Anthropogenic Space Weather

Anthropogenic effects on the space environment started in the late 19th century and reached their peak in the 1960s when high-altitude nuclear explosions were carried out by the USA and the Soviet Union. These explosions created artificial radiation belts near Earth that resulted in major damages to several satellites. Another, unexpected impact of the high-altitude nuclear tests was the electromagnetic pulse (EMP) that can have devastating effects over a large geographic area (as large as the continental United States). Other anthropogenic impacts on the space environment include chemical release ex- periments, high-frequency wave heating of the ionosphere and the interaction of VLF waves with the radiation belts. This paper reviews the fundamental physical process behind these phenomena and discusses the observations of their impacts.Comment: 71 pages, 35 figure

Prijsvorming van voedsel; Ontwikkelingen van prijzen in acht Nederlandse ketens van versproducten

Dit rapport beschrijft de prijsvorming van acht Nederlandse ketens van de versproducten aardappel, appel, brood, ei, komkommer, paprika, pluimveevlees en uien. Dit is een actualisatie van het onderzoek uitgevoerd in 2009. De hoofdvraag is of een prijsverandering in een product bij de boer doorgegeven worden aan consumenten. Speciale aandacht is er voor openbare noteringen van prijzen van agrarische producten

Constructing an enzyme-centric view of metabolism.

Motivation: The current paradigm for viewing metabolism, such as the Boehringer Chart or KEGG, takes a metabolite-centric view that is not ideal for genomics analysis because the same enzyme can appear in multiple places. Therefore an enzyme-centric view is also required. Results: We have eliminated synonymous compound names taken from the ENZYME database ensuring that it is computationally parseable at all levels. Based on these results, we have written a software to create enzyme-centric graphs from reaction data, and we have created a second dataset with hub molecules removed, allowing a greater depth of information to be extracted from these graphs. We also present a detailed analysis of the various stages of the reconditioning process and the characteristics of the subgraphs resulting from the application of our software to the revised datasets. Availability: Complete datasets and supplementary material may be downloaded from http://helix.ex.ac.uk/metabolism. The software for the creation of enzyme-centric graphs from reaction data is available on request from the authors

100 years of environmental change in a coastal wetland, Augusta Bay, southeast Sicily: evidence from geochemical and palaeoecological studies

This paper is included in the Special Publication entitled 'Sedimentary processes in the intertidal zone', edited by K.S. Black, D.M. Paterson and A. Cramp. Recent (post-1950 AD), industrial development in southeast Sicily has resulted in extensive modification of the coastline (port construction) and a potential for persistent, chronic pollution (oil refinery and petrochemical developments). High resolution radiometric dating ( 210Pb and 137Cs) and palaeoenvironmental analysis of a short saltmarsh core from the Mulinello estuary (Augusta Bay) provides a record of change over the period 1880-1995 AD. Palynological data indicate expansion of halophytic vegetation across the study area between c.1880 and 1945 AD. An increase in sediment accumulation occurred between 1945-1965 AD, with an associated rapid change in saltmarsh vegetation occurring at the beginning of this period. Palynological and geochemical data indicate that this increase in sediment accretion is probably due to an enhanced input of catchment-area derived material. This ante-dates the main period of industrial activity in the area, and probably reflects fluvial/catchment processes rather than local anthropogenic changes. Port and industrial developments, in comparison, have had a less significant impact on marsh vegetation and sediment supply, despite large-scale disturbance at the rear of the marsh. Trace element analyses show little input of industrial effluent to the Mulinello despite its location in a heavily-industrialized area. This, combined with preliminary diatom studies, indicates that the Mulinello receives most of its sediment from inland and local sources. The rapidity of local environmental change revealed in this sequence illustrates the dynamic nature of wetlands in microtidal settings and emphasizes their potential sensitivity to both local and regional disturbance. This study also demonstrates the use of combining palaeoecological with geochemical analyses to reconstruct environmental change in fluvial and estuarine wetland settings

Prijsvorming van voedsel; Ontwikkelingen van prijzen in acht Nederlandse ketens van versproducten

Dit rapport beschrijft de prijsvorming van acht Nederlandse ketens van de versproducten aardappel, appel, brood, ei, komkommer, paprika, pluimveevlees en uien. Dit is een actualisatie van het onderzoek uitgevoerd in 2009. De hoofdvraag is of een prijsverandering in een product bij de boer doorgegeven worden aan consumenten. Speciale aandacht is er voor openbare noteringen van prijzen van agrarische producten

Clinical and histopathological effects of heart failure drug therapy in advanced heart failure patients on chronic mechanical circulatory support

Aims: Adjuvant heart failure (HF) drug therapy in patients undergoing chronic mechanical circulatory support (MCS) is often used in conjunction with a continuous-flow left ventricular assist device (LVAD), but its potential impact is not well defined. The objective of the present study was to examine the effects of conventional HF drug therapy on myocardial structure and function, peripheral organ function and the incidence of adverse events in the setting of MCS. Methods and results: Patients with chronic HF requiring LVAD support were prospectively enrolled. Paired myocardial tissue samples were obtained prior to LVAD implantation and at transplantation for histopathology. The Meds group comprised patients treated with neurohormonal blocking therapy (concurrent beta-blocker, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor/angiotensin receptor blocker, and aldosterone antagonist), and the No Meds group comprised patients on none of these. Both the Meds (n = 37) and No Meds (n = 44) groups experienced significant improvements in cardiac structure and function over the 6 months following LVAD implantation. The degree of improvement was greater in the Meds group, including after adjustment for baseline differences. There were no differences between the two groups in arrhythmias, end-organ injury, or neurological events. In patients with high baseline pre-LVAD myocardial fibrosis, treatment with HF drug therapy was associated with a reduction in fibrosis. Conclusions: Clinical and histopathological evidence showed that adjuvant HF drug therapy was associated with additional favourable effects on the structure and function of the unloaded myocardium that extended beyond the beneficial effects attributed to LVAD-induced unloading alone. Adjuvant HF drug therapy did not influence the incidence of major post-LVAD adverse events during the follow-up period. © 2017 The Authors. European Journal of Heart Failure © 2017 European Society of Cardiolog