Urban morphology parameters from global digital elevation models: implications for aerodynamic roughness for wind-speed estimation

Urban morphology and aerodynamic roughness parameters are derived from three global digital elevation models (GDEM): Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER), Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), and TanDEM-X. Initially, each is compared to benchmark elevation data in London (UK). A moving window extracts ground heights from the GDEMs, generating terrain models with root-mean-square accuracy of up to 3 m. Subtraction of extracted ground heights provides roughness-element heights only, allowing for calculation of morphology parameters. The parameters are calculated for eight directional sectors of 1 km grid-squares. Apparent merging of roughness elements in all GDEMs causes height-based parameter underestimation, whilst plan and frontal areas are over- and under-estimated, respectively. Combined, these lead to an underestimation of morphometrically-derived aerodynamic roughness parameters. Parameter errors are least for the TanDEM-X data. Further comparison in five cities (Auckland, Greater London, New York, Sao Paulo, Tokyo) provides basis for empirical corrections to TanDEM-X-derived geometric parameters. These reduce the error in parameters across the cities and for a separate location. Meteorological observations in central London give insight to wind-speed estimation accuracy using roughness parameters from the different elevation databases. The proposed corrections to TanDEM-X parameters lead to improved wind-speed estimates, which combined with the improved spatial representation of parameters across cities demonstrates their potential for use in future studies

A cross-sectional comparison of quality of life between physically active and underactive older men with prostate cancer

Men with prostate cancer experience many side effects and symptoms that may be improved by a physically active lifestyle. It was hypothesized that older men with prostate cancer who were physically active would report significantly higher levels of quality of life (QOL) as assessed by the WHOQOL-BREF and the WHOQOL-OLD. Of the 348 prostate cancer survivors who were invited to participate in the present postal survey, 137 men returned the questionnaires. Those who were physically active had significantly lower prostate specific antigen (PSA) scores and higher social participation than those insufficiently active. These findings offer some support for the benefits of physical activity (PA) within the prostate cancer population in managing the adverse side effects of their treatments on aspects of their QOL. Future research should more closely examine what types of PA best promote improvements in varying aspects of QOL and psychological well-being for prostate cancer survivors

Technical Change, Investment and Energy Intensity

Abstract in HTML and technical report in PDF available on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change website (http://mit.edu/globalchange/www/).This paper analyzes the role of different components of technical change on energy intensity by applying a Translog variable cost function setting to the new EU KLEMS dataset for 3 selected EU countries (Italy, Finland and Spain). The framework applied represents an accounting of technical change components, comprising autonomous as well as embodied and induced technical change. The inducement of embodied technical change is introduced by an equation for the physical capital stock that is a fixed factor in the short-run. The dataset on capital services and user costs of capital in EUKLEMS enables explaining capital accumulation depending on factor prices. The model can be used for explaining and tracing back the long-run impact of prices and technical change on energy intensity.This paper is based on the EU KLEMS database, which has been funded by the European Commission, Research Directorate General as part of the 6th Framework Programme, Priority 8, “Policy Support and Anticipating Scientific and Technological Needs” (project 502049)

Assessing methods to extrapolate the vertical wind-speed profile from surface observations in a city centre during strong winds

Knowledge of the vertical wind-speed profile in cities is important for the construction and insurance industries, wind energy predictions, and simulations of pollutant and toxic gas release. Here, five methods to estimate the spatially- and temporally- averaged wind-speed profile are compared in London: the logarithmic wind law (LOG); the Deaves and Harris equilibrium (DHe) and non-equilibrium (DHv) models; an adaptation of the power law (PL) and the Gryning et al. (GR) profile. Using measurements at 2.5 times the average building height, a source area model is used to determine aerodynamic roughness parameters using two morphometric methods, which assume homogeneous and variable roughness-element heights, respectively. Hourly-averaged wind speeds are extrapolated to 200 m above the canopy during strong wind conditions, and compared to wind speeds observed with Doppler lidar. Wind speeds are consistently underestimated if roughness-element height variability is not considered during aerodynamic parameter determination. Considering height variability, the resulting estimations with the DHe and GR profiles are marginally more similar to observations than the DHv profile, which is more accurate than the LOG and PL methods. An exception is in directions with more homogeneous fetch and a gradual reduction in upwind roughness, where the LOG and PL profiles are more appropriate

