Quantifying the value of ecosystem services: a case study of honeybee pollination in the UK

There is concern that insect pollinators, such as honey bees, are currently declining in abundance, and are under serious threat from environmental changes such as habitat loss and climate change; the use of pesticides in intensive agriculture, and emerging diseases. This paper aims to evaluate how much public support there would be in preventing further decline to maintain the current number of bee colonies in the UK. The contingent valuation method (CVM) was used to obtain the willingness to pay (WTP) for a theoretical pollinator protection policy. Respondents were asked whether they would be WTP to support such a policy and how much would they pay? Results show that the mean WTP to support the bee protection policy was £1.37/week/household. Based on there being 24.9 million households in the UK, this is equivalent to £1.77 billion per year. This total value can show the importance of maintaining the overall pollination service to policy makers. We compare this total with estimates obtained using a simple market valuation of pollination for the UK

On the creation of thermal equations of state for use in Dioptas

Dioptas is a widely used software package for integrating and analysing 2-dimensional diffraction images. To help interpret the integrated diffraction profiles it produces, Dioptas users can input files that parameterise a material's thermal equation of state (EoS), enabling the positions of the Bragg peaks from that material to be calculated as a function of pressure and temperature. However, care is needed to ensure that these input files correctly describe the thermal EoS of interest. Here we describe the thermal EoS model used by Dioptas and show how existing thermal EoS should be reparameterised so as to be used correctly in Dioptas. Input EoS files suitable for use with Dioptas are provided for the following commonly-used pressure calibrants and pressure transmitting media: Al, Au, Cu, Mo, Nb, Pt, Ta, hcp-Fe, MgO, NaCl-B1, NaCl-B2, KCl-B2, and Ne.</p

In-process monitoring and control of multi-pass fusion welding using phased arrays

Many industrial sectors, such as nuclear and defence, employ high-integrity fusion welding processes for the manufacture of safety-critical components. Often these parts consist of thick-sections which necessitate the use of a multiple-pass weld deposition strategy. Ultrasonic Testing (UT) is a common volumetric testing technique used to ensure the safety of these components before they reach service. However, as testing traditionally occurs as a final step within the manufacturing timeline it is often regarded as a bottleneck in the supply chain, especially where defects are found in early weld runs which require a large amount of rework to correct. In recent years, there have been increasing economic and industrial drivers toward employing innovative in-process inspection techniques to reduce overall manufacturing costs and improve schedule certainty. Through in-process monitoring of the welding process, it is possible to detect the formation of defects at the earliest possible point to enable quicker, more cost effective repair. Here, traditional phased array ultrasonic technologies are used to monitor the deposition of a multi-pass Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW) process. Through processing and analysis of the received longitudinal ultrasonic signals, this technique is shown to be capable of inferring the suitability of the chosen welding parameters while screening for appropriate joint fusion. Crucially, this strategy is also shown to be effective at discriminating between solid lower and liquid upper passes in a multi-pass weld through appropriate phased array steering and focussing. This capability directly informs in-process inspection and monitoring and enables the potential for closed-loop control with the opportunity to correct for any defects as they are formed

Rich Polymorphism of a Metal-Organic Framework in Pressure-Temperature Space.

We present an in situ powder X-ray diffraction study on the phase stability and polymorphism of the metal-organic framework ZIF-4, Zn(imidazolate)2, at simultaneous high pressure and high temperature, up to 8 GPa and 600 °C. The resulting pressure-temperature phase diagram reveals four, previously unknown, high-pressure-high-temperature ZIF phases. The crystal structures of two new phases-ZIF-4-cp-II and ZIF-hPT-II-were solved by powder diffraction methods. The total energy of ZIF-4-cp-II was evaluated using density functional theory calculations and was found to lie in between that of ZIF-4 and the most thermodynamically stable polymorph, ZIF- zni. ZIF-hPT-II was found to possess a doubly interpenetrated diamondoid topology and is isostructural with previously reported Cd(Imidazolate)2 and Hg(Imidazolate)2 phases. This phase exhibited extreme resistance to both temperature and pressure. The other two new phases could be assigned with a unit cell and space group, although their structures remain unknown. The pressure-temperature phase diagram of ZIF-4 is strikingly complicated when compared with that of the previously investigated, closely related ZIF-62 and demonstrates the ability to traverse complex energy landscapes of metal-organic systems using the combined application of pressure and temperature

