Integrating timescales with time-transfer functions: A practical approach for an INTIMATE database

© 2014 Elsevier Ltd.The purpose of the INTIMATE project is to integrate palaeo-climate information from terrestrial, ice and marine records so that the timing of environmental response to climate forcing can be compared in both space and time. One of the key difficulties in doing this is the range of different methods of dating that can be used across different disciplines. For this reason, one of the main outputs of INTIMATE has been to use an event-stratigraphic approach which enables researchers to co-register synchronous events (such as the deposition of tephra from major volcanic eruptions) in different archives (Blockley etal., 2012). However, this only partly solves the problem, because it gives information only at particular short intervals where such information is present. Between these points the ability to compare different records is necessarily less precise chronologically. What is needed therefore is a way to quantify the uncertainties in the correlations between different records, even if they are dated by different methods, and make maximum use of the information available that links different records. This paper outlines the design of a database that is intended to provide integration of timescales and associated environmental proxy information. The database allows for the fact that all timescales have their own limitations, which should be quantified in terms of the uncertainties quoted. It also makes use of the fact that each timescale has strengths in terms of describing the data directly associated with it. For this reason the approach taken allows users to look at data on any timescale that can in some way be related to the data of interest, rather than specifying a specific timescale or timescales which should always be used. The information going into the database is primarily: proxy information (principally from sediments and ice cores) against depth, age depth models against reference chronologies (typically IntCal or ice core), and time-transfer functions that relate different timescales to each other, through the use of event stratigraphies or global phenomena such as cosmogenic isotope production rate variations

Public Participation and NGO activity in Nature-Based Solutions in Urban areas of China

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this recordData availability: Data will be made available on request.This paper analyses the degree and types of public participation in Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) projects in China. The paper is based upon the premise that NBS affect multiple aspects of the city as a place for the daily lives and activities of citizens and that NBS implementation can benefit from citizen and stakeholder involvement. NBS thus offer a platform for stimulating engagement between the local government and the public. Case studies are examined through a literature review, site visits, and interviews with researchers, local officials and NGOs in China. The paper indicates that there has been significant progress since the 1990s in formal requirements of public participation through Chinese legislation promoting the inclusiveness of the public in environmental and NBS decision-making, and acknowledgment of the importance of NGOs, however actual implementation of soliciting public opinion and involvement in NBS project design has been more limited. The case studies suggest that the level of involvement of the public in NBS activities and decision-making is the reciprocal of the size of the project, where there is a high-level of involvement in the smaller local projects, but minimal involvement in larger-scale NBS projects. We find that Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) have a significant potential to help finance NBS projects providing the project can forecast low risk and positive revenue for investors, therefore this model would merit further exploration. However, PPPs may also involve limited public participation by citizens and stakeholders beyond private companies and may therefore require targeted efforts to address local communities’ needs and interests. Local people are the most important (and willing) actors and opinionators in projects that directly affect their lives, livelihoods and well-being. The findings highlight the important role of NGOs in promoting and facilitating public participation, and accompanying co-benefits, in several of the Chinese case studies. Our study also suggests that symbiosis between local governments and the citizens could be invoked by local community-based organisations (e.g. Community Resident Committees or similar) that can act as a liaison point and catalyst to public participation in NBS projects, although significant training would also be required.European Union Horizon 2020National Key R&D Program Intergovernmental Cooperation in International Science and Technology Innovation, Ministry of Science and Technology of Chin

Predictability of European winter 2019/20: Indian Ocean dipole impacts on the NAO

Northern Europe and the UK experienced an exceptionally warm and wet winter in 2019/20, driven by an anomalously positive North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). This positive NAO was well forecast by several seasonal forecast systems, suggesting that this winter the NAO was highly predictable at seasonal lead times. A very strong positive Indian Ocean dipole (IOD) event was also observed at the start of winter. Here we use composite analysis and model experiments, to show that the IOD was a key driver of the observed positive NAO. Using model experiments that perturb the Indian Ocean initial conditions, two teleconnection pathways of the IOD to the north Atlantic emerge: a tropospheric teleconnection pathway via a Rossby wave train travelling from the Indian Ocean over the Pacific and Atlantic, and a stratospheric teleconnection pathway via the Aleutian region and the stratospheric polar vortex. These pathways are similar to those for the El Niño Southern Oscillation link to the north Atlantic which are already well documented. The anomalies in the north Atlantic jet stream location and strength, and the associated precipitation anomalies over the UK and northern Europe, as simulated by the model IOD experiments, show remarkable agreement with those forecast and observed

