Sample records for plants globally announced

  1. Center for Global Health announces grants to support portable technologies

    Cancer.gov

    NCI's Center for Global Health announced grants that will support the development and validation of low-cost, portable technologies. These technologies have the potential to improve early detection, diagnosis, and non-invasive or minimally invasive treatm

  2. Announcement of new division: C9 – Biomedical, Health-Beneficial, and Nutritionally Enhanced Plants

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Crop Science, is pleased to announce that manuscript submissions are now being accepted to the journal through the new Provisional Division C09 – Biomedical, Health-Beneficial, and Nutritionally Enhanced Plants. The focus of this Division is on plants as food or feed, and on the development and eva...

  3. 78 FR 24767 - Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Announcement of Active 5-Year Status Review of the...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-04-26

    ...-FF07CAMM00] Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Announcement of Active 5-Year Status Review of the... seq.), we maintain Lists of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants (which we collectively refer... plants). Section 4(c)(2) of the Act requires us to review each listed species' status at least once every...

  4. GLOBAL CHANGE RESEARCH NEWS #23: PUBLICATION ANNOUNCEMENT - CLIMATE CHANGES IN THE UPPER GREAT LAKES REGION; A WORKSHOP REPORT

    EPA Science Inventory

    The Global Change Research Program is pleased to announce the publication of the first report from the Great Lakes Regional Assessment that is being conducted as part of the First U.S. National Assessment. The report is entitled, Climate Changes in the Upper Great Lakes Region --...

  5. Fungal symbionts alter plant responses to global change.

    PubMed

    Kivlin, Stephanie N; Emery, Sarah M; Rudgers, Jennifer A

    2013-07-01

    While direct plant responses to global change have been well characterized, indirect plant responses to global change, via altered species interactions, have received less attention. Here, we examined how plants associated with four classes of fungal symbionts (class I leaf endophytes [EF], arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi [AMF], ectomycorrhizal fungi [ECM], and dark septate endophytes [DSE]) responded to four global change factors (enriched CO2, drought, N deposition, and warming). We performed a meta-analysis of 434 studies spanning 174 publications to search for generalizable trends in responses of plant-fungal symbioses to future environments. Specifically, we addressed the following questions: (1) Can fungal symbionts ameliorate responses of plants to global change? (2) Do fungal symbiont groups differ in the degree to which they modify plant response to global change? (3) Do particular global change factors affect plant-fungal symbioses more than others? In all global change scenarios, except elevated CO2, fungal symbionts significantly altered plant responses to global change. In most cases, fungal symbionts increased plant biomass in response to global change. However, increased N deposition reduced the benefits of symbiosis. Of the global change factors we considered, drought and N deposition resulted in the strongest fungal mediation of plant responses. Our analysis highlighted gaps in current knowledge for responses of particular fungal groups and revealed the importance of considering not only the nonadditive effects of multiple global change factors, but also the interactive effects of multiple fungal symbioses. Our results show that considering plant-fungal symbioses is critical to predicting ecosystem response to global change.

  6. Unknown caller: can we effectively manage the announcement of discovery of extraterrestrial life?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gartrelle, Gordon M.

    2015-10-01

    The definitive discovery of another form of life from beyond Earth will answer one of our most fundamental questions: Are we alone in the Universe? This announcement will be the most significant in history. It will have impact on every facet of our lives and affect everyone on Earth. Ensuring the announcement is handled properly represents an opportunity to unify government, industrial, and scientific resources to work together on a global scale issue. The purpose of the present paper is to understand whether we have the overall strategy, management structures and process disciplines in place on a global scale to handle an announcement of this magnitude. The research methodology included review and analysis of peer-reviewed work on the topic, publications from appropriate scientific and policy organizations, and public statements from several acknowledged experts in the field of astrobiology and extraterrestrial communications. The 1996 case of the announcement of possible life from Martian meteorite ALH84001 was also analysed. The findings of the paper are multiple deficiencies exist in the ability to manage this problem globally in an integrated fashion across borders, institutional boundaries, and through the media. High-level recommendations are offered to address major identified gaps.

  7. OHD/SRC - Past Announcement

    Science.gov Websites

    Collaborative Research Program Current Announcement Past Announcements Collaborative Research Projects General services. Past Announcements FRN Announcement Questions and Answers Main Link Categories: Home | OHD | NWS

  8. Do invasive alien plants benefit more from global environmental change than native plants?

    PubMed

    Liu, Yanjie; Oduor, Ayub M O; Zhang, Zhen; Manea, Anthony; Tooth, Ifeanna M; Leishman, Michelle R; Xu, Xingliang; van Kleunen, Mark

    2017-08-01

    Invasive alien plant species threaten native biodiversity, disrupt ecosystem functions and can cause large economic damage. Plant invasions have been predicted to further increase under ongoing global environmental change. Numerous case studies have compared the performance of invasive and native plant species in response to global environmental change components (i.e. changes in mean levels of precipitation, temperature, atmospheric CO 2 concentration or nitrogen deposition). Individually, these studies usually involve low numbers of species and therefore the results cannot be generalized. Therefore, we performed a phylogenetically controlled meta-analysis to assess whether there is a general pattern of differences in invasive and native plant performance under each component of global environmental change. We compiled a database of studies that reported performance measures for 74 invasive alien plant species and 117 native plant species in response to one of the above-mentioned global environmental change components. We found that elevated temperature and CO 2 enrichment increased the performance of invasive alien plants more strongly than was the case for native plants. Invasive alien plants tended to also have a slightly stronger positive response to increased N deposition and increased precipitation than native plants, but these differences were not significant (N deposition: P = 0.051; increased precipitation: P = 0.679). Invasive alien plants tended to have a slightly stronger negative response to decreased precipitation than native plants, although this difference was also not significant (P = 0.060). So while drought could potentially reduce plant invasion, increases in the four other components of global environmental change considered, particularly global warming and atmospheric CO 2 enrichment, may further increase the spread of invasive plants in the future. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  9. Global planning of several plants

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bescos, Sylvie

    1992-01-01

    This paper discusses an attempt to solve the problem of planning several pharmaceutical plants at a global level. The interest in planning at this level is to increase the global control over the production process, to improve its overall efficiency, and to reduce the need for interaction between production plants. In order to reduce the complexity of this problem and to make it tractable, some abstractions were made. Based on these abstractions, a prototype is being developed within the framework of the EUREKA project PROTOS, using Constraint Logic Programming techniques.

  10. Global change and terrestrial plant community dynamics

    DOE PAGES

    Franklin, Janet; Serra-Diaz, Josep M.; Syphard, Alexandra D.; ...

    2016-02-29

    Anthropogenic drivers of global change include rising atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses and resulting changes in the climate, as well as nitrogen deposition, biotic invasions, altered disturbance regimes, and land-use change. Predicting the effects of global change on terrestrial plant communities is crucial because of the ecosystem services vegetation provides, from climate regulation to forest products. In this article, we present a framework for detecting vegetation changes and attributing them to global change drivers that incorporates multiple lines of evidence from spatially extensive monitoring networks, distributed experiments, remotely sensed data, and historical records. Based on amore » literature review, we summarize observed changes and then describe modeling tools that can forecast the impacts of multiple drivers on plant communities in an era of rapid change. Observed responses to changes in temperature, water, nutrients, land use, and disturbance show strong sensitivity of ecosystem productivity and plant population dynamics to water balance and long-lasting effects of disturbance on plant community dynamics. Persistent effects of land-use change and human-altered fire regimes on vegetation can overshadow or interact with climate change impacts. Models forecasting plant community responses to global change incorporate shifting ecological niches, population dynamics, species interactions, spatially explicit disturbance, ecosystem processes, and plant functional responses. Lastly, monitoring, experiments, and models evaluating multiple change drivers are needed to detect and predict vegetation changes in response to 21st century global change.« less

  11. Global change and terrestrial plant community dynamics

    PubMed Central

    Franklin, Janet; Serra-Diaz, Josep M.; Syphard, Alexandra D.; Regan, Helen M.

    2016-01-01

    Anthropogenic drivers of global change include rising atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses and resulting changes in the climate, as well as nitrogen deposition, biotic invasions, altered disturbance regimes, and land-use change. Predicting the effects of global change on terrestrial plant communities is crucial because of the ecosystem services vegetation provides, from climate regulation to forest products. In this paper, we present a framework for detecting vegetation changes and attributing them to global change drivers that incorporates multiple lines of evidence from spatially extensive monitoring networks, distributed experiments, remotely sensed data, and historical records. Based on a literature review, we summarize observed changes and then describe modeling tools that can forecast the impacts of multiple drivers on plant communities in an era of rapid change. Observed responses to changes in temperature, water, nutrients, land use, and disturbance show strong sensitivity of ecosystem productivity and plant population dynamics to water balance and long-lasting effects of disturbance on plant community dynamics. Persistent effects of land-use change and human-altered fire regimes on vegetation can overshadow or interact with climate change impacts. Models forecasting plant community responses to global change incorporate shifting ecological niches, population dynamics, species interactions, spatially explicit disturbance, ecosystem processes, and plant functional responses. Monitoring, experiments, and models evaluating multiple change drivers are needed to detect and predict vegetation changes in response to 21st century global change. PMID:26929338

  12. Solyndra Loan Guarantee Announcement

    ScienceCinema

    Vice President Biden and Secretary Chu were joined by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Solyndra CEO Dr. Chris Grone

    2017-12-09

    Vice President Biden and Secretary Chu were joined by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Solyndra CEO Dr. Chris Grone to announce that the Department of Energy has finalized a $535 million loan guarantee for Solyndra, Inc., which manufactures innovative cylindrical solar photovoltaic panels that provide clean, renewable energy. The funding will finance construction of the first phase of the company's new manufacturing facility. Solyndra estimates the new plant will initially create 3,000 construction jobs, and lead to as many as 1,000 jobs once the facility opens.

  13. DOT Announces Action Plan for Transportation Infrastructure Relying on GPS

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2002-03-07

    U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta today announced that the U.S. Department of : Transportation (DOT) will implement an action plan to maintain the adequacy of backup systems : for each area of operation in which the Global Positioning Sy...

  14. Can Cross-Listing Mitigate the Impact of an Information Security Breach Announcement on a Firm's Values?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chen, Yong; Dong, Feng; Chen, Hong; Xu, Li

    2016-08-01

    The increase in globalization in the markets has driven firms to adopt online technologies and to cross-list their stocks. Recent studies have consistently found that the announcements of information security breaches (ISBs) are negatively associated with the market values of the announcing firms during the days surrounding the breach announcements. Given the improvement in firms’ information environments and the better protection for investors generated by cross-listing, does cross-listing help firms to reduce the negative impacts caused by their announcements of ISBs? This paper conducts an event study of 120 publicly traded firms (among which 25 cross-list and 95 do not), in order to explore the answer. The results indicate that the impact of ISB announcements on a firm's stock prices shows no difference between cross-listing firms and non-cross-listing firms. Cross-listing does not mitigate the impact of ISBs announcement on a firm's market value.

  15. Variations and determinants of carbon content in plants: a global synthesis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ma, Suhui; He, Feng; Tian, Di; Zou, Dongting; Yan, Zhengbing; Yang, Yulong; Zhou, Tiancheng; Huang, Kaiyue; Shen, Haihua; Fang, Jingyun

    2018-02-01

    Plant carbon (C) content is one of the most important plant traits and is critical to the assessment of global C cycle and ecological stoichiometry; however, the global variations in plant C content remain poorly understood. In this study, we conducted a global analysis of the plant C content by synthesizing data from 4318 species to document specific values and their variation of the C content across plant organs and life forms. Plant organ C contents ranged from 45.0 % in reproductive organs to 47.9 % in stems at global scales, which were significantly lower than the widely employed canonical value of 50 %. Plant C content in leaves (global mean of 46.9 %) was higher than that in roots (45.6 %). Across life forms, woody plants exhibited higher C content than herbaceous plants. Conifers, relative to broad-leaved woody species, had higher C content in roots, leaves, and stems. Plant C content tended to show a decrease with increasing latitude. The life form explained more variation of the C content than climate. Our findings suggest that specific C content values of different organs and life forms developed in our study should be incorporated into the estimations of regional and global vegetation biomass C stocks.

  16. Mapping local and global variability in plant trait distributions.

    PubMed

    Butler, Ethan E; Datta, Abhirup; Flores-Moreno, Habacuc; Chen, Ming; Wythers, Kirk R; Fazayeli, Farideh; Banerjee, Arindam; Atkin, Owen K; Kattge, Jens; Amiaud, Bernard; Blonder, Benjamin; Boenisch, Gerhard; Bond-Lamberty, Ben; Brown, Kerry A; Byun, Chaeho; Campetella, Giandiego; Cerabolini, Bruno E L; Cornelissen, Johannes H C; Craine, Joseph M; Craven, Dylan; de Vries, Franciska T; Díaz, Sandra; Domingues, Tomas F; Forey, Estelle; González-Melo, Andrés; Gross, Nicolas; Han, Wenxuan; Hattingh, Wesley N; Hickler, Thomas; Jansen, Steven; Kramer, Koen; Kraft, Nathan J B; Kurokawa, Hiroko; Laughlin, Daniel C; Meir, Patrick; Minden, Vanessa; Niinemets, Ülo; Onoda, Yusuke; Peñuelas, Josep; Read, Quentin; Sack, Lawren; Schamp, Brandon; Soudzilovskaia, Nadejda A; Spasojevic, Marko J; Sosinski, Enio; Thornton, Peter E; Valladares, Fernando; van Bodegom, Peter M; Williams, Mathew; Wirth, Christian; Reich, Peter B

    2017-12-19

    Our ability to understand and predict the response of ecosystems to a changing environment depends on quantifying vegetation functional diversity. However, representing this diversity at the global scale is challenging. Typically, in Earth system models, characterization of plant diversity has been limited to grouping related species into plant functional types (PFTs), with all trait variation in a PFT collapsed into a single mean value that is applied globally. Using the largest global plant trait database and state of the art Bayesian modeling, we created fine-grained global maps of plant trait distributions that can be applied to Earth system models. Focusing on a set of plant traits closely coupled to photosynthesis and foliar respiration-specific leaf area (SLA) and dry mass-based concentrations of leaf nitrogen ([Formula: see text]) and phosphorus ([Formula: see text]), we characterize how traits vary within and among over 50,000 [Formula: see text]-km cells across the entire vegetated land surface. We do this in several ways-without defining the PFT of each grid cell and using 4 or 14 PFTs; each model's predictions are evaluated against out-of-sample data. This endeavor advances prior trait mapping by generating global maps that preserve variability across scales by using modern Bayesian spatial statistical modeling in combination with a database over three times larger than that in previous analyses. Our maps reveal that the most diverse grid cells possess trait variability close to the range of global PFT means.

  17. Mapping local and global variability in plant trait distributions

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Butler, Ethan E.; Datta, Abhirup; Flores-Moreno, Habacuc

    2017-12-01

    Our ability to understand and predict the response of ecosystems to a changing environment depends on quantifying vegetation functional diversity. However, representing this diversity at the global scale is challenging. Typically, in Earth system models, characterization of plant diversity has been limited to grouping related species into plant functional types (PFTs), with all trait variation in a PFT collapsed into a single mean value that is applied globally. Using the largest global plant trait database and state of the art Bayesian modeling, we created fine-grained global maps of plant trait distributions that can be applied to Earth system models. Focusingmore » on a set of plant traits closely coupled to photosynthesis and foliar respiration—specific leaf area (SLA) and dry mass-based concentrations of leaf nitrogen (N m) and phosphorus (P m), we characterize how traits vary within and among over 50,000 ~50×50-km cells across the entire vegetated land surface. We do this in several ways—without defining the PFT of each grid cell and using 4 or 14 PFTs; each model’s predictions are evaluated against out-of-sample data. This endeavor advances prior trait mapping by generating global maps that preserve variability across scales by using modern Bayesian spatial statistical modeling in combination with a database over three times larger than that in previous analyses. Our maps further reveal that the most diverse grid cells possess trait variability close to the range of global PFT means.« less

  18. Global pattern of plant utilization across different organisms: Does plant apparency or plant phylogeny matter?

    PubMed

    Dai, Xiaohua; Zhang, Wei; Xu, Jiasheng; Duffy, Kevin J; Guo, Qingyun

    2017-04-01

    The present study is the first to consider human and nonhuman consumers together to reveal several general patterns of plant utilization. We provide evidence that at a global scale, plant apparency and phylogenetic isolation can be important predictors of plant utilization and consumer diversity. Using the number of species or genera or the distribution area of each plant family as the island "area" and the minimum phylogenetic distance to common plant families as the island "distance", we fitted presence-area relationships and presence-distance relationships with a binomial GLM (generalized linear model) with a logit link. The presence-absence of consumers among each plant family strongly depended on plant apparency (family size and distribution area); the diversity of consumers increased with plant apparency but decreased with phylogenetic isolation. When consumers extended their host breadth, unapparent plants became more likely to be used. Common uses occurred more often on common plants and their relatives, showing higher host phylogenetic clustering than uncommon uses. On the contrary, highly specialized uses might be related to the rarity of plant chemicals and were therefore very species-specific. In summary, our results provide a global illustration of plant-consumer combinations and reveal several general patterns of plant utilization across humans, insects and microbes. First, plant apparency and plant phylogenetic isolation generally govern plant utilization value, with uncommon and isolated plants suffering fewer parasites. Second, extension of the breadth of utilized hosts helps explain the presence of consumers on unapparent plants. Finally, the phylogenetic clustering structure of host plants is different between common uses and uncommon uses. The strength of such consistent plant utilization patterns across a diverse set of usage types suggests that the persistence and accumulation of consumer diversity and use value for plant species are

  19. MycoDB, a global database of plant response to mycorrhizal fungi.

    PubMed

    Chaudhary, V Bala; Rúa, Megan A; Antoninka, Anita; Bever, James D; Cannon, Jeffery; Craig, Ashley; Duchicela, Jessica; Frame, Alicia; Gardes, Monique; Gehring, Catherine; Ha, Michelle; Hart, Miranda; Hopkins, Jacob; Ji, Baoming; Johnson, Nancy Collins; Kaonongbua, Wittaya; Karst, Justine; Koide, Roger T; Lamit, Louis J; Meadow, James; Milligan, Brook G; Moore, John C; Pendergast, Thomas H; Piculell, Bridget; Ramsby, Blake; Simard, Suzanne; Shrestha, Shubha; Umbanhowar, James; Viechtbauer, Wolfgang; Walters, Lawrence; Wilson, Gail W T; Zee, Peter C; Hoeksema, Jason D

    2016-05-10

    Plants form belowground associations with mycorrhizal fungi in one of the most common symbioses on Earth. However, few large-scale generalizations exist for the structure and function of mycorrhizal symbioses, as the nature of this relationship varies from mutualistic to parasitic and is largely context-dependent. We announce the public release of MycoDB, a database of 4,010 studies (from 438 unique publications) to aid in multi-factor meta-analyses elucidating the ecological and evolutionary context in which mycorrhizal fungi alter plant productivity. Over 10 years with nearly 80 collaborators, we compiled data on the response of plant biomass to mycorrhizal fungal inoculation, including meta-analysis metrics and 24 additional explanatory variables that describe the biotic and abiotic context of each study. We also include phylogenetic trees for all plants and fungi in the database. To our knowledge, MycoDB is the largest ecological meta-analysis database. We aim to share these data to highlight significant gaps in mycorrhizal research and encourage synthesis to explore the ecological and evolutionary generalities that govern mycorrhizal functioning in ecosystems.

  20. MycoDB, a global database of plant response to mycorrhizal fungi

    PubMed Central

    Chaudhary, V. Bala; Rúa, Megan A.; Antoninka, Anita; Bever, James D.; Cannon, Jeffery; Craig, Ashley; Duchicela, Jessica; Frame, Alicia; Gardes, Monique; Gehring, Catherine; Ha, Michelle; Hart, Miranda; Hopkins, Jacob; Ji, Baoming; Johnson, Nancy Collins; Kaonongbua, Wittaya; Karst, Justine; Koide, Roger T.; Lamit, Louis J.; Meadow, James; Milligan, Brook G.; Moore, John C.; Pendergast IV, Thomas H.; Piculell, Bridget; Ramsby, Blake; Simard, Suzanne; Shrestha, Shubha; Umbanhowar, James; Viechtbauer, Wolfgang; Walters, Lawrence; Wilson, Gail W. T.; Zee, Peter C.; Hoeksema, Jason D.

