Does arctic vegetation change when grazed by barnacle geese?:A pilot study

The effects of grazing by barnacle geese Branta leucopsis on arctic vegetation was studied. Two plots where grazers had been excluded five and six years previously were compared with grazed vegetation nearby. The exclosed plots contained more live biomass than the area with grazed vegetation. However, there was no significant difference in density of shoots and number of leaves per shoot in the heavily grazed Poa arctica. Within the exclosed plots, there was a slow build-up of dead material and the moss carpet had grown thicker than in the grazed plots. The number of inflorescences was the most prominent feature, which differentiated the exclosed vegetation from the sated surrounding. There is no evidence for habitat deterioration caused by increased grazing pressure from the expanding barnacle goose population as has been reported for the snow goose on the Hudson Bay lowlands in Canada. The increased activity of nitrogen fixation by cyanobacteria in grazed vegetation might be a mechanism which compensates for the nitrogen deficit caused by the migratory geese.</p

Exploring Women’s Lived Experiences of Early Marriage in Rural Indonesia

Early marriage is still a global concern, and Indonesia ranks second behind Cambodia in the number of early marriages within the ASEAN region. Despite the spread of technology and the influence of Western media, some Indonesian families, especially those who live in rural areas, continue to practice early marriage. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to understand the reasons behind early marriage based on the perspective of Indonesian women who were married before the age of 18. Based on a phenomenological approach, thirty women, ages 18-45, from the Madurese community in Situbondo, East Java participated in the study. Results showed that young Madurese women decided to get married for love and companionship, as well as for economic benefits and protecting the family’s honor. Participants also believed that cultural norms and values related to marriage, sexual purity, and gender expectations play a role in early marriage. Suggestions for future studies and community interventions are discussed

Host range, symbiotic effectiveness and nodulation competitiveness of some indigenous cowpea bradyrhizobia isolates from the transitional savanna zone of Ghana

To identify indigenous rhizobia with potential as inoculants for increasing cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) yields, we have assessed the host range, symbiotic effectiveness and competitiveness for noduleoccupancy among five (AII-2-1, AII-5-2, AI-4-3, AII-3-4 and BIII-2-2) indigenous cowpea bradyrhizobia isolates from the transitional savanna zone of Ghana. ERIC-PCR DNA fingerprinting patterns were used to identify the isolates occupying nodules. All the isolates nodulated cowpea, groundnut (Arachis hypogeae) and mungbean (Vigna radiata), but only AII-2-1, AII-3-4 and BIII-2-2 nodulated soybean (Glycine max). Apart from cowpea where all the isolates were effective, there were significant differences in the symbiotic effectiveness of the isolates on the other host legumes. Out of a total of about 250 cowpea nodules that were screened for each inoculum-mix, isolate AII-5-2 was the most competitive for nodule occupancy whilst AII-3-4 was the least. Isolate AII-5-2 occupied 71% of the nodules in an inoculum-mix consisting of equal proportions of AII-2-1, AII-5-2 and AI-4-3 (a 3-isolatemix) and 60% of nodules in an inoculum-mix consisting of equal proportions of all the five isolates (a 5- isolate-mix). Therefore, among the isolates tested, AII-5-2 has the best potential for use as inoculant formaximizing cowpea yield in N2- deficient agro-ecological zones of Ghana

WSO/UV: World Space Observatory/Ultraviolet

We summarize the capabilities of the World Space Observatory (UV) Project (WSO/UV). An example of the importance of this project (with a planned launch date of 2007/8) for the study of Classical Novae is given.Comment: 4 pages, To appear in the proceeedings of the "Classical Nova Explosions" conference, eds. M. Hernanz and J. Jose, AI

Doppler temperatures from O(¹D) airglow in the daytime thermosphere as observed by the Wind Imaging Interferometer (WINDII) on the UARS satellite

International audienceFrom 1992 to 1997, the WINDII interferometer on board the UARS satellite acquired a large set of thermospheric data from the O(1D) and O(1S) airglows. We report here for the first time on daytime O(1D) Doppler temperatures obtained with version 5.11 of the WINDII data processing software. Using a statistical analysis of the temperatures independently measured by the two WINDII fields of view, we estimate that the temperature variations larger than 40 K can be considered as geophysical. Comparisons of WINDII temperatures measured during magnetically quiet days with temperatures obtained by the MSIS-90 and DTM-94 thermospheric models show a 100 K bias. We demonstrate, however, that the modeled temperature variations represent very well the mean temperature variation observed by WINDII over 4 years. We also show that the observed latitudinal/local time variation is in very good agreement with the two empirical models. Finally, the temperature variations during a magnetically disturbed day are found to be qualitatively well represented in form by the models, but largely underestimated. The presence of non-thermal atoms and instrument related issues are discussed as possible explanations for the 100 K bias between the WINDII Doppler temperatures and the empirical models

Neutron imaging and modelling inclined vortex driven thin films.

The vortex fluidic device (VFD) is a thin film microfluidic platform which has a wide range of applications in synthesis and other areas of science, and it is important to understand the nature of the thin film of liquid in its inclined rapidly rotating tube. Neutron imaging has been used to determine the thickness of the film in a quartz tube with its shape modelled mathematically, showing good agreement between the model and experiments. The resultant equations are useful for studying VFD mediated processing in general, for which the optimal tilt angle of the tube is typically 45°. This includes its utility for the intelligent scale-up of organic syntheses, as demonstrated in the present study by the scaling up of an imine and amide synthesis to >1 g/min

New Pulsating White Dwarfs in Cataclysmic Variables

The number of discovered non-radially pulsating white dwarfs (WDs) in cataclysmic variables (CVs) is increasing rapidly by the aid of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We performed photometric observations of two additional objects, SDSS J133941.11+484727.5 (SDSS 1339), independently discovered as a pulsator by Gansicke et al., and SDSS J151413.72+454911.9, which we identified as a CV/ZZ Ceti hybrid. In this Letter we present the results of the remote observations of these targets performed with the Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT) during the Nordic-Baltic Research School at Moletai Observatory, and follow-up observations executed by NOT in service mode. We also present 3 candidates we found to be non-pulsating. The results of our observations show that the main pulsation frequencies agree with those found in previous CV/ZZ Ceti hybrids, but specifically for SDSS 1339 the principal period differs slightly between individual observations and also from the recent independent observation by Gansicke et al. Analysis of SDSS colour data for the small sample of pulsating and non-pulsating CV/ZZ Ceti hybrids found so far, seems to indicate that the r-i colour could be a good marker for the instability strip of this class of pulsating WDs.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in MNRAS Letter