A low-energy solar cosmic ray experiment for OGO-F

Instrumentation data for low energy solar cosmic ray measurements using OGO-F satellit

Collective Intelligence for Control of Distributed Dynamical Systems

We consider the El Farol bar problem, also known as the minority game (W. B. Arthur, ``The American Economic Review'', 84(2): 406--411 (1994), D. Challet and Y.C. Zhang, ``Physica A'', 256:514 (1998)). We view it as an instance of the general problem of how to configure the nodal elements of a distributed dynamical system so that they do not ``work at cross purposes'', in that their collective dynamics avoids frustration and thereby achieves a provided global goal. We summarize a mathematical theory for such configuration applicable when (as in the bar problem) the global goal can be expressed as minimizing a global energy function and the nodes can be expressed as minimizers of local free energy functions. We show that a system designed with that theory performs nearly optimally for the bar problem.Comment: 8 page

Algebraic-geometrical formulation of two-dimensional quantum gravity

We find a volume form on moduli space of double punctured Riemann surfaces whose integral satisfies the Painlev\'e I recursion relations of the genus expansion of the specific heat of 2D gravity. This allows us to express the asymptotic expansion of the specific heat as an integral on an infinite dimensional moduli space in the spirit of Friedan-Shenker approach. We outline a conjectural derivation of such recursion relations using the Duistermaat-Heckman theorem.Comment: 10 pages, Latex fil

Measuring what matters to patients: Using goal content to inform measure choice and development

Introduction: Personalised care requires personalised outcomes and ways of feeding back clinically useful information to clinicians and practitioners, but it is not clear how to best personalise outcome measurement and feedback using existing standardised outcome measures. / Method: The constant comparison method of grounded theory was used to compare goal themes derived from goals set at the outset of therapy for 180 children aged between 4 and 17 years, visiting eight child and adolescent mental health services, to existing standardised outcome measures used as part of common national datasets. / Results: In all, 20 out of 27 goal themes corresponded to items on at least one commonly used outcome measure. Discussion: Consideration of goal themes helped to identify potential relevant outcome measures. However, there were several goal themes that were not captured by items on standardised outcome measures. These seemed to be related to existential factors such as understanding, thinking about oneself and future planning. / Conclusion: This presents a powerful framework for how clinicians can use goals to help select a standardised outcome measure (where this is helpful) in addition to the use of a goal-based outcome measure and personalise choices. There may be areas not captured by standardised outcome measures that may be important for children and young people and which may only be currently captured in goal measurement. There is an indication that we may not be measuring what is important to children and young people. We may need to develop or look for new measures that capture these areas

Pattern Formation by Boundary Forcing in Convectively Unstable, Oscillatory Media With and Without Differential Transport

Motivated by recent experiments and models of biological segmentation, we analyze the exicitation of pattern-forming instabilities of convectively unstable reaction-diffusion-advection (RDA) systems, occuring by means of constant or periodic forcing at the upstream boundary. Such boundary-controlled pattern selection is a generalization of the flow-distributed oscillation (FDO) mechanism that can include Turing or differential flow instability (DIFI) modes. Our goal is to clarify the relationships among these mechanisms in the general case where there is differential flow as well as differential diffusion. We do so by analyzing the dispersion relation for linear perturbations and showing how its solutions are affected by differential transport. We find a close relationship between DIFI and FDO, while the Turing mechanism gives rise to a distinct set of unstable modes. Finally, we illustrate the relevance of the dispersion relations using nonlinear simulations and we discuss the experimental implications of our results.Comment: Revised version with added content (new section and figures added), changes to wording and organizatio

Robust formation of morphogen gradients

We discuss the formation of graded morphogen profiles in a cell layer by nonlinear transport phenomena, important for patterning developing organisms. We focus on a process termed transcytosis, where morphogen transport results from binding of ligands to receptors on the cell surface, incorporation into the cell and subsequent externalization. Starting from a microscopic model, we derive effective transport equations. We show that, in contrast to morphogen transport by extracellular diffusion, transcytosis leads to robust ligand profiles which are insensitive to the rate of ligand production

Multi-Agent Complex Systems and Many-Body Physics

Multi-agent complex systems comprising populations of decision-making particles, have many potential applications across the biological, informational and social sciences. We show that the time-averaged dynamics in such systems bear a striking resemblance to conventional many-body physics. For the specific example of the Minority Game, this analogy enables us to obtain analytic expressions which are in excellent agreement with numerical simulations.Comment: Accepted for publication in Europhysics Letter

When is Sessional Monitoring More Likely in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services?

Sessional monitoring of patient progress or experience of therapy is an evidence-based intervention recommended by healthcare systems internationally. It is being rolled out across child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) in England to inform clinical practice and service evaluation. We explored whether patient demographic and case characteristics were associated with the likelihood of using sessional monitoring. Multilevel regressions were conducted on N = 2609 youths from a routinely collected dataset from 10 CAMHS. Girls (odds ratio, OR 1.26), older youths (OR 1.10), White youths (OR 1.35), and youths presenting with mood (OR 1.46) or anxiety problems (OR 1.59) were more likely to have sessional monitoring. In contrast, youths under state care (OR 0.20) or in need of social service input (OR 0.39) were less likely to have sessional monitoring. Findings of the present research may suggest that sessional monitoring is more likely with common problems such as mood and anxiety problems but less likely with more complex cases, such as those involving youths under state care or those in need of social service input

From 'reckless' to 'mindful' in the use of outcome data to inform service-level performance management: perspectives from child mental health.

PublishedJournal ArticleThis is an open access article.

Service-level variation, patient-level factors, and treatment outcome in those seen by child mental health services

Service comparison is a policy priority but is not without controversy. This paper aims to investigate the amount of service-level variation in outcomes in child mental health, whether it differed when examining outcomes unadjusted vs. adjusted for expected change over time, and which patient-level characteristics were associated with the difference observed between services. Multilevel regressions were used on N = 3256 young people (53% male, mean age 11.33 years) from 13 child mental health services. Outcome was measured using the parent-reported Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. The results showed there was 4-5% service-level variation in outcomes. Findings were broadly consistent across unadjusted vs. adjusted outcomes. Young people with autism or infrequent case characteristics (e.g., substance misuse) had greater risk of poor outcomes. Comparison of services with high proportions of young people with autism or infrequent case characteristics requiring specialist input needs particular caution as these young people may be at greater risk of poor outcomes