Seawater carbonate chemistry, calcification and survival of coral recruits in a laboratory experiment

Manipulative studies have demonstrated that ocean acidification (OA) is a threat to coral reefs, yet no experiments have employed diurnal variations in pCO2 that are ecologically relevant to many shallow reefs. Two experiments were conducted to test the response of coral recruits (less than 6 days old) to diurnally oscillating pCO2; one exposing recruits for 3 days to ambient (440 µatm), high (663 µatm) and diurnally oscillating pCO2 on a natural phase (420-596 µatm), and another exposing recruits for 6 days to ambient (456 µatm), high (837 µatm) and diurnally oscillating pCO2 on either a natural or a reverse phase (448-845 µatm). In experiment I, recruits exposed to natural-phased diurnally oscillating pCO2 grew 6-19% larger than those in ambient or high pCO2. In experiment II, recruits in both high and natural-phased diurnally oscillating pCO2 grew 16 per cent larger than those at ambient pCO2, and this was accompanied by 13-18% higher survivorship; the stimulatory effect on growth of oscillatory pCO2 was diminished by administering high pCO2 during the day (i.e. reverse-phased). These results demonstrate that coral recruits can benefit from ecologically relevant fluctuations in pCO2 and we hypothesize that the mechanism underlying this response is highly pCO2-mediated, night-time storage of dissolved inorganic carbon that fuels daytime calcification.

Seawater carbonate chemistry and growth, calcification of Thoracosphaera heimii in a laboratory experiment

Ocean acidification is considered a major threat to marine ecosystems and may particularly affect calcifying organisms such as corals, foraminifera and coccolithophores. Here we investigate the impact of elevated pCO2 and lowered pH on growth and calcification in the common calcareous dinoflagellate Thoracosphaera heimii. We observe a substantial reduction in growth rate, calcification and cyst stability of T. heimii under elevated pCO2. Furthermore, transcriptomic analyses reveal CO2 sensitive regulation of many genes, particularly those being associated to inorganic carbon acquisition and calcification. Stable carbon isotope fractionation for organic carbon production increased with increasing pCO2 whereas it decreased for calcification, which suggests interdependence between both processes. We also found a strong effect of pCO2 on the stable oxygen isotopic composition of calcite, in line with earlier observations concerning another T. heimii strain. The observed changes in stable oxygen and carbon isotope composition of T. heimii cysts may provide an ideal tool for reconstructing past seawater carbonate chemistry, and ultimately past pCO2. Although the function of calcification in T. heimii remains unresolved, this trait likely plays an important role in the ecological and evolutionary success of this species. Acting on calcification as well as growth, ocean acidification may therefore impose a great threat for T. heimii.

Seawater carbonate chemistry and egg production, hatching and metabolic rates of a Mediterranean copepod species (Acartia clausi) in a laboratory experiment

This study includes the first information on the combined effect of low pH and raised temperature on egg production rate (EP), hatching success (HS), excretion and respiration of the Mediterranean copepod Acartia clausi. Adult individuals of A. clausi and fresh surface seawater were collected at a coastal station in Saronikos Gulf during April 2012. Four different conditions were applied: two different pH levels (present: 8.09 and future: 7.83) at two temperature values (present: 16°C and present+4 °C= 20°C). EP and HS success decreased significantly over the duration of exposure at future pH at both temperature conditions. However, the analysis of the combined effect of pH, T, chlorophyll a and the duration of the experiments on EP and HS revealed that ocean acidification had no discernible effect, whereas warming; food and the duration of exposure were more significant for the reproductive output of A. clausi. Temperature appeared to have a positive effect on respiration and excretion. Acidification had no clear effect on respiration, but a negative effect on the A. clausi excretion was observed. Acidification and warming resulted in the increase of the excretion rate and the increase was higher than that observed by warming only. Our findings showed that a direct effect of ocean acidification on copepod's vital rates was not obvious, except maybe in the case of excretion. Therefore, the combination of acidification with the ambient oligotrophic conditions and the warming could result in species being less able to allocate resources for coping with multiple stressors.

