ≤10 weeks (group 1; 49 patients) or >10 weeks (group 2; 44 patients). The complication rates between groups were compared using the chi-squared test. The revision-free and infection-free survival was estimated using a Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Seventy-one patients (76%) experienced at least one local complication (overall 146 complications). Common complications were blood loss during reimplantation (n = 25) or during explantation (n = 23), persistent infection (n = 16), leg length discrepancy (n = 13) and reinfection (n = 9). Patients in group 1 experienced less complications after reimplantation (p = 0.012). With increasing severity of acetabular bone defects, higher incidence of complications (p = 0.008), periprosthetic bone fractures (p = 0.05) and blood loss (p = 0.039) was observed. The infection-free survival rate at 24 months was 93.9% in group 1 and 85.9% in group 2. The indication for resection arthroplasty needs to be evaluated carefully, considering the high rate of complications and reduced mobility, particularly if longer prosthesis-free intervals are used

Stark and Zeeman effects on laser cooling of positronium

Theoretical work on laser cooling of Positronium, including effects of external magnetic and electric fields, is reviewed and extended

Beyond aggression: Androgen-receptor blockade modulates social interaction in wild meerkats

In male vertebrates, androgens are inextricably linked to reproduction, social dominance, and aggression, often at the cost of paternal investment or prosociality. Testosterone is invoked to explain rank-related reproductive differences, but its role within a status class, particularly among subordinates, is underappreciated. Recent evidence, especially for monogamous and cooperatively breeding species, suggests broader androgenic mediation of adult social interaction. We explored the actions of androgens in subordinate, male members of a cooperatively breeding species, the meerkat (Suricata suricatta). Although male meerkats show no rank-related testosterone differences, subordinate helpers rarely reproduce. We blocked androgen receptors, in the field, by treating subordinate males with the antiandrogen, flutamide. We monitored androgen concentrations (via baseline serum and time-sequential fecal sampling) and recorded behavior within their groups (via focal observation). Relative to controls, flutamide-treated animals initiated less and received more high-intensity aggression (biting, threatening, feeding competition), engaged in more prosocial behavior (social sniffing, grooming, huddling), and less frequently initiated play or assumed a ‘dominant’ role during play, revealing significant androgenic effects across a broad range of social behavior. By contrast, guarding or vigilance and measures of olfactory and vocal communication in subordinate males appeared unaffected by flutamide treatment. Thus, androgens in male meerkat helpers are aligned with the traditional trade-off between promoting reproductive and aggressive behavior at a cost to affiliation. Our findings, based on rare endocrine manipulation in wild mammals, show a more pervasive role for androgens in adult social behavior than is often recognized, with possible relevance for understanding tradeoffs in cooperative systems

Ekologi Akal Budi: Memahami Alam sebagai Kesatuan menurut Gregory Bateson

While earth has been a living place for human beings, ecology crisis results from the speeding of human civilisation with its sudden jumps on science and technology. This crisis has caused damages in climate changes, global warming, and nature destructions. In spite of the changes in human behaviour, ecological crisis is also caused by epistemological crisis. Mechanistic paradigm leads humans to classify nature based on their own preferences. At the same time, positioning humans over nature brings humans’ hegemony. This article offers Gregory Bateson’s epistemological ideas to understand the unity between human beings and nature. Systemic paradigm can be used to sense nature as oneness of system that leads to the concept of sacrality of the earth. The concept of a sacred earth brings forth a systemic paradigm that shows nature as united with humans. Understanding sacrality as an intrinsic value of nature is a good epistemological start to maintain the ecological sustainability

Intense Source of Slow Positrons

We describe a novel design for an intense source of slow positrons based on pair production with a beam of electrons from a 10 MeV accelerator hitting a thin target at a low incidence angle. The positrons are collected with a set of coils adapted to the large production angle. The collection system is designed to inject the positrons in a Greaves-Surko trap [1]. Such a source could be the basis for a series of experiments in fundamental and applied research and would also be a prototype source for industrial applications which concern the field of defect characterization in the nanometer scale.Comment: submitted to N.I.M.