Vegetation structure and fire weather influence variation in burn severity and fuel consumption during peatland wildfires

Temperate peatland wildfires are of significant environmental concern but information on their environmental effects is lacking. We assessed variation in burn severity and fuel consumption within and between wildfires that burnt British moorlands in 2011 and 2012. We adapted the composite burn index (pCBI) to provide semi-quantitative estimates of burn severity. Pre- and post-fire surface (shrubs and graminoids) and ground (litter, moss, duff) fuel loads associated with large wildfires were assessed using destructive sampling and analysed using a generalised linear mixed model (GLMM). Consumption during wildfires was compared with published estimates of consumption during prescribed burns. Burn severity and fuel consumption were related to fire weather, assessed using the Canadian Fire Weather Index System (FWI System), and pre-fire vegetation type. pCBI varied 1.6 fold between, and up to 1.7 fold within, wildfires. pCBI was higher where moisture codes of the FWI System indicated drier fuels. Spatial variation in pre- and post-fire fuel load accounted for a substantial proportion of the variance in fuel loads. Average surface fuel consumption was a linear function of pre-fire fuel load. Average ground fuel combustion completeness could be predicted by the Buildup Index. Carbon release ranged between 0.36 and 1.00 kg C m−2. The flammability of ground fuel layers may explain the higher C release-rates seen for wildfires in comparison to prescribed burns. Drier moorland community types appear to be at greater risk of severe burns than blanket-bog communities

A New Method for Finding Vacua in String Phenomenology

One of the central problems of string-phenomenology is to find stable vacua in the four dimensional effective theories which result from compactification. We present an algorithmic method to find all of the vacua of any given string-phenomenological system in a huge class. In particular, this paper reviews and then extends hep-th/0606122 to include various non-perturbative effects. These include gaugino condensation and instantonic contributions to the superpotential.Comment: 27 pages, 5 .eps figures. V2: Minor corrections, reference adde

Heavy quark masses in the continuum limit of quenched Lattice QCD

We compute charm and bottom quark masses in the quenched approximation and in the continuum limit of lattice QCD. We make use of a step scaling method, previously introduced to deal with two scale problems, that allows to take the continuum limit of the lattice data. We determine the RGI quark masses and make the connection to the MSbar scheme. The continuum extrapolation gives us a value m_b^{RGI} = 6.73(16) GeV for the b-quark and m_c^{RGI} = 1.681(36) GeV for the c-quark, corresponding respectively to m_b^{MSbar}(m_b^{MSbar}) = 4.33(10) GeV and m_c^{MSbar}(m_c^{MSbar}) = 1.319(28) GeV. The latter result, in agreement with current estimates, is for us a check of the method. Using our results on the heavy quark masses we compute the mass of the Bc meson, M_{Bc} = 6.46(15) GeV.Comment: 29 pages, 9 figures, version accepted for publication in Nucl. Phys.

Identifying New Sources of Resistance to Brown Stem Rot in Soybean

Brown stem rot (BSR), caused by the fungus Phialophora gregata f. sp. sojae (Allington & D.W. Chamberlain) W. Gams (syn. Cadophora gregata), causes yield losses up to 38%. Three dominant BSR-resistant genes have been identified: Rbs1, Rbs2, and Rbs3. Additional BSR resistance loci will complement breeding efforts by expanding the soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] genetic base. The objective of this research was to determine if PI 594637, PI 594638B, PI 594650A, and PI 594858B contained novel BSR resistance genes. The accessions were crossed to three genotypes with known BSR resistance genes and populations were developed for allelism studies. A minimum of 60 F2:3 families tracing to individual F2 plants in each population were used, and six seeds from each F2:3 family were tested. Resistant and susceptible controls and parents were also included. The BSR symptoms were assessed under growth chamber conditions 5 wk after inoculation by measuring foliar and stem severities and recovery of P. gregata from stem sections. Allelism tests of F2:3 plants from crosses of PI 594638B, PI 594858B, and PI 594650A with the resistant sources fit a 15:1 ratio, indicating that the resistant gene possessed by each of the PIs was nonallelic to Rbs1, Rbs2, and Rbs3. The three PIs contain at least one novel BSR resistance gene and have the potential to serve as donors to elite germplasm, increasing stability of host resistance to P. gregata. Allelism tests of PI 594637 segregated in a 3:1 ratio and no significant difference was found between PI 594637 and the susceptible controls, indicating that PI 594637 is susceptible to BSR

