Mössbauer and i.r. spectra of a series of nontronites show that Fe3+ and Al3+ are distributed between tetrahedral and octahedral sites. The Mössbauer results have reaffirmed the occupation by Fe3+ of octahedral sites at which these ions are coordinated to pairs of OH groups in both cis and trans configurations. The distribution of Fe3+ between these two sites varies considerably but in all of the nontronites some Fe3+ occurs in the trans site in contrast to the all cis occupancy of the centro-symmetric structure proposed by Mering and Oberlin (1967). In one of the nontronites the distribution of Fe3+ between these two sites approaches that in the ideal non-centrosymmetric structure proposed for montmorillonite.

Only 6 to 8 % of the UK adults meet the daily recommendation for dietary fibre. Fava bean processing lead to vast amounts of high-fibre by-products such as hulls. Bean hull fortified bread was formulated to increase and diversify dietary fibre while reducing waste. This study assessed the bean hull: suitability as a source of dietary fibre; the systemic and microbial metabolism of its components and postprandial events following bean hull bread rolls. Nine healthy participants (53·9 ± 16·7 years) were recruited for a randomised controlled crossover study attending two 3 days intervention sessions, involving the consumption of two bread rolls per day (control or bean hull rolls). Blood and faecal samples were collected before and after each session and analysed for systemic and microbial metabolites of bread roll components using targeted LC-MS/MS and GC analysis. Satiety, gut hormones, glucose, insulin and gastric emptying biomarkers were also measured. Two bean hull rolls provided over 85 % of the daily recommendation for dietary fibre; but despite being a rich source of plant metabolites (P = 0·04 v. control bread), these had poor systemic bioavailability. Consumption of bean hull rolls for 3 days significantly increased plasma concentration of indole-3-propionic acid (P = 0·009) and decreased faecal concentration of putrescine (P = 0·035) and deoxycholic acid (P = 0·046). However, it had no effect on postprandial plasma gut hormones, bacterial composition and faecal short chain fatty acids amount. Therefore, bean hulls require further processing to improve their bioactives systemic availability and fibre fermentation.

Two introduced carnivores, the European red fox Vulpes vulpes and domestic cat Felis catus, have had extensive impacts on Australian biodiversity. In this study, we collate information on consumption of Australian birds by the fox, paralleling a recent study reporting on birds consumed by cats. We found records of consumption by foxes on 128 native bird species (18% of the non-vagrant bird fauna and 25% of those species within the fox’s range), a smaller tally than for cats (343 species, including 297 within the fox’s Australian range, a subset of that of the cat). Most (81%) bird species eaten by foxes are also eaten by cats, suggesting that predation impacts are compounded. As with consumption by cats, birds that nest or forage on the ground are most likely to be consumed by foxes. However, there is also some partitioning, with records of consumption by foxes but not cats for 25 bird species, indicating that impacts of the two predators may also be complementary. Bird species ≥3.4 kg were more likely to be eaten by foxes, and those <3.4 kg by cats. Our compilation provides an inventory and describes characteristics of Australian bird species known to be consumed by foxes, but we acknowledge that records of predation do not imply population-level impacts. Nonetheless, there is sufficient information from other studies to demonstrate that fox predation has significant impacts on the population viability of some Australian birds, especially larger birds, and those that nest or forage on the ground.