R-ArcticNet, A Regional Hydrographic Data Network for the Pan-Arctic Region (ISO-image of CD-ROM)

We describe the contemporary hydrography of the pan-Arctic land area draining into the Arctic Ocean, northern Bering Sea, and Hudson Bay on the basis of observational records of river discharge and computed runoff. The Regional Arctic Hydrographic Network data set, R-ArcticNET, is presented, which is based on 3754 recording stations drawn from Russian, Canadian, European, and U.S. archives. R-ArcticNET represents the single largest data compendium of observed discharge in the Arctic. Approximately 73% of the nonglaciated area of the pan-Arctic is monitored by at least one river discharge gage giving a mean gage density of 168 gages per 106 km2. Average annual runoff is 212 mm yr?1 with approximately 60% of the river discharge occurring from April to July. Gridded runoff surfaces are generated for the gaged portion of the pan-Arctic region to investigate global change signals. Siberia and Alaska showed increases in winter runoff during the 1980s relative to the 1960s and 1970s during annual and seasonal periods. These changes are consistent with observations of change in the climatology of the region. Western Canada experienced decreased spring and summer runoff.

Seawater carbonate chemistry and reproductive properties of the benthic copepod Tigriopus japonicus and gastropod Babylonia japonica in a laboratory experiment

We investigated the effects of elevated pCO2 in seawater both on the acute mortality and the reproductive properties of the benthic copepod Tigriopus japonicus and gastropod Babylonia japonica with the purpose of accumulating basic data for assessing potential environmental impacts of sub-sea geological storage of anthropogenic CO2 in Japan. Acute tests showed that nauplii of T. japonicus have a high tolerance to elevated pCO2 environments. Full life cycle tests on T. japonicus indicated NOEC = 5800 µatm and LOEC = 37,000 µatm. Adult B. japonica showed remarkable resistance to elevated pCO2 in the acute tests. Embryonic development of B. japonica showed a NOEC = 1500 µatm and LOEC = 5400 µatm. T. japonicus showed high resistance to elevated pCO2 throughout the life cycle and B. japonica are rather sensitive during the veliger stage when they started to form their shells.

Seawater carbonate chemistry and elemental composition of purple sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) calcite in a laboratory experiment

Ocean acidification will likely have negative impacts on invertebrates producing skeletons composed of calcium carbonate. Skeletal solubility is partly controlled by the incorporation of "foreign" ions (e.g. magnesium) into the crystal lattice of these skeletal structures, a process that is sensitive to a variety of biological and environmental factors. Here we explore effects of life stage, oceanographic region of origin, and changes in the partial pressure of carbon dioxide in seawater (pCO2) on trace elemental composition in the purple sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus). We show that, similar to other urchin taxa, adult purple sea urchins have the ability to precipitate skeleton composed of a range of biominerals spanning low- to high-Mg calcites. Mg / Ca and Sr / Ca ratios were substantially lower in adult spines compared to adult tests. On the other hand, trace elemental composition was invariant among adults collected from four oceanographically distinct regions spanning a range of carbonate chemistry conditions (Oregon, Northern California, Central California, and Southern California). Skeletons of newly settled juvenile urchins that originated from adults from the four regions exhibited intermediate Mg / Ca and Sr / Ca between adult spine and test endmembers, indicating that skeleton precipitated during early life stages is more soluble than adult spines and less soluble than adult tests. Mean skeletal Mg / Ca or Sr / Ca of juvenile skeleton did not vary with source region when larvae were reared under present-day, global-average seawater carbonate conditions (400 µatm; pHT = 8.02 ± 0.03 1 SD; Omega calcite = 3.3 ± 0.2 1 SD). However, when reared under elevated pCO2 (900 µatm; pHT = 7.73 ± 0.03; Omega calcite = 1.8 ± 0.1), skeletal Sr / Ca in juveniles exhibited increased variance across the four regions. Although larvae from the northern populations (Oregon, Northern California, Central California) did not exhibit differences in Mg or Sr incorporation under elevated pCO2 (Sr / Ca = 2.10 ± 0.06 mmol/mol; Mg / Ca = 67.4 ± 3.9 mmol/mol), juveniles of Southern California origin partitioned ~8% more Sr into their skeletons when exposed to higher pCO2 (Sr / Ca = 2.26 ± 0.08 vs. 2.09 ± 0.005 mmol/mol 1 SD). Together these results suggest that the diversity of carbonate minerologies present across different skeletal structures and life stages in purple sea urchins does not translate into an equivalent geochemical plasticity of response associated with geographic variation or temporal shifts in seawater properties. Rather, composition of S. purpuratus skeleton precipitated during both early and adult life history stages appears relatively robust to spatial gradients and predicted future changes in carbonate chemistry. An exception to this trend may arise during early life stages, where certain populations of purple sea urchins may alter skeletal mineral precipitation rates and composition beyond a given pCO2 threshold. This potential for geochemical plasticity during early development in contrast to adult stage geochemical resilience adds to the growing body of evidence that ocean acidification can have differing effects across organismal life stages.

