High resolution imaging by transmission electron microscopy has revealed a mechanism for the weathering of intermediate microcline in a humid, temperate climate. Dissolution of the feldspar begins at the boundary of twinned and untwinned domains and produces circular holes which enlarge to form negative crystals. Amorphous, ring-shaped structures develop, about 25 Å in diameter, within the larger holes. These rings, in turn, crystallize to an arcuate phase having a 10-Å basal spacing and then to crinkled sheets of illite or dehydrated montmorillonite. The 10-Å layer silicate shows an irregular stacking sequence, including 10-,-20-, and 30-Å sequences. Included plagioclase crystals show a similar mechanism of weathering and, moreover, are more intensely weathered.

Impulsive and compulsive problem behaviours are associated with a variety of mental disorders. Latent phenotyping indicates the expression of impulsive and compulsive problem behaviours is predominantly governed by a transdiagnostic ‘disinhibition’ phenotype. In a cohort of 117 individuals, recruited as part of the Neuroscience in Psychiatry Network (NSPN), we examined how brain functional connectome and network properties relate to disinhibition. Reduced functional connectivity within a subnetwork of frontal (especially right inferior frontal gyrus), occipital and parietal regions was linked to disinhibition. Findings provide insights into neurobiological pathways underlying the emergence of impulsive and compulsive disorders.

The first demonstration of laser action in ruby was made in 1960 by T. H. Maiman of Hughes Research Laboratories, USA. Many laboratories worldwide began the search for lasers using different materials, operating at different wavelengths. In the UK, academia, industry and the central laboratories took up the challenge from the earliest days to develop these systems for a broad range of applications. This historical review looks at the contribution the UK has made to the advancement of the technology, the development of systems and components and their exploitation over the last 60 years.

Radiocarbon (14C) ages cannot provide absolutely dated chronologies for archaeological or paleoenvironmental studies directly but must be converted to calendar age equivalents using a calibration curve compensating for fluctuations in atmospheric 14C concentration. Although calibration curves are constructed from independently dated archives, they invariably require revision as new data become available and our understanding of the Earth system improves. In this volume the international 14C calibration curves for both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, as well as for the ocean surface layer, have been updated to include a wealth of new data and extended to 55,000 cal BP. Based on tree rings, IntCal20 now extends as a fully atmospheric record to ca. 13,900 cal BP. For the older part of the timescale, IntCal20 comprises statistically integrated evidence from floating tree-ring chronologies, lacustrine and marine sediments, speleothems, and corals. We utilized improved evaluation of the timescales and location variable 14C offsets from the atmosphere (reservoir age, dead carbon fraction) for each dataset. New statistical methods have refined the structure of the calibration curves while maintaining a robust treatment of uncertainties in the 14C ages, the calendar ages and other corrections. The inclusion of modeled marine reservoir ages derived from a three-dimensional ocean circulation model has allowed us to apply more appropriate reservoir corrections to the marine 14C data rather than the previous use of constant regional offsets from the atmosphere. Here we provide an overview of the new and revised datasets and the associated methods used for the construction of the IntCal20 curve and explore potential regional offsets for tree-ring data. We discuss the main differences with respect to the previous calibration curve, IntCal13, and some of the implications for archaeology and geosciences ranging from the recent past to the time of the extinction of the Neanderthals.

We describe an ultra-wide-bandwidth, low-frequency receiver recently installed on the Parkes radio telescope. The receiver system provides continuous frequency coverage from 704 to 4032 MHz. For much of the band ( ${\sim}60\%$ ), the system temperature is approximately 22 K and the receiver system remains in a linear regime even in the presence of strong mobile phone transmissions. We discuss the scientific and technical aspects of the new receiver, including its astronomical objectives, as well as the feed, receiver, digitiser, and signal processor design. We describe the pipeline routines that form the archive-ready data products and how those data files can be accessed from the archives. The system performance is quantified, including the system noise and linearity, beam shape, antenna efficiency, polarisation calibration, and timing stability.

