| 1. |
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| 2. |
- Bentham, James, et al.
(author)
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A century of trends in adult human height
- 2016
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In: eLIFE. - 2050-084X. ; 5
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Being taller is associated with enhanced longevity, and higher education and earnings. We reanalysed 1472 population-based studies, with measurement of height on more than 18.6 million participants to estimate mean height for people born between 1896 and 1996 in 200 countries. The largest gain in adult height over the past century has occurred in South Korean women and Iranian men, who became 20.2 cm (95% credible interval 17.522.7) and 16.5 cm (13.319.7) taller, respectively. In contrast, there was little change in adult height in some sub-Saharan African countries and in South Asia over the century of analysis. The tallest people over these 100 years are men born in the Netherlands in the last quarter of 20th century, whose average heights surpassed 182.5 cm, and the shortest were women born in Guatemala in 1896 (140.3 cm; 135.8144.8). The height differential between the tallest and shortest populations was 19-20 cm a century ago, and has remained the same for women and increased for men a century later despite substantial changes in the ranking of countries.
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| 3. |
- Bentham, James, et al.
(author)
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A century of trends in adult human height
- 2016
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In: eLIFE. - : eLife Sciences Publications Ltd. - 2050-084X. ; 5
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Being taller is associated with enhanced longevity, and higher education and earnings. We reanalysed 1472 population-based studies, with measurement of height on more than 18.6 million participants to estimate mean height for people born between 1896 and 1996 in 200 countries. The largest gain in adult height over the past century has occurred in South Korean women and Iranian men, who became 20.2 cm (95% credible interval 17.5–22.7) and 16.5 cm (13.3– 19.7) taller, respectively. In contrast, there was little change in adult height in some sub-Saharan African countries and in South Asia over the century of analysis. The tallest people over these 100 years are men born in the Netherlands in the last quarter of 20th century, whose average heights surpassed 182.5 cm, and the shortest were women born in Guatemala in 1896 (140.3 cm; 135.8– 144.8). The height differential between the tallest and shortest populations was 19-20 cm a century ago, and has remained the same for women and increased for men a century later despite substantial changes in the ranking of countries.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Bombarda, F., et al.
(author)
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Runaway electron beam control
- 2019
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In: Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion. - : IOP Publishing. - 1361-6587 .- 0741-3335. ; 61:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)
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| 8. |
- Carleo, Ilaria, et al.
(author)
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The Multiplanet System TOI-421*
- 2020
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In: Astronomical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 1538-3881 .- 0004-6256. ; 160:3
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We report the discovery of a warm Neptune and a hot sub-Neptune transiting TOI-421 (BD-14 1137, TIC 94986319), a bright (V = 9.9) G9 dwarf star in a visual binary system observed by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) space mission in Sectors 5 and 6. We performed ground-based follow-up observations-comprised of Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope transit photometry, NIRC2 adaptive optics imaging, and FIbre-fed Echelle Spectrograph, CORALIE, High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher, High Resolution echelle Spectrometer, and Planet Finder Spectrograph high-precision Doppler measurements-and confirmed the planetary nature of the 16 day transiting candidate announced by the TESS team. We discovered an additional radial velocity signal with a period of five days induced by the presence of a second planet in the system, which we also found to transit its host star. We found that the inner mini-Neptune, TOI-421 b, has an orbital period of P-b = 5.19672 +/- 0.00049 days, a mass of M-b = 7.17 +/- 0.66 M-circle plus, and a radius of R-b = R-circle plus, whereas the outer warm Neptune, TOI-421 c, has a period of P-c = 16.06819 +/- 0.00035 days, a mass of M-c = 16.42(-1.04)(+1.06)M(circle plus), a radius of R-c = 5.09(-0.15)(+0.16)R(circle plus), and a density of rho(c) = 0.685(-0.072)(+0.080) cm(-3). With its characteristics, the outer planet (rho(c) = 0.685(-0.0072)(+0.080) cm(-3)) is placed in the intriguing class of the super-puffy mini-Neptunes. TOI-421 b and TOI-421 c are found to be well-suited for atmospheric characterization. Our atmospheric simulations predict significant Ly alpha transit absorption, due to strong hydrogen escape in both planets, as well as the presence of detectable CH4 in the atmosphere of TOI-421 c if equilibrium chemistry is assumed.
