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From field walking to phenomenology: a review of recent British landscape historiography
Get PDFThis review identifies three major traditions in British landscape historiography: material/environmental, cultural, and phenomenological. The continuing vitality, methodological rigour, and popular reach of the material tradition is emphasized, notwithstanding persistent questions about the adequacy of its theoretical foundations. Its close cousin historical ecology has meanwhile developed into a broader environmental history, increasingly sensitive to ideological and institutional influences. The development of the cultural tradition, originating in art historical analysis of the ‘landscape idea’ as a culturally specific ‘way of seeing’, is traced through a rich proliferation of studies connecting landscape with memory, national identity, and governance, and through feminist, postcolonial, and history-from-below perspectives. The pervasive influence of the spatial, mobilities, and material turns is highlighted but phenomenology’s focus on experience perhaps challenges the cultural tradition’s premises more fundamentally. Although historians were slower than anthropologists and archaeologists to adopt phenomenology, medievalists and early modernists have applied it rewardingly to topics such as the settings of elite buildings, peasant landscape perceptions, and collective landscape memories. Few modernists have yet embraced phenomenology but it has great potential here given the abundant life-writing sources available. While scope remains for further convergence between research traditions, British landscape history is therefore in an exciting phase of methodological renewal
Evaluation of multi-season convection-permitting atmosphere - mixed layer ocean simulations of the Maritime Continent
Get PDFA multi-season convection permitting regional climate simulation of the Maritime Continent using the Met Office Unified Model with 2.2-km grid spacing is presented and evaluated. The simulations pioneer the use of atmosphere-ocean coupling with the multi-column K profile parametrisation (KPP) mixed layer ocean model in atmospheric convection permitting climate simulations. Comparisons are made against a convection parametrised simulation in which it is nested, and which in turn derives boundary conditions from ERA5 reanalysis. This paper describes the configuration, performance of the mean state and variability of the two simulations compared against observational datasets. The models both have minor sea surface temperature (SST) and wet precipitation biases. The diurnal cycle, representation of equatorial waves and relationship between SST and precipitation are all improved in the convection permitting model compared to the convection parametrised model. The MJO is present in both models with a faster than observed propagation speed. However, it is unclear whether fidelity of the MJO simulation is inherent to the model or whether it predominantly arises from the forcing at the boundaries
Self-compassion and grit mediated the relation between mindfulness and mind wandering based on cross-sectional survey data
Get PDFPrevious research suggests that mindfulness and mind wandering are opposing constructs. However, little is known about why and how they are negatively related. Through a process-oriented approach, this cross-sectional study tested self-compassion and grit as mediators for the relation between mindfulness and mind wandering. A total of 487 self-identified meditators were recruited from the UK (241 female, 49.49%). Participants reported a mean age of 38.98 years (SD = 10.03), with an average of 2.26 h of meditation practice per week (SD = 4.47). Upon informed consent, the participants completed a self-report questionnaire that assessed the core variables under study. Path analysis indicated that mindfulness was related to self-compassion. Greater self-compassion was, in turn, related to greater grit, which was then related to lower mind wandering. Bootstrapping analysis further indicated that self-compassion and grit as mediators between mindfulness and mind wandering, above and beyond age, gender, hours of meditation, income, and education as covariates. The cross-sectional findings provided initial evidence of mediation by showing that mindfulness and mind wandering were related through self-compassion and grit
The role of storm-track dynamics in the intraseasonal variability of the winter ENSO teleconnection to the North Atlantic
Get PDFThe response of the North Atlantic large-scale circulation to El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) exhibits distinct differences between early (November–December) and late (January–February) winter. However, the reasons for this are unclear, particularly regarding the early winter response. Here we examine the role of storm-track dynamics in influencing the intraseasonal variability of the ENSO teleconnection to the North Atlantic. During late winter there a broad weakening of the eddy heat flux upstream of the North Atlantic storm track during the El Niño phase, which is associated with a broad southward jet shift across North America and the North Atlantic. The late winter response is reinforced by synoptic eddies through enhanced cyclonic wave breaking, consistent with previous studies. However, a stronger teleconnection occurs during early winter. There are modest changes in the North Atlantic eddy heat flux, but strong changes in the upper-level storm track associated with ENSO, with increased anticyclonic wave breaking during El Niño reinforcing the jet across the central North Atlantic. During early winter there are less frequent northern eddy-driven jet occurrences in El Niño years and more frequent northern eddy-driven jet occurrences in La Niña years. These poleward North Atlantic jet excursions typically follow peaks in the eddy heat flux; however, in El Niño years this relationship breaks down and the jet does not transition to the northern position as frequently, despite no clear changes in the upstream eddy heat flux. Composite analysis reveals that precursor storm-track anomalies upstream over the eastern North Pacific/North America are important in suppressing the poleward jet excursions. These precursors map onto the seasonal mean North Pacific storm-track anomalies during El Niño. Measured across all years, there is a clear relationship between the mean early winter eastern North Pacific storm-track activity and eastern North Atlantic eddy-driven jet, which can explain the early winter ENSO teleconnection to the North Atlantic
The wooden artifacts from Schöningen’s Spear Horizon and their place in human evolution
Get PDFEthnographic records show wooden tools played a pivotal role in the daily lives of hunter-gatherers
including food procurement tools used in hunting (e.g. spears, throwing sticks) and gathering (e.g.
