155 research outputs found

    A regional and international framework for evaluating seagrass management and conservation

    Get PDF
    Seagrass meadows provide a range of key ecosystem services that are of high economic and societal value; seagrass meadows enhance biodiversity, provide food security through fisheries support, and are increasingly recognised for the role they play in mitigating climate change by the process of carbon sequestration. Whilst there is an increasing understanding of the global significance of seagrass habitats, the extent of these habitats is declining globally. The requirement to implement effective seagrass conservation and management strategies is thus becoming increasingly important. If the ambitions of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals are to be achieved, then nations need ambitious and applicable marine conservation plans. This includes management and protection to vulnerable ecosystems such as seagrass meadows. This study aims to evaluate a range of seagrass management and conservation approaches identified in different geographic regions, using a critique framework developed from the United Nations Environment Programme 2020 report on seagrass “Out Of The Blue: The Value Of Seagrasses To The Environment And To People’. Using the framework, seagrass management in Scotland is used as a case study and compared nationally to the rest of the UK (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) and internationally, to Europe (Wadden Sea), Australia (Great Barrier Reef Marine Park) and West Africa (Senegal). The results identify potential areas of development in Scotland to enhance its seagrass conservation effort, including increased research in seagrass science, widespread mapping of seagrass, long-term monitoring programmes, improved marine protected areas, inclusion of seagrass protective measures into environmental laws and policies and the implementation of appropriate habitat restoration schemes. The results also identify the need for open data if effective knowledge sharing is to take place, and to ensure that ocean science can fully support countries to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

    Marking exodus: death and funerals in the religious paintings of Clementine Hunter

    Get PDF
    Previous scholarship on artist Clementine Hunter of Natchitoches, Louisiana, has been predominantly biographical and stylistic. Through analysis of her religious scenes, I propose that Hunter’s paintings concerning death reflect concepts of exodus that have influenced Christianity and its practice since its beginning. Considering specifically Hunter's mid-1970s Frenchie Goin' to Heaven, I explore ideas of exodus first through the concept of death as a doorway or transitional space, an association that extends back historically to the Early Christian period. I then link the theme of exodus to the variety of religious influences apparent in Hunter's work, considering especially her depictions of angels, baptisms, and the possible influence of African-American connections between exodus, death, and baptism. These conceptual and historical considerations provide new ways of discussing the complexity of Hunter's work, whether intended by Hunter or not, that place her work in a continuum of religious thought both mainstream and idiosyncratic

    'The Dead are Watching Us':A landscape study of prehistoric rock-cut tomb cemeteries in Ossi, Sardinia, Italy

