Renewable energy is increasingly used and promoted. In the UK, for example, large scale renewable energy farms have been used to supply electricity with great effect. Given the large number of homes, there is considerable impact to be made by small scale residential renewable energy systems. Despite solar panels being the most common form of residential renewable energy technology, only 4% of buildings in the UK support solar technology of any kind. For direct electricity generation, silicon-based photovoltaic (PV) arrays are the most utilised, and when used in a residential setting, they are typically mounted on the sloped roofs. This is where the problem lies. The technology comes with a high cost, and there is further financial burden of installation and maintenance, making solar energy inaccessible for many UK homeowners. This paper presents a research and design innovation project to make PV technology more accessible in the UK. Edge Solar, the innovative, affordable, new PV system concept for UK homes may become a promising solution to significantly improve the accessibility to the PV technology and renewable energy at the household level in the UK and beyond with further development and commercialisation.

The UK enacted its first legal measure to address gender pay inequity, the Equal Pay Act 1970, more than 50 years ago. Yet, in 2021, the gender pay gap (GPG) still stood at 15.4%. Departing from the remedial and individual approach that characterises equal pay legislation, the 2017 Gender Pay Gap Information Regulations (the Regulations) require private and voluntary sector organisations with 250+ employees to annually publish pay data broken down by gender. The long-term aspiration of the Regulations is to contribute to closing the GPG within a generation. It is also hoped that they will encourage the public disclosure of pay data and changes in workplace policies to reduce organisational GPGs (immediate aims) and improve employers’ accountability (underlying aim). This paper considers whether the Regulations have what it takes to meet those immediate and underlying aims. Our assessment framework is built on the premise that for public disclosure to be useful and for employers to tackle the causes of the GPG, the information reported must be of sufficient quality, meaningful and relevant. The paper draws on both doctrinal analysis and empirical data reported by FTSE 100 Index companies to assess the Regulations and determine whether they hold the potential to meet those aims.

The late Holocene Bonneville landslide, a 15.5 km2 rockslide-debris avalanche, descended 1000 m from the north side of the Columbia River Gorge and dammed the Columbia River where it bisects the Cascade Range of Oregon and Washington, USA. The landslide, inundation, and overtopping created persistent geomorphic, ecologic, and cultural consequences to the river corridor, reported by Indigenous narratives and explorer accounts, as well as scientists and engineers. From new dendrochronology and radiocarbon dating of three trees killed by the landslide, one entrained and buried by the landslide and two killed by rising water in the impounded Columbia River upstream of the blockage, we find (1) the two drowned trees and the buried tree died the same year, and (2) the age of tree death, and hence the landslide (determined by combined results of nine radiocarbon analyses of samples from the three trees), falls within AD 1421–1455 (3σ confidence interval). This result provides temporal context for the tremendous physical, ecological, and cultural effects of the landslide, as well as possible triggering mechanisms. The age precludes the last Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake of AD 1700 as a landslide trigger, but not earlier subduction zone or local crustal earthquakes.

After five positive randomized controlled trials showed benefit of mechanical thrombectomy in the management of acute ischemic stroke with emergent large-vessel occlusion, a multi-society meeting was organized during the 17th Congress of the World Federation of Interventional and Therapeutic Neuroradiology in October 2017 in Budapest, Hungary. This multi-society meeting was dedicated to establish standards of practice in acute ischemic stroke intervention aiming for a consensus on the minimum requirements for centers providing such treatment. In an ideal situation, all patients would be treated at a center offering a full spectrum of neuroendovascular care (a level 1 center). However, for geographical reasons, some patients are unable to reach such a center in a reasonable period of time. With this in mind, the group paid special attention to define recommendations on the prerequisites of organizing stroke centers providing medical thrombectomy for acute ischemic stroke, but not for other neurovascular diseases (level 2 centers). Finally, some centers will have a stroke unit and offer intravenous thrombolysis, but not any endovascular stroke therapy (level 3 centers). Together, these level 1, 2, and 3 centers form a complete stroke system of care. The multi-society group provides recommendations and a framework for the development of medical thrombectomy services worldwide.

Field experiments were conducted in 1992 and 1993 to determine the timing and amount of rainfall required to activate UCC-C4243 applied preemergence. UCC-C4243 at 0, 70, and 140 g ai ha−1 was applied 1, 7, 14, and 21 d before 0.5 or 2 cm of simulated rainfall. Temporary rainshelters protected field plots from natural rainfall during the 21 d dry period. Herbicide activity was determined in the field by seeding lentil, wheat, common lambsquarters, and field pennycress and in the greenhouse by a sugarbeet bioassay of soil samples (0 to 3 cm depth) taken from all plots immediately before irrigation. UCC-C4243 did not injure wheat; however, lentil population was reduced when simulated rainfall occurred within 7 d after application. Lentil injury was greater with higher herbicide rate and higher water level. UCC-C4243 at 70 and 140 g ha−1 reduced populations of both weed species by 75 and 90%, respectively, when either 0.5 or 2 cm simulated rainfall was received within 1 d after herbicide application. Weed control was reduced with a 21 d delay between herbicide application and water activation. The sugarbeet bioassay showed a linear decrease of herbicide activity over time and also with accumulated photosynthetically active radiation. After 17.9 d, herbicide activity on a dry soil surface decreased 50%. Laboratory investigations show that [14C]-UCC-C4243 on glass slides was photodegraded by near ultraviolet light (290 to 400 nm). Volatilization of 14C-labeled herbicide from glass slides was less than 5% after exposure to turbulent air for 48 h.

