Linkages between the energy and agricultural sectors: insights from European Union greenhouse gas mitigation scenarios

Over the past decade, the relationship between agricultural and energy markets has strengthened. Traditional energy sources have been increasingly replaced by energy from biomass, and this trend is expected to continue into the future. Consequently, an assessment of the efficiency of bioenergy policies requires a comprehensive analysis of both agricultural and energy markets. The objective of this paper is to analyze the impacts of two detailed European Union (EU) greenhouse gas (GHG) emission mitigation policies on the utilization of biomass for energy production and the implications for agricultural prices and trade. The consequences of a policy-induced shift from consumption of fossil to renewable energy are assessed under full consideration of interrelations between the energy and agricultural sectors. To this end, we combine an energy system model and an agricultural sector model by establishing a consistent interface between them. Depending on the ambition of the GHG emission reduction scenarios, the results indicate significant price increases. Furthermore, the increase in European demand for energy crops is to a substantial degree covered by additional imports. These results highlight that GHG emission mitigation policies enacted in a large economy like the EU cannot be considered without accounting for indirect effects in the rest of the world. They put the efficiency and also the effectiveness of such policies in general into question.     

Possible maternal offloading of metals in the plasma,uterine and capsule fluid of pregnant ragged-tooth sharks (Carcharias taurus) on the east coast of South Africa

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - We studied the possible metal offloading onto the progeny of three pregnant female ragged-tooth sharks (Carcharias taurus) (C. taurus). The presences...     

History of Bioengineering Techniques for Erosion Control in Rivers in Western Europe

Living plants have been used for a very long time throughout the world in structures against soil erosion, as traces have been found dating back to the first century BC. Widely practiced in Western Europe during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, bioengineering was somewhat abandoned in the middle of the twentieth century, before seeing a resurgence in recent times. Based on an extensive bibliography, this article examines the different forms of bioengineering techniques used in the past to manage rivers and riverbanks, mainly in Europe. We compare techniques using living material according to their strength of protection against erosion. Many techniques are described, both singly and in combination, ranging from tree planting or sowing seeds on riverbanks to dams made of fascine or wattle fences. The recent appearance of new materials has led to the development of new techniques, associated with an evolution in the perception of riverbanks. This study was part of a research project on river bioengineering funded by the French Ministère de l’Ecologie, de l’Energie, du Développement Durable et de l’Aménagement du Territoire, Direction Générale de la Prévention des Risques.     

Do national levels of individualism and internal locus of control relate to well‐being: an ecological level international study

Data were collected from managers in 24 nations/territories on work locus of control (LOC), individualism–collectivism (I–C), and well‐being (job satisfaction, absence of psychological strain, and absence of physical strain). There were significant mean differences across samples on all five of these measures, and consistent with our hypothesis, at the ecological or sample mean level well‐being was associated with an internal locus of control. However, contrary to our hypothesis, well‐being was not associated with I–C, despite a strong correlation between I–C and LOC. Findings at the ecological level were consistent with the literature concerning the salutary effects of control on well‐being. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of four decades of fire manipulation on woody vegetation structure in Savanna

The amount of carbon stored in savannas represents a significant uncertainty in global carbon budgets, primarily because fire causes actual biomass to differ from potential biomass. We analyzed the structural response of woody plants to long-term experimental burning in savannas. The experiment uses a randomized block design to examine fire exclusion and the season and frequency of burn in 192 7-ha experimental plots located in four different savanna ecosystems. Although previous studies would lead us to expect tree density to respond to the fire regime, our results, obtained from four different savanna ecosystems, suggest that the density of woody individuals was unresponsive to fire. The relative dominance of small trees was, however, highly responsive to fire regime. The observed shift in the structure of tree populations has potentially large impacts on the carbon balance. However, the response of tree biomass to fire of the different savannas studied were different, making it difficult to generalize about the extent to which fire can be used to manipulate carbon sequestration in savannas. This study provides evidence that savannas are demographically resilient to fire, but structurally responsive.     

First-trimester amniotic fluid acetylcholinesterase electrophoresis

Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) gel electrophoresis was performed on normal amniotic fluids obtained at 4–15 weeks of pregnancy. Until 8 weeks, all the fluids were AChE-positive; the percentage of positive specimens decreased from 9 until 11 weeks and no positive specimen was found after 12 weeks. This method may allow early prenatal dignosis of neural tube defects after the 12th week.     

