Extreme rainfall and flood events are predicted to increase in frequency and severity as a consequence of anthropogenic climate change. In UK upland areas, historical over‐grazing and associated soil compaction have further exacerbated peak flood levels and flash‐flood risk along many river catchments. As a result, the reinstatement of upland woodland is increasingly seen as a key component of an integrated suite of options forming part of natural flood management (NFM) associated with a 'public money for public goods' approach to European agriculture. Nevertheless, understanding the impact of native woodland establishment on upland soil hydrology remains relatively poor. We compare physical and hydrological properties from the surface soils of establishing woodland and grazed pasture across four flood vulnerable upland headwater catchments in Dartmoor National Park, SW England. We show upland native woodland establishment is a viable soil recovery option, with a doubling of soil saturated hydraulic conductivity, increased 'wetness threshold' and reduced surface soil compaction and bulk density within 15 years of establishment. Our study supports the establishment of native woodland as an effective tool to improve the hydrological functioning of soils in upland pastoral catchments and the provision of flash‐flood mitigation 'ecosystem services'. We caution, however, that land managers and policymakers must consider past and present management, soil type and catchment location when planning new NFM schemes if environmental benefits are to be maximised and 'public money for public goods, are to be commensurate with outcomes.

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Abstract. We show that Kähler-Ricci solitons with dim H (1,1) (M ) ≥ 2 are linearly unstable. This extends the results of Cao-Hamilton-Ilmanen in the Kähler-Einstein case.

BACKGROUND Populations at risk for esophageal adenocarcinoma remain poorly defined. Laryngeal symptoms can be secondary to laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) and can occur without associated gastroesophageal reflux symptoms such as heartburn and regurgitation. GOAL We sought to determine the prevalence of Barrett’s esophagus (BE) in otolaryngology patients with laryngeal symptoms ± typical GERD symptoms. STUDY We performed a cross-sectional study of otolaryngology clinic patients who reported laryngeal symptoms. Symptoms, medications and exposure histories were obtained. Unsedated transnasal endoscopy was performed. Suspected BE was biopsied and confirmed histologically. Risk factors and prevalence of BE were assessed. RESULTS Two hundred and ninety five patients were enrolled (73% male, median age 60 [IQR 51–68]). The overall prevalence of BE was 11.8% (n=33). Antisecretory medication use was present in 56% (n=156) of patients at enrollment. Compared to patients without BE, patients with BE were more likely to be male (p=0.01) and to report occupational lung injury (p=0.001). Duration, but not severity of laryngeal symptoms, significantly increased the odds of Barrett’s esophagus (OR 5.64 [95% CI 1.28, 24.83] for a duration of symptoms > 5 years). Of patients with BE, 58% (n=19) had co-existing LPR and GERD symptoms and 30% (n=10) had only LPR symptoms. Presence and size of hiatal hernia and length of columnar lined esophagus were significant risk factors for BE. CONCLUSIONS Long-standing laryngeal symptoms are associated with the presence of BE in otolaryngology patients. Patients with chronic laryngeal symptoms and no identifiable ear, nose, or throat etiology for those symptoms may benefit from endoscopic screening regardless of whether typical GERD symptoms are present.

Abstract. We give bounds on the first non-zero eigenvalue of the scalar Laplacian for both the Page and the Chen-LeBrun-Weber Einstein metrics. One notable feature is that these bounds are obtained without explicit knowledge of the metrics or numerical approximation to them. Our method also allows the estimation of the invariant part of the spectrum for both metrics. We go on to discuss an application of these bounds to the linear stability of the metrics. We also give numerical evidence to suggest that the bounds for both metrics are extremely close to the actual eigenvalue.