Hydrographic controls on marine organic matter fate and microbial diversity in the western Irish Sea

Cycling of organic matter (OM) is the key biological process in the marine environment and knowledge of the sources and the reactivity of OM, in addition to factors controlling its distribution in estuarine, coastal and shelf sediments are of key importance for understanding global biogeochemical cycles. With recent advances in cultivation-independent molecular approaches to microbial ecology, the key role of prokaryotes in global biogeochemical cycling in marine ecosystems has been emphasised. However, spatial studies combining the distribution and fate of OM with microbial community abundance and diversity remain rare. Here, a combined spatial lipid biomarker and 16S rRNA tagged pyrosequencing study was conducted in surface sediments and particulate matter across hydrographically distinct zones associated with the seasonal western Irish Sea gyre. The aim was to assess the spatial variation of, and factors controlling, marine organic cycling and sedimentary microbial communities across these distinct zones. The distribution of phospholipid fatty acids, source-specific sterols, wax esters and C25 highly branched isoprenoids indicate that diatoms, dinoflagellates and green algae were the major contributors of marine organic matter, while the distribution of cholesterol, wax esters and C20 and C22 polyunsaturated fatty acids have highlighted the importance of copepod grazing for mineralizing organic matter in the water column5. This marine OM production and mineralisation was greatest in well-mixed waters compared to offshore stratified waters. Lipid analysis and 16S rRNA PCR-DGGE profiling also suggests that sedimentary bacterial abundance increases while community diversity decreases in offshore stratified waters. The major bacterial classes are the Deltaproteobacteria, Clostridia, Flavobacteriia, Gammaproteobactera and Bacteroiidia. At the family/genus level most groups appear to be associated with organoheterotrophic processing of sedimentary OM, ranging from degradation of complex organic matter (e.g. Tepidibacter sp.) to sulfur-dependent utilisation of simple organic molecules (e.g. Desulfobulbaceae and Desulfuromonadaceae)

Ireland’s unseen majority – microbial diversity of the seabed

Despite their size, prokaryote (bacteria and archaea) biomass is estimated to represent between 15 and 30% of total living biomass1,2. Prokaryotes play major roles in marine ecosystems and in global biogeochemical cycling3,4. Molecular phylogenetic approaches have revolutionised microbiology and have revealed that the complexity of microbial life is orders of magnitude greater than previous estimates based on cultivation-based approaches5. This highlights how little we currently know about the microbial world and the clear potential of this vast untapped resource for human application. Here we present the first in-depth analysis of microbial community diversity and composition in the Irish Sea. The western Irish Sea is characterised by distinct hydrographic conditions, resulting in summer stratified offshore deeper waters and settling of fine mud, while well-mixed waters and coarser sediment type dominate in the south and coastal regions. We wished to assess whether these factors play a role in prokaryote abundance and diversity

A Hydrometeorological Assessment of the Historic 2019 Flood of Nebraska, Iowa, and South Dakota

During early 2019, a series of events set the stage for devastating floods in eastern Nebraska, western Iowa, and southeastern South Dakota. When the floodwaters hit, dams and levees failed, cutting off towns, while destroying roads, bridges, and rail lines, further exacerbating the crisis. Lives were lost and thousands of cattle were stranded. Estimates indicate that the cost of the flooding has topped $3 billion as of August 2019, with this number expected to rise. After a warm and wet start to winter, eastern Nebraska, western Iowa, and southeastern South Dakota endured anomalously low temperatures and record-breaking snowfall. By March 2019, rivers were frozen, frost depths were 60-90 cm, and the water equivalent of the snowpack was 30-100 mm. With these conditions in place, a record breaking surface cyclone rapidly developed in Colorado and propagated eastward, producing heavy rain towards the east and blizzard conditions toward the west. In areas of eastern Nebraska, western Iowa, and southeastern South Dakota, rapid melting of the snowpack due to this rain-on-snow event quickly led to excessive runoff that overwhelmed rivers and streams. These conditions brought the region to a standstill. In this paper, we will provide an analysis of the antecedent conditions in eastern Nebraska, western Iowa and southeastern South Dakota, the development of the surface cyclone that triggered the historic flooding, along with a look into the forecast and communication of flood impacts prior to the flood. The study used multiple datasets, including in-situ observations and reanalysis data. Understanding the events that led to the flooding could aid in future forecasting efforts

