scholarly journals Location, location, location -- Considering relative catchment location to understand subsurface losses

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melike Kiraz ◽  
Gemma Coxon ◽  
Thorsten Wagener
Keyword(s):  
Great Britain ◽  
Water Balance ◽  
Drainage Basin ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
Large Samples ◽  
Simple Index ◽  
Topographic Slope ◽  
Hydrologic Variability ◽  
Controlling Processes ◽  
Balance Error

The analysis of large samples of hydrologic catchments is regularly used to gain understanding of hydrologic variability and controlling processes. Several studies have pointed towards the problem that available catchment descriptors (such as mean topographic slope or average subsurface properties) are insufficient to capture hydrologically relevant properties. Here, we test the assumption that catchment location, i.e. the relative properties of catchments in relation to their surrounding neighbours, can provide additional information to reduce this problem. We test this idea in the context of Great Britain for a widely discussed problem, that of catchment water balance errors due to subsurface losses. We test three hypotheses while considering different locational aspects (1) location to coast, (2) location next a relevant neighbour and (3) location within the drainage basin, utilizing only basic and widely available geological and topographical information. We find that subsurface losses from catchments with a highly permeable geology connection to the coast are in order of 20% water balance error. We define a simple topographic-geologic index that is able to partially explain water balance issues between neighbours of highly permeable catchments. The results imply that location, geology and topography combine to define the differences of water balances of UK catchments compared to what we would expect from their climatic setting alone. The simple index defined here can easily be derived globally and tested regarding its wider applicability.

The ‘Arrow’ Incident: A Reappraisal

1974 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 373-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Y. Wong
Keyword(s):  
Great Britain ◽  
Chinese Language ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
Foreign Affairs ◽  
Documentary Evidence ◽  
The Public ◽  
European Expansion ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
Opium War ◽  
Public Record

In the years 1856–60, Great Britain, France and China were involved in a war, which has been referred to by different names, depending, naturally enough, on the nationality of the historian. Scholars in China, almost without exception, call it the Second Opium War. Historians in England, however, usually prefer to call it the Second Anglo-Chinese War or even the Second China-foreign War. It has been given yet another name, the Arrow War. None of these names is, strictly speaking, entirely appropriate. To begin with, the war was not fought over the question of opium, although in many ways it was a continuation of the Opium War of less than two decades before. In the last analysis, it was a consequence of an ever-expanding British economy. Secondly, although it is true that Great Britain and China were the chiefcontenders, the title Anglo-Chinese War ignores the part played by France in the campaign. Then the name Second China-foreign War, apart from betraying the English desire to forget that part of their past, is misleading because it focuses attention on China herself rather than on British encroachment on that country. Finally, the Arrow incident was, like the burning of opium by Commissioner Lin, an immediate cause of the quarrel; but once London had decided to resort to arms, little further reference was made to it in British diplomatic documents. The name Arrow War is particularly irrelevant for the period after the scene of confrontation had changed from Canton to Tientsin and then Peking. On balance, however, the names Second Anglo-Chinese War and Arrow War seem preferable because they do not carry overtones of nationalist prejudice. The latter title has the additional merit of illustrating how, in the age of European expansion, a small diplomatic incident could be magnified to justify the use of force to press home demands unrelated to it. It reflects the fact that the receiving end—in this case China, and in particular her Imperial Commissioner for Foreign Affairs, Yeh Ming-ch'en—tried throughout to argue the case over the specific casus belli, whereas for the British the whole affair was merely a pretext for wider demands to be made on China. Thus it seems more appropriate to call the conflict the Arrow War; and in order to examine its origins, the first step will be to analyse the documentary evidence related to the Arrow incident. Some papers in the Chinese language have only recently been made available to scholars in the Public Record Office. London, and these provide additional information for a re-investigation of the origins of the war.

scholarly journals First case of vCJD reported in Italy

2002 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
S Salmaso
Keyword(s):  
Great Britain ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
First Case ◽  
Jakob Disease

The first case of variant Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease (vCJD) has been reported in Italy (1). The case from Sicily was diagnosed in Italy and Great Britain on the basis of clinical and instrumental tests and tonsillar biopsy. The Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS) has classified the case as probable, but since the patient is still alive, the ISS has not released any additional information. The surveillance and reporting of CJD has been mandatory in Italy since the beginning of 2002.

