What is Carbon? Conceptualising carbon and capabilities in the context of community sequestration projects in the global South

Carbon has been described as a ‘surreal commodity’. Whilst carbon trading, storage, sequestration and emissions have become a part of the contemporary climate lexicon, how carbon is understood, valued and interpreted by actors responsible for implementing carbon sequestration projects is still unclear. In this review paper, we are concerned with how carbon has come to take on a range of meanings, and in particular, we appraise what is known about the situated meanings that people involved in delivering, and participating in, carbon sequestration projects in the global South assign to this complex element. Whilst there has been some reflection on the new meanings conferred on carbon via the neoliberal processes of marketisation, and how these processes interact with historical and contemporary narratives of environmental change, less is known about how these meanings are (re)produced and (re)interpreted locally. We review how carbon has been defined both as a chemical element and as a tradable, marketable commodity, and discuss the implications these global meanings might have for situated understandings, particularly linked to climate change narratives, amongst communities in the global South. We consider how the concept of carbon capabilities, alongside theoretical notions of networks, assemblages and local knowledges of the environment and nature, might be useful in beginning to understand how communities engage with abstract notions of carbon. We discuss the implications of specific values attributed to carbon, and therefore to different ecologies, for wider conceptualisations of how nature is valued, and climate is understood, and particularly how this may impact on community interactions with carbon sequestration projects. Knowing more about how people understand, value and know carbon allows policies to be better informed and practices more effectively targeted at engaging local populations meaningfully in carbon-related projects.

Evaluation and revision of inferential comprehension in narrative texts: an eye movement study

We investigated the processes of how adult readers evaluate and revise their situation model during reading by monitoring their eye movements as they read narrative texts and subsequent critical sentences. In each narrative text, a short introduction primed a knowledge-based inference, followed by a target concept that was either expected (e.g., “oven”) or unexpected (e.g., “grill”) in relation to the inferred concept. Eye movements showed that readers detected a mismatch between the new unexpected information and their prior interpretation, confirming their ability to evaluate inferential information. Just below the narrative text, a critical sentence included a target word that was either congruent (e.g., “roasted”) or incongruent (e.g., “barbecued”) with the expected but not the unexpected concept. Readers spent less time reading the congruent than the incongruent target word, reflecting the facilitation of prior information. In addition, when the unexpected (but not expected) concept had been presented, participants with lower verbal (but not visuospatial) working memory span exhibited longer reading times and made more regressions (from the critical sentence to previous information) on encountering congruent information, indicating difficulty in inhibiting their initial incorrect interpretation and revising their situation model

Family language policy in the Chinese community in Singapore: a question of balance?

This paper focuses on the language shift phenomenon in Singapore as a consequence of the top-town policies. By looking at bilingual family language policies it examines the characteristics of Singapore’s multilingual nature and cultural diversity. Specifically, it looks at what languages are practiced and how family language policies are enacted in Singaporean English-Chinese bilingual families, and to what extend macro language policies – i.e. national and educational language policies influence and interact with family language policies. Involving 545 families and including parents and grandparents as participants, the study traces the trajectory of the policy history. Data sources include 2 parts: 1) a prescribed linguistic practices survey; and 2) participant observation of actual negotiation of FLP in face-to-face social interaction in bilingual English-Chinese families. The data provides valuable information on how family language policy is enacted and language practices are negotiated, and what linguistic practices have been changed and abandoned against the background of the Speaking Mandarin Campaign and the current bilingual policy implemented in the 1970s. Importantly, the detailed face-to-face interactions and linguistics practices are able to enhance our understanding of the subtleties and processes of language (dis)continuity in relation to policy interventions. The study also discusses the reality of language management measures in contrast to the government’s ‘separate bilingualism’ (Creese & Blackledge, 2011) expectations with regard to ‘striking a balance’ between Asian and Western culture (Curdt-Christiansen & Silver 2013; Shepherd, 2005) and between English and mother tongue languages (Curdt-Christiansen, 2014). Demonstrating how parents and children negotiate their family language policy through translanguaging or heteroglossia practices (Canagarajah, 2013; Garcia & Li Wei, 2014), this paper argues that ‘striking a balance’ as a political ideology places emphasis on discrete and separate notions of cultural and linguistic categorization and thus downplays the significant influences from historical, political and sociolinguistic contexts in which people find themselves. This simplistic view of culture and linguistic code will inevitably constrain individuals’ language expression as it regards code switching and translanguaging as delimited and incompetent language behaviour.