We present a broadband radio study of the transient jets ejected from the black hole candidate X-ray binary MAXI J1535–571, which underwent a prolonged outburst beginning on 2017 September 2. We monitored MAXI J1535–571 with the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) at frequencies from 119 to 186 MHz over six epochs from 2017 September 20 to 2017 October 14. The source was quasi-simultaneously observed over the frequency range 0.84–19 GHz by UTMOST (the Upgraded Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope) the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA), and the Australian Long Baseline Array (LBA). Using the LBA observations from 2017 September 23, we measured the source size to be $34\pm1$ mas. During the brightest radio flare on 2017 September 21, the source was detected down to 119 MHz by the MWA, and the radio spectrum indicates a turnover between 250 and 500 MHz, which is most likely due to synchrotron self-absorption (SSA). By fitting the radio spectrum with a SSA model and using the LBA size measurement, we determined various physical parameters of the jet knot (identified in ATCA data), including the jet opening angle ($\phi_{\rm op} = 4.5\pm1.2^{\circ}$) and the magnetic field strength ($B_{\rm s} = 104^{+80}_{-78}$ mG). Our fitted magnetic field strength agrees reasonably well with that inferred from the standard equipartition approach, suggesting the jet knot to be close to equipartition. Our study highlights the capabilities of the Australian suite of radio telescopes to jointly probe radio jets in black hole X-ray binaries via simultaneous observations over a broad frequency range, and with differing angular resolutions. This suite allows us to determine the physical properties of X-ray binary jets. Finally, our study emphasises the potential contributions that can be made by the low-frequency part of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA-Low) in the study of black hole X-ray binaries.

The deviation from thermodynamic equilibrium of the ion velocity distribution functions (VDFs), as measured by the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission in the Earth’s turbulent magnetosheath, is quantitatively investigated. Making use of the unprecedented high-resolution MMS ion data, and together with Vlasov–Maxwell simulations, this analysis aims at investigating the relationship between deviation from Maxwellian equilibrium and typical plasma parameters. Correlations of the non-Maxwellian features with plasma quantities such as electric fields, ion temperature, current density and ion vorticity are found to be similar in magnetosheath data and numerical experiments, with a poor correlation between distortions of ion VDFs and current density, evidence that questions the occurrence of VDF departure from Maxwellian at the current density peaks. Moreover, strong correlation has been observed with the magnitude of the electric field in the turbulent magnetosheath, while a certain degree of correlation has been found in the numerical simulations and during a magnetopause crossing by MMS. This work could help shed light on the influence of electrostatic waves on the distortion of the ion VDFs in space turbulent plasmas.

Objectives: To describe multivariate base rates (MBRs) of low scores and reliable change (decline) scores on Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT) in college athletes at baseline, as well as to assess MBR differences among demographic and medical history subpopulations. Methods: Data were reported on 15,909 participants (46.5% female) from the NCAA/DoD CARE Consortium. MBRs of ImPACT composite scores were derived using published CARE normative data and reliability metrics. MBRs of sex-corrected low scores were reported at <25th percentile (Low Average), <10th percentile (Borderline), and ≤2nd percentile (Impaired). MBRs of reliable decline scores were reported at the 75%, 90%, 95%, and 99% confidence intervals. We analyzed subgroups by sex, race, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and/or learning disability (ADHD/LD), anxiety/depression, and concussion history using chi-square analyses. Results: Base rates of low scores and reliable decline scores on individual composites approximated the normative distribution. Athletes obtained ≥1 low score with frequencies of 63.4% (Low Average), 32.0% (Borderline), and 9.1% (Impaired). Athletes obtained ≥1 reliable decline score with frequencies of 66.8%, 32.2%, 18%, and 3.8%, respectively. Comparatively few athletes had low scores or reliable decline on ≥2 composite scores. Black/African American athletes and athletes with ADHD/LD had higher rates of low scores, while greater concussion history was associated with lower MBRs (p < .01). MBRs of reliable decline were not associated with demographic or medical factors. Conclusions: Clinical interpretation of low scores and reliable decline on ImPACT depends on the strictness of the low score cutoff, the reliable change criterion, and the number of scores exceeding these cutoffs. Race and ADHD influence the frequency of low scores at all cutoffs cross-sectionally.

