Fire severity is more sensitive to low fuel moisture content on Calluna heathlands than on peat bogs

Moorland habitats dominated by the dwarf shrub Calluna vulgaris provide important ecosystem services. Drought is projected to intensify throughout their range, potentially leading to increased fire severity as moisture is a key control on severity. We studied the effect of low fuel moisture content (FMC) on fire severity by using 2 × 2 m rain-out shelters prior to completing 19 experimental fires in two sites in Scotland (UK): a dry heath with thin organic soils and a raised bog with deep, saturated peat, both dominated by Calluna vulgaris. Reduced FMC of the moss and litter (M/L) layer at both sites, and the soil moisture of the dry heath, increased fire-induced consumption of the M/L layer and soil heating at both sites. Increase in fire severity was greater at the dry heath than at the raised bog, e.g. average maximum temperatures at the soil surface increased from 31 °C to 189 °C at the dry heath, but only from 10 °C to 15 °C at the raised bog. Substantial M/L layer consumption was observed when its FMC was below 150%. This led to larger seasonal and daily soil temperature fluctuation, particularly at the dry heath during warm months. The results suggest that low FMC following predicted changes in climate are likely to increase wildfire severity and that the impact on vegetation composition and carbon stores may be greater at heathlands than at peatlands. Managed burning aiming to minimise fire severity (e.g. ignition of the M/L layer and exposure to lethal temperatures of ericoid seeds) should be carried out when the FMC of the M/L layer is above 150% and the FMC of the soil is above 200–300%

Farmer Cooperatives: Commercial Farmer Members and Use

Seventy-eight percent of commercial farmers were either members or nonmember patrons of marketing/farm supply cooperatives in 1986 compared with more than 76 percent in 1980. From 1980 to 1986, the percentage of commercial farmers who were members of cooperatives increased from 65 to 66 percent. Nonmember patrons held steady at 12 percent. The biggest change was an increase in percent of members among commercial farmers with sales of $500,000 and over. Members among this group increased from 56 percent in 1980 to 69 percent in 1986. The percentage of commercial farmers with multiple memberships increased and the percentage of farmers with inactive memberships decreased. The percentage using cooperatives for marketing and for purchasing increased. Forty-nine percent used a cooperative for marketing, and 71 percent used a cooperative to purchase farm supplies in 1986. Data for the study were obtained from surveys by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (formerly Statistical Reporting Service), U.S. Department of Agriculture.Farmer cooperatives, marketing cooperatives, farm supply cooperatives, cooperative members, commercial farmer, Agribusiness,

Financial reporting websites : what users want in terms of form and content

Web-based financial reporting varies widely. Our research had three objectives: (1) identify design attributes for Web-based financial reporting; (2) rank those attributes; and (3) pilot test the Web as a survey tool. Sixty-one attributes were developed from prior studies. The subjects were the subscribers of the “Double Entries” email newsletter. In terms of completeness, the respondents suggested seven additional attributes. Regarding the second objective, some surprises were found. For example, the Jenkins Report emphasizes forward-looking information; yet, the respondents rated traditional content higher than forward-looking information. Traditional static attributes were rated higher than dynamic attributes. In terms of presentation, the respondents were moderately adverse to downloading files, gave relatively low ratings to “bells and whistles,” preferred hyperlinks and other navigation aids such tables of content over search and query functions. Regarding the third objective, the response rate was 13.2%, which was at the low end of response rates reported by similar projects.Los reportes financieros basados en la web varían ampliamente. Nuestra investigación tenía tres objetivos: (1), identificar los atributos de diseño para la elaboración de reportes financieros basados en la web; (2), separarlos por categorías, y (3), hacer pruebas piloto de esta web como una herramienta de estudio. Sesenta y un atributos se desarrollaron de estudios previos. Los sujetos fueron los suscriptores del boletín de correo electrónico “Entradas dobles”. En términos de integridad, los encuestados sugirieron siete atributos adicionales. Con respecto al segundo objetivo, se encontraron algunas sorpresas. Por ejemplo, el Informe Jenkins hace hincapié en la información prospectiva, aunque los encuestados valoraron más el contenido original que esta información. Los atributos tradicionales estáticos fueron major valorados que los atributos dinámicos. En términos de presentación, los encuestados se mostraron moderadamente negativos a la descarga de archivos, valoraron escasamente las “campanas y silbatos”, prefirieron los hiperenlaces y otras ayudas de navegación como tablas de contenido sobre las funciones de búsqueda y consulta. En lo referente al tercer objetivo, el ratio de respuesta fue 13.2%, el cual se halla al extremo bajo de las tasas de respuesta notificadas por proyectos similares

Mild cognitive impairment and Parkinson's disease--something to remember.

Cognitive impairment is common in Parkinson's disease (PD), and many patients will eventually develop a dementia, which has a devastating impact on the patient and their family. As such, there has been much interest in identifying a prodromal state to inform prognosis and facilitate earlier management, similar to the concept of 'MCI' in the Alzheimer's field. However, grouping the early cognitive deficits of PD together as 'PD-MCI' may not be the best way forward as it implies a single aetiological basis with one clinical consequence. In this review, we argue that cognitive deficits in PD arise from a number of different pathological pathways, only some of which herald a dementing process. This has important implications both for treatment of individual patients, and for the design of future disease-modifying therapy trials.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from IOS Press via http://dx.doi.org/10.3233/JPD-14042

Sphagnum abundance and photosynthetic capacity show rapid short-term recovery following managed burning

