The Pan-Arctic Continental Slope as an Intensifying Conveyer Belt for Nutrients in the Central Arctic Ocean (1985–2015)

Abstract Primary production in the Central Arctic Ocean (CAO) is limited by light and bioavailable nutrients. With the decline of the sea-ice cover in recent decades, and the resulting increase in light availability, nitrate limitation has been speculated to become more prominent. We used an eddy-permitting biogeochemical model simulation to estimate nitrate advective fluxes at different spatio-temporal scales (synoptic, mesoscale and sub-mesoscale) over the 1985–2015 period. We found that the pan-Arctic continental slope contributes disproportionately to the Dissolved Inorganic Nitrogen supply and that this supply is intensifying through two main processes: lateral eddy transport and upwelling. Despite this increasing supply in nitrate and an intensification of ocean dynamics, the nutrient supply is decreasing everywhere else in the central basins and the simulation indicates that the CAO is still shifting from light to nutrient limitation

Dynamic production monitoring in pig herds II:Modeling and monitoring farrowing rate at herd level

Abstract:Good management in animal production systems is becoming of paramount importance. The aim of this paper was to develop a dynamic moni-toring system for farrowing rate. A farrowing rate model was implemented us-ing a Dynamic Generalized Linear Model (DGLM). Variance components were pre-estimated using an Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm applied on a dataset containing data from 15 herds, each of them including insemination and farrowing observations over a period ranging from 150 to 800 weeks. The model included a set of parameters describing the parity-specific farrowing rate and the re-insemination effect. It also provided reliable forecasting on weekly basis. Sta-tistical control tools were used to give warnings in case of impaired farrowing rate. For each herd, farrowing rate profile, analysis of model components over time and detection of alarms were computed. Together with a previous model for litter size data and a planned similar model for mortality rate, this model will be an important basis for developing a new, dynamic, management tool

What skills do agricultural professionals need in the transition towards a sustainable agriculture? A qualitative literature review

Agriculture is facing mounting challenges across the globe and must move towards more sustainable practices to combat climate change and meet changed production requirements. Education has been acknowledged as highly important in a sustainable transition, but there is no clear agreement about what skills are needed for professionals in the agricultural system. The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyse skills needed for professionals in the agricultural system to engage in the transition towards sustainable agriculture and elaborate on the implications of this for a transition towards sustainable agriculture. The review is based on a qualitative semi-systematic literature review of 20 peer-reviewed articles concerned with sustainability, skills, and agriculture. Five categories of skills were identified and analysed, including systems perspective, lifelong learning, knowledge integration, building and maintaining networks and learning communities, and technical and subject-specific knowledge and technology. As the identified categories of skills have emerged from different contextual settings and a diverse group of actors, these five categories encourage a broad and inclusive understanding of skills that can be translated into different contextual settings, scales, and professions within the agricultural system. The article concludes that professionals engaged in the transition towards sustainable agriculture need skills that encourage a perspective that moves beyond generic discipline-based skills and instead builds on heterogeneity, inclusion, and use of different actors’ knowledge, practices, and experiences, and the ability to respond and be proactive in a constantly changing world

What Skills Do Agricultural Professionals Need in the Transition towards a Sustainable Agriculture? A Qualitative Literature Review

Agriculture is facing mounting challenges across the globe and must move towards more sustainable practices to combat climate change and meet changed production requirements. Education has been acknowledged as highly important in a sustainable transition, but there is no clear agreement about what skills are needed for professionals in the agricultural system. The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyse skills needed for professionals in the agricultural system to engage in the transition towards sustainable agriculture and elaborate on the implications of this for a transition towards sustainable agriculture. The review is based on a qualitative semi-systematic literature review of 20 peer-reviewed articles concerned with sustainability, skills, and agriculture. Five categories of skills were identified and analysed, including systems perspective, lifelong learning, knowledge integration, building and maintaining networks and learning communities, and technical and subject-specific knowledge and technology. As the identified categories of skills have emerged from different contextual settings and a diverse group of actors, these five categories encourage a broad and inclusive understanding of skills that can be translated into different contextual settings, scales, and professions within the agricultural system. The article concludes that professionals engaged in the transition towards sustainable agriculture need skills that encourage a perspective that moves beyond generic discipline-based skills and instead builds on heterogeneity, inclusion, and use of different actors' knowledge, practices, and experiences, and the ability to respond and be proactive in a constantly changing world

Serological assessment of neutrophil elastase activity on elastin during lung ECM remodeling

BACKGROUND: During the pathological destruction of lung tissue, neutrophil elastase (NE) degrades elastin, one of the major constituents of lung parenchyma. However there are no non-invasive methods to quantify NE degradation of elastin. We selected specific elastin fragments generated by NE for antibody generation and developed an ELISA assay (EL-NE) for the quantification of NE-degraded elastin. METHODS: Monoclonal antibodies were developed against 10 NE-specific cleavage sites on elastin. One EL-NE assay was tested for analyte stability, linearity and intra- and inter-assay variation. The NE specificity was demonstrated using elastin cleaved in vitro with matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), cathepsin G (CatG), NE and intact elastin. Clinical relevance was assessed by measuring levels of NE-generated elastin fragments in serum of patients diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF, n = 10) or lung cancer (n = 40). RESULTS: Analyte recovery of EL-NE for human serum was between 85% and 104%, the analyte was stable for four freeze/thaw cycles and after 24 h storage at 4°C. EL-NE was specific for NE-degraded elastin. Levels of NE-generated elastin fragments for elastin incubated in the presence of NE were 900% to 4700% higher than those seen with CatG or MMP incubation or in intact elastin. Serum levels of NE-generated elastin fragments were significantly increased in patients with IPF (137%, p = 0.002) and in patients with lung cancer (510%, p < 0.001) compared with age- and sex-matched controls. CONCLUSIONS: The EL-NE assay was specific for NE-degraded elastin. The EL-NE assay was able to specifically quantify NE-degraded elastin in serum. Serum levels of NE-degraded elastin might be used to detect excessive lung tissue degradation in lung cancer and IPF. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12890-015-0048-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users