Marine sustainability in an age of changing oceans and seas

The report is the result of fruitful collaboration between EASAC and the JRC. It has been prepared by a working group of experts drawn from the European National Science Academies, which was supported by the JRC. It is hoped that the report will prove useful in the further development and implementation of European Union marine and maritime policy as well as the organisation of supporting science needed to inform and guide these policies. The last ten years have seen a growth in marine and maritime policymaking within the European Union with a key feature being the concept of the ecosystem approach to guide sustainable use of the seas. In view of this increasing focus on coherent marine and maritime policy and governance within the EU, as well as globally, the EASAC Council decided in December 2013 to conduct a study on the issue of marine sustainability. This decision particularly acknowledged the need to provide advice from the point of view of the European science academies on this new direction of marine policy and to highlight the particular challenges that this poses to the organisation of science. The report has the aim of contributing to the governance challenge of how to integrate the various aspects of marine policy (fisheries management, biodiversity conservation and marine environmental protection) as part of a coherent ecosystem approach. It considers how current science knowledge on marine ecosystems and the organisation of science can support an integrated approach to management of the seas. The report looks at a number of key aspects for sustainable development in changing oceans and seas, and particularly highlights the key scientific challenges in addressing these issues. The report presents both recommendations from science for policy development, and recommendations on policy for science. The health of the oceans and coastal seas is vital for the future well-being of all of Europe, indeed of entire mankind, and sustainable management of this sensitive and fast changing component of the global ecosystem is essential.JRC.A.3-Inter-institutional, International Relations and Outreac

From pole to pole : 33 years of physical oceanography onboard R/V Polarstern

Measuring temperature and salinity profiles in the world's oceans is crucial to understanding ocean dynamics and its influence on the heat budget, the water cycle, the marine environment and on our climate. Since 1983 the German research vessel and icebreaker Polarstern has been the platform of numerous CTD (conductivity, temperature, depth instrument) deployments in the Arctic and the Antarctic. We report on a unique data collection spanning 33 years of polar CTD data. In total 131 data sets (1 data set per cruise leg) containing data from 10 063 CTD casts are now freely available at doi: 10.1594/PANGAEA.860066. During this long period five CTD types with different characteristics and accuracies have been used. Therefore the instruments and processing procedures (sensor calibration, data validation, etc.) are described in detail. This compilation is special not only with regard to the quantity but also the quality of the data -the latter indicated for each data set using defined quality codes. The complete data collection includes a number of repeated sections for which the quality code can be used to investigate and evaluate long-term changes. Beginning with 2010, the salinity measurements presented here are of the highest quality possible in this field owing to the introduction of the OPTIMARE Precision Salinometer.Peer reviewe

Prospective phase II study of preoperative short-course radiotherapy for rectal cancer with twice daily fractions of 2.9 Gy to a total dose of 29 Gy - Long-term results

Abstract Background To evaluate clinical outcome after preoperative short-course radiotherapy for rectal cancer with twice daily fractions of 2.9 Gy to a total dose of 29 Gy and adjuvant chemotherapy for pathological stage UICC ≥ II. Methods 118 patients (median age 64 years; male : female ratio 2.5 : 1) with pathological proven rectal cancer (clinical stage II 50%, III 41.5%, IV 8.5%) were treated preoperatively with twice daily radiotherapy of 2.9 Gy single fraction dose to a total dose of 29 Gy; surgery was performed immediately in the following week with total mesorectal excision (TME). Adjuvant 5-FU based chemotherapy was planned for pathological stage UICC ≥ II. Results After low anterior resection (70%) and abdominoperineal resection (30%), pathology showed stage UICC I (27.1%), II (25.4%), III (37.3%) and IV (9.3%). Perioperative mortality was 3.4% and perioperative complications were observed in 22.8% of the patients. Adjuvant chemotherapy was given in 75.3% of patients with pathological stage UICC ≥ II. After median follow-up of 46 months, five-year overall survival was 67%, cancer-specific survival 76%, local control 92% and freedom from systemic progression 75%. Late toxicity > grade II was observed in 11% of the patients. Conclusions Preoperative short-course radiotherapy, total mesorectal excision and adjuvant chemotherapy for pathological stage UICC ≥ II achieved excellent local control and favorable survival.</p