Empirical analyses of the length, weight, and condition of adult Atlantic salmon on return to the Scottish coast between 1963 and 2006

Sea age, size, and condition of adult Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) are prime determinants of individual, and hence population, productivity. To elucidate potential mechanisms, 151 000 records of salmon returning to six Scottish coastal sites over 44 years were analysedfor length, weight, and condition, by site, sex, sea age, and river age. After correcting for capture effort biases, all sites showed seasonal increases in length and weight for both 1 sea winter (1SW) and 2SW fish. However, whereas condition increased slightly with season for 2SW, it decreased notably for 1SW. Sites showed common decadal trends in length, weight, and condition. Within years, length and weight residuals from trends were coherent across sites, but residuals from condition trends were not. Rates of seasonal condition change also showed decadal trends, dramatically different between sea ages, but common across sites within sea-age groups. Longer salmon were disproportionately heavy in all seasons. 1SW condition was markedly lower in 2006. Detrended correlations withoceanic environmental variables were generally not significant, and always weak. A published correlation between the condition of 1SW salmon caught at a single site and sea surface temperatures in the Northeast Atlantic could not be substantiated for any of the six fisheries over the wider time-scales examined

Developing European conservation and mitigation tools for pollination services: approaches of the STEP (Status and Trends of European Pollinators) project

Pollinating insects form a key component of European biodiversity, and provide a vital ecosystem service to crops and wild plants. There is growing evidence of declines in both wild and domesticated pollinators, and parallel declines in plants relying upon them. The STEP project (Status and Trends of European Pollinators, 2010-2015, www.stepproject.net) is documenting critical elements in the nature and extent of these declines, examining key functional traits associated with pollination deficits, and developing a Red List for some European pollinator groups. Together these activities are laying the groundwork for future pollinator monitoring programmes. STEP is also assessing the relative importance of potential drivers of pollinator declines, including climate change, habitat loss and fragmentation, agrochemicals, pathogens, alien species, light pollution, and their interactions. We are measuring the ecological and economic impacts of declining pollinator services and floral resources, including effects on wild plant populations, crop production and human nutrition. STEP is reviewing existing and potential mitigation options, and providing novel tests of their effectiveness across Europe. Our work is building upon existing and newly developed datasets and models, complemented by spatially-replicated campaigns of field research to fill gaps in current knowledge. Findings are being integrated into a policy-relevant framework to create evidence-based decision support tools. STEP is establishing communication links to a wide range of stakeholders across Europe and beyond, including policy makers, beekeepers, farmers, academics and the general public. Taken together, the STEP research programme aims to improve our understanding of the nature, causes, consequences and potential mitigation of declines in pollination services at local, national, continental and global scales

Using data envelopment analysis to address the challenges of comparing health system efficiency

Efficiency is one of the most potent measures of health system performance and is of particular interest to policy makers because it seeks to assess the valued outcomes of a health system in relation to the resources that are sacrificed to achieve those outcomes. However, the production process of the health care system is a complex sequence, and most indicators are only able to capture part of that process; these indicators offer limited scope for analysis. While researchers have previously constructed composite indicators which combine partial measures into a single number, the weights used for aggregating data can be contentious and may not be universally applicable across systems. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is most often used to compare the productivity of different producing entities, including health systems. In this article, we instead propose a method that relies on DEA to construct composite health system efficiency indicators from several partial efficiency measures. Among other noted benefits, this enables the construction of composite indicators where different weights are attached to partial indicators for each country, allowing countries to be viewed according to the weights that cast each in the best light. Our application of this method suggests that there is reasonable consistency among the countries that are found to be efficient

New insights into the lymphovascular microanatomy of the colon and the risk of metastases in pT1 colorectal cancer obtained with quantitative methods and three-dimensional digital reconstruction