digging sticks, bark peelers), as well as, domestic tools (e.g. handles, vessels). However, wood rarely
survives in the archaeological record, especially in Pleistocene contexts and knowledge of
prehistoric hunter-gatherer lifeways is strongly biased by the survivorship of more resilient materials
such as lithics and bones. Consequently, very few Palaeolithic sites have produced wooden artefacts
and among them, the site of Schöningen stands out due to its number and variety of wooden tools.
The recovery of complete wooden spears and throwing sticks at this 300,000-year-old site (MIS 9)
led to a paradigm shift in the hunter vs scavenger debate. For the first time and almost 30 years after
their discovery, this study introduces the complete wooden assemblage from Schöningen 13 II-4
known as the Spear Horizon. In total, 187 wooden artefacts could be identified from the Spear
Horizon demonstrating a broad spectrum of wood working techniques, including the splitting
technique. A minimum of 20 hunting weapons is now recognised and two newly identified artefact
types comprise 35 tools made on split woods, which were likely used in domestic activities.
Schöningen 13 II-4 represents the largest Pleistocene wooden artefact assemblage worldwide and
demonstrates the key role woodworking had in human evolution. Finally, our results considerably
change the interpretation of the Pleistocene lakeshore site of Schöningen
Trade‐offs between root‐secreted acid phosphatase and root morphology traits, and their contribution to phosphorus acquisition in Brassica napus
Get PDFOilseed rape (Brassica napus) is one of the most important oil crops in the world and shows sensitivity to low phosphorus (P) availability. In many soils, organic P (Po) is the main component of the soil P pool. Po must be mineralised to Pi through phosphatases, and then taken up by plants. However, the relationship between root-secreted acid phosphatases (APase) and root morphology traits, two important P-acquisition strategies in response to P deficiency, is unclear among B. napus genotypes. This study aimed to understand their relationship and how they affect P acquisition, which is crucial for the sustainable utilisation of agricultural P resources. This study showed significant genotypic variations in root-secreted APase activity per unit root fresh weight (SAP) and total root-secreted APase activity per plant (total SAP) among 350 B. napus genotypes. Seed yield was positively correlated with total SAP but not significantly correlated with SAP. Six root traits of 18 B. napus genotypes with contrasting root biomass were compared under normal Pi, low Pi and Po. Genotypes with longer total root length (TRL) reduced SAP, but those with shorter TRL increased SAP under P deficiency. Additionally, TRL was important in P-acquisition under three P treatments, and total SAP was also important in P-acquisition under Po treatment. In conclusion, trade-offs existed between the two P-acquisition strategies among B. napus genotypes under P-deficient conditions. Total SAP was an important root trait under Po conditions. These results might help to breed B. napus with greater P-acquisition ability under low P availability conditions
Odden ice melt linked to Labrador Sea ice expansions and the Great Salinity Anomalies of 1970–1995
Get PDFIn each of the last three decades of the 20th century there were unprecedented expansions of sea-ice over the Labrador Sea basin and influxes of cold fresh water into the subpolar gyre (SPG) which have been described as the Great Salinity Anomalies (GSAs). Employing data for sea surface temperature, salinity, and sea-ice cover, we propose that these events were downstream consequences of the expansion and subsequent melting of so-called “Odden” ice formed over the deep basin of the Greenland-Iceland-Norway (GIN) Sea in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s and additional to the normal East Greenland shelf sea-ice. We extend previous findings that Odden ice expansions were linked to winter episodes of high atmospheric pressure north of Greenland that directed freezing Arctic winds across the GIN Sea and may also have been associated with increased Arctic sea-ice volume leading to enhanced ice export through Fram Strait. We show that cold water and ice derived from Odden melting in the summer passed through Denmark Strait and along the East Greenland shelf, and accumulated in the Labrador Sea, creating favorable conditions for winter ice formation during particularly cold years in southwest Greenland. Meltwater from Odden and Labrador Sea ice appeared to break out into the SPG in the fall of 1982 and 1984 respectively and this cold water represents the likely source of the 1982–1985 GSA. These findings further our understanding of the physical processes linking ice formation and melt with ocean circulation in this key component of the climate system
Estrogen and testosterone secretion from the mouse brain
