(Table S1) Radiocarbon dates of organic matter from Lena Delta ice wedges

Relative to the past 2,000 years, the Arctic region has warmed significantly over the past few decades. However, the evolution of Arctic temperatures during the rest of the Holocene is less clear. Proxy reconstructions, suggest a long-term cooling trend throughout the mid- to late Holocene, whereas climate model simulations show only minor changes or even warming. Here we present a record of the oxygen isotope composition of permafrost ice wedges from the Lena River Delta in the Siberian Arctic. The isotope values, which reflect winter season temperatures, became progressively more enriched over the past 7,000 years, reaching unprecedented levels in the past five decades. This warming trend during the mid- to late Holocene is in opposition to the cooling seen in other proxy records. However, most of these existing proxy records are biased towards summer temperatures. We argue that the opposing trends are related to the seasonally different orbital forcing over this interval. Furthermore, our reconstructed trend as well as the recent maximum are consistent with the greenhouse gas forcing and climate model simulations, thus reconciling differing estimates of Arctic and northern high-latitude temperature evolution during the Holocene.

A study on monogenean parasites from the gills of some cichlids(Pisces: Cichlidae) from the Brazilian Amazon.

The aim of this study was to investigate monogenean fauna in gills of Geophagus camopiensis, Pterophyllum scalare, Satanoperca jurupari,and Satanoperca acuticeps in a tributary from the Amazon River system in Brazil. A total of 2,148 monogenean specimens were collected from140 fish examined from March 2012 to March 2013, and 84.3% of these fish were parasitized by 1 or more species. Such monogeneans were:Sciadicleithrum geophagi, Sciadicleithrum juruparii, Gussevia spiralocirra and Gyrodactylus sp. However, only G. camopiensis was parasitizedby more than 1 species of monogenean, while S. jurupari and S. acuticeps were parasitized by the same species. Prevalence, mean intensity andmean abundance varied among host species and the highest levels of infection were by G. spiralocirra followed by S. geophagi, both parasiteswith aggregated dispersion. Abundance of monogeneans was not influenced by the size of the host. In G. camopiensis, the infection levels byS. geophagi did not vary during the rainy or drainage seasons. This is the first study on monogenean infections for G. camopiensis and S. acuticeps.

Study of new particle formation in subtropical urban environment in Brisbane, Australia

