Implications of the UN Sustainable Development Goals for the world's forests

The advent of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provided a framework that explicitly embedded the conservation of natural ecosystems among other development objectives. Fundamental to the SDGs is the notion that interactions can occur between their constituent goals and targets in the form of synergies and trade-offs, and that, wherever possible, the former should be promoted and the latter mitigated. Using the conservation of forests (relevant to several SDG targets) as a case study, this thesis seeks to better understand how progress in non-environmental aspects of the development agenda could facilitate or hinder this cause. Through a systematic review, I identify 63 SDG targets associated with potentially beneficial, damaging or mixed impacts on forests, and highlight how potentially damaging targets are often better researched and understood. Using open access data for 122 countries, I explore the empirical relationships between achievement of the SDGs and changes in net forest cover between 2017 and 2020. These analyses suggest that higher achievements in goals on health, education, energy, economy and industry are associated with lower net forest loss, while the processes of improving in goals on economy and climate change mitigation are associated with higher net forest loss. I present a novel framework that combines document analysis and indicator data for 24 SDG targets, to assess the possible implications of a country’s anticipated development trajectory for forests. Applying this to framework to 48 tropical countries, I highlight key areas of each country’s national development agenda that should be monitored or prioritised in order to avoid risks, seize opportunities, and provide enabling conditions for effective forest conservation. The thesis concludes with a summary of the major findings, a discussion the novel contributions and limitations of the work, and suggestions for further work that could help progress the topic further

Environmental Fit: A Model for Assessing and Treating Problem Behavior Associated with Curricular Difficulties in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Theoretical considerations suggest that problem behavior should increase when a child’s competency does not match the curricular demands of the environment (i.e., when there is poor environmental fit). In the present study, environmental fit was examined for six children with autism spectrum disorders. Results indicated that the children exhibited high rates of problem behavior associated with poor motor or academic competency. Curricular modifications resulted in (a) a decrease in the level of problem behavior, (b) an increase in the percentage of task steps completed correctly, and (c) improved affect. Adults who worked with the children reported ease of intervention techniques. The concept of environmental fit and its usefulness in guiding both assessment of and intervention for problem behavior are discussed

Increased Trauma Activation Is Not Equally Beneficial For All Elderly Trauma Patients

Background Physiologic changes in the elderly lead to higher morbidity and mortality after injury. Increasing level of trauma activation has been proposed to improve geriatric outcomes; but, the increased cost to the patient and stress to the hospital system are significant downsides. The purpose of this study was to identify the age at which an increase in activation status is beneficial. Methods A retrospective review of trauma patients ≥ 70 years old from October 1, 2011, to October 1, 2016 was performed. On October 1, 2013, a policy change increased the activation criteria to the highest level for patients ≥ 70 years of age with a significant mechanism of injury. Patients who presented prior to (PRE) were compared to those after the change (POST). Data collected included age, injury severity score (ISS), length of stay (LOS), complications and mortality. Primary outcome was mortality and secondary outcome was LOS. Multivariable regressions controlled for age, ISS, injury mechanism, and number of complications. Results 4341 patients met inclusion criteria, 1919 in PRE and 2422 in POST. Mean age was 80.4 and 81 years in PRE and POST groups respectively (p=0.0155). Mean ISS values were 11.6 and 12.4 (p<0.0001) for the PRE and POST groups. POST had more level 1 activations (696 vs. 220, p<0.0001). After controlling for age, ISS, mechanism of injury, and number of complications, mortality was significantly reduced in the POST group ≥ age 77 years (OR 0.53, 95% CI: 0.3 - 0.87), (Figure 1). Hospital LOS was significantly reduced in the POST group ≥ age 78 (regression coefficient -0.55, 95% CI: -1.09, -0.01) (Figure 2). Conclusions This study suggests geriatric trauma patients ≥ 77 years benefit from the highest level of trauma activation with shorter LOS and lower mortality. A focused approach to increasing activation level for elderly patients may decrease patient cost. Level of Evidence Level III Type of Study Economic/Decisio

Point source generation of chiral fields:measures of near- and far-field optical helicity

