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The Davis Historical Archive identifies the women who obtained an honours degree in mathematics in the British Isles between 1878 and 1940 and gives information on them. This note uses the Archive to pick out patterns in women's mathematical education in England and Wales, adding the necessary historical and institutional context. It pays special attention to the dominant institutions of the period, viz., the women's colleges in Cambridge and London. It also glances at the careers of the graduates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solifluction sheets are large‐scale and extensive valley‐floor and valley‐side landforms developed widely in the British Isles from mass‐wasting of glacial and periglacial sediments during late‐glacial times. We describe their geographical distribution and review the processes that have led to their development. We use data from the Cheviot Hills, the one site in the British Isles where sedimentology and optically stimulated luminescence dating have been combined, to assess their age and nature of deposition. We also present data from central Wales where a new mapping and resistivity survey has reconstructed the nature of valley‐side solifluction sheets. We explore the relative lack of recent research on these landforms and argue that solifluction sheets represent a clear example of how upland geomorphological systems have responded to late‐glacial climate change. We end by identifying a number of areas where research on these enigmatic features could be focussed, including better understanding of their distribution, sedimentology and age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a new law in Wales, the Curriculum and Assessment (Wales) Act 2021, which transforms the teaching of religion in schools. The act replaces the exclusive Christian instruction with a more pluralistic education in "Religion, Values, and Ethics" (RVE). All state schools in Wales, including faith-based private schools, are now required to offer RVE instruction, with some opt-outs allowed. The new law has been praised as a long overdue reform that aligns with European human rights standards. However, it has also faced criticism for not going far enough in terms of a common core curriculum and outdated regulations on religious worship. The article highlights the potential impact of these reforms and suggests that they may inspire similar changes in other parts of the British Isles and Commonwealth. [Extracted from the article]

Early Palaeozoic crinoids are known only patchily from the British Isles except for accumulations at starfish beds. A single, exquisitely preserved crinoid is reported from the Telychian (Llandovery, Silurian) of the Pysgotwr Grits Formation of the Llangurig area, Powys, mid-Wales. This sedimentary succession is turbiditic in origin and poorly fossiliferous. The crinoid is a diplobathrid camerate, Euptychocrinus longipinnulus sp. nov., preserved as an external mould without counterpart. It has a high, shuttlecock-like crown; a conical, unsculptured cup; low infrabasals; a pair of long, slender, feather-like arms on each ray, each bearing numerous long pinnules; and a heteromorphic column. Most previous reports of this genus have been from the Upper Ordovician – lower Silurian series of Laurentia; uncertainly, it is described from the Upper Ordovician deposits of Morocco (Gondwana). Euptychocrinus longipinnulus is the first Avalonian occurrence. The beautiful preservation of the arms, including cover plates of pinnules, contrasts with the proxistele, which is a series of 'broken sticks'. This crinoid responded to an adverse environmental fluctuation, probably a turbidity current, by autotomizing the stem, but it was carried downslope and buried alive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. Leptoscyphus cuneifolius has a very limited distribution in Europe and is threatened with extinction in several regions. This study investigates its ecology at Coed y Rhygen, the most important site in Wales. Methods. GPS-based surveys documented the distribution of L. cuneifolius within the study site. Hillshade analysis was used to investigate preference for topographic locations in relation to solar illumination. Thirty relevés were recorded to describe habitat conditions and community composition. Four monitoring plots for L. cuneifolius, first recorded in 1997, were re-visited. Results. A total of 309 locations of L. cuneifolius was recorded, distributed across 226 10 m grid cells. Hillshade analysis showed a preference for shaded topography. The liverwort comprised only sterile material at all locations and occurred almost exclusively on the trunks of trees. Results from relevés show a marked preference for micro-habitats with a northerly aspect. The most common associates are the liverworts Frullania tamarisci and Plagiochila punctata. Trend in abundance of four monitored colonies of L. cuneifolius during 1997–2019 shows a decline at all locations, including extinction at two. Conclusions. Within the study area, L. cuneifolius prefers shaded locations at both macro- and micro-habitat scales, and is almost exclusively an epiphyte, with a clear preference for the acidic bark of Betula pubescens. It is entirely dependent on asexual reproduction, via tiny caducous leaves, produced abundantly. The tiny size of L. cuneifolius makes it particularly vulnerable to competitive exclusion from habitat patches, not only due to over-growth by larger bryophytes, but also mucilaginous algae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been