Changing identities, changing landscapes: The long term dynamics of human - land relations in the ASPRE, Roussillon

This research seeks to explore the complexity of human - land relations in the Aspre, with respect to land degradation. It is argued that in human modified environments, such as this Mediterranean - Pyrenean borderland, nature and culture cannot be meaningfully studied apart. Consequently issues of land degradation must be situated within the broader context of socio-natural interaction. Such a study cannot be approached solely from a natural or social science perspective; what is required, and what has been developed in this research, is a transdisciplinary methodology whereby natural phenomena are situated within their historical and socio-cultural context. Central to that context is the need to position the system within a long term evolutionary dynamic, thus allowing us to view the system in process, rather than as a synchronic present day snapshot. Within this 'longue duree' temporal and spatial scales are seen to be critical. It is argued that land degradation is at root a perceptual issue, thus perception and cognition are seen as critically important in this study. The core field work acts to expose both the physical and social identities of the Aspre, and the multiple perceptions of land degradation held by its inhabitants. The research identifies a series of 'perceptual filters' through which the environment of the Aspre is experienced, and by means of which meaning is negotiated. The recognition of the multiple environmental perceptions and plural rationalities is of crucial importance when contemplating the possible future pathways open to the Aspre, with respect to sustainable futures. What emerges from this research is a redefinition of land degradation in the Aspre, from that of a purely physical issue, to the realization that what we are dealing with are changing social identities within changing landscapes

The raptor and the lamb: reintroduction of carnivores in agricultural landscapes in Ireland

Wildlife management has its roots in the natural sciences and has traditionally promoted a scientific and technical approach to conflict mitigation. The below research is concerned with the conflict surrounding the reintroduction of the white-tailed sea eagle to Ireland, in particular that between farmers and conservationists. The farmers see the eagles as a threat to their livelihood and strongly resent the imposition of the birds without sufficient prior consultation with stakeholders on the ground. We argue that behind Human Wildlife Conflict (HWC) is nearly always human-human conflict. Management decisions need to be taken not just on the best science, but they have to incorporate a better understanding of the human dimension. The paper concludes by arguing that the positive transformation of the conflict surrounding the sea eagles was hampered by a political culture reluctant to cede decision making powers, along with institutional incapacity to encourage trust and relationship building between the different agencies and stakeholders impacted by the project

Drivers of land abandonment in the Irish uplands: A case study

Land abandonment is a complex multi-dimensional process with interlinked economic, environmental and social aspects. This paper presents a case study of an isolated hill sheep farming community in SW Ireland, where a combination of low incomes, ageing population, lack of successors and strong environmental constraints are perceived to be among the main factors leading to their demise. However, the uplands they have grazed for generations are of high nature conservation value, and depend on active management to maintain both their ecology and landscapes. The research, which is based on a combination of interviews and farming systems research, highlights the misfit between what the mountain can produce, light hill lamb, and what the globalised market demands. The paper argues that if ‘farming for conservation’ is the new function of such farming systems, then we should consider decoupling public goods payments from agricultural subsidies, along with integrating agriculture in disadvantaged areas within a broader rural development framework. The research aims to fill the gap between macro policy and the micro reality of an upland community on a self-declared ‘tipping point’

Farming the Iveragh uplands: A tale of humans and nature

The rugged beauty of the Iveragh peninsula has fascinated many a passing visitor and never fails to make some of us linger or stay for good. For those who need proof of the area’s uniqueness, a variety of national and European designations provide ample attestation of the splendour of Iveragh’s scenery, the diversity of its landscape and its heritage. Being surrounded on three sides by the Atlantic, Iveragh is the largest and most geographically isolated peninsula in Ireland whose western extremity, the Great Skellig, forms the westernmost point of Europe. Despite its maritime location, Iveragh’s character is fundamentally determined by the mountains, valleys and streams that form the peninsula’s interior—the bequest of a landscape sculpted by ice thousands of years ago (Crowley and Sheehan, 2009). Distinctive mountain scene in the Bridia Valley, Glencar Perhaps most distinctive, however, are the extensive blanket bogs and upland heather moorlands that cover most of the peninsula and captivate the imagination with the wild and austere appeal of an area where life did not change much for man and beast until relatively recently. Having come into existence in the wake of woodland clearances, the cutting of vegetation for fuel and the harvesting of crops for food and fiber by Neolithic farmers in the first and second millennium BC, this unique cultural landscape continues to be managed by traditional farmers and their animals to the present day. The value of areas such as Iveragh as repositories of a unique flora and fauna has long been recognized, but they have entered a period of major transformation as the agricultural economy that lay behind them no longer exists (Webb, 1998). The single largest danger is that farming communities may not survive the present discussion of how competitive European agriculture should be, as under present market conditions they are unable to compete without fundamentally changing their way of farming (Luick, 1998). The last 10 years have seen a growing debate over the future of areas like the Iveragh peninsula that may be ‘marginal’ in agricultural terms, but that are quite essential to life in Europe as we know and cherish it. Upland farmed landscapes provide clean water, maintain a rich plant and animal life and help to keep families in regions that offer few alternative employment opportunities – at the same time as attracting millions of tourists each year. The Caragh in Glencar—one of Europe’s cleanest rivers. Such areas, also termed high nature value farmland, cover about 25% of all agricultural land in Ireland and include, besides Iveragh, other parts of Kerry, Connemara, Mayo, Donegal, the Comeraghs, Wicklow, the Burren and the offshore Islands. The farming systems of these areas are characterised by extensive mixed livestock grazing and little agro-chemical inputs combined with labour-intensive management practices. Without dedicated farmers and their families, the character of these areas would change completely leading to the disappearance of unique cultural landscapes with effects such as rural depopulation and the loss of local communities. Already farming systems have changed substantially with livestock being concentrated on better quality land while marginal areas are being abandoned. Along with this, there are changes in the animals being farmed. The traditional Scotch Blackface sheep are increasingly crossed with or replaced by lowland breeds to satisfy market demands for heavy lamb. This has led to a softening in sheep and the fear among farmers that the traditional grazers of the uplands may be extinct in years to come. Going, too, is the use of the native rustic Kerry cow that grazed the rough Farming the Iveragh Uplands grasses, bracken, gorse and soft rushes in the winter - growth that sheep cannot control. Unsurprisingly, this disruption over a relatively short time, in what was formerly a sustainable relationship between farming and nature, will have implications for the area’s flora and fauna. Some of the repercussions are obvious; others need to be researched in more depth if appropriate solutions are to be formulated. It is now a stated objective of EU environment and rural development policy to maintain and conserve traditional farming systems like the one practised on Iveragh. Beyond acknowledging the importance of traditional farming for nature conservation and local livelihoods, it is necessary to understand how such farming systems function and to determine how the inevitable process of change can be redirected to provide a way of life that is socially and economically rewarding for farm families while preserving the farming practices necessary for Iveragh’s unique landscape to persist into the future. In this light, University College Cork (UCC) in conjunction with the Environmental Research Institute (ERI) and funded by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) initiated BioUp, a 3 year research programme to investigate the upland farming system and rich biodiversity associated with it. Managing rural change in the uplands calls for the active involvement of many stakeholders, including farmers and agricultural advisory groups, land owners, conservation groups, forestry, tourism, and local authorities. In the BioUp project, researchers and stakeholders worked closely together. It is hoped that this will help to obtain a better understanding of the social, economic and environmental challenges facing Iveragh and promote greater public appreciation of the indispensable contributions made by farm families to maintaining our unique heritage - a service that has gone unappreciated too long

The Alliance for Cellular Signaling Plasmid Collection: A Flexible Resource for Protein Localization Studies and Signaling Pathway Analysis

Cellular responses to inputs that vary both temporally and spatially are determined by complex relationships between the components of cell signaling networks. Analysis of these relationships requires access to a wide range of experimental reagents and techniques, including the ability to express the protein components of the model cells in a variety of contexts. As part of the Alliance for Cellular Signaling, we developed a robust method for cloning large numbers of signaling ORFs into Gateway® entry vectors, and we created a wide range of compatible expression platforms for proteomics applications. To date, we have generated over 3000 plasmids that are available to the scientific community via the American Type Culture Collection. We have established a website at www.signaling-gateway.org/data/plasmid/ that allows users to browse, search, and blast Alliance for Cellular Signaling plasmids. The collection primarily contains murine signaling ORFs with an emphasis on kinases and G protein signaling genes. Here we describe the cloning, databasing, and application of this proteomics resource for large scale subcellular localization screens in mammalian cell lines

