Black sea observing system

The ultimate goal of modern operational oceanography are end user oriented products with high scientific quality. Beneficiaries are the governmental services, coast and offshore based enterprises and research institutions that make use of the products generated by operational oceanography. Direct users are coastal managers, shipping, search and rescue, oil spill combat, offshore industry, ports, fishing, tourism, and recreation industry. Indirect beneficiaries, through climate forecasting based on ocean observations, are food, energy, water and medical suppliers. Availability of updated information on the actual state as well as forecast of marine environment is essential for the success and safety of maritime operations in the offshore industry. Various systems for the collection and presentation of marine data for the needs of different users have been developed and put in operation in the Black Sea. The systems are located both along the coast and in the open sea and the information they provide is used by both the maritime industry and the widest range of users. The Black Sea Monitoring and Forecasting Center in the frame of the Copernicus Marine Service is providing regular and systematic information about the physical state of the ocean, marine ecosystem and wave conditions in the Black Sea area, assimilating observations, keeping efficient operations, advanced technology and high quality modeling products. Combining and optimizing in situ, remote sensing, modeling and forecasting into a Black Sea observing system is a task that has to be solved, and that will allow to get a more complete and comprehensive picture of the state of the marine environment as well as to forecast future changes of physical and biogeochemical state of the Black Sea and the Black Sea ecosystem

Multiwavelength Intraday Variability of the BL Lac S5 0716+714

We report results from a 1 week multi-wavelength campaign to monitor the BL Lac object S5 0716+714 (on December 9-16, 2009). In the radio bands the source shows rapid (~ (0.5-1.5) day) intra-day variability with peak amplitudes of up to ~ 10 %. The variability at 2.8 cm leads by about 1 day the variability at 6 cm and 11 cm. This time lag and more rapid variations suggests an intrinsic contribution to the source's intraday variability at 2.8 cm, while at 6 cm and 11 cm interstellar scintillation (ISS) seems to predominate. Large and quasi-sinusoidal variations of ~ 0.8 mag were detected in the V, R and I-bands. The X-ray data (0.2-10 keV) do not reveal significant variability on a 4 day time scale, favoring reprocessed inverse-Compton over synchrotron radiation in this band. The characteristic variability time scales in radio and optical bands are similar. A quasi-periodic variation (QPO) of 0.9 - 1.1 days in the optical data may be present, but if so it is marginal and limited to 2.2 cycles. Cross-correlations between radio and optical are discussed. The lack of a strong radio-optical correlation indicates different physical causes of variability (ISS at long radio wavelengths, source intrinsic origin in the optical), and is consistent with a high jet opacity and a compact synchrotron component peaking at ~= 100 GHz in an ongoing very prominent flux density outburst. For the campaign period, we construct a quasi-simultaneous spectral energy distribution (SED), including gamma-ray data from the FERMI satellite. We obtain lower limits for the relativistic Doppler-boosting of delta >= 12-26, which for a BL\,Lac type object, is remarkably high.Comment: 16 pages, 15 figures, table 2; Accepted for Publication in MNRA

Prelude 1

Abstract: Our acute awareness of the cosmetic, psychosocial and sexual importance of subcutaneous adipose tissue contrasts dramatically with how poorly we have understood the biology of this massive, enigmatic, often ignored and much-abused skin compartment. Therefore, it is timely to recall the exciting, steadily growing, yet underappreciated body of evidence that subcutaneous adipocytes are so much more than just 'fat guys', hanging around passively to conspire, at most, against your desperate attempts to maintain ideal weight. Although the subcutis, quantitatively, tends to represent the dominant architectural component of human skin, conventional wisdom confines its biological key functions to those of energy storage, physical buffer, thermoregulation and thermoinsulation. However, already the distribution of human superficial adipose tissue, by itself, questions how justified the popular belief is that 'skin fat' (which actually may be more diverse than often assumed) serves primarily thermoinsulatory purposes. And although the metabolic complications of obesity are well appreciated, our understanding of how exactly subcutaneous adipocytes contribute to extracutaneous disease -and even influence important immune and brain functions! -is far from complete. The increasing insights recently won into subcutaneous adipose tissue as a cytokine depot that regulates innate immunity and cell growth exemplarily serve to illustrate the vast open research expanses that remain to be fully explored in the subcutis. The following public debate carries you from the evolutionary origins and the key functional purposes of adipose tissue, via adipose-derived stem cells and adipokines straight to the neuroendocrine, immunomodulatory and central nervous effects of signals that originate in the subcutis -perhaps, the most underestimated tissue of the human body. The editors are confident that, at the end, you shall agree: No basic scientist and no doctor with a serious interest in skin, and hardly anyone else in the life sciences, can afford to ignore the subcutaneous adipocyte -beyond its ample impact on beauty, benessence and body mass

Copernicus Marine Service Ocean State Report

This is the final version. Available from Taylor & Francis via the DOI in this record

Biodiversity inventories in high gear: DNA barcoding facilitates a rapid biotic survey of a temperate nature reserve

Comprehensive biotic surveys, or ‘all taxon biodiversity inventories’ (ATBI), have traditionally been limited in scale or scope due to the complications surrounding specimen sorting and species identification. To circumvent these issues, several ATBI projects have successfully integrated DNA barcoding into their identification procedures and witnessed acceleration in their surveys and subsequent increase in project scope and scale. The Biodiversity Institute of Ontario partnered with the rare Charitable Research Reserve and delegates of the 6th International Barcode of Life Conference to complete its own rapid, barcode-assisted ATBI of an established land trust in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada

Copernicus Marine Service ocean state report, issue 4

This is the final version. Available from Taylor & Francis via the DOI in this record. FCT/MCTE

Using grain protein electrophoresis to control the genetic integrity of spring bread wheat accessions from the VIR collection of plant genetic resources

Background. VIR's Department of Wheat holds the collections of viable accessions and its originals. The process of reproduction and restoration of germination ability in wheat collections requires monitoring of varietal purity and integrity. For this purpose, botanical varieties that describe sets of morphological characteristics of the spike and grain are used. However, sometimes it is necessary to check the conformity of a variety with its original accession. In this case, the gliadin electrophoretic banding patterns are reliable markers in identifying cultivars and biotypes of wheat.Materials and methods. The study included 7 accessions of spring bread wheat: 3 for the cultivar 'Rubin' and 4 for the cultivar 'Novinka'. Identification of accessions by electrophoresis of gliadin storage protein was carried out according to the generally accepted method.Results and conclusions. Comparison of gliadin electrophoretic banding patterns of the varieties from the VIR collection of plant genetic resources with analogous accessions from other genebanks of the world resulted in the recovery of the lost varieties 'Rubin' (Sweden) and 'Novinka' (Russia)