The geoscience context for Europe's urban sustainability – lessons from Glasgow and beyond (CUSP): preface

In 2007, the proportion of the world’s population living in urban areas exceeded that in rural environments for the first time in history. The global urban population is expected to rise by 66 % by 2050 (UN 2014). This threatens the sustainability of cities, which face huge infrastructure and planning challenges to meet the growing demand for urban living and to provide equitable economic and social benefits as well as environmental protection across communities. The United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goals acknowledge this in the UN’s Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Of the 17 ‘Global Goals’, Goal 11 in particular focuses on sustainability (to achieve sustainable cities and communities by 2030), and other goals in the Agenda are also relevant to sustainable cities (e.g., Goal 6 addresses clean water and sanitation). Despite these goals, the potential importance, and contribution, of the subsurface to sustainable urban development (a combination of economic, social and environmental factors) is generally poorly appreciated. The importance of the subsurface in relation to sustainable development is exemplified by the general recognition in the construction industry across the UK, Europe and the wider world that insufficient understanding of subsurface ground conditions is a key factor in overspending, project delays, overly conservative design and a barrier to development (e.g., Clayton 2001; Parry 2009; Baynes 2010). To address this, in the city of Glasgow (UK), the British Geological Survey (BGS) has been working in partnership with Glasgow City Council and other organisations over a number of years. Under the Clyde-Urban Super-Project (CUSP), three-dimensional (3D) and four-dimensional (4D) subsurface models and other geoscience datasets (geochemistry, groundwater, engineering geology) have been developed specifically as an aid to planning and development. This Special Issue of the Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of The Royal Society of Edinburgh comprises a collection of papers presented at the Conference on ‘The Geoscience Context for Europe’s Urban Sustainability: Lessons from Glasgow and Beyond (CUSP)’, held in Glasgow, 29–30 May 2014. The Conference attracted delegates from 20 European countries and included over 40 oral and poster presentations, highlighting the challenges in understanding urban ground conditions to aid city regeneration and sustainable development. In addition to showcasing the work of the CUSP project in Glasgow, presentations included examples of urban subsurface characterisation from Germany, the Netherlands and Norway. Thirteen of the conference contributions are presented in this volume. These focus mainly on the CUSP project. CUSP has also been used as an exemplar for other cities in Europe and the wider world. Lessons learnt in Glasgow have been shared especially through the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Action (SUB-URBAN: TU1206). This has focused on sustainable urban subsurface use, and transforming relationships between those who develop urban subsurface knowledge and those who can benefit most from it – the planners and developers of the cities of tomorrow. Therefore, SUB-URBAN has mirrored the original intentions, and the achievements, of CUSP and developed them more widely

The relevance of polarized bZ production at LHC

We consider the Z polarization asymmetry A_Z=(sigma(Z_R)-sigma(Z_L))/(sigma(Z_R)+sigma(Z_L)) in the process of associated bZ production at the LHC. We show that in the Standard Model (SM) this quantity is essentially given by its Born approximation, remaining almost unaffected by QCD scales and parton distribution functions variations as well as by electroweak corrections. The theoretical quantity that appears in A_Z is the same that provides the LEP1 Z -> b bbar forward-backward asymmetry, the only measured observable still in some contradiction with the SM prediction. In this sense, A_Z would provide the possibility of an independent verification of the possible SM discrepancy, which could reach, if consistency with LEP1 measurements is imposed, values of the relative ten percent size.Comment: 10 pages, 5 eps figure

Lack of Mutual Respect in Relationship The Endangered Partner

Violence in a relationship and in a family setting has been an issue of concern to various interest groups and professional organizations. Of particular interest in this article is violence against women in a relationship. While there is an abundance of knowledge on violence against women in general, intimate or partner femicide seems to have received less attention. Unfortunately, the incidence of violence against women, and intimate femicide in particular, has been an issue of concern in the African setting. This article examines the trends of intimate femicide in an African setting in general, and in Botswana in particular. The increase in intimate femicide is an issue of concern, which calls for collective effort to address. This article also examines trends offemicide in Botswana, and the antecedents and the precipitating factors. Some studies have implicated societal and cultural dynamics as playing significant roles in intimate femicide in the African setting. It is believed that the patriarchal nature of most African settings and the ideology of male supremacy have relegated women to a subordinate role. Consequently, respect for women in any relationship with men is lopsided in favor of men and has led to abuse of women, including intimate femicide. Other militating factors in intimate femicide ,are examined and the implications for counseling to assist the endangered female partner are discussed

Magnetic Phase Diagram of GdNi2B2C: Two-ion Magnetoelasticity and Anisotropic Exchange Couplings

