Plant Community Assessment and Management Recommendations for Minneapolis Park Natural Areas

In 2017 the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) began a two-phase study to collect quantitative and qualitative data for urban park natural areas in Minneapolis, MN parks to inform management activities. The first phase took existing GIS data and quality ranking systems and tailored them to the Minneapolis park system. The second phase, which is still in process, involves field checking the data, applying the quality ranking system, and writing a management plan

The contemporaneous tectonic events of the Indian Ocean and neighbouring areas

About 140 m. y. ago, the Indian Ocean opened and the Indian plate began drifting northward. With this event began the evolution of the tectonic and magmatic pattern of the present-day Indian Ocean and its related structures. This paper deals with the temporal-tectonic coherences during the evolution of the Indian Ocean itself, of the Indian plate, the Himalayas, the Iran fold belt and the entire Afro-Arabian rift system. The authors themselves have worked in some of these areas and have also used and interpreted the voluminous and valuable literature concerning this region. During the last 140 m. y., there have been various culminations of tectonic activity which affected contemporaneously the different areas or structures of the described region. 80 to 75 m. y. ago, corresponding with magnetic anomaly 32, there was a strong acceleration of the northward drifting Indian plate. At the same time, a culmination of ophiolitic eruptions (or an intensified sea floor spreading) occurred in the Tethys region, that is along the present-day Himalayas, Karakorum, Makran, Oman, Zagros Mountains and Taurides in southern Turkey. 70 to 53 m. y. ago, following the acceleration of the Indian plate, the Indian and the Arabian plates first made contact with Asia resulting in a strong folding in Iran and the first folding phase in parts of the Karakorum and Himalayas. It is significant that the two independently moving plates contacted Asia at the same time. Intensified movements of plates combined with subduction of the continental crust of Arabia and India under Asia along the Indus suture line and the Zagros crush zone also occurred about 36, 25 and 10 m. y. ago and later. These movements corresponded with important orogenetic phases in the Himalayas and the Iran fold belt. At the same time, within the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden an intensified sea floor spreading was in progress. The graben rifting of the East African Rift system also corresponded in time with these movements. The initial taphrogenetic phase occurred in the Afar rift 23 to 25 m. y. ago and in the Gregory Rift 10 m. y. ago. Thus, different and independent structures around the Indian Ocean showed culminations of tectonic events at the same time. The described region is extensive enough to obtain, by comparison of the varying structures, a first synopsis of temporal-tectonic activities showing how the earth's crust is influenced by contemporaneous tectonic events. Mainly, the contemporaneity of the tectonic events suggests a common origin of these dissimilar structures. Doubtless, the movements have their roots in the mantle or even in parts of the earth's core. A preliminary comparison of the tectonic culminations in the described region with those in other parts of the earth show, in the sense of Stille (1924, 1940), approximately similar periods of tectonic culminations as, for example, east and west of the Atlantic Ocean. But, in regard to the ideas of the new global tectonics, it is too early to draw any conclusions from so distant and different structures and it would be premature to speak of a contemporaneity of the global tectonics

Using dense seismo-acoustic network to provide timely warning of the 2019 paroxysmal Stromboli eruptions

Stromboli Volcano is well known for its persistent explosive activity. On July 3rd and August 28th 2019, two paroxysmal explosions occurred, generating an eruptive column that quickly rose up to 5 km above sea level. Both events were detected by advanced local monitoring networks operated by Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) and Laboratorio di Geofisica Sperimentale of the University of Firenze (LGS-UNIFI). Signals were also recorded by the Italian national seismic network at a range of hundreds of kilometres and by infrasonic arrays up to distances of 3700 km. Using state-of-the-art propagation modeling, we identify the various seismic and infrasound phases that are used for precise timing of the eruptions. We highlight the advantage of dense regional seismo-acoustic networks to enhance volcanic signal detection in poorly monitored regions, to provide timely warning of eruptions and reliable source amplitude estimate to Volcanic Ash Advisory Centres (VAAC)

Causes of variation in BCG vaccine efficacy: examining evidence from the BCG REVAC cluster randomized trial to explore the masking and the blocking hypotheses.

