Search or filter publications

Filter by type:

Filter by publication type

Filter by year:

to

Results

  • Showing results for:
  • Reset all filters

Search results

  • Journal article
    Rashid T, Bennett JE, Muller DC, Cross AJ, Pearson-Stuttard J, Asaria P, Daby HI, Fecht D, Davies B, Ezzati Met al., 2024,

    Mortality from leading cancers in districts of England from 2002 to 2019: a population-based, spatiotemporal study

    , The Lancet Oncology, Vol: 25, Pages: 86-98, ISSN: 1213-9432

    BACKGROUND: Cancers are the leading cause of death in England. We aimed to estimate trends in mortality from leading cancers from 2002 to 2019 for the 314 districts in England. METHODS: We did a high-resolution spatiotemporal analysis of vital registration data from the UK Office for National Statistics using data on all deaths from the ten leading cancers in England from 2002 to 2019. We used a Bayesian hierarchical model to obtain robust estimates of age-specific and cause-specific death rates. We used life table methods to calculate the primary outcome, the unconditional probability of dying between birth and age 80 years by sex, cancer cause of death, local district, and year. We reported Spearman rank correlations between the probability of dying from a cancer and district-level poverty in 2019. FINDINGS: In 2019, the probability of dying from a cancer before age 80 years ranged from 0·10 (95% credible interval [CrI] 0·10-0·11) to 0·17 (0·16-0·18) for women and from 0·12 (0·12-0·13) to 0·22 (0·21-0·23) for men. Variation in the probability of dying was largest for lung cancer among women, being 3·7 times (95% CrI 3·2-4·4) higher in the district with the highest probability than in the district with the lowest probability; and for stomach cancer for men, being 3·2 times (2·6-4·1) higher in the district with the highest probability than in the one with the lowest probability. The variation in the probability of dying was smallest across districts for lymphoma and multiple myeloma (95% CrI 1·2 times [1·1-1·4] higher in the district with the highest probability than the lowest probability for women and 1·2 times [1·0-1·4] for men), and leukaemia (1·1 times [1·0-1·4] for women and 1·2 times [1·0-1·5] for men). The Spearman rank correlation between probability

  • Journal article
    Callaghan A, Deane G, Stokes D, 2024,

    A comparison of laboratory and field measurements of whitecap foam evolution from breaking waves

    , Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, Vol: 129, ISSN: 2169-9275

    Sufficiently energetic breaking ocean waves produce distinctive visible foam signatures on the water surface called whitecaps. The mixture of surface whitecap foam cells, and sub-surface bubbles, results in the broad-band scattering of light that allow whitecaps to be measured with optical cameras. In this paper the temporal evolution of whitecap foam area from laboratory and oceanic breaking waves is compared. When appropriately scaled, the foam area time series for both laboratory and oceanic breaking waves follow similar trends, despite occurring in vastly different settings. Distinct similarities of the signature of foam stabilization due to the presence of surfactants in the controlled laboratory experiments are also found in the field suggesting foam stabilization may be a means to remotely sense the presence/absence or concentration of surfactants in the ocean. In addition, probability density distributions of key whitecap variables such as foam area growth and decay timescales and maximum foam area are compared between laboratory and oceanic whitecaps. The oceanic whitecaps are much larger in scale than the laboratory breaking waves, whereas the whitecap growth and decay timescales are similar in magnitude, the latter suggesting that the depths to which bubbles are injected during active air entrainment in the field are relatively shallow. The aggregated whitecap statistics are used to estimate the energy dissipation of individual whitecaps in a novel manner.

  • Journal article
    Wang Z, Acha S, Bird M, Sunny N, Stettler MEJ, Wu B, Shah Net al., 2024,

    A total cost of ownership analysis of zero emission powertrain solutions for the heavy goods vehicle sector

    , Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol: 434, ISSN: 0959-6526

    Transport-related activities represented 34% of the total carbon emissions in the UK in 2022 and heavy-duty vehicles (HGVs) accounted for one-fifth of the road transport greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Currently, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) are considered as suitable replacements for diesel fleets. However, these technologies continue to face techno-economic barriers, creating uncertainty for fleet operators wanting to transition away from diesel-powered internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs). This paper assesses the performance and cost competitiveness of BEV and FCEV powertrain solutions in the hard-to-abate HGV sector. The study evaluates the impact of battery degradation and a carbon tax on the cost of owning the vehicles. An integrated total cost of ownership (TCO) model, which includes these factors for the first time, is developed to study a large retailer's HGV fleet operating in the UK. The modelling framework compares the capital expenditures (CAPEX) and operating expenses (OPEX) of alternative technologies against ICEVs. The TCO of BEVs and FCEVs are 11% to 33% and 37% to 78% higher than ICEVs; respectively. Despite these differences, by adopting a longer lifetime for the vehicle it can effectively narrow the cost gap. Alternatively, cost parity with ICEVs could be achieved if BEV battery cost reduces by 56% or if FCEV fuel cell cost reduces by 60%. Besides, the pivot point for hydrogen price is determined at £2.5 per kg. The findings suggest that BEV is closer to market as its TCO value is becoming competitive, whereas FCEV provides a more viable solution than BEV for long-haul applications due to shorter refuelling time and lower load capacity penalties. Furthermore, degradation of performance in lithium-ion batteries is found to have a minor impact on TCO if battery replacement is not required. However, critical component replacement and warranty can influence commercial viability. Given

  • Journal article
    Ren Y, Wang H, Harrison SP, Prentice IC, Atkin OK, Smith NG, Mengoli G, Stefanski A, Reich PBet al., 2024,

    Reduced global plant respiration due to the acclimation of leaf dark respiration coupled to photosynthesis

    , New Phytologist, Vol: 241, Pages: 578-591, ISSN: 0028-646X

    Leaf dark respiration (Rd) acclimates to environmental changes. However, the magnitude, controls and time scales of acclimation remain unclear and are inconsistently treated in ecosystem models. We hypothesized that Rd and Rubisco carboxylation capacity (Vcmax) at 25°C (Rd,25, Vcmax,25) are coordinated so that Rd,25 variations support Vcmax,25 at a level allowing full light use, with Vcmax,25 reflecting daytime conditions (for photosynthesis), and Rd,25/Vcmax,25 reflecting night-time conditions (for starch degradation and sucrose export). We tested this hypothesis temporally using a 5-yr warming experiment, and spatially using an extensive field-measurement data set. We compared the results to three published alternatives: Rd,25 declines linearly with daily average prior temperature; Rd at average prior night temperatures tends towards a constant value; and Rd,25/Vcmax,25 is constant. Our hypothesis accounted for more variation in observed Rd,25 over time (R2 = 0.74) and space (R2 = 0.68) than the alternatives. Night-time temperature dominated the seasonal time-course of Rd, with an apparent response time scale of c. 2 wk. Vcmax dominated the spatial patterns. Our acclimation hypothesis results in a smaller increase in global Rd in response to rising CO2 and warming than is projected by the two of three alternative hypotheses, and by current models.

  • Journal article
    Yusoff HHM, Johnson HD, Lonergan L, Whittaker AC, Abu Bakar Aet al., 2024,

    Seismic stratigraphy of Late Pleistocene incised valleys and adjacent environments, eastern Central Luconia Province, offshore north-west Borneo

    , Sedimentology, Vol: 71, Pages: 319-354, ISSN: 0037-0746

    Incised valleys are commonly investigated based on outcrop, modern setting and seismic data, which are often limited by data availability, especially for broad (ca >100 km wide) shelf settings. Consequently, few have described complete depositional systems of the incised valleys, especially those linked to their corresponding modern rivers in a source-to-sink framework to determine comprehensive controlling factors. This study documents Late Quaternary incised valleys and their characteristics in the Balingian – Central Luconia shelf based on regionally-extensive three-dimensional seismic data, two-dimensional high-resolution seismic data and boreholes. The three-dimensional seismic data show that the main Tatau incised valley and tributary Suai incised valley fed the Tatau–Suai shelf-edge delta. The Tatau incised valley is interpreted as the main incised valley based on its broader width, thicker infill, two-tier stratigraphic architecture and its larger drainage basin area compared to the tributary Suai incised valley. The Tatau incised valley shifted its direction towards an active tectonic lineament (West Baram Line) and bypassed sediments to the deep-water via a series of upper slope channels. The Tatau incised valley system comprises the following elements: (i) an upstream segment characterized by rivers dissecting an uplifted hinterland comprising Neogene sedimentary rocks, humid-tropical vegetation, monsoonal climate, extremely high river discharge and sediment supply; (ii) a midstream segment comprising an emergent, vegetated (tropical rainforest to mangroves) and relatively narrow (ca 150 to 200 km wide) shelf, which was characterized by basinward-increasing, tectonically-driven accommodation space, valley incision and deposition; (iii) a downstream segment with increasing tidal-influence where the Tatau and its tributary valley merged; and (iv) a short (15 to 20 km), narrow (10 to 15 km), tectonically-controlled

  • Journal article
    Paschalis A, De Kauwe MG, Sabot M, Fatichi Set al., 2024,

    When do plant hydraulics matter in terrestrial biosphere modelling?

