Persistent and highly contrasting biological patterns in the southwestern sector of the Atlantic Ocean: relating local circulation to phytoplankton pigment biomass

Primary production in the Southern Ocean (SO) is believed to be mostly iron limited; despite the high macronutrient content of waters transported by the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, the SO is considered a High Nutrient Low Chlorophyll region. However, ocean color imagery shows a variable and patchy environment, where sharp chlorophyll concentration (chl-a) gradients separate highly productive regions, which are found mostly downstream from islands and along coastal shelves, from the less productive ones, where pigment biomass remains low. In the western sector of the Atlantic SO, an intense and long-lasting phytoplankton bloom is found northwest of the Island of South Georgia, while very low chl-a are persistently measured southwest of the Shackleton Transverse Ridge (STR), in the southern Drake Passage. In both cases, local circulation, which is steered by bottom topography, plays a major role in controlling biogeochemistry and thus the distribution and intensity of chl-a. By combining surface drifter trajectories with satellite based measurements of sea surface height and ocean color, we relate local flow regimes to the observed pigment biomass patterns. Basing our analysis on 13 years of SeaWiFS imagery, the intense and long-lasting phytoplankton bloom developing northwest of South Georgia appears to be recurrent in time with little inter-annual variability; furthermore,our results show how the bloom is clearly confined to the area enclosed by the cyclonic circulation flowing along the periphery of the South Georgia Basin (SGB). Here, current velocities appear to gradually decrease towards the center of the basin possibly favoring the accumulation of shelf-derived iron, and thus the growth of phytoplankton cells. Southwest of the STR, the available ocean color time-series highlights an area with very low productivity values, which can be detected yearly and with little inter-annual variability. This region is adjacent to the more productive one found to the northeast of the ridge, above the Ona Basin. The former appears to be related to the intense Shackleton Jet flowing along the ridge, while the latter to the calmer cyclonic circulation located above the Ona Basin; just above the STR lies the area where maximum chl-a gradients can be measured. Absolute dynamic topography values retrieved for the two regions together with surface drifter trajectories, suggest a clear spatial and temporal correspondence between local circulation patterns and those of surface chl-a; furthermore, the AVISO time-series confirms the low inter-annual variability of the two previously described flow patterns. We argue how similarly above the STR and the SGB, the presence of the cyclonic circulation acts as a precondition to the observed higher chl-a. In both cases, nutrient (i.e. iron) rich waters may be entrained in the cyclone, and separated from those lying outside its borders. Similar observations have been made in the Crozet and the Kerguelen regions

The city mouse and the country mouse: the geography of creativity and cultural production in Italy

Through census employment data we analyze the evolving structure of the Italian cultural economy and highlights diverging spatial and organizational patterns of cultural production systems in urban and regional areas. Whilst large metropolitan areas remain the more important loci of cultural content production and consumption, craft-based sectors and creative systems of design have a tendency to locate in non-metropolitan centers. Based on the historical formation of manufacturing districts and on the emergence of Rome and Milan as “world cities”, the Italian cultural economy provides an interesting case study to analyze the geographical patterns of different cultural product industries. We extend previous literature on the geography of the cultural economy by offering new insights as to conditions in which metropolitan and rural areas emerge as leading centers of cultural production and creativity.

Distribution and recurrence of phytoplankton blooms around South Georgia, Southern Ocean

South Georgia phytoplankton blooms are amongst the largest of the Southern Ocean and are associated with a rich ecosystem and strong atmospheric carbon drawdown. Both aspects depend on the intensity of blooms, but also on their regularity. Here we use data from 12 yr of SeaWiFS (Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor) ocean colour imagery and calculate the frequency of bloom occurrence (FBO) to re-examine spatial and temporal bloom distributions. We find that upstream of the island and outside the borders of the Georgia Basin, blooms occurred in less than 4 out of the 12 yr (FBO < 4). In contrast, FBO was mostly greater than 8 downstream of the island, i.e., to the north and northwest, and in places equal to 12, indicating that blooms occurred every year. The typical bloom area, defined as the region where blooms occurred in at least 8 out of the 12 yr, covers the entire Georgia Basin and the northern shelf of the island. The time series of surface chlorophyll <i>a</i> (Chl <i>a</i>) concentrations averaged over the typical bloom area shows that phytoplankton blooms occurred in every year between September 1997 and September 2010, and that Chl <i>a</i> values followed a clear seasonal cycle, with concentration peaks around December followed in many years by a second peak during late austral summer or early autumn, suggesting a bi-modal bloom pattern. The bloom regularity we describe here is in contrast with results of Park et al. (2010) who used a significantly different study area including regions that almost never exhibit bloom conditions

International Change and technological evolution in the Fashion Industry

textabstractThe aim of this research is to sketch out the parameters of the fashion industry. Whilst, without doubt fashion is a means of personal and cultural expression, it is also an industry. The industrial and economic aspects have been relatively under-researched. We highlight the fact that the fashion industry is fast evolving, and growing. Traditional economic analyses have under-examined some of the crucial drivers of change in this sector but these are all important issues for a number of reasons. First, the local and global consequences of the transformation of the fashion industry help us to understand the challenges facing urban and regional economies, particularly in Europe. Second, the fashion industry, like the cultural industries more generally, is leading a new form of economic development that blends qualitative elements and quantitative forms, a culturalisation of economic action. In so doing we also raise three questions, one has already been alluded to: what is the ‘fashion industry’; and following this, a second: is the fashion industry the same, or different, to other cultural industries? Finally, in relation to the dynamics of change, we point to the role of situatedness: the importance of place and institutional embedding

Dictature militaire et université

From 1964 to 1985, Brazil lives a period of dictatorial military government. Internal politics aim mostly to justify governmental actions and highlight the military forces as promoters of democracy and Christian ideals against corruption and communist invasion. A complex set of politics is put in place, including within the educational system. The university community reacts in different ways. Thirty years after the end of the Brazilian dictatorship, fourteen professors of the University of São Paulo were interviewed. Their memories of the facts show different feelings and emotions, at times contradictory. Five life pathways are drawn. The first one consists in remaining in the university to preserve research and teaching as an act of resistance. A second type of life pathway also consists in remaining in the university, yet at the same time offering clandestine resistance to the military ideology. This duplicity of action is the taken resort. A third type of life pathway refers to going into exile, either to different regions of the country, either abroad, as a life choice. A forth life pathway may be inferred by what some of the interviewees told: certain members of the university community used the ideological system of control to take personal advantages. And finally, the fifth life pathway consists in denying the social changes introduced by the new political system, life going on as if nothing had changed. Once the dictatorship began to fall, intellectual discussions are retaken. Some of the aforementioned life pathways converge toward political action. A university memory is built through the importance given to acts of bravery in spite of acts of military repression.De 1964 à 1985, le Brésil vit une période de gouvernement militaire de type dictatorial. La politique intérieure vise surtout à justifier les actions gouvernementales et met en avant le rôle des Forces armées comme défenseur de la démocratie et des idéaux chrétiens face à l’invasion communiste et à la corruption. Tout un ensemble de politiques est mis en place, y compris au sein du système éducatif. La communauté universitaire réagit de manière hétérogène. Trente ans après la fin de la dictature, quatorze professeurs de l’Université de São Paulo sont interviewés. Leurs remémorations des faits montrent des sentiments et des affects différents, parfois contradictoires. Cinq types de parcours de vie se dessinent. Le premier tient à une résistance de type proprement universitaire. Il s’agit, sur place, en poste, d’assurer la continuité de la recherche et de l’enseignement. Un deuxième type de parcours consiste à trouver refuge dans la clandestinité pour contrecarrer l’idéologie militaire, en poursuivant ses activités du quotidien en toute légalité. La duplicité en constitue le ressort. Un troisième représente l’exil, soit à l’intérieur du Brésil, soit à l’étranger. Un quatrième type de parcours relève d’un calcul que dénoncent certains professeurs : mettre à profit le système de contrôle idéologique en place pour en tirer des profits personnels. Un cinquième consiste à refuser certains événements introduits par le nouveau régime. La vie continue, ignorant les changements sociopolitiques. Une fois la dictature affaiblie, les discussions intellectuelles reprennent leur ancien élan. Certains types de parcours de vie convergent même vers des actions dans la vie politique. Une mémoire universitaire se construit par la mise en valeur d’actes de bravoure universitaire en dépit des actes de répression militaire

Research on VHDL in France, Italy and Switzerland

International audienceResearch on VHDL in France, Italy and Switzerland This presentation is an overview of the research on and around VHDL in France, Italy and French speaking Switzerland. The teams covered by this survey are well known in Europe, for their participation in the VHDL User's Groups, and for their publications. The period covered is 1991-1995, although some groups have started their VHDL activities several years before

iron assessment in elite athletes

Asymptomatic iron deficiencis frequently observed in competitive athletes and an impaired iron metabolism may lead to abnormal haemoglobin and myoglobin production limiting endurance capacity. Iron supplementation could improve blood biochemical measures and increases work capacity but the use of iron supplements should be a judicious choice based on a careful hematological evaluation since an unjustified treatment may lead to possible health risks as well as performance decrease. When considering competitive athletes, serum ferritine, commonly used to evaluate iron status, may not be always considered as an e�怆ective marker. Several studies suggested that hepcidin assessment may represent an alternative method to define the real necessity of iron supplementation in specific conditions such as in competitive athletes