BCG protection varies and in some places (nearest the equator) is low or absent. Understanding this variation can inform the efforts to develop new vaccines against tuberculosis. Two main hypotheses are used to explain this variation: under masking, new vaccines are unlikely to increase protection; under blocking new vaccines have a greater potential to be effective when BCG is not. We conducted a cluster randomized trial to explored the masking and blocking hypotheses by studying BCG vaccine efficacy of neonatal vaccination and when administered for the first or a second (revaccination) time at school age in two sites (Manaus close and Salvador further south from the equator). Seven hundred and sixty three state schools were matched on socio economic characteristics of the neighborhood and 239,934 children were randomized to vaccine (BCG vaccination at school age) or control group. Protection by first BCG vaccination at school age was high in Salvador (34%, 95% CI 7-53%, p=0.017) but low in Manaus (8%, 95% CI t0 39-40%, p=0.686). For revaccination at school age, protection was modest in Salvador (19%, 95% CI 3-33%, p=0.022) and absent in Manaus (1%, 95% CI to 27-23%, p=0.932). Vaccine efficacy for neonatal vaccination was similar in Salvador (40%, 95% CI 22-54%, p<0.001) and Manaus (36%, 95% CI 11-53%, p=0.008). Variation in BCG efficacy was marked when vaccine was given at school age but absent at birth, which points towards blocking as the dominant mechanism. New tuberculosis vaccines that overcome or by pass this blocking effect could confer protection in situations where BCG is not protective

Crustal structure of the Peruvian continental margin from wide-angle seismic studies

Active seismic investigations along the Pacific margin off Peru were carried out using ocean bottom hydrophones and seismometers. The structure and the P-wave velocities of the obliquely subducting oceanic Nazca Plate and overriding South American Plate from 8°S to 15°S were determined by modelling the wide-angle seismic data combined with the analysis of reflection seismic data. Three detailed cross-sections of the subduction zone of the Peruvian margin and one strike-line across the Lima Basin are presented here. The oceanic crust of the Nazca Plate, with a thin pelagic sediment cover, ranging from 0–200 m, has an average thickness of 6.4 km. At 8°S it thins to 4 km in the area of Trujillo Trough, a graben-like structure. Across the margin, the plate boundary can be traced to 25 km depth. As inferred from the velocity models, a frontal prism exists adjacent to the trench axis and is associated with the steep lower slope. Terrigeneous sediments are proposed to be transported downslope due to gravitational forces and comprise the frontal prism, characterized by low seismic P-wave velocities. The lower slope material accretes against a backstop structure, which is defined by higher seismic P-wave velocities, 3.5–6.0 km s−1. The large variations in surface slope along one transect may reflect basal removal of upper plate material, thus steepening the slope surface. Subduction processes along the Peruvian margin are dominated by tectonic erosion indicated by the large margin taper, the shape and bending of the subducting slab, laterally varying slope angles and the material properties of the overriding continental plate. The erosional mechanisms, frontal and basal erosion, result in the steepening of the slope and consequent slope failure

Comparison of co-located independent ground-based middle atmospheric wind and temperature measurements with numerical weather prediction models

High-resolution, ground-based and independent observations including co-located windradiometer, lidar stations, and infrasound instruments are used to evaluate the accuracy of general circulationmodels and data-constrained assimilation systems in the middle atmosphere at northern hemispheremidlatitudes. Systematic comparisons between observations, the European Centre for Medium-Range WeatherForecasts (ECMWF) operational analyses including the recent Integrated Forecast System cycles 38r1 and 38r2,the NASA’s Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) reanalyses, and thefree-running climate Max Planck Institute–Earth System Model–Low Resolution (MPI-ESM-LR) are carried out inboth temporal and spectral dom ains. We find that ECMWF and MERRA are broadly consistent with lidar and windradiometer measurements up to ~40 km. For both temperature and horizontal wind components, deviationsincrease with altitude as the assimilated observations become sparser. Between 40 and 60 km altitude, thestandard deviation of the mean difference exceeds 5 K for the temperature and 20 m/s for the zonal wind. Thelargest deviations are observed in winter when the variability from large-scale planetary waves dominates.Between lidar data and MPI-ESM-LR, there is an overall agreement in spectral amplitude down to 15–20 days. Atshorter time scales, the variability is lacking in the model by ~10 dB. Infrasound observations indicate a generalgood agreement with ECWMF wind and temperature products. As such, this study demonstrates the potentialof the infrastructure of the Atmospheric Dynamics Research Infrastructure in Europe project that integratesvarious measurements and provides a quantitative understanding of stratosphere-troposphere dynamicalcoupling for numerical weather prediction applications

Change but no climate change: discourses of climate change in corporate social responsibility reporting in the oil industry