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| 18. |
- Krasilnikov, A., et al.
(author)
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Evidence of 9 Be + p nuclear reactions during 2ω CH and hydrogen minority ICRH in JET-ILW hydrogen and deuterium plasmas
- 2018
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In: Nuclear Fusion. - : IOP Publishing. - 1741-4326 .- 0029-5515. ; 58:2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The intensity of 9Be + p nuclear fusion reactions was experimentally studied during second harmonic (2ω CH) ion-cyclotron resonance heating (ICRH) and further analyzed during fundamental hydrogen minority ICRH of JET-ILW hydrogen and deuterium plasmas. In relatively low-density plasmas with a high ICRH power, a population of fast H+ ions was created and measured by neutral particle analyzers. Primary and secondary nuclear reaction products, due to 9Be + p interaction, were observed with fast ion loss detectors, γ-ray spectrometers and neutron flux monitors and spectrometers. The possibility of using 9Be(p, d)2α and 9Be(p, α)6Li nuclear reactions to create a population of fast alpha particles and study their behaviour in non-active stage of ITER operation is discussed in the paper.
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| 19. |
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| 20. |
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| 21. |
- Marimon Giovannetti, Laura, et al.
(author)
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Developing fluid structure interaction experimental methodologies For dynamic foil measurements
- 2020
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The ability to validate computational predictions of either passive adaptive or dynamic response of deformable foils is essential when seeking to optimise high performance yachts. This requires time-accurate and synchronised measurements of the flow field and the shape of the deformable foil. It is important to understand the accuracy with which the onset of dynamic effects such as flutter or stall can influence the structural design and planform. Examples of such design challenges are present in the design of hydrofoils, wing sails and other propulsion systems such as composite propellers. The current research aims to demonstrate the capability of an experimental methodology that can be used as a validation for numerical investigations of dynamic fluid-structure interaction problems. The presented methodology provides high-speed full-field experimental data of: the structural deformations, by means of Digital Image Correlation (DIC), the tip vortex flow field, by means of Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) and the forces and moments acting on a flexible aerofoil. A comparison between static and dynamic lift coefficients is presented for unsteady dataset and the effect of dynamic loads are analysed both at structural deformation and flow features level. Overall it is found that it is possible to capture synchronised structural deformation and flow field data at reasonable data rates that allow validation assessment of unsteady CFD.
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| 28. |
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| 29. |
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- 2018
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In: Nuclear Fusion. - : IOP Publishing. - 1741-4326 .- 0029-5515. ; 58:1
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Research review (peer-reviewed)
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| 30. |
- Alimena, Juliette, et al.
(author)
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Searching for long-lived particles beyond the Standard Model at the Large Hadron Collider
- 2020
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In: Journal of Physics G. - : IOP Publishing. - 0954-3899 .- 1361-6471. ; 47:9
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Particles beyond the Standard Model (SM) can generically have lifetimes that are long compared to SM particles at the weak scale. When produced at experiments such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, these long-lived particles (LLPs) can decay far from the interaction vertex of the primary proton-proton collision. Such LLP signatures are distinct from those of promptly decaying particles that are targeted by the majority of searches for new physics at the LHC, often requiring customized techniques to identify, for example, significantly displaced decay vertices, tracks with atypical properties, and short track segments. Given their non-standard nature, a comprehensive overview of LLP signatures at the LHC is beneficial to ensure that possible avenues of the discovery of new physics are not overlooked. Here we report on the joint work of a community of theorists and experimentalists with the ATLAS, CMS, and LHCb experiments-as well as those working on dedicated experiments such as MoEDAL, milliQan, MATHUSLA, CODEX-b, and FASER-to survey the current state of LLP searches at the LHC, and to chart a path for the development of LLP searches into the future, both in the upcoming Run 3 and at the high-luminosity LHC. The work is organized around the current and future potential capabilities of LHC experiments to generally discover new LLPs, and takes a signature-based approach to surveying classes of models that give rise to LLPs rather than emphasizing any particular theory motivation. We develop a set of simplified models; assess the coverage of current searches; document known, often unexpected backgrounds; explore the capabilities of proposed detector upgrades; provide recommendations for the presentation of search results; and look towards the newest frontiers, namely high-multiplicity 'dark showers', highlighting opportunities for expanding the LHC reach for these signals.
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| 31. |
- Boyd, Roslyn N., et al.
