The interdependencies between food and biofuel production in European agriculture - an application of EUFASOM

In the continuous quest to reduce anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide, the production and use of organically grown fuels in Europe has increased in importance in the recent past. However, the production of so-called biofuels is a direct competitor of agricultural food production for land, labor, water resources etc. with both land use options influencing each other depending on the respective boundary conditions defined by political regulations and economic considerations. In this study we will explore the economic and technical potentials of biofuels in Europe as well as the interdependencies between these two land use options for different economic incentives for biofuels using the European Forest and Agriculture Sector Optimization Model (EUFASOM). Key data on biodiesel and ethanol production have been gathered and are used for calibration of the model. The simulations extend until the year 2030, for which results are presented. Results indicate that moderate production targets of biofuels lead to an expansion of mainly the biodiesel production while more ambitious targets call for a focus on bioethanol. This has to do with the different levels of production efficiency depending on the production output. Growth of bioethanol feedstock is spread over entire Europe while the production of biodiesel feedstock occurs mainly in Central Europe.biodiesel, bioethanol, Europe, EUFASOM, modeling

Thermophysical Property Measurements of Silicon-Transition Metal Alloys

Metals and metallic alloys often have high melting temperatures and highly reactive liquids. Processing reactive liquids in containers can result in significant contamination and limited undercooling. This is particularly true for molten silicon and it alloys. Silicon is commonly termed "the universal solvent". The viscosity, surface tension, and density of several silicontransition metal alloys were determined using the Electrostatic Levitator system at the Marshall Space Flight Center. The temperature dependence of the viscosity followed an Arrhenius dependence, and the surface tension followed a linear temperature dependence. The density of the melts, including the undercooled region, showed a linear behavior as well. Viscosity and surface tension values were obtain for several of the alloys in the undercooled region

Effects of Open Marsh Water Management on Numbers of Larval Salt Marsh Mosquitoes

Open marsh water management (OMWM) is a commonly used approach to manage salt marsh mosquitoes than can obviate the need for pesticide application and at the same time, partially restore natural functions of grid-ditched marshes. OMWM includes a variety of hydrologic manipulations, often tailored to the specific conditions on individual marshes, so the overall effectiveness of this approach is difficult to assess. Here, we report the results of controlled field trials to assess the effects of two approaches to OMWM on larval mosquito production at National Wildlife Refuges (NWR). A traditional OMWM approach, using pond construction and radial ditches was used at Edwin B. Forsythe NWR in New Jersey, and a ditch-plugging approach was used at Parker River NWR in Massachusetts. Mosquito larvae were sampled from randomly placed stations on paired treatment and control marshes at each refuge. The proportion of sampling stations that were wet declined after OMWM at the Forsythe site, but not at the Parker River site. The proportion of samples with larvae present and mean larval densities, declined significantly at the treatment sites on both refuges relative to the control marshes. Percentage of control for the 2 yr posttreatment, compared with the 2 yr pretreatment, was \u3e90% at both treatment sites

Multi-level optical signal generation using a segmented-electrode InP IQ-MZM with integrated CMOS binary drivers

We present a segmented-electrode InP IQ-MZM, capable of multi-level optical signal generation (5-bit per I/Q arm) by employing direct digital drive from integrated, low-power (1W) CMOS binary drivers. Programmable, multi-level operation is demonstrated experimentally on one MZM of the device

Managing Birds and Controlling Aircraft in the Kennedy Airport–Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge Complex: The Need for Hard Data and Soft Opinions

During the 1980s, the exponential growth of laughing gull (Larus atricilla) colonies, from 15 to about 7600 nests in 1990, in the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge and a correlated increase in the bird-strike rate at nearby John F. Kennedy International Airport (New York City) led to a controversy between wildlife and airport managers over the elimination of the colonies. In this paper, we review data to evaluate if: (1) the colonies have increased the level of risk to the flying public; (2) on-colony population control would reduce the presence of gulls, and subsequently bird strikes, at the airport; and (3) all on-airport management alternatives have been adequately implemented. Since 1979, most (2987, 87%) of the 3444 bird strikes (number of aircraft struck) were actually bird carcasses found near runways (cause of death unknown but assumed to be bird strikes by definition). Of the 457 pilot-reported strikes (mean = 23 ± 6 aircraft/yr, N= 20 years), 78 (17%) involved laughing gulls. Since a gull-shooting program was initiated on airport property in 1991, over 50,000 adult laughing gulls have been killed and the number of reported bird strikes involving laughing gulls has declined from 6.9 ± 2.9 (1983–1990) to 2.6 ± 1.3 (1991–1998) aircraft/yr; nongull reported bird strikes, however, have more than doubled (6.4 ± 2.6, 1983–1990; 14.9 ± 5.1, 1991–1998). We found no evidence to indicate that on-colony management would yield a reduction of bird strikes at Kennedy Airport. Dietary and mark–recapture studies suggest that 60%–90% of the laughing gulls collected on-airport were either failed breeders and/or nonbreeding birds. We argue that the Jamaica Bay laughing gull colonies, the only ones in New York State, should not be managed at least until all on-airport management alternatives have been properly implemented and demonstrated to be ineffective at reducing bird strikes, including habitat alterations and increasing the capability of the bird control unit to eliminate bird flocks on-airport using nonlethal bird dispersal techniques. Because the gull-shooting program may be resulting in a nonsustainable regional population of laughing gulls (\u3e30% decline), we also recommend that attempts be made to initiate an experimental colony elsewhere on Long Island to determine if colony relocation is a feasible management option

Social Jetlag Inhibits Exercise-Induced Adaptations in the Heart and Alters Markers of Mitochondrial Dynamics

