Monitoring nearshore processes and understanding significant coastal change using x-band radar

Remote sensing through X-band radar can provide wave and current parameters and bathymetric maps in a 4-km radius from a land-based deployment. This paper explores the use of radar to monitor changes in nearshore bathymetry at Thorpeness, Suffolk, UK. The method presented enables significant nearshore changes to be identified based on the analysis of standard deviation of sediment volume. Seasonal changes in bathymetry can reach 4 m but depths tend to be consistent in each season. A storm power index was calculated for periods of time preceding the significant changes in bathymetry. Results indicate that impact on the nearshore is not directly linked to storm power. Storm clusters and antecedent nearshore conditions seem to be important factors, as larger volume changes were measured as a result of the first and smallest storm of a cluster

Effectiveness of guided self-help in decreasing expressed emotion in family caregivers of people diagnosed with depression in Thailand: a randomised controlled trial

Background: High expressed emotion (EE) can extend the duration of illness and precipitate relapse; however, little evidence-based information is available to assist family caregivers of individuals with depression. In the present exploratory study, we examined the effectiveness of a cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) based guided self-help (GSH) manual in decreasing EE in caregivers of people with depression, in Thailand. Method: A parallel group randomised controlled trial was conducted, following CONSORT guidelines, with 54 caregivers who were allocated equally to GSH or control group (standard outpatient department support). In addition, both groups were contacted weekly by telephone. EE was assessed, using the Family Questionnaire (FQ), at baseline, post-test (Week 8) and follow-up (Week 12). Results: FQ scores at baseline indicated that both groups had similar, though moderately high level of EE. However, between baseline and post-test EE scores decreased markedly in the intervention group, but in contrast, they increased slightly in the control group. Between post-test and follow-up, little change took place in the EE scores of either group. Overall, the intervention group recipients of GSH showed a significant decrease in EE whereas the control group recipients of standard outpatient department support reported a slight increase in EE. Conclusion: These findings provide preliminary evidence that GSH is beneficial in reducing EE in caregivers, which is advantageous to family members with depression and caregivers. The approach may be used as an adjunct to the limited outpatient department support given to caregivers by mental health professionals and, perhaps, to caregivers who do not attend these departments

The beginning of time? Evidence for catastrophic drought in Baringo in the early nineteenth century

New developments in the collection of palaeo-data over the past two decades have transformed our understanding of climate and environmental history in eastern Africa. This article utilises instrumental and proxy evidence of historical lake-level fluctuations from Baringo and Bogoria, along with other Rift Valley lakes, to document the timing and magnitude of hydroclimate variability at decadal to century time scales since 1750. These data allow us to construct a record of past climate variation not only for the Baringo basin proper, but also across a sizable portion of central and northern Kenya. This record is then set alongside historical evidence, from oral histories gathered amongst the peoples of northern Kenya and the Rift Valley and from contemporary observations recorded by travellers through the region, to offer a reinterpretation of human activity and its relationship to environmental history in the nineteenth century. The results reveal strong evidence of a catastrophic drought in the early nineteenth century, the effects of which radically alters our historical understanding of the character of settlement, mobility and identity within the Baringo–Bogoria basin

Chemotaxis: a feedback-based computational model robustly predicts multiple aspects of real cell behaviour

The mechanism of eukaryotic chemotaxis remains unclear despite intensive study. The most frequently described mechanism acts through attractants causing actin polymerization, in turn leading to pseudopod formation and cell movement. We recently proposed an alternative mechanism, supported by several lines of data, in which pseudopods are made by a self-generated cycle. If chemoattractants are present, they modulate the cycle rather than directly causing actin polymerization. The aim of this work is to test the explanatory and predictive powers of such pseudopod-based models to predict the complex behaviour of cells in chemotaxis. We have now tested the effectiveness of this mechanism using a computational model of cell movement and chemotaxis based on pseudopod autocatalysis. The model reproduces a surprisingly wide range of existing data about cell movement and chemotaxis. It simulates cell polarization and persistence without stimuli and selection of accurate pseudopods when chemoattractant gradients are present. It predicts both bias of pseudopod position in low chemoattractant gradients and-unexpectedly-lateral pseudopod initiation in high gradients. To test the predictive ability of the model, we looked for untested and novel predictions. One prediction from the model is that the angle between successive pseudopods at the front of the cell will increase in proportion to the difference between the cell's direction and the direction of the gradient. We measured the angles between pseudopods in chemotaxing Dictyostelium cells under different conditions and found the results agreed with the model extremely well. Our model and data together suggest that in rapidly moving cells like Dictyostelium and neutrophils an intrinsic pseudopod cycle lies at the heart of cell motility. This implies that the mechanism behind chemotaxis relies on modification of intrinsic pseudopod behaviour, more than generation of new pseudopods or actin polymerization by chemoattractant