(author)
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REACH : study protocol of a randomised trial of rehabilitation very early in congenital hemiplegia
- 2017
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In: BMJ Open. - : BMJ Publishing Group Ltd. - 2044-6055. ; 7:9
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- OBJECTIVES: Congenital hemiplegia is the most common form of cerebral palsy (CP). Children with unilateral CP show signs of upper limb asymmetry by 8 months corrected age (ca) but are frequently not referred to therapy until after 12 months ca. This study compares the efficacy of infant-friendly modified constraint-induced movement therapy (Baby mCIMT) to infant friendly bimanual therapy (Baby BIM) on upper limb, cognitive and neuroplasticity outcomes in a multisite randomised comparison trial.METHODS AND ANALYSIS: 150 infants (75 in each group), aged between 3 and 6 months ca, with asymmetric brain injury and clinical signs of upper extremity asymmetry will be recruited. Children will be randomised centrally to receive equal doses of either Baby mCIMT or Baby BIM. Baby mCIMT comprises restraint of the unimpaired hand using a simple restraint (eg, glove, sock), combined with intensive parent implemented practice focusing on active use of the impaired hand in a play-based context. In contrast, Baby BIM promotes active play requiring both hands in a play-based context. Both interventions will be delivered by parents at home with monthly home visits and interim telecommunication support by study therapists. Assessments will be conducted at study entry; at 6, 12 months ca immediately postintervention (primary outcome) and 24 months ca (retention). The primary outcome will be the Mini-Assisting Hand Assessment. Secondary outcomes include the Bayley Scale for Infant and Toddler Development (cognitive and motor domains) and the Hand Assessment of Infants. A subset of children will undertake MRI scans at 24 months ca to evaluate brain lesion severity and brain (re)organisation after intervention.ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Full ethical approvals for this study have been obtained from the relevant sites. The findings will be disseminated in peer-reviewed publications.TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: ACTRN12615000180516, Pre results.
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| 32. |
- Boyd, Stephen, et al.
(author)
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MIMO PID Tuning via Iterated LMI Restriction
- 2015
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In: International Journal of Robust and Nonlinear Control. - : Wiley. - 1099-1239 .- 1049-8923. ; 26:8, s. 1718-1731
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We formulate multi-input multi-output (MIMO) proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller design as an optimization problem that involves nonconvex quadratic matrix inequalities. We propose a simple method that replaces the nonconvex matrix inequalities with a linear matrix inequality (LMI) restriction, and iterates to convergence. This method can be interpreted as a matrix extension of the convex-concave procedure, or as a particular majorization-minimization (MM) method. Convergence to a local minimum can be guaranteed. While we do not know that the resulting controller is globally optimal, the method works well in practice, and provides a simple automated method for tuning MIMO PID controllers. The method is readily extended in many ways, for example to the design of more complex, structured controllers.
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| 33. |
- Dyer, Adrian G, et al.
(author)
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Parallel evolution of angiosperm colour signals : common evolutionary pressures linked to hymenopteran vision.
- 2012
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In: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 0962-8452 .- 1471-2954. ; 279:1742, s. 3606-15
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Flowering plants in Australia have been geographically isolated for more than 34 million years. In the Northern Hemisphere, previous work has revealed a close fit between the optimal discrimination capabilities of hymenopteran pollinators and the flower colours that have most frequently evolved. We collected spectral data from 111 Australian native flowers and tested signal appearance considering the colour discrimination capabilities of potentially important pollinators. The highest frequency of flower reflectance curves is consistent with data reported for the Northern Hemisphere. The subsequent mapping of Australian flower reflectances into a bee colour space reveals a very similar distribution of flower colour evolution to the Northern Hemisphere. Thus, flowering plants in Australia are likely to have independently evolved spectral signals that maximize colour discrimination by hymenoptera. Moreover, we found that the degree of variability in flower coloration for particular angiosperm species matched the range of reflectance colours that can only be discriminated by bees that have experienced differential conditioning. This observation suggests a requirement for plasticity in the nervous systems of pollinators to allow generalization of flowers of the same species while overcoming the possible presence of non-rewarding flower mimics.
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| 34. |
- Elks, Cathy E, et al.