We describe elongate, wet, subglacial bedforms in the shear margins of the NE Greenland Ice Stream and place some constraints on their formation. Lateral shear margin moraines have been observed across the previously glaciated landscape, but little is known about the ice-flow conditions necessary to form these bedforms. Here we describe in situ sediment bedforms under the NE Greenland Ice Stream shear margins that are observed in active-source seismic and ground-penetrating radar surveys. We find bedforms in the shear margins that are ~500 m wide, ~50 m tall, and elongated nearly parallel to ice-flow, including what we believe to be the first subglacial observation of a shear margin moraine. Acoustic impedance analysis of the bedforms shows that they are composed of unconsolidated, deformable, water-saturated till. We use these geophysical observations to place constraints on the possible formation mechanism of these subglacial features.

Earlier reports have summarized crop yield losses throughout various North American regions if weeds were left uncontrolled. Offered here is a report from the current WSSA Weed Loss Committee on potential yield losses due to weeds based on data collected from various regions of the United States and Canada. Dry bean yield loss estimates were made by comparing dry bean yield in the weedy control with plots that had >95% weed control from research studies conducted in dry bean growing regions of the United States and Canada over a 10-year period (2007 to 2016). Results from these field studies showed that dry bean growers in Idaho, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Ontario, and Manitoba would potentially lose an average of 50%, 31%, 36%, 59%, 94%, 31%, 71%, 56%, and 71% of their dry bean yield, respectively. This equates to a monetary loss of US $36, 40, 6, 56, 421, 2, 18, 44, and 44 million, respectively, if the best agronomic practices are used without any weed management tactics. Based on 2016 census data, at an average yield loss of 71.4% for North America due to uncontrolled weeds, dry bean production in the United States and Canada would be reduced by 941,000,000 and 184,000,000 kg, valued at approximately US $622 and US $100 million, respectively. This study documents the dramatic yield and monetary losses in dry beans due to weed interference and the importance of continued funding for weed management research to minimize dry bean yield losses.

Almeidaite (IMA 2013-020), ideally Pb(Mn, Y)Zn2(Ti,Fe3+)18O36(O, OH)2, from Novo Horizonte, Bahia, Brazil, occurs in association with quartz, rutile, anatase, hematite, kaolinite, muscovite, xenotime-(Y) and bastnaesite-(La). Almeidaite forms isolated, black, opaque, sub-metallic, platy crystals flattened on [0001], measuring up to 30 mm 6 30 mm 6 6 mm in size, dominated by the basal pinacoid {0001}, which is bounded by various, mostly steep, rhombohedra and the hexagonal prism {1120}. Most of the crystals are multiply twinned, with non-planar contact surfaces that are approximately parallel to the c axis. The streak is brown. Reflectance values are [(Ro, Re) λ (nm)]: (12.78, 15.39) 470; (12.86, 15.43) 546; (12.91, 15.55) 589; (13.04, 15.75) 650. The empirical formula is (Pb0.59Sr0.12Ca0.04La0.03)Σ0.78(Mn0.54Y0.46)Σ1.00Zn1.43(Ti13.02Fe4.983+)Σ18.00(Fe0.323+Mn0.15)Σ0.47[O37.18(OH)0.82]Σ38.00. It is trigonal, space group R3, with the unit-cell parameters a = 10.4359(2), c = 21.0471(4) Å, V = 1985.10(7) Å3 and Z = 3. The crystal structure was solved (R1 = 0.039) using 2110 unique reflections with I > 3σ(I). Almeidaite is a member of the crichtonite group with Pb dominant in the A site (with 12-fold coordination) and Zn dominant in the T site (with 4-fold coordination). It is a Zn analogue of senaite and a Pb analogue of landauite. The mineral is named after Professor Fernando Flávio Marques de Almeida (1916–2013).

Large variations in both snow water equivalent (SWE) and snow slope stability are known to exist in the alpine snowpack, caused by wind, topographic and microclimatic effects. This variability makes extrapolation of point measurements of snowpack properties difficult and prone to error, but these types of measurements are used to estimate SWE and stability across entire mountain ranges. Radar technology provides a promising alternative to point measurements, because large areas can be covered quickly and non-intrusively. There is great potential for obtaining information on a large spatial scale from airborne applications. Frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar measurements were made from the ground in several different alpine snowpacks, along with manual and in situ electrical measurements. The surface and ground reflections from the radar data, combined with an average density estimate, can provide a useful estimate of SWE. In addition, the locations of internal reflections are highly correlated with both visually identified layers and measured changes in in situ dielectric properties.