Estándares de Diseño de Proyectos de Clima, Comunidad y Biodiversidad (Primera Edición)

Estos estándares de Clima, Comunidad y Biodiversidad para el diseño de proyectos (" estándares CCB " por sus siglas en inglés) identifican proyectos basados en uso de tierra que pueden ofrecer beneficios convincentes de clima, biodiversidad y comunidad. Los estándares CCB han sido diseñados principalmente para proyectos de mitigación de cambio climático. Los estándares fueron diseñados por la Alianza de Clima, Comunidad y Biodiversidad (CCBA por sus siglas en inglés). La CCBA es una asociación global de instituciones de investigación, corporaciones y grupos ambientales, con la misión de desarrollar y promover estándares voluntarios para proyectos de uso de tierra con múltiples beneficios. Para más información acerca de CCBA, visite www.climate-standards.org o comuníquese con [email protected]. Esta primera edición de los estándares CCB representa la culminación de dos años de investigación y un proceso internacional amplio con múltiples actores relacionados. Grupos comunitarios, ONG's, empresas, académicos, diseñadores de proyectos y otros presentaron comentarios, críticas y sugerencias durante los dos años. Adicionalmente, pruebas de campo en Asia, Africa, Europa y América dieron considerable forma a los estándares. Un equipo de revisores consideró todos los comentarios y pruebas de campo para crear esa primera edición. El equipo de revisión incluye los autores y tres instituciones consejeras: Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE), el World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF) y el Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR)

The climatic impacts of land surface change and carbon management, and the implications for climate-change mitigation policy

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/14693062Strategies to mitigate anthropogenic climate change recognize that carbon sequestration in the terrestrial biosphere can reduce the build-up of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere. However, climate mitigation policies do not generally incorporate the effects of these changes in the land surface on the surface albedo, the fluxes of sensible and latent heat to the atmosphere, and the distribution of energy within the climate system. Changes in these components of the surface energy budget can affect the local, regional, and global climate. Given the goal of mitigating climate change, it is important to consider all of the effects of changes in terrestrial vegetation and to work toward a better understanding of the full climate system. Acknowledging the importance of land surface change as a component of climate change makes it more challenging to create a system of credits and debits wherein emission or sequestration of carbon in the biosphere is equated with emission of carbon from fossil fuels. Recognition of the complexity of human-caused changes in climate does not, however, weaken the importance of actions that would seek to minimize our disturbance of the Earth’s environmental system and that would reduce societal and ecological vulnerability to environmental change and variability

Coquillettidia (Culicidae, Diptera) mosquitoes are natural vectors of avian malaria in Africa

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The mosquito vectors of <it>Plasmodium </it>spp. have largely been overlooked in studies of ecology and evolution of avian malaria and other vertebrates in wildlife.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p><it>Plasmodium </it>DNA from wild-caught <it>Coquillettidia </it>spp. collected from lowland forests in Cameroon was isolated and sequenced using nested PCR. Female <it>Coquillettidia aurites </it>were also dissected and salivary glands were isolated and microscopically examined for the presence of sporozoites.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In total, 33% (85/256) of mosquito pools tested positive for avian <it>Plasmodium </it>spp., harbouring at least eight distinct parasite lineages. Sporozoites of <it>Plasmodium </it>spp. were recorded in salivary glands of <it>C. aurites </it>supporting the PCR data that the parasites complete development in these mosquitoes. Results suggest <it>C. aurites</it>, <it>Coquillettidia pseudoconopas </it>and <it>Coquillettidia metallica </it>as new and important vectors of avian malaria in Africa. All parasite lineages recovered clustered with parasites formerly identified from several bird species and suggest the vectors capability of infecting birds from different families.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Identifying the major vectors of avian <it>Plasmodium </it>spp. will assist in understanding the epizootiology of avian malaria, including differences in this disease distribution between pristine and disturbed landscapes.</p

What Is New for an Old Molecule? Systematic Review and Recommendations on the Use of Resveratrol