Aims: UK faecal occult blood test screening has tripled the proportion of pT1 colorectal cancers. The risk of metastasis is predicted by depth of invasion, suggesting that access to deep lymphovascular vessels is important. The aim of this study was to quantify the distribution and size of the submucosal vasculature, and generate a novel three-dimensional (3D) model to validate the findings. Methods and results: Thirty samples of normal large bowel wall were immunostained with CD31, a vascular endothelium marker, to identify blood vessels, which were quantified and digitally analysed for their number, circumference, area and diameter in the deep mucosa and submucosa (Sm1, Sm2, and Sm3). The model required serial sections, a double immunostain (using CD31 and D2-40), and 3D reconstruction. Significant differences were shown between submucosal layers in the number, circumference and area of vessels (P < 0.001). Blood vessels were most numerous in the mucosa (11.79 vessels/0.2 mm2) but smaller [median area of 247 μm2, interquartile range (IQR) 162–373 μm2] than in Sm2, where they were fewer in number (6.92 vessels/0.2 mm2) but considerably larger (2086 μm2, IQR 1007–4784 μm2). The 3D model generated novel observations on lymphovascular structures. Conclusions: The number and size of blood vessels do not increase with depth of submucosa, as hypothesized. The distribution of vessels suggests that we should investigate the area or volume of submucosal invasion rather than the depth

Realising local government visions for developing district heating: experiences from a learning country

District heating (DH) has an important role to play in enabling cities to transition to low-carbon heating. Although schemes are commonplace in some countries, in ‘learning countries’ where building-level technologies make up the majority of heating systems there are numerous barriers to introducing DH. Local governments are seen as key actors in helping to create a ‘shared vision’ for DH amongst stakeholders. This study uses interviews with stakeholders from a range of sectors in the UK (an example of a learning country) to examine the visions of local actors for developing DH and the types of national policy that would support local implementation of these visions. The analysis shows that in engaging with DH development local governments seek multiple types of value. Realising this value will most likely happen by taking a long-term, planned approach to development. In contrast, national government policy is geared towards techno-economic criteria and may lead to only a minority of potential sites being developed, without realisation of wider social or environmental benefits aligned to local visions. The work highlights the importance of local strategic planning, enabled by aligned national policy, in realising the full economic, environmental and social benefits of DH

Stable and unstable equilibrium states in a fishery-aquaculture model

This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article: Bergland, H., Pedersen, P.A. & Wyller, J. (2018). Stable and unstable equilibrium states in a fishery-aquaculture model. Natural Resource Modeling, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/nrm.12200. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.We study interactions between fishery and aquaculture using a 3D generalized Lotka–Volterra model, where we assume that the aquaculture production may affect the growth rate in the fish stock and the productivity in harvesting. In addition, input demands from both marine industries may result in effort competition. We identify conditions for the coexistence of a unique equilibrium state inside the first octant of the phase space and equilibrium states on its boundary. Conditions for stability and instability of these states are also given, thus showing the possibility of having bistability. The equilibrium point inside the first octant is stable if the growth impact on fishery from sea farming is below the potential productivity in harvesting. In the complementary case, we have an unstable interior equilibrium, and we may then end up in stable equilibrium states on the boundary, where either the fishery or the aquaculture is wiped out

Recent acquisition of imprinting at the rodent Sfmbt2 locus correlates with insertion of a large block of miRNAs.

BACKGROUND: The proximal region of murine Chr 2 has long been known to harbour one or more imprinted genes from classic genetic studies involving reciprocal translocations. No imprinted gene had been identified from this region until our study demonstrated that the PcG gene Sfmbt2 is expressed from the paternally inherited allele in early embryos and extraembryonic tissues. Imprinted genes generally reside in clusters near elements termed Imprinting Control Regions (ICRs), suggesting that Sfmbt2 might represent an anchor for a new imprinted domain. RESULTS: We analyzed allelic expression of approximately 20 genes within a 3.9 Mb domain and found that Sfmbt2 and an overlapping non-coding antisense transcript are the only imprinted genes in this region. These transcripts represent a very narrow imprinted gene locus. We also demonstrate that rat Sfmbt2 is imprinted in extraembryonic tissues. An interesting feature of both mouse and rat Sfmbt2 genes is the presence of a large block of miRNAs in intron 10. Other mammals, including the bovine, lack this block of miRNAs. Consistent with this association, we show that human and bovine Sfmbt2 are biallelic. Other evidence indicates that pig Sfmbt2 is also not imprinted. Further strengthening the argument for recent evolution of Sfmbt2 is our demonstration that a more distant muroid rodent, Peromyscus also lacks imprinting and the block of miRNAs. CONCLUSIONS: These observations are consistent with the hypothesis that the block of miRNAs are driving imprinting at this locus. Our results are discussed in the context of ncRNAs at other imprinted loci. Accession numbers for Peromyscus cDNA and intron 10 genomic DNA are [Genbank:HQ416417 and Genbank:HQ416418], respectively.RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are

