Blue frontiers: managing the environmental costs of aquaculture

The report begins with an overview of the current status of world aquaculture. It then goes on to describe an approach for estimating the current combined biophysical resource demands of aquaculture for producer countries and regions. Following a comparison of these results with those available for other animal food production sectors the report then examines the consequences of likely future trends in production on the environmental impacts of aquaculture. Finally, the policy implications of the report’s findings are discussed along with the research agenda that should be pursued to meet the challenge of sustainable food production

Blue frontiers: managing the environmental costs of aquaculture

The report begins with an overview of the current status of world aquaculture. It then goes on to describe an approach for estimating the current combined biophysical resource demands of aquaculture for producer countries and regions. Following a comparison of these results with those available for other animal food production sectors the report then examines the consequences of likely future trends in production on the environmental impacts of aquaculture. Finally, the policy implications of the reportÆs findings are discussed along with the research agenda that should be pursued to meet the challenge of sustainable food production.Aquaculture, Aquaculture systems, Life cycle analysis, Environmental impact, Resource management, Aquaculture statistics, Sustainability

IRVE-II Post-Flight Trajectory Reconstruction

NASA s Inflatable Re-entry Vehicle Experiment (IRVE) II successfully demonstrated an inflatable aerodynamic decelerator after being launched aboard a sounding rocket from Wallops Flight Facility (WFF). Preliminary day of flight data compared well with pre-flight Monte Carlo analysis, and a more complete trajectory reconstruction performed with an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) approach followed. The reconstructed trajectory and comparisons to an attitude solution provided by NASA Sounding Rocket Operations Contract (NSROC) personnel at WFF are presented. Additional comparisons are made between the reconstructed trajectory and pre and post-flight Monte Carlo trajectory predictions. Alternative observations of the trajectory are summarized which leverage flight accelerometer measurements, the pre-flight aerodynamic database, and on-board flight video. Finally, analysis of the payload separation and aeroshell deployment events are presented. The flight trajectory is reconstructed to fidelity sufficient to assess overall project objectives related to flight dynamics and overall, IRVE-II flight dynamics are in line with expectation

Mendelian inheritance in man: diagnoses in the UMLS

pre-printBecause they deal with many distinct but rare inheritance diseases, geneticists have difficulty translating from their codes to other biomedical coding schemes. The objective ofthis research was to investigate the potential uses and difficulties of using the UMLS Metathesaurus for genetic diagnoses and to make recommendations to UMLS developers for improvements in UMLS for common genetic disorders. The 110 most common Mendelian Inheritance in Man disorders from the Missouri Genetic Disease Program over the period of one year were translated into MeSH, ICD and SNOMED. The more common diseases are more likely to be mapped than the rarer ones. Diseases with a proven genetic inheritance pattern are more likely to be mapped than those with speculated inheritance patterns. Approximately one third of all diagnoses were not mapped across all three coding schemes in Meta-1. 2. The ICD coding scheme was found to be too broad to be meaningful for genetic diagnosis or epidemiological purposes. MeSH and SNOMED need to be made more specific and complete, and all of the new version of SNOMED needs to be included in the Metathesaurus

Blue harvest: inland fisheries as an ecosystem service

Global food production has increased greatly in recent years and rural livelihoods are much improved in many regions. Yet, despite this clear progress rural poverty and food insecurity remain deeply entrenched in many areas, especially in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. In response the international community has renewed calls for increased commitment to meeting the needs of the world's poor. This report, commissioned as a contribution to the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity taking place in Nagoya, Japan, not only underlines the value of freshwater fisheries but provides guidance on how the ecosystem approach can be applied in order to sustain future harvests.Inland fisheries, Nutrition, Food security, Sustainability, Ecosystems

Savanna Tree Seedlings are Physiologically Tolerant to Nighttime Freeze Events

Citation: O'Keefe, K., Nippert, J. B., & Swemmer, A. M. (2016). Savanna Tree Seedlings are Physiologically Tolerant to Nighttime Freeze Events. Frontiers in Plant Science, 7, 13. doi:10.3389/fpls.2016.00046Freeze events can be important disturbances in savanna ecosystems, yet the interactive effect of freezing with other environmental drivers on plant functioning is unknown. Here, we investigated physiological responses of South African tree seedlings to interactions of water availability and freezing temperatures. We grew widely distributed South African tree species (Colophospermum mopane, Combretum apiculaturn, Acacia nigrescens, and Cassia abbreviate) under well watered and water-limited conditions and exposed individuals to nighttime freeze events. Of the four species studied here, C. mopane was the most tolerant of lower water availability. However, all species were similarly tolerant to nighttime freezing and recovered within one week following the last freezing event. We also show that water limitation somewhat increased freezing tolerance in one of the species (C. mopane). Therefore, water limitation, but not freezing temperatures, may restrict the distribution of these species, although the interactions of these stressors may have species specific impacts on plant physiology. Ultimately, we show that unique physiologies can exist among dominant species within communities and that combined stresses may play a currently unidentified role in driving the function of certain species within southern Africa

Hyperovals in Hall planes

AbstractIn this paper we construct two classes of translation hyperovals in any Hall plane of even orderq2 ≥ 16. Two hyperovals constructed in the same Hall plane are equivalent under the action of the automorphism group of that Hall plane iff they are in the same class