Unwriting food labels: discursive challenges in the regulation of package claims

This article examines the challenges resulting from the regulation of written discourse on food packages. It uses as a case study Hong Kong’s strict new food-labeling law that requires distributers and retailers to remove certain nutritional claims from packages of imported food before they sell them. This practice of redacting unlawful text on packages requires that distributers and retailers engage in complex processes of discursive reasoning, and it some- times results in packages that are difficult for customers to interpret. The case study highlights important issues in the regulation of commercial texts concerning collaboration, intertextuality, and the conflicts that can arise when the principals, authors, and animators of such texts have different agendas.

The combined influences of westerly phase of the quasi biennial oscillation and 11-year solar maximum conditions on the Northern Hemisphere extratropical winter circulation

The combined influences of the westerly phase of the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO-W) and solar maximum (Smax) conditions on the Northern Hemisphere extratropical winter circulation are investigated using reanalysis data and Center for Climate System Research/National Institute for Environmental Studies chemistry climate model (CCM) simulations. The composite analysis for the reanalysis data indicates strengthened polar vortex in December followed by weakened polar vortex in February–March for QBO-W during Smax (QBO-W/Smax) conditions. This relationship need not be specific to QBO-W/Smax conditions but may just require strengthened vortex in December, which is more likely under QBO-W/Smax. Both the reanalysis data and CCM simulations suggest that dynamical processes of planetary wave propagation and meridional circulation related to QBO-W around polar vortex in December are similar in character to those related to Smax; furthermore, both processes may work in concert to maintain stronger vortex during QBO-W/Smax. In the reanalysis data, the strengthened polar vortex in December is associated with the development of north–south dipole tropospheric anomaly in the Atlantic sector similar to the North Atlantic oscillation (NAO) during December–January. The structure of the north–south dipole anomaly has zonal wavenumber 1 (WN1) component, where the longitude of anomalous ridge overlaps with that of climatological ridge in the North Atlantic in January. This implies amplification of the WN1 wave and results in the enhancement of the upward WN1 propagation from troposphere into stratosphere in January, leading to the weakened polar vortex in February–March. Although WN2 waves do not play a direct role in forcing the stratospheric vortex evolution, their tropospheric response to QBO-W/Smax conditions appears to be related to the maintenance of the NAO-like anomaly in the high-latitude troposphere in January. These results may provide a possible explanation for the mechanisms underlying the seasonal evolution of wintertime polar vortex anomalies during QBO-W/Smax conditions and the role of troposphere in this evolution.

What controls the vertical distribution of aerosol? Relationships between process sensitivity in HadGEM3–UKCA and inter-model variation from AeroCom Phase II

The vertical profile of aerosol is important for its radiative effects, but weakly constrained by observations on the global scale, and highly variable among different models. To investigate the controlling factors in one particular model, we investigate the effects of individual processes in HadGEM3–UKCA and compare the resulting diversity of aerosol vertical profiles with the inter-model diversity from the AeroCom Phase II control experiment. In this way we show that (in this model at least) the vertical profile is controlled by a relatively small number of processes, although these vary among aerosol components and particle sizes. We also show that sufficiently coarse variations in these processes can produce a similar diversity to that among different models in terms of the global-mean profile and, to a lesser extent, the zonal-mean vertical position. However, there are features of certain models' profiles that cannot be reproduced, suggesting the influence of further structural differences between models. In HadGEM3–UKCA, convective transport is found to be very important in controlling the vertical profile of all aerosol components by mass. In-cloud scavenging is very important for all except mineral dust. Growth by condensation is important for sulfate and carbonaceous aerosol (along with aqueous oxidation for the former and ageing by soluble material for the latter). The vertical extent of biomass-burning emissions into the free troposphere is also important for the profile of carbonaceous aerosol. Boundary-layer mixing plays a dominant role for sea salt and mineral dust, which are emitted only from the surface. Dry deposition and below-cloud scavenging are important for the profile of mineral dust only. In this model, the microphysical processes of nucleation, condensation and coagulation dominate the vertical profile of the smallest particles by number (e.g. total CN  >  3 nm), while the profiles of larger particles (e.g. CN  >  100 nm) are controlled by the same processes as the component mass profiles, plus the size distribution of primary emissions. We also show that the processes that affect the AOD-normalised radiative forcing in the model are predominantly those that affect the vertical mass distribution, in particular convective transport, in-cloud scavenging, aqueous oxidation, ageing and the vertical extent of biomass-burning emissions.

