The causes of full ocean depth interannual variability in Drake Passage

In recent years a number of large scale modes of Southern Hemisphere climate variability have been observed, most notably the Southern Annular Mode (SAM, e.g. Thompson and Solomon, 2002), the Pacific South American modes (PSA, e.g. Mo and Peagle, 2001), the Antarctic Dipole (e.g. Martinson and Ianuzzi, 2003), the Antarctic Circumpolar Wave (e.g. White and Peterson, 1996), and of course the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). All have pronounced effects over or in the Southern Ocean, and may be expected to account for a significant part of the interannual variability observed there. Most studies analyse these phenomena from a large-scale point of view, often by extracting modes from Southern Hemisphere atmospheric and oceanic fields using various mathematical techniques. In this study we have taken an alternative approach, and tried to understand the causes of the full ocean depth variability in Drake Passage observed in the WOCE SR1b repeat hydrographic sections (Cunningham et al. 2003)

Singing from the Grave: DNA from a 180 Year Old Type Specimen Confirms the Identity of Chrysoperla carnea (Stephens)

Copyright: © 2015 Price et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The attached file is the published version of the article

Anthropogenic and ecological drivers of amphibian disease (ranavirosis)

This is the final version. Available on open access from Public Library of Science via the DOI in this recordData Availability: The data analysed in this manuscript has been deposited in Dryad (doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.66k59). Third party data was obtained from Froglife and are therefore available through the charity Froglife (Registered Charity No. 1093372 in England and Wales). Please submit queries for data to [email protected] and asking for access to the data for research purposes. Further contact details can also be found on their website http://www.froglife.org/contact-us/.Ranaviruses are causing mass amphibian die-offs in North America, Europe and Asia, and have been implicated in the decline of common frog (Rana temporaria) populations in the UK. Despite this, we have very little understanding of the environmental drivers of disease occurrence and prevalence. Using a long term (1992-2000) dataset of public reports of amphibian mortalities, we assess a set of potential predictors of the occurrence and prevalence of Ranavirus-consistent common frog mortality events in Britain. We reveal the influence of biotic and abiotic drivers of this disease, with many of these abiotic characteristics being anthropogenic. Whilst controlling for the geographic distribution of mortality events, disease prevalence increases with increasing frog population density, presence of fish and wild newts, increasing pond depth and the use of garden chemicals. The presence of an alternative host reduces prevalence, potentially indicating a dilution effect. Ranavirosis occurrence is associated with the presence of toads, an urban setting and the use of fish care products, providing insight into the causes of emergence of disease. Links between occurrence, prevalence, pond characteristics and garden management practices provides useful management implications for reducing the impacts of Ranavirus in the wild

Spatial distribution of podoconiosis in relation to environmental factors in Ethiopia: a historical review

BACKGROUND An up-to-date and reliable map of podoconiosis is needed to design geographically targeted and cost-effective intervention in Ethiopia. Identifying the ecological correlates of the distribution of podoconiosis is the first step for distribution and risk maps. The objective of this study was to investigate the spatial distribution and ecological correlates of podoconiosis using historical and contemporary survey data. METHODS Data on the observed prevalence of podoconiosis were abstracted from published and unpublished literature into a standardized database, according to strict inclusion and exclusion criteria. In total, 10 studies conducted between 1969 and 2012 were included, and data were available for 401,674 individuals older than 15 years of age from 229 locations. A range of high resolution environmental factors were investigated to determine their association with podoconiosis prevalence, using logistic regression. RESULTS The prevalence of podoconiosis in Ethiopia was estimated at 3.4% (95% CI 3.3%-3.4%) with marked regional variation. We identified significant associations between mean annual Land Surface Temperature (LST), mean annual precipitation, topography of the land and fine soil texture and high prevalence of podoconiosis. The derived maps indicate both widespread occurrence of podoconiosis and a marked variability in prevalence of podoconiosis, with prevalence typically highest at altitudes >1500 m above sea level (masl), with >1500 mm annual rainfall and mean annual LST of 19-21°C. No (or very little) podoconiosis occurred at altitudes 24°C. CONCLUSION Podoconiosis remains a public health problem in Ethiopia over considerable areas of the country, but exhibits marked geographical variation associated in part with key environmental factors. This is work in progress and the results presented here will be refined in future work

The Influence of pH on Zinc Lability and Toxicity to a Tropical Freshwater Microalga.

