Evaluation of greenhouse gas emissions and area of organic soils in cropland and grassland in Latvia – integrated National forest inventory data and soil maps approach

ArticleThe aim of the research was to assess distribution of organic soils in farmlands for the time period between 1990 and 2015, as well as to carry out a recalculation of GHG emissions from organic soils in grassland and cropland. We evaluated the area of typical organic soils using digitized soil maps created between 1960s and 1980s there were 183,000 ha of cropland and grassland on organic soils. A selected number of areas on organic soils intersecting with the National forest inventory (NFI) plots were surveyed. We found that 66 ± 10% of surveyed plots still conforms to criteria for organic soils according to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines; in the rest of plots soil organic matter has been mineralized and these areas do not conform to IPCC criteria of organic soils. The following distributionof organic soils was estimated in cropland – 6.3 ± 3.3% in 1990 and 4.1 ± 3.4% in 2015, but in grassland – 11.6 ± 3.6% in 1990 and 7.7 ± 3.9% in 2015. The annual reduction of GHG emissions due to reduction of area of organic soils in cropland in 2015 corresponds to 1,400,000 tonnes CO2 eq. in comparison to 1990 and in grassland – to 1,100,000 tonnes CO2 eq. The estimated reduction of the GHG emissions due to conversion of organic soils into mineral soils, comparing the average value in 2005–2009 with the projection for 2021–2030 on average will correspond to 313,000 tonnes CO2 eq. annually, however LULUCF sector still won’t become a net CO2 sink according to the GHG inventory data on other land use categories and carbon pools

Processing optimization with parallel computing for the J-PET tomography scanner

The Jagiellonian-PET (J-PET) collaboration is developing a prototype TOF-PET detector based on long polymer scintillators. This novel approach exploits the excellent time properties of the plastic scintillators, which permit very precise time measurements. The very fast, FPGA-based front-end electronics and the data acquisition system, as well as, low- and high-level reconstruction algorithms were specially developed to be used with the J-PET scanner. The TOF-PET data processing and reconstruction are time and resource demanding operations, especially in case of a large acceptance detector, which works in triggerless data acquisition mode. In this article, we discuss the parallel computing methods applied to optimize the data processing for the J-PET detector. We begin with general concepts of parallel computing and then we discuss several applications of those techniques in the J-PET data processing.Comment: 8 page

J-PET analysis framework for the prototype TOF-PET detector

Novel TOF-PET scanner solutions demand, apart from the state of the art detectors, software for fast processing of the gathered data, monitoring of the whole scanner and reconstruction of the PET image. In this article we present an analysis framework for the novel STRIP-PET scanner developed by the J-PET collaboration in the Institute of Physics of the Jagiellonian University. This software is based on the ROOT package used in many particle physics experiments.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Analysis framework for the J-PET scanner

J-PET analysis framework is a flexible, lightweight, ROOT-based software package which provides the tools to develop reconstruction and calibration procedures for PET tomography. In this article we present the implementation of the full data-processing chain in the J-PET framework which is used for the data analysis of the J-PET tomography scanner. The Framework incorporates automated handling of PET setup parameters' database as well as high level tools for building data reconstruction procedures. Each of these components is briefly discussed.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figur

Policing gender mobilities: interrogating the ‘feminisation of migration’ to Europe

This article proposes a gendered critique of the European Neighbourhood Policy, a framework that, amongst other things, aims to facilitate the mobility of migrants to the EU from the bordering countries. We highlight the ambivalences of European gender and migration regimes, and we take issue with the celebration of the ‘feminisation of migration’. The former fails to offer opportunities to women to safely embark on autonomous migratory projects, the latter contributes to reproduce traditional gender biases in the countries of origin as well as of destination. We conclude by suggesting that the EU critique to emigration countries for failing to tackle women’s discrimination is less than persuasive when assessed vis-á-vis with the curtailment on women’s independent mobility across European borders

The Changing Waves of Migration from the Balkans to Turkey: A Historical Account

Ahmet İçduygu and Deniz Sert tell the history of migration from the Balkans to Turkey from the end of the nineteenth century to the present. They relate this history to nation-building, but also to economic conditions and specific Turkish concerns, such as the perceived need for immigration to compensate for a declining population at that time. They also demonstrate that after 1990, ethnic migration decreased and irregular labour migration became more important

Laboratory feasibility tests improve decision support for wetland eco-engineering; lake bartkow lug (poland) as test case

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UreG, a chaperone in the urease assembly process, is an intrinsically unstructured GTPase that specifically binds Zn2+

Bacillus pasteurii UreG, a chaperone involved in the urease active site assembly, was over-expressed in E. coli BL21(DE3) and purified to homogeneity. The identity of the recombinant protein was confirmed by SDS-PAGE, protein sequencing and mass spectrometry. Combination of size exclusion chromatography, multi-angle and dynamic laser light scattering established that BpUreG is present in solution as a dimer. Analysis of circular dichroism spectra indicated that the protein contains large portions of helices (15%) and strands (29%), while NMR spectroscopy indicated the presence of conformational fluxionality of the protein backbone in solution. BpUreG catalyzes the hydrolysis of GTP with a kcat = 0.04 min-1, confirming a role of this class of proteins in coupling energy requirements and nickel incorporation into the urease active site. BpUreG binds 2 Zn2+ ions per dimer with a KD = 42±3 ?M, and has ten-fold lower affinity for Ni2+. A structural model for BpUreG was calculated using threading algorithms. The protein, in the fully folded state, features the typical structural architecture of GTPases, with an open ?-barrel surrounded by ?-helices and a P-loop at the N-terminus. The protein dynamic behavior observed in solution is critically discussed relatively to the structural model, using algorithms for disorder predictions. The results suggest that UreG proteins belong to the class of intrinsically unstructured proteins (IUP) that need the interaction with co-factors or other protein partners to perform their function. It is also proposed that metal ions such as Zn2+ could have important structural roles in the urease activation process