LifeWatch – A European e-Science and observatory infrastructure supporting access and use of biodiversity and ecosystem data

There are many promising earth and biodiversity-monitoring projects underway across the globe, but they often operate in information islands, unable easily to share data with others. This is not convenient: It is a barrier to scientists collaborating on complex, cross-disciplinary projects which is an essential nature of biodiversity research. 

LifeWatch (www.lifewatch.eu) is an ESFRI (European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures) initiative which has just entered its construction phase. It is aiming at new ways of collaboration, in an open-access research environment to solve complex societal and scientific questions on biodiversity and ecosystems. It installs a range of new services and tools to help the researchers communicate, share data, create models, analyze results, manage projects and organize the community. The power of LifeWatch comes from linking all kinds of biodiversity related databases (e.g. collections, long-term monitoring data) to tools for analysis and modeling, opening entirely new avenues for research with the potential for new targeted data generation. At this level the interface with national data repositories becomes most important, as this opens the opportunity for users to gain advantage from data availability on the European level. LifeWatch will provide common methods to discover, access, and develop available and new data, analytical capabilities, and to catalog everything, to track citation and re-use of data, to annotate, and to keep the system secure. This includes computing tool-kits for researchers: for instance, an interoperable computing environment for statistical analysis, cutting-edge software to manage the workflow in scientific projects, and access to new or existing computing resources. The result: ‘e-laboratories’ or virtual labs, through which researchers distributed across countries, time zones and disciplines can collaborate. With emphasis on the open sharing of data and workflows (and associated provenance information) the infrastructure allows scientists to create e-laboratories across multiple organizations, controlling access where necessary

Evaluation of Antimicrobial Interventions Applied During Further Processing of Raw Beef Products to Reduce Pathogen Contamination

This project was designed to validate antimicrobial applications on intact beef subprimals, frozen beef, and moisture-enhanced beef for the reduction of Shiga toxinproducing Escherichia coli (STEC). In-plant validation trials were conducted to determine efficacy of interventions on Biotype I STEC surrogate microorganisms (ATCC: BAA-1427, BAA-1428, BAA-1429, BAA-1430, and BAA-1431). Two culture preparation and inoculation methods were evaluated. There was no difference (P > 0.05) between reductions of surrogate microorganisms on beef surfaces for inoculum preparation methods or for inoculation temperatures. In-plant evaluation of antimicrobial interventions for various beef cuts inoculated with surrogate E. coli and subsequently treated with solutions of lactic acid (3.5%), Citrilow™ (pH = 1.05), Beefxide® (2.0%), or peroxyacetic acid blends (PAA, 150 ppm-Inspexx™150 and 190 ppm-Inspexx™ 200) resulted in reductions ranging from 0.1 to 0.8 log10 CFU. Following in-plant experiments, a trial evaluating the efficacy of antimicrobial solutions prepared using water from different sources was conducted, and source did not affect (P > 0.05) reductions of E. coli. Additionally, warm (55°C) lactic acid applied to frozen, inoculated beef trimmings at concentrations of 2.5% and 5.0% achieved reductions of 0.5 and 0.7 log10 CFU/g, respectively. Differences in reductions of E. coli achieved by lactic acid (2.5 and 5.0% treatment groups) applied to fresh and frozen beef surfaces were evaluated, and reductions achieved on frozen cuts treated with 5.0% lactic acid were greater (P 0.05) among treatments for reduction of surface or internalized surrogate E. coli. These data suggest that additional research should be conducted to determine the most suitable application of these ingredients for moisture-enhanced beef products. Overall, these results can be used by processors to fulfill the regulatory requirements for validating their food safety/HACCP programs

Reducing Gender Stereotypes in Mathematics

Research into academic gaps between male and female students in math and science areas show male students outperform females. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of gender stereotypes as they relate to male and female academic achievement levels in mathematics and science. The two-fold objectives for the project include: determining how gender biases and stereotypes affect female performance in the class setting and on standardized testing; implementing strategies that increase female academic achievement in typically male dominated subject areas. This thesis project examines the trends for male and female success rates on standardized and teacher generated tests. It investigates the historical perception that gender assigns inherent giftedness to boys in math related subjects. It further discusses influence, through family and societal stereotypes, that perpetuate the thought that math-related fields are purely a male domain. The research study was conducted in a sixth grade classroom in an urban setting. The math instruction time was one hour and 15 minutes every day during the month long project. The research group of 23 students was divided up by gender, twelve boys and eleven girls. The student population was almost entirely a lower economic class, diverse in ethnicity, and included several students with special needs. Single sex work groups were developed and maintained to allow a more comfortable environment and gender specific lessons developed for this project. Research data included pre-testing to assess academic level, post-tests to highlight any changes in achievement, classroom observation, and parent and student surveys. Conclusions from the data analysis support the projects intent, that an emphasis on gender equity in teaching mathematics can change and increase female student achievement and self -esteem