To consider the relationship between different measures of chirality in an optical field, the simplest case is considered: direct spontaneous emission of circularly polarized light by a point source. In the electromagnetic fields radiated from a suitably chiral source, such as a low-symmetry chiral molecule undergoing radiative decay, optical helicity is exhibited in the extent of a difference in left- and right-handed circular polarization components. There are several practical measures for quantifying the emergence of ensuing optical helicity, exhibiting different forms of dependence on the properties of the emitter and the positioning of a detector. By casting each measure in terms of an irreducible helicity density, connections and distinctions can be drawn between results expressible in either classical or quantum form

Pseudorandom Selective Excitation in NMR

In this work, average Hamiltonian theory is used to study selective excitation in a spin-1/2 system evolving under a series of small flip-angle $\theta-$pulses $(\theta\ll 1)$ that are applied either periodically [which corresponds to the DANTE pulse sequence] or aperiodically. First, an average Hamiltonian description of the DANTE pulse sequence is developed; such a description is determined to be valid either at or very far from the DANTE resonance frequencies, which are simply integer multiples of the inverse of the interpulse delay. For aperiodic excitation schemes where the interpulse delays are chosen pseudorandomly, a single resonance can be selectively excited if the $\theta$-pulses' phases are modulated in concert with the time delays. Such a selective pulse is termed a pseudorandom-DANTE or p-DANTE sequence, and the conditions in which an average Hamiltonian description of p-DANTE is found to be similar to that found for the DANTE sequence. It is also shown that averaging over different p-DANTE sequences that are selective for the same resonance can help reduce excitations at frequencies away from the resonance frequency, thereby improving the apparent selectivity of the p-DANTE sequences. Finally, experimental demonstrations of p-DANTE sequences and comparisons with theory are presented.Comment: 23 pages, 8 figure

The outcome of pregnancy in women with cystic fibrosis : a UK population based descriptive study.

Peer reviewedPostprin

Pregnancy rates and outcomes amongst women with cystic fibrosis in the UK : comparisons with the general population before and after the introduction of disease modifying treatment, 2003-17

Acknowledgements We thank the UK CF Registry team and the UK CF centres and clinics for submitting data to the Registry. Special thanks to the people with cystic fibrosis and their families who have agreed for their UK CF Registry data to be used for research. Funding The study was funded by a Welsh Government Research for Patient and Public Benefit grant. The funder was not involved in the study design, data collection, data analysis, data interpretation or the writing of the report. DT-R is funded by the MRC on a Clinician Scientist Fellowship (MR/P008577/1).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Carbon on the Northwest European Shelf: Contemporary Budget and Future Influences

A carbon budget for the northwest European continental shelf seas (NWES) was synthesized using available estimates for coastal, pelagic and benthic carbon stocks and flows. Key uncertainties were identified and the effect of future impacts on the carbon budget were assessed. The water of the shelf seas contains between 210 and 230 Tmol of carbon and absorbs between 1.3 and 3.3 Tmol from the atmosphere annually. Off-shelf transport and burial in the sediments account for 60–100 and 0–40% of carbon outputs from the NWES, respectively. Both of these fluxes remain poorly constrained by observations and resolving their magnitudes and relative importance is a key research priority. Pelagic and benthic carbon stocks are dominated by inorganic carbon. Shelf sediments contain the largest stock of carbon, with between 520 and 1600 Tmol stored in the top 0.1 m of the sea bed. Coastal habitats such as salt marshes and mud flats contain large amounts of carbon per unit area but their total carbon stocks are small compared to pelagic and benthic stocks due to their smaller spatial extent. The large pelagic stock of carbon will continue to increase due to the rising concentration of atmospheric CO2, with associated pH decrease. Pelagic carbon stocks and flows are also likely to be significantly affected by increasing acidity and temperature, and circulation changes but the net impact is uncertain. Benthic carbon stocks will be affected by increasing temperature and acidity, and decreasing oxygen concentrations, although the net impact of these interrelated changes on carbon stocks is uncertain and a major knowledge gap. The impact of bottom trawling on benthic carbon stocks is unique amongst the impacts we consider in that it is widespread and also directly manageable, although its net effect on the carbon budget is uncertain. Coastal habitats are vulnerable to sea level rise and are strongly impacted by management decisions. Local, national and regional actions have the potential to protect or enhance carbon storage, but ultimately global governance, via controls on emissions, has the greatest potential to influence the long-term fate of carbon stocks in the northwestern European continental shelf