A Risk Benefit Analysis of Mariculture as a means to Reduce the Impacts of Terrestrial Production of Food and Energy

The Scottish Aquaculture Research Forum (SARF) and WWF-UK commissioned this study to investigate whether the pressure on land and freshwater for future food and energy resources, and impacts on the climate, related to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, may be reduced through expansion of global mariculture. The study has undertaken a high level assessment of the ‘environmental footprint’ of global mariculture and terrestrial-based food and energy production systems through the collation and assessment of available Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) for key food products (beef, pork, chicken, freshwater finfish, marine finfish, shellfish and crustacean species) and biomass (terrestrial and algal) for energy production. The outputs of the footprint comparison were then used to assess the risks and benefits of increasing global mariculture, through the development of projected future scenarios in which mariculture contributes differing proportions of projected future food requirements. The analysis also qualitatively considered the socio-economic and wider environmental risks and benefits (e.g. in relation to ecosystem services) of global mariculture expansion, where expansion may occur geographically and whether future technological developments may help mitigate against identified impacts. The study identifies the key uncertainties and limitations of the risk/benefit analysis and makes prioritised recommendations on how these limitations can be addressed and the analysis developed for more regional or site-specific assessments

Nanotechnology Solutions for Global Water Challenges

The lack of clean and safe drinking water is responsible for more deaths than war, terrorism and weapons of mass destruction combined. This suggests contaminated water poses a significant threat to human health and welfare. In addition, standard water disinfection approaches such as sedimentation, filtration, and chemical or biological degradation are not fully capable of destroying emerging contaminants (e.g. pesticides, pharmaceutical waste products) or certain types of bacteria (e.g. Cryptosporidium parvum). Nanomaterials and nanotechnology based devices can potentially be employed to solve the challenges posed by various contaminants and microorganisms. Nanomaterials of different shapes, namely nanoparticles, nanotubes, nanowires and fibers have the ability to function as adsorbents and catalysts. These possess an expansive array of physicochemical characteristics deeming them highly attractive for the production of reactive media for water membrane filtration, a vital step in the production of potable water. As a result of their exceptional adsorptive capacity for water contaminants, graphene based nanomaterials have emerged as an area of significant importance in the area of membrane filtration and water treatment. In addition, Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs) together with or without sources of light irradiation or ultrasound, have been found to be promising alternatives for water treatment at near ambient temperature and pressure. Furthermore, the uses of visible light active titanium dioxide photocatalysts and photo-Fenton processes have shown significant potential for water purification. A wide variety of nanomaterial based sensors, for the monitoring of water quality, have also been reviewed in detail. In conclusion, the rapid and continued growth in the area of nanomaterial based devices offers significant hope for addressing future water quality challenges

New insights into the efficient charge transfer of ternary chalcogenides composites of TiO2

Abstract A two-step solvothermal synthesis was adopted to prepare AgXSe2-TiO2 (X = In, Bi) composites. DFT study of the pristine parent samples showed the formation of the hexagonal phase of AgBiSe2, and tetragonal phase of AgInSe2 and TiO2, which corroborated the experimentally synthesised structures. Both the AgBiSe2-TiO2 and AgInSe2-TiO2 composites displayed enhanced visible light absorption and reduced band gap in the UV-DRS patterns. The XPS results exhibited a shift in binding energy values and the TEM results showed the formation of spherical nanoparticles of both AgBiSe2 and AgInSe2. The PL signals displayed delayed recombination of the photogenerated excitons. The as synthesised materials were studied for their photocatalytic efficiency, by hydrogen generation, degradation of doxycycline, and antimicrobial disinfection (E. coli and S. aureus). The composite samples illustrated more than 95 % degradation results within 180 min and showed 5 log reductions of bacterial strains within 30 min of light irradiation. The hydrogen production outcomes were significantly improved as the AgBiSe2 and AgInSe2 based composites illustrated 180-fold and 250-fold enhanced output compared to their parent samples. The enhanced photocatalytic efficiency displayed is attributed to the delayed charge recombination of the photogenerated electron-hole pairs in the AgXSe2-TiO2 interface. Formation of a p-n nano heterojunction for AgBiSe2-TiO2 and type II heterojunction for AgInSe2-TiO2 composite are explained

Human preferences for sexually dimorphic faces may be evolutionarily novel

A large literature proposes that preferences for exaggerated sex typicality in human faces (masculinity/femininity) reflect a long evolutionary history of sexual and social selection. This proposal implies that dimorphism was important to judgments of attractiveness and personality in ancestral environments. It is difficult to evaluate, however, because most available data come from large-scale, industrialized, urban populations. Here, we report the results for 12 populations with very diverse levels of economic development. Surprisingly, preferences for exaggerated sex-specific traits are only found in the novel, highly developed environments. Similarly, perceptions that masculine males look aggressive increase strongly with development and, specifically, urbanization. These data challenge the hypothesis that facial dimorphism was an important ancestral signal of heritable mate value. One possibility is that highly developed environments provide novel opportunities to discern relationships between facial traits and behavior by exposing individuals to large numbers of unfamiliar faces, revealing patterns too subtle to detect with smaller samples

Brief psychological therapies for anxiety and depression in primary care: meta-analysis and meta-regression

Psychological therapies provided in primary care are usually briefer than in secondary care. There has been no recent comprehensive review comparing their effectiveness for common mental health problems. We aimed to compare the effectiveness of different types of brief psychological therapy administered within primary care across and between anxiety, depressive and mixed disorders

Mapping Connectivity Damage in the Case of Phineas Gage

White matter (WM) mapping of the human brain using neuroimaging techniques has gained considerable interest in the neuroscience community. Using diffusion weighted (DWI) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), WM fiber pathways between brain regions may be systematically assessed to make inferences concerning their role in normal brain function, influence on behavior, as well as concerning the consequences of network-level brain damage. In this paper, we investigate the detailed connectomics in a noted example of severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) which has proved important to and controversial in the history of neuroscience. We model the WM damage in the notable case of Phineas P. Gage, in whom a “tamping iron” was accidentally shot through his skull and brain, resulting in profound behavioral changes. The specific effects of this injury on Mr. Gage's WM connectivity have not previously been considered in detail. Using computed tomography (CT) image data of the Gage skull in conjunction with modern anatomical MRI and diffusion imaging data obtained in contemporary right handed male subjects (aged 25–36), we computationally simulate the passage of the iron through the skull on the basis of reported and observed skull fiducial landmarks and assess the extent of cortical gray matter (GM) and WM damage. Specifically, we find that while considerable damage was, indeed, localized to the left frontal cortex, the impact on measures of network connectedness between directly affected and other brain areas was profound, widespread, and a probable contributor to both the reported acute as well as long-term behavioral changes. Yet, while significantly affecting several likely network hubs, damage to Mr. Gage's WM network may not have been more severe than expected from that of a similarly sized “average” brain lesion. These results provide new insight into the remarkable brain injury experienced by this noteworthy patient