The Development of the Brazilian Bio-electricity Market: An Historical Analysis of the Institutional Changes in the Sugarcane and Electricity Markets

Crop Production/Industries, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Potential decline in the distribution and food provisioning services of the mopane worm (Gonimbrasia belina) in southern Africa

The mopane worm (Gonimbrasia belina) is an edible insect distributed across southern Africa. As a culturally important source of food, the mopane worm provides nutrition, livelihoods and improves wellbeing for rural communities across its range. However, this is strong evidence that insect populations are declining worldwide, and climate change is likely to cause many insect species to shift in their distributions. For these reasons, we aimed to model how the ecosystem service benefits of the mopane worm are likely to change in the coming decades. We modelled the distribution of the mopane worm under two contrasting climate change scenarios (RCPs 4.5 and 8.5). Moreover, given that the mopane worm shows strong interactions with other species, particularly trees, we incorporated biotic interactions in our models using a Bayesian network. Our models project significant contraction across the species’ range, with up to 70% decline in habitat by the 2080s. Botswana and Zimbabwe are predicted to be the most severely impacted countries, with almost all habitat in Botswana and Zimbabwe modelled to be lost by the 2080s. Decline of mopane worm habitat would likely have negative implications for the health of people in rural communities due to loss of an important source of protein as well as household income provided by their harvest. Biogeographic shifts therefore have potential to exacerbate food insecurity, socio-economic inequalities, and gender imbalance (women are the main harvesters), with cascading effects that most negatively impact poor rural communities dependent on natural resourc

Distinguished non-Archimedean representations

For a symmetric space (G,H), one is interested in understanding the vector space of H-invariant linear forms on a representation \pi of G. In particular an important question is whether or not the dimension of this space is bounded by one. We cover the known results for the pair (G=R_{E/F}GL(n),H=GL(n)), and then discuss the corresponding SL(n) case. In this paper, we show that (G=R_{E/F}SL(n),H=SL(n)) is a Gelfand pair when n is odd. When $n$ is even, the space of H-invariant forms on \pi can have dimension more than one even when \pi is supercuspidal. The latter work is joint with Dipendra Prasad

Improving coastal livelihoods through sustainable aquaculture practices - a report to the collaborative APEC Grouper Research and Development Network

Wild-harvest fisheries for live reef fish are largely over-exploited or unsustainable because of over-fishing and the widespread use of destructive fishing practices such as blast and cyanide fishing. Sustainable aquaculture – such as that of groupers – is one option for meeting the strong demand for reef fish, as well as potentially maintaining or improving the livelihoods of coastal communities. This report from a short study by the STREAM Initiative draws on secondary literature, media sources and four diverse case studies from at-risk reef fisheries, to frame a strategy for encouraging sustainable aquaculture as an alternative to destructive fishing practices. It was undertaken as a component of the APEC-funded project Collaborative Grouper Research and Development Network (FWG/01/2001) to better understand how recent technical advances in grouper culture and other complementary work – including that of the Asia-Pacific Marine Finfish Aquaculture Network (APMFAN) hosted by NACA – could better support the livelihoods of poor coastal communities. (PDF contains 49 pages

3D geological model report for Liverpool, Warrington and Irlam superficial and bedrock model

This report describes the data and methodology used to construct the 3D geological model of the artificially modified ground, superficial deposits and bedrock of Liverpool, Warrington and Irlam, NW England (Figure 1). These areas form part of the Lower Mersey Corridor linking Liverpool to Manchester. Historically this been an important transport connection in this region between these cities along the Manchester Ship Canal and more recently by rail and road. The 3D geological model was developed for the purpose of characterising lithological variability within superficial deposits and depth to rockhead. It is intended to be used for the assessment of engineering geological and geological ground conditions and their influence on aquifer vulnerability and recharge potential. The 3D geological model is not intended as a replacement for invasive ground investigation. It provides an additional tool for the development of a conceptual ground model in Liverpool, Warrington and Irlam. The model was constructed to be compatible with, and equivalent to, a detailed 1:10 000 scale geological map. The model therefore includes geological units that would normally be resolved at 1:10 000 scale. The total area of the BGS Liverpool, Warrington and Irlam 3D geological model is approximately 585 km2 and ranges in elevation from 400 mOD to -300 mOD and is suitable for use at scales of 1:10 000 to 1:50 000. The geological model includes the top, base and thickness for each natural and artificial superficial deposit within the area. The BGS Liverpool, Warrington and Irlam 3D geological model report has been separated into the following sections: • Bedrock and superficial geology (Sections 2, 3 and 4): provides the geological context of the Liverpool, Warrington and Irlam geological model areas • Model datasets (Section 5): a description of the data used to inform the BGS Liverpool, Warrington and Irlam 3D geological model and the processes used on these datasets. • Modelled surfaces and volumes (Section 6): a description of the surface horizons modelled for the BGS Liverpool, Warrington and Irlam 3D geological model. • Superficial and bedrock geology modelling workflows (Section 7): the methodology used to model the superficial and bedrock geology in 3D • 3D geological model quality assurance (QA), rules and assumptions and limitations (Sections 8, 9 and 10): a description of the 3D geological model QA procedures; the geological rules and assumptions that were applied to the 3D geological model, and the limitations around the use of the 3D geological model • Uncertainty (Section 11): a qualitative assessment of the uncertainty is described. • BGS Liverpool, Warrington and Irlam 3D geological model images (Section 12): 3D and cross-section images of the 3D geological outputs are provided for the horizons modelled

