Do Physiological Integration and Soil Heterogeneity Influence the Clonal Growth and Foraging of Schoenoplectus pungens ?

Physiological integration and foraging behavior have both been proposed as advantages for clonal growth in heterogeneous environments. We tested three predictions concerning their short- and long-term effects on the growth of the clonal perennial sedge Schoenoplectus pungens (Pers.) Volk. ex Schinz and R. Keller: (1) growth would be greatest for clones with connected rhizomes and on heterogeneous soil, (2) clones would preferentially place biomass in the nutrient-rich patches of a spatially heterogeneous environment, and (3) physiological integration would decrease a clone’s ability to forage. We tested our predictions by growing S. pungens clones for 2 years in an experimental garden with two severing treatments (connected and severed rhizomes) crossed with two soil treatments (homogeneous and heterogeneous nutrient distribution). Severing treatments were only carried out in the first year. As predicted, severing significantly decreased total biomass and per capita growth rate in year one and individual ramet biomass both in year one and the year after severing stopped. This reduction in growth was most likely caused by severing damage, because the total biomass and growth rate in severed treatments did not vary with soil heterogeneity. Contrary to our prediction, total biomass and number of ramets were highest on homogeneous soil at the end of year two, regardless of severing treatment, possibly because ramets in heterogeneous treatments were initially planted in a nutrient-poor patch. Finally, as predicted, S. pungens concentrated ramets in the nutrient-rich patches of the heterogeneous soil treatment. This foraging behavior seemed enhanced by physiological integration in the first year, but any possible enhancement disappeared the year after severing stopped. It seems that over time, individual ramets become independent, and parent ramets respond independently to the conditions of their local microsite when producing offspring, a life-history pattern that may be the rule for clonal species with the spreading “guerrilla” growth form.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43887/1/11258_2005_Article_2429.pd

Data and service management of the European volcanological community by the Volcano Observations Thematic Core Service (EPOS-ERIC)

The Volcano Observations Thematic Core Service (VOLC-TCS) is one of the TCSs forming the EPOS European Research Infrastructure Consortium (EPOS-ERIC). The overarching objective of the VOLC-TCS is the implementation of the technical and legal framework consistent with EPOS infrastructure for both coordinating the European volcanology community and giving access to data and services relevant to the volcanoes located in the European countries and their overseas territories, provided by Volcano Observatories (VOs) and Research Institutions (VRIs). To ensure a long-term sustainable operational infrastructure it was necessary to define a clear financial, legal, political and governance framework, alongside the solution of technical issues. One of the main challenges of the management of volcanological data consists in their great heterogeneity, regarding technical characteristics, and also legal aspects (e.g., different data policies among the data providers, different purposes for the use of data from science to monitoring, early-warning, information, etc.). Another challenge derives from the consistency of the VO-TCS with the service provision of EPOS, which characteristic is to merge different Earth Science communities (seismology, GNSS, geomagnetic, geochemistry, geology, etc.). Indeed, some of the services used in volcanology are in common with other communities, thus the implementation work was also devoted to harmonize the provision of data and products standardized by other TCS with the provision of volcanological services. Another important task is the implementation of the community Gateway which is aimed at allowing services not fully compliant with EPOS or implemented by institutions outside the EPOS perimeter, to be visible in EPOS and creating the conditions to interface the VOLC-TCS with data infrastructures operating at global level (e.g., WOVOdat)

The Application of Grave Breaches at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia

The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) is a hybrid court established to prosecute the senior leaders of the Democratic Kampuchea (DK) and those persons most responsible for the crimes committed between 17 April 1975 and 6 January 1979. Since its inception, the Court has tried five accused and convicted three accused, while three additional individuals have been investigated and charged with crimes but have not yet been tried. The subject-matter jurisdiction of the Court includes crimes against humanity (CAH), genocide, grave breaches of the four Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 (Geneva Conventions), and serious violations of the Cambodian Penal Code of 1956

Teacher noticing : A systematic literature review on conceptualizations, research designs, and findings on learning to notice

Teacher noticing has become a prominent construct in research on teacher education and professional development; however, the current state of research is quite diverse, with different theoretical foundations and a variety of research designs. The study described in this paper provides a systematic review of the literature on teacher noticing published over the past two decades. Based on a full-text analysis of 182 articles published in renowned databases and peer-reviewed Englishscholarly journals, the study reveals the dominance of a cognitive-psychological perspective of teacher noticing, especially in combination with qualitative studies. Although teacher noticing has been described as a holistic concept in many earlier articles, more recent studies from the last decade tend to differentiate teacher noticing into different facets. Overall, qualitative studies with small sample sizes are prevalent, which allows for fine-grained analysis but limits the generalizability of findings. This study highlights the limitations of the current discussion, such as the prevalence of teacher noticing mainly in the field of mathematics education and the low representation of work from parts of the world other than North America and Europe. In addition, the studies under consideration in this literature review are examined in depth in terms of their findings on improving teachers’ noticing through interventions and on comparisons between experts and novices, which allows for a discussion of the implications of learning to notice for teacher education and professional development

Challenges and Trends in Corporate Accountability

Moderator: John Quigley, Ohio State University Moritz College of Law Presentations: The Shortcomings of Corporate Accountability in Post-Conflict Colombia: Land, Rivers and Animals (Isabella Ariza Buitrago, Inter-American Court of Human Rights; Luisa Gomez Betancur, Center for International Environmental Law) Corporate Accountability for War Crimes in Palestine-Israel Context (Emily Schaeffer Omer-Mann, Global Echo Litigation Center) Business and Human Rights Trends in Africa (Arnold Kwesiga, African Coalition for Corporate Accountability) Legal Accountability of Financial Actors and Financial Institutions (Kristin Rosella, Global Diligence

Country-specific lockdown measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on tuberculosis control: a global study.

The objective of this study was to describe country-specific lockdown measures and tuberculosis indicators collected during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Data on lockdown/social restrictions (compulsory face masks and hand hygiene; international and local travel restrictions; restrictions to family visits, and school closures) were collected from 24 countries spanning five continents. The majority of the countries implemented multiple lockdowns with partial or full reopening. There was an overall decrease in active tuberculosis, drug-resistant tuberculosis, and latent tuberculosis cases. Although national lockdowns were effective in containing COVID-19 cases, several indicators of tuberculosis were affected during the pandemic