Location, location, location – Considering local neighborhood when analyzing large samples of UK catchments

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melike Kiraz ◽  
Thorsten Wagener ◽  
Gemma Coxon
Keyword(s):  
Water Balance ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Aridity Index ◽  
Large Samples ◽  
Local Neighborhood ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Closed Water ◽  
Comparative Hydrology ◽  
Water Balances

<p>Studying large samples of catchments has been an effective means for comparative hydrology as it provides a wide range of hydrological conditions which can be used to learn similarities and differences between places. Such analyses typically include an attempt to organize catchments along some gradient (e.g. climate) or in clusters (e.g. geology) using catchment descriptors (e.g. an aridity index). Various past studies have pointed to the problem that available catchment descriptors are often not sufficient to capture hydrologically relevant catchment behaviours. It is further widely acknowledged that the water balance of many catchments is not closed. Several hypotheses for the causes of this lack of closed water balance are stated in literature.</p><p>If we assume that the dominant control on water balance is climate, then catchments’ water balances should change smoothly in space (since the climate varies smoothly). If they do not, then something else must be controlling this behaviour. We expect that size, location and geology might play important role in the water balances of UK catchments. We aim to study the differences in water balance between catchments to understand the role of catchment location. We test different hypotheses while considering the local neighborhood of 669 UK catchments from the CAMELS-GB dataset.</p>

scholarly journals Benchmarking the predictive capability of hydrological models for river flow and flood peak predictions across over 1000 catchments in Great Britain

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (10) ◽  
pp. 4011-4032 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosanna A. Lane ◽  
Gemma Coxon ◽  
Jim E. Freer ◽  
Thorsten Wagener ◽  
Penny J. Johnes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Great Britain ◽  
Water Balance ◽  
River Flow ◽  
Performance Metrics ◽  
Model Performance ◽  
Flow Simulation ◽  
Hydrological Models ◽  
Peak Flows ◽  
Flood Peak ◽  
Model Structures

Abstract. Benchmarking model performance across large samples of catchments is useful to guide model selection and future model development. Given uncertainties in the observational data we use to drive and evaluate hydrological models, and uncertainties in the structure and parameterisation of models we use to produce hydrological simulations and predictions, it is essential that model evaluation is undertaken within an uncertainty analysis framework. Here, we benchmark the capability of several lumped hydrological models across Great Britain by focusing on daily flow and peak flow simulation. Four hydrological model structures from the Framework for Understanding Structural Errors (FUSE) were applied to over 1000 catchments in England, Wales and Scotland. Model performance was then evaluated using standard performance metrics for daily flows and novel performance metrics for peak flows considering parameter uncertainty. Our results show that lumped hydrological models were able to produce adequate simulations across most of Great Britain, with each model producing simulations exceeding a 0.5 Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency for at least 80 % of catchments. All four models showed a similar spatial pattern of performance, producing better simulations in the wetter catchments to the west and poor model performance in central Scotland and south-eastern England. Poor model performance was often linked to the catchment water balance, with models unable to capture the catchment hydrology where the water balance did not close. Overall, performance was similar between model structures, but different models performed better for different catchment characteristics and metrics, as well as for assessing daily or peak flows, leading to the ensemble of model structures outperforming any single structure, thus demonstrating the value of using multi-model structures across a large sample of different catchment behaviours. This research evaluates what conceptual lumped models can achieve as a performance benchmark and provides interesting insights into where and why these simple models may fail. The large number of river catchments included in this study makes it an appropriate benchmark for any future developments of a national model of Great Britain.

The English of shop signs in Europe

English Today ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Schlick
Keyword(s):  
Great Britain ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Large Samples ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Baseline Sample

A survey with large samples trying to find out whether there is a difference in the languages chosen in store signs in a larger city and those in a provincial town, gathering a ‘baseline’ sample in Great Britain in order to see whether shop-front advertising for native speakers of English also draws on foreign languages.

Silent deaths: a commentary on new mortality data relating to volatile substance abuse in Great Britain

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 86-96
Author(s):  
Victoria Leigh ◽  
Sarah MacLean
Keyword(s):  
Substance Abuse ◽  
Great Britain ◽  
Service Planning ◽  
Volatile Substance ◽  
Mortality Data ◽  
Treatment Access ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
Service Staff ◽  
Volatile Substance Abuse

