Concise reviews of seaweeds of current and future commercial interest

The science of seaweeds (i.e., phycology, the study of algae including macroalgae) is many centuries old. Indeed, some of the earliest taxonomic names using the binomial system, as applied by Linnaeus to any living thing were given to common seaweeds (i.e., Fucus). The taxonomic work was soon followed by studies on their biology (structure and reproduction), physiology, ecology (zonation, ecosystem services) and distributions (phycogeography)..

Toward a coordinated global observing system for seagrasses and marine macroalgae

In coastal waters around the world, the dominant primary producers are benthic macrophytes, including seagrasses and macroalgae, that provide habitat structure and food for diverse and abundant biological communities and drive ecosystem processes. Seagrass meadows and macroalgal forests play key roles for coastal societies, contributing to fishery yields, storm protection, biogeochemical cycling and storage, and important cultural values. These socio-economically valuable services are threatened worldwide by human activities, with substantial areas of seagrass and macroalgal forests lost over the last half-century. Tracking the status and trends in marine macrophyte cover and quality is an emerging priority for ocean and coastal management, but doing so has been challenged by limited coordination across the numerous efforts to monitor macrophytes, which vary widely in goals, methodologies, scales, capacity, governance approaches, and data availability. Here, we present a consensus assessment and recommendations on the current state of and opportunities for advancing global marine macrophyte observations, integrating contributions from a community of researchers with broad geographic and disciplinary expertise. With the increasing scale of human impacts, the time is ripe to harmonize marine macrophyte observations by building on existing networks and identifying a core set of common metrics and approaches in sampling design, field measurements, governance, capacity building, and data management. We recommend a tiered observation system, with improvement of remote sensing and remote underwater imaging to expand capacity to capture broad-scale extent at intervals of several years, coordinated with stratified in situ sampling annually to characterize the key variables of cover and taxonomic or functional group composition, and to provide ground-truth. A robust networked system of macrophyte observations will be facilitated by establishing best practices, including standard protocols, documentation, and sharing of resources at all stages of workflow, and secure archiving of open-access data. Because such a network is necessarily distributed, sustaining it depends on close engagement of local stakeholders and focusing on building and long-term maintenance of local capacity, particularly in the developing world. Realizing these recommendations will produce more effective, efficient, and responsive observing, a more accurate global picture of change in vegetated coastal systems, and stronger international capacity for sustaining observations

Implantation of a polycaprolactone scaffold with subchondral bone anchoring ameliorates nodules formation and other tissue alterations

PURPOSE: Articular cartilage has limited repair capacity. Two different implant devices for articular cartilage regeneration were tested in vivo in a sheep model to evaluate the effect of subchondral bone anchoring for tissue repair. METHODS: The implants were placed with press-fit technique in a cartilage defect after microfracture surgery in the femoral condyle of the knee joint of the sheep and histologic and mechanical evaluation was done 4.5 months later. The first group consisted of a biodegradable polycaprolactone (PCL) scaffold with double porosity. The second test group consisted of a PCL scaffold attached to a poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) pin anchored to the subchondral bone. RESULTS: For both groups most of the defects (75%) showed an articular surface that was completely or almost completely repaired with a neotissue. Nevertheless, the surface had a rougher appearance than controls and the repair tissue was immature. In the trials with solely scaffold implantation, severe subchondral bone alterations were seen with many large nodular formations. These alterations were ameliorated when implanting the scaffold with a subchondral bone anchoring pin. DISCUSSIONS: The results show that tissue repair is improved by implanting a PCL scaffold compared to solely microfracture surgery, and most importantly, that subchondral bone alterations, normally seen after microfracture surgery, were partially prevented when implanting the PCL scaffold with a fixation system to the subchondral bone.This work was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) through the project MAT2013-46467-C4-R (including the FEDER financial support). CIBER-BBN is an initiative funded by the VI National R&D&i Plan 2008–2011, Iniciativa Ingenio 2010, Consolider Program. CIBER actions are financed by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III with assistance from the European Regional Development Fund

Electroweak measurements in electron–positron collisions at w-boson-pair energies at lep

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