Effects of carbon dioxide on the searching behaviour of the root-feeding clover weevil <i>Sitona lepidus</i> (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

The respiratory emission of CO2 from roots is frequently proposed as an attractant that allows soil-dwelling insects to locate host plant roots, but this role has recently become less certain. CO2 is emitted from many sources other than roots, so does not necessarily indicate the presence of host plants, and because of the high density of roots in the upper soil layers, spatial gradients may not always be perceptible by soil-dwelling insects. The role of CO2 in host location was investigated using the clover root weevil Sitona lepidus Gyllenhall and its host plant white clover (Trifolium repens L.) as a model system. Rhizochamber experiments showed that CO2 concentrations were approximately 1000 ppm around the roots of white clover, but significantly decreased with increasing distance from roots. In behavioural experiments, no evidence was found for any attraction by S. lepidus larvae to point emissions of CO2, regardless of emission rates. Fewer than 15% of larvae were attracted to point emissions of CO2, compared with a control response of 17%. However, fractal analysis of movement paths in constant CO2 concentrations demonstrated that searching by S. lepidus larvae significantly intensified when they experienced CO2 concentrations similar to those found around the roots of white clover (i.e. 1000 ppm). It is suggested that respiratory emissions of CO2 may act as a ‘search trigger’ for S. lepidus, whereby it induces larvae to search a smaller area more intensively, in order to detect location cues that are more specific to their host plant.<br/

The heterogeneous soil environment:are there preferential pathways for fungal spread?

Most studies with soil-borne pathogenic fungi have been done with little explicit characterisation of soil structure within which fungi spread and biotic interactions occur. Soil, however, constitutes a framework of surfaces formed by old root channels, cracks or biopores in combination with aggregates. Using epidemiological and soil biological techniques in controlled environments we investigated the effect of soil heterogeneity on fungal growth dynamics. We show that cracks and larger pores can act either as preferential pathways or barriers for the spread of fungal plant pathogens through soil. Understanding the effect of soil structure on pathogen and antagonist dynamics is therefore critical for our understanding of epidemics and the development of control strategies in a heterogeneous environment

The impact of carbon addition on the organisation of rhizosheath of chickpea

Spatio-temporal development of the rhizosheath during root elongation has the potential to modify the function of the rhizosphere under abiotic stress. We quantified the impact of carbon (i.e. glucose) addition on the development and function of rhizosheath of drought tolerant and sensitive chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) by integrating soil pore volume obtained from X-ray microtomography (µCT), soil physical and microbial respiration measures, and measurements of root traits. Structural equation modelling indicated the feedback mechanisms between added carbon, root traits, pore geometry, and soil functions differed between the cultivars in a fashion congruent with the concept of soil as a self-organising system that interacts with an introduced root system. The drought tolerant cultivar partitioned more photosynthetically fixed carbon to the roots, had more root hairs and more porous rhizosheath, as compared with the sensitive cultivar

Responsible participation and housing: restoring democratic theory to the scene

Tensions between individual liberty and collective social justice characterise many advanced liberal societies. These tensions are reflected in the challenges posed for representative democracy both by participatory democratic practices and by the current emphasis on (so-called) responsible participation. Based on the example of ‘community’ housing associations in Scotland, this paper explores these tensions. It is argued that the critique of responsibility may have been over-stated – that, in particular, ‘community’ housing associations offer the basis for relatively more inclusive and effective processes of decision-making than council housing, which relies on the traditional processes and institutions of representative local government for its legitimacy

The Regeneration Games: Commodities, Gifts and the Economics of London 2012

This paper considers contradictions between two concurrent and tacit conceptions of the Olympic ‘legacy’, setting out one conception that understands the games and their legacies as gifts alongside and as counterpoint to the prevailing discourse, which conceives Olympic assets as commodities. The paper critically examines press and governmental discussion of legacy, in order to locate these in the context of a wider perspective contrasting ‘gift’ and ‘commodity’ Olympics – setting anthropological conceptions of gift-based sociality as a necessary supplement to contractual and dis-embedded socioeconomic organizational assumptions underpinning the commodity Olympics. Costbenefit planning is central to modern city building and mega-event delivery. The paper considers the insufficiency of this approach as the exclusive paradigm within which to frame and manage a dynamic socio-economic and cultural legacy arising from the 2012 games

Templated 2D polymer heterojunctions for improved photocatalytic hydrogen production

2D polymers have emerged as one of the most promising classes of organic photocatalysts for solar fuel production due to their tunability, charge-transport properties, and robustness. They are however difficult to process and so there are limited studies into the formation of heterojunction materials incorporating these components. In this work, a novel templating approach is used to combine an imine-based donor polymer and an acceptor polymer formed through Knoevenagel condensation. Heterojunction formation is shown to be highly dependent on the topological match of the donor and acceptor polymers with the most active templated material found to be between three and nine times more active for photocatalysis than its constituent components. Transient absorption spectroscopy reveals that this improvement is due to faster charge separation and more efficient charge extraction in the templated heterojunction. The templated material shows a very high hydrogen evolution rate of >20 mmol h−1 m−2 with an ascorbic acid hole scavenger but also produces hydrogen in the presence of only water and a cobalt-based redox mediator. This suggests the improved charge-separation interface and reduced trapping accessed through this approach could be suitable for Z-scheme formation

Fluid Optimisation in Emergency Laparotomy (FLO-ELA) Trial: study protocol for a multi-centre randomised trial of cardiac output-guided fluid therapy compared to usual care in patients undergoing major emergency gastrointestinal surgery

INTRODUCTION: Postoperative morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing major emergency gastrointestinal surgery are a major burden on healthcare systems. Optimal management of perioperative intravenous fluids may reduce mortality rates and improve outcomes from surgery. Previous small trials of cardiac-output guided haemodynamic therapy algorithms in patients undergoing gastrointestinal surgery have suggested this intervention results in reduced complications and a modest reduction in mortality. However, this existing evidence is based mainly on elective (planned) surgery, with little evaluation in the emergency setting. There are fundamental clinical and pathophysiological differences between the planned and emergency surgical setting which may influence the effects of this intervention. A large definitive trial in emergency surgery is needed to confirm or refute the potential benefits observed in elective surgery and to inform widespread clinical practice. METHODS: The FLO-ELA trial is a multi-centre, parallel-group, open, randomised controlled trial. 3138 patients aged 50 and over undergoing major emergency gastrointestinal surgery will be randomly allocated in a 1:1 ratio using minimisation to minimally invasive cardiac output monitoring to guide protocolised administration of intra-venous fluid, or usual care without cardiac output monitoring. The trial intervention will be carried out during surgery and for up to 6 h postoperatively. The trial is funded through an efficient design call by the National Institute for Health and Care Research Health Technology Assessment (NIHR HTA) programme and uses existing routinely collected datasets for the majority of data collection. The primary outcome is the number of days alive and out of hospital within 90 days of randomisation. Participants and those delivering the intervention will not be blinded to treatment allocation. Participant recruitment started in September 2017 with a 1-year internal pilot phase and is ongoing at the time of publication. DISCUSSION: This will be the largest contemporary randomised trial examining the effectiveness of perioperative cardiac output-guided haemodynamic therapy in patients undergoing major emergency gastrointestinal surgery. The multi-centre design and broad inclusion criteria support the external validity of the trial. Although the clinical teams delivering the trial interventions will not be blinded, significant trial outcome measures are objective and not subject to detection bias. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN 14729158. Registered on 02 May 2017

Enhancing carbon sequestration in soil with coal combustion products: a technology for minimising carbon footprints in coal-power generation and agriculture

Coal-fired power generation and agriculture account for more than half of global greenhouse gas emissions, but the coal fly ash (CFA) produced in the former can be a resource for reducing emissions from agriculture to minimise environmental footprints in both industries. Our aim in this study was to test how acidic and alkaline CFA addition could minimise loss of C and N from acidic soil, with or without added manure. We determined composition and structural characteristics of acidic and alkaline CFA for their capacity to adsorb organic carbon, but observed poor adsorption because of low concentrations of cenospheres and unburnt carbon as the primary absorbents in the ash. Addition of CFA had no impact on the loss of carbon or nitrogen from unmanured soil in which concentrations of these nutrients were low. Loss of carbon from manured soil was reduced by 36% with alkaline ashes and by 3-fold with acidic ashes; while loss of N was 30–50% lower with acidic ashes, but 28% higher with alkaline ashes, compared with no ash treatment. The increases in C sparing with CFA addition were achieved not by direct C absorption but by restraining microbial population and respiration, and potentially emissions. Alkaline CFA increased soil pH and if used to substitute just 10% of lime for ameliorating soil acidity would reduce CO2 emission associated with the mining of the lime and its eventual dissolution in soil by ~ 2.66 Tg or 2.8% of Australia’s annual agricultural emissions. High concentrations of oxides of phosphorus, silicon, titanium and clay particles in acidic ashes, and oxides of cations in alkaline ashes, were associated with potential for promoting C storage and acidity amelioration in soil

Dysregulation of ubiquitin homeostasis and β-catenin signaling promote spinal muscular atrophy

Acknowledgements The authors are grateful to Nils Lindstrom and members of the Gillingwater laboratory for advice and assistance with this study and helpful comments on the manuscript; Neil Cashman for the NSC-34 cell line; and Ji-Long Liu for the DrosophilasmnA and smnB lines. This work was supported by grants from the SMA Trust (to T.H. Gillingwater, P.J. Young, and R. Morse), BDF Newlife (to T.H. Gillingwater and S.H. Parson), the Anatomical Society (to T.H. Gillingwater and S.H. Parson), the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign (to T.H. Gillingwater), the Jennifer Trust for Spinal Muscular Atrophy (to H.R. Fuller), the Muscular Dystrophy Association (to G.E. Morris), the Vandervell Foundation (to P.J. Young), the Medical Research Council (GO82208 to I.M. Robinson), Roslin Institute Strategic Grant funding from the BBSRC (to T.M. Wishart), the BBSRC (to C.G. Becker), the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and EU FP7/2007-2013 (grant no. 2012-305121, NeurOmics, to B. Wirth), the Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne (to B. Wirth and M. Hammerschmidt), and SMA Europe (to M.M. Reissland). We would also like to acknowledge financial support to the Gillingwater lab generated through donations to the SMASHSMA campaign.Peer reviewedPublisher PD