The role of ethnic change in the closing of rent gaps through buy-to-let gentrification

This article analyses the interrelation of ethnicity, class and tenure in the gentrification trajectories that have taken place in England in the most recent intercensal period (2001–2011). It argues that the return of the Private Rented Sector has made possible the extension of social change to areas not favored by White British (majority ethnic) middle-class owner-occupiers. This has seen the inflow of White British private renters into White British working-class areas and the arrival of private renting Not White British middle classes–primarily migrants–in working-class areas with a significant proportion of Not White British individuals. There is thus an ethnic dimension to the geographical spread of buy-to-let gentrification and the movement toward property wealth re-concentration it feeds. The middle-class individuals entering gentrifying areas as private renters are however not classical gentrifiers as the closing of rent gaps starts with the supply of private rented units by property investors

Potential for positive biodiversity outcomes under diet-driven land use change in Great Britain

Background: A shift toward human diets that include more fruit and vegetables, and less meat is a potential pathway to improve public health and reduce food system-related greenhouse gas emissions. Associated changes in land use could include conversion of grazing land into horticulture, which makes more efficient use of land per unit of dietary energy and frees-up land for other uses. Methods: Here we use Great Britain as a case study to estimate potential impacts on biodiversity from converting grazing land to a mixture of horticulture and natural land covers by fitting species distribution models for over 800 species, including pollinating insects and species of conservation priority. Results: Across several land use scenarios that consider the current ratio of domestic fruit and vegetable production to imports, our statistical models suggest a potential for gains to biodiversity, including a tendency for more species to gain habitable area than to lose habitable area. Moreover, the models suggest that climate change impacts on biodiversity could be mitigated to a degree by land use changes associated with dietary shifts. Conclusions: Our analysis demonstrates that options exist for changing agricultural land uses in a way that can generate win-win-win outcomes for biodiversity, adaptation to climate change and public healt

Towards the Three Dimensions of Sustainability for International Research Team Collaboration: Learnings from the Sustainable and Healthy Food Systems Research Programme

This paper highlights the potential for learning and virtual collaboration in international research teams to contribute towards sustainability goals. Previous research confirmed the environmental benefits of carbon savings from international virtual conferences. This paper adds the social and economic dimensions by using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods to measure the constraints and benefits for personal development, economic costs, efficiency and team learning of holding international virtual conferences (VCs). Using the Sustainable and Healthy Food Systems (SHEFS) research programme as a case study, we analysed VC participant survey data to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of VCs. We estimated ‘saved’ GHG emissions, costs, and time, of using VCs as an alternative for a planned in-person meeting in Chennai, India. Hosting VCs reduced North–South, gender, and researcher inclusivity concerns, financial and travelling time costs, and substantially reduced emissions. For one international meeting with 107 participants, changing to a virtual format reduced the per capita GHG emissions to half the annual global average, and avoided 60% of travel costs. The benefits of VCs outweighed weaknesses. The main strengths were inclusivity and access, with 20% more early/mid-career researchers attending. This study identified opportunities for international research partnerships to mitigate their carbon footprint (environmental benefit) and enhance inclusivity of early/mid-career, women and Global South participants (social benefit), whilst continuing to deliver effective collaborative research meetings (economic benefit). In doing so, we present a holistic view of sustainability opportunities for virtual collaboration

Potential for positive biodiversity outcomes under diet-driven land use change in Great Britain

•Background: A shift toward human diets that include more fruit and vegetables, and less meat is a potential pathway to improve public health and reduce food system-related greenhouse gas emissions. Associated changes in land use could include conversion of grazing land into horticulture, which makes more efficient use of land per unit of dietary energy and frees-up land for other uses. •Methods: Here we use Great Britain as a case study to estimate potential impacts on biodiversity from converting grazing land to a mixture of horticulture and natural land covers by fitting species distribution models for over 800 species, including pollinating insects and species of conservation priority. •Results: Across several land use scenarios that consider the current ratio of domestic fruit and vegetable production to imports, our statistical models suggest a potential for gains to biodiversity, including a tendency for more species to gain habitable area than to lose habitable area. Moreover, the models suggest that climate change impacts on biodiversity could be mitigated to a degree by land use changes associated with dietary shifts. •Conclusions: Our analysis demonstrates that options exist for changing agricultural land uses in a way that can generate win-win-win outcomes for biodiversity, adaptation to climate change and public health

Diabetes induces stable intrinsic changes to myeloid cells that contribute to chronic inflammation during wound healing in mice