Temporal niche expansion in mammals from a nocturnal ancestor after dinosaur extinction

Most modern mammals, including strictly diurnal species, exhibit sensory adaptations to nocturnal activity that are thought to be the result of a prolonged nocturnal phase or ‘bottleneck’ during early mammalian evolution. Nocturnality may have allowed mammals to avoid antagonistic interactions with diurnal dinosaurs during the Mesozoic. However, understanding the evolution of mammalian activity patterns is hindered by scant and ambiguous fossil evidence. While ancestral reconstructions of behavioural traits from extant species have the potential to elucidate these patterns, existing studies have been limited in taxonomic scope. Here, we use an extensive behavioural dataset for 2,415 species from all extant orders to reconstruct ancestral activity patterns across Mammalia. We find strong support for the nocturnal origin of mammals and the Cenozoic appearance of diurnality, although cathemerality (mixed diel periodicity) may have appeared in the late Cretaceous. Simian primates are among the earliest mammals to exhibit strict diurnal activity, some 52–33 million years ago. Our study is consistent with the hypothesis that temporal partitioning between early mammals and dinosaurs during the Mesozoic led to a mammalian nocturnal bottleneck, but also demonstrates the need for improved phylogenetic estimates for Mammalia

Investigation of Touch-Sensitive Responses by Hyphae of the Human Pathogenic Fungus Candida albicans

Candida albicans is a fungus that commonly infects the mucosal surface of humans. The hyphal growth form of this fungus may initiate the primary invasion of the host. Here we show that hyphae respond thigmotropically and morphologically to cues such as the presence of a surface, pores, grooves and ridges. Growth on some firm surfaces elicits a helical growth response. Hyphae follow grooves and ridges of inert substrates and penetrate pores of filtration membranes. Our in vitro experiments suggest that thigmotropism may enhance the ability of a hypha to invade epithelia of a host at sites of weakened integrity

Benefits of a marketing cooperative in transition agriculture: Mórakert purchasing and service co-operative

The paper analyses the potential benefits of marketing cooperatives in Hungary, employing a transaction cost economics framework. We found that the purchased quantity, the existence of contracts, flexibility and trust are the most important factors farmers consider when selling their products via a cooperative. The most striking result is that diversification has positive influences on the share of cooperatives in farmers’ sale. Furthermore, farmers with larger bargaining power have less willingness to sell their product to the cooperative. Surprisingly, asset specificity has rather negative effects on the share of cooperatives in members’ sales

A gene signature for post-infectious chronic fatigue syndrome

Background: At present, there are no clinically reliable disease markers for chronic fatigue syndrome. DNA chip microarray technology provides a method for examining the differential expression of mRNA from a large number of genes. Our hypothesis was that a gene expression signature, generated by microarray assays, could help identify genes which are dysregulated in patients with post-infectious CFS and so help identify biomarkers for the condition. Methods: Human genome-wide Affymetrix GeneChip arrays (39,000 transcripts derived from 33,000 gene sequences) were used to compare the levels of gene expression in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of male patients with post-infectious chronic fatigue (n = 8) and male healthy control subjects (n = 7). Results: Patients and healthy subjects differed significantly in the level of expression of 366 genes. Analysis of the differentially expressed genes indicated functional implications in immune modulation, oxidative stress and apoptosis. Prototype biomarkers were identified on the basis of differential levels of gene expression and possible biological significance Conclusion: Differential expression of key genes identified in this study offer an insight into the possible mechanism of chronic fatigue following infection. The representative biomarkers identified in this research appear promising as potential biomarkers for diagnosis and treatment