Wild Trypanosoma cruzi I genetic diversity in Brazil suggests admixture and disturbance in parasite populations from the Atlantic Forest region

Background Trypanosoma cruzi (Kinetoplastida, Trypanosomatidae) infection is an ancient and widespread zoonosis distributed throughout the Americas. Ecologically, Brazil comprises several distinct biomes: Amazonia, Cerrado, Caatinga, Pantanal and the Atlantic Forest. Sylvatic T. cruzi transmission is known to occur throughout these biomes, with multiple hosts and vectors involved. Parasite species-level genetic diversity can be a useful marker for ecosystem health. Our aims were to: investigate sylvatic T. cruzi genetic diversity across different biomes, detect instances of genetic exchange, and explore the possible impact of ecological disturbance on parasite diversity at an intra-species level. Methods We characterised 107 isolates of T. cruzi I (TcI; discrete typing unit, DTU I) from different major Brazilian biomes with twenty-seven nuclear microsatellite loci. A representative subset of biologically cloned isolates was further characterised using ten mitochondrial gene loci. We compared these data generated from Brazilian TcI isolates from around America. Results Genetic diversity was remarkably high, including one divergent cluster that branched outside the known genetic diversity of TcI in the Americas. We detected evidence for mitochondrial introgression and genetic exchange between the eastern Amazon and Caatinga. Finally, we found strong signatures of admixture among isolates from the Atlantic Forest region by comparison to parasites from other study sites. Conclusions Atlantic Forest sylvatic TcI populations are highly fragmented and admixed by comparison to others around Brazil. We speculate on: the possible causes of Atlantic Forest admixture; the role of T. cruzi as a sentinel for ecosystem health, and the impact disrupted sylvatic transmission cycles might have on accurate source attribution in oral outbreaks

The psychological wellbeing outcomes of nonpharmacological interventions for older persons with insomnia symptoms: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Nonpharmacological treatment of insomnia in older persons has been associated with reduced insomnia symptoms and increased psychological wellbeing. This systematic review and meta-analysis examined whether nonpharmacological interventions can promote wellbeing indicators in older persons who experience insomnia symptoms and investigated the components of these interventions. Twenty studies met inclusion criteria. Psychological wellbeing outcomes included symptoms of depression, anxiety, mental health-related quality of life, and fatigue. Interventions significantly reduced depression and fatigue symptoms in most of the studies that included these outcomes. Findings of our qualitative analysis suggest that mindfulness-based interventions in particularcan potentially reduce depression symptoms in older persons with insomnia symptoms. Meta-analyses of studies that included psychological wellbeing outcomes showed small-medium weighted mean effects indicating reductions in symptoms of depression, anxiety, and fatigue. The results suggest that nonpharmacological interventions for older persons with insomnia symptoms can potentially reduce depression and fatigue symptoms and highlight interventions that may be particularly valuable for this purpose

A Cycle of Wind-Driven Canyon Upwelling and Downwelling at Wilmington Canyon and the Evolution of Canyon-Upwelled Dense Water on the MAB Shelf

Submarine canyons provide a conduit for shelf-slope exchange via topographically induced processes such as upwelling and downwelling. These processes in the Wilmington Canyon, located along the shelf-break of the Mid-Atlantic Bight (MAB), have not been previously studied, and the associated hydrographic variability inside the canyon and on the adjacent shelf are largely unknown. Observations from an underwater glider deployed in Wilmington Canyon (February 27 - March 8, 2016), along with wind and satellite altimetry data, showed evidence for a wind-driven canyon upwelling event followed by a subsequent downwelling event. Next, a numerical model of the MAB was developed to more fully represent these two events. Modeled results showed that under upwelling-favorable winds during February 25 - March 3, sea level increased seaward, shelf currents flowed northeastward, and canyon upwelling developed. Then under downwelling-favorable winds during March 4-7, sea level increased landward, shelf currents flowed southwestward, and canyon downwelling developed. Modeling experiments showed that canyon upwelling and downwelling were sub-tidal processes driven by winds and pressure gradients (associated with SSH gradients), and they would occur with or without tidal forcing. During the upwelling period, slope water originating from 150-215 m depths within the canyon (75 m below the canyon rim), was advected onto the shelf, forming a cold and dense canyon-upwelled slope-originated overflow water at the bottom of the outer shelf (75-150 m isobaths). The dense overflow current flowed was directed northeastward and expanded in the cross-shelf direction. It was 5-20 km wide and 10-30 m thick. The estimated volume of the plume overflow water exceeded 6×109 m3 at peak. The density front at the shoreward side of the dense overflow water caused a subsurface baroclinic frontal jet, which flowed northeastward and along-shelf with maximum speed exceeding 0.5 m/s. In the ensuing downwelling event, a portion of the previously upwelled dense water was advected back to the canyon, and then flowed down-slope in the upper canyon in ~0.3 m/s bottom-intensified currents. Dynamical investigation of the overflow current showed that its evolution was governed by unbalanced horizontal pressure gradient force in the cross-shelf direction and that the current was geostrophic

