Report of the ICCAT GBYP international workshop on Atlantic bluefin tuna growth

In the last Atlantic bluefin tuna assessment, an age-length database coming from direct ageing was presented for the first time. It was observed that otolith age estimates for fish younger than 8 years old had a smaller size at age compared to spine (first dorsal fin radius) age estimates. This difference, although small, was enough to misallocate the year class. This misallocation was solved when introducing a vector of bias corrected aged otoliths based on paired otolithspine samples. We have identified two possible causes for over-estimating age in the otolith agelength data: the current age adjustment criterion (to convert the bands counting into ages) and a reading bias in age estimations from some laboratories. Otolith preparation and reading protocols have been reviewed. The edge type and marginal increment analysis showed that the formation of opaque zones would seem likely to occur primarily between December through to June, contrary to what was thought until now, for which a new criterion for age adjustment has been proposed

Step-Wise Computational Synthesis of Fullerene C60 derivatives. 1.Fluorinated Fullerenes C60F2k

The reactions of fullerene C60 with atomic fluorine have been studied by unrestricted broken spin-symmetry Hartree-Fock (UBS HF) approach implemented in semiempirical codes based on AM1 technique. The calculations were focused on a sequential addition of fluorine atom to the fullerene cage following indication of the cage atom highest chemical susceptibility that is calculated at each step. The effectively-non-paired-electron concept of the fullerene atoms chemical susceptibility lays the foundation of the suggested computational synthesis. The obtained results are analyzed from energetic, symmetry, and the composition abundance viewpoints. A good fitting of the data to experimental findings proves a creative role of the suggested synthesis methodology.Comment: 33 pages, 11 figures, 2 tables, 2 chart

A millennium-long 'Blue Ring' chronology from the Spanish Pyrenees reveals severe ephemeral summer cooling after volcanic eruptions

Abstract ‘Blue Rings’ (BRs) are distinct wood anatomical anomalies recently discovered in several tree species from different sites. While it is evident that they are associated with a cooling-induced lack of cell wall lignification, BRs have yet to be evaluated systematically in paleoclimate studies. Here, we present a continuous wood anatomical assessment of 31 living and relict pine samples from a high-elevation site in the central Spanish Pyrenees that span the period 1150–2017 CE at annual resolution. While most BR years coincide with cold summer temperatures and many BRs follow large volcanic eruptions, some were formed during overall warm summers. We also see a differential response between eruptions: the Samalas eruption is followed by 80% BRs in 1258, but only a modest signal is evident after the 1815 Tambora eruption, and there are no wood anatomical effects of the Laki eruption in 1783–1784. Apparently linked to a cluster of tropical eruptions in 1695 and 1696 CE, 85% BRs occurred in 1698. This new wood anatomical evidence is corroborated by the record of sulphur deposition in polar ice cores, and corresponds with catastrophic famine and unprecedented mortality in Scotland. The extremely rare occurrence of consecutive BRs in 1345 and 1346 marks the onset and spread of the Black Death, Europe’s most devastating plague pandemic. In their ability to capture severe ephemeral cold spells, as short as several days or weeks, BR chronologies can help to investigate and understand the impacts of volcanism on climate and society.</jats:p