    2016-01-01

    Plants form belowground associations with mycorrhizal fungi in one of the most common symbioses on Earth. However, few large-scale generalizations exist for the structure and function of mycorrhizal symbioses, as the nature of this relationship varies from mutualistic to parasitic and is largely context-dependent. We announce the public release of MycoDB, a database of 4,010 studies (from 438 unique publications) to aid in multi-factor meta-analyses elucidating the ecological and evolutionary context in which mycorrhizal fungi alter plant productivity. Over 10 years with nearly 80 collaborators, we compiled data on the response of plant biomass to mycorrhizal fungal inoculation, including meta-analysis metrics and 24 additional explanatory variables that describe the biotic and abiotic context of each study. We also include phylogenetic trees for all plants and fungi in the database. To our knowledge, MycoDB is the largest ecological meta-analysis database. We aim to share these data to highlight significant gaps in mycorrhizal research and encourage synthesis to explore the ecological and evolutionary generalities that govern mycorrhizal functioning in ecosystems. PMID:27163938

  1. MycoDB, a global database of plant response to mycorrhizal fungi

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chaudhary, V. Bala; Rúa, Megan A.; Antoninka, Anita; Bever, James D.; Cannon, Jeffery; Craig, Ashley; Duchicela, Jessica; Frame, Alicia; Gardes, Monique; Gehring, Catherine; Ha, Michelle; Hart, Miranda; Hopkins, Jacob; Ji, Baoming; Johnson, Nancy Collins; Kaonongbua, Wittaya; Karst, Justine; Koide, Roger T.; Lamit, Louis J.; Meadow, James; Milligan, Brook G.; Moore, John C.; Pendergast, Thomas H., IV; Piculell, Bridget; Ramsby, Blake; Simard, Suzanne; Shrestha, Shubha; Umbanhowar, James; Viechtbauer, Wolfgang; Walters, Lawrence; Wilson, Gail W. T.; Zee, Peter C.; Hoeksema, Jason D.

    2016-05-01

    Plants form belowground associations with mycorrhizal fungi in one of the most common symbioses on Earth. However, few large-scale generalizations exist for the structure and function of mycorrhizal symbioses, as the nature of this relationship varies from mutualistic to parasitic and is largely context-dependent. We announce the public release of MycoDB, a database of 4,010 studies (from 438 unique publications) to aid in multi-factor meta-analyses elucidating the ecological and evolutionary context in which mycorrhizal fungi alter plant productivity. Over 10 years with nearly 80 collaborators, we compiled data on the response of plant biomass to mycorrhizal fungal inoculation, including meta-analysis metrics and 24 additional explanatory variables that describe the biotic and abiotic context of each study. We also include phylogenetic trees for all plants and fungi in the database. To our knowledge, MycoDB is the largest ecological meta-analysis database. We aim to share these data to highlight significant gaps in mycorrhizal research and encourage synthesis to explore the ecological and evolutionary generalities that govern mycorrhizal functioning in ecosystems.

  2. Global exchange and accumulation of non-native plants.

    PubMed

    van Kleunen, Mark; Dawson, Wayne; Essl, Franz; Pergl, Jan; Winter, Marten; Weber, Ewald; Kreft, Holger; Weigelt, Patrick; Kartesz, John; Nishino, Misako; Antonova, Liubov A; Barcelona, Julie F; Cabezas, Francisco J; Cárdenas, Dairon; Cárdenas-Toro, Juliana; Castaño, Nicolás; Chacón, Eduardo; Chatelain, Cyrille; Ebel, Aleksandr L; Figueiredo, Estrela; Fuentes, Nicol; Groom, Quentin J; Henderson, Lesley; Inderjit; Kupriyanov, Andrey; Masciadri, Silvana; Meerman, Jan; Morozova, Olga; Moser, Dietmar; Nickrent, Daniel L; Patzelt, Annette; Pelser, Pieter B; Baptiste, María P; Poopath, Manop; Schulze, Maria; Seebens, Hanno; Shu, Wen-sheng; Thomas, Jacob; Velayos, Mauricio; Wieringa, Jan J; Pyšek, Petr

    2015-09-03

    All around the globe, humans have greatly altered the abiotic and biotic environment with ever-increasing speed. One defining feature of the Anthropocene epoch is the erosion of biogeographical barriers by human-mediated dispersal of species into new regions, where they can naturalize and cause ecological, economic and social damage. So far, no comprehensive analysis of the global accumulation and exchange of alien plant species between continents has been performed, primarily because of a lack of data. Here we bridge this knowledge gap by using a unique global database on the occurrences of naturalized alien plant species in 481 mainland and 362 island regions. In total, 13,168 plant species, corresponding to 3.9% of the extant global vascular flora, or approximately the size of the native European flora, have become naturalized somewhere on the globe as a result of human activity. North America has accumulated the largest number of naturalized species, whereas the Pacific Islands show the fastest increase in species numbers with respect to their land area. Continents in the Northern Hemisphere have been the major donors of naturalized alien species to all other continents. Our results quantify for the first time the extent of plant naturalizations worldwide, and illustrate the urgent need for globally integrated efforts to control, manage and understand the spread of alien species.

  3. Global exchange and accumulation of non-native plants

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    van Kleunen, Mark; Dawson, Wayne; Essl, Franz; Pergl, Jan; Winter, Marten; Weber, Ewald; Kreft, Holger; Weigelt, Patrick; Kartesz, John; Nishino, Misako; Antonova, Liubov A.; Barcelona, Julie F.; Cabezas, Francisco J.; Cárdenas, Dairon; Cárdenas-Toro, Juliana; Castaño, Nicolás; Chacón, Eduardo; Chatelain, Cyrille; Ebel, Aleksandr L.; Figueiredo, Estrela; Fuentes, Nicol; Groom, Quentin J.; Henderson, Lesley; Inderjit; Kupriyanov, Andrey; Masciadri, Silvana; Meerman, Jan; Morozova, Olga; Moser, Dietmar; Nickrent, Daniel L.; Patzelt, Annette; Pelser, Pieter B.; Baptiste, María P.; Poopath, Manop; Schulze, Maria; Seebens, Hanno; Shu, Wen-Sheng; Thomas, Jacob; Velayos, Mauricio; Wieringa, Jan J.; Pyšek, Petr

    2015-09-01

    All around the globe, humans have greatly altered the abiotic and biotic environment with ever-increasing speed. One defining feature of the Anthropocene epoch is the erosion of biogeographical barriers by human-mediated dispersal of species into new regions, where they can naturalize and cause ecological, economic and social damage. So far, no comprehensive analysis of the global accumulation and exchange of alien plant species between continents has been performed, primarily because of a lack of data. Here we bridge this knowledge gap by using a unique global database on the occurrences of naturalized alien plant species in 481 mainland and 362 island regions. In total, 13,168 plant species, corresponding to 3.9% of the extant global vascular flora, or approximately the size of the native European flora, have become naturalized somewhere on the globe as a result of human activity. North America has accumulated the largest number of naturalized species, whereas the Pacific Islands show the fastest increase in species numbers with respect to their land area. Continents in the Northern Hemisphere have been the major donors of naturalized alien species to all other continents. Our results quantify for the first time the extent of plant naturalizations worldwide, and illustrate the urgent need for globally integrated efforts to control, manage and understand the spread of alien species.

  4. 10 CFR 600.8 - Funding Opportunity Announcement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... of eligible applicants live outside of the United States. (ii) Single source announcements of funding... 10 Energy 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Funding Opportunity Announcement. 600.8 Section 600.8... Funding Opportunity Announcement. (a) General. Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOA) include any...

  5. 10 CFR 600.8 - Funding Opportunity Announcement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Funding Opportunity Announcement. 600.8 Section 600.8... Funding Opportunity Announcement. (a) General. Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOA) include any issuance used to announce funding opportunities that would result in the award of a discretionary grant...

  6. 10 CFR 600.8 - Funding Opportunity Announcement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Funding Opportunity Announcement. 600.8 Section 600.8... Funding Opportunity Announcement. (a) General. Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOA) include any issuance used to announce funding opportunities that would result in the award of a discretionary grant...

  7. Plant genetics, sustainable agriculture and global food security.

    PubMed

    Ronald, Pamela

    2011-05-01

    The United States and the world face serious societal challenges in the areas of food, environment, energy, and health. Historically, advances in plant genetics have provided new knowledge and technologies needed to address these challenges. Plant genetics remains a key component of global food security, peace, and prosperity for the foreseeable future. Millions of lives depend upon the extent to which crop genetic improvement can keep pace with the growing global population, changing climate, and shrinking environmental resources. While there is still much to be learned about the biology of plant-environment interactions, the fundamental technologies of plant genetic improvement, including crop genetic engineering, are in place, and are expected to play crucial roles in meeting the chronic demands of global food security. However, genetically improved seed is only part of the solution. Such seed must be integrated into ecologically based farming systems and evaluated in light of their environmental, economic, and social impacts-the three pillars of sustainable agriculture. In this review, I describe some lessons learned, over the last decade, of how genetically engineered crops have been integrated into agricultural practices around the world and discuss their current and future contribution to sustainable agricultural systems.

  8. Plant health and global change--some implications for landscape management.

    PubMed

    Pautasso, Marco; Dehnen-Schmutz, Katharina; Holdenrieder, Ottmar; Pietravalle, Stéphane; Salama, Nabeil; Jeger, Mike J; Lange, Eckart; Hehl-Lange, Sigrid

    2010-11-01

    Global change (climate change together with other worldwide anthropogenic processes such as increasing trade, air pollution and urbanization) will affect plant health at the genetic, individual, population and landscape level. Direct effects include ecosystem stress due to natural resources shortage or imbalance. Indirect effects include (i) an increased frequency of natural detrimental phenomena, (ii) an increased pressure due to already present pests and diseases, (iii) the introduction of new invasive species either as a result of an improved suitability of the climatic conditions or as a result of increased trade, and (iv) the human response to global change. In this review, we provide an overview of recent studies on terrestrial plant health in the presence of global change factors. We summarize the links between climate change and some key issues in plant health, including tree mortality, changes in wildfire regimes, biological invasions and the role of genetic diversity for ecosystem resilience. Prediction and management of global change effects are complicated by interactions between globalization, climate and invasive plants and/or pathogens. We summarize practical guidelines for landscape management and draw general conclusions from an expanding body of literature. © 2010 The Authors. Biological Reviews © 2010 Cambridge Philosophical Society.

  9. Announcements under Renewable Fuel Standard

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    RFS program announcements are posted below by the calendar year in which the action was posted. Announcements will include rulemakings, responses to petitions, new pathway approvals, compliance deadlines, alternative plans, and among others.

  10. Satellite observed global variations in ecosystem-scale plant water storage

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tian, F.; Wigneron, J. P.; Brandt, M.; Fensholt, R.

    2017-12-01

    Plant water storage is a key component in ecohydrological processes and tightly coupled with global carbon and energy budgets. Field measurements of individual trees have revealed diurnal and seasonal variations in plant water storage across different tree species and sizes. However, global estimation of plant water storage is challenged by up-scaling from individual trees to an ecosystem scale. The L-band passive microwaves are sensitive to water stored in the stems, branches and leaves, with dependence on the vegetation structure. Thus, the L-band vegetation optical depth (L-VOD) parameter retrieved from satellite passive microwave observations can be used as a proxy for ecosystem-scale plant water storage. Here, we employ the recently developed SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity) L-VOD dataset to investigate spatial patterns in global plant water storage and its diurnal and seasonal variations. In addition, we compare the spatiotemporal patterns between plant water storage and canopy greenness (i.e., enhanced vegetation indices, EVI) to gain ecohydrological insights among different territorial biomes, including boreal forest and tropical woodland. Generally, seasonal dynamics of plant water storage is much smaller than canopy greenness, yet the temporal coupling of these two traits is totally different between boreal and tropical regions, which could be related to their strategies in plant water regulation.

  11. [Pediatrician's experience in announcing bad news].

    PubMed

    Crosnier-Schoedel, C; Trocmé, N; Carbajal, R; Leverger, G

    2018-02-01

    Few studies are available on pediatricians' experience with announcing bad news. Announcing bad news is an important component of medical practice and is even more complex in pediatrics because parents must be associated. We had 20 hospital pediatricians complete a questionnaire containing 30 questions about their own experience announcing bad news to a child or a teenager. In spite of their experience and the time they have spent practicing medicine, there are many limitations stemming from different factors concerning children, teenagers, their families, and themselves. The difficulties encountered by pediatricians are mainly related to the timing of the announcement, the location, the choice of the words used, and the poor understanding of children and families, due to intellectual, cultural, or psychological limitations. Pediatricians question their own capacity to make such an announcement, wondering if the information has actually been well understood. They indicate that they are themselves affected. Most of them develop and implement strategies to refute the emotional instability caused by the announcement of bad news. Yet many of them feel weak, even talking about a deep sense of loneliness and guilt. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  12. 14 CFR 1214.1101 - Announcement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 14 Aeronautics and Space 5 2011-01-01 2010-01-01 true Announcement. 1214.1101 Section 1214.1101 Aeronautics and Space NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION SPACE FLIGHT NASA Astronaut Candidate... announced nationwide and publicized periodically unless specifically canceled by NASA. (b) Civilian...

  13. 77 FR 64851 - Announcement Date Postponed for the Grand Prize Winner Announcement for the America COMPETES...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-10-23

    ...On March 22, 2012, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) published a notice in the Federal Register (77 FR 16895) to announce the launch of VA's Project REACH Homelessness Mobile App Contest, authorized under section 105 of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2011. Project REACH leadership has decided to postpone announcement of the Grand Prize Winner until no later than 11 p.m. on December 31, 2012. Postponing the announcement will provide participants with a greater opportunity to receive recognition for their dedication and efforts to end Veteran homelessness. This notice serves as an update to the original notice affecting only the announcement date for the Grand Prize Winner. All rules and requirements outlined in the March 22, 2012, Federal Register notice will remain in effect.

  14. Global change and the evolution of phenotypic plasticity in plants.

    PubMed

    Matesanz, Silvia; Gianoli, Ernesto; Valladares, Fernando

    2010-09-01

    Global change drivers create new environmental scenarios and selective pressures, affecting plant species in various interacting ways. Plants respond with changes in phenology, physiology, and reproduction, with consequences for biotic interactions and community composition. We review information on phenotypic plasticity, a primary means by which plants cope with global change scenarios, recommending promising approaches for investigating the evolution of plasticity and describing constraints to its evolution. We discuss the important but largely ignored role of phenotypic plasticity in range shifts and review the extensive literature on invasive species as models of evolutionary change in novel environments. Plasticity can play a role both in the short-term response of plant populations to global change as well as in their long-term fate through the maintenance of genetic variation. In new environmental conditions, plasticity of certain functional traits may be beneficial (i.e., the plastic response is accompanied by a fitness advantage) and thus selected for. Plasticity can also be relevant in the establishment and persistence of plants in novel environments that are crucial for populations at the colonizing edge in range shifts induced by climate change. Experimental studies show taxonomically widespread plastic responses to global change drivers in many functional traits, though there is a lack of empirical support for many theoretical models on the evolution of phenotypic plasticity. Future studies should assess the adaptive value and evolutionary potential of plasticity under complex, realistic global change scenarios. Promising tools include resurrection protocols and artificial selection experiments. © 2010 New York Academy of Sciences.

  15. 48 CFR 35.016 - Broad agency announcement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Broad agency announcement... CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CONTRACTING 35.016 Broad agency announcement. (a) General. This paragraph prescribes procedures for the use of the broad agency announcement (BAA) with Peer or...

  16. 48 CFR 35.016 - Broad agency announcement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Broad agency announcement... CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CONTRACTING 35.016 Broad agency announcement. (a) General. This paragraph prescribes procedures for the use of the broad agency announcement (BAA) with Peer or...

  17. 48 CFR 35.016 - Broad agency announcement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Broad agency announcement... CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CONTRACTING 35.016 Broad agency announcement. (a) General. This paragraph prescribes procedures for the use of the broad agency announcement (BAA) with Peer or...

  18. 48 CFR 35.016 - Broad agency announcement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Broad agency announcement... CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CONTRACTING 35.016 Broad agency announcement. (a) General. This paragraph prescribes procedures for the use of the broad agency announcement (BAA) with Peer or...

  19. Twitter sentiment around the Earnings Announcement events

    PubMed Central

    Grčar, Miha

    2017-01-01

    We investigate the relationship between social media, Twitter in particular, and stock market. We provide an in-depth analysis of the Twitter volume and sentiment about the 30 companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average index, over a period of three years. We focus on Earnings Announcements and show that there is a considerable difference with respect to when the announcements are made: before the market opens or after the market closes. The two different timings of the Earnings Announcements were already investigated in the financial literature, but not yet in the social media. We analyze the differences in terms of the Twitter volumes, cumulative abnormal returns, trade returns, and earnings surprises. We report mixed results. On the one hand, we show that the Twitter sentiment (the collective opinion of the users) on the day of the announcement very well reflects the stock moves on the same day. We demonstrate this by applying the event study methodology, where the polarity of the Earnings Announcements is computed from the Twitter sentiment. Cumulative abnormal returns are high (2–4%) and statistically significant. On the other hand, we find only weak predictive power of the Twitter sentiment one day in advance. It turns out that it is important how to account for the announcements made after the market closes. These after-hours announcements draw high Twitter activity immediately, but volume and price changes in trading are observed only on the next day. On the day before the announcements, the Twitter volume is low, and the sentiment has very weak predictive power. A useful lesson learned is the importance of the proper alignment between the announcements, trading and Twitter data. PMID:28235103

  20. Twitter sentiment around the Earnings Announcement events.

    PubMed

    Gabrovšek, Peter; Aleksovski, Darko; Mozetič, Igor; Grčar, Miha

    2017-01-01

    We investigate the relationship between social media, Twitter in particular, and stock market. We provide an in-depth analysis of the Twitter volume and sentiment about the 30 companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average index, over a period of three years. We focus on Earnings Announcements and show that there is a considerable difference with respect to when the announcements are made: before the market opens or after the market closes. The two different timings of the Earnings Announcements were already investigated in the financial literature, but not yet in the social media. We analyze the differences in terms of the Twitter volumes, cumulative abnormal returns, trade returns, and earnings surprises. We report mixed results. On the one hand, we show that the Twitter sentiment (the collective opinion of the users) on the day of the announcement very well reflects the stock moves on the same day. We demonstrate this by applying the event study methodology, where the polarity of the Earnings Announcements is computed from the Twitter sentiment. Cumulative abnormal returns are high (2-4%) and statistically significant. On the other hand, we find only weak predictive power of the Twitter sentiment one day in advance. It turns out that it is important how to account for the announcements made after the market closes. These after-hours announcements draw high Twitter activity immediately, but volume and price changes in trading are observed only on the next day. On the day before the announcements, the Twitter volume is low, and the sentiment has very weak predictive power. A useful lesson learned is the importance of the proper alignment between the announcements, trading and Twitter data.

  1. Fostering Global Citizenship--Tree Planting as a Connective Practice

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Haigh, Martin

    2016-01-01

    Education for Global Citizenship is about living as though the future mattered. This evaluates learner reactions to a tree-planting exercise that invites reflection upon hopes for the world, personal responsibilities and acting locally while thinking globally. Participant hopes concerned: environmental sustainability, peace on earth, then the…

  2. [Research progress in water use efficiency of plants under global climate change].

    PubMed

    Wang, Qing-wei; Yu, Da-pao; Dai, Li-min; Zhou, Li; Zhou, Wang-ming; Qi, Guang; Qi, Lin; Ye, Yu-jing

    2010-12-01

    Global climate change is one of the most concerned environmental problems in the world since the 1980s, giving significant effects on the plant productivity and the water transport and use patterns. These effects would be reflected in the water use efficiency (WUE) of individual plants, communities, and ecosystems, and ultimately, in the vegetation distribution pattern, species composition, and ecosystem structure. To study the WUE of plants would help to the understanding and forecasting of the responses of terrestrial vegetation to global climate change, and to the adoption of adaptive strategies. This paper introduced the concept of plant WUE and the corresponding measurement techniques at the scales of leaf, individual plant, community, and ecosystem, and reviewed the research progress in the effects of important climatic factors such as elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration, precipitation pattern, nitrogen deposition, and their combination on the plant WUE, as well as the variation characteristics of plant WUE and the adaptive survival strategies of plants under different site conditions. Some problems related to plant WUE research were pointed out, and the future research directions in the context of global climate change were prospected.