The patterns and drivers of late Quaternary vegetation dynamics in the southeastern United States are poorly understood due to low site density, problematic chronologies, and a paucity of independent paleoclimate proxy records. We present a well-dated (15 accelerator mass spectrometry 14C dates) 30,000-yr record from White Pond, South Carolina that consists of high-resolution analyses of fossil pollen, macroscopic charcoal, and Sporormiella spores, and an independent paleotemperature reconstruction based on branched glycerol dialkyl tetraethers. Between 30,000 and 20,000 cal yr BP, open Pinus-Picea forest grew under cold and dry conditions; elevated Quercus before 26,000 cal yr BP, however, suggest warmer conditions in the Southeast before the last glacial maximum, possibly corresponding to regionally warmer conditions associated with Heinrich event H2. Warming between 19,700 and 10,400 cal yr BP was accompanied by a transition from conifer-dominated to mesic hardwood forest. Sporormiella spores were not detected and charcoal was low during the late glacial period, suggesting megaherbivore grazers and fire were not locally important agents of vegetation change. Pinus returned to dominance during the Holocene, with step-like increases in Pinus at 10,400 and 6400 cal yr BP, while charcoal abundance increased tenfold, likely due to increased biomass burning associated with warmer conditions. Low-intensity surface fires increased after 1200 cal yr BP, possibly related to the establishment of the Mississippian culture in the Southeast.

Taphonomic factors may significantly alter faunal assemblages at varying scales. An exceptional record of late Holocene (<4000 yr old) mammal faunas establishes a firm baseline to investigate the effects of scale on taphonomy. Our sample contains 73 sites within four contiguous states (North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Illinois, USA) that transect a strong modern and late Holocene environmental gradient, the prairie–forest ecotone. We performed detrended correspondence (DCA) and non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) analyses. Both DCA and NMDS analyses of the data sets produced virtually the same results, and both failed to reveal the known ecological gradient within each state. However, both DCA and NMDS analyses of the unfiltered multistate data set across the entire gradient clearly reflect an environmental, rather than taphonomic, signal. DCA tended to provide better separation of some clusters than did NMDS in most of the analyses. We conclude that a robust mammal data set collected across a strong environmental gradient will document species turnover without the removal of taphonomic factors. In other words, taphonomy exhibits varying scale-dependent effects.

Hill (Twin Research and Human Genetics, Vol. 21, 2018, 84–88) presented a critique of our recently published paper in Cell Reports entitled ‘Large-Scale Cognitive GWAS Meta-Analysis Reveals Tissue-Specific Neural Expression and Potential Nootropic Drug Targets’ (Lam et al., Cell Reports, Vol. 21, 2017, 2597–2613). Specifically, Hill offered several interrelated comments suggesting potential problems with our use of a new analytic method called Multi-Trait Analysis of GWAS (MTAG) (Turley et al., Nature Genetics, Vol. 50, 2018, 229–237). In this brief article, we respond to each of these concerns. Using empirical data, we conclude that our MTAG results do not suffer from ‘inflation in the FDR [false discovery rate]’, as suggested by Hill (Twin Research and Human Genetics, Vol. 21, 2018, 84–88), and are not ‘more relevant to the genetic contributions to education than they are to the genetic contributions to intelligence’.

The fibrous aluminosilicate imogolite has been studied by electronoptical and infrared absorption methods. Electron diffraction patterns are interpreted in terms of repeat units of 8·4 Å parallel and 23 Å perpendicular to the fibre axis. These spacings can not be reconciled with a continuous silicate chain structure and this conclusion is supported by an Si-O vibration near 930 cm−1. A structure is postulated in which distorted chains of Al-O octahedra are cross-linked through isolated Si2O7 groups.

Multiple OH stretching vibrations indicate different types of OH group in the imogolite structure. Absorption bands near 1000, 700 and 600 cm−1 are sensitive to sample orientation. This is attributed to the morphology and dimensions of the imogolite fibres.

‘Blue John’ andother purple fluorites have been studied by a wide range of techniques. Hydrocarbons are not the cause of the colour of these fluorites. No significant difference in the concentrations of 73 elements between the purple and colourless zones of Blue John has been detected. The spectroscopic and thermal bleaching behaviour of the purple zones is consistent with the presence of ‘colloidal’ calcium as colouring agent, and coloration of fluorites with calcium vapour gives material showing similar properties. The distribution of colour suggests trapping of the calcium in lattice defects along {111} (cleavage) planes through {001} (growth) zones. The ‘colloids’ could be produced by aggregation of calcium atoms liberated by irradiation from sources found in the geological environment of Blue John. The banding could arise from variations in the concentration of lattice defects caused by variations in growth rates of the fluorite.