A survey to determine the frequency and weed control impact of enhanced degradation of butylate or EPTC in field soils receiving repeat applications of these herbicides was conducted in a sugarbeet and three corn growing areas of Nebraska. All seven of the sugarbeet field soils exhibited enhanced EPTC degradation. In the corn areas, none of the 13 north central and southeast field soils displayed accelerated degradation; however, 10 of the 16 south central field soils did. In south central Nebraska, 60% and 45% of the surveyed growers were dissatisfied with weed control from butylate or EPTC in 1983 and 1984, respectively, compared to 24% and none in other survey areas. Enhanced herbicide degradation and the presence of shattercane were the main reasons for the disparity among areas.

Laboratory and greenhouse studies were conducted to determine the mode of action of soil- and foliar-applied UCC-C4243. Experiments demonstrated that UCC-C4243 required light for phytotoxicity, phytotoxic symptoms were similar to inhibitors of porphyrin synthesis such as acifluorfen, and UCC-C4243 potently inhibited protoporphyrinogen oxidase. Germination and emergence of field pennycress and lentil in the dark were not affected by soil-incorporated UCC-C4243 at rates more than 10 times greater than like treatments that killed all plants in the light. Soil-incorporated UCC-C4243 required light for activity and killed seedlings within 1 d after emergence; sublethal doses caused desiccation, veinal necrosis, and leaf deformation. Field pennycress and lentil were susceptible to soil-incorporated UCC-C4243 and acifluorfen in the light, but were 5 to 93 times less sensitive to the herbicides in the dark. Wheat was not affected by either herbicide in the light or dark. Injury symptoms from UCC-C4243 applied POST to redroot pigweed were similar to symptoms from diphenyl ether and bipyridinium herbicides: rapid, light-dependent chlorophyll bleaching, desiccation, and necrosis. UCC-C4243, acifluorfen-methyl, and acifluorfen acid caused light- and concentration-dependent chlorophyll bleaching and electrolyte leakage from cucumber leaf disks (I50 = 1.0, 1.8, and 4.3 μM, respectively). An inhibitor of the porphyrin synthesis pathway, 4,6-dioxoheptanoic acid, almost completely inhibited herbicide-induced electrolyte leakage. δ-Aminolevulinic acid, a tetrapyrrole precursor and stimulator of the porphyrin synthesis pathway, caused synergistic effects with each herbicide. Protoporphyrinogen oxidase from barley etioplast preparations was inhibited 50% by 40 nM UCC-C4243. Barley leaf sections treated with 100 μM UCC-C4243 accumulated protoporphyrin IX in vivo to levels > 75 times non-treated controls. These data indicate the light-requiring herbicide activity of UCC-C4243, like acifluorfen, is due to inhibition of protoporphyrinogen oxidase.

In this work, a shorting control (SC) scheme is integrated into a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) synchronous rectifier for the output voltage regulation of a wireless power supply. The rectifier is designed to operate in a parallel tuned pickup with a 500 mW output power capability for biomedical implants. Without any additional components, the proposed SC method enables the power pickup to operate with high efficiency under variable coupling conditions while maintaining the required load power to keep the output voltage constant. Desired operating conditions are achieved with increased power transfer capability at weak magnetic coupling conditions and higher power efficiency at strong coupling. A novel derivation describes the change in efficiency with SC duty ratio. Experimental validation is completed with an original custom CMOS integrated rectifier with embedded SC. It is demonstrated that the proposed SC method can increase the overall secondary pickup power transfer efficiency by 14% as the magnetic coupling increases to the stronger end.

The appearance of the distinctive ‘Beaker package’ marks an important horizon in British prehistory, but was it associated with immigrants to Britain or with indigenous converts? Analysis of the skeletal remains of 264 individuals from the British Chalcolithic–Early Bronze Age is revealing new information about the diet, migration and mobility of those buried with Beaker pottery and related material. Results indicate a considerable degree of mobility between childhood and death, but mostly within Britain rather than from Europe. Both migration and emulation appear to have had an important role in the adoption and spread of the Beaker package.

Background: A large hexanucleotide repeat expansion in C9orf72 has been identified as the most common genetic cause in familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia. Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Behavior Disorder (RBD) is a sleep disorder that has been strongly linked to synuclein-mediated neurodegeneration. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of the C9orf72 expansions in the pathogenesis of RBD. Methods: We amplified the C9orf72 repeat expansion in 344 patients with RBD by a repeat-primed polymerase chain reaction assay. Results: We identified two RBD patients carrying the C9orf72 repeat expansion. Most interestingly, these patients have the same C9orf72 associated-risk haplotype identified in 9p21-linked amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia families. Conclusions: Our study enlarges the phenotypic spectrum associated with the C9orf72 hexanucleotide repeat expansions and suggests that, although rare, this expansion may play a role in the pathogenesis of RBD.

We give the complete list of possible torsion subgroups of elliptic curves with complex multiplication over number fields of degree 1–13. Additionally we describe the algorithm used to compute these torsion subgroups and its implementation.