Biomarkers reveal the effects of hydrography on the sources and fate of marine and terrestrial organic matter in the western Irish Sea

A suite of lipid biomarkers were investigated from surface sediments and particulatematter across hydrographically distinct zones associated with the western Irish Sea gyre and the seasonal bloom. The aim was to assess the variation of organic matter (OM) composition, production, distribution and fate associated with coastal and southern mixed regions and also the summer stratified region. Based on the distribution of a suite of diagnostic biomarkers, including phospholipid fatty acids, source-specific sterols, wax esters and C25 highly branched isoprenoids, diatoms, dinoflagellates and green algae were identified as major contributors of marine organic matter (MOM) in this setting. The distribution of cholesterol, wax esters and C20 and C22 polyunsaturated fatty acids indicate that copepod grazing represents an important process for mineralising this primary production. Net tow data from 2010 revealed much greater phytoplankton and zooplankton biomass in well-mixed waters compared to stratified waters. This appears to be largely reflected in MOM input to surface sediments. Terrestrial organic matter (TOM), derived from higher plants, was identified as a major source of OM regionally, but was concentrated in proximity to major riverine input at the Boyne Estuary and Dundalk Bay. Near-bottom residual circulation and the seasonal gyre also likely play a role in the fate of TOM in the western Irish Sea

Differential cross section measurements for the production of a W boson in association with jets in proton–proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV

Measurements are reported of differential cross sections for the production of a W boson, which decays into a muon and a neutrino, in association with jets, as a function of several variables, including the transverse momenta (pT) and pseudorapidities of the four leading jets, the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta (HT), and the difference in azimuthal angle between the directions of each jet and the muon. The data sample of pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV was collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb[superscript −1]. The measured cross sections are compared to predictions from Monte Carlo generators, MadGraph + pythia and sherpa, and to next-to-leading-order calculations from BlackHat + sherpa. The differential cross sections are found to be in agreement with the predictions, apart from the pT distributions of the leading jets at high pT values, the distributions of the HT at high-HT and low jet multiplicity, and the distribution of the difference in azimuthal angle between the leading jet and the muon at low values.United States. Dept. of EnergyNational Science Foundation (U.S.)Alfred P. Sloan Foundatio

Penilaian Kinerja Keuangan Koperasi di Kabupaten Pelalawan

This paper describe development and financial performance of cooperative in District Pelalawan among 2007 - 2008. Studies on primary and secondary cooperative in 12 sub-districts. Method in this stady use performance measuring of productivity, efficiency, growth, liquidity, and solvability of cooperative. Productivity of cooperative in Pelalawan was highly but efficiency still low. Profit and income were highly, even liquidity of cooperative very high, and solvability was good

Juxtaposing BTE and ATE – on the role of the European insurance industry in funding civil litigation

One of the ways in which legal services are financed, and indeed shaped, is through private insurance arrangement. Two contrasting types of legal expenses insurance contracts (LEI) seem to dominate in Europe: before the event (BTE) and after the event (ATE) legal expenses insurance. Notwithstanding institutional differences between different legal systems, BTE and ATE insurance arrangements may be instrumental if government policy is geared towards strengthening a market-oriented system of financing access to justice for individuals and business. At the same time, emphasizing the role of a private industry as a keeper of the gates to justice raises issues of accountability and transparency, not readily reconcilable with demands of competition. Moreover, multiple actors (clients, lawyers, courts, insurers) are involved, causing behavioural dynamics which are not easily predicted or influenced. Against this background, this paper looks into BTE and ATE arrangements by analysing the particularities of BTE and ATE arrangements currently available in some European jurisdictions and by painting a picture of their respective markets and legal contexts. This allows for some reflection on the performance of BTE and ATE providers as both financiers and keepers. Two issues emerge from the analysis that are worthy of some further reflection. Firstly, there is the problematic long-term sustainability of some ATE products. Secondly, the challenges faced by policymakers that would like to nudge consumers into voluntarily taking out BTE LEI

