Splendide Mendax: False Label Claims about High and Rising Alcohol Content of Wine

Many economists and others are interested in the phenomenon of rising alcohol content of wine and its potential causes. Has the alcohol content of wine risen—and if so, by how much, where, and when? What roles have been played by climate change and other environmental factors compared with evolving consumer preferences and expert ratings? In this paper we explore these questions using international evidence, combining time-series data on the alcohol content of wine from a large number of countries that experienced different patterns of climate change and influences of policy and demand shifts. We also examine the relationship between the actual alcohol content of wine and the alcohol content stated on the label. The systematic patterns here suggest that rising alcohol content of wine may be a nuisance by-product of producer responses to perceived market preferences for wines having riper, more-intense flavors, possibly in conjunction with evolving climate.wine grapes, alcohol percentage, climate change, labeling errors, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Marketing,

International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists (IYRP) History, Process, Priority Themes and Way Forward

The road towards the declaration of an IYRP by the United Nations has been long and rocky, perhaps mirroring the relative lack of understanding by some governments of the importance of rangelands and pastoralists for a sustainable world, compared to the focus on other sectors such as forest or cropland sustainability. The idea was first discussed at the International Rangeland (IRC) and Grassland (IGC) Congress held in Hohhot, China in 2008. The creation of an International Support Group (ISG) in 2015 helped to provide a stronger rational and the integration of social dimensions. This has led to a growing partnership of national, regional, and international organizations. Numerous events were conducted at international meetings between 2015 and 2021 to solicit support for an IYRP. In 2018, UN Environment published a Gap Analysis of knowledge about rangelands and pastoralism that helped to further highlight the significant neglect of these issues in both academic and development circles. Under the leadership of the Government of Mongolia, the proposal for designation of an IYRP was officially presented in 2019 to the Committee on Agricultural Secretariat of FAO. This historical background provides instructive lessons on how global perceptions can change through strong partnerships. In anticipation of obtaining this designation a comprehensive list of monthly themes has been developed by the ISG to guide countries on outreach and educational activates to take place prior to and during the IYRP. This guidance provides a vision of multi-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder approaches towards integrating the social, economic, environmental and political aspects of sustainability in rangelands and pastoralism. At this Congress resolutions will be submitted to the IRC and IGC for delegate support of this overall effort, including recommendations for Continuing Committee members of both the IRC and IGC along with the ISG to assist individual countries in developing IYRP-related programs

Priority Themes and Issues for the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists

The objective of the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralism (IYRP) is to increase world-wide awareness and recognition of the value and contributions of rangelands and pastoralists. The aim is to influence country policies, legislation, and programs; and to encourage development, research, extension and educational initiatives that will lead to sustainability of rangelands and pastoral/livestock systems. Although each country should decide on how they would celebrate the IYRP, the adoption of a global framework of 12 monthly themes will help to a) provide suggestions and ideas, b) highlight urgent and topical issues, and c) show how pastoralism and rangelands across the globe share similar issues and concerns. This paper proposes major themes, such as: including securing access to rangelands by pastoralists; services for pastoralists; climate change; biodiversity and ecosystems services; water use; sustainable consumptions of livestock products; indigenous knowledge and culture; women, youth and innovative technologies. These define the global priority issues in the social, economic, environmental, and governance nexus

Theology, News and Notes - Vol. 28, No. 02

Theology News & Notes was a theological journal published by Fuller Theological Seminary from 1954 through 2014.https://digitalcommons.fuller.edu/tnn/1074/thumbnail.jp

Bulk Viscosity, Decaying Dark Matter, and the Cosmic Acceleration

We discuss a cosmology in which cold dark-matter particles decay into relativistic particles. We argue that such decays could lead naturally to a bulk viscosity in the cosmic fluid. For decay lifetimes comparable to the present hubble age, this bulk viscosity enters the cosmic energy equation as an effective negative pressure. We investigate whether this negative pressure is of sufficient magnitude to account fo the observed cosmic acceleration. We show that a single decaying species in a flat, dark-matter dominated cosmology without a cosmological constant cannot reproduce the observed magnitude-redshift relation from Type Ia supernovae. However, a delayed bulk viscosity, possibly due to a cascade of decaying particles may be able to account for a significant fraction of the apparent cosmic acceleration. Possible candidate nonrelativistic particles for this scenario include sterile neutrinos or gauge-mediated decaying supersymmetric particles.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Using citizen science to identify Australia’s least known birds and inform conservation action

Citizen science is a popular approach to biodiversity surveying, whereby data that are collected by volunteer naturalists may help analysts to understand the distribution and abundance of wild organisms. In Australia, birdwatchers have contributed to two major citizen science programs, eBird (run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology) and Birdata (run by Birdlife Australia), which collectively hold more than 42 million records of wild birds from across the country. However, these records are not evenly distributed across space, time, or taxonomy, with particularly significant variation in the number of records of each species in these datasets. In this paper, we explore this variation and seek to determine which Australian bird species are least known as determined by rates of citizen science survey detections. We achieve this by comparing the rates of survey effort and species detection across each Australian bird species? range, assigning all 581 species to one of the four groups depending on their rates of survey effort and species observation. We classify 56 species into a group considered the most poorly recorded despite extensive survey effort, with Coxen?s Fig Parrot Cyclopsitta coxeni, Letter-winged Kite Elanus scriptus, Night Parrot Pezoporus occidentalis, Buff-breasted Buttonquail Turnix olivii and Red-chested Buttonquail Turnix pyrrhothorax having the very lowest numbers of records. Our analyses provide a framework to identify species that are poorly represented in citizen science datasets. We explore the reasons behind why they may be poorly represented and suggest ways in which targeted approaches may be able to help fill in the gaps.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Restricted Clonal Expression of IL-2 By Naive T Cells Reflects Differential Dynamic Interactions with Dendritic Cells

