Phytoplankton composition in the coastal Magnetic Island lagoon, Western Pacific Ocean (Australia)

1 - Coastal lagoons have traditionally been considered as transitional systems between continental and marine domains. The phytoplankton plays a key role in these aquatic environments, forming the base of the food web and having a substantial function in nutrient dynamics and in the carbon biogeochemical cycle.2 - Due to their short life cycle, planktonic algae respond quickly to environmental changes and they are thus a valuable indicator of water quality. It is essential to investigate the development of phytoplankton populations to understand the biological functioning and to detect changes in aquatic systems.3 - Phytoplankton studies in the Australian estuaries and lagoons are relatively scarce. This study has provided a broad perspective and preliminary information on taxonomic structure of phytoplankton guilds for the Magnetic Island Lagoon (Queensland, Australia). This work may provide valuable information of interest to later ecological studies.4 - In the whole sampling a total of 143 taxa were identified. In terms of species richness, diatoms (Bacillariophyceae, Coscinodiscophyceae, Fragilariophyceae) and dinoflagellates (Dinophyceae) were the most important groups. In taxonomic terms, diatoms were the major contributor to the phytoplankton composition (~ 70%) whereas Dinophyceae were moderately abundant (~23%). Diatoms are a very important component in estuarine and shallow coastal wetlands and they are increasingly being utilized as indicators of environmental change

Reduced Semen Quality And Risk Behaviour Amongst Men Consulting A Referral STD Clinic

A CAJM article on the reduced semen quality among Zimbabwean men who consult referral STD clinics.Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and infertility are public health challenges that continue to represent a high demand and costly adult medical care conditions in most developing countries. Few studies address strategies for prevention of infertility secondary to STDs through behavioural change and early and prompt STD treatment. A prospective cohort design was used to study the effects of urogenital infection on semen quality in consenting consecutive subjects that presented with chronic or recurrent sexually transmitted diseases. Health seeking behavioural correlates and socio-economic variables were compared between index subjects at a genito-urinary referral clinic and those that presented with non-STD conditions at a referral polyclinic

Energy Densities of Brown Trout (Salmo trutta) and Its Main Prey Items in an Alpine Stream of the Slizza Basin (Northwest Italy)

ABSTRACT In the present study, energy densities of 80 adult brown trout (Salmo trutta), seasonally sampled in an alpine stream in the eastern Alps and energy densities of their main prey items, were determined. The energy density (J/g wet mass) and dry weight content (%) of fish were highly correlated (p<0.00 1) and averaged 5, 611.6 ± 857.9 J/g wet mass and 25.3 ± 2.1% dry weight, respectively. Energy density values were significantly higher in fish sampled in spring than in other seasons. No major changes in the energy content were observed due to age or sex. Macroinvertebrates. particularly Ephemeroptera and Diptera, were the major food source of brown trout in the sampled area. Their gross energy content varied within a wide range of values (1, 654–5, 110 J/g wet weight), depending on the taxa and family or genus within a given taxon

Estimating pesticide emission fractions for use in LCA: a global consensus-building effort

A practical challenge in LCA for comparing pesticide application in different agricultural practices is the agreement on how to quantify the amount emitted, while only the amount applied to the field is known. Main goal of this paper is to present an international effort carried out to reach agreement on recommended default agricultural pesticide emission fractions to environmental media. Consensual decisions on the assessment framework are (a) primary distributions are used as inputs for LCIA, while further investigating how to assess secondary emissions, (b) framework and LCA application guidelines and documentation will be compiled, (c) the emission framework will be based on modifying PestLCI 2.0, (d) drift values will be provided by German, Dutch and other drift modelers, (e) pesticide application methods will be complemented to develop scenarios for tropical regions, (f) climate, soil and application method scenarios will be based on sensitivity analysis, (g) default emission estimates for LCA will be derived from production-weighted averages, and (h) emission fractions will be reported spatially disaggregated. Recommendations for LCA practitioners and database developers are (a) LCA studies should state whether the agricultural field belongs to technosphere or ecosphere, (b) additional information needs to be reported in LCI (e.g. pesticide mass applied), (c) emissions after primary distribution and secondary fate processes should be reported, (d) LCIA methods should allow for treating the field as part of technosphere and ecosphere, (e) fate and exposure processes should be included in LCIA (e.g. crop uptake), (f) default emission estimates should be used in absence of detailed scenario data, (g) and all assumptions should be reported. The recommended pesticide emission fractions results and recommendations are presented and disseminated to strive for broad acceptance at a dedicated stakeholder workshop back-to-back with the current LCA Food 2016 conference in Dublin

