Some Important Observations on the Populations of Hooded Vultures Necrosyrtes monachus

Despite major declines in the population of vultures around the world, noticeable increases were reported in the populations of Hooded Vultures Necrosyrtes monachus over the past decade in Accra—an important vulture habitat in Ghana. In recent times, however, there is a growing concern that the vulture numbers are decreasing even though scientific data to support this is nonexisting. As a vital zoogeographical and conservation tool, it is important to keep an up-to-date knowledge about urban bird populations amidst rapid urbanization and associated changes. Using a combination of field data, literature review, and stakeholder consultations, it was indicative that severe decline might have indeed occurred in the populations of Hooded Vultures in Accra. Evidence suggests the killing of vultures for consumption, traditional medicine, and black magic in an undercover trade with possible transboundary connections as important underlying factor. Additional factors suspected to underlie the declines include changes in management of urban facilities and destruction of roosting and nesting trees. The implications of interspecific competition with Pied Crows Corvus albus on Hooded Vultures however remain unclear. There is an urgent need for conservation campaign and education to save the Hooded Vulture in Ghana

When Bad News Arrives: Project HOPE in a Post-Factual World

On the basis of limited empirical evidence, advocates of Project HOPE (Hawaii’s Opportunity Probation with Enforcement) have succeeded in spreading the model to a reported 31 states and 160 locations. A recent randomized control experiment across four sites has revealed negative results: no overall effect on recidivism. In this context, we examine how prominent advocates of Project HOPE have coped with the arrival of this “bad news.” Despite null findings from a “gold standard” evaluation study, advocates continue to express confidence in the HOPE model and to support its further implementation. The risk thus exists that Project HOPE is entering a post-factual world in which diminishing its appeal—let alone its falsification—is not possible. It is the collective responsibility of corrections researchers to warn policy makers that the HOPE model is not a proven intervention and may not be effective in many agencies. It is also our responsibility to create a science of community supervision that can establish more definitively best practices in this area

Control via electron count of the competition between magnetism and superconductivity in cobalt and nickel doped NaFeAs

Using a combination of neutron, muon and synchrotron techniques we show how the magnetic state in NaFeAs can be tuned into superconductivity by replacing Fe by either Co or Ni. Electron count is the dominant factor, since Ni-doping has double the effect of Co-doping for the same doping level. We follow the structural, magnetic and superconducting properties as a function of doping to show how the superconducting state evolves, concluding that the addition of 0.1 electrons per Fe atom is sufficient to traverse the superconducting domain, and that magnetic order coexists with superconductivity at doping levels less than 0.025 electrons per Fe atom.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figure

Investigating tiredness in Australian general practice. Do pathology tests help in diagnosis?

Melbourn

Neutron studies of a high spin Fe19_{19} molecular nanodisc

The molecular cluster system [Fe$_{19}$(metheidi)$_{10}$(OH)$_{14}$O$_{6}$(H$_{2}$O)$_{12}$]NO$_{3}$·24H$_{2}$O, abbreviated as Fe$_{19}$, contains nineteen Fe(III) ions arranged in a disc-like structure with the total spin S = 35/2. For the first order, it behaves magnetically as a single molecule magnet with a 16 K anisotropy barrier. The high spin value enhances weak intermolecular interactions for both dipolar and superexchange mechanisms and an eventual transition to antiferromagnetic order occurs at 1.2 K. We used neutron diffraction to determine both the mode of ordering and the easy spin axis. The observed ordering was not consistent with a purely dipolar driven order, indicating a significant contribution from intermolecular superexchange. The easy axis is close to the molecular Fe1–Fe10 axis. Inelastic neutron scattering was used to follow the magnetic order parameter and to measure the magnetic excitations. Direct transitions to at least three excited states were found in the 2 to 3 meV region. Measurements below 0.2 meV revealed two low energy excited states, which were assigned to S = 39/2 and S = 31/2 spin states with respective excitation gaps of 1.5 and 3 K. Exchange interactions operating over distances of order 10 Å were determined to be on the order of 5 mK and were eight-times stronger than the dipolar coupling

Nanoscale depth-resolved polymer dynamics probed by the implantation of low energy muons

The low energy muon (LEM) technique has been used to probe local changes in the dynamical spectrum of thin film polymer samples taking place as a function of the temperature and the implantation depth below the free surface. The studies have been made on samples of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and polybutadiene (PB) using the transverse magnetic field (TF) configuration and diamagnetic probe muons. In PDMS evidence is found for suppression of the glass transition temperature near the surface, along with significantly modified dynamics in the near-surface region as well as at depths significantly below the surface. For PB the LEM technique reveals well-defined layers of dynamical and spatial inhomogeneity at depths of order 0.1–0.2 μm below the free surface. These inhomogeneous regions may be assigned to nanopores produced by solvent streaming during preparation of spin-cast films. A thermal annealing procedure is shown to significantly reduce the thickness of these inhomogeneous layers. These results demonstrate that using LEM in the TF configuration provides a promising new method for studying surface-modified local dynamics of polymers that is also able to reveal nanostructured buried layers in polymer films