The potential for leguminous crops in Scotland

The Scottish Government is committed to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agriculture as part of its pledge to achieve net-zero emissions in Scotland by 2045. In 2018, agriculture accounted for 18% of Scotland’s total GHG emissions, with a significant share coming from nitrogen fertilisers (1.4% of Scotland’s total GHG emissions are from soil as a consequence of applying nitrogen fertilisers). Scotland’s Climate Change Plan update1 envisages that nitrogen emissions, including from nitrogen fertiliser, will have fallen through a combination of improved understanding, efficiencies and improved soil condition. One policy approach identified as having potential to deliver this outcome is through the use of leguminous crops to fix atmospheric nitrogen, potentially reducing the need for synthetic fertiliser. Increasing legume production could also help build protein self-sufficiency in Scotland. This study assesses the opportunities, challenges and barriers influencing potential production of grain and forage legumes in Scotland. Grain legumes are crops such as beans and peas which are cultivated for their seeds and used for both human and animal consumption. Forage legumes include lucerne (also known as alfalfa), clover and vetch which are sown in pasture and grazed by livestock or used for cutting for hay or silage

Adapting Scottish agriculture to a changing climate - assessing options for action

The Climate Change Risk Assessment 3 (CCRA 3) identifies a risk of serious climate impacts in Scotland. The Climate Change Committee (CCC) 2022 Report to the Scottish Parliament made recommendations on adaptation opportunities for agriculture, such as the potential to grow a broader range of crops which will support domestic food security, mitigating the risks of some common food crops becoming less suitable. This report maps the current major agricultural activities in Scotland and examines Scotland’s rainfall and temperature projections up to 2030, 2050 and 2100 using UK Climate Projection (UKCP) 18 data to create a picture of current agricultural activity and future climate. We located regions that currently have a similar climate to what Scotland expects in the future, to identify potential agricultural products that could be adopted or expanded in Scotland. We also explored published evidence to examine the options for climate change adaptation for farmers in Scotland. Farmers are already experiencing changing weather patterns and extreme events due to climate change and consideration of adaptation actions is very timely

Evaluating the utility of knowledge-based planning for clinical trials using the TROG 08.03 post prostatectomy radiation therapy planning data

Background and purpose: Poor quality radiotherapy can detrimentally affect outcomes in clinical trials. Our purpose was to explore the potential of knowledge-based planning (KBP) for quality assurance (QA) in clinical trials. Materials and methods: Using 30 in-house post-prostatectomy radiation treatment (PPRT) plans, an iterative KBP model was created according to the multicentre clinical trial protocol, delivering 64 Gy in 32 fractions. KBP was used to replan 137 plans. The KB (knowledge based) plans were evaluated for their ability to fulfil the trial constraints and were compared against their corresponding original treatment plans (OTP). A second analysis between only the 72 inversely planned OTPs (IP-OTPs) and their corresponding KB plans was performed. Results: All dose constraints were met in 100% of KB plans versus 69% of OTPs. KB plans demonstrated significantly less variation in PTV coverage (Mean dose range: KB plans 64.1 Gy-65.1 Gy vs OTP 63.1 Gy-67.3 Gy, p \u3c 0.01). KBP resulted in significantly lower doses to OARs. Rectal V60Gy and V40Gy were 17.7% vs 27.7% (p \u3c 0.01) and 40.5% vs 53.9% (p \u3c 0.01) for KB plans and OTP respectively. Left femoral head (FH) V45Gy and V35Gy were 0.4% vs 7.4% (p \u3c 0.01) and 7.9% vs 34.9% (p \u3c 0.01) respectively. In the second analysis plan improvements were maintained. Conclusions: KBP created high quality PPRT plans using the data from a multicentre clinical trial in a single optimisation. It is a powerful tool for utilisation in clinical trials for patient specific QA, to reduce dose to surrounding OARs and variations in plan quality which could impact on clinical trial outcomes

Evidence Review: Perennial Energy Crops and their Potential in Scotland

The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) have identified that under net zero emissions scenarios, bioenergy supplied in the UK could reach 200TWh (with 170TWh of this sourced from the UK) by 2050. The CCC considered that UK-produced energy crops could be an important source of bioenergy and assumed that around 700,000 ha could be planted in the UK to help achieve this target, although it did not consider where. If it were evenly spread across the arable area of the UK, Scotland’s ‘share’ would be about 70,000 ha. This report examines the potential for a sustainable expansion of perennial bioenergy crop production on low grade agricultural land or underutilised land, focusing on short rotation coppice (SRC), miscanthus and short rotation forestry (SRF)

Genetic architecture of voluntary exercise in an advanced intercross line of mice