Linuron, metribuzin, oryzalin, and dinoseb were evaluated for weed control in conventional (CT) and rye-stubble reduced-tillage (RT) systems for potatoes. Early season control of weeds was equivalent for all herbicides in both tillage systems. In 1985, redroot pigweed populations were significantly greater in RT than in CT control plots. Populations of common lambsquarters were equivalent, regardless of the tillage system. In 1986, the rye mulch reduced early emergence of both species in untreated RT plots when compared to the untreated CT controls. During both seasons, potato stands decreased 16% with RT. In 1985, total yields did not differ between tillage systems; however, in 1986, total potato yields in RT plots decreased an average of 22% compared to yields in CT plots.

Oxyfluorfen (0.28, 0.42, 0.56, and 0.84 kg ai ha−1) under clear polyethylene film was evaluated for weed control, crop injury, and effects on yields in transplanted muskmelon, cucumber, and summer squash. Numerous narrowleaf and broadleaf weeds were effectively suppressed by 0.42 ha−1 of oxyfluorfen. Crop injury, occurring soon after transplanting, was reported in New York and North Carolina. Injury was usually transient, and injured crops frequently grew more vigorously than those grown on untreated black polyethylene mulch. Muskmelons were consistently the most tolerant of the three crops. At high rates, yields of squash and cucumber in 1988 were reduced in New York and North Carolina, respectively. In greenhouse studies, positioning the cotyledons under the polyethylene film caused greater injury in all three crops than when cotyledons remained above the plastic.

Linuron, metribuzin, oryzalin, and metolachlor were applied at recommended (1X) and two-thirds (0.67X) rates to evaluate control of redroot pigweed and common lambsquarters in conventional and rye-stubble reduced-tillage potato production systems. Regardless of tillage, common lambsquarters control was satisfactory during both seasons at both rates of linuron, metribuzin, and oryzalin. Redroot pigweed control by these three herbicides, although excellent in 1988, was poor in RT plots during 1987. Yields did not differ between tillage systems. Reduced weed control with metolachlor during both seasons, and possible crop injury with linuron in 1987 resulted in significant yield reductions.

Experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of tillage, rye residue levels, and control strategies on weed suppression and potato yield. Reduced tillage (RT) yields in 1989 were lower than in conventional tillage (CT) due to high hairy galinsoga populations. However, in 1990, potato yields were greater in RT when early emerging weeds were suppressed. Increasing residue levels up to 2300 kg ha−1 had no effect on weeds or yields in either year. In a separate study, preemergence herbicides (linuron plus metolachlor, 1.7 kg ai ha−1 each) applied 10 d after planting (DAP) in reduced tillage controlled weeds for 6 wk, but efficacy decreased after hilling. Metribuzin applied postemergence (0.19 kg ai ha−1) 7 d after hilling controlled late germinating weeds. Potato yields were greatest when the preemergence herbicides were applied.

Greenhouse and field studies were conducted in 1991 and 1992 to determine the potential for interaction among pyridate (0.5, 1.0 kg ai/ha), sethoxydim (0.22 kg ai/ha), and crop oil concentrate (COC) (1.25% v/v) applied alone or in two- and three-way combinations to transplanted cabbage. Additionally, the effect of applying sethoxydim and COC 1 and 2 d before and after application of pyridate was investigated. In greenhouse-grown cabbage, injury increased twofold and dry weight was reduced 15% when pyridate dose was doubled. Sethoxydim increased pyridate injury significantly, reducing dry weight 31%. When COC was applied with pyridate, injury increased and dry weight decreased linearly. Despite substantial crop injury 7 d after treatment with pyridate alone, pyridate + sethoxydim, and pyridate + COC, yields of field-grown cabbage were reduced significantly in 1 yr only when the three materials were combined. Pyridate injury decreased as time between sethoxydim + COC applications, before and after pyridate was applied, increased.