‘Wild land’: a concept in search of space

This paper sets out the general background context surrounding the issue of wild land in Scotland. It explores definitions of wild land and related concepts, identifies key issues associated with wild land in Scotland, and explores the question of the desirability of designating areas as wild land for Scotland. There is increasing interest in the concept of ‘wild land’, ‘wildness’, or ‘wilderness’ in Scotland, other parts of the UK and Europe. Changes in agricultural policy are leading to land abandonment in several European Union member states and in some cases ‘re-wilding’ is taking place with little or no managerial input from humans. These events have led to renewed interest across Europe in setting aside land with minimal management to create ‘wild’ areas. There has been either interest or activity, not always in the public sector, in Italy, Spain, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and the Netherlands in exploring and establishing some form of wild land area. Many of these are relatively small, with evidence of recent human activity, and, as such, are quite distinct from the concept of ‘wilderness’, which has been so influential in certain parts of the world (such as North America) in influencing the designation of areas of land for minimal management. In contrast there are the large areas of northern Scandinavia, which still contain ‘wilderness-like’ qualities, and to some extent are preserved in the wilderness areas and national parks of Finland, Sweden and Norway. Unfortunately, the terms ‘wild land’, ‘wildness’, ‘wilderness’, come with an enormous amount of associated cultural baggage, resulting in argument and conflict over definitions, purpose, and management of potential wild land or wilderness areas. The aim of this paper is to unpack some of that baggage and clarify the key issues in the current discussions on wild land taking place in Scotland

New Zealand Building Project Cost and Its Influential Factors: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach

Construction industry significantly contributes to New Zealand's economic development. However, the delivery of construction projects is usually plagued by cost overruns, which turn potentially successful projects into money-losing ventures, resulting in various other unexpected negative impacts. The objectives of the study were to identify, classify, and assess the impacts of the factors affecting project cost in New Zealand. The proposed research model was examined with structural equation modelling. Recognising the lack of a systematic approach for assessing the influencing factors associated with project cost, this study identified 30 influencing factors from various sources and quantified their relative impacts. The research data were gathered through a questionnaire survey circulated across New Zealand construction industry. A total of 283 responses were received, with a 37% response rate. A model was developed for testing the relationship between project cost and the influential factors. The proposed research model was examined with structural equation modelling (SEM). According to the results of the analysis, market and industry conditions factor has the most significant effect on project cost, while regulatory regime is the second-most significant influencing factor, followed by key stakeholders' perspectives. The findings can improve project cost performance through the identification and evaluation of the cost-influencing factors. The results of such analysis enable industry professionals to better understand cost-related risks in the complex environment

Dynamical Screening and Superconducting State in Intercalated Layered Metallochloronitrides

An essential property of layered systems is the dynamical nature of the screened Coulomb interaction. Low energy collective modes appear as a consequence of the layering and provide for a superconducting-pairing channel in addition to the electron-phonon induced attractive interaction. We show that taking into account this feature allows to explain the high critical temperatures (Tc~26K) observed in recently discovered intercalated metallochloronitrides. The exchange of acoustic plasmons between carriers leads to a significant enhancement of the superconducting critical temperature that is in agreement with the experimental observations

At What Cost? Trade-Offs and Influences on Energetic Investment in Tail Regeneration in Lizards Following Autotomy.

Caudal autotomy, the ability to shed a portion of the tail, is a widespread defence strategy among lizards. Following caudal autotomy, and during regeneration, lizards face both short- and long-term costs associated with the physical loss of the tail and the energy required for regeneration. As such, the speed at which the individual regenerates its tail (regeneration rate) should reflect the fitness priorities of the individual. However, multiple factors influence the regeneration rate in lizards, making inter-specific comparisons difficult and hindering broader scale investigations. We review regeneration rates for lizards and tuatara from the published literature, discuss how species' fitness priorities and regeneration rates are influenced by specific, life history and environmental factors, and provide recommendations for future research. Regeneration rates varied extensively (0-4.3 mm/day) across the 56 species from 14 family groups. Species-specific factors, influencing regeneration rates, varied based on the type of fracture plane, age, sex, reproductive season, and longevity. Environmental factors including temperature, photoperiod, nutrition, and stress also affected regeneration rates, as did the method of autotomy induction, and the position of the tail also influenced regeneration rates for lizards. Additionally, regeneration could alter an individual's behaviour, growth, and reproductive output, but this varied depending on the species

Non-conformal asymptotic behavior of the time-dependent field-field correlators of 1D anyons

The exact large time and distance behavior of the field-field correlators has been computed for one-dimensional impenetrable anyons at finite temperatures. The result reproduces known asymptotics for impenetrable bosons and free fermions in the appropriate limits of the statistics parameter. The obtained asymptotic behavior of the correlators is dominated by the singularity in the spectral density of the quasiparticle states at the bottom of the band, and differs from the predictions of the conformal field theory. One can argue, however, that the anyonic response to the low-energy probes is still determined by the conformal terms in the asymptotic expansion.Comment: 5 pages, RevTeX

The Effects of a Commercial, Pre-exercise Energy Drink Supplement on Power, Muscular Endurance, and Repeated Sprint Speed

International Journal of Exercise Science 9(2): 205-213, 2016. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of ingesting a pre-workout commercial energy drink supplement on multiple parameters of physical performance, including upper body and trunk muscular endurance, muscular power, and repeated sprint speed. 19 college-aged males (n = 8) and females (n = 11) participated in this randomized, double-blind, parallel groups study. At baseline and post-testing (about one week after baseline testing), anaerobic power (assessed via a countermovement vertical jump), muscular endurance (assessed via YMCA bench press test and a curl-up test), and repeated sprint speed were assessed. Thirty minutes prior to post-testing, subjects ingested one serving (1.75 ounces [37 ml]) of a calorie-free, caffeine-containing pre-exercise energy supplement (Redline Power Rush by VPX) (n = 10) or an isovolumetric and similar tasting placebo beverage (n = 9). While vertical jump, YMCA bench press, and repeated sprint speed improved from pre to post testing in both treatment groups, there were no differences between the energy drink and placebo beverages. Curl-up endurance performance improved following the energy drink ingestion but did not improve following placebo ingestion. However, this observation also failed to reach statistical significance (p = 0.120). A possible explanation for the lack of effect of the pre-exercise energy drink to enhance physical performance was the relatively low amount of caffeine that was present in the beverage (providing an average of 2.4 mg caffeine/kg body mass)

Oral trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole in the treatment of cerebral toxoplasmosis in AIDS patients - a prospective study

Toxoplasma encephalitis is the commonest cause of intracranial mass lesions in AIDS patients, Effective therapy includes pyrimethamine plus sulfadiazine, dindamycin with pyrimethamine, and co-trimoxazole. This study examines the efficacy of oral co-trimoxazole in 20 AIDS patients with toxoplasmosis and seeks to confirm the experience of Torre et al