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Agricultural research on climate change generally follows two themes: (i) impact and adaptation or (ii) mitigation and emissions. Despite both being simultaneously relevant to future agricultural systems, the two are usually studied separately. By contrast, this study jointly compares the potential impacts of climate change and the effects of mitigation policy on farming systems in the central region of Western Australia’s grainbelt, using the results of several biophysical models integrated into a whole‐farm bioeconomic model. In particular, we focus on the potential for interactions between climate impacts and mitigation activities. Results suggest that, in the study area, farm profitability is much more sensitive to changes in climate than to a mitigation policy involving a carbon price on agricultural emissions. Climate change reduces the profitability of agricultural production and, as a result, reduces the opportunity cost of reforesting land for carbon sequestration. Nonetheless, the financial attractiveness of reforestation does not necessarily improve because climate change also reduces tree growth and, therefore, the income from sequestration. Consequently, at least for the study area, climate change has the potential to reduce the amount of abatement obtainable from sequestration – a result potentially relevant to the debate about the desirability of sequestration as a mitigation option.

Prioritising investments to minimise or mitigate natural hazards such as wildfires and storms is of increasing importance to hazard managers. Prioritisation of this type can be strengthened by considering benefit and cost impacts. To evaluate benefits and costs, managers require an understanding of both the tangible economic benefits and costs of mitigation decisions, and the often intangible values associated with environmental, social and health-related outcomes. We review the state of non-market valuation studies that provide monetary equivalent estimates for the intangible benefits and costs that can be affected by natural hazard events or their mitigation. We discuss whether managers can usefully call upon these available estimates, with a view to using the benefit transfer approach to include non-market values in economic decision frameworks. Additional context-specific non-market valuation studies are required to provide a more accurate selection of value estimates for natural hazard decision making. Decision making would benefit from considering these values explicitly in prioritising natural hazard investments.

Joint venture (JV) farm structures have the potential to increase the productivity and profitability of traditional family farms. However, such structures are not widely adopted within the farm business community. Furthermore, knowledge on the relative attractiveness of different JV models to farmers is limited. We use a choice experiment to explore what JV structures are preferred by Australian farmers, and how farmers’ socio‐demographic and attitudinal characteristics influence the type of JV structure preferred. A latent class analysis revealed significant unobserved preference heterogeneity amongst the population. We identify four latent classes that differ in their preferences regarding the number of JV partners, access to new machinery, and/or the opportunity for additional annual leave. All classes of farmers displayed positive preferences for operational decision‐making with other JV partners, although they varied in their preferences towards final operational responsibility. The diversity in preferences shows that there is no ‘one size fits all’ JV design, leaving opportunities for a range of JV decision models. Such flexibility in JV design is likely to have advantages when seeking JV partners, with a significant proportion of the sampled population open to collaborative decision‐making models.

A new principle is developed to fabricate temperature-responsive, multicolor photonic coatings that are capable of switching color. The coating is composed of a non-cross-linked liquid crystal siloxane-based elastomer that is interpenetrated through an acrylate-based liquid crystal network. Discrete temperature changes induce phase separation and mixing between the siloxane and the acrylate polymers and change the reflective colors correspondingly. The temperature-responsive color change of the coatings can be programmed by the processing conditions and coating formulation, which allows for the fabrication of photopatterned multicolor images. The photonic ink can be coated on flexible poly(ethylene terephthalate) films using roll-to-roll flexographic printing, making these temperature-responsive, multicolor-changing polymers appealing for applications such as responsive color decors, optical sensors, and anticounterfeit labels.

Marine recreational fisheries (MRFs) are often highly spatially heterogenous, with effort concentrated into small areas, and fisheries spanning large environmental gradients. However, spatially resolved catch data is rarely collected in MRFs, preventing the study of spatial heterogeneity in catch. This study uses recreational catch reported in 10 × 10 nm blocks across eight degrees of latitude in Western Australia to map spatial predictions of the probability of a recreational catch on an average trip for two key species: West Australian dhufish (Glaucosoma hebraicum) and snapper (Chrysophrys auratus). Two spatial modelling techniques are compared for the analysis, generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs) and boosted regression trees (BRTs). We find that BRTs outperform GAMMs, but performance gains are small. We also find marked spatial variations in recreational catch probabilities: high catches of dhufish are found in the north of the study area, and low catches in the Perth Metropolitan area and in the south; snapper catches are highest in the north and low in the south. These patterns are used to identify important spatial processes in the fishery. The analysis also suggests that modelling approach (GAMMs or BRTs) has only a minor effect on outcomes of spatial catch analysis in MRFs.