A New Approach to Measuring Tree-Ring Density Parameters

Древесные кольца являются одними из наиболее достоверных источников информации об условиях окружающей среды и климата в прошлом. Рентгеновская денситометрия как один из важнейших инструментов дендроэкологии и дендроклиматологии существенно расширяет возможности исследований по реконструкции различных природных процессов. Классический рентгеновский денситометрический комплекс DENDRO 2003, обладая общепризнанными достоинствами, тем не менее имеет ряд существенных недостатков, таких как высокая стоимость, громоздкость, использование рентгеновских плёнок и т.д., что вынуждает искать альтернативные пути развития денситометрии годичных колец. В работе представлен новый методический подход к измерению профиля плотности годичных колец деревьев и построению хронологий параметров плотности древесных колец, основанный на разделении точек изображения клеточной структуры колец по их контрастности, получивший название пиксель-контрастной денситометрии (Pixel Contrast Densitometry, PiC densitometry). Проведена экспериментальная апробация разработанных методов PiC денситометрии при помощи демонстратора, реализованного в виде программного обеспечения, позволяющего выполнять измерения профиля плотности годичных колец и получать хронологии различных его параметров. Сравнительный анализ результатов измерений и функциональных характеристик рентгеновской и PiC денситометрии показал, что денситометрический комплекс, построенный на базе разработанных методов и программного обеспечения PiC денситометрии, позволяет получать результаты, идентичные результатам рентгеновской денситометрии, обладает большей функциональностью, меньшей стоимостью и способен полностью заменить собой рентгеновский денситометрический комплекс DENDRO 2003 в широком спектре дендроэкологических и дендроклиматических исследованийTree rings are the most reliable high-resolution proxy archive for past climate and environmental changes, and X‑ray densitometry is an important tool, which significantly expands the possibilities of dendroecology and dendroclimatology. The classic X‑ray densitometric laboratory DENDRO 2003 with all its advantages, however, has a number of drawbacks, such as its high price, installation size, requirement of X‑ray films and experienced technical staff, etc., which forces one to look for alternatives. The paper presents a new methodological approach to measuring wood density, developing tree-ring density profiles, and constructing tree- ring density chronologies. The proposed method – contrast densitometry (PiC densitometry) – is based on the pixel contrast in a high- resolution image of ring structures. Initial experimental tests using a specially developed demonstrator showed the strength and functionality of our approach, which produced results comparable to those derived by the traditional X‑ray DENDRO 2003 technique. This new methodology is capable of replacing traditional DENDRO 2003 applications in a wide range of dendroecological and dendroclimatic studie

Safety and preliminary efficacy data of a novel Casein Kinase 2 (CK2) peptide inhibitor administered intralesionally at four dose levels in patients with cervical malignancies

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cervical cancer is now considered the second leading cause of death among women worldwide, and its incidence has reached alarming levels, especially in developing countries. Similarly, high grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL), the precursor stage for cervical cancer, represents a growing health problem among younger women as the HSIL management regimes that have been developed are not fully effective. From the etiological point of view, the presence of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) has been demonstrated to play a crucial role for developing cervical malignancies, and viral DNA has been detected in 99.7% of cervical tumors at the later stages. CIGB-300 is a novel cyclic synthetic peptide that induces apoptosis in malignant cells and elicits antitumor activity in cancer animal models. CIGB-300 impairs the Casein Kinase (CK2) phosphorylation, by targeting the substrate's phosphoaceptor domain. Based on the perspectives of CIGB-300 to treat cancer, this "first-in-human" study investigated its safety and tolerability in patients with cervical malignancies.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Thirty-one women with colposcopically and histologically diagnosed microinvasive or pre-invasive cervical cancer were enrolled in a dose escalating study. CIGB-300 was administered sequentially at 14, 70, 245 and 490 mg by intralesional injections during 5 consecutive days to groups of 7 – 10 patients. Toxicity was monitored daily until fifteen days after the end of treatment, when patients underwent conization. Digital colposcopy, histology, and HPV status were also evaluated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>No maximum-tolerated dose or dose-limiting toxicity was achieved. The most frequent local events were pain, bleeding, hematoma and erythema at the injection site. The systemic adverse events were rash, facial edema, itching, hot flashes, and localized cramps. 75% of the patients experienced a significant lesion reduction at colposcopy and 19% exhibited full histological regression. HPV DNA was negative in 48% of the previously positive patients. Long term follow-up did not reveal recurrences or adverse events.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>CIGB 300 was safe and well tolerated. This is the first clinical trial where a drug has been used to target the CK2 phosphoaceptor domain providing an early proof-of-principle of a possible clinical benefit.</p

Data Descriptor: A global multiproxy database for temperature reconstructions of the Common Era

