Seeds of good anthropocenes: developing sustainability scenarios for Northern Europe

Scenario development helps people think about a broad variety of possible futures; however, the global environmental change community has thus far developed few positive scenarios for the future of the planet and humanity. Those that have been developed tend to focus on the role of a few common, large-scale external drivers, such as technology or environmental policy, even though pathways of positive change are often driven by surprising or bottom-up initiatives that most scenarios assume are unchanging. We describe an approach, pioneered in Southern Africa and tested here in a new context in Northern Europe, to developing scenarios using existing bottom-up transformative initiatives to examine plausible transitions towards positive, sustainable futures. By starting from existing, but marginal initiatives, as well as current trends, we were able to identify system characteristics that may play a key role in sustainability transitions (e.g., gender issues, inequity, governance, behavioral change) that are currently under-explored in global environmental scenarios. We suggest that this approach could be applied in other places to experiment further with the methodology and its potential applications, and to explore what transitions to desirables futures might be like in different places

Géographie humaine et sociologie

Falardeau J.-C. Géographie humaine et sociologie. In: Revue de géographie jointe au Bulletin de la Société de géographie de Lyon et de la région lyonnaise, vol. 25, n°4, 1950. pp. 342-346

Ecological and Mechanistic Insights Into the Direct and Indirect Antimicrobial Properties of Bacillus subtilis Lipopeptides on Plant Pathogens

Members of the genus Bacillus produce a wide variety of antimicrobial compounds. Cyclic lipopeptides (CLP) produced by Bacillus subtilis strains have been shown to protect host plants from a numbers of pathogens. The representative families of these CLP (surfactins, fengycins, and iturins) share a polypeptide ring linked to a lipid tail of varying length. CLP provide plant protection through a variety of unique mechanisms. Members of the surfactin and fengycin families elicit induced systemic resistance in certain host plants, and they also function by directly affecting the biological membranes of bacterial and fungal pathogens, mainly resulting in membrane pore formation. Specific pore forming mechanisms differ between CLP families, causing differential activities. CLP also may aid in enhanced B. subtilis colonization of the plant environment in addition to potentially preventing the adhesion of competitive microorganisms. Several recent studies have highlighted the control of plant pathogens by CLP-producing B. subtilis strains. Strong ecological advantages through multifaceted activities of CLP provide these strains with immense promise in controlling pathogens in a variety of plant ecosystems

Regional and annual variability in common eider nesting ecology in Labrador

Nesting densities are often used to estimate breeding population size and with other measures of reproductive performance can be useful indicators of population status. These aspects of breeding biology often show considerable spatial and temporal variation. Between 2000 and 2003, we surveyed nesting common eiders (Somateria mollissima) on 172 islands in three archipelagos (Nain, Hopedale, Rigolet) on the Labrador coast. Rigolet was the largest archipelago (2834 km2) followed by Nain then Hopedale, and island density varied inversely with archipelago size. Overall means were: nest density 52.0 ± 141.9 (SD) nests/ha; nest initiation 12 June ± 12 days; clutch size 3.7 ± 1.2 eggs/nest; egg volume 98.8 ± 10.4 cm3; and clutch volume 392.3 ± 135.0 cm3. Rigolet had the highest average egg volumes and nest densities, the highest single island nest density of 1053 nests/ha, and the earliest average nest initiation date. We found significant differences in nest densities among archipelagos and across years; significant archipelago and year interactions were detected for nest initiation date and clutch size. Signifi cant differences were found among individual islands for all response variables except egg volume. For egg volume, within-archipelago island differences were not signifi cant, but between-archipelago differences were signifi cant. Thus egg volume may be a useful diagnostic to identify population affi liation

Cellular lipid composition affects sensitivity of plant pathogens to fengycin, an antifungal compound produced by Bacillus subtilis strain CU12

Fengycin is an antimicrobial cyclic lipopeptide produced by various Bacillus subtilis strains, including strain CU12. Direct effects of fengycin include membrane pore formation and efflux of cellular contents leading to cell death in sensitive microorganisms. In this study, four plant pathogens were studied in order to elucidate the role of membrane lipids in their relative sensitivity to fengycin. Inhibition of mycelial growth in these pathogens varied considerably. Analysis of membrane lipids in these microorganisms indicated that sensitivity correlated with low ergosterol content and shorter phospholipid fatty acyl chains. Sensitivity to fengycin also correlated with a lower anionic/zwitterionic phospholipid ratio. Our data suggest that decreased fluidity buffering capacity, as a result of low ergosterol content, and higher intrinsic fluidity afforded by short fatty acyl chain length may increase the sensitivity of microbial membranes to fengycin. Our results also suggest that lower content in anionic phospholipids may increase fengycin insertion into the membrane through reduced electrostatic repulsion with the negatively charged fengycin. The intrinsic membrane lipid composition may contribute, in part, to the observed level of antimicrobial activity of fengycin in various plant pathogens

Description du fardeau de la dépression sur la santé de la population au Canada : utilisation de l’espérance de vie ajustée en fonction de la santé