Navigating environmental, economic, and technological trade-offs in the design and operation of submerged anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBRs)

Anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBRs) enable energy recovery from wastewater while simultaneously achieving high levels of treatment. The objective of this study was to elucidate how detailed design and operational decisions of submerged AnMBRs influence the technological, environmental, and economic sustainability of the system across its life cycle. Specific design and operational decisions evaluated included: solids retention time (SRT), mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) concentration, sludge recycling ratio (r), flux (J), and specific gas demand per membrane area (SGD). The possibility of methane recovery (both as biogas and as soluble methane in reactor effluent) and bioenergy production, nutrient recovery, and final destination of the sludge (land application, landfill, or incineration) were also evaluated. The implications of these design and operational decisions were characterized by leveraging a quantitative sustainable design (QSD) framework which integrated steady-state performance modeling across seasonal temperatures (using pilot-scale experimental data and the simulating software DESASS), life cycle cost (LCC) analysis, and life cycle assessment (LCA). Sensitivity and uncertainty analyses were used to characterize the relative importance of individual design decisions, and to navigate trade-offs across environmental, economic, and technological criteria. Based on this analysis, there are design and operational conditions under which submerged AnMBRs could be net energy positive and contribute to the pursuit of carbon negative wastewater treatment.This research work was possible thanks to project CTM2011-28595-C02-01/02 (funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness jointly with the European Regional Development Fund and Generalitat Valenciana GVA-ACOMP2013/203), and by the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Academic Partnership Program (UIeRA 2012-06291), which are gratefully acknowledged. The authors would like also to acknowledge the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation for partial funding for B.D. Shoener.Pretel-Jolis, R.; Shoener, BD.; Ferrer, J.; Guest, J. (2015). Navigating environmental, economic, and technological trade-offs in the design and operation of submerged anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBRs). Water Research. (87):531-541. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2015.07.002S5315418

Sequence and Phylogenetic Analysis of SSU rRNA Gene of Five Microsporidia

The complete small subunit rRNA (SSU rRNA) gene sequences of five microsporidia including Nosemaheliothidis, and four novel microsporidia isolated from Pieris rapae, Phyllobrotica armta, Hemerophila atrilineata, and Bombyx mori, respectively, were obtained by PCR amplification, cloning, and sequencing. Two phylogenetic trees based on SSU rRNA sequences had been constructed by using Neighbor-Joining of Phylip software and UPGMA of MEGA4.0 software. The taxonomic status of four novel microsporidia was determined by analysis of phylogenetic relationship, length, G+C content, identity, and divergence of the SSU rRNA sequences. The results showed that the microsporidia isolated from Pieris rapae, Phyllobrotica armta, and Hemerophila atrilineata have close phylogenetic relationship with the Nosema, while another microsporidium isolated from Bombyx mori is closely related to the Endoreticulatus. So, we temporarily classify three novel species of microsporidia to genus Nosema, as Nosema sp. PR, Nosema sp. PA, Nosema sp. HA. Another is temporarily classified into genus Endoreticulatus, as Endoreticulatus sp. Zhenjiang. The result indicated as well that it is feasible and valuable to elucidate phylogenetic relationships and taxonomic status of microsporidian species by analyzing information from SSU rRNA sequences of microsporidia