Environmental sustainability: A case of policy implementation failure?

© 2017 by the author. For a generation, governments around the world have been committed to sustainable development as a policy goal. This has been supported by an array of new policies ranging from international agreements, to national strategies, environmental laws at many levels of government, regional programs, and local plans. Despite these efforts, decades of scientific monitoring indicate that the world is no closer to environmental sustainability and in many respects the situation is getting worse. This paper argues that a significant contributing factor to this situation is policy implementation failure. A systematic review of the literature reveals that the failure to achieve the intended outcomes of environmental policies is due to economic, political and communication factors. Conflict between the objectives of environmental policies and those focused on economic development, a lack of incentives to implement environmental policies, and a failure to communicate objectives to key stakeholders are all key factors that contribute to the inability to attain environmental sustainability

Deep-water macroalgae from the Canary Islands: new records and biogeographical relationships

Due to the geographical location and paleobiogeography of the Canary Islands, the seaweed flora contains macroalgae with different distributional patterns. In this contribution, the biogeographical relations of several new records of deep-water macroalgae recently collected around the Canarian archipelago are discussed. These are Bryopsidella neglecta (Berthotd) Rietema,Discosporangium mesarthrocarpum (Meneghini) Hauck, Hincksia onslowensis (Amsler et Kapraun)P.C. Silva, Syringoderma floridana Henry, Peyssonnelia harveyana J. Agardh, Cryptonemia seminervis(C. Agardh) J. Agardh, Botryodadia wynnei Ballantine, Gloiocladia blomquistii (Searles) R. E.Norris, PIahchrysis peltata (W. R. Taylor) P. Huv4 et H. Huv4, Leptofauchea brasiliensis Joly, and Sarcodiotheca divaricata W. R. Taylor. These new records, especially those in the Florideophyceae,support the strong affinity of the Canary Islands seaweed flora with the warm-temperate Mediterranean-Atlantic region. Some species are recorded for the first time from the east coast of the Atlantic Ocean, enhancing the biogeographic relations of the Canarian marine flora with that of the western Atlantic regions

Corrigendum to “Golden carbon of Sargassum forests revealed as an opportunity for climate change mitigation” [Sci. Total Environ., 729 (2020) Start page – End page/ 138745]

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Local structural changes in paramagnetic and charge ordered phases of Sm0.2Pr0.3Sr0.5MnO3: An EXAFS Study

Sm{0.5-x}Pr{x}Sr{0.5}MnO{3} exhibits variety of ground states as x is varied from 0 to 0.5. At an intermediate doping of x = 0.3 a charge-ordered CE type antiferromagnetic insulating (AFI) ground state is seen. The transition to this ground state is from a paramagnetic insulating (PMI) phase through a ferromagnetic metallic phase (FMM). Local structures in PMI and AFI phases of x = 0.3 sample have been investigated using Pr K-edge and Sm K-edge Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS). It can be seen that the tilting and rotation of the MnO6 octahedra about the b-axis are responsible for the charge ordered CE-type antiferromagnetic ground state at low temperatures. In addition a shift in the position of the rare earth ion along the c-axis has to be considered to account for observed distribution of bond distances around the rare earth ion

Integrating transposable elements in the 3D genome

Chromosome organisation is increasingly recognised as an essential component of genome regulation, cell fate and cell health. Within the realm of transposable elements (TEs) however, the spatial information of how genomes are folded is still only rarely integrated in experimental studies or accounted for in modelling. Whilst polymer physics is recognised as an important tool to understand the mechanisms of genome folding, in this commentary we discuss its potential applicability to aspects of TE biology. Based on recent works on the relationship between genome organisation and TE integration, we argue that existing polymer models may be extended to create a predictive framework for the study of TE integration patterns. We suggest that these models may offer orthogonal and generic insights into the integration profiles (or "topography") of TEs across organisms. In addition, we provide simple polymer physics arguments and preliminary molecular dynamics simulations of TEs inserting into heterogeneously flexible polymers. By considering this simple model, we show how polymer folding and local flexibility may generically affect TE integration patterns. The preliminary discussion reported in this commentary is aimed to lay the foundations for a large-scale analysis of TE integration dynamics and topography as a function of the three-dimensional host genome

Temperature-Dependent Infrared Reflectivity Studies of Multiferroic TbMnO_{3}: Evidence for Spin-Phonon Coupling

We have measured near normal incidence far infrared (FIR) reflectivity spectra of a single crystal of TbMnO3 from 10K to 300K in the spectral range of 50 cm$^{-1}$ to 700 cm$^{-1}$. Fifteen transverse optic (TO) and longitudinal optic (LO) modes are identified in the imaginary part of the dielectric function $\epsilon_2$($\omega$) and energy loss function Im(-1/$\epsilon$($\omega$)), respectively. Some of the observed phonon modes show anomalous softening below the magnetic transition temperature T$_N$ (~ 46K). We attribute this anomalous softening to the spin-phonon coupling caused by phonon modulation of the super-exchange integral between the Mn$^{3+}$ spins. The effective charge of oxygen (Z$_O$) calculated using the measured LO-TO splitting increases below T$_N$.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures, 1 tabl

Injection therapy and denervation procedures for chronic low-back pain: a systematic review

Injection therapy and denervation procedures are commonly used in the management of chronic low-back pain (LBP) despite uncertainty regarding their effectiveness and safety. To provide an evaluation of the current evidence associated with the use of these procedures, a systematic review was performed. Existing systematic reviews were screened, and the Cochrane Back Review Group trial register was searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) fulfilling the inclusion criteria. Studies were included if they recruited adults with chronic LBP, evaluated the use of injection therapy or denervation procedures and measured at least one clinically relevant outcome (such as pain or functional status). Two review authors independently assessed studies for eligibility and risk of bias (RoB). A meta-analysis was performed with clinically homogeneous studies, and the GRADE approach was used to determine the quality of evidence. In total, 27 RCTs were included, 14 on injection therapy and 13 on denervation procedures. 18 (66%) of the studies were determined to have a low RoB. Because of clinical heterogeneity, only two comparisons could be pooled. Overall, there is only low to very low quality evidence to support the use of injection therapy and denervation procedures over placebo or other treatments for patients with chronic LBP. However, it cannot be ruled out that in carefully selected patients, some injection therapy or denervation procedures may be of benefit