Low colloidal associations of aluminium and titanium in surface waters of the tropical Atlantic

The distribution of dissolved, soluble and colloidal fractions of Al and Ti was assessed by ultrafiltration studies in the upper water column of the eastern tropical North Atlantic. The dissolved fractions of both metals were found to be dominated by the soluble phase smaller than 10 kDa. The colloidal associations were very low (0.2–3.4%) for Al and not detectable for Ti. These findings are in some contrast to previous estimations for Ti and to the predominant occurrence of both metals as hydrolyzed species in seawater. However, low tendencies to form inorganic colloids can be expected, as in seawater dissolved Al and dissolved Ti are present within their inorganic solubility levels. In addition, association with functional organic groups in the colloidal phase is unlikely for both metals. Vertical distributions of the dissolved fractions showed surface maxima with up to 43 nM of Al and 157 pM of Ti, reflecting their predominant supply from atmospheric sources to the open ocean. In the surface waters, excess dissolved Al over dissolved Ti was present compared to the crustal source, indicating higher solubility and thus elevated inputs of dissolved Al from atmospheric mineral particles. At most stations, subsurface minima of Al and Ti were observed and can be ascribed to scavenging processes and/or biological uptake. The dissolved Al concentrations decreased by 80–90% from the surface maximum to the subsurface minimum. Estimated residence times in the upper 100 m of the water column ranged between 1.6 and 4 years for dissolved Al and between 14 and 17 years for dissolved Ti. The short residence times are in some contrast to the low colloidal associations of Al and Ti and the assumed role of colloids as intermediates in scavenging processes. This suggests that either the removal of both metals occurs predominantly via direct transfer of the hydrolyzed species into the particulate fraction or that the colloidal phase is rapidly turned over in the upper water column.

Joint distributions of waves and rain

The transfer of gases between the atmosphere and ocean is affected by a number of processes, of which wave action and rainfall are two of potential significance. Efforts have been made to quantify separately their contributions; however such assessments neglect the interaction of these phenomena. Here we look at the correlation statistics of waves and rain to note which regions display a strong association between rainfall and the local sea state. The conditional probability of rain varies from ~0.5% to ~15%, with most of the equatorial belt (which contains the ITCZ) showing a greater likelihood of rain at the lowest sea states. In contrast the occurrence of rain is independent of wave height in the Southern Ocean. The 1997/98 El Niño enhances the frequency of rain in some Pacific regions, with this change showing some association with wave conditions.

Transfer Across the Air-Sea Interface

The efficiency of transfer of gases and particles across the air-sea interface is controlled by several physical, biological and chemical processes in the atmosphere and water which are described here (including waves, large- and small-scale turbulence, bubbles, sea spray, rain and surface films). For a deeper understanding of relevant transport mechanisms, several models have been developed, ranging from conceptual models to numerical models. Most frequently the transfer is described by various functional dependencies of the wind speed, but more detailed descriptions need additional information. The study of gas transfer mechanisms uses a variety of experimental methods ranging from laboratory studies to carbon budgets, mass balance methods, micrometeorological techniques and thermographic techniques. Different methods resolve the transfer at different scales of time and space; this is important to take into account when comparing different results. Air-sea transfer is relevant in a wide range of applications, for example, local and regional fluxes, global models, remote sensing and computations of global inventories. The sensitivity of global models to the description of transfer velocity is limited; it is however likely that the formulations are more important when the resolution increases and other processes in models are improved. For global flux estimates using inventories or remote sensing products the accuracy of the transfer formulation as well as the accuracy of the wind field is crucial.

The Russell Cycle. An update and review of trends in zooplankton and fish larvae off Plymouth 1924-2009. Occasional Publication of the Marine Biological Association 24

Regular plankton sampling off Plymouth by the Marine Biological Association (MBA) has been carried out from the early 1900s. Much of the sample analysis and description of the results was carried out by Sir Frederick Russell and Professor Alan Southward (AJS), the latter having completed the organisation and transfer of the paper records to digital files. The current authors have transferred the main data files of AJS on zooplankton and fish larvae to the MBA long-term database (including various editing and checking against original analysis records and published data) together with adding the data for 2002-2009. In this report the updated time-series are reviewed in the context of earlier work, particularly with respect to the Russell Cycle. It is not intended as an exhaustive analysis. Brief details of the sampling and comments on data processing are given in an appendix.

