55 research outputs found
Ground-based aerosol characterization during the South American Biomass Burning Analysis (SAMBBA) field experiment
No full textThis paper investigates the physical and chemical characteristics of aerosols at ground level at a site heavily impacted by biomass burning. the site is located near Porto Velho, Rondonia, in the southwestern part of the Brazilian Amazon rainforest, and was selected for the deployment of a large suite of instruments, among them an Aerosol Chemical Speciation Monitor. Our measurements were made during the South American Biomass Burning Analysis (SAMBBA) field experiment, which consisted of a combination of aircraft and ground-based measurements over Brazil, aimed to investigate the impacts of biomass burning emissions on climate, air quality, and numerical weather prediction over South America. the campaign took place during the dry season and the transition to the wet season in September/October 2012.During most of the campaign, the site was impacted by regional biomass burning pollution (average CO mixing ratio of 0.6 ppm), occasionally superimposed by intense (up to 2 ppm of CO), freshly emitted biomass burning plumes. Aerosol number concentrations ranged from similar to 1000 cm(-3) to peaks of up to 35 000 cm(-3) (during biomass burning (BB) events, corresponding to an average submicron mass mean concentrations of 13.7 mu g m(-3) and peak concentrations close to 100 mu g m-3. Organic aerosol strongly dominated the submicron non-refractory composition, with an average concen-tration of 11.4 mu g m(-3). the inorganic species, NH4, SO4, NO3, and Cl, were observed, on average, at concentrations of 0.44, 0.34, 0.19, and 0.01 mu g m(-3), respectively. Equivalent black carbon (BCe) ranged from 0.2 to 5.5 mu g m(-3), with an average concentration of 1.3 mu g m(-3). During BB peaks, organics accounted for over 90% of total mass (submicron non-refractory plus BCe), among the highest values described in the literature.We examined the ageing of biomass burning organic aerosol (BBOA) using the changes in the H : C and O : C ratios, and found that throughout most of the aerosol processing (O : C congruent to D 0 : 25 to O : C congruent to D 0 : 6), no remarkable change is observed in the H : C ratio (similar to 1 : 35). Such a result contrasts strongly with previous observations of chemical ageing of both urban and Amazonian biogenic aerosols. At higher levels of processing (O : C > 0 : 6), the H : C ratio changes with a H : C / O : C slope of -0.5, possibly due to the development of a combination of BB (H : C / O : C slope D 0) and biogenic (H : C / O : C slope D 1) organic aerosol (OA). An analysis of the Delta OA / Delta CO mass ratios yields very little enhancement in the OA loading with atmospheric processing, consistent with previous observations. These results indicate that negligible secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation occurs throughout the observed BB plume processing, or that SOA formation is almost entirely balanced by OA volatilization.Positive matrix factorization (PMF) of the organic aerosol spectra resulted in three factors: fresh BBOA, aged BBOA, and low-volatility oxygenated organic aerosol (LV-OOA). Analysis of the diurnal patterns and correlation with external markers indicates that during the first part of the campaign, OA concentrations are impacted by local fire plumes with some chemical processing occurring in the near-surface layer. During the second part of the campaign, long-range transport of BB plumes above the surface layer, as well as potential SOAs formed aloft, dominates OA concentrations at our ground-based sampling site.This manuscript describes the first ground-based deployment of the aerosol mass spectrometry at a site heavily impacted by biomass burning in the Amazon region, allowing a deeper understanding of aerosol life cycle in this important ecosystem.Univ São Paulo, Inst Phys, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Earth & Exact Sci, Diadema, BrazilUniv Manchester, Sch Earth Atmospher & Environm Sci, Ctr Atmospher Sci, Manchester, Lancs, EnglandUK Met Off, Exeter, Devon, EnglandUniv Exeter, Coll Engn Maths & Phys Sci, Exeter, Devon, EnglandNatl Inst Space Res INPE, Sao Jose Dos Campos, BrazilMax Planck Inst Chem, Biogeochem Dept, D-55128 Mainz, GermanyUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Earth & Exact Sci, Diadema, BrazilWeb of ScienceFundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)INCT AmazoniaNatural Environment Research Council (NERC)FAPESP: 2012/14437-9FAPESP: 2013/05014-0CNPq: 475735-2012-9Natural Environment Research Council (NERC): NE/J010073/
Evaluation of Land Surface Models in Reproducing Satellite Derived Leaf Area Index over the High-Latitude Northern Hemisphere. Part II: Earth System Models
No full textLeaf Area Index (LAI) is a key parameter in the Earth System Models (ESMs) since it strongly affects land-surface boundary conditions and the exchange of matter and energy with the atmosphere. Observations and data products derived from satellite remote sensing are important for the validation and evaluation of ESMs from regional to global scales. Several decades’ worth of satellite data products are now available at global scale which represents a unique opportunity to contrast observations against model results. The objective of this study is to assess whether ESMs correctly reproduce the spatial variability of LAI when compared with satellite data and to compare the length of the growing season in the different models with the satellite data. To achieve this goal we analyse outputs from 11 coupled carbon-climate models that are based on the set of new global model simulations planned in support of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report. We focus on the average LAI and the length of the growing season on Northern Hemisphere over the period 1986–2005. Additionally we compare the results with previous analyses (Part I) of uncoupled land surface models (LSMs) to assess the relative contribution of vegetation and climatic drivers on the correct representation of LAI. Our results show that models tend to overestimate the average values of LAI and have a longer growing season due to the later dormancy. The similarities with the uncoupled models suggest that representing the correct vegetation fraction with the associated parameterizations; is more important in controlling the distribution and value of LAI than the climatic variables
An edition of the cartulary of St. Mary's Collegiate Church, Warwick.
