Consecutive wildfires affect stream biota in cold- and warmwater dryland river networks

Citation: Whitney, J. E., Gido, K. B., Pilger, T. J., Propst, D. L., & Turner, T. F. (2015). Consecutive wildfires affect stream biota in cold- and warmwater dryland river networks. Freshwater Science, 34(4), 1510-1526. doi:10.1086/683391Climate change and fire suppression have altered fire regimes globally, leading to larger, more frequent, and more severe wildfires. Responses of coldwater stream biota to single wildfires are well studied, but measured responses to consecutive wildfires in warmwater systems that often include mixed assemblages of native and nonnative taxa are lacking. We quantified changes in physical habitat, resource availability, and biomass of cold- and warmwater oligochaetes, insects, crayfish, fishes, and tadpoles following consecutive megafires (covering >100 km(2)) in the upper Gila River, New Mexico, USA. We were particularly interested in comparing responses of native and nonnative fishes that might have evolved under different disturbance regimes. Changes in habitat and resource availability were related to cumulative fire effects, fire size, and postfire precipitation. The 2nd of 2 consecutive wildfires in the basin was larger and, coupled with moderate postfire discharge, resulted in increased siltation and decreased algal biomass. Several insect taxa responded to these fires with reduced biomass, whereas oligochaete biomass was unaffected. Biomass of 6 of 7 native fish species decreased after the fires, and decreases were associated with site proximity to fire. Nonnative fish decreases after fire were most pronounced for coldwater salmonids, and warmwater nonnative fishes exhibited limited responses. All crayfish and tadpoles collected were nonnative and were unresponsive to fire disturbance. More pronounced responses of native insects and fishes to fires indicate that increasing fire size and frequency threatens the persistence of native fauna and suggests that management activities promoting ecosystem resilience might help ameliorate wildfire effects

Comparison of co-located independent ground-based middle atmospheric wind and temperature measurements with numerical weather prediction models

High-resolution, ground-based and independent observations including co-located windradiometer, lidar stations, and infrasound instruments are used to evaluate the accuracy of general circulationmodels and data-constrained assimilation systems in the middle atmosphere at northern hemispheremidlatitudes. Systematic comparisons between observations, the European Centre for Medium-Range WeatherForecasts (ECMWF) operational analyses including the recent Integrated Forecast System cycles 38r1 and 38r2,the NASA’s Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) reanalyses, and thefree-running climate Max Planck Institute–Earth System Model–Low Resolution (MPI-ESM-LR) are carried out inboth temporal and spectral dom ains. We find that ECMWF and MERRA are broadly consistent with lidar and windradiometer measurements up to ~40 km. For both temperature and horizontal wind components, deviationsincrease with altitude as the assimilated observations become sparser. Between 40 and 60 km altitude, thestandard deviation of the mean difference exceeds 5 K for the temperature and 20 m/s for the zonal wind. Thelargest deviations are observed in winter when the variability from large-scale planetary waves dominates.Between lidar data and MPI-ESM-LR, there is an overall agreement in spectral amplitude down to 15–20 days. Atshorter time scales, the variability is lacking in the model by ~10 dB. Infrasound observations indicate a generalgood agreement with ECWMF wind and temperature products. As such, this study demonstrates the potentialof the infrastructure of the Atmospheric Dynamics Research Infrastructure in Europe project that integratesvarious measurements and provides a quantitative understanding of stratosphere-troposphere dynamicalcoupling for numerical weather prediction applications

Treatment of head lice with dimeticone 4% lotion: comparison of two formulations in a randomised controlled trial in rural Turkey

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Dimeticone 4% lotion was shown to be an effective treatment for head louse infestation in two randomised controlled trials in England. It is not affected by insecticide resistance but efficacy obtained (70-75%) was lower than expected. This study was designed to evaluate efficacy of dimeticone 4% lotion in a geographically, socially, and culturally different setting, in rural Turkey and, in order to achieve blinding, it was compared with a potential alternative formulation.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Children from two village schools were screened for head lice by detection combing. All infested students and family members could participate, giving access to treatment for the whole community. Two investigator applied treatments were given 7 days apart. Outcome was assessed by detection combing three times between treatments and twice the week following second treatment.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In the intention to treat group 35/36 treated using dimeticone 4% had no lice after the second treatment but there were two protocol violators giving 91.7% treatment success. The alternative product gave 30/36 (83.3%) treatment success, a difference of 8.4% (95% CI -9.8% to 26.2%). The cure rates per-protocol were 33/34 (97.1%) and 30/35 (85.7%) respectively. We were unable to find any newly emerged louse nymphs on 77.8% of dimeticone 4% treated participants or on 66.7% of those treated with the alternative formulation. No adverse events were identified.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results confirm the efficacy of dimeticone 4% lotion against lice and eggs and we found no detectable difference between this product and dimeticone 4% lotion with nerolidol 2% added. We believe that the high cure rate was related to the lower intensity of infestation in Turkey, together with the level of community engagement, compared with previous studies in the UK.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN10431107</p

