The impact of blocking natural peat pipes on water-table depth and water quality

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Editorials

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Physical activity as an exogenous risk factor for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a review of the evidence

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a rapidly progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disorder. The only established epidemiological risk factors for ALS are male sex and increasing age. The role of physical activity has been debated as an environmental risk factor. Over the last decade multiple studies have attempted to delineate the architecture of ALS. These have not yet established definite risk factors, often due to low-powered studies, lack of focus on at-risk genotypes and sub-optimal methodology. We have conducted a review of all the studies published between 2009 and December 2021. The free text search terms were [(motor neuron disease) OR (MND) OR (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) OR (ALS)] AND [(Exercise) or (Physical Activity) or (PA) or (sport)]. We identified common themes, for example soccer, head injury and the physiological mechanisms that differ in ALS patients. We have analysed the relevant, available studies (n = 93), highlighting the underlying reasons for any reported discrepancies. Overall, we have found that the more highly powered studies using validated exposure methodologies, linked strenuous, anaerobic physical activity as a risk factor for ALS. Future large-scale studies focusing on specific at-risk genotypes and physical activity should be conducted to confirm this finding. This will strengthen the evidence already surrounding strenuous physical activity as an environmental risk factor for ALS and allow advice to be given to at-risk family members. Increasing our understanding of the genetic–environmental interactions in the pathophysiology of ALS will allow for the possibility of developing preventative therapeutic approaches

Two classes of ideals determined by integer-valued polynomials

If D is a domain with quotient field K, let Int(D) = {f(X) ∈ K[X] | f(d) ∈ D for every d ∈ D} be the ring of integer-valued polynomials over D. It is well known that the binomial polynomials GX n H = X(X−1)...(X−n+1) n! form a basis of Int(ZZ) as a free ZZ-module and that for every prime integer p, the Fermat polynomials fp(X) = 1 p (Xp − X) are in Int(ZZ). If the domain D contains ZZ, for each nonnegative integer n, set C(n) = {α ∈ K | α GX n H ∈ Int(D)}, and for every prime integer p, set E(p) = {α ∈ K | α · fp(X) ∈ Int(D)} . Each C(n) and E(p) is an ideal of D which we explicitly determine when D is a Dedekind domain

Measuring and modelling the impact of outdoor pigs on soil carbon and nutrient dynamics under a changing climate and different management scenarios

A mixed agricultural system that integrates livestock and cropping is essential to organic, agroecological, and regenerative farming. The demand for improved welfare systems has made the practice of outdoor rearing of pigs very popular; it currently makes up 40% of the UK pig industry and has also been integrated into arable rotations. Besides the benefits of outdoor production systems, they also potentially pose environmental risks to farmlands, such as accumulation of nitrogen and phosphorus in the soil, soil erosion and compaction and carbon loss. Despite this, the impact of outdoor pigs and arable crop rotations on soil health has been under-researched relative to other livestock species. This study was conducted at the University of Leeds Research Farm from 2018 to 2020 using a combined experimental and modelling approach to understand the impact of outdoor pigs on soil carbon and nutrient dynamics. The physio-chemical properties of arable soil were measured prior to the introduction of the pigs and after introducing the pigs at the end of first and second years, consecutively. There was assessment of control sites (without pigs, mowing once a year) and pig pens (pigs in a rotation with arable crops). The soil was sampled at two different depths, 0–10 cm and 10–20 cm. It was observed that measured soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks in the soil depths of 0–10 cm and 10–20 cm layer were decreased by 7% and 3%, respectively, in the pig pens from 2019 to 2020, and total available nitrogen and phosphorus were significantly higher in pig pens than the control sites. Hence, at a depth between 0 and 20 cm, the average total available nitrogen was 2.51 and 2.68 mg kg−1 in the control sites and 21.76 and 20.45 mg kg−1 in the pig pens in 2019 and 2020, respectively. The average total available phosphorus at 0–20 cm was 26.54 and 37.02 mg kg−1 in control sites and 48.15 and 63.58 mg kg−1 in pig pens during 2019 and 2020, respectively. A process-based model (DayCent) was used to simulate soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics in the arable rotation with outdoor pigs and showed SOC stock losses of – 0.09 ± 0.23 T C ha−1 year−1 using the future climate CMIP5 RCP 8.5 scenario for 2020 to 2048. To reduce this loss, we modelled the impact of changing the management of the pig rotation and found that the loss of SOC stock could be decreased by shortening the period of pig retention in the field, growing grass in the field, and leguminous crops in the crop rotation

