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This study evaluates the feasibility of applying the Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean (ECCO) data assimilation (DA) framework to a submesoscale-resolving model [Massachusetts Institute of Technology General Circulation Model (MITgcm), at 1-km grid resolution]. This is in preparation for future studies to understand and assimilate the novel swath measurements of sea surface height from the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite mission. The model domain is centered at the SWOT calibration/validation (CalVal) site, located 300 km offshore of Monterey Bay, California. We assimilate vertical profiles of temperature and salinity from a linear array of three SWOT prelaunch CalVal moorings, between September and December 2019. Two model solutions are analyzed: 1) a nonassimilating forward simulation termed "first-guess" and 2) an optimized solution that assimilates the in situ observations. Both runs are nested within the global 1/12° Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model that uses Navy Coupled Ocean Data Assimilation (HYCOM/NCODA) analysis. We evaluate the performance by comparing the two model solutions against assimilated and withheld in situ observations. We show that by assimilating hydrographic data, the model performance over the first-guess solution is improved with an error-to-observation reduction of 30%–45% for temperature, 14%–41% for salinity, and 44%–56% for steric height. Over the study period, the average steric height error at the three assimilated moorings was 1.27 cm for the optimized solution versus 2.6 cm for the first-guess solution. A comparison to withheld glider observations shows that the optimized solution outperforms the first-guess solution with an error-to-observation reduction of approximately 38% in steric height (1.5 versus 2.4 cm). This study indicates, for the first time, that the MITgcm–ECCO framework can be successfully applied to the reconstruction of submesoscale ocean variability, via the nesting of a high-resolution regional domain into a global outer domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outsize influence of asset managers raises important questions about the relationship between fund managers and the companies in which they are invested, with recent theorists of asset manager capitalism suggesting an emergent disinterest in the performance of individual firms among large asset managers. Investors' growing focus on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data in financial decisions offers one window into this relationship. Drawing on interviews with the ESG team and a group of portfolio managers at a large European bank, I argue that ESG analysis is seen as valuable not because of some unique social, environmental, or even financial benefits, but because it helps asset managers more effectively govern the companies in which they are invested by objectifying and depoliticizing their interventions in the governance of invested companies. This contributes to emerging theories of asset manager capitalism by calling attention to the strategies asset managers develop to exercise control over invested companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tropical forests are a major component of the global carbon cycle and home to two‐thirds of terrestrial species. Upper‐canopy trees store the majority of forest carbon and can be vulnerable to drought events and storms. Monitoring their growth and mortality is essential to understanding forest resilience to climate change, but in the context of forest carbon storage, large trees are underrepresented in traditional field surveys, so estimates are poorly constrained. Aerial photographs provide spectral and textural information to discriminate between tree crowns in diverse, complex tropical canopies, potentially opening the door to landscape monitoring of large trees. Here we describe a new deep convolutional neural network method, Detectree2, which builds on the Mask R‐CNN computer vision framework to recognize the irregular edges of individual tree crowns from airborne RGB imagery. We trained and evaluated this model with 3797 manually delineated tree crowns at three sites in Malaysian Borneo and one site in French Guiana. As an example application, we combined the delineations with repeat lidar surveys (taken between 3 and 6 years apart) of the four sites to estimate the growth and mortality of upper‐canopy trees. Detectree2 delineated 65 000 upper‐canopy trees across 14 km2 of aerial images. The skill of the automatic method in delineating unseen test trees was good (F1 score = 0.64) and for the tallest category of trees was excellent (F1 score = 0.74). As predicted from previous field studies, we found that growth rate declined with tree height and tall trees had higher mortality rates than intermediate‐size trees. Our approach demonstrates that deep learning methods can automatically segment trees in widely accessible RGB imagery. This tool (provided as an open‐source Python package) has many potential applications in forest ecology and conservation, from estimating carbon stocks to monitoring forest phenology and restoration. Python package available to install at https://github.com/PatBall1/Detectree2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Kidney stone disease (KSD) has a lifetime prevalence of up to 14% in the United Kingdom. Primary and secondary prevention of KSD via dietary intervention is a low-cost public health intervention and remains the best preventative strategy against urolithiasis. Material and methods This prospective study was conducted on kidney stone patients attending a stone clinic at our tertiary endourology centre. Patients were taken through a questionnaire, which was completed in the clinic by a trained specialist endourology nurse. Results A total of 259 patients completed the questionnaire. 