(author)
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Thirty new loci for age at menarche identified by a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies
- 2010
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In: Nature Genetics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1061-4036 .- 1546-1718. ; 42:12, s. 1077-85
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- To identify loci for age at menarche, we performed a meta-analysis of 32 genome-wide association studies in 87,802 women of European descent, with replication in up to 14,731 women. In addition to the known loci at LIN28B (P = 5.4 × 10⁻⁶⁰) and 9q31.2 (P = 2.2 × 10⁻³³), we identified 30 new menarche loci (all P < 5 × 10⁻⁸) and found suggestive evidence for a further 10 loci (P < 1.9 × 10⁻⁶). The new loci included four previously associated with body mass index (in or near FTO, SEC16B, TRA2B and TMEM18), three in or near other genes implicated in energy homeostasis (BSX, CRTC1 and MCHR2) and three in or near genes implicated in hormonal regulation (INHBA, PCSK2 and RXRG). Ingenuity and gene-set enrichment pathway analyses identified coenzyme A and fatty acid biosynthesis as biological processes related to menarche timing.
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| 35. |
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| 36. |
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| 37. |
- Giselsson, Pontus, et al.
(author)
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Line Search for Averaged Operator Iteration
- 2016
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Other publication (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Many popular first order algorithms for convex optimization, such as forward-backward splitting, Douglas-Rachford splitting, and the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM), can be formulated as averaged iteration of a nonexpansive mapping. In this paper we propose a line search for averaged iteration that preserves the theoretical convergence guarantee, while often accelerating practical convergence. We discuss several general cases in which the additional computational cost of the line search is modest compared to the savings obtained.
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| 38. |
- Giselsson, Pontus, et al.
(author)
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Linear Convergence and Metric Selection for Douglas-Rachford Splitting and ADMM
- 2017
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In: IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control. - 0018-9286. ; 62:2, s. 532-544
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Recently, several convergence rate results for Douglas-Rachford splitting and the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) have been presented in the literature. In this paper, we show global linear convergence rate bounds for Douglas-Rachford splitting and ADMM under strong convexity and smoothness assumptions. We further show that the rate bounds are tight for the class of problems under consideration for all feasible algorithm parameters. For problems that satisfy the assumptions, we show how to select step-size and metric for the algorithm that optimize the derived convergence rate bounds. For problems with a similar structure that do not satisfy the assumptions, we present heuristic step-size and metric selection methods.
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| 39. |
- Giselsson, Pontus, et al.
(author)
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Metric selection in fast dual forward-backward splitting
- 2015
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In: Automatica. - : Elsevier BV. - 0005-1098. ; 62, s. 1-10
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The performance of fast forward-backward splitting, or equivalently fast proximal gradient methods, depends on the conditioning of the optimization problem data. This conditioning is related to a metric that is defined by the space on which the optimization problem is stated; selecting a space on which the optimization data is better conditioned improves the performance of the algorithm. In this paper, we propose several methods, with different computational complexity, to find a space on which the algorithm performs well. We evaluate the proposed metric selection procedures by comparing the performance to the case when the Euclidean space is used. For the most ill-conditioned problem we consider, the computational complexity is improved by two to three orders of magnitude. We also report comparable to superior performance compared to state-of-the-art optimization software. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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| 40. |
- Grayling, Matthew, et al.
(author)
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Scalable hierarchical BayeSN inference : investigating dependence of SN Ia host galaxy dust properties on stellar mass and redshift
- 2024
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In: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 531:1, s. 953-976
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We apply the hierarchical probabilistic spectral energy distribution (SED) model BAYESN to analyse a sample of 475 type Ia supernovae (0.015 < z < 0.4) from Foundation, DES3YR and PS1MD to investigate the properties of dust in their host galaxies. We jointly infer the dust law RV population distributions at the SED level in high- and low-mass galaxies simultaneously with dust-independent, intrinsic differences. We find an intrinsic mass step of −0.049 ± 0.016 mag, at a significance of 3.1σ, when allowing for a constant intrinsic, achromatic magnitude offset. We additionally apply a model allowing for time- and wavelength-dependent intrinsic differences between SNe Ia in different mass bins, finding ∼2σ differences in magnitude and colour around peak and 4.5σ differences at later times. These intrinsic differences are inferred simultaneously with a difference in population mean RV of ∼2σ significance, demonstrating that both intrinsic and extrinsic differences may play a role in causing the host galaxy mass step. We also consider a model which allows the mean of the RV distribution to linearly evolve with redshift but find no evidence for any evolution – we infer the gradient of this relation ηR = −0.38 ± 0.70. In addition, we discuss in brief a new, GPU-accelerated PYTHON implementation of BAYESN suitable for application to large surveys which is publicly available and can be used for future cosmological analyses; this code can be found here: https://github.com/bayesn/bayesn.