The Uncertainty in Newton's Constant and Precision Predictions of the Primordial Helium Abundance

The current uncertainty in Newton's constant, G_N, is of the order of 0.15%. For values of the baryon to photon ratio consistent with both cosmic microwave background observations and the primordial deuterium abundance, this uncertainty in G_N corresponds to an uncertainty in the primordial 4He mass fraction, Y_P, of +-1.3 x 10^{-4}. This uncertainty in Y_P is comparable to the effect from the current uncertainty in the neutron lifetime, which is often treated as the dominant uncertainty in calculations of Y_P. Recent measurements of G_N seem to be converging within a smaller range; a reduction in the estimated error on G_N by a factor of 10 would essentially eliminate it as a source of uncertainty in the calculation of the primordial 4He abundance.Comment: 3 pages, no figures, fixed typos, to appear in Phys. Rev.

A Case-Based Approach to Cross Domain Sentiment Classification

This paper considers the task of sentiment classification of subjective text across many domains, in particular on scenarios where no in-domain data is available. Motivated by the more general applicability of such methods, we propose an extensible approach to sentiment classification that leverages sentiment lexicons and out-of-domain data to build a case-based system where solutions to past cases are reused to predict the sentiment of new documents from an unknown domain. In our approach the case representation uses a set of features based on document statistics, while the case solution stores sentiment lexicons employed on past predictions allowing for later retrieval and reuse on similar documents. The case-based nature of our approach also allows for future improvements since new lexicons and classification methods can be added to the case base as they become available. On a cross domain experiment our method has shown robust results when compared to a baseline single-lexicon classifier where the lexicon has to be pre-selected for the domain in question

Peatland pools are tightly coupled to the contemporary carbon cycle

Peatlands are globally important stores of soil carbon (C) formed over millennial timescales but are at risk of destabilization by human and climate disturbance. Pools are ubiquitous features of many peatlands and can contain very high concentrations of C mobilized in dissolved and particulate organic form and as the greenhouses gases carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4). The radiocarbon content (14C) of these aquatic C forms tells us whether pool C is generated by contemporary primary production or from destabilized C released from deep peat layers where it was previously stored for millennia. We present novel 14C and stable C (δ13C) isotope data from 97 aquatic samples across six peatland pool locations in the United Kingdom with a focus on dissolved and particulate organic C and dissolved CO2. Our observations cover two distinct pool types: natural peatland pools and those formed by ditch blocking efforts to rewet peatlands (restoration pools). The pools were dominated by contemporary C, with the majority of C (~50%–75%) in all forms being younger than 300 years old. Both pool types readily transform and decompose organic C in the water column and emit CO2 to the atmosphere, though mixing with the atmosphere and subsequent CO2 emissions was more evident in natural pools. Our results show little evidence of destabilization of deep, old C in natural or restoration pools, despite the presence of substantial millennial-aged C in the surrounding peat. One possible exception is CH4 ebullition (bubbling), with our observations showing that millennial-aged C can be emitted from peatland pools via this pathway. Our results suggest that restoration pools formed by ditch blocking are effective at preventing the release of deep, old C from rewetted peatlands via aquatic export

Dragon-kings: mechanisms, statistical methods and empirical evidence

This introductory article presents the special Discussion and Debate volume "From black swans to dragon-kings, is there life beyond power laws?" published in Eur. Phys. J. Special Topics in May 2012. We summarize and put in perspective the contributions into three main themes: (i) mechanisms for dragon-kings, (ii) detection of dragon-kings and statistical tests and (iii) empirical evidence in a large variety of natural and social systems. Overall, we are pleased to witness significant advances both in the introduction and clarification of underlying mechanisms and in the development of novel efficient tests that demonstrate clear evidence for the presence of dragon-kings in many systems. However, this positive view should be balanced by the fact that this remains a very delicate and difficult field, if only due to the scarcity of data as well as the extraordinary important implications with respect to hazard assessment, risk control and predictability.Comment: 20 page

'Education, education, education' : legal, moral and clinical

This article brings together Professor Donald Nicolson's intellectual interest in professional legal ethics and his long-standing involvement with law clinics both as an advisor at the University of Cape Town and Director of the University of Bristol Law Clinic and the University of Strathclyde Law Clinic. In this article he looks at how legal education may help start this process of character development, arguing that the best means is through student involvement in voluntary law clinics. And here he builds upon his recent article which argues for voluntary, community service oriented law clinics over those which emphasise the education of students