Bio-DME production based on conventional and CO2-enhanced gasification of biomass: A comparative study on exergy and environmental impacts

YesIn this study, a novel single-step synthesis of dimethyl ether (DME) based on CO2-enhanced biomass gasification was proposed and simulated using ASPEN PlusTM modelling. The exergetic and environmental evaluation was performed in comparison with a conventional system. It was found that the fuel energy efficiency, plant energy efficiency and plant exergetic efficiency of the CO2-enhanced system were better than those of the conventional system. The novel process produced 0.59 kg of DME per kg of gumwood with an overall plant energy efficiency of 65%, which were 28% and 5% higher than those of conventional systems, respectively. The overall exergetic efficiency of the CO2-enhanced system was also 7% higher. Exergetic analysis of each individual process unit in both the CO2-enhanced system and conventional systems showed that the largest loss occurred at gasification unit. However, the use of CO2 as gasifying agent resulted in a reduced loss at gasifier by 15%, indicating another advantage of the proposed system. In addition, the LCA analysis showed that the use of CO2 as gasifying agent could also result in less 21 environmental impacts compared with conventional systems, which subsequently made the CO2-22 enhanced system a promising option for a more environmental friendly synthesis of bio-DME.Part of this work is sponsored by Ningbo Bureau of Science and Technology under its Innovation Team Scheme (2012B82011) and Major R&D Programme (2012B10042)

Forced Stratified Turbulence: Successive Transitions with Reynolds Number

Numerical simulations are made for forced turbulence at a sequence of increasing values of Reynolds number, R, keeping fixed a strongly stable, volume-mean density stratification. At smaller values of R, the turbulent velocity is mainly horizontal, and the momentum balance is approximately cyclostrophic and hydrostatic. This is a regime dominated by so-called pancake vortices, with only a weak excitation of internal gravity waves and large values of the local Richardson number, Ri, everywhere. At higher values of R there are successive transitions to (a) overturning motions with local reversals in the density stratification and small or negative values of Ri; (b) growth of a horizontally uniform vertical shear flow component; and (c) growth of a large-scale vertical flow component. Throughout these transitions, pancake vortices continue to dominate the large-scale part of the turbulence, and the gravity wave component remains weak except at small scales.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures (submitted to Phys. Rev. E

Мультипарадигмальний підхід до аналізу феномену нігілізму

У статті розглянуто нігілізм як неоднозначне й поліморфне поняття. Досліджено різні підходи до тлумачення та розв’язання питань, пов’язаних із нігілізмом. Розкрито людиномірність нігілізму в контексті відстеження варіативного смислового навантаження феномену. Встановлено, що нігілізм потрібно позиціонувати як спосіб пробудження людського духу, заперечення деструктивного конформізму й відсутності опору (пасивний песимізм).В статье рассмотрен нигилизм как неоднозначное и полиморфное понятие. Исследованы различные подходы к толкованию и решению вопросов, связанных с нигилизмом. Раскрыта человекомерность нигилизма в контексте отслеживания вариативной смысловой нагрузки феномена. Установлено, что нигилизм нужно позиционировать как способ пробуждения человеческого духа, отрицание деструктивного конформизма и отсутствия сопротивления (пассивный пессимизм).Nihilism is considered as ambiguous and polymorphic concept. Different approaches to the interpretation and solution of issues associated with nihilism are investigated. Human measurement of nihilism in the context of tracking meaning of varied semantic capacity of the phenomenon is revealed. It is determined that nihilism must be positioned as a way of awakening of the human spirit, denial of destructive conformism and absence of resistance (passive pessimism)

