I felt that I deserved it - experiences and implications of disability hate crime

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to summarise key findings and recommendations from the “Living in Fear” research project focusing on the experiences of people with learning disabilities and autism related to disability hate crime and the experience of the police in dealing with such incidents. Design/methodology/approach – Methods included: first, a postal survey with 255 people with learning disabilities or autism (or their carers for people with more severe disabilities), of whom 24 also took part in semi-structured interviews; and second, an electronic survey of the knowledge and experience of 459 police officers or support staff. Findings – Just under half of participants had experienced some form of victimisation. The Police reported problems with the definition of disability hate crime and challenges to responding effectively. Social implications – A case study from the research highlights some of the key findings and is linked to implications for people with learning disabilities and autism, carers, police and other agencies. Originality/value – Previous research has highlighted that victimisation is an issue for this group of people, but has never explored the prevalence and nature of such experiences in a representative sample. Neither has previous research brought together the perspectives of so many different agencies to offer recommendations that go across many sectors. The paper will be of interest to people with disabilities and their carers, professionals in health, social care and the Criminal Justice system

A petrographic, structural and geochemical study of the alkaline igneous rocks of the motzfeldt centre, south Greenland

The Motzfeldt Centre (1310 +/- 31 MY) is one of four Gardar alkaline igneous Centres belonging to the Igaliko Nepheline syenite Complex, South Greenland. Motzfeldt is a multiphase, high-level intrusive ring-centre comprised principally of nepheline syenite and emplaced in the Proterozoic Julianehab granite and the overlying Gardar volcano-sedimentary succession. The Centre commenced with the intrusion of three poorly centralised satellitic intrusions of syenite, pulaskite and nepheline syenite, collectively known as the Geologfjeld Formation. These are partly truncated by concentric, multiple intrusions comprising the Motzfeldt Ring Series whose steep-sided contacts dip outwards and individual nepheline syenite units young inwards. On the basis of field relations, petrography and geochemistry the Ring Series is further subdivided into the Motzfeldt Sø and Flinks Dal Formations, and a number of minor intrusions collectively termed the Hypabyssal Series. The results of field surveys, carried out during two summer field seasons, are presented on a 1:50,000 geological map. The petrography and field relations are described for 16 distinct, plutonic and hypabyssal rock units which range in lithology from larvikite to lujavrite. These represent at least 10 separate intrusive episodes and show a remarkable array of rock textures, mineralogical and geochemical features.170 whole-rock (XRF), 33 Rare earth element (INAA) and over 300 mineral (EDS) geochemical analyses are presented. These show that the syenite/nepheline syenite lithologies in Motzfeldt can be subdivided chemically and mineralogically into the three groups: 'hypoalkaline', alkaline and peralkaline. The geochemical features of the various units are evaluated and elemental behaviour discussed. The data is additionally assessed, using non-parametric statistics, as a means of discriminating between the units. A number of units which have proved difficult to separate in the field are established to be geochemically distinct, whilst others are shown to be very closely associated. The peralkaline, pegmatite rich, silica saturated outer and upper margins of the Motzfeldt Sø Formation and its associated microsyenite sheet sequence, host extensive economic reserves of Nb, Ta, Zr, U, Th and LREE. The evolution of these mineralised zones is discussed and the importance of country rock (+ water) — magma interaction emphasised. Recent works have helped clarify the magmatic development of the Gardar Province. Here emphasis has been placed on the structural evolution of the Gardar with the aim of complementing these works. The Gardar represents a prolonged (c.200 MY), cyclic period of limited, passive intracontinental extension. Crustal thinning facilitated the rise, along deep fracture zones, of magmas generated by higher thermal gradients. In response to regional, sinistral shear stresses, ENE extensional fractures and associated dyking developed. In addition, crustal decoupling occurred along several parallel WNW-ESE sinistral strike-slip faults. Motzfeldt and other ring centres of the Gardar are preferentially located at the intersections of these zones of weakness

Soil methane sink capacity response to a long-term wildfire chronosequence in Northern Sweden

Boreal forests occupy nearly one fifth of the terrestrial land surface and are recognised as globally important regulators of carbon (C) cycling and greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon sequestration processes in these forests include assimilation of CO2 into biomass and subsequently into soil organic matter, and soil microbial oxidation of methane (CH4). In this study we explored how ecosystem retrogression, which drives vegetation change, regulates the important process of soil CH4 oxidation in boreal forests. We measured soil CH4 oxidation processes on a group of 30 forested islands in northern Sweden differing greatly in fire history, and collectively representing a retrogressive chronosequence, spanning 5000 years. Across these islands the build-up of soil organic matter was observed to increase with time since fire disturbance, with a significant correlation between greater humus depth and increased net soil CH4 oxidation rates. We suggest that this increase in net CH4 oxidation rates, in the absence of disturbance, results as deeper humus stores accumulate and provide niches for methanotrophs to thrive. By using this gradient we have discovered important regulatory controls on the stability of soil CH4 oxidation processes that could not have not been explored through shorter-term experiments. Our findings indicate that in the absence of human interventions such as fire suppression, and with increased wildfire frequency, the globally important boreal CH4 sink could be diminished