Acute inflammation in response to injury is a tightly regulated process by which subsets of leukocytes are recruited to the injured tissue and undergo behavioural changes that are essential for effective tissue repair and regeneration. The diabetic wound environment is characterised by excessive and prolonged inflammation that is linked to poor progression of healing and, in humans, the development of diabetic foot ulcers. However, the underlying mechanisms contributing to excessive inflammation remain poorly understood. Here we show in a murine model that the diabetic environment induces stable intrinsic changes in haematopoietic cells. These changes lead to a hyper-responsive phenotype to both pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory stimuli, producing extreme M1 and M2 polarised cells. During early wound healing, myeloid cells in diabetic mice show hyperpolarisation towards both M1 and M2 phenotypes, whereas, at late stages of healing, when non-diabetic macrophages have transitioned to an M2 phenotype, diabetic wound macrophages continue to display an M1 phenotype. Intriguingly, we show that this population predominantly consists of Gr-1(+) CD11b(+) CD14(+) cells that have been previously reported as ‘inflammatory macrophages’ recruited to injured tissue in the early stages of wound healing. Finally, we show that this phenomenon is directly relevant to human diabetic ulcers, for which M2 polarisation predicts healing outcome. Thus, treatments focused at targeting this inflammatory cell subset could prove beneficial for pathological tissue repair

Early alteration of the locus coeruleus in phenotypic variants of Alzheimer’s disease

International audienceNeuropathological studies showed early locus coeruleus (LC) neuronal loss associated with tauopathy in Alzheimer's Disease (AD). We used the LC signal intensity (LC-I) on 3T MRI to assess the LC integrity in AD (n = 37) and controls (n = 17). The LC-I was decreased in AD regardless of typical (amnesic) and atypical presentation (logopenic aphasia/visuo-spatial deficit), from the prodromal stage, and independently of the amyloid load measured by PiB-PET. The LC-I was correlated with memory performance of typical AD. This supports the pathophysiological model in which the LC plays a critical role in AD and may thus be a potential therapeutic target

Domestication and the storage starch biosynthesis pathway: signatures of selection from a whole sorghum genome sequencing strategy

Next-generation sequencing of complete genomes has given researchers unprecedented levels of information to study the multifaceted evolutionary changes that have shaped elite plant germplasm. In conjunction with population genetic analytical techniques and detailed online databases, we can more accurately capture the effects of domestication on entire biological pathways of agronomic importance. In this study, we explore the genetic diversity and signatures of selection in all predicted gene models of the storage starch synthesis pathway of Sorghum bicolor, utilizing a diversity panel containing lines categorized as either Landraces' or Wild and Weedy' genotypes. Amongst a total of 114 genes involved in starch synthesis, 71 had at least a single signal of purifying selection and 62 a signal of balancing selection and others a mix of both. This included key genes such as STARCH PHOSPHORYLASE 2 (SbPHO2, under balancing selection), PULLULANASE (SbPUL, under balancing selection) and ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylases (SHRUNKEN2, SbSH2 under purifying selection). Effectively, many genes within the primary starch synthesis pathway had a clear reduction in nucleotide diversity between the Landraces and wild and weedy lines indicating that the ancestral effects of domestication are still clearly identifiable. There was evidence of the positional rate variation within the well-characterized primary starch synthesis pathway of sorghum, particularly in the Landraces, whereby low evolutionary rates upstream and high rates downstream in the metabolic pathway were expected. This observation did not extend to the wild and weedy lines or the minor starch synthesis pathways

Potential for positive biodiversity outcomes under diet-driven land use change in Great Britain.

BACKGROUND: A shift toward human diets that include more fruit and vegetables, and less meat is a potential pathway to improve public health and reduce food system-related greenhouse gas emissions. Associated changes in land use could include conversion of grazing land into horticulture, which makes more efficient use of land per unit of dietary energy and frees-up land for other uses. METHODS: Here we use Great Britain as a case study to estimate potential impacts on biodiversity from converting grazing land to a mixture of horticulture and natural land covers by fitting species distribution models for over 800 species, including pollinating insects and species of conservation priority. RESULTS: Across several land use scenarios that consider the current ratio of domestic fruit and vegetable production to imports, our statistical models suggest a potential for gains to biodiversity, including a tendency for more species to gain habitable area than to lose habitable area. Moreover, the models suggest that climate change impacts on biodiversity could be mitigated to a degree by land use changes associated with dietary shifts. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis demonstrates that options exist for changing agricultural land uses in a way that can generate win-win-win outcomes for biodiversity, adaptation to climate change and public health

Potential for positive biodiversity outcomes under diet-driven land use change in Great Britain

Filtered species occurrence records taken from GBIF to characterise the climatic envelope of a range of priority species and pollinating insects in the U