Next generation e-learning platform: virtual laboratory simulations

Bioscience subjects require a significant amount of training in laboratory techniques to produce highly skilled science graduates. Many techniques which are currently used in diagnostic, research and industrial laboratories require expensive equipment for single users; examples of which include next generation sequencing, quantitative PCR, mass spectrometry and other analytical techniques. The cost of the machines, reagents and limited access frequently preclude undergraduate students from using such cutting edge techniques. In addition to cost and availability, the time taken for analytical runs on equipment such as High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) does not necessarily fit with the limitations of timetabling. Understanding the theory underlying these techniques without the accompanying practical classes can be unexciting for students. One alternative from wet laboratory provision is to use virtual simulations of such practical which enable students to see the machines and interact with them to generate data. The Faculty of Science and Technology at the University of Westminster has provided all second and third year undergraduate students with iPads so that these students all have access to a mobile device to assist with learning. We have purchased licences from Labster to access a range of virtual laboratory simulations. These virtual laboratories are fully equipped and require student responses to multiple answer questions in order to progress through the experiment. In a pilot study to look at the feasibility of the Labster virtual laboratory simulations with the iPad devices; second year Biological Science students (n=36) worked through the Labster HPLC simulation on iPads. The virtual HPLC simulation enabled students to optimise the conditions for the separation of drugs. Answers to Multiple choice questions were necessary to progress through the simulation, these focussed on the underlying principles of the HPLC technique. Following the virtual laboratory simulation students went to a real HPLC in the analytical suite in order to separate of asprin, caffeine and paracetamol. In a survey 100% of students (n=36) in this cohort agreed that the Labster virtual simulation had helped them to understand HPLC. In free text responses one student commented that "The terminology is very clear and I enjoyed using Labster very much”. One member of staff commented that “there was a very good knowledge interaction with the virtual practical”.

Point-and-shoot: rapid quantitative detection methods for on-site food fraud analysis – moving out of the laboratory and into the food supply chain

Major food adulteration and contamination events occur with alarming regularity and are known to be episodic, with the question being not if but when another large-scale food safety/integrity incident will occur. Indeed, the challenges of maintaining food security are now internationally recognised. The ever increasing scale and complexity of food supply networks can lead to them becoming significantly more vulnerable to fraud and contamination, and potentially dysfunctional. This can make the task of deciding which analytical methods are more suitable to collect and analyse (bio)chemical data within complex food supply chains, at targeted points of vulnerability, that much more challenging. It is evident that those working within and associated with the food industry are seeking rapid, user-friendly methods to detect food fraud and contamination, and rapid/high-throughput screening methods for the analysis of food in general. In addition to being robust and reproducible, these methods should be portable and ideally handheld and/or remote sensor devices, that can be taken to or be positioned on/at-line at points of vulnerability along complex food supply networks and require a minimum amount of background training to acquire information rich data rapidly (ergo point-and-shoot). Here we briefly discuss a range of spectrometry and spectroscopy based approaches, many of which are commercially available, as well as other methods currently under development. We discuss a future perspective of how this range of detection methods in the growing sensor portfolio, along with developments in computational and information sciences such as predictive computing and the Internet of Things, will together form systems- and technology-based approaches that significantly reduce the areas of vulnerability to food crime within food supply chains. As food fraud is a problem of systems and therefore requires systems level solutions and thinking.