    Get PDF
    International audienceZUSAMMENFASSUNG ‘Die Toten beobachten uns’: Eine Landschaftsstudie der vorgeschichtlichen Felsengrabfriedhöfe in Ossi, Sardinia, Italy , von Guillaume Robin, Florian Soula, Pascal Tramoni, Laura Manca, und Kirsty Lilley Die Insel Sardinien ist bekannt für ihre unterirdischen Felsengräber des Spätneolithikums und der Kupferzeit, die über Generationen für Kollektivbestattungen genutzt wurden. Viele Gräber waren derart dekoriert, dass sie dem Inneren von Häusern glichen, und die Friedhöfe werden oft als Dörfer der Toten angesprochen. Die bisherige Forschung konzentrierte sich auf die Ausgrabung von stratigraphischen Kontexten innerhalb einiger dieser Monumente oder auf typologische Klassifizierungen von Grabplänen und Wanddekorationen, aber der landschaftliche Kontext der Friedhöfe und ihre Beziehung zu Siedlungen wurden übersehen. Der Artikel stellt die Ergebnisse von zwei Surveykampagnen in Ossi (Nordwestsardinien) vor, die sich auf zwei große Friedhöfe (Mesu ‘e Montes und S’Adde ‘e Asile) konzentrieren. Durch die Kombination von Feldbegehung, Kartierung und 3D-Aufnahmeverfahren liefern die Surveys eine umfassende Dokumentation der Friedhöfe (von der unterirdischen Architektur einzelner Gräber bis zu ihrem landschaftlichen Umfeld) und ergeben Hinweise auf prähistorische Siedlungen in ihrer Umgebung. Der Artikel diskutiert die topographischen und visuellen Beziehungen zwischen den Gräbern und den Wohngebieten und wie sie möglicherweise die sozialen Interaktionen zwischen den Lebenden und den Toten in Sardinien während der jüngeren Vorgeschichte widerspiegeln.The island of Sardinia is well known for its Late Neolithic and Copper Age underground rock-cut tombs that were used over generations for collective burials. Many tombs were decorated to resemble house interiors and cemeteries are often referred to as villages of the dead. Research so far has focused on excavating stratigraphic contexts within some of these monuments, or on typological classifications of tomb plans and wall decorations, but the landscape context of the cemeteries and their relationship to settlements have been overlooked. The article presents the results of two seasons of survey in Ossi (north-west Sardinia), focusing on two major cemeteries (Mesu ‘e Montes and S’Adde ‘e Asile). Combining fieldwalking, mapping and 3D recording techniques, the survey provides a comprehensive documentation of the cemeteries (from the underground architecture of individual tombs to their landscape setting) and yields evidence of prehistoric settlements in their vicinity. The article discusses the topographic and visual relationships between the tombs and the residential areas and how they may reflect social interactions between the living and the dead in late prehistoric Sardinia.RESUMEN “Los muertos nos están mirando”: un estudio de paisaje de los cementerios prehistóricos con tumbas excavadas en la roca en Ossi, Cerdeña, Italia , por Guillaume Robin, Florian Soula, Pascal Tramoni, Laura Manca, y Kirsty Lilley La isla de Cerdeña es muy conocida por las tumbas excavadas en la roca adscritas al Neolítico final y la Edad del Bronce que fueron utilizadas durante generaciones como enterramientos colectivos. Muchas de estas tumbas fueron decoradas para parecerse a los interiores de las casas y los cementerios a menudo se conocen como las villas de los muertos. Hasta ahora la investigación se ha centrado en la excavación de contextos estratigráficos dentro de estos monumentos, así como en la clasificación tipológica de las plantas de las tumbas y de las decoraciones de las paredes, sin embargo, el contexto paisajístico de los cementerios y su relación on los asentamientos ha sido ignorado. El artículo presenta los resultados de las campañas de prospección en Ossi (noroeste de Cerdeña), centradas en dos cementerios de gran tamaño (Mesu ‘e Montes and S’Adde ‘e Asile). Los trabajos de prospección, combinando prospección superficial, mapeado y técnicas de registro 3D, aportan una documentación completa de los cementerios (desde la arquitectura subterránea de las tumbas individuales a su entorno paisajístico) y evidencias de los asentamientos prehistóricos de su entorno. El artículo discute las relaciones topográficas y visuales entre las tumbas y las áreas residenciales y cómo podrían estar reflejando interacciones sociales entre la vida y la muerte de la Prehistoria reciente de Cerdeña.RÉSUMÉ ‘Les morts nous regardent’: Etude du paysage des cimetières nécropoles à tombes hypogées préhistoriques à Ossi, Sardaigne, Italie, de Guillaume Robin, Florian Soula, Pascal Tramoni, Laura Manca, et Kirsty Lilley L’île de la Sardaigne est renomée pour ses tombes souterraines taillées dans le rocher du Néolithique final et de l’âge du cuivre qui furent utilisées pendant des générations pour des inhumations collectives. Nombre de ces tombes étaient décorées de manière à ressembler à des intérieurs de maisons et les nécropoles sont souvent présentées comme aux villages des morts. Les recherches se sont, jusqu’à présent concentrées sur la fouille des contextes stratigraphiques à l’intérieur de certains de ces monuments ou sur la classification typologique des plans de tombes et des décorations murales mais le contexte du paysage de ces cimetières et leurs relations avec les habitats ont été négligés. Les résultats de deux campagnes de prospections à Ossi, nord ouest de la Sardaigne, se concentrant sur deux importantes nécropoles (Mesu ‘e Montes et S’Adde ‘e Asile). Associant prospections pédestres, géolocalisation, et techniques de relevés 3D, l’etude de terrain fournit une documentation détaillée des nécropoles qui va de l’architecture souterraine de tombes individuelles à leur situation dans le paysage et a relevé des témoinages d’occupations préhistoriques à proximité. Cet article discute les relations topographiques et visuelles entre les tombes et les zones habitées et comment elles pouvaient refléter les interactions entre les vivants et les morts à la fin de la Prehistoire en Sardaigne