The importance of zooplankton in reducing levels of atmospheric CO sub(2) via the biological pump

Zooplankton play a key role in climate change through the transfer of large quantities of CO sub(2) to the deep ocean by a process known as the biological pump. Plankton composition is crucial as associated mineral material facilitates sinking of carbon rich debris and some taxa package faecal and detrital material. Ocean acidification may impact calcareous groups. Zooplankton have also been shown to be highly sensitive indicators of environmental change. Results will be presented to show that ocean temperature, circulation and planktonic ecosystems (using data from the Continuous Plankton Recorder, CPR survey) in the North Atlantic are changing rapidly in concert and that there is evidence to suggest that the changes are an ocean wide response to global warming with potential feedback effects. Given the importance of the oceans to the carbon cycle, even a minor change in the flux of carbon to the deep ocean would have a big impact increasing growth of atmospheric CO sub(2). We have virtually no understanding of the spatial and temporal variability in the efficiency of the biological pump for most of the world's ocean. Establishing new plankton monitoring programmes backed up by appropriate research to help understand processes is needed to address this gap in knowledge. There is little doubt within a global change context and the future of mankind that a potential acceleration in the growth of atmospheric carbon due to a reduction in the efficiency of the biological pump is a key issue for future research in zooplankton ecology.

Global synchrony of an accelerating risein sea surface temperature

The oceans have shown a recent rapid and accelerating rise in temperature with, given the close link between temperature and marine organisms, pronounced effects on ecosystems. Here we describe for the first time a globally synchronous pattern of pulsed short period (�1 year long) emanations of warm sea surface temperature anomalies from tropical seas towards the poles on the shelf/slope with an intensification of the warming after the 1976/1977, 1986/1987 and 1997/1998 El Nin˜os. On the eastern margins of continents the anomalies propagate towards the poles in part by largely baroclinic boundary currents, reinforced by regional atmospheric warming. The processes contributing to the less continuous warm anomalies on western margins are linked to the transfer of warmth from adjacent western boundary currents. These climate induced events show a close parallelism with the timing of ecosystem changes in shelf seas, important for fisheries and ecosystem services, and melting of sea-ice.

Introduction to the BASIN Special Issue: State of art, past present a view to the future

Marine ecosystems are complex networks of organisms interacting either directly or indirectly while under the influence of the physical and chemical properties of the medium they inhabit. The interplay between these biological agents and their abiotic environment results in complex non-linear responses to individual and multiple stressors, influenced by feedbacks between these organisms and their environment. These ecosystems provide key services that benefit humanity such as food provisioning via the transfer of energy to exploited fish populations or climate regulation via the sinking, subsequent mineralization and ultimately storage of carbon in the ocean interior. These key characteristics or emergent features of marine ecosystems are subject to rapid change (e.g. regime shifts; Alheit et al., 2005 and Scheffer et al., 2009), with outcomes that are largely unpredictable in a deterministic sense. The North Atlantic Ocean is host to a number of such systems which are collectively being influenced by the unique physical and chemical features of this ocean basin, such as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), the basin’s ventilation with the Arctic Ocean, the dynamics of heat transport via the Gulf Stream and the formation of deep water at high latitudes. These features drive the solubility and biological pumps and support the production and environments that results in large exploited fish stocks. Our knowledge of its functioning as a coupled system, and in particular how it will respond to change, is still limited despite the scientific effort exerted over more than 100 years. This is due in part to the difficulty of providing synoptic overviews of a vast area, and to the fact that most fieldwork provides only snapshots of the complex physical, chemical and biological processes and their interactions. These constraints have in the past limited the development of a mechanistic understanding of the basin as a whole, and thus of the services it provides.