Change but no climate change: discourses of climate change in corporate social responsibility reporting in the oil industry

Using corpus linguistic tools and methods, this paper investigates the discourses of climate change in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and environmental reports produced by major oil companies from 2000 to 2013. It focuses on the frequency of key references to climatic changes and examines in detail discourses surrounding the most frequently used term ‘climate change’. The analysis points to shifting patterns in the ways in which climate change has been discursively constructed in the studied sample. Whereas in the mid-2000s, it was seen as a phenomenon that something could be done about, in recent years the corporate discourse has increasingly emphasised the notion of risk portraying climate change as an unpredictable agent. A pro-active stance signalled by the use of force metaphors is offset by a distancing strategy often indicated through the use of hedging devices and ‘relocation’ of climate change to the future and other stakeholders. In doing so, the discourse obscures the sector’s large contribution to environmental degradation and ‘grooms’ the public perception to believe that the industry actively engages in climate change mitigation. At the methodological level, this study shows how a combination of quantitative corpus-linguistic and qualitative discourse-analytical techniques can offer insights into the existence of salient discursive patterns and contribute to a better understanding of the role of language in performing ideological work in corporate communications

In silico modeling of the specific inhibitory potential of thiophene-2,3-dihydro-1,5-benzothiazepine against BChE in the formation of β-amyloid plaques associated with Alzheimer's disease

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Alzheimer's disease, known to be associated with the gradual loss of memory, is characterized by low concentration of acetylcholine in the hippocampus and cortex part of the brain. Inhibition of acetylcholinesterase has successfully been used as a drug target to treat Alzheimer's disease but drug resistance shown by butyrylcholinesterase remains a matter of concern in treating Alzheimer's disease. Apart from the many other reasons for Alzheimer's disease, its association with the genesis of fibrils by β-amyloid plaques is closely related to the increased activity of butyrylcholinesterase. Although few data are available on the inhibition of butyrylcholinesterase, studies have shown that that butyrylcholinesterase is a genetically validated drug target and its selective inhibition reduces the formation of β-amyloid plaques.</p> <p>Rationale</p> <p>We previously reported the inhibition of cholinesterases by 2,3-dihydro-1, 5-benzothiazepines, and considered this class of compounds as promising inhibitors for the cure of Alzheimer's disease. One compound from the same series, when substituted with a hydroxy group at C-3 in ring A and 2-thienyl moiety as ring B, showed greater activity against butyrylcholinesterase than to acetylcholinesterase. To provide insight into the binding mode of this compound (Compound A), molecular docking in combination with molecular dynamics simulation of 5000 ps in an explicit solvent system was carried out for both cholinesterases.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Molecular docking studies revealed that the potential of Compound A to inhibit cholinesterases was attributable to the cumulative effects of strong hydrogen bonds, cationic-π, π-π interactions and hydrophobic interactions. A comparison of the docking results of Compound A against both cholinesterases showed that amino acid residues in different sub-sites were engaged to stabilize the docked complex. The relatively high affinity of Compound A for butyrylcholinesterase was due to the additional hydrophobic interaction between the 2-thiophene moiety of Compound A and Ile69. The involvement of one catalytic triad residue (His438) of butyrylcholinesterase with the 3'-hydroxy group on ring A increases the selectivity of Compound A. C-C bond rotation around ring A also stabilizes and enhances the interaction of Compound A with butyrylcholinesterase. Furthermore, the classical network of hydrogen bonding interactions as formed by the catalytic triad of butyrylcholinesterase is disturbed by Compound A. This study may open a new avenue for structure-based drug design for Alzheimer's disease by considering the 3D-pharmacophoric features of the complex responsible for discriminating these two closely-related cholinesterases.</p