Cell shape analysis of random tessellations based on Minkowski tensors

To which degree are shape indices of individual cells of a tessellation characteristic for the stochastic process that generates them? Within the context of stochastic geometry and the physics of disordered materials, this corresponds to the question of relationships between different stochastic models. In the context of image analysis of synthetic and biological materials, this question is central to the problem of inferring information about formation processes from spatial measurements of resulting random structures. We address this question by a theory-based simulation study of shape indices derived from Minkowski tensors for a variety of tessellation models. We focus on the relationship between two indices: an isoperimetric ratio of the empirical averages of cell volume and area and the cell elongation quantified by eigenvalue ratios of interfacial Minkowski tensors. Simulation data for these quantities, as well as for distributions thereof and for correlations of cell shape and volume, are presented for Voronoi mosaics of the Poisson point process, determinantal and permanental point processes, and Gibbs hard-core and random sequential absorption processes as well as for Laguerre tessellations of polydisperse spheres and STIT- and Poisson hyperplane tessellations. These data are complemented by mechanically stable crystalline sphere and disordered ellipsoid packings and area-minimising foam models. We find that shape indices of individual cells are not sufficient to unambiguously identify the generating process even amongst this limited set of processes. However, we identify significant differences of the shape indices between many of these tessellation models. Given a realization of a tessellation, these shape indices can narrow the choice of possible generating processes, providing a powerful tool which can be further strengthened by density-resolved volume-shape correlations.Comment: Chapter of the forthcoming book "Tensor Valuations and their Applications in Stochastic Geometry and Imaging" in Lecture Notes in Mathematics edited by Markus Kiderlen and Eva B. Vedel Jense

Dialectic tensions in the financial markets: a longitudinal study of pre- and post-crisis regulatory technology

This article presents the findings from a longitudinal research study on regulatory technology in the UK financial services industry. The financial crisis with serious corporate and mutual fund scandals raised the profile of compliance as governmental bodies, institutional and private investors introduced a ‘tsunami’ of financial regulations. Adopting a multi-level analysis, this study examines how regulatory technology was used by financial firms to meet their compliance obligations, pre- and post-crisis. Empirical data collected over 12 years examine the deployment of an investment management system in eight financial firms. Interviews with public regulatory bodies, financial institutions and technology providers reveal a culture of compliance with increased transparency, surveillance and accountability. Findings show that dialectic tensions arise as the pursuit of transparency, surveillance and accountability in compliance mandates is simultaneously rationalized, facilitated and obscured by regulatory technology. Responding to these challenges, regulatory bodies continue to impose revised compliance mandates on financial firms to force them to adapt their financial technologies in an ever-changing multi-jurisdictional regulatory landscape

An Anglo-Saxon execution cemetery at Walkington Wold, Yorkshire

This paper presents a re-evaluation of a cemetery excavated over 30 years ago at Walkington Wold in east Yorkshire. The cemetery is characterized by careless burial on diverse alignments, and by the fact that most of the skeletons did not have associated crania. The cemetery has been variously described as being the result of an early post-Roman massacre, as providing evidence for a ‘Celtic’ head cult or as an Anglo-Saxon execution cemetery. In order to resolve the matter, radiocarbon dates were acquired and a re-examination of the skeletal remains was undertaken. It was confirmed that the cemetery was an Anglo-Saxon execution cemetery, the only known example from northern England, and the site is set into its wider context in the paper

Driving pro-environmental change in tourist destinations: encouraging sustainable travel in National Parks via partnership project creation and implementation

© 2016 Taylor & Francis. This paper explores a key challenge in introducing more sustainable transport practices at destinations: achieving modal shift in visitor travel from cars to physically active or public transport to reduce tourism's environmental impacts. It centres on using partnership led projects bringing together the many public and private sector organisations involved, to drive destination change and development. To date, research has centred on pro-environmental change for individuals and individual organisations: little is known about the mechanisms of pro-environmental change via complex multi-partner organisations. The paper reports research into the processes involved in successful projects to provide alternatives to car travel in three UK National Parks by using partnerships to obtain funding and implement change. Based on case studies informed by in-depth interviews with key stakeholders involved in pro-environmental change implementation, narratives are analysed to explain the change process, and mapped against existing literature and theories of change. Conclusions show the role of inspired individuals, supportive senior management, strong governance, better visitor experiences and, most significantly, communication and communication of the benefits of change to stakeholders. The research suggests why and how change occurs in partnerships, contributes to better theories of change and offers guidance on understanding and implementing change processes worldwide