This paper examines how state and non-state actors govern through pursuing speculative conservation among resource-dependent people who must renegotiate altered livelihoods amidst extractivism in ruptured landscapes. As donor aid declines and changes form, bilaterals, state agencies, and civil society now pursue advocacy in overlapping spaces of intensifying extractivism and speculative governance in the ruptured frontiers of Southeast Asia. In these spaces, bilaterals and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) struggle to work with upland farmers who negotiate the contrasting expectations of the abstract, speculative nature of conservation initiatives and the lucrative nature of extractive labour in the face of dramatic transformations of agrarian livelihoods and landscapes. Through a case study of the Philippine uplands, we demonstrate that as speculative conservation unfolds and manifests within and beyond these landscapes, it endeavours to revalue nature monetarily in ways that help reorganise labour and capital in an effort to overcome the exhaustion of capital wrought by rupture. We propose that during moments of rupture speculative conservation coproduces value from ruin by renewing and preserving capital flows.

A photoelectric radial velocity spectrometer has been in operation for several years at the coudé focus of the 1.2m telescope of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory (DAO). The design of this instrument has been described by Fletcher et. al. (1982) and by McClure et al. (1984). These papers discuss the similarities and differences between this spectrometer and others of its type such as that constructed by Griffin and Gunn (1974) at Palomar. The spectrum mask in the present instrument consists of more than 700 transparent slots on an opaque background, representing the spectrum of a K giant star, plus a few slots to coincide with the argon lines in a cadmium-argon discharge tube for use in obtaining comparison arc velocities. By progressively tilting the slots an appropriate amount along the mask and scanning by moving the mask relative to the stellar spectrum at 45° to the dispersion it is possible to retain a spectral match at non-zero velocities. The masks are produced using a standard measuring engine modified with stepping motors controlled by a computer to position and tilt the slots. Since guiding errors are our major source of error we hope to make a significant improvement in this area in the following manner. By inserting an image rotating prism behind the slit a 180° rotation of the slit will occur when the prism is rotated. Although this has not yet been tested, it is hoped that by making this rotation every few scans the effects of guiding errors due to uneven illumination of the slit and collimator will be vastly reduced.

We question whether the increasingly popular, radical idea of turning half the Earth into a network of protected areas is either feasible or just. We argue that this Half-Earth plan would have widespread negative consequences for human populations and would not meet its conservation objectives. It offers no agenda for managing biodiversity within a human half of Earth. We call instead for alternative radical action that is both more effective and more equitable, focused directly on the main drivers of biodiversity loss by shifting the global economy from its current foundation in growth while simultaneously redressing inequality.

We have used the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory radial velocity spectrometer on the 3.6m Canada-France-Hawaii telescope to obtain radial velocities, accurate to ~0.8 km/s, for ~20 stars in each of nine globular clusters. The stars are generally within three core radii of the cluster center. The cluster names and metallicities (the latter are averages of values in Zinn and West (1984), Pilachowski (1984), and Webbink (1985)) are given in Table I. This sample includes two clusters with cusps in their surface brightness profiles: NGC 6624 and 6681.

A photoelectric radial-velocity spectrometer has been in use at the coudé focus of the 1.2m DAO telescope for several years. New improvements, resulting in a lowering of background noise, have allowed observations of stars significantly fainter than previously possible. Recent observations with the instrument at the coudé focus of the CFH telescope in Hawaii have shown that velocity measurements to better than 1 km s−1 accuracy are possible at 19th B magnitude. Various observing programs being carried out at DAO and CFHT are discussed.

Subcortical hyperintensities (SH) on neuroimaging are a prominent feature of vascular dementia (VaD) and SH severity correlates with cognitive impairment in this population. Previous studies demonstrated that SH burden accounts for a degree of the cognitive burden among VaD patients, although it remains unclear if individual factors such as cognitive reserve influence cognitive status in VaD. To address this issue, we examined 36 individuals diagnosed with probable VaD (age = 77.56; education = 12). All individuals underwent MMSE evaluations and MRI brain scans. We predicted that individuals with higher educational attainment would exhibit less cognitive difficulty despite similar levels of SH volume, compared to individuals with less educational attainment. A regression analysis revealed that greater SH volume was associated with lower scores on the MMSE. Additionally, education moderated the relationship between SH volume and MMSE score, demonstrating that individuals with higher education had higher scores on the MMSE despite similar degrees of SH burden. These results suggest that educational attainment buffers the deleterious effects of SH burden on cognitive status among VaD patients. (JINS, 2011, 17, 531–536)

Epitaxial GaAs layers have been grown on Ge-coated Si substrates. Deposition of epitaxial Ge was performed by electron beam evaporation onto a <100> Si substrate. GaAs was then deposited by organometallic vapor-phase epitaxy. Films grown over large areas (∼1 cm2) and by selective epitaxy in stripe patterns (∼50 μm wide) have been evaluated by a number of techniques to determine structural and electrical properties. In addition, we report what we believe to be the first LEDs fabricated in GaAs/Ge/Si heterostructures.

A technique for making rapidly-scanned, high-spatial resolution measurements of minority-carrier diffusion length is applied to the characterization of polycrystalline GaAs. Measurements on a large-grained n-type epitaxial layer show gradual variations of hole diffusion length from 0.1µm to l.lµm across the wafer as well as occasional small step changes at grain boundaries. By trading resolution for speed, the technique would be well suited to the nondestructive evaluation of large-area epitaxial layers.

The science of extra-solar planets is one of the most rapidly changing areas of astrophysics and since 1995 the number of planets known has increased by almost two orders of magnitude. A combination of ground-based surveys and dedicated space missions has resulted in 560-plus planets being detected, and over 1200 that await confirmation. NASA's Kepler mission has opened up the possibility of discovering Earth-like planets in the habitable zone around some of the 100,000 stars it is surveying during its 3 to 4-year lifetime. The new ESA's Gaia mission is expected to discover thousands of new planets around stars within 200 parsecs of the Sun. The key challenge now is moving on from discovery, important though that remains, to characterisation: what are these planets actually like, and why are they as they are?

In the past ten years, we have learned how to obtain the first spectra of exoplanets using transit transmission and emission spectroscopy. With the high stability of Spitzer, Hubble, and large ground-based telescopes the spectra of bright close-in massive planets can be obtained and species like water vapour, methane, carbon monoxide and dioxide have been detected. With transit science came the first tangible remote sensing of these planetary bodies and so one can start to extrapolate from what has been learnt from Solar System probes to what one might plan to learn about their faraway siblings. As we learn more about the atmospheres, surfaces and near-surfaces of these remote bodies, we will begin to build up a clearer picture of their construction, history and suitability for life.

The Exoplanet Characterisation Observatory, EChO, will be the first dedicated mission to investigate the physics and chemistry of Exoplanetary Atmospheres. By characterising spectroscopically more bodies in different environments we will take detailed planetology out of the Solar System and into the Galaxy as a whole.

EChO has now been selected by the European Space Agency to be assessed as one of four M3 mission candidates.

Background: It is well known that the global population is aging and that those over the age of 80 are the fastest growing part of this expansion. Also known is that prevalence of hypertension and cognitive decline both increase with increasing age.

Method: The Hypertension in the Very Elderly Trial (HYVET) was a double blind placebo-controlled trial of antihypertensive treatment (indapamide SR 1.5 mg ± perindopril 2–4 mg) and recruited only those hypertensives who were aged 80 or over and were without a diagnosis of dementia at baseline. Systolic blood pressure had to be in the range 160–199 mmHg and diastolic pressure <110 mmHg. Cognitive function was assessed at baseline using the Mini-mental State Examination prior to randomization into the trial. Also collected at baseline was information relating to sociodemographic, clinical, cardiovascular and biochemical factors which may impact upon cognitive function. This paper reports on the baseline cognitive function data from the HYVET trial and its relationship to these factors.

Results: The mean age of the 3763 HYVET participants who had full cognitive function data at baseline was 83.6 years; 60 percent were female. The median MMSE score at baseline was 26 and, in multivariate analyses, higher at younger age, with male gender, higher educational level, having higher creatinine, higher total cholesterol and lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.

Conclusions: This is the first such study to examine a large number of very elderly hypertensives and it shows some similar patterns to those seen in younger elderly groups.