Scottish oyster mortality event and association with Vibrio aestuarianus:Vibrio associated Pacific oyster mortality

Pacific oysters, Crassostrea (Magallana) gigas, are the most commonly cultured invertebrate species globally. Recent years have seen outbreaks of summer mortality across the globe, mainly caused by viral and bacterial pathogens such as OsHV-1 µvar and Vibrio spp. Despite isolated outbreaks in southern England, the UK has remained largely free from these pathogens. A summer mortality event in Scotland was investigated after Vibrio spp. were implicated. We identified two key Vibrio species (V. aestuarianus and V. splendidus) but complete absence of OsHV-1. There was a high prevalence of V. aestuarianus among moribund and dead oysters, along with an increase in V. aestuarianus detected in the water column and sediment. Consistent with strains associated with oyster mortalities elsewhere in Scotland and mainland Europe, V. aestuarianus from this site belongs to Lineage A. Unlike V. splendidus, we could not culture V. aestuarianus from frozen tissue of infected oysters. In vivo infection experiments with V. aestuarianus resulted in significantly higher mortalities than with V. splendidus and were exacerbated by increased temperature. These findings suggest that mortalities are caused by V. aestuarianus, which may have been intensified by handling stress and rising temperatures

WHO guidance grounded in a comprehensive approach to sexual and reproductive health and human rights: topical pre-exposure prophylaxis

Introduction: Two new microbicide products based on topical (vaginal) application of antiretroviral drugs – 1% tenofovir gel and the dapivirine ring – are currently in late-stage clinical testing, and results on their safety and effectiveness are expected to become available in early 2015. WHO guidelines on the use of topical pre-exposure prophylaxis (topical PrEP) are important in order to ensure that these new prevention products are optimally used. Discussion: Given that these new topical PrEP products are designed to be woman initiated and will likely be delivered in reproductive health settings, it is important to ensure that the guidance be framed in the context of comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and human rights. In addition to the safety and effectiveness data resulting from clinical trials, and the regulatory approval required for new products, the WHO normative guidelines on the use of topical PrEP will be essential for rapid roll-out in countries. Conclusions: Human rights standards and principles provide a framework for the provision of woman-initiated HIV prevention products. These include addressing issues related to the gender inequities which are linked to the provision of HIV-prevention, treatment and care for young girls and women. Effective programming for women and girls must therefore be based on understanding the local, social and community contexts of the AIDS epidemic in the country, and adapting HIV strategies and programmes accordingly. Such a framework therefore is needed not only to ensure optimal uptake of these new products by women and girls but also to address sociocultural barriers to women’s and girls’ access to these products

Age, growth and preliminary estimates of maturity of bigeye tuna, Thunnus obesus, in the Australian region

Biological parameters such as age, growth and age (or size) at maturity are vital for accurate stock assessments and management plans to ensure that fisheries develop sustainably. Despite this, very few validated age studies have been conducted for large tropical pelagic species within the Australian region. Age and growth parameters were estimated for bigeye tuna, Thunnus obesus (Lowe, 1839), sampled from longline fisheries in the Australian region using validated techniques based on counts of annual increments. Poor increment clarity reduced the number of otoliths included in the final analysis to only 50% of the 3200 selected for reading (39–178-cm fork length). Microincrement analysis confirmed the position of the first two annual increments in these otoliths. A maximum age of 16 years was obtained, but over 80% of fish in the Australian catch were <5 years old. Growth is most rapid in the first few years of life and asymptotic length is reached at about age 9 to 10 years. The von Bertalanffy growth parameters were estimated at L∞ = 169.09, k = 0.238, and to = –1.706 for the south-west Pacific Ocean and L∞ = 178.41, k = 0.176, and to = –2.500 for the eastern Indian Ocean. These parameters were significantly different, suggesting that there is little mixing between populations in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Length at 50% maturity for females sampled in northern Queensland was estimated to be 102.4-cm fork length

Demonstrating 24-hour continuous vertical monitoring of atmospheric optical turbulence

We report what is believed to be the first example of fully continuous, 24-hour vertical monitoring of atmospheric optical turbulence. This is achieved using a novel instrument, the 24-hour Shack-Hartmann Image Motion Monitor (24hSHIMM). Optical turbulence is a fundamental limitation for applications such as free-space optical communications, where it limits the achievable bandwidth, and ground-based optical astronomy, restricting the observational precision. Knowledge of the turbulence enables us to select the best sites, design optical instrumentation and optimise the operation of ground-based optical systems. The 24hSHIMM estimates the vertical optical turbulence coherence length, time, angle and Rytov variance from the measurement of a four-layer vertical turbulence profile and a wind speed profile retrieved from meteorological forecasts. To illustrate our advance we show the values of these parameters recorded during a 36-hour, continuous demonstration of the instrument. Due to its portability and ability to work in stronger turbulence, the 24hSHIMM can also operate in urban locations, providing the field with a truly continuous, versatile turbulence monitor for all but the most demanding of applications

Interventions to reduce harm from continued tobacco use.