Increased focus on the development and application of bioavailability-based metal water quality guideline values requires increased understanding of the influence of water chemistry on metal bioavailability and toxicity. Development of empirical models, such as multiple linear regression models, requires the assessment of the influence of individual water quality parameters as toxicity-modifying factors. The present study investigated the effect of pH on the lability and toxicity of zinc (Zn) to a tropical green microalga (Chlorella sp.). Zinc speciation and lability were explored using the Windermere Humic Aqueous Model (WHAM7), ultrafiltration, and diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT). Zinc toxicity increased significantly with increasing pH from 6.7 to 8.3, with 50% growth inhibition effect concentrations decreasing from 185 to 53 µg l-1 across the pH range. Linear relationships between DGT-labile Zn and dissolved Zn did not vary across the tested pH range, nor did the linear relationship between dissolved (<0.45 µm) and ultrafiltered (<3 kDa) Zn. Our findings show that Zn toxicity to this freshwater alga is altered as a function of pH across environmentally realistic pH ranges and that these toxicity changes could not be explained by Zn speciation and lability as measured by DGT and WHAM7. Environ Toxicol Chem 2021;40:2836-2845. © 2021 SETAC

Interoception, Contemplative Practice, and Health

AcceptedArticleCopyright: © 2015 Farb, Daubenmier, Price, Gard, Kerr, Dunn, KLein, Paulus and Mehling.This Document is Protected by copyright and was first published by Frontiers. All rights reserved. it is reproduced with permission.Interoception can be broadly defined as the sense of signals originating within the body. As such, interoception is critical for our sense of embodiment, motivation and well-being. And yet, despite its importance, interoception remains poorly understood within modern science. This paper reviews interdisciplinary perspectives on interoception, with the goal of presenting a unified perspective from diverse fields such as neuroscience, clinical practice, and contemplative studies. It is hoped that this integrative effort will advance our understanding of how interoception determines well-being, and identify the central challenges to such understanding. To this end, we introduce an expanded taxonomy of interoceptive processes, arguing that many of these processes can be understood through an emerging predictive coding model for mind-body integration. The model, which describes the tension between expected and felt body sensation, parallels contemplative theories, and implicates interoception in a variety of affective and psychosomatic disorders. We conclude that maladaptive construal of bodily sensations may lie at the heart of many contemporary maladies, and that contemplative practices may attenuate these interpretative biases, restoring a person’s sense of presence and agency in the world

The challenges and affordances of online participatory workshops in the context of young people's everyday climate crisis activism: insights from facilitators

Participatory workshops can provide an equitable way of working with diverse communities to co-produce new knowledge and understanding in the context of young people’s everyday climate crisis activism. Drawing on data from interviews with seven facilitators, we consider the specific affordances and challenges provided by participatory workshops that are held online with groups including young people and teachers. We highlight that the online format can provide a powerful methodological tool for co-production, community building and developing constructive intergenerational dialogue. Although online workshops can include diverse voices, barriers and challenges remain when seeking to reduce the persistent under-representation of some groups

Experimental Evolution of Resistance to Artemisinin Combination Therapy Results in Amplification of the mdr1 Gene in a Rodent Malaria Parasite

Background: Lacking suitable alternatives, the control of malaria increasingly depends upon Artemisinin Combination Treatments (ACT): resistance to these drugs would therefore be disastrous. For ACTs, the biology of resistance to the individual components has been investigated, but experimentally induced resistance to component drugs in combination has not been generated. Methodology/Principal Findings: We have used the rodent malaria parasite Plasmodium chabaudi to select in vivo resistance to the artesunate (ATN) + mefloquine (MF) version of ACT, through prolonged exposure of parasites to both drugs over many generations. The selection procedure was carried out over twenty-seven consecutive sub-inoculations under increasing ATN + MF doses, after which a genetically stable resistant parasite, AS-ATNMF1, was cloned. AS-ATNMF1 showed increased resistance to ATN + MF treatment and to artesunate or mefloquine administered separately. Investigation of candidate genes revealed an mdr1 duplication in the resistant parasites and increased levels of mdr1 transcripts and protein. There were no point mutations in the atpase6 or ubp1genes. Conclusion: Resistance to ACTs may evolve even when the two drugs within the combination are taken simultaneously and amplification of the mdr1 gene may contribute to this phenotype. However, we propose that other gene(s), as ye

Teacher and youth priorities for education for environmental sustainability: A co-created manifesto

What would it mean to put environmental sustainability at the heart of education? This article describes a process of inclusive, participatory manifesto-making to identify young people's (aged 16–18 years) and teachers' priorities for education for environmental sustainability across the UK. Drawing on analysis of qualitative data from over 200 teachers and young people who participated in futures and visualisation workshops, we identify key educational priorities at the levels of classroom, school, community and policy, based on consensus between teacher and youth perspectives. Whilst consensus-seeking comes with a risk of favouring ‘soft’ actions which reinforce unsustainable practices and systems, the process of identifying more desirable futures and immediate barriers that must be negotiated to reach them has the potential to create spaces for more critical pedagogies and practices. There is a need for policy makers and school leaders to recognise the interests of teachers and young people to enable greater participation in decision making at different scales, and to ensure that those with the greatest capacity bear their burden of responsibility for education for environmental sustainability