Explore the vast range of titles available.

Phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) profiles provide a robust measure that can be used to fingerprint the structure of soil microbial communities, and measure their biomass. A replicated field trial, with gradients in substrate and O2 availability created by straw incorporation and flooding was used to test the ability of PLFA to discriminate soil microbial communities in different management regimes. Another objective was to test the usefulness, on a large scale, of some of the proposed interpretations of PLFA biomarkers. Using a direct gradient statistical analysis method, PLFA profiles were found to be very sensitive to flooding and straw treatments. Relative abundances of monounsaturated fatty acids were reduced with flooding and increased with added carbon, consistent with their proposed interpretations as indicators of aerobic conditions and high substrate availability. The cyclopropyl fatty acids were not useful as taxonomic indicators of respiratory type, although their responses were consistent with their proposed use as growth condition indicators. Branched fatty acids decreased, as a group, in response to high substrate conditions. A specific biomarker for Type II methanotrophs was not found in this rice soil, even under high carbon, low O2 conditions, which resulted in methane exposure in the soil. Direct comparison of PLFA and substrate utilization patterns indicated that Biolog patterns are highly selective, and do not reflect compositional changes in soil communities

Parkin is the most prevalent genetic factor in the onset of autosomal recessive juvenile parkinsonism (AR-JP), and mutations in parkin has been reported to cause motor defects, which result from dopamine deficiency caused by dopaminergic neuronal cell death. Activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) has also been implicated in neuronal cell death in Parkinson's disease (PD). Moreover, Drosophila models for AR-JP, loss of function mutants of Drosophila parkin, also show dopaminergic neural degeneration associated with hyperactivation of JNK, increased apoptosis, and mitochondrial defects. However, the molecular mechanism by which Parkin protects cells from apoptosis remains unclear. In the present study, we tested whether Drosophila Parkin suppressed the JNK signaling pathway in developing tissues. Ectopically expressed parkin strongly suppressed the constitutively active form of Hemipterous (Hep∨CA), a Drosophila JNK kinase that induces an eye degeneration phenotype and apoptosis in the eye imaginal disc. Moreover, parkin also suppressed extra vein formation induced by Basket (Bsk), a Drosophila JNK. Interestingly, the bsk mRNA level was markedly reduced by parkin over-expression, suggesting that the effect of parkin on the phenotype induced by activation of JNK signaling was achieved by transcriptional regulation. Furthermore, we found that the expression level of JNK target genes was reduced by parkin over-expression. Taken together, these results suggest that Drosophila Parkin suppresses JNK signaling by reducing bsk transcription.

