Satellite-derived submarine melt rates and mass balance (2011–2015) for Greenland's largest remaining ice tongues

© The Author(s), 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in The Cryosphere 11 (2017): 2773-2782, doi:10.5194/tc-11-2773-2017.Ice-shelf-like floating extensions at the termini of Greenland glaciers are undergoing rapid changes with potential implications for the stability of upstream glaciers and the ice sheet as a whole. While submarine melting is recognized as a major contributor to mass loss, the spatial distribution of submarine melting and its contribution to the total mass balance of these floating extensions is incompletely known and understood. Here, we use high-resolution WorldView satellite imagery collected between 2011 and 2015 to infer the magnitude and spatial variability of melt rates under Greenland's largest remaining ice tongues – Nioghalvfjerdsbræ (79 North Glacier, 79N), Ryder Glacier (RG), and Petermann Glacier (PG). Submarine melt rates under the ice tongues vary considerably, exceeding 50 m a−1 near the grounding zone and decaying rapidly downstream. Channels, likely originating from upstream subglacial channels, give rise to large melt variations across the ice tongues. We compare the total melt rates to the influx of ice to the ice tongue to assess their contribution to the current mass balance. At Petermann Glacier and Ryder Glacier, we find that the combined submarine and aerial melt approximately balances the ice flux from the grounded ice sheet. At Nioghalvfjerdsbræ the total melt flux (14.2 ± 0.96 km3 a−1 w.e., water equivalent) exceeds the inflow of ice (10.2 ± 0.59 km3 a−1 w.e.), indicating present thinning of the ice tongue.Nat Wilson, Fiammetta Straneo, and Patrick Heimbach were supported by NASA NNX13AK88G and NSF OCE 1434041

Bee poisoning incidents in Germany in spring 2008 caused by abrasion of active substance from treated seeds during sowing of maize

contribution to session V Honey bee poisoning incidents and monitoring schemes In spring 2008 a high number of bee poisoning incidents was recorded during sowing of maize in the Upper Rhine valley and in South Bavaria near Passau. More than 11.500 honey bee colonies from about 700 beekeepers in the Upper Rhine valley showed symptoms of insecticide poisoning. The reason for the poisoning was the abrasion of dust from maize seeds treated with the insecticide Poncho Pro (a.s. clothianidin) during the sowing process and blowing out of this dust containing the active substance into the environment with pneumatic sowing machines, resulting in contamination of nectar and pollen. The poisonings occurred in areas in southern Germany in which an eradication program for the quarantine pest Diabrotica virgifera virgifera was active and where clothianidin was used at a high rate (125 g a.s. /ha) on a large scale. An exceptionally high amount of dust of up to 80 g per 100.000 kernels of maize was detected in some of the maize seed batches. The chemical analysis of dust, plant samples, bee samples, fresh pollen and bee bread confirmed the poisoning by clothianidin originating from treated maize seeds. No correlation with any bee pathogens was detected. Keywords: seed treatment, drilling machines, neonicotinoid, clothianidin, dust, maize, drift, bee poisoning, honey bee

Associations between SNPs and immune-related circulating proteins in schizophrenia

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and proteomic studies have provided convincing evidence implicating alterations in immune/inflammatory processes in schizophrenia. However, despite the convergence of evidence, direct links between the genetic and proteomic findings are still lacking for schizophrenia. We investigated associations between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from the custom-made PsychArray and the expression levels of 190 multiplex immunoassay profiled serum proteins in 149 schizophrenia patients and 198 matched controls. We identified associations between 81 SNPs and 29 proteins, primarily involved in immune/inflammation responses. Significant SNPxDiagnosis interactions were identified for eight serum proteins including Factor-VII[rs555212], Alpha-1-Antitrypsin[rs11846959], Interferon-Gamma Induced Protein 10[rs4256246] and von-Willebrand-Factor[rs12829220] in the control group; Chromogranin-A[rs9658644], Cystatin-C[rs2424577] and Vitamin K-Dependent Protein S[rs6123] in the schizophrenia group; Interleukin-6 receptor[rs7553796] in both the control and schizophrenia groups. These results suggested that the effect of these SNPs on expression of the respective proteins varies with diagnosis. The combination of patient-specific genetic information with blood biomarker data opens a novel approach to investigate disease mechanisms in schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders. Our findings not only suggest that blood protein expression is influenced by polymorphisms in the corresponding gene, but also that the effect of certain SNPs on expression of proteins can vary with diagnosis