Conservation biology and restoration ecology have historically focused on promoting biodiversity and safeguarding endangered species. However, the ecosystem services (ES) concept has given these fields a new, anthropocentric rationale: promoting human wellbeing. Here we investigate how the ES concept has penetrated decision making and public support for ecological restoration in Australia, by examining the national government's funding priorities, land managers’ project goals, and the public's willingness to pay for restoration. We find that national funding priorities and local project implementation have thoroughly mainstreamed the ES concept, and that the public is generally supportive of ES goals. More than half of projects awarded funding, and two-thirds of land managers’ implemented projects, had explicit ES goals. Among managers who participated in semi-structured interviews, 45% rated ES aims as at least as important as biodiversity aims in their projects. The public was more willing to donate to a restoration scenario that included ES than one that did not, and 41% of the public chose an ES as the preferred outcome of restoration. Across all groups, provisioning services were the least preferred ES outcome, compared to regulating or cultural services. Our results indicate that ES are now important rationales for restoration funding and implementation.

Shark-diving tourism is a fast-growing industry that provides socio-economic benefits to local communities. This study estimated the economic contribution of the shark-diving tourism in the Maldives by using surveys with dive tourists and dive operators. Direct business revenue from shark divers was estimated to be US$14.4 million. Revenues to local businesses associated with travel expenses of shark divers were estimated to be US$51.4 million. Further economic benefits from shark-diving occurred in form of annual business tax revenues of US$7.2 million and annual salaries to employees working in the diving industry of US$4.1 million. These values were compared with the business revenues from shark-diving in the Maldives in 1992 to assess how the shark-diving industry has changed over time. The results of this study indicate that the business revenues of this industry have almost doubled (when inflation adjusted) over the last 24 years confirming its economic growth and importance for the Maldives. Effective management of shark dive operations is crucial for maintaining the value and sustainability of this tourism industry to improve ongoing conservation efforts for shark populations.

Achieving sustainable food security and increased farm income will depend on how efficient production systems are in converting available inputs to produce outputs. Using data from Malawi, we estimate a Bayesian directional technology distance function to examine the relationship between farm size and technical efficiency. Our results support the existence of an inverse relationship between farm size and productive efficiency, where small farms are more efficient than large farms. On average, farms exhibit inefficiency levels of 60%, suggesting that productivity could be improved substantially. Improving productive efficiency and food security will require farms to operate in ways where the size of cultivated area is matched by nonland production inputs such as labor, fertilizer, and improved seeds. The results highlight the need for policies that could incentivize farmers to adopt productivity‐enhancing technologies and, where possible, to allocate excess land to lease markets.

Objectives To determine whether the intramaxillary relationship of patients with Muenke syndrome and Saethre-Chotzen syndrome or TCF12-related craniosynostosis are systematically different than those of a control group. Material and methods Forty-eight patients (34 patients with Muenke syndrome, 8 patients with Saethre-Chotzen syndrome, and 6 patients with TCF12-related craniosynostosis) born between 1982 and 2010 (age range 4.84 to 16.83 years) that were treated at the Department of Oral Maxillofacial Surgery, Special Dental Care and Orthodontics, Children’s Hospital Erasmus University Medical Center, Sophia, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, were included. Forty-seven syndromic patients had undergone one craniofacial surgery according to the craniofacial team protocol. The dental arch measurements intercanine width (ICW), intermolar width (IMW), arch depth (AD), and arch length (AL) were calculated. The control group existed of 329 nonsyndromic children. Results All dental arch dimensions in Muenke (ICW, IMW, AL, p

