Despite a degree of accommodation to change, white British citizens remain largely opposed to increased ethnic diversity

Immigration is one of the key political issues that will decide votes at the forthcoming General Elections, with the average British citizen hostile both the level of immigration that has already taken place, and the prospect of more. In a new Demos report, Eric Kaufmann and Gareth Harris map the ‘white’ response to immigration: ‘voice’, ‘exit’ and ‘accommodation’

The Switch from Low-Pressure Sodium to Light Emitting Diodes Does Not Affect Bat Activity at Street Lights

We used a before-after-control-impact paired design to examine the effects of a switch from low-pressure sodium (LPS) to light emitting diode (LED) street lights on bat activity at twelve sites across southern England. LED lights produce broad spectrum 'white' light compared to LPS street lights that emit narrow spectrum, orange light. These spectral differences could influence the abundance of insects at street lights and thereby the activity of the bats that prey on them. Most of the bats flying around the LPS lights were aerial-hawking species, and the species composition of bats remained the same after the switch-over to LED. We found that the switch-over from LPS to LED street lights did not affect the activity (number of bat passes), or the proportion of passes containing feeding buzzes, of those bat species typically found in close proximity to street lights in suburban environments in Britain. This is encouraging from a conservation perspective as many existing street lights are being, or have been, switched to LED before the ecological consequences have been assessed. However, lighting of all spectra studied to date generally has a negative impact on several slow-flying bat species, and LED lights are rarely frequented by these 'light-intolerant' bat species

Archaean and Proterozoic diamond growth from contrasting styles of large-scale magmatism

Precise dating of diamond growth is required to understand the interior workings of the early Earth and the deep carbon cycle. Here we report Sm-Nd isotope data from 26 individual garnet inclusions from 26 harzburgitic diamonds from Venetia, South Africa. Garnet inclusions and host diamonds comprise two compositional suites formed under markedly different conditions and define two isochrons, one Archaean (2.95 Ga) and one Proterozoic (1.15 Ga). The Archaean diamond suite formed from relatively cool fluid-dominated metasomatism during rifting of the southern shelf of the Zimbabwe Craton. The 1.8 billion years younger Proterozoic diamond suite formed by melt-dominated metasomatism related to the 1.1 Ga Umkondo Large Igneous Province. The results demonstrate that resolving the time of diamond growth events requires dating of individual inclusions, and that there was a major change in the magmatic processes responsible for harzburgitic diamond formation beneath Venetia from the Archaean to the Proterozoic

Parameters affecting ion intensities in transmission-mode Direct Analysis in Real-Time mass spectrometry

A survey of the effect of temperature, transmission module material and analysis time on ion intensities in transmission mode direct analysis in real time mass spectrometry is presented. Ion intensity profiles obtained for two related compounds are similar when analysed separately but are very different when analysed as a mixture

Light-emitting diode street lights reduce last-ditch evasive manoeuvres by moths to bat echolocation calls

© 2015 The Authors. The light-emitting diode (LED) street light market is expanding globally, and it is important to understand how LED lights affect wildlife populations. We compared evasive flight responses of moths to bat echolocation calls experimentally under LED-lit and -unlit conditions. Significantly, fewer moths performed ‘powerdive’ flight manoeuvres in response to bat calls (feeding buzz sequences from Nyctalus spp.) under an LED street light than in the dark. LED street lights reduce the anti-predator behaviour of moths, shifting the balance in favour of their predators, aerial hawking bats

Establishing expert consensuses on the value of open data in open social innovation ideation

There is little conclusive evidence as to whether OD provides value to social innovation ideation scenarios. Furthermore, OD as a resource is severely contested as to its openness, availability, quality, importance, and usefulness within innovation ideation. Therefore, understanding how Open Data (OD) can be leveraged for innovation ideation practices has become a topic at the mainstream of management literature. However much of the effort thus far has been focused on ideation and innovation for-profit, specifically when in papers examining Open Innovation (OI), even though OD has been depicted as a resource for providing social, economical and entrepreneurial benefit. Therefore this paper presents an initial study of the perceived value of OD, in research phase Open Social Innovation (OSI), amongst academic and professional experts in OI, Innovation Networking and OD. Consequently, a Modified Delphi Study (MDS) is conducted, aimed at forming a convergence of opinion amongst academic and professional experts. From converging expert opinions from both academic and professional perspectives, optimal managerial practices within this field can be shaped. Furthermore, management processes and practices can be justified in collecting and targeting particular datasets that are opportune for a social innovation context. In addition to the primary objectives, and with respect to the paper’s findings, barriers of utilizing and leveraging OD for this purpose are duly noted with proposed methods of overcoming such challenge

Metapopulation capacity with self-colonization: Finding the best patches in fragmented habitats

Habitat fragmentation continues to be a leading threat for our global future. Methods to quantify fragmentation of habitat landscapes, particularly for endangered species, would be especially useful in conservation planning. Using the principles of metapopulation theory, we updated and devised two methods for analyzing fragmented landscapes: metapopulation capacity and abandonment rate. Our version of metapopulation capacity includes a self-colonization component to counteract the issue metapopulation theory experiences with single large patches. We then tested these methods on satellite image range maps of endemic birds in the highland forests of northern Central America.

The metapopulation capacity method proved to be a better measure in that it highlighted which patches would be the most successful habitat in the landscape, based on size and connectivity to surrounding patches, thus allowing for species persistence. Unexpectedly, the abandonment rate method proved useful in providing a way of measuring each individual patch’s support to the rest of the landscape system. This could then be used to rank the remaining patches in order of their greatest contribution. Finally, by using a historical satellite map that showed previously forested habitat in the now deforested landscape, we were able to generate optimal restoration sequences by ranking each 1 km squares’ potential contribution

Effects of Exercise Intensity on Postexercise Endothelial Function and Oxidative Stress

Purpose. To measure endothelial function and oxidative stress immediately, 90 minutes, and three hours after exercise of varying intensities. Methods. Sixteen apparently healthy men completed three exercise bouts of treadmill running for 30 minutes at 55% V˙O2max (mild); 20 minutes at 75% V˙O2max (moderate); or 5 minutes at 100% V˙O2max (maximal) in random order. Brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD) was assessed with venous blood samples drawn for measurement of endothelin-1 (ET-1), lipid hydroperoxides (LOOHs), and lipid soluble antioxidants. Results. LOOH increased immediately following moderate exercise (P<0.05). ET-1 was higher immediately after exercise and 3 hours after exercise in the mild trial compared to maximal one (P<0.05). Transient decreases were detected for ΔFMD/ShearAUC from baseline following maximal exercise, but it normalised at 3 hours after exercise (P<0.05). Shear rate was higher immediately after exercise in the maximal trial compared to mild exercise (P<0.05). No changes in baseline diameter, peak diameter, absolute change in diameter, or FMD were observed following any of the exercise trials (P>0.05). Conclusions. Acute exercise at different intensities elicits varied effects on oxidative stress, shear rate, and ET-1 that do not appear to mediate changes in endothelial function measured by FMD