Isolation and fractionation of soil humin using alkaline urea and dimethylsulphoxide plus sulphuric acid

Humin, the most recalcitrant and abundant organic fraction of soils and of sediments, is a significant contributor to the stable carbon pool in soils and is important for the global carbon budget. It has significant resistance to transformations by microorganisms. Based on the classical operational definition, humin can include any humic-type substance that is not soluble in water at any pH. We demonstrate in this study how sequential exhaustive extractions with 0.1 M sodium hydroxide (NaOH) + 6 M urea, followed by dimethylsulphoxide (DMSO) + 6% (v/v) sulphuric acid (H₂SO₄) solvent systems, can extract 70–80% of the residual materials remaining after prior exhaustive extractions in neutral and aqueous basic media. Solid-state ¹³C NMR spectra have shown that the components isolated in the base + urea system were compositionally similar to the humic and fulvic acid fractions isolated at pH 12.6 in the aqueous media. The NMR spectra indicated that the major components isolated in the DMSO + H₂SO₄ medium had aliphatic hydrocarbon associated with carboxyl functionalities and with lesser amounts of carbohydrate and peptide and minor amounts of lignin-derived components. The major components will have significant contributions from long-chain fatty acids, waxes, to cuticular materials. The isolates in the DMSO + H₂SO₄ medium were compositionally similar to the organic components that resisted solvation and remained associated with the soil clays. It is concluded that the base + urea system released humic and fulvic acids held by hydrogen bonding or by entrapment within the humin matrix. The recalcitrant humin materials extracted in DMSO + H₂SO₄ are largely biological molecules (from plants and the soil microbial population) that are likely to be protected from degradation by their hydrophobic moieties and by sorption on the soil clays. Thus, the major components of humin do not satisfy the classical definitions for humic substances which emphasise that these arise from microbial or chemical transformations in soils of the components of organic debris.     

Hydrobiogeochemical Controls on Riparian Nutrient and Greenhouse Gas Dynamics: 10 Years Post‐Restoration

Little is known about the impact of agricultural legacy on subsurface biogeochemical processes in the years following restoration of riparian wetlands (WLs). More knowledge is also needed on the relative importance of seasons, precipitation events, and inputs of water and nutrients driving nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), sulfur (S), and greenhouse gas (GHG) (N₂O, CO₂, CH₄) dynamics in these systems. This investigation of a riparian zone comprising a restored WL area and a nonrestored well‐drained alluvium (AL) area in the United States Midwest revealed that despite successful hydrological restoration a decade earlier, biogeochemical conditions in the WL area remained less anoxic than in natural WLs, and not significantly different from those in the AL area. No significant differences in N, P, S, and C compound concentrations or fluxes were observed between the AL and WL areas. Over the duration of the study, nitrate (NO₃^?) and soluble reactive phosphorus appeared to be primarily driven by hillslope contributions. Ammonium (NH₄⁺), sulfate (SO₄^2?), and CO₂ responded strongly to seasonal changes in biogeochemical conditions in the riparian zone, while N₂O and CH₄ fluxes were most influenced by large rewetting events. Overall, our results challenge overly simplistic assumptions derived from direct interpretation of redox thermodynamics, and show complex patterns of solutes and GHGs at the riparian zone scale.     

Maternal serum free beta hCG screening: Results of studies including 480 cases of down syndrome

The median maternal serum free beta human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) multiple of the median (MOM) of 480 Down syndrome cases in the second trimester was 2·64, significantly greater than the reported median MOM of intact hCG (p<0·0001). In 234 of these cases from retrospective and prospective studies, the effectiveness of maternal serum free beta hCG was evaluated in combination with alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and maternal age in second-trimester Down syndrome screening. Down syndrome detection in the gestational age range of 14–16 weeks was 82 per cent. In all gestational weeks (14–22), a 77·7 per cent Down syndrome detection rate was achieved. In prospective screening of 44 272 patients under the age of 35 years, 69 per cent of Down syndrome cases were detected (73 per cent in gestational weeks 14–16). The false-positive rate for the prospective study was 3·8 per cent. The use of free beta hCG combined with maternal serum AFP and maternal age-related risk for Down syndrome in a screening population (i.e., women under 35 years) yields an improved detection efficiency over other protocols.     

Amniotic fluid digestive enzymes: Diagnostic value in fetal gastrointestinal obstructions

The diagnostic value of amniotic fluid gamma-glutamyl-transpeptidase (GGTP) and intestinal alkaline phos-phatase (iALP) was evaluated in 55 patients who underwent amniocentesis for karyotyping because fetal gastric or small bowel dilatation had been detected by ultrasound. Gastrointestinal malformation was confirmed in 46 cases and there was no gastrointestinal anomaly in nine cases. Prenatal ultrasound was suggestive of gastroduodenal dilatation in 34 cases (group I) and small bowel dilatation in 21 cases (group II). In group I, amniotic fluid GGTP above the 99th percentile was 71 per cent sensitive and 100 per cent specific for a true anatomical defect of the digestive tract (mainly duodenal atresia). In group II, high levels of GGTP and/or iALP were 69 per cent sensitive and 83 per cent specific for a fetal digestive tract anomaly. In other words, when digestive tract dilatations were diagnosed by prenatal sonography, abnormal amniotic fluid enzyme activities were strongly suggestive of such an anomaly, the possibility of which was not precluded by normal amniotic fluid iALP and GGTP activities. But amniotic fluid digestive enzyme activities do not help in defining the prognosis.