141 (54.4%) had an active stone during the clinic visit with the remaining 118 (45.6%) with a history of stone treatment. Regarding barriers to fluid intake, 43 (16.6%) patients did not have a habit of drinking water or felt too bloated, 36 (13.9%) did not like the taste, 17 (6.6%) were not thirsty, 10 (3.9%) of patients were too busy. Of those who answered, 108 (46.8%) patients did not believe there was a link between fluid intake and stone formation. A belief of a link between fluid intake and stone formation significantly predicted fluid intake (p = 0.024) with people who did believe in this drinking less water. Conclusions There are numerous perceived barriers to adequate fluid intake, with almost half of all patients not believing that there is a link between fluid intake and stone formation. This misunderstanding may predict a lower fluid intake. More attention should therefore be focussed on patient education and primary prevention aspects to avoid kidney stone recurrence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthropologists have spent tremendous effort developing value theory. We might generally understand value theory as a form of social theory concerned with what groups of people find important or worthwhile in life; how those groups of people, via their relationships, identify, seek, and create that which is valuable; how ideas of value and worth inhere in people and things; and how those people and things then circulate and meet other universes of value. This introduction specifically, and this special issue more generally, seeks to build on this bedrock conception of value theory to offer a series of implications and considerations one should take on board when thinking about value. We suggest that these considerations will allow social researchers to more ably understand the pressing issues that motivate their investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frontal eddies form on the shoreward edge of boundary currents, on average at weekly intervals and can last up to several weeks. This duration allows zooplankton production and completion of the larval stage of fish but may be too ephemeral for longer food chains with planktonic predators to establish. Therefore, frontal eddies may provide a suitable offshore nursery habitat, by entraining and retaining inner‐shelf water, preconditioned with coastal plankton and ichthyoplankton, into an upwelling favorable cyclonic eddy. Here, we briefly describe the behavior of frontal eddies formed by western boundary currents in the context of the fundamental ocean triad, which incorporates three processes for the successful reproduction of fish: nutrient enrichment, food concentration, and retention of larvae. We adapt this hypothesis for frontal eddies adjacent to the substantial fisheries production of continental shelves, creating conditions for enhanced recruitment potential of larval cohorts at a finer scale than previously considered. We review the evidence and investigations of frontal eddies in their capacity to entrain coastal water, sustain the plankton community through eddy uplift and retain distinctive coastal communities of larval fish offshore until larval development is complete. The process of frontal eddy formation is complex and such habitats are irregular yet ubiquitous, which present challenges and opportunities for their study. With the advance of ocean observing systems and integration of physical and biological sampling, frontal eddies provide a novel focus for understanding fisheries production and connectivity of coastal ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is a rare and incurable form of rapidly progressive neurodegenerative disease. The disease is fatal, and most patients die within 1 year of diagnosis. Clinical features include progressive cognitive dysfunction, delusions or hallucinations, cerebellar ataxia, myoclonus, visual disturbances, extrapyramidal signs and eventually akinetic mutism. Most patients present with varied clinical presentation, hence making it difficult to diagnose at an early stage. We report five cases of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease presenting to a Tasmanian hospital in Australia over a period of 52 months. We highlight significant clinical features in all our patients including few atypical presentations, emphasise on relevant clinical biomarkers and illustrate characteristic abnormalities on electroencephalogram and neuroimaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is an introduction to an open issue of the journal Culture, Agriculture, Food & Environment. The issue features a range of scholarship on topics related to the tools used by farmers, conservationists, and other actors to manage their lives and livelihoods. The articles explore themes such as water security, Indigenous land management, social entrepreneurship, and the impact of digital accounting technologies on small farmers. The issue also includes a commentary on the deteriorating agricultural livelihoods and food security in the West Bank, situating it within the broader regional conflict and history of dispossession. The article emphasizes the importance of critical, anthropological approaches to understanding the politics of food and agriculture in conflict zones. [Extracted from the article]

