Incorporating altered fire frequency scenarios in species distribution models improves climate change predictions for tropical savanna birds

Biodiversity conservation in the face of changing climate requires reliable predictions of species distributions. Distribution models need to include variables that strongly influence species persistence. Species will be affected by climate change directly by altering the amount and location of suitable climatic space, and indirectly by climate driven modification of habitat. While climate is a good predictor of species distributions, biotic and abiotic landscape factors also influence distribution. Very few studies of climate change effects on biodiversity have included key landscape factors in distribution modelling, despite recognition that landscape alteration through processes such as fire and land clearing changes fauna patterning. For birds in Australian tropical savannas, change in fire regimes is a critical conservation issue, linked to species decline. While species may show gradual shifts in distribution due to changes in temperature and rainfall, species are likely to show a more immediate response to changes in fire as a result of climatic changes. This study examines species' responses to changes in fire by projecting species distribution modelling algorithms built using Maxent onto scenarios with increased fire frequency. We accounted for important static landscape elements by including remnant vegetation and soil spatial layers. This study identified that increased fire frequency alters the predictions for birds by changing the amount of suitable habitat. Climate change combined with increased fire frequency will reduce available habitat; more than simply using climate predictions alone. Our results demonstrate the importance of including landscape factors into distribution modelling when generating species predictions. Understanding the impacts of landscape factors on bird distributions, in particular fire, is a critical step in conservation planning and adaptation of land management for combating biodiversity loss due to climate change

Notations and conventions in molecular spectroscopy: part 1. General spectroscopic notation

The field of Molecular Spectroscopy was surveyed in order to determine a set of conventions and symbols which are in common use in the spectroscopic literature. This document, which is Part I in a series, establishes the notations and conventions used for general spectroscopic notations and deals with quantum mechanics, quantum numbers (vibrational states, angular momentum and energy levels), spectroscopic transitions, and miscellaneous notations (e.g. spectroscopic terms). Further parts will follow, dealing inter alia with symmetry notation, permutation and permutation-inversion symmetry notation, vibration-rotation spectroscopy and electronic spectroscopy

Notations and conventions in molecular spectroscopy: part 2. Symmetry notation

The field of Molecular Spectroscopy was surveyed in order to determine a set of conventions and symbols which are in common use in the spectroscopic literature. This document, which is Part 2 in a series, establishes the notations and conventions used for the description of symmetry in rigid molecules, using the Schoenflies notation. It deals firstly with the symmetry operators of the molecular point groups (also drawing attention to the difference between symmetry operators and elements). The conventions and notations of the molecular point groups are then established, followed by those of the representations of these groups as used in molecular spectroscopy. Further parts will follow, dealing inter alia with permutation and permutation-inversion symmetry notation, vibration-rotation spectroscopy and electronic spectroscopy

A hierarchy of happiness? Mokken scaling analysis of the Oxford Happiness Inventory

The items of the Oxford Happiness Inventory (OHI, a self-report assessment of happiness, are subjected to an analysis for hierarchy among its items. By using Mokken scaling analyses we can assess whether items can reliably be ordered between persons as severity indicators on a latent trait; in this case, a latent trait of Happiness. OHI item-level data from 1024 participants were entered into the Mokken Scaling Procedure (MSP) seeking reliable scales with H > 0.30. 12 OHI items formed a reliable and statistically significant hierarchy. However, the MSP values indicate a 'weak' scale. The 'most difficult' (happiest) item on the scale is 'feeling energetic' and the 'least difficult' (least happy) is 'I have fun'. Items in the scale are consistent with what is already known about both happiness and low mood. The reduction in the OHI's items from 29 to 12 in the Mokken scale may have utility making it more accessible to participants as well as identifying items with reliably different levels of 'difficulty'. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Li zoning in zircon as a potential geospeedometer and peak temperature indicator

