Eurasian Arctic greening reveals teleconnections and the potential for novel ecosystems

Arctic warming has been linked to observed increases in tundra shrub cover and growth in recent decades on the basis of significant relationships between deciduous shrub growth/biomass and temperature. These vegetation trends have been linked to Arctic sea ice decline and thus to the sea ice/albedo feedback known as Arctic amplification. However, the interactions between climate, sea ice and tundra vegetation remain poorly understood. Here we reveal a 50- year growth response over a >100,000 km2 area to a rise in summer temperature for alder (Alnus) and willow (Salix), the most abundant shrub genera respectively at and north of the continental treeline. We demonstrate that whereas plant productivity is related to sea ice in late spring, the growing season peak responds to persistent synoptic-scale air masses over West Siberia associated with Fennoscandian weather systems through the Rossby wave train. Substrate is important for biomass accumulation, yet a strong correlation between growth and temperature encompasses all observed soil types. Vegetation is especially responsive to temperature in early summer. These results have significant implications for modelling present and future Low Arctic vegetation responses to climate change, and emphasize the potential for structurally novel ecosystems to emerge fromwithin the tundra zone.Vertaisarviointia edeltävä käsikirjoitu

Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) Tuber Quality as Measured by Starch and Cyanide (HCN) Affected by Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium Fertilizer Rates

Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is an important subsistence crop for many poor rural families in Africa. Cassava contains cyanogenic glucosides (linamarin and lotaustralin) which liberate hydrogen cyanide (HCN) during tuber processing. Once liberated, HCN attaches to the processed tuber. Continuous consumption of processed tuber containing high HCN concentration coupled with low protein intake causes Konzo – a paralyzing disorder that impacts children and women of childbearing age. There are ways to reduce HCN concentration during tuber processing; however, this can also reduce the overall starch content in the cassava tuber. A study comprising twenty treatments consisting of different combinations of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) fertilizer rates was initiated in 2013 in the coastal Dondo District of Mozambique to assess cassava tuber quality as measured by starch and HCN. Significant differences were observed in starch content (CSC) of unprocessed tubers due to combined addition of N, P and K fertilizer rates, sample size, and estimation procedure. However, no significant differences were observed in HCN concentration in tubers due to the addition of N, P and K fertilizer. The HCN concentration in cassava tuber appears to be a function of the physiology of the crop or possibly cassava variety rather than the environment or conditions under which the crop is grown

Photometric study of the young open cluster NGC 3293

Deep and extensive CCD photometric observations $UBV(RI)_{C}H_{\alpha}$ were carried out in the area of the open cluster NGC 3293. The new data set allows to see the entire cluster sequence down to $M_{V} \approx +4.5$, revealing that stars with $M_{V} < -2$ are evolving off the main sequence; stars with $-2 < M_{V} +2$ are placed above it. According to our analysis, the cluster distance is $d = 2750 \pm 250 pc$ ($V_{0}-M_{V} = 12.2 \pm 0.2$) and its nuclear age is $8 \pm 1 Myr$. NGC 3293 contains an important fraction of pre--main sequence (PMS) stars distributed along a parallel band to the ZAMS with masses from 1 to 2.5 \cal M_{\sun} and a mean contraction age of $10 Myr$. This last value does not differ too much from the nuclear age estimate. Actually, if we take into account the many factors that may affect the PMS star positions onto the colour--magnitude diagram, both ages can be perfectly reconciled. The star formation rate, on the other hand, suggests that NGC 3293 stars formed surely in one single event, therefore favouring a coeval process of star formation. Besides, using the $H_{\alpha}$ data, we detected nineteen stars with signs of having $H_{\alpha}$ emission in the region of NGC 3293, giving another indication that the star formation process is still active in the region. The computed initial mass function for the cluster has a slope value $x = 1.2 \pm 0.2$, a bit flatter than the typical slope for field stars and similar to the values found for other young open clusters.Comment: 17 pages, 13 eps figures, in press in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Bowen Ratio Energy Balance Measurement of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Fluxes of No-Till and Conventional Tillage Agriculture in Lesotho