  3. Global biogeography of mating system variation in seed plants.

    PubMed

    Moeller, David A; Briscoe Runquist, Ryan D; Moe, Annika M; Geber, Monica A; Goodwillie, Carol; Cheptou, Pierre-Olivier; Eckert, Christopher G; Elle, Elizabeth; Johnston, Mark O; Kalisz, Susan; Ree, Richard H; Sargent, Risa D; Vallejo-Marin, Mario; Winn, Alice A

    2017-03-01

    Latitudinal gradients in biotic interactions have been suggested as causes of global patterns of biodiversity and phenotypic variation. Plant biologists have long speculated that outcrossing mating systems are more common at low than high latitudes owing to a greater predictability of plant-pollinator interactions in the tropics; however, these ideas have not previously been tested. Here, we present the first global biogeographic analysis of plant mating systems based on 624 published studies from 492 taxa. We found a weak decline in outcrossing rate towards higher latitudes and among some biomes, but no biogeographic patterns in the frequency of self-incompatibility. Incorporating life history and growth form into biogeographic analyses reduced or eliminated the importance of latitude and biome in predicting outcrossing or self-incompatibility. Our results suggest that biogeographic patterns in mating system are more likely a reflection of the frequency of life forms across latitudes rather than the strength of plant-pollinator interactions. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

  4. 31 CFR 351.14 - When are rate announcements that apply to Series EE savings bonds announced?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... apply to Series EE savings bonds announced? 351.14 Section 351.14 Money and Finance: Treasury... PUBLIC DEBT OFFERING OF UNITED STATES SAVINGS BONDS, SERIES EE Maturities, Redemption Values, and Investment Yields of Series EE Savings Bonds General Provisions § 351.14 When are rate announcements that...

  5. 31 CFR 351.14 - When are rate announcements that apply to Series EE savings bonds announced?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... apply to Series EE savings bonds announced? 351.14 Section 351.14 Money and Finance: Treasury... FISCAL SERVICE OFFERING OF UNITED STATES SAVINGS BONDS, SERIES EE Maturities, Redemption Values, and Investment Yields of Series EE Savings Bonds General Provisions § 351.14 When are rate announcements that...

  6. TRY – a global database of plant traits

    PubMed Central

    Kattge, J; Díaz, S; Lavorel, S; Prentice, I C; Leadley, P; Bönisch, G; Garnier, E; Westoby, M; Reich, P B; Wright, I J; Cornelissen, J H C; Violle, C; Harrison, S P; Van Bodegom, P M; Reichstein, M; Enquist, B J; Soudzilovskaia, N A; Ackerly, D D; Anand, M; Atkin, O; Bahn, M; Baker, T R; Baldocchi, D; Bekker, R; Blanco, C C; Blonder, B; Bond, W J; Bradstock, R; Bunker, D E; Casanoves, F; Cavender-Bares, J; Chambers, J Q; Chapin, F S; Chave, J; Coomes, D; Cornwell, W K; Craine, J M; Dobrin, B H; Duarte, L; Durka, W; Elser, J; Esser, G; Estiarte, M; Fagan, W F; Fang, J; Fernández-Méndez, F; Fidelis, A; Finegan, B; Flores, O; Ford, H; Frank, D; Freschet, G T; Fyllas, N M; Gallagher, R V; Green, W A; Gutierrez, A G; Hickler, T; Higgins, S I; Hodgson, J G; Jalili, A; Jansen, S; Joly, C A; Kerkhoff, A J; Kirkup, D; Kitajima, K; Kleyer, M; Klotz, S; Knops, J M H; Kramer, K; Kühn, I; Kurokawa, H; Laughlin, D; Lee, T D; Leishman, M; Lens, F; Lenz, T; Lewis, S L; Lloyd, J; Llusià, J; Louault, F; Ma, S; Mahecha, M D; Manning, P; Massad, T; Medlyn, B E; Messier, J; Moles, A T; Müller, S C; Nadrowski, K; Naeem, S; Niinemets, Ü; Nöllert, S; Nüske, A; Ogaya, R; Oleksyn, J; Onipchenko, V G; Onoda, Y; Ordoñez, J; Overbeck, G; Ozinga, W A; Patiño, S; Paula, S; Pausas, J G; Peñuelas, J; Phillips, O L; Pillar, V; Poorter, H; Poorter, L; Poschlod, P; Prinzing, A; Proulx, R; Rammig, A; Reinsch, S; Reu, B; Sack, L; Salgado-Negret, B; Sardans, J; Shiodera, S; Shipley, B; Siefert, A; Sosinski, E; Soussana, J-F; Swaine, E; Swenson, N; Thompson, K; Thornton, P; Waldram, M; Weiher, E; White, M; White, S; Wright, S J; Yguel, B; Zaehle, S; Zanne, A E; Wirth, C

    2011-01-01

    Plant traits – the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants and their organs – determine how primary producers respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, influence ecosystem processes and services and provide a link from species richness to ecosystem functional diversity. Trait data thus represent the raw material for a wide range of research from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology to biogeography. Here we present the global database initiative named TRY, which has united a wide range of the plant trait research community worldwide and gained an unprecedented buy-in of trait data: so far 93 trait databases have been contributed. The data repository currently contains almost three million trait entries for 69 000 out of the world's 300 000 plant species, with a focus on 52 groups of traits characterizing the vegetative and regeneration stages of the plant life cycle, including growth, dispersal, establishment and persistence. A first data analysis shows that most plant traits are approximately log-normally distributed, with widely differing ranges of variation across traits. Most trait variation is between species (interspecific), but significant intraspecific variation is also documented, up to 40% of the overall variation. Plant functional types (PFTs), as commonly used in vegetation models, capture a substantial fraction of the observed variation – but for several traits most variation occurs within PFTs, up to 75% of the overall variation. In the context of vegetation models these traits would better be represented by state variables rather than fixed parameter values. The improved availability of plant trait data in the unified global database is expected to support a paradigm shift from species to trait-based ecology, offer new opportunities for synthetic plant trait research and enable a more realistic and empirically grounded representation of terrestrial

  7. 31 CFR 351.14 - When are rate announcements that apply to Series EE savings bonds announced?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... to Series EE savings bonds announced? 351.14 Section 351.14 Money and Finance: Treasury Regulations... DEBT OFFERING OF UNITED STATES SAVINGS BONDS, SERIES EE Maturities, Redemption Values, and Investment Yields of Series EE Savings Bonds General Provisions § 351.14 When are rate announcements that apply to...

  8. 31 CFR 351.14 - When are rate announcements that apply to Series EE savings bonds announced?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... to Series EE savings bonds announced? 351.14 Section 351.14 Money and Finance: Treasury Regulations... DEBT OFFERING OF UNITED STATES SAVINGS BONDS, SERIES EE Maturities, Redemption Values, and Investment Yields of Series EE Savings Bonds General Provisions § 351.14 When are rate announcements that apply to...

  9. 31 CFR 351.14 - When are rate announcements that apply to Series EE savings bonds announced?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... to Series EE savings bonds announced? 351.14 Section 351.14 Money and Finance: Treasury Regulations... DEBT OFFERING OF UNITED STATES SAVINGS BONDS, SERIES EE Maturities, Redemption Values, and Investment Yields of Series EE Savings Bonds General Provisions § 351.14 When are rate announcements that apply to...

  10. 48 CFR 1835.016-71 - NASA Research Announcements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 6 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 true NASA Research Announcements... ADMINISTRATION SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CONTRACTING 1835.016-71 NASA Research Announcements. (a) Scope. An NRA is used to announce research interests in support of NASA's programs, and...

  11. 45 CFR 614.5 - Public announcement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... Welfare Regulations Relating to Public Welfare (Continued) NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION GOVERNMENT IN THE SUNSHINE ACT REGULATIONS OF THE NATIONAL SCIENCE BOARD § 614.5 Public announcement. (a) Except as provided in paragraphs (c) and (d) of this section, the National Science Board will make a public announcement...

  12. 45 CFR 614.5 - Public announcement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... Welfare Regulations Relating to Public Welfare (Continued) NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION GOVERNMENT IN THE SUNSHINE ACT REGULATIONS OF THE NATIONAL SCIENCE BOARD § 614.5 Public announcement. (a) Except as provided in paragraphs (c) and (d) of this section, the National Science Board will make a public announcement...

  13. 45 CFR 614.5 - Public announcement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... Welfare Regulations Relating to Public Welfare (Continued) NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION GOVERNMENT IN THE SUNSHINE ACT REGULATIONS OF THE NATIONAL SCIENCE BOARD § 614.5 Public announcement. (a) Except as provided in paragraphs (c) and (d) of this section, the National Science Board will make a public announcement...

  14. 45 CFR 614.5 - Public announcement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... Welfare Regulations Relating to Public Welfare (Continued) NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION GOVERNMENT IN THE SUNSHINE ACT REGULATIONS OF THE NATIONAL SCIENCE BOARD § 614.5 Public announcement. (a) Except as provided in paragraphs (c) and (d) of this section, the National Science Board will make a public announcement...

  15. 45 CFR 614.5 - Public announcement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... Welfare Regulations Relating to Public Welfare (Continued) NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION GOVERNMENT IN THE SUNSHINE ACT REGULATIONS OF THE NATIONAL SCIENCE BOARD § 614.5 Public announcement. (a) Except as provided in paragraphs (c) and (d) of this section, the National Science Board will make a public announcement...

  16. Decoupling of nitrogen and phosphorus in terrestrial plants associated with global changes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yuan, Z. Y.; Chen, Han Y. H.

    2015-05-01

    Living organisms maintain a balance of chemical elements for optimal growth and reproduction, which plays an important role in global biogeochemical cycles. Human domination of Earth's ecosystems has led to drastic global changes, but it is unclear how these affect the stoichiometric coupling of nutrients in terrestrial plants, the most important food source on Earth. Here we use meta-analyses of 1,418 published studies to show that the ratio of terrestrial plant nitrogen (N) to phosphorus (P) decreases with elevated concentrations of CO2, increasing rainfall, and P fertilization, but increases with warming, drought, and N fertilization. Our analyses also reveal that multiple global change treatments generally result in overall additive effects of single-factor treatments and that the responses of plant nutrients and their stoichiometry are similar in direction, but often greater in controlled than in natural environments. Our results suggest a decoupling of the P biogeochemical cycle from N in terrestrial plants under global changes, which in turn may diminish the provision of ecosystem services.

  17. Convergence of terrestrial plant production across global climate gradients.

    PubMed

    Michaletz, Sean T; Cheng, Dongliang; Kerkhoff, Andrew J; Enquist, Brian J

    2014-08-07

    Variation in terrestrial net primary production (NPP) with climate is thought to originate from a direct influence of temperature and precipitation on plant metabolism. However, variation in NPP may also result from an indirect influence of climate by means of plant age, stand biomass, growing season length and local adaptation. To identify the relative importance of direct and indirect climate effects, we extend metabolic scaling theory to link hypothesized climate influences with NPP, and assess hypothesized relationships using a global compilation of ecosystem woody plant biomass and production data. Notably, age and biomass explained most of the variation in production whereas temperature and precipitation explained almost none, suggesting that climate indirectly (not directly) influences production. Furthermore, our theory shows that variation in NPP is characterized by a common scaling relationship, suggesting that global change models can incorporate the mechanisms governing this relationship to improve predictions of future ecosystem function.

  18. 10 CFR 603.410 - Announcement content.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Announcement content. 603.410 Section 603.410 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (CONTINUED) ASSISTANCE REGULATIONS TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENT AGREEMENTS Competition Phase § 603.410 Announcement content. Once the contracting officer, in consultation with the program official, considers the factors described in Subpart...

  19. 10 CFR 603.410 - Announcement content.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Announcement content. 603.410 Section 603.410 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (CONTINUED) ASSISTANCE REGULATIONS TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENT AGREEMENTS Competition Phase § 603.410 Announcement content. Once the contracting officer, in consultation with the program official, considers the factors described in Subpart...

  20. 10 CFR 603.410 - Announcement content.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Announcement content. 603.410 Section 603.410 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (CONTINUED) ASSISTANCE REGULATIONS TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENT AGREEMENTS Competition Phase § 603.410 Announcement content. Once the contracting officer, in consultation with the program official, considers the factors described in Subpart...

  1. 10 CFR 603.410 - Announcement content.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Announcement content. 603.410 Section 603.410 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (CONTINUED) ASSISTANCE REGULATIONS TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENT AGREEMENTS Competition Phase § 603.410 Announcement content. Once the contracting officer, in consultation with the program official, considers the factors described in Subpart...

  2. 10 CFR 603.410 - Announcement content.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Announcement content. 603.410 Section 603.410 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (CONTINUED) ASSISTANCE REGULATIONS TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENT AGREEMENTS Competition Phase § 603.410 Announcement content. Once the contracting officer, in consultation with the program official, considers the factors described in Subpart...

  3. Mapping local and global variability in plant trait distributions

    DOE PAGES

    Butler, Ethan E.; Datta, Abhirup; Flores-Moreno, Habacuc; ...

    2017-12-01

    Accurate trait-environment relationships and global maps of plant trait distributions represent a needed stepping stone in global biogeography and are critical constraints of key parameters for land models. Here, we use a global data set of plant traits to map trait distributions closely coupled to photosynthesis and foliar respiration: specific leaf area (SLA), and dry mass-based concentrations of leaf nitrogen (Nm) and phosphorus (Pm); We propose two models to extrapolate geographically sparse point data to continuous spatial surfaces. The first is a categorical model using species mean trait values, categorized into plant functional types (PFTs) and extrapolating to PFT occurrencemore » ranges identified by remote sensing. The second is a Bayesian spatial model that incorporates information about PFT, location and environmental covariates to estimate trait distributions. Both models are further stratified by varying the number of PFTs; The performance of the models was evaluated based on their explanatory and predictive ability. The Bayesian spatial model leveraging the largest number of PFTs produced the best maps; The interpolation of full trait distributions enables a wider diversity of vegetation to be represented across the land surface. These maps may be used as input to Earth System Models and to evaluate other estimates of functional diversity.« less

  4. Mapping local and global variability in plant trait distributions

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Butler, Ethan E.; Datta, Abhirup; Flores-Moreno, Habacuc

    Accurate trait-environment relationships and global maps of plant trait distributions represent a needed stepping stone in global biogeography and are critical constraints of key parameters for land models. Here, we use a global data set of plant traits to map trait distributions closely coupled to photosynthesis and foliar respiration: specific leaf area (SLA), and dry mass-based concentrations of leaf nitrogen (Nm) and phosphorus (Pm); We propose two models to extrapolate geographically sparse point data to continuous spatial surfaces. The first is a categorical model using species mean trait values, categorized into plant functional types (PFTs) and extrapolating to PFT occurrencemore » ranges identified by remote sensing. The second is a Bayesian spatial model that incorporates information about PFT, location and environmental covariates to estimate trait distributions. Both models are further stratified by varying the number of PFTs; The performance of the models was evaluated based on their explanatory and predictive ability. The Bayesian spatial model leveraging the largest number of PFTs produced the best maps; The interpolation of full trait distributions enables a wider diversity of vegetation to be represented across the land surface. These maps may be used as input to Earth System Models and to evaluate other estimates of functional diversity.« less

  5. Globalization and loss of plant knowledge: challenging the paradigm.

    PubMed

    Vandebroek, Ina; Balick, Michael J

    2012-01-01

    The erosion of cultural knowledge and traditions as a result of globalization and migration is a commonly reported phenomenon. We compared one type of cultural knowledge about medicinal plants (number of plants reported to treat thirty common health conditions) among Dominican laypersons who self-medicate with plants and live in rural or urban areas of the Dominican Republic (DR), and those who have moved to New York City (NYC). Many plants used as medicines were popular Dominican food plants. These plants were reported significantly more often by Dominicans living in NYC as compared to the DR, and this knowledge was not age-dependent. These results contradict the popular paradigm about loss of cultural plant knowledge and is the first study to report a statistically measurable increase in this type of knowledge associated with migration.

  6. 75 FR 28590 - Announcement of Federal Funding Opportunity (FFO)

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-05-21

    ... DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Office of the Secretary Announcement of Federal Funding Opportunity (FFO... June 2, 2009, announcement by the Department of Defense to reverse the December 19, 2007, announcement... applicable: 32 CFR parts 21 thru 34, ``Department of Defense Grant and Agreement Regulations''; OMB Circulars...

  7. 48 CFR 1335.016 - Broad agency announcement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Broad agency announcement. 1335.016 Section 1335.016 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CONTRACTING 1335.016 Broad agency announcement. ...

  8. 48 CFR 1335.016 - Broad agency announcement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Broad agency announcement. 1335.016 Section 1335.016 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CONTRACTING 1335.016 Broad agency announcement. ...

  9. 48 CFR 1335.016 - Broad agency announcement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Broad agency announcement. 1335.016 Section 1335.016 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CONTRACTING 1335.016 Broad agency announcement. ...

  10. 48 CFR 1335.016 - Broad agency announcement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Broad agency announcement. 1335.016 Section 1335.016 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CONTRACTING 1335.016 Broad agency announcement. ...

  11. 48 CFR 1335.016 - Broad agency announcement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Broad agency announcement. 1335.016 Section 1335.016 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CONTRACTING 1335.016 Broad agency announcement. ...

  12. Globalization and Loss of Plant Knowledge: Challenging the Paradigm

    PubMed Central

    Vandebroek, Ina; Balick, Michael J.

    2012-01-01

    The erosion of cultural knowledge and traditions as a result of globalization and migration is a commonly reported phenomenon. We compared one type of cultural knowledge about medicinal plants (number of plants reported to treat thirty common health conditions) among Dominican laypersons who self-medicate with plants and live in rural or urban areas of the Dominican Republic (DR), and those who have moved to New York City (NYC). Many plants used as medicines were popular Dominican food plants. These plants were reported significantly more often by Dominicans living in NYC as compared to the DR, and this knowledge was not age-dependent. These results contradict the popular paradigm about loss of cultural plant knowledge and is the first study to report a statistically measurable increase in this type of knowledge associated with migration. PMID:22662184

  13. 29 CFR 793.7 - “Announcer.”

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... INTERPRETATION NOT DIRECTLY RELATED TO REGULATIONS EXEMPTION OF CERTAIN RADIO AND TELEVISION STATION EMPLOYEES... introduce programs, read news announcements, present commercial messages, give station identification and time signals, and present other similar routine on-the-air material. In small stations, an announcer...

  14. 48 CFR 235.016 - Broad agency announcement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 3 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Broad agency announcement..., DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CONTRACTING 235.016 Broad... contained in broad agency announcements for exclusive competition among historically black colleges and...

  15. 48 CFR 235.016 - Broad agency announcement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 3 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Broad agency announcement..., DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CONTRACTING 235.016 Broad... contained in broad agency announcements for exclusive competition among historically black colleges and...

  16. 48 CFR 235.016 - Broad agency announcement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Broad agency announcement..., DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CONTRACTING 235.016 Broad... contained in broad agency announcements for exclusive competition among historically black colleges and...

  17. 48 CFR 235.016 - Broad agency announcement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 3 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Broad agency announcement..., DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CONTRACTING 235.016 Broad... contained in broad agency announcements for exclusive competition among historically black colleges and...

  18. 48 CFR 235.016 - Broad agency announcement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 3 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Broad agency announcement..., DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CONTRACTING 235.016 Broad... contained in broad agency announcements for exclusive competition among historically black colleges and...

  19. Plant species richness and ecosystem multifunctionality in global drylands

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Maestre, Fernando T.; Quero, Jose L.; Gotelli, Nicholas J.; Escudero, Adrian; Ochoa, Victoria; Delgado-Baquerizo, Manuel; Garcia-Gomez, Miguel; Bowker, Matthew A.; Soliveres, Santiago; Escolar, Cristina; Garcia-Palacios, Pablo; Berdugo, Miguel; Valencia, Enrique; Gozalo, Beatriz; Gallardo, Antonio; Aguilera, Lorgio; Arredondo, Tulio; Blones, Julio; Boeken, Bertrand; Bran, Donaldo; Conceicao, Abel A.; Cabrera, Omar; Chaieb, Mohamed; Derak, Mchich; Eldridge, David J.; Espinosa, Carlos I.; Florentino, Adriana; Gaitan, Juan; Gatica, M. Gabriel; Ghiloufi, Wahida; Gomez-Gonzalez, Susana; Gutie, Julio R.; Hernandez, Rosa M.; Huang, Xuewen; Huber-Sannwald, Elisabeth; Jankju, Mohammad; Miriti, Maria; Monerris, Jorge; Mau, Rebecca L.; Morici, Ernesto; Naseri, Kamal; Ospina, Abelardo; Polo, Vicente; Prina, Anibal; Pucheta, Eduardo; Ramirez-Collantes, David A.; Romao, Roberto; Tighe, Matthew; Torres-Diaz, Cristian; Val, James; Veiga, Jose P.; Wang, Deli; Zaady, Eli

    2012-01-01

    Experiments suggest that biodiversity enhances the ability of ecosystems to maintain multiple functions, such as carbon storage, productivity, and the buildup of nutrient pools (multifunctionality). However, the relationship between biodiversity and multifunctionality has never been assessed globally in natural ecosystems. We report here on a global empirical study relating plant species richness and abiotic factors to multifunctionality in drylands, which collectively cover 41% of Earth's land surface and support over 38% of the human population. Multifunctionality was positively and significantly related to species richness. The best-fitting models accounted for over 55% of the variation in multifunctionality and always included species richness as a predictor variable. Our results suggest that the preservation of plant biodiversity is crucial to buffer negative effects of climate change and desertification in drylands.

