Magnetoelectric Jones Dichroism in Atoms

The authors suggest that atomic experiments measuring the interference between magnetic-dipole and electric-field-induced electric-dipole transition amplitudes provide a valuable system to study magnetoelectric Jones effects.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figure

Designing interaction, voice, and inclusion in AAC research

The ISAAC 2016 Research Symposium included a Design Stream that examined timely issues across augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), framed in terms of designing interaction, designing voice, and designing inclusion. Each is a complex term with multiple meanings; together they represent challenging yet important frontiers of AAC research. The Design Stream was conceived by the four authors, researchers who have been exploring AAC and disability-related design throughout their careers, brought together by a shared conviction that designing for communication implies more than ensuring access to words and utterances. Each of these presenters came to AAC from a different background: interaction design, inclusive design, speech science, and social science. The resulting discussion among 24 symposium participants included controversies about the role of technology, tensions about independence and interdependence, and a provocation about taste. The paper concludes by proposing new directions for AAC research: (a) new interdisciplinary research could combine scientific and design research methods, as distant yet complementary as microanalysis and interaction design, (b) new research tools could seed accessible and engaging contextual research into voice within a social model of disability, and</p

EU Nature Restoration Law; EGU Response

The EGU Biodiversity Task Force welcomes the ambitious targets outlined in the Nature Restoration Law that was presented by the European Commission on 22 June 2022. To ensure the Nature Restoration Law is successful, the EGU Biodiversity Task Force is recommending seven key points to be added, amended, or strengthened throughout the document

Isotopic data reveal a localist Roman population in late Roman Albintimilium, Liguria

This study investigates human diet and mobility to understand the socio-economic organisation of a Late Roman community in Liguria, a transitional region between Italy and Gaul, during the 3rd–5th century CE. By combining archaeological, historical, osteological, and isotopic data with novel Bayesian modelling of multi-isotope data (collagen δ13C, δ15N, bioapatite 87Sr/86Sr) from human and animal skeletal remains, as well as modern plant samples, we provide new insights into this hitherto under-researched region. Our findings suggest the community followed a C3-based diet, heavily reliant on plant resources and carbohydrates, supplemented by animal protein, likely from omnivorous pigs. This characteristically Roman diet contrasts with ancient written sources that claimed Ligurians had a “barbarian” diet and lifestyle. We also identified significant sex-based dietary differences, with men consuming more animal-derived protein than women, reflecting traditional Graeco-Roman societal ideals. Although the overall dietary pattern aligns with Roman norms, there is no isotopic evidence of long-distance migration or consumption of significant amounts of imported food. This indicates that the community may have been more localist, prioritising locally available resources over long-distance imports, which is unexpected given the prevalent idea of a large-scale interconnected food network within the Roman Empire.Dental pathologies as dietary indicators Isotopic approaches to diet and mobility Material: the “Necropoli Del Sottopasso” Results Osteology and archaeological context Dental pathologies Caries Calculus Carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes Faunal isotope results Human stable isotope results ReSources model Strontium isotopes Discussion Literary descriptions and dietary realities Aquatic resources in the diet Diet and connectedness Dietary differences between sexes A glimpse into the troubled 5th century CE? Conclusions Methods Osteological Analysis Isotope analysis Statistical analysi

Modelling climate and societal resilience in the Eastern Mediterranean in the last Millennium

This article analyses high-quality hydroclimate proxy records and spatial reconstructions from the Central and Eastern Mediterranean and compares them with two Earth System Model simulations (CCSM4, MPI-ESM-P) for the Crusader period in the Levant (1095–1290 CE), the Mamluk regime in Transjordan (1260–1516 CE) and the Ottoman crisis and Celâlî Rebellion(1580–1610 CE). During the three time intervals, environmental and climatic stress tested the resilience of complex societies.We find that the multidecadal precipitation and drought variations in the Central and Eastern Mediterranean cannot be explained by external forcings (solar variations, tropical volcanism); rather they were driven by internal climate dynamics. Our research emphasises the challenges, opportunities and limitations of linking proxy records, palaeoreconstructions and model simulations to better understand how climate can affect human history

GC insights: fostering transformative change for biodiversity restoration through transdisciplinary research

Despite being considered one of the most pressing global issues, biodiversity loss and the degradation of ecosystems is continuing at an alarming rate. In December 2022, COP15 saw the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, where four overarching international goals for biodiversity and 23 targets. While these targets are a positive step to address the drivers of biodiversity loss, we will not only need public and political will to reach the goals and targets outlined but also more effective methods to integrate and use scientific information. To facilitate this, scientists and research institutions need to establish new and innovative approaches to transform the way science is conducted, communicated, and integrated into the policymaking process. This will require the scientific community to become proficient at working in inter and transdisciplinary teams, establishing connectivity, and engaging in the policymaking process to ensure that the best available scientific evidence is not only comprehensible to decision makers, but also timely and relevant. Here, we detail how scientists can embrace transformative change within and outside of their own communities to increase the impact of their research and help reach global targets that benefit society.1 Introduction 2 Methods of promoting transdisciplinarity for transformative change 3 Embracing connectivity through a systems approach 4 More transdisciplinarity is needed for evidence informed policymakin

Automating COVID responses: The impact of automated decision-making on the COVID-19 pandemic:Tracing The Tracers 2021 report