Get PDFEstrogen and testosterone are typically thought of as gonadal or adrenal derived steroids that cross the blood brain barrier to signal via both rapid nongenomic and slower genomic signalling pathways. Estrogen and testosterone signalling has been shown to drive interlinked behaviours such as social behaviours and cognition by binding to their cognate receptors in hypothalamic and forebrain nuclei. So far, acute brain slices have been used to study short-term actions of 17β-estradiol, typically using electrophysiological measures. For example, these techniques have been used to investigate, nongenomic signalling by estrogen such as the estrogen modulation of long-term potentiation (LTP) in the hippocampus. Using a modified method that preserves the slice architecture, we show, for the first time, that acute coronal slices from the prefrontal cortex and from the hypothalamus maintained in aCSF over longer periods i.e. 24 h can be steroidogenic, increasing their secretion of testosterone and estrogen. We also show that the hypothalamic nuclei produce more estrogen and testosterone than the prefrontal cortex. Therefore, this extended acute slice system can be used to study the regulation of steroid production and secretion by discrete nuclei in the brain
Thalamic nuclei segmentation from T1-weighted MRI: unifying and benchmarking state-of-the-art methods
Get PDFThe thalamus and its constituent nuclei are critical for a broad range of cognitive, linguistic, and sensorimotor processes, and are implicated in many neurological and neurodegenerative conditions. However, the functional involvement and specificity of thalamic nuclei in human neuroimaging work is underappreciated and not well studied due, in part, to technical challenges of accurately identifying and segmenting nuclei. This challenge is further exacerbated by a lack of common nomenclature for comparing segmentation methods. Here, we use data from healthy young (Human Connectome Project, n=100) and older healthy adults, plus those with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease (Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, n=540), to benchmark four state of the art thalamic segmentation methods for T1 MRI (FreeSurfer, HIPS-THOMAS, SCS-CNN, and T1-THOMAS) under a single segmentation framework. Segmentations were compared using overlap and dissimilarity metrics to the Morel stereotaxic atlas, a widely accepted thalamic atlas. We also quantified each method’s estimation of thalamic nuclear degeneration across Alzheimer's disease progression, and how accurately early and late mild cognitive impairment, and Alzheimer’s disease could be distinguished from healthy controls. We show that the HIPS-THOMAS approach produced the most effective segmentations of individual thalamic nuclei relative to the Morel atlas, and was also most accurate in discriminating healthy controls from those with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease using individual nucleus volumes. This latter result was different when using whole thalamus volumes, where SCS-CNN approach was most accurate in classifying healthy controls. This work is the first to systematically compare the efficacy of anatomical thalamic segmentation approaches under a unified nomenclature. We also provide recommendations of which segmentation method to use for studying the functional relevance of specific thalamic nuclei, based on their overlap and dissimilarity with the Morel atlas
Common article 1 of the 1949 Geneva conventions
No full textOn March 1, Nicaragua instituted proceedings against Germany before the International Court of Justice (Alleged Breaches of Certain International Obligations in respect of the Occupied Palestinian Territory). In its Application, Nicaragua alleges that Germany has contributed to Israel’s violation of the Genocide Convention, breached peremptory norms of general international law by aiding and assisting apartheid and denying the Palestinian people’s right of self-determination, and aided or assisted Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine and its attack on Gaza. As alleged, Germany did so by providing Israel with political, financial, and military support.
This post addresses the law underlying a fourth allegation leveled by Nicaragua, that Germany “has failed to comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law, derived both from the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and its Protocols of 1977 and from the intransgressible principles of international humanitarian law, by not respecting its obligations to ensure respect for these fundamental norms in all circumstances” (Application, para. 3). In its Application, Nicaragua renewed a charge it made directly to Germany in a February note verbale, that, “with full knowledge of [Israel’s] wrongful acts,” Germany provided “aid and assistance to Israel in particular weapons that would or could be used in the commission of . . . grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, attacks directed against civilian objects or civilians protected as such, or other war crimes” (Application, para. 31)