Twenty eight years of ICP Vegetation: an overview of its activities

Here we look back at the activities and achievements in the 28 years of the International Cooperative Programme on the Effects of Air Pollution on Natural Vegetation and Crops (ICP Vegetation). The ICP Vegetation is a subsidiary body of the Working Group on Effects of the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LTRAP), established in 1979. An important role of the ICP Vegetation is to provide evidence for air pollution impacts on vegetation in support of policy development and review of the LRTAP Convention and its Protocols. The activities and participation in the ICP Vegetation have grown over the years. The main activities include: • Collate evidence of ozone impacts on vegetation, assess spatial patterns and temporal trends across Europe; • Develop dose-response relationships, establish critical levels for vegetation and provide European risk maps of ozone impacts; • Reviewing the literature on ozone impacts on vegetation and produce thematic scientific reports and policy-relevant brochures; • Determine spatial patterns and temporal trends of heavy metals, nitrogen and persistent organic pollutants concentrations in mosses as a biomonitoring tool of atmospheric deposition of these compounds

Two phase transitions in (s+id)-wave Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer superconductivity

We establish universal behavior in temperature dependencies of some observables in $(s+id)$-wave BCS superconductivity in the presence of a weak $s$ wave. There also could appear a second second-order phase transition. As temperature is lowered past the usual critical temperature $T_c$, a less ordered superconducting phase is created in $d$ wave, which changes to a more ordered phase in $(s+id)$ wave at $T_{c1}$ ($< T_c$). The presence of two phase transitions manifest in two jumps in specific heat at $T_c$ and $T_{c1}$. The temperature dependencies of susceptibility, penetration depth, and thermal conductivity also confirm the new phase transition.Comment: 6 pages, 5 post-script figures

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

Pregnancy in the female athlete - Part 1: antenatal

As female participation in sport and exercise continues to increase, there is a strong likelihood that a strength and conditioning (S&C) coach will work with a pregnant athlete. High profile athletes such as Serena Williams and Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill have shown recently that it is not uncommon for female athletes to become mothers during their careers, rather than after they have retired. However, historically pregnancy was perceived as time spent away from sport and being active was wrongly associated with a high, unreasonable risk to the unborn foetus. The challenge for the S&C coach working with pregnant athletes is navigating the wide range of global recommendations that are often aimed at active or inactive individuals, but not at elite athletes. It is fundamental that any coach working with pregnant athletes is knowledgeable about the physiological and anatomical changes that occur throughout the trimesters, the nutritional demands of pregnancy, and its effect on weight management in order to appropriately facilitate athlete and foetal health during the antenatal period. Therefore, the aim of this initial review is to summarise current literature and provide key insights that promote best practice for practitioners working with pregnant athletes. The use of ‘women’ throughout this paper will refer to the general population and ‘sportswomen’ to the athletic population. ‘Antenatal’ refers to a pregnant woman before childbirth and the term ‘postnatal’ means after childbirth, something which will be covered in part 2 of this review series

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

Comparison of X-ray and gamma-ray dose-response curves for pink somatic mutations in Tradescantia clone 02

Microdosimetric data indicate that the mean specific energy,zeta, produced by individual charged particles from X rays and gamma rays is different for the two radiation qualities by nearly a factor of two. In order to test whether this influences the initial, linear component in the dose-effect relations, a comparison was made between dose-response curves for pink somatic mutations inTradescantia clone 02 stamen hairs following X and gamma irradiations. Absorbed doses ranged from 2.66 to 300 rad. The results are in agreement with predictions made on the basis of microdosimetric data. At low doses gamma rays are substantially less effective than X rays. The RBE of gamma rays vs. X rays at low doses was approximately 0.6, a value lower than those usually reported in other experimental systems

Fluorescent carbon dioxide indicators

Over the last decade, fluorescence has become the dominant tool in biotechnology and medical imaging. These exciting advances have been underpinned by the advances in time-resolved techniques and instrumentation, probe design, chemical / biochemical sensing, coupled with our furthered knowledge in biology. Complementary volumes 9 and 10, Advanced Concepts of Fluorescence Sensing: Small Molecule Sensing and Advanced Concepts of Fluorescence Sensing: Macromolecular Sensing, aim to summarize the current state of the art in fluorescent sensing. For this reason, Drs. Geddes and Lakowicz have invited chapters, encompassing a broad range of fluorescence sensing techniques. Some chapters deal with small molecule sensors, such as for anions, cations, and CO2, while others summarize recent advances in protein-based and macromolecular sensors. The Editors have, however, not included DNA or RNA based sensing in this volume, as this were reviewed in Volume 7 and is to be the subject of a more detailed volume in the near future

A Critical New Pathway Towards Change in Abusive Relationships: The Theory of Transition Framework

This article explores the use of “Transition Framework” as a conceptual framework for individual and social change. William Bridges introduced Transition Framework in the 1970s as a three-pronged model explaining how people respond to change in their lives. This article argues that such an approach has the potential to help clients recognize and grieve the loss of their old identities, become comfortable with new ways of communicating, understand their cycles of relapse and make positive changes. The relevance of this model to transformative change in domestic violence treatment is explored

A Comprehensive Radio and Optical Study of Abell 2256: Activity from an Infalling Group

Abell 2256 is a nearby (z~0.06), rich cluster of galaxies with fascinating observed properties across a range of wavelengths. Long believed to represent a cluster merger, recent X-ray and optical results have suggested that in addition to the primary cluster and subcluster there is evidence for a third, poorer system. We present wide-field, high sensitivity 1.4 GHz VLA radio observations of Abell 2256 in conjunction with optical imaging and additional spectroscopy. Over 40 cluster radio galaxies are identified, with optical spectroscopy indicating the emission source (star formation or AGN) for most of them. While the overall fraction of galaxies exhibiting radio emission is consistent with a large sample of other nearby clusters, we find an increase in the activity level of galaxies belonging to the third system (hereafter, the ``Group''). Specifically, the Group has relatively more star formation than both the primary cluster and main subcluster. The position of the Group is also coincident with the observed cluster radio relic. We suggest that the Group recently (~0.3 Gyr) merged with the primary cluster and that this merger, not the ongoing merger of the primary and the main subcluster, might be responsible for many of the unusual radio properties of Abell 2256. Furthermore, the greater star formation activity of the Group suggests that the infall of groups is an important driver of galaxy evolution in clusters.Comment: 21 pages plus 13 JPEG figures; to appear in the Astronomical Journa

Exact expressions for correlations in the ground state of the dense O(1) loop model

Conjectures for analytical expressions for correlations in the dense O$(1)$ loop model on semi infinite square lattices are given. We have obtained these results for four types of boundary conditions. Periodic and reflecting boundary conditions have been considered before. We give many new conjectures for these two cases and review some of the existing results. We also consider boundaries on which loops can end. We call such boundaries ''open''. We have obtained expressions for correlations when both boundaries are open, and one is open and the other one is reflecting. Also, we formulate a conjecture relating the ground state of the model with open boundaries to Fully Packed Loop models on a finite square grid. We also review earlier obtained results about this relation for the three other types of boundary conditions. Finally, we construct a mapping between the ground state of the dense O$(1)$ loop model and the XXZ spin chain for the different types of boundary conditions.Comment: 25 pages, version accepted by JSTA