A data assimilation system for a high-resolution model has been developed to address the opportunities and challenges posed by the upcoming Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite mission. This developed system is based on a three-dimensional variational data assimilation scheme (3DVAR), which is computationally highly efficient and thus can be applied to a very high-resolution model. A crucial consideration of the system is to use a multiscale data assimilation approach (MSDA) to first assimilate routinely available observations, including conventional satellite altimetry, sea surface temperature (SST) and salinity (SSS), and temperature/salinity vertical profiles, to constrain large scales and large mesoscales. High-resolution (dense) observations and future SWOT measurements can then be effectively and seamlessly assimilated to constrain the smaller scales. The 3DVAR is extended to assimilate observations over a time interval, which specifically enhances the efficacy of the assimilation of satellite along-track altimetry observations, which are limited by large repeat time intervals. Using this system, a reanalysis dataset was produced for the SWOT pre-launch field campaign that took place in the California Current System from September through December, 2019. An evaluation of this system with assimilated and withheld data demonstrates its ability to effectively utilize both routine and campaign observations to produce sea surface heights with the accuracy close to that required by SWOT. These results suggest a promising avenue for data assimilation development in the SWOT altimetry era, which will need the capability of jointly assimilating existing routine observations with SWOT measurements to resolve small-scale ocean processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A data assimilation system for a high-resolution model has been developed to address the opportunities and challenges posed by the upcoming Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite mission. This developed system is based on a three-dimensional variational data assimilation scheme (3DVAR), which is computationally highly efficient and thus can be applied to a very high-resolution model. A crucial consideration of the system is to use a multiscale data assimilation approach (MSDA) to first assimilate routinely available observations, including conventional satellite altimetry, sea surface temperature (SST) and salinity (SSS), and temperature/salinity vertical profiles, to constrain large scales and large mesoscales. High-resolution (dense) observations and future SWOT measurements can then be effectively and seamlessly assimilated to constrain the smaller scales. The 3DVAR is extended to assimilate observations over a time interval, which specifically enhances the efficacy of the assimilation of satellite along-track altimetry observations, which are limited by large repeat time intervals. Using this system, a reanalysis dataset was produced for the SWOT pre-launch field campaign that took place in the California Current System from September through December, 2019. An evaluation of this system with assimilated and withheld data demonstrates its ability to effectively utilize both routine and campaign observations to produce sea surface heights with the accuracy close to that required by SWOT. These results suggest a promising avenue for data assimilation development in the SWOT altimetry era, which will need the capability of jointly assimilating existing routine observations with SWOT measurements to resolve small-scale ocean processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction/Aims: Immune‐mediated neuropathies such as chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) and multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN) produce significant disability and often require maintenance treatment. There is a paucity of epidemiological data on these conditions in Australia. Methods: We undertook a prevalence study of CIDP and MMN in North Queensland and Tasmania, coinciding with a national census. Diagnoses were classified against the diagnostic criteria of the European Federation of Neurological Societies/Peripheral Nerve Society. Case ascertainment was undertaken via multiple methods, including survey of local neurologists across public and private clinics, search of neurophysiology, neurology and hospital databases, search of admitted hospital database collections using ICD codes and through immunoglobulin therapy prescription lists. Results: The crude prevalence of CIDP was 5.00 per 100,000 (95% confidence interval [CI] 3.79–6.62) and the crude prevalence of MMN was 1.33 per 100,000 (95% CI 0.78–2.27). Prevalence was also investigated using National Blood Authority numbers of cases prescribed immunoglobulin therapy, indicating a CIDP prevalence of 5.72 per 100,000 (95% CI 4.41–7.43) and MMN prevalence of 1.94 per 100,000 (95% CI 1.24–3.03). There was no significant difference between these numbers and those calculated through access of patient records locally. There was no significant difference in prevalence between Tasmania and North Queensland for any category. Discussion: This study updates the prevalence of CIDP and MMN in Australia. Understanding the distribution of CIDP and MMN patients and their need for treatment is essential for future resource planning and to enable monitoring and coordination of therapies such as immunoglobulin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable finance is generally understood as the integration of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations into the investment process. Based on participant observation of sustainable finance and impact investing conferences between 2015 and 2020, and a series of interviews with the sustainability team and several portfolio managers at a large European bank in 2018 and 2019, I show how the compulsion to define and measure sustainability indicators reflects the emergence of the market itself as an ethical subject, one that is capable of making the most efficient, and thus the most ethical, decisions. This has implications for ethical intersubjectivity in sustainability more broadly. I situate this claim alongside recent work in anthropology and geography on the translation of social and environmental values into financial values, as well as on work in the anthropology of ethics and its intersection with the anthropology of finance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an ambivalence within political ecology about whether the unequal power relations that emerge from many development projects are intended or unintended. This ambivalence is a result of an empirical focus on the effects of these programs on target communities, as opposed to an empirical focus on the people who are responsible for developing those programs. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork among people tasked with designing, promoting, and enforcing sustainability standards in global agricultural supply chains, I argue that the empowerment of multinational corporations and well-funded environmental NGOs that characterizes market-oriented sustainability programs is, in fact, intentional. This intention reflects the belief among sustainability professionals that the intersection of western scientific expertise with the dynamics of "the market" is the most effective way to promote sustainability in global supply chains, and to generate global sustainability in a more general sense. Concepts like "stakeholder engagement" and a commitment to flexibility and accommodation in the development and adoption of social and environmental standards are examples of what I call euphemistic sustainability, which shifts critical attention away from a balance of power that is increasingly tilted toward private interests, even as that imbalance remains an intended outcome of non-state market-driven governance systems like ostensibly voluntary sustainability standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The future Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission aims to map sea surface height (SSH) in wide swaths with an unprecedented spatial resolution and subcentimeter accuracy. The instrument performance needs to be verified using independent measurements in a process known as calibration and validation (Cal/Val). The SWOT Cal/Val needs in situ measurements that can make synoptic observations of SSH field over an O(100) km distance with an accuracy matching the SWOT requirements specified in terms of the along-track wavenumber spectrum of SSH error. No existing in situ observing system has been demonstrated to meet this challenge. A field campaign was conducted during September 2019–January 2020 to assess the potential of various instruments and platforms to meet the SWOT Cal/Val requirement. These instruments include two GPS buoys, two bottom pressure recorders (BPR), three moorings with fixed conductivity–temperature–depth (CTD) and CTD profilers, and a glider. The observations demonstrated that 1) the SSH (hydrostatic) equation can be closed with 1–3 cm RMS residual using BPR, CTD mooring and GPS SSH, and 2) using the upper-ocean steric height derived from CTD moorings enable subcentimeter accuracy in the California Current region during the 2019/20 winter. Given that the three moorings are separated at 10–20–30 km distance, the observations provide valuable information about the small-scale SSH variability associated with the ocean circulation at frequencies ranging from hourly to monthly in the region. The combined analysis sheds light on the design of the SWOT mission postlaunch Cal/Val field campaign. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the surface water and ocean topography (SWOT) satellite launches in 2022, an in‐situ field campaign will be conducted to estimate the ocean state for calibration and validation (CalVal) purposes. It is demonstrably difficult to capture the sea surface height (SSH) features that are the focus of SWOT, with short time periods (<20 days) and fine‐scale spatial structures (15–150 km). Therefore, a critical component of the SWOT CalVal will be a data assimilation (DA) system coupled to a primitive equation numerical model that can estimate: (a) the 2D SSH over the SWOT swaths, and (b) the 3D dynamical (velocity) field. To explore the ability of DA to meet the challenges of SWOT fine‐scale observations, a multiscale DA system based on an extended 3D variational method has been developed. Here, we present a strategic evaluation of this DA system, with a focus to assimilate in‐situ data from an observing system to best represent the fine‐scale ocean variability at the CalVal site. The DA estimate is compared to independent observations taken during the 2019 pre‐launch field campaign 300‐km off Monterey Bay, California. The key result is this DA system can reconstruct the upper 500‐m steric height with O(1‐cm) error at hourly resolution, and subcentimeter error for periods longer than 2 days. Plain Language Summary: The surface water and ocean topography (SWOT) satellite mission is the first of its kind to launch. It will provide unprecedented measurements of the sea surface height in two dimensions (2‐D) and shorter spatial scales than previously possible. These measurements will allow oceanographers to study new scales of ocean variability and infer the ocean current velocity field. After SWOT launches, the accuracy of its measurements will need to be verified with observations made using standard instrumentation whose accuracy is well known. However, the cost to produce equivalent measurements for comparison with 2‐D high‐resolution SWOT observations is prohibitive, so the instruments to be deployed are only sufficient to evaluate a small portion of the satellite footprint. To better understand the satellite measurements, the plan is to combine the instrument measurements with a numerical ocean model that provides a four‐dimensional best‐estimate of the ocean state. This is called data assimilation (DA). In this paper, we evaluate a DA system developed to address these challenges, and show its successful performance using observations from a pre‐launch field campaign in 2019. Key Points: Data assimilation (DA) of routine observations of large/mesoscale circulation allows effective assimilation of mooring data at fine scalesMooring DA reconstructs 0‐ to 500‐m hourly steric height with O(1‐cm) error, and subcentimeter error for periods longer than 2‐dayDA performance relies on observing system design; capturing the 2D horizontal gradient field is important for SWOT evaluation [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability professionals believe their work has positive social and environmental impacts in the "real world," but they recognize that their impactfulness is contingent on a number of other factors, especially the willingness of other, typically more powerful actors to consider their findings and implement