  20. Plant species richness and ecosystem multifunctionality in global drylands

    PubMed Central

    Maestre, Fernando T.; Quero, José L.; Gotelli, Nicholas J.; Escudero, Adriá; Ochoa, Victoria; Delgado-Baquerizo, Manuel; García-Gómez, Miguel; Bowker, Matthew A.; Soliveres, Santiago; Escolar, Cristina; García-Palacios, Pablo; Berdugo, Miguel; Valencia, Enrique; Gozalo, Beatriz; Gallardo, Antonio; Aguilera, Lorgio; Arredondo, Tulio; Blones, Julio; Boeken, Bertrand; Bran, Donaldo; Conceição, Abel A.; Cabrera, Omar; Chaieb, Mohamed; Derak, Mchich; Eldridge, David J.; Espinosa, Carlos I.; Florentino, Adriana; Gaitán, Juan; Gatica, M. Gabriel; Ghiloufi, Wahida; Gómez-González, Susana; Gutiérrez, Julio R.; Hernández, Rosa M.; Huang, Xuewen; Huber-Sannwald, Elisabeth; Jankju, Mohammad; Miriti, Maria; Monerris, Jorge; Mau, Rebecca L.; Morici, Ernesto; Naseri, Kamal; Ospina, Abelardo; Polo, Vicente; Prina, Aníbal; Pucheta, Eduardo; Ramírez-Collantes, David A.; Romão, Roberto; Tighe, Matthew; Torres-Díaz, Cristian; Val, James; Veiga, José P.; Wang, Deli; Zaady, Eli

    2013-01-01

    Experiments suggest that biodiversity enhances the ability of ecosystems to maintain multiple functions, such as carbon storage, productivity, and buildup of nutrient pools (multifunctionality). However, the relationship between biodiversity and multifunctionality has never been assessed globally in natural ecosystems. We report on the first global empirical study relating plant species richness and abiotic factors to multifunctionality in drylands, which collectively cover 41% of Earth’s land surface and support over 38% of the human population. Multifunctionality was positively and significantly related to species richness. The best-fitting models accounted for over 55% of the variation in multifunctionality, and always included species richness as a predictor variable. Our results suggest that preservation of plant biodiversity is crucial to buffer negative effects of climate change and desertification in drylands. PMID:22246775

  1. Quantification of effective plant rooting depth: advancing global hydrological modelling

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yang, Y.; Donohue, R. J.; McVicar, T.

    2017-12-01

    Plant rooting depth (Zr) is a key parameter in hydrological and biogeochemical models, yet the global spatial distribution of Zr is largely unknown due to the difficulties in its direct measurement. Moreover, Zr observations are usually only representative of a single plant or several plants, which can differ greatly from the effective Zr over a modelling unit (e.g., catchment or grid-box). Here, we provide a global parameterization of an analytical Zr model that balances the marginal carbon cost and benefit of deeper roots, and produce a climatological (i.e., 1982-2010 average) global Zr map. To test the Zr estimates, we apply the estimated Zr in a highly transparent hydrological model (i.e., the Budyko-Choudhury-Porporato (BCP) model) to estimate mean annual actual evapotranspiration (E) across the globe. We then compare the estimated E with both water balance-based E observations at 32 major catchments and satellite grid-box retrievals across the globe. Our results show that the BCP model, when implemented with Zr estimated herein, optimally reproduced the spatial pattern of E at both scales and provides improved model outputs when compared to BCP model results from two already existing global Zr datasets. These results suggest that our Zr estimates can be effectively used in state-of-the-art hydrological models, and potentially biogeochemical models, where the determination of Zr currently largely relies on biome type-based look-up tables.

  2. Announcing Professional Services.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schneider, Lawrence J.

    There is a growing trend for some counselors to adopt and advertise specific value positions and counseling orientations. To explore potential clients' perceptions of information contained in "traditional" and "feminist" therapists' announcements of services, 52 males and 52 females received one of four announcements…

  3. 45 CFR 503.25 - Announcement of meetings.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 45 Public Welfare 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Announcement of meetings. 503.25 Section 503.25... REGULATIONS Government in the Sunshine Regulations § 503.25 Announcement of meetings. (a) The Commission meets... than eight days before the beginning of a meeting of the Commission, the Commission will make available...

  4. Global distribution of plant-extractable water capacity of soil

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Dunne, K.A.; Willmott, C.J.

    1996-01-01

    Plant-extractable water capacity of soil is the amount of water that can be extracted from the soil to fulfill evapotranspiration demands. It is often assumed to be spatially invariant in large-scale computations of the soil-water balance. Empirical evidence, however, suggests that this assumption is incorrect. In this paper, we estimate the global distribution of the plant-extractable water capacity of soil. A representative soil profile, characterized by horizon (layer) particle size data and thickness, was created for each soil unit mapped by FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations)/Unesco. Soil organic matter was estimated empirically from climate data. Plant rooting depths and ground coverages were obtained from a vegetation characteristic data set. At each 0.5?? ?? 0.5?? grid cell where vegetation is present, unit available water capacity (cm water per cm soil) was estimated from the sand, clay, and organic content of each profile horizon, and integrated over horizon thickness. Summation of the integrated values over the lesser of profile depth and root depth produced an estimate of the plant-extractable water capacity of soil. The global average of the estimated plant-extractable water capacities of soil is 8??6 cm (Greenland, Antarctica and bare soil areas excluded). Estimates are less than 5, 10 and 15 cm - over approximately 30, 60, and 89 per cent of the area, respectively. Estimates reflect the combined effects of soil texture, soil organic content, and plant root depth or profile depth. The most influential and uncertain parameter is the depth over which the plant-extractable water capacity of soil is computed, which is usually limited by root depth. Soil texture exerts a lesser, but still substantial, influence. Organic content, except where concentrations are very high, has relatively little effect.

  5. GRIN-Global: An International Project to Develop a Global Plant Genebank Information Management System

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The mission of the GRIN-Global Project is to create a new, scalable version of the Germplasm Resource Information System (GRIN) to provide the world’s crop genebanks with a powerful, flexible, easy-to-use plant genetic resource (PGR) information management system. The system will help safeguard PGR ...

  6. Reprising the globalization dimensions of international health.

    PubMed

    Labonté, Ronald

    2018-05-18

    Globalization is a fairly recent addition to the panoply of concepts describing the internationalization of health concerns. What distinguishes it from 'international health' or its newer morphing into 'global health' is a specific analytical concern with how globalization processes, past or present, but particularly since the start of our neoliberal era post-1980, is affecting health outcomes. Globalization processes influence health through multiple social pathways: from health systems and financing reforms to migration flows and internal displacement; via trade and investment treaties, labour market 'flexibilization', and the spread of unhealthy commodities; or through deploying human rights and environment protection treaties, and strengthening health diplomacy efforts, to create more equitable and sustainable global health outcomes. Globalization and Health was a pioneer in its focus on these critical facets of our health, well-being, and, indeed, planetary survival. In this editorial, the journal announces a re-focusing on this primary aim, announcing a number of new topic Sections and an expanded editorial capacity to ensure that submissions are 'on target' and processed rapidly, and that the journal continues to be on the leading edge of some of the most contentious and difficult health challenges confronting us.

  7. Neutron Scattering Announcements

    Science.gov Websites

    will be added. We encourage everyone interested in neutron scattering to take full advantage of this neutron source ESS. After an initial layout phase using analytical considerations further assessment of Home Page | Facilities | Reference | Software | Conferences | Announcements | Mailing Lists Neutron

  8. 5 CFR 362.403 - Announcement, eligibility, and selection.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 5 Administrative Personnel 1 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Announcement, eligibility, and selection. 362.403 Section 362.403 Administrative Personnel OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT CIVIL SERVICE REGULATIONS PATHWAYS PROGRAMS Presidential Management Fellows Program § 362.403 Announcement, eligibility, and...

  9. 5 CFR 362.403 - Announcement, eligibility, and selection.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 5 Administrative Personnel 1 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Announcement, eligibility, and selection. 362.403 Section 362.403 Administrative Personnel OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT CIVIL SERVICE REGULATIONS PATHWAYS PROGRAMS Presidential Management Fellows Program § 362.403 Announcement, eligibility, and...

  10. 5 CFR 335.105 - Notice of job announcements to OPM.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 5 Administrative Personnel 1 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Notice of job announcements to OPM. 335... PROMOTION AND INTERNAL PLACEMENT General Provisions § 335.105 Notice of job announcements to OPM. Under 5 U.S.C. 3330, agencies are required to report job announcements to OPM for vacancies for which an...

  11. 5 CFR 335.105 - Notice of job announcements to OPM.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 5 Administrative Personnel 1 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Notice of job announcements to OPM. 335... PROMOTION AND INTERNAL PLACEMENT General Provisions § 335.105 Notice of job announcements to OPM. Under 5 U.S.C. 3330, agencies are required to report job announcements to OPM for vacancies for which an...

  12. 5 CFR 335.105 - Notice of job announcements to OPM.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 5 Administrative Personnel 1 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Notice of job announcements to OPM. 335... PROMOTION AND INTERNAL PLACEMENT General Provisions § 335.105 Notice of job announcements to OPM. Under 5 U.S.C. 3330, agencies are required to report job announcements to OPM for vacancies for which an...

  13. 5 CFR 335.105 - Notice of job announcements to OPM.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 5 Administrative Personnel 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Notice of job announcements to OPM. 335... PROMOTION AND INTERNAL PLACEMENT General Provisions § 335.105 Notice of job announcements to OPM. Under 5 U.S.C. 3330, agencies are required to report job announcements to OPM for vacancies for which an...

  14. 5 CFR 335.105 - Notice of job announcements to OPM.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 5 Administrative Personnel 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Notice of job announcements to OPM. 335... PROMOTION AND INTERNAL PLACEMENT General Provisions § 335.105 Notice of job announcements to OPM. Under 5 U.S.C. 3330, agencies are required to report job announcements to OPM for vacancies for which an...

  15. 31 CFR 356.23 - How are the auction results announced?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 2 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false How are the auction results announced...-93) Determination of Auction Awards; Settlement § 356.23 How are the auction results announced? (a) After the conclusion of the auction, we will announce the auction results through a press release that...

  16. 47 CFR 0.605 - Procedures for announcing meetings.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 1 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Procedures for announcing meetings. 0.605 Section 0.605 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION GENERAL COMMISSION ORGANIZATION Meeting Procedures § 0.605 Procedures for announcing meetings. (a) Notice of all open and closed meetings will be...

  17. 47 CFR 0.605 - Procedures for announcing meetings.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Procedures for announcing meetings. 0.605 Section 0.605 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION GENERAL COMMISSION ORGANIZATION Meeting Procedures § 0.605 Procedures for announcing meetings. (a) Notice of all open and closed meetings will be...

  18. Plant molecular responses to the elevated ambient temperatures expected under global climate change.

    PubMed

    Fei, Qionghui; Li, Jingjing; Luo, Yunhe; Ma, Kun; Niu, Bingtao; Mu, Changjun; Gao, Huanhuan; Li, Xiaofeng

    2018-01-02

    Environmental temperatures affect plant distribution, growth, and development. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts that global temperatures will rise by at least 1.5°C by the end of this century. Global temperature changes have already had a discernable impact on agriculture, phenology, and ecosystems. At the molecular level, extensive literature exists on the mechanism controlling plant responses to high temperature stress. However, few studies have focused on the molecular mechanisms behind plant responses to mild increases in ambient temperature. Previous research has found that moderately higher ambient temperatures can induce hypocotyl elongation and early flowering. Recent evidence demonstrates roles for the phytohormones auxin and ethylene in adaptive growth of plant roots to slightly higher ambient temperatures.

  19. A global database of sap flow measurements (SAPFLUXNET) to link plant and ecosystem physiology

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Poyatos, Rafael; Granda, Víctor; Flo, Víctor; Molowny-Horas, Roberto; Mencuccini, Maurizio; Oren, Ram; Katul, Gabriel; Mahecha, Miguel; Steppe, Kathy; Martínez-Vilalta, Jordi

    2017-04-01

    Regional and global networks of ecosystem CO2 and water flux monitoring have dramatically increased our understanding of ecosystem functioning in the last 20 years. More recently, analyses of ecosystem-level fluxes have successfully incorporated data streams at coarser (remote sensing) and finer (plant traits) organisational scales. However, there are few data sources that capture the diel to seasonal dynamics of whole-plant physiology and that can provide a link between organism- and ecosystem-level function. Sap flow measured in plant stems reveals the temporal patterns in plant water transport, as mediated by stomatal regulation and hydraulic architecture. The widespread use of thermometric methods of sap flow measurement since the 1990s has resulted in numerous data sets for hundreds of species and sites worldwide, but these data have remained fragmentary and generally unavailable for syntheses of regional to global scope. We are compiling the first global database of sub-daily sap flow measurements in individual plants (SAPFLUXNET), aimed at unravelling the environmental and biotic drivers of plant transpiration regulation globally. I will present the SAPFLUXNET data infrastructure and workflow, which is built upon flexible, open-source computing tools within the R environment (dedicated R packages and classes, interactive documents and apps with Rmarkdown and Shiny). Data collection started in mid-2016, we have already incorporated > 50 datasets representing > 40 species and > 350 individual plants, globally distributed, and the number of contributed data sets is increasing rapidly. I will provide a general overview of the distribution of available data sets according to climate, measurement method, species, functional groups and plant size attributes. In parallel to the sap flow data compilation, we have also collated published results from calibrations of sap flow methods, to provide a first quantification on the variability associated with different sap

  20. 31 CFR 356.23 - How are the auction results announced?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 31 Money and Finance:Treasury 2 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false How are the auction results announced...) Determination of Auction Awards; Settlement § 356.23 How are the auction results announced? (a) After the conclusion of the auction, we will announce the auction results through a press release that is available on...

  1. 31 CFR 356.23 - How are the auction results announced?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 31 Money and Finance:Treasury 2 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false How are the auction results announced...) Determination of Auction Awards; Settlement § 356.23 How are the auction results announced? (a) After the conclusion of the auction, we will announce the auction results through a press release that is available on...

  2. 31 CFR 356.23 - How are the auction results announced?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false How are the auction results announced...) Determination of Auction Awards; Settlement § 356.23 How are the auction results announced? (a) After the conclusion of the auction, we will announce the auction results through a press release that is available on...

  3. At the United Nation Foundation's Social Good Summit, Vice President Biden Announces New Cancer Moonshot International Cooperation and Investments | Office of Cancer Clinical Proteomics Research

    Cancer.gov

    This week, Vice President Joe Biden announced progress on his global vision for the Cancer Moonshot.  Announced were 10 new Memoranda of Understanding or Memoranda of Cooperation for international cancer research and care, as well as new efforts in the emerging scientific areas of precision oncology, the funding of collaborative research centers to address cancer disparities in low- and middle- income (LMIC) countries, and a strengthening of existing U.S. bilateral science and technology engagements around cancer.  

  4. Using the GRIN-Global System to Identify Useful Plant Genetic Resources & Information

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The GRIN-Global (GG) System has been developed to provide the world's crop genebanks and plant genetic resource (PGR) users with a powerful, flexible, easy-to-use PGR information management system. Developed jointly by the USDA Agricultural Research Service, Bioversity International and the Global C...

  5. 48 CFR 1405.303 - Announcement of contract awards.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Announcement of contract awards. 1405.303 Section 1405.303 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR... Announcement of contract awards. (a) The CO shall report the following information to the cognizant bureau...

  6. 48 CFR 1835.016-71 - NASA Research Announcements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 6 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false NASA Research... NASA Research Announcements. (a) Scope. An NRA is used to announce research interests in support of NASA's programs, and, after peer or scientific review using factors in the NRA, select proposals for...

  7. 48 CFR 1835.016-71 - NASA Research Announcements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 6 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false NASA Research... NASA Research Announcements. (a) Scope. An NRA is used to announce research interests in support of NASA's programs, and, after peer or scientific review using factors in the NRA, select proposals for...

  8. 48 CFR 1835.016-71 - NASA Research Announcements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 6 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false NASA Research... NASA Research Announcements. (a) Scope. An NRA is used to announce research interests in support of NASA's programs, and, after peer or scientific review using factors in the NRA, select proposals for...

  9. 48 CFR 1835.016-71 - NASA Research Announcements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 6 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false NASA Research... NASA Research Announcements. (a) Scope. An NRA is used to announce research interests in support of NASA's programs, and, after peer or scientific review using factors in the NRA, select proposals for...

  10. GRIN-Global: An International Project to Develop a Global Plant Genebank and Information Management System

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The mission of the GRIN-Global Project is to create a new, scalable version of the Germplasm Resource Information System (GRIN) to provide the world's crop genebanks with a powerful, flexible, easy-to-use plant genetic resource (PGR) information management system. The system will help safeguard PGR ...

  11. SSE Decommission Announcement

    Atmospheric Science Data Center

    2018-06-26

    ... We are pleased to announce that on June 13, 2018 the old SSE web site will be replaced with the new data web portal at https://power.larc.nasa.gov with improved solar and ... currently on SSE are now available at the new POWER web site although the parameters might be organized differently.  Also note ...

  12. NREL: News - Solar Decathlon Engineering Design Results Announced

    Science.gov Websites

    Engineering Design Results Announced Thursday, October 3, 2002 Distinguished Panel Picks University first place in the Engineering Design results announced today at the Department of Energy's (DOE) Solar the University of Maryland remains in third. The Engineering Design panel includes engineers prominent

  13. 22 CFR 1004.5 - Procedures for announcing meetings.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... 22 Foreign Relations 2 2013-04-01 2009-04-01 true Procedures for announcing meetings. 1004.5 Section 1004.5 Foreign Relations INTER-AMERICAN FOUNDATION RULES FOR IMPLEMENTING OPEN MEETINGS WITHIN THE INTER-AMERICAN FOUNDATION § 1004.5 Procedures for announcing meetings. (a) In the case of each meeting...

  14. Bites and B-Roll: Announcments of the Architecture Contest Winners

    ScienceCinema

    None

    2017-12-09

    Broadcast-quality downloads of this video are available free and unrestricted at http://stratacomm.net/solar-decathlon... Video contains announcements of the architecture awards announcement at the 2009 Solar Decathlon. Includes announcement and house b-roll of 1st place winner Team California and 2nd place winner Rice University's houses, general Solar Village b-roll, and bites from students and architecture experts

  15. 10 CFR 1704.7 - Changes following public announcement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Changes following public announcement. 1704.7 Section 1704.7 Energy DEFENSE NUCLEAR FACILITIES SAFETY BOARD RULES IMPLEMENTING THE GOVERNMENT IN THE SUNSHINE ACT § 1704.7 Changes following public announcement. (a) The time or place of a meeting may be changed...

  16. 10 CFR 1704.7 - Changes following public announcement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Changes following public announcement. 1704.7 Section 1704.7 Energy DEFENSE NUCLEAR FACILITIES SAFETY BOARD RULES IMPLEMENTING THE GOVERNMENT IN THE SUNSHINE ACT § 1704.7 Changes following public announcement. (a) The time or place of a meeting may be changed...

  17. 10 CFR 1704.7 - Changes following public announcement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Changes following public announcement. 1704.7 Section 1704.7 Energy DEFENSE NUCLEAR FACILITIES SAFETY BOARD RULES IMPLEMENTING THE GOVERNMENT IN THE SUNSHINE ACT § 1704.7 Changes following public announcement. (a) The time or place of a meeting may be changed...

  18. 10 CFR 1704.7 - Changes following public announcement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Changes following public announcement. 1704.7 Section 1704.7 Energy DEFENSE NUCLEAR FACILITIES SAFETY BOARD RULES IMPLEMENTING THE GOVERNMENT IN THE SUNSHINE ACT § 1704.7 Changes following public announcement. (a) The time or place of a meeting may be changed...