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| 41. |
- Hast, Martin, et al.
(author)
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PID Design by Convex-Concave Optimization
- 2013
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In: Proceedings 2013 European Control Conference (ECC). ; , s. 4460-4465
-
Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper describes how PID controllers can be designed by optimizing performance subject to robustness constraints. The optimization problem is solved using convex-concave programming. The method admits general process descriptions in terms of frequency response data and it can cope with many different constraints. Examples are presented and some pitfalls in optimization are discussed.
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| 42. |
- Iveson, Timothy J., et al.
(author)
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3 versus 6 months of adjuvant oxaliplatin-fluoropyrimidine combination therapy for colorectal cancer (SCOT) : an international, randomised, phase 3, non-inferiority trial
- 2018
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In: The Lancet Oncology. - : ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC. - 1470-2045 .- 1474-5488. ; 19:4, s. 562-578
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: 6 months of oxaliplatin-containing chemotherapy is usually given as adjuvant treatment for stage 3 colorectal cancer. We investigated whether 3 months of oxaliplatin-containing chemotherapy would be non-inferior to the usual 6 months of treatment.Methods: The SCOT study was an international, randomised, phase 3, non-inferiority trial done at 244 centres. Patients aged 18 years or older with high-risk stage II and stage III colorectal cancer underwent central randomisation with minimisation for centre, choice of regimen, sex, disease site, N stage, T stage, and the starting dose of capecitabine. Patients were assigned (1: 1) to receive 3 months or 6 months of adjuvant oxaliplatin-containing chemotherapy. The chemotherapy regimens could consist of CAPOX (capecitabine and oxaliplatin) or FOLFOX (bolus and infused fluorouracil with oxaliplatin). The regimen was selected before randomisation in accordance with choices of the patient and treating physician. The primary study endpoint was disease-free survival and the non-inferiority margin was a hazard ratio of 1.13. The primary analysis was done in the intention-to-treat population and safety was assessed in patients who started study treatment. This trial is registered with ISRCTN, number ISRCTN59757862, and follow-up is continuing.Findings: 6088 patients underwent randomisation between March 27, 2008, and Nov 29, 2013. The intended treatment was FOLFOX in 1981 patients and CAPOX in 4107 patients. 3044 patients were assigned to 3 month group and 3044 were assigned to 6 month group. Nine patients in the 3 month group and 14 patients in the 6 month group did not consent for their data to be used, leaving 3035 patients in the 3 month group and 3030 patients in the 6 month group for the intention-to-treat analyses. At the cutoff date for analysis, there had been 1482 disease-free survival events, with 740 in the 3 month group and 742 in the 6 month group. 3 year disease-free survival was 76.7% (95% CI 75.1-78.2) for the 3 month group and 77.1% (75.6-78.6) for the 6 month group, giving a hazard ratio of 1.006 (0.909-1.114, test for non-inferiority p=0.012), significantly below the non-inferiority margin. Peripheral neuropathy of grade 2 or worse was more common in the 6 month group (237 [58%] of 409 patients for the subset with safety data) than in the 3 month group (103 [25%] of 420) and was long-lasting and associated with worse quality of life. 1098 serious adverse events were reported (492 reports in the 3 month group and 606 reports in the 6 month group) and 32 treatment-related deaths occurred (16 in each group).Interpretation: In the whole study population, 3 months of oxaliplatin-containing adjuvant chemotherapy was non-inferior to 6 months of the same therapy for patients with high-risk stage II and stage III colorectal cancer and was associated with reduced toxicity and improved quality of life. Despite the fact the study was underpowered, these data suggest that a shorter duration leads to similar survival outcomes with better quality of life and thus might represent a new standard of care.
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| 43. |
- Locke, Adam E, et al.
(author)
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Genetic studies of body mass index yield new insights for obesity biology.
