Analysing urban heat island patterns and simulating potential future changes

Climate change is interpreted as one of the most serious environmental problems for the 21st century. Changes in climate are now generally accepted. However, the rate of change has spatial characteristics and is highly uncertain. The Himalaya is experiencing abrupt change; so vulnerability and adaptation studies have become crucial. This pilot study presents initial findings of the research project entitled ‘Human Ecological Implications of Climate Change in the Himalaya.’ A study of climate change perceptions, vulnerability, and adaptation strategies of farming communities of the cool-wet temperate (Lumle) and the hot-wet sub-tropical (Meghauli) villages in Central Nepal was conducted. The findings are derived from the analysis of temperature and precipitation data of last 40 years, and primary data collected in September 2012. Focus Group Discussions, Key Informant Interviews, and Historical Timeline Calender were applied. The changes perceived by the communities are fairly consistent with the meteorological observations and are challenging the sustainability of social-ecological systems and communities’ livelihoods. Farming communities have adopted some strategies to minimize the vulnerability. But the adopted strategies have produced both negative and positive results. Strategies like flood control, shifting crop calendars, occupational changes and labour migrations have produced positive results in livelihood security. Occupational changes and labour migration have negatively impacted local agro-ecology and agricultural economies. Early-harvesting strategies to reduce losses from hailstorm have reduced the food and fodder security. Lack of irrigation for rice-seedlings is severely affecting the efficacy of shifting the rice-transplantation calendar. Conclusions suggest that while farmers have practiced strategies to better management of farms, livelihood sustainabilities are reaching thresholds due to the changing conditions.Rishikesh Pandey, Douglas K Bardsle

Circulating microparticles from Crohn's disease patients cause endothelial and vascular dysfunctions

BACKGROUND: Microparticles (MPs) are small vesicles released during cell activation or apoptosis. They are involved in coagulation, inflammation and vascular dysfunction in several diseases. We characterized circulating MPs from Crohn's Disease (CD) patients and evaluated their effects on endothelial function and vascular reactivity after in vivo injection into mice. METHODS: Circulating MPs and their cellular origins were examined by flow cytometry from blood samples from healthy subjects (HS) and inactive or active CD patients. MPs were intravenously injected into mice. After 24 hours, endothelial function and vascular reactivity were assessed. RESULTS: Circulating MP levels did not differ between HS and inactive CD patients except for an increase in leukocyte-derived MPs in CD. Active CD patients compared to HS displayed increased total circulating MPs, pro-coagulant MPs and those from platelets, endothelium, erythrocytes, leukocytes, activated leukocytes and activated platelets. A significant correlation was found between total levels of MPs, those from platelets and endothelial cells, and the Harvey-Bradshaw clinical activity index. MPs from CD, but not from HS, impaired endothelium-dependent relaxation in mice aorta and flow-induced dilation in mice small mesenteric arteries, MPs from inactive CD patients being more effective than those from active patients. CDMPs induced vascular hypo-reactivity in aorta that was prevented by a nitric oxide (NO)-synthase inhibitor, and was associated with a subtle alteration of the balance between NO, reactive oxygen species and the release of COX metabolites. CONCLUSIONS: We provide evidence that MPs from CD patients significantly alter endothelial and vascular function and therefore, may play a role in CD pathophysiology, at least by contributing to uncontrolled vascular-dependent intestinal damage

Priority questions in multidisciplinary drought research

Addressing timely and relevant questions across a multitude of spatio-temporal scales, state-of-the-art interdisciplinary drought research will likely increase in importance under projected climate change. Given the complexity of the various direct and indirect causes and consequences of a drier world, scientific tasks need to be coordinated efficiently. Drought-related research endeavors ranging from individual projects to global initiatives therefore require prioritization. Here, we present 60 priority questions for optimizing future drought research. This topical catalogue reflects the experience of 65 scholars from 21 countries and almost 20 fields of research in both natural sciences and the humanities. The set of drought-related questions primarily covers drought monitoring, impacts, forecasting, climatology, adaptation, as well as planning and policy. The questions highlight the increasingly important role of remote sensing techniques in drought monitoring, importance of drought forecasting and understanding the relationships between drought parameters and drought impacts, but also challenges of drought adaptation and preparedness policies

