Interventions: contesting time, expertise and perspective in conservation decision-making

Conservation decision-making is a critical com- ponent of professional practice, which responds to a variety of external sources of information and data in order to make informed judge- ments. Time, expertise and perspective form the foundation of heuristic methodologies that facilitate decision-making in participatory pro- cesses but often challenge consensus. These concepts can be understood through active reflexive practice, whereby decisions are inter- rogated and the challenges brought by time, expertise and perspective understood. Case studies spanning varying settings including the archaeological field, museum and univer- sity illustrate aspects of this process and provide insight into conservation practice and its impact on artefact interpretation

Determination of activation volumes of reversal in perpendicular media

We discuss a method for the determination of activation volumes of reversal in perpendicular media. This method does not require correction for the self-demagnetizing field normally associated with these media. This is achieved by performing time dependence measurements at a constant level of magnetization. From the difference in time taken for the magnetization to decay to a fixed value at two fields-separated by a small increment DeltaH, the activation volume can be determined. We report data for both CoCrPt alloy films and a multilayer film, typical of those materials under consideration for use as perpendicular media. We find activation volumes that are consistent with the hysteresis curves of the materials. The activation volume scales qualitatively with the exchange coupling. The alloy films have significantly lower activation volumes, implying that they would be capable of supporting a higher data density

Time dependence in perpendicular media with a soft underlayer

In this paper we describe measurements of magnetic viscosity or time dependence in magnetic thin films suitable for use as perpendicular recording media. Generally, such effects cannot be measured using conventional magnetometry techniques due to the presence of a thin (0.1 mum) soft underlayer (SUL) in the media necessary to focus the head field. To achieve our results we have developed an ultrastable MOKE magnetometer, the construction of which is described. This has enabled us to measure nominally identical films with and without the presence of the SUL. We find that the presence of the SUL narrows the energy barrier distribution in the perpendicular film increasing the nucleation field (H-n), reducing the coercivity (H-c) and results in an increase in the squareness of the loop. This in turn results in an increase in the magnitude of the viscosity in the region of the H-c but that the range of fields over which the viscosity occurs is reduced

Policy Ideology in European Mass Publics, 1981–2016

Using new scaling methods and a comprehensive public opinion dataset, we develop the first survey-based time-series–cross-sectional measures of policy ideology in European mass publics. Our dataset covers 27 countries and 36 years and contains nearly 2.7 million survey responses to 109 unique issue questions. Estimating an ordinal group-level IRT model in each of four issue domains, we obtain biennial estimates of the absolute economic conservatism, relative economic conservatism, social conservatism, and immigration conservatism of men and women in three age categories in each country. Aggregating the group-level estimates yields estimates of the average conservatism in national publics in each biennium between 1981–82 and 2015–16. The four measures exhibit contrasting cross-sectional cleavages and distinct temporal dynamics, illustrating the multidimensionality of mass ideology in Europe. Subjecting our measures to a series of validation tests, we show that the constructs they measure are distinct and substantively important and that they perform as well as or better than one-dimensional proxies for mass conservatism (left–right self-placement and median voter scores). We foresee many uses for these scores by scholars of public opinion, electoral behavior, representation, and policy feedback

Made from Mud: Functional Categorization and Analyses of Bronze Age Earthen Materials from Western Turkey

This contribution presents the results of a pilot study of earthen materials excavated at the Middle to Late Bronze Age site of Kaymakçı, located in western Anatolia. It argues that systematic collection and analysis of fragmentary and difficult‑to‑identify earthen materials is challenging, yet crucial. These materials inform on activities of which traces are preserved in the archaeological record but which have been largely under‑ ‑researched. Flourishing studies on earthen findings foreground architectural materials, such as mudbrick, and well‑preserved features and objects. However, earthen objects and architectural features were utilized more widely than in building architecture and only a small portion of excavated sites has good preservation. We, therefore, present the different categories of earthen materials discovered at Kaymakçı, specifically ar‑ chitecture, installations, and portable items. Our work demonstrates that by incorporating new knowledge of archaeological remains at the site and re‑studying the earthen assemblage it is possible to gain a better understanding of the morphological, functional, and social aspects of this dataset

Assessing the Economics of Obesity and Obesity Interventions

Examines projections for healthcare costs associated with the obesity epidemic; policy solutions and proven cost-effective interventions for addressing it; and the need to improve the Congressional Budget Office's projections

Measurement of the B Semileptonic Branching Fraction with Lepton Tags

We have used the CLEO II detector and 2.06fb^(-1) of ϒ(4S) data to measure the B-meson semileptonic branching fraction. The B→Xeν momentum spectrum was obtained over nearly the full momentum range by using charge and kinematic correlations in events with a high-momentum lepton tag and an additional electron. We find B(B→Xeν) = (10.49±0.17±0.43)%, with overall systematic uncertainties less than those of untagged single-lepton measurements. We use this result to calculate the magnitude of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element V_(cb) and to set an upper limit on the fraction of ϒ(4S) decays to final states other than BB̅

Process-based models in Eucalyptus plantation management : reality and perspectives

Yield prediction in commercial forestry has been dominated by empirical modelling. Increasingly, however, process-based models are finding application either in support or instead of these traditional models. In this paper we draw the new forestry demands and how these models can answer different kinds of questions such as forest productivity in planted areas and new plantation, water-use, carbon sequestration and effects of climate change on forest production. In this paper we review current performance against management needs, concentrating in particular on the application of the 3-PG (Landsberg and Waring, 1997) and CABALA (Battaglia et al., 2004) process-based models. In general we find that process-based models have met many of the expectations of a decade ago. The paper briefly indicates new opportunities of process-based models in the area of wood properties and wood products prediction and in the area of forest health assessment.___________________________________La predicción de rendimientos en la silvicultura comercial ha estado dominada hasta ahora por el empleo de técnicas de modelización empíricas. Sin embargo, los modelos basados en procesos se están utilizando cada vez más como suplementos o incluso sustitutos de los tradicionales. En este artículo apuntamos nuevas demandas forestales y la forma en que los nuevos modelos pueden dar respuesta a diferentes cuestiones como la productividad forestal tanto en zonas plantadas como en nuevas plantaciones, el uso del agua, el secuestro de carbono y los efectos del cambio climático en la producción forestal. Asimismo, valoramos la eficacia de los modelos frente a las necesidades actuales de gestión, sobre todo en lo relativo a la aplicación de dos modelos basados en procesos: 3-PG (Landsberg y Waring, 1997) y CABALA (Battaglia et al., 2004). En general, los modelos de este tipo han colmado muchas de las expectativas que suscitaron hace una década. En este artículo se esbozan nuevas aplicaciones para estos modelos en cuanto a la predicción de propiedades y productos de la madera, así como a la valoración de la salud de los bosques