Utilizing “Big Data” to Improve the Hotel Sector’s Energy Efficiency: Lessons from Recent Economics Research

Hotel chains have access to a treasure trove of “big data” on individual hotels’ monthly electricity and water consumption. Benchmarked comparisons of hotels within a specific chain create the opportunity to cost-effectively improve the environmental performance of specific hotels. This paper describes a simple approach for using such data to achieve the joint goals of reducing operating expenditure and achieving broad sustainability goals. In recent years, energy economists have used such “big data” to generate insights about the energy consumption of the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors. Lessons from these studies are directly applicable for the hotel sector. A hotel’s administrative data provide a “laboratory” for conducting random control trials to establish what works in enhancing hotel energy efficiency.

Records Management System: Indexing Standard, Document Standard, Technology Standard, Laboratory Configuration, 1997

Purpose of Records Management Sysytem indexing standards document is to develop indexing standards that will best support Iowa DOT's effort to build an agency-wide Records Management System

Supporting data for Blossey et al (2016): CGILS Phase 2 LES intercomparison of response of subtropical marine low cloud regimes to CO2 quadrupling and a CMIP3-composite forcing change

This archive provides supporting data with forcings, data and plotting scripts for the paper P. N. Blossey, C. S. Bretherton, A. Cheng, S. Endo, T. Heus, A. Lock and J. J. van der Dussen, 2016. CGILS Phase 2 LES intercomparison of response of subtropical marine low cloud regimes to CO2 quadrupling and a CMIP3-composite forcing change. J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst., Under revision.

X-Ray powder diffraction laboratory @ University of Málaga (UMA)

X-Ray Powder Diffraction (XRPD) laboratory is a facility placed at Servicios Centrales de apoyo a la Investigación (SCAI) at University of Malaga (UMA) http://www.scai.uma.es/. This facility has three XRPD diffractometers and a diffractometer to measure high-resolution thin-films. X´Pert PRO MPD from PANalytical. This is a bragg-brentano (theta/2theta) with reflection geometry diffractometer which allows to obtain high resolution XRPD data with strictly monochromatic CuKα1 radiation (λ=1.54059Å) [Ge(111) primary monochromator] and an automatic sample charger. Moreover, it has parallel monochromatic CuKα1 radiation (λ=1.54059Å) with an hybrid Ge(220) monochromator for capillary and multiproposal (bulk samples up to 1 Kg) sample holders. The HTK1200N chamber from Anton Paar allows collecting high resolution high temperature patterns. EMPYREAN from PANalytical. This diffractometer works in reflection and transmission geometries with theta/theta goniometer, using CuKα1,2 radiation (λ=1.5418Å), a focusing X-ray mirror and a ultra-fast PIXCEL 3D detector with 1D and 2D collection data modes (microstructural and preferred orientation analysis). Moreover, the TTK450N chamber allows low temperature and up to 450ºC studies. A D8 ADVANCE (BRUKER) was installed in April 2014. It is the first diffractometer in Europe equipped with a Johansson Ge(111) primary monochromator, which gives a strictly monochromatic Mo radiation (λ=0.7093 Å) [1]. It works in transmission mode (with a sample charger) with this high resolution configuration. XRPD data suitable for PDF (Pair Distribution Function) analysis can be collected with a capillary sample holder, due to the high energy and high resolution capabilities of this diffractometer. Moreover, it has a humidity chamber MHC-trans from Anton Paar working on transmission mode with MoKα1 (measurements can be collected at 5 to 95% of relative humidity (from 20 to 80 ºC) and up to 150ºC [2]). Furthermore, this diffractometer also has a reaction chamber XRK900 from Anton Paar (which uses CuKα1,2 radiation in reflection mode), which allows data collection from room temperature to 900ºC with up to 10 bar of different gases. Finally, a D8 DISVOVER A25 from BRUKER was installed on December 2014. It has a five axis Euler cradler and optics devices suitable for high resolution thin film data collection collected in in-plane and out-of-plane modes. To sum up, high-resolution thin films, microstructural, rocking-curve, Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS), Grazing incident SAXS (GISAXS), Ultra Grazing incident diffraction (Ultra-GID) and microdiffraction measurements can be performed with the appropriated optics and sample holders. [1] L. León-Reina, M. García-Maté, G. Álvarez-Pinazo, I. Santacruz, O. Vallcorba, A.G. De la Torre, M.A.G. Aranda “Accuracy in Rietveld quantitative phase analysis: a comparative study of strictly monochromatic Mo and Cu radiations” J. Appl. Crystallogr. 2016, 49, 722-735. [2] J. Aríñez-Soriano, J. Albalad, C. Vila-Parrondo, J. Pérez-Carvajal, S. Rodríguez-Hermida, A. Cabeza, F. Busqué, J. Juanhuix, I. Imaz, Daniel Maspoch “Single-crystal and humidity-controlled powder diffraction study of the breathing effect in a metal-organic framework upon water adsorption/desorption” Chem. Commun., 2016, DOI: 10.1039/C6CC02908F.