their recommendations. In this article, I develop the notion of "impact pathways" to think about the relationship between paths, maps, travelers, terrains, and ethics in the context of what my informants regularly refer to as the sustainability "landscape." I show how the interpretation of a map and the choice between different possible paths can be partially explained by an actor's particular ethical framework, in this case something I identify as the sustainability ethic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A state-of-the-art data assimilation system for a high-resolution model has been developed to address the opportunities and challenges posed by the upcoming Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite mission. A new 'extended' three -dimensional variational data assimilation scheme (extended-3DVAR) is formulated to assimilate observations over a time interval, and integrated using a multi- scale approach (hereafter MSDA). The new MSDA scheme specifically enhances the efficacy of the assimilation of satellite along-track altimetry observations, which are limited by large repeat time intervals. This developed system is computationally highly efficient, and thus can be applied to a very high- resolution model. A crucial consideration of the system is first to assimilate routinely available observations, including satellite altimetry, sea surface temperature (SST) and temperature/salinity vertical profiles, to constrain large scales and large mesoscales. High-resolution (dense) observations and future SWOT measurements can then be effectively and seamlessly assimilated to constrain the smaller scales. Using this system, a reanalysis dataset was produced for the SWOT pre-launch field campaign that took place in the California Current System from September through December, 2019. An evaluation of this system with assimilated and withheld data demonstrates its ability to effectively utilize both routine and campaign observations. These results suggest a promising avenue for data assimilation development in the SWOT altimetry era, which will require the capability to efficiently assimilate large-volume datasets resolving small-scale ocean processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2007, Unilever, the world's largest tea company, announced plans to source its entire tea supply sustainably, beginning with the certification of its tea producers in East Africa to Rainforest Alliance standards. As a major buyer of Kenyan tea, Unilever's decision pushed tea producers across Kenya to subscribe to Rainforest Alliance's sustainable agriculture standard in order to maintain access to the global tea market; according to a 2018 report, over 85% of Kenya's tea producers were Rainforest Alliance certified. Drawing on ethnographic material among supply chain actors across different sites along the sustainable tea value chain (from those designing and disseminating standards to tea traders to smallholder tea farmers), this article examines how these actors frequently attributed the power to determine the outcomes of certification to a faceless 'market'. Deferring to 'the market', we observe, served primarily to mask the outsized power of lead firms (in particular Unilever) to determine conditions of tea production and trade. At the same time, 'the market' was also in some cases qualified by our interlocutors, allowing them implicitly (and at times explicitly) to reveal power and give it a face. Concealing and revealing power in this way, we suggest, can be seen as a mode of engagement among supply chain actors operating in 'sustainable' supply chains, like the Rainforest Alliance-certified Kenyan tea supply chain, in which the power of lead firms tends to be consolidated through market-driven sustainability initiatives. Such a mode of engagement mitigates exclusion from sustainable supply chains while maintaining space for critique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This introduction suggests that anthropology often assumes that the people anthropologists work with are relatively powerless. Due to this default, anthropologists tend to design their research and theorizing to reflect a relatively powerless other. We suggest that the accumulated scholarship on studying up, that is, studying those who structure the lives of many others, offers more accurate ways to theorize power and its exercise as partial and situated, as well as more plural and productive ways to imagine anthropological practice and ethics. We also suggest that this line of thinking gives us some ground to speak to the larger direction of the discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: We introduced a nurse-led telephone-based virtual stone clinic (VSC) follow-up for the surveillance of patients with asymptomatic renal calculi or those at a high risk of recurrent kidney stone disease (KSD). The aim of this study was to look at the outcomes of VSC and its role in the post-COVID era. Methods: Prospective outcomes audit was done for all patients referred to the VSC for a 6-year period (March 2014–April 2020). VSC is led by specialist stone nurses for on-going surveillance of KSD patients. Results: A total of 290 patients were seen (468 individual appointments; 1.6 ± 1.0 per patient), with a mean age of 57.0 ± 15.8 years (range: 17–92) and a men–women ratio of 3:2. The referral was for surveillance of asymptomatic small renal stones (230, 79.3%); history of recurrent stone disease (45, 15.5%); solitary kidneys (5, 1.7%); cystine stones; young age; and other conditions (10, 3.4%). The mean stone size was 5.0 ± 2.7 mm, followed up with kidney, ureter, and bladder radiograph (225, 77.6%) and ultrasound scan (USS) (65, 22.4%), for median duration of 12 months (range: 3–24 months). At the end, 132 patients (45.6%) remained in VSC, 106 (36.6%) were discharged, 47 (16.2%) returned to face-to-face clinic or treatment, and 5 (1.7%) had emergency admissions. Of 47 patients who returned, 23 (48.9%) developed new symptoms, 21 (44.6%) had stone growth, and 3 defaulted