Paisatges funeraris i diversitat a Anglaterra i a Gal·les: l'establiment d'una agenda = Deathscapes and diversity in England and Wales: setting an agenda

Aquest article se centra en una dimensió poc discutida, però important, de les experiències dels migrants i les minories a Anglaterra i Gal·les: els cementiris i crematoris de què disposen. Basat en una àmplia investigació amb comunitats locals i proveïdors de serveis en quatre ciutats casos d’estudi, aquest article ex-plora les diverses necessitats funeràries culturals i religioses a Anglaterra i Gal·les, els reptes que hi estan associats i les formes en què tant les comunitats com els proveïdors de serveis (p. ex.: planifica-dors i directors funeraris) hi responen. Destaquen vuit temes clau: i)l’oferta de cementiris; ii)l’oferta de crematoris; iii)l’oferta desigual per diferents grups migrants i minoritaris; iv)la diversitat en la diversitat; v)els canvis de patrons de repatriació;vi)el foment del diàleg;vii)la comprensió entre professionals icomunitats, i viii)la planificació dels cementiris com aespais de trobada.Este artículo se centra en una dimensión poco discutida pero importante de las experiencias de los migrantes y las mi-norías en Inglaterra y Gales: los cemen-terios y crematorios de que disponen. Basándose en una amplia investigación con comunidades locales y proveedores de servicios en cuatro ciudades casos de estudio, este artículo explora las diver-sas necesidades funerarias culturales y religiosas en Inglaterra y Gales, los retos asociados a estas y las formas en que tanto las comunidades como los provee-dores de servicios (p. ej.: planificadores y directores funerarios) responden a ellos. Destacan ocho temas clave: i)la oferta de cementerios; ii)la oferta de crematorios; iii)la oferta desigual por diferentes grupos migrantes y minoritarios; iv)la diversidad en la diversidad;v)los cambios de patrones de repatri-ación; vi)el fomento del diálogo;vii)la comprensión entre profesionalesy comunidades, y viii)la planificación de los cementerios como espacios de encuentro.This paper focuses on a little discussed but important dimension of migrant and minority experiences in England and Wales: cemetery and crematoria provi-sion. Based on extensive research with local communities and service providers in four case study towns, this paper explores the varied cultural and religious funerary needs in England and Wales, the associated challenges and the ways in which both communities and service providers (e.g. cemetery managers, town planners and funeral directors) respond to them. It highlights seven key themes, namely:i)cemetery provision;ii)crematorium provision;iii)unequal provision across migrantand minority groups;iv)diversity within diversity;v)changing patterns of repatriation; vi)fostering dialogue;vii)understanding between profession-als and communities; and viii)planning for cemeteries as spacesof encounter. / Este artículo se centra en una dimensión poco discutida pero importante de las experiencias de los migrantes y las mi-norías en Inglaterra y Gales: los cemen-terios y crematorios de que disponen. Basándose en una amplia investigación con comunidades locales y proveedores de servicios en cuatro ciudades casos de estudio, este artículo explora las diver-sas necesidades funerarias culturales y religiosas en Inglaterra y Gales, los retos asociados a estas y las formas en que tanto las comunidades como los provee-dores de servicios (p. ej.: planificadores y directores funerarios) responden a ellos. Destacan ocho temas clave: i)la oferta de cementerios; ii)la oferta de crematorios; iii)la oferta desigual por diferentes grupos migrantes y minoritarios; iv)la diversidad en la diversidad;v)los cambios de patrones de repatri-ación; vi)el fomento del diálogo;vii)la comprensión entre profesionalesy comunidades, y viii)la planificación de los cementerios como espacios de encuentro. / This paper focuses on a little discussed but important dimension of migrant and minority experiences in England and Wales: cemetery and crematoria provi-sion. Based on extensive research with local communities and service providers in four case study towns, this paper explores the varied cultural and religious funerary needs in England and Wales, the associated challenges and the ways in which both communities and service providers (e.g. cemetery managers, town planners and funeral directors) respond to them. It highlights seven key themes, namely:i)cemetery provision;ii)crematorium provision;iii)unequal provision across migrantand minority groups;iv)diversity within diversity;v)changing patterns of repatriation; vi)fostering dialogue;vii)understanding between profession-als and communities; and viii)planning for cemeteries as spacesof encounter