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a commentary on new information from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on deaths caused by volatile substance abuse (VSA) in Great Britain which occurred between 2001 and 2016. Design/methodology/approach Comparing the new study with previous mortality data, the authors consider the strengths and some limitations of the analysis provided by ONS. Findings By utilising a broader range of codes and collating additional information from death certificates, the new report provides a more comprehensive measure of VSA mortality than was previously available, showing increasing prevalence of deaths. The age profile of people dying is older than in previous studies. Most deaths were associated with inhalation of gases and almost three-quarters of deaths involved volatile substances alone. Practical implications Understanding VSA mortality is essential for service planning. It is important that we identify why so many people whose deaths are associated with VSA are not accessing treatment, with particular concern about treatment access for those who only use volatiles. Training to support drug and alcohol and other health service staff to respond to VSA is essential. In future reports, data to identify socioeconomic correlations of VSA deaths would enable targeted responses. Additionally, information on whether deaths occur in long term rather than episodic or one-off users could enable risk reduction education. Originality/value This paper shows how data on VSA deaths may inform for policy and service planning.

scholarly journals The Middle Caddoan Period in the Big Cypress Creek Drainage Basin

1997 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bo Nelson ◽  
Mike Turner
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
Settlement Patterns ◽  
Drainage Basin ◽  
Mortuary Practices ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
Ceramic Assemblages ◽  
Definition Of

The Middle Caddoan period in the Big Cypress Creek drainage basin has been based upon a synthesis of Thurmond's (1990) archaeological overview of the basin. Thurmond defines a transitional Caddoan period (dating ca. A.D. 1300-1400) from 14 sites that have ceramic assemblages combining Early Caddoan and Late Caddoan stylistic attributes. A review of these sites, along with additional information from recent archaeological investigations, suggests that the Middle Caddoan period in the Big Cypress Creek basin has an evolving cultural diversity that extends over a longer period of time, fitting well with Story's definition of the period as dating from ca. A.D. 1200- 1400. Although there is an absence of documented subsistence evidence and few radiocarbon dates (only seven from four sites), there are recognizable distinctions that may be made about Middle Caddoan period settlement patterns, mortuary practices, and the material culture record in the basin. Based on these observations, and the currently available archaeological record, 38 sites in the Big Cypress Creek drainage basin may now be classified as belonging to the Middle Caddoan period.

scholarly journals New data on morphology of Unio abyssinicus(Bivalvia: Unionidae) from Ethiopia

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 207-215
Author(s):  
E. M. Sayenko
Keyword(s):  
Endemic Species ◽  
Drainage Basin ◽  
The Other ◽  
Blue Nile ◽  
Mussel Species ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
First Time ◽  
Western Ethiopia

A relict and endemic species of the Blue Nile drainage basin, the mussel Unio abyssinicus, is under the threat of extinction, with the continuing decline in area, while data on the localities and biology of the mollusk are scarce. A new find of the mollusk population in the Duko river, located in the Oromiya Region of south-western Ethiopia, gives additional information about distribution of this species. The morphology of siphons of U. abyssinicus has been studied for the first time, the features of siphonal papillas are compared with those of the other mussel species. The data on the beak sculpture as well as the morphology of the hinge teeth have been clarified. Some new data on biology of the mussel are provided.

scholarly journals A satellite-based spatio-temporal machine learning model to reconstruct daily PM2.5 concentrations across Great Britain

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rochelle Schneider dos Santos ◽  
Ana Vicedo-Cabrera ◽  
Francesco Sera ◽  
Massimo Stafoggia ◽  
Kees de Hoogh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Great Britain ◽  
Temporal Resolution ◽  
Fine Particulate Matter ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
Learning Model ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
Multi Stage ◽  
Machine Learning Model ◽  
Spatio Temporal

Epidemiological studies on health effects of air pollution usually rely on measurements from fixed ground monitors, which provide limited spatio-temporal coverage. Data from satellites, reanalysis and chemical transport models offer additional information used to reconstruct pollution concentrations at high spatio-temporal resolution. The aim of this study is to develop a multi-stage satellite-based machine learning model to estimate daily fine particulate matter (PM2.5) levels across Great Britain during 2008-2018. This high-resolution model consists of random forest (RF) algorithms applied in four stages. Stage-1 augments monitor-PM2.5 series using co-located PM10 measures. Stage-2 imputes missing satellite aerosol optical depth observations using atmospheric reanalysis models. Stage-3 integrates the output from previous stages with spatial and spatio-temporal variables to build a prediction model for PM2.5. Stage-4 applies Stage-3 models to estimate daily PM2.5 concentrations over a 1-km grid. The RF architecture performed well in all stages, with results from Stage-3 showing an average cross-validated R2 of 0.767 and minimal bias. The model performed better over the temporal scale when compared to the spatial component, but both presented good accuracy with an R2 of 0.795 and 0.658, respectively. The high spatio-temporal resolution and relatively high precision allows this dataset (approximately 950 million points) to be used in epidemiological analyses to assess health risks associated with both short- and long-term exposures to PM2.5.

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