Nitrogen Risk Assessment Model for Scotland: II. Hydrological transport and model testing

International audienceThe amount and concentration of N in catchment runoff is strongly controlled by a number of hydrological influences, such as leaching rates and the rate of transport of N from the land to surface water bodies. This paper describes how the principal hydrological controls at a catchment scale have been represented within the Nitrogen Risk Assessment Model for Scotland (NIRAMS); it demonstrates their influence through application of the model to eight Scottish catchments, contrasting in terms of their land use, climate and topography. Calculation of N leaching rates, described in the preceding paper (Dunn et al., 2004), is based on soil water content determined by application of a weekly water balance model. This model uses national scale datasets and has been developed and applied to the whole of Scotland using five years of historical meteorological data. A catchment scale transport model, constructed from a 50m digital elevation model, routes flows of N through the sub-surface and groundwater to the stream system. The results of the simulations carried out for eight different catchments demonstrate that the NIRAMS model is capable of predicting time-series of weekly stream flows and N concentrations, to an acceptable degree of accuracy. The model provides an appropriate framework for risk assessment applications requiring predictions in ungauged catchments and at a national scale. Analysis of the model behaviour shows that streamwater N concentrations are controlled both by the rate of supply of N from leaching as well as the rate of transport of N from the land to the water. Keywords: nitrogen, diffuse pollution, hydrology, model, transport, catchmen

Nitrogen Risk Assessment Model for Scotland: I. Nitrogen leaching

International audienceThe Nitrogen Risk Assessment Model for Scotland (NIRAMS) has been developed for prediction of streamwater N concentrations draining from agricultural land in Scotland. The objective of the model is to predict N concentrations for ungauged catchments, to fill gaps in monitoring data and to provide guidance in relation to policy development. The model uses nationally available data sets of land use, soils, topography and meteorology and has been developed within a Geographic Information System (GIS). The model includes modules to calculate N inputs to the land, residual N remaining at the end of the growing season, weekly time-series of leached N and transport of N at the catchment scale. This paper presents the methodology for calculating N balances for different land uses and for predicting the time sequence of N leaching after the end of the growing season. Maps are presented of calculated residual N and N leaching for the whole of Scotland and the spatial variability in N leaching is discussed. The results demonstrate the high variability in N leaching across Scotland. The simulations suggest that, in the areas with greatest residual N, the losses of N are not directly proportional to the amount of residual N, because of their coincidence with lower rainfall. In the companion paper, the hydrological controls on N transport within NIRAMS are described, and results of the full model testing are presented. Keywords: nitrogen, diffuse pollution, agriculture, leaching, land use, model, national, catchmen

Four quasars above redshift 6 discovered by the Canada-France High-z Quasar Survey

The Canada-France High-z Quasar Survey (CFHQS) is an optical survey designed to locate quasars during the epoch of reionization. In this paper we present the discovery of the first four CFHQS quasars at redshift greater than 6, including the most distant known quasar, CFHQS J2329-0301 at z=6.43. We describe the observational method used to identify the quasars and present optical, infrared, and millimeter photometry and optical and near-infrared spectroscopy. We investigate the dust properties of these quasars finding an unusual dust extinction curve for one quasar and a high far-infrared luminosity due to dust emission for another. The mean millimeter continuum flux for CFHQS quasars is substantially lower than that for SDSS quasars at the same redshift, likely due to a correlation with quasar UV luminosity. For two quasars with sufficiently high signal-to-noise optical spectra, we use the spectra to investigate the ionization state of hydrogen at z>5. For CFHQS J1509-1749 at z=6.12, we find significant evolution (beyond a simple extrapolation of lower redshift data) in the Gunn-Peterson optical depth at z>5.4. The line-of-sight to this quasar has one of the highest known optical depths at z~5.8. An analysis of the sizes of the highly-ionized near-zones in the spectra of two quasars at z=6.12 and z=6.43 suggest the IGM surrounding these quasars was substantially ionized before these quasars turned on. Together, these observations point towards an extended reionization process, but we caution that cosmic variance is still a major limitation in z>6 quasar observations.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, AJ, in press, minor changes to previous versio

