Microbiology and atmospheric processes: Biological, physical and chemical characterization of aerosol particles

The interest in bioaerosols has traditionally been linked to health hazards for humans, animals and plants. However, several components of bioaerosols exhibit physical properties of great significance for cloud processes, such as ice nucleation and cloud condensation. To gain a better understanding of their influence on climate, it is therefore important to determine the composition, concentration, seasonal fluctuation, regional diversity and evolution of bioaerosols. In this paper, we will review briefly the existing techniques for detection, quantification, physical and chemical analysis of biological particles, attempting to bridge physical, chemical and biological methods for analysis of biological particles and integrate them with aerosol sampling techniques. We will also explore some emerging spectroscopy techniques for bulk and single-particle analysis that have potential for in-situ physical and chemical analysis. Lastly, we will outline open questions and further desired capabilities (e. g., in-situ, sensitive, both broad and selective, on-line, time-resolved, rapid, versatile, cost-effective techniques) required prior to comprehensive understanding of chemical and physical characterization of bioaerosols

Les espaces de l'halieutique

L'étang de Thau est un espace lagunaire semi fermé dont les communications avec la mer sont limitées. L'exploitation de la palourde, ressource intrinsèquement peu mobile, est au coeur de l'activité de pêche dans cet étang. Il semble donc, a priori, que les notions d'espace mis en oeuvre par l'exploitation de cette ressource présentent un caractère de proximité et une dimension localisée à l'écosystème "étang de Thau". Dès lors, on pourrait penser que la connaissance écologique de ce milieu - où d'importants programmes scientifiques ont été réalisées -, alliée à la faible mobilité de cette population de bivalves fouisseurs, constituent des conditions favorables à une gestion "efficace" de cet écosystème. Ce sentiment est renforcé par le contexte social dans lequel évoluent les communautés de pêcheurs qui ont derrière elles une longue pratique de la gestion (prud'homies). Or, après une période florissante achevée en 1992, cette pêcherie traverse une crise aiguë. Les professionnels constatent en effect une forte diminution des stocks qui se traduit par (i) une régression des quantités pêchées par jours de travail (PUE) (ii) une diminution des prix (contre toute logique de marché) et (iii) une décroissance du nombre de pêcheurs. Parallèlement on observe une transformation des méthodes de pêche avec la généralisation de la pêche en plongée aux dépens de "l'arselière" technique traditionnelle qui a quasiment disparu. Dans ce contexte, et à la demande de la profesison, un programme pluridisciplinaire (programme Palourde) a été mis en oeuvre afin d'identifier les limites du système actuel puis d'élaborer un nouveau système de gestion. Ce travail a été mené selon une démarche de concertation élargie de l'ensemble des partenaires de l'exploitation (pêcheurs, mareyeurs, gestionnaires) et de façon négociée entre les acteurs... (Résumé d'auteur

Towards Verification of Unstructured-Grid Solvers

New methodology for verification of computational methods using unstructured grids is presented. The discretization order properties are studied in computational windows, easily constructed within a collection of grids or a single grid. The windows can be adjusted to isolate the interior discretization, the boundary discretization, or singularities. A major component of the methodology is the downscaling test, introduced previously for studying the convergence rates of truncation and discretization errors of finite-volume discretization schemes on general unstructured grids. Demonstrations of the method are shown, including a comparative accuracy assessment of commonly-used schemes on general mixed grids and the identification of local accuracy deterioration at intersections of tangency and inflow/outflow boundaries. Recommendations for the use of the methodology in large-scale computational simulations are given

Atomistic Simulations of Nanotube Fracture

The fracture of carbon nanotubes is studied by atomistic simulations. The fracture behavior is found to be almost independent of the separation energy and to depend primarily on the inflection point in the interatomic potential. The rangle of fracture strians compares well with experimental results, but predicted range of fracture stresses is marketly higher than observed. Various plausible small-scale defects do not suffice to bring the failure stresses into agreement with available experimental results. As in the experiments, the fracture of carbon nanotubes is predicted to be brittle. The results show moderate dependence of fracture strength on chirality.Comment: 12 pages, PDF, submitted to Phy. Rev.

Forging Resilience to HIV/AIDS: Personal Strengths of Middle-aged and Older Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men Who Have Sex With Men Living With HIV/AIDS

HIV-positive gay, bisexual, two-spirit, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) have exhibited significant resilience to HIV/AIDS in Canada since the start of the epidemic. Since 2012, most of the research that has been conducted on resilience to HIV/AIDS has utilized quantitative methods and deficits-based approaches, with a preferential focus on the plight of young MSM. In order to address apparent gaps in research on HIV/AIDS resilience, we conducted a community-based participatory research qualitative study that utilized a strengths-based approach to examine the perspectives and lived experiences of HIV-positive, middle-aged and older MSM on their individual attributes that helped forge their HIV/AIDS resilience. We conducted 41 semistructured interviews with diverse, HIV-positive, middle-aged and older MSM from Central and Southwestern Ontario, Canada. From our thematic analysis of our interviews, we identified four themes, which represented personal strengths that fostered resilience to HIV/AIDS: (a) proactiveness, (b) perseverance, (c) having the right mindset, and (d) self-awareness with self-control. This article discusses the importance of these personal strengths to fostering HIV/AIDS resilience, and how community-based resources could potentially lessen the need to muster such personal strengths, or alternatively, cultivate them

Patterns and drivers of recent disturbances across the temperate forest biome

Increasing evidence indicates that forest disturbances are changing in response to global change, yet local variability in disturbance remains high. We quantified this considerable variability and analyzed whether recent disturbance episodes around the globe were consistently driven by climate, and if human influence modulates patterns of forest disturbance. We combined remote sensing data on recent (2001-2014) disturbances with in-depth local information for 50 protected landscapes and their surroundings across the temperate biome. Disturbance patterns are highly variable, and shaped by variation in disturbance agents and traits of prevailing tree species. However, high disturbance activity is consistently linked to warmer and drier than average conditions across the globe. Disturbances in protected areas are smaller and more complex in shape compared to their surroundings affected by human land use. This signal disappears in areas with high recent natural disturbance activity, underlining the potential of climate-mediated disturbance to transform forest landscapes.A.S. and R.S. acknowledge support from the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) through START grant Y895-B25. C.S. acknowledges funding from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) with funds from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013) under REA grant agreement Nr. 605728 (P.R.I.M.E.—Postdoctoral Researchers International Mobility Experience). T. D. acknowledges funding from the Fonds institutionnel de recherche de l’Universitédu Quebec en Abitibi-Te ́ miscamingue, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research ́ Council of Canada (NSERC), Tembec, and EACOM Timber Corporation. Á.G.G. was supported by FONDECYT 11150835. S.J.H. and T.T.V. acknowledge NSF Award 1262687. A.H. was partially supported by NSF (award #1738104). D.K. acknowledges support from the US NSF. D.L. was supported by an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship. A.S.M. was supported by the Environment Research and Technology Development Fund (S-14) of the Japanese Ministry of the Environment and by the Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (15KK0022). G.L.W.P. acknowledges support from a Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Fund grant. S.L.S. acknowledges funds from the US Joint Fire Sciences Program (project number 14-1-06-22) and UC ANR competitive grants. M.S. and T.H. acknowledges support from the institutional project MSMT CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_019/ 0000803. M.G.T. acknowledges funding from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Vilas Trust and the US Joint Fire Science Program (project numbers 09-1-06-3, 12-3-01-3, and 16-3-01-4). The study used data from the TRY initiative on plant traits (http://www.trydb.org). The TRY initiative and database is hosted, developed and maintained by J. Kattge and G. Boenisch (Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany). TRY is currently supported by Future Earth/bioDISCOVERY and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzi

Obesity: A Biobehavioral Point of View

Excerpt: If you ask an overweight person, “Why are you fat?’, you will, almost invariably, get the answer, “Because 1 eat too much.” You will get this answer in spite of the fact that of thirteen studies, six find no significant differences in the caloric intake of obese versus nonobese subjects, five report that the obese eat significantly less than the nonobese, and only two report that they eat significantly more