The Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey: Survey Description and Data Reduction

We present the Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey (BGPS), a 1.1 mm continuum survey at 33" effective resolution of 170 square degrees of the Galactic Plane visible from the northern hemisphere. The survey is contiguous over the range -10.5 < l < 90.5, |b| < 0.5 and encompasses 133 square degrees, including some extended regions |b| < 1.5. In addition to the contiguous region, four targeted regions in the outer Galaxy were observed: IC1396, a region towards the Perseus Arm, W3/4/5, and Gem OB1. The BGPS has detected approximately 8400 clumps over the entire area to a limiting non-uniform 1-sigma noise level in the range 11 to 53 mJy/beam in the inner Galaxy. The BGPS source catalog is presented in a companion paper (Rosolowsky et al. 2010). This paper details the survey observations and data reduction methods for the images. We discuss in detail the determination of astrometric and flux density calibration uncertainties and compare our results to the literature. Data processing algorithms that separate astronomical signals from time-variable atmospheric fluctuations in the data time-stream are presented. These algorithms reproduce the structure of the astronomical sky over a limited range of angular scales and produce artifacts in the vicinity of bright sources. Based on simulations, we find that extended emission on scales larger than about 5.9' is nearly completely attenuated (> 90%) and the linear scale at which the attenuation reaches 50% is 3.8'. Comparison with other millimeter-wave data sets implies a possible systematic offset in flux calibration, for which no cause has been discovered. This presentation serves as a companion and guide to the public data release through NASA's Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC) Infrared Science Archive (IRSA). New data releases will be provided through IPAC IRSA with any future improvements in the reduction.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal Supplemen

Who speaks for the future of Earth? How critical social science can extend the conversation on the Anthropocene

This paper asks how the social sciences can engage with the idea of the Anthropocene in productive ways. In response to this question we outline an interpretative research agenda that allows critical engagement with the Anthropocene as a socially and culturally bounded object with many possible meanings and political trajectories. In order to facilitate the kind of political mobilization required to meet the complex environmental challenges of our times, we argue that the social sciences should refrain from adjusting to standardized research agendas and templates. A more urgent analytical challenge lies in exposing, challenging and extending the ontological assumptions that inform how we make sense of and respond to a rapidly changing environment. By cultivating environmental research that opens up multiple interpretations of the Anthropocene, the social sciences can help to extend the realm of the possible for environmental politics

The Nek8 protein kinase, mutated in the human cystic kidney disease nephronophthisis, is both activated and degraded during ciliogenesis

Mutations in the never-in-mitosis A-related kinase, Nek8, are associated with cystic kidney disease in both humans and mice, with Nek8 being the NPHP9 gene in the human juvenile cystic kidney disease, nephronophthisis. Human Nek8/NPHP9 localizes to centrosomes and the proximal region of cilia in dividing and ciliated cells, respectively. However, the regulation of Nek8 kinase activity, as well as its role in ciliogenesis, remains to be defined. Here, by establishing Nek8 kinase assays, we first demonstrate that the localization of Nek8 to centrosomes and cilia is dependent on both kinase activity and the C-terminal non-catalytic RCC1 domain. The kinase domain alone is active, but does not localize correctly, while the RCC1 domain localizes correctly and can be phosphorylated by Nek8. We propose that centrosome recruitment is mediated by the RCC1 domain, but requires a conformational change in the full-length protein that is promoted by autophosphorylation. Interestingly, three human NPHP9-associated mutants retain full kinase activity. However, only two of these, L330F and A497P, localize correctly, suggesting that the third mutant, H425Y, disrupts a centrosome targeting sequence in the RCC1 domain. Importantly, we find that induction of ciliogenesis upon cell cycle exit is accompanied by both activation and proteasomal degradation of Nek8, and that activation is dependent upon phosphorylation within the catalytic domain. Taken together, these findings reveal important insights into the mechanisms through which Nek8 activity and localization are regulated during ciliogenesis

The role of fishing material culture in communities’ sense of place as an added-value in management of coastal areas

Fishing communities in many places around the world are facing significant challenges due to new policies and environmental developments. While it is imperative to ensure sustainability of natural resources, many policies may overlook the contribution of fisheries to the sociocultural well-being of coastal communities. Authors address the problem of valuing the sociocultural benefits of fishing by exploring the role of fishing landscapes and traditional working waterfronts in maintaining sense of place in fishing communities. The paper explores how sense of place contributes to understanding the relationship between fishing and cultural-ecosystem services, drawing on case studies from four U.S. fishing communities in Brunswick County, North Carolina. Through semi-structured and in-depth interviews with fishing communities members, resident photography and sites visits, this paper outlines how fishing contributes to sense of place in terms of placeattachment and cultural-social memory. By understanding the relationship between fishers’ sense of place, and the physical environment in fishing communities in Brunswick County, the authors identify the complexity and interrelated elements that shape the relationship between fishermen and their cultural landscape. The paper suggests that realizing the value of fishing cultural landscape can encourage policies that promote preservation of fishing cultural heritage for the sociocultural benefit of communitie

Ragweed as an Example of Worldwide Allergen Expansion

<p/> <p>Multiple factors are contributing to the expansion of ragweed on a worldwide scale. This review seeks to examine factors that may contribute to allergen expansion with reference to ragweed as a well-studied example. It is our hope that increased surveillance for new pollens in areas not previously affected and awareness of the influence the changing environment plays in allergic disease will lead to better outcomes in susceptible patients.</p

Accounting for Ecosystem Alteration Doubles Estimates of Conservation Risk in the Conterminous United States

Previous national and global conservation assessments have relied on habitat conversion data to quantify conservation risk. However, in addition to habitat conversion to crop production or urban uses, ecosystem alteration (e.g., from logging, conversion to plantations, biological invasion, or fire suppression) is a large source of conservation risk. We add data quantifying ecosystem alteration on unconverted lands to arrive at a more accurate depiction of conservation risk for the conterminous United States. We quantify ecosystem alteration using a recent national assessment based on remote sensing of current vegetation compared with modeled reference natural vegetation conditions. Highly altered (but not converted) ecosystems comprise 23% of the conterminous United States, such that the number of critically endangered ecoregions in the United States is 156% higher than when calculated using habitat conversion data alone. Increased attention to natural resource management will be essential to address widespread ecosystem alteration and reduce conservation risk

All Is Not Loss: Plant Biodiversity in the Anthropocene

Anthropogenic global changes in biodiversity are generally portrayed in terms of massive native species losses or invasions caused by recent human disturbance. Yet these biodiversity changes and others caused directly by human populations and their use of land tend to co-occur as long-term biodiversity change processes in the Anthropocene. Here we explore contemporary anthropogenic global patterns in vascular plant species richness at regional landscape scales by combining spatially explicit models and estimates for native species loss together with gains in exotics caused by species invasions and the introduction of agricultural domesticates and ornamental exotic plants. The patterns thus derived confirm that while native losses are likely significant across at least half of Earth's ice-free land, model predictions indicate that plant species richness has increased overall in most regional landscapes, mostly because species invasions tend to exceed native losses. While global observing systems and models that integrate anthropogenic species loss, introduction and invasion at regional landscape scales remain at an early stage of development, integrating predictions from existing models within a single assessment confirms their vast global extent and significance while revealing novel patterns and their potential drivers. Effective global stewardship of plant biodiversity in the Anthropocene will require integrated frameworks for observing, modeling and forecasting the different forms of anthropogenic biodiversity change processes at regional landscape scales, towards conserving biodiversity within the novel plant communities created and sustained by human systems

Workflow and Atlas System for Brain-Wide Mapping of Axonal Connectivity in Rat

Detailed knowledge about the anatomical organization of axonal connections is important for understanding normal functions of brain systems and disease-related dysfunctions. Such connectivity data are typically generated in neuroanatomical tract-tracing experiments in which specific axonal connections are visualized in histological sections. Since journal publications typically only accommodate restricted data descriptions and example images, literature search is a cumbersome way to retrieve overviews of brain connectivity. To explore more efficient ways of mapping, analyzing, and sharing detailed axonal connectivity data from the rodent brain, we have implemented a workflow for data production and developed an atlas system tailored for online presentation of axonal tracing data. The system is available online through the Rodent Brain WorkBench (www.rbwb.org; Whole Brain Connectivity Atlas) and holds experimental metadata and high-resolution images of histological sections from experiments in which axonal tracers were injected in the primary somatosensory cortex. We here present the workflow and the data system, and exemplify how the online image repository can be used to map different aspects of the brain-wide connectivity of the rat primary somatosensory cortex, including not only presence of connections but also morphology, densities, and spatial organization. The accuracy of the approach is validated by comparing results generated with our system with findings reported in previous publications. The present study is a contribution to a systematic mapping of rodent brain connections and represents a starting point for further large-scale mapping efforts

Land cover and climate change may limit invasiveness of Rhododendron ponticum in Wales

Invasive plant species represent a serious threat to biodiversity, precipitating a sustained global effort to eradicate or at least control the spread of this phenomenon. Current distribution ranges of many invasive species are likely to be modified in the future by land cover and climate change. Thus, invasion management can be made more effective by forecasting the potential spread of invasive species. Rhododendron ponticum (L.) is an aggressive invasive species which appears well suited to western areas of the UK. We made use of MAXENT modelling environment to develop a current distribution model and to assess the likely effects of land cover and climatic conditions (LCCs) on future distribution of this species in the Snowdonia National park in Wales. Six global circulation models (GCMs) and two representative concentration pathways (RCPs), together with a land cover simulation for 2050 were used to investigate species’ response to future environmental conditions. Having considered a range of environmental variables as predictors and carried out AICc-based model selection, we find that under all LCCs considered in this study, the range of R. ponticum in Wales is likely to contract in the future. Land cover and topographic variables were found to be the most important predictors of the distribution of R. ponticum. This information, together with maps indicating future distribution trends will aid the development of mitigation practices to control R. ponticum