The contribution of the Canary Island date palm (Phoenix canariensis) to the winter diet of frugivores in novel ecosystems

With the increasing expansion in urban areas, many species have adapted to utilising horticulturally used plants as alternate or augmentary food sources, in particular, during winter – when native foods are largely absent. Ornamental palms, particularly Canary Island Date Palms, fruit continuously during most of the year and thus provide a stable food supply. Based on observational, metric and bio-chemical data, this paper examines the role Canary Island Date Palms can and do play in the nutrition of frugivorous animals, in particular, for birds. It demonstrates that with its nearly year-round provisioning of drupes, the palm plays a major role as a ‘staple’ and backup food source for several species

Diffusion of hydrogen in transition metals

The mobility of interstitial atoms is closely correlated with their vibrational behaviour. Not only can the classical (hopping) activation energy be evaluated with good accuracy from the vibrational spectrum, but also low temperature tunnelling rates are strongly related to vibrations. Because of their small mass interstitial hydrogen atoms constitute an ideal probe to study this correlation over a large temperature range (0 K < T < 300 K). Hydrogen atoms vibrate mainly with localized (optical) modes but also with strongly distorted lattice vibrations (short-wavelength acoustic modes). These vibrations lead to a "dressing" of the tunnelling element. More interesting, they determine the temperature dependence of the diffusion constant (at low temperatures together with electronic terms). Using a realistic description of the vibrations as input we calculate the diffusion constants quantitatively. We present results for hydrogen in niobium and in lutetium

NdYAG laser treatment of a glomus tympanicum tumour

Glomus tympanicum tumours are highly vascular tumours of the middle ear. Their removal by conventional surgical methods requires an extensive procedure in many cases, often with ossicular disarticulation to allow adequate exposure prior to the 'chaotic' and haemorrhagic event of tumour removal. This paper reports on the use of an NdYAG laser in a case of a large glomus tympanicum tumour. The laser facilitated a transcanal approach, avoided ossicular disarticulation and allowed accurate and almost bloodless ablation of the entire tumour.The NdYAG laser appears to be a very useful treatment modality in the management of these highly vascular tumours. Care should be taken to avoid accidental energy transmission to the cochlea

Llif yr atmosffer drydanol dros begwn y gogledd: arsylwadau tomograffi radio a SuperDARN

The paper investigates the structure and behaviour of the nighttime ionised (electrified) atmosphere in the polar and auroral regions; the region where the aurora borealis occurs. Of particular interest are plasma structures on horizontal scales of hundreds of kilometres. The observations presented were made by the radiotomography experiment of the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, which has four satellite receiving systems in the high Arctic near the north pole, at Ny Ålesund and Longyearbyen on Svalbard, Bjørnøya (Bear Island) and Tromsø on mainland Norway. Comparisons of tomography images with observations of plasma flow by the international SuperDARN radar suggest that large density plasma produced on the dayside flows across the polar region and into the night sector. The results contribute to the interpretation of physical processes that couple the Earth's environment with space, and are also of interest to users of radio systems where the ionised atmosphere can degrade the propagation of the signals