Physiological Effects of Chronic Copper Exposure to Rainbow Trout (\u3cem\u3eOncorhynchus Mykiss\u3c/em\u3e) in Hard and Soft Water: Evaluation of Chronic Indicators

Effects of chronic copper exposure on a suite of indicators were examined: acute toxicity, acclimation, growth, sprint performance, whole-body electrolytes, tissue residues, and gill copper binding characteristics. Juvenile rainbow trout were exposed for 30 d to waterborne copper in hard water (hardness = 120 μg/L as CaCO3, pH = 8.0, Cu = 20 and 60 μg/L) and soft water (hardness = 20 μg/L as CaCO3, pH = 7.2, Cu = 1 and 2 μg/L). Significant acclimation to the metal occurred only in fish exposed to 60 mg/L, as seen by an approx. twofold increase in 96-h LC50 (153 vs 91 μg Cu/L). Chronic copper exposure had little or no effect on survival, growth, or swimming performance in either water hardness, nor was there any initial whole-body electrolyte loss (Na+ and Cl-). The present data suggest that the availability of food (3% wet body weight/day, distributed as three 1% meals) prevented growth inhibition and initial ion losses that usually result from Cu exposure. Elevated metal burdens in the gills and livers of exposed fish were measures of chronic copper exposure but not of effect. Initial gill binding experiments revealed the necessity of using radiolabeled Cu (64Cu) to detect newly accumulated Cu against gill background levels. Using this method, we verified the presence of saturable Cu-binding sites in the gills of juvenile rainbow trout and were able to make estimates of copperbinding affinity (log Kgill=Cu) and capacity (Bmax). Furthermore, we showed that both chronic exposure to Cu and to low water calcium had important effects on the Cu-binding characteristics of the gills

Landslide inventories for climate impacts research in the European Alps

Author's manuscript version. The final published article is available from the publisher via: doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2014.09.005Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Landslides present a geomorphological hazard in Alpine regions, threatening life, infrastructure and property. Here we present the development of a new regional landslide inventory (RI) for the European Alps. This database provides a substantial temporal and spatial picture of landsliding in the Alps, with particular focus on the Swiss and French Alps. We use segmented models to evaluate recording bias in the temporal record. We use scaling relationships to calculate landslide area based on a given volume for similar types of landslide; with the result of this being that 9.5% of the landslides recorded in the RI now have area data recorded. These landslide area data are then used to examine the log-linear trend, which exists between landslide area and frequency in inventories. We show that this relationship is present for this historical dataset; however, none of the individual databases, nor a unification of these, contain a complete record with the small and larger landslides being recorded more consistently. The use of segmented models on the temporal distribution of landslides in the RI shows that the post-1970 portion of the database is more reliable, highlighted through an improved power-law relationship, although the frequency of medium sized landslides is still underestimated. We show that creating a unified database (RI) can increase the reliability of datasets and consistency in recording for the use by researchers for attribution and detection studies.Lloyds of Londo

Results from a set of three-dimensional numerical experiments of a hot Jupiter atmosphere

We present highlights from a large set of simulations of a hot Jupiter atmosphere, nominally based on HD 209458b, aimed at exploring both the evolution of the deep atmosphere, and the acceleration of the zonal flow or jet. We find the occurrence of a super-rotating equatorial jet is robust to changes in various parameters, and over long timescales, even in the absence of strong inner or bottom boundary drag. This jet is diminished in one simulation only, where we strongly force the deep atmosphere equator-to-pole temperature gradient over long timescales. Finally, although the eddy momentum fluxes in our atmosphere show similarities with the proposed mechanism for accelerating jets on tidally-locked planets, the picture appears more complex. We present tentative evidence for a jet driven by a combination of eddy momentum transport and mean flow.Comment: 26 pages, 22 Figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Where are the horses? With the sheep or cows? Uncertain host location, vector-feeding preferences and the risk of African horse sickness transmission in Great Britain

Understanding the influence of non-susceptible hosts on vector-borne disease transmission is an important epidemiological problem. However, investigation of its impact can be complicated by uncertainty in the location of the hosts. Estimating the risk of transmission of African horse sickness (AHS) in Great Britain (GB), a virus transmitted by Culicoides biting midges, provides an insightful example because: (i) the patterns of risk are expected to be influenced by the presence of non-susceptible vertebrate hosts (cattle and sheep) and (ii) incomplete information on the spatial distribution of horses is available because the GB National Equine Database records owner, rather than horse, locations. Here, we combine land-use data with available horse owner distributions and, using a Bayesian approach, infer a realistic distribution for the location of horses. We estimate the risk of an outbreak of AHS in GB, using the basic reproduction number (R0), and demonstrate that mapping owner addresses as a proxy for horse location significantly underestimates the risk. We clarify the role of non-susceptible vertebrate hosts by showing that the risk of disease in the presence of many hosts (susceptible and non-susceptible) can be ultimately reduced to two fundamental factors: first, the abundance of vectors and how this depends on host density, and, second, the differential feeding preference of vectors among animal species