The global biogeography of reef morphology

Aim: The Caribbean and Indo-Pacific are separate biogeographical realms with distinct biogeographical and evolutionary histories, a 10-fold difference in biodiversity, and highly disparate sea-level histories. Since reef morphology often reflects interactions between biological activity and biogeographical history, including sea levels, the widths of shallow coral reef habitats are likely to differ markedly between realms, with ramifications for numerous ecosystem functions. Our goal, therefore, was to assess the impact of global-scale biogeographical and evolutionary histories on coral reef habitats. Specifically, are Indo-Pacific reefs wider than their Caribbean counterparts?. Location: Global. Time Period: Modern. Major Taxa Studied: Coral reefs. Methods: We used the Allen Coral Atlas, a global reef mapping system (3 m pixel resolution), to examine 3765 transects, 3 km long and 1 km apart, on 60 reefs across the two realms, quantifying shallow reef habitat widths (Inner and Outer Reef Flat, and Reef Crest) using ArcGIS. Results: Shallow reef habitat widths were strikingly similar between the Caribbean and Indo-Pacific. Estimated modal widths diverged by just 37 m; means by just 122 m. Although shallow reef zones appeared to be wider in the Indo-Pacific, habitat widths on atolls were almost identical across realms (means varying by less than 8 m). Main Conclusions: Our remote sensing approach provides a global description of the biogeography of coral reefs as biogenic structures. Furthermore, we can assess the relative importance of realm-wide differences in coral diversity and sea-level history on reef growth. The striking similarity of reef widths across realms suggests that reef growth (net reef accretion) is largely independent of coral diversity, or sea-level history, and that other factors may have played a major role in constraining shallow reef widths. These factors may include geomorphology (e.g. antecedent topography and historical accommodation space) and, once at sea level, self-limiting local hydrodynamics

A policy analysis of the 2014 Mexican soda tax

Introduction: Mexico’s prevalence of adult overweight and obesity is 72.5%, and 34.4% for school children. Mexico has one of the highest consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages globally. In 2012, during the transition to a new President, a new obesity strategy was proposed and developed. As part of this policy, a soda tax was implemented in Mexico in January 2014. The aim of this thesis is to explore how the soda tax emerged as a policy issue in Mexico and how stakeholders influenced its development and implementation. Methods: Thirty-three semi-structured elite interviews were conducted with stakeholders involved in the obesity policy process. Interview data was triangulated with data collected through a documentary analysis, using a systematic search of a wide range of reports, policy and organisations documents generated before and during the soda tax design and implementation phases (January 2011 to December 2015). This resulted in the analysis of 145 documents. An iterative thematic qualitative analysis of both interviews and document data was conducted, guided by the policy network approach, framing theory and multiple steams theory. Results: Many contextual factors were found to have facilitated the soda tax policy development including: the new government needing to find additional sources of revenue; increased public and government awareness of the high sugar sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption in Mexico, and its relationship to obesity and diabetes trends: greater influence gained by national NGOs through use of the media and supported by international organizations, use of existing national networks and new collaborations within Mexico. Some key relationships and links influenced the agenda setting for important policy issues. This included how conflict of interests, accountability, and representations in the formal policy process were managed. This revealed power imbalances around the policy debates and shifts in the attitude, responsibilities and actions of major actors The Ministry of Health (MOH) and Ministry of Finance (MOF) were initially ambivalent and resisted development of a soda tax,not always being strong advocates as would have been expected. The formal policy design process followed a multi-stakeholder approach which actively involved the food and beverage industry (F&BI). They were able to influence policy actions to mitigate the soda tax impact on the F&BI, undermining some outcomes. Actions by other non-state actors (e.g. ) to influence public perception about benefits and constraints of the tax included: the use of marketing strategies, calls for action using the media, framing of arguments as “the right to health” and “the multi-causality of obesity” rhetoric and implementation of corporate social responsibility actions. The effectiveness of the soda tax was highly debated in public before and after implementation, resulting in public polarization. Until the soda tax emerged as a policy option, the influence of the F&BI on health policy had not been perceived as a conflict of interest or problematic and it continues to be ignored as such by some state policy actors. Conclusion: This thesis contributes to the debate on how power is exercised, framed and shifted throughout the health policy process. It discusses the contextual factors that facilitated the soda tax development in Mexico, including how framing of evidence about obesity as a policy problem and possible solutions influenced the agenda setting. It identifies the key organisations and networks that were instrumental in policy making. This research provides evidence about how the F&BI have wielded their influence in regulatory actions within the national strategy for obesity prevention, and specifically the soda tax in Mexico. It highlights how the soda tax also brought about new opportunities for some actors framed around the issue of provision of safe drinking water. The soda tax resulted in the empowerment of advocacy groups and networks nationally supported by international actors, which was counter-balanced by new public-private partnerships and corporate social responsibility actions. This thesis demonstrates that corporate interests continued to have an influence on Mexican health policy after the introduction of the soda tax

Mechanisms for addressing and managing the influence of corporations on public health policy, research and practice: a scoping review

We identified mechanisms for addressing and/or managing the influence of corporations on public health policy, research and practice, as well as examples of where these mechanisms have been adopted from across the globe

Reactive transport simulations to study groundwater quality changes in response to CO2 leakage from deep geological storage

