442 research outputs found
Wild meat consumption in urban Sierra Leone during the Covid-19 pandemic
Wild meat is associated with an increased risk of zoonotic diseases. In some West African countries wild meat consumption declined as the result of official restrictions following Ebola outbreaks during 2013–2016, and was also affected by the current Covid-19 pandemic. In Sierra Leone, a country affected by these diseases, we documented wild meat use in four markets in the capital, Freetown. From a total of 197 interviews, we analysed the influence of age and gender on the types of wild meat eaten and the reasons for their consumption. We found that more men than women consumed wild meat, and for both genders taste was the main reason for eating wild meat. Age did not affect wild meat consumption amongst women. Evidence for changes in consumer behaviour in response to zoonotic disease risk was mixed. Although some consumers avoided wild meat because of disease risk, none stated this was the primary reason for not eating wild meat, and monkeys (presumed to carry a high zoonotic disease risk) were amongst the species cited as being consumed often. More work is needed to identify the best pathway towards safe and sustainable consumption of wild meat in urban Sierra Leone
Two-Proton Correlations near Midrapidity in p+Pb and S+Pb Collisions at the CERN SPS
Correlations of two protons emitted near midrapidity in p+Pb collisions at
450 GeV/c and S+Pb collisions at 200A GeV/c are presented, as measured by the
NA44 Experiment. The correlation effect, which arises as a result of final
state interactions and Fermi-Dirac statistics, is related to the space-time
characteristics of proton emission. The measured source sizes are smaller than
the size of the target lead nucleus but larger than the sizes of the
projectiles. A dependence on the collision centrality is observed; the source
size increases with decreasing impact parameter. Proton source sizes near
midrapidity appear to be smaller than those of pions in the same interactions.
Quantitative agreement with the results of RQMD (v1.08) simulations is found
for p+Pb collisions. For S+Pb collisions the measured correlation effect is
somewhat weaker than that predicted by the model simulations, implying either a
larger source size or larger contribution of protons from long-lived particle
decays.Comment: 10 pages (LaTeX) text, 4 (EPS) figures; accepted for publication in
Phys. Lett.
Strange Meson Enhancement in PbPb Collisions
The NA44 Collaboration has measured yields and differential distributions of
K+, K-, pi+, pi- in transverse kinetic energy and rapidity, around the
center-of-mass rapidity in 158 A GeV/c Pb+Pb collisions at the CERN SPS. A
considerable enhancement of K+ production per pi is observed, as compared to
p+p collisions at this energy. To illustrate the importance of secondary hadron
rescattering as an enhancement mechanism, we compare strangeness production at
the SPS and AGS with predictions of the transport model RQMD.Comment: 11 pages, including 4 figures, LATE
Author Correction: Tree mode of death and mortality risk factors across Amazon forests (Nature Communications, (2020), 11, 1, (5515), 10.1038/s41467-020-18996-3)
The original version of this Article contained an error in Table 2, where the number of individuals in the “All Amazonia” row was reported as 11,6431 instead of 116,431. Also, the original version of this Article contained an error in the Methods, where the R2 for the proportion of broken/uprooted dead trees increase per year was reported as 0.12, the correct value being 0.06. The original version of this Article contained errors in the author affiliations. The affiliation of Gerardo A. Aymard C. with UNELLEZGuanare, Herbario Universitario (PORT), Portuguesa, Venezuela Compensation International Progress S.A. Ciprogress–Greenlife
Author Correction: Tree mode of death and mortality risk factors across Amazon forests
The original version of this Article contained an error in Table 2, where the number of individuals in the “All Amazonia” row was reported as 11,6431 instead of 116,431. Also, the original version of this Article contained an error in the Methods, where the R2 for the proportion of broken/uprooted dead trees increase per year was reported as 0.12, the correct value being 0.06. The original version of this Article contained errors in the author affiliations. The affiliation of Gerardo A. Aymard C. with UNELLEZGuanare, Herbario Universitario (PORT), Portuguesa, Venezuela Compensation International Progress S.A. Ciprogress–Greenlife
Tree mode of death and mortality risk factors across Amazon forests
The carbon sink capacity of tropical forests is substantially affected by tree mortality.
However, the main drivers of tropical tree death remain largely unknown. Here we present a
pan-Amazonian assessment of how and why trees die, analysing over 120,000 trees
representing > 3800 species from 189 long-term RAINFOR forest plots. While tree mortality
rates vary greatly Amazon-wide, on average trees are as likely to die standing as they are
broken or uprooted—modes of death with different ecological consequences. Species-level
growth rate is the single most important predictor of tree death in Amazonia, with faster growing species being at higher risk. Within species, however, the slowest-growing trees are
at greatest risk while the effect of tree size varies across the basin. In the driest Amazonian
region species-level bioclimatic distributional patterns also predict the risk of death, suggesting that these forests are experiencing climatic conditions beyond their adaptative limits.
These results provide not only a holistic pan-Amazonian picture of tree death but large scale evidence for the overarching importance of the growth–survival trade-off in driving
tropical tree mortality.The analysis undertaken here was largely funded by the NERC-funded
TREMOR project (NE/N004655/1) to D.G., R.J.W.B., E.G. and O.L.P. A.E.-M. was
funded by TREMOR and by two ERC awards (T-FORCES 291585, TreeMort 758873).
