Socio-Ecological Vulnerability and Resilience in an Arena of Rapid Environmental Change: Community Adaptation to Climate Variability in the Upper Zambezi Floodplain

近年、食料、水、繊維、エネルギーの需要拡大を満たすため、人々はいまだかつてない供給を生態システムから求めるようになった。これらの需要は生態系のバランスに圧力を与え、自然環境が許容量を取り戻す能力を減少させ、大気・水の浄化作用、廃棄物の処理、アメニティ等の生態系サービスを供与する能力を弱体化させた。社会経済開発と環境持続可能性との間に明らかな緊張関係が存在している。生態系の財とサービスの減少を引き起こした直接的な原因は、生息地の変化、外来種の侵入、過度の収奪、汚染や気候変動と変化などである。これらのプロセスは社会生態的レジリアンス喪失の脅威を与え、環境と社会経済変化の双方に対する感受性を高める。本報告では、社会経済の脆弱性とレジリアンスを検討する科学的方法、特にこれら広範囲の問題に対する学際的アプローチについて議論する。また、脆弱性に対する社会経済レジリアンスと適応の本質を分析する。レジリアンスに影響を与えている政治経済、社会文化的ネットワークとダイナミズムについて歴史的、現代的生産の文脈の中で議論することによって説明される。経済活動と「河川文明」を擁する人間の居住地域である氾濫原生態システムを研究の対象とする。事例として現在生物物理的、社会経済的変化を示しているザンビア西部ザンベジ河上流渓谷のBulozi「自然」氾濫原に焦点を当てる。この氾濫原は現在のLozi民の祖先が居住し、彼らは生態財とサービスを氾濫原から得、強力で活気に満ちた政治経済を生み出してこの地域を独占し、余剰食料を使うことができ、また軍を擁し経済的機会を享受した。今日、Bulozi は低開発の地域とされており、この状況は気候の変動によって悪化しているが、気候変動は長い年月の間に社会的に蓄積された脆弱性に対しては追加の要因となるのみである。本報告ではBulozi の脆弱性の原因とレジリアンスを高めるための適応的能力を議論する。人々が外的内的圧力に対して適応し、社会生態システム(SES)のバランスを維持する能力は、彼らが在地的「所有」の立場から問題に対処する能力に依存している。同時に、社会生態システム(SES)のバランスを保全しながら、生活水準を向上する機運、コントロール、動機の感覚を社会が再び取り戻すことは、現在の生産行為を修正し、生産活動を多様化する彼らの能力に依存している。People have made unprecedented demands on ecosystems in recent decades to meet growing demands for food, water, fibre and energy. These demands have placed pressure on ecosystem balances, depleted the ability of the natural environment to replace biocapacity consumed and weakened the capacity to deliver ecosystem services such as purification of air and water, waste disposal and aesthetically pleasing environments. There is an apparent tension between the aspirations of social and economic development and environmental sustainability.Direct drivers of change that engender a reduction in ecosystem goods and services include habitat change, invasive species, over exploitation, pollution and, climate variability and change. These processes threaten to diminish socio-ecological resilience and heighten sensitivity to both environmental and socio-economic change.This paper seeks to discuss the scientific ways in which socio-ecological vulnerability and resilience can be examined, in particular the inter disciplinarity of approach necessary to address these wide ranging issues. It will also analyse the nature of socio-ecological resilience and adaptation to vulnerability. This is contextualised in a discussion covering the historical and contemporary production of politico-economic and socio-cultural dynamics affecting resilience.The study considers floodplain ecosystems, sites of human settlement, productivity and the appearance of ‘hydraulic civilisations’. An example discussed here is the Bulozi ‘natural’ floodplain of the Upper Zambezi Valley in western Zambia, currently exhibiting biophysical and socio-economic change. This floodplain was populated by the ancestors of the present Lozi peoples who, using the ecological goods and services offered by the plain, produced a strong and vibrant politicoeconomy that became dominant in the region, using surplus food with which to specialise, raise an army and take advantage of economic opportunities. Today Bulozi is an arena of relative underdevelopment and this condition may become exacerbated by increasing climate dynamics, but these act only as additional stressors to socially created vulnerabilities that became entrenched over time. The paper identifies the production of vulnerability in Bulozi and the adaptive capacity required to increase resilience.It also discusses recent activities in the domain of community adaptation to climate change and concludes that people’s capacity to adapt to exogenous and endogenous pressures and maintain the integrity of the socio-ecological system (SES) depends much on their ability to engage with stressors from a position of autochthonous ‘ownership’. It depends also on their ability to access new capabilities and diversify productive activities so that society can regain a sense of momentum, control and motivation to enhance living standards whilst conserving the integrity of the SES