Towards real-time ultrasound driven inspection and control of GTA welding processes for high-value manufacturing

Many industrial sectors, such as nuclear and defence, employ high-integrity welding processes for the manufacture of safety-critical, high-value components. Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) techniques are used to ensure the strength and safety of these components both before they reach service and throughout their service-life. Often these welded components are composed of thick-sections which necessitate the use of a multiple-pass weld deposition strategy. As a result of the traditional inspection approach occurring only after the deposition of all weld runs, defects which have been introduced in early weld runs remain undetected and buried until the final inspection. This greatly complicates the re-work procedure, increases material wastage and the associated costs as well as delaying early correction of improper process parameters. With the nuclear sector being called upon to play a significant role in the delivery of low-carbon energy production there has been an increasing drive to reduce manufacturing costs. The development and deployment of innovative in-process inspection and control strategies is one method being explored to help achieve this. Through in-process inspection and monitoring of the welding process, it is possible to detect the formation of defects at the earliest possible point to enable quicker, more efficient, and more cost-effective correction and repair. As the most critical weld run within any multi-pass weld is the root pass, it is vital that this be monitored precisely to ensure integrity of the welded joint. Here, the feasibility of using single element and phased array ultrasonic approaches to interrogate and analyse the molten weld pool during robotic deposition of a Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW) root pass of a common multi-pass weld joint (90 degree included bevel angle, 1.5 mm root face height and 3.2mm root gap) is explored. Through processing and analysis of the received shear and longitudinal ultrasonic waves, this technique is shown to be capable of screening root pass width and height and joint fusion, critically indicating lack-of root fusion. This capability directly informs in-process inspection and monitoring and enables the potential for closed-loop control with the opportunity to correct for any defects as they are formed. The concept of utilising a similar strategy for upper passes within multi-pass welds is introduced. Along with the wildly varying wave propagation path and associated impedance variations, the challenges encountered during discrimination of the solid lower and upper molten passes are presented along with suitable signal processing techniques to counteract for these

Lack of trust in maternal support is associated with negative interpretations of ambiguous maternal behavior

Attachment theory assumes that children who lack trust in maternal availability for support are more inclined to interpret maternal behavior in congruence with their expectation that mother will remain unavailable for support. To provide the first test of this assumption, early adolescents (9-13 years old) were asked to assess whether ambiguous interactions with mother should be interpreted in a positive or a negative way. In our sample (n = 322), results showed that early adolescents' lack of trust in their mother's availability for support was related to more negative interpretations of maternal behavior. The associations remained significant after controlling for depressive mood. The importance of these findings for our understanding of attachment theory, attachment stability, and clinical practice are discussed

Cancer symptom awareness and barriers to symptomatic presentation in England – Are we clear on cancer?

Background: Low cancer awareness may contribute to delayed diagnosis and poor cancer survival. We aimed to quantify socio-demographic differences in cancer symptom awareness and barriers to symptomatic presentation in the English population. Methods: Using a uniquely large data set (n=49?270), we examined the association of cancer symptom awareness and barriers to presentation with age, gender, marital status and socio-economic position (SEP), using logistic regression models to control for confounders. Results: The youngest and oldest, the single and participants with the lowest SEP recognised the fewest cancer symptoms, and reported most barriers to presentation. Recognition of nine common cancer symptoms was significantly lower, and embarrassment, fear and difficulties in arranging transport to the doctor’s surgery were significantly more common in participants living in the most deprived areas than in the most affluent areas. Women were significantly more likely than men to both recognise common cancer symptoms and to report barriers. Women were much more likely compared with men to report that fear would put them off from going to the doctor. Conclusions: Large and robust socio-demographic differences in recognition of some cancer symptoms, and perception of some barriers to presentation, highlight the need for targeted campaigns to encourage early presentation and improve cancer outcomes