Global food demand requires that soils be used intensively for agriculture, but how these soils are managed greatly impacts soil fluxes of carbon dioxide (CO2). Soil management practices can cause carbon to be either sequestered or emitted, with corresponding uncertain influence on atmospheric CO2 concentrations. The situation is further complicated by the lack of CO2 flux measurements for African subsistence farms. For widespread application in remote areas, a simple experimental methodology is desired. As a first step, the present study investigated the use of Bowen Ratio Energy Balance (BREB) instrumentation to measure the energy balance and CO2 fluxes of two contrasting crop management systems, till and no-till, in the lowlands within the mountains of Lesotho. Two BREB micrometeorological systems were established on 100-m by 100-m sites, both planted with maize (Zea mays) but under either conventional (plow, disk-disk) or no-till soil mangement systems. The results demonstrate that with careful maintenance of the instruments by appropriately trained local personnel, the BREB approach offers substantial benefits in measuring real time changes in agroecosystem CO2 flux. The periods where the two treatments could be compared indicated greater CO2 sequestration over the no-till treatments during both the growing and non-growing seasons

Performance evaluation of turbulence-accentuated interchannel crosstalk for hybrid fibre and free-space optical wavelength-division-multiplexing systems using digital pulse-position modulation

A hybrid fibre and free-space optical communication link using digital pulse-position modulation (DPPM) in a wavelength-division-multiplexing system is proposed. Such a system, which could provide a power efficient, robust and flexible solution to high-speed access networks, is a contender for a passive optical network solution and could readily be deployed in areas with restrictions in optical fibre installation, or alternatively as a disaster recovery network. Interchannel crosstalk and atmospheric turbulence are major impairments in such a system and could combine in some cases to degrade the system. Both impairments are investigated here and the results are presented in the form of bit error probability, required optical transmission power and power penalties. Depending on the position of the interferer relative to the desired user, power penalties of about 0.2–3.0 dB for weak turbulence and above 20 dB for strong turbulence regimes are reported for bit error rate of 10−6. DPPM scheme with a coding level of 2 show about 2 dB improvements over on–off-keying scheme

Hierarchical Structure Formation and Modes of Star Formation in Hickson Compact Group 31

The handful of low-mass, late-type galaxies that comprise Hickson Compact Group 31 is in the midst of complex, ongoing gravitational interactions, evocative of the process of hierarchical structure formation at higher redshifts. With sensitive, multicolor Hubble Space Telescope imaging, we characterize the large population of <10 Myr old star clusters that suffuse the system. From the colors and luminosities of the young star clusters, we find that the galaxies in HCG 31 follow the same universal scaling relations as actively star-forming galaxies in the local Universe despite the unusual compact group environment. Furthermore, the specific frequency of the globular cluster system is consistent with the low end of galaxies of comparable masses locally. This, combined with the large mass of neutral hydrogen and tight constraints on the amount of intragroup light, indicate that the group is undergoing its first epoch of interaction-induced star formation. In both the main galaxies and the tidal-dwarf candidate, F, stellar complexes, which are sensitive to the magnitude of disk turbulence, have both sizes and masses more characteristic of z=1-2 galaxies. After subtracting the light from compact sources, we find no evidence for an underlying old stellar population in F -- it appears to be a truly new structure. The low velocity dispersion of the system components, available reservoir of HI, and current star formation rate of ~10 solar masses per year, indicate that HCG31 is likely to both exhaust its cold gas supply and merge within ~1 Gyr. We conclude that the end product will be an isolated, X-ray-faint, low-mass elliptical.Comment: 24 pages, 14 figures (including low resolution versions of color images), latex file prepared with emulateapj. Accepted for publication by the Astronomical Journa

Fluid Optimisation in Emergency Laparotomy (FLO-ELA) Trial: study protocol for a multi-centre randomised trial of cardiac output-guided fluid therapy compared to usual care in patients undergoing major emergency gastrointestinal surgery