Atmospheric ultrafine particles play an important role in affecting human health, altering climate and degrading visibility. Numerous studies have been conducted to better understand the formation process of these particles, including field measurements, laboratory chamber studies and mathematical modeling approaches. Field studies on new particle formation found that formation processes were significantly affected by atmospheric conditions, such as the availability of particle precursors and meteorological conditions. However, those studies were mainly carried out in rural areas of the northern hemisphere and information on new particle formation in urban areas, especially those in subtropical regions, is limited. In general, subtropical regions display a higher level of solar radiation, along with stronger photochemical reactivity, than those regions investigated in previous studies. However, based on the results of these studies, the mechanisms involved in the new particle formation process remain unclear, particularly in the Southern Hemisphere. Therefore, in order to fill this gap in knowledge, a new particle formation study was conducted in a subtropical urban area in the Southern Hemisphere during 2009, which measured particle size distribution in different locations in Brisbane, Australia. Characterisation of nucleation events was conducted at the campus building of the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), located in an urban area of Brisbane. Overall, the annual average number concentrations of ultrafine, Aitken and nucleation mode particles were found to be 9.3 x 103, 3.7 x 103 and 5.6 x 103 cm-3, respectively. This was comparable to levels measured in urban areas of northern Europe, but lower than those from polluted urban areas such as the Yangtze River Delta, China and Huelva and Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain. Average particle number concentration (PNC) in the Brisbane region did not show significant seasonal variation, however a relatively large variation was observed during the warmer season. Diurnal variation of Aitken and nucleation mode particles displayed different patterns, which suggested that direct vehicle exhaust emissions were a major contributor of Aitken mode particles, while nucleation mode particles originated from vehicle exhaust emissions in the morning and photochemical production at around noon. A total of 65 nucleation events were observed during 2009, in which 40 events were classified as nucleation growth events and the remainder were nucleation burst events. An interesting observation in this study was that all nucleation growth events were associated with vehicle exhaust emission plumes, while the nucleation burst events were associated with industrial emission plumes from an industrial area. The average particle growth rate for nucleation events was found to be 4.6 nm hr-1 (ranging from 1.79-7.78 nm hr-1), which is comparable to other urban studies conducted in the United States, while monthly particle growth rates were found to be positively related to monthly solar radiation (r = 0.76, p <0.05). The particle growth rate values reported in this work are the first of their kind to be reported for the subtropical urban area of Australia. Furthermore, the influence of nucleation events on PNC within the urban airshed was also investigated. PNC was simultaneously measured at urban (QUT), roadside (Woolloongabba) and semi-urban (Rocklea) sites in Brisbane during 2009. Total PNC at these sites was found to be significantly affected by regional nucleation events. The relative fractions of PNC to total daily PNC observed at QUT, Woolloongabba and Rocklea were found to be 12%, 9% and 14%, respectively, during regional nucleation events. These values were higher than those observed as a result of vehicle exhaust emissions during weekday mornings, which ranged from 5.1-5.5% at QUT and Woolloongabba. In addition, PNC in the semi-urban area of Rocklea increased by a factor of 15.4 when it was upwind from urban pollution sources under the influence of nucleation burst events. Finally, we investigated the influence of sulfuric acid on new particle formation in the study region. A H2SO4 proxy was calculated by using [SO2], solar radiation and particle condensation sink data to represent the new particle production strength for the urban, roadside and semi-urban areas of Brisbane during the period June-July of 2009. The temporal variations of the H2SO4 proxies and the nucleation mode particle concentration were found to be in phase during nucleation events in the urban and roadside areas. In contrast, the peak of proxy concentration occurred 1-2 hr prior to the observed peak in nucleation mode particle concentration at the downwind semi-urban area of Brisbane. A moderate to strong linear relationship was found between the proxy and the freshly formed particles, with r2 values of 0.26-0.77 during the nucleation events. In addition, the log[H2SO4 proxy] required to produce new particles was found to be ~1.0 ppb Wm-2 s and below 0.5 ppb Wm-2 s for the urban and semi-urban areas, respectively. The particle growth rates were similar during nucleation events at the three study locations, with an average value of 2.7 ± 0.5 nm hr-1. This result suggested that a similar nucleation mechanism dominated in the study region, which was strongly related to sulphuric acid concentration, however the relationship between the proxy and PNC was poor in the semi-urban area of Rocklea. This can be explained by the fact that the nucleation process was initiated upwind of the site and the resultant particles were transported via the wind to Rocklea. This explanation is also supported by the higher geometric mean diameter value observed for particles during the nucleation event and the time lag relationship between the H2SO4 proxy and PNC observed at Rocklea. In summary, particle size distribution was continuously measured in a subtropical urban area of southern hemisphere during 2009, the findings from which formed the first particle size distribution dataset in the study region. The characteristics of nucleation events in the Brisbane region were quantified and the properties of the nucleation growth and burst events are discussed in detail using a case studies approach. To further investigate the influence of nucleation events on PNC in the study region, PNC was simultaneously measured at three locations to examine the spatial variation of PNC during the regional nucleation events. In addition, the impact of upwind urban pollution on the downwind semi-urban area was quantified during these nucleation events. Sulphuric acid was found to be an important factor influencing new particle formation in the urban and roadside areas of the study region, however, a direct relationship with nucleation events at the semi-urban site was not observed. This study provided an overview of new particle formation in the Brisbane region, and its influence on PNC in the surrounding area. The findings of this work are the first of their kind for an urban area in the southern hemisphere.

Spatiotemporal analysis of indigenous and imported dengue fever cases in Guangdong province, China

Background Dengue fever has been a major public health concern in China since it re-emerged in Guangdong province in 1978. This study aimed to explore spatiotemporal characteristics of dengue fever cases for both indigenous and imported cases during recent years in Guangdong province, so as to identify high-risk areas of the province and thereby help plan resource allocation for dengue interventions. Methods Notifiable cases of dengue fever were collected from all 123 counties of Guangdong province from 2005 to 2010. Descriptive temporal and spatial analysis were conducted, including plotting of seasonal distribution of cases, and creating choropleth maps of cumulative incidence by county. The space-time scan statistic was used to determine space-time clusters of dengue fever cases at the county level, and a geographical information system was used to visualize the location of the clusters. Analysis were stratified by imported and indigenous origin. Results 1658 dengue fever cases were recorded in Guangdong province during the study period, including 94 imported cases and 1564 indigenous cases. Both imported and indigenous cases occurred more frequently in autumn. The areas affected by the indigenous and imported cases presented a geographically expanding trend over the study period. The results showed that the most likely cluster of imported cases (relative risk = 7.52, p < 0.001) and indigenous cases (relative risk = 153.56, p < 0.001) occurred in the Pearl River Delta Area; while a secondary cluster of indigenous cases occurred in one district of the Chao Shan Area (relative risk = 471.25, p < 0.001). Conclusions This study demonstrated that the geographic range of imported and indigenous dengue fever cases has expanded over recent years, and cases were significantly clustered in two heavily urbanised areas of Guangdong province. This provides the foundation for further investigation of risk factors and interventions in these high-risk areas.