Simulating wheat adaptation to climate change in Europe using an ensemble approach with impact response surfaces

Adaptation can reduce climate change risks to crop production and is best analyzed at local scales considering regional specificities. Uncertainty inherent in modelling adaptation options is due to climate projections, downscaling and imperfections of crop models. The challenge of making effective adaptation decisions requires powerful approaches for exploiting the potential of genotype by environment by management interactions, and for generating projections informed with uncertainty

An intestinal epithelial defect conferring ER stress results in inflammation involving both innate and adaptive immunity

We recently characterized Winnie mice carrying a missense mutation in Muc2, leading to severe endoplasmic reticulum stress in intestinal goblet cells and spontaneous colitis. In this study, we characterized the immune responses due to this intestinal epithelial dysfunction. In Winnie, there was a fourfold increase in activated dendritic cells (DCs; CD11c+ major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class IIhi) in the colonic lamina propria accompanied by decreased colonic secretion of an inhibitor of DC activation, thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP). Winnie also displayed a significant increase in mRNA expression of the mucosal TH17 signature genes Il17a, IL17f, Tgfb, and Ccr6, particularly in the distal colon. Winnie mesenteric lymph node leukocytes secreted multiple TH1, TH2, and TH17 cytokines on activation, with a large increase in interleukin-17A (IL-17A) progressively with age. A major source of mucosal IL-17A in Winnie was CD4+ T lymphocytes. Loss of T and B lymphocytes in Rag1-/- × Winnie (RaW) crosses did not prevent spontaneous inflammation but did prevent progression with age in the colon but not the cecum. Adoptive transfer of naive T cells into RaW mice caused more rapid and severe colitis than in Rag1-/-, indicating that the epithelial defect results in an intestinal microenvironment conducive to T-cell activation. Thus, the Winnie primary epithelial defect results in complex multicytokine-mediated colitis involving both innate and adaptive immune components with a prominent IL-23/TH17 response, similar to that of human ulcerative colitis

Examining wheat yield sensitivity to temperature and precipitation changes for a large ensemble of crop models using impact response surfaces

Impact response surfaces (IRSs) depict the response of an impact variable to changes in two explanatory variables as a plotted surface. Here, IRSs of spring and winter wheat yields were constructed from a 25-member ensemble of process-based crop simulation models. Twenty-one models were calibrated by different groups using a common set of calibration data, with calibrations applied independently to the same models in three cases. The sensitivity of modelled yield to changes in temperature and precipitation was tested by systematically modifying values of 1981-2010 baseline weather data to span the range of 19 changes projected for the late 21st century at three locations in Europe

Applying adaptation response surfaces for managing wheat under perturbed climate and elevated CO2 in a Mediterranean environment

This study developed Adaptation Response Surfaces and applied them to a study case in North East Spain on winter crops adaptation, using rainfed winter wheat as reference crop.  Crop responses to perturbed temperature, precipitation and CO2 were simulated by an ensemble of crop models. A set of combined changes on cultivars (on vernalisation requirements and phenology) and management (on sowing date and irrigation) were considered as adaptation options and simulated by the crop model ensemble. The discussion focused on two main issues: 1) the recommended adaptation options for different soil types and perturbation levels, and 2) the need of applying our current knowledge (AOCK) when building a crop model ensemble. The study has been published Agricultural Systems (Available online 25 January 2017, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2017.01.009), and the  text below consists on extracts from that paper

Model inter-comparison on crop rotation effects ? an intermediate report

Data of diverse crop rotations from five locations across Europe were distributed to modelers to investigate the capability of models to handle complex crop rotations and management interactions