Loss of lateral hydrological connectivity (LHC) is a major cause of biodiversity decline in river floodplains, yet little is known about its effects on aquatic functional diversity in these ecosystems. We quantified functional alpha and beta diversity of fish assemblages in Yangtze River floodplain lakes and explored their responses to loss of IMC with generalized linear mixed models. Functional richness was much lower in lakes that were not connected to the Yangtze River (i.e., disconnected lakes), where functional evenness and divergence were higher. LHC was the most important factor shaping fish diversity patterns in this region. Predicted reductions in functional richness and taxonomic richness due to LHC loss were higher for functional richness (0.47-0.82) than taxonomic richness (0.32) for all species assemblages except nonmigratory species. The distribution of functional strategies of migratory and nonmigratory fishes was highly uneven throughout the floodplain. Taxonomic beta diversity was much higher than functional beta diversity. The former was due mainly to spatial turnover (73-6-838%), which suggested that dissimilarity of diversity among fish assemblages was largely induced by species replacement. The latter was induced by the nestedness-resultant component of overall beta diversity (70.7-86.0%), which indicated a high degree of function loss without replacement. Both taxonomic and functional beta diversity were higher in disconnected lakes, where they were significantly correlated with fishing activity and water quality, than in river-connected lakes. We showed for the first time the effects of loss of LHC on fish functional diversity in large river floodplains. We found a serious decline of fish functional richness in the Yangtze floodplain, and functional diversity remained highly vulnerable to loss of LHC even though this is a species-rich ecosystem. La pérdida de conectividad hidrológica lateral (CHL) es una de las principales causas de la pérdida de biodiversidad en las llanuras de inundación de los ríos, sin embargo se conoce poco de sus efectos sobre la diversidad funcional acuática en estos ecosistemas. Cuantificamos la diversidad alfa y beta funcional de los ensambles de peces en lagos en la llanura de inundación del Río Yangtze y exploramos sus respuestas a la pérdida de CHL mediante modelos mixtos lineales generalizados. La riqueza funcional fue mucho menor en lagos que no estaban conectados al Río Yangtze (i. e., lagos desconectados), donde la equidad y divergencia funcionales fueron mayores. La conectividad hidrológica lateral fue el factor más importante para moldear los patrones de diversidad de peces en esta región. Las reducciones pronosticadas en la riqueza funcional y en la riqueza taxonómica debido a la pérdida de CHL fueron mayores para la riqueza funcional (0.47-0.82) que para la riqueza taxonómica (0.32) en todos los ensambles de especies excepto las especies no migratorias. La distribución de estrategias funcionales de peces migratorios y no migratorios fue muy desigual a lo largo de la llanura de inundación. La diversidad beta funcional fue mucho mayor que la diversidad beta funcional. Lo anterior se debió principalmente al recambio espacial (73-6-83.8%), lo que sugiere que la disimilitud de diversidad entre los ensambles de peces fue inducida por el reemplazo de especies. Esto a su vez fue inducido por el componente de anidación resultantes de la diversidad beta total (70.7-86.0%), lo que indicó un alto grado de pérdida funcional sin reemplazo. Tanto la diversidad taxonómica como la diversidad beta funcional fueron mayores en lagos desconectados, donde estuvieron correlacionados significativamente con la actividad pesquera y la calidad del agua, que en los lagos conectados al río. Mostramos por primera vez los efectos de la pérdida de CHL sobre la diversidad funcional de peces en llanuras de inundación extensas. Encontramos una declinación seria en la riqueza funcional de peces en la llanura de inundación del Yangtze, y la diversidad funcional es altamente vulnerable a la pérdida de CHL aun cuando es un ecosistema rico en especies.

In two tidal freshwater marshes, methane emission, production and accumulation in the pore-water have been studied. The two sites differ in their dominant vegetation, i.e. reed and bulrush, and in their heights above sea level. The reed site was elevated in relation to the bulrush site and had higher rates of methane emission and production. It is argued that this difference in methane emission between sites was primarily due to a different effect of reed and bulrush plants on methane dynamics rather than methane oxidation related to tidal elevation. Methane emission showed strong seasonality related primarily to plant physiology and only secondarily to temperature. Two control sites at which vegetation was removed systematically had lower emission rates indicating an overall stimulating effect of plants on methane emission from tidal marshes. Flooding reduced methane emission, probably by blocking the primary sites of methane release in the lower part of the plant stems.

This article draws on empirical material to reflect on what drives rapid change in flood risk management practice, reflecting wider interest in the way that scientific practices make risk landscapes and a specific focus on extreme events as drivers of rapid change. Such events are commonly referred to as a form of creative destruction, ones that reveal both the composition of socioenvironmental assemblages and provide a creative opportunity to remake those assemblages in alternate ways, therefore rapidly changing policy and practice. Drawing on wider thinking in complexity theory, we argue that what happens between events might be as, if not more, important than the events themselves. We use two empirical examples concerned with flood risk management practice: a rapid shift in the dominant technologies used to map flood risk in the United Kingdom and an experimental approach to public participation tested in two different locations, with dramatically different consequences. Both show that the state of the socioenvironmental assemblage in which the events take place matters as much as the magnitude of the events themselves. The periods between rapid changes are not simply periods of discursive consolidation but involve the ongoing mutation of such assemblages, which could either sensitize or desensitize them to rapid change. Understanding these intervening periods matters as much as the events themselves. If events matter, it is because of the ways in which they might bring into sharp focus the coding or framing of a socioenvironmental assemblage in policy or scientific practice irrespective of whether or not those events evolve the assemblage in subtle or more radical ways.

Indexes that measure social vulnerability to hazards have gained acceptance as a research tool that can inform local policymaking. Many indexes, however, are created remotely by researchers without using the input of those working in local policy. If practitioners are involved in creating an index that they find accurate and useful, it is more likely they will incorporate the findings of the index in local policy decisions. This article describes the process of ground truthing a social vulnerability index with practitioners working in five municipalities in Metro Vancouver and how the index was then revised to reflect their input. This process involved presenting an index to focus groups of municipal practitioners for their feedback and conducting a survey of participants that was then used to assign weights to the variables in the index. The study found that practitioners were generally accepting of the research approach to quantifying social vulnerability by place, although they often had specific concerns regarding the methodology and offered suggestions to make the index more reflective of the local context. The process of revising the index illustrates that local practitioner input can be used to create a measure of social vulnerability to hazards that is meaningful to those working in the community.

