Consumer Perceptions and Coping Strategies of Consumers Committed to Eating Local in Michigan (USA)

American consumers are presented with an increasing number of reasons to buy and eat local food products. One refers to the importance of the origin of the products they purchase. A second, and closely related reason, refers to being concerned about the food miles, or the distance foods have traveled from where they are grown or raised, to where they are purchased or consumed. If the act of "eating local" is often presented as beneficial and virtuous (for example, health, environment, community development and civic responsibility), it also embodies obstacles such as the time and sometimes skills required for both shopping and preparation. Such obstacles often discourage many from buying local fresh produce. This paper draws on the results of several focus groups with consumers in Michigan who are committed to eating local. The paper offers insights into how these consumers cope or balance their commitment to eating local with the constraints they face on buying and preparing local food. ...French Abstract : Les consommateurs des Etats-Unis sont de plus en plus incités à acheter et consommer des produits locaux. L'une des raisons est l'importance de l'origine des produits que l'on achète. Une autre raison est celle de la préoccupation par rapport aux " food miles " c'est à dire la distance parcourue par les produits entre la production et l'achat. Si le fait de consommer local est souvent présenté comme vertueux (pour la santé, l'environnement, le développement local ou la responsabilité sociale), il présente des obstacles tels que le temps passé et les compétences nécessaires pour les achats et la préparation. De tels obstacles peuvent décourager l'achat des produits locaux. Cet article présente les résultats de plusieurs focus groups avec des consommateurs du Michigan impliqués dans l'achat de produits locaux. Il permet de comprendre quelles sont les stratégies de coping utilisées par les consommateurs pour concilier leur engagement et les contraintes auxquelles ils doivent faire face lors de l'achat ou de la préparation des produits.LOCAL FOOD; CONSUMPTION; COPING STRATEGIES; CONSOMMATION; PRODUITS LOCAUX; STRATEGIES DE COPING

Indentor-escape, delamination and orogenic collapse of the ca. 600-500 Ma East African/Antarctic Orogen in Mozambique and Dronning Maud Land (East Antarctica)

The East African/Antarctic Orogen (EAAO) is one of the largest orogenic belts on the planet, resulting from the collision of various parts of East and West- Protogondwana between ca. 600 and 550 Ma. The central and southern parts of the orogen are typified by high-grade rocks, representing the overprinted margins of the various colliding continental blocks. New fieldwork and geochronology in northern Mozambique reveals a protracted polyphase Ediacaran/Cambrian deformation history. New age constraints reveal high-grade metamorphism at 600-550 Ma, overprinting and older basement

The source of Dalradian detritus in the Buchan Block, NE Scotland: Application of new tools to detrital datasets

Detrital zircons from four samples of upper Dalradian metasedimentary rocks from the Buchan Block in the NE Grampian Highlands of Scotland were analysed by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry to establish their U–Pb age and trace element composition. The analysed grains (magmatic cores) mainly yield concordant ages ranging from Neoproterozoic to Eoarchaean. Kernel density plots of the data show pronounced peaks in the late Mesoproterozoic, Palaeoproterozoic and Neoarchaean eras. The data are indistinguishable from detrital zircon age spectra from Dalradian rocks elsewhere, an interpretation supported by application of a non-parametric multidimensional scaling algorithm, and are consistent with a Laurentian source. Similar to existing studies from other Dalradian rocks, the age spectra from the Buchan Block reveal an increase in the relative proportion of older detritus with time, suggesting derivation from late Mesoproterozoic (Grenville) then Palaeoproterozoic orogens before widespread exposure and denudation of their Archaean basement rocks. Application of a novel approach to estimate the most likely time of radiogenic-Pb loss indicates that some detrital zircon grains were affected by element mobility around 470–450 Ma as a result of Grampian orogenesis

Tracing the Sveconorwegian orogen into the Caledonides of West Norway: Geochronological and isotopic studies on magmatism and migmatization

The Sveconorwegian orogen represents a branch of Grenville-age (~1250–950 Ma) orogenic belts that formed during the construction of the supercontinent Rodinia. This study traces the Sveconorwegian records from its type-area in the Baltic Shield of South Norway into basement windows underneath Caledonian nappes, by combining zircon U–Pb geochronology and Hf–O isotopes. Samples along a N-S trending transect reveal multiple magmatic episodes during Gothian (ca. 1650 Ma), Telemarkian (ca. 1500 Ma) and Sveconorwegian (1050–1020 Ma vs. 980–930 Ma) orogenesis as well as Sveconorwegian migmatization (1050–950 Ma). Newly documented 1050–1020 Ma magmatism and migmatization extend the Sirdal Magmatic Belt to a 300 km-long, NNW-SSE trending crustal domain, with the northern boundary corresponding to the gradual transition from Telemarkian to Gothian crust. These Precambrian crustal heterogeneities largely controlled the development of Caledonian shear zones. The ca. 1050–1040 Ma granitic and mafic magmas show similar isotopic signatures with slightly negative or positive εHf(t) and moderate δ18O values (6–7‰), which indicates that crustal reworking was more dominant than juvenile inputs during their genesis. The generation of leucosomes and leucogranites at ca. 1030–1020 Ma, which have a more evolved Hf isotopic composition, probably reflects an even higher degree of remelting of older crust. The Hf–O isotopic patterns show that Sveconorwegian magmas differ from typical arc magmas by lower involvement of sedimentary components and juvenile material. This makes the 1050–930 Ma magmatism incompatible with a long-term subduction setting. The ca. 1650–1500 Ma samples, in contrast, generally have juvenile Hf isotopic compositions associated with varying δ18O values of 4.5–9‰, consistent with subduction-accretion processes involving significant sedimentary recycling. This accretionary margin was most likely transformed into the Sveconorwegian orogen through collisional interactions of Baltica, Laurentia and Amazonia in the context of Rodinia amalgamation.publishedVersio

Reconstructing volcanic radiative forcing since 1990, using a comprehensive emission inventory and spatially resolved sulfur injections from satellite data in a chemistry-climate model

This paper presents model simulations of stratospheric aerosols with a focus on explosive volcanic eruptions. Using various (occultation and limb-based) satellite instruments, providing vertical profiles of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and aerosol extinction, we characterized the chemical and radiative influence of volcanic aerosols for the period between 1990 and 2019. We established an improved and extended volcanic SO2 emission inventory that includes more than 500 explosive volcanic eruptions reaching the upper troposphere and the stratosphere. Each perturbation identified was derived from the satellite data and incorporated as a three-dimensional SO2 plume into a chemistry-climate model without the need for additional assumptions about altitude distribution and eruption duration as needed for a “point source” approach. The simultaneous measurements of SO2 and aerosol extinction by up to four satellite instruments enabled a reliable conversion of extinction measurements into injected SO2. In the chemistry-climate model, the SO2 from each individual plume was converted into aerosol particles and their optical properties were determined. Furthermore, the aerosol optical depth (AOD) and the instantaneous radiative forcing on climate were calculated online. Combined with model improvements, the results of the simulations are consistent with the observations of the various satellites. Slight deviations between the observations and model simulations were found for the large volcanic eruption of Pinatubo in 1991 and cases where simultaneous satellite observations were not unique or too sparse. Weak- and medium-strength volcanic eruptions captured in satellite data and the Smithsonian database typically inject about 10 to 50 kt SO2 directly into the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere (UTLS) region or the sulfur species are transported via convection and advection. Our results confirm that these relatively minor eruptions, which occur quite frequently, can nevertheless contribute to the stratospheric aerosol layer and are relevant for the Earth's radiation budget. These minor eruptions cause a total global instantaneous radiative forcing of the order of −0.1 W m−2 at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) compared to a background stratospheric aerosol forcing of about −0.04 W m−2. Medium-strength eruptions injecting about 400 kt SO2 into the stratosphere or accumulation of consecutive smaller eruptions can lead to a total instantaneous forcing of about −0.3 W m−2. We show that it is critical to include the contribution of the extratropical lowermost stratospheric aerosol in the forcing calculations.</p

Introducing a Special Issue on the Reinvention of Food: Connections and Mediations

This introduction to a special issue forwards “the reinvention of food” as an analytical framework within which to make sense, together, of current projects valorizing “traditional” methods of food production as well as efforts to reimagine more sustainable or transparent food provisioning schemes

The molecular characterisation of Escherichia coli K1 isolated from neonatal nasogastric feeding tubes

Background: The most common cause of Gram-negative bacterial neonatal meningitis is E. coli K1. It has a mortality rate of 10–15%, and neurological sequelae in 30– 50% of cases. Infections can be attributable to nosocomial sources, however the pre-colonisation of enteral feeding tubes has not been considered as a specific risk factor. Methods: Thirty E. coli strains, which had been isolated in an earlier study, from the residual lumen liquid and biofilms of neonatal nasogastric feeding tubes were genotyped using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, and 7-loci multilocus sequence typing. Potential pathogenicity and biofilm associated traits were determined using specific PCR probes, genome analysis, and in vitro tissue culture assays. Results: The E. coli strains clustered into five pulsotypes, which were genotyped as sequence types (ST) 95, 73, 127, 394 and 2076 (Achman scheme). The extra-intestinal pathogenic E. coli (ExPEC) phylogenetic group B2 ST95 serotype O1:K1:NM strains had been isolated over a 2 week period from 11 neonates who were on different feeding regimes. The E. coli K1 ST95 strains encoded for various virulence traits associated with neonatal meningitis and extracellular matrix formation. These strains attached and invaded intestinal, and both human and rat brain cell lines, and persisted for 48 h in U937 macrophages. E. coli STs 73, 394 and 2076 also persisted in macrophages and invaded Caco-2 and human brain cells, but only ST394 invaded rat brain cells. E. coli ST127 was notable as it did not invade any cell lines. Conclusions: Routes by which E. coli K1 can be disseminated within a neonatal intensive care unit are uncertain, however the colonisation of neonatal enteral feeding tubes may be one reservoir source which could constitute a serious health risk to neonates following ingestion

Comparative Genomics of Recent Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli O104:H4: Short-Term Evolution of an Emerging Pathogen

The large outbreak of diarrhea and hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) caused by Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O104:H4 in Europe from May to July 2011 highlighted the potential of a rarely identified E. coli serogroup to cause severe disease. Prior to the outbreak, there were very few reports of disease caused by this pathogen and thus little known of its diversity and evolution. The identification of cases of HUS caused by E. coli O104:H4 in France and Turkey after the outbreak and with no clear epidemiological links raises questions about whether these sporadic cases are derived from the outbreak. Here, we report genome sequences of five independent isolates from these cases and results of a comparative analysis with historical and 2011 outbreak isolates. These analyses revealed that the five isolates are not derived from the outbreak strain; however, they are more closely related to the outbreak strain and each other than to isolates identified prior to the 2011 outbreak. Over the short time scale represented by these closely related organisms, the majority of genome variation is found within their mobile genetic elements: none of the nine O104:H4 isolates compared here contain the same set of plasmids, and their prophages and genomic islands also differ. Moreover, the presence of closely related HUS-associated E. coli O104:H4 isolates supports the contention that fully virulent O104:H4 isolates are widespread and emphasizes the possibility of future food-borne E. coli O104:H4 outbreaks

A global climatology of the mesospheric sodium layerfrom GOMOS data during the 2002-2008 period

This paper presents a climatology of the mesospheric sodium layer built from the processing of 7 years of GOMOS data. With respect to preliminary results already published for the year 2003, a more careful analysis was applied to the averaging of occultations inside the climatological bins (10° in latitude-1 month). Also, the slant path absorption lines of the Na doublet around 589 nm shows evidence of partial saturation that was responsible for an underestimation of the Na concentration in our previous results. The sodium climatology has been validated with respect to the Fort Collins lidar measurements and, to a lesser extent, to the OSIRIS 2003–2004 data. Despite the important natural sodium variability, we have shown that the Na vertical column has a marked semi-annual oscillation at low latitudes that merges into an annual oscillation in the polar regions, a spatial distribution pattern that was unreported so far. The sodium layer seems to be clearly influenced by the mesospheric global circulation and the altitude of the layer shows clear signs of subsidence during polar winter. The climatology has been parameterized by time-latitude robust fits to allow for easy use. Taking into account the non-linearity of the transmittance due to partial saturation, an experimental approach is proposed to derive mesospheric temperatures from limb remote sounding measurements

Reply to Guy et al.: Support for a bottleneck in the 2011 Escherichia coli O104:H4 outbreak in Germany

In our paper (1), we analyzed isolates from the Escherichia coli O104:H4 outbreaks in Germany and France in May to July 2011. We concluded that, although the German outbreak was larger, the German isolates represent a clade within the greater diversity of the French outbreak. We proposed several hypotheses to explain these findings, including that the lineage leading to the German outbreak went through a narrow bottleneck that purged diversity. Guy et al. (2) report the genomes of eight additional E. coli O104:H4 isolates sampled from the German outbreak. By focusing on the numbers of SNPs in their samples, they suggest that the German outbreak is more diverse than we reported and is similar to the French outbreak. In fact, Guy et al.’s data (2) strongly support our conclusion that the German outbreak represents a clade within the diversity