The Grey Islands by John Steffler

Review of John Steffler\u27s The Grey Islands

Anthropocene or Capitalocene? Nature, History, and the Crisis of Capitalism edited by Jason W. Moore

Review of Jason W. Moore\u27s Capitalocene or Anthropocene? Nature, History, and the Crisis of Capitalis

A Study on the Parallelization of Terrain-Covering Ant Robots Simulations

Agent-based simulation is used as a tool for supporting (time-critical) decision making in differentiated contexts. Hence, techniques for speeding up the execution of agent-based models, such as Parallel Discrete Event Simulation (PDES), are of great relevance/benefit. On the other hand, parallelism entails that the final output provided by the simulator should closely match the one provided by a traditional sequential run. This is not obvious given that, for performance and efficiency reasons, parallel simulation engines do not allow the evaluation of global predicates on the simulation model evolution with arbitrary time-granularity along the simulation time-Axis. In this article we present a study on the effects of parallelization of agent-based simulations, focusing on complementary aspects such as performance and reliability of the provided simulation output. We target Terrain Covering Ant Robots (TCAR) simulations, which are useful in rescue scenarios to determine how many agents (i.e., robots) should be used to completely explore a certain terrain for possible victims within a given time. © 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

A study of salmonid egg and fry survival in the River Taff catchment

This report looks at previous findings that egg survival was related to the percentage of fine solids in the spawning gravels of the River Taff. Green salmonid eggs were planted out at 8 sites in the Taff catchment; and eyed salmonid eggs were planted out at 27 sites. Gravel cores were taken at 18 of these sites and an analysis of their composition was carried out, particular attention being given to the pecentage of particles less than 1mm. As well as its method, the report includes its own findings and recommendations, which includes other factors influencing egg survival such as the need for water quality improvements

Pasteurellosis: an outbreak amongst sheep

From the three cases of pasteurellosis in sheep studied, five different strains of pasteurellae were obtained, 182 from ram 1, 181 from ram 2, and 247, 247a, and 247c from ram 3. Of these strains 182 and 247 were highly pathogenic for both sheep and guinea-pigs, and almost non-pathogenic for rabbits and pigeons. Both showed the same biochemical reactions and both produced similar pathological changes in experimental animals inoculated with live cultures. They resembled each other also in morphology, staining and cultural characteristics. Pasteurellae 182 and 247 can therefore be regarded either as identical or so closely related that they cannot be differentiated by the methods employed. Both these organisms have a predilection for pulmonary tissue and serous membranes and both produced lesions in experimental animals that could not be differentiated from those found in natural cases studied. These two organisms are considered to have been the cause of the mortality among the Ryeland sheep at the experimental farm of the University of Pretoria. An identical disease in experimental sheep was produced by the injection of organ emulsions and cultures made from the original cases from the University farm. Berkeveld filtrates of organ emulsions from natural cases did not produce the disease. So far no success has yet been attained with immunisation tests in laboratory animals and no properly controlled immunisation experiments have been carried out with sheep. The pathogenesis of the disease under natural conditions is still obscure. Pasteurellae 181 and 247a cannot be distinguished from each other by the tests employed; both are very slightly pathogenic for guinea-pigs and both have the same biochemical reactions, and they agree in morphology, cultural and staining characteristics. Both have originated from small colonies picked from primary cultures of pulmonary material. Pasteurella 247c does not resemble either of the two groups of organisms mentioned above. It is entirely non-pathogenic for laboratory animals. These results indicate: (1) that the small colonies picked from the primary growths on media seeded with material from affected lungs yielded cultures which were either non-pathogenic (247c) or only very slightly pathogenic (247a, 181); (2) that the large colonies obtained from similar growths gave rise to highly pathogenic cultures (182 and 247); (3) that when several colonies were picked from the same primary growth, highly pathogenic, slightly pathogenic and non-pathogenic cultures may be obtained e.g. cultures 247, 247a, and 247c); (4) that if only one colony is picked from the primary growth either a highly pathogenic culture (182) or one which is barely pathogenic (181) may result. It is possible that the non-pathogenic and slightly pathogenic pasteurellae occur as saprophytes in the respiratory passages of sheep in certain areas and that they invade the lungs only when the way has been paved for them by the entrance of pathogenic pasteurellae of the type 182 and 247. These latter enter the tissues and set up disease under conditions which have not yet been determined. In making a bacteriological study of a case of pasteurellosis, therefore, it is recommended that several colonies of different sizes be picked from the primary growth, and that the pathogenicity of each one be studied separately. Only in this way may the presence of pathogenic pasteurellae be determined.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 300dpi. Adobe Acrobat XI Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format

Dambo Farming In Zimbabwe: Water Management, Cropping and Soil Potentials for Smallholder Farming in the Wetlands.

A Conference Paper on garden irrigation in Zimbabwe.The research described in this report has the potential to improve sustainability of agriculture by reducing farmer reliance on extensive farming systems. The overall aim of the project is to promote the use of small irrigated community gardens to complement rainfed cropping. In years of good rainfall, these gardens can augment rainfed crop production, reduce the need to crop marginal land and improve nutrition by providing a continuous supply of vegetables during the dry season. In years of drought, such as that now occuring in Southern Africa, there is no rain-fed cropping. Irrigated gardens can provide rural communities with a vital "safety net", providing the only means of food production

Bowhead whales, and not right whales, were the primary target of 16th- to 17th-century Basque Whalers in the Western North Atlantic

During the 16th and 17th centuries, Basque whalers travelled annually to the Strait of Belle Isle and Gulf of St. Lawrence to hunt whales. The hunting that occurred during this period is of primary significance for the North Atlantic right whale, Eubalaena glacialis (Müller, 1776), because it has been interpreted as the largest human-induced reduction of the western North Atlantic population, with ~12250–21 000 whales killed. It has been frequently reported that the Basques targeted two species in this region: the North Atlantic right whale and the bowhead whale, Balaena mysticetus L., 1758. To evaluate this hypothesis and the relative impact of this period of whaling on both species, we collected samples from 364 whale bones during a comprehensive search of Basque whaling ports from the 16th to the 17th century in the Strait of Belle Isle and Gulf of St. Lawrence. Bones were found and sampled at 10 of the 20 sites investigated. DNA was extracted from a subset (n = 218) of these samples. Analysis of the mitochondrial cytochrome b region identified five whale species. The identification of only a single right whale bone and 203 bowhead whale bones from at least 72 individuals indicates that the bowhead whale was likely the principal target of the hunt. These results imply that this whaling had a much greater impact (in terms of numbers of whales removed) on the bowhead whale population than on the western North Atlantic right whale population.Aux XVIe et XVIIe siècles, les baleiniers basques se rendaient tous les ans au détroit de Belle Isle et au golfe du Saint- Laurent pour faire la chasse aux baleines. La chasse qui s’est effectuée pendant cette période revêt une grande importance pour la baleine franche ou baleine noire de l’Atlantique Nord, Eubalaena glacialis (Müller, 1776), car cette activité serait interprétée comme la plus grande réduction de la population de baleines franches de l’Atlantique Nord causée par l’être humain, au rythme d’environ 12 250 à 21 000 baleines tuées. On a souvent signalé que les Basques visaient deux espèces dans cette région, soit la baleine franche de l’Atlantique Nord et la baleine boréale, Balaena mysticetus L., 1758. Pour évaluer cette hypothèse et l’incidence relative de cette période de pêche aux baleines sur ces deux espèces, nous avons recueilli des échantillons provenant de 364 ossements de baleines dans le cadre d’une recherche approfondie de ports basques de chasse à la baleine remontant aux XVIe et XVIIe siècles dans le détroit de Belle Isle et le golfe du Saint-Laurent. Des ossements ont été trouvés et échantillonnés à 10 des 20 sites ayant fait l’objet de notre recherche. De l’ADN a été extrait d’un sous-ensemble (n = 218) de ces échantillons. L’analyse mitochondriale cytochrome b de la région a permis d’identifier cinq espèces de baleines. L’identification d’un seul os de baleine franche et de 203 os de baleines boréales provenant d’au moins 72 individus laisse croire que la baleine boréale était probablement la cible principale des chasseurs. Ces résultats impliquent que la chasse à la baleine a eu des incidences beaucoup plus grandes (en termes de nombres de baleines éliminées) sur la population de baleines boréales que sur la population de baleines franches de l’ouest de l’Atlantique Nord

Mouse Retinal Development: a Dark Horse Model for Systems Biology Research

The developing retina is an excellent model to study cellular fate determination and differentiation in the context of a complex tissue. Over the last decade, many basic principles and key genes that underlie these processes have been experimentally identified. In this review, we construct network models to summarize known gene interactions that underlie determination and fundamentally affect differentiation of each retinal cell type. These networks can act as a scaffold to assemble subsequent discoveries. In addition, these summary networks provide a rational segue to systems biology approaches necessary to understand the many events leading to appropriate cellular determination and differentiation in the developing retina and other complex tissues

Crack paths under mixed mode loading

Long fatigue cracks that initially experience mixed mode displacements usually change direction in response to cyclic elastic stresses. Eventually the cracks tend to orient themselves into a pure mode I condition, but the path that they take can be complex and chaotic. In this paper, we report on recent developments in techniques for tracking the crack path as it grows and evaluating the strength of the mixed mode crack tip stress field