Tree growth and management in Ugandan agroforestry systems: effects of root pruning on tree growth and crop yield

Tree root pruning is a potential tool for managing below-ground competition when trees and crops are grown together in agroforestry systems. This study investigates its effects on growth and root distribution of Alnus acuminata (HB & K), Casuarina equisetifolia (L), Grevillea robusta (A. Cunn. ex R. Br), Maesopsis eminii (Engl.), and Markhamia lutea (Benth.) K. Schum. and on yield of adjacent crops in sub-humid Uganda. The trees were 3 years old at the commencement of the study, and most species were competing strongly with crops. Tree roots were pruned 41 months after planting by cutting and back-filling a trench to a depth of 0.3 m, at a distance of 0.3 m from the trees, on one side of the tree row. The trench was re-opened and roots re-cut at 50 and 62 months after planting. Effects on tree growth and root distribution were assessed over a 3 year period, and crop yield after the third root pruning at 62 months is reported here. Overall, root pruning had only a slight effect on tree growth: height growth was unaffected and diameter growth was reduced by only 4 %. A substantial amount of root re-growth was observed by 11 months after pruning. Tree species varied in the number and distribution of their roots, and Casuarina and Markhamia had considerably more roots per unit of trunk volume than the other tree species, especially in the surface soil layers. Casuarina and Maesopsis were the most competitive tree species with crops and Grevillea and Markhamia the least. Crop yield data provides strong evidence of the redistribution of root activity following root pruning, so that competition increased on the unpruned side of tree rows. Thus, one-sided root pruning will only be of use to farmers in a few circumstances. Key words: Alnus acuminata, Casuarina equisetifolia, Grevillea robusta, Maesopsis eminii, Markhamia lutea, root distribution, root functio

An Investigation into the Linguistic Evidence and Classification of Dialect Variation in Biblical Hebrew

The following is a study of dialectal variations in the Masoretic text and classification of selected variations. Introductory material includes discussion of the use of dialect for regional, chronological, and stylistic distinctives. This study is presented in two parts. Part one presents a case for the usage of dialect variation by writers and personalities in the Hebrew Bible. Part two offers analysis of current approaches to the classification of variants into chronological, regional, and stylistic distinctives. Part one begins with an investigation of the Torah, presenting dialectal evidence from Genesis and Deuteronomy relating to vocabulary, geography, and tribal differences. Evidence from the Prophets consists of pronunciation, morphology, and semantic changes from the Former Prophets, as well as dialectal peculiarities from selected Latter Prophets. Features from the Writings relate to vocabulary, syntax, and poetic practices. Part two begins with a discussion of chronologically distinctive features in Biblical Hebrew. Following this is an analysis of regional features in Biblical Hebrew and inscriptional evidence. Discussion regarding the classification of colloquial Hebrew and style-switching closes part two. A summary and final remarks conclude the dissertation. Included in this is a discussion of the benefits of this study for biblical exegesi

Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a universal parenting skills programme in deprived communities : multicentre randomised controlled trial

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness and cost utility of a universally provided early years parenting programme. Design: Multicentre randomised controlled trial with cost-effectiveness analysis. Setting: Early years centres in four deprived areas of South Wales. Participants: Families with children aged between 2 and 4 years. 286 families were recruited and randomly allocated to the intervention or waiting list control. Intervention: The Family Links Nurturing Programme (FLNP), a 10-week course with weekly 2 h facilitated group sessions. Main outcome measures: Negative and supportive parenting, child and parental well-being and costs assessed before the intervention, following the course (3 months) and at 9 months using standardised measures. Results: There were no significant differences in primary or secondary outcomes between trial arms at 3 or 9 months. With ‘+’ indicating improvement, difference in change in negative parenting score at 9 months was +0.90 (95%CI −1.90 to 3.69); in supportive parenting, +0.17 (95%CI −0.61 to 0.94); and 12 of the 17 secondary outcomes showed a non-significant positive effect in the FLNP arm. Based on changes in parental well-being (SF-12), the cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained was estimated to be £34 913 (range 21 485–46 578) over 5 years and £18 954 (range 11 664–25 287) over 10 years. Probability of cost per QALY gained below £30 000 was 47% at 5 years and 57% at 10 years. Attendance was low: 34% of intervention families attended no sessions (n=48); only 47% completed the course (n=68). Also, 19% of control families attended a parenting programme before 9-month follow-up. Conclusions: Our trial has not found evidence of clinical or cost utility for the FLNP in a universal setting. However, low levels of exposure and contamination mean that uncertainty remains. Trial registration: The trial is registered with Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN13919732