Search for the rare decays B0→J/ψγB^{0}\to J/\psi \gamma and Bs0→J/ψγB^{0}_{s} \to J/\psi \gamma

A search for the rare decay of a $B^{0}$ or $B^{0}_{s}$ meson into the final state $J/\psi\gamma$ is performed, using data collected by the LHCb experiment in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=7$ and $8$ TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3 fb$^{-1}$. The observed number of signal candidates is consistent with a background-only hypothesis. Branching fraction values larger than $1.7\times 10^{-6}$ for the $B^{0}\to J/\psi\gamma$ decay mode are excluded at 90% confidence level. For the $B^{0}_{s}\to J/\psi\gamma$ decay mode, branching fraction values larger than $7.4\times 10^{-6}$ are excluded at 90% confidence level, this is the first branching fraction limit for this decay.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://lhcbproject.web.cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/LHCbProjectPublic/LHCb-PAPER-2015-044.htm

A model-independent confirmation of the Z(4430)−Z(4430)^- state

The decay $B^0\to \psi(2S) K^+\pi^-$ is analyzed using $\rm 3~fb^{-1}$ of $pp$ collision data collected with the LHCb detector. A model-independent description of the $\psi(2S) \pi$ mass spectrum is obtained, using as input the $K\pi$ mass spectrum and angular distribution derived directly from data, without requiring a theoretical description of resonance shapes or their interference. The hypothesis that the $\psi(2S)\pi$ mass spectrum can be described in terms of $K\pi$ reflections alone is rejected with more than 8$\sigma$ significance. This provides confirmation, in a model-independent way, of the need for an additional resonant component in the mass region of the $Z(4430)^-$ exotic state.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://lhcbproject.web.cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/LHCbProjectPublic/LHCb-PAPER-2015-038.htm

A study of CPCP violation in B∓→Dh∓B^\mp \rightarrow Dh^\mp (h=K,πh=K,\pi) with the modes D→K∓π±π0D \rightarrow K^\mp \pi^\pm \pi^0, D→π+π−π0D \rightarrow \pi^+\pi^-\pi^0 and D→K+K−π0D \rightarrow K^+K^-\pi^0

An analysis of the decays of $B^\mp \rightarrow D K^\mp$ and $B^\mp \rightarrow D \pi^\mp$ is presented in which the $D$ meson is reconstructed in the three-body final states $K^\mp \pi^\pm \pi^0$, $\pi^+ \pi^- \pi^0$ and $K^+ K^- \pi^0$. Using data from LHCb corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 fb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ collisions, measurements of several $CP$ observables are performed. First observations are obtained of the suppressed ADS decay $B^\mp \rightarrow [\pi^\mp K^\pm \pi^0]_D \pi^\mp$ and the quasi-GLW decay $B^\mp \rightarrow [K^+ K^- \pi^0]_D \pi^\mp$. The results are interpreted in the context of the unitarity triangle angle $\gamma$ and related parameters

Study of B−→DK−π+π−B^{-}\to DK^-\pi^+\pi^- and B−→Dπ−π+π−B^-\to D\pi^-\pi^+\pi^- decays and determination of the CKM angle γ\gamma

We report a study of the suppressed $B^-\to DK^-\pi^+\pi^-$ and favored $B^-\to D\pi^-\pi^+\pi^-$ decays, where the neutral $D$ meson is detected through its decays to the $K^{\mp}\pi^{\pm}$ and CP-even $K^+K^-$ and $\pi^+\pi^-$ final states. The measurement is carried out using a proton-proton collision data sample collected by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.0~fb$^{-1}$. We observe the first significant signals in the CP-even final states of the $D$ meson for both the suppressed $B^-\to DK^-\pi^+\pi^-$ and favored $B^-\to D\pi^-\pi^+\pi^-$ modes, as well as in the doubly Cabibbo-suppressed $D\to K^+\pi^-$ final state of the $B^-\to D\pi^-\pi^+\pi^-$ decay. Evidence for the ADS suppressed decay $B^{-}\to DK^-\pi^+\pi^-$, with $D\to K^+\pi^-$, is also presented. From the observed yields in the $B^-\to DK^-\pi^+\pi^-$, $B^-\to D\pi^-\pi^+\pi^-$ and their charge conjugate decay modes, we measure the value of the weak phase to be $\gamma=(74^{+20}_{-19})^{\rm o}$. This is one of the most precise single-measurement determinations of $\gamma$ to date.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figures; All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://lhcbproject.web.cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/LHCbProjectPublic/LHCb-PAPER-2015-020.htm