Exercise is essential for health, yet the amount, duration, and intensity that individuals engage in is strikingly variable, even under prescription. Our focus was to identify the locations and effects of quantitative trait loci (QTL) controlling genetic predisposition for exercise-related traits utilizing a large advanced intercross line (AIL) of mice. This AIL (G4) population originated from a reciprocal cross between mice with genetic propensity for increased voluntary exercise (HR, selectively bred for increased wheel running) and the inbred strain C57BL/6J. After adjusting for family structure, we detected 32 significant and 13 suggestive QTL representing both daily running traits (distance, duration, average speed, and maximum speed) and the mean of these traits on days 5 and 6 (the selection criteria for HR) of a 6-day test conducted at 8 weeks of age, with many colocalizing to similar genomic regions. Additionally, 7 significant and 5 suggestive QTL were observed for the slope and intercept of a linear regression across all 6 days of running, some representing a combination of the daily traits. We also observed 2 significant and 2 suggestive QTL for body mass prior to exercise. These results, using a well-defined animal model, reinforce a genetic basis for the predisposition to engage in voluntary exercise, dissect this predisposition into daily segments across a continuous time period, and present unique QTL that may provide insight into the initiation, continuation, and temporal pattern of voluntary activity in mammals

Implementation of U.K. Earth system models for CMIP6

We describe the scientific and technical implementation of two models for a core set of experiments contributing to the sixth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6). The models used are the physical atmosphere-land-ocean-sea ice model HadGEM3-GC3.1 and the Earth system model UKESM1 which adds a carbon-nitrogen cycle and atmospheric chemistry to HadGEM3-GC3.1. The model results are constrained by the external boundary conditions (forcing data) and initial conditions.We outline the scientific rationale and assumptions made in specifying these. Notable details of the implementation include an ozone redistribution scheme for prescribed ozone simulations (HadGEM3-GC3.1) to avoid inconsistencies with the model's thermal tropopause, and land use change in dynamic vegetation simulations (UKESM1) whose influence will be subject to potential biases in the simulation of background natural vegetation.We discuss the implications of these decisions for interpretation of the simulation results. These simulations are expensive in terms of human and CPU resources and will underpin many further experiments; we describe some of the technical steps taken to ensure their scientific robustness and reproducibility

Greenhouse gas and ammonia emission mitigation priorities for UK policy targets

Publication history: Accepted - 16 March 2023; Published online - 6th May 2023.Agriculture is essential for providing food and maintaining food security while concurrently delivering multiple other ecosystem services. However, agricultural systems are generally a net source of greenhouse gases and ammonia. They, therefore, need to substantively contribute to climate change mitigation and net zero ambitions. It is widely acknowledged that there is a need to further reduce and mitigate emissions across sectors, including agriculture to address the climate emergency and emissions gap. This discussion paper outlines a collation of opinions from a range of experts within agricultural research and advisory roles following a greenhouse gas and ammonia emission mitigation workshop held in the UK in March 2022. The meeting identified the top mitigation priorities within the UK’s agricultural sector to achieve reductions in greenhouse gases and ammonia that are compatible with policy targets. In addition, experts provided an overview of what they believe are the key knowledge gaps, future opportunities and co-benefits to mitigation practices as well as indicating the potential barriers to uptake for mitigation scenarios discussed.This work was supported with funding from the Scottish Government Strategic Research Programme (2022−2027, C2-1 SRUC) and Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) (BBS/E/C/000I0320 and BBS/E/C/000I0330). We also acknowledge support from UKRI-BBSRC (UK Research and Innovation-Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council) via grants BBS/E/C/000I0320 and BBS/E/C/000I0330, and Rothamsted Research Science Initiative Catalyst Award supported by BBSRC

UKESM1: description and evaluation of the UK Earth System Model

We document the development of the first version of the United Kingdom Earth System Model UKESM1. The model represents a major advance on its predecessor HadGEM2‐ES, with enhancements to all component models and new feedback mechanisms. These include: a new core physical model with a well‐resolved stratosphere; terrestrial biogeochemistry with coupled carbon and nitrogen cycles and enhanced land management; tropospheric‐stratospheric chemistry allowing the holistic simulation of radiative forcing from ozone, methane and nitrous oxide; two‐moment, five‐species, modal aerosol; and ocean biogeochemistry with two‐way coupling to the carbon cycle and atmospheric aerosols. The complexity of coupling between the ocean, land and atmosphere physical climate and biogeochemical cycles in UKESM1 is unprecedented for an Earth system model. We describe in detail the process by which the coupled model was developed and tuned to achieve acceptable performance in key physical and Earth system quantities, and discuss the challenges involved in mitigating biases in a model with complex connections between its components. Overall the model performs well, with a stable pre‐industrial state, and good agreement with observations in the latter period of its historical simulations. However, global mean surface temperature exhibits stronger‐than‐observed cooling from 1950 to 1970, followed by rapid warming from 1980 to 2014. Metrics from idealised simulations show a high climate sensitivity relative to previous generations of models: equilibrium climate sensitivity (ECS) is 5.4 K, transient climate response (TCR) ranges from 2.68 K to 2.85 K, and transient climate response to cumulative emissions (TCRE) is 2.49 K/TtC to 2.66 K/TtC