The built environment predicts observed physical activity

Background: In order to improve our understanding of the relationship between the built environment and physical activity, it is important to identify associations between specific geographic characteristics and physical activity behaviors. Purpose: Examine relationships between observed physical activity behavior and measures of the built environment collected on 291 street segments in Indianapolis and St. Louis. Methods: Street segments were selected using a stratified geographic sampling design to ensure representation of neighborhoods with different land use and socioeconomic characteristics. Characteristics of the built environment on-street segments were audited using two methods: in-person field audits and audits based on interpretation of Google Street View imagery with each method blinded to results from the other. Segments were dichotomized as having a particular characteristic (e.g., sidewalk present or not) based on the two auditing methods separately. Counts of individuals engaged in different forms of physical activity on each segment were assessed using direct observation. Non-parametric statistics were used to compare counts of physically active individuals on each segment with built environment characteristic. Results: Counts of individuals engaged in physical activity were significantly higher on segments with mixed land use or all non-residential land use, and on segments with pedestrian infrastructure (e.g., crosswalks and sidewalks) and public transit. Conclusion: Several micro-level built environment characteristics were associated with physical activity. These data provide support for theories that suggest changing the built environment and related policies may encourage more physical activity

Scaling algebras and pointlike fields: A nonperturbative approach to renormalization

We present a method of short-distance analysis in quantum field theory that does not require choosing a renormalization prescription a priori. We set out from a local net of algebras with associated pointlike quantum fields. The net has a naturally defined scaling limit in the sense of Buchholz and Verch; we investigate the effect of this limit on the pointlike fields. Both for the fields and their operator product expansions, a well-defined limit procedure can be established. This can always be interpreted in the usual sense of multiplicative renormalization, where the renormalization factors are determined by our analysis. We also consider the limits of symmetry actions. In particular, for suitable limit states, the group of scaling transformations induces a dilation symmetry in the limit theory.Comment: minor changes and clarifications; as to appear in Commun. Math. Phys.; 37 page

The Nuclear Ionized Gas in the Radio Galaxy M84 (NGC 4374)

We present optical images of the nucleus of the nearby radio galaxy M84 (NGC 4374 = 3C272.1) obtained with the Wide Field/Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) aboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Our three images cover the H$\alpha$ + [N II] emission lines as well as the V and I continuum bands. Analysis of these images confirms that the H$\alpha$ + [N II] emission in the central 5'' (410 pc) is elongated along position angle (P.A.) \approx 72\arcdeg, which is roughly parallel to two nuclear dust lanes.Our high-resolution images reveal that the H$\alpha$ + [N II] emission has three components, namely a nuclear gas disk,an `ionization cone', and outer filaments. The nuclear disk of ionized gas has diameter $\approx 1'' = 82$ pc and major axis P.A. \approx 58\arcdeg \pm 6\arcdeg. On an angular scale of 0\farcs5, the major axis of this nuclear gas disk is consistent with that of the dust. However, the minor axis of the gas disk (P.A. \approx 148\arcdeg) is tilted with respect to that of the filamentary H$\alpha$ + [N II] emission at distances > 2'' from the nucleus; the minor axis of this larger scale gas is roughly aligned with the axis of the kpc-scale radio jets (P.A. \approx 170\arcdeg). The ionization cone (whose apex is offset by \approx 0\farcs3 south of the nucleus) extends 2'' from the nucleus along the axis of the southern radio jet. This feature is similar to the ionization cones seen in some Seyfert nuclei, which are also aligned with the radio axes.Comment: 11 pages plus 4 figure

Media justice: Madeleine McCann, intermediatization and "trial by media" in the British press

Three-year-old Madeleine McCann disappeared on 3 May 2007 from a holiday apartment in Portugal. Over five years and multiple investigations that failed to solve this abducted child case, Madeleine and her parents were subject to a process of relentless ‘intermediatization’. Across 24–7 news coverage, websites, documentaries, films, YouTube videos, books, magazines, music and artworks, Madeleine was a mediagenic image of innocence and a lucrative story. In contrast to Madeleine’s media sacralization, the representation of her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, fluctuated between periods of vociferous support and prolonged and libellous ‘trial by media’. This article analyses how the global intermediatization of the ‘Maddie Mystery’ fed into and fuelled the ‘trial by media’ of Kate and Gerry McCann in the UK press. Our theorization of ‘trial by media’ is developed and refined through considering its legal limitations in an era of ‘attack journalism’ and unprecedented official UK inquiries into press misconduct and criminality

Connecting the Holographic and Wilsonian Renormalization Groups

Inspired by the AdS/CFT correspondence, we develop an explicit formal duality between the planar limit of a d-dimensional gauge theory and a classical field theory in a (d+1)-dimensional anti-de Sitter space. The key ingredient is the identification of fields in AdS with generalized Hubbard-Stratonovich transforms of single-trace couplings of the QFT. We show that the Wilsonian renormalization group flow of these transformed couplings matches the holographic (Hamilton-Jacobi) flow of bulk fields along the radial direction in AdS. This result allows one to outline an AdS/CFT dictionary that does not rely on string theory.Comment: 11 pages, 1 figure; metadata modified in v2; added references and minor changes in v3; v4 as published in JHE