- 2015
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In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 518:7538, s. 197-401
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Obesity is heritable and predisposes to many diseases. To understand the genetic basis of obesity better, here we conduct a genome-wide association study and Metabochip meta-analysis of body mass index (BMI), a measure commonly used to define obesity and assess adiposity, in up to 339,224 individuals. This analysis identifies 97 BMI-associated loci (P < 5 × 10(-8)), 56 of which are novel. Five loci demonstrate clear evidence of several independent association signals, and many loci have significant effects on other metabolic phenotypes. The 97 loci account for ∼2.7% of BMI variation, and genome-wide estimates suggest that common variation accounts for >20% of BMI variation. Pathway analyses provide strong support for a role of the central nervous system in obesity susceptibility and implicate new genes and pathways, including those related to synaptic function, glutamate signalling, insulin secretion/action, energy metabolism, lipid biology and adipogenesis.
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| 44. |
- Morel, Alexandra C., et al.
(author)
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Carbon dynamics, net primary productivity and human-appropriated net primary productivity across a forest–cocoa farm landscape in West Africa
- 2019
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In: Global Change Biology. - : Wiley. - 1354-1013 .- 1365-2486. ; 25:8, s. 2661-2677
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Terrestrial net primary productivity (NPP) is an important metric of ecosystem functioning; however, there are little empirical data on the NPP of human-modified ecosystems, particularly smallholder, perennial crops like cocoa (Theobroma cacao), which are extensive across the tropics. Human-appropriated NPP (HANPP) is a measure of the proportion of a natural system's NPP that has either been reduced through land-use change or harvested directly and, previously, has been calculated to estimate the scale of the human impact on the biosphere. Additionally, human modification can create shifts in NPP allocation and decomposition, with concomitant impacts on the carbon cycle. This study presents the results of 3 years of intensive monitoring of forest and smallholder cocoa farms across disturbance, management intensity, distance from forest and farm age gradients. We measured among the highest reported NPP values in tropical forest, 17.57 ± 2.1 and 17.7 ± 1.6 Mg C ha−1 year−1 for intact and logged forest, respectively; however, the average NPP of cocoa farms was still higher, 18.8 ± 2.5 Mg C ha−1 year−1, which we found was driven by cocoa pod production. We found a dramatic shift in litterfall residence times, where cocoa leaves decomposed more slowly than forest leaves and shade tree litterfall decomposed considerably faster, indicating significant changes in rates of nutrient cycling. The average HANPP value for all cocoa farms was 2.1 ± 1.1 Mg C ha−1 year−1; however, depending on the density of shade trees, it ranged from −4.6 to 5.2 Mg C ha−1 year−1. Therefore, rather than being related to cocoa yield, HANPP was reduced by maintaining higher shade levels. Across our monitored farms, 18.9% of farm NPP was harvested (i.e., whole cocoa pods) and only 1.1% (i.e., cocoa beans) was removed from the system, suggesting that the scale of HANPP in smallholder cocoa agroforestry systems is relatively small.
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| 45. |
- Morel, Alexandra C., et al.
(author)
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The Ecological Limits of Poverty Alleviation in an African Forest-Agriculture Landscape
- 2019
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In: Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 2571-581X. ; 3
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Cocoa yields in Ghana remain low. This has variously been attributed to low rates of fertilizer application, pollinator limitation, and particularly dry growing conditions. In this paper we use an African forest-agriculture landscape dominated by cocoa (Theobroma cacao) to develop an ecological production function, allowing us to identify key ecological and management limits acting on cocoa yields simultaneously. These included more consistent application of fertilizers inter-annually, distributing rotting biomass throughout the farm and reducing the incidence of capsid attacks. By relaxing these limits, we estimate plausible increases in yields and, by extension, farm incomes. Our analysis reveals that resulting increases in cocoa yields requiring both ecological and intensive management interventions could be significant (113 ± 60%); however, benefits are disproportionately realized by the wealthiest households. We found that wealthier households benefited proportionally more from ecological intensification methods (e.g., leaving more rotting biomass in their farms) and the poorest households benefited proportionally more from capital-intensive intensification methods (e.g., pesticide and fertilizer applications). We treated poverty as multi-dimensional, and show that only certain dimensions of poverty (school attendance, assets, and food security) are significantly related to cocoa incomes, while several other dimensions (access to clean water, sanitation and electricity, and infant mortality) are not. We explore how increased household cocoa incomes could impact different dimensions of poverty. Our findings suggest, that if all households adopted the optimal level of each of these management options, and in so doing had similar poverty profiles to those households already managing optimally, we would see the community-averaged probability: a child of a household misses school decrease from 47 to 31%, a household would be able to acquire assets increase from 40 to 59% and a household would have access to an adequate amount of food increase from 62 to 79%.