BACKGROUND: Although smoking cessation is currently the only guaranteed way to reduce the harm caused by tobacco smoking, a reasonable secondary tobacco control approach may be to try and reduce the harm from continued tobacco use amongst smokers unable or unwilling to quit. Possible approaches to reduce the exposure to toxins from smoking include reducing the amount of tobacco used, and using less toxic products, such as pharmaceutical, nicotine and potential reduced-exposure tobacco products (PREPs), as an alternative to cigarettes. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects of interventions intended to reduce the harm to health of continued tobacco use, we considered the following specific questions: do interventions intended to reduce harm have an effect on long-term health status?; do they lead to a reduction in the number of cigarettes smoked?; do they have an effect on smoking abstinence?; do they have an effect on biomarkers of tobacco exposure?; and do they have an effect on biomarkers of damage caused by tobacco? SEARCH METHODS: We searched the Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group Trials Register (CRS) on the 21st October 2015, using free-text and MeSH terms for harm reduction, smoking reduction and cigarette reduction. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomized or quasi-randomized controlled trials of interventions to reduce the amount smoked, or to reduce harm from smoking by means other than cessation. We include studies carried out in smokers with no immediate desire to quit all tobacco use. Primary outcomes were change in cigarette consumption, smoking cessation and any markers of damage or benefit to health, measured at least six months from the start of the intervention. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: We assessed study eligibility for inclusion using standard Cochrane methods. We pooled trials with similar interventions and outcomes (> 50% reduction in cigarettes a day (CPD) and long-term smoking abstinence), using fixed-effect models. Where it was not possible to meta-analyse data, we summarized findings narratively. MAIN RESULTS: Twenty-four trials evaluated interventions to help those who smoke to cut down the amount smoked or to replace their regular cigarettes with PREPs, compared to placebo, brief intervention, or a comparison intervention. None of these trials directly tested whether harm reduction strategies reduced the harms to health caused by smoking. Most trials (14/24) tested nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) as an intervention to assist reduction. In a pooled analysis of eight trials, NRT significantly increased the likelihood of reducing CPD by at least 50% for people using nicotine gum or inhaler or a choice of product compared to placebo (risk ratio (RR) 1.75, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.44 to 2.13; 3081 participants). Where average changes from baseline were compared for different measures, carbon monoxide (CO) and cotinine generally showed smaller reductions than CPD. Use of NRT versus placebo also significantly increased the likelihood of ultimately quitting smoking (RR 1.87, 95% CI 1.43 to 2.44; 8 trials, 3081 participants; quality of the evidence: low). Two trials comparing NRT and behavioural support to brief advice found a significant effect on reduction, but no significant effect on cessation. We found one trial investigating each of the following harm reduction intervention aids: bupropion, varenicline, electronic cigarettes, snus, plus another of nicotine patches to facilitate temporary abstinence. The evidence for all five intervention types was therefore imprecise, and it is unclear whether or not these aids increase the likelihood of smoking reduction or cessation. Two trials investigating two different types of behavioural advice and instructions on reducing CPD also provided imprecise evidence. Therefore, the evidence base for this comparison is inadequate to support the use of these types of behavioural advice to reduce smoking. Four studies of PREPs (cigarettes with reduced levels of tar, carbon and nicotine, and in one case delivered using an electronically-heated cigarette smoking system) showed some reduction in exposure to some toxicants, but it is unclear whether this would substantially alter the risk of harm. We judged the included studies to be generally at a low or unclear risk of bias; however, there were some ratings of high risk, due to a lack of blinding and the potential for detection bias. Using the GRADE system, we rated the overall quality of the evidence for our cessation outcomes as &apos;low&apos; or &apos;very low&apos;, due to imprecision and indirectness. A &apos;low&apos; grade means that further research is very likely to have an important impact on our confidence in the estimate of effect and is likely to change the estimate. A &apos;very low&apos; grade means we are very uncertain about the estimate. AUTHORS&apos; CONCLUSIONS: People who do not wish to quit can be helped to cut down the number of cigarettes they smoke and to quit smoking in the long term, using NRT, despite original intentions not to do so. However, we rated the evidence contributing to the cessation outcome for NRT as &apos;low&apos; by GRADE standards. There is a lack of evidence to support the use of other harm reduction aids to reduce the harm caused by continued tobacco smoking. This could simply be due to the lack of high-quality studies (our confidence in cessation outcomes for these aids is rated &apos;low&apos; or &apos;very low&apos; due to imprecision by GRADE standards), meaning that we may have missed a worthwhile effect, or due to a lack of effect on reduction or quit rates. It is therefore important that more high-quality RCTs are conducted, and that these also measure the long-term health effects of treatments

