Root traits predict decomposition across a landscape-scale grazing experiment

Acknowledgements We are grateful to the Woodland Trust for maintenance of and access to the Glen Finglas experiment. We thank Debbie Fielding, William Smith, Sarah McCormack, Allan Sim, Marcel Junker and Elaine Runge for help in the field and the laboratory. This research was part of the Glen Finglas project (formerly Grazing and Upland Birds (GRUB)) funded by the Scottish Government (RERAS). S.W.S. was funded by a BBSRC studentship.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Robert E. Lee: Maker of Morale

You are very gracious in your welcome. I thank you for your cordial greetings, and I count myself fortunate to be able to celebrate this nineteenth of January, this Saint\u27s Day of the South, among those who have not forgotten the land of their fathers\u27 love. In one of the volumes of reminiscence by an officer of high rank in the war with Germany, I recently read a critical estimate of his general in chief, a man well known in fame to all of you

Efficient Production of Large 39K Bose-Einstein Condensates

We describe an experimental setup and the cooling procedure for producing 39K Bose-Einstein condensates of over 4x10^5 atoms. Condensation is achieved via a combination of sympathetic cooling with 87Rb in a quadrupole-Ioffe-configuration (QUIC) magnetic trap, and direct evaporation in a large volume crossed optical dipole trap, where we exploit the broad Feshbach resonance at 402 G to tune the 39K interactions from weak and attractive to strong and repulsive. In the same apparatus we create quasi-pure 87Rb condensates of over 8x10^5 atoms.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures; figure font compatibility improve

Transcranial Focused Ultrasound to the Right Prefrontal Cortex Improves Mood and Alters Functional Connectivity in Humans

Transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS) is an emerging method for non-invasive neuromodulation akin to transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). tFUS offers several advantages over electromagnetic methods including high spatial resolution and the ability to reach deep brain targets. Here we describe two experiments assessing whether tFUS could modulate mood in healthy human volunteers by targeting the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG), an area implicated in mood and emotional regulation. In a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study, participants received 30 s of 500 kHz tFUS or a placebo control. Visual Analog Mood Scales (VAMS) assessed mood four times within an hour (baseline and three times after tFUS). Participants who received tFUS reported an overall increase in Global Affect (GA), an aggregate score from the VAMS scale, indicating a positive shift in mood. Experiment 2 examined resting-state functional (FC) connectivity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) following 2 min of 500 kHz tFUS at the rIFG. As in Experiment 1, tFUS enhanced self-reported mood states and also decreased FC in resting state networks related to emotion and mood regulation. These results suggest that tFUS can be used to modulate mood and emotional regulation networks in the prefrontal cortex

Combination of herbivore removal and nitrogen deposition increases upland carbon storage

© 2015 The Authors. Global Change Biology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Acknowledgements We thank Ruth Mitchell, Alison Hester, Bob Mardon, Eoghain Maclean, David Welch, National Trust for Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Woodland Trust for helping find appropriate exclosures and granting access permission. We thank Nick Littlewood and Antonio Lopez Nogueira for their assistance in the field and processing samples in the lab and Ron Smith and Tony Dore for providing N deposition data. SWS was funded by a BBSRC studentship.Non peer reviewedPublisher PD

The segregation of girls in mathematics.

This thesis is a study of the effects of segregation by sex on learning in Mathematics. The attitudes and performance of a group of secondary girls who were taught Mathematics in segregated sets for five years have been compared with a group of similar girls who were taught in co-educational sets for five years in the same school.Comparisons were carried out using: a) the Tameside Numeracy Test; b) four short Mathematics tests; c) the external Mathematics examination results; d) an attitude questionnaire. Additionally a number of fifth year girls from both groups who regarded Mathematics as difficult were interviewed.Six Mathematics teachers were also interviewed. The segregated girls as a group performed better than the co-educated girls on the Tameside Numeracy Test, but on the four short tests the overall performance of the two groups was very similar. The results achieved by the two groups in the Mathematics external examinations were also very similar.The co-educated girls regarded Mathematics as significantly more useful than segregated girls, but there were no significant differences in the attitudes of both groups to the difficulty and enjoyment of Mathematics. The co-educated girls who were interviewed were generally critical of the behaviour of boys in lessons, but they mainly attributed their difficulties in Mathematics with the speed they were expected to move from topic to topic.Most of the segregated girls who were interviewed approved of segregated setting in Mathematics. The Mathematics teachers who were interviewed all felt that segregated setting benefited girls more than boys and younger pupils more than older ones. Several teachers expressed reservations about segregating older pupils.Although the results suggest that girls gain no long term benefit from segregated Mathematics setting, it is nevertheless felt that segregation may be worth preserving in the first and second years at the school

Evaluating sustainable intensification and diversification options for agriculture-based livelihoods within an aquatic biodiversity conservation context in Buxa, West Bengal, India

Potential impacts of sustainable intensification and diversification options for agriculture-based livelihoods in Buxa, West Bengal, India were evaluated using bioeconomic modelling. The baseline scenario involved multiple cropping seasons and a combination of crops on 0.9 ha landholdings, livestock husbandry, and exploitation of common property resources. With capital costs of Rs. 128,180 (US$2293) and annual operating costs of Rs. 37,290 (US$ 667), the net benefit generated (excluding depreciation) was Rs. 70,250 (US$1257) annually. The pay-back period was 1.8 years, and the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) was 53.7$ 1,342) and IRR to 56.5% with minimal added costs and risks. Adopting the system of rice intensification (SRI) for paddy cultivation on 0.35 ha increased the IRR to 61.1%, while reducing agrochemical and inorganic fertiliser use. Including small-scale fish culture in a 0.1 ha pond integrated in the irrigation scheme for SRI cultivation resulted in an IRR of 77.3% and reduced the pay-back period to 1.3 years. Some risks to biodiversity are apparent with each scenario; however, with appropriate safeguards, sustainable agricultural intensification and livelihoods diversification could bolster agrobiodiversity and social-ecological resilience of highland communities, while alleviating pressure on biodiversity