Shark-diving tourism provides important economic benefits to the Maldives. We examine the link between shark conservation actions and economic returns from diving tourism. A combined travel cost and contingent behaviour approach is used to estimate the dive trip demand under different management scenarios. Our results show that increasing shark populations could increase dive-trip demand by 15%, raising dive tourists’ welfare by US$58 million annually. This could result in annual economic benefits for the dive-tourism industry of >US$6 million. Conversely, in scenarios where shark populations decline, where dive tourists observe illegal fishing, or if dive operators lack engagement in shark conservation, dive trip demand could decrease by up to 56%. This decline causes economic losses of more than US$24 million annually to the dive tourism industry. These results highlight the dependence of the shark-diving industry on the creation and enforcement of appropriate management regimes for shark conservation.

We studied employees who were promoted into a leadership role from within their workgroup and explored how they dealt, psychologically, with being both a leader and a friend of their subordinates. In an inductive, qualitative study of 33 individuals from across three organizations (two mining companies and one childcare organization) we found that these people experienced psychological conflict that resulted in them feeling vulnerable to being exploited or being afraid to use their power over subordinate-friends. We identified five strategies that were used, namely abdicating responsibility, ending the friendship, establishing the divide, overlapping the roles, and using friendship to lead. We developed a model whereby the type of psychological conflict and the person's leader identity (either “the boss”, just a role, or a weak or non-existent leader identity) leads to the choice of resolution strategy. This exploration into understanding pre-existing friendships demonstrates the ongoing need to consider those in a leadership role as “people” and not just “leaders”.

Summary Background Timing of dental development might help orthodontists to optimize initiation of treatment and to prevent and intercept dental misalignment. This study examines the association between timing of dental development and aberrant dental traits such as crowding, impaction, and hypodontia. Methods This study was performed using 4446 ten-year-old children from a multiethnic birth cohort, the Generation R Study. Dental development was defined using the Demirjian method. Crowding, impaction, and hypodontia were ascertained from 2D and 3D pictures and radiographs. We built three series of logistic regression models to test the associations of dental age with crowding, impaction, and hypodontia. Similar models were built to investigate the associations of the developmental stages of each left mandibular tooth with crowding, impaction, and hypodontia. Results Inverse associations were found between every 1-year increase in dental age and the presence of crowding [odds ratio (OR) = 0.84, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.79, 0.89], impaction of teeth (OR = 0.66, 95% CI: 0.52, 0.84), and hypodontia (OR = 0.52, 95% CI: 0.47, 0.56). Lower developmental stages of the second premolar were associated with the presence of crowding (OR = 0.90, 95% CI: 0.83, 0.98). Lower developmental stages of the second premolar (OR = 0.88, 95% CI: 0.79, 0.98), first molar (OR = 0.76, 95% CI: 0.65, 0.90), and the second molar (OR = 0.83, 95% CI: 0.73, 0.94) were associated with the presence of tooth impaction. Lower developmental stages of all mandibular teeth except the central incisor were associated with hypodontia (P < 0.05). Conclusion Accelerated dental development is associated with lower occurrence of crowding, impaction, and hypodontia.

Public preferences for ecological restoration can be revealed through environmental valuation studies that aim to measure willingness to pay. However, respondents' environmental views will often influence the conclusions drawn from such studies. We conducted a national survey of perceptions of the benefits and perverse outcomes arising from ecological restoration using a dichotomous choice payment card. Using interval regression to estimate willingness to pay, we find that there are respondents who will perceive mostly biodiversity benefits from restoration, with a particular interest in threatened species recovery. We find that this eco‐centric view of the benefits of restoration also increases the dollar amount that respondents are willing to pay to support restoration activities. A proportion of respondents also perceive restoration as having negative impacts, with concerns orientated towards increased fire, decreased farmland productivity, and groundwater availability. Perceptions of the potential effects of restoration on land productivity had a significant negative influence on the amount of money respondents were willing to pay. These findings are useful for targeting outreach in order to garner public support for ecological restoration.

