Floodplain environmental change during the younger dryas and holocene: Evidence from the lower kennet valley, south central England

Many lowland rivers across northwest Europe exhibit broadly similar behavioural responses to glacial-interglacial transitions and landscape development. Difficulties exist in assessing these, largely because the evidence from many rivers remains limited and fragmentary. Here we address this issue in the context of the river Kennet, a tributary of the Thames, since c. 13,000 cal. BP). Some similarities with other rivers are present, suggesting that regional climatic shifts are important controls. The Kennet differs from the regional pattern in a number of ways. The rate of response to sudden climatic change, particularly at the start of the Holocene and also mid-Holocene forest clearance, appears very high. This may reflect abrupt shifts between two catchment scale hydrological states arising from contemporary climates, land use change and geology. Stadial hydrology is dominated by nival regimes, with limited winter infiltration and high spring and summer runoff. Under an interglacial climate, infiltration is more significant. The probable absence of permafrost in the catchment means that a lag between the two states due to its gradual decay is unlikely. Palaeoecology, supported by radiocarbon dates, suggests that, at the very start of the Holocene, a dramatic episode of fine sediment deposition across most of the valley floor occurred, lasting 500-1000 years. A phase of peat accumulation followed as mineral sediment supply declined. A further shift led to tufa deposition, initially in small pools, then across the whole floodplain area, with the river flowing through channels cut in tufa and experiencing repeated avulsion. Major floods, leaving large gravel bars that still form positive relief features on the floodplain, followed mid-Holocene floodplain stability. Prehistoric deforestation is likely to be the cause of this flooding, inducing a major environmental shift with significantly increased surface runoff. Since the Bronze Age, predominantly fine sediments were deposited along the valley with apparently stable channels and vertical floodplain accretion associated with soil erosion and less catastrophic flooding. The Kennet demonstrates that, while a general pattern of river behaviour over time, within a region, may be identifiable, individual rivers are likely to diverge from this. Consequently, it is essential to understand catchment controls, particularly the relative significance of surface and subsurface hydrology

Beyond sex allocation: the role of mating systems in sexual selection in parasitoid wasps

Despite the diverse array of mating systems and life histories which characterise the parasitic Hymenoptera,sexual selection and sexual conict in this taxon have been somewhat overlooked. For instance, parasitoidmating systems have typically been studied in terms of how mating structure affects sex allocation. In thepast decade, however, some studies have sought to address sexual selection in the parasitoid wasps moreexplicitly and found that, despite the lack of obvious secondary sexual traits, sexual selection has the potentialto shape a range of aspects of parasitoid reproductive behaviour and ecology. Moreover, various characteristicsfundamental to the parasitoid way of life may provide innovative new ways to investigate different processesof sexual selection. The overall aim of this review therefore is to re-examine parasitoid biology with sexualselection in mind, for both parasitoid biologists and also researchers interested in sexual selection and theevolution of mating systems more generally. We will consider aspects of particular relevance that have alreadybeen well studied including local mating structure, sex allocation and sperm depletion. We go on to review whatwe already know about sexual selection in the parasitoid wasps and highlight areas which may prove fruitfulfor further investigation. In particular, sperm depletion and the costs of inbreeding under chromosomal sexdetermination provide novel opportunities for testing the role of direct and indirect benets for the evolutionof mate choice

Landlord liability for nuisance tenants: no change

Considers whether the Court of Appeal ruling in Cocking v Eacott has altered the scope of a landlord's liability for the anti-social conduct of tenants. Reviews the traditional position concerning a landlord's responsibilities in such circumstances, case law on the extent to which "control" is a requirement of liability, and whether alternative methods to having a public landlord adopt a nuisance are available, such as judicial review

Part-Payment of Debt: A Variation on a Theme?

Discusses how the attitude of the English courts towards the validity of agreements to release a debt arising from a commercial contract by the payment of a smaller sum to that owing has developed over time, including: case law applying the ratio of Pinnell's Case and Foakes v Beer; and cases invoking the promissory estoppel doctrine to circumvent Foakes v Beer

Security Bills Of Sale And Logbook Loans: A Tolerated Eccentricity

Security bills of sale are an antiquated means of securing a loan over an individual’s existing physical assets, and whilst they share certain features of other types of credit agreement, they offer none of the protections. A recent Law Commission Consultation proposes a range of sensible amendments. "The civility which money will purchase, is rarely extended to those who have none."1 Charles Dickens, The Broker’s Man The works of Dickens are replete with tales of moneylenders displaying a malevolence and implacability in their dealings with those individuals who, through sheer desperation, became their debtors. Indeed, the real-life versions of Scrooge, Quilp and Heep were freely able to exercise their rapacity at a time when poverty in Victorian England was rife—the Poor Law was the social security of its day and the workhouses were in full swing. Moreover, there was little by way of legislative protection for the debtor, and debtors’ prison was often the consequence of non-payment of debt.2 Whilst these institutions have long since disappeared, and a plethora of consumer credit legislation3 enacted to obviate the worst excesses of Victorian usury, there still exists a compendium of questionable lending practices. This was recognised by Lord Scott in Wilson 4; he commented that consumer credit controls: "[R]ecognise the vulnerability of those members of the public who resort to pawnbrokers and moneylenders when in dire need of funds to make ends meet … They need protection." 5 HH Judge Simon Brown QC made a similar observation in Rankine,6 when commenting on the need to "protect the individual unsophisticated in financial affairs in contracts with unscrupulous and sophisticated financial institutions".7 To this end, and following several revealing investigations into the payday loan sector,8 the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has recently shifted its attention to the evolving, yet equally contentious, logbook loan9 —a business model predicated upon individuals offering their vehicles as security for a loan

Immediate antiretroviral therapy in young HIV-infected children: benefits and risks.

Recent WHO guidelines recommend immediate initiation of lifelong antiretroviral therapy (ART) in all children below 5 years, irrespective of immune/clinical status, to improve access to paediatric ART. Interim trial results provide strong evidence for immediate ART during infancy because of high short-term risk of mortality and disease progression, but there is wider debate regarding the potential risks and benefits of immediate ART in asymptomatic children aged above 1 year. Concerns include long-term toxicities and treatment failure, particularly in resource-constrained settings with limited paediatric treatment options