    Acoustic Classification of Russian Plain and Palatalized Sibilant Fricatives: Spectral vs. Cepstral Measures

    Full text link
    This study compares two methods for classifying voiceless sibilant fricatives forming a 4-way phonemic contrast found in Russian, but otherwise cross-linguistically rare. One method uses spectral measures, i.e. vowel formants, COG, duration and intensity of frication. The second method uses cepstral coefficients extracted from different regions inside fricatives and neighboring vowels. The corpus comprises 1,431 plain and palatalized fricatives from two places of articulation, produced by 10 speakers. Logistic regression was used to classify the productions of males and females together and separately. The productions of females yielded higher correct classification rates (highest 91.9%). Cepstral measures outperformed spectral measures across-the-board

    Think Like a Scientist and Engineer: Schools, University, and Community Partnerships Using an Aquaponics Project During COVID-19

    Get PDF
    One way to expand the time spent teaching science in elementary grades and teacher access to science resources is through partnerships with local universities. This article examines one collaboration that aimed to help students “Think Like a Scientist and an Engineer” using aquaponics. This self-sustainable garden combines aquaculture (fish farming) and hydroponics (growing plants in water). The Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS) 5E Instructional Model was used to introduce the aquaponics project. This article first discusses the University-School partnership, highlighting the project logistics, successes, challenges, and lessons learned, and follows up with recommendations for future STEM teaching projects

    Effector gene birth in plant parasitic nematodes: Neofunctionalization of a housekeeping glutathione synthetase gene.

    Get PDF
    Plant pathogens and parasites are a major threat to global food security. Plant parasitism has arisen four times independently within the phylum Nematoda, resulting in at least one parasite of every major food crop in the world. Some species within the most economically important order (Tylenchida) secrete proteins termed effectors into their host during infection to re-programme host development and immunity. The precise detail of how nematodes evolve new effectors is not clear. Here we reconstruct the evolutionary history of a novel effector gene family. We show that during the evolution of plant parasitism in the Tylenchida, the housekeeping glutathione synthetase (GS) gene was extensively replicated. New GS paralogues acquired multiple dorsal gland promoter elements, altered spatial expression to the secretory dorsal gland, altered temporal expression to primarily parasitic stages, and gained a signal peptide for secretion. The gene products are delivered into the host plant cell during infection, giving rise to "GS-like effectors". Remarkably, by solving the structure of GS-like effectors we show that during this process they have also diversified in biochemical activity, and likely represent the founding members of a novel class of GS-like enzyme. Our results demonstrate the re-purposing of an endogenous housekeeping gene to form a family of effectors with modified functions. We anticipate that our discovery will be a blueprint to understand the evolution of other plant-parasitic nematode effectors, and the foundation to uncover a novel enzymatic function

    Expression of a barley cystatin gene in maize enhances resistance against phytophagous mites by altering their cysteine-proteases

    Get PDF
    Phytocystatins are inhibitors of cysteine-proteases from plants putatively involved in plant defence based on their capability of inhibit heterologous enzymes. We have previously characterised the whole cystatin gene family members from barley (HvCPI-1 to HvCPI-13). The aim of this study was to assess the effects of barley cystatins on two phytophagous spider mites, Tetranychus urticae and Brevipalpus chilensis. The determination of proteolytic activity profile in both mite species showed the presence of the cysteine-proteases, putative targets of cystatins, among other enzymatic activities. All barley cystatins, except HvCPI-1 and HvCPI-7, inhibited in vitro mite cathepsin L- and/or cathepsin B-like activities, HvCPI-6 being the strongest inhibitor for both mite species. Transgenic maize plants expressing HvCPI-6 protein were generated and the functional integrity of the cystatin transgene was confirmed by in vitro inhibitory effect observed against T. urticae and B. chilensis protein extracts. Feeding experiments impaired on transgenic lines performed with T. urticae impaired mite development and reproductive performance. Besides, a significant reduction of cathepsin L-like and/or cathepsin B-like activities was observed when the spider mite fed on maize plants expressing HvCPI-6 cystatin. These findings reveal the potential of barley cystatins as acaricide proteins to protect plants against two important mite pests