Zircon Li concentrations and δ[superscript 7]Li values may potentially trace crustal recycling because continental and mantle-derived zircons yield distinct values. The usefulness of these differences may depend upon the retentivity of zircon to Li concentrations and isotopic ratios. Given the relatively high Li diffusivities measured by Cherniak and Watson (Contrib Mineral Petrol 160: 383–390, 2010), we sought to discover the scenarios under which Li mobility might be inhibited by charge-compensating cations. Toward this end, we conducted “in” diffusion experiments in which Li depth profiles of synthetic Lu-doped, P-doped, and undoped zircon were determined by nuclear reaction analysis. In separate experiments, Li was ion-implanted at depth within polished natural zircon slabs to form a Gaussian Li concentration profile. Diffusively relaxed concentration profiles were measured after heating the slabs to determine diffusivities. In all experiments, which ranged from 920 to 650 °C, calculated diffusivities are in agreement with a previously established Arrhenius relationship calibrated on trace-element-poor Mud Tank zircon. Our revised Arrhenius relationship that includes both datasets is: D[subscript Li] = 9.60 x 10[superscript -7] exp [-278 ± 8 kJ mol[superscript - 1]/RT] m[superscript 2] s[superscript - 1] We also observed that synthetic sector-zoned zircon exhibits near-step-function Li concentration profiles across sectors that correlate with changes in the rare earth element (REE) and P concentrations. This allowed us to examine how Li diffusion might couple with REE diffusion in a manner different than that described above. In particular, re-heating these grains revealed significant Li migration, but no detectable migration of the rare earth elements. Thus, unlike most elements in zircon which are not mobile at the micrometer scale under most time–temperature paths in the crust, Li zoning, relaxation of zoning, or lack of zoning altogether could be used to reveal time–temperature information. Discrete ~10 μm concentration zones of Li within zircon may be partially preserved at 700 °C for tens to hundreds of years, and at 450 °C for millions of years. In this regard, Li zoning in zircon holds significant potential as a geospeedometer, and in some instances as a qualitative indicator of the maximum temperature experienced by the zircon

Temperature-dependent efficiency droop of blue InGaN micro-light emitting diodes

Temperature-dependent trends in radiative and Auger recombination coefficients have been determined at different injection carrier concentrations using InGaN micro-light emitting diodes 40 μm in diameter. The differential lifetime was obtained first from the measured modulation bandwidth and was then employed to calculate the carrier concentration in the quantum well active region. When the temperature increases, the carrier concentration increases, but both the radiative and Auger recombination coefficients decrease. In addition, the temperature dependence of radiative and Auger recombination coefficients is weaker at a higher injection carrier concentration, which is strongly related to phase space filling

Active-matrix GaN micro light-emitting diode display with unprecedented brightness

Displays based on microsized gallium nitride light-emitting diodes possess extraordinary brightness. It is demonstrated here both theoretically and experimentally that the layout of the n-contact in these devices is important for the best device performance. We highlight, in particular, the significance of a nonthermal increase of differential resistance upon multipixel operation. These findings underpin the realization of a blue microdisplay with a luminance of 10⁶ cd/m²

Multiple Measures of Fixation on Social Content in Infancy:Evidence for a Single Social Cognitive Construct?

The preference of infants to fixate on social information in a stimulus is well known. We examine how this preference manifests across a series of free‐viewing tasks using different stimulus types. Participants were thirty typically developing infants. We measured eye movements when viewing isolated faces, faces alongside objects in a grid, and faces naturally presented in photographed scenes. In each task, infants fixated social content for longer than nonsocial content. Social preference scores representing distribution of fixation to social versus general image content were highly correlated and thus combined into a single composite measure, which was independent of demographic and behavioral measures. We infer that multiple eye‐tracking tasks can be used to generate a composite measure of social preference in infancy. This approach may prove useful in the early characterization of developmental disabilities

Low-field H-1 NMR spectroscopy for distinguishing between arabica and robusta ground roast coffees

This work reports a new screening protocol for addressing issues of coffee authenticity using low-field (60 MHz) bench-top H-1 NMR spectroscopy. Using a simple chloroform-based extraction, useful spectra were obtained from the lipophilic fraction of ground roast coffees. It was found that 16-O-methylcafestol (16-OMC, a recognized marker compound for robusta beans) gives rise to an isolated peak in the 60 MHz spectrum, which can be used as an indicator of the presence of robusta beans in the sample. A total of 81 extracts from authenticated coffees and mixtures were analysed, from which the detection limit of robusta in arabica was estimated to be between 10% and 20% w/w. Using the established protocol, a surveillance exercise was conducted of 27 retail samples of ground roast coffees which were labelled as "100% arabica". None were found to contain undeclared robusta content above the estimated detection limit. (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd