IntroductionCompared with the suicide rates in England (12.0/100 000 males, 3.7/100 000 females), Brighton and Hove (B&H) (population=250 000) has the 3rd highest rate in males (18.9/100 000) and the ...highest rate in females (10.2/100 000). We investigated long-term trends in suicide by age, sex, and method in B&H from 1901 to 2008.MethodsAge-standardised suicide rates (ASR) were calculated from 1901 to 2008. Information on suicides was obtained from the Reports of the Medical Officers/Directors of Public Health for B&H and the Office of National Statistics.ResultsSuicide rates in B&H were consistently higher than the rates in England for most of the 20th Century. The male:female ratio fluctuated from 3:1 in the 1920s to 1:1 in 1960s to 2:1 in 2000s. The ASR (per 100 000) in males fluctuated from 31.2 in the 1920s to 16.3 in 1960s to 27.0 in 2000s, and from 11.0 in the 1920s to 16.5 in 1960s to 11.6 in 2000s in females. Coal gas inhalation was the most common method in both sexes (22% males, 41% females) in the 1920s. This was replaced by self-poisoning in 1960s (39% males, 57% females). In the 2000s, hanging became more common in males (37%), whereas self-poisoning remained the most common method in females (45%).ConclusionThe epidemiology of suicide in B&H has varied over the past 100 years. However, in contrast with the national decline in suicide rates, B&H rates have consistently remained high. These finding are discussed in light of information obtained from the local Public Health Reports/suicide audit.
The response of primary (PF) and secondary (SF) rainforests to cyclones has broad implications for servicing fauna and the resilience of forest functions. We collected fine‐scale data on the ...reproductive phenology of plant communities in Fijian PF and SF in 12 monthly surveys before and after Cyclone Tomas (2010). We generated a resource index from the reproductive loads of 2218 trees and 1150 non‐trees (>190 species) and trunk and stem diameter to assess patterns in resource abundance for nectarivores and frugivores (hereafter NF resources). We aimed to determine (i) whether species richness of NF resources differed between forests; (ii) the patterns of resilience of NF resources at community level in both forests after a cyclone; and (iii) the effect of response on NF resources for plant‐servicing bats (Pteropodidae). In 12 months preceding the cyclone, NF resources were greater in PF trees; non‐tree resources fluctuated and were greater in SF. Lower species richness of NF resources in SF indicated that fewer opportunities exist there for exploitation by a diverse fauna. More resources were available for bats in PF. In 12 months following the cyclone, PF flowers and fruits, and SF fruits specifically used by pteropodid bats decreased for trees. Non‐tree resources were especially susceptible to the cyclone. No universal pattern of decline was associated with the cyclone; instead, some NF resources declined and others were resilient or responded rapidly to a post‐cyclone environment. Both PF and SF demonstrated resilience at the community level via increased flower survival (PF) and rapid flower production (SF). Reduced species richness of NF resources in SF will compromise future resilience and response to disturbance, including for threatened pteropodid bat species. These findings are critical for long‐term management of forests, given predicted increases in cyclone frequency and intensity associated with anthropogenic climate change.
This unique work measuring rainforest resources before and after a cyclone provides new understanding of biological adaptation and feedback, and mitigation of extreme weather patterns. It has implications for the management of forests via the maintenance of biodiversity.
Background
Recently published clinical trials have resulted in a significant change in the guidelines used to manage patients suffering an acute ischaemic stroke. New neuro-interventional techniques ...have revolutionised stroke outcomes. Currently, such services are only available in two specialist centres.
Aims
We attempted to evaluate the need for the provision of routine computed tomography (CT) angiography and neuro-interventional services at a university teaching hospital in Limerick.
Methods
A retrospective study was performed based on data collated by the stroke service, University Hospital Limerick (UHL). All patients with a suspected acute ischaemic stroke of anterior circulation and known evolution were included. Baseline clinical and imaging characteristics, thrombolysis data, stroke unit admission rates and discharge destinations were recorded.
Results
All 141 patients were suitable for CT angiography and should be performed in accordance with guidelines. Additionally, 165 patients excluded from the study due to an unknown stroke evolution timeframe may have benefitted. Non-contrast CT scan confirmed just 12 anterior circulation strokes. The need for neuro-interventional services proved more difficult to assess, primarily due to the lack of provision of routine CT angiography, employed to confirm anterior circulation occlusion. Secondary results showed a thrombolysis rate of 10.8% and confirmed that time efficiencies result in higher thrombolysis eligibility rates. Stroke unit admissions and discharge destinations were also recorded.
Conclusion
UHL should provide routine CT angiography to all patients presenting with acute ischaemic stroke in line with current guidelines. The need for provision of neuro-interventional services on-site proved more difficult to assess and requires further analysis.