Get PDFIn 2 volsAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN034790 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo
A gazetteer and summary of French pottery imported into Scotland c. 1150 to c. 1650 a ceramic contribution to Scotland's economic history Ceramic Resource Disc 3
No full textThe proposal for a series of published inventories, by countries, of all the imported medieval and post medieval pottery recovered from excavations and field walking in Scotland, was advanced on the final day of the Medieval Pottery Research Group’s conference held in Edinburgh in May 2001. Taking on the roll of creating a gazetteer and catalogue of French pottery in Scotland, it was the authors aim to build on the pioneering work of John Hurst and other medieval ceramicists and in the process make a contribution to the ongoing research on identifiable medieval and post-medieval ceramics traded around the North and Irish Sea
The Office of the Dead in England : image and music in the Book of Hours and related texts, c. 1250-c. 1500
No full textThis study examines the illustrations that appear at the Office of the Dead in English Books
of Hours, and seeks to understand how text and image work together in this thriving culture of
commemoration to say something about how the English understood and thought about death in
the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The Office of the Dead would have been one of the most
familiar liturgical rituals in the medieval period, and was recited almost without ceasing at family
funerals, gild commemorations, yearly minds, and chantry chapel services. The Placebo and Dirige
were texts that many people knew through this constant exposure, and would have been more
widely known than other 'death' texts such as the Ars Moriendi. The images that are found in these
books reflect wider trends in the piety and devotional practice of the time. The first half of the
study discusses the images that appear in these horae, and the relationship between the text and
image is explored. The funeral or vigil scene, as the most commonly occurring, is discussed with
reference to contemporary funeral practices, and ways of reading a Book of Hours. Other
iconographic themes that appear in the Office of the Dead, such as the Roman de Renart, the Pety Job,
the Legend of the Three Living and the Three Dead, the story of Lazarus, and the life of Job, are also
discussed. The second part of the thesis investigates the musical elaborations of the Office of the
Dead as found in English prayer books. The Office of the Dead had a close relationship with music,
which is demonstrated through an examination of the popularity of musical funerals and obits, as
well as in the occurrence of musical notation for the Office in a book often used by the musically
illiterate. The development of the Office of the Dead in conjunction with the development of the
Books of Hours is also considered, and places the traditions and ideas that were part of the funeral
process in medieval England in a larger historical context
The worldwide costs of dementia 2015 and comparisons with 2010
Get PDFIntroduction: In 2010, Alzheimer's Disease International presented estimates of the global cost of illness (COI) of dementia. Since then, new studies have been conducted, and the number of people with dementia has increased. Here, we present an update of the global cost estimates. Methods: This is a societal, prevalence-based global COI study. Results: The worldwide costs of dementia were estimated at United States (US) 1 trillion will be crossed by 2018. Discussion: Worldwide costs of dementia are enormous and still inequitably distributed. The increase in costs arises from increases in numbers of people with dementia and in increases in per person costs
Does it take an expert to lead experts?: professionals versus managers in universities
Get PDFThis is an empirical study of leaders and how they affect organizational performance. Its context is the research university as a knowledge intensive organization. It appears to be the first of its kind.