Microplastics Alter the Properties and Sinking Rates of Zooplankton Faecal Pellets

Plastic debris is a widespread contaminant, prevalent in aquatic ecosystems across the globe. Zooplankton readily ingest microscopic plastic (microplastic, < 1 mm), which are later egested within their faecal pellets. These pellets are a source of food for marine organisms, and contribute to the oceanic vertical flux of particulate organic matter as part of the biological pump. The effects of microplastics on faecal pellet properties are currently unknown. Here we test the hypotheses that (1) faecal pellets are a vector for transport of microplastics, (2) polystyrene microplastics can alter the properties and sinking rates of zooplankton egests and, (3) faecal pellets can facilitate the transfer of plastics to coprophagous biota. Following exposure to 20.6 μm polystyrene microplastics (1000 microplastics mL–1) and natural prey (∼1650 algae mL–1) the copepod Calanus helgolandicus egested faecal pellets with significantly (P < 0.001) reduced densities, a 2.25-fold reduction in sinking rates, and a higher propensity for fragmentation. We further show that microplastics, encapsulated within egests of the copepod Centropages typicus, could be transferred to C. helgolandicus via coprophagy. Our results support the proposal that sinking faecal matter represents a mechanism by which floating plastics can be vertically transported away from surface waters.

The role of advection in the distribution of plankton populations at a moored 1-D coastal observatory

The degree to which advection modulates the distribution of plankton populations at a 1-D coastal observatory was assessed at station L4 in the western English Channel (50°15′N 4°13′W, depth 50 m), part of the Western Channel Observatory (WCO). Five tidal-cycle surveys were conducted, three in spring and two in summer 2010. Observations of the physical characteristics of L4 were obtained by using a moored acoustic doppler current profiler (ADCP) and a free-falling microstructure sensor (MSS). The moored ADCP highlighted the presence of vertical shear, with typical values of U during spring tides of ∼0.5 m s−1 at the surface and ∼0.2 m s−1 at the bed. The distribution of phyto- and zooplankton populations above a size threshold of 200 μm were examined using an in-line holographic imaging system, the Holocam. Variability in time as well as depth is a common feature throughout each of the surveys, with examples of recorded numbers of phytoplankton that ranged between 1300 L−1 and 2300 L−1 at the same depth but at different points within the tidal cycle. Further, at the same points in the tidal cycle the number of recorded zooplankton was also seen to vary, specifically with the identification of gelatinous planula in spring that increased the observed number to maximums of between 140 L−1 and 220 L−1 in the upper layer, considerably higher that the corresponding WP-2 net counts for a similar period. Specific aspects of the movement and transfer of plankton relating to advection and interaction with the pycnocline are identified, both across tidal cycles and seasons.

Enhanced dynamical entanglement transfer with multiple qubits

We present two strategies to enhance the dynamical entanglement transfer from continuous-variable (CV) to finite-dimensional systems by employing multiple qubits. First, we consider the entanglement transfer to a composite finite-dimensional system of many qubits simultaneously interacting with a bipartite CV field. We show that, considering realistic conditions in the generation of CV entanglement, a small number of qubits resonantly coupled to the CV system are sufficient for an almost complete dynamical transfer of the entanglement. Our analysis also sheds further light on the transition between the microscopic and macroscopic behaviors of composite finite-dimensional systems coupled to bosonic fields (like atomic clouds interacting with light). Furthermore, we present a protocol based on sequential interactions of the CV system with some ancillary qubit systems and on subsequent measurements, allowing us to probabilistically convert CV entanglement into "almost-perfect" Bell pairs of two qubits. Our proposals are suited for realizations in various experimental settings, ranging from cavity-QED to cavity-integrated superconducting devices.

