New host records of chewing lice (Mallophaga) on birds in Florida 2

This is a continuation of Holt (2004). Methods and sources of specimens are as reported in that paper. Representatives of all records below are deposited in the Florida State Collection of Arthropods and/or the author's collection

New county records of chewing lice (Mallophaga) on birds in Florida

County records for avian lice are less significant than the host records themselves. Considering that most avian lice are host specific, the county records should resemble the area the host would most likely be encountered. Nonetheless, the list cited in Forrester and Spalding (2003) contains few and spotty county records. The main source of material for this publication has been the Marathon Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Marathon, Monroe Co., Florida. The center takes in specimens of about 90 species of birds per year. The following is a list of the avian lice species, hosts, and localities with collection dates. All specimens were collected by Kelly Grinter, Leslie Straub, or the author. Representative specimens are deposited in the Florida State Collection of Arthropods and/or the author\u27s collection

New host records of chewing lice (Mallophaga) on birds in Florida 3

Here, I report some new county and Florida host records as well as two new U.S. host records for avian lice. County records for avian lice are less significant than the host records themselves. Considering that most avian lice are host specific, the county records should resemble the area the host would most likely be encountered. The main source of material for this publication has been the Marathon Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Marathon, Monroe County, Florida, with Kelly Grinter as the official curator and keeper. The center takes in about 90 different species of birds per year. The following is a list of the avian lice species, hosts, and localities with collection dates. All of the following specimens were collected by the author, Kelly Grinter, or Leslie Straub. Representatives of all records below are deposited in the Florida State Collection of Arthropods and/or the author’s collection

Examining Perceptions of Online Harassment among Constables in England and Wales

The ubiquity of the Internet and computer technology has enabled individuals to engage in bullying, threats, and harassing communications online. Limited research has found that local line officers may not view these offenses as serious compared to real world crimes despite their negative physical and emotional impact on victims. The perceptions of officers can produce poor interactions with victims during calls for service, particularly victim blaming, which can reduce citizens’ confidence in police agencies generally. However, local law enforcement agencies are increasingly mandated to respond to these cases, calling to question how their views may impact the community. This study examined the attitudinal and demographic factors associated with the negative views of online harassment and bullying within a sample of 1,348 constables from 34 local agencies across England and Wales. The study found that constables with negative views toward cybercrimes and worked in agencies with inconsistent messaging related to online crimes were more likely to view online harassment as less serious and believe that these offenses could be avoided by victims. The implications of this study for local police staff and command are discussed in detail

Creating HiRISE digital elevation models for Mars using the open-source Ames Stereo Pipeline

The present availability of sub-decametre digital elevation models on Mars – crucial for the study of surface processes – is scarce. In contrast to low-resolution global datasets, such models enable the study of landforms 3000 stereo pairs at 0.25 m pixel−1 resolution, enabling the creation of high-resolution digital elevation models (1–2 m pixel−1). Hitherto, only ∼500 of these pairs have been processed and made publicly available. Existing pipelines for the production of digital elevation models from stereo pairs, however, are built upon commercial software, rely upon sparsely available intermediate data, or are reliant on proprietary algorithms. In this paper, we present and test the output of a new pipeline for producing digital elevation models from HiRISE stereo pairs that is built entirely upon the open-source NASA Ames Stereo Pipeline photogrammetric software, making use of freely available data for cartographic rectification. This pipeline is designed for simple application by researchers interested in the use of high-resolution digital elevation models. Implemented here on a research computing cluster, this pipeline can also be used on consumer-grade UNIX computers. We produce and evaluate four digital elevation models using the pipeline presented here. Each are globally well registered, with accuracy similar to those of digital elevation models produced elsewhere

Biochar in forestry. Status in the Nordic-Baltic countries

This report summarizes the status of biochar in forestry in the Nordic-Baltic countries today. Biochar is charred material formed by pyrolysis of organic materials. In addition to improving soil physical and chemical properties and plant growth, biochar is a promising negative emission technology for storing carbon (C) in soils. The report gives an overview of current and potential uses, production methods and facilities, legislation, current and future research as well as biochar properties and effects. Forests are both a source of feedstock for biochar production and a potential beneficiary for biochar use. Production is still limited in the Nordic-Baltic countries, but commercial production is on the rise and several enterprises are in the planning or start-up phase. In this report different biochar production technologies are described. As the (modern) use of biochar for agricultural and especially forestry purposes is relatively new, in many countries there are no specific legislation regulating its use. Sometimes the use of biochar is regulated through more general laws and regulations on e.g. fertilizers or soil amendment. However, both inside and outside EU several documents and standards exist, listing recommended physical and chemical limit values for biochar. So far, most biochar studies have been conducted on agricultural soils, though research in the forestry sector is starting to emerge. The first biochar field experiments in boreal forests support that wood biochar promotes tree growth. Also, studies on the use of biochar as an additive to the growing medium in tree nurseries show promising results. Because biochar C content is high, it is recalcitrant to decomposition, and application rates to soil can be high, biochar is a promising tool to enhance the C sequestration in boreal forests. However, available biomass and production costs may be barriers for the climate change mitigation potential of biochar. When it comes to effects on biodiversity, few field-based studies have been carried out. Some studies from the Nordic region show that biochar addition may affect microbial soil communities and vegetation, at least on a short time scale. There is clearly a need for more research on the effects of biochar in forestry in the Nordic-Baltic region. Long-term effects of biochar on e.g., forest growth, biodiversity, soil carbon and climate change mitigation potential should be studied in existing and new field experiments.Biochar in forestry. Status in the Nordic-Baltic countriespublishedVersio

