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Co-Cu alloy films were prepared by altering the purity of the sputtering atmosphere, with the aim of clarifying the influence of contaminating impurities obtained during the deposition process. The correlation between microstructure and giant magnetoresistance (GMR) was investigated. It is concluded that regulated impurity concentration is necessary to control the precipitation process.

Understanding how abiotic factors influence Bornean tropical tree communities and diversity is a key aspect in elucidating the mechanisms of species co-existence and habitat preferences in these biodiverse forests. We focused on investigating forest structure, tree diversity and community composition of lowland Bornean heath forests in Brunei Darussalam, within two 0.96 ha permanent forest plots at Bukit Sawat Forest Reserve and Badas Forest Reserve. All trees with stem diameter ≥ 5 cm were tagged, identified and measured for their stem diameter and basal area. Soil physiochemical properties (pH, gravimetric water content and concentrations of total carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium and magnesium in topsoil) and environmental factors (relative humidity, canopy openness, litter depth and topographic variables of elevation, slope and aspect) were quantified as potential drivers of tree community differences. A total of 2,368 trees were recorded, representing 229 tree species in 211 genera and 58 families. Significant between-site differences in forest structure and tree community compositions were detected, despite limited differences in environmental and soil properties. Tree community composition at Bukit Sawat appeared to be influenced by topographic variables, while those at Badas were influenced by canopy openness. Our results showed that small-scale soil and environmental variation appeared to shape the local tree communities at Bukit Sawat and Badas. We recorded numerous Bornean endemic and tree species of high conservation values. We thus highlight the necessity of conducting long-term research on the forest dynamics of Bornean heath forests to effectively manage these high conservation value habitats which are currently experiencing changes driven by disturbances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dry subtropical (DST) regions that share similar climatic and topographic conditions exhibit today significant disparities in population density, agricultural intensity, wealth and cultural values. In addition, they are also facing increasing pressures on their natural resources. These attributes collectively shape individuals' varying dependence on natural resources and may influence their perception of ecosystem services (ES). In this study, we conducted a systematic literature review, focusing on the DST regions, to address two main questions: 1) What is the current state, temporal trends and regional variability in scientific research on ES and 2) What are the potential drivers of the variability in ES research? Amongst the 471 publications found in our review, 53% focused on provisioning services, followed nearly equally by cultural (33%) and regulating (30%) services. Only 13% addressed more than one ES category and approximately 33% mentioned economic valuation. Our study reveals that research on ES in the dry subtropics experienced a significant increase from 2005 onwards. Approximately 45% of the publications included the term 'ecosystem service' and its frequency has risen substantially over time. Most publications primarily focus on African dry subtropics (over 60%), followed by South and North American ones. Publications from southern Asia and NE Australia were more scarce. Importantly, we found no clear relationship between the number of publications, publication density or representativeness and the variables used as indicators of human pressure (e.g. population density). Consequently, research efforts in the DST regions appear to be influenced by a diverse range of financial and institutional constraints, international research agendas, as well as the personal interests of researchers, contributing to the idiosyncratic nature of this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a decisive impact on our society, generating both direct and indirect effects in a multitude of dimensions, beyond the purely health-related, which have conditioned people's well-being and quality of life. The social services system has played an essential role in absorbing the consequences of these impacts on the most socially vulnerable population. Analysing the social impacts and monitoring the risks derived from the pandemic can favour the prevention of risk situations, adjust the resources of the social services system to changing social realities and facilitate the strategic decision-making process to mitigate or minimise the impacts of potential socio-annual crises or catastrophes. This article presents a methodological process, based on the HCVRA (Hazards, Capacity Building, Vulnerability, Risk Assessment) disaster management models, designed ad hoc with the aim of identifying, on the one hand, the social impacts of COVID-19 and, on the other hand, the areas with the highest social risk in the post-COVID scenario. The application of this methodological process has made it possible to configure a set of indicators based on public databases, defined by consulting experts and weighted by a panel of stakeholders through a multi-criteria method to obtain a territorialised risk index at the highest level of disaggregation of the available data, based on the dimensions of vulnerability, threat and resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]