A numerical investigation of transient natural convective heat transfer with coupled phase change is presented. The numerical model attempts to capture the solid–fluid interface using a fixed-grid ...solution and is applied to two pure substance cases found in published literature, one considering the melting of 95% pure Lauric acid and the other involving the freezing of water. The governing equations are solved in a manner such that if the temperature falls below the freezing isotherm then the convection terms in the equations of motion are effectively disengaged. Variations in the specific heat of the material are incorporated in order to account for the phase change. A non-Boussinesq approach is considered which accounts for any density extrema in the flow, particularly for the density inversion found in water. In both of the cases considered the phase change occurs between fixed temperature boundaries and Rayleigh numbers rest well within the laminar flow regime. From the results obtained it is demonstrated that a relatively simple numerical technique can be applied to capture the physics of buoyancy-driven melting and freezing and that the results are in reasonable concurrence with experimental data.
Scanlon reframes current philosophical debates as he explores the moral permissibility of an action. Blame, he argues, is a response to the meaning of an action rather than its permissibility. This ...analysis leads to a novel account of the conditions of moral responsibility and to important conclusions about the ethics of blame.
This paper discusses the application of an
r-refinement, moving mesh technique for the solution of heat transfer problems with natural convection and phase change. The moving mesh technique keeps the ...number of elements and their connectivity fixed and clusters the nodes towards the phase change front at the expense of the solution of an extra differential equation. The governing differential equations describing the physical problem are modified to account for the mesh movement between time steps. The energy conservation equation uses the apparent heat capacity method to take into account the latent heat of phase change. The finite element discretization of all equations is presented. Several test problems are solved and the moving mesh FEM results are in a very good agreement with those in the published literature. The sensitivity of the results to variations of some user-definable computational parameters is found to be low, which means that the moving mesh method may be used without extensive previous experience. Its basic advantage is that less elements may be used to achieve accurate results.
The European Space Agency's Climate Change Initiative for Soil Moisture (ESA CCI SM) merging algorithm generates consistent quality-controlled long-term (1978–2018) climate data records for soil ...moisture, which serves thousands of scientists and data users worldwide. It harmonises and merges soil moisture retrievals from multiple satellites into (i) an active-microwave-based-only product, (ii) a passive-microwave-based-only product and (iii) a combined active–passive product, which are sampled to daily global images on a 0.25∘ regular grid. Since its first release in 2012 the algorithm has undergone substantial improvements which have so far not been thoroughly reported in the scientific literature. This paper fills this gap by reviewing and discussing the science behind the three major ESA CCI SM merging algorithms, versions 2 (https://doi.org/10.5285/3729b3fbbb434930bf65d82f9b00111c; Wagner et al., 2018), 3 (https://doi.org/10.5285/b810601740bd4848b0d7965e6d83d26c; Dorigo et al., 2018) and 4 (https://doi.org/10.5285/dce27a397eaf47e797050c220972ca0e; Dorigo et al., 2019), and provides an outlook on the expected improvements planned for the next algorithm, version 5.
Groundwater, subsurface stormflow, and overland flow components of discharge, derived from a hydrological model that was applied to a forested headwater catchment in north central Virginia, were used ...with measured stream water and lysimeter concentrations of dissolved silica to investigate the hydrochemical behavior of the catchment. Concentrations in base flow, taken to be a reflection of groundwater, vary with discharge, an observation in conflict with the typical assumption of constant concentration used in end‐member mixing analyses. This observed flow dependence was modeled by considering the concentration in groundwater to be related to the saturation deficit in this zone. A positive correlation between the average groundwater saturation deficit and base flow dissolved silica concentrations is consistent with batch experiments and petrographic analysis of regolith core samples, which both indicate an increase in silica available for dissolution with depth in the groundwater zone. In the absence of subsurface storm flow zone sampling during rainfall events a constant concentration was assumed for this zone. Concentration‐discharge (C‐Q) paths in the stream were used to evaluate the modeled stream silica concentrations. An inconsistency in the direction of the modeled C‐Q rotations suggests that the storm flow zone dissolved silica concentration may also vary with time, because of the “flushing” of high‐concentration, preevent soil water on the rising limb of the storm hydrograph. For this catchment in Virginia the assumption of a constant concentration for subsurface storm flow, as well as for base flow, appears to be invalid.
• The influence of soil P level and plant development on carboxylate concentrations in the rhizosphere of lateral roots of chickpea (Cicer arietinum) cultivars Heera and Tyson were studied to ...investigate the relationship between carboxylate exudation and P acquisition by chickpea. • Two chickpea cultivars were grown in soil supplied with 0-100 μg P g-1. Plants were harvested four times during plant development. In two other experiments, carboxylate concentrations were measured along root sections, using plants grown in soil or in hydroponics. • Carboxylate concentrations in the rhizosphere of lateral roots steadily increased with plant development for cv. Heera, but not for Tyson. Carboxylate concentrations increased with increasing distance from the root apex in soil. This increase might be due to accumulation, because an experiment with plants in hydroponics showed that older segments released at least as much carboxylates as younger segments. • Carboxylate concentrations in the rhizosphere of chickpea appear to be developmentally controlled. Unlike some other plant species, there is no simple correlation with plant or soil P status.
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