Long Term Trends in Resource Exergy Consumption and Useful Work Supplies in the UK, 1900-2000

Our aim is to explain historical economic growth in the UK economy by introducing an empirical measure for useful work derived from natural resource energy inputs into an augmented production function. To do this, we estimate the long-term (1900-2000) trends in resource exergy supply and conversion to useful work in the United Kingdom. The exergy resources considered included domestic consumption of coal, crude oil and petroleum products, natural gas, nuclear and renewable resources (including biomass). All flows of exergy were allocated to an end use such as providing heat, light, transport, human and animal work and electrical power. For each end-use we estimated a time dependent efficiency of conversion from exergy to useful work. The 3-factor production function (of capital, labour and useful work) is able to reproduce the historic trajectory of economic growth without recourse to any exogenous assumptions of technological progress or total factor productivity. The results indicate that useful work derived from natural resource exergy is an important factor of production.exergy, energy, efficiency, economic growth, United Kingdom

A critical review of Pongamia pinnata multiple applications: from land remediation and carbon sequestration to socioeconomic benefits

Pongamia pinnata (L.) Pierre (Pongamia) is a tree native to Southeast Asia. Recently, interest in Pongamia focused on its potential as a biofuel source as its seeds contain around 40% oil. However, Pongamia has multiple applications beyond biofuel production. It is a legume, can form symbiotic associations with mycorrhizal fungi, has been shown to be tolerant to drought, salinity, and heavy metals in soil, and has potential to mitigate climate change. Additionally, Pongamia oil has medicinal properties, can be used as biopesticide, insect repellent, to produce soap, and as a source of edible grade vegetable oil. The seed cake can be used as a source of bioenergy, food and feed protein, and organic fertiliser, and the flowers are a good source of pollen and nectar. Pongamia can also bring socio-economic benefits as its ability to restore degraded and contaminated land provides opportunities for local communities through novel valorisation pathways. These multiple applications have potential to form part of a circular bioeconomy in line with sustainable development goals. Although research on the multiple applications of Pongamia has grown considerably, knowledge gaps remain and these need to be addressed so that the full potential of Pongamia can be achieved. Further understanding of the mechanisms underlying its resilience to abiotic stresses, phytoremediation potential and biotic interactions should be a priority, and co-ordinated breeding efforts will be key. Here, we critically review the available literature on Pongamia and highlight gaps in knowledge in which future research should focus on to ensure that the full potential of this versatile tree can be achieved. We conclude that Pongamia can potentially form part of a circular bioeconomy and that harnessing the multiple applications of Pongamia in a holistic manner, with collaboration among key stakeholders, is crucial for the successful application of its benefits far beyond biofuel production

An improved pig reference genome sequence to enable pig genetics and genomics research.

BACKGROUND: The domestic pig (Sus scrofa) is important both as a food source and as a biomedical model given its similarity in size, anatomy, physiology, metabolism, pathology, and pharmacology to humans. The draft reference genome (Sscrofa10.2) of a purebred Duroc female pig established using older clone-based sequencing methods was incomplete, and unresolved redundancies, short-range order and orientation errors, and associated misassembled genes limited its utility. RESULTS: We present 2 annotated highly contiguous chromosome-level genome assemblies created with more recent long-read technologies and a whole-genome shotgun strategy, 1 for the same Duroc female (Sscrofa11.1) and 1 for an outbred, composite-breed male (USMARCv1.0). Both assemblies are of substantially higher (>90-fold) continuity and accuracy than Sscrofa10.2. CONCLUSIONS: These highly contiguous assemblies plus annotation of a further 11 short-read assemblies provide an unprecedented view of the genetic make-up of this important agricultural and biomedical model species. We propose that the improved Duroc assembly (Sscrofa11.1) become the reference genome for genomic research in pigs

Geography, memory and non-representational geographies

I discuss the presence of memory within geography, particularly in relation to the interweavingnon-representational ⁄ peformative ⁄ affective ‘turns’. Memory seems under-considered in these nonrepresentationalgeographies (nrgs) which focus on the affective performativities of the present and the richness and creative potentials therein. As memory is a fundamental aspect of becoming, the roles it plays in the peformative moment need to be considered. Richness, potential and creativity emerges not simply from the moment per se, but from the legacies of the past carried into the present, not least through memory which underpins imagination, creativity and (productive) affective exchange. Emerging work on geography and memory does show some ‘non-representational’ traits and thus there is a potential for bringing this kind of work more fully into nrg. This is set in wider contexts of geographical approaches to memory, and the notion of ecologies of memories which form of interlinkages between individuals, various social collectives, materialities, texts, and past ⁄ present ⁄ future timespaces

Specific versus Non-Specific Immune Responses in an Invertebrate Species Evidenced by a Comparative de novo Sequencing Study

Our present understanding of the functioning and evolutionary history of invertebrate innate immunity derives mostly from studies on a few model species belonging to ecdysozoa. In particular, the characterization of signaling pathways dedicated to specific responses towards fungi and Gram-positive or Gram-negative bacteria in Drosophila melanogaster challenged our original view of a non-specific immunity in invertebrates. However, much remains to be elucidated from lophotrochozoan species. To investigate the global specificity of the immune response in the fresh-water snail Biomphalaria glabrata, we used massive Illumina sequencing of 5′-end cDNAs to compare expression profiles after challenge by Gram-positive or Gram-negative bacteria or after a yeast challenge. 5′-end cDNA sequencing of the libraries yielded over 12 millions high quality reads. To link these short reads to expressed genes, we prepared a reference transcriptomic database through automatic assembly and annotation of the 758,510 redundant sequences (ESTs, mRNAs) of B. glabrata available in public databases. Computational analysis of Illumina reads followed by multivariate analyses allowed identification of 1685 candidate transcripts differentially expressed after an immune challenge, with a two fold ratio between transcripts showing a challenge-specific expression versus a lower or non-specific differential expression. Differential expression has been validated using quantitative PCR for a subset of randomly selected candidates. Predicted functions of annotated candidates (approx. 700 unisequences) belonged to a large extend to similar functional categories or protein types. This work significantly expands upon previous gene discovery and expression studies on B. glabrata and suggests that responses to various pathogens may involve similar immune processes or signaling pathways but different genes belonging to multigenic families. These results raise the question of the importance of gene duplication and acquisition of paralog functional diversity in the evolution of specific invertebrate immune responses

Pythagoras' Toolkit

Music theatre work for ensemble and puppetry. 40 minutes. Commissioned Ensemble Paramirab