Genetic resources sourcing strategies and behavior of scientists: results from an international survey on researchers' use and exchange practices

Adopted during the first International Congress of Ethnobiology (1988), the Belem Declaration acknowledged for the first time biologists' responsibility to better address the needs of indigenous and local populations and recommended compensating them for the utilization of their biological resources and knowledge. Since then, the Convention on Biological Diversity (1992) and its recently adopted Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing (2010), along with the International Treaty of the FAO (2001), have generalized the principle of channeling returns-whether monetary or non-monetary-back to a range of designated groups, whether bilaterally or through collective means such as a benefitsharing fund. These principles are implemented through a set of mechanisms such as prior informed consent or material transfer agreements that formalize the practices of access, exchange and use of genetic resources and associated knowledge. The current contribution aims to analyze the effect that these regulations have on scientists' behavior related to the acquisition and contribution of genetic resources for food and agriculture (GRFA). The paper explores in particular the connection between the importance of genetic diversity in scientists' research activities and GRFA sourcing strategies and behavior. The analysis goes beyond current research to examine institutional, economic, and attitudinal explanations for patterns in scientists' use of genebanks. It is based on a survey that covers GRFA exchange and use practices in two different countries (US and France) and four different types of organizations (university, national research institute, company, and government). The analysis covers individual as well as project level, such that it is possible to investigate some portion of the collaborative network of the scientists, their exchange behavior and the institutional context within which they conduct research. Findings will inform current understanding about access, exchange and use behavior of researchers. Conclusions will discuss implications for practice and policy. (Résumé d'auteur

Magnetic Solutions to 2+1 Gravity

We report on a new solution to the Einstein-Maxwell equations in 2+1 dimensions with a negative cosmological constant. The solution is static, rotationally symmetric and has a non-zero magnetic field. The solution can be interpreted as a monopole with an everywhere finite energy density.Comment: 9 pages, harvmac; we correct a reference and a typ

Solar radiation and atmospheric absorption in the mm wave region Semiannual report, 1 Apr. - 30 Sep. 1968

Study of absorption and emission of millimeter wave

Enabling Dynamic Vehicle Analyses With Improved Atmospheric Attenuation Models in Glenn Research Center Communication Analysis Suite

To aid in meeting the NASA objective of returning humans to the Moon, the Glenn Research Centers Communication Analysis Suite was augmented with two distinct capabilities. The first capability added was the vehicle propagator. This allows the addition of dynamic aircraft and ground vehicles around any celestial body within the solar system during an analysis. This functionality interpolates the position and velocity of the vehicle relative to a celestial body at the time steps analyzed using the type of path and either a series of waypoints or a direction and duration of travel. The implications of this new capability include lunar rovers and/or drones, such as Dragonfly, where the vehicle propagator will analyze the communications architecture. The newly created vehicle propagator is now in use in communications studies for the 2024 lunar missions, simulating the movement of lunar rovers across the Moons southern pole. The second capability added was the augmentation of the atmospheric attenuation model. The previous model did not have a uniform low-elevation attenuation model due to the trigonometric approximation for path length and the exponential nature of low-elevation scintillation. User-defined weather parameters were also added to the updated atmospheric attenuation model. The previous model solely used tabular data based upon the season and location of the transmitting antenna. Multiple simulations of the same configuration now return different results based on the differing weather parameters. Cognitive communications analysis efforts can use this second capability to generate neural network training data based on differing weather conditions at utilized ground stations, a critical step in allowing neural networks to learn how weather parameters impact communications performance

Frequency structure of the nonlinear instability of a dragged viscous thread

A thread of viscous fluid falling onto a moving surface exhibits a spectacular variety of types of motion as the surface speed and nozzle height are varied. For modest nozzle heights, four clear regimes are observed. For large surface speed, the thread is dragged into a stretched centenary configuration which is confined to a plane. As the surface speed is lowered, this exhibits a supercritical bifurcation to a meandering state. At very low surface speeds, the state resembles the usual coiling motion of a viscous thread falling on a stationary surface. In between the meandering and coiling regimes, a window containing a novel multifrequency state, previously called "figures of eight" is found. Using an improved visualization technique and a fully automated apparatus, we made detailed measurements of the longitudinal and transverse motion of the thread in all these states. We found that the multifrequency state is characterized by a complex pattern of motion whose main frequencies are locked in a 3:2 ratio. This state appears and disappears with finite amplitude at sharp bifurcations without measurable hysteresis.Comment: Revised version resubmitted to Phys Rev E. 7 pages, 7 figures. See http://youtu.be/CMYISqxS3K4 for a vide

Regionalized Lunar South Pole Surface Navigation System Analysis

Apollo missions utilized Earth-based assets for navigation because the landings took place at lunar locations in constant view from the Earth. The new exploration campaign to the lunar south pole region will have limited Earth visibility, but the extent to which a navigation system comprised solely of Earth-based tracking stations will provide adequate navigation solutions in this region is unknown. This report presents a dilution-of-precision (DoP)-based, stationary surface navigation analysis of the performance of multiple lunar satellite constellations, Earth-based deep space network assets, and combinations thereof. Results show that kinematic and integrated solutions cannot be provided by the Earth-based deep space network stations. Also, the stationary surface navigation system needs to be operated either as a two-way navigation system or as a one-way navigation system with local terrain information, while the position solution is integrated over a short duration of time with navigation signals being provided by a lunar satellite constellation

Benefits Derived From Laser Ranging Measurements for Orbit Determination of the GPS Satellite Orbit

While navigation systems for the determination of the orbit of the Global Position System (GPS) have proven to be very effective, the current research is examining methods to lower the error in the GPS satellite ephemerides below their current level. Two GPS satellites that are currently in orbit carry retro-reflectors onboard. One notion to reduce the error in the satellite ephemerides is to utilize the retro-reflectors via laser ranging measurements taken from multiple Earth ground stations. Analysis has been performed to determine the level of reduction in the semi-major axis covariance of the GPS satellites, when laser ranging measurements are supplemented to the radiometric station keeping, which the satellites undergo. Six ground tracking systems are studied to estimate the performance of the satellite. The first system is the baseline current system approach which provides pseudo-range and integrated Doppler measurements from six ground stations. The remaining five ground tracking systems utilize all measurements from the current system and laser ranging measurements from the additional ground stations utilized within those systems. Station locations for the additional ground sites were taken from a listing of laser ranging ground stations from the International Laser Ranging Service. Results show reductions in state covariance estimates when utilizing laser ranging measurements to solve for the satellite s position component of the state vector. Results also show dependency on the number of ground stations providing laser ranging measurements, orientation of the satellite to the ground stations, and the initial covariance of the satellite's state vector

Upper limits on liquid water in the Venus atmosphere

Upper limits on liquid water in Venus atmosphere due to presence of hydrogen chlorid