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An interview with Camia Young, founder of Ohu, and Thomas Nash, who was elected to the Greater Wellington Regional Council, is presented about regeneration in New Zealand's housing crisis. They discuss Young's work in community-led property development and the role of Ohu in all of this, and explanation on Young's work which seeks to develop regenerative economic models, which replenish the resources on which they thrive rather than deplete them.

The chronology and cause of millennial depositional oscillations within last glacial loess of the Central Lowlands of the United States are uncertain. Here, we present a new age model that indicates the Peoria Silt along the Illinois River Valley accumulated episodically from ~28,500 to 16,000 cal yr BP, as the Lake Michigan Lobe margin fluctuated within northeastern Illinois. The age model indicates accelerated loess deposition coincident with regional glacial advances during the local last glacial maximum. A weakly developed paleosol, the Jules Geosol, represents a period of significantly slower deposition, from 23,700 to 22,000 cal yr BP. A gastropod assemblage-based reconstruction of mean July temperature shows temperatures 6–10°C cooler than modern during Peoria Silt deposition. Stable oxygen and carbon isotope values (δ18O and δ13C) of gastropod carbonate do not vary significantly across the pedostratigraphic boundary of the Jules Geosol, suggesting slower loess accumulation was a result of reduced glacial sediment supply rather than direct climatic factors. However, a decrease in δ18O values occurred between 26,000 and 24,000 cal yr BP, synchronous with the Lake Michigan Lobe’s southernmost advance. This δ18O decrease suggests a coupling of regional summer hydroclimate and ice lobe position during the late glacial period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development, use and control of military technology are characterised by serious inequality amongst states. Thomas Nash discusses how the development of new weapons remains largely unchecked, despite International obligations that exist and examines how - in the context of lethal autonomous weapons systems - this trend could have particularly serious consequences. The author examines the inequality in the production, transfer and Impact of conventional weapons and how this translates into the limited representation of lower income countries at multi-national forums. Nash concludes by calling for equal participation of states, the involvement of civil society and the development of mechanisms to ensure the meaningful participation of those states who have been most affected by the weapons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Pain relief by touch has been studied for decades in pain neuroscience. Human perceptual studies revealed analgesic effects of segmental tactile stimulation, as compared to extrasegmental touch. However, the spatial organisation of touch–pain interactions within a single human dermatome has not been investigated yet. In 2 experiments we tested whether, how, and where within a dermatome touch modulates the perception of laser-evoked pain. We measured pain perception using intensity ratings, qualitative descriptors, and signal detection measures of sensitivity and response bias. Touch concurrent with laser pulses produced a significant analgesia, and reduced the sensitivity in detecting the energy of laser stimulation, implying a functional loss of information within the ascending Aδ pathway. Touch also produced a bias to judge laser stimuli as less painful. This bias decreased linearly when the distance between the laser and tactile stimuli increased. Thus, our study provides evidence for a spatial organisation of intrasegmental touch–pain interactions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Molecular methodologies were used to characterize fungal communities associated with lichen-dominated biological soil crusts (BSCs) at two sites on the Colorado Plateau (USA) in order to investigate their diversity and abundance, in relation to that of bacteria, as well as how these parameters corresponded to overall soil crust cover and the presence of anthropogenic disturbance. Fungal community diversity and composition were assessed with denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) fingerprinting of PCR amplified ribosomal genes and by sequencing. Quantitative PCR, specific for fungi as well as bacteria, was used to evaluate relative microbial densities. Two sites with similar soil characteristics, both of which contained well developed BSCs dominated by lichens, were studied. Results indicated that while a considerable diversity of fungi is present within these BSCs, much higher than what has previously been determined for cyanobacteria-dominated crusts, fungi contribute less biomass and are less diverse than their bacterial counterparts. Fungal diversity in lichen-dominated BSCs was negatively correlated with disturbance and positively correlated with crust cover. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Nitric acid (HNO3) and ozone (O3), secondary products of photochemical reactions of nitrogen oxides (NO x ) and volatile organic compounds, are important pollutants in arid regions with large outputs from petrol combustion. In the Los Angeles (LA) air basin, nitrogen dry deposition rates in forests downwind of the urban areas can reach 35–40kgha−1 year−1, roughly equivalent to the amount of N used to fertilize agricultural fields. The marked decline in the lichen population of the LA air basin has previously been attributed to local O3 concentration gradients, which overlaid the patterns of species extirpation. Recent research in the air basin has shown that nitrate (NO3 −) deposition gradients run parallel to the O3 concentration gradient, and that deposition of NO3 − and HNO3 can have significant effects on forest health. Our research examines the effects of HNO3 dry deposition on the lichen Ramalina menziesii Tayl. in an effort to understand the loss of lichen species in southern California, and increase the usefulness of lichens as biomonitors of nitrogen pollutants. We transplanted healthy R. menziesii thalli from a “pristine” location into fumigation chambers and exposed them to HNO3 under humid and dry conditions, and moderate and high HNO3 fumigations. R. menziesii thalli treated with HNO3 in month-long fumigations experienced a significant decline in chlorophyll content and carbon exchange capacity compared to thalli in control chambers. Leachate conductivity, NO3 − and K+ concentrations increased with HNO3 fumigation levels and time. We conclude that R. menziesii has an unequivocally negative response to HNO3 gas concentrations common to ambient summer conditions in the LA air basin. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Presents a study which examined the importance of epiphytic lichens (Ramalina menziesii) in the blue oak (quercus douglasii) woodland of California. Experimental methods used in study; How the removal of lichens affected the interception of rainfall by the forest canopy; Disposition of trees with lichens.