Evaluation of potential candidate genes involved in salinity tolerance in striped catfish (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus) using an RNA-Seq approach

Increasing salinity levels in freshwater and coastal environments caused by sea level rise linked to climate change is now recognized to be a major factor that can impact fish growth negatively, especially for freshwater teleost species. Striped catfish (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus) is an important freshwater teleost that is now widely farmed across the Mekong River Delta in Vietnam. Understanding the basis for tolerance and adaptation to raised environmental salinity conditions can assist the regional culture industry to mitigate predicted impacts of climate change across this region. Attempt of next generation sequencing using the ion proton platform results in more than 174 million raw reads from three tissue libraries (gill, kidney and intestine). Reads were filtered and de novo assembled using a variety of assemblers and then clustered together to generate a combined reference transcriptome. Downstream analysis resulted in a final reference transcriptome that contained 60,585 transcripts with an N50 of 683 bp. This resource was further annotated using a variety of bioinformatics databases, followed by differential gene expression analysis that resulted in 3062 transcripts that were differentially expressed in catfish samples raised under two experimental conditions (0 and 15 ppt). A number of transcripts with a potential role in salinity tolerance were then classified into six different functional gene categories based on their gene ontology assignments. These included; energy metabolism, ion transportation, detoxification, signal transduction, structural organization and detoxification. Finally, we combined the data on functional salinity tolerance genes into a hypothetical schematic model that attempted to describe potential relationships and interactions among target genes to explain the molecular pathways that control adaptive salinity responses in P. hypophthalmus. Our results indicate that P. hypophthalmus exhibit predictable plastic regulatory responses to elevated salinity by means of characteristic gene expression patterns, providing numerous candidate genes for future investigations.

Aquaculture Asia, Vol.13, No.2, pp.1-56, April-June 2008

Peter Edwards writes on rural aquaculture: From integrated carp polyculture to intensive monoculture in the Pearl River Delta, South China. Better management practices for Vietnamese catfish. Ipomoea aquatica – an aquaculture friendly macrophyte. A status overview of fisheries and aquaculture development in Pakistan with context to other Asian countries. The changing face of post-grad education in aquaculture: contributing to soaring production and sustainable practices. Hatchery management in Bangladesh. Production of Cirrhinus molitorella and Labeo chrysophekadion for culture based fisheries development in Lao PDR Part I: Captive spawning. Application of ipil-ipil leaf meal as feed Ingredient for monosex tilapia fry (Oreochromis niloticus) in terms of growth and economics. Fermented feed ingredients as fish meal replacer in aquafeed production Aquaculture and fishing management in coastal zone demarcation: the case of Thailand. Reservoir fisheries of freshwater prawn – success story of an emerging culture-based giant freshwater prawn fishery at Malampuzha Dam in Kerala, India. Determining and locating sea cage production area for sustainable tropical aquaculture. SPC Pacific-Asia marine fish mariculture technical workshop: “Farming Marine Fishes for our Future”. Developing Better Management Practices for Marine Finfish Aquaculture. Breeding and seed production of silver pompano (Trachinotus blochii, Lacepede) at the Mariculture Development Center of Batam. Potential of silver pomfret (Pampus argenteus) as a new candidate species for aquaculture. NACA Newsletter.

Submarine landslides : selected studies in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone

Submarine Landslides: An Introduction 1 By RIo Lee, W.C. Schwab, and J.S. Booth U.S. Atlantic Continental Slope Landslides: Their Distribution, General Anributes, and Implications 14 By J.S. Booth, D.W. O'Leary, Peter Popenoe, and W.W. Danforth Submarine Mass Movement, a Formative Process of Passive Continental Margins: The Munson-Nygren Landslide Complex and the Southeast New England Landslide Complex 23 By D.W. O'Leary The Cape Fear Landslide: Slope Failure Associated with Salt Diapirism and Gas Hydrate Decomposition 40 By Peter Popenoe, E.A. Schmuck, and W.P. Dillon Ancient Crustal Fractures Control the Location and Size of Collapsed Blocks at the Blake Escarpment, East of Florida 54 By W.P. Dillon, J.S. Risch, K.M. Scanlon, P.C. Valentine, and Q.J. Huggett Tectonic and Stratigraphic Control on a Giant Submarine Slope Failure: Puerto Rico Insular Slope 60 By W.C. Schwab, W.W. Danforth, and K.M. Scanlon Slope Failure of Carbonate Sediment on the West Florida Slope 69 By D.C. Twichell, P.C. Valentine, and L.M. Parson Slope Failures in an Area of High Sedimentation Rate: Offshore Mississippi River Delta 79 By J.M. Coleman, D.B. Prior, L.E. Garrison, and H.J. Lee Salt Tectonics and Slope Failure in an Area of Salt Domes in the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico 92 By B.A. McGregor, R.G. Rothwell, N.H. Kenyon, and D.C. Twichell Slope Stability in Regions 01 Sea-Floor Gas Hydrate: Beaufort Sea Continental Slope 97 By R.E. Kayen and H.J. Lee Mass Movement Related to Large Submarine Canyons Along the Beringian Margin, Alaska 104 By P.R. Carlson, H.A. Karl, B.D. Edwards, J.V. Gardner, and R. Hall Comparison of Tectonic and Stratigraphic Control of Submarine Landslides on the Kodiak Upper Continental Slope, Alaska 117 By M.A. Hampton Submarine Landslides That Had a Significant Impact on Man and His Activities: Seward and Valdez, Alaska 123 By M.A. Hampton, R.W. Lemke, and H.W. Coulter Processes Controlling the Style of Mass Movement in Glaciomarine Sediment: Northeastern Gulf of Alaska 135 By W.C. Schwab and H.J. Lee Contents V VI Contents Liquefaction of Continental Shelf Sediment: The Northern California Earthquake of 1980 143 By M.E. Field A Submarine Landslide Associated with Shallow Sea-Floor Gas and Gas Hydrates off Northern California 151 By M.E. Field and J.H. Barber, Jr. Sur Submarine Landslide, a Deep-Water Sediment Slope Failure 158 By C.E. Gutmacher and W.R. Normark Seismically Induced Mudflow in Santa Barbara Basin, California 167 By B.D. Edwards, H.J. Lee, and M.E. Field Submarine Landslides in a Basin and Ridge Setting, Southern California 176 By M.E. Field and B.D. Edwards Giant Volcano-Related Landslides and the Development of the Hawaiian Islands 184 By W.R. Normark, J.G. Moore, and M.E. Torresan Submarine Slope Failures Initiated by Hurricane Iwa, Kahe Point, Oahu, Hawaii 197 By W.R. Normark, Pat Wilde, J.F. Campbell, T.E. Chase, and Bruce Tsutsui (PDF contains 210 pages)

Poverty and aquatic resources in Vietnam: an assessment of the role and potential of aquatic resource management in poor people's livelihoods

This report seeks to discuss a variety of approaches to poverty in order to illustrate the diversity of poor people, and the range of ways in which people are poor, facilitating a broader understanding of poverty and the significance of aquatic resources in poor people’s livelihoods. This is intended to provide a balance to the general neglect of the poor in the pursuit of aquaculture development within the Fisheries sector. It is also intended that this approach to poverty will assist in the planning and targeting of aquatic resource interventions that aim to promote poverty alleviation. In its many different forms, poverty remains a persistent problem with a great number of people facing deprivation and vulnerable livelihoods. Rates of poverty alleviation also differ; whereas the Red River Delta has achieved the greatest reductions in poverty, the Mekong Delta has achieved the smallest improvements, with possible indications that inequality has increased (see 2.4). Inequality between regions persists despite progress in all regions. (PDF has 37 pages.)

Early-life-history profiles, seasonal abundance, and distribution of four species of Carangid larvae off Louisiana, 1982 and 1983

We present data on ichthyoplankton distribution, abundance, and seasonality and supporting environmental information for four species of coastal pelagics from the family Carangidae: blue runner Caranx crysos, Atlantic bumper Chloroscombrus chrysurus, round scad Decapterus punctatus, and rough scad Trachurus lathami. Data are from 1982 and 1983 cruises off Louisiana sponsored by the Southeastern Area Monitoring and Assessment Program (SEAMAP). Bioprofiles on reproductive biology, early life history, meristics, adult distribution, and fisheries characteristics are also presented for these species. Maximum abundances of larval blue runner, Atlantic bumper, and round scad were found in July inside the 4O-m isobath, although during the rest of the cruises these species were rarely found together. Larval Atlantic bumper were captured in June and July only; blue runner in May, June, and July; and round scad in all seasons. Atlantic bumper larvae, concentrated mostly off western Louisiana, were by far the most abundant carangid in 1982 and 1983. Larval blue runner were the second most abundant summer-spawned carangid in 1982 and 1983, but their abundance and depth distribution varied considerably between years. Relative abundance of larval round scad off Louisiana was low, and they were captured only west of the Mississippi River delta, although they are reported to dominate carangid populations in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Rough scad were primarily winter/spring and outer-shelf (40-182 m) spawners. They ranked third in overall abundance, but were the most abundant target carangid on the outer shelf. Ecological parameters such as surface salinity, temperature, and station depth are presented from capture sites for recently hatched larvae <2.5 mm notochord length, except round scad) as well as for all sizes of fish below 14 mm standard length. (PDF file contains 44 pages.)