Education in adult basic life support training programs

The Panel on Educational Issues in Adult Basic Life Support Training Programs reviewed the characteristics of adult learners, aspects of educational theory, issues concerning barriers to learning and performing CPR, and issues concerning testing and evaluation.The panel made the following recommendations: a comprehensive evaluation of the basic life support program with the goal of improving the program design and educational tools must be initiated; adult programs must be designed to motivate laypersons to become trained in CPR, as well as to target relatives and friends of high-risk individuals; and emotional and attitudinal issues, including the student's reluctance to act in an emergency, must be addressed. Programs must incorporate information on the willingness of an individual to perform CPR; CPR programs must be simplified and focus on critical success factors; flexible educational approaches in programs are encouraged; flexible programming that addresses the needs of the allied health professional is encouraged; formal testing should be eliminated for layperson programs; and formal testing for health care providers and instructors should be continued.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/30976/1/0000649.pd

MaizeGDB: curation and outreach go hand-in-hand

First released in 1991 with the name MaizeDB, the Maize Genetics and Genomics Database, now MaizeGDB, celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. MaizeGDB has transitioned from a focus on comprehensive curation of the literature, genetic maps and stocks to a paradigm that accommodates the recent release of a reference maize genome sequence, multiple diverse maize genomes and sequence-based gene expression data sets. The MaizeGDB Team is relatively small, and relies heavily on the research community to provide data, nomenclature standards and most importantly, to recommend future directions, priorities and strategies. Key aspects of MaizeGDB's intimate interaction with the community are the co-location of curators with maize research groups in multiple locations across the USA as well as coordination with MaizeGDB’s close partner, the Maize Genetics Cooperation—Stock Center. In this report, we describe how the MaizeGDB Team currently interacts with the maize research community and our plan for future interactions that will support updates to the functional and structural annotation of the B73 reference genome

Build it, but will they come? A geoscience cyberinfrastructure baseline analsys

Understanding the earth as a system requires integrating many forms of data from multiple fields. Builders and funders of the cyberinfrastructure designed to enable open data sharing in the geosciences risk a key failure mode: What if geoscientists do not use the cyberinfrastructure to share, discover and reuse data? In this study, we report a baseline assessment of engagement with the NSF EarthCube initiative, an open cyberinfrastructure effort for the geosciences. We find scientists perceive the need for cross-disciplinary engagement and engage where there is organizational or institutional support. However, we also find a possibly imbalanced involvement between cyber and geoscience communities at the outset, with the former showing more interest than the latter. This analysis highlights the importance of examining fields and disciplines as stakeholders to investments in the cyberinfrastructure supporting science

Plasmas and Controlled Nuclear Fusion

Contains research objectives and reports on four research projects.U. S. Atomic Energy Commission (Contract AT(30-1)-3980)U. S. Atomic Energy Commission (GK-2581

Glaciotectonic deformation associated with the Orient Point–Fishers Island moraine, westernmost Block Island Sound : further evidence of readvance of the Laurentide ice sheet

This paper is not subject to U.S. copyright. The definitive version was published in Geo-Marine Letters 32 (2012): 279-288, doi:10.1007/s00367-012-0296-9.High-resolution seismic-reflection profiles collected across pro-glacial outwash deposits adjacent to the circa 18 ka b.p. Orient Point–Fishers Island end moraine segment in westernmost Block Island Sound reveal extensive deformation. A rhythmic seismic facies indicates the host outwash deposits are composed of fine-grained glaciolacustrine sediments. The deformation is variably brittle and ductile, but predominantly compressive in nature. Brittle deformation includes reverse faults and thrust faults that strike parallel to the moraine, and thrust sheets that extend from beneath the moraine. Ductile deformation includes folded sediments that overlie undisturbed deposits, showing that they are not drape features. Other seismic evidence for compression along the ice front consists of undisturbed glaciolacustrine strata that dip back toward and underneath the moraine, and angular unconformities on the sea floor where deformed sediments extend above the surrounding undisturbed correlative strata. Together, these ice-marginal glaciotectonic features indicate that the Orient Point–Fishers Island moraine marks a significant readvance of the Laurentide ice sheet, consistent with existing knowledge for neighboring coeval moraines, and not simply a stillstand as previously reported.This work was supported by the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, and the Atlantic Hydrographic Branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.2013-06-2

Original Climax Films: historicizing the British hardcore pornography film business

