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The gender wage gap and the gender work gap are sizable, persistent and well documented for many countries. The result of the gender wage and gender work gap combined is an income gap between men and women. A small literature has begun to examine how the tax-benefit system contributes to closing gender income gaps by redistributing between men and women. In this paper, we study the effect of tax-benefit policy on gender differences in income in the EU27 countries and the UK. We use microsimulation models linked to survey data to estimate gender gaps in market income (before taxes and transfers) and disposable income (after taxes and transfers) for each country. We then decompose the difference between the gender gap in market income and the gender gap in disposable income into the relative contribution of taxes and benefits in each country. We also isolate the relative contributions of the gender wage gap and the gender work gap to the overall gap in income between men and women in two of these countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trade union density increased for three consecutive years in the United Kingdom between 2017 and 2020. This contrasts with a general decline in union membership since 1979. Since union density continued to fall amongst male employees in 2017–2020, the overall increase was entirely attributable to females. This paper explores the factors which explain why there was an increase in overall union density after a period of decline (for males and females) and why union density evolved so differently for males and females. Using decomposition methodologies, we find that the increase in union density in 2017–2020 was not due to a higher propensity to unionise within particular groups or across all employees. Instead, the principal driver of the overall rise in 2017–2020 was an increase in the proportion of employment in certain public sector organisations. The largest contributor to the difference across males and females was increases in the share of employment in more unionised occupations amongst female employees and decreases amongst male employees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the inner dynamics of multifractality between the carbon market (EU ETS) and four major fossil fuel energy markets: Brent Crude Oil (BRN), Richards Bay Coal (RBC), UK Natural Gas (NGH2), and FTSE350 electricity index (FTSE350) from January 04, 2016, to March 04, 2022. First, we decompose the daily price changes by applying seasonal and trend decomposition using loess (STL). Then, we examine the inner dynamics of multifractality and cross-correlation by employing multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis (MFDFA) and multifractal detrended cross-correlation analysis (MFDCCA) using the remaining components of the return series. Our findings reveal that all series and the cross-correlations of carbon and fossil fuels markets have multifractal characteristics. We find crude oil to be the most efficient market (lowest multifractal), while coal is the least efficient (highest multifractal). Only coal shows persistent, whereas the other markets exhibit antipersistent behavior. Interestingly, the coal and EU ETS pair demonstrates a higher degree of multifractal patterns. In contrast, the pair of natural gas and EU ETS exhibits the lowest multifractal characteristics among the energy markets. Only the crude oil market shows persistent cross-correlations in the multifractality. These findings have important academic and managerial implications for investors and policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The reliability of PMI information sources could be quantifiably graded. • High confidence PMI sources included digital evidence and forensic specialists. • Only 35% of all homicide cases used PMI estimations from forensic specialists. • The incidence of PMI source corroboration was overall low (4%). • Corroborating information sources can improve confidence in PMI estimations. Post-mortem interval (PMI) information sources may be subject to varying degrees of reliability that could impact the level of confidence associated with PMI estimations in forensic taphonomy research and in the practice of medico-legal death investigation. This study aimed to assess the reliability of PMI information sources in a retrospective comparative analysis of 1813 cases of decomposition from the Allegheny County Office of the Medical Examiner in Pittsburgh, US (n = 1714), and the Crime Scene Investigation department at Southwest Forensics in the UK (n = 99). PMI information sources were subjected to a two-stage evaluation using an adapted version of the 3x5 aspects of the UK police National Intelligence Model (NIM) to determine the confidence level associated with each source. Normal distribution plots were created to show the distribution frequency of the dependent variables (decomposition stage and source evaluation) by the independent variable of PMI. The manner, location, and season of death were recorded to ascertain if these variables influenced the reliability of the PMI. A confidence matrix was then created to assess the overall reliability and provenance of each PMI information source. Reliable PMI sources (including forensic specialists, missing persons reports, and digital evidence) were used across extensive PMI ranges (1 to 2920 days in the US, and 1 to 240 days in the UK) but conferred a low incidence of use with forensic specialists providing a PMI estimation in only 35% of all homicide cases. Medium confidence PMI sources (e.g., last known social contact) accounted for the majority of UK (54%, n = 54) and US (82%, n = 1413) cases and were associated