<i>C9orf72 </i>Repeat Expansion Discordance in 6 Multigenerational Kindreds

Background and Objectives:A hexanucleotide repeat expansion in the noncoding region of the C9orf72 gene is the most common genetically identifiable cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia in populations of European ancestry. Pedigrees associated with this expansion exhibit phenotypic heterogeneity and incomplete disease penetrance, the basis of which is poorly understood. Relatives of those carrying the C9orf72 repeat expansion exhibit a characteristic cognitive endophenotype independent of carrier status. To examine whether additional shared genetic or environmental risks within kindreds could compel this observation, we have conducted a detailed cross-sectional study of the inheritance within multigenerational Irish kindreds carrying the C9orf72 repeat expansion.Methods:One hundred thirty-one familial ALS pedigrees, 59 of which carried the C9orf72 repeat expansion (45.0% [95% CI 36.7–53.5]), were identified through the Irish population-based ALS register. C9orf72 genotyping was performed using repeat-primed PCR with amplicon fragment length analysis. Pedigrees were further investigated using SNP, targeted sequencing data, whole-exome sequencing, and whole-genome sequencing.Results:We identified 21 kindreds where at least 1 family member with ALS carried the C9orf72 repeat expansion and from whom DNA was available from multiple affected family members. Of these, 6 kindreds (28.6% [95% CI 11.8–48.3]) exhibited discordant segregation. The C9orf72 haplotype was studied in 2 families and was found to segregate with the C9orf72-positive affected relative but not the C9orf72-negative affected relative. No other ALS pathogenic variants were identified within these discordant kindreds.Discussion:Family members of kindreds associated with the C9orf72 repeat expansion may carry an increased risk of developing ALS independent of their observed carrier status. This has implications for assessment and counseling of asymptomatic individuals regarding their genetic risk

Analysis of Endocrine Disruption in Southern California Coastal Fish Using an Aquatic Multispecies Microarray

BackgroundEndocrine disruptors include plasticizers, pesticides, detergents, and pharmaceuticals. Turbot and other flatfish are used to characterize the presence of chemicals in the marine environment. Unfortunately, there are relatively few genes of turbot and other flatfish in GenBank, which limits the use of molecular tools such as microarrays and quantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) to study disruption of endocrine responses in sentinel fish captured by regulatory agencies.ObjectivesWe fabricated a multigene cross-species microarray as a diagnostic tool to screen the effects of environmental chemicals in fish, for which there is minimal genomic information. The array included genes that are involved in the actions of adrenal and sex steroids, thyroid hormone, and xenobiotic responses. This microarray will provide a sensitive tool for screening for the presence of chemicals with adverse effects on endocrine responses in coastal fish species.MethodsWe used a custom multispecies microarray to study gene expression in wild hornyhead turbot (Pleuronichthys verticalis) collected from polluted and clean coastal waters and in laboratory male zebrafish (Danio rerio) after exposure to estradiol and 4-nonylphenol. We measured gene-specific expression in turbot liver by qRT-PCR and correlated it to microarray data.ResultsMicroarray and qRT-PCR analyses of livers from turbot collected from polluted areas revealed altered gene expression profiles compared with those from nonaffected areas.ConclusionsThe agreement between the array data and qRT-PCR analyses validates this multispecies microarray. The microarray measurement of gene expression in zebrafish, which are phylogenetically distant from turbot, indicates that this multispecies microarray will be useful for measuring endocrine responses in other fish

TRICALS: creating a highway toward a cure

A change in our current approach toward drug development is required to improve the likelihood of finding effective treatment for patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The aim of the Treatment Research Initiative to Cure ALS (TRICALS) is to extend the collective effort with industry and consolidate drug development paths. TRICALS has begun a series of meetings on how to best move the field forward collaboratively, thereby addressing five major topics in ALS clinical trials: (1) preclinical research, (2) biomarker development, (3) eligibility criteria, (4) efficacy endpoints and (5) innovative trial design. There is an appetite for ongoing discussions of these major topics in clinical trials between representatives from academia, patient advocacy groups, industry partners and funding bodies. Industry is open to fundamentally change drug development for ALS and shorten the time to effective therapy for patients by implementing promising innovations in biomarker development, trial design, and patient selection. There is however, a pressing need from all stakeholders for regulatory discussions and amendments of current guidelines to successfully adopt innovation in future clinical development lines

Climate change projections and stratosphere–troposphere interaction

Climate change is expected to increase winter rainfall and flooding in many extratropical regions as evaporation and precipitation rates increase, storms become more intense and storm tracks move polewards. Here, we show how changes in stratospheric circulation could play a significant role in future climate change in the extratropics through an additional shift in the tropospheric circulation. This shift in the circulation alters climate change in regional winter rainfall by an amount large enough to significantly alter regional climate change projections. The changes are consistent with changes in stratospheric winds inducing a change in the baroclinic eddy growth rate across the depth of the troposphere. A change in mean wind structure and an equatorward shift of the tropospheric storm tracks relative to models with poor stratospheric resolution allows coupling with surface climate. Using the Atlantic storm track as an example, we show how this can double the predicted increase in extreme winter rainfall over Western and Central Europe compared to other current climate projection