JULES-BE:Representation of bioenergy crops and harvesting in the Joint UK Land Environment Simulator vn5.1

We describe developments to the land surface model JULES, allowing for flexible user-prescribed harvest regimes of various perennial bioenergy crops or natural vegetation types. Our aim is to integrate the most useful aspects of dedicated bioenergy models into dynamic global vegetation models, in order that assessment of bioenergy options can benefit from state-of-the-art Earth system modelling. A new plant functional type (PFT) representing Miscanthus is also presented. The Miscanthus PFT fits well with growth parameters observed at a site in Lincolnshire, UK; however, global observed yields of Miscanthus are far more variable than is captured by the model, primarily owing to the model's lack of representation of crop age and establishment time. Global expansion of bioenergy crop areas under a 2 ?C emissions scenario and balanced greenhouse gas mitigation strategy from the IMAGE integrated assessment model (RCP2.6- SSP2) achieves a mean yield of 4.3 billion tonnes of dry matter per year over 2040-2099, around 30 % higher than the biomass availability projected by IMAGE. In addition to perennial grasses, JULES-BE can also be used to represent short-rotation coppicing, residue harvesting from cropland or forestry and rotation forestry

Ready for Life — An evaluation: Factors relating to truancy and promising practices

Truancy has been linked to serious delinquent activity in youth and to significant negative behavior and characteristics in adults. Truancy is one of the most common factors leading to dropout and students not meeting graduation standards. Nevada has arguably the highest high school dropout rate in the nation. This evaluation was prepared for Ready for Life: A movement created by Nevada Public Education Foundation (NPEF), to connect youth to school and work by age 25, but can be of use to several audiences. Practitioners who work with struggling students, court representatives and parents, teachers and administrators, and anyone who has taken an interest in Nevada’s up and coming workforce. This evaluation should provide an introduction and overview of the range and seriousness of the truancy issues in Southern Nevada and shed light on the correlates of truancy as well. It will also provide recommendations for best practices as well as some resources for parents to help prevent truancy. A list of the costs associated with the educational failure that chronic truancy generally implies includes the following: • High school dropouts earn less, on average, and have higher unemployment rates. • They pay less in income taxes to federal and state governments. • They cost government more in social service program funds. • They incur higher criminal justice costs, both as juveniles and adults. • The victims of crime bear a cost, both monetary and non-monetary. • A second-generation cost is incurred by the children of high school dropouts. The gravity of these costs as it relates to Southern Nevada can only be understood in terms of the current high school dropout rate. A key question posed for this evaluation was to identify dimensions of effective practice across the country with a view to developing the Ready for Life’s knowledge base about what constitutes effective practice in truancy reduction programs and services. Presented in the report are recommendations for how the Southern Nevada community of educators, parents, youth and service providers can come together to improve the engagement of youth and their education. In addition there is a review of promising practices in and outside of Southern Nevada that can be initiated and/or fully implemented in order to improve youth outcomes. The long term positive effect of health and educated youth becomes a vital component to a healthy and thriving community

Loss and assimilation: Lived experiences of Brexit for British citizens living in Luxembourg

Inconsistent political realities are associated with mental health issues such as hopelessness, anxiety, and depression. The psychological impact of Brexit is clearly an important and timely issue, but hitherto has been understudied. This study uses a critical realist approach to qualitatively explore the lived experiences of British citizens living in Luxembourg during the Brexit era. The study reports on semi-structured interviews conducted with 6 British citizens aged 18–65. An experientially focused thematic analysis was conducted, exploring two main themes: Loss (with psychological and broader social implications) and Integration (contrasting the mover’s community with the receiving community). This study demonstrates the psychological impact of Brexit and highlights the urgency for future researchers and mental health practitioners alike — both in the UK and overseas — to consider the human consequences associated with political upheaval. Open access materials for this project can be viewed here: https://osf.io/38rg7/?view_only=b8c04dfc3fe5474f9aff4897e370b3e6

¿Adónde iremos si este lago se seca? Un estudio de caso del Sahel

Practicamente igual que sus vecinos sahelianos, Mauritania se enfrenta a una abrumadora variedad de retos provocados por los efectos del cambio climático. Es mucho lo que se podría conseguir si las partes interesadas se comprometieran a responder con rapidez y de forma integral

Où irons-nous si ce lac s'assèche ? Une étude de cas au Sahel: Where will we go if this lake dries up? A case-study from the Sahel

À l'instar de ses voisins sahéliens, la Mauritanie est confrontée à un nombre impressionnant de défis déclenchés par les impacts des changements climatiques. Beaucoup peut être accompli si les parties prenantes s'engagent à prendre des mesures rapides et exhaustives pour y faire face. Much like its Sahelian neighbours, Mauritania faces a daunting array of challenges triggered by the impacts of climate change. There is much that can be achieved if stakeholders commit to swift and comprehensive action in response

Structural imaging biomarkers of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy.

Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy is a major cause of premature death in people with epilepsy. We aimed to assess whether structural changes potentially attributable to sudden death pathogenesis were present on magnetic resonance imaging in people who subsequently died of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy. In a retrospective, voxel-based analysis of T1 volume scans, we compared grey matter volumes in 12 cases of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (two definite, 10 probable; eight males), acquired 2 years [median, interquartile range (IQR) 2.8] before death [median (IQR) age at scanning 33.5 (22) years], with 34 people at high risk [age 30.5 (12); 19 males], 19 at low risk [age 30 (7.5); 12 males] of sudden death, and 15 healthy controls [age 37 (16); seven males]. At-risk subjects were defined based on risk factors of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy identified in a recent combined risk factor analysis. We identified increased grey matter volume in the right anterior hippocampus/amygdala and parahippocampus in sudden death cases and people at high risk, when compared to those at low risk and controls. Compared to controls, posterior thalamic grey matter volume, an area mediating oxygen regulation, was reduced in cases of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy and subjects at high risk. The extent of reduction correlated with disease duration in all subjects with epilepsy. Increased amygdalo-hippocampal grey matter volume with right-sided changes is consistent with histo-pathological findings reported in sudden infant death syndrome. We speculate that the right-sided predominance reflects asymmetric central influences on autonomic outflow, contributing to cardiac arrhythmia. Pulvinar damage may impair hypoxia regulation. The imaging findings in sudden unexpected death in epilepsy and people at high risk may be useful as a biomarker for risk-stratification in future studies

VERIFICATION AND VALIDATION OF CONSEQUENCE MODELS FOR ACCIDENTAL RELEASES OF TOXIC OR FLAMMABLE CHEMICALS TO THE ATMOSPHERE

PresentationConsequence modelling software for accidental releases of flammable or toxic chemicals to the atmosphere includes discharge modelling, atmospheric dispersion modelling and evaluation of flammable and toxic effects: - First discharge calculations are carried out to set release characteristics for the hazardous chemical (including depressurisation to ambient). Scenarios which may be modelled includes releases from vessels (leaks or catastrophic ruptures), short pipes or long pipes. Releases considered include releases of sub-cooled liquid, superheated liquid or vapour; un-pressurised or pressurised releases; and continuous, time-varying or instantaneous releases. - Secondly dispersion calculations are carried out to determine the concentrations of the hazardous chemical when the cloud travels in the downwind direction. This includes modelling jet, heavy-gas and passive dispersion regimes, and transitions between them. In the case of a two-phase release, liquid droplet modelling is required to calculate liquid rainout, subsequent pool formation/spreading and re-evaporation from the pool back to the cloud. For heavy-gas releases, effects of crosswind and downwind gravity spreading are present, while for short duration and time-varying releases effects of along-wind diffusion are relevant.. For pressurised instantaneous releases an initial phase of energetic expansion of the cloud occurs. Also, effects of indoor mixing (for indoor releases) and building wakes can be accounted for. - Finally, toxic or flammable calculations are carried out. For flammables, ignition may lead to rising fireballs (instantaneous releases), jet fires possibly impinging on the ground (pressurised flammable releases), pool fires (after rainout) and vapour cloud fires or explosions. Radiation calculations are carried out for fires, while overpressure calculations are carried out for explosions. For each event, the probability of death is determined using toxic or flammable probit functions. Testing of the software should ideally include for each consequence model “verification” that the code correctly solves the mathematical model (i.e. that the calculated variables are a correct solution of the equations), “validation” against experimental data to show how closely the mathematical model agrees with the experimental results, and a “sensitivity analysis” including a large number of input parameter variations to ensure overall robustness of the code, and to understand the effect of parameter variations on the model predictions. The current paper includes an overview on how the above verification and validation could be carried out for these consequence models. Reference is made to the literature for the availability of experimental data. Thus, an extensive experimental database has been developed including experimental data for validation for the above models and scenarios, where many different chemicals are considered (including water, LNG, propane, butane, ethylene, ammonia, CO2, hydrogen, chlorine, HF etc.). The above verification and validation is illustrated by means of application to the latest consequence models in the hazard assessment package Phast and the risk analysis package Safeti

Rapid-Survey Methods for Flowering Phenology

The Weekly Phenology Project at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh has been running for three and a half years at the time of writing. Insufficient data have been collected so far for scientific analysis, but we present provisional conclusions concerning several methods of monitoring flowering behaviour. These range from objective methods, such as presence/absence of open flowers and counts of flowers or inflorescences, to non-objective methods involving assessment of the degree to which full flowering has been achieved. One monitoring method, relying on the relative numbers of flowers in the three states ‘bud’, ‘open’, and ‘gone-over’, is illustrated by the flowering behaviour of ‘simultaneously’ and ‘sequentially’ flowering species. We conclude with a discussion of the relative values of the different methods