Stilbenes are naturally occurring phytoalexins that generally exist as their more stable E isomers. The most well known natural stilbene is resveratrol (Res), firstly isolated in 1939 from roots of Veratrum grandiflorum (white hellebore) (1) and since then found in various edible plants, notably in Vitis vinifera L. (Vitaceae) (2). The therapeutic potential of Res covers a wide range of diseases, and multiple beneficial effects on human health such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer activities have been suggested based on several in vitro and animal studies (3). In particular, Res has been reported to be an inhibitor of carcinogenesis at multiple stages via its ability to inhibit cyclooxygenase, and is an anticancer agent with a role in antiangiogenesis (4). Moreover, both in vitro and in vivo studies showed that Res induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in tumor cells (4). However, clinical studies in humans evidenced that Res is rapidly absorbed after oral intake, and that the low level observed in the blood stream is caused by a fast conversion into metabolites that are readily excreted from the body (5). Thus, considerable efforts have gone in the design and synthesis of Res analogues with enhanced metabolic stability. Considering that reduced Res (dihydro- resveratrol, D-Res) conjugates may account for as much as 50% of an oral Res dose (5), and that D-Res has a strong proliferative effect on hormone-sensitive cancer cell lines such as breast cancer cell line MCF7 (6), we recently devoted our synthetic efforts to the preparation of trans-restricted analogues of Res in which the E carbon-carbon double bond is embedded into an imidazole nucleus. To keep the trans geometry, the two aryl rings were linked to the heteroaromatic core in a 1,3 fashion. Based on this design, we successfully prepared a variety of 1,4-, 2,4- and 2,5-diaryl substituted imidazoles including Res analogues 1, 2 and 3, respectively, by procedures that involve transition metal-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reactions and highly selective N-H or C-H direct arylation reactions as key synthetic steps. The anticancer activity of compounds 1–3 was evaluated against the 60 human cancer cell lines panel of the National Cancer Institute (NCI, USA). The obtained results, that will be showed and discussed along with the protocols developed for the preparation of imidazoles 1–3, confirmed that a structural optimization of Res may provide analogues with improved potency in inhibiting the growth of human cancer cell lines in vitro when compared to their natural lead. (1) Takaoka,M.J.Chem.Soc.Jpn.1939,60,1090-1100. (2) Langcake, P.; Pryce, R. J. Physiological. Plant Patology 1976, 9, 77-86. (3) Vang, O.; et al. PLoS ONE 2011, 6, e19881. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0019881 (4) Kraft, T. E.; et al. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition 2009, 49, 782-799. (5) Walle, T. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 2011, 1215, 9-15. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2010.05842.x (6) Gakh,A.A.;etal.Bioorg.Med.Chem.Lett.2010,20,6149-6151

Case records of the Massachusetts General Hospital. Weekly clinicopathological exercises. Case 30-2002. An eight-year-old girl with fever, hemoptysis, and pulmonary consolidations

An eight-year-old girl was admitted to the hospital because of fever, cough, hemoptysis, and pulmonary consolidations ..

A Linkage Framework for the China National Emission Trading System (CETS): Insight from Key Global Carbon Markets

Given that international collaborative efforts to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are urgent and crucial, a critical understanding of challenges and opportunities of linking China’s newly established national ETS with existing domestic or regional ETSs is essential in order to achieve global emission targets, and may attract other jurisdictions to join in global carbon market development. In this backdrop, we analyzed the experiences, lessons, and insights from three key global carbon markets, namely North America, the EU and China, in terms of the barriers to linking the global carbon market, with a focus on China, using thematic analysis. The four most commonly cited linkage design elements (barriers) were the legal basis; monitoring, reporting, and verification; political feasibility; and the price-management mechanism. Like-minded jurisdictions with similar political views and design features will have a higher chance of linking. Additionally, sustaining market liquidity, widening sectoral coverage, minimizing carbon leakage, ensuring offset quality, and a transparent allowance and cap setting rules are crucial steps towards linkage. These outcomes can be used as an ETS linkage-ready design framework for CETS and ETS under development to overcome barriers to future international ETS linkages.Forestry, Faculty ofNon UBCReviewedFacult

The Influence of Land-use Change and Landscape Dynamics on the Climate System: Relevance to Climate-change Policy Beyond the Radiative Effect of Greenhouse Gases

Our paper documents that land-use change impacts regional and global climate through the surface-energy budget, as well as through the carbon cycle. The surface-energy budget effects may be more important than the carbon-cycle effects. However, land-use impacts on climate cannot be adequately quantified with the usual metric of ‘global warming potential’. A new metric is needed to quantify the human disturbance of the Earth\u27s surface-energy budget. This ‘regional climate change potential’ could offer a new metric for developing a more inclusive climate protocol. This concept would also implicitly provide a mechanism to monitor potential local-scale environmental changes that could influence biodiversity