Data compilation on the biological response to ocean acidification: environmental and experimental context of data sets and related literature

The exponential growth of studies on the biological response to ocean acidification over the last few decades has generated a large amount of data. To facilitate data comparison, a data compilation hosted at the data publisher PANGAEA was initiated in 2008 and is updated on a regular basis (doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.149999). By January 2015, a total of 581 data sets (over 4 000 000 data points) from 539 papers had been archived. Here we present the developments of this data compilation five years since its first description by Nisumaa et al. (2010). Most of study sites from which data archived are still in the Northern Hemisphere and the number of archived data from studies from the Southern Hemisphere and polar oceans are still relatively low. Data from 60 studies that investigated the response of a mix of organisms or natural communities were all added after 2010, indicating a welcomed shift from the study of individual organisms to communities and ecosystems. The initial imbalance of considerably more data archived on calcification and primary production than on other processes has improved. There is also a clear tendency towards more data archived from multifactorial studies after 2010. For easier and more effective access to ocean acidification data, the ocean acidification community is strongly encouraged to contribute to the data archiving effort, and help develop standard vocabularies describing the variables and define best practices for archiving ocean acidification data.

Clergy Compensation: National Trends and Local Realities

Final Report from the Clergy Compensation Study

Clergy Compensation: National Trends and Local Realities

Final Report from the Clergy Compensation Study

Nanotechnology in the food industry I: applications

Nanotechnology is a multidisciplinary science that is having a boom today, providing new products with attractive physicochemical properties for many applications. In agri/feed/food sector, nanotechnology offers great opportunities for obtaining products and innovative applications for agriculture and livestock, water treatment and the production, processing, storage and packaging of food. To this end, a wide variety of nanomaterials, ranging from metals and inorganic metal oxides to organic nanomaterials carrying bioactive ingredients are applied. This review shows an overview of current and future applications of nanotechnology in the food industry. Food additives and materials in contact with food are now the main applications, while it is expected that in the future are in the field of nano-encapsulated and nanocomposites in applications as novel foods, additives, biocides, pesticides and materials food contact.

Strong connections, loose coupling: the influence of the Bering Sea ecosystem on commercial fisheries and subsistence harvests in Alaska

Human-environment connections are the subject of much study, and the details of those connections are crucial factors in effective environmental management. In a large, interdisciplinary study of the eastern Bering Sea ecosystem involving disciplines from physical oceanography to anthropology, one of the research teams examined commercial fisheries and another looked at subsistence harvests by Alaska Natives. Commercial fisheries and subsistence harvests are extensive, demonstrating strong connections between the ecosystem and the humans who use it. At the same time, however, both research teams concluded that the influence of ecosystem conditions on the outcomes of human activities was weaker than anticipated. Likely explanations of this apparently loose coupling include the ability of fishers and hunters to adjust to variable conditions, and the role of social systems and management in moderating the direct effects of changes in the ecosystem. We propose a new conceptual model for future studies that incorporates a greater range of social factors and their dynamics, in addition to similarly detailed examinations of the ecosystem itself.

Das Erzbistum Trier 13. Die Benediktinerabtei St. Maximin vor Trier

Die wohl um 700 aus einer Priestersozietät an der Grabeskirche des Trierer Bischofs Maximin (329-vor 347) herausgebildete Mönchsgemeinschaft im Trierer Stadtgebiet gehörte im Mittelalter zu den fünf begütertsten Reichsabteien. Dies erlaubte der Abtei trotz ihrer Anfänge als Bischofskloster schon bald eine weitgehend selbständige Stellung zwischen den regionalen Mächten Trier und Luxemburg, die sie bis zu ihrer Aufhebung im Jahre 1802 behaupten konnte. Einen religiösen und kulturellen Höhepunkt bewirkte im 10. Jahrhundert die Nähe der Abtei zum ottonischen Herrscherhaus. Durch die Nutzung der Maximiner Reformordnung als Mittel der Intensivierung der Kirchenpolitik seitens der Ottonen erlangte das Kloster den Status einer Reichsabtei, führte zahlreiche Reformen in den Gliedern der Reichskirche durch und wurde zur Ausbildungsstätte des höheren Klerus, so dass in dieser Ära aus dem Maximiner Konvent 42 Äbte anderer Klöster hervorgingen. Bemerkenswert an dieser Abtei war nicht nur ihre spezifische Ausformung der Benedictusregel und ihr materieller Reichtum, sondern auch ihr zeitweilig sehr produktives, um 1000 mit der Egbert-Schule verbundenes Skriptorium.

Les métamorphoses du rapport politique à la mort (recherche de pivots structurant la réflexion en médecine palliative)

Notre recherche explore quelques moments forts des métamorphoses du rapport politique à la mortalité sous examen des thèmes de l’interdit, de la dignité, de l’autonomie et de l’altérité. Nous dégageons des ancrages propices à nourrir la pensée actuelle en médecine palliative. Ainsi, nous livrons une enquête philosophique, appréciant pour nous Occidentaux, les influences marquantes des pensées gréco-romaine, chrétienne et moderne. Ces bases, édifiant notre monde politique, ont suscité l’émergence de la médecine palliative. C’est pourquoi, nous tentons de caractériser et de comprendre les problématiques nouvelles, dans leurs aspects politique et éthique, envisagées à l’aune des formes contemporaines d’accompagnement des mourants. Notre effort tente de discerner les aspirations et les impasses. L’étude de la métamorphose des repères fait ressortir une dissociation accentuée au fil du temps. En effet, au fur et à mesure, notre entreprise d’interprétation du fondement de ces questions politiques dévoilait : une reconnaissance universelle de l’interdit d’homicide, mais accusant une perte du lien moral au profit d’une visée amorale ; un aval unanime du respect de la dignité, mais manifestant une confusion et une division ostensible entre conceptions intrinsèque et extrinsèque ; une affirmation péremptoire de l’autonomie, mais avec une distanciation marquée au regard de la façon d’envisager la part de l’autre ; une déclinaison de liens humains reconnus de tous, mais exacerbés dans une tension artificielle entre individualisme et altruisme. Au surplus, en constatant la distance et la dislocation entre le public et le privé, entre la réclamation de fraternité et la recherche d’amicalité signifiante, nous avons envisagé la communauté palliative comme un lieu de résistance à cette décomposition menaçante au sein de la communauté politique. À terme de l’analyse, nous avons fondé les concepts « d’allonomie » et de « suspension éthique ». Il s’agit de contributions originales destinées à donner à la philosophie toute sa dimension sapientielle au service de l’accompagnement palliatif.

Performance des chantiers ouverts en contexte de mines profondes

Le présent mémoire expose les résultats d’une étude de la performance des chantiers ouverts dans un contexte de mines profondes ayant été effectuée dans le cadre du projet de recherche « Mines profondes : défis d’exploitation et impacts sur la récupération minéralurgique » réalisé par le département de génie des mines, de la métallurgie et des matériaux de l’Université Laval. Les données utilisées dans le cadre de cette étude sont en lien avec la planification et l’exploitation de plus de mille chantiers minés entre 860 et 2 450 m de profondeur à la mine souterraine LaRonde de Mines Agnico Eagle, la plus profonde actuellement de l’hémisphère ouest. On y présente une revue de la littérature qui fait la description des problématiques de dilution et de pertes opérationnelles de la réserve minérale liées à la performance des chantiers ouverts ainsi que de leurs conséquences sur les projets miniers. Une comparaison des performances planifiées et réalisées au site de LaRonde y est présentée, ainsi que les résultats d’analyses statistiques ayant permis de montrer que la variation du ratio des contraintes in situ avec la profondeur est un facteur d’influence significatif de la performance des chantiers. L’effet de ce facteur d’influence y est aussi illustré et validé à l’aide d’une série de modèles numériques. Le mémoire présente également une première approche visant à développer un modèle d’évaluation de la dilution dans les chantiers ouverts qui prend en compte la profondeur de minage. Finalement, afin d’améliorer la précision de l’estimation de la réserve minérale lors de l’évaluation de projets miniers, une méthodologie d’estimation intégrant le modèle d’évaluation proposé est présentée pour les projets dont les contextes géologique, géotechnique et opérationnel sont comparables à ceux du site de LaRonde.

Doppelgänger

Catalogue and invitation card for Exhibition at Eagle Gallery, London. 16 June – 16 July 2016 “My paintings are like ghost schema, assemblages of images and surfaces that generate spectral encounters.” James Fisher’s paintings are carefully calibrated. They explore dualities and employ complex visual palimpsests to construct images that are rich with association. Abstract and figurative motifs are laid on different layers of their surfaces, covered over, and re-discovered through sanding back the paint. As a former British School at Rome Scholar, Fisher’s early work was influenced by the study of fresco painting and he retains an approach that allows for time and chance to enter the process of painting. Fabrication – in the sense both of making things and making things up – produces enigmatic and mysterious results. Many of Fisher’s recent paintings are titled after notable, now forgotten women, or after characters from folklore and comic books. The range of subject matter allows him to conflate biography with fiction, and to borrow from a wide range of visual sources for patterned elements that formally hold in place the more fugitive suggestions of the images. Fisher’s fourth solo exhibition at the Eagle Gallery coincides with the selection of two works in this year’s Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, and his inclusion in Towards Night – a forthcoming exhibition at the Towner, Eastbourne.

The Herculaneum Graffiti Project: Initial Field Season, 2014

This article describes the goals and activities for the first field season of The Herculaneum Graffiti Project. Our project fo-cuses on documenting and digitizing to make more broadly accessible the first-century handwritten wall-inscriptions, also called graffiti, in Herculaneum. Following an overview of the presence of ancient graffiti in Herculaneum, this report details the methodology we used to locate and document the inscriptions and the preservation status of ancient graffiti in each insula, or city-block, of the excavations. We further describe the preliminary results of the project’s documentation efforts. We are currently studying, processing, and digitizing these inscriptions and contributing them for inclusion in the Epigraphic Database Roma and EAGLE, the Europeana network of Ancient Greek and Latin Epigraphy. We conclude with a brief mention of development of The Ancient Graffiti Project, the digital resource and search engine devoted to ancient handwritten inscriptions.

S. R. Kirby 116235

This vessel was built at Wyandotte, Michigan by the Detroit Dry Dock Company in 1890. She was 2338 gross ton. Until 1916, when she foundered about 8 miles north of Eagle Harbor, Michigan in Lake Superior May 8, 1916 with a cargo of iron ore, she was owned by the North Western Transportation Company of Detroit, Michigan. Two of the twenty-two crew members were lost.

The symbolic, socio-economic and exchange value of Imperial German and National Socialist medals and badges, 1701 to the present

This thesis examines the manufacture, use, exchange (including gift exchange), collecting and commodification of German medals and badges from the early 18th century until the present-day, with particular attention being given to the symbols that were deployed by the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP) between 1919 and 1945. It does so by focusing in particular on the construction of value through insignia, and how such badges and their symbolic and monetary value changed over time. In order to achieve this, the thesis adopts a chronological structure, which encompasses the creation of Prussia in 1701, the Napoleonic wars and the increased democratisation of military awards such as the Iron Cross during the Great War. The collapse of the Kaiserreich in 1918 was the major factor that led to the creation of the NSDAP under the eventual strangle-hold of Hitler, a fundamentally racist and anti-Semitic movement that continued the German tradition of awarding and wearing badges. The traditional symbols of Imperial Germany, such as the eagle, were then infused with the swastika, an emblem that was meant to signify anti-Semitism, thus creating a hybrid identity. This combination was then replicated en-masse, and eventually eclipsed all the symbols that had possessed symbolic significance in Germany’s past. After Hitler was appointed Chancellor in 1933, millions of medals and badges were produced in an effort to create a racially based “People’s Community”, but the steel and iron that were required for munitions eventually led to substitute materials being utilised and developed in order to manufacture millions of politically oriented badges. The Second World War unleashed Nazi terror across Europe, and the conscripts and volunteers who took part in this fight for living-space were rewarded with medals that were modelled on those that had been instituted during Imperial times. The colonial conquest and occupation of the East by the Wehrmacht, the Order Police and the Waffen-SS surpassed the brutality of former wars that finally culminated in the Holocaust, and some of these horrific crimes and the perpetrators of them were perversely rewarded with medals and badges. Despite Nazism being thoroughly discredited, many of the Allied soldiers who occupied Germany took part in the age-old practice of obtaining trophies of war, which reconfigured the meaning of Nazi badges as souvenirs, and began the process of their increased commodification on an emerging secondary collectors’ market. In order to analyse the dynamics of this market, a “basket” of badges is examined that enables a discussion of the role that aesthetics, scarcity and authenticity have in determining the price of the artefacts. In summary, this thesis demonstrates how the symbolic, socio-economic and exchange value of German military and political medals and badges has changed substantially over time, provides a stimulus for scholars to conduct research in this under-developed area, and encourages collectors to investigate the artefacts that they collect in a more historically contextualised manner.

Análise biogeográfica da dieta de um predador de topo ao longo da região Paleártica

Existem vários estudos sobre a dieta de predadores de topo a uma escala local, mas o estudo da dieta de uma espécie ao longo de diferentes regiões geográficas poderá permitir a deteção de certos padrões e variações ecológicas. Para estudar a variação biogeográfica da dieta do bufo-real (Bubo bubo) ao longo do Paleártico criou-se uma base de dados baseada em 192 estudos. Pretendia-se analisar padrões em macro-escala de descritores da dieta e avaliar o efeito de diferentes condições ambientais, de descritores da paisagem e da disponibilidade de presas. Registaram-se 346813 presas de 698 espécies distintas. As principais presas são os lagomorfos e os roedores, enquanto que as aves constituem importantes presas alternativas. Temperaturas mais elevadas favorecem a diversidade trófica, mas esta diminui com a latitude e a longitude. Os resultados revelam a natureza oportunista do bufo-real e a sua elevada adaptabilidade trófica a diferentes habitats e condições ambientais; Biogeographic analysis of a top predator's diet across the Paleartic Region Summary: There are several studies about top predators' diet at a local scale, but studying a species diet across different geographic regions may allow the detection of certain patterns and variations which might influence its ecological features. We created a database of 192 papers to study the diet of the Eurasian Eagle Owl (Bubo bubo) across the Palearctic region. We analysed large scale biogeographical patterns of diet descriptors in relation to different environmental conditions, including climate, landscape and prey availability. We recorded 346816 preys from 698 different species. The main prey groups are lagomorphs and rodents, whereas birds represent important alternative prey. Higher temperatures favour a higher trophic diversity, which in turn decreases at lower latitudes and longitudes. The results reveal the opportunistic nature of the Eurasian Eagle Owl and its high trophic adaptability to different habitats and environments.

Seasonal differences in migration patterns of a soaring bird in relation to environmental conditions: a multi-scale approach

Many studies suggest that migratory birds are expected to travel more quickly during spring, when they are en route to the breeding grounds, in order to ensure a high-quality territory. Using data recorded by means of Global Positioning System satellite tags, we analysed at three temporal scales (hourly, daily and overall journey) seasonal differences in migratory performance of the booted eagle (Aquila pennata), a soaring raptor migrating between Europe and tropical Africa, taking into account environmental conditions such as wind, thermal uplift and day length. Unexpectedly, booted eagles showed higher travel rates (hourly speed, daily distance, overall migration speed and overall straightness) during autumn, even controlling for abiotic factors, probably thanks to higher hourly speeds, more straight routes and less non-travelling days during autumn. Tailwinds were the main environmental factor affecting daily distance. During spring, booted eagles migrated more quickly when flying over the Sahara desert. Our results raise new questions about which ecological and behavioural reasons promote such unexpected faster speeds in autumn and not during spring and how events occurring in very different regions can affect migratory performance, interacting with landscape characteristics, weather conditions and flight behaviour.

Detection and assessment of electrocution in endangered raptors by infrared thermography

BACKGROUND Most European birds of prey find themselves in a poor state of conservation, with electrocution as one of the most frequent causes of unnatural death. Since early detection of electrocution is difficult, treatment is usually implemented late, which reduces its effectiveness. By considering that electrocution reduces tissue temperature, it may be detectable by thermography, which would allow a more rapid identification. Three individuals from three endangered raptor species [Spanish imperial eagle (Aquila adalberti), Lammergeier (Gypaetus barbatus) and Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)] were studied thermographically from the time they were admitted to a rehabilitation centre to the time their clinical cases were resolved. CASES PRESENTATION The three raptors presented lesions lacking thermal bilateral symmetry and were consistent with electrocution of feet, wings and eyes, visible by thermography before than clinically; lesions were well-defined and showed a lower temperature than the surrounding tissue. Some lesions evolved thermally and clinically until the appearance of normal tissue recovered, while others evolved and became necrotic. A histopathological analysis of a damaged finger amputated off a Lammergeier, and the necropsy and histopathology examination of an osprey, confirmed the electrocution diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that thermography is effective and useful for the objective and early detection and monitoring of electrocuted birds, and that it may prove especially useful for examining live animals that require no amputation or cannot be subjected to invasive histopathology.