to face-to-face appointment. Thirty-five patients needed surgical intervention (URS-21, SWL-13, and PCNL-1) and 10 were managed conservatively. VSC reduced the cost per clinic appointment from £27.9 to £2 per patient (93% reduction), equating to a total saving of £12,006 for the study period. Conclusion: Nurse-led VSC not only provided a safe follow-up but also allowed to substantially reduce the cost of treatment by allowing patients to be either discharged or return to a face-to-face clinic or surgical intervention if needed. Post-COVID, this model using telemedicine will have a much wider uptake and further help to optimize health care resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a mapping methodology to improve the resolution of gridded sea surface height (SSH) from multisatellite along-track measurements, and apply it in the California Current system. This is motivated by the upcoming Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite mission, which will collect novel high-resolution wide-swath SSH measurements. The calibration/validation of SWOT will be in the California Current and requires independent observations of SSH spatial variability. Our objective was to discover how far we could push the space--time resolution of SSH maps based on the existing altimetry constellation. Currently, the best SSH maps for the region are from AVISO's global product based on optimal interpolation (OI). Our methodology is based on 2-D variational analysis (2DVAR), and we address some limitations of the AVISO OI global parameterization that restrict the resolution. Key improvements are (1) use of a background field incorporating mesoscale information, as opposed to a long-term mean field; (2) optimized regional parameters; and (3) a representation error term in the observational error covariance matrix to account for the spread of measurements in time. Using a suite of independent remote and in situ observations, we show the 2DVAR method can produce higher-resolution SSH maps in the California Current region that successfully capture smaller-scale ocean features than AVISO, at the expense of an increase in noise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Submesoscale lenses of water with anomalous hydrographic properties have previously been observed in the East Australian Current (EAC) system, embedded within the thermocline of mesoscale anticyclonic eddies. The waters within these lenses have high oxygen content and temperature–salinity properties that signify a surface origin. However, it is not known how these lenses form. This study presents field observations that provide insight into a possible generation mechanism via subduction at upper-ocean fronts. High-resolution hydrographic and velocity measurements of submesoscale activity were taken across a front between a mesoscale eddy dipole downstream of the EAC separation point. The front had O(1) Rossby number, strong vertical shear, and flow conducive to symmetric instability. Frontogenesis was measured in conjunction with subduction of an anticyclonic water parcel, indicative of intrathermocline eddy formation. Twenty-five years of satellite imagery reveals the existence of strong mesoscale strain coupled with strong temperature fronts in this region and indicates the conditions that led to frontal subduction observed here are a persistent feature. These processes impact the vertical export of tracers from the surface and dissipation of mesoscale kinetic energy, implicating their importance for understanding regional ocean circulation and biological productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In western boundary current systems, sharp velocity gradients between the poleward flowing jet and coastal waters generally act to inhibit cross‐shelf exchange. Downstream of jet separation, dynamic mesoscale eddies dominate the flow. In the East Australian Current System, counter‐rotating eddy dipoles are often present which, in the appropriate configuration, have potential to drive cross‐shelf transport. However, this eddy dipole mode is poorly understood in the framework of cross‐shelf exchange and the effect of these structures on shelf waters is uncertain. Using 25 years of satellite altimetry, as well as in situ sampling of a typical dipole event, we investigate the characteristics of eddy‐driven cross‐shelf exchange. We show that the maximum onshore velocity is driven by an eddy dipole structure and occurs in a defined latitudinal band between 33°S and 34°S more than 50% of the time. We sample a typical eddy dipole and find a strong onshore jet, 37 km wide, with velocities up to 1.78 m s −1 and a transport of at least 16 Sv. Hydrographic data from an autonomous underwater glider show that this jet manifests on the shelf as a subsurface intrusion of warm salty water extending from offshore up onto the midshelf. In the light of climatic changes in western boundary current transport and the increase in their eddy kinetic energy, understanding eddy‐driven cross‐shelf exchange is important to predict future changes to the shelf water mass. Key Points: An eddy dipole mode is the main driver of cross‐shelf transport in the East Australian Current extensionDipole events can result in onshore velocities up to 1.78 m s −1, with a maximum transport at 33–34°SWater from the observed dipole jet is advected from offshore up to the midshelf in the form of a warm salty intrusion of offshore water [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The articles in this issue of I Culture, Agriculture, Food and Environment i represent a diverse set of both empirical and conceptual interventions into the relationship between food, sustainability, and local socio-economic conditions. Through Wangchuk's account, the sustainability of yak farming in Bhutan emerges as a multi-faceted issue inextricable from global climatic changes, national land management policies, and local social and cultural values. Like nutrition, approaches to alternative food systems must take into account the diverse experiences and ideologies of food justice. [Extracted from the article]