In an unprecedented global social experiment in health surveillance, a plethora of automated decisionmaking (ADM) systems — including systems based on artificial intelligence (AI) — were deployed during the COVID-19 pandemic. They were supposed to tackle fundamental public health issues. Nonetheless, too often, they were adopted with almost no transparency, no evidence of their efficacy, no adequate safeguards, and insufficient democratic debate. This report is the result of yearlong monitoring of the rollout and use of such systems, documented in our Tracing The Tracers project. In this final report, we will provide an early overall assessment of the main trends and developments concerning ADM-based responses to COVID-19

Automating COVID responses: The impact of automated decision-making on the COVID-19 pandemic:Tracing The Tracers 2021 report

In an unprecedented global social experiment in health surveillance, a plethora of automated decisionmaking (ADM) systems — including systems based on artificial intelligence (AI) — were deployed during the COVID-19 pandemic. They were supposed to tackle fundamental public health issues. Nonetheless, too often, they were adopted with almost no transparency, no evidence of their efficacy, no adequate safeguards, and insufficient democratic debate. This report is the result of yearlong monitoring of the rollout and use of such systems, documented in our Tracing The Tracers project. In this final report, we will provide an early overall assessment of the main trends and developments concerning ADM-based responses to COVID-19

Palaeoenvironmental History of the Gredos Range (Spanish Central System, Avila) in Visigothic Times: The Impact of the Justinianic Plague (AD 541–543)

This paper evaluates the possible impact of the early medieval pandemic known as the “Justinianic plague” as one of the factors that shaped the mountain ecosystems in the Spanish Central System of the Iberian Peninsula. For this purpose, we focus on two high-resolution, radiocarbon-dated natural pollen records from the Gredos Range (Avila). These cores frame the information they offer within the general picture of the socio-political and environmental transformations of Late Antiquity. Along these three centuries, between c. AD 400 and AD 720, the palynological sequence allows us to recognize eight short phases (on a ten-year and even five-year scale) through which the forest formations traversed. This analysis has made it possible to identify olive and chestnut tree arboriculture since the beginning of the studied interval, as well as to characterize the fluctuation in the thinning processes of the high montane pine forests, due to slash-and-burn practices to open pastures, especially from the permanent occupation of the piedmont in Visigothic times (c. AD 450). The sequence also shows a significant decrease in the anthropic signal during a short period (c. AD 540-545) that can be disassociated from the early effects of the Late Antique Little Ice Age (c. AD 450-660) and which is possibly more related to the plague, as evidenced by the subsequent recovery of anthropic pressure on the pine forest and the extension of the olive and chestnut grove in the 6th and 7th centuries AD.El presente trabajo evalúa la posible influencia de la pandemia altomedieval conocida como «plaga de Justiniano» como uno de los factores que contribuyeron a configurar los ecosistemas de montaña enclavados en el Sistema Central de la península ibérica. Para ello, el artículo se centra en dos registros polínicos naturales de alta resolución y bien datados mediante radiocarbono, obtenidos en la Sierra de Gredos (Ávila), y enmarca la información que ofrecen en el cuadro general de las dinámicas sociopolíticas y ambientales de la Antigüedad Tardía. En el intervalo de tres siglos, entre c. 400 y 720 A. D., la secuencia palinológica permite reconocer ocho fases breves (de escala decenal e incluso quinquenal) que marcaron las transformaciones del paisaje. Este análisis ha posibilitado identificar la implantación de la arboricultura de olivo y castaño desde el inicio del intervalo estudiado, así como caracterizar la fluctuación en los procesos de clareo de los pinares altimontanos, por la incidencia de talas y rozas con fuego para abrir pastizales, especialmente desde la ocupación permanente del piedemonte en época visigoda (c. 450 A. D.). La secuencia analizada muestra un significativo aminoramiento de la señal antrópica durante un breve intervalo (c. 540-545 A. D.) que cabe desvincular de los efectos tempranos de la Pequeña Edad de Hielo tardoantigua (c. 450-660 A. D.) y resulta más plausible relacionar con la plaga, como avala la subsiguiente recuperación de la presión antrópica sobre el pinar y la extensión del olivar y el castañar en los siglos VI y VII A. D.- Introducción - Zona de estudio - Consideraciones metodológicas - Historia de la vegetación e impacto humano (400-720 A.D.) - Conclusiones, variabilidad climática y efectos de la pandemia (541-543 A.D.

Past answers to present concerns: the relevance of the premodern past for 21st century policy planners; comments on the state of the field

How is history relevant to the present, or indeed the future? Governments around the world have used history to inform planning and decision-making in various fields for years, but more recently it has taken on a renewed importance as governments grapple with increasingly complex challenges arising from the impacts of climatic change. Yet identifying ?lessons from the past? is not straightforward. Especially in the case of big questions about historical structures and social processes, establishing precise causal relationships is complex and interpretive, making consensus difficult among specialists. A second major challenge arises over the uses of history. Historical precedent can and does play a role in some contexts in helping formulate new strategies for addressing local environmental challenges. At the national level policy-makers and politicians often look to the past for inspiration, guidance, or justification. In both respects, the cases and examples chosen are often highly selective and tend to align with pre-existing assumptions. This article briefly reviews these challenges within the context of climate change and associated environmental and sustainability issues, comments on recent work in the field, and suggests some ways forward for historians.1 Introduction: The Challenge 2 Nuancing the Past: Continuity, Rupture, Agency, and Belief 3 Ways Forward I: Expert Elicitation and Qualitative–Quantitative Data Integration 4 Ways Forward II: Case Studies of Policy Influence 4.1 Case Study 1: The Eastern Mediterranean 4.2 Case Study 2: The North Atlantic Islands 5 Ongoing Challenges 6 Conclusio