On the uncertainty of phenological responses to climate change, and implications for a terrestrial biosphere model

Phenology, the timing of recurring life cycle events, controls numerous land surface feedbacks to the climate system through the regulation of exchanges of carbon, water and energy between the biosphere and atmosphere. <br><br> Terrestrial biosphere models, however, are known to have systematic errors in the simulation of spring phenology, which potentially could propagate to uncertainty in modeled responses to future climate change. Here, we used the Harvard Forest phenology record to investigate and characterize sources of uncertainty in predicting phenology, and the subsequent impacts on model forecasts of carbon and water cycling. Using a model-data fusion approach, we combined information from 20 yr of phenological observations of 11 North American woody species, with 12 leaf bud-burst models that varied in complexity. <br><br> Akaike's Information Criterion indicated support for spring warming models with photoperiod limitations and, to a lesser extent, models that included chilling requirements. <br><br> We assessed three different sources of uncertainty in phenological forecasts: parameter uncertainty, model uncertainty, and driver uncertainty. The latter was characterized running the models to 2099 using 2 different IPCC climate scenarios (A1fi vs. B1, i.e. high CO<sub>2</sub> emissions vs. low CO<sub>2</sub> emissions scenario). Parameter uncertainty was the smallest (average 95% Confidence Interval – CI: 2.4 days century<sup>−1</sup> for scenario B1 and 4.5 days century<sup>−1</sup> for A1fi), whereas driver uncertainty was the largest (up to 8.4 days century<sup>−1</sup> in the simulated trends). The uncertainty related to model structure is also large and the predicted bud-burst trends as well as the shape of the smoothed projections varied among models (±7.7 days century<sup>−1</sup> for A1fi, ±3.6 days century<sup>−1</sup> for B1). The forecast sensitivity of bud-burst to temperature (i.e. days bud-burst advanced per degree of warming) varied between 2.2 days °C<sup>−1</sup> and 5.2 days °C<sup>−1</sup> depending on model structure. <br><br> We quantified the impact of uncertainties in bud-burst forecasts on simulated photosynthetic CO<sub>2</sub> uptake and evapotranspiration (ET) using a process-based terrestrial biosphere model. Uncertainty in phenology model structure led to uncertainty in the description of forest seasonality, which accumulated to uncertainty in annual model estimates of gross primary productivity (GPP) and ET of 9.6% and 2.9%, respectively. A sensitivity analysis shows that a variation of ±10 days in bud-burst dates led to a variation of ±5.0% for annual GPP and about ±2.0% for ET. <br><br> For phenology models, differences among future climate scenarios (i.e. driver) represent the largest source of uncertainty, followed by uncertainties related to model structure, and finally, related to model parameterization. The uncertainties we have quantified will affect the description of the seasonality of ecosystem processes and in particular the simulation of carbon uptake by forest ecosystems, with a larger impact of uncertainties related to phenology model structure, followed by uncertainties related to phenological model parameterization

Immunogenicity ofEscherichia coli O antigen in upper urinary tract infection

Immunogenicity ofEscherichia coli O antigen in upper urinary tract infection. The role of immunogenicity of the infecting organism (Escherichia coli) in the antibody response to O antigen in upper urinary tract infection was investigated Heat-killed vaccines were prepared from “immunogenic” organisms which had produced upper urinary tract infection associated with high titers of hemag-glutinating antibody to O antigen and “nonimmunogenic” organisms which had produced upper urinary tract infection without a rise in antibody titer. “Immunogenic” 06 vaccine produced high titers of antibody in patients regarded as possibly “poor producers” of antibody, but “nonimmunogenic” 011 vaccine was not associated with a rise in titer in patients previously regarded as “good producers”. These vaccines were significantly different in immunogenicity (P < 0.05). Five vaccines were tested in 50 rats. The difference in hemagglutinating titers to O antigen between 06 and 011 was highly significant (P < 0.001). Immunogenicity of the infecting organism appears to be a significant factor in determining antibody response to O antigen in upper urinary tract infection.Immunogénicité de l'antigène O d'Escherichia coli dans les infections du haut appareil urinaire. Le rôle de l'immunogénicité de l'organisme infectant (Escherichia coli) dans la réponse immune à l'antigène O au cours des infections du haut appareil urinaire a été étudié. Des vaccins tués par la chaleur ont été préparés à partir d'organismes “immunogéniques” qui ont été responsables d'infection du haut appareil urinaire associées à des titres élevés d'anticorps hémagglutinants contre l'antigène O et d'organismes “non immunogéniques” qui ont produit une infection du haut appareil sans augmentation du titre d'anticorps. Le vaccin “immunogénique” 06 produit des titres élevés d'anticorps chez des malades considérés comme de faibles producteurs d'anticorps et le vaccin “non immunogénique” 011 ne détermine pas d'augmentation du titre chez des malades antérieurement considérés comme de “bons producteurs”. Ces vaccins diffèrent significativement en “immunogénicité” (P < 0, 05). Cinq vaccins ont été essayés chez 50 rats. La différence dans les titres d'hémmaglutination vis à vis de l'antigène O est très significative entre 06 et 011 (P < 0, 001). L'immunogénicité de l'organisme infectant parait être un facteur important dans la détermination de la réponse immune à l'antigène O au cours des infections du haut appareil urinaire