Biogeography of key mesozooplankton species in the North Atlantic and egg production of Calanus finmarchicus

Here we present a new, pan-North-Atlantic compilation of data on key mesozooplankton species, including the most important copepod, Calanus finmarchicus. Distributional data of eight representative zooplankton taxa, from recent (2000–2009) Continuous Plankton Recorder data, are presented, along with basin-scale data of the phytoplankton colour index. Then we present a compilation of data on C. finmarchicus, including observations of abundance, demography, egg production and female size, with accompanying data on temperature and chlorophyll. This is a contribution by Canadian, European and US scientists and their institutions: http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.820732, http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.824423, http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.828393 (please also see Melle et al., 2013; Castellani and Licandro, 2013; Jónasdóttir et al., 2014)

Gender and sustainable livelihoods: linking gendered experiences of environment, community and self

In this essay I explore the economic, social, environmental and cultural changes taking place in Bolsena, Italy, where agricultural livelihoods have rapidly diminished in the last two decades. I examine how gender dynamics have shifted with the changing values and livelihoods of Bolsena through three women’s narratives detailing their gendered experiences of environment, community and self. I reflect on these changes with Sabrina, who is engaged in a feminist community-based organization; Anna, who is running an alternative wine bar; and Isabella, a jeweler, who is engaged in ecofeminist practices. My analysis is based on concepts developed by feminist political ecology: specifically, the theory of rooted networks from Dianne Rocheleau, Donna Haraway’s concept of naturecultures (and the work of J. K. Gibson-Graham on new economic imaginaries emerging from the politics of place. I aim to think with, reflect upon and provoke from the ‘‘otherwise’’, taking into account the lived relations entwining nature and gender. My article looks at the interconnections of gender, environment and livelihoods, attentive to the daily needs, embodied interactions and labours of these three women as part of a reappropriation, reconstruction and reinvention of Bolsena’s lifeworld. By listening to the stories of their everyday lives and struggles, I show the dynamic potential of the politics of place and the efforts to build diverse economies and more ethical economic and ecological relationships based on gender-aware subjectivities and values

Prey detection and prey capture in copepod nauplii

Copepod nauplii are either ambush feeders that feed on motile prey or they produce a feeding current that entrains prey cells. It is unclear how ambush and feeding-current feeding nauplii perceive and capture prey. Attack jumps in ambush feeding nauplii should not be feasible at low Reynolds numbers due to the thick viscous boundary layer surrounding the attacking nauplius. We use high-speed video to describe the detection and capture of phytoplankton prey by the nauplii of two ambush feeding species (Acartia tonsa and Oithona davisae) and by the nauplii of one feeding-current feeding species (Temora longicornis). We demonstrate that the ambush feeders both detect motile prey remotely. Prey detection elicits an attack jump, but the jump is not directly towards the prey, such as has been described for adult copepods. Rather, the nauplius jumps past the prey and sets up an intermittent feeding current that pulls in the prey from behind towards the mouth. The feeding-current feeding nauplius detects prey arriving in the feeding current but only when the prey is intercepted by the setae on the feeding appendages. This elicits an altered motion pattern of the feeding appendages that draws in the prey

The effects of shoulder load and pinch force on electromyographic activity and blood flow in the forearm during a pinch task

The object of the current study was to determine whether static contraction of proximal musculature has an effect on the blood flow more distally in the upper extremity. Static contractions of muscles in the neck shoulder region at three levels (relaxed, shoulders elevated and shoulders elevated loaded with 4.95 kg each) were combined with intermittent pinch forces at 0, 10 and 25% of the maximum voluntary contraction (MVC). Blood flow to the forearm was measured with Doppler ultrasound. Myoelectric activity of the forearm and neck-shoulder muscles was recorded to check for the workload levels. Across all levels of shoulder load, blood flow increased significantly with increasing pinch force (21% at 10% MVC and by 44% at 25% MVC). Blood flow was significantly affected by shoulder load, with the lowest blood flow at the highest shoulder load. Interactions of pinch force and shoulder load were not significant. The myoelectric activity of forearm muscles increased with increasing pinch force. The activation of the trapezius muscle decreased with increasing pinch force and increased with increasing shoulder load. The precise mechanisms accounting for the influence of shoulder load remains unclear. The results of this study indicate that shoulder load might influence blood flow to the forearm

‘Now, where were we?’ The highs and lows of hunting data with a research pack

The boundaries of the social have been stretched by recent scholarship in sociological animal studies. Empirical work has begun to open up to the presence of the myriad other creatures that make up social worlds. Yet much of this research relies on standard practices and human-centred methods. This paper reflects on a piece of research characterised by such contradiction drawn from a project investigating everyday lives with canine companions via observation and interviewing. What was methodologically distinctive, was that the majority of interviews involved dogs being present and most were undertaking while walking with dogs. An ethnographic diary was also kept in one field site mapping events, interactions and routines of dogs, humans and others in the space of ‘dog walking’. How might non-humans intervene in data collection and be reflected in the data? What is lost and gained by researching (literally) in the field with a multi-species research pack

Dietary fat and breast cancer risk revisited: a meta-analysis of the published literature

Animal experiments and human ecological studies suggest that dietary fat intake is associated with a risk of breast cancer, but individual-based studies have given contradictory results. We have carried out a meta-analysis of this association to include all papers published up to July 2003. Case-control and cohort studies that examined the association of dietary fat, or fat-containing foods, with risk of breast cancer were identified. A total of 45 risk estimates for total fat intake were obtained. Descriptive data from each study were extracted with an estimate of relative risk and its associated 95% confidence interval (CI), and were analysed using the random effects model of DerSimonian and Laird. The summary relative risk, comparing the highest and lowest levels of intake of total fat, was 1.13 (95% CI: 1.03-1.25). Cohort studies (N=14) had a summary relative risk of 1.11 (95% CI: 0.99-1.25) and case-control studies (N=31) had a relative risk of 1.14 (95% CI 0.99-1.32). Significant summary relative risks were also found for saturated fat (RR, 1.19; 95% CI: 1.06-1.35) and meat intake (RR, 1.17; 95% CI 1.06-1.29). Combined estimates of risk for total and saturated fat intake, and for meat intake, all indicate an association between higher intakes and an increased risk of breast cancer. Case-control and cohort studies gave similar results