Atmospheric deposition of inorganic nitrogen in Spanish holm oak forests measured with ion-exchange resins and conventional collectors

Atmospheric nitrogen deposition is one of the main threats for biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Measurement techniques like ion-exchange resin collectors (IECs), which are less expensive and timeconsuming than conventional methods, are gaining relevance in the study of atmospheric deposition and are recommended to expand monitoring networks. In the present work, bulk and throughfall deposition of inorganic nitrogen were monitored in three different holm oak forests in Spain during two years. The results obtained with IECs were contrasted with a conventional technique using bottle collectors and with a literature review of similar studies. The performance of IECs in comparison with the conventional method was good for measuring bulk deposition of nitrate and acceptable for ammonium and total dissolved inorganic nitrogen. Mean annual bulk deposition of inorganic nitrogen ranged 3.09 e5.43 kg N ha1 according to IEC methodology, and 2.42e6.83 kg N ha1 y1 using the conventional method. Intra-annual variability of the net throughfall deposition of nitrogen measured with the conventional method revealed the existence of input pulses of nitrogen into the forest soil after dry periods, presumably originated from the washing of dry deposition accumulated in the canopy. Important methodological recommendations on the IEC method and discussed, compiled and summarized

Atmospheric pollutants in peri-urban forests of Quercus ilex : evidence of pollution abatement and threats for vegetation

Peri-urban vegetation is generally accepted as a significant remover of atmospheric pollutants, but it could also be threatened by these compounds, with origin in both urban and non-urban areas. To characterize the seasonal and geographical variation of pollutant concentrations and to improve the empirical understanding of the influence of Mediterranean broadleaf evergreen forests on air quality, four forests of Quercus ilex (three peri-urban and one remote) were monitored in different areas in Spain. Concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), ammonia (NH₃), nitric acid (HNO₃) and ozone (O₃) were measured during 2 years in open areas and inside the forests and aerosols (PM₁₀) were monitored in open areas during 1 year. Ozone was the only air pollutant expected to have direct phytotoxic effects on vegetation according to current thresholds for the protection of vegetation. The concentrations of N compounds were not high enough to directly affect vegetation but could be contributing through atmospheric N deposition to the eutrophization of these ecosystems. Peri-urban forests of Q. ilex showed a significant below-canopy reduction of gaseous concentrations (particularly NH₃, with a mean reduction of 29-38 %), which indicated the feasibility of these forests to provide an ecosystem service of air quality improvement. Well-designed monitoring programs are needed to further investigate air quality improvement by peri-urban ecosystems while assessing the threat that air pollution can pose to vegetation

Alternative service models for delivery of healthcare services in high-income countries: a scoping review of systematic reviews.

INTRODUCTION: Costs associated with the delivery of healthcare services are growing at an unsustainable rate. There is a need for health systems and healthcare providers to consider the economic impacts of the service models they deliver and to determine if alternative models may lead to improved efficiencies without compromising quality of care. The aim of this protocol is to describe a scoping review of the extent, range and nature of available synthesised research on alternative delivery arrangements for health systems relevant to high-income countries published in the last 5 years. DESIGN: We will perform a scoping review of systematic reviews of trials and economic studies of alternative delivery arrangements for health systems relevant to high-income countries published on 'Pretty Darn Quick' (PDQ)-Evidence between 1 January 2012 and 20 September 2017. All English language systematic reviews will be included. The Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care taxonomy of health system interventions will be used to categorise delivery arrangements according to: how and when care is delivered, where care is provided and changes to the healthcare environment, who provides care and how the healthcare workforce is managed, co-ordination of care and management of care processes and information and communication technology systems. This work is part of a 5-year Partnership Centre for Health System Sustainability aiming to investigate and create interventions to improve health-system-performance sustainability. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: No primary data will be collected, so ethical approval is not required. The study findings will be published and presented at relevant conferences

Personalised service? Changing the role of the government librarian

Investigates the feasibility of personalised information service in a government department. A qualitative methodology explored stakeholder opinions on the remit, marketing, resourcing and measurement of the service. A questionnaire and interviews gathered experiences of personalised provision across the government sector. Potential users were similarly surveyed to discuss how the service could meet their needs. Data were analysed using coding techniques to identify emerging theory. Lessons learned from government librarians centred on clarifying requirements, balancing workloads and selective marketing. The user survey showed low usage and awareness of existing specialist services, but high levels of need and interest in services repackaged as a tailored offering. Fieldwork confirmed findings from the literature on the scope for adding value through information management advice, information skills training and substantive research assistance and the need to understand business processes and develop effective partnerships. Concluding recommendations focus on service definition, strategic marketing, resource utilisation and performance measurement

Quantitative study on nitrogen deposition and canopy retention in Mediterranean evergreen forests