When bivariate normality is violated, the default confidence interval of the Pearson correlation can be inaccurate. Two new methods were developed based on the asymptotic sampling distribution of Fisher's z′ under the general case where bivariate normality need not be assumed. In Monte Carlo simulations, the most successful of these methods relied on the (Vale & Maurelli, 1983, Psychometrika, 48, 465) family to approximate a distribution via the marginal skewness and kurtosis of the sample data. In Simulation 1, this method provided more accurate confidence intervals of the correlation in non-normal data, at least as compared to no adjustment of the Fisher z′ interval, or to adjustment via the sample joint moments. In Simulation 2, this approximate distribution method performed favourably relative to common non-parametric bootstrap methods, but its performance was mixed relative to an observed imposed bootstrap and two other robust methods ( PM1 and HC4). No method was completely satisfactory. An advantage of the approximate distribution method, though, is that it can be implemented even without access to raw data if sample skewness and kurtosis are reported, making the method particularly useful for meta-analysis. Supporting information includes R code. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phylogenetic position of the genus Pseudoparmelia was addressed using molecular data from five loci (mtSSU, nuLSU, ITS, Mcm7, RPB1), generated from three species and aligned with sequences from 293 samples representing all major clades of Parmeliaceae. Pseudoparmelia species form a well-supported monophyletic group that is the sister group of a clade consisting of the genera Relicina and Relicinopsis. These three genera share a thallus with a pored epicortex, isolichenan as cell wall polysaccharide, and relatively small ascospores. Morphological and chemical characters that distinguish Pseudoparmelia from the closely related Relicina and Relicinopsis are discussed. To further elucidate the relationships of these three genera, we assembled a second dataset including 15 additional samples of Relicina and Relicinopsis using three loci (mtSSU, nuLSU, ITS). All three genera are monophyletic but monophyly of Relicina lacks support and, in the mtSSU single locus tree, the genus is paraphyletic with Relicinopsis nested within. Additional studies including more Relicina species are necessary to test delimitation of the genera Relicina and Relicinopsis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers the role of civil society in the development of new standards around weapons. The broad but informal roles that civil society has undertaken are contrasted with the relatively narrow review mechanisms adopted by states in fulfilment of their legal obligations. Such review mechanisms are also considered in the context of wider thinking about processes by which society considers new technologies that may be adopted into the public sphere. The article concludes that formalized review mechanisms, such as those undertaken in terms of Article 36 of Additional Protocol I (1977) of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, should be a focus of civil society attention in their own right as part of efforts to strengthen standard-setting in relation to emerging military technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We report results of the experimental campaign, which studied the initiation, implosion dynamics, and radiation yield of tungsten wire arrays as a function of the wire number. The wire array dimensions and mass were those of interest for the Z-pinch driven Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) program. An optimization study of the x-ray emitted peak power, rise time, and full width at half maximum was effectuated by varying the wire number while keeping the total array mass constant and equal to ∼5.8 mg. The driver utilized was the ∼20-MA Z accelerator before refurbishment in its usual short pulse mode of 100 ns. We studied single arrays of 20-mm diameter and 1-cm height. The smaller wire number studied was 30 and the largest 600. It appears that 600 is the highest achievable wire number with present day's technology. Radial and axial diagnostics were utilized including crystal monochromatic x-ray backlighter. An optimum wire number of ∼375 was observed which was very close to the routinely utilized 300 for the ICF program in Sandia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A brief discussion of the Encyclopedia of Life and the LifeDesks websites as a means to assemble and publish species pages and taxonomic information on the internet, for both the scientific community and the public, is provided. The lichen family Parmeliaceae is the first large group of lichenized fungi for which a concerted effort is currently being undertaken to produce substantial content for the EOL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Z-pinch implosions driven by the SATURN device at Sandia National Laboratory are modeled with a two-dimensional radiation magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) code,showing strong growth of the magneto-Rayleigh?Taylor (MRT) instability. Modeling of the linear and nonlinear development of MRT modes predicts growth of bubble-spike structures that increase the time span of stagnation and the resulting x-ray pulse width. Radiation is important in the pinchdynamics, keeping the sheath relatively cool during the run-in and releasing most of the stagnation energy. The calculations give x-ray pulse widths and magnitudes in reasonable agreement with experiments, but predict a radiating region that is too dense and radially localized at stagnation. We also consider peaked initial density profiles with constant imploding sheath velocity that should reduce MRT instability and improve performance. Krypton simulations show an output x-ray power .80 TW for the peaked profile.. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]