Large scale laboratory cultures of Ankistrodesmus gracilis (Reisch) Korsikov (Chlorophyta) and Diaphanosoma biergei Korinek, 1981 (Cladocera)

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o cultivo em larga escala de Ankistrodesmus gracilis e Diaphanososma birgei em laboratório através do estudo da biologia das espécies, composição bioquímica e custo operacional de produção. A. gracilis apresentou um crescimento exponencial até o sexto dia, ao redor de 144 x 10(4) células mL-1. Logo em seguida, sofreu um brusco decréscimo apresentando 90 x 10(4) células mL-1 (oitavo dia). A partir do décimo primeiro dia, as células algais tenderam a crescer novamente, apresentando um máximo de 135 x 10(4) células mL-1 no 17º dia. No cultivo de D. birgei, foi observado o primeiro pico de crescimento no nono dia com 140 x 10² indivíduos L-1, aumentando novamente a partir do décimo segundo dia. A alga clorofícea A. gracilis e o zooplâncton D. birgei possuem aproximadamente 50 e 70% de proteína (PS), respectivamente, com teor de carboidrato acima de 5%. A eletricidade e mão de obra foram os itens mais dispendiosos e, de acordo com os dados obtidos, a temperatura, nutrientes, disponibilidade de luz e manejo do cultivo, foram fatores determinantes sobre a produtividade. Os resultados indicam que o meio NPK (20-5-20) pode ser utilizado diretamente como uma alternativa de cultivo em larga escala, considerando o baixo custo de produção, promovendo adequado crescimento e valor nutricional para A. gracilis e D. birgei.

Analysis of Sampling Data

A Similar Exposure Group (SEG) can be created through the evaluation of workers performing the same or similar task, hazards they are exposed to, frequency and duration of their exposures, engineering controls available during their operations, personal protective equipment used, and exposure data. For this report, the samples of one facility that has collected nearly 40,000 various types of samples will be evaluated to determine if the creation of a SEG can be supported. The data will be reviewed for consistency with collection methods and laboratory detection limits. A subset of the samples may be selected based on the review. Data will also be statistically evaluated in order to determine whether the data is sufficient to terminate the sampling. IHDataAnalyst V1.27 will be used to assess the data. This program uses Bayesian Analysis to assist in making determinations. The 95 percent confidence interval will be calculated and evaluated in making decisions. This evaluation will be used to determine if a SEG can be created for any of the workers and determine the need for future sample collection. The data and evaluation presented in this report have been selected and evaluated specifically for the purposes of this project.