Altres ajuts: This research was also funded by the project from Autonomous Government of Madrid AGRISOST-CM (P2013/ABI-2717). CIEMAT work in this study was partially supported by an agreement between the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment and CIEMAT on Critical loads and levels. The utilization of Tres Cantos monitoring site was possible thanks to an agreement between CIEMAT and Ayuntamiento de Madrid.To assess the impact of nitrogen (N) pollutants on forest ecosystems, the role of the interactions in the canopy needs to be understood. A great number of studies have addressed this issue in heavily N-polluted regions in north and central Europe. Much less information is available for the Iberian Peninsula, and yet this region is home to mountain forests and alpine grasslands that may be at risk due to excessive N deposition. To establish the basis for ecology-based policies, there is a need to better understand the forest response to this atmospheric impact. To fill this gap, in this study, we measured N deposition (as bulk, wet, and throughfall fluxes of dissolved inorganic nitrogen) and air N gas concentrations from 2011 to 2013 at four Spanish holm oak (Quercus ilex) forests located in different pollution environments. One site was in an area of intensive agriculture, two sites were influenced by big cities (Madrid and Barcelona, respectively), and one site was in a rural mountain environment 40 km north of Barcelona. Wet deposition ranged between 0.54 and 3.8 kg N ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ for ammonium (NH₄⁺)-N and between 0.65 and 2.1 kg N h⁻¹ year⁻¹ for nitrate (NO₃⁻)-N, with the lowest deposition at the Madrid site for both components. Dry deposition was evaluated with three different approaches: (1) a canopy budget model based in throughfall measurements, (2) a branch washing method, and (3) inferential calculations. Taking the average dry deposition from these methods, dry deposition represented 51-67% (reduced N) and 72-75% (oxidized N) of total N deposition. Canopies retained both NH₄⁺-N and NO₃⁻N, with a higher retention at the agricultural and rural sites (50-60%) than at sites located close to big cities (20-35%, though more uncertainty was found for the site near Madrid), thereby highlighting the role of the forest canopy in processing N pollutant emissions

Dry deposition and canopy uptake in Mediterranean holm-oak forests estimated with a canopy budget model : a focus on N estimations

Bulk/wet and throughfall fluxes of major compounds were measured from June 2011 to June 2013 at four Mediterranean holm-oak (Quercus ilex) forests in the Iberian Peninsula. Regression analysis between net throughfall fluxes and precipitation indicated that the best defined canopy process was leaching for K⁺ and uptake for NH₄⁺ at all sites. A more variable response between sites was found for Na⁺, Ca²⁺, SO₄²⁻ and Cl⁻, which suggests that the interplay of dry deposition, leaching and uptake at the canopy was different depending on site climate and air quality characteristics. A canopy budget model (CBM) was used to try to discriminate between the canopy processes and enable to estimate dry deposition and uptake fluxes at three of the sites that complied with the model specifications. To derive N uptake, an efficiency factor of NH₄⁺ vs. NO₃⁻ uptake (xNH₄) corresponding to moles of NH₄⁺ taken up for each NO₃⁻ mol, has to be determined. Up to now, a value of 6 has been proposed for temperate forests, but we lack information for Mediterranean forests. Experimental determination of N absorption on Quercus ilex seedlings in Spain suggests efficiency factors from 1 to 6. Based on these values, a sensitivity analysis for xNH₄ was performed and the NH₄N and NO₃N modeled dry deposition was compared with dry deposition estimated with independent methods (inferential modeling and washing of branches). At two sites in NE Spain under a milder Mediterranean climate, the best match was obtained for xNH4 = 6, corroborating results from European temperate forests. Based on this value, total DIN deposition was 12-13 kg N ha−1 y−1 at these sites. However, for a site in central Spain under drier conditions, variation of the NH4+ efficiency factor had little effect on DD estimates (which ranged from 2 to 2.6 kg N ha⁻¹ y⁻¹ with varying xNH₄); when added to wet deposition, this produced a total N deposition in the range 2.6-3.4 kg N ha⁻¹ y⁻¹. Dry deposition was the predominant pathway for N, accounting for 60-80% of total deposition, while for base cations wet deposition dominated (55-65%). Nitrogen deposition values at the northwestern sites were close to the empirical critical load proposed for evergreen sclerophyllous Mediterranean forests (15-17 kg N ha⁻¹ y⁻¹). When organic N deposition at these forests is added (3 kg N ha⁻¹ y⁻¹), the total N input to the sites in NE Spain are close to the critical loads for Mediterranean evergreen oak forests

Experiences in firmware development for a CubeSat instrument payload

Recent advancements in gamma-ray detector technology have brought new opportunities to study gamma-ray bursts and other high-energy phenomena. However, there is a lack of dissemination on the development methods, tools and techniques used in the production of instrument flight firmware. This is understandable as firmware for spacecraft payloads may be proprietary or exceptionally hardware specific and so is not always published. However, this leaves a gap in the knowledge for CubeSat teams, especially those consisting of university students who may be building a custom spacecraft payload with limited initial experience. The Gamma-Ray Module (GMOD) on-board EIRSAT-1, a 2U CubeSat in the 2nd European Space Agency Fly Your Satellite! programme, is one such instrument. GMOD features a 25x25x40mm Scionix CeBr3 scintillator, coupled to an array of 16 (4x4) JSeries OnSemiconductor MicroFJ-60035-TSV silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) with readout provided by the SIPHRA IDE3380 application specific integrated circuit. The instrument is supported by the Gamma-Ray Module motherboard which controls and configures the instrument, providing regulated voltage and current sources as well as generating time tagged event packets and a temporary on-board flash storage. At the core of this system is the Texas Instruments MSP430FR5994 microcontroller. A custom firmware was produced for the instrument by the EIRSAT-1 team over numerous cycles of testing and development to reliably perform the long duration tasks of readout, storage and transfer of time tagged event data to the EIRSAT-1 on-board computer. Recognising the value of sharing our experiences and pitfalls on firmware development with the wider CubeSat community, this paper will provide an introduction to GMOD, with focus primarily on the development approach of the firmware. The development, testing, version control, essential tools and an overview of how the resources provided by the device manufacturer were used will be examined, such that the lessons learned may be extended to other payloads from student-led mission

