People and places: Understanding geographical accuracy in administrative data from the census and healthcare systems

Administrative systems such as health care registration are of increasing importance in providing information for statistical, research, and policy purposes. There is thus a pressing need to understand better the detailed relationship between population characteristics as recorded in such systems and conventional censuses. This paper explores these issues using the unique Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study (NILS). It takes the 2001 Census enumeration as a benchmark and analyses the social, demographic and spatial patterns of mismatch with the health register at individual level. Descriptive comparison is followed by multivariate and multilevel analyses which show that approximately 25% of individuals are reported to be in different addresses and that age, rurality, education, and housing type are all important factors. This level of mismatch appears to be maintained over time, as earlier migrants who update their address details are replaced by others who have not yet done so. In some cases, apparent mismatches seem likely to reflect complex multi-address living arrangements rather than data error.

A multi vector energy analysis for interconnected power and gas systems

This paper presents the first multi vector energy analysis for the interconnected energy systems of Great Britain (GB) and Ireland. Both systems share a common high penetration of wind power, but significantly different security of supply outlooks. Ireland is heavily dependent on gas imports from GB, giving significance to the interconnected aspect of the methodology in addition to the gas and power interactions analysed. A fully realistic unit commitment and economic dispatch model coupled to an energy flow model of the gas supply network is developed. Extreme weather events driving increased domestic gas demand and low wind power output were utilised to increase gas supply network stress. Decreased wind profiles had a larger impact on system security than high domestic gas demand. However, the GB energy system was resilient during high demand periods but gas network stress limited the ramping capability of localised generating units. Additionally, gas system entry node congestion in the Irish system was shown to deliver a 40% increase in short run costs for generators. Gas storage was shown to reduce the impact of high demand driven congestion delivering a reduction in total generation costs of 14% in the period studied and reducing electricity imports from GB, significantly contributing to security of supply.

Application of Volterra Equations to Solve Unit Commitment Problem of Optimised Energy Storage and Generation

Development of reliable methods for optimised energy storage and generation is one of the most imminent challenges in modern power systems. In this paper an adaptive approach to load leveling problem using novel dynamic models based on the Volterra integral equations of the first kind with piecewise continuous kernels. These integral equations efficiently solve such inverse problem taking into account both the time dependent efficiencies and the availability of generation/storage of each energy storage technology. In this analysis a direct numerical method is employed to find the least-cost dispatch of available storages. The proposed collocation type numerical method has second order accuracy and enjoys self-regularization properties, which is associated with confidence levels of system demand. This adaptive approach is suitable for energy storage optimisation in real time. The efficiency of the proposed methodology is demonstrated on the Single Electricity Market of Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Competitive adsorption of reactive dyes from solution: equilibrium isotherm studies in single and multisolute systems

Experimental data of the adsorption of reactive dyestuffs onto Filtrasorb 400 activated carbon (FS400) were determined in an equilibrium isotherm study. As most industrial wastewater contains more than one pollutant, an investigation into the effect of multisolute systems (using the unhydrolysed form of the reactive dyes) on the adsorption capacity was undertaken. Equilibrium isotherm models were employed to describe the adsorption capacities of single, binary and ternary dye solutions. The results of these analyses showed that adsorption of reactive dyes from single and multisolute systems can be successfully described by Langmuir, and Redlich–Peterson equilibrium isotherm models. Experimental data indicated that competitive adsorption for active sites on the carbon surface results in a reduction in the overall uptake capacity of the reactive dyes investigated.

Male mating behaviour and mating systems of bees: an overview

Considerable interspecific diversity exists among bees in the rendezvous sites where males search for females and in the behaviours employed by males in their efforts to secure matings. I present an evolutionary framework in which to interpret this variation, and highlight the importance for the framework of (i) the distribution of receptive ( typically immediate post-emergence) females, which ordinarily translates into the distribution of nests, and (ii) the density of competing males. Other than the highly polyandrous honey bees ( Apis), most female bees are thought to be monandrous, though genetic data with which to support this view are generally lacking. Given the opportunity, male bees are typically polygamous. I highlight intraspecific diversity in rendezvous site, male behaviour and mating system, which is in part predicted from the conceptual framework. Finally, I suggest that inbreeding may be far more widespread among bees than has hitherto been considered the case.

Haptic information stabilizes and destabilizes coordination dynamics

Goal-directed, coordinated movements in humans emerge from a variety of constraints that range from 'high-level' cognitive strategies based oil perception of the task to 'low-level' neuromuscular-skeletal factors such as differential contributions to coordination from flexor and extensor muscles. There has been a tendency in the literature to dichotomize these sources of constraint, favouring one or the other rather than recognizing and understanding their mutual interplay. In this experiment, subjects were required to coordinate rhythmic flexion and extension movements with an auditory metronome, the rate of which was systematically increased. When subjects started in extension on the beat of the metronome, there was a small tendency to switch to flexion at higher rates, but not vice versa. When subjects: were asked to contact a physical stop, the location of which was either coincident with or counterphase to the auditor) stimulus, two effects occurred. When haptic contact was coincident with sound, coordination was stabilized for both flexion and extension. When haptic contact was counterphase to the metronome, coordination was actually destabilized, with transitions occurring from both extension to flexion on the beat and from flexion to extension on the beat. These results reveal the complementary nature of strategic and neuromuscular factors in sensorimotor coordination. They also suggest the presence of a multimodal neural integration process-which is parametrizable by rate and context - in which intentional movement, touch and sound are bound into a single, coherent unit.

School Refusal, Parental Control and Wider Systems: Lessons from the management of two cases. Journal of Psychological Medicine, .

Two cases of school refusal are presented. From the experience of these two cases, and support from the literature, early assessment of parental control in cases of school refusal is advocated. When parental control, even with professional therapeutic support, is not sufficient to effect an early return to school, intervention in the wider systems organised around the problem is recommended.