suggested that Dupuytren's disease has an origin in Norse countries. We harnessed data from a genome-wide association study of Dupuytren's disease and the People of the British Isles study to determine evidence for a Norse origin of Dupuytren's disease. We computed Wright's Fixation Index between Orkney (Norse ancestry), Wales (ancient British) and South East England (Anglo-Saxons); compared mean Wright's Fixation Index in cases versus controls; used permutation to determine any excess of Norse inheritance in disease associated variants; constructed a genetic risk score for Dupuytren's disease and applied this to the People of the British Isles dataset to look for systematic differences between counties with known high and low levels of Norse ancestry. Finally, chromosome painting was used to see whether Dupuytren's disease-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms are geographically structured. In all analyses, no evidence was found for an excess of Norse ancestry in Dupuytren's disease. We conclude that there is no genetic evidence for a 'Viking origin of Dupuytren's disease'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new moth list for Wales is introduced. Differences from the British Isles Checklist are presented as well as details of previously unpublished records of species new for Wales. The new list comprises 1832 moth species (excluding adventives), which is 74% of the total for the British Isles. The list is considered provisional at the current time. The full list is available only in electronic format, as a pdf; a download link is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High magnitude coastal storms have persistently threatened human communities and environments. In the British Isles their frequency and magnitude are predicted to increase in the future with advancing climate change. This study analyses sedimentological evidence from south-west Wales to assess the impacts of high magnitude coastal storms in vulnerable coastal saltmarshes in the Three Rivers Estuarine Complex, Carmarthen Bay. Storm surge saltmarsh deposits were identified following geochemical and particle size analyses and dated using radionuclides 137Cs and 210Pb. The sedimentological evidence is compared with regional tidal gauge and meteorological records to assess variability in storm recording and corroborate the storms which produced the sedimentological deposits. Three episodes of high magnitude saltmarsh storm surge deposition are identified in 1954, 1977 and 1981. Evidence of storm erosion or alternative forms of storm deposition were not present. The sedimentological evidence highlights the comparative rarity of major depositional events in the saltmarshes between 1929 and 2019. The recorded depositional events combined with organic accretion have contributed to maintaining saltmarsh elevation relative to sea level. There remains uncertainty surrounding the storm impacts on the saltmarshes of the Three Rivers Estuarine Complex. When the future 21st century threats of increasing regional atmospheric storminess and sea level rise are considered along with predictions of saltmarsh degradation, this study suggests further research is required to explore the sedimentological storm impacts. This could contribute to sustaining the vulnerable coastal saltmarsh environments and the important ecosystem services they provide. [Display omitted] • Major storm surge deposits from 1954, 1977 and 1981, are identified in the saltmarshes of the Three Rivers Estuarine Complex. • Major storm surge deposition occurs sporadically on a multi-decadal timescale between 1929 and 2019. • Regional tidal and meteorological storm records show depositional evidence of storms is comparatively rare. • Organic accretion and storm surge deposition have enabled the saltmarshes to keep pace with relative sea level rise. • Given the predicted regional climate change in the 21st century, saltmarsh sustainability should be monitored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A novel paramyxid parasite, Marteilia cocosarum n. sp. infecting common cockles is described. • Phylogenetic analyses of 18S, ITS-1, and ITS-2 rDNA were performed. • A detailed description of the morphology and pathology based on histology, ISH, and TEM is presented. Diseases of bivalve molluscs caused by paramyxid parasites of the genus Marteilia have been linked to mass mortalities and the collapse of commercially important shellfish populations. Until recently, no Marteilia spp. have been detected in common cockle (Cerastoderma edule) populations in the British Isles. Molecular screening of cockles from ten sites on the Welsh coast indicates that a Marteilia parasite is widespread in Welsh C. edule populations, including major fisheries. Phylogenetic analysis of ribosomal DNA (rDNA) gene sequences from this parasite indicates that it is a closely related but different species to Marteilia cochillia , a parasite linked to mass mortality of C. edule fisheries in Spain, and that both are related to Marteilia octospora , for which we provide new rDNA sequence data. Preliminary light and transmission electron microscope (TEM) observations support this conclusion, indicating that the parasite from Wales is located primarily within areas of inflammation in the gills and the connective tissue of the digestive gland, whereas M. cochillia is found mainly within the epithelium of the digestive gland. The impact of infection by the new species, here described as Marteilia cocosarum n. sp., upon Welsh fisheries is currently unknown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twelve 10Be and five 26Al samples from the mountains of Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) (1085 m) (n = 7 10Be) and Y Glyderau (the Glyders) (1001 m) (n = 5 paired 10Be/26Al) in Wales provide new insights into landscape evolution in the highest mountains in the British Isles outside of Scotland. The summits of Y Glyderau are characterised by intensely modified frost-shattered surfaces and have long been recognised as exemplars of mountain summit periglacial activity in the British Isles. However, glacially transported boulders on the highest ground indicate that ice overran the summits. Bedrock and boulder surfaces at altitudes >900 m yield 10Be and 26Al exposure ages of 61–78 ka, indicating that the last Welsh Ice Cap did not override and erode Y Glyderau summits at the global Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and the summits stood as nunataks. Both the geomorphological and the exposure dating evidence indicate ice overran the summits earlier in the last glacial cycle during MIS 4, although erosion was only partial. Thick ice over Wales at this time is consistent with evidence of an extensive British-Irish Ice Sheet that reached the continental shelf to the west in MIS 4. The ice-scoured lower slopes of Y Glyderau and the arêtes of Yr Wyddfa were exposed as the ice cap rapidly thinned between 20-16 ka marking a transition from ice cap to alpine-style glaciation. On Yr Wyddfa, the highest mountain in southern Britain, local ice breached and abraded the central parts of the Crib Goch-Crib y Ddysgl arête as high as 874 m until c. 16 ka. However, some arête crests yielded Holocene ages (4.4–9.3 ka), which reflect continual post-glacial stripping. • 10Be/26Al dating provides new insights into the history of glaciation over Wales. • The Welsh Ice Cap was last thickest in MIS 4 when ice submerged the highest peaks. • Ice was thinner at the global LGM when the highest summits existed as nunataks. • By 17-15 ka the ice cap had thinned forming localised alpine-style valley glaciers. • Arête rock surfaces have continued to erode by 1–2 m since deglaciation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Orthotrichum cambrense Bosanquet et F. Lara, is described from material recently collected on trees in a small area of Carmarthenshire, south Wales. The new moss has a unique combination of morphological traits, several of them highly distinctive: characteristic almost flat leaves, with plane margins and frequently rounded apices; brood bodies common on leaves and rhizoids; emergent furrowed capsules with cryptopore stomata in their lower third; a peristome of 8 pairs of teeth and 8 segments; and the calyptra hairy, especially in the upper part. This moss is not believed to be close to other species with plane leaf-margins in the subgenus Puichella. However, several gametophytic and sporophytic details relate Orthotrichum cambrense to O. tenellum and similar species in this same subgenus. Reasons why such a distinctive moss has gone unnoticed until now are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phytophthora ramorum is the oomycete pathogen responsible for Sudden Oak Death on the West Coast of the USA and Sudden Larch Death in the British Isles. It also causes twig dieback and leaf blight on a series of ornamental hosts (e.g. Rhododendron, Viburnum, Pieris and Camellia) commonly grown in plant nurseries, traded by garden centres and cultivated in public and private gardens. The role of the plant trade in the dispersal of P. ramorum has been well documented, but there is a need for regional analyses of which environmental variables can predict disease expression in the trade and in the wild, so as to be able to better predict the further development of this worldwide plant health issue. In this study, we analyse data on the incidence of P. ramorum (2002-2009, thus before the reports in Japanese larch plantations) in counties in England and Wales as a function of environmental variables such as temperature and rainfall, controlling for confounding factors such as county area, human population and spatial autocorrelation. While P. ramorum county incidence in nurseries and retail centres was positively related to county area and human population density, county incidence in gardens and the wild did not show such correlations, declined significantly towards the East and was positively correlated with disease incidence in the trade. The latter finding, although not conclusively proving causation, suggests a role of the trade in the dispersal of this pathogen across English and Welsh landscapes. Combined together , P. ramorum county incidence in the trade and in the semi-natural environment increased with increasing precipitation and with declining latitude. This study shows the importance of environmental variables in shaping regional plant epidemics, but also yields results that are suggestive of a role of people in spreading plant diseases across entire countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the ecological distribution of adult craneflies in Carnarvonshire, North Wales. It states that this county has a very great surface variety which is unequalled by any other county in the British Isles. It also forwards that the county may be further divided into four zones, which includes the sea coast, the region of farms, the wooded slopes, and the rugged mountain complex. Moreover, it mentions that the rich crane-fly fauna of this location depends mainly on the abundant water supply and on the wooded area.

A weather forecast is presented for British Isles, Wales.