The Paradox of Power in CSR: A Case Study on Implementation

Purpose Although current literature assumes positive outcomes for stakeholders resulting from an increase in power associated with CSR, this research suggests that this increase can lead to conflict within organizations, resulting in almost complete inactivity on CSR. Methods A single in-depth case study, focusing on power as an embedded concept. Results Empirical evidence is used to demonstrate how some actors use CSR to improve their own positions within an organization. Resource dependence theory is used to highlight why this may be a more significant concern for CSR. Conclusions Increasing power for CSR has the potential to offer actors associated with it increased personal power, and thus can attract opportunistic actors with little interest in realizing the benefits of CSR for the company and its stakeholders. Thus power can be an impediment to furthering CSR strategy and activities at the individual and organizational level

Communitarian perspectives on social enterprise

Concepts of social enterprise have been debated repeatedly, and continue to cause confusion. In this paper, a meta-theoretical framework is developed through discussion of individualist and communitarian philosophy. Philosophers from both traditions build social theories that emphasise either consensus (a unitarist outlook) or diversity (a pluralist outlook). The various discourses in corporate governance reflect these assumptions and create four distinct approaches that impact on the relationship between capital and labour. In rejecting the traditional discourse of private enterprise, social enterprises have adopted other approaches to tackle social exclusion, each derived from different underlying beliefs about the purpose of enterprise and the nature of governance. The theoretical framework offers a way to understand the diversity found within the sector, including the newly constituted Community Interest Company (CIC).</p

The ROAM/EORTC-1308 trial: Radiation versus Observation following surgical resection of Atypical Meningioma: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND Atypical meningiomas are an intermediate grade brain tumour with a recurrence rate of 39-58 %. It is not known whether early adjuvant radiotherapy reduces the risk of tumour recurrence and whether the potential side-effects are justified. An alternative management strategy is to perform active monitoring with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and to treat at recurrence. There are no randomised controlled trials comparing these two approaches. METHODS/DESIGN A total of 190 patients will be recruited from neurosurgical/neuro-oncology centres across the United Kingdom, Ireland and mainland Europe. Adult patients undergoing gross total resection of intracranial atypical meningioma are eligible. Patients with multiple meningioma, optic nerve sheath meningioma, previous intracranial tumour, previous cranial radiotherapy and neurofibromatosis will be excluded. Informed consent will be obtained from patients. This is a two-stage trial (both stages will run in parallel): Stage 1 (qualitative study) is designed to maximise patient and clinician acceptability, thereby optimising recruitment and retention. Patients wishing to continue will proceed to randomisation. Stage 2 (randomisation) patients will be randomised to receive either early adjuvant radiotherapy for 6 weeks (60 Gy in 30 fractions) or active monitoring. The primary outcome measure is time to MRI evidence of tumour recurrence (progression-free survival (PFS)). Secondary outcome measures include assessing the toxicity of the radiotherapy, the quality of life, neurocognitive function, time to second line treatment, time to death (overall survival (OS)) and incremental cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained. DISCUSSION ROAM/EORTC-1308 is the first multi-centre randomised controlled trial designed to determine whether early adjuvant radiotherapy reduces the risk of tumour recurrence following complete surgical resection of atypical meningioma. The results of this study will be used to inform current neurosurgery and neuro-oncology practice worldwide. TRIAL REGISTRATION ISRCTN71502099 on 19 May 2014

MURC/Cavin-4 and cavin family members form tissue-specific caveolar complexes

Polymerase I and transcript release factor (PTRF)/Cavin is a cytoplasmic protein whose expression is obligatory for caveola formation. Using biochemistry and fluorescence resonance energy transfer–based approaches, we now show that a family of related proteins, PTRF/Cavin-1, serum deprivation response (SDR)/Cavin-2, SDR-related gene product that binds to C kinase (SRBC)/Cavin-3, and muscle-restricted coiled-coil protein (MURC)/Cavin-4, forms a multiprotein complex that associates with caveolae. This complex can constitutively assemble in the cytosol and associate with caveolin at plasma membrane caveolae. Cavin-1, but not other cavins, can induce caveola formation in a heterologous system and is required for the recruitment of the cavin complex to caveolae. The tissue-restricted expression of cavins suggests that caveolae may perform tissue-specific functions regulated by the composition of the cavin complex. Cavin-4 is expressed predominantly in muscle, and its distribution is perturbed in human muscle disease associated with Caveolin-3 dysfunction, identifying Cavin-4 as a novel muscle disease candidate caveolar protein

The mortality rates and the space-time patterns of John Snow’s cholera epidemic map