Social jetlag (SJL), or the shifting of behavior and sleep times between weekdays and weekends, is a pervasive form of circadian rhythm disruption that affects nearly 70% of the population to some extent. The magnitude of SJL can be determined by the difference in the mid-sleep phase between weekends and weekdays. Higher levels of SJL have been associated with lower levels of cardiorespiratory fitness, and increased incidence of cardiometabolic disease, which may be due, in part, to mitochondrial dysfunction. However, no studies to date have evaluated the effects of long term SJL on cardiac mitochondrial dynamics. PURPOSE: To determine the effect of SJL on mitochondrial fission and fusion signaling in the heart, and if exercise protects the heart against SJL. METHODS: Male C57BL/6 mice (n = 40) were allocated to four groups (n = 10/group): 1) Control Light:Dark cycle, Sedentary (CON-SED), 2) Control Light:Dark cycle, Exercise (CON-EX), 3) SJL, sedentary (SJL-SED), or SJL, exercise (SJL-EX). SJL was implemented by delaying the LD cycle 4 hours on ‘Fridays,’ and advancing the LD cycle on Mondays. Exercise was provided ad libitum with a disc. Conditions persisted for 6 weeks at which point hearts were harvested for gravimetric analysis and western blotting of markers of mitochondrial dynamics. RESULTS: Exercise caused myocardial hypertrophy in both control and SJL LD conditions (Main Effect – EX, p \u3c 0.05), with no difference between CON and SJL conditions. We did not observe any significant differences in mitochondrial content (OXPHOS antibody cocktail, p \u3e 0.05), SJL decreased expression of mitochondrial fusion proteins MFN1 and OPA1 (Main Effect – SJL, p \u3c 0.05). Importantly, SJL inhibited exercise-induced increases in MFN2 (p \u3c 0.05), suggesting that SJL specifically ameliorates some exercise-induced adaptations in mitochondrial dynamics in the heart. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that exercise induces adaptations in mitochondrial dynamics, potentially increasing mitochondrial function, and SJL may disrupt mitochondrial dynamics both in the sedentary and exercise trained states

Una evaluación de la escala sobre el miedo a la COVID-19 en docentes filipinos profesionales.

The global Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis has enormously induced psychological impacts on humans like fear. Considering this particular concern, there is a need to test instruments used to measure such psychological impact. This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Fear of COVID-19 (FCV-19) Scale originally developed by Ahorsu et al. (2020). A sample of 1,060 K to 12 professional teachers from Mindanao, Philippines were selected to participate in the online survey. The preliminary analysis showed a high level of perceived fear of COVID-19 in the respondents of this study. The results of the series of tests are encouraging as the FCV-19 Scale generated a robust construct validity for both one- and two- factor structure models and a very high internal consistency complemented by strong inter-item correlations and item-total correlations. The results further supported the concurrent validity of the FCV-19 Scale with selected COVID-19-related characteristics significantly predicting fear of COVID-19. Overall, this paper provides an assessment of the fear of COVID-19 in a sample of professional teachers and the properties of the FCV-19 Scale in a particular context. The FCV-19 Scale, a seven-item scale, is a valid and reliable measure that can be used to assess the fear of COVID-19 of Filipino teachers.La crisis mundial de la enfermedad del coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) ha inducido enormemente impactos psicológicos en los humanos como el miedo. Teniendo en cuenta esta preocupación particular, existe la necesidad de probar los instrumentos utilizados para medir dicho impacto psicológico. Este estudio tuvo como objetivo evaluar las propiedades psicométricas de la Escala Miedo a COVID-19 (FCV-19) desarrollada originalmente por Ahorsu et al. (2020). Se seleccionó una muestra de 1.060 profesores profesionales de K a 12 de Mindanao, Filipinas, para participar en la encuesta en línea. El análisis preliminar mostró un alto nivel de miedo percibido a COVID-19 en los encuestados de este estudio. Los resultados de la serie de pruebas son alentadores ya que la Escala FCV-19 generó una validez de constructo robusta para modelos de estructura de uno y dos factores y una consistencia interna muy alta complementada por fuertes correlaciones entre ítems y correlaciones ítem-total. Los resultados respaldaron aún más la validez concurrente de la escala FCV-19 con características seleccionadas relacionadas con COVID-19 que predicen significativamente el miedo al COVID-19. En general, este artículo proporciona una evaluación del miedo al COVID-19 en una muestra de profesores profesionales y las propiedades de la Escala FCV-19 en un contexto particular. La escala FCV-19, una escala de siete ítems, es una medida válida y confiable que puede usarse para evaluar el miedo al COVID-19 de los maestros filipinos

Bulge-Disk Decompositions and Structural Bimodality of Ursa Major Cluster Spiral Galaxies

We present bulge and disk (B/D) decompositions of existing K'-band surface brightness profiles for 65 Ursa Major cluster spiral galaxies. This improves upon the disk-only fits of Tully et al. (1996). The 1996 disk fits were used by Tully & Verheijen (1997) for their discovery of the bimodality of structural parameters in the UMa cluster galaxies. It is shown that our new 1D B/D decompositions yield disk structural parameters that differ only slightly from the basic fits of Tully et al. and evidence for structural bimodality of UMa galaxies is maintained. Our B/D software for the decomposition of 1D surface brightness profiles of galaxies uses a non-linear minimization scheme to recover the best fitting Sersic bulge and exponential disk while accounting for the possible presence of a compact nucleus and spiral arms and for the effects of seeing and disk truncations. In agreement with Tully & Verheijen, we find that the distribution of near-infrared disk central surface brightnesses is bimodal with an F-test confidence of 80%. There is also strong evidence for a local minimum in the luminosity function at M_K' ~ -22. A connection between the brightness bimodality and a dynamical bimodality, based on new HI line widths, is identified. The B/D parameters are presented in an Appendix.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA