How can we minimise negative effects on ocean health? Policy card E1-E2

Rising temperatures and sea levels, acidification, and deoxygenation are carbon dioxide (CO2)-driven stressors that are already affecting the ocean, as well as the life it supports and the benefits it provides. These effects are in addition to pollution, over-fishing and lost habitats and their combination is likely to be worse than the sum of the parts: threatening ecosystems, human well being and the ability of the ocean to absorb CO2. Whilst damage is inevitable, actions can be taken to reduce its severit

What has the UK Ocean Acidification research programme told us? An infographic for Defra.

This is an infographic requested by Defra on the findings of the UK Ocean Acidification research programme

Future of the Sea: Ocean Acidification

Ocean acidification (OA) and climate change are both influenced by increasing carbon dioxide concentrations coming from the atmosphere. However, the distinction between OA and climate change, is that OA is an alteration of the chemistry of seawater, therefore not a direct climatic process. The ocean is the largest natural reservoir of dissolved carbon and holds an immense buffering capacity for changes in atmospheric CO2 concentrations. The rapid increase of atmospheric CO2 since the industrial revolution has caused oceans and seas to absorb increasingly greater amounts of CO2. This process disturbs the pre-existing chemical equilibrium of the sea, resulting in seas changing their chemical state and altering the ocean pH. Ocean acidification has become one of the most studied topics in the last 10 years (Williamson et al. 2017; Browman 2016). The UK has made a significant contribution in understanding OA effects on biodiversity and biogeochemistry, and the socioecological impacts across species and ecosystems. The evidence suggests that OA will act differently across species with some impacts already occurring for sensitive marine species and with direct and indirect repercussions for ecosystems. The direct effects will include changes in species morphology, ecology and behaviour whilst indirect effects may be repercussions for processes or higher trophic groups (e.g. wider food web effects and interactions within and between species). This review summarises the available ‘state of the art’ information with regards to OA effects, current issues and further recommendations for consideration on what will be the likely future issues for OA. This information intends to support marine planning decisions and future policy adaptations. A detailed section is included on how these changes will affect UK interests (e.g. maritime industries, fishing, health and wellbeing). A summary of key highlights is outlined below. Monitoring data conducted over the North Sea assessments have shown clear pH changes in shelf and coastal sites. Trends of pH variability are still uncertain, and further work to disentangle the observed variability does require additonal investigation. Ocean Acidification 5 By 2100, under medium emissions scenarios, ocean pH is projected to decrease by 0.3 pH units from levels 100 years ago. Evidence suggests that similar trends in acidification during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) (around 56 million years ago), where the rate of release of CO2 was estimated to have been around one-tenth of current rate of anthropogenic emissions, caused the extinction of many seafloor organisms. Though the future impacts of OA on commercial fisheries are still uncertain, recent research has indicated that annual economic losses in the UK resulting from the effects of OA could reach US $97.1 million (GBP £7.47 million) by 2100. The integrity of some UK species and habitats of conservation importance (included under the current Marine Protected Areas – MPAs – designation) could be affected by future changes in pH and temperature. Ocean acidification research has demonstrated that some species may be more susceptible to changes in pH. These results are particularly important for UK shellfisheries and shellfish aquaculture, as these industries could be negatively affected

Ocean acidification

KEY HEADLINES • Global-scale patterns and processes of ocean acidification are superimposed on other factors influencing seawater chemistry over local to regional space scales, and hourly to seasonal time scales. • Future ocean conditions will depend on future CO2 emissions; there is now international agreement that these should be reduced to net zero, thereby reducing the consequences of both climate change and ocean acidification. • Assessments of ocean acidification by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) gave high or very high confidence to chemical aspects, but a much wider range of confidence levels to projected biological and biogeochemical impacts. Biotic impacts will depend on species-specific responses, interactions with other stressors and food-web effects. • Previous MCCIP statements are considered to still be valid, with increased confidence for some aspects. • Observed pH decreases in the North Sea (over 30 years) and at coastal UK sites (over 6 years) seem more rapid than in the North Atlantic as a whole. However, shelf sea and coastal data sets show high variability over a range of timescales, and factors affecting that variability need to be much better understood. • UK research on ocean acidification has been productive and influential. There is no shortage of important and interesting topic areas that would improve scientific knowledge and deliver societally-important outcomes

Hot, Sour and Breathless – Ocean under Stress.