Analysis of the genetic diversity and structure across a wide range of germplasm reveals prominent gene flow in apple at the European level

Abstract Background: The amount and structure of genetic diversity in dessert apple germplasm conserved at a European level is mostly unknown, since all diversity studies conducted in Europe until now have been performed on regional or national collections. Here, we applied a common set of 16 SSR markers to genotype more than 2,400 accessions across 14 collections representing three broad European geographic regions (North+East, West and South) with the aim to analyze the extent, distribution and structure of variation in the apple genetic resources in Europe. Results: A Bayesian model-based clustering approach showed that diversity was organized in three groups, although these were only moderately differentiated (FST=0.031). A nested Bayesian clustering approach allowed identification of subgroups which revealed internal patterns of substructure within the groups, allowing a finer delineation of the variation into eight subgroups (FST=0.044). The first level of stratification revealed an asymmetric division of the germplasm among the three groups, and a clear association was found with the geographical regions of origin of the cultivars. The substructure revealed clear partitioning of genetic groups among countries, but also interesting associations between subgroups and breeding purposes of recent cultivars or particular usage such as cider production. Additional parentage analyses allowed us to identify both putative parents of more than 40 old and/or local cultivars giving interesting insights in the pedigree of some emblematic cultivars. Conclusions: The variation found at group and sub-group levels may reflect a combination of historical processes of migration/selection and adaptive factors to diverse agricultural environments that, together with genetic drift, have resulted in extensive genetic variation but limited population structure. The European dessert apple germplasm represents an important source of genetic diversity with a strong historical and patrimonial value. The present work thus constitutes a decisive step in the field of conservation genetics. Moreover, the obtained data can be used for defining a European apple core collection useful for further identification of genomic regions associated with commercially important horticultural traits in apple through genome-wide association studies.

Health in Brazil 5 Violence and injuries in Brazil: the effect, progress made, and challenges ahead

Although there are signs of decline, homicides and traffic-related injuries and deaths in Brazil account for almost two-thirds of all deaths from external causes. In 2007, the homicide rate was 26.8 per 100 000 people and traffic-related mortality was 23.5 per 100 000. Domestic violence might not lead to as many deaths, but its share of violence-related morbidity is large. These are important public health problems that lead to enormous individual and collective costs. Young, black, and poor men are the main victims and perpetrators of community violence, whereas poor black women and children are the main victims of domestic violence. Regional differentials are also substantial. Besides the sociocultural determinants, much of the violence in Brazil has been associated with the misuse of alcohol and illicit drugs, and the wide availability of firearms. The high traffic-related morbidity and mortality in Brazil have been linked to the chosen model for the transport system that has given priority to roads and private-car use without offering adequate infrastructure. The system is often poorly equipped to deal with violations of traffic rules. In response to the major problems of violence and injuries, Brazil has greatly advanced in terms of legislation and action plans. The main challenge is to assess these advances to identify, extend, integrate, and continue the successful ones.

Interaction of strangelets with ordinary nuclei

Strangelets (hypothetical stable lumps of strange quarkmatter) of astrophysical origin may be ultimately detected in specific cosmic ray experiments. The initial mass distribution resulting from the possible astrophysical production sites would be subject to reprocessing in the interstellar medium and in the earth`s atmosphere. In order to get a better understanding of the claims for the detection of this still hypothetic state of hadronic matter, we present a study of strangelet-nucleus interactions including several physical processes of interest (abrasion, fusion, fission, excitation and de-excitation of the strangelets), to address the fate of the baryon number along the strangelet path. It is shown that, although fusion may be important for low-energy strangelets in the interstellar medium (thus increasing the initial baryon number A), in the earth`s atmosphere the loss of the baryon number should be the dominant process. The consequences of these findings are briefly addressed.