Extensive magnetization and magnetostriction measurements were carried out on a single crystal of GdNi2B2C along the main tetragonal axes. Within the paramagnetic phase, the magnetic and strain susceptibilities revealed a weak anisotropy in the exchange couplings and two-ion tetragonal-preserving alpha-strain modes. Within the ordered phase, magnetization and magnetostriction revealed a relatively strong orthorhombic distortion mode and rich field-temperature phase diagrams. For H//(100) phase diagram, three field-induced transformations were observed, namely, at: Hd(T), related to the domain alignment; Hr(T), associated with reorientation of the moment towards the c-axis; and Hs(T), defining the saturation process wherein the exchange field is completely counterbalanced. On the other hand, For H//(001) phase diagram, only two field-induced transformations were observed, namely at: Hr(T) and Hs(T). For both phase diagrams, Hs(T) follows the relation Hs[1-(T/Tn)^2]^(1/2)kOe with Hs(T-->0)=128.5(5) kOe and Tn(H=0)=19.5 K. In contrast, the thermal evolution of Hr(T) along the c-axis (much simpler than along the a-axis) follows the relation Hr[1-T/Tr]^(1/3) kOe where Hr(T-->0)=33.5(5) kOe and Tr(H=0)=13.5 K. It is emphasized that the magnetoelastic interaction and the anisotropic exchange coupling are important perturbations and therefore should be explicitly considered if a complete analysis of the magnetic properties of the borocarbides is desired

Methods to Determine Neutrino Flux at Low Energies:Investigation of the Low ν\nu Method

We investigate the "low-$\nu$" method (developed by the CCFR/NUTEV collaborations) to determine the neutrino flux in a wide band neutrino beam at very low energies, a region of interest to neutrino oscillations experiments. Events with low hadronic final state energy $\nu<\nu_{cut}$ (of 1, 2 and 5 GeV) were used by the MINOS collaboration to determine the neutrino flux in their measurements of neutrino ($\nu_\mu$) and antineutrino (\nub_\mu) total cross sections. The lowest $\nu_\mu$ energy for which the method was used in MINOS is 3.5 GeV, and the lowest \nub_\mu energy is 6 GeV. At these energies, the cross sections are dominated by inelastic processes. We investigate the application of the method to determine the neutrino flux for $\nu_\mu$, \nub_\mu energies as low as 0.7 GeV where the cross sections are dominated by quasielastic scattering and $\Delta$(1232) resonance production. We find that the method can be extended to low energies by using $\nu_{cut}$ values of 0.25 and 0.50 GeV, which is feasible in fully active neutrino detectors such as MINERvA.Comment: 25 pages, 32 figures, to be published in European Physics Journal

A complete one-loop description of associated tW production at LHC and an estimate of possible genuine supersymmetric effects

We compute, in the MSSM framework, the sum of the one-loop electroweak and of the total QED radiation effects for the process $pp \to t W+X$, initiated by the parton process $bg\to tW$. Combining these terms with the existing NLO calculations of SM and SUSY QCD corrections, we analyze the overall one-loop supersymmetric effects on the partial rates of the process, obtained by integrating the differential cross section up to a final variable invariant mass. We conclude that, for some choices of the SUSY parameters and for relatively small final invariant masses, they could reach the relative ten percent level, possibly relevant for a dedicated experimental effort at LHC.Comment: Title changed. Final version published in Eur. Phys. J.

Political Radicalization as a Communication Process

Based on data taken from 412 adult education students in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, this research attempts to show that attitudes toward French Canadian Separatism by the sample members can be accounted for by differentiaf communication processes. Results show that attitudes held by sample members are well explained (R2 = .64) by a weighted average of the information they received from interpersonal and media sources. The resultant attitude shows substantial effects on behaviors related to separatism for the same respondents.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/67215/2/10.1177_009365027400100301.pd

From Climate Change to Pandemics: Decision Science Can Help Scientists Have Impact

Scientific knowledge and advances are a cornerstone of modern society. They improve our understanding of the world we live in and help us navigate global challenges including emerging infectious diseases, climate change and the biodiversity crisis. However, there is a perpetual challenge in translating scientific insight into policy. Many articles explain how to better bridge the gap through improved communication and engagement, but we believe that communication and engagement are only one part of the puzzle. There is a fundamental tension between science and policy because scientific endeavors are rightfully grounded in discovery, but policymakers formulate problems in terms of objectives, actions and outcomes. Decision science provides a solution by framing scientific questions in a way that is beneficial to policy development, facilitating scientists’ contribution to public discussion and policy. At its core, decision science is a field that aims to pinpoint evidence-based management strategies by focussing on those objectives, actions, and outcomes defined through the policy process. The importance of scientific discovery here is in linking actions to outcomes, helping decision-makers determine which actions best meet their objectives. In this paper we explain how problems can be formulated through the structured decisionmaking process. We give our vision for what decision science may grow to be, describing current gaps in methodology and application. By better understanding and engaging with the decision-making processes, scientists can have greater impact and make stronger contributions to important societal problems.Christopher M. Baker, Patricia T. Campbell, Iadine Chades, Angela J. Dean, Susan M. Hester, Matthew H. Holden, James M. McCaw, Jodie McVernon, Robert Moss, Freya M. Shearer, and Hugh P. Possingha