ISBN 978-0-9519618-6-

New mutations at the imprinted Gnas cluster show gene dosage effects of Gsα in postnatal growth and implicate XLαs in bone and fat metabolism, but not in suckling

The imprinted Gnas cluster is involved in obesity, energy metabolism, feeding behavior, and viability. Relative contribution of paternally expressed proteins XLαs, XLN1, and ALEX or a double dose of maternally expressed Gsα to phenotype has not been established. In this study, we have generated two new mutants (Ex1A-T-CON and Ex1A-T) at the Gnas cluster. Paternal inheritance of Ex1A-T-CON leads to loss of imprinting of Gsα, resulting in preweaning growth retardation followed by catch-up growth. Paternal inheritance of Ex1A-T leads to loss of imprinting of Gsα and loss of expression of XLαs and XLN1. These mice have severe preweaning growth retardation and incomplete catch-up growth. They are fully viable probably because suckling is unimpaired, unlike mutants in which the expression of all the known paternally expressed Gnasxl proteins (XLαs, XLN1 and ALEX) is compromised. We suggest that loss of ALEX is most likely responsible for the suckling defects previously observed. In adults, paternal inheritance of Ex1A-T results in an increased metabolic rate and reductions in fat mass, leptin, and bone mineral density attributable to loss of XLαs. This is, to our knowledge, the first report describing a role for XLαs in bone metabolism. We propose that XLαs is involved in the regulation of bone and adipocyte metabolism

Increased differentiation associates with decreased polyfunctionality for HIV but not CMV-specific CD8+ T cell responses

The generation of polyfunctional CD8+ T cells, in response to vaccination or natural infection, has been associated with improved protective immunity. However, it remains unclear whether the maintenance of polyfunctionality is linked to particular phenotypic characteristics of the cell, such as the differentiation stage of memory T cells. The goal of this study was to investigate the relationship between the memory maturation stage and polyfunctional profiles of antigen-specific CD8+ T cells

Knowledge Sharing in Alliances and Alliance Portfolios

We develop a model of knowledge sharing in alliances and alliance portfolios. We show that, once the issue of encouraging effective collaboration is put center stage, many standard intuitions of the learning race view and alliance portfolio literature are overturned or qualified. Partners engage in learning races in some cases, but exhibit “altruistic” behaviors in other cases. They may reduce their own absorptive capacity or increase the transparency of their own operations to facilitate their partner’s learning. In alliance portfolios, we show that not all substitutability between alliance portfolio partners is bad. We distinguish between substitutability in implementation and substitutability in rival benefits and show that the latter is conducive to knowledge sharing. Our work contributes toward putting the literature on learning alliances on a more solid foundation by emphasizing the importance of commitments that leading firms can make to encourage collaboration

A randomised controlled trial to assess the effectiveness of a single session of nurse administered massage for short term relief of chronic non-malignant pain

Background: Massage is increasingly used to manage chronic pain but its benefit has not been clearly established. The aim of the study is to determine the effectiveness of a single session of nurse-administered massage for the short term relief of chronic non-malignant pain and anxiety. Methods: A randomised controlled trial design was used, in which the patients were assigned to a massage or control group. The massage group received a 15 minute manual massage and the control group a 15 minute visit to talk about their pain. Adult patients attending a pain relief unit with a diagnosis of chronic pain whose pain was described as moderate or severe were eligible for the study. An observer blind to the patients' treatment group carried out assessments immediately before (baseline), after treatment and 1, 2, 3 and 4 hours later. Pain was assessed using 100 mm visual analogue scale and the McGill Pain Questionnaire. Pain Relief was assessed using a five point verbal rating scale. Anxiety was assessed with the Spielberger short form State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Results: 101 patients were randomised and evaluated, 50 in the massage and 51 in the control group. There were no statistically significant differences between the groups at baseline interview. Patients in the massage but not the control group had significantly less pain compared to baseline immediately after and one hour post treatment. 95% confidence interval for the difference in mean pain reduction at one hour post treatment between the massage and control groups is 5.47 mm to 24.70 mm. Patients in the massage but not the control group had a statistically significant reduction in anxiety compared to baseline immediately after and at 1 hour post treatment. Conclusion: Massage is effective in the short term for chronic pain of moderate to severe intensity