1,827 research outputs found
Transferring Complex Scientific Knowledge to Useable Products for Society: The Role of the Global Integrated Ocean Assessment and Challenges in the Effective Delivery of Ocean Knowledge
The ocean provides essential services to human wellbeing through climate regulation,
provision of food, energy and livelihoods, protection of communities and nurturing of social
and cultural values. Yet despite the ocean’s key role for all life, it is failing as a result of
unsustainable human practices. The first global integrated assessment of the marine
environment, produced by the United Nations under The Regular Process for Global
Reporting and Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment, including
Socioeconomic Aspects (the World Ocean Assessment), identified an overall decline in
ocean health. The second assessment, launched in April 2021, although recognising some
bright spots and improvements, stresses ongoing decline in the ocean as a result of many
unabated anthropogenic stressors on the ocean. This highlights that society, as a whole,
does not fully recognise or value the importance of the ocean to their lives and impacts on
the ocean caused by human activities. Further, recognition of the need for immediate and
effective solutions for mitigating impacts and enabling ecosystem recovery, and the
associated societal changes required is lacking. The United Nations 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development and the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for
Sustainable Development 2021–2030 both recognize that sustainability is both a
desired and essential pathway for ensuring the ocean can continue to provide the
services society depends on. The World Ocean Assessment has an important role to
play in increasing awareness of the ocean, the changes occurring in the ocean, the human
activities causing those changes and the progress being made in reducing and mitigating
the impacts of human activities on the marine environment. This paper outlines the knowledge brokering role that the Regular Process provides on ocean issues to all aspects
of society from policy makers, ocean managers, ocean users to the public. It identifies the
challenges faced by the Regular Process in successfully carrying out that role and lessons
learned in achieving widespread uptake and recognition. Within the Decade of Ocean
Science for Sustainable Development, solutions in the form of instructions or guidelines for
the use of the assessment can be developed and implemented.Versión del edito
Perspectives of US women participating in a candidate PrEP study: adherence, acceptability and future use intentions
Introduction
Limited data exist on acceptability of candidate pre‐exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) regimens among US women. We evaluated PrEP experiences, attitudes and future use intentions among sexually active women who completed the US‐based HIV Prevention Trials Network 069/AIDS Clinical Trials Group 5305 study. Methods
Women participated in the study between March 2013 and November 2015. We analysed computer‐assisted self‐interview (CASI) surveys among 130 women and conducted in‐depth interviews among a subset of 26 women from three sites. Interviews were conducted in mid/late‐2015. Results
Most women (57%) reported very good/excellent PrEP adherence on CASI, although 21% acknowledged over‐reporting adherence at least some of the time. Commitment to preventing HIV infection, a sense of ownership of the study, and keeping pills stored in a visible location facilitated adherence. Adherence barriers included “simply forgetting” and being away from home. Most women interviewed did not intend to use PrEP in the future because of lack of perceived need due to their own (as opposed to their partners’) low‐risk behaviour and concerns about affordability – but not because of side effects or other characteristics of the regimens. Conclusions
Improving HIV prevention options for US women will require access to affordable PrEP as well as expanding women\u27s understanding of relationship‐ and community‐level factors that increase their risk of acquiring HIV
Frequent, Geographically Structured Heteroplasmy in the Mitochondria of a Flowering Plant, Ribwort Plantain (Plantago lanceolata)
Recent research has convincingly documented cases of mitochondrial heteroplasmy in a small set of wild and cultivated plant species. Heteroplasmy is suspected to be common in flowering plants and investigations of additional taxa may help understand the mechanisms generating heteroplasmy as well as its effects on plant phenotypes. The role of mitochondrial heteroplasmy is of particular interest in plants as cytoplasmic male sterility is controlled by mitochondrial genotypes, sometimes leading to co-occurring female and hermaphroditic individuals (gynodioecy). Paternal leakage may be important in the evolution of mating systems in such populations. We conducted a genetic survey of the gynodioecious plant Plantago lanceolata, in which heteroplasmy has not previously been reported, and estimated the frequencies of mitochondrial genotypes and heteroplasmy. Sanger sequence genotyping of 179 individuals from 15 European populations for two polymorphic mitochondrial loci, atp6 and rps12, identified 15 heteroplasmic individuals. These were distributed among 6 of the 10 populations that had polymorphisms in the target loci and represented 8% of all sampled individuals and 15% of the individuals in those 6 populations. The incidence was highest in Northern England and Scotland. Our results are consistent with geographic differences in the incidence of paternal leakage and/or the rates of nuclear restoration of male fertility
Vortices in a Thin Film Superconductor with a Spherical Geometry
We report results from Monte Carlo simulations of a thin film superconductor
in a spherical geometry within the lowest Landau level approximation. We
observe the absence of a phase transition to a low temperature vortex solid
phase with these boundary conditions; the system remains in the vortex liquid
phase for all accessible temperatures. The correlation lengths are measured for
phase coherence and density modulation. Both lengths display identical
temperature dependences, with an asymptotic scaling form consistent with a
continuous zero temperature transition. This contrasts with the first order
