Science Education for Citizenship and a Sustainable Future

In this article Jerry Wellington argues very strongly in favour of the role of science in citizenship education. He emphasizes the need for knowledge, skills and action and suggests areas and ways in which pupils can be engaged in the struggle for a sustainable future where interdependence and interconnectedness mesh well with notions of equity and justice

modCHIMERA: A novel murine closed-head model of moderate traumatic brain injury

AbstractTraumatic brain injury is a major source of global disability and mortality. Preclinical TBI models are a crucial component of therapeutic investigation. We report a tunable, monitored model of murine non-surgical, diffuse closed-head injury—modCHIMERA—characterized by impact as well as linear and rotational acceleration. modCHIMERA is based on the Closed-Head Impact Model of Engineered Rotational Acceleration (CHIMERA) platform. We tested this model at 2 energy levels: 1.7 and 2.1 Joules—substantially higher than previously reported for this system. Kinematic analysis demonstrated linear acceleration exceeding injury thresholds in humans, although outcome metrics tracked impact energy more closely than kinematic parameters. Acute severity metrics were consistent with a complicated-mild or moderate TBI, a clinical population characterized by high morbidity but potentially reversible pathology. Axonal injury was multifocal and bilateral, neuronal death was detected in the hippocampus, and microglial neuroinflammation was prominent. Acute functional analysis revealed prolonged post-injury unconsciousness, and decreased spontaneous behavior and stimulated neurological scores. Neurobehavioral deficits were demonstrated in spatial learning/memory and socialization at 1-month. The overall injury profile of modCHIMERA corresponds with the range responsible for a substantial portion of TBI-related disability in humans. modCHIMERA should provide a reliable platform for efficient analysis of TBI pathophysiology and testing of treatment modalities.</jats:p

Performance of an environmental test to detect Mycobacterium bovis infection in badger social groups

A study by Courtenay and others (2006) demonstrated that the probability of detecting Mycobacterium bovis by PCR in soil samples from the spoil heaps of main badger setts correlated with the prevalence of excretion (infectiousness) of captured badgers belonging to the social group. It has been proposed that such a test could be used to target badger culling to setts containing infectious animals (Anon 2007). This short communication discusses the issues surrounding this concept, with the intention of dispelling any misconceptions among relevant stakeholders (farmers, policy makers and conservationists)

Sphagnum physiology in the context of changing climate: emergent influences of genomics, modelling and host-microbiome interactions on understanding ecosystem function.

Peatlands harbour more than one-third of terrestrial carbon leading to the argument that the bryophytes, as major components of peatland ecosystems, store more organic carbon in soils than any other collective plant taxa. Plants of the genus Sphagnum are important components of peatland ecosystems and are potentially vulnerable to changing climatic conditions. However, the response of Sphagnum to rising temperatures, elevated CO2 and shifts in local hydrology have yet to be fully characterized. In this review, we examine Sphagnum biology and ecology and explore the role of this group of keystone species and its associated microbiome in carbon and nitrogen cycling using literature review and model simulations. Several issues are highlighted including the consequences of a variable environment on plant-microbiome interactions, uncertainty associated with CO2 diffusion resistances and the relationship between fixed N and that partitioned to the photosynthetic apparatus. We note that the Sphagnum fallax genome is currently being sequenced and outline potential applications of population-level genomics and corresponding plant photosynthesis and microbial metabolic modelling techniques. We highlight Sphagnum as a model organism to explore ecosystem response to a changing climate and to define the role that Sphagnum can play at the intersection of physiology, genetics and functional genomics

Dynamic optimal taxation with human capital.

This paper revisits the dynamic optimal taxation results of Jones, Manuelli, and Rossi (1993, 1997). They use a growth model with human capital and find that optimal taxes on both capital income and labor income converge to zero in steady state. For one of the models under consideration, I show that the representative household's problem does not have an interior solution. This raises concerns since these corners are inconsistent with aggregate data. Interiority is restored if preferences are modified so that human capital augments the value of leisure time. With this change, the optimal tax problem is analyzed and, reassuringly, the Jones, Manuelli, and Rossi results are confirmed: neither capital income nor labor income should be taxed in steady state

Ultraviolet writing of channel waveguides in proton-exchanged LiNbO₃

We report on a direct ultraviolet (UV) writing method for the fabrication of channel waveguides at 1.55 µm in LiNbO3 through UV irradiation of surface and buried planar waveguides made by annealed proton exchange and reverse proton exchange. A systematic study of the guidance properties as a function of the UV writing conditions is presented

Variable rate spraying in varied micro-meteorological conditions

This study evaluated effects of crosswind on the variable rate sprayer application treatments spray coverage and deposition on different citrus canopy sizes.  The axial-fan airblast sprayer retrofitted with variable liquid- and air-assist rates was field-tested with different crosswind conditions on small (about 2 m tall and < 1.5 m wide) and medium-sized (about 3 m tall and < 2.5 m wide) canopies.  Crosswinds of 1.3, 2.7, and 4.0 ms-1 on the canopies being sprayed were generated using the stationary conical air shaker as the air blower unit.  Water sensitive papers (WSPs) were used to collect droplet deposits and image processing software was used to analyze the WSPs scanned at 600 dpi.  Percent spray coverage on the WSPs was found to be one of the most suited parameters to evaluate the effectiveness of spray application treatments.  Overall, the variable rate spray application treatments had comparable spray coverage on respective canopies (front, middle, and across WSP locations in the canopy) during all crosswind conditions.  For both types of canopies, spray coverage was higher on the canopy front and decreased as the spray penetrated inside (i.e. canopy middle) and across.  Due to coalescing, larger droplets (Dv,0.5 [volume median diameter] = 838 to 2,624 µm) were formed on the WSPs located on canopy front, whereas coalescing reduced as the spray penetrated inside (Dv,0.5 = 391 to 1,625 µm on canopy middle) and across the canopy (Dv,0.5 = 307 to 508 µm).    Keywords: airblast sprayer, adjustable air-assistance, crosswind, spray coverage, citru