with shorter PMIs and natural causes of death. Low confidence PMI sources represented the lowest frequencies of UK and US cases and exclusively comprised PMI information from scene evidence. In 96% of all cases, only one PMI source was reported, meaning PMI source corroboration was overall very low (4%). This research has important application for studies using police reports of PMI information to validate PMI estimation models, and in the practice of medico-legal death investigation where it is recommended that i) the identified reliable PMI sources are sought ii) untested or unreliable PMI sources are substantiated with corroborating PMI information, iii) all PMI sources are reported with an associated degree of confidence that encapsulates the uncertainty of the originating source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In many high-income countries, life expectancy (LE) has increased, with women outliving men. This gender gap in LE (GGLE) has been explained with biological factors, healthy behaviours, health status, and sociodemographic characteristics, but little attention has been paid to the role of public health policies that include/affect these factors. This study aimed to assess the contributions of avoidable causes of death, as a measure of public health policies and healthcare quality impacts, to the GGLE and its temporal changes in the UK. We also estimated the contributions of avoidable causes of death into the gap in LE between countries in the UK. Methods: We obtained annual data on underlying causes of death by age and sex from the World Health Organization mortality database for the periods 2001–2003 and 2014–2016. We calculated LE at birth using abridged life tables. We applied Arriaga's decomposition method to compute the age- and cause-specific contributions into the GGLE in each period and its changes between two periods as well as the cross-country gap in LE in the 2014–2016 period. Results: Avoidable causes had greater contributions than non-avoidable causes to the GGLE in both periods (62% in 2001–2003 and 54% in 2014–2016) in the UK. Among avoidable causes, ischaemic heart disease (IHD) followed by injuries had the greatest contributions to the GGLE in both periods. On average, the GGLE across the UK narrowed by about 1.0 year between 2001–2003 and 2014–2016 and three avoidable causes of IHD, lung cancer, and injuries accounted for about 0.8 years of this reduction. England & Wales had the greatest LE for both sexes in 2014–2016. Among avoidable causes, injuries in men and lung cancer in women had the largest contributions to the LE advantage in England & Wales compared to Northern Ireland, while drug-related deaths compared to Scotland in both sexes. Conclusion: With avoidable causes, particularly preventable deaths, substantially contributing to the gender and cross-country gaps in LE, our results suggest the need for behavioural changes by implementing targeted public health programmes, particularly targeting younger men from Scotland and Northern Ireland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past years, education attainment has increased at an unprecedented rate in Great Britain. We analyze how the education expansion affected inequality in household net incomes since the early 2000s. We show that, all else being equal, education composition changes led to higher living standards mostly through higher wages. As education expansion led to larger income gains in the middle and top than at the bottom of the distribution, income inequality increased. Despite the increasing share of high‐educated workers, we find limited evidence of a "compression" effect on inequality, as the higher education wage premium remained broadly unchanged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite a long record of research on the sources of the gender wage gap, a large fraction of gender wage differences remains unexplained. In this paper, we propose gender differences in social capital as a novel explanation for the gender wage gap. We use British data from the Understanding Society (UKHLS) survey and wage decompositions to estimate the contribution of social capital derived from network homophily, that is, the similarity to one's peer group, to the gender wage differential. Our results show that differences in network structure explain as much as 15% of the overall gender wage gap. This finding is largely driven by gender differences in the number of males among closest friends, while other social capital measures used in this study hardly matter. We further show that differences in returns to social capital are not statistically significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions data for the year 2009, the authors evaluate how vertical and horizontal job segregation explains the differential between full-time and part-time pay for prime-age women in four European countries: Austria, Italy, Poland, and the United Kingdom. The selected countries are representative of different welfare state regimes, labor market regulations, and extents and forms of part-time employment. Full-time hourly wages exceed part-time hourly wages, especially in market-oriented economies, such as Poland and the United Kingdom. Results using the Neuman-Oaxaca decomposition methods show that most of the full-time—part-time wage gap is driven by job segregation, especially its vertical dimension. Vertical segregation explains an especially large part of the pay gap in Poland and the United Kingdom, where, more than elsewhere, part-timers are concentrated in low-skilled occupations and the wage disparities across occupations are quite large. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cadaver dogs are routinely used internationally by police and civilian search organisations to locate human remains on land and in water, yet little is currently known about the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are released by a cadaver underwater; how this compares to those given off by a cadaver deposited on land; and ultimately, how this affects the detection of drowned victims by dogs. The aim of this study was to identify the VOCs released by whole porcine (Sus scrofa domesticus) cadavers deposited on the surface and submerged in water using solid phase microextraction gas chromatography mass spectrometry (SPME GC–MS) to ascertain if there are notable differences in decomposition odour depending on the deposition location. For the first time in the UK, the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the headspace of decomposing porcine cadavers deposited in both terrestrial and water environments have been detected and identified using SPME-GCMS, including thirteen new VOCs not previously detected from porcine cadavers. Distinct differences were found between the VOCs emitted by porcine cadavers in terrestrial and water environments. In total, seventy-four VOCs were identified from a variety of different chemical classes; carboxylic acids, alcohols, aromatics, aldehydes, ketones, hydrocarbons, esters, ethers, nitrogen compounds and sulphur compounds. Only forty-one VOCs were detected in the headspace of the submerged pigs with seventy detected in the headspace of the surface-deposited pigs. These deposition-dependent differences have important implications for the training of cadaver dogs in the UK. If dog training does not account for these depositional differences, there is potential for human remains to be missed. Whilst the specific odours that elicit a trained response from cadaver dogs remain unknown, this research means that recommendations can be made for the training of cadaver dogs to incorporate different depositions, to account for odour differences and mitigate the possibility of missed human remains operationally. • Different VOC profiles seen in surface-deposited vs submerged porcine remains • 70 VOCs identified from surface-deposited remains and 41 from submerged remains. • 13 additional VOCs not previously identified in the literature were detected. • Odour differences show importance of training cadaver dogs on varied depositions. • Cadaver dog training must apply these differences, or human remains may be missed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses plant-level estimates of total factor productivity covering 40 years to examine what role, if any, productivity has played in the decline of output share and employment in British manufacturing. The results show that TFP growth in British manufacturing was negative between 1973 and 1982, marginally positive between 1982 and 1994 and strongly positive between 1994 and 2012. Poor TFP performance therefore does not appear to be the main cause of the decline of UK manufacturing. Productivity growth decompositions show that, in the latter period, the largest contributions to TFP growth come from foreign-owned plants, industries that are heavily involved in trade, and industries with high levels of intangible assets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article uses Labour Force Survey data to examine why male and female part-time employees in the UK are more likely to be low paid than their full-time counterparts. This 'low pay penalty' is found to be just as large, if not larger, for men compared to women. For both men and women, differences in worker characteristics account for a relatively small proportion of the part-time low pay gap. Of greater importance is the unequal distribution of part-time jobs across the labour market, in particular the close relationship between part-time employment and social class. Using a selection model to adjust for the individual's estimated propensity to be in (fulltime) employment adds a modest amount of explanatory power. Particularly for men, a large 'unexplained' component is identified, indicating that even with a similar human capital and labour market profile part-time workers are more likely than full-time workers to be low paid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the UK, the recent flourishing of organised resistance against austerity and the dominance of the free market over all aspects of life has done little to buck an overall trend of decreasing membership in political parties and similar organisations. Few informal organisational forms on the Left have fared better. However, these diminishing structures have certain key characteristics in common and there are suggestions of alternative political forms emerging in their stead. This article argues that such periods of decomposition, far from being an indication of failure, are an important and desirable element of social movement that can and should be deliberately factored in to political organising. Building from the notion that the basis of social change is the ability to move out of existing institutions, the article explores three methodologies of decomposition that bridge the divides between mythology, poetry, and political theory: Negative Capability, Eeriness, and the surrealist game. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UK has been one of the few countries that has successfully decoupled final energy consumption from economic growth over the past 15 years. This study investigates the drivers of final energy consumption in the UK productive sectors between 1997 and 2013 using a decomposition analysis that incorporates two novel features. Firstly, it investigates to what extent changes in thermodynamic efficiency have contributed to overall changes in sectoral energy intensities. Secondly, it analyses how much of the structural change in the UK economy is driven by the offshoring of energy-intensive production overseas. The results show that energy intensity reductions are the strongest factor reducing energy consumption. However, only a third of the energy savings from energy intensity reductions can be attributed to reductions in thermodynamic efficiency with reductions in the exergy intensity of production making up the reminder. In addition the majority of energy savings from structural change are a result of offshoring, which constitutes the second biggest factor reducing energy consumption. In recent years the contributions of all decomposition factors have been declining with very little change in energy consumption after 2009. This suggests that a return to the strong reductions in energy consumption observed between 2001 and 2009 in the UK productive sectors should not be taken for granted. Given that further reductions in UK final energy consumption are needed to achieve global targets for climate change mitigation, additional policy interventions are needed. Such policies should adopt a holistic approach, taking into account all sectors in the UK economy as well as the relationship between the structural change in the UK and in the global supply chains delivering the goods and service for consumption and investment in the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the article is to compare inequalities of the household disposable income in Poland and the UK. We analyse the Theil index for types of households in 2005 and 2014. We also aim at finding out how household types contribute to the level of overall income inequality in the UK and Poland. We calculate and decompose the Theil indices based on the equivalised disposable household income from the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) database. We find that "two adults below 65 with no dependent children" household group is the main contributor to the overall Theil index in both countries. We also conclude that the between-group component of the Theil index decreases in Poland and increases in the UK and, in effect, in 2014, it is twice as high in the UK as in Poland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decomposition analysis can provide a useful efficiency metric for the industrial sector, it does so by separating the influence of changes in energy intensity from structural and activity changes. The activity refactorisation (AR) approach to decomposition analysis offers a potentially improved methodology, with a better correlation to real efficiency improvements. This is achieved through combining monetary and physical output data. Here the AR approach is compared to other methodologies for the United Kingdom industrial sector over the period 1997–2012. Even with limited availability of physical output data the AR approach was found to provide significantly different results to those obtained using only monetary output measures. When monetary output was the sole measure of activity, intensity (efficiency) improvements were overestimated. It is recommended that physical output data is supplied alongside energy demand and monetary output data in national accounts to better track efficiency improvements and allow such improved metrics to feed into decarbonisation policy discussions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. The DEFRA ecosystem services framework was implemented in an entomological context to provide preliminary estimates of the economic value of four key ecosystem service benefits delivered by dung beetles ( Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae, Geotrupidae) to the U.K. cattle industry and individual cattle farmers. These benefits included (i) reduced pest flies; (ii) reduced gastrointestinal parasites; (iii) reduced pasture fouling and (iv) increased soil nutrients. 2. A mesocosm experiment was carried out to quantify the impacts of anthelmintic treatment on dung removal by dung beetles when (i) cattle were excreting anthelmintics (which affect dung beetles) in a sufficient concentration to impact dung beetles and (ii) when cattle were not excreting dung containing anthelmintics (which affect dung beetles) in a sufficient concentration to impact dung beetles. 3. Inferring from our mesocosm experiment and existing data, the value of the benefits of dung beetles under current farming practices (and current anthelmintic usage) was estimated. We estimated the potential economic benefits if dung beetles were protected (i) under all entry-level agri-environment schemes; (ii) under organic schemes; or (iii) if farmers stopped treating adult cattle with anthelmintics during the grazing season. 4. While these estimates are preliminary, and should not be treated as definitive values, we suggest that dung beetles may be currently saving the U.K. cattle industry c. £367 million each year: c. £354 million in conventional systems and c. £13 million in organic systems. Annual benefits per cow are greater in organic systems (£43.47) compared with conventional systems (£37.42). 5. Protecting dung beetles under agri-environment schemes could save the U.K. cattle industry an additional £40.2 million year−1 (£4.36 per cow), while protecting dung beetles under organic schemes could save £378 k year−1 (£1.26 per cow). The cessation of, largely unnecessary, treatment of adult cattle with anthelmintics could save the U.K. cattle industry an additional £6.2 million year−1 (£1.40 per cow) in addition to savings on the anthelmintics themselves. 6. These estimates are based on a large number of underlying assumptions and, thus, may be overestimating or underestimating the economic value of ecosystem services delivered by dung beetles. 7. The potential for using the DEFRA ecosystem services framework in an entomological context is highlighted. These estimates emphasise the contribution of dung beetles as key Ecosystem Service Providers ( ESP's) within the U.K. cattle sector and, by extension, emphasise the importance of valuing supporting ecosystem services derived from invertebrates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the British Household Panel Survey we estimate the effect on pay of each of the Big Five personality traits for employed men living in the UK. We add to the existing literature by estimating the role of factors such as education and occupation in explaining personality pay gaps, by allowing the personality traits to affect wage differently across occupations, education levels and other workers characteristics, and by investigating personality pay gaps for high- and low-paid workers. We find that openness to experience is the most relevant personality trait in explaining wages, followed by neuroticism, agreeableness, extroversion and conscientiousness. Openness and extroversion are rewarded while agreeableness and neuroticism are penalized, but the openness pay gap is totally explained by differences in worker characteristics, particularly education and occupation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives With health inequalities high on the policy agenda, this study measures oral health inequalities in the UK. Methods We compare an objective clinical measure of oral health (number of natural teeth) with a self-reported measure of the impact of oral health (the Oral Health Impact Profile, OHIP) to establish whether the type of measure affects the scale of inequality measured. Gini coefficients and Concentration Indices ( CIs) are calculated with subsequent decompositions using data from the 1998 UK Adult Dental Health Survey. Because the information on OHIP is only available on dentate individuals, analyses on the number of natural teeth are conducted for two samples - the entire sample and the sample with dentate individuals only, the latter to allow direct comparison with OHIP. Results We find considerable overall pure oral health inequalities (number of teeth: Gini = 0.68 (including edentate), Gini = 0.40 (excluding edentate); OHIP: Gini = 0.33) and income-related inequalities for both measures (number of teeth: CI = 0.35 (including edentate), CI = 0.15 (excluding edentate); OHIP: CI = 0.03), and the CI is generally higher for the number of teeth than for OHIP. There are differences across age groups, with CI increasing with age for the number of teeth (excluding edentate: 16-30 years: CI = 0.01, 65 + years: CI = 0.11; including edentate: 16-30 years: CI = 0.01, 65 + years: CI = 0.19). However, inequalities for OHIP were highest in the youngest age group ( CI = 0.05). Number of teeth reflects the accumulation of damage over a lifetime, while OHIP records more immediate concerns. Conclusions There are considerable pure oral health inequalities and income-related oral health inequalities in the UK. Using sophisticated methods to measure oral health inequality, we have been able to compare inequality in oral health with inequality in general health. The results provide a benchmark for future comparisons but also indicate that the type of health measure may be of considerable significance in how we think about and measure oral health inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Energy-related carbon emissions from UK manufacturing have fallen, between 1990 and 2007, by approximately 2% per annum. This reduction could be caused by a number of effects that can act to increase or decrease the level of emissions. Decomposition analysis has been used to separate the contributions of changes in output, industrial structure, energy intensity, fuel mix and electricity emission factor to the reduction in carbon emissions. The primary reason for the fall in emissions was found to be a reduction in energy intensity. The manufacturing sector was also split into two subsectors: the energy-intensive (EI) subsector, and the non-energy-intensive (NEI) subsector. The NEI subsector, somewhat surprisingly, was found to have made greater relative reductions in its energy-related carbon emissions over the study period. This was principally due to much greater relative improvements in energy intensity. There is evidence that the EI subsector had made greater relative improvements in energy intensity in the period preceding 1990, and so this may have limited improvements post 1990. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A model framework is developed to solve capacity planning problems that are faced by many perinatal networks in the UK. We propose a loss network model with overflow based on a continuous time Markov chain for a perinatal network with specific application to a network in London. We derive the steady state expressions for overflow and rejection probabilities for each neonatal unit of the network on the basis of a decomposition approach. Results obtained from the model are very close to observed values. Using the model, decisions on numbers of cots can be made for specific levels of admission acceptance probabilities for each level of care at each neonatal unit of the network and specific levels of overflow to temporary care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to increase accuracy in estimating the postmortem submersion interval (PMSI) for bodies recovered from rivers in the United Kingdom. Data were collected from closed case files, crime scene reports, and autopsy files concerning bodies recovered over a 15-year period from the River Clyde, Scotland, and the River Mersey and canals in northwest England. One hundred and eighty-seven cases met the study criteria and were scored by quantifying the overall amount of decomposition observed in each case. Statistical analysis showed that the duration of a body’s submergence in water and the temperatures to which it was exposed, as measured in accumulated degree days (ADD), had a significant effect on the decay process. Further analysis indicated that there were no significant differences in decomposition between the waterways. By combining the data from all study samples, it was possible to produce a single linear regression model for predicting ADD from observed decomposition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Debate on the relationship between diversity and stability has been driven by the recognition that species loss may influence ecosystem properties and processes. We conducted a litterbag experiment in the Scottish Highlands, United Kingdom, to examine the effects of altering plant litter diversity on decomposition, microbial biomass, and microfaunal abundance. The design of treatments was fully factorial and included five species from an upland plant community (silver birch, Betula pendula; Scots' pine, Pinus sylvestris; heather, Calluna vulgaris; bilberry, Vaccinium myrtillus; wavy-hair grass, Deschampsiaflexuosa); species richness ranged from one to five species. We tested the effects of litter species richness and composition on variable means, whether increasing litter species richness reduced variability in the decomposer system, and whether any richness-variability relationships were maintained over time (196 vs. 564 days). While litter species composition effects controlled variable means, we revealed reductions in variability with increasing litter species richness, even after accounting for differences between litter types. These findings suggest that higher plant species richness per se may result in more stable ecosystem processes (e.g., decomposition) and decomposer communities. Negative richness-variation relationships generally relaxed over time, presumably because properties of litter mixtures became more homogeneous. However, given that plant litter inputs continue to enter the belowground system over time, we conclude that variation in ecosystem properties may be buffered by greater litter species richness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the centrality of the issue of labour market flexibility, attempts to consistently measure levels of flexibility, either within or across countries, have been remarkably scarce. This paper makes a significant contribution towards filling this gap by presenting a set of labour market flexibility indicators for the UK. Derived from survey-data sources, the indexes relate directly to theoretical considerations on the issue of flexibility and cover a 20-year period (1979–1998) at sub-national detail (Standard Statistical Regions). Examination of their temporal evolution and regional variation reveals a number of interesting findings, most notably that increases in flexibility have not been uniform across space and that persistent regional differences exist in functional specialisations in flexibility with the most significant pattern of regional differentiation being not in the levels of (overall) flexibility but in the types of flexible arrangements that prevail in each region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decomposition analysis provides help in the difficult task of explaining how economies trends and government policies affect the distribution of income. In this context, recent studies have proposed the application of the “Shapley Value” allocation method, a concept from cooperative game theory, to the decomposition of inequality. This paper examines the “Shapley inequality decomposition” by factor components focussing in particular on some methodological issues that cannot be solved from a theoretical point of view. Following an inductive approach, the empirical evidence obtained by applying several variants of the Shapley decomposition to the UK and US income distributions suggests an answer to some of the dilemmas faced by applied economists when implementing the Shapley decomposition technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary The effects of elevated UV-B (280–315 nm) radiation on the long-term decomposition of Quercus robur leaf litter were assessed at an outdoor facility in the UK by exposing saplings to elevated UV-B radiation (corresponding to a 30% increase above the ambient level of erythemally weighted UV-B, equivalent to that resulting from a c. 18% reduction in ozone column) under arrays of cellulose diacetate-filtered fluorescent UV-B lamps that also produced UV-A radiation (315–400 nm). Saplings were also exposed to elevated UV-A radiation alone under arrays of polyester-filtered fluorescent lamps and to ambient solar radiation under arrays of nonenergized lamps. After 8 months of irradiation, abscised leaves were placed into litter bags and allowed to decompose in the litter layer of a mixed deciduous woodland for 4.08 years. The dry weight loss of leaf litter from saplings irradiated with elevated UV-B and UV-A radiation during growth was 17% greater than that of leaf litter irradiated with elevated UV-A radiation alone. Annual fractional weight loss of litter (k), and the estimated time taken for 95% of material to decay (3/k) were respectively increased and decreased by 27% for leaf litter exposed during growth to elevated UV-B and UV-A radiation, relative to that exposed to UV-A alone. The present data corroborate those from a previous study indicating that UV-B radiation applied during growth accelerates the subsequent