Bolsa Familia Program and school enrolment: An analysis of the 2010 Brazilian demographic census

The Bolsa Família Program goal is to promote social development and poverty reduction, through the direct transfer of conditional cash, in association with other social programs. This study aims to analyze whether Bolsa Família had an association with children’s school attendance, which is one of the educational conditions of the program. Our main hypothesis is that children living in households receiving Bolsa Família had greater chances of attending school. Data from the Ministry of Social Development and Combating Famine indicated that children living in households with Bolsa Família had greater school enrolment levels. By using data from the 2010 Demographic Census, collected by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), some descriptive analyzes and binary logistic regression models were performed for different thresholds of household per capita income. These estimates were made by comparing children who lived in households receiving Bolsa Família to those children not receiving the program. We took into consideration characteristics about the household, mothers, and children. The results were clustered by the municipality of residence of the child. In all income thresholds, children benefi ting from Bolsa Família were more likely to be enrolled in school, compared to children not receiving the benefi t.

Concertedness and solvent effects in multiple proton transfer reactions: The formic acid dimer in solution

The issue of multiple proton transfer (PT) reactions in solution is addressed by performing molecular dynamics simulations for a formic acid dimer embedded in a water cluster. The reactant species is treated quantum mechanically, within a density functional approach, while the solvent is represented by a classical model. By constraining different distances within the dimer we analyze the PT process in a variety of situations representative of more complex environments. Free energy profiles are presented, and analyzed in terms of typical solvated configurations extracted from the simulations. A decrease in the PT barrier height upon solvation is rationalized in terms of a transition state which is more polarized than the stable states. The dynamics of the double PT process is studied in a low-barrier case and correlated with solvent polarization fluctuations. Cooperative effects in the motion of the two protons are observed in two different situations: when the solvent polarization does not favor the transfer of one of the two protons and when the motion of the two protons is not synchronized. This body of observations is correlated with local structural and dynamical properties of the solvent in the vicinity of the reactant. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-9606(00)51121-0].

The sector of olive-oil cooperatives and the use of ICT: A comparative study regarding othe legal forms

The current global environment and the general increase in the spread and use of Information Technology and Communication (ICT) by companies and consumers, make the use of these technologies as essential to confront the growing competition in the market. Focused on this sector, in this research we analyze the use of electronic commerce, as through websites as through electronic markets, and the use of social networking tools as enablers of business. For this aim, we conducted a comparative analysis between the Andalusian olive oil cooperatives and other legal forms which are present in the sector.

Determining factors of the innovative behavior of cooperatives: an analysis of the case of Castilla y León

Cooperatives have a long historical experience in the Spanish economy and have demonstrated their ability to compete against traditional firms in the market. To maintain this capability, while taking advantage of the competitive advantages associated with their idiosyncrasies as social economy enterprises, they should take into consideration that the economy is increasingly globalized and increasingly knowledge-based, especially with regards to technological content. As a consequence, the innovative capacity appears to be a key aspect in order to be able to challenge competitors. This article characterizes the innovative behavior of cooperatives in the region of Castile and Leon and analyses the internal and external factors affecting their innovative performance, based on data from a survey of 581 cooperatives. The results of the empirical analysis, which is performed by multivariate binary logistic regression on various types of innovation, lead us to identify the size of the organizations, the existence of planning, the R & D activities and the human capital as the main determining factors.

Ultrafast coherent control and quantum encoding of molecular vibrations in D2+ using intense laser pulses

Intense, few-femtosecond pulse technology has enabled studies of the fastest vibrational relaxation processes. The hydrogen group vibrations can be imaged and manipulated using intense infrared pulses. Through numerical simulation, we demonstrate an example of ultrafast coherent control that could be effected with current experimental facilities, and observed using high-resolution time-of-flight spectroscopy. The proposal is a pump-probe-type technique to manipulate the D2+ ion with ultrashort pulse sequences. The simulations presented show that vibrational selection can be achieved through pulse delay. We find that the vibrational system can be purified to a two-level system thus realizing a vibrational qubit. A novel scheme for the selective transfer of population between these two levels, based on a Raman process and conditioned upon the delay time of a second control-pulse is outlined, and may enable quantum encoding with this system.