Competition between global warming and an abrupt collapse of the AMOC in Earth’s energy imbalance

A collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) leads to global cooling through fast feedbacks that selectively amplify the response in the Northern Hemisphere (NH). How such cooling competes with global warming has long been a topic for speculation, but was never addressed using a climate model. Here it is shown that global cooling due to a collapsing AMOC obliterates global warming for a period of 15–20 years. Thereafter, the global mean temperature trend is reversed and becomes similar to a simulation without an AMOC collapse. The resulting surface warming hiatus lasts for 40–50 years. Global warming and AMOC-induced NH cooling are governed by similar feedbacks, giving rise to a global net radiative imbalance of similar sign, although the former is associated with surface warming, the latter with cooling. Their footprints in outgoing longwave and absorbed shortwave radiation are very distinct, making attribution possible

Inheritance of temperature-dependent string formation in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.).

String formation was analysed in F1, F2 and F3 generations of crosses between cultivars without string, with incomplete string and with complete string, and in B1 and B2 generations of the hybrid between a stringless and a stringy cultivar back crossed to the stringless parent. F1 plants were maintained at constant temperatures of 17 and 23 deg C, and the remaining plants were maintained at 23 deg C, to promote string formation. Segregation ratios suggested that two genes were involved in string development, stringlessness and complete string formation being controlled by the dominant and recessive alleles respectively of St, and incomplete string development, at high temperature and in genotypes with the dominant St allele, being controlled by the dominant allele of the second gene (Ts). (Abstract retrieved from CAB Abstracts by CABI’s permission

The use of self-assembled receptor layers in immunosensors

We demonstrate that a self-assembled monolayer consisting of an alkylthiol coupled synthetic peptide adsorbed to a gold substrate results in a sensitive receptor surface for specific recognition of protein molecules. The affinity constant of this binding is comparable with that of an antibody-antigen reaction. Evidence is found that such a receptor surface is capable of reversible binding

Consumer Food Waste: Understanding Why Consumers Do Not Eat the Food They Acquire

One-third of all food suitable for human consumption is wasted or lost in the supply chain, causing substantial negative economic, social and environmental consequences. In developed countries, consumers are the single biggest producers of food waste. This dissertation aims to increase the theoretical understanding of the complex issue of consumer food waste. The fundamental research question concerns why consumers acquire food that they ultimately do not consume, but waste instead. Chapter 2 presents an extensive literature review of theoretical and empirical findings concerning consumer food waste and identifies promising future research directions. Chapters 3 and 4 draw on construal level theory and demonstrate that the temporal distance between a consumption decision (e.g., when making weekly food purchases in the grocery store) and the actual consumption moment (e.g., when preparing the meal) is critical in explaining why consumers acquire food that ends up being wasted. Chapter 4 further demonstrates that food is less likely to be wasted when consumers opt for more convenient food options—food options that require little time and effort to be prepared. Finally, Chapter 5 presents a general discussion of this research and its outcomes, explores both managerial and practical implications, and offers directions for future research. This dissertation provides new insights into the behavioral mechanisms underlying consumer food waste and directions on how to minimize food waste. Decreasing food waste is contingent on, for instance, the consumer’s ability to make realistic and smart decisions in the grocery store, and to stick to previously made consumption plans

Dansgaard-Oeschger events: tipping points in the climate system

Dansgaard-Oeschger events are a prominent mode of variability in the records of the last glacial cycle. Various prototype models have been proposed to explain these rapid climate fluctuations, and no agreement has emerged on which may be the more correct for describing the paleoclimatic signal. In this work, we assess the bimodality of the system reconstructing the topology of the multi--dimensional attractor over which the climate system evolves. We use high-resolution ice core isotope data to investigate the statistical properties of the climate fluctuations in the period before the onset of the abrupt change. We show that Dansgaard-Oeschger events have weak early warning signals if the ensemble of events is considered. We find that the statistics are consistent with the switches between two different climate equilibrium states in response to a changing external forcing (e.g. solar, ice sheets...), either forcing directly the transition or pacing it through stochastic resonance. These findings are most consistent with a model that associates Dansgaard-Oeschger with changing boundary conditions, and with the presence of a bifurcation point.Comment: Final typeset version freely available at: Clim. Past, 9, 323-333, 2013 www.clim-past.net/9/323/2013/ doi:10.5194/cp-9-323-201

Towards Isolating and Identifying Feeding Stimulants in Honey Bee Pollens

Monografia realizada no âmbito da unidade curricular de Acompanhamento Farmacêutico do Mestrado integrado em Ciências Farmacêuticas, apresentado á Faculdade de Farmácia da Universidade de CoimbraO objectivo desta monografia é fazer uma abordagem da incidência de infecção pela bactéria Helicobacter pylori na população portuguesa, assim como, proceder a um levantamento das principais evoluções desta patologia. Uma vez que a infecção através desta bactéria é um assunto bastante actual, resolvi fazer também uma pesquisa mais aprofundada acerca da mesma, e dos esquemas terapêuticos mais utilizados. Durante a realização desta monografia procedi à recolha de diversa informação, recorrendo para o efeito à informação disponibilizada em farmácias, informação científica, nomeadamente estudos em que foram abordados o tema da incidência da infecção por H.pylori e as suas evoluções, assim como à realização de questões a utentes que sofrem desta patologia da Farmácia Figueiredo e Farmácia Confiança. Toda esta informação foi bastante útil no que diz respeito à análise da incidência da infecção. Outro dos principais objectivos desta monografia é alertar os utentes para a existência desta patologia, para a sua declarada incidência no nosso país, os seus factores de risco e as suas evoluções. Infelizmente, apercebi-me que os utentes ainda não estão totalmente sensíveis e informados acerca do tema em questão. De forma a tentar ajudar a sensibilizar os utentes e a contrariar esta tendência, elaborei um folheto informativo, a ser disponibilizado em farmácias, contendo nomeadamente, informações acerca da bactéria, as suas evoluções, o seu diagnóstico e o seu tratamento. O folheto informativo será um complemento do atendimento farmacêutico, em que se cede todas as informações relevantes, para utentes que apresentem sintomas associados a esta doença

NATIONAL DIGITAL LIBRARY STRATEGIES: A SOUTH AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE

The objects of the National Library of South Africa (NLSA) and the functions it is required to perform are prescribed by the National Libraries Act, Act 92 of 1998. The NLSA is the primary resource of South African published documentary heritage. The NLSA strives to ensure equitable access to its comprehensive collections for all members of South African society. The National Library’s collections contain a wealth of information including South African books, periodicals, newspapers, maps, special collections, government publications and foreign official publications