StrategyNZ: mapping our future strategy maps - from Te Papa to the Legislative Council Chamber

This report explains the inputs, processes and outputs of the StrategyNZ workshop held in March 2011. The aim was to encourage a conversation about our long-term future. Consensus emerged that New Zealand should work to ‘create a place where talent wants to live’. See Report 12 and the workshop booklet

Soil carbon development in rejuvenated Indian coal mine spoil

The impact of mine spoil on the landscape is significant, as excavated rock-debris is commonly disposedin heaps that blanket the original land surface. Spoil heaps destroy the original soil habitat releasing soil-bound carbon, which is difficult to re-estate when mining operations cease and restoration begins. Thepresent work follows the development of vegetative cover on a coalmine spoil tip in India over a period of19 years following restoration. The potential of re-vegetated the mine spoil to imbibe carbon is examinedthrough the development of above- and below-ground biomass development. It was observed that the soilorganic carbon and microbial biomass carbon (MBC) significantly increased with re-vegetation age, withabove ground biomass increasing by 23 times, and belowground biomass increased by 26 times during theperiod of study. Soil organic carbon and MBC increased by 4× and 6.6× times, respectively. The averagecalculated annual carbon budget was 8.40 T/ha/year, of which 2.14 T/ha was allocated to above groundbiomass, 0.31 T/ha to belowground biomass, 2.88 T/ha to litter mass and 1.35 T/ha was sequestered intothe soil. This work has shown that the development of biomass following the restoration of mine spoilwas significant and that considerable quantities of carbon were stored in above and below ground plantmatter, and in the soil itself. It is concluded that appropriate restoration strategies can be used to rapidlyestablish a viable, healthy and sustainable ecosystem that imbibes carbon into former mine-impacted land

Growing importance of climate change beliefs for attitudes towards gas

Tense global politics, spikes in gas prices and increasingly urgent warnings about climate change raise questions over the future use of natural gas. UK longitudinal survey data reveal that beliefs about climate change increasingly reduced support for gas extraction between 2019 and 2022. Mounting public connections between climate and gas use suggest growing opportunities for climate communication to lower support for all fossil fuels, not just the more carbon-intensive oil and coal.</p

Exploring the tilted accretion disc of AQ Men with TESS

AQ Men is a nova-like variable that is presumed to have a tilted, precessing accretion disc. Grazing eclipses in this system have been speculated to be useful in exploring the geometry of its accretion disc. In this work, we analysed Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) observations of AQ Men, which provide the best light curve of this object thus far. We show that the depths of the eclipses are changing with the orientation of the accretion disc, which means that they can serve as a direct test of the tilted accretion disc models. The precession period of the accretion disc is increasing during the TESS observations. However, it is still shorter than the period determined in the previous studies. The amplitude of the variability related to the precession of the accretion disc varies, and so does the shape of this variability. Moreover, we have detected a positive superhump that was previously unseen in AQ Men. Interestingly, the positive superhump has a strongly non-sinusoidal shape, which is not expected for a nova-like variable

Characterization of rare spontaneous Human Immunodeficiency Virus viral controllers attending a national United Kingdom clinical service using a combination of serology and molecular diagnostic assays

Background We report outcomes and novel characterization of a unique cohort of 42 individuals with persistently indeterminate human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status, the majority of whom are HIV viral controllers. Methods Eligible individuals had indeterminate or positive HIV serology, but persistently undetectable HIV ribonucleic acid (RNA) by commercial assays and were not taking antiretroviral therapy (ART). Routine investigations included HIV Western blot, HIV viral load, qualitative HIV-1 deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), coinfection screen, and T-cell quantification. Research assays included T-cell activation, ART measurement, single-copy assays detecting HIV-1 RNA and DNA, and plasma cytokine quantification. Human immunodeficiency virus seropositivity was defined as ≥3 bands on Western blot; molecular positivity was defined as detection of HIV RNA or DNA. Results Human immunodeficiency virus infection was excluded in 10 of 42 referrals, remained unconfirmed in 2 of 42, and was confirmed in 30 of 42, who were identified as HIV elite controllers (ECs), normal CD4 T-cell counts (median 820/mL, range 805–1336), and normal CD4/CD8 ratio (median 1.8, range 1.2–1.9). Elite controllers had a median duration of elite control of 6 years (interquartile range = 4–14). Antiretroviral therapy was undetected in all 23 subjects tested. Two distinct categories of ECs were identified: molecular positive (n = 20) and molecular negative (n = 10). Conclusions Human immunodeficiency virus status was resolved for 95% of referrals with the majority diagnosed as EC. The clinical significance of the 2 molecular categories among ECs requires further investigation