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| 46. |
- Murari, A., et al.
(author)
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A control oriented strategy of disruption prediction to avoid the configuration collapse of tokamak reactors
- 2024
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In: Nature Communications. - 2041-1723 .- 2041-1723. ; 15:1
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The objective of thermonuclear fusion consists of producing electricity from the coalescence of light nuclei in high temperature plasmas. The most promising route to fusion envisages the confinement of such plasmas with magnetic fields, whose most studied configuration is the tokamak. Disruptions are catastrophic collapses affecting all tokamak devices and one of the main potential showstoppers on the route to a commercial reactor. In this work we report how, deploying innovative analysis methods on thousands of JET experiments covering the isotopic compositions from hydrogen to full tritium and including the major D-T campaign, the nature of the various forms of collapse is investigated in all phases of the discharges. An original approach to proximity detection has been developed, which allows determining both the probability of and the time interval remaining before an incoming disruption, with adaptive, from scratch, real time compatible techniques. The results indicate that physics based prediction and control tools can be developed, to deploy realistic strategies of disruption avoidance and prevention, meeting the requirements of the next generation of devices.
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| 47. |
- Murray, Richard, et al.
(author)
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Future Directions in Control in an Information-rich World
- 2003
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In: Control Systems Magazine. - 0272-1708. ; 23:2, s. 20-33
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Panel on Future Directions in Control, Dynamics, and Systems was formed in April 2000 to provide a renewed vision of future challenges and opportunities in the control field, along with recommendations to government agencies, universities, and research organizations to ensure continued progress in areas of importance to the industrial and defense base. The panel released a report in April 2002, the intent of which is to raise the overall visibility of research in control, highlight its importance in applications of national interest, and indicate some of the key trends that are important for continued vitality of the field. After a brief introduction, we summarize the report, discuss its applications and education and outreach, and conclude with some recommendations.
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| 48. |
- Nightingale, Andrea, et al.
(author)
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Beyond Technical Fixes : climate solutions and the great derangement
- 2020
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In: Climate and Development. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1756-5529 .- 1756-5537. ; 12:4, s. 343-352
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Climate change research is at an impasse. The transformation of economies and everyday practices is more urgent, and yet appears ever more daunting as attempts at behaviour change, regulations, and global agreements confront material and social-political infrastructures that support the status quo. Effective action requires new ways of conceptualizing society, climate and environment and yet current research struggles to break free of established categories. In response, this contribution revisits important insights from the social sciences and humanities on the co-production of political economies, cultures, societies and biophysical relations and shows the possibilities for ontological pluralism to open up for new imaginations. Its intention is to help generate a different framing of socionatural change that goes beyond the current science-policy-behavioural change pathway. It puts forward several moments of inadvertent concealment in contemporary debates that stem directly from the way issues are framed and imagined in contemporary discourses. By placing values, normative commitments, and experiential and plural ways of knowing from around the world at the centre of climate knowledge, we confront climate change with contested politics and the everyday foundations of action rather than just data.
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| 49. |
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| 50. |
- Nystrup, Peter, et al.
(author)
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Multi-period portfolio selection with drawdown control
- 2019
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In: Annals of Operations Research. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0254-5330 .- 1572-9338. ; 282:1-2, s. 245-271
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this article, model predictive control is used to dynamically optimize an investment portfolio and control drawdowns. The control is based on multi-period forecasts of the mean and covariance of financial returns from a multivariate hidden Markov model with time-varying parameters. There are computational advantages to using model predictive control when estimates of future returns are updated every time new observations become available, because the optimal control actions are reconsidered anyway. Transaction and holding costs are discussed as a means to address estimation error and regularize the optimization problem. The proposed approach to multi-period portfolio selection is tested out of sample over two decades based on available market indices chosen to mimic the major liquid asset classes typically considered by institutional investors. By adjusting the risk aversion based on realized drawdown, it successfully controls drawdowns with little or no sacrifice of mean–variance efficiency. Using leverage it is possible to further increase the return without increasing the maximum drawdown.
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