The structure and variability of the Florida Current between 25° and 26°N are investigated using HF radar ocean current measurements to provide the most detailed view of the surface jet to date. A 2-D jet coordinate analysis is performed to define lateral displacements of the jet in time (meandering), and associated structural variations over a 2 year period (2005-2006). In the jet coordinate frame, core speed has a median value of ∼160 cm s−1 at the central latitude of the array (25.4°N), with a standard deviation (STD) of 35 cm s−1. The jet meanders at timescales of 3-30 days, with a STD of 8 km, and a downstream phase speed of ∼80 km d−1. Meandering accounts for ∼45% of eddy kinetic energy computed in a fixed (geographical) reference frame. Core speed, width, and shear undergo the same dominant 3-30 day variability, plus an annual cycle that matches seasonality of alongshore wind stress. Jet transport at 25.4°N exhibits a different seasonality to volume transport at 27°N, most likely driven by input from the Northwest Providence Channel. Core speed correlates inversely with Miami sea level fluctuations such that a 40 cm s−1 deceleration is associated with a ∼10 cm elevation in sea level, although there is no correlation of sea level to jet meandering or width. Such accurate quantification of the Florida Current's variability is critical to understand and forecast future changes in the climate system of the North Atlantic, as well as local impacts on coastal circulation and sea level variability along south Florida's coastline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the importance of western boundary currents over a wide range of scales in the ocean, it is crucial that we understand their dynamics to accurately predict future changes. For this, we need detailed knowledge of their structure and variability. Here we investigate the jet structure of the East Australian Current (EAC), using observations from HF radars and moorings deployed at 30°S-31°S. Meandering, core velocity, width, and eddy kinetic energy (EKE) are quantified from 4 years of hourly 1.5 km resolution surface current maps (2012-2016), to obtain the most detailed representation of the surface EAC jet to date. The EAC flows predominantly over the ∼1,500 m isobath 50 km offshore but makes large amplitude displacements eastward every 65-100 days-the time scale associated with mesoscale eddy shedding at the EAC separation. Smaller-amplitude, higher-frequency meanders occur every 20-45 days. Using a coordinate frame that follows the jet, we show core velocity and EKE exhibit seasonality in both magnitude and variance, being maximum in summer (1.55 m s−1 mean core velocity), minimum in winter (0.8 m s−1). However, it is the eddy-shedding time scale that dominates jet variability. As the EAC moves shoreward, shelf temperature and along-stream velocity vary linearly with jet movement, within ∼35 km of the core. The EAC is within this range 75% of the time, demonstrating its importance to the shelf circulation. Temperature and velocity fluctuations at the 70 m (100 m) isobath are more influenced by wind (EAC encroachment), with the strongest response occurring when wind and EAC act constructively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The articles offer findings from diverse areas in Europe enabling us to understand the different national contexts as well as the realities of farming under the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy. In this issue, Paula Escribano and Agata Hummel have curated a special cluster of articles that highlight how public policies in Europe affect farmer livelihood, everyday survival strategies, and farmer identity. These findings about Europe mirror those about similar groups in the United States (Korsunsky 2020) and India (Sen 2017) who are affected by deep forces of neo-liberalized agriculture. [Extracted from the article]

Introduction: Several studies have examined the link between temperature or monthly seasonal variations and urolithiasis. The majority of these studies have demonstrated a link between higher ambient monthly temperatures and the incidence of renal colic and kidney stone disease (KSD). However, a worldwide trend on this association has not been explored and we perform a systematic review to examine the effect of seasonal variations on renal colic and KSD. Materials and Methods: A systematic review of the literature for a 26-year period (1990-2017) was conducted on all studies reporting on the effect of seasonal variations and its link to KSD. Two reviewers independently extracted the data from each study, which were analyzed using SPSS version 24. Results: A total of 59 studies were identified, and after screening, 13 were included in this review. The studies ranged in duration from 1 to 9 years (mean: 5.5 years) and included seasonal/monthly variations for proven stones or lithotripsy treatments or emergency department presentations with renal colic. Except for one study, there was a statistically significant association between higher monthly mean temperatures and the incidence of KSD-related events reported from the United Kingdom, South Korea, the United States, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Spain, Taiwan, Japan, and New Zealand. Conclusions: Worldwide trends on the incidence of renal colic and KSD seem be affected by seasonal variation favoring warmer months, with data suggesting that higher ambient temperature has an association with KSD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes two cases of adverse clinical outcomes following dabigatran reversal with idarucizumab to facilitate acute stroke thrombolysis. The patients included an 85-year-old patient who presented with a severe dominant hemispheric stroke within 17 hours of last dabigatran dose and a 46-year-old atrial fibrillation patient who developed left hemiparesis within an hour of dabigatran intake. Idarucizumab use is suggested in dabigatran-treated stroke patients in emergency procedures.