Using corpus linguistic tools and methods, this paper investigates the discourses of climate change in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and environmental reports produced by major oil companies from 2000 to 2013. It focuses on the frequency of key references to climatic changes and examines in detail discourses surrounding the most frequently used term ‘climate change’. The analysis points to shifting patterns in the ways in which climate change has been discursively constructed in the studied sample. Whereas in the mid-2000s, it was seen as a phenomenon that something could be done about, in recent years the corporate discourse has increasingly emphasised the notion of risk portraying climate change as an unpredictable agent. A pro-active stance signalled by the use of force metaphors is offset by a distancing strategy often indicated through the use of hedging devices and ‘relocation’ of climate change to the future and other stakeholders. In doing so, the discourse obscures the sector’s large contribution to environmental degradation and ‘grooms’ the public perception to believe that the industry actively engages in climate change mitigation. At the methodological level, this study shows how a combination of quantitative corpus-linguistic and qualitative discourse-analytical techniques can offer insights into the existence of salient discursive patterns and contribute to a better understanding of the role of language in performing ideological work in corporate communications

De novo fragment-based design of inhibitors of DXS guided by spin-diffusion-based NMR spectroscopy

We applied for the first time an innovative ligand-based NMR methodology (STI) to a medicinal-chemistry project aimed at the development of inhibitors for the enzyme 1-deoxy-D-xylulose-5-phosphate synthase (DXS). DXS is the first enzyme of the 2C-methyl-D-erythritol-4-phosphate (MEP) pathway, present in most bacteria (and not in humans) and responsible for the synthesis of the essential isoprenoid precursors. We designed de novo a first generation of fragments, using Deinococcus radiodurans DXS as a model enzyme, targeting the thiamine diphosphate (TDP) pocket of DXS whilst also exploring the putative substrate-binding pocket, where selectivity over other human TDP-dependent enzymes could be gained. The STI methodology – suitable for weak binders – was essential to determine the binding mode in solution of one of the fragments, circumventing the requirement for an X-ray co-crystal structure, which is known to be particularly challenging for this specific enzyme and in general for weak binders. Based on this finding, we carried out fragment growing and optimisation, which led to a three-fold more potent fragment, about as potent as the well-established thiamine analogue deazathiamine. The STI methodology proved therefore its strong potential as a tool to support medicinal-chemistry projects in their early stages, especially when dealing with weak binders

Emergence and Persistence of Minor Drug-Resistant HIV-1 Variants in Ugandan Women after Nevirapine Single-Dose Prophylaxis

BACKGROUND: Nevirapine (NVP) single-dose is still a widely used antiretroviral prophylaxis for the prevention of vertical HIV-1 transmission in resource-limited settings. However, the main disadvantage of the Non-nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitor (NNRTI) NVP is the rapid selection of NVP-resistant virus with negative implications for subsequent NNRTI-based long-term antiretroviral therapy (ART). Here, we analysed the emergence of drug-resistant HIV-1 including minor variants in the early phase after NVP single-dose prophylaxis and the persistence of drug-resistant virus over time. METHODS AND FINDINGS: NVP-resistant HIV-1 harbouring the K103N and/or Y181C resistance mutations in the HIV-1 reverse transcriptase gene was measured from 1 week up to 18 months after NVP single-dose prophylaxis in 29 Ugandan women using allele-specific PCR assays capable of detecting drug-resistant variants representing less than 1% of the whole viral population. In total, drug-resistant HIV-1 was identified in 18/29 (62%) women; rates increased from 18% to 38% and 44% at week 1, 2, 6, respectively, and decreased to 18%, 25%, 13% and 4% at month 3, 6, 12 and 18, respectively. The proportion of NVP-resistant virus of the total viral population was significantly higher in women infected with subtype D (median 40.5%) as compared to subtype A (median 1.3%; p = 0.032, Mann-Whitney U test). 33% of resistant virus was not detectable at week 2 but was for the first time measurable 6-12 weeks after NVP single-dose prophylaxis. Three (10%) women harboured resistant virus in proportions >10% still at month 6. CONCLUSIONS: Current WHO guidelines recommend an additional postnatal intake of AZT and 3TC for one week to avoid NVP resistance formation. Our findings indicate that a 1-week medication might be too short to impede the emergence of NVP resistance in a substantial proportion of women. Furthermore, subsequent NNRTI-based ART should not be started earlier than 12 months after NVP single-dose prophylaxis