Background: Prescribed burning in peatlands is controversial due to concerns over damage to their ecological functioning, particularly regarding their key genus Sphagnum. However, empirical evidence is scarce. Aims: The aim of the article is to quantify Sphagnum recovery following prescribed burns. Methods: We completed nine fires at a raised bog in Scotland, achieving a range of fire severities by simulating drought in some plots. We measured Sphagnum cover and chlorophyll fluorescence Fv/Fm ratio (an estimate of photosynthetic capacity) up to 36 months post-fire. Results: Cover of dominant Sphagnum capillifolium was similar in unburnt and burnt plots, likely due to its high moisture content which prevented combustion. Burning decreased S. capillifolium Fv/Fm 5 months after fire from 0.67 in unburnt plots to 0.44 in low fire severity plots and 0.24 in higher fire severity (drought) plots. After 22 months, Fv/Fm in burnt plots showed a healthy photosynthetic capacity of 0.76 and no differences between severity treatments. Other Sphagnum species showed similar post-fire recovery though their low overall abundance precluded formal statistical analysis. Conclusions: S. capillifolium is resilient to low–moderate fire severities and the same may be true for a number of other species. This suggests that carefully applied managed burning can be compatible with the conservation of peatland ecosystem function

Properties of the warm magnetized ISM, as inferred from WSRT polarimetric imaging

We describe a first attempt to derive properties of the regular and turbulent Galactic magnetic field from multi-frequency polarimetric observations of the diffuse Galactic synchrotron background. A single-cell-size model of the thin Galactic disk is constructed which includes random and regular magnetic fields and thermal and relativistic electrons. The disk is irradiated from behind with a uniform partially polarized background. Radiation from the background and from the thin disk is Faraday rotated and depolarized while propagating through the medium. The model parameters are estimated from a comparison with 350 MHz observations in two regions at intermediate latitudes done with the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope. We obtain good consistency between the estimates for the random and regular magnetic field strengths and typical scales of structure in the two regions. The regular magnetic field strength found is a few microGauss, and the ratio of random to regular magnetic field strength is 0.7 +/- 0.5, for a typical scale of the random component of 15 +/- 10 pc. Furthermore, the regular magnetic field is directed almost perpendicular to the line of sight. This modeling is a potentially powerful method to estimate the structure of the Galactic magnetic field, especially when more polarimetric observations of the diffuse synchrotron background at intermediate latitudes become available.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, accepted by A&

Line Broadening in Field Metal-poor Red Giant and Red Horizontal Branch Stars

We report 349 radial velocities for 45 metal-poor field red giant and red horizontal branch stars. We have have identified one new spectroscopic binary, HD 4306, and one possible such system, HD 184711. We also report 57 radial velocities for 11 of the 91 stars reported on previously by Carney et al. (2003). As was found in the previous study, radial velocity "jitter" is present in many of the most luminous stars. Excluding stars showing spectroscopic binary orbital motion, all 7 of the red giants with M(V) <= -2.0 display jitter, as well as 3 of the 14 stars with -2.0 <= M(V) <= -1.4. We have also measured line broadening in all of the new spectra, using synthetic spectra as templates. The most luminous red giants show significant line broadening, as do many of the red horizontal branch stars, and we discuss briefly possible causes.Comment: To appear in the Astronomical Journa

An Investigation of a Self-Determining Curriculum

The purpose of this study was to: (1) determine what patterns of selection occurred when children chose their curricular areas at times they preferred within the school day; (2) determine what proportion of time children with academic deficiencies (identified by their pre-summer session teachers) spent in the curricular area of their deficiency; (3) present the attitudes (as revealed through a questionnaire study} of parents whose children attended a summer school using a self-determining curriculum, and (4) present the attitudes and preferences (as revealed through personal interviews) of children who attended a summer school using a self-determining curriculum

The motor and cognitive features of Parkinson's disease in patients with concurrent Gaucher disease over 2 years: a case series.

We report the cognitive features and progression of Parkinson's disease (PD) in five patients with concurrent Gaucher disease. The patients presented at an earlier age than patients with sporadic PD, as previously noted by others; but in contrast to many previous reports, our patients followed a variable clinical course. While two patients developed early cognitive deficits and dementia, three others remained cognitively intact over the follow-up period. Thus, in this small case series, PD in the context of GD more closely resembles idiopathic PD in terms of its clinical heterogeneity in contrast to PD associated with GBA heterozygote mutations.NIHR BRC and NIHR Senior Investigator, Rosetrees fundin

Radio polarimetric imaging of the interstellar medium: magnetic field and diffuse ionized gas structure near the W3/W4/W5/HB3 complex

We have used polarimetric imaging to study the magneto-ionic medium of the Galaxy, obtaining 1420 MHz images with an angular resolution of 1' over more than 40 square-degrees of sky around the W3/W4/W5/HB3 HII region/SNR complex in the Perseus Arm. Features detected in polarization angle are imposed on the linearly polarized Galactic synchrotron background emission by Faraday rotation arising in foreground ionized gas having an emission measure as low as 1 cm^{-6} pc. Several new remarkable phenomena have been identified, including: mottled polarization arising from random fluctuations in a magneto-ionic screen that we identify with a medium in the Perseus Arm, probably in the vicinity of the HII regions themselves; depolarization arising from very high rotation measures (several times 10^3 rad m^{-2}) and rotation measure gradients due to the dense, turbulent environs of the HII regions; highly ordered features spanning up to several degrees; and an extended influence of the HII regions beyond the boundaries defined by earlier observations. In particular, the effects of an extended, low-density ionized halo around the HII region W4 are evident, probably an example of the extended HII envelopes postulated as the origin of weak recombination-line emission detected from the Galactic ridge. Our polarization observations can be understood if the uniform magnetic field component in this envelope scales with the square-root of electron density and is 20 microG at the edge of the depolarized region around W4, although this is probably an over-estimate since the random field component will have a significant effect.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures (7 jpeg and 1 postscript), accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa