Contribution of nitrification and denitrification to N2O emissions from urine patches

Urine deposition by grazing livestock causes an immediate increase in nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, but the responsible mechanisms are not well understood. A nitrogen-15 (15N) labelling study was conducted in an organic grass-clover sward to examine the initial effect of urine on the rates and N2O loss ratio of nitrification (i.e. moles of N2O-N produced per moles of nitrate produced) and denitrification (i.e. moles of N2O produced per moles of N2O + N2 produced). The effect of artificial urine (52.9 g N m-2) and ammonium solution (52.9 g N m-2) was examined in separate experiments at 45 and 35% water-filled pore space (WFPS), respectively, and in each experiment a water control was included. The N2O loss derived from nitrification or denitrification was determined in the field immediately after application of 15N-labelled solutions. During the next 24 h, gross nitrification rates were measured in the field, whereas the denitrification rates were measured in soil cores in the laboratory. Compared with the water control, urine application increased the N2O emission from 3.9 to 42.3 μg N2O-N m-2 h-1, whereas application of ammonium increased the emission from 0.9 to 6.1 μg N2O-N m-2 h-1. In the urine-affected soil, nitrification and denitrification contributed equally to the N2O emission, and the increased N2O loss resulted from a combination of higher rates and higher N2O loss ratios of the processes. In the present study, an enhanced nitrification rate seemed to be the most important factor explaining the high initial N2O emission from urine patches deposited on well-aerated soils

Enabling the Discovery of Digital Cultural Heritage Objects through Wikipedia

Over the past years large digital cultural heritage collections have become increasingly available. While these provide adequate search functionality for the expert user, this may not offer the best support for non-expert or novice users. In this paper we propose a novel mechanism for introducing new users to the items in a collection by allowing them to browse Wikipedia articles, which are augmented with items from the cultural heritage collection. Using Europeana as a case-study we demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach for encouraging users to spend longer exploring items in Europeana compared with the existing search provision

Response to “Nature fix: Addiction to outdoor activities” R. C. Buckley’s commentary on Heirene, R. M., Shearer, D., Roderique-Davies, G., & Mellalieu, S. D. (2016). Addiction in extreme sports: An exploration of withdrawal states in rock climbers. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 5, 332–341.

Buckley’s commentary on our study of rock climber’s withdrawal experiences raises a number of important questions surrounding the concept of extreme or adventure sports addiction. Drawing on the few available investigations of this topic, we respond to Buckley’s questions here, though emphasize the need for further studies of extreme sports addiction in order to provide more empirically informed answers

Spectrally resolved observations of atmospheric emitted radiance in the H2O rotation band

This paper presents the project Earth Cooling by Water Vapor Radiation, an observational programme, which aims at developing a database of spectrally resolved far infrared observations, in atmospheric dry conditions, in order to validate radiative transfer models and test the quality of water vapor continuum and line parameters. The project provides the very first set of far-infrared spectral downwelling radiance measurements, in dry atmospheric conditions, which are complemented with Raman Lidar-derived temperature and water vapor profiles

User-Centred Design to Support Exploration and Path Creation in Cultural Heritage Collections

In this paper, we present the results of the user requirements and interface design phase for a prototype system, designed to enhance interaction with cultural heritage collections online through means of a pathway metaphor. We present a single user interaction model that supports various work and information seeking tasks undertaken by both expert and non-expert users within the context of collection exploration and path creation. The user interaction model is shown to enable seamless movement between interaction modes, with the potential over time to encourage deeper engagement and learning

Phylogenetic and functional potential links pH and N2O emissions in pasture soils

This work was funded by the New Zealand Government through the New Zealand Fund for Global Partnerships in Livestock Emissions Research to support the objectives of the Livestock Research Group of the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (Agreement number: 16084) awarded to SEM and the University of Otago.peer-reviewedDenitrification is mediated by microbial, and physicochemical, processes leading to nitrogen loss via N2O and N2 emissions. Soil pH regulates the reduction of N2O to N2, however, it can also affect microbial community composition and functional potential. Here we simultaneously test the link between pH, community composition, and the N2O emission ratio (N2O/(NO + N2O + N2)) in 13 temperate pasture soils. Physicochemical analysis, gas kinetics, 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, metagenomic and quantitative PCR (of denitrifier genes: nirS, nirK, nosZI and nosZII) analysis were carried out to characterize each soil. We found strong evidence linking pH to both N2O emission ratio and community changes. Soil pH was negatively associated with N2O emission ratio, while being positively associated with both community diversity and total denitrification gene (nir & nos) abundance. Abundance of nosZII was positively linked to pH, and negatively linked to N2O emissions. Our results confirm that pH imposes a general selective pressure on the entire community and that this results in changes in emission potential. Our data also support the general model that with increased microbial diversity efficiency increases, demonstrated in this study with lowered N2O emission ratio through more efficient conversion of N2O to N2.New Zealand Fund for Global Partnerships in Livestock Emissions Researc

High-Resolution Denitrification Kinetics in Pasture Soils Link N2O Emissions to pH, and Denitrification to C Mineralization

peer-reviewedDenitrification in pasture soils is mediated by microbial and physicochemical processes leading to nitrogen loss through the emission of N2O and N2. It is known that N2O reduction to N2 is impaired by low soil pH yet controversy remains as inconsistent use of soil pH measurement methods by researchers, and differences in analytical methods between studies, undermine direct comparison of results. In addition, the link between denitrification and N2O emissions in response to carbon (C) mineralization and pH in different pasture soils is still not well described. We hypothesized that potential denitrification rate and aerobic respiration rate would be positively associated with soils. This relationship was predicted to be more robust when a high resolution analysis is performed as opposed to a single time point comparison. We tested this by characterizing 13 different temperate pasture soils from northern and southern hemispheres sites (Ireland and New Zealand) using a fully automated-high-resolution GC detection system that allowed us to detect a wide range of gas emissions simultaneously. We also compared the impact of using different extractants for determining pH on our conclusions. In all pH measurements, soil pH was strongly and negatively associated with both N2O production index (IN2O) and N2O/(N2O+N2) product ratio. Furthermore, emission kinetics across all soils revealed that the denitrification rates under anoxic conditions (NO+N2O+N2 μmol N/h/vial) were significantly associated with C mineralization (CO2 μmol/h/vial) measured both under oxic (r2 = 0.62, p = 0.0015) and anoxic (r2 = 0.89, p<0.0001) conditions.This work was funded by the New Zealand Government through the New Zealand Fund for Global Partnerships in Livestock Emissions Research to support the objectives of the Livestock Research Group of the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (Agreement number: 16084) awarded to SEM and the University of Otago

Exploring the interactions underlying flow states: A connecting analysis of flow occurrence in European Tour golfers

Objectives: Research to date has identified a range of factors suggested to facilitate flow states in sport. However, less attention has focused on how exactly those facilitating factors influence the occurrence of flow. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the specific ways in which such facilitators influenced flow occurrence in European Tour golfers. Design: Qualitative design. Method: Ten full-time golfers from the European Tour (M age=37; SD=13.08) participated in semi-structured interviews investigating the occurrence of their flow states. Data were interpreted using an iterative process of thematic and connecting analyses. Results: Ten facilitators of flow were identified, of which commitment and the caddie have not been reported previously. Twenty four connecting links were identified in the data, through which the caddie, effective preparation, and high-quality performance appeared to be most influential for flow occurrence. Confidence and concentration also emerged as key constructs underlying the flow experience in this setting. Conclusion: A central contribution of this study is the identification of ways in which facilitating factors could influence flow occurrence in elite golf. This process adds detail to understanding of flow occurrence, and moves beyond simply identifying factors which are associated with the experience. As such, connecting analysis is proposed as an additional strategy for qualitatively investigating flow occurrence in sport. Results are discussed in relation to previous literature, and recommendations are identified for researchers, athletes, coaches and practitioners

Agriculture in Taiwan and South Korea: the minimalist state?

SUMMARY The state has intervened heavily in the agricultural economies of Taiwan and South Korea, both by direct administrative means and by establishing price relativities very different from those set by market forces. Although state action has not always been effective or efficient, it has played a major role in making agriculture serve the objective of rapid industrial growth. The forms and consequences of state intervention have changed over time in response to the political and economic pressures arising from structural economic change. The state has been obliged to be interventionist in order to try to maintain the political order on which continual reinvestment and thus continued growth depend. RESUMEN Agricultura en Taiwán y Corea del Sur: estado minimalista? El estado ha intervenido fuertemente en la economía agrícola en ambos países, tanto por medios directamente administrativos, como por el establecimento de precios relativos muy diferentes de aquellos derivados de la acción de las fuerzas del mercado. Aunque no siempre la acción estatal ha sido efectiva o eficiente, ha jugado un rol principal para que la agricultura sirva los objetivos de un rápido crecimiento industrial. Las formas y consecuencias de la intervención estatal han cambiado a través del tiempo, como respuesta a las presiones económicas derivadas del cambio en la estructura económica. El estado se ha visto obligado a ser intervencionista para tratar de mantener el orden politico del cual depende la continua reínversíón y, en consecuencia, el crecimiento persistente. RESUMES L'agriculture à Taiwan et en Corée du Sud: l'état minimaliste? L'état a intervenu de façon très importante dans les économies agricoles de Taiwan et de la Corée du Sud, par des moyens administratifs directs et en établissant une relativité des prix très différente de celle établie par les forces de marché. Quoique l'action de l'état n'ait pas toujours été effective ou efficace, elle a joué un rôle de grande importance en se servant de l'agriculture pour aider une croissance industrielle rapide. Les formes et les conséquences de l'intervention de l'état ont changé au cours des temps en fonction des pressions politiques et économiques provenant du changement de la structure économique. L'état a été obligé d'être interventionniste de façon à essayer de maintenir l'ordre politique duquel dépendent le rèinvestissement continu et donc la croissance continue

Shangri-La: a medical case-based retrieval tool

Large amounts of medical visual data are produced in hospitals daily and made available continuously via publications in the scientific literature, representing the medical knowledge. However, it is not always easy to find the desired information and in clinical routine the time to fulfil an information need is often very limited. Information retrieval systems are a useful tool to provide access to these documents/images in the biomedical literature related to information needs of medical professionals. Shangri–La is a medical retrieval system that can potentially help clinicians to make decisions on difficult cases. It retrieves articles from the biomedical literature when querying a case description and attached images. The system is based on a multimodal retrieval approach with a focus on the integration of visual information connected to text. The approach includes a query–adaptive multimodal fusion criterion that analyses if visual features are suitable to be fused with text for the retrieval. Furthermore, image modality information is integrated in the retrieval step. The approach is evaluated using the ImageCLEFmed 2013 medical retrieval benchmark and can thus be compared to other approaches. Results show that the final approach outperforms the best multimodal approach submitted to ImageCLEFmed 2013