freezing transition which is seen in the alternative quasi-periodic boundary
conditions. The high temperature perturbation theory and the ground states of
the spherical system suggest that the thermodynamic limit of the spherical
geometry is the same as that on the flat plane. We discuss the advantages and
drawbacks of simulations with different geometries, and compare with current
experimental conclusions. The effect of having a large scale inhomogeneity in
the applied field is also considered.Comment: This replacment contains substantial revisions: the new article is
twice as long with new and different results on the thermodynamic limit on
the sphere plus a full discussion on the alternative boundary conditions used
in simulations in the LLL approximation. 19 pages, 12 encapsulated PostScript
figures, 1 JPEG figure, uses RevTeX (with epsf
Perspectives of US women participating in a candidate PrEP study: adherence, acceptability and future use intentions
IntroductionLimited data exist on acceptability of candidate preâ exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) regimens among US women. We evaluated PrEP experiences, attitudes and future use intentions among sexually active women who completed the USâ based HIV Prevention Trials Network 069/AIDS Clinical Trials Group 5305 study.MethodsWomen participated in the study between March 2013 and November 2015. We analysed computerâ assisted selfâ interview (CASI) surveys among 130 women and conducted inâ depth interviews among a subset of 26 women from three sites. Interviews were conducted in mid/lateâ 2015.ResultsMost women (57%) reported very good/excellent PrEP adherence on CASI, although 21% acknowledged overâ reporting adherence at least some of the time. Commitment to preventing HIV infection, a sense of ownership of the study, and keeping pills stored in a visible location facilitated adherence. Adherence barriers included â simply forgettingâ and being away from home. Most women interviewed did not intend to use PrEP in the future because of lack of perceived need due to their own (as opposed to their partnersâ ) lowâ risk behaviour and concerns about affordability â but not because of side effects or other characteristics of the regimens.DiscussionImproving HIV prevention options for US women will require access to affordable PrEP as well as expanding women’s understanding of relationshipâ and communityâ level factors that increase their risk of acquiring HIV.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/148389/1/jia225247_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/148389/2/jia225247.pd
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The stability of ecosystems: a brief overview of the paradox of enrichment
In theory, enrichment of resource in a predator-prey model leads to destabilization of the system, thereby collapsing the trophic interaction, a phenomenon referred to as "the paradox of enrichment". After it was first proposed by Rosenzweig (1971), a number of subsequent studies were carried out on this dilemma over many decades. In this article, we review these theoretical and experimental works and give a brief overview of the proposed solutions to the paradox. The mechanisms that have been discussed are modifications of simple predator-prey models in the presence of prey that is inedible, invulnerable, unpalatable and toxic. Another class of mechanisms includes an incorporation of a ratio-dependent functional form, inducible defence of prey and density-dependent mortality of the predator. Moreover, we find a third set of explanations based on complex population dynamics including chaos in space and time. We conclude that, although any one of the various mechanisms proposed so far might potentially prevent destabilization of the predator-prey dynamics following enrichment, in nature different mechanisms may combine to cause stability, even when a system is enriched. The exact mechanisms, which may differ among systems, need to be disentangled through extensive field studies and laboratory experiments coupled with realistic theoretical models
The large deviation approach to statistical mechanics
The theory of large deviations is concerned with the exponential decay of
probabilities of large fluctuations in random systems. These probabilities are
important in many fields of study, including statistics, finance, and
engineering, as they often yield valuable information about the large
fluctuations of a random system around its most probable state or trajectory.
In the context of equilibrium statistical mechanics, the theory of large
deviations provides exponential-order estimates of probabilities that refine
and generalize Einstein's theory of fluctuations. This review explores this and
other connections between large deviation theory and statistical mechanics, in
an effort to show that the mathematical language of statistical mechanics is
the language of large deviation theory. The first part of the review presents
the basics of large deviation theory, and works out many of its classical
applications related to sums of random variables and Markov processes. The
second part goes through many problems and results of statistical mechanics,
and shows how these can be formulated and derived within the context of large
deviation theory. The problems and results treated cover a wide range of
physical systems, including equilibrium many-particle systems, noise-perturbed
dynamics, nonequilibrium systems, as well as multifractals, disordered systems,
and chaotic systems. This review also covers many fundamental aspects of
statistical mechanics, such as the derivation of variational principles
characterizing equilibrium and nonequilibrium states, the breaking of the
Legendre transform for nonconcave entropies, and the characterization of
nonequilibrium fluctuations through fluctuation relations.Comment: v1: 89 pages, 18 figures, pdflatex. v2: 95 pages, 20 figures, text,
figures and appendices added, many references cut, close to published versio
Phase 2 Study of the Safety and Tolerability of Maraviroc-Containing Regimens to Prevent HIV Infection in Men Who Have Sex With Men (HPTN 069/ACTG A5305)
Maraviroc (MVC) is a candidate for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) pre-exposure prophylaxis
Modern microwave methods in solid state inorganic materials chemistry: from fundamentals to manufacturing
No abstract available
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