Realities of bridge resilience in Small Island Developing States

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are acknowledged as particularly vulnerable to extreme climate events; however, the realities for transport infrastructure and bridges are still poorly studied. Assessing bridges in this context can be challenging due to data scarcity, a lack of local standards, and uncertainty due to climate change. While bridges are designed to connect transport networks, they also carry energy, water, and communication networks, making them critical cascading failure points worthy of special attention in terms of risk assessment and resilience measures. We explore what resilience actually means for the design and management of SIDS bridge infrastructure by applying a post disaster forensics and systems approach that is not reliant on complex methods or large amounts of data. To demonstrate the practicality of our approach, we apply it to the island of Dominica, which is regularly impacted by both tropical storms and hurricanes. Our results document the extreme conditions for infrastructure and nearby settlements and the complex interrelated physical processes that occur during these events. We reflect on the implications for design approaches for bridges under these conditions and detail specific recommendations on how the resilience of existing and new bridges can be enhanced through practical measures that are achievable, even within the constraints experienced by those managing bridge infrastructure in SIDS contexts. This work adds to the growing number of studies exploring forensic disaster investigation and systems thinking, but is the first to explore bridge resilience in SIDS

Advances in methods for detection of anaerobic ammonium oxidizing (anammox) bacteria

Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox), the biochemical process oxidizing ammonium into dinitrogen gas using nitrite as an electron acceptor, has only been recognized for its significant role in the global nitrogen cycle not long ago, and its ubiquitous distribution in a wide range of environments has changed our knowledge about the contributors to the global nitrogen cycle. Currently, several groups of methods are used in detection of anammox bacteria based on their physiological and biochemical characteristics, cellular chemical composition, and both 16S rRNA gene and selective functional genes as biomarkers, including hydrazine oxidoreductase and nitrite reductase encoding genes hzo and nirS, respectively. Results from these methods coupling with advances in quantitative PCR, reverse transcription of mRNA genes and stable isotope labeling have improved our understanding on the distribution, diversity, and activity of anammox bacteria in different environments both natural and engineered ones. In this review, we summarize these methods used in detection of anammox bacteria from various environments, highlight the strengths and weakness of these methods, and also discuss the new development potentials on the existing and new techniques in the future

Mangrove trees affect the community structure and distribution of anammox bacteria at an anthropogenic-polluted mangrove in the Pearl River Delta reflected by 16S rRNA and hydrazine oxidoreductase (HZO) encoding gene analyses

Anaerobic ammonium oxidizing (anammox) bacterial community structures were investigated in surface (1–2 cm) and lower (20–21 cm) layers of mangrove sediments at sites located immediately to the mangrove trees (S0), 10 m (S1) and 1000 m (S2) away from mangrove trees in a polluted area of the Pearl River Delta. At S0, both 16S rRNA and hydrazine oxidoreductase (HZO) encoding genes of anammox bacteria showed high diversity in lower layer sediments, but they were not detectable in lower layer sediments in mangrove forest. S1 and S2 shared similar anammox bacteria communities in both surface and lower layers, which were quite different from that of S0. At all three locations, higher richness of anammox bacteria was detected in the surface layer than the lower layer; 16S rRNA genes revealed anammox bacteria were composed by four phylogenetic clusters affiliated with the “Scalindua” genus, and one group related to the potential anammox bacteria; while the hzo genes showed that in addition to sequences related to the “Scalindua”, sequences affiliated with genera of “Kuenenia”, “Brocadia”, and “Jettenia” were also detected in mangrove sediments. Furthermore, hzo gene abundances decreased from 36.5 × 104 to 11.0 × 104 copies/gram dry sediment in lower layer sediments while increased from below detection limit to 31.5 × 104 copies/gram dry sediment in lower layer sediments from S0 to S2. The results indicated that anammox bacteria communities might be strongly influenced by mangrove trees. In addition, the correlation analysis showed the redox potential and the molar ratio of ammonium to nitrite in sediments might be important factors affecting the diversity and distribution of anammox bacteria in mangrove sediments

Phylogenetic and functional marker genes to study ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms (AOM) in the environment

The oxidation of ammonia plays a significant role in the transformation of fixed nitrogen in the global nitrogen cycle. Autotrophic ammonia oxidation is known in three groups of microorganisms. Aerobic ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and archaea convert ammonia into nitrite during nitrification. Anaerobic ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (anammox) oxidize ammonia using nitrite as electron acceptor and producing atmospheric dinitrogen. The isolation and cultivation of all three groups in the laboratory are quite problematic due to their slow growth rates, poor growth yields, unpredictable lag phases, and sensitivity to certain organic compounds. Culture-independent approaches have contributed importantly to our understanding of the diversity and distribution of these microorganisms in the environment. In this review, we present an overview of approaches that have been used for the molecular study of ammonia oxidizers and discuss their application in different environments

Biomethanation potential of biological and other wastes

Anaerobic technology has been traditionally applied for the treatment of carbon rich wastewater and organic residues. Anaerobic processes can be fully integrated in the biobased economy concept for resource recovery. After a brief introduction about applications of anaerobic processes to industrial wastewater treatment, agriculture feedstock and organic fraction of municipal solid waste, the position of anaerobic processes in biorefinery concepts is presented. Integration of anaerobic digestion with these processes can help in the maximisation of the economic value of the biomass used, while reducing the waste streams produced and mitigating greenhouse gases emissions. Besides the integration of biogas in the existing full-scale bioethanol and biodiesel production processes, the potential applications of biogas in the second generation lignocellulosic, algae and syngas-based biorefinery platforms are discussed.(undefined

Male, National, and Religious Collective Narcissism Predict Sexism

Results of three cross-sectional studies indicate that sexism in Poland is associated with collective narcissism—a belief that one’s own group’s (the in-group’s) exaggerated exceptionality is not sufficiently recognized by others—with reference to three social identities: male, religious, and national. In Study 1 (n = 329), male collective narcissism was associated with sexism. This relationship was sequentially mediated by precarious manhood and traditional gender beliefs. In Study 2 (n = 877), Catholic collective narcissism predicted tolerance of violence against women (among men and women) over and above religious fundamentalism and in contrast to intrinsic religiosity. In Study 3 (n = 1070), national collective narcissism was associated with hostile sexism among men and women and with benevolent sexism more strongly among women than among men. In contrast, national in-group satisfaction—a belief that the nation is of a high value—predicted rejection of benevolent and hostile sexism among women but was positively associated with hostile and benevolent sexism among men. Among men and women collective narcissism was associated with tolerance of domestic violence against women, whereas national in-group satisfaction was associated with rejection of violence against women

Using social and behavioural science to support COVID-19 pandemic response

The COVID-19 pandemic represents a massive global health crisis. Because the crisis requires large-scale behaviour change and places significant psychological burdens on individuals, insights from the social and behavioural sciences can be used to help align human behavior with the recommendations of epidemiologists and public health experts. Here we discuss evidence from a selection of research topics relevant to pandemics, including work on navigating threats, social and cultural influences on behaviour, science communication, moral decision-making, leadership, and stress and coping. In each section, we note the nature and quality of prior research, including uncertainty and unsettled issues. We identify several insights for effective response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and also highlight important gaps researchers should move quickly to fill in the coming weeks and months

Vitamin A derivatives in the prevention and treatment of human cancer.

Vitamin A is essential for normal cellular growth and differentiation. A vast amount of laboratory data have clearly demonstrated the potent antiproliferative and differentiation-inducing effects of vitamin A and the synthetic analogues (retinoids). Recent in-vitro work has led to the exciting proposal that protein kinase-C may be centrally involved in many of retinoids' anticancer actions including the effects on ornithine decarboxylase induction, intracellular polyamine levels, and epidermal growth factor receptor number. Several intervention trials have clearly indicated that natural vitamin A at clinically tolerable doses has only limited activity against human neoplastic processes. Therefore, clinical work has focused on the synthetic derivatives with higher therapeutic indexes. In human cancer prevention, retinoids have been most effective for skin diseases, including actinic keratosis, keratoacanthoma, epidermodysplasia verruciformis, dysplastic nevus syndrome, and basal cell carcinoma. Several noncutaneous premaligancies, however, are currently receiving more attention in retinoid trials. Definite retinoid activity has been documented in oral leukoplakia, laryngeal papillomatosis, superficial bladder carcinoma, cervical dysplasia, bronchial metaplasia, and preleukemia. Significant therapeutic advances are also occurring with this class of drugs in some drug-resistant malignancies and several others that have become refractory, including advanced basal cell cancer, mycosis fungoides, melanoma, acute promyelocytic leukemia, and squamous cell carcinoma of the skin and of the head and neck. This report comprehensively presents the clinical data using retinoids as anticancer agents in human premalignant disorders and outlines the ongoing and planned studies with retinoids in combination and adjuvant therapy