LifeWatch – A European e-Science and observatory infrastructure supporting access and use of biodiversity and ecosystem data

There are many promising earth and biodiversity-monitoring projects underway across the globe, but they often operate in information islands, unable easily to share data with others. This is not convenient: It is a barrier to scientists collaborating on complex, cross-disciplinary projects which is an essential nature of biodiversity research. LifeWatch (www.lifewatch.eu) is an ESFRI (European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures) initiative which has just entered its construction phase. It is aiming at new ways of collaboration, in an open-access research environment to solve complex societal and scientific questions on biodiversity and ecosystems. It installs a range of new services and tools to help the researchers communicate, share data, create models, analyze results, manage projects and organize the community. The power of LifeWatch comes from linking all kinds of biodiversity related databases (e.g. collections, long-term monitoring data) to tools for analysis and modeling, opening entirely new avenues for research with the potential for new targeted data generation. At this level the interface with national data repositories becomes most important, as this opens the opportunity for users to gain advantage from data availability on the European level. LifeWatch will provide common methods to discover, access, and develop available and new data, analytical capabilities, and to catalog everything, to track citation and re-use of data, to annotate, and to keep the system secure. This includes computing tool-kits for researchers: for instance, an interoperable computing environment for statistical analysis, cutting-edge software to manage the workflow in scientific projects, and access to new or existing computing resources. The result: ‘e-laboratories’ or virtual labs, through which researchers distributed across countries, time zones and disciplines can collaborate. With emphasis on the open sharing of data and workflows (and associated provenance information) the infrastructure allows scientists to create e-laboratories across multiple organizations, controlling access where necessary

Wild bee and floral diversity co-vary in response to the direct and indirect impacts of land use

Loss of habitat area and diversity poses a threat to communities of wild pollinators and flowering plants in agricultural landscapes. Pollinators, such as wild bees, and insect‐pollinated plants are two groups of organisms that closely interact. Nevertheless, it is still not clear how species richness and functional diversity, in terms of pollination‐relevant traits, of these two groups influence each other and how they respond to land use change. In the present study, we used data from 24 agricultural landscapes in seven European countries to investigate the effect of landscape composition and habitat richness on species richness and functional diversity of wild bees and insect‐pollinated plants. We characterized the relationships between the diversity of bees and flowering plants and identified indirect effects of landscape on bees and plants mediated by these relationships. We found that increasing cover of arable land negatively affected flowering plant species richness, while increasing habitat richness positively affected the species richness and functional diversity of bees. In contrast, the functional diversity of insect‐pollinated plants (when corrected for species richness) was unaffected by landscape composition, and habitat richness showed little relation to bee functional diversity. We additionally found that bee species richness positively affected plant species richness and that bee functional diversity was positively affected by both species richness and functional diversity of plants. The relationships between flowering plant and bee diversity were modulated by indirect effects of landscape characteristics on the biotic communities. In conclusion, our findings demonstrate that landscape properties affect plant and bee communities in both direct and indirect ways. The interconnection between the diversities of wild bees and insect‐pollinated plants increases the risk for parallel declines, extinctions, and functional depletion. Our study highlights the necessity of considering the interplay between interacting species groups when assessing the response of entire communities to land use changes

Temperature drives variation in flying insect biomass across a German malaise trap network

1. Among the many concerns for biodiversity in the Anthropocene, recent reports of flying insect loss are particularly alarming, given their importance as pollinators, pest control agents, and as a food source. Few insect monitoring programmes cover the large spatial scales required to provide more generalizable estimates of insect responses to global change drivers. 2. We ask how climate and surrounding habitat affect flying insect biomass using data from the first year of a new monitoring network at 84 locations across Germany comprising a spatial gradient of land cover types from protected to urban and crop areas. 3. Flying insect biomass increased linearly with temperature across Germany. However, the effect of temperature on flying insect biomass flipped to negative in the hot months of June and July when local temperatures most exceeded long-term averages. 4. Land cover explained little variation in insect biomass, but biomass was lowest in forests. Grasslands, pastures, and orchards harboured the highest insect biomass. The date of peak biomass was primarily driven by surrounding land cover, with grasslands especially having earlier insect biomass phenologies. 5. Standardised, large-scale monitoring provides key insights into the underlying processes of insect decline and is pivotal for the development of climate-adapted strategies to promote insect diversity. In a temperate climate region, we find that the positive effects of temperature on flying insect biomass diminish in a German summer at locations where temperatures most exceeded long-term averages. Our results highlight the importance of local adaptation in climate change-driven impacts on insect communities