The thesis explores whether the characteristics of a leader in position today can tell us about the future success of their institution. It asks the question: Should research universities be led by top scholars? One reason why universities are an interesting case is that, unusually for knowledge-intensive organizations, their leaders' technical expertise can arguably be measured reasonably objectively.
Using cross-sectional analysis, the first approach adopted in this thesis is to identify whether accomplished scholars are currently leading the world's top universities and business schools. It demonstrates -- using a variety of data sets, and in a variety of settings, including a check on the role of outliers -- that better universities and business schools are led by presidents and deans with systematically higher numbers of life-time scholarly citations.
Next the dissertation attempts to go beyond simple cross-sectional patterns to address the question of causality. It does so in a longitudinal study that follows the performance of a panel of 55 universities over a nine-year period from 1992 to 2001. Using regression analysis, this thesis uncovers some evidence that is consistent with the existence of a causal relationship between the research ability of a leader and the future achievement of their institution. The results suggest that a university tends to improve in the UK Research Assessment Exercise if its leader has been a successful scholar.
Qualitative evidence in the form of interviews with university leaders then motivates a theory of strategic leadership that might explain the statistical patterns. It is argued in the thesis that scholars may make effective leaders for reasons that are both internal and external to the individual. A scholar-leader, it is suggested, influences performance because of an inherent knowledge of the core business of a research university, and also through the extension of powers acquired by being viewed as credible by followers. Finally, the thesis concludes by asking whether university governing bodies appoint the right people.
The central argument being made in this thesis is that where expert knowledge is the key factor that characterises an organization it is expert knowledge that should also be key in the selection of its leader
Systematic review and economic modelling of the relative clinical benefit and cost-effectiveness of laparoscopic surgery and robotic surgery for removal of the prostate in men with localised prostate cancer
Get PDFPMID: 23127367 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] Free full text Funding for this study was provided by the Health Technology Assessment programme of the National Institute for Health Research.Peer reviewe
Evaluation of Land Surface Models in Reproducing Satellite-Derived LAI over the High-Latitude Northern Hemisphere. Part I: Uncoupled DGVMs
Get PDFLeaf Area Index (LAI) represents the total surface area of leaves above a unit area of ground and is a key variable in any vegetation model, as well as in climate models. New high resolution LAI satellite data is now available covering a period of several decades. This provides a unique opportunity to validate LAI estimates from multiple vegetation models. The objective of this paper is to compare new, satellite-derived LAI measurements with modeled output for the Northern Hemisphere. We compare monthly LAI output from eight land surface models from the TRENDY compendium with satellite data from an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) from the latest version (third generation) of GIMMS AVHRR NDVI data over the period 1986–2005. Our results show that all the models overestimate the mean LAI, particularly over the boreal forest. We also find that seven out of the eight models overestimate the length of the active vegetation-growing season, mostly due to a late dormancy as a result of a late summer phenology. Finally, we find that the models report a much larger positive trend in LAI over this period than the satellite observations suggest, which translates into a higher trend in the growing season length. These results highlight the need to incorporate a larger number of more accurate plant functional types in all models and, in particular, to improve the phenology of deciduous trees
Plautus' 'Mercator': a commentary
No full textThis thesis comprises an introduction, a lemmatic commentary, and indices. The introductory
chapter, apart from a brief discussion of a more general nature, investigates the play and the
relation it bears to Philemon's Emporos, its lost Greek model, especially with regard to the actdivisions
of the Greek play and the pacing of the action in Plautus' adaptation. The commentary is
provided to address problems posed by the Latin text, notably those of exegesis, textual criticism,
metre, grammar, humour, imagery, staging, and the relationship to the Graeco-Roman comic
tradition. An attempt is also made to distinguish between elements which may reflect the Greek
comic tradition and those which suggest Plautine origin. In recent work about Plautus and
Philemon it has been argued that the plot of the Emporos underwent far-reaching changes at the
hands of Plautus, but the author of this thesis argues for the essential unity of the Mercator and
for Plautus' conservative treatment of the plot of the Greek original, at the same time allowing for
the fact that Plautus may have Romanised, exaggerated, and extended Philemon's play at certain
points. By its structure, metrical arrangement, pacing, juxtaposition of contrasting types, parallel
arrangement of core scenes, and the recurrence of key imagery, themes and motifs, the Mercator
proves to be a carefully conceived, effectively balanced, and well-composed play
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