Thermal characterization testing of a robust and reliable thermal knife HDRM (Hold Down and Release Mechanism) for CubeSat deployables

Thermal knife HDRMs (Hold Down and Release Mechanisms) are commonly used in CubeSats and other small satellites. However, detailed information on proven designs is difficult to find. Design of a robust and reliable mechanism can present technical challenges which may only become apparent during testing, and often only when tested in a space representative environment. A custom thermal knife HDRM was designed and built for the antenna deployment module of EIRSAT-1 to deploy four coil spring antenna elements, but the same or a similar design could be repurposed quite easily to release a wide range of CubeSat deployables. In this design resistors are used to cut dyneema lines. For robustness and reliability, the thermal response of the mechanism must be well understood. To reach the melting point of the dyneema (150C) the power dissipated in the resistors must often exceed the maximum rated value. Therefore, choosing the operating current and the burn time is a careful trade-off between ensuring that the resistor reliably cuts the dyneema line and ensuring that the resistor, solder joints, PCB and nearby components are not damaged by the high temperatures. These choices are further complicated by the requirement that the mechanism operates over a range of temperatures. A thermal vacuum test campaign was carried out to better understand and characterise the thermal behaviour of the EIRSAT-1 mechanism. For the test a model of the mechanism was built with several temperature sensors installed. Two of these sensors were installed directly on the body of the resistors using a thermally conductive epoxy. Burn tests were performed in vacuum at temperatures between -37C and +56C. The test shows many interesting results including the effect of the dyneema lines on the thermal response, the possibility of desoldering the burn resistors and a comparison between the performance at ambient and vacuum conditions. Finally, a summary is given of the key technical challenges associated with this type of mechanism along with some recommendations to help make future designs more robust and reliable

Update on the status of the Educational Irish Research Satellite (EIRSAT-1)

The Educational Irish Research Satellite, EIRSAT-1, is a 2U CubeSat being implemented by a student-led team at University College Dublin, as part of the 2nd round of the European Space Agency’s Fly Your Satellite! programme. In development since 2017, the mission has several scientific, technological and outreach goals. It will fly an in-house developed antenna deployment module, along with three custom payloads, which are integrated with commercial off-the-shelf subsystems. In preparation for the flight model, a full-system engineering qualification model of the spacecraft has undergone an extensive period of test campaigns, including full functional tests, a mission test, and environmental testing at the European Space Agency’s CubeSat Support Facility in Redu, Belgium. Beyond the technical, educational, and capacity-building goals of the mission, EIRSAT-1 aims to inspire wider study of STEM subjects, while highlighting the importance of multidisciplinary teams and creating greater awareness of space in everyday life. A wide range of outreach activities are being undertaken to realise these aims. This paper provides a status update on key aspects of the EIRSAT-1 project and the next steps towards launc

Lymphotoxin β Receptor (LtβR): Dual Roles in Demyelination and Remyelination and Successful Therapeutic Intervention Using LtβR-Ig Protein

Inflammation mediated by macrophages is increasingly found to play a central role in diseases and disorders that affect a myriad of organs, prominent among these are diseases of the CNS. The neurotoxicant-induced, cuprizone model of demyelination is ideally suited for the analysis of inflammatory events. Demyelination on exposure to cuprizone is accompanied by predictable microglial activation and astrogliosis, and, after cuprizone withdrawal, this activation reproducibly diminishes during remyelination. This study demonstrates enhanced expression of lymphotoxin beta receptor (Lt betaR) during the demyelination phase of this model, and Lt betaR is found in areas enriched with microglial and astroglial cells. Deletion of the Lt betaR gene (Lt betaR-/-) resulted in a significant delay in demyelination but also a slight delay in remyelination. Inhibition of Lt betaR signaling by an Lt betaR-Ig fusion decoy protein successfully delayed demyelination in wild-type mice. Unexpectedly, this Lt betaR-Ig decoy protein dramatically accelerated the rate of remyelination, even after the maximal pathological disease state had been reached. This strongly indicates the beneficial role of Lt betaR-Ig in the delay of demyelination and the acceleration of remyelination. The discrepancy between remyelination rates in these systems could be attributed to developmental abnormalities in the immune systems of Lt betaR-/- mice. These findings bode well for the use of an inhibitory Lt betaR-Ig as a candidate biological therapy in demyelinating disorders, because it is beneficial during both demyelination and remyelination