Estimating the furrow infiltration characteristic from a single advance point

Management and control of surface irrigation, in particular furrow irrigation, is limited by spatio-temporal soil infiltration variability as well as the high cost and time associated with collecting intensive field data for estimation of the infiltration characteristics. Recent work has proposed scaling the commonly used infiltration function by using a model infiltration curve and a single advance point for every other furrow in an irrigation event. Scaling factors were calculated for a series of furrows at two sites and at four points down the length of the field (0.25 L, 0.5 L, 0.75 L and L). Differences in the value of the scaling factor with distance were found to be a function of the shape of the advance curves. It is concluded that use of points early in the advance results in a substantial loss of accuracy and should be avoided. The scaling factor was also strongly correlated with the furrow-wetted perimeter suggesting that the scaling is an appropriate way of both predicting and accommodating the effect of the hydraulic variability

Rules, Norms and Practices – A Comparative Study Exploring Disposal Practices and Facilities in Northern Europe

We identify and analyse practices and management regimes around burial and handling of ashes across eight case study towns within six Northern European countries. We analyse management of cemeteries and crematoria gardens, majority practices and provision for minority communities, including various burial types, cremated remains, the re-use of graves, and costs for interments. Comparative data is drawn from analysis of national and local regulations, interviews with stakeholders, and observations at cemeteries and crematoria gardens. The findings show significant variation in national and local regulations and practices for burial and cremation particularly around the re-use of graves, handling of ashes and costs for grave space and cremation. We identify the opportunities and constraints of these variations in terms of accessibility, diversity and equality; and argue for national directions to avoid unequal treatment within nations. Furthermore, we stress the importance of a liberal and inclusive management of European cemeteries and crematoria gardens

Laser-driven X-ray and neutron source development for industrial applications of plasma accelerators

Pulsed beams of energetic X-rays and neutrons from intense laser interactions with solid foils are promising for applications where bright, small emission area sources, capable of multi-modal delivery are ideal. Possible end users of laser-driven multi-modal sources are those requiring advanced non-destructive inspection techniques in industry sectors of high value commerce such as aerospace, nuclear and advanced manufacturing. We report on experimental work that demonstrates multi-modal operation of high power laser-solid interactions for neutron and X-ray beam generation. Measurements and Monte-Carlo radiation transport simulations show that neutron yield is increased by a factor ~ 2 when a 1mm copper foil is placed behind a 2mm lithium foil, compared to using a 2cm block of lithium only. We explore X-ray generation with a 10 picosecond drive pulse in order to tailor the spectral content for radiography with medium density alloy metals. The impact of using >1ps pulse duration on laser-accelerated electron beam generation and transport is discussed alongside the optimisation of subsequent Bremsstrahlung emission in thin, high atomic number target foils. X-ray spectra are deconvolved from spectrometer measurements and simulation data generated using the GEANT4 Monte-Carlo code. We also demonstrate the unique capability of laser-driven X-rays in being able to deliver single pulse high spatial resolution projection imaging of thick metallic objects. Active detector radiographic imaging of industrially relevant sample objects with a 10ps drive pulse is presented for the first time, demonstrating that features of 200µm size are resolved when projected at high magnification

Single-Cell RNA-Seq of Mouse Dopaminergic Neurons Informs Candidate Gene Selection for Sporadic Parkinson Disease.

Genetic variation modulating risk of sporadic Parkinson disease (PD) has been primarily explored through genome-wide association studies (GWASs). However, like many other common genetic diseases, the impacted genes remain largely unknown. Here, we used single-cell RNA-seq to characterize dopaminergic (DA) neuron populations in the mouse brain at embryonic and early postnatal time points. These data facilitated unbiased identification of DA neuron subpopulations through their unique transcriptional profiles, including a postnatal neuroblast population and substantia nigra (SN) DA neurons. We use these population-specific data to develop a scoring system to prioritize candidate genes in all 49 GWAS intervals implicated in PD risk, including genes with known PD associations and many with extensive supporting literature. As proof of principle, we confirm that the nigrostriatal pathway is compromised in Cplx1-null mice. Ultimately, this systematic approach establishes biologically pertinent candidates and testable hypotheses for sporadic PD, informing a new era of PD genetic research

Holocene history of the 79° N ice shelf reconstructed from epishelf lake and uplifted glaciomarine sediments

