Assessing the Efficacy of Seedling Planting as a Forest Restoration Technique in Temperate Hardwood Forests Impacted by Invasive Species

The emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire; EAB) is an invasive insect that causes mortality of trees in the genus Fraxinus, creating canopy gaps that may facilitate invasion by exotic plants. Planting native tree seedlings under EAB-infested Fraxinus may accelerate succession and preclude invasive plant expansion; however, the effectiveness of this approach has not been experimentally tested. We assessed understory seedling planting of Quercus rubra, Carya laciniosa, and Juglans cinerea in EAB-infested forests, where the invasive shrub Lonicera maackii (Amur honeysuckle) was removed. We tested whether the use of plastic tree shelters (“tree tubes”) or planting season (fall versus spring) contributed to the success of the reforestation plan by measuring growth rates (cm/yr) and survivorship two and seven years after planting. After seven years, seedling survivorship was \u3c25% for all species and planting techniques. Quercus rubra exhibited poor survivorship with one seedling surviving to the conclusion of the experiment. Juglans cinerea and C. laciniosa had higher survivability and growth rates than did Q. rubra after two and seven years. Effects of tree tubes were weak and temporary. After two years, Q. rubra seedling survivorship was higher in tree tubes; however, by the end of the experiment 29 of the 30 Q. rubra seedlings in tree tubes had died. Juglans cinerea seedlings grew faster when planted in the fall compared to the spring, but overall survivorship of these seedlings was unaffected by planting season. Neither the use of tree shelters nor the planting season contributed to the growth or survival of C. laciniosa seedlings. In summary, our results indicate that seedling planting of Carya and Juglans may be a useful way to increase biodiversity in regenerating forests; however, the resource-expensive processes of over-wintering seedlings and using tree shelters may not increase the success of reforestation efforts

Resiliency and women exiting sex trade industry work

Summary: A qualitative approach was used to explore the experience of exiting sex trade industry work from the perspective of 19 adults formerly involved in the sex trade industry. A narrative approach to data collection was used explore the participants’ experiences of successful exiting and phenomenological analysis was employed to identify themes that reflected the ways in which participants developed resiliency throughout the exiting process. Findings: Themes include: connection (including subthemes: survivor presence, children, and spirituality), resources (including subthemes: networks, structure and safety) and personal growth. Significance: These themes represent women with diverse experiences in the sex trade industry, including a majority who were victimized by (internal) sex trafficking. The findings demonstrate opportunities for social work practice to address the diverse needs of individuals exiting the sex trade industry, specifically for those who experienced sex trafficking and sexual exploitation

Introducing a trauma-informed capability approach in youth services

Trauma-informed practice has been developing for decades, though much remains unknown regarding how it is understood and practised. Drawing upon focus group data from an evaluation of a trauma-informed approach (TIA) implemented by an organisation in Southeast England, this paper provides a unique perspective of 31 staff members and 18 young people. Results indicate how choice and control, key elements of a TIA, align with the Capability Approach (CA). The CA is then used as a novel analytic framework to examine the data. A ‘Trauma-Informed Capabilities Approach’ is introduced as a holistic, person-centred way of conceptualising young trauma survivors’ wellbeing

Sea TENTACLE: Track, Engage, & Neutralize Threats - Asymmetric & Conventional - in the Littoral Environment

Includes supplementary materialSea TENTACLE is a proposed afloat platform whose primary mission is to utilize the state-of-the-art technology of unmanned vehicles to monitor and neutralize all subsurface enemy threats in the littorals. This mission can be specified further as anti-submarine warfare, mine warfare and maritime surveillance. The design philosophy of Sea TENTACLE embodies the ideal of providing a multi-mission capable sea frame extending network-centric warfare into the littorals. The design goals of the TSSE team were first to develop a platform to deploy, recover, and maintain unmanned vehicle (e.g. UUVs, USVs, UAVs) and second to enableto ship to act as an afloat network operations center for distributed assets. Allowing all units to work together seamlessly to conduct focused missions in the littorals makes the Sea TENTACLE a creitical component within the network-centric environment. The versatility of its cargo hold and modular design allows Sea TENTACLE to be outfitted dynamically to complete a veriety of secondary missions including humanitarian aid, salvage and spacial operations support. Sea TENTACLE's combat management and operations system will employ the Enterprise architecture design enabling C4ISR capabilities that will meet emerging network centric warfare needs.US Navy (USN) authorsTunisian Navy authorTurkish Navy authorsApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Preridiniopsis Kevei SP. nov., A new freshwater dinoflagellate species (peridiniceae, dinophyta) from Hungary

This paper reports results from light and scanning electron microscopic study of a freshwater dinoflagellate considered as a new species for the science, Peridiniopsis keveisp. nov. It was found during the last ten years in different lake, rivers, canals in Hungary and some European countries. it frequently appeared as a water-bloom forming species. The theca morphology and and plate structure analysis of this dinoflagellate established its identity as a new species. P. kevei Grigorszky et Vasas is discussed in the paper in comparsion with related taxa, moreover data about its occurrence and ecology