A Comparative Cytogenetic Analysis of 2 Bothriuridae Species and Overview of the Chromosome Data of Scorpiones

The order Scorpiones is one of the most cytogenetically interesting groups within Arachnida by virtue of the combination of chromosome singularities found in the 59 species analyzed so far. In this work, mitotic and meiotic chromosomes of 2 species of the family Bothriuridae were detailed. This family occupies a basal position within the superfamily Scorpionoidea. Furthermore, review of the cytogenetic data of all previously studied scorpions is presented. Light microscopy chromosome analysis showed that Bothriurus araguayae and Bothriurus rochensis possess low diploid numbers compared with those of species belonging to closely related families. Gonadal cells examined under light and in transmission electron microscopy revealed, for the first time, that the Bothriuridae species possess typical monocentric chromosomes, and male meiosis presented chromosomes with synaptic and achiasmatic behavior. Moreover, in the sample of B. araguayae studied, heterozygous translocations were verified. The use of techniques to highlight specific chromosomal regions also revealed additional differences between the 2 Bothriurus species. The results herein recorded and the overview elaborated using the available cytogenetic information of Scorpiones elucidated current understanding regarding the processes of chromosome evolution that have occurred in Bothriuridae and in Scorpiones as a whole.

Localization of Cathepsins D and B at the Maternal-Fetal Interface and the Invasiveness of the Trophoblast during the Postimplantation Period in the Mouse

A survey of existing data suggests that trophoblast cells produce factors involved in extracellular matrix degradation. In this study, we correlated the expression of cathepsins D and B in the murine ectoplacental cone with the ultrastructural progress of decidual invasion by trophoblast cells. Both proteases were immunolocalized at implantation sites in lysosome-endosome-like compartments of trophoblast giant cells. Cathepsin D, but not cathepsin B, was also detected ultrastructurally in extracellular compartments surrounded by processes of the invading trophoblast containing extracellular matrix components and endometrial cell debris. The expression of cathepsins D and B by trophoblast cells was confirmed by RT-PCR in ectoplacental cones isolated from implantation chambers at gestation day 7.5. Our data addressed a positive relationship between the expression and presence of cathepsin D at the extracellular compartment of the maternal-fetal interface and the invasiveness of the trophoblast during the postimplantation period, suggesting a participation of invading trophoblast cells in the cathepsin D release. Such findings indicate that mouse trophoblast cells might exhibit a proteolytic ability to partake in the decidual invasion process at the maternal-fetal interface. Copyright (C) 2010 S. Karger AG, Basel

Effects of Plasmodium gallinaceum on hemolymph physiology of Aedes aegypti during parasite development

Insect disease vectors show diminished fecundity when infected with Plasmodium. This phenomenon has already been demonstrated in laboratory models such as Aedes aegypti, Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles stephensi. This study demonstrates several changes in physiological processes of A. aegypti occurring upon infection with Plasmodium gallinaceum, such as reduced ecdysteroid levels in hemolymph as well as altered expression patterns for genes involved in vitellogenesis, lipid transport and immune response. Furthermore, we could show that P. gallinaceum infected A. aegypti presented a reduction in reproductive fitness, accompanied by an activated innate immune response and increase in lipophorin expression, with the latter possibly representing a nutritional resource for Plasmodium sporozoites. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

High-density gas aggregation nanoparticle gun applied to the production of SmCo clusters

We describe in this article the application of a high-density gas aggregation nanoparticle gun to the production and characterization of high anisotropy SmCo nanoparticles. We give a detailed description of the simple but efficient experimental apparatus with a focus on the microscopic processes of the gas aggregation technique. Using high values of gas flux (similar to 45 sccm) we are able to operate in regimes of high collimation of material. In this regime, as we explain in terms of a phenomenological model, the power applied to the sputtering target becomes the main variable to change the size of the clusters. Also presented are the morphological, structural, and magnetic characterizations of SmCo nanoparticles produced using 10 and 50 W of sputtering power. These values resulted in mean sizes of similar to 12 and similar to 20 nm. Significant differences are seen in the structural and magnetic properties of the samples with the 50 W sample showing a largely enhanced crystalline structure and magnetic anisotropy.