D.G. acknowledges further support from a Newton-funded consortium award
(ARBOLES, NE/S011811/1). O.L.P. was supported by an ERC Advanced Grant and a
Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award. T.A.M.P. was funded by the ERC award
TreeMort 758873. This is paper number 47 of the Birmingham Institute of Forest
Research. T.R.F., L.E.O.C.A. and O.L.P. were supported by NERC NE/N011570/1.
Support for RAINFOR has come from the Natural Environment Research Council
(NERC) Urgency Grants and NERC Consortium Grants AMAZONICA (NE/F005806/1), TROBIT (NE/D005590/1) and BIO-RED (NE/N012542/1), a European Research
Council (ERC) grant T-FORCES (291585), the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
(#1656), the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (282664, AMAZALERT) and the Royal Society (CH160091)
One and two dimensional analysis of 3pi correlations measured in Pb+Pb interactions
3pi- correlations from Pb+Pb collisions at 158 GeV/c per nucleon are
presented as measured by the focusing spectrometer of the NA44 experiment at
CERN. The three-body effect is found to be stronger for PbPb than for SPb. The
two-dimensional three-particle correlation function is also measured and the
longitudinal extension of the source is larger than the transverse extension
Stress corrosion cracking in Al-Zn-Mg-Cu aluminum alloys in saline environments
Copyright 2013 ASM International. This paper was published in Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, 44A(3), 1230 - 1253, and is made
available as an electronic reprint with the permission of ASM International. One print or electronic copy may
be made for personal use only. Systematic or multiple reproduction, distribution to multiple locations via
electronic or other means, duplications of any material in this paper for a fee or for commercial purposes, or
modification of the content of this paper are prohibited.Stress corrosion cracking of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu (AA7xxx) aluminum alloys exposed to saline environments at temperatures ranging from 293 K to 353 K (20 °C to 80 °C) has been reviewed with particular attention to the influences of alloy composition and temper, and bulk and local environmental conditions. Stress corrosion crack (SCC) growth rates at room temperature for peak- and over-aged tempers in saline environments are minimized for Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys containing less than ~8 wt pct Zn when Zn/Mg ratios are ranging from 2 to 3, excess magnesium levels are less than 1 wt pct, and copper content is either less than ~0.2 wt pct or ranging from 1.3 to 2 wt pct. A minimum chloride ion concentration of ~0.01 M is required for crack growth rates to exceed those in distilled water, which insures that the local solution pH in crack-tip regions can be maintained at less than 4. Crack growth rates in saline solution without other additions gradually increase with bulk chloride ion concentrations up to around 0.6 M NaCl, whereas in solutions with sufficiently low dichromate (or chromate), inhibitor additions are insensitive to the bulk chloride concentration and are typically at least double those observed without the additions. DCB specimens, fatigue pre-cracked in air before immersion in a saline environment, show an initial period with no detectible crack growth, followed by crack growth at the distilled water rate, and then transition to a higher crack growth rate typical of region 2 crack growth in the saline environment. Time spent in each stage depends on the type of pre-crack (“pop-in” vs fatigue), applied stress intensity factor, alloy chemistry, bulk environment, and, if applied, the external polarization. Apparent activation energies (E a) for SCC growth in Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys exposed to 0.6 M NaCl over the temperatures ranging from 293 K to 353 K (20 °C to 80 °C) for under-, peak-, and over-aged low-copper-containing alloys (~0.8 wt pct), they are typically ranging from 20 to 40 kJ/mol for under- and peak-aged alloys, and based on limited data, around 85 kJ/mol for over-aged tempers. This means that crack propagation in saline environments is most likely to occur by a hydrogen-related process for low-copper-containing Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys in under-, peak- and over-aged tempers, and for high-copper alloys in under- and peak-aged tempers. For over-aged high-copper-containing alloys, cracking is most probably under anodic dissolution control. Future stress corrosion studies should focus on understanding the factors that control crack initiation, and insuring that the next generation of higher performance Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys has similar longer crack initiation times and crack propagation rates to those of the incumbent alloys in an over-aged condition where crack rates are less than 1 mm/month at a high stress intensity factor
The PHENIX Experiment at RHIC
The physics emphases of the PHENIX collaboration and the design and current
status of the PHENIX detector are discussed. The plan of the collaboration for
making the most effective use of the available luminosity in the first years of
RHIC operation is also presented.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure. Further details of the PHENIX physics program
available at http://www.rhic.bnl.gov/phenix
Comedy in Unfunny Times: News Parody and Carnival after 9/11
Comedy has a special role in helping societies manage crisis moments, and the U.S. media paid considerable attention to the proper role of comedy in public culture after the 9/11 tragedies. As has been well documented, many popular U.S. comic voices were paralyzed in trying to respond to 9/11 or disciplined by audiences when they did. Starting with these obstacles in mind, this essay analyzes early comic responses to 9/11, and particularly those of the print and online news parody The Onion, as an example of how “fake” news discourse could surmount the rhetorical chill that fell over public culture after the tragedies. By exposing the news as “mere” production and by setting an agenda for learning about Islamic culture and Middle East politics, The Onion avoided violating decorum and invited citizen participation. This kind of meta-discourse was crucial after 9/11, when shifting rules for decorum created controversy and as official voices in government and media honed frames and narratives for talking about the attacks
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