Towards Increased Recovery of Critical Raw Materials from WEEE– evaluation of CRMs at a component level and pre-processing methods for interface optimisation with recovery processes

Increasing recovery of critical raw materials (CRMs) from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is a strategic priority to mitigate supply risks. Today, CRM recovery rates are generally low, with increases requiring new recovery processes and interface optimisation with pre-processing to ensure appropriate material flows for efficient recovery are generated. Here, results from an industrial trial to increase CRM recovery from WEEE are presented to inform development of pre-processing strategies which generate such material flows. Au, Ag, Co, Ga, Mg, Nb, Ru, Pd, Ir, Y, Nd, Sb, Ta and W are identified with XRF in components of a range of WEEE samples including within individual printed circuit board (PCB) components. CRM distribution in PCBs is mapped by visual inspection with reference to this data. Cost-effective methods to disassemble WEEE; isolate CRM bearing components, and upgrade/concentrate CRMs are evaluated for industrial adoption. A guillotine is found most suitable for LCD disassembly and separation of Au edge-contacts from PCBs, while cryocracking is best for isolation of internal components of digital media devices. Thermal PCB disassembly with a solder bath for simultaneous SMD removal and subsequent sieving to sort SMDs thereby concentrating CRMs for recovery is a promising approach. Microwave ashing of PCBs to concentrate CRMs is promising although off-gas treatment would be required. Recovery potential of identified CRMs from material streams generated is found to be poor due to lack of suitable recovery infrastructure except for precious and platinum group metals in PCBs, but available pyrometallurgical recovery permanently dissipates other CRMs present

Epigenetic and integrative cross-omics analyses of cerebral white matter hyperintensities on MRI

Cerebral white matter hyperintensities on MRI are markers of cerebral small vessel disease, a major risk factor for dementia and stroke. Despite the successful identification of multiple genetic variants associated with this highly heritable condition, its genetic architecture remains incompletely understood. More specifically, the role of DNA methylation has received little attention. We investigated the association between white matter hyperintensity burden and DNA methylation in blood at approximately 450,000 CpG sites in 9,732 middle-aged to older adults from 14 community-based studies. Single-CpG and region-based association analyses were carried out. Functional annotation and integrative cross-omics analyses were performed to identify novel genes underlying the relationship between DNA methylation and white matter hyperintensities. We identified 12 single-CpG and 46 region-based DNA methylation associations with white matter hyperintensity burden. Our top discovery single CpG, cg24202936 (P = 7.6 × 10-8), was associated with F2 expression in blood (P = 6.4 × 10-5), and colocalized with FOLH1 expression in brain (posterior probability =0.75). Our top differentially methylated regions were in PRMT1 and in CCDC144NL-AS1, which were also represented in single-CpG associations (cg17417856 and cg06809326, respectively). Through Mendelian randomization analyses cg06809326 was putatively associated with white matter hyperintensity burden (P = 0.03) and expression of CCDC144NL-AS1 possibly mediated this association. Differentially methylated region analysis, joint epigenetic association analysis, and multi-omics colocalization analysis consistently identified a role of DNA methylation near SH3PXD2A, a locus previously identified in genome-wide association studies of white matter hyperintensities. Gene set enrichment analyses revealed functions of the identified DNA methylation loci in the blood-brain barrier and in the immune response. Integrative cross-omics analysis identified 19 key regulatory genes in two networks related to extracellular matrix organization, and lipid and lipoprotein metabolism. A drug repositioning analysis indicated antihyperlipidemic agents, more specifically peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha, as possible target drugs for white matter hyperintensities. Our epigenome-wide association study and integrative cross-omics analyses implicate novel genes influencing white matter hyperintensity burden, which converged on pathways related to the immune response and to a compromised blood brain barrier possibly due to disrupted cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix interactions. The results also suggest that antihyperlipidemic therapy may contribute to lowering risk for white matter hyperintensities possibly through protection against blood brain barrier disruption