Context. The inner few au region of planet-forming disks is a complex environment. High angular resolution observations have a key role in understanding the disk structure and the dynamical processes at work. Aims. In this study we aim to characterize the mid-infrared brightness distribution of the inner disk of the young intermediate-mass star HD 163296, from VLTI/MATISSE observations. Methods. We use geometric models to fit the data. Our models include a smoothed ring, a flat disk with inner cavity, and a 2D Gaussian. The models can account for disk inclination and for azimuthal asymmetries as well. We also perform numerical hydro-dynamical simulations of the inner edge of the disk. Results. Our modeling reveals a significant brightness asymmetry in the L-band disk emission. The brightness maximum of the asymmetry is located at the NW part of the disk image, nearly at the position angle of the semimajor axis. The surface brightness ratio in the azimuthal variation is $3.5 \pm 0.2$. Comparing our result on the location of the asymmetry with other interferometric measurements, we confirm that the morphology of the $r, accepted for publication in A&A

International audience; We present an update on the overall integration progress of the WEAVE next-generation spectroscopy facility for the William Herschel Telescope (WHT), now scheduled for first light in early-2021, with almost all components now arrived at the observatory. We also present a summary of the current planning behind the 5-year initial phase of survey operations, and some detailed end-to-end science simulations that have been implemented to evaluate the final on-sky performance after data processing. WEAVE will provide optical ground-based follow up of ground-based (LOFAR) and space-based (Gaia) surveys. WEAVE is a multi-object and multi-IFU facility utilizing a new 2-degree prime focus field of view at the WHT, with a buffered pick-and-place positioner system hosting 1000 multi-object (MOS) fibres, 20 mini integral field units, or a single large IFU for each observation. The fibres are fed to a single (dual-beam) spectrograph, with total of 16k spectral pixels, located within the WHT GHRIL enclosure on the telescope Nasmyth platform, supporting observations at R~5000 over the full 370-1000nm wavelength range in a single exposure, or a high resolution mode with limited coverage in each arm at R~20000.

The nature of circumstellar envelopes (CSE) around Cepheids is still a matter of debate. The physical origin of their infrared (IR) excess could be either a shell of ionized gas, or a dust envelope, or both. This study aims at constraining the geometry and the IR excess of the environment of the long-period Cepheid $\ell$ Car (P=35.5 days) at mid-IR wavelengths to understand its physical nature. We first use photometric observations in various bands and Spitzer Space Telescope spectroscopy to constrain the IR excess of $\ell$ Car. Then, we analyze the VLTI/MATISSE measurements at a specific phase of observation, in order to determine the flux contribution, the size and shape of the environment of the star in the L band. We finally test the hypothesis of a shell of ionized gas in order to model the IR excess. We report the first detection in the L band of a centro-symmetric extended emission around l Car, of about 1.7$R_\star$ in FWHM, producing an excess of about 7.0\% in this band. In the N band, there is no clear evidence for dust emission from VLTI/MATISSE correlated flux and Spitzer data. On the other side, the modeled shell of ionized gas implies a more compact CSE ($1.13\pm0.02\,R_\star$) and fainter (IR excess of 1\% in the L band). We provide new evidences for a compact CSE of $\ell$ Car and we demonstrate the capabilities of VLTI/MATISSE for determining common properties of CSEs. While the compact CSE of $\ell$ Car is probably of gaseous nature, the tested model of a shell of ionized gas is not able to simultaneously reproduce the IR excess and the interferometric observations. Further Galactic Cepheids observations with VLTI/MATISSE are necessary for determining the properties of CSEs, which may also depend on both the pulsation period and the evolutionary state of the stars., Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, accepted in Astronomy and Astrophysics

[...]similar to other disasters, this pandemic has seen a rise in “spontaneous volunteers” or volunteers who take initiative to help vulnerable members of their communities with transportation and delivering supplies, well-being checks, call center support, or administration and computing tasks (Butler, 2020). [...]directive leaders could also emphasize the importance of following the pandemic rules by highlighting benefits of compliance for not only self but vulnerable community members. [...]to satisfy their competence needs or sense of accomplishment, volunteers could use their newly freed time during a pandemic, while volunteers’ activities are put on hold, for online training to either learn new skills or update their existing ones.