    , Glob Chang Biol, Vol: 30

    The ascent of water from the soil to the leaves of vascular plants, described by the study of plant hydraulics, regulates ecosystem responses to environmental forcing and recovery from stress periods. Several approaches to model plant hydraulics have been proposed. In this study, we introduce four different versions of plant hydraulics representations in the terrestrial biosphere model T&C to understand the significance of plant hydraulics to ecosystem functioning. We tested representations of plant hydraulics, investigating plant water capacitance, and long-term xylem damages following drought. The four models we tested were a combination of representations including or neglecting capacitance and including or neglecting xylem damage legacies. Using the models at six case studies spanning semiarid to tropical ecosystems, we quantify how plant xylem flow, plant water storage and long-term xylem damage can modulate overall water and carbon dynamics across multiple time scales. We show that as drought develops, models with plant hydraulics predict a slower onset of plant water stress, and a diurnal variability of water and carbon fluxes closer to observations. Plant water storage was found to be particularly important for the diurnal dynamics of water and carbon fluxes, with models that include plant water capacitance yielding better results. Models including permanent damage to conducting plant tissues show an additional significant drought legacy effect, limiting plant productivity during the recovery phase following major droughts. However, when considering ecosystem responses to the observed climate variability, plant hydraulic modules alone cannot significantly improve the overall model performance, even though they reproduce more realistic water and carbon dynamics. This opens new avenues for model development, explicitly linking plant hydraulics with additional ecosystem processes, such as plant phenology and improved carbon allocation algorithms.

  • Journal article
    Gallardo i Peres G, Dall J, Mason PJ, Ghail R, Hensley Set al., 2024,

    A generalized beta prime distribution as the ratio probability density function for change detection between two SAR intensity images with different number of looks

    , IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, Vol: 62, ISSN: 0196-2892

    In the framework of the comparison of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery from the Magellan space mission and the VISAR and VenSAR radar instruments which will be onboard the forthcoming VERITAS and EnVision missions to Venus, the problem of the disparity between the resolutions of the images arises when attempting to define a test statistic with which to detect changes. Reliable change detection requires equivalent spatial resolutions which, for the two different images, inevitably involve different equivalent numbers of looks after speckle-reduction processing. This study presents a method to address this scenario using a generalized beta prime distribution as a probability density function (pdf) which is fit to the histogram of the ratio between the two intensity images. The work demonstrates and verifies the properties of the function, highlights its most useful traits, and elaborates on the mathematical procedure required to achieve a meaningful change detection in line with the classic theory of an equal number of looks. The results show that the method accurately describes the ratio histogram of two SAR-intensity images with different numbers of looks. Furthermore, they demonstrate the adaptability of the method to the presence of high pixel correlation between the images and validate its robustness in the presence of textural complexity when the texture patterns of the images are similar.

  • Journal article
    Khurana MP, Scheidwasser-Clow N, Penn MJ, Bhatt S, Duchêne DAet al., 2023,

    The limits of the constant-rate birth-death prior for phylogenetic tree topology inference.

    , Syst Biol

    Birth-death models are stochastic processes describing speciation and extinction through time and across taxa, and are widely used in biology for inference of evolutionary timescales. Previous research has highlighted how the expected trees under the constant-rate birth-death (crBD) model tend to differ from empirical trees, for example with respect to the amount of phylogenetic imbalance. However, our understanding of how trees differ between the crBD model and the signal in empirical data remains incomplete. In this Point of View, we aim to expose the degree to which the crBD model differs from empirically inferred phylogenies and test the limits of the model in practice. Using a wide range of topology indices to compare crBD expectations against a comprehensive dataset of 1189 empirically estimated trees, we confirm that crBD model trees frequently differ topologically compared with empirical trees. To place this in the context of standard practice in the field, we conducted a meta-analysis for a subset of the empirical studies. When comparing studies that used Bayesian methods and crBD priors with those that used other non-crBD priors and non-Bayesian methods (i.e., maximum likelihood methods), we do not find any significant differences in tree topology inferences. To scrutinize this finding for the case of highly imbalanced trees, we selected the 100 trees with the greatest imbalance from our dataset, simulated sequence data for these tree topologies under various evolutionary rates, and re-inferred the trees under maximum likelihood and using the crBD model in a Bayesian setting. We find that when the substitution rate is low, the crBD prior results in overly balanced trees, but the tendency is negligible when substitution rates are sufficiently high. Overall, our findings demonstrate the general robustness of crBD priors across a broad range of phylogenetic inference scenarios, but also highlights that empirically observed phylogenetic imbalance is highly imp

