Left to right: Justin Baker, Arturo Saldivar, Edward Castaneda. Pulling core to determine standing crop (fine root biomass) in mangrove forest at SRS-4, Shark River Slough

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation through the Florida Coastal Everglades Long-Term Ecological Research program under Cooperative Agreements #DBI-0620409 and #DEB-9910514. This image is made available for non-commercial or educational use only.

Guy, Donna (2009), Women Build the Welfare State. Performing charity and creating rights in Argentina, 1880-1955

Fil: Valobra, Adriana María. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educación. Instituto de Investigaciones en Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales (UNLP-CONICET); Argentina.

Guy, Donna (2009), Women Build the Welfare State. Performing charity and creating rights in Argentina, 1880-1955

Fil: Valobra, Adriana María. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educación. Instituto de Investigaciones en Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales (UNLP-CONICET); Argentina.

Guy, Donna (2009), Women Build the Welfare State. Performing charity and creating rights in Argentina, 1880-1955

Fil: Valobra, Adriana María. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educación. Instituto de Investigaciones en Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales (UNLP-CONICET); Argentina.

Standing stocks and carbon isotopes of live benthic foraminifera from the South Atlantic

Live (Rose Bengal stained) and dead benthic foraminifera of surface and subsurface sediments from 25 stations in the eastern South Atlantic Ocean and the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean were analyzed to decipher a potential influence of seasonally and spatially varying high primary productivity on the stable carbon isotopic composition of foraminiferal tests. Therefore, stations were chosen so that productivity strongly varied, whereas conservative water mass properties changed only little. To define the stable carbon isotopic composition of dissolved inorganic carbon (d13CDIC) in ambient water masses, we compiled new and previously published d13CDIC data in a section running from Antarctica through Agulhas, Cape and Angola Basins, via the Guinea Abyssal Plain to the Equator. We found that intraspecific d13C variability of all species at a single site is constantly low throughout their distribution within the sediments, i.e. species specific and site dependent mean values calculated from all subbottom depths on average only varied by +/-0.09 per mil. This is important because it makes the stable carbon isotopic signal of species independent of the particular microhabitat of each single specimen measured and thus more constant and reliable than has been previously assumed. So-called vital and/or microhabitat effects were further quantified: (1) d13C values of endobenthic Globobulimina affinis, Fursenkoina mexicana, and Bulimina mexicana consistently are by between -1.5 and -1.0 per mil VPDB more depleted than d13C values of preferentially epibenthic Fontbotia wuellerstorfi, Cibicidoides pachyderma, and Lobatula lobatula. (2) In contrast to the Antarctic Polar Front region, at all stations except one on the African continental slope Fontbotia wuellerstorfi records bottom water d13CDIC values without significant offset, whereas L. lobatula and C. pachyderma values deviate from bottom water values by about -0.4 per mil and -0.6 per mil, respectively. This adds to the growing amount of data on contrasting cibicid d13C values which on the one hand support the original 1:1-calibration of F. wuellerstorfi and bottom water d13CDIC, and on the other hand document severe depletions of taxonomically close relatives such as L. lobatula and C. pachyderma. At one station close to Bouvet Island at the western rim of Agulhas Basin, we interpret the offset of -1.5 per mil between bottom water d13CDIC and d13C values of infaunal living Bulimina aculeata in contrast to about -0.6 +/- 0.1 per mil measured at eight stations close-by, as a direct reflection of locally increased organic matter fluxes and sedimentation rates. Alternatively, we speculate that methane locally released from gas vents and related to hydrothermal venting at the mid-ocean ridge might have caused this strong depletion of 13C in the benthic foraminiferal carbon isotopic composition. Along the African continental margin, offsets between deep infaunal Globobulimina affinis and epibenthic Fontbotia wuellerstorfi as well as between shallow infaunal Uvigerina peregrina and F. wuellerstorfi, d13C values tend to increase with generally increasing organic matter decomposition rates. Although clearly more data are needed, these offsets between species might be used for quantification of biogeochemical paleogradients within the sediment and thus paleocarbon flux estimates. Furthermore, our data suggest that in high-productivity areas where sedimentary carbonate contents are lower than 15 weight %, epibenthic and endobenthic foraminiferal d13C values are strongly influenced by 13C enrichment probably due to carbonate-ion undersaturation, whereas above this sedimentary carbonate threshold endobenthic d13C values reflect depleted pore water d13CDIC values.