A cDNA clone for a transcript preferentially expressed during an early phase of flooding was isolated from Nicotiana tabacum. Nucleotide sequencing of the cDNA clone identified an open reading frame that has high homology to the previously reported glycine-rich RNA-binding proteins. The open reading frame consists of 157 amino acids with an N-terminal RNA-recognition motif and a C-terminal glycine-rich domain, and thus the cDNA clone was designated as Nicotiana tabacum glycine-rich RNA-binding protein-1 (NtGRP1). Expression of NtGRP1 was upregulated under flooding stress and also increased, but at much lower levels, under conditions of cold, drought, heat, high salt content, and abscisic acid treatment. RNA homopolymer-binding assay showed that NtGRP1 binds to all the RNA homopolymers tested with a higher affinity to poly r(G) and poly r(A) than to poly r(U) and poly r(C). Nucleic acid-binding assays showed that NtGRP1 binds to ssDNA, dsDNA, and mRNA. NtGRP1 suppressed expression of the fire luciferase gene in vitro, and the suppression of luciferase gene expression could be rescued by addition of oligonucleotides. Collectively, the data suggest NtGRP1 as a negative modulator of gene expression by binding to DNA or RNA in bulk that could be advantageous for plants in a stress condition like flooding.

The variability of extremely heavy precipitation events with duration of 120 min occurring in the area of Cracow, southern Poland was assessed. The analysis was performed using time series of maximum annual precipitation events with durations t = 5, 10, 15, 30, 60, and 120 min, recorded at the Botanical Garden station at the Jagiellonian University in the period of 1906–1990. The periodicity of precipitation was analyzed using the autocorrelation function and Fourier spectral density analysis. The Probable Maximum Precipitation (PMP) was calculated by Hershfield’s statistical method. The analysis of the autocorrelation function of sequences and the Fourier spectral density revealed a clear periodicity of the maximum precipitation. For precipitation with t = 60 min, the maximum values occur every 9 years, but also shorter periods (3-year) may be observed. The PMP values calculated for Cracow differ significantly from the values calculated using the probability distribution, as well as from the ones observed and they increase with increasing precipitation duration. The differences between the PMP and probable as well as observed precipitation tend to decrease with increasing duration of precipitation.

Se analizan los sitios de afectación por inundación (SAI) atendidos por la Coordinación de Protección Civil de Guadalajara (CMPCG) desde un enfoque geoespacial; se da a conocer la distribución de cómo, cuándo y dónde han afectado las inundaciones durante los últimos 12 años (2010-2022). El caso de estudio es la zona urbana del municipio de Guadalajara; se analiza la frecuencia, distribución e intensidad de las inundaciones año por año, y del total del periodo de estudio. Se obtuvo un mapa de categorización del tirante de agua, considerando la altura de nivel de inundación histórica presentada por colonias, donde la mayoría presenta un rango que va de medio a bajo. Posteriormente, se analizaron los servicios atendidos por bases del área operativa de la CMPCG, donde los mayores sectores afectados son la vía pública y el sector casa habitación. Se trabajó con un total de 3 676 SAI contenidos en el inventario de inundaciones de la CMPCG. El estudio permite identificar 63 sitios recurrentes de inundación (SiRI) con la información de los SAI. A escala de colonias, se corresponden a 65 colonias recurrentes de inundación (CRI). Se exhiben, además, 20 sitios críticos de inundación (SiCI), que cumplieron con los criterios de recurrencia, también se considera el criterio de incidencia tanto en el campo de domicilio como en el de cruce. Finalmente, se destaca la labor que se realiza día con día en la Coordinación Municipal de Protección Civil de Guadalajara (CMPCG) y específicamente del personal del Área Operativa, ya que este estudio se realizó a partir de la información recabada por dicho personal durante cada temporal de lluvias. Con el presente estudio se contribuye a la primera etapa de la gestión integral de riesgos al incluir el análisis e identificación de los sitios de inundación en el municipio de Guadalajara.