In-process phased array ultrasonic weld pool monitoring

In recent years, there have been increasing economic and industrial drivers for the development of real-time non-destructive evaluation directly at the point of manufacture. Real-time inspection and monitoring of welding processes can help to reduce fabrication costs by detecting defects as they occur, enabling more efficient and cost-effective builds. This paper shows, for the first time, the use of phased array ultrasonics to monitor and analyse the molten weld pool during deposition of multi-pass gas tungsten arc welds. The received ultrasonic signals are shown to contain information related to key physical transitions occurring within the welding process, namely the melting and solidification of the weldment. Furthermore, the technique used here is shown to be effective for determining weld quality in real-time with significant signal changes occurring when defects such as Lack of Root Penetration are present. The accurate focusing and steering capabilities offered by phased arrays are used to successfully isolate the molten weld pool from the surrounding solidified weldment during deposition of multiple layers of a multi-pass weld

Risk factors for delay in symptomatic presentation: a survey of cancer patients

Background: Delay in symptomatic presentation leading to advanced stage at diagnosis may contribute to poor cancer survival. To inform public health approaches to promoting early symptomatic presentation, we aimed to identify risk factors for delay in presentation across several cancers. Methods: We surveyed 2371 patients with 15 cancers about nature and duration of symptoms using a postal questionnaire. We calculated relative risks for delay in presentation (time from symptom onset to first presentation >3 months) by cancer, symptoms leading to diagnosis and reasons for putting off going to the doctor, controlling for age, sex and deprivation group. Results: Among 1999 cancer patients reporting symptoms, 21% delayed presentation for >3 months. Delay was associated with greater socioeconomic deprivation but not age or sex. Patients with prostate (44%) and rectal cancer (37%) were most likely to delay and patients with breast cancer least likely to delay (8%). Urinary difficulties, change of bowel habit, systemic symptoms (fatigue, weight loss and loss of appetite) and skin symptoms were all common and associated with delay. Overall, patients with bleeding symptoms were no more likely to delay presentation than patients who did not have bleeding symptoms. However, within the group of patients with bleeding symptoms, there were significant differences in risk of delay by source of bleeding: 35% of patients with rectal bleeding delayed presentation, but only 9% of patients with urinary bleeding. A lump was a common symptom but not associated with delay in presentation. Twenty-eight percent had not recognised their symptoms as serious and this was associated with a doubling in risk of delay. Embarrassment, worry about what the doctor might find, being too busy to go to the doctor and worry about wasting the doctor’s time were also strong risk factors for delay, but were much less commonly reported (<6%). Interpretation: Approaches to promote early presentation should aim to increase awareness of the significance of cancer symptoms and should be designed to work for people of the lowest socioeconomic status. In particular, awareness that rectal bleeding is a possible symptom of cancer should be raised

On columnar thin films as platforms for surface-plasmonic-polaritonic optical sensing: higher-order considerations

The ability to tailor the porosity and optical properties of columnar thin films (CTFs) renders them promising platforms for optical sensing. In particular, surface-plasmon-polariton (SPP) waves, guided by the planar interface of an infiltrated CTF and a thin layer of metal, may be harnessed to detect substances that penetrate the void regions in between the columns of a CTF. This scenario was investigated theoretically using a higher-order homogenization technique, based on an extended version of the second-order strong-permittivity-fluctuation theory, which takes into account the size of the component particles which make up the infiltrated CTF and the statistical distribution of these particles. Our numerical studies revealed that as the size of the component particles increases and as the correlation length that characterizes their distribution increases: (i) the phase speed of the SPP wave decreases and the SPP wave's attenuation increases; (ii) the SPP wave's penetration into the CTF decreases; (iii) the angle of incidence required to excite the SPP wave in a modified Kretschmann configuration increases; (iv) the sharpness of the SPP trough in the graph of reflectance versus angle of incidence increases; and (v) the sensitivity to changes in refractive index of the infiltrating fluid decreases