Swearing, Euphemisms, and Linguistic Relativity

Participants read aloud swear words, euphemisms of the swear words, and neutral stimuli while their autonomic activity was measured by electrodermal activity. The key finding was that autonomic responses to swear words were larger than to euphemisms and neutral stimuli. It is argued that the heightened response to swear words reflects a form of verbal conditioning in which the phonological form of the word is directly associated with an affective response. Euphemisms are effective because they replace the trigger (the offending word form) by another word form that expresses a similar idea. That is, word forms exert some control on affect and cognition in turn. We relate these findings to the linguistic relativity hypothesis, and suggest a simple mechanistic account of how language may influence thinking in this context

Toward an improved representation of middle atmospheric dynamics thanks to the ARISE project

This paper reviews recent progress toward understanding the dynamics of the middle atmosphere in the framework of the Atmospheric Dynamics Research InfraStructure in Europe (ARISE) initiative. The middle atmosphere, integrating the stratosphere and mesosphere, is a crucial region which influences tropospheric weather and climate. Enhancing the understanding of middle atmosphere dynamics requires improved measurement of the propagation and breaking of planetary and gravity waves originating in the lowest levels of the atmosphere. Inter-comparison studies have shown large discrepancies between observations and models, especially during unresolved disturbances such as sudden stratospheric warmings for which model accuracy is poorer due to a lack of observational constraints. Correctly predicting the variability of the middle atmosphere can lead to improvements in tropospheric weather forecasts on timescales of weeks to season. The ARISE project integrates different station networks providing observations from ground to the lower thermosphere, including the infrasound system developed for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty verification, the Lidar Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change, complementary meteor radars, wind radiometers, ionospheric sounders and satellites. This paper presents several examples which show how multi-instrument observations can provide a better description of the vertical dynamics structure of the middle atmosphere, especially during large disturbances such as gravity waves activity and stratospheric warming events. The paper then demonstrates the interest of ARISE data in data assimilation for weather forecasting and re-analyzes the determination of dynamics evolution with climate change and the monitoring of atmospheric extreme events which have an atmospheric signature, such as thunderstorms or volcanic eruptions

Comparison of chromosomal aberrations frequency and polymorphism of GSTs genes in workers occupationally exposed to cytostatics or anaesthetics

Authors compared the incidence of chromosomal aberrations (CAs) of workers occupationally exposed to cytostatics (group EXP1) or anaesthetics (group EXP2) in relationship to polymorphism of GSTM1, GSTP1 and GSTT1 genes. The cytogenetic analysis for chromosomal aberrations frequency and for polymorphisms of genes the PCR and PCR-RFLP method were used. Statistically higher frequency of total CAs was detected in both exposed groups: group EXP1 1.90±1.34%; Mann-Whitney U-test, p=0.001; group EXP2 2.53±1.46%, p=0.0008) as compared to control (1.26±0.93%). In group EXP2 was detected statistically higher frequency of aberrations CSA-type as compared to CTA-type. In xenobiotic metabolizing genes for GST higher frequency of total CAs and constituent types chromatid-type aberrations (CTAs) and chromosome-type aberrations (CSAs) of genes GSTM1 and GSTT1 with null genotype was detected. Statistically significant difference was detected only in CSA-type of aberrations in GSTT1 gene. In gene GSTP1 was not detected any difference in frequency of aberrations in presence of the variant allele. Presented results point out importance of individual susceptibility in evaluation of genotoxic agents of anaesthetics or cytostatics

Effect of occupational exposure to cytostatics and nucleotide excision repair polymorphism on chromosomal aberrations frequency

Authors evaluated the incidence of total chromosomal aberrations (CA) and their types – chromatid-type (CTA) and chromosome-type (CSA) in peripheral blood lymphocytes from 72 oncologic unit's workers occupationally exposed to cytostatics in relationship to polymorphisms of DNA repair genes XPD, XPG and XPC. The cytogenetic analysis was used for determination of chromosomal aberrations frequency and PCR-RFLP method for polymorphisms of genes. Statistically higher frequency of total CA was detected in exposed group as compared to control (1.90±1.34% vs. 1.26±0.93%; Mann-Whitney U-test, p=0.001). There was not detected any difference between CTA and CSA (0.92±1.04% vs. 0.98±1.17%). Similarly, in genes XPD exon 23 and XPC exon 15 wasn't detected any difference neither in total chromosomal aberrations nor in CTA and CSA types. Statistically significant decrease of total chromosomal aberrations and CTA-type with presence of variant allele C was detected in gene XPG exon 15. Authors pointed out the importance of individual susceptibility factors in evaluation of effects of genotoxic agents, in that event, when the concentration does not meet the occupational exposure limit