decomposition of Q. robur leaf litter in soil, but indicate that this effect persists for over four years after abscission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mediation analysis is concerned with the decomposition of the total effect of an exposure on an outcome into the indirect effect, through a given mediator, and the remaining direct effect. This is ideally done using longitudinal measurements of the mediator, which capture the mediator process more finely. However, longitudinal measurements pose challenges for mediation analysis, because the mediators and outcomes measured at a given time point can act as confounders for the association between mediators and outcomes at a later time point; these confounders are themselves affected by the prior exposure and outcome. Such posttreatment confounding cannot be dealt with using standard methods (e.g., generalized estimating equations). Analysis is further complicated by the need for so-called cross-world counterfactuals to decompose the total effect. This work addresses these challenges. In particular, we introduce so-called natural effect models, which parameterize the direct and indirect effect of a baseline exposure with respect to a longitudinal mediator and outcome. These can be viewed as a generalization of marginal structural mean models to enable effect decomposition. We introduce inverse probability weighting techniques for fitting these models, adjusting for (measured) time-varying confounding of the mediator-outcome association. Application of this methodology uses data from the Millennium Cohort Study, a longitudinal study of children born in the United Kingdom between September 2000 and January 2002., (© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

• Novel mesocosm design employed to study litter decomposition. • Litter mixing with invasive species caused non-additive decomposition. • Non-additive decomposition varied between native species. • Decomposition rate was strongly correlated with initial litter chemical properties. • Leaching of phenolics from invasive litter suppressed microbial respiration. Invasive alien plants are a worldwide problem, causing substantial damage to biodiversity as well as economies. Recent studies suggest invasive plants may also alter fundamental ecosystem processes such as nutrient and carbon cycling in soil by depositing chemically distinct leaf litter. Here, we used laboratory microcosms to test whether the chemical properties of Rhododendron ponticum litter, an invasive shrub in Britain, lead to slower decomposition than that of native (or naturalised) species with labile litter (Acer pseudoplatanus and Fraxinus excelsior), but not relative to the recalcitrant litter of Quercus petraea. Leading from this, we hypothesised that the labile native litter decomposition rate is reduced when mixed with R. ponticum litter in non-additive responses, with the strength of these responses increasing with the proportion of R. ponticum in litter mixes (25%, 50% and 75% R. ponticum). Over the incubation period, the decomposition (measured as the microbial respiration rate) of unmixed R. ponticum litter was significantly lower than that of A. pseudoplatanus and F. excelsior , but not Q. petraea. When mixed with R. ponticum (50%), F. excelsior litter decomposition was slowed, whilst no effect was seen for Q. petraea. However, A. pseudoplatanus litter decomposition was enhanced, contrary to expectation. The strength of the non-additive decomposition responses did not vary with different proportions of R. ponticum to the other species, with only the 50% mixtures showing significant non-additive respiration rates. Litter chemical properties were highly associated with decomposition rates, with both phenolic content and C:N ratio negatively correlated with microbial respiration. To test the influence of phenolics on litter decomposition, leachates of R. ponticum litter with phenolics present or removed (via activated carbon) were added to microcosms containing the native species litter. Microbial respiration in F. excelsior microcosms was lower when R. ponticum leachate contained phenolics. For A. pseudoplatanus and Q. petraea litter, no effect of leachate treatment was observed. Our results show that invasive litter chemistry can alter the decomposition of native litter, with the impact varying between species. Altered decomposition rates could cause plant-soil feedbacks, leading to altered soil nutrient concentrations. The novel soil conditions may favour the invader, increasing its dominance, whilst negatively influencing native species possessing greater nutrient demands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human Taphonomy Facilities (HTFs) are outdoor laboratories where scientific research is carried out on donated human cadavers in order to understand how human decomposition progresses in a variety of conditions. There are currently eight such facilities in the USA, one in Australia and one on mainland Europe. Forensic scientists in the UK have started to ask the question 'Does the UK need a Human Taphonomy Facility?'. A review of the literature produced by the existing HTFs, as well as published opinion and commentaries about these facilities and the feasibility of one in the UK has been undertaken. The existing arguments for and against the establishment of a Human Taphonomy Facility in the UK have been examined. Given recent media interest in the possibility of the establishment of a Human Taphonomy Facility in the UK, and the surrounding controversy, it is important to evaluate the potential benefit or harm of the creation of such a facility to Society and the scientific community., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)