Introduction : Peu d’études ont évalué, dans l’ensemble d’une population, les conséquences de la dépression en matière de pertes dues à la mortalité prématurée d’une part et à la qualité de vie liée à la santé (QVLS) d’autre part. L’espérance de vie ajustée en fonction de la santé (EVAS) est une mesure synthétique de la santé de la population qui combine la morbidité et la mortalité en une seule statistique succincte décrivant l’état de santé d’une population à un moment donné. Méthodologie : Nous avons estimé la QVLS de la population canadienne adulte en fonction de la présence ou non de dépression. Nous avons effectué un suivi de la mortalité, de 1994 à 2009, des participants à l’Enquête nationale sur la santé de la population (ENSP) (n = 12 373) de 20 ans et plus, là aussi en fonction de la présence ou non de dépression. La dépression a été définie comme l’état d’une personne susceptible d’avoir connu au cours de l’année précédente un épisode dépressif majeur au sens du formulaire abrégé de l’Entrevue composite diagnostique internationale. L’espérance de vie a été estimée en créant des tables abrégées de mortalité selon le sexe et l’état dépressif à l’aide des risques relatifs de mortalité de l’ENSP et des données sur la mortalité du Système canadien de surveillance des maladies chroniques (2007 à 2009). L’Enquête sur la santé dans les collectivités canadiennes (2009-2010) a fourni des estimations de la prévalence de la dépression, et l’indice de l’état de santé Health Utilities Index a permis de mesurer la QVLS. L’EVAS de la population adulte a été mesurée en fonction de la présence ou non de dépression et en fonction du sexe à l’aide des estimations combinées de la mortalité, de la prévalence de la dépression et de la QVLS. Résultats : Chez les femmes ayant connu récemment un épisode de dépression majeure, l’EVAS à 20 ans était de 42,0 ans (IC à 95 % : 40,2 à 43,8), contre 57,0 ans (IC à 95 % : 56,8 à 57,2) chez les femmes n’ayant pas vécu récemment d’épisode de dépression majeure. Au sein de la population masculine canadienne, l’EVAS à 20 ans était de 39,0 ans (IC à 95 % : 36,5 à 41,5) chez ceux qui avaient connu récemment un épisode de dépression majeure, contre 53,8 ans (IC à 95 % : 53,6 à 54,0) chez ceux n’ayant pas connu récemment d’épisode de dépression majeure. La différence de 15 ans dans l’EVAS des femmes avec et sans épisode récent de dépression majeure peut se décomposer en 12,3 ans attribuables à l’écart de la QVLS et 2,7 ans à l’écart observé en matière de mortalité. Les 14,8 années de moins d’EVAS chez les hommes ayant souffert de dépression correspondent à un écart de la QVLS de 13 ans et à un écart de mortalité de 1,8 an. Conclusion : La population canadienne adulte atteinte de dépression au Canada avait une espérance de vie en santé considérablement plus faible que celle ne souffrant pas de dépression, chez les hommes comme chez les femmes. Si la majeure partie de cet écart s’explique par des niveaux moins élevés de la QVLS, la mortalité prématurée joue également un rôle

Describing the population health burden of depression: health-adjusted life expectancy by depression status in Canada

Introduction: Few studies have evaluated the impact of depression in terms of losses to both premature mortality and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) on the overall population. Health-adjusted life expectancy (HALE) is a summary measure of population health that combines both morbidity and mortality into a single summary statistic that describes the current health status of a population. Methods: We estimated HALE for the Canadian adult population according to depression status. National Population Health Survey (NPHS) participants 20 years and older (n = 12 373) were followed for mortality outcomes from 1994 to 2009, based on depression status. Depression was defined as having likely experienced a major depressive episode in the previous year as measured by the Composite International Diagnostic Interview Short Form. Life expectancy was estimated by building period abridged life tables by sex and depression status using the relative risks of mortality from the NPHS and mortality data from the Canadian Chronic Disease Surveillance System (2007-2009). The Canadian Community Health Survey (2009/10) provided estimates of depression prevalence and Health Utilities Index as a measure of HRQOL. Using the combined mortality, depression prevalence and HRQOL estimates, HALE was estimated for the adult population according to depression status and by sex. Results: For the population of women with a recent major depressive episode, HALE at 20 years of age was 42.0 years (95% CI: 40.2-43.8) compared to 57.0 years (95% CI: 56.8-57.2) for women without a recent major depressive episode. For the population of Canadian men, HALE at 20 was 39.0 years (95% CI: 36.5-41.5) for those with a recent major depressive episode compared to 53.8 years (95% CI: 53.6-54.0) for those without. For the 15.0-year difference in HALE between women with and without depression, 12.3 years can be attributed to the HRQOL gap and the remaining 2.7 years to the mortality gap. The 14.8 fewer years of HALE observed for men with depression equated to a 13.0-year HRQOL gap and a 1.8-year mortality gap. Conclusion: The population of adult men and women with depression in Canada had substantially lower healthy life expectancy than those without depression. Much of this gap is explained by lower levels of HRQOL, but premature mortality also plays a role