This article presents findings from my research into the British hardcore pornography business. Porn studies has given little coverage to the British pornography business, with much of the academic literature focusing on the American adult entertainment industry. Recently, there has been a rising interest in the historical framework of porn cinemas both in popular culture and in academic work. This article contributes to this debate, taking both a cultural and an economic approach to explore the conditions that led to the emergence of British hardcore production as an alternative economy in the 1960s. In this economy, entrepreneurs make use of new technologies to produce artefacts that are exchanged for an economic benefit, while circumventing laws to distribute their artefacts. To historicize this economy, I draw on ethnohistorical research, which includes interviews with people involved in the British hardcore business and archival research. I argue that a combination of glamour filmmaking, a relaxation of political and cultural attitudes towards sexuality, the location of Soho, London, and emerging technologies for producing films collectively contribute to the emergence of an alternative economy of British hardcore production. I focus specifically on the practices of two entrepreneurs within this economy, Ivor Cook and Mike Freeman, considering how their actions inadvertently created the British hardcore film business, and played a significant role in the development of hardcore production outside of the United Kingdom

Evidence for predilection of macrophage infiltration patterns in the deeper midline and mesial temporal structures of the brain uniquely in patients with HIV-associated dementia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>HIV-1 penetrates the central nervous system, which is vital for HIV-associated dementia (HAD). But the role of cellular infiltration and activation together with HIV in the development of HAD is poorly understood.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To study activation and infiltration patterns of macrophages, CD8+ T cells in relation to HIV in diverse CNS areas of patients with and without dementia. 46 brain regions from two rapidly progressing severely demented patients and 53 regions from 4 HIV+ non-dementia patients were analyzed. Macrophage and CD8+ T cell infiltration of the CNS in relation to HIV was assessed using immuno-histochemical analysis with anti-HIV (P24), anti-CD8 and anti-CD68, anti-S-100A8 and granzyme B antibodies (cellular activation). Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS 12.0 with Student's t test and ANOVA.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Overall, the patterns of infiltration of macrophages and CD8+ T cells were indiscernible between patients with and without dementia, but the co-localization of macrophages and CD8+ T cells along with HIV P24 antigen in the deeper midline and mesial temporal structures of the brain segregated the two groups. This predilection of infected macrophages and CD8+ T cells to the middle part of the brain was unique to both HAD patients, along with unique nature of provirus gag gene sequences derived from macrophages in the midline and mesial temporal structures.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Strong predilection of infected macrophages and CD8+ T cells was typical of the deeper midline and mesial temporal structures uniquely in HAD patients, which has some influence on neurocognitive impairment during HIV infection.</p

The effect of artificial selection on phenotypic plasticity in maize

Remarkable productivity has been achieved in crop species through artificial selection and adaptation to modern agronomic practices. Whether intensive selection has changed the ability of improved cultivars to maintain high productivity across variable environments is unknown. Understanding the genetic control of phenotypic plasticity and genotype by environment (G × E) interaction will enhance crop performance predictions across diverse environments. Here we use data generated from the Genomes to Fields (G2F) Maize G × E project to assess the effect of selection on G × E variation and characterize polymorphisms associated with plasticity. Genomic regions putatively selected during modern temperate maize breeding explain less variability for yield G × E than unselected regions, indicating that improvement by breeding may have reduced G × E of modern temperate cultivars. Trends in genomic position of variants associated with stability reveal fewer genic associations and enrichment of variants 0–5000 base pairs upstream of genes, hypothetically due to control of plasticity by short-range regulatory elements

Maize Genomes to Fields: 2014 and 2015 field season genotype, phenotype, environment, and inbred ear image datasets

Objectives: Crop improvement relies on analysis of phenotypic, genotypic, and environmental data. Given large, well-integrated, multi-year datasets, diverse queries can be made: Which lines perform best in hot, dry environments? Which alleles of specific genes are required for optimal performance in each environment? Such datasets also can be leveraged to predict cultivar performance, even in uncharacterized environments. The maize Genomes to Fields (G2F) Initiative is a multi-institutional organization of scientists working to generate and analyze such datasets from existing, publicly available inbred lines and hybrids. G2F’s genotype by environment project has released 2014 and 2015 datasets to the public, with 2016 and 2017 collected and soon to be made available. Data description: Datasets include DNA sequences; traditional phenotype descriptions, as well as detailed ear, cob, and kernel phenotypes quantified by image analysis; weather station measurements; and soil characterizations by site. Data are released as comma separated value spreadsheets accompanied by extensive README text descriptions. For genotypic and phenotypic data, both raw data and a version with outliers removed are reported. For weather data, two versions are reported: a full dataset calibrated against nearby National Weather Service sites and a second calibrated set with outliers and apparent artifacts removed