Dynamics of a small neutrally buoyant sphere in a fluid and targeting in Hamiltonian systems

We show that, even in the most favorable case, the motion of a small spherical tracer suspended in a fluid of the same density may differ from the corresponding motion of an ideal passive particle. We demonstrate furthermore how its dynamics may be applied to target trajectories in Hamiltonian systems.Comment: See home page http://lec.ugr.es/~julya

Phylloquinone (vitamin K 1 ) biosynthesis in plants: two peroxisomal thioesterases of lactobacillales origin hydrolyze 1,4‐dihydroxy‐2‐naphthoyl‐coa

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/92396/1/TPJ_4972_sm_FigS3.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/92396/2/TPJ_4972_sm_TableS1.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/92396/3/TPJ_4972_sm_FigS2.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/92396/4/TPJ_4972_sm_TableS4.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/92396/5/TPJ_4972_sm_FigS6.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/92396/6/j.1365-313X.2012.04972.x.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/92396/7/TPJ_4972_sm_FigS1.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/92396/8/TPJ_4972_sm_TableS3.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/92396/9/TPJ_4972_sm_FigS5.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/92396/10/TPJ_4972_sm_TableS2.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/92396/11/TPJ_4972_sm_FigS4.pd

Variation of leaf litter decomposition among rivers, lagoons and sea: an experiment from Corfu island (Greece)

In aquatic ecosystems, the decomposition of organic detritus represents one of the most important ecosystem functions, which support complex detritus-based food webs that determine the critical balance between carbon mineralization and sequestration. The performance of the decomposition process is usually expressed as rate of decomposition, being a synthetic measure that take into account both abiotic and biotic factors. Decomposition rates have been also applied to evaluate the ecological status in terms of ecological functionality. However, despite a growing number of studies have tested the rate of decomposition between leaves of different riparian tree species in different aquatic ecosystems including rivers, transitional waters and sea, no comparative study among ecosystems typology is available up to date. Here, we compare decomposition rates from rivers, lagoons and sea of Corfu island (Greece). Five sampling sites were fixed in each of the three of the most important rivers and lagoons; other five sampling sites were fixed in the sea around the island. Twelve leaf packs containing 3±0.005 g of oven-dried Phragmites australis leaves were submerged in April 2014 and retrieved in May 2014 (after 30 days). Abiotic parameters were recorded in both sampling times. The retrieved leaf packs were cleaned and the macroinvertebrates retained were removed, counted, identified at lower taxonomic level and weighted. Leaf pack decomposition rates were calculated, and their variability was compared within each aquatic ecosystem, within each ecosystem typology (river, lagoon, sea) and among ecosystem typology. The results are going to be presented on the poster

Quantum key distribution with entangled photons generated on demand by a quantum dot

Quantum key distribution-exchanging a random secret key relying on a quantum mechanical resource-is the core feature of secure quantum networks. Entanglement-based protocols offer additional layers of security and scale favorably with quantum repeaters, but the stringent requirements set on the photon source have made their use situational so far. Semiconductor-based quantum emitters are a promising solution in this scenario, ensuring on-demand generation of near-unity-fidelity entangled photons with record-low multiphoton emission, the latter feature countering some of the best eavesdropping attacks. Here, we use a coherently driven quantum dot to experimentally demonstrate a modified Ekert quantum key distribution protocol with two quantum channel approaches: both a 250-m-long single-mode fiber and in free space, connecting two buildings within the campus of Sapienza University in Rome. Our field study highlights that quantum-dot entangled photon sources are ready to go beyond laboratory experiments, thus opening the way to real-life quantum communication