    Cracking the Code:Enhancing Molecular Tools for Progress in Nanobiotechnology

    Get PDF
    Nature continually refines its processes for optimal efficiency, especially within biological systems. This article explores the collaborative efforts of researchers worldwide, aiming to mimic nature’s efficiency by developing smarter and more effective nanoscale technologies and biomaterials. Recent advancements highlight progress and prospects in leveraging engineered nucleic acids and proteins for specific tasks, drawing inspiration from natural functions. The focus is developing improved methods for characterizing, understanding, and reprogramming these materials to perform user-defined functions, including personalized therapeutics, targeted drug delivery approaches, engineered scaffolds, and reconfigurable nanodevices. Contributions from academia, government agencies, biotech, and medical settings offer diverse perspectives, promising a comprehensive approach to broad nanobiotechnology objectives. Encompassing topics from mRNA vaccine design to programmable protein-based nanocomputing agents, this work provides insightful perspectives on the trajectory of nanobiotechnology toward a future of enhanced biomimicry and technological innovation.</p

    Cracking the Code:Enhancing Molecular Tools for Progress in Nanobiotechnology

    Get PDF
    Nature continually refines its processes for optimal efficiency, especially within biological systems. This article explores the collaborative efforts of researchers worldwide, aiming to mimic nature’s efficiency by developing smarter and more effective nanoscale technologies and biomaterials. Recent advancements highlight progress and prospects in leveraging engineered nucleic acids and proteins for specific tasks, drawing inspiration from natural functions. The focus is developing improved methods for characterizing, understanding, and reprogramming these materials to perform user-defined functions, including personalized therapeutics, targeted drug delivery approaches, engineered scaffolds, and reconfigurable nanodevices. Contributions from academia, government agencies, biotech, and medical settings offer diverse perspectives, promising a comprehensive approach to broad nanobiotechnology objectives. Encompassing topics from mRNA vaccine design to programmable protein-based nanocomputing agents, this work provides insightful perspectives on the trajectory of nanobiotechnology toward a future of enhanced biomimicry and technological innovation.</p

    Re‐weighing the 5% tagging recommendation: assessing the potential impacts of tags on the behaviour and body condition of bats

    Get PDF
    Considerable advances and breakthroughs in wildlife tracking technology have occurred in recent years, allowing researchers to gain insights into the movements and behaviours of a broad range of animals. Considering the accessibility and increase in use of tracking devices in wildlife studies, it is important to better understand the effects on these on animals. Our endeavour revisits a guideline established in 1988, which proposes that bats may encounter body condition or health problems and alter their behaviour when carrying tags weighing more than 5% of their body mass. Through a systematic literature review, we conducted a meta‐analysis to identify the impacts of tags on bats, including 367 papers from 1976 to 2023 that discussed, mentioned, employed, or quantified tagging of bats. We noted that the proportion of studies exceeding the 5% rule has not changed in recent years. However, the impact of tags was quantified in few studies for behaviour (n = 7) and body condition (n = 10) of bats. We were unable to assess whether tags weighing less or more than 5% of the bat's body mass impacted bats, but our meta‐analysis did identify that tags, irrespective of mass, affect the behaviour and body condition of bats. Although the overall magnitude of measured effects of tags on bats was small, progress has been made to advance our understanding of tag mass on bats. Naturally, there is a bias in reporting of significant results, illustrating the need of reporting results when there is no apparent effect of tags on bats. Our findings highlight the need for rigorous reporting of behaviour and body condition data associated with tagging of animals and illustrate the importance for studies comparing how tracking devices of different dimensions and masses may impact bat species to ensure research meets rigorous ethical standards
    corecore