  19. 10 CFR 1704.7 - Changes following public announcement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Changes following public announcement. 1704.7 Section 1704.7 Energy DEFENSE NUCLEAR FACILITIES SAFETY BOARD RULES IMPLEMENTING THE GOVERNMENT IN THE SUNSHINE ACT § 1704.7 Changes following public announcement. (a) The time or place of a meeting may be changed...

  20. Ascertaining Desirable Competencies of Broadcast Announcers. Curriculum Development.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zeiss, Paul A.

    This research was undertaken in an effort to identify the desirable competencies of announcers as required by the broadcast industry. In order to identify the announcing competencies sought by the broadcast industry, a questionnaire was mailed to a representative number of Texas radio and television station operations managers. The random sample…

  1. GRIN-Global: An International Project to Develop a Global Plant Genebank and Information Management System

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The mission of the GRIN-Global Project is to create a new, scalable version of the Germplasm Resource Information System (GRIN) to provide the world’s crop genebanks with a powerful, flexible, easy-to-use plant genetic resource (PGR) information management system. The system will help safeguard PGR ...

  2. GRIN-Global: An International Project to Develop a Global Plant Genebank and Information Management System

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The mission of the GRIN-Global Project is to create a new, scalable version of the Germplasm Resource Information System (GRIN) to provide the world’s crop genebanks with a powerful, flexible, easy-to-use plant genetic resource (PGR) information management system. The system will help safeguard PGR...

  3. Global asymptotic stability of plant-seed bank models.

    PubMed

    Eager, Eric Alan; Rebarber, Richard; Tenhumberg, Brigitte

    2014-07-01

    Many plant populations have persistent seed banks, which consist of viable seeds that remain dormant in the soil for many years. Seed banks are important for plant population dynamics because they buffer against environmental perturbations and reduce the probability of extinction. Viability of the seeds in the seed bank can depend on the seed's age, hence it is important to keep track of the age distribution of seeds in the seed bank. In this paper we construct a general density-dependent plant-seed bank model where the seed bank is age-structured. We consider density dependence in both seedling establishment and seed production, since previous work has highlighted that overcrowding can suppress both of these processes. Under certain assumptions on the density dependence, we prove that there is a globally stable equilibrium population vector which is independent of the initial state. We derive an analytical formula for the equilibrium population using methods from feedback control theory. We apply these results to a model for the plant species Cirsium palustre and its seed bank.

  4. 45 CFR 702.55 - Public announcement of meetings.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 45 Public Welfare 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Public announcement of meetings. 702.55 Section... RULES ON HEARINGS, REPORTS, AND MEETINGS OF THE COMMISSION Meetings § 702.55 Public announcement of meetings. (a) Agenda. The Staff Director shall set as early as possible but in any event at least eight...

  5. Expansion of plants with Crassulacean Acid Metabolism under global environment change

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yu, K.; D'Odorico, P.; Collins, S. L.; Carr, D.

    2016-12-01

    The abundance of plants with Crassulacean Acid Metabolism (CAM) has increased in many drylands worldwide. This is hypothesized to occur because CAM plants store water, take up CO2 at night, exhibit photosynthetic plasticity, and have high water use efficiency. The increased dominance of CAM plants, however, also depends on their competitive relationship with other functional groups, an aspect of CAM plant sensitivity to global environmental change that has remained largely understudied. Here, we investigated the response of CAM plants and their competitive relationships with C3 and C4 plants under global environmental change. We focused on two pairs of CAM and non-CAM species, namely Cylindropuntia imbricata (a constitutive CAM species) and Bouteloua eriopoda (C4 grass), which co-occur in desert grasslands in northern Mexico, and invasive Mesembryanthemum crystallinum (a facultative CAM species) and Bromus mollis (a C3 invasive grass), which coexist in California's coastal grasslands. A set of growth chamber experiments under altered CO2 and water conditions show that C. imbricata outcompeted B. eriopoda under drought conditions, while in well-watered conditions B. eriopoda was a stronger competitor for soil water than C. imbricata. Under drought conditions a more positive response to CO2 enrichment by C. imbricata indirectly disfavored B. eriopoda, which suggests that interspecific competition can outweigh the favorable direct effect of CO2 enrichment on plant growth. A set of greenhouse experiments under water, N, and soil salinity manipulations showed that drought, N deposition, and/or increased soil salinity served as important drivers for success of M. crystallinum invasion, while B. mollis exerted strong competitive effects on M. crystallinum for light and soil nutrients in well-watered conditions. M. crystallinum switched from C3 photosynthesis to CAM photosynthesis as an adaptive strategy in response to moderate intensity of competition from B. mollis, in

  6. Global patterns of the isotopic composition of soil and plant nitrogen

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Amundson, Ronald; Austin, A.T.; Schuur, E.A.G.; Yoo, K.; Matzek, V.; Kendall, C.; Uebersax, A.; Brenner, D.; Baisden, W.T.

    2003-01-01

    We compiled new and published data on the natural abundance N isotope composition (??15N values) of soil and plant organic matter from around the world. Across a broad range of climate and ecosystem types, we found that soil and plant ??15N values systematically decreased with increasing mean annual precipitation (MAP) and decreasing mean annual temperature (MAT). Because most undisturbed soils are near N steady state, the observations suggest that an increasing fraction of ecosystem N losses are 15N-depleted forms (NO3, N2O, etc.) with decreasing MAP and increasing MAT. Wetter and colder ecosystems appear to be more efficient in conserving and recycling mineral N. Globally, plant ??15N values are more negative than soils, but the difference Nitrogen isotopes reflect time integrated measures of the controls on N storage that are critical for predictions of how these ecosystems will respond to human-mediated disturbances of the global N cycle.

  7. Evolutionary History Underlies Plant Physiological Responses to Global Change Since the Last Glacial Maximum

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Becklin, K. M.; Medeiros, J. S.; Sale, K. R.; Ward, J. K.

    2014-12-01

    Assessing family and species-level variation in physiological responses to global change across geologic time is critical for understanding factors that underlie changes in species distributions and community composition. Ancient plant specimens preserved within packrat middens are invaluable in this context since they allow for comparisons between co-occurring plant lineages. Here we used modern and ancient plant specimens preserved within packrat middens from the Snake Range, NV to investigate the physiological responses of a mixed montane conifer community to global change since the last glacial maximum. We used a conceptual model to infer relative changes in stomatal conductance and maximum photosynthetic capacity from measures of leaf carbon isotopes, stomatal characteristics, and leaf nitrogen content. Our results indicate that most of the sampled taxa decreased stomatal conductance and/or photosynthetic capacity from glacial to modern times. However, plant families differed in the timing and magnitude of these physiological responses. Additionally, leaf-level responses were more similar within plant families than within co-occurring species assemblages. This suggests that adaptation at the level of leaf physiology may not be the main determinant of shifts in community composition, and that plant evolutionary history may drive physiological adaptation to global change over recent geologic time.

  8. 14 CFR 1214.1101 - Announcement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... Recruitment and Selection Program § 1214.1101 Announcement. (a) Astronaut candidate opportunities Will be... Opportunity Programs, NASA Headquarters, will provide assistance in the recruiting process. [54 FR 37940, Sept...

  9. U.S. Global Change Research Program

    MedlinePlus

    ... Announcing... Read more The Deepening Story of How Climate Change Threatens Human Health Read more Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the U.S. Global Change Research... Read more Nomination Period Open for ... more Connecting America’s Communities with Actionable Climate ...

  10. Automated Announcements of Approaching Emergency Vehicles

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bachelder, Aaron; Foster, Conrad

    2006-01-01

    Street intersections that are equipped with traffic lights would also be equipped with means for generating audible announcements of approaching emergency vehicles, according to a proposal. The means to generate the announcements would be implemented in the intersection- based subsystems of emergency traffic-light-preemption systems like those described in the two immediately preceding articles and in "Systems Would Preempt Traffic Lights for Emergency Vehicles" (NPO-30573), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 28, No. 10 (October 2004), page 36. Preempting traffic lights is not, by itself, sufficient to warn pedestrians at affected intersections that emergency vehicles are approaching. Automated visual displays that warn of approaching emergency vehicles can be helpful as a supplement to preemption of traffic lights, but experience teaches that for a variety of reasons, pedestrians often do not see such displays. Moreover, in noisy and crowded urban settings, the lights and sirens on emergency vehicles are often not noticed until a few seconds before the vehicles arrive. According to the proposal, the traffic-light preemption subsystem at each intersection would generate an audible announcement for example, emergency vehicle approaching, please clear intersection whenever a preemption was triggered. The subsystem would estimate the time of arrival of an approaching emergency vehicle by use of vehicle identity, position, and time data from one or more sources that could include units connected to traffic loops and/or transponders connected to diagnostic and navigation systems in participating emergency vehicles. The intersection-based subsystem would then start the announcement far enough in advance to enable pedestrians to leave the roadway before any emergency vehicles arrive.

  11. 48 CFR 1835.016-70 - Foreign participation under broad agency announcements (BAAs).

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... broad agency announcements (BAAs). 1835.016-70 Section 1835.016-70 Federal Acquisition Regulations... DEVELOPMENT CONTRACTING 1835.016-70 Foreign participation under broad agency announcements (BAAs). (a) Policy. (1) NASA seeks the broadest participation in response to broad agency announcements, including...

  12. 75 FR 76056 - FEDERAL REGISTER CITATION OF PREVIOUS ANNOUNCEMENT:

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-12-07

    ... SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Sunshine Act Meeting FEDERAL REGISTER CITATION OF PREVIOUS ANNOUNCEMENT: STATUS: Closed meeting. PLACE: 100 F Street, NE., Washington, DC. DATE AND TIME OF PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED MEETING: Thursday, December 9, 2010 at 2 p.m. CHANGE IN THE MEETING: Time change. The closed...

  13. 48 CFR 1835.016-70 - Foreign participation under broad agency announcements (BAAs).

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... under broad agency announcements (BAAs). 1835.016-70 Section 1835.016-70 Federal Acquisition Regulations... DEVELOPMENT CONTRACTING 1835.016-70 Foreign participation under broad agency announcements (BAAs). (a) Policy. (1) NASA seeks the broadest participation in response to broad agency announcements, including...

  14. 48 CFR 1835.016-70 - Foreign participation under broad agency announcements (BAAs).

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... under broad agency announcements (BAAs). 1835.016-70 Section 1835.016-70 Federal Acquisition Regulations... DEVELOPMENT CONTRACTING 1835.016-70 Foreign participation under broad agency announcements (BAAs). (a) Policy. (1) NASA seeks the broadest participation in response to broad agency announcements, including...

  15. 48 CFR 1835.016-70 - Foreign participation under broad agency announcements (BAAs).

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... under broad agency announcements (BAAs). 1835.016-70 Section 1835.016-70 Federal Acquisition Regulations... DEVELOPMENT CONTRACTING 1835.016-70 Foreign participation under broad agency announcements (BAAs). (a) Policy. (1) NASA seeks the broadest participation in response to broad agency announcements, including...

  16. 48 CFR 1835.016-70 - Foreign participation under broad agency announcements (BAAs).

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... under broad agency announcements (BAAs). 1835.016-70 Section 1835.016-70 Federal Acquisition Regulations... DEVELOPMENT CONTRACTING 1835.016-70 Foreign participation under broad agency announcements (BAAs). (a) Policy. (1) NASA seeks the broadest participation in response to broad agency announcements, including...

  17. Global Patterns of the Isotopic Composition of Soil and Plant Nitrogen

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Amundson, R.; Yoo, K.

    2014-12-01

    From a societal perspective, soil N follows only soil C in the importance of soil to 21st century environmental issues. Amundson et al (2003) developed a mass balance model for soil N and the ratio of 15N/14N, and provided the first global projections of the spatial patterns of soil and plant δ15N values. It was hypothesized that state factors, particularly climate, should drive broad patterns of soil and plant δ15N values in a manner analogous to the known patterns of total soil N (e.g. Post et al., 1984). At that time, the N isotope data available to explore the effect of individual factors was modest. In the past decade, numerous papers from a broad spectrum of locations have created a rich database that can be used to further refine the initial projections made more than a decade ago. In this paper, hundreds of published measurements will be used to more deeply examine the climatic impacts on soil and plant δ15N values. Additionally, we will focus on the local controls of topography on ecosystem N cycling, which can create local isotopic variation that is similar in magnitude to the global effects of climate. The adoption of process-based models from the hillslope geomorphology community appears to be a powerful tool for explaining some existing data from toposequences, designing new studies of topographic controls on biogeochemistry, and particularly for parameterization in global models. Amundson, R., A.T. Austin, E.A.G. Schuur, K. Yoo, V. Matzek, C. Kendall, A. Uebersax, D. Brenner, and W.T. Baisden. 2003. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 17(1):1031.

  18. 10 CFR 903.11 - Advance announcement of rate adjustment.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Advance announcement of rate adjustment. 903.11 Section 903.11 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY POWER AND TRANSMISSION RATES Procedures for Public Participation in... announcement may be through direct contact with customers, at public meetings, by press release, by newspaper...

  19. Global scale environmental control of plant photosynthetic capacity

    DOE PAGES

    Ali, Ashehad; Xu, Chonggang; Rogers, Alistair; ...

    2015-12-01

    Photosynthetic capacity, determined by light harvesting and carboxylation reactions, is a key plant trait that determines the rate of photosynthesis; however, in Earth System Models (ESMs) at a reference temperature, it is either a fixed value for a given plant functional type or derived from a linear function of leaf nitrogen content. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive analysis that considered correlations of environmental factors with photosynthetic capacity as determined by maximum carboxylation (V c,m) rate scaled to 25°C (i.e., V c,25; μmol CO 2·m –2·s –1) and maximum electron transport rate (Jmax) scaled to 25°C (i.e., J 25;more » μmol electron·m –2·s –1) at the global scale. Our results showed that the percentage of variation in observed Vc,25 and J25 explained jointly by the environmental factors (i.e., day length, radiation, temperature, and humidity) were 2–2.5 times and 6–9 times of that explained by area-based leaf nitrogen content, respectively. Environmental factors influenced photosynthetic capacity mainly through photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency, rather than through leaf nitrogen content. The combination of leaf nitrogen content and environmental factors was able to explain ~56% and ~66% of the variation in V c,25 and J 25 at the global scale, respectively. As a result, our analyses suggest that model projections of plant photosynthetic capacity and hence land–atmosphere exchange under changing climatic conditions could be substantially improved if environmental factors are incorporated into algorithms used to parameterize photosynthetic capacity in ESMs.« less

  20. NREL Announces Management Changes

    Science.gov Websites

    reorganization that creates two new management positions at the laboratory. Effective July 1, 1997, Dr. Stanley Announces Management Changes For more information contact: Bob Noun (303) 275-3062 Golden, Colo building research. Bull previously headed NREL�s Technology Management Center. Jerry Bellows, who

  1. An Announcement by Dan Goldin

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1992-01-01

    Daniel S. Goldin (NASA Administrator) announces the reconstruction of several NASA programs and management structural changes. The upcoming developments for Space Station Freedom, the Office of Space Science Applications (OSSA), and the field of Aeronautics are discussed.

  2. NREL: News - Solar Decathlon Graphics and Communication Results Announced

    Science.gov Websites

    Graphics and Communication Results Announced Tuesday, October 1, 2002 First Place Goes to Graphics and Communication results announced today at the U. S. Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon moved into second, and the University of Maryland has moved into third. Graphics and Communication is

  3. 32 CFR 700.703 - To announce assumption of command.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 32 National Defense 5 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false To announce assumption of command. 700.703... Chief and Other Commanders Titles and Duties of Commanders § 700.703 To announce assumption of command. (a) Upon assuming command, commanders shall so advise appropriate superiors, and the units of their...

  4. 32 CFR 700.703 - To announce assumption of command.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 32 National Defense 5 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false To announce assumption of command. 700.703... Chief and Other Commanders Titles and Duties of Commanders § 700.703 To announce assumption of command. (a) Upon assuming command, commanders shall so advise appropriate superiors, and the units of their...

  5. 32 CFR 700.703 - To announce assumption of command.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 32 National Defense 5 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false To announce assumption of command. 700.703... Chief and Other Commanders Titles and Duties of Commanders § 700.703 To announce assumption of command. (a) Upon assuming command, commanders shall so advise appropriate superiors, and the units of their...

  6. 32 CFR 700.703 - To announce assumption of command.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 32 National Defense 5 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false To announce assumption of command. 700.703... Chief and Other Commanders Titles and Duties of Commanders § 700.703 To announce assumption of command. (a) Upon assuming command, commanders shall so advise appropriate superiors, and the units of their...

  7. 32 CFR 700.703 - To announce assumption of command.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 32 National Defense 5 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false To announce assumption of command. 700.703... Chief and Other Commanders Titles and Duties of Commanders § 700.703 To announce assumption of command. (a) Upon assuming command, commanders shall so advise appropriate superiors, and the units of their...

  8. Can we infer plant facilitation from remote sensing? A test across global drylands

    PubMed Central

    Xu, Chi; Holmgren, Milena; Van Nes, Egbert H.; Maestre, Fernando T.; Soliveres, Santiago; Berdugo, Miguel; Kéfi, Sonia; Marquet, Pablo A.; Abades, Sebastian; Scheffer, Marten

    2016-01-01

    Facilitation is a major force shaping the structure and diversity of plant communities in terrestrial ecosystems. Detecting positive plant-plant interactions relies on the combination of field experimentation and the demonstration of spatial association between neighboring plants. This has often restricted the study of facilitation to particular sites, limiting the development of systematic assessments of facilitation over regional and global scales. Here we explore whether the frequency of plant spatial associations detected from high-resolution remotely-sensed images can be used to infer plant facilitation at the community level in drylands around the globe. We correlated the information from remotely-sensed images freely available through Google Earth™ with detailed field assessments, and used a simple individual-based model to generate patch-size distributions using different assumptions about the type and strength of plant-plant interactions. Most of the patterns found from the remotely-sensed images were more right-skewed than the patterns from the null model simulating a random distribution. This suggests that the plants in the studied drylands show stronger spatial clustering than expected by chance. We found that positive plant co-occurrence, as measured in the field, was significantly related to the skewness of vegetation patch-size distribution measured using Google Earth™ images. Our findings suggest that the relative frequency of facilitation may be inferred from spatial pattern signals measured from remotely-sensed images, since facilitation often determines positive co-occurrence among neighboring plants. They pave the road for a systematic global assessment of the role of facilitation in terrestrial ecosystems. PMID:26552256

  9. 12 CFR 261b.6 - Public announcement of meetings.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Public announcement of meetings. 261b.6 Section 261b.6 Banks and Banking FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM (CONTINUED) BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM RULES REGARDING PUBLIC OBSERVATION OF MEETINGS § 261b.6 Public announcement of meetings. (a...

  10. Plant invasions in mountains: Global lessons for better management

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    McDougall, K.L.; Khuroo, A.A.; Loope, L.L.; Parks, C.G.; Pauchard, A.; Reshi, Z.A.; Rushworth, I.; Kueffer, C.

    2011-01-01

    Mountains are one of few ecosystems little affected by plant invasions. However, the threat of invasion is likely to increase because of climate change, greater anthropogenic land use, and continuing novel introductions. Preventive management, therefore, will be crucial but can be difficult to promote when more pressing problems are unresolved and predictions are uncertain. In this essay, we use management case studies from 7 mountain regions to identify common lessons for effective preventive action. The degree of plant invasion in mountains was variable in the 7 regions as was the response to invasion, which ranged from lack of awareness by land managers of the potential impact in Chile and Kashmir to well-organized programs of prevention and containment in the United States (Hawaii and the Pacific Northwest), including prevention at low altitude. In Australia, awareness of the threat grew only after disruptive invasions. In South Africa, the economic benefits of removing alien plants are well recognized and funded in the form of employment programs. In the European Alps, there is little need for active management because no invasive species pose an immediate threat. From these case studies, we identify lessons for management of plant invasions in mountain ecosystems: (i) prevention is especially important in mountains because of their rugged terrain, where invasions can quickly become unmanageable; (ii) networks at local to global levels can assist with awareness raising and better prioritization of management actions; (iii) the economic importance of management should be identified and articulated; (iv) public acceptance of management programs will make them more effective; and (v) climate change needs to be considered. We suggest that comparisons of local case studies, such as those we have presented, have a pivotal place in the proactive solution of global change issues. ?? International Mountain Society.

  11. 75 FR 11610 - Notice Announcing Addresses for Service of Process

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-03-11

    ... SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION [Docket No. SSA-2009-0076] Notice Announcing Addresses for Service of Process AGENCY: Social Security Administration. ACTION: Notice announcing addresses for summonses and complaints. SUMMARY: The Office of the General Counsel (OGC) is responsible for processing and...