AbstractAs an effort to evaluate risks associated with geologic sequestration of CO2, this work assesses the potential effects of CO2 leakage on groundwater quality. Reactive transport simulations are performed to study the chemical evolution of aqueous Pb and As after the intrusion of CO2 from a storage reservoir into a shallow confined groundwater resource. The simulations use mineralogies representative of shallow potable aquifers in the USA; both 2D (depth-averaged) and 3D simulations are conducted. Sensitivity studies are also conducted for variation in hydrological and geochemical conditions, as well as several other critical parameters. Model results suggest that a significant increase of aqueous lead (Pb) and arsenic (As) may occur in response to CO2 intrusion, but in most sensitivity cases their concentrations remain below the EPA specified maximum contaminant levels (MCLs). Adsorption/desorption from mineral surfaces significantly impacts the mobilization of Pb and As. Results from the 3D model agree fairly well with the 2D model in cases where the rate of CO2 intrusion is relatively small (so that the majority of CO2 readily dissolves in the groundwater), whereas discrepancies between 2D and 3D models are observed when the CO2 intrusion rate is comparably large

Modeling and measurements of urban aerosol processes on the neighborhood scale in Rotterdam, Oslo and Helsinki

This study evaluates the influence of aerosol processes on the particle number (PN) concentrations in three major European cities on the temporal scale of 1aEuro-h, i.e., on the neighborhood and city scales. We have used selected measured data of particle size distributions from previous campaigns in the cities of Helsinki, Oslo and Rotterdam. The aerosol transformation processes were evaluated using the aerosol dynamics model MAFOR, combined with a simplified treatment of roadside and urban atmospheric dispersion. We have compared the model predictions of particle number size distributions with the measured data, and conducted sensitivity analyses regarding the influence of various model input variables. We also present a simplified parameterization for aerosol processes, which is based on the more complex aerosol process computations; this simple model can easily be implemented to both Gaussian and Eulerian urban dispersion models. Aerosol processes considered in this study were (i) the coagulation of particles, (ii) the condensation and evaporation of two organic vapors, and (iii) dry deposition. The chemical transformation of gas-phase compounds was not taken into account. By choosing concentrations and particle size distributions at roadside as starting point of the computations, nucleation of gas-phase vapors from the exhaust has been regarded as post tail-pipe emission, avoiding the need to include nucleation in the process analysis. Dry deposition and coagulation of particles were identified to be the most important aerosol dynamic processes that control the evolution and removal of particles. The error of the contribution from dry deposition to PN losses due to the uncertainty of measured deposition velocities ranges from -76 to +64aEuro-%. The removal of nanoparticles by coagulation enhanced considerably when considering the fractal nature of soot aggregates and the combined effect of van der Waals and viscous interactions. The effect of condensation and evaporation of organic vapors emitted by vehicles on particle numbers and on particle size distributions was examined. Under inefficient dispersion conditions, the model predicts that condensational growth contributes to the evolution of PN from roadside to the neighborhood scale. The simplified parameterization of aerosol processes predicts the change in particle number concentrations between roadside and urban background within 10aEuro-% of that predicted by the fully size-resolved MAFOR model.Peer reviewe

Modelling the dispersion of particle numbers in five European cities

We present an overview of the modelling of particle number concentrations (PNCs) in five major European cities, namely Helsinki, Oslo, London, Rotterdam, and Athens, in 2008. Novel emission inventories of particle numbers have been compiled both on urban and European scales. We used atmospheric dispersion modelling for PNCs in the five target cities and on a European scale, and evaluated the predicted results against available measured concentrations. In all the target cities, the concentrations of particle numbers (PNs) were mostly influenced by the emissions originating from local vehicular traffic. The influence of shipping and harbours was also significant for Helsinki, Oslo, Rotterdam, and Athens, but not for London. The influence of the aviation emissions in Athens was also notable. The regional background concentrations were clearly lower than the contributions originating from urban sources in Helsinki, Oslo, and Athens. The regional background was also lower than urban contributions in traffic environments in London, but higher or approximately equal to urban contributions in Rotterdam. It was numerically evaluated that the influence of coagulation and dry deposition on the predicted PNCs was substantial for the urban background in Oslo. The predicted and measured annual average PNCs in four cities agreed within approximatelyPeer reviewe

Mechanisms for addressing and managing the influence of corporations on public health policy, research and practice: a scoping review.

OBJECTIVE: We identified mechanisms for addressing and/or managing the influence of corporations on public health policy, research and practice, as well as examples of where these mechanisms have been adopted from across the globe. DESIGN: We conducted a scoping review. We conducted searches in five databases on 4 June 2019. Twenty-eight relevant institutions and networks were contacted to identify additional mechanisms and examples. In addition, we identified mechanisms and examples from our collective experience working on the influence of corporations on public health policy, research and practice. SETTING: We identified mechanisms at the national, regional and global levels. RESULTS: Thirty-one documents were included in our review. Eight were peer-reviewed scientific articles. Nine discussed mechanisms to address and/or manage the influence of different types of industries; while other documents targeted specific industries. In total, we identified 49 mechanisms for addressing and/or managing the influence of corporations on public health policy, research and practice, and 43 of these were adopted at the national, regional or global level. We identified four main types of mechanisms: transparency; management of interactions with industry and of conflicts of interest; identification, monitoring and education about the practices of corporations and associated risks to public health; prohibition of interactions with industry. Mechanisms for governments (n=17) and academia (n=13) were most frequently identified, with fewer for the media and civil society. CONCLUSIONS: We identified several mechanisms that could help address and/or manage the negative influence of corporations on public health policy, research and practice. If adopted and evaluated more widely, many of the mechanisms described in this manuscript could contribute to efforts to prevent and control non-communicable diseases. TRIAL REGISTRATION DETAILS: The protocol was registered with the Open Science Framework on 27 May 2019 (https://osf.io/xc2vp)