Reproducible climate reconstructions of the Common Era (1 CE to present) are key to placing industrial-era warming into the context of natural climatic variability. Here we present a community-sourced database of temperature-sensitive proxy records from the PAGES2k initiative. The database gathers 692 records from 648 locations, including all continental regions and major ocean basins. The records are from trees, ice, sediment, corals, speleothems, documentary evidence, and other archives. They range in length from 50 to 2000 years, with a median of 547 years, while temporal resolution ranges from biweekly to centennial. Nearly half of the proxy time series are significantly correlated with HadCRUT4.2 surface temperature over the period 1850-2014. Global temperature composites show a remarkable degree of coherence between high-and low-resolution archives, with broadly similar patterns across archive types, terrestrial versus marine locations, and screening criteria. The database is suited to investigations of global and regional temperature variability over the Common Era, and is shared in the Linked Paleo Data (LiPD) format, including serializations in Matlab, R and Python.(TABLE)Since the pioneering work of D'Arrigo and Jacoby1-3, as well as Mann et al. 4,5, temperature reconstructions of the Common Era have become a key component of climate assessments6-9. Such reconstructions depend strongly on the composition of the underlying network of climate proxies10, and it is therefore critical for the climate community to have access to a community-vetted, quality-controlled database of temperature-sensitive records stored in a self-describing format. The Past Global Changes (PAGES) 2k consortium, a self-organized, international group of experts, recently assembled such a database, and used it to reconstruct surface temperature over continental-scale regions11 (hereafter, ` PAGES2k-2013').This data descriptor presents version 2.0.0 of the PAGES2k proxy temperature database (Data Citation 1). It augments the PAGES2k-2013 collection of terrestrial records with marine records assembled by the Ocean2k working group at centennial12 and annual13 time scales. In addition to these previously published data compilations, this version includes substantially more records, extensive new metadata, and validation. Furthermore, the selection criteria for records included in this version are applied more uniformly and transparently across regions, resulting in a more cohesive data product.This data descriptor describes the contents of the database, the criteria for inclusion, and quantifies the relation of each record with instrumental temperature. In addition, the paleotemperature time series are summarized as composites to highlight the most salient decadal-to centennial-scale behaviour of the dataset and check mutual consistency between paleoclimate archives. We provide extensive Matlab code to probe the database-processing, filtering and aggregating it in various ways to investigate temperature variability over the Common Era. The unique approach to data stewardship and code-sharing employed here is designed to enable an unprecedented scale of investigation of the temperature history of the Common Era, by the scientific community and citizen-scientists alike

Regional Patterns of Late Medieval and Early Modern European Building Activity Revealed by Felling Dates

Although variations in building activity are a useful indicator of societal well-being and demographic development, historical datasets for larger regions and longer periods are still rare. Here, we present 54,045 annually precise dendrochronological felling dates from historical construction timber from across most of Europe between 1250 and 1699 CE to infer variations in building activity. We use geostatistical techniques to compare spatiotemporal dynamics in past European building activity against independent demographic, economic, social and climatic data. We show that the felling dates capture major geographical patterns of demographic trends, especially in regions with dense data coverage. A particularly strong negative association is found between grain prices and the number of felling dates. In addition, a significant positive association is found between the number of felling dates and mining activity. These strong associations, with well-known macro-economic indicators from pre-industrial Europe, corroborate the use of felling dates as an independent source for exploring large-scale fluctuations of societal well-being and demographic development. Three prominent examples are the building boom in the Hanseatic League region of northeastern Germany during the 13th century, the onset of the Late Medieval Crisis in much of Europec. 1300, and the cessation of building activity in large parts of central Europe during armed conflicts such as the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648 CE). Despite new insights gained from our European-wide felling date inventory, further studies are needed to investigate changes in construction activity of high versus low status buildings, and of urban versus rural buildings, and to compare those results with a variety of historical documentary sources and natural proxy archives.</jats:p