  12. Carbon plants nutrition and global food security

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mariani, Luigi

    2017-02-01

    To evaluate the effects of carbon nutrition on agricultural productivity, a physiological-process-based crop simulation model, driven by the 1961-1990 monthly climate data from global FAO dataset, was developed and applied to four crops (wheat, maize, rice and soybean -WMRS) which account for 64% of the global caloric consumption of humans. Five different temperatures and CO2 scenarios (current; glacial; pre-industrial; future_1 with 560 ppmv for CO2 and +2 °C for temperature; and future_2 with 800 ppmv for CO2 and +4 °C) were investigated. The relative values of WMRS global productions for past and future scenarios were, respectively, 49% of the present-day scenario for glacial, 82% for pre-industrial, 115% for future_1 and 124% for future_2. A sensitive growth of productivity of future scenarios (respectively to 117% and 134%) was observed if the northward shift of crops was allowed, and a strong increase was obtained without water limitation (from 151% to 157% for the five scenarios) and without biotic and abiotic stresses (from 30% to 40% for WMRS subject to the current scenario). Furthermore since the beginning of the Green Revolution (roughly happened between the '30s and the '50s of the twentieth century) production losses due to sub-optimal levels of CO2 and to biotic and abiotic stresses have been masked by the strong technological innovation trend still ongoing, which, in the last century, led to a strong increase in the global crop production (+400%-600%). These results show the crucial relevance of the future choices of research and development in agriculture (genetics, land reclamation, irrigation, plant protection, and so on) to ensure global food security.

  13. 25 CFR 75.3 - Announcement of revision of roll.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... 25 Indians 1 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Announcement of revision of roll. 75.3 Section 75.3... ROLL OF THE EASTERN BAND OF CHEROKEE INDIANS, NORTH CAROLINA § 75.3 Announcement of revision of roll... perform the work necessary to revise the membership roll of the Band and such staff has been employed and...

  14. 25 CFR 75.3 - Announcement of revision of roll.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... 25 Indians 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Announcement of revision of roll. 75.3 Section 75.3... ROLL OF THE EASTERN BAND OF CHEROKEE INDIANS, NORTH CAROLINA § 75.3 Announcement of revision of roll... perform the work necessary to revise the membership roll of the Band and such staff has been employed and...

  15. 77 FR 75606 - Renewal of the Plant Variety Protection Board Charter

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-12-21

    ... industry, professional associations representing expertise in seed technology, plant breeding, and variety... the Plant Variety Protection Board Charter AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA. ACTION... notice announces that the Secretary of Agriculture intends to renew the Plant Variety Protection Board...

  16. 75 FR 67965 - Announcement of Local Government Advisory Committee Members

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-11-04

    ... ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY [FRL-9220-9] Announcement of Local Government Advisory Committee... Protection Agency announces that Administrator Lisa P. Jackson has appointed 29 local, State, and Tribal elected and appointed officials from across the country to serve on the EPA's Local Government Advisory...

  17. The context and development of a global framework for plant conservation.

    PubMed

    Jackson, Peter Wyse; Sharrock, Suzanne

    2011-01-01

    A new international initiative for plant conservation was first called for as a resolution of the International Botanical Congress in 1999. The natural home for such an initiative was considered to be the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the CBD agreed to consider a Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) at its 5th meeting in 2000. It was proposed that the GSPC could provide an innovative model approach for target setting within the CBD and, prior to COP5, a series of inter-sessional papers on proposed targets and their justification were developed by plant conservation experts. Key factors that ensured the adoption of the GSPC by the CBD in 2002 included: (1) ensuring that prior to and during COP5, key Parties in each region were supportive of the Strategy; (2) setting targets at the global level and not attempting to impose these nationally; and (3) the offer by Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) to support a GSPC position in the CBD Secretariat for 3 years, which provided a clear indication of the support for the GSPC from non-governmental organizations (NGO).

  18. Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2014-02-22

    A roadside sign announces the upcoming launch of an H-IIA rocket carrying the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2014, Minamitane Town, Tanegashima Island, Japan. Once launched from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) Tanegashima Space Center (TNSC) the NASA-JAXA GPM spacecraft will collect information that unifies data from an international network of existing and future satellites to map global rainfall and snowfall every three hours. The launch is planned for Feb. 28, 2014. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

  19. SETAC launches global horizon scanning/research prioritization project

    EPA Science Inventory

    The SETAC World Council is pleased to announce the initiation of a Global Horizon Scanning and Prioritization Project aimed at identifying geographically specific research needs to address stressor impacts on environmental quality. In recent years, horizon scanning and research ...

  20. 7 CFR 1435.601 - Sugar surplus determination and public announcement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 10 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Sugar surplus determination and public announcement...) COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE LOANS, PURCHASES, AND OTHER OPERATIONS SUGAR PROGRAM Feedstock Flexibility Program § 1435.601 Sugar surplus determination and public announcement. (a) CCC will...

  1. Stoichiometric homeostasis predicts plant species dominance, temporal stability, and responses to global change.

    PubMed

    Yu, Qiang; Wilcox, Kevin; La Pierre, Kimberly; Knapp, Alan K; Han, Xingguo; Smith, Melinda D

    2015-09-01

    Why some species are consistently more abundant than others, and predicting how species will respond to global change, are fundamental questions in ecology. Long-term observations indicate that plant species with high stoichiometric homeostasis for nitrogen (HN), i.e., the ability to decouple foliar N levels from variation in soil N availability, were more common and stable through time than low-HN species in a central U.S. grassland. However, with nine years of nitrogen addition, species with high H(N) decreased in abundance, while those with low H(N) increased in abundance. In contrast, in climate change experiments simulating a range of forecast hydrologic changes, e.g., extreme drought (two years), increased rainfall variability (14 years), and chronic increases in rainfall (21 years), plant species with the highest H(N) were least responsive to changes in soil water availability. These results suggest that H(N) may be predictive of plant species success and stability, and how plant species and ecosystems will respond to global-change-driven alterations in resource availability.

  2. 75 FR 70714 - Global Free Flow of Information on the Internet

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-11-18

    .... 100921457-0561-02] RIN 0660-XA20 Global Free Flow of Information on the Internet AGENCY: National... of comment period. SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce's Internet Policy Task Force announces that... on the global free flow of information on the Internet has been reopened and will extend until 5 p.m...

  3. Climate and soil attributes determine plant species turnover in global drylands

    PubMed Central

    Maestre, Fernando T.; Gotelli, Nicholas J.; Quero, José L.; Delgado-Baquerizo, Manuel; Bowker, Matthew A.; Eldridge, David J.; Ochoa, Victoria; Gozalo, Beatriz; Valencia, Enrique; Berdugo, Miguel; Escolar, Cristina; García-Gómez, Miguel; Escudero, Adrián; Prina, Aníbal; Alfonso, Graciela; Arredondo, Tulio; Bran, Donaldo; Cabrera, Omar; Cea, Alex; Chaieb, Mohamed; Contreras, Jorge; Derak, Mchich; Espinosa, Carlos I.; Florentino, Adriana; Gaitán, Juan; Muro, Victoria García; Ghiloufi, Wahida; Gómez-González, Susana; Gutiérrez, Julio R.; Hernández, Rosa M.; Huber-Sannwald, Elisabeth; Jankju, Mohammad; Mau, Rebecca L.; Hughes, Frederic Mendes; Miriti, Maria; Monerris, Jorge; Muchane, Muchai; Naseri, Kamal; Pucheta, Eduardo; Ramírez-Collantes, David A.; Raveh, Eran; Romão, Roberto L.; Torres-Díaz, Cristian; Val, James; Veiga, José Pablo; Wang, Deli; Yuan, Xia; Zaady, Eli

    2015-01-01

    Aim Geographic, climatic, and soil factors are major drivers of plant beta diversity, but their importance for dryland plant communities is poorly known. This study aims to: i) characterize patterns of beta diversity in global drylands, ii) detect common environmental drivers of beta diversity, and iii) test for thresholds in environmental conditions driving potential shifts in plant species composition. Location 224 sites in diverse dryland plant communities from 22 geographical regions in six continents. Methods Beta diversity was quantified with four complementary measures: the percentage of singletons (species occurring at only one site), Whittake’s beta diversity (β(W)), a directional beta diversity metric based on the correlation in species occurrences among spatially contiguous sites (β(R2)), and a multivariate abundance-based metric (β(MV)). We used linear modelling to quantify the relationships between these metrics of beta diversity and geographic, climatic, and soil variables. Results Soil fertility and variability in temperature and rainfall, and to a lesser extent latitude, were the most important environmental predictors of beta diversity. Metrics related to species identity (percentage of singletons and β(W)) were most sensitive to soil fertility, whereas those metrics related to environmental gradients and abundance ((β(R2)) and β(MV)) were more associated with climate variability. Interactions among soil variables, climatic factors, and plant cover were not important determinants of beta diversity. Sites receiving less than 178 mm of annual rainfall differed sharply in species composition from more mesic sites (> 200 mm). Main conclusions Soil fertility and variability in temperature and rainfall are the most important environmental predictors of variation in plant beta diversity in global drylands. Our results suggest that those sites annually receiving ~ 178 mm of rainfall will be especially sensitive to future climate changes. These

  4. Climate and soil attributes determine plant species turnover in global drylands.

    PubMed

    Ulrich, Werner; Soliveres, Santiago; Maestre, Fernando T; Gotelli, Nicholas J; Quero, José L; Delgado-Baquerizo, Manuel; Bowker, Matthew A; Eldridge, David J; Ochoa, Victoria; Gozalo, Beatriz; Valencia, Enrique; Berdugo, Miguel; Escolar, Cristina; García-Gómez, Miguel; Escudero, Adrián; Prina, Aníbal; Alfonso, Graciela; Arredondo, Tulio; Bran, Donaldo; Cabrera, Omar; Cea, Alex; Chaieb, Mohamed; Contreras, Jorge; Derak, Mchich; Espinosa, Carlos I; Florentino, Adriana; Gaitán, Juan; Muro, Victoria García; Ghiloufi, Wahida; Gómez-González, Susana; Gutiérrez, Julio R; Hernández, Rosa M; Huber-Sannwald, Elisabeth; Jankju, Mohammad; Mau, Rebecca L; Hughes, Frederic Mendes; Miriti, Maria; Monerris, Jorge; Muchane, Muchai; Naseri, Kamal; Pucheta, Eduardo; Ramírez-Collantes, David A; Raveh, Eran; Romão, Roberto L; Torres-Díaz, Cristian; Val, James; Veiga, José Pablo; Wang, Deli; Yuan, Xia; Zaady, Eli

    2014-12-01

    Geographic, climatic, and soil factors are major drivers of plant beta diversity, but their importance for dryland plant communities is poorly known. This study aims to: i) characterize patterns of beta diversity in global drylands, ii) detect common environmental drivers of beta diversity, and iii) test for thresholds in environmental conditions driving potential shifts in plant species composition. 224 sites in diverse dryland plant communities from 22 geographical regions in six continents. Beta diversity was quantified with four complementary measures: the percentage of singletons (species occurring at only one site), Whittake's beta diversity (β(W)), a directional beta diversity metric based on the correlation in species occurrences among spatially contiguous sites (β(R 2 )), and a multivariate abundance-based metric (β(MV)). We used linear modelling to quantify the relationships between these metrics of beta diversity and geographic, climatic, and soil variables. Soil fertility and variability in temperature and rainfall, and to a lesser extent latitude, were the most important environmental predictors of beta diversity. Metrics related to species identity (percentage of singletons and β(W)) were most sensitive to soil fertility, whereas those metrics related to environmental gradients and abundance ((β(R 2 )) and β(MV)) were more associated with climate variability. Interactions among soil variables, climatic factors, and plant cover were not important determinants of beta diversity. Sites receiving less than 178 mm of annual rainfall differed sharply in species composition from more mesic sites (> 200 mm). Soil fertility and variability in temperature and rainfall are the most important environmental predictors of variation in plant beta diversity in global drylands. Our results suggest that those sites annually receiving ~ 178 mm of rainfall will be especially sensitive to future climate changes. These findings may help to define appropriate

  5. Humor as a Presentational Device in Broadcast Public Service Announcements.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Swanson, D. J.

    On a daily basis, American television and radio audiences are subjected to a stream of broadcast Public Service Announcements (PSAs), each promoting "some kind of social or economic action deemed beneficial" (Stridsberg, 1977). Often, these announcements employ humor as a presentational device to help stimulate the behavioral change…

  6. 10 CFR 1704.6 - Procedures for public announcement of meetings.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Procedures for public announcement of meetings. 1704.6 Section 1704.6 Energy DEFENSE NUCLEAR FACILITIES SAFETY BOARD RULES IMPLEMENTING THE GOVERNMENT IN THE SUNSHINE ACT § 1704.6 Procedures for public announcement of meetings. (a) For each meeting, the Board shall...

  7. 10 CFR 1704.6 - Procedures for public announcement of meetings.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Procedures for public announcement of meetings. 1704.6 Section 1704.6 Energy DEFENSE NUCLEAR FACILITIES SAFETY BOARD RULES IMPLEMENTING THE GOVERNMENT IN THE SUNSHINE ACT § 1704.6 Procedures for public announcement of meetings. (a) For each meeting, the Board shall...

  8. 10 CFR 1704.6 - Procedures for public announcement of meetings.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Procedures for public announcement of meetings. 1704.6 Section 1704.6 Energy DEFENSE NUCLEAR FACILITIES SAFETY BOARD RULES IMPLEMENTING THE GOVERNMENT IN THE SUNSHINE ACT § 1704.6 Procedures for public announcement of meetings. (a) For each meeting, the Board shall...

  9. 10 CFR 1704.6 - Procedures for public announcement of meetings.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Procedures for public announcement of meetings. 1704.6 Section 1704.6 Energy DEFENSE NUCLEAR FACILITIES SAFETY BOARD RULES IMPLEMENTING THE GOVERNMENT IN THE SUNSHINE ACT § 1704.6 Procedures for public announcement of meetings. (a) For each meeting, the Board shall...

  10. 10 CFR 1704.6 - Procedures for public announcement of meetings.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Procedures for public announcement of meetings. 1704.6 Section 1704.6 Energy DEFENSE NUCLEAR FACILITIES SAFETY BOARD RULES IMPLEMENTING THE GOVERNMENT IN THE SUNSHINE ACT § 1704.6 Procedures for public announcement of meetings. (a) For each meeting, the Board shall...

  11. Global remote sensing of water-chlorophyll ratio in terrestrial plant leaves.

    PubMed

    Kushida, Keiji

    2012-10-01

    I evaluated the use of global remote sensing techniques for estimating plant leaf chlorophyll a + b (C(ab); μg cm(-2)) and water (C(w); mg cm(-2)) concentrations as well as the ratio of C(w)/C(ab) with the PROSAIL model under possible distributions for leaf and soil spectra, leaf area index (LAI), canopy geometric structure, and leaf size. First, I estimated LAI from the normalized difference vegetation index. I found that, at LAI values <2, C(ab), C(w), and C(w)/C(ab) could not be reliably estimated. At LAI values >2, C(ab) and C(w) could be estimated for only restricted ranges of the canopy structure; however, the ratio of C(w)/C(ab) could be reliably estimated for a variety of possible canopy structures with coefficients of determination (R(2)) ranging from 0.56 to 0.90. The remote estimation of the C(w)/C(ab) ratio from satellites offers information on plant condition at a global scale.

  12. 77 FR 33223 - Announcement of the Publication of Funding Opportunity Announcements Under the Runaway and...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-06-05

    ... the Publication of Funding Opportunity Announcements Under the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act AGENCY... Statutory Authority: Runaway and Homeless Youth Act, 42 U.S.C. sections 5701-5752, as amended by the.... Porter, Director, Runaway and Homeless Youth Program, Family and Youth Services Bureau, 1250 Maryland Ave...

  13. Biotic and abiotic variables influencing plant litter breakdown in streams: a global study.

    PubMed

    Boyero, Luz; Pearson, Richard G; Hui, Cang; Gessner, Mark O; Pérez, Javier; Alexandrou, Markos A; Graça, Manuel A S; Cardinale, Bradley J; Albariño, Ricardo J; Arunachalam, Muthukumarasamy; Barmuta, Leon A; Boulton, Andrew J; Bruder, Andreas; Callisto, Marcos; Chauvet, Eric; Death, Russell G; Dudgeon, David; Encalada, Andrea C; Ferreira, Verónica; Figueroa, Ricardo; Flecker, Alexander S; Gonçalves, José F; Helson, Julie; Iwata, Tomoya; Jinggut, Tajang; Mathooko, Jude; Mathuriau, Catherine; M'Erimba, Charles; Moretti, Marcelo S; Pringle, Catherine M; Ramírez, Alonso; Ratnarajah, Lavenia; Rincon, José; Yule, Catherine M

    2016-04-27

    Plant litter breakdown is a key ecological process in terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. Streams and rivers, in particular, contribute substantially to global carbon fluxes. However, there is little information available on the relative roles of different drivers of plant litter breakdown in fresh waters, particularly at large scales. We present a global-scale study of litter breakdown in streams to compare the roles of biotic, climatic and other environmental factors on breakdown rates. We conducted an experiment in 24 streams encompassing latitudes from 47.8° N to 42.8° S, using litter mixtures of local species differing in quality and phylogenetic diversity (PD), and alder (Alnus glutinosa) to control for variation in litter traits. Our models revealed that breakdown of alder was driven by climate, with some influence of pH, whereas variation in breakdown of litter mixtures was explained mainly by litter quality and PD. Effects of litter quality and PD and stream pH were more positive at higher temperatures, indicating that different mechanisms may operate at different latitudes. These results reflect global variability caused by multiple factors, but unexplained variance points to the need for expanded global-scale comparisons. © 2016 The Author(s).

  14. Biotic and abiotic variables influencing plant litter breakdown in streams: a global study

    PubMed Central

    Pearson, Richard G.; Hui, Cang; Gessner, Mark O.; Pérez, Javier; Alexandrou, Markos A.; Graça, Manuel A. S.; Cardinale, Bradley J.; Albariño, Ricardo J.; Arunachalam, Muthukumarasamy; Barmuta, Leon A.; Boulton, Andrew J.; Bruder, Andreas; Callisto, Marcos; Chauvet, Eric; Death, Russell G.; Dudgeon, David; Encalada, Andrea C.; Ferreira, Verónica; Figueroa, Ricardo; Flecker, Alexander S.; Gonçalves, José F.; Helson, Julie; Iwata, Tomoya; Jinggut, Tajang; Mathooko, Jude; Mathuriau, Catherine; M'Erimba, Charles; Moretti, Marcelo S.; Pringle, Catherine M.; Ramírez, Alonso; Ratnarajah, Lavenia; Rincon, José; Yule, Catherine M.

    2016-01-01

    Plant litter breakdown is a key ecological process in terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. Streams and rivers, in particular, contribute substantially to global carbon fluxes. However, there is little information available on the relative roles of different drivers of plant litter breakdown in fresh waters, particularly at large scales. We present a global-scale study of litter breakdown in streams to compare the roles of biotic, climatic and other environmental factors on breakdown rates. We conducted an experiment in 24 streams encompassing latitudes from 47.8° N to 42.8° S, using litter mixtures of local species differing in quality and phylogenetic diversity (PD), and alder (Alnus glutinosa) to control for variation in litter traits. Our models revealed that breakdown of alder was driven by climate, with some influence of pH, whereas variation in breakdown of litter mixtures was explained mainly by litter quality and PD. Effects of litter quality and PD and stream pH were more positive at higher temperatures, indicating that different mechanisms may operate at different latitudes. These results reflect global variability caused by multiple factors, but unexplained variance points to the need for expanded global-scale comparisons. PMID:27122551

  15. Global change effects on plant-insect interactions: The role of phytochemistry

    Treesearch

    Mary A. Jamieson; Laura A. Burkle; Jessamyn S. Manson; Justin B. Runyon; Amy M. Trowbridge; Joseph Zientek

    2017-01-01

    Natural and managed ecosystems are undergoing rapid environmental change due to a growing human population and associated increases in industrial and agricultural activity. Global environmental change directly and indirectly impacts insect herbivores and pollinators. In this review, we highlight recent research examining how environmental change factors affect plant...

  16. 76 FR 12017 - Announcement of Grant Application Deadlines and Funding Levels

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-03-04

    ... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Rural Utilities Service Announcement of Grant Application Deadlines and Funding Levels AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, USDA. ACTION: Notice of solicitation of applications. SUMMARY: The United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Rural Utilities Service (RUS) announces the...