  • Journal article
    Quilelli Correa Rocha Ribeiro R, Gryspeerdt E, van Reeuwijk M, 2023,

    Retrieving cloud sensitivity to aerosol using ship emissions in overcast conditions

    , Geophysical Research Letters, Vol: 50, ISSN: 0094-8276

    The interaction between aerosols and clouds is one of the major uncertainties in past climate change, affecting the accuracy of future climate projections. Ship tracks, trails left in clouds through the addition of aerosol in the ship exhaust plume, have become a key observational tool for constraining aerosol-cloud interactions. However, manyexpected tracks remain undetected, presenting a significant gap in current knowledge of aerosol forcing. Here we leverage a plume-parcel model to simulate the impact of aerosol dispersion for 2957 cases off California’s coast on cloud droplet number concentration (CDNC) enhancements. Plume-parcel models show a large sensitivity to updraft uncertainties, which are found to be a primary control on track formation. Using these plume-parcel models, updraft values consistent with observed CDNC enhancements are recovered, suggesting that relying solely on cloud-top radiative cooling may overestimate in-cloud updrafts by around 50%, hence overstating the cloud sensitivity to aerosols.

  • Journal article
    Wariri O, Utazi CE, Okomo U, Sowe A, Sogur M, Fofanna S, Ezeani E, Saidy L, Sarwar G, Dondeh BL, Murray KA, Grundy C, Kampmann Bet al., 2023,

    Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the coverage and timeliness of routine childhood vaccinations in the Gambia, 2015-2021

    , BMJ Global Health, Vol: 8

    Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic caused widespread morbidity and mortality and resulted in the biggest setback in routine vaccinations in three decades. Data on the impact of the pandemic on immunisation in Africa are limited, in part, due to low-quality routine or administrative data. This study examined coverage and timeliness of routine childhood immunisation during the pandemic in The Gambia, a country with an immunisation system considered robust. Methods We obtained prospective birth cohort data of 57 286 children in over 300 communities in two health and demographic surveillance system sites, including data from the pre-pandemic period (January 2015- February 2020) and the three waves of the pandemic period (March 2020-December 2021). We determined monthly coverage and timeliness (early and delayed) of the birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine (HepB0) and the first dose of pentavalent vaccine (Penta1) during the different waves of the pandemic relative to the pre-pandemic period. We implemented a binomial interrupted time-series regression model. Result We observed no significant change in the coverage of HepB0 and Penta1 vaccinations from the pre-pandemic period up until the periods before the peaks of the first and second waves of the pandemic in 2020. However, there was an increase in HepB0 coverage before as well as after the peak of the third wave in 2021 compared with the pre-pandemic period (pre-third wave peak OR = 1.83, 95% CI 1.06 to 3.14; post-third wave period OR=2.20, 95% CI 1.23 to 3.92). There was some evidence that vaccination timeliness changed during specific periods of the pandemic. Early Penta1 vaccination decreased by 70% (OR=0.30, 95% CI 0.12 to 0.78) in the period before the second wave, and delayed HepB0 vaccination decreased by 47% (OR=0.53, 95% CI 0.29 to 0.97) after the peak of the third wave in 2021. Conclusion Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, The Gambia’s routine vaccination programme has defied the setbacks wi

This data is extracted from the Web of Science and reproduced under a licence from Thomson Reuters. You may not copy or re-distribute this data in whole or in part without the written consent of the Science business of Thomson Reuters.

Request URL: http://www.imperial.ac.uk:80/respub/WEB-INF/jsp/search-t4-html.jsp Request URI: /respub/WEB-INF/jsp/search-t4-html.jsp Query String: id=1154&limit=10&resgrpMemberPubs=true&page=7&respub-action=search.html Current Millis: 1711714690456 Current Time: Fri Mar 29 12:18:10 GMT 2024