Search for stop and higgsino production using diphoton Higgs boson decays

Results are presented of a search for a "natural" supersymmetry scenario with gauge mediated symmetry breaking. It is assumed that only the supersymmetric partners of the top-quark (stop) and the Higgs boson (higgsino) are accessible. Events are examined in which there are two photons forming a Higgs boson candidate, and at least two b-quark jets. In 19.7 inverse femtobarns of proton-proton collision data at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV, recorded in the CMS experiment, no evidence of a signal is found and lower limits at the 95% confidence level are set, excluding the stop mass below 360 to 410 GeV, depending on the higgsino mass

Impacts of the Tropical Pacific/Indian Oceans on the Seasonal Cycle of the West African Monsoon

The current consensus is that drought has developed in the Sahel during the second half of the twentieth century as a result of remote effects of oceanic anomalies amplified by local land–atmosphere interactions. This paper focuses on the impacts of oceanic anomalies upon West African climate and specifically aims to identify those from SST anomalies in the Pacific/Indian Oceans during spring and summer seasons, when they were significant. Idealized sensitivity experiments are performed with four atmospheric general circulation models (AGCMs). The prescribed SST patterns used in the AGCMs are based on the leading mode of covariability between SST anomalies over the Pacific/Indian Oceans and summer rainfall over West Africa. The results show that such oceanic anomalies in the Pacific/Indian Ocean lead to a northward shift of an anomalous dry belt from the Gulf of Guinea to the Sahel as the season advances. In the Sahel, the magnitude of rainfall anomalies is comparable to that obtained by other authors using SST anomalies confined to the proximity of the Atlantic Ocean. The mechanism connecting the Pacific/Indian SST anomalies with West African rainfall has a strong seasonal cycle. In spring (May and June), anomalous subsidence develops over both the Maritime Continent and the equatorial Atlantic in response to the enhanced equatorial heating. Precipitation increases over continental West Africa in association with stronger zonal convergence of moisture. In addition, precipitation decreases over the Gulf of Guinea. During the monsoon peak (July and August), the SST anomalies move westward over the equatorial Pacific and the two regions where subsidence occurred earlier in the seasons merge over West Africa. The monsoon weakens and rainfall decreases over the Sahel, especially in August.Peer reviewe

Severe early onset preeclampsia: short and long term clinical, psychosocial and biochemical aspects

Preeclampsia is a pregnancy specific disorder commonly defined as de novo hypertension and proteinuria after 20 weeks gestational age. It occurs in approximately 3-5% of pregnancies and it is still a major cause of both foetal and maternal morbidity and mortality worldwide1. As extensive research has not yet elucidated the aetiology of preeclampsia, there are no rational preventive or therapeutic interventions available. The only rational treatment is delivery, which benefits the mother but is not in the interest of the foetus, if remote from term. Early onset preeclampsia (<32 weeks’ gestational age) occurs in less than 1% of pregnancies. It is, however often associated with maternal morbidity as the risk of progression to severe maternal disease is inversely related with gestational age at onset2. Resulting prematurity is therefore the main cause of neonatal mortality and morbidity in patients with severe preeclampsia3. Although the discussion is ongoing, perinatal survival is suggested to be increased in patients with preterm preeclampsia by expectant, non-interventional management. This temporising treatment option to lengthen pregnancy includes the use of antihypertensive medication to control hypertension, magnesium sulphate to prevent eclampsia and corticosteroids to enhance foetal lung maturity4. With optimal maternal haemodynamic status and reassuring foetal condition this results on average in an extension of 2 weeks. Prolongation of these pregnancies is a great challenge for clinicians to balance between potential maternal risks on one the eve hand and possible foetal benefits on the other. Clinical controversies regarding prolongation of preterm preeclamptic pregnancies still exist – also taking into account that preeclampsia is the leading cause of maternal mortality in the Netherlands5 - a debate which is even more pronounced in very preterm pregnancies with questionable foetal viability6-9. Do maternal risks of prolongation of these very early pregnancies outweigh the chances of neonatal survival? Counselling of women with very early onset preeclampsia not only comprises of knowledge of the outcome of those particular pregnancies, but also knowledge of outcomes of future pregnancies of these women is of major clinical importance. This thesis opens with a review of the literature on identifiable risk factors of preeclampsia