Oxygen isotope geochemistry of oceanic-arc lava

Variations of oxygen isotope ratios in arc-related lavas can constrain the contributions of subducted crustal igneous rocks, sediments, and fluids to the sub-arc mantle. We have measured oxygen isotope ratios in 72 arc and back-arc lavas from five ocean–ocean subduction zone systems using laser-fluorination analyses of olivine and other phenocrysts and glass. Eighty percent of our samples have {delta}18O values for any given phase (olivine, plagioclase, glass, or biotite) within 0·2{per thousand} of the average value for that phase in upper-mantle peridotites and mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB); the range for each phase is <=1·0{per thousand}. This result contrasts with previous studies of whole-rock samples (which are significantly more variable even after exclusion of samples believed to be altered or fractionated by magmatic differentiation) and demonstrates that most arc-related lavas contain <=1–2% of 18O-enriched crustal oxygen from any source (i.e. assimilation or subducted contributions). Elevations in {delta}18O that do occur in these basic, arc-derived magmas relative to values most common for mantle-derived lavas are associated both with ‘enriched’ radiogenic isotope signatures and, even more strongly, with chemical indices consistent with high integrated extents of melting of their peridotite sources. We interpret these relationships as evidence that melting in the sources of the high-{delta}18O lavas we have studied was fluxed by addition of high-{delta}18O aqueous fluid (or perhaps a hydrous melt) from the subducted slab, such that sources that contain relatively large components of slab-derived fluid or melt are both relatively 18O enriched and also experienced relatively large amounts of melting. We have developed a quantitative model linking the amount of melting to the extents of 18O, radiogenic isotope, and trace-element enrichment in a mantle source being fluxed by addition of aqueous fluid. Comparison of this model with observed variations in the geochemistry of lavas from the Vanuatu–Fiji–New Caledonia region (the suite of related samples showing the greatest range in {delta}18O observed in this study) constrains the amounts and chemical and isotopic compositions of slab-derived phases in the sources of these arc-related lavas. Assuming a {delta}18O value of 20{per thousand} for the slab-derived fluid, 0·5–1·0 wt % is added to the sources of most mantle-derived arc magmas; the maximum amount of slab-derived flux in the sources of arc magmas according to our results is 2·5 wt %

Building a sustainable and desirable economy-in-society-in-nature

This report is a synthesis of ideas about what this new economy-in-society-innature could look like and how we might get there. Most of the ideas presented here are not new. The coauthors of this report have published them in various forms over the last several decades, and many others have expressed similar ideas in venues too numerous to mention. What is new is the timing and the situation. The time has come when we must make a transition. We have no choice. Our present path is clearly unsustainable. As Paul Raskin has said, Contrary to the conventional wisdom, it is business as usual that is the utopian fantasy; forging a new vision is the pragmatic necessity [10]. But we do have a choice about how to make the transition and what the new state of the world will be. We can engage in a global dialogue to envision the future we want, the theme of Rio+20, and then devise an adaptive strategy to get us there, or we can allow the current system to collapse and rebuild from a much worse starting point. We obviously argue for the former strategy. In this report, we discuss the need to focus more directly on the goal of sustainable human well-being rather than merely GDP growth. This includes protecting and restoring nature, achieving social and intergenerational fairness (including poverty alleviation), stabilizing population, and recognizing the significant nonmarket contributions to human well-being from natural and social capital. To do this, we need to develop better measures of progress that go well beyond GDP and begin to measure human well-being and its sustainability more directly