Detrimental effects of RNAi: a cautionary note on its use in Drosophila ageing studies

RNA interference (RNAi) provides an important tool for gene function discovery. It has been widely exploited in Caenorhabditis elegans ageing research because it does not appear to have any non-specific effects on ageing-related traits in that model organism. We show here that ubiquitous, adult-onset activation of the RNAi machinery, achieved by expressing a double stranded RNA targeting GFP or lacZ for degradation, or by increasing expression of Dicer substantially reduces lifespan in Drosophila melanogaster. Induction of GFPRNAi construct also alters the response of lifespan to nutrition, exacerbating the lifespan-shortening effects of food containing a high quantity of yeast. Our study indicates that activation of the RNAi machinery may have sequence-independent side-effects on lifespan, and that caution needs to be exercised when employing ubiquitous RNAi in Drosophila ageing studies. However, we also show that RNAi restricted to certain tissues may not be detrimental to lifespan

Ensemble prediction for nowcasting with a convection-permitting model—I: description of the system and the impact of radar-derived surface precipitation rates

A key strategy to improve the skill of quantitative predictions of precipitation, as well as hazardous weather such as severe thunderstorms and flash floods is to exploit the use of observations of convective activity (e.g. from radar). In this paper, a convection-permitting ensemble prediction system (EPS) aimed at addressing the problems of forecasting localized weather events with relatively short predictability time scale and based on a 1.5 km grid-length version of the Met Office Unified Model is presented. Particular attention is given to the impact of using predicted observations of radar-derived precipitation intensity in the ensemble transform Kalman filter (ETKF) used within the EPS. Our initial results based on the use of a 24-member ensemble of forecasts for two summer case studies show that the convective-scale EPS produces fairly reliable forecasts of temperature, horizontal winds and relative humidity at 1 h lead time, as evident from the inspection of rank histograms. On the other hand, the rank histograms seem also to show that the EPS generates too much spread for forecasts of (i) surface pressure and (ii) surface precipitation intensity. These may indicate that for (i) the value of surface pressure observation error standard deviation used to generate surface pressure rank histograms is too large and for (ii) may be the result of non-Gaussian precipitation observation errors. However, further investigations are needed to better understand these findings. Finally, the inclusion of predicted observations of precipitation from radar in the 24-member EPS considered in this paper does not seem to improve the 1-h lead time forecast skill

Aerodynamic roughness variation with vegetation: analysis in a suburban neighbourhood and a city park

Local aerodynamic roughness parameters (zero-plane displacement, zd, and aerodynamic roughness length, z0) are determined for an urban park and a suburban neighbourhood with a new morphometric parameterisation that includes vegetation. Inter-seasonal analysis at the urban park demonstrates zd determined with two anemometric methods is responsive to vegetation state and is 1 – 4 m greater during leaf-on periods. The seasonal change and directional variability in the magnitude of zd is reproduced by the morphometric methods, which also indicate z0 can be more than halved during leaf-on periods. In the suburban neighbourhood during leaf-on, the anemometric and morphometric methods have similar directional variability for both zd and z0. Wind speeds at approximately 3 times the average roughness-element height are estimated most accurately when using a morphometric method which considers roughness-element height variability. Inclusion of vegetation in the morphometric parameterisation improves wind speed estimation in all cases. Results indicate that the influence of both vegetation and roughness-element height variability are important for accurate determination of local aerodynamic parameters and the associated wind-speed estimation

Cultural basis of social ‘deficits’ in autism spectrum disorders

There is very little research that specifically looks at how autism spectrum disorders are perceived in various communities. This qualitative research was conducted with parents who had children on the autistic spectrum belonging to four different ethnic communities (White British, Somali, West African and South Asian- 63 in total) and living in the UK. The study found that the importance that the parents give to various social skills varied on the basis of their cultural background and the gender of the parent. This is an important aspect to consider while providing support and services to individuals on the autism spectrum and their family members if the services have to be appropriate for their needs. This consideration would also enable the individuals on the autism spectrum to develop appropriate social skills required within their cultural groups. This is a preliminary study and further research on the topic is required