Acknowledgements This work was funded by a NERC standard grant (grant no. NE/N011228/1), and some radiocarbon analysis was funded by NEIF (grant NE/S011587/1; allocation number 2169.1118). We thank the Alfred Wegener Institute, particularly Angelika Humbert and Hicham Rafiq, for significant logistic support through the iGRIFF project. Additional support was provided by Station Nord (Jorgen Skafte), Nordlandair, Air Greenland, and the Joint Arctic Command. Naalakkersuisut (government of Greenland) provided scientific survey (VU-00121) and export (046/2017) licences for this work. Finally, we would like to thank our (Nanu Travel) field ranger Isak (and dog Ooni) for keeping us safe in the field and taking great pleasure in beating James A. Smith at cards. Financial support This research has been supported by the Natural Environment Research Council (grant no. NE/N011228/1).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Measurement of the cross-section and charge asymmetry of WW bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at s=8\sqrt{s}=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents measurements of the $W^+ \rightarrow \mu^+\nu$ and $W^- \rightarrow \mu^-\nu$ cross-sections and the associated charge asymmetry as a function of the absolute pseudorapidity of the decay muon. The data were collected in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC and correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 20.2~\mbox{fb^{-1}}. The precision of the cross-section measurements varies between 0.8% to 1.5% as a function of the pseudorapidity, excluding the 1.9% uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The charge asymmetry is measured with an uncertainty between 0.002 and 0.003. The results are compared with predictions based on next-to-next-to-leading-order calculations with various parton distribution functions and have the sensitivity to discriminate between them.Comment: 38 pages in total, author list starting page 22, 5 figures, 4 tables, submitted to EPJC. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/STDM-2017-13

Mid-Pleistocene climate transition drives net mass loss from rapidly uplifting St. Elias Mountains, Alaska

Erosion, sediment production and routing on a tectonically active continental margin reflect both tectonic and climatic processes; partitioning the relative importance of these processes remains controversial. Gulf of Alaska contains a preserved sedimentary record of Yakutat Terrane collision with North America. Because tectonic convergence in the coastal St. Elias orogen has been roughly constant for 6 Myr, variations in its eroded sediments preserved in the offshore Surveyor Fan constrain a budget of tectonic material influx, erosion, and sediment output. Seismically imaged sediment volumes calibrated with chronologies derived from Integrated Ocean Drilling Program boreholes shows that erosion accelerated in response to Northern Hemisphere glacial intensification (~2.7 Ma) and that the 900-km long Surveyor Channel inception appears to correlate with this event. However, tectonic influx exceeded integrated sediment efflux over the interval 2.8-1.2 Ma. Volumetric erosion accelerated following the onset of quasi-periodic (~100-kyr) glacial cycles in the mid-Pleistocene climate transition (1.2-0.7 Ma). Since then erosion and transport of material out of the orogen has outpaced tectonic influx by 50-80%. Such a rapid net mass loss explains apparent increases in exhumation rates inferred onshore from exposure dates and mapped out-of-sequence fault patterns. The 1.2 Myr mass budget imbalance must relax back toward equilibrium in balance with tectonic influx over the time scale of orogenic wedge response (Myrs). The St. Elias Range provides a key example of how active orogenic systems respond to transient mass fluxes, and the possible influence of climate driven erosive processes that diverge from equilibrium on the million-year scale

Community-based adaptation research in the Canadian Arctic

Community-based adaptation (CBA) has emerged over the last decade as an approach to empowering communities to plan for and cope with the impacts of climate change. While such approaches have been widely advocated, few have critically examined the tensions and challenges that CBA brings. Responding to this gap, this article critically examines the use of CBA approaches with Inuit communities in Canada. We suggest that CBA holds significant promise to make adaptation research more democratic and responsive to local needs, providing a basis for developing locally appropriate adaptations based on local/indigenous and Western knowledge. Yet, we argue that CBA is not a panacea, and its common portrayal as such obscures its limitations, nuances, and challenges. Indeed, if uncritically adopted, CBA can potentially lead to maladaptation, may be inappropriate in some instances, can legitimize outside intervention and control, and may further marginalize communities. We identify responsibilities for researchers engaging in CBA work to manage these challenges, emphasizing the centrality of how knowledge is generated, the need for project flexibility and openness to change, and the importance of ensuring partnerships between researchers and communities are transparent. Researchers also need to be realistic about what CBA can achieve, and should not assume that research has a positive role to play in community adaptation just because it utilizes participatory approaches

Electric current circuits in astrophysics

Cosmic magnetic structures have in common that they are anchored in a dynamo, that an external driver converts kinetic energy into internal magnetic energy, that this magnetic energy is transported as Poynting fl ux across the magnetically dominated structure, and that the magnetic energy is released in the form of particle acceleration, heating, bulk motion, MHD waves, and radiation. The investigation of the electric current system is particularly illuminating as to the course of events and the physics involved. We demonstrate this for the radio pulsar wind, the solar flare, and terrestrial magnetic storms