Atmospheric Heating and Wind Acceleration: Results for Cool Evolved Stars based on Proposed Processes

A chromosphere is a universal attribute of stars of spectral type later than ~F5. Evolved (K and M) giants and supergiants (including the zeta Aurigae binaries) show extended and highly turbulent chromospheres, which develop into slow massive winds. The associated continuous mass loss has a significant impact on stellar evolution, and thence on the chemical evolution of galaxies. Yet despite the fundamental importance of those winds in astrophysics, the question of their origin(s) remains unsolved. What sources heat a chromosphere? What is the role of the chromosphere in the formation of stellar winds? This chapter provides a review of the observational requirements and theoretical approaches for modeling chromospheric heating and the acceleration of winds in single cool, evolved stars and in eclipsing binary stars, including physical models that have recently been proposed. It describes the successes that have been achieved so far by invoking acoustic and MHD waves to provide a physical description of plasma heating and wind acceleration, and discusses the challenges that still remain.Comment: 46 pages, 9 figures, 1 table; modified and unedited manuscript; accepted version to appear in: Giants of Eclipse, eds. E. Griffin and T. Ake (Berlin: Springer

Hepatitis C treatment strategies in prisons: a cost-effectiveness analysis

In Australian prisons approximately 20% of inmates are chronically infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV), providing an important population for targeted treatment and prevention. A dynamic mathematical model of HCV transmission was used to assess the impact of increasing direct-acting antiviral (DAA) treatment uptake on HCV incidence and prevalence in the prisons in New South Wales, Australia, and to assess the cost-effectiveness of alternate treatment strategies. We developed four separate models reflecting different average prison lengths of stay (LOS) of 2, 6, 24, and 36 months. Each model considered four DAA treatment coverage scenarios of 10% (status-quo), 25%, 50%, and 90% over 2016–2045. For each model and scenario, we estimated the lifetime burden of disease, costs and changes in quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) in prison and in the community during 2016–2075. Costs and QALYs were discounted 3.5% annually and adjusted to 2015 Australian dollars. Compared to treating 10% of infected prisoners, increasing DAA coverage to 25%, 50%, and 90% reduced HCV incidence in prisons by 9–33% (2-months LOS), 26–65% (6-months LOS), 37–70% (24-months LOS), and 35–65% (36-months LOS). DAA treatment was highly cost-effective among all LOS models at conservative willingness-to-pay thresholds. DAA therapy became increasingly cost-effective with increasing coverage. Compared to 10% treatment coverage, the incremental cost per QALY ranged from $497-$569 (2-months LOS), -$280–$323 (6-months LOS), -$432–$426 (24-months LOS), and -$245–$477 (36-months LOS). Treating more than 25% of HCV-infected prisoners with DAA therapy is highly cost-effective. This study shows that treating HCV-infected prisoners is highly cost-effective and should be a government priority for the global HCV elimination effort.Jisoo A. Kwon, Georgina M. Chambers, Fabio Luciani, Lei Zhang, Shamin Kinathil, Dennis Kim ... et al

How European Fans in Training (EuroFIT), a lifestyle change program for men delivered in football clubs, achieved its effect : a mixed methods process evaluation embedded in a randomised controlled trial

Funding This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Program for research, technological development, and demonstration under grant agreement number 602170. The Health Services Research Unit, University of Aberdeen, receives core funding from the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government Health Directorates. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Acknowledgements We are grateful to participants who took part in the research, coaches and club managers at fifteen football clubs and UEFA’s Football and Social Responsibility department for supporting the proposal at bidding stage. Ciaran Clissman of Pintail Ltd managed the project and provided invaluable editorial input into the funding application and delivery of the program. Prof Nanette Mutrie was substantially involved in the development of the EuroFIT program. Dr Lisa Macauley administered the UK data collection in the UK and Alan Pollok supported some UK data collection. Dr Mattias Rost and Prof Mathew Chalmers were substantially involved in the development of MatchFIT and Drs Douglas Maxwell and Nikos Mourselas of PAL Technologies in the technical development of the SitFIT. Views and opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union.Peer reviewedPublisher PD