Linking environmental variables with regional- scale variability in ecological structure and standing stock of carbon within UK kelp forests

Kelp forests represent some of the most productive and diverse habitats on Earth. Understanding drivers of ecological patterns at large spatial scales is critical for effective management and conservation of marine habitats. We surveyed kelp forests dominated by Laminaria hyperborea (Gunnerus) Foslie 1884 across 9° latitude and >1000 km of coastline and measured a number of physical parameters at multiple scales to link ecological structure and standing stock of carbon with environmental variables. Kelp density, biomass, morphology and age were generally greater in exposed sites within regions, highlighting the importance of wave exposure in structuring L. hyperborea populations. At the regional scale, wave-exposed kelp canopies in the cooler regions (the north and west of Scotland) were greater in biomass, height and age than in warmer regions (southwest Wales and England). The range and maximal values of estimated standing stock of carbon contained within kelp forests was greater than in historical studies, suggesting that this ecosystem property may have been previously undervalued. Kelp canopy density was positively correlated with large-scale wave fetch and fine-scale water motion, whereas kelp canopy biomass and the standing stock of carbon were positively correlated with large-scale wave fetch and light levels and negatively correlated with temperature. As light availability and summer temperature were important drivers of kelp forest biomass, effective management of human activities that may affect coastal water quality is necessary to maintain ecosystem functioning, while increased temperatures related to anthropogenic climate change may impact the structure of kelp forests and the ecosystem services they provide.

Linking environmental variables with regional- scale variability in ecological structure and standing stock of carbon within UK kelp forests

Kelp forests represent some of the most productive and diverse habitats on Earth. Understanding drivers of ecological patterns at large spatial scales is critical for effective management and conservation of marine habitats. We surveyed kelp forests dominated by Laminaria hyperborea (Gunnerus) Foslie 1884 across 9° latitude and >1000 km of coastline and measured a number of physical parameters at multiple scales to link ecological structure and standing stock of carbon with environmental variables. Kelp density, biomass, morphology and age were generally greater in exposed sites within regions, highlighting the importance of wave exposure in structuring L. hyperborea populations. At the regional scale, wave-exposed kelp canopies in the cooler regions (the north and west of Scotland) were greater in biomass, height and age than in warmer regions (southwest Wales and England). The range and maximal values of estimated standing stock of carbon contained within kelp forests was greater than in historical studies, suggesting that this ecosystem property may have been previously undervalued. Kelp canopy density was positively correlated with large-scale wave fetch and fine-scale water motion, whereas kelp canopy biomass and the standing stock of carbon were positively correlated with large-scale wave fetch and light levels and negatively correlated with temperature. As light availability and summer temperature were important drivers of kelp forest biomass, effective management of human activities that may affect coastal water quality is necessary to maintain ecosystem functioning, while increased temperatures related to anthropogenic climate change may impact the structure of kelp forests and the ecosystem services they provide.

Unified: The Musical by Guy Le Jeune

A large-scale community play based on interviews with former workers at the Unifi textile plant in Letterkenny, Co. Donegal

Assisted standing for Duchenne muscular dystrophy

This is the protocol for a review and there is no abstract. The objectives are as follows: To assess the effects of standing devices and orthoses on musculoskeletal impairments (such as pain, contracture, scoliosis development and bone density) in people with DMD, and secondarily to determine their effect on quality of life, participation in activities, and patient experience.

Enhanced durability of Li-O2 batteries employing vertically standing Ti nanowire array supported cathodes

Ti nanowire arrays vertically standing on Ti foam prepared by a facile corrosion method were used as self-supported Li-O₂ battery cathodes. The batteries exhibited enhanced durability at high rate current densities (e.g. cycling 640 times at 5 A g^-1).