Limited frequencies of T cells express IL-2 in primary antigenic responses, despite activation marker expression and proliferation by most clonal members. To define the basis for restricted IL-2 expression, a videomicroscopic system and IL-2 reporter transgenic model were used to characterize dendritic cell (DC)–T cell interactions. T cells destined to produce IL-2 required prolonged interactions with DCs, whereas most T cells established only transient interactions with DCs and were activated, but did not express IL-2. Extended conjugation of T cells with DCs was not always sufficient to initiate IL-2 expression. Thus, there is intrinsic variability in clonal T cell populations that restricts IL-2 commitment, and prolonged engagement with mature DCs is necessary, but not sufficient, for IL-2 gene transcription

Effectiveness of a simple lymphoedema treatment regimen in podoconiosis management in southern Ethiopia: one year follow-up

Background: Podoconiosis is a non-filarial elephantiasis caused by long-term barefoot exposure to volcanic soils in endemic areas. Irritant silicate particles penetrate the skin, causing a progressive, debilitating lymphoedema of the lower leg, often starting in the second decade of life. A simple patient-led treatment approach appropriate for resource poor settings has been developed, comprising (1) education on aetiology and prevention of podoconiosis, (2) foot hygiene (daily washing with soap, water and an antiseptic), (3) the regular use of emollient, (4) elevation of the limb at night, and (5) emphasis on the consistent use of shoes and socks. Methodology/Principal Findings: We did a 12-month, non-comparative, longitudinal evaluation of 33 patients newly presenting to one clinic site of a non-government organization (the Mossy Foot Treatment & Prevention Association, MFTPA) in southern Ethiopia. Outcome measures used for the monitoring of disease progress were (1) the clinical staging system for podoconiosis, and (2) the Amharic Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), both of which have been recently validated for use in this setting. Digital photographs were also taken at each visit. Twenty-seven patients completed follow up. Characteristics of patients completing follow-up were not significantly different to those not. Mean clinical stage and lower leg circumference decreased significantly (mean difference -0.67 (95% CI -0.38 to -0.96) and -2.00 (95% CI -1.26 to -2.74), respectively, p<0.001 for both changes). Mean DLQI diminished from 21 (out of a maximum of 30) to 6 (p<0.001). There was a non-significant change in proportion of patients with mossy lesions (p = 0.375). Conclusions/Significance: This simple, resource-appropriate regimen has a considerable impact both on clinical progression and self-reported quality of life of affected individuals. The regimen appears ideal for scaling up to other endemic regions in Ethiopia and internationally. We recommend that further research in the area include analysis of cost-effectiveness of the regimen

Sulfur dioxide and particles in quiescent volcanic plumes from Poás, Arenal, and Colima Volcanos, Costa Rica and Mexico

Measurements of SO2 emission rates and concentrations and of particle distribution, size, shape, and composition were made in quiescent volcanic plumes emitted into the troposphere from Poás and Arenal volcanos, Costa Rica, and Colima volcano, Mexico. SO2 emission rates were 700±180 metric tons per day (t/d) for Poás, 210±30 t/d for Arenal, and 320±50 t/d for Colima. The concentrations of SO2 calculated from the COSPEC/lidar data were 5–380 ppb. Concentrations of SO2measured directly by flame photometry were 10–250 ppb. Particles collected in the plumes with a quartz crystal microbalance impactor were mostly less than 3 μm in diameter and consisted of droplets of dilute sulfur-bearing solutions and minor amounts of larger silicate particles coated with a sulfur-bearing film or crust. Total particle concentrations were 4.7 μg/m3 for Poás and 18.8 μg/m3for Colima. Comparison of concentrations of SO2 in the plumes with gas samples collected at fumaroles on the ground suggests that the plumes are diluted by the atmosphere by factors of up to 105

Spatially varying selection between habitats drives physiological shifts and local adaptation in a broadcast spawning coral on a remote atoll in Western Australia

At the Rowley Shoals in Western Australia, the prominent reef flat becomes exposed on low tide and the stagnant water in the shallow atoll lagoons heats up, creating a natural laboratory for characterizing the mechanisms of coral resilience to climate change. To explore these mechanisms in the reef coral Acropora tenuis, we collected samples from lagoon and reef slope habitats and combined whole-genome sequencing, ITS2 metabarcoding, experimental heat stress, and transcriptomics. Despite high gene flow across the atoll, we identified clear shifts in allele frequencies between habitats at relatively small linked genomic islands. Common garden heat stress assays showed corals from the lagoon to be more resistant to bleaching, and RNA sequencing revealed marked differences in baseline levels of gene expression between habitats. Our results provide new insight into the complex mechanisms of coral resilience to climate change and highlight the potential for spatially varying selection across complex coral reef seascapes to drive pronounced ecological divergence in climate-related traits