252 research outputs found
Impact of land cover change on aboveground carbon stocks in Afromontane landscape in Kenya
Land cover change takes place in sub-Saharan Africa as forests and shrublands are converted to agricultural lands in order to meet the needs of growing population. Changes in land cover also impact carbon sequestration in vegetation cover with an influence on climate on continental scale. The impact of land cover change on tree aboveground carbon stocks was studied in Taita Hills, Kenya. The land cover change between 1987 and 2011 for four points of time was assessed using SPOT satellite imagery, while the carbon density in various land cover types was assessed with field measurements, allometric biomass functions and airborne laser scanning data. Finally, the mean carbon densities of land cover types were combined with land cover maps resulting in carbon stock values for given land cover types for each point of time studied. Expansion of croplands has been taking place since 1987 and before on the cost of thickets and shrublands, especially on the foothills and lowlands. Due to the land cover changes, the carbon stock of trees was decreasing until 2003, after which there has been an increase. The findings of the research is supported by forest transition model, which emphasizes increase of awareness of forests' role in providing ecosystem services, such as habitats for pollinators, water harvesting and storage at the same time when economic reasons in making land-use choices between cropland and woodland, and governmental legislation supports trees on farms.Land cover change takes place in sub-Saharan Africa as forests and shrublands are converted to agricultural lands in order to meet the needs of growing population. Changes in land cover also impact carbon sequestration in vegetation cover with an influence on climate on continental scale. The impact of land cover change on tree aboveground carbon stocks was studied in Taita Hills, Kenya. The land cover change between 1987 and 2011 for four points of time was assessed using SPOT satellite imagery, while the carbon density in various land cover types was assessed with field measurements, allometric biomass functions and airborne laser scanning data. Finally, the mean carbon densities of land cover types were combined with land cover maps resulting in carbon stock values for given land cover types for each point of time studied. Expansion of croplands has been taking place since 1987 and before on the cost of thickets and shrublands, especially on the foothills and lowlands. Due to the land cover changes, the carbon stock of trees was decreasing until 2003, after which there has been an increase. The findings of the research is supported by forest transition model, which emphasizes increase of awareness of forests' role in providing ecosystem services, such as habitats for pollinators, water harvesting and storage at the same time when economic reasons in making land-use choices between cropland and woodland, and governmental legislation supports trees on farms.Peer reviewe
Circulating pathogen-specific plasmablasts in female patients with upper genital tract infection
Mucosal antibodies constitute the first line of adaptive immune defence against invaders in the female genital tract (FGT), yet the sequence of events leading to their production is surprisingly poorly characterized. We explored the induction of pathogen-specific antibody-secreting cells (ASC) as a response to an acute infection in the upper FGT. We recruited 12 patients undergoing surgery due to an upper FGT infection (7/12 blood culture positive, 5/ 12 negative) and six healthy controls. Pathogens were sampled during surgery and PBMC collected in the acute phase of the disease (days 7-10). We searched by ELISPOT circulating pathogen-specific ASC and explored their frequency, immunoglobulin isotype distribution, and expressions of homing receptors (alpha(4)beta(7), L-selectin, and CLA). All patients had circulating ASC specific to the infective bacteria; the geometric mean was 434 (95%CI 155-1234) ASC (IgA + IgG + IgM)/10(6) PBMC. IgA ASC predominated in 7/12, IgG ASC in 3/12, and IgM ASC in 2/12 cases. Of all the pathogen-specific ASC, 60% expressed alpha(4)beta(7), 67% L-selectin, and 9% CLA. This study is the first to show induction of pathogen-specific ASC in the peripheral blood in bacterial infection in the human FGT. Our findings reveal that such FGT-originating pathogen-specific ASC are predominated by IgA ASC and exhibit a homing receptor profile resembling that of ASC in acute urinary tract infection. The data thus suggest a characteristic profile shared by the urogenital tract.Peer reviewe
Identifying global centers of unsustainable commercial harvesting of species
Overexploitation is one of the main threats to biodiversity, but the intensity of this threat varies geographically. We identified global concentrations, on land and at sea, of 4543 species threatened by unsustainable commercial harvesting. Regions under high-intensity threat (based on accessibility on land and on fishing catch at sea) cover 4.3% of the land and 6.1% of the seas and contain 82% of all species threatened by unsustainable harvesting and > 80% of the ranges of Critically Endangered species threatened by unsustainable harvesting. Currently, only 16% of these regions are covered by protected areas on land and just 6% at sea. Urgent actions are needed in these centers of unsustainable harvesting to ensure that use of species is sustainable and to prevent further species' extinctions.Peer reviewe
How low can SUSY go? Matching, monojets and compressed spectra
If supersymmetry (SUSY) has a compressed spectrum then the current mass
limits from the LHC can be drastically reduced. We consider a possible 'worst
case' scenario where the gluino and/or squarks are degenerate with the lightest
SUSY particle (LSP). The most sensitive searches for these compressed spectra
are via the final state LSPs recoiling against initial state radiation (ISR).