  17. Effects of pictures and textual arguments in sun protection public service announcements.

    PubMed

    Boer, Henk; Ter Huurne, Ellen; Taal, Erik

    2006-01-01

    The effect of public service announcements aimed at promoting primary prevention of skin cancer may be limited by superficial cognitive processing. The use of both pictures and textual arguments in sun protection public service announcements were evaluated for their potentially beneficial effects on judgment, cognitive processing and persuasiveness. In a 2 x 2 factorial experimental design individuals were shown public service announcements that advocated the advantages of sun protection measures in different versions in which a picture was present or not present and a textual argument was present or not present. The 159 participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions. In each condition, participants were shown 12 different public service announcements designed according to the condition. Participants judged each public service announcement on attractiveness, credibility, clarity of communication and the required amount of reflection. After the judgment task, they completed a questionnaire to assess knowledge, perceived advantages and disadvantages of sun protection and intended use of sun protection measures. Pictures enhanced attractiveness, but diminished comprehension. Textual arguments enhanced attractiveness, credibility and comprehension. Pictures as well as textual arguments increased knowledge of sun protection measures. Pictures and textual arguments in public service announcements positively influence the individual's perception of the advantages of sun protection methods and the advantages of their adoption.

  18. The Value of Native Plants and Local Production in an Era of Global Agriculture

    PubMed Central

    Shelef, Oren; Weisberg, Peter J.; Provenza, Frederick D.

    2017-01-01

    For addressing potential food shortages, a fundamental tradeoff exists between investing more resources to increasing productivity of existing crops, as opposed to increasing crop diversity by incorporating more species. We explore ways to use local plants as food resources and the potential to promote food diversity and agricultural resilience. We discuss how use of local plants and the practice of local agriculture can contribute to ongoing adaptability in times of global change. Most food crops are now produced, transported, and consumed long distances from their homelands of origin. At the same time, research and practices are directed primarily at improving the productivity of a small number of existing crops that form the cornerstone of a global food economy, rather than to increasing crop diversity. The result is a loss of agro-biodiversity, leading to a food industry that is more susceptible to abiotic and biotic stressors, and more at risk of catastrophic losses. Humans cultivate only about 150 of an estimated 30,000 edible plant species worldwide, with only 30 plant species comprising the vast majority of our diets. To some extent, these practices explain the food disparity among human populations, where nearly 1 billion people suffer insufficient nutrition and 2 billion people are obese or overweight. Commercial uses of new crops and wild plants of local origin have the potential to diversify global food production and better enable local adaptation to the diverse environments humans inhabit. We discuss the advantages, obstacles, and risks of using local plants. We also describe a case study—the missed opportunity to produce pine nuts commercially in the Western United States. We discuss the potential consequences of using local pine nuts rather than importing them overseas. Finally, we provide a list of edible native plants, and synthesize the state of research concerning the potential and challenges in using them for food production. The goal of our

  19. The Value of Native Plants and Local Production in an Era of Global Agriculture.

    PubMed

    Shelef, Oren; Weisberg, Peter J; Provenza, Frederick D

    2017-01-01

    For addressing potential food shortages, a fundamental tradeoff exists between investing more resources to increasing productivity of existing crops, as opposed to increasing crop diversity by incorporating more species. We explore ways to use local plants as food resources and the potential to promote food diversity and agricultural resilience. We discuss how use of local plants and the practice of local agriculture can contribute to ongoing adaptability in times of global change. Most food crops are now produced, transported, and consumed long distances from their homelands of origin. At the same time, research and practices are directed primarily at improving the productivity of a small number of existing crops that form the cornerstone of a global food economy, rather than to increasing crop diversity. The result is a loss of agro-biodiversity, leading to a food industry that is more susceptible to abiotic and biotic stressors, and more at risk of catastrophic losses. Humans cultivate only about 150 of an estimated 30,000 edible plant species worldwide, with only 30 plant species comprising the vast majority of our diets. To some extent, these practices explain the food disparity among human populations, where nearly 1 billion people suffer insufficient nutrition and 2 billion people are obese or overweight. Commercial uses of new crops and wild plants of local origin have the potential to diversify global food production and better enable local adaptation to the diverse environments humans inhabit. We discuss the advantages, obstacles, and risks of using local plants. We also describe a case study-the missed opportunity to produce pine nuts commercially in the Western United States. We discuss the potential consequences of using local pine nuts rather than importing them overseas. Finally, we provide a list of edible native plants, and synthesize the state of research concerning the potential and challenges in using them for food production. The goal of our

  20. 49 CFR 804.7 - Procedures for public announcement of meetings.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... announcement of meetings. (a) For each meeting, the NTSB shall make public announcement, at least one week... meeting; (4) Whether the meeting is to be open or closed; and (5) The name and business telephone number...) The one week advance notice required by paragraph (a) of this section may be reduced only if: (1) A...

  1. 49 CFR 804.7 - Procedures for public announcement of meetings.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... announcement of meetings. (a) For each meeting, the NTSB shall make public announcement, at least one week... meeting; (4) Whether the meeting is to be open or closed; and (5) The name and business telephone number...) The one week advance notice required by paragraph (a) of this section may be reduced only if: (1) A...

  2. Efficacy of curtailment announcements as a predictor of lumber supply

    Treesearch

    Henry Spelter

    2001-01-01

    A practical method for tracking the effect of curtailment announcements on lumber supply is described and tested. Combining announcements of closures and curtailments with mill capacities enables the creation of accurate forward-looking assessments of lumber supply 1 to 2 months into the future. For three American and Canadian lumber- producing regions, the method...

  3. A Global Coexpression Network Approach for Connecting Genes to Specialized Metabolic Pathways in Plants

    PubMed Central

    Borowsky, Alexander T.

    2017-01-01

    Plants produce diverse specialized metabolites (SMs), but the genes responsible for their production and regulation remain largely unknown, hindering efforts to tap plant pharmacopeia. Given that genes comprising SM pathways exhibit environmentally dependent coregulation, we hypothesized that genes within a SM pathway would form tight associations (modules) with each other in coexpression networks, facilitating their identification. To evaluate this hypothesis, we used 10 global coexpression data sets, each a meta-analysis of hundreds to thousands of experiments, across eight plant species to identify hundreds of coexpressed gene modules per data set. In support of our hypothesis, 15.3 to 52.6% of modules contained two or more known SM biosynthetic genes, and module genes were enriched in SM functions. Moreover, modules recovered many experimentally validated SM pathways, including all six known to form biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs). In contrast, bioinformatically predicted BGCs (i.e., those lacking an associated metabolite) were no more coexpressed than the null distribution for neighboring genes. These results suggest that most predicted plant BGCs are not genuine SM pathways and argue that BGCs are not a hallmark of plant specialized metabolism. We submit that global gene coexpression is a rich, largely untapped resource for discovering the genetic basis and architecture of plant natural products. PMID:28408660

  4. Plant responses to soil heterogeneity and global environmental change

    PubMed Central

    García-Palacios, Pablo; Maestre, Fernando T.; Bardgett, Richard D.; de Kroon, Hans

    2015-01-01

    Summary Recent evidence suggests that soil nutrient heterogeneity, a ubiquitous feature of terrestrial ecosystems, modulates plant responses to ongoing global change (GC). However, we know little about the overall trends of such responses, the GC drivers involved, and the plant attributes affected. We synthesized literature to answer the question: Does soil heterogeneity significantly affect plant responses to main GC drivers, such as elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration (CO2), nitrogen (N) enrichment and changes in rainfall regime? Overall, most studies have addressed short-term effects of N enrichment on the performance of model plant communities using experiments conducted under controlled conditions. The role of soil heterogeneity as a modulator of plant responses to elevated CO2 may depend on the plasticity in nutrient uptake patterns. Soil heterogeneity does interact with N enrichment to determine plant growth and nutrient status, but the outcome of this interaction has been found to be both synergistic and inhibitory. The very few studies published on interactive effects of soil heterogeneity and changes in rainfall regime prevented us from identifying any general pattern. We identify the long-term consequences of soil heterogeneity on plant community dynamics in the field, and the ecosystem level responses of the soil heterogeneity × GC driver interaction, as the main knowledge gaps in this area of research. In order to fill these gaps and take soil heterogeneity and GC research a step forward, we propose the following research guidelines: 1) combining morphological and physiological plant responses to soil heterogeneity with field observations of community composition and predictions from simulation models; and 2) incorporating soil heterogeneity into a trait-based response-effect framework, where plant resource-use traits are used as both response variables to this heterogeneity and GC, and predictors of ecosystem functioning. Synthesis

  5. A Global Coexpression Network Approach for Connecting Genes to Specialized Metabolic Pathways in Plants.

    PubMed

    Wisecaver, Jennifer H; Borowsky, Alexander T; Tzin, Vered; Jander, Georg; Kliebenstein, Daniel J; Rokas, Antonis

    2017-05-01

    Plants produce diverse specialized metabolites (SMs), but the genes responsible for their production and regulation remain largely unknown, hindering efforts to tap plant pharmacopeia. Given that genes comprising SM pathways exhibit environmentally dependent coregulation, we hypothesized that genes within a SM pathway would form tight associations (modules) with each other in coexpression networks, facilitating their identification. To evaluate this hypothesis, we used 10 global coexpression data sets, each a meta-analysis of hundreds to thousands of experiments, across eight plant species to identify hundreds of coexpressed gene modules per data set. In support of our hypothesis, 15.3 to 52.6% of modules contained two or more known SM biosynthetic genes, and module genes were enriched in SM functions. Moreover, modules recovered many experimentally validated SM pathways, including all six known to form biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs). In contrast, bioinformatically predicted BGCs (i.e., those lacking an associated metabolite) were no more coexpressed than the null distribution for neighboring genes. These results suggest that most predicted plant BGCs are not genuine SM pathways and argue that BGCs are not a hallmark of plant specialized metabolism. We submit that global gene coexpression is a rich, largely untapped resource for discovering the genetic basis and architecture of plant natural products. © 2017 American Society of Plant Biologists. All rights reserved.

  6. Deaths from Pesticide Poisoning: Are we lacking a global response?

    PubMed Central

    Bertolote, JM; Fleischmann, A; Eddleston, M; Gunnell, D

    2008-01-01

    Self-poisoning with pesticides accounts for around a third of all suicides worldwide. To tackle this problem, WHO announced a Global Public Health initiative in 2005. Planned approaches will range from Government regulatory action to the development of new treatments for pesticide poisoning. With broad-based support this strategy will have a major impact on the global burden of suicide. PMID:16946353

  7. NREL: News - Winner of Solar Decathlon to be Announced

    Science.gov Websites

    Winner of Solar Decathlon to be Announced Friday, October 4, 2002 Washington, D.C.- The winner of National Gallery of Art Note: All houses competing in the Solar Decathlon will be open to the public from 9 the U.S. Department of Energy's first Solar Decathlon will be announced noon, Saturday, October 6 in

  8. Aquatic Ecosystems, Water Quality, and Global Change: Challenges of Conducting Multi-Stressor Vulnerability Assessments (Final Report)

    EPA Science Inventory

    EPA announced the availability of the final report, Aquatic Ecosystems and Global Change: The Challenges of conducting Multi-Stressor Global Change Vulnerability Assessments. This report investigates the issues and challenges associated with identifying, calculating, and ...

  9. Global Regulation of Plant Immunity by Histone Lysine Methyl Transferases.

    PubMed

    Lee, Sanghun; Fu, Fuyou; Xu, Siming; Lee, Sang Yeol; Yun, Dae-Jin; Mengiste, Tesfaye

    2016-07-01

    Posttranslational modification of histones modulates gene expression affecting diverse biological functions. We showed that the Arabidopsis thaliana histone methyl transferases SET DOMAIN GROUP8 (SDG8) and SDG25 regulate pep1-, flg22-, and effector-triggered immunity as well as systemic acquired resistance. Genome-wide basal and induced transcriptome changes regulated by SDG8 and/or SDG25 showed that two genes of the SDG-dependent transcriptome, CAROTENOID ISOMERASE2 (CCR2) and ECERIFERUM3 (CER3), were also required for plant immunity, establishing mechanisms in defense functions for SDG8 and SDG25. CCR2 catalyzes the biosynthesis of carotenoids, whereas CER3 is involved in the biosynthesis of cuticular wax. SDG8 and SDG25 affected distinct and overlapping global and locus-specific histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4) and histone H3 lysine 36 (H3K36) methylations. Loss of immunity in sdg mutants was attributed to altered global and CCR2- and CER3-specific histone lysine methylation (HLM). Loss of immunity in sdg, ccr2, and cer3 mutants was also associated with diminished accumulation of lipids and loss of cuticle integrity. In addition, sdg8 and sdg25 mutants were impaired in H2B ubiquitination (H2Bubn) at CCR2, CER3, and H2Bubn regulated R gene, SNC1, revealing crosstalk between the two types of histone modifications. In summary, SDG8 and SDG25 contribute to plant immunity directly through HLM or indirectly through H2Bubn and by regulating expression of plant immunity genes, accumulation of lipids, biosynthesis of carotenoids, and maintenance of cuticle integrity. © 2016 American Society of Plant Biologists. All rights reserved.

  10. 76 FR 3091 - National Annual Catch Limit Science Workshop; Meeting Announcement

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-01-19

    ... Annual Catch Limit Science Workshop; Meeting Announcement AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS...: Richard Methot, Office of Science and Technology, NMFS at [email protected] , or at (206) 860-3365. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NOAA Fisheries Service is announcing a National Annual Catch Limit (ACL) Science...

  11. Plant ecophysiology and forest response to global change.

    PubMed

    Buchmann, N

    2002-11-01

    There are many ways of studying forest responses to global change. Most current national and international programs focus on net gas exchange of the terrestrial biosphere and are typically interdisciplinary, multi-scale projects. Key objectives of these programs are surprisingly similar to those of classical plant ecophysiology studies, i.e., to explore functional relationships of plant or plant community responses to environmental change. Thus, common research questions that link plant ecophysiology to ecosystem functioning can be identified for both research communities, promising complementarity and synergism for joint research projects. Although some well-established ecophysiological relationships, such as light responses or stomatal limitations of photosynthetic gas exchange, are currently employed in many ecosystem-scale net flux studies for gap-filling or modeling, only 14% (n = 27) of all eddy covariance flux studies in forests (n = 196; published between 1992 and April 2002) include plant ecophysiological measurements (n = 24) or biomass and growth estimates (n = 8). Generally, emphasis is on CO2 exchange measurements at various scales (foliage, shoots, branches; n = 14) and water relations measurements (n = 11). These measurements do not fully support the typical parameterization of stand and regional models, which often need information on canopy architecture and nitrogen nutrition. By means of a complementary research approach, valuable information can be acquired that is unobtainable by means of a single approach. This additional information is important for the identification of underlying biotic and environmental drivers, for the regulation of net ecosystem fluxes and their partitioning, and the independent validation of measured net ecosystem fluxes. Thus, combining micrometeorology and ecophysiology at flux sites is strongly recommended for ecosystem functioning studies.

  12. 78 FR 65936 - Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Proposed Endangered Status for Gunnison Sage...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-11-04

    ... and Plants; Proposed Endangered Status for Gunnison Sage-Grouse and Proposed Designation of Critical...; reopening of comment period; announcement of public hearings. SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the reopening of the public comment periods on our January 11, 2013, proposed...

  13. Federal Register Notice Announcing Public Hearings

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    The EPA is announcing three public hearings to be held for the proposed rule ‘‘Federal Implementation Plans to Reduce Interstate Transport of Fine Particulate Matter and Ozone’’ (Transport Rule, also known as the Cross-State Air Pollution Act).

  14. 29 CFR 793.7 - “Announcer.”

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... introduce programs, read news announcements, present commercial messages, give station identification and..., or write advertising, promotional or similar type copy. An employee who is primarily engaged in the...

  15. 7 CFR 1000.45 - Market administrator's reports and announcements concerning classification.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 9 2010-01-01 2009-01-01 true Market administrator's reports and announcements... GENERAL PROVISIONS OF FEDERAL MILK MARKETING ORDERS Classification of Milk § 1000.45 Market administrator... corresponding step of § 1000.44(b), the market administrator shall estimate and publicly announce the...

  16. 48 CFR 1335.016-70 - DOC procedures for the use of broad agency announcements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false DOC procedures for the use of broad agency announcements. 1335.016-70 Section 1335.016-70 Federal Acquisition Regulations System... procedures for the use of broad agency announcements. Procedures for the use of broad agency announcements...

  17. 48 CFR 1335.016-70 - DOC procedures for the use of broad agency announcements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false DOC procedures for the use of broad agency announcements. 1335.016-70 Section 1335.016-70 Federal Acquisition Regulations System... procedures for the use of broad agency announcements. Procedures for the use of broad agency announcements...

  18. 48 CFR 1335.016-70 - DOC procedures for the use of broad agency announcements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false DOC procedures for the use of broad agency announcements. 1335.016-70 Section 1335.016-70 Federal Acquisition Regulations System... procedures for the use of broad agency announcements. Procedures for the use of broad agency announcements...

  19. 48 CFR 1335.016-70 - DOC procedures for the use of broad agency announcements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false DOC procedures for the use of broad agency announcements. 1335.016-70 Section 1335.016-70 Federal Acquisition Regulations System... procedures for the use of broad agency announcements. Procedures for the use of broad agency announcements...

  20. 48 CFR 1335.016-70 - DOC procedures for the use of broad agency announcements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false DOC procedures for the use of broad agency announcements. 1335.016-70 Section 1335.016-70 Federal Acquisition Regulations System... procedures for the use of broad agency announcements. Procedures for the use of broad agency announcements...

  1. Sapfluxnet: a global database of sap flow measurements to unravel the ecological factors of transpiration regulation in woody plants

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Poyatos, Rafael; Martínez-Vilalta, Jordi; Molowny-Horas, Roberto; Steppe, Kathy; Oren, Ram; Katul, Gabriel; Mahecha, Miguel

    2016-04-01

    Plant transpiration is one of the main components of the global water cycle, it controls land energy balance, determines catchment hydrological responses and exerts strong feedbacks on regional and global climate. At the same time, plant productivity, growth and survival are severely constrained by water availability, which is expected to decline in many areas of the world because of global-change driven increases in drought conditions. While global surveys of drought tolerance traits at the organ level are rapidly increasing our knowledge of the diversity in plant functional strategies to cope with drought stress, a whole-plant perspective of drought vulnerability is still lacking. Sap flow measurements using thermal methods have now been applied to measure seasonal patterns in water use and the response of transpiration to environmental drivers across hundreds of species of woody plants worldwide, covering a wide range of climates, soils and stand structural characteristics. Here, we present the first effort to build a global database of sub-daily, tree-level sap flow (SAPFLUXNET) that will be used to improve our understanding of physiological and structural determinants of plant transpiration and to further investigate the role of vegetation in controlling global water balance. We already have the expression of interest of data contributors representing >115 globally distributed sites, > 185 species and > 700 trees, measured over at least one growing season. However, the potential number of available sites and species is probably much higher given that > 2500 sap flow-related papers have been identified in a Scopus literature search conducted in November 2015. We will give an overview of how data collection, harmonisation and quality control procedures are implemented within the project. We will also discuss potential analytical strategies to synthesize hydroclimatic controls on sap flow into biologically meaningful traits related to whole-plant transpiration

  2. DoD Permanently Discontinues Procurement of Global Positioning System Selective Availability

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2007-09-18

    The Department of Defense announced today that it intends to stop procuring Global Positioning System : (GPS) satellites with the capability to intentionally degrade the accuracy of civil signals. : This capability, known as Selective Availability (S...

  3. 78 FR 65588 - Medical Gas Regulation Review; Announcement of Public Meeting

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-11-01

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Food and Drug Administration 21 CFR Chapter I [Docket No. FDA-2013-N-0001] Medical Gas Regulation Review; Announcement of Public Meeting AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS. ACTION: Notice of public meeting. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing a...

  4. Biotechnology stock prices before public announcements: evidence of insider trading?

    PubMed

    Overgaard, C B; van den Broek, R A; Kim, J H; Detsky, A S

    2000-03-01

    Unique financial challenges faced by biotechnology companies developing therapeutics have contributed to the creation of a highly sensitive market, where stock prices are capable of great fluctuation. The potential for significant financial reward and the nature of the scientific review process make this industry susceptible to illegal share trading on nonpublic information. We examined stock prices of biotechnology products before and after announcement of Phase III clinical trial and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Advisory Panel results for indirect evidence of insider trading. Biotechnology stock prices were recorded for 98 products undergoing Phase III clinical trials and 49 products undergoing FDA Advisory Panel review between 1990 and 1998. Prices were recorded for 120 consecutive trading days before and after public announcement of these two events. We compared the average change in stock price of successful products ('winners') with unsuccessful products ('losers') before the public announcement of results for both critical events. The difference between average stock price change from 120 to 3 days before public announcement of results of Phase III clinical trial winners (+27%) and losers (-4%) was highly significant (P = 0.0007). A similar but non-significant difference was observed between the average stock price of winning (+27%) and losing products (+13%) before FDA Advisory Panel review announcements (P = 0.25). Our results provide indirect evidence that insider trading may be common in the biotechnology industry. Clinical investigators may wish to consider this issue before participating in any equity position in the biotechnology industry, especially if they are going to perform research for those companies.