Ion transport and structural dynamics in homologous ammonium and phosphoniumbased room temperature ionic liquids

Charge transport and structural dynamics in a homologous pair of ammonium and phosphonium based room temperature ionic liquids (ILs) have been characterized over a wide temperature range using broadband dielectric spectroscopy and quasi-elastic light scattering spectroscopy. We have found that the ionic conductivity of the phosphonium based IL is significantly enhanced relative to the ammonium homolog, and this increase is primarily a result of a lower glass transition temperature and higher ion mobility. Additionally, these ILs exhibit pronounced secondary relaxations which are strongly influenced by the atomic identity of the cation charge center. While the secondary relaxation in the phosphonium IL has the expected Arrhenius temperature dependence characteristic of local beta relaxations, the corresponding relaxation process in the ammonium IL was found to exhibit a mildly non-Arrhenius temperature dependence in the measured temperature range—indicative of molecular cooperativity. These differences in both local and long-range molecular dynamics are a direct reflection of the subtly different inter-ionic interactions and mesoscale structures found in these homologous ILs

Children and Virtual Reality: Emerging Possibilities and Challenges

Virtual Reality is fast becoming a reality, with estimates that over 200m headsets will have been sold by 2020, and the market value for VR hardware and software reaching well over $20bn by then. Key players in the market currently include PlayStation with PSVR, Facebook with Oculus Rift, Google Cardboard and Daydream, Mattel with Viewmaster, and many other brands investing in content production for various audiences. One of those audiences is young people and children. “Children and Virtual Reality” is a collaboration between Dubit, Turner, WEARVR and the COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) Action DigiLitEY. Dubit, Turner and WEARVR are companies that specialise in digital, TV and VR content, with an interest in developing best practices around VR and children. DigiLitEY is a five year (2013-2017) academic network that focuses on existing and emerging communicative technologies for young children. This includes wearable technologies, 3D printers, robots, augmented reality, toys and games and relevant aspects of the Internet of Things. This report brings together industry research into the effects of VR on 8 to 12 year olds, and ideas that arose from a COST funded Think Tank to explore what the research findings might mean for the use of VR by under 8s

The human connectome project for disordered emotional states: Protocol and rationale for a research domain criteria study of brain connectivity in young adult anxiety and depression

Available online 5 March 2020.Through the Human Connectome Project (HCP) our understanding of the functional connectome of the healthy brain has been dramatically accelerated. Given the pressing public health need, we must increase our understanding of how connectome dysfunctions give rise to disordered mental states. Mental disorders arising from high levels of negative emotion or from the loss of positive emotional experience affect over 400 million people globally. Such states of disordered emotion cut across multiple diagnostic categories of mood and anxiety disorders and are compounded by accompanying disruptions in cognitive function. Not surprisingly, these forms of psychopathology are the leading cause of disability worldwide. The Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative spearheaded by NIMH offers a framework for characterizing the relations among connectome dysfunctions, anchored in neural circuits and phenotypic profiles of behavior and self-reported symptoms. Here, we report on our Connectomes Related to Human Disease protocol for integrating an RDoC framework with HCP protocols to characterize connectome dysfunctions in disordered emotional states, and present quality control data from a representative sample of participants. We focus on three RDoC domains and constructs most relevant to depression and anxiety: 1) loss and acute threat within the Negative Valence System (NVS) domain; 2) reward valuation and responsiveness within the Positive Valence System (PVS) domain; and 3) working memory and cognitive control within the Cognitive System (CS) domain. For 29 healthy controls, we present preliminary imaging data: functional magnetic resonance imaging collected in the resting state and in tasks matching our constructs of interest (“Emotion”, “Gambling” and “Continuous Performance” tasks), as well as diffusion-weighted imaging. All functional scans demonstrated good signal-to-noise ratio. Established neural networks were robustly identified in the resting state condition by independent component analysis. Processing of negative emotional faces significantly activated the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal and occipital cortices, fusiform gyrus and amygdalae. Reward elicited a response in the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal, parietal and occipital cortices, and in the striatum. Working memory was associated with activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal, parietal, motor, temporal and insular cortices, in the striatum and cerebellum. Diffusion tractography showed consistent profiles of fractional anisotropy along known white matter tracts. We also show that results are comparable to those in a matched sample from the HCP Healthy Young Adult data release. These preliminary data provide the foundation for acquisition of 250 subjects who are experiencing disordered emotional states. When complete, these data will be used to develop a neurobiological model that maps connectome dysfunctions to specific behaviors and symptoms.This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health [grant number U01MH109985 under PAR-14-281]