Purpose Prostate cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in men in the UK. Black men are in a higher prostate cancer risk group possibly due to inherent genetic factors. The purpose of this paper is to introduce PROstate Cancer Evaluation and Education (PROCEE), an innovative serious game aimed at providing prostate cancer information and risk evaluation to black African-Caribbean men.Design/methodology/approach PROCEE has been carefully co-designed with prostate cancer experts, prostate cancer patients and members of the black African-Caribbean community in order to ensure that it meets the real needs and expectations of the target audience.Findings During the co-design process, the users defined an easy to use and entertaining game which can effectively raise awareness, inform users about prostate cancer and their risk, and encourage symptomatic men to seek medical attention in a timely manner.Originality/value During focus group evaluations, users embraced the game and emphasised that it can potentially have a positive impact on changing user behaviour among high risk men who are experiencing symptoms and who are reluctant to visit their doctor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective There is little evidence to guide treatment strategies for intracerebral hemorrhage on vitamin K antagonists (VKA-ICH). Treatments utilized in clinical practice include fresh frozen plasma (FFP) and prothrombin complex concentrate (PCC). Our aim was to compare case fatality with different reversal strategies. Methods We pooled individual ICH patient data from 16 stroke registries in 9 countries (n = 10 282), of whom 1,797 (17%) were on VKA. After excluding 250 patients with international normalized ratio < 1.3 and/or missing data required for analysis, we compared all-cause 30-day case fatality using Cox regression. Results We included 1,547 patients treated with FFP (n = 377, 24%), PCC (n = 585, 38%), both (n = 131, 9%), or neither (n = 454, 29%). The crude case fatality and adjusted hazard ratio (HR) were highest with no reversal (61.7%, HR = 2.540, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.784-3.616, p < 0.001), followed by FFP alone (45.6%, HR = 1.344, 95% CI = 0.934-1.934, p = 0.112), then PCC alone (37.3%, HR = 1.445, 95% CI = 1.014-2.058, p = 0.041), compared to reversal with both FFP and PCC (27.8%, reference). Outcomes with PCC versus FFP were similar (HR = 1.075, 95% CI = 0.874-1.323, p = 0.492); 4-factor PCC (n = 441) was associated with higher case fatality compared to 3-factor PCC (n = 144, HR = 1.441, 95% CI = 1.041-1.995, p = 0.027). Interpretation The combination of FFP and PCC might be associated with the lowest case fatality in reversal of VKA-ICH, and FFP may be equivalent to PCC. Randomized controlled trials with functional outcomes are needed to establish the most effective treatment. Ann Neurol 2015;78:54-62 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nature of the commodity is changing in the face of the digitalization and financialization of capital and wealth. Using a counterfeit Louis Vuitton bag from Beijing's Silk Road Market as a metaphor for the commodity in general, this paper applies theoretical insights from Walter Benjamin, Guy Debord, Jean Baudrillard, and others, to explore the role of perception and representation in new modes of value ascription. I also examine commodification in contemporary capitalism as an object-sign process, concluding with a brief discussion of the ways the 'counterfeit' metaphor connects to other economic processes and theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses an area of urological nursing namely intermittent catheterisation (IC) particularly the selection of catheters for IC where evidence-based practice and patient choice are lacking. It cites the Mult/Cath research programme whose aim is to produce robust evidence as to whether mixed use of catheter is safe, acceptable and cost effective, scope the potential for increasing choice for patients and identify areas for innovation in intermittent catheters.