Therefore it is vital that the ISR is understood and possible uncertainties in
the predictions are evaluated. We use both MLM (with Pythia 6) and CKKW- L
(with Pythia 8) matching and vary matching scales and parton shower properties
to accurately determine the theoretical uncertainties in the kinematic
distributions. All current LHC SUSY and monojet analyses are employed and we
find the most constraining limits come from the CMS Razor and CMS monojet
searches. For a scenario of squarks degenerate with the LSP and decoupled
gluinos we find GeV. For gluinos degenerate with the LSP
and decoupled squarks, GeV. For equal mass squarks and
gluinos degenerate with the LSP, GeV.Comment: References added, version submitted to ep
Unnatural Origin of Fermion Masses for Technicolor
We explore the scenario in which the breaking of the electroweak symmetry is
due to the simultaneous presence and interplay of a dynamical sector and an
unnatural elementary Higgs. We introduce a low energy effective Lagrangian and
constrain the various couplings via direct search limits and electroweak and
flavor precision tests. We find that the model we study is a viable model of
dynamical breaking of the electroweak symmetry.Comment: 20 pages, 7 eps figure
Simulation-based design study for the passive shielding of the COSINUS dark matter experiment
The COSINUS (Cryogenic Observatory for SIgnatures seen in Next-generation
Underground Searches) experiment aims at the detection of dark matter-induced
recoils in sodium iodide (NaI) crystals operated as scintillating cryogenic
calorimeters. The detection of both scintillation light and phonons allows
performing an event-by-event signal to background discrimination, thus
enhancing the sensitivity of the experiment. The construction of the
experimental facility is foreseen to start by 2021 at the INFN Gran Sasso
National Laboratory (LNGS) in Italy. It consists of a cryostat housing the
target crystals shielded from the external radioactivity by a water tank
acting, at the same time, as an active veto against cosmic ray-induced events.
Taking into account both environmental radioactivity and intrinsic
contamination of materials used for cryostat, shielding and infrastructure, we
performed a careful background budget estimation. The goal is to evaluate the
number of events that could mimic or interfere with signal detection while
optimising the geometry of the experimental setup. In this paper we present the
results of the detailed Monte Carlo simulations we performed, together with the
final design of the setup that minimises the residual amount of background
particles reaching the detector volume.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure
Yhtenäiset vaatimukset lääketieteen ja hammaslääketieteen tohtorintutkinnolle Suomessa
Oulussa järjestettiin 13.6.2018 lääketieteen ja hammaslääketieteen tohtorintutkinnon konsensuskokous, jossa käytiin läpi vallitsevia käytäntöjä ja muutostarpeita. Ohjeellinen tutkinnon laajuus on neljä vuotta kokopäiväistä työtä, ja muodollisesti tutkinnon myöntää yhtä yliopistoa lukuun ottamatta aina vastaava tiedekunta. Ohjaajia on tyypillisesti kahdesta kolmeen, ja yksi on pääohjaaja. Seurantaryhmä on käytössä tai ollaan ottamassa käyttöön kaikissa yliopistoissa. Aktiivinen seurantaryhmä tukee merkittävästi ohjausprosessia. Väitöskirjojen asiantuntijoina toimivat esitarkastajat ja vastaväittäjät ovat yleensä muualta kuin suorituspaikan yliopistosta. Osittain tästä syystä suuria eroja eri yliopistojen tohtorintutkinnon vaatimusten välillä ei todettu. Haasteena väitöskirjatyössä on kliinisen työn paine ja nuorten kollegoiden ruuhkavuosien kuormittuminen, mitkä heikentävät mahdollisuuksia tutkimustyöhön. Myönteisiä muutoksia ovat olleet tohtoriopintojen systematisoituminen sekä ohjaamisen tason ja väitöskirjantekijöiden tuen paraneminen. Kaikki osallistuneet kannattivat käytäntöjen vakiinnuttamista ja yhtenäistämistä säännöllisellä konsensuskokoustyöskentelyllä.</p
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