Protecting the environment through insect farming as a means to produce protein for use as livestock, poultry, and aquaculture feed

Securing protein for the approximate 10 billion humans expected to inhabit our planet by 2050 is a major priority for the global community. Evidence has accrued over the past 30 years that strongly supports and justifies the sustainable use of insects as a means to produce protein products as feed for pets, livestock, poultry, and aquacultured species. Researchers and entrepreneurs affiliated with universities and industries, respectively, from 18 nations distributed across North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia contributed to the development of this article, which is an indication of the global interest on this topic. A brief overview of insects as feed for the aquaculture industry along with a review of the black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens (Diptera: Stratiomyidae), as a model for such systems is provided

Spatially heterogeneous ages in glassy dynamics

We construct a framework for the study of fluctuations in the nonequilibrium relaxation of glassy systems with and without quenched disorder. We study two types of two-time local correlators with the aim of characterizing the heterogeneous evolution: in one case we average the local correlators over histories of the thermal noise, in the other case we simply coarse-grain the local correlators. We explain why the former describe the fingerprint of quenched disorder when it exists, while the latter are linked to noise-induced mesoscopic fluctuations. We predict constraints on the pdfs of the fluctuations of the coarse-grained quantities. We show that locally defined correlations and responses are connected by a generalized local out-of-equilibrium fluctuation-dissipation relation. We argue that large-size heterogeneities in the age of the system survive in the long-time limit. The invariance of the theory under reparametrizations of time underlies these results. We relate the pdfs of local coarse-grained quantities and the theory of dynamic random manifolds. We define a two-time dependent correlation length from the spatial decay of the fluctuations in the two-time local functions. We present numerical tests performed on disordered spin models in finite and infinite dimensions. Finally, we explain how these ideas can be applied to the analysis of the dynamics of other glassy systems that can be either spin models without disorder or atomic and molecular glassy systems.Comment: 47 pages, 60 Fig

True substrates: The exceptional resolution and unexceptional preservation of deep time snapshots on bedding surfaces

Abstract: Rock outcrops of the sedimentary–stratigraphic record often reveal bedding planes that can be considered to be true substrates: preserved surfaces that demonstrably existed at the sediment–water or sediment–air interface at the time of deposition. These surfaces have high value as repositories of palaeoenvironmental information, revealing fossilized snapshots of microscale topography from deep time. Some true substrates are notable for their sedimentary, palaeontological and ichnological signatures that provide windows into key intervals of Earth history, but countless others occur routinely throughout the sedimentary–stratigraphic record. They frequently reveal patterns that are strikingly familiar from modern sedimentary environments, such as ripple marks, animal trackways, raindrop impressions or mudcracks: all phenomena that are apparently ephemeral in modern settings, and which form on recognizably human timescales. This paper sets out to explain why these short‐term, transient, small‐scale features are counter‐intuitively abundant within a 3.8 billion year‐long sedimentary–stratigraphic record that is known to be inherently time‐incomplete. True substrates are fundamentally related to a state of stasis in ancient sedimentation systems, and distinguishable from other types of bedding surfaces that formed from a dominance of states of deposition or erosion. Stasis is shown to play a key role in both their formation and preservation, rendering them faithful and valuable archives of palaeoenvironmental and temporal information. Further, the intersection between the time–length scale of their formative processes and outcrop expressions can be used to explain why they are so frequently encountered in outcrop investigations. Explaining true substrates as inevitable and unexceptional by‐products of the accrual of the sedimentary–stratigraphic record should shift perspectives on what can be understood about Earth history from field studies of the sedimentary–stratigraphic record. They should be recognized as providing high‐definition information about the mundane day to day operation of ancient environments, and critically assuage the argument that the incomplete sedimentary–stratigraphic record is unrepresentative of the geological past

ARIA 2016: Care pathways implementing emerging technologies for predictive medicine in rhinitis and asthma across the life cycle

The Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma (ARIA) initiative commenced during a World Health Organization workshop in 1999. The initial goals were (1) to propose a new allergic rhinitis classification, (2) to promote the concept of multi-morbidity in asthma a

Co-limitation towards lower latitudes shapes global forest diversity gradients

The latitudinal diversity gradient (LDG) is one of the most recognized global patterns of species richness exhibited across a wide range of taxa. Numerous hypotheses have been proposed in the past two centuries to explain LDG, but rigorous tests of the drivers of LDGs have been limited by a lack of high-quality global species richness data. Here we produce a high-resolution (0.025° × 0.025°) map of local tree species richness using a global forest inventory database with individual tree information and local biophysical characteristics from ~1.3 million sample plots. We then quantify drivers of local tree species richness patterns across latitudes. Generally, annual mean temperature was a dominant predictor of tree species richness, which is most consistent with the metabolic theory of biodiversity (MTB). However, MTB underestimated LDG in the tropics, where high species richness was also moderated by topographic, soil and anthropogenic factors operating at local scales. Given that local landscape variables operate synergistically with bioclimatic factors in shaping the global LDG pattern, we suggest that MTB be extended to account for co-limitation by subordinate drivers

Snow optical properties at Dome C, (Concordia), Antarctica: implications for snow emissions and snow chemistry of reactive nitrogen