INTRODUCTION: Postoperative morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing major emergency gastrointestinal surgery are a major burden on healthcare systems. Optimal management of perioperative intravenous fluids may reduce mortality rates and improve outcomes from surgery. Previous small trials of cardiac-output guided haemodynamic therapy algorithms in patients undergoing gastrointestinal surgery have suggested this intervention results in reduced complications and a modest reduction in mortality. However, this existing evidence is based mainly on elective (planned) surgery, with little evaluation in the emergency setting. There are fundamental clinical and pathophysiological differences between the planned and emergency surgical setting which may influence the effects of this intervention. A large definitive trial in emergency surgery is needed to confirm or refute the potential benefits observed in elective surgery and to inform widespread clinical practice. METHODS: The FLO-ELA trial is a multi-centre, parallel-group, open, randomised controlled trial. 3138 patients aged 50 and over undergoing major emergency gastrointestinal surgery will be randomly allocated in a 1:1 ratio using minimisation to minimally invasive cardiac output monitoring to guide protocolised administration of intra-venous fluid, or usual care without cardiac output monitoring. The trial intervention will be carried out during surgery and for up to 6 h postoperatively. The trial is funded through an efficient design call by the National Institute for Health and Care Research Health Technology Assessment (NIHR HTA) programme and uses existing routinely collected datasets for the majority of data collection. The primary outcome is the number of days alive and out of hospital within 90 days of randomisation. Participants and those delivering the intervention will not be blinded to treatment allocation. Participant recruitment started in September 2017 with a 1-year internal pilot phase and is ongoing at the time of publication. DISCUSSION: This will be the largest contemporary randomised trial examining the effectiveness of perioperative cardiac output-guided haemodynamic therapy in patients undergoing major emergency gastrointestinal surgery. The multi-centre design and broad inclusion criteria support the external validity of the trial. Although the clinical teams delivering the trial interventions will not be blinded, significant trial outcome measures are objective and not subject to detection bias. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN 14729158. Registered on 02 May 2017

Chronic exposure to outdoor air pollution and diagnosed cardiovascular disease: meta-analysis of three large cross-sectional surveys

BACKGROUND: Higher exposure to outdoor air pollution is associated with increased cardiopulmonary deaths, but there is limited evidence about the association between outdoor air pollution and diagnosed cardiovascular disease. Our study aimed to estimate the size of the association between long term exposure to outdoor air pollution and prevalent cardiovascular disease. METHODS: We carried out a cross-sectional analysis of data on more than 19,000 white adults aged 45 and older who participated in three representative surveys of the English population in 1994, 1998 and 2003, examining the relationship between self-reported doctor-diagnosed cardiovascular disease and exposure to outdoor air pollutants using multilevel regression techniques and meta-analysis. RESULTS: The combined estimates suggested that an increase of 1 microg m-3 in concentration of particulate matter less than 10 microns in diameter was associated with an increase of 2.9% (95% CI -0.6% to 6.5%) in prevalence of cardiovascular disease in men, and an increase of 1.6% (95%CI -2.1% to 5.5%) in women. The year-specific analyses showed strongly positive associations in 2003 between odds of cardiovascular disease in both men and women and exposure to particulate matter but not in 1994 or 1998. We found no consistent associations between exposure to gaseous air pollutants and doctor-diagnosed cardiovascular disease. CONCLUSION: The associations of prevalent cardiovascular disease with concentration of particulate matter less than 10 microns in diameter, while only weakly positive, were consistent with the effects reported in cohort studies. The results provide evidence of the size of the association between particulate air pollution and the prevalence of cardiovascular disease but no evidence for an association with gaseous pollutants. We found strongly positive associations between particulate matter and cardiovascular disease in 2003 only, which highlights the importance of replicating findings in more than one population

Economics methods in Cochrane systematic reviews of health promotion and public health related interventions.

Peer reviewedPublisher PD