This report presents an implementation plan for future development of the gene bank for native trees and shrubs. The plan concerns actions and measures to improve soil and water management of the location Roggebotzand and the operational management of the gene bank. Development of the collection concerning species and accessions are outlined in several scenarios. Also, measures for storage of safety-duplicates in a backup collection are described. The costs are discussed for all measures and scenarios and a time schedule is indicated. Finally, recommendations are made based on the pros and cons of the described measures and scenarios. In dit rapport wordt een implementatieplan gepresenteerd voor een duurzame instandhouding en ontwikkeling van de genenbank voor inheemse bomen en struiken. Het betreft acties en maatregelen die nodig zijn om de bodem en waterhuishouding van Roggebotzand en de inrichting en het operationeel beheer van de genenbank te verbeteren. Mogelijkheden voor de collectieopbouw qua soorten- en accessiesamenstelling worden geschetst in meerdere scenario’s. Daarnaast worden maatregelen ten behoeve van het opslaan van veiligheidsduplicaten in een back-upcollectie beschreven. Voor alle maatregelen en scenario’s worden de bijbehorende financiële consequenties besproken en wordt een planning in de tijd aangegeven. Ten slotte worden aanbevelingen gedaan op basis van de voor- en nadelen van de beschreven maatregelen en scenario’s.

This thesis is an examination of one of the main technologies to be developed on the path to Space Solar Power (SSP): Wireless Power Transfer (WPT), specifically power beaming. While SSP has been the main motivation for this body of work, other applications of power beaming include ground-to-ground energy transfer, ground to low-flying satellite wireless power transfer, mother-daughter satellite configurations, and even ground-to-car or ground-to-flying-car power transfer. More broadly, Wireless Power Transfer falls under the category of radio and microwave signals; with that in mind, some of the topics contained within can even be applied to 5G or other RF applications. The main components of WPT are signal transmission, propagation, and reception. This thesis focuses on the transmission and propagation of wireless power signals, including beamforming with Phased Array Antennas (PAAs) and evaluations of transmission and propagation efficiency. Signals used to transmit power long distances must be extremely directive in order to deliver the power at an acceptable efficiency and to prevent excess power from interfering with other RF technology. Phased array antennas offer one method of increasing the directivity of a transmitted beam through off-axis cancellation from the multi-antenna source. Besides beamforming, another focus of this work is on the equations used to describe the efficiency and far field distance of transmitting antennas. Most previously used equations, including the Friis equation and the Goubau equation, are formed by examining singleton antennas, and do not account for the unique properties of antenna arrays. Updated equations and evaluation methods are presented both for the far field and the efficiency of phased array antennas. Experimental results corroborate the far field model and efficiency equation presented, and the implications of these results regarding space solar power and other applications are discussed. The results of this thesis are important to the applications of WPT previously mentioned, and can also be used as a starting point for further WPT and SSP research, especially when looking at the foundations of PAA technology.

Contains fulltext : 244088.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a major cause of vision loss among the elderly in the Western world. The complement system has been identified as one of the main AMD disease pathways. We performed a comprehensive expression analysis of 32 complement proteins in plasma samples of 255 AMD patients and 221 control individuals using mass spectrometry-based semi-quantitative multiplex profiling. We detected significant associations of complement protein levels with age, sex and body-mass index (BMI), and potential associations of C-reactive protein, factor H related-2 (FHR-2) and collectin-11 with AMD. In addition, we confirmed previously described associations and identified new associations of AMD variants with complement levels. New associations include increased C4 levels for rs181705462 at the C2/CFB locus, decreased vitronectin (VTN) levels for rs11080055 at the TMEM97/VTN locus and decreased factor I levels for rs10033900 at the CFI locus. Finally, we detected significant associations between AMD-associated metabolites and complement proteins in plasma. The most significant complement-metabolite associations included increased high density lipoprotein (HDL) subparticle levels with decreased C3, factor H (FH) and VTN levels. The results of our study indicate that demographic factors, genetic variants and circulating metabolites are associated with complement protein components. We suggest that these factors should be considered to design personalized treatment approaches and to increase the success of clinical trials targeting the complement system.