Measurements of e-folding depth, nadir reflectivity and stratigraphy of the snowpack around Concordia station (Dome C, 75.10 S, 123.31 E) were undertaken to determine wavelength dependent coefficients (350 nm to 550 nm) for light scattering and absorption and to calculate potential fluxes (depth-integrated production rates) of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) from the snowpack due to nitrate photolysis within the snowpack. The stratigraphy of the top 80 cm of Dome C snowpack generally consists of three main layers:- a surface of soft windpack (not ubiquitous), a hard windpack, and a hoar-like layer beneath the windpack(s). The e-folding depths are 10 cm for the two windpack layers and 20 cm for the hoar-like layer for solar radiation at a wavelength of 400 nm; about a factor 2–4 larger than previous model estimates for South Pole. The absorption cross-section due to impurities in each snowpack layer are consistent with a combination of absorption due to black carbon and HULIS (HUmic LIke Substances), with amounts of 1–2 ng g−1 of black carbon for the surface snow layers. Depth-integrated photochemical production rates of NO2 in the Dome C snowpack were calculated as 5.3×1012 moleculesm−2 s−1, 2.3×1012 moleculesm−2 s−1 and 8×1011 moleculesm−2 s−1 for clear skies and solar zenith angles of 60, 70 and 80 respectively using the TUV-snow radiative-transfer model. Depending upon the snowpack stratigraphy, a minimum of 85% of the NO2 may originate from the top 20 cm of the Dome C snowpack. It is found that on a multi-annual time-scale photolysis can remove up to 80% of nitrate from surface snow, confirming independent isotopic evidence that photolysis is an important driver of nitrate loss occurring in the EAIS (East Antarctic Ice Sheet) snowpack. However, the model cannot completely account for the total observed nitrate loss of 90–95% or the shape of the observed nitrate concentration depth profile. A more complete model will need to include also physical processes such as evaporation, re-deposition or diffusion between the quasi-liquid layer on snow grains and firn air to account for the discrepancies

Snow optical properties at Dome C, Antarctica - Implications for snow emissions and snow chemistry of reactive nitrogen

Measurements of e-folding depth, nadir reflectivity and stratigraphy of the snowpack around Concordia station (Dome C, 75.10° S, 123.31° E) were undertaken and used to determine wavelength dependent coefficients (350 nm to 550 nm) for light scattering and absorption and to calculate potential fluxes of nitrogen dioxide (NO) from the snowpack due to nitrate photolysis within the snowpack. The stratigraphy of the top 80 cm of Dome C snowpack generally consists of three main layers: a surface of soft windpack (not ubiquitous), a hard windpack and a hoar-like layer beneath the windpack(s). The e-folding depths are ∼10 cm for the two windpack layers and ∼20 cm for the hoar-like layer for solar radiation at a wavelength of 400 nm, about a factor 2-4 larger than previous model estimates for South Pole. Depth integrated photochemical reaction rates of nitrate photolysis in the Dome C snowpack were calculated to give molecular fluxes of NO of 5.3×10 molecules m s, 2.3×10 molecules m s and 8×10 molecules m s for solar zenith angles of 60°, 70° and 80° respectively for clear sky conditions using the TUV-snow radiative-transfer model. Depending upon the snowpack stratigraphy, a minimum of 85% of the NO originates from within the top 20 cm of the Dome C snowpack. It is found that on a multi-annual scale, nitrate photolysis can remove up to 80% of nitrate from surface snow, confirming independent isotopic evidence that photolysis is an important driver of nitrate loss occurring in the EAIS snowpack. However, the model cannot account for the total observed nitrate loss of 90-95% or the shape of the observed nitrate depth profile. A more complete model will need to include also physical processes such as evaporation, re-deposition or diffusion between the quasi-liquid layer on snow grains and firn air to account for the discrepancies. © 2011 Author(s)

Long-term changes in the production by estuarine macrobenthos affected by multiple stressors

The macrobenthic production of an estuarine system was evaluated over a 14-year study period in a seagrass bed and in a sandflat. Over this period, the estuary suffered severe eutrophication and extreme weather events with important impacts on the community, impairing system functioning and ultimately the goods and services provided by the estuary (decline in the seagrass bed, decreased community production and/or a boost in the production by opportunist species, such as Hydrobia ulvae). Following the anthropogenic impacts, management measures were introduced which allowed a gradual recovery of the seagrass bed and a new macrobenthic community structure manifested by production increases of slow-growing species, such as Scrobicularia plana and Hediste diversicolor. There was a gradual re-orientation of energy into population biomass instead of population density but this was not translated into higher community production, mainly due to the decreased production of opportunist species (H. ulvae and several polychaetes). Several weather extreme events occurred during this post-mitigation phase - floods, heatwaves and droughts, all of which had negative impacts on macrobenthic dynamics and production. The heatwaves led to the greatest decreases in macrobenthic production, mainly due to S. plana perhaps associated with its physiological intolerance of higher temperatures. The prolonged drought that followed the heatwaves maintained low levels of production by S. plana and H. ulvae. With climate change, the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events are likely to increase worldwide so that the recovery of impacted/disturbed systems from impacts such as eutrophication may be seriously affected by these additional stressors, compromising attempts to improve the ecological quality of estuarine ecosystems