Influence of pH on the phototransformation process of PhotogemA (R)

PhotogemA (R) is a hematoporphyrin derivative that has been used as a photosensitizer in experimental and clinical Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) in Brazil. Photosensitizers are degraded under illumination. This process, usually called photobleaching, can be monitored by decreasing in fluorescence intensities and includes the following photoprocesses: photodegradation, phototransformation, and photorelocalization. Photobleaching of hematoporphyrin-type sensitizers during illumination in aqueous solution is related not only to photodegradation but is also followed by the formation of photoproducts with a new fluorescence band at around 640-650 nm and with increased light absorption in the red spectral region at 640 nm. In this study, the influence of pH on the phototransformation process was investigated. PhotogemA (R) solutions, 40 mu g/ml, were irradiated at 514 nm with intensity of 100 mW/cm(2) for 20 min with different pH environments. The controls were performed with the samples in the absence of light. The PhotogemA (R) photodegradation is dependent on the pH. The behavior of photodegradation and photoproducts formation (monitored at 640 nm) is distinct and depends on the photosensitizer concentration. The processes of degradation and photoproducts formation were monitored with Photogemin the concentration of 40 mu g/mL since that demonstrated the best visualization of both processes. While below pH 5 the photodegradation occurred, there was no detectable presence of photoproducts. The increase of pH led to increase of photoproducts formation rate with photodegradation reaching the highest value at pH 10. The increase of photoproducts formation and instability of PhotogemA (R) from pH 6 to pH 10 are in agreement with the desired properties of an ideal photosensitizer since there are significant differences in pH between normal (7.0 < pH < 8.6) and tumor (5.8 < pH < 7.9) tissues. It is important to know the effect of pH in the process of phototransformation (degradation and photoproduct formation) of the molecule since low pH values promotes increase in the proportion of aggregates species in solution and high pH values promotes increase in the proportion of monomeric species. There must be an ideal pH interval which favors the phototransformation process that is correlated with the singlet oxygen formation responsible by the photodynamic effect. These differences in pH between normal and tumor cells can explain the presence of photosensitizers in target tumor cells, making PDT a selective therapy.

Contribution of SHRIMP U-Pb zircon geochronology to unravelling the evolution of Brazilian Neoproterozoic fold belts

The South-American continent is constituted of three major geologic-geotectonic entities the homonym platform (consolidated at the end of the Cambrian) the Andean chain (essentially Meso-Cenozoic) and the Patagonian terrains affected by tectonism and magmatism through almost all of the Phanerozoic The platform is constituted by a series of cratonic nuclei (pre-Tonian fragments of the Rodinia fission) surrounded by a complex fabric of Neoproterozoic structural provinces Two major groups of orogenic processes (plate interaction cycles) constitute the evolution of these provinces the older occurred in the Tonian (smaller in area) and the younger Brasiliano that is present in all provinces The Tonian cycles (pre-Rodinia fission?) are still being sorted out and many questions still need to be answered The Brasiliano orogenic collage events (post-Rodinia fission?) developed in three main stages in part coeval from a province to another and are 650-600 580-560 and 540-500 Ma respectively (the late event reaching the Ordovician) The first group of orogenies is recorded in practically all provinces The third group is restricted to part of the Mantiqueira Province (southeast of the platform Buzios Orogeny) and present in the Pampean province (SW of the platform) For all these groups of orogenic events there are considerable records of rock assemblages related to processes of convergent plate interaction opening accretion collision and further extrusion There is a good correlation between the geologic and geotectonic data and geochemical and isotopic data The late tectonic processes (post-orogenic magmatism foreland basins etc) of the first two groups compete in time in distinct spaces with the peak of orogenic processes in the third group The introduction of the SHRIMP U-Pb methodology was fundamental to separate the Tonian and post-Tonian orogenic groups and their respective divisions in time and space Thus there are still many open points/problems which lead to expectations of addressing these issues in the near future with the more Intense use of this methodology (C) 2010 Elsevier B V All rights reserved