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (3rd edition)

In 2008 we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, research on this topic has continued to accelerate, and many new scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Accordingly, it is important to update these guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Various reviews have described the range of assays that have been used for this purpose. Nevertheless, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to measure autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. For example, a key point that needs to be emphasized is that there is a difference between measurements that monitor the numbers or volume of autophagic elements (e.g., autophagosomes or autolysosomes) at any stage of the autophagic process versus those that measure fl ux through the autophagy pathway (i.e., the complete process including the amount and rate of cargo sequestered and degraded). In particular, a block in macroautophagy that results in autophagosome accumulation must be differentiated from stimuli that increase autophagic activity, defi ned as increased autophagy induction coupled with increased delivery to, and degradation within, lysosomes (inmost higher eukaryotes and some protists such as Dictyostelium ) or the vacuole (in plants and fungi). In other words, it is especially important that investigators new to the fi eld understand that the appearance of more autophagosomes does not necessarily equate with more autophagy. In fact, in many cases, autophagosomes accumulate because of a block in trafficking to lysosomes without a concomitant change in autophagosome biogenesis, whereas an increase in autolysosomes may reflect a reduction in degradative activity. It is worth emphasizing here that lysosomal digestion is a stage of autophagy and evaluating its competence is a crucial part of the evaluation of autophagic flux, or complete autophagy. Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as for reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a formulaic set of rules, because the appropriate assays depend in part on the question being asked and the system being used. In addition, we emphasize that no individual assay is guaranteed to be the most appropriate one in every situation, and we strongly recommend the use of multiple assays to monitor autophagy. Along these lines, because of the potential for pleiotropic effects due to blocking autophagy through genetic manipulation it is imperative to delete or knock down more than one autophagy-related gene. In addition, some individual Atg proteins, or groups of proteins, are involved in other cellular pathways so not all Atg proteins can be used as a specific marker for an autophagic process. In these guidelines, we consider these various methods of assessing autophagy and what information can, or cannot, be obtained from them. Finally, by discussing the merits and limits of particular autophagy assays, we hope to encourage technical innovation in the field

Farming for Nature. The Role of Results-Based Payments

Edited BookAgricultural habitats cover approximately half the European Union (EU) and an estimated 50% of all species and several habitats of conservation concern in the EU depend on agricultural management. Reversing the loss of European biodiversity is clearly dependent on the conservation of farmland biodiversity. Results-based approaches are the focus of a growing discussion about improved biodiversity conservation and environmental performance of EU agri-environmental policies. This book outlines lessons learned from a collection of Irish case studies that have implemented results-based approaches and payments for the conservation of farmland habitats and species. The case studies include prominent projects and programmes: the Burren Programme, AranLIFE, KerryLIFE, the NPWS Farm Plan Scheme and Result-Based Agri-environmental Payment Schemes (RBAPS) project. This work is intended for an international audience of practitioners, policymakers and academics interested in results-based approaches for the conservation of biodiversity and the provision of ecosystem services

Factors associated with non-retention in HIV care in an era of widespread antiretroviral therapy.

In an era of antiretroviral therapy (ART) for all HIV-1-infected patients, our primary aim was to describe prevalence and characteristics of patients disengaged from care at an urban ambulatory HIV clinic. We conducted a nested case-control study. All patients who disengaged from care (defined as being lost to follow-up for at least one year) from 2007 to 2014 inclusive were identified. Cases were matched to controls in a 1:4 ratio. A total of 1250 cases were included; 250/2289 (10.9%) of patients attending our HIV clinic disengaged from 2007 to 2014. One hundred and twenty-six (50.4%) were heterosexual, 81 (32.4%) were men who have sex with men and 40 (16%) were intravenous drug users. On univariate analysis only, patients with heterosexual risk were more likely to disengage from care (50.4% vs. 33.7%, p: <0.001). Those who disengaged were younger, mean age of 39 (p: <0.001). A higher proportion of patients who disengaged from care was not receiving ART and did not have a suppressed HIV-1 viral load (p: <0.001). On multivariable analysis, Irish patients were less likely to disengage from HIV care (odds ratio: 0.567, p: 0.002). Factors associated with non-retention in HIV care have been identified. A semi-structured interview of those patients who re-engaged will take place to further examine reasons for disengagement from care