Background Snow’s work on the Broad Street map is widely known as a pioneering example of spatial epidemiology. It lacks, however, two significant attributes required in contemporary analyses of disease incidence: population at risk and the progression of the epidemic over time. Despite this has been repeatedly suggested in the literature, no systematic investigation of these two aspects was previously carried out. Using a series of historical documents, this study constructs own data to revisit Snow’s study to examine the mortality rate at each street location and the space-time pattern of the cholera outbreak. Methods This study brings together records from a series of historical documents, and prepares own data on the estimated number of residents at each house location as well as the space-time data of the victims, and these are processed in GIS to facilitate the spatial-temporal analysis. Mortality rates and the space-time pattern in the victims’ records are explored using Kernel Density Estimation and network-based Scan Statistic, a recently developed method that detects significant concentrations of records such as the date and place of victims with respect to their distance from others along the street network. The results are visualised in a map form using a GIS platform. Results Data on mortality rates and space-time distribution of the victims were collected from various sources and were successfully merged and digitised, thus allowing the production of new map outputs and new interpretation of the 1854 cholera outbreak in London, covering more cases than Snow’s original report and also adding new insights into their space-time distribution. They confirmed that areas in the immediate vicinity of the Broad Street pump indeed suffered from excessively high mortality rates, which has been suspected for the past 160 years but remained unconfirmed. No distinctive pattern was found in the space-time distribution of victims’ locations. Conclusions The high mortality rates identified around the Broad Street pump are consistent with Snow’s theory about cholera being transmitted through contaminated water. The absence of a clear space-time pattern also indicates the water-bourne, rather than the then popular belief of air bourne, nature of cholera. The GIS data constructed in this study has an academic value and would cater for further research on Snow’s map

Long-term protection and mechanism of pacing-induced postconditioning in the heart

Brief periods of ventricular pacing during the early reperfusion phase (pacing-induced postconditioning, PPC) have been shown to reduce infarct size as measured after 2 h of reperfusion. In this study, we investigated (1) whether PPC leads to maintained reduction in infarct size, (2) whether abnormal mechanical load due to asynchronous activation is the trigger for PPC and (3) the signaling pathways that are involved in PPC. Rabbit hearts were subjected to 30 min of coronary occlusion in vivo, followed by 6 weeks of reperfusion. PPC consisted of ten 30-s intervals of left ventricular (LV) pacing, starting at reperfusion. PPC reduced infarct size (TTC staining) normalized to area at risk, from 49.0 ± 3.3% in control to 22.9 ± 5.7% in PPC rabbits. In isolated ejecting rabbit hearts, replacing LV pacing by biventricular pacing abolished the protective effect of PPC, whereas ten 30-s periods of high preload provided a protective effect similar to PPC. The protective effect of PPC was neither affected by the adenosine receptor blocker 8-SPT nor by the angiotensin II receptor blocker candesartan, but was abrogated by the cytoskeletal microtubule-disrupting agent colchicine. Blockers of the mitochondrial KATP channel (5HD), PKC (chelerythrine) and PI3-kinase (wortmannin) all abrogated the protection provided by PPC. In the in situ pig heart, PPC reduced infarct size from 35 ± 4 to 16 ± 12%, a protection which was abolished by the stretch-activated channel blocker gadolinium. No infarct size reduction was achieved if PPC application was delayed by 5 min or if only five pacing cycles were used. The present study indicates that (1) PPC permanently reduces myocardial injury, (2) abnormal mechanical loading is a more likely trigger for PPC than electrical stimulation or G-coupled receptor stimulation and (3) PPC may share downstream pathways with other modes of cardioprotection

Molecular tools for bathing water assessment in Europe:Balancing social science research with a rapidly developing environmental science evidence-base

The use of molecular tools, principally qPCR, versus traditional culture-based methods for quantifying microbial parameters (e.g., Fecal Indicator Organisms) in bathing waters generates considerable ongoing debate at the science-policy interface. Advances in science have allowed the development and application of molecular biological methods for rapid (~2 h) quantification of microbial pollution in bathing and recreational waters. In contrast, culture-based methods can take between 18 and 96 h for sample processing. Thus, molecular tools offer an opportunity to provide a more meaningful statement of microbial risk to water-users by providing near-real-time information enabling potentially more informed decision-making with regard to water-based activities. However, complementary studies concerning the potential costs and benefits of adopting rapid methods as a regulatory tool are in short supply. We report on findings from an international Working Group that examined the breadth of social impacts, challenges, and research opportunities associated with the application of molecular tools to bathing water regulations