  5. Role of the Insect Supervectors Bemisia tabaci and Frankliniella occidentalis in the Emergence and Global Spread of Plant Viruses.

    PubMed

    Gilbertson, Robert L; Batuman, Ozgur; Webster, Craig G; Adkins, Scott

    2015-11-01

    Emergence of insect-transmitted plant viruses over the past 10-20 years has been disproportionately driven by two so-called supervectors: the whitefly, Bemisia tabaci, and the Western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis. High rates of reproduction and dispersal, extreme polyphagy, and development of insecticide resistance, together with human activities, have made these insects global pests. These supervectors transmit a diversity of plant viruses by different mechanisms and mediate virus emergence through local evolution, host shifts, mixed infections, and global spread. Associated virus evolution involves reassortment, recombination, and component capture. Emergence of B. tabaci-transmitted geminiviruses (begomoviruses), ipomoviruses, and torradoviruses has led to global disease outbreaks as well as multiple paradigm shifts. Similarly, F. occidentalis has mediated tospovirus host shifts and global dissemination and the emergence of pollen-transmitted ilarviruses. The plant virus-supervector interaction offers exciting opportunities for basic research and global implementation of generalized disease management strategies to reduce economic and environmental impacts.

  6. An integrated and pragmatic approach: Global plant safety management

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    McNutt, Jack; Gross, Andrew

    1989-05-01

    The Bhopal disaster in India in 1984 has compelled manufacturing companies to review their operations in order to minimize their risk exposure. Much study has been done on the subject of risk assessment and in refining safety reviews of plant operations. However, little work has been done to address the broader needs of decision makers in the multinational environment. The corporate headquarters of multinational organizations are concerned with identifying vulnerable areas to assure that appropriate risk-minimization measures are in force or will be taken. But the task of screening global business units for safety prowess is complicated and time consuming. This article takes a step towards simplifying this process by presenting the decisional model developed by the authors. Beginning with an overview of key issues affecting global safety management, the focus shifts to the multinational vulnerability model developed by the authors, which reflects an integration of approaches. The article concludes with a discussion of areas for further research. While the global chemical industry and major incidents therein are used for illustration, the procedures and solutions suggested here are applicable to all manufacturing operations.

  7. The Practitioner's Corner: Special Editorial Announcement.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Annunziata, Joyce

    2000-01-01

    The "Journal of Personnel Evaluation in Education" announces the establishment of a new section, "The Practitioner's Corner," a section that will provide the opportunity for practitioners from many educational environments to share information about issues, controversies, and programs in personnel evaluation that reflect practice. (SLD)

  8. 29 CFR 793.11 - Combination announcer, news editor and chief engineer.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 3 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Combination announcer, news editor and chief engineer. 793...)(9) OF THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT Requirements for Exemption § 793.11 Combination announcer, news... as a news editor. In such cases, the primary employment test under the section 13(b)(9) exemption...

  9. 29 CFR 793.11 - Combination announcer, news editor and chief engineer.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 3 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Combination announcer, news editor and chief engineer. 793...)(9) OF THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT Requirements for Exemption § 793.11 Combination announcer, news... as a news editor. In such cases, the primary employment test under the section 13(b)(9) exemption...

  10. 29 CFR 793.11 - Combination announcer, news editor and chief engineer.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 3 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Combination announcer, news editor and chief engineer. 793...)(9) OF THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT Requirements for Exemption § 793.11 Combination announcer, news... as a news editor. In such cases, the primary employment test under the section 13(b)(9) exemption...

  11. A global analysis of the impacts of urbanization on bird and plant diversity reveals key anthropogenic drivers.

    PubMed

    Aronson, Myla F J; La Sorte, Frank A; Nilon, Charles H; Katti, Madhusudan; Goddard, Mark A; Lepczyk, Christopher A; Warren, Paige S; Williams, Nicholas S G; Cilliers, Sarel; Clarkson, Bruce; Dobbs, Cynnamon; Dolan, Rebecca; Hedblom, Marcus; Klotz, Stefan; Kooijmans, Jip Louwe; Kühn, Ingolf; Macgregor-Fors, Ian; McDonnell, Mark; Mörtberg, Ulla; Pysek, Petr; Siebert, Stefan; Sushinsky, Jessica; Werner, Peter; Winter, Marten

    2014-04-07

    Urbanization contributes to the loss of the world's biodiversity and the homogenization of its biota. However, comparative studies of urban biodiversity leading to robust generalities of the status and drivers of biodiversity in cities at the global scale are lacking. Here, we compiled the largest global dataset to date of two diverse taxa in cities: birds (54 cities) and plants (110 cities). We found that the majority of urban bird and plant species are native in the world's cities. Few plants and birds are cosmopolitan, the most common being Columba livia and Poa annua. The density of bird and plant species (the number of species per km(2)) has declined substantially: only 8% of native bird and 25% of native plant species are currently present compared with estimates of non-urban density of species. The current density of species in cities and the loss in density of species was best explained by anthropogenic features (landcover, city age) rather than by non-anthropogenic factors (geography, climate, topography). As urbanization continues to expand, efforts directed towards the conservation of intact vegetation within urban landscapes could support higher concentrations of both bird and plant species. Despite declines in the density of species, cities still retain endemic native species, thus providing opportunities for regional and global biodiversity conservation, restoration and education.

  12. A global analysis of the impacts of urbanization on bird and plant diversity reveals key anthropogenic drivers

    PubMed Central

    Aronson, Myla F. J.; La Sorte, Frank A.; Nilon, Charles H.; Katti, Madhusudan; Goddard, Mark A.; Lepczyk, Christopher A.; Warren, Paige S.; Williams, Nicholas S. G.; Cilliers, Sarel; Clarkson, Bruce; Dobbs, Cynnamon; Dolan, Rebecca; Hedblom, Marcus; Klotz, Stefan; Kooijmans, Jip Louwe; Kühn, Ingolf; MacGregor-Fors, Ian; McDonnell, Mark; Mörtberg, Ulla; Pyšek, Petr; Siebert, Stefan; Sushinsky, Jessica; Werner, Peter; Winter, Marten

    2014-01-01

    Urbanization contributes to the loss of the world's biodiversity and the homogenization of its biota. However, comparative studies of urban biodiversity leading to robust generalities of the status and drivers of biodiversity in cities at the global scale are lacking. Here, we compiled the largest global dataset to date of two diverse taxa in cities: birds (54 cities) and plants (110 cities). We found that the majority of urban bird and plant species are native in the world's cities. Few plants and birds are cosmopolitan, the most common being Columba livia and Poa annua. The density of bird and plant species (the number of species per km2) has declined substantially: only 8% of native bird and 25% of native plant species are currently present compared with estimates of non-urban density of species. The current density of species in cities and the loss in density of species was best explained by anthropogenic features (landcover, city age) rather than by non-anthropogenic factors (geography, climate, topography). As urbanization continues to expand, efforts directed towards the conservation of intact vegetation within urban landscapes could support higher concentrations of both bird and plant species. Despite declines in the density of species, cities still retain endemic native species, thus providing opportunities for regional and global biodiversity conservation, restoration and education. PMID:24523278

  13. Filling gaps in large ecological databases: consequences for the study of global-scale plant functional trait patterns

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schrodt, Franziska; Shan, Hanhuai; Fazayeli, Farideh; Karpatne, Anuj; Kattge, Jens; Banerjee, Arindam; Reichstein, Markus; Reich, Peter

    2013-04-01

    With the advent of remotely sensed data and coordinated efforts to create global databases, the ecological community has progressively become more data-intensive. However, in contrast to other disciplines, statistical ways of handling these large data sets, especially the gaps which are inherent to them, are lacking. Widely used theoretical approaches, for example model averaging based on Akaike's information criterion (AIC), are sensitive to missing values. Yet, the most common way of handling sparse matrices - the deletion of cases with missing data (complete case analysis) - is known to severely reduce statistical power as well as inducing biased parameter estimates. In order to address these issues, we present novel approaches to gap filling in large ecological data sets using matrix factorization techniques. Factorization based matrix completion was developed in a recommender system context and has since been widely used to impute missing data in fields outside the ecological community. Here, we evaluate the effectiveness of probabilistic matrix factorization techniques for imputing missing data in ecological matrices using two imputation techniques. Hierarchical Probabilistic Matrix Factorization (HPMF) effectively incorporates hierarchical phylogenetic information (phylogenetic group, family, genus, species and individual plant) into the trait imputation. Advanced Hierarchical Probabilistic Matrix Factorization (aHPMF) on the other hand includes climate and soil information into the matrix factorization by regressing the environmental variables against residuals of the HPMF. One unique opportunity opened up by aHPMF is out-of-sample prediction, where traits can be predicted for specific species at locations different to those sampled in the past. This has potentially far-reaching consequences for the study of global-scale plant functional trait patterns. We test the accuracy and effectiveness of HPMF and aHPMF in filling sparse matrices, using the TRY

  14. Forecasting Plant Productivity and Health Using Diffuse-to-Global Irradiance Ratios Extracted from the OMI Aerosol Product

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Knowlton, Kelly; Andrews, Jane C.; Ryan, Robert E.

    2007-01-01

    Atmospheric aerosols are a major contributor to diffuse irradiance. This Candidate Solution suggests using the OMI (Ozone Monitoring Instrument) aerosol product as input into a radiative transfer model, which would calculate the ratio of diffuse to global irradiance at the Earth s surface. This ratio can significantly influence the rate of photosynthesis in plants; increasing the ratio of diffuse to global irradiance can accelerate photosynthesis, resulting in greater plant productivity. Accurate values of this ratio could be useful in predicting crop productivity, thereby improving forecasts of regional food resources. However, disagreements exist between diffuse-to-global irradiance values measured by different satellites and ground sensors. OMI, with its unique combination of spectral bands, high resolution, and daily global coverage, may be able to provide more accurate aerosol measurements than other comparable sensors.

  15. Commercial Plant Production and Consumption Still Follow the Latitudinal Gradient in Species Diversity despite Economic Globalization

    PubMed Central

    Nelson, Erik J.; Helmus, Matthew R.; Cavender-Bares, Jeannine; Polasky, Stephen; Lasky, Jesse R.; Zanne, Amy E.; Pearse, William D.; Kraft, Nathan J. B.; Miteva, Daniela A.; Fagan, William F.

    2016-01-01

    Increasing trade between countries and gains in income have given consumers around the world access to a richer and more diverse set of commercial plant products (i.e., foods and fibers produced by farmers). According to the economic theory of comparative advantage, countries open to trade will be able to consume more–in terms of volume and diversity–if they concentrate production on commodities that they can most cost-effectively produce, while importing goods that are expensive to produce, relative to other countries. Here, we perform a global analysis of traded commercial plant products and find little evidence that increasing globalization has incentivized agricultural specialization. Instead, a country’s plant production and consumption patterns are still largely determined by local evolutionary legacies of plant diversification. Because tropical countries harbor a greater diversity of lineages across the tree of life than temperate countries, tropical countries produce and consume a greater diversity of plant products than do temperate countries. In contrast, the richer and more economically advanced temperate countries have the capacity to produce and consume more plant species than the generally poorer tropical countries, yet this collection of plant species is drawn from fewer branches on the tree of life. Why have countries not increasingly specialized in plant production despite the theoretical financial incentive to do so? Potential explanations include the persistence of domestic agricultural subsidies that distort production decisions, cultural preferences for diverse local food production, and that diverse food production protects rural households in developing countries from food price shocks. Less specialized production patterns will make crop systems more resilient to zonal climatic and social perturbations, but this may come at the expense of global crop production efficiency, an important step in making the transition to a hotter and more

  16. Commercial Plant Production and Consumption Still Follow the Latitudinal Gradient in Species Diversity despite Economic Globalization.

    PubMed

    Nelson, Erik J; Helmus, Matthew R; Cavender-Bares, Jeannine; Polasky, Stephen; Lasky, Jesse R; Zanne, Amy E; Pearse, William D; Kraft, Nathan J B; Miteva, Daniela A; Fagan, William F

    2016-01-01

    Increasing trade between countries and gains in income have given consumers around the world access to a richer and more diverse set of commercial plant products (i.e., foods and fibers produced by farmers). According to the economic theory of comparative advantage, countries open to trade will be able to consume more-in terms of volume and diversity-if they concentrate production on commodities that they can most cost-effectively produce, while importing goods that are expensive to produce, relative to other countries. Here, we perform a global analysis of traded commercial plant products and find little evidence that increasing globalization has incentivized agricultural specialization. Instead, a country's plant production and consumption patterns are still largely determined by local evolutionary legacies of plant diversification. Because tropical countries harbor a greater diversity of lineages across the tree of life than temperate countries, tropical countries produce and consume a greater diversity of plant products than do temperate countries. In contrast, the richer and more economically advanced temperate countries have the capacity to produce and consume more plant species than the generally poorer tropical countries, yet this collection of plant species is drawn from fewer branches on the tree of life. Why have countries not increasingly specialized in plant production despite the theoretical financial incentive to do so? Potential explanations include the persistence of domestic agricultural subsidies that distort production decisions, cultural preferences for diverse local food production, and that diverse food production protects rural households in developing countries from food price shocks. Less specialized production patterns will make crop systems more resilient to zonal climatic and social perturbations, but this may come at the expense of global crop production efficiency, an important step in making the transition to a hotter and more

  17. 29 CFR 793.7 - “Announcer.”

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... time signals, and present other similar routine on-the-air material. In small stations, an announcer may, in addition to these duties, operate the studio control board, give cues to the control room for...

  18. 29 CFR 793.7 - “Announcer.”

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... time signals, and present other similar routine on-the-air material. In small stations, an announcer may, in addition to these duties, operate the studio control board, give cues to the control room for...

  19. 29 CFR 793.7 - “Announcer.”

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... time signals, and present other similar routine on-the-air material. In small stations, an announcer may, in addition to these duties, operate the studio control board, give cues to the control room for...

  20. Counting complete? Finalising the plant inventory of a global biodiversity hotspot

    PubMed Central

    Colville, Jonathan F.; Joppa, Lucas N.; Huyser, Onno; Manning, John

    2017-01-01

    The Cape Floristic Region—the world’s smallest and third richest botanical hotspot—has benefited from sustained levels of taxonomic effort and exploration for almost three centuries, but how close is this to resulting in a near-complete plant species inventory? We analyse a core component of this flora over a 250-year period for trends in taxonomic effort and species discovery linked to ecological and conservation attributes. We show that >40% of the current total of species was described within the first 100 years of exploration, followed by a continued steady rate of description. We propose that <1% of the flora is still to be described. We document a relatively constant cohort of taxonomists, working over 250 years at what we interpret to be their ‘taxonomic maximum.’ Rates of description of new species were independent of plant growth-form but narrow-range taxa have constituted a significantly greater proportion of species discoveries since 1950. This suggests that the fraction of undiscovered species predominantly comprises localised endemics that are thus of high conservation concern. Our analysis provides important real-world insights for other hotspots in the context of global strategic plans for biodiversity in informing considerations of the likely effort required in attaining set targets of comprehensive plant inventories. In a time of unprecedented biodiversity loss, we argue for a focused research agenda across disciplines to increase the rate of species descriptions in global biodiversity hotspots. PMID:28243528

  1. Global Regulation of Plant Immunity by Histone Lysine Methyl Transferases

    PubMed Central

    Lee, Sanghun; Xu, Siming; Lee, Sang Yeol; Yun, Dae-Jin; Mengiste, Tesfaye

    2016-01-01

    Posttranslational modification of histones modulates gene expression affecting diverse biological functions. We showed that the Arabidopsis thaliana histone methyl transferases SET DOMAIN GROUP8 (SDG8) and SDG25 regulate pep1-, flg22-, and effector-triggered immunity as well as systemic acquired resistance. Genome-wide basal and induced transcriptome changes regulated by SDG8 and/or SDG25 showed that two genes of the SDG-dependent transcriptome, CAROTENOID ISOMERASE2 (CCR2) and ECERIFERUM3 (CER3), were also required for plant immunity, establishing mechanisms in defense functions for SDG8 and SDG25. CCR2 catalyzes the biosynthesis of carotenoids, whereas CER3 is involved in the biosynthesis of cuticular wax. SDG8 and SDG25 affected distinct and overlapping global and locus-specific histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4) and histone H3 lysine 36 (H3K36) methylations. Loss of immunity in sdg mutants was attributed to altered global and CCR2- and CER3-specific histone lysine methylation (HLM). Loss of immunity in sdg, ccr2, and cer3 mutants was also associated with diminished accumulation of lipids and loss of cuticle integrity. In addition, sdg8 and sdg25 mutants were impaired in H2B ubiquitination (H2Bubn) at CCR2, CER3, and H2Bubn regulated R gene, SNC1, revealing crosstalk between the two types of histone modifications. In summary, SDG8 and SDG25 contribute to plant immunity directly through HLM or indirectly through H2Bubn and by regulating expression of plant immunity genes, accumulation of lipids, biosynthesis of carotenoids, and maintenance of cuticle integrity. PMID:27354553

  2. Regulatory Underpinnings of Global Health Security: FDA's Roles in Preventing, Detecting, and Responding to Global Health Threats

    PubMed Central

    Bond, Katherine C.; Maher, Carmen

    2014-01-01

    In February 2014, health officials from around the world announced the Global Health Security Agenda, a critical effort to strengthen national and global systems to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease threats and to foster stronger collaboration across borders. With its increasing global roles and broad range of regulatory responsibilities in ensuring the availability, safety, and security of medical and food products, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is engaged in a range of efforts in support of global health security. This article provides an overview of FDA's global health security roles, focusing on its responsibilities related to the development and use of medical countermeasures (MCMs) for preventing, detecting, and responding to global infectious disease and other public health emergency threats. The article also discusses several areas—antimicrobial resistance, food safety, and supply chain integrity—in which FDA's global health security roles continue to evolve and extend beyond MCMs and, in some cases, beyond traditional infectious disease threats. PMID:25254912

  3. Regulatory underpinnings of Global Health security: FDA's roles in preventing, detecting, and responding to global health threats.

    PubMed

    Courtney, Brooke; Bond, Katherine C; Maher, Carmen

    2014-01-01

    In February 2014, health officials from around the world announced the Global Health Security Agenda, a critical effort to strengthen national and global systems to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease threats and to foster stronger collaboration across borders. With its increasing global roles and broad range of regulatory responsibilities in ensuring the availability, safety, and security of medical and food products, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is engaged in a range of efforts in support of global health security. This article provides an overview of FDA's global health security roles, focusing on its responsibilities related to the development and use of medical countermeasures (MCMs) for preventing, detecting, and responding to global infectious disease and other public health emergency threats. The article also discusses several areas-antimicrobial resistance, food safety, and supply chain integrity-in which FDA's global health security roles continue to evolve and extend beyond MCMs and, in some cases, beyond traditional infectious disease threats.

  4. Contemporary evolution of plant reproductive strategies under global change is revealed by stored seeds.

    PubMed

    Thomann, M; Imbert, E; Engstrand, R C; Cheptou, P-O

    2015-04-01

    Global change is expected to impose new selection pressures on natural populations. Phenotypic responses, such as earlier phenology in response to climate warming, have been repeatedly observed in the field. The recent pollinator decline is also expected to change selection on reproductive traits in flowering plants. However, it remains unclear whether short-term adaptation of plant reproductive strategies occurs in response to global change. In this study, we report the evolution of some important reproductive traits of the annual self-incompatible weed Centaurea cyanus. In a common garden experiment, we germinated stored seeds, sampled 18 years apart from the same location, in a region where warmer springs and indices of pollinator decline have been reported. Compared to the ancestral population (1992), our results showed that plants of the descendant population (2010) flowered earlier and also produced larger capitula with longer receptivity and a larger floral display. QST -FST comparisons indicated that natural selection has likely contributed to the evolution of some of the traits investigated. Lower FST within temporal samples than among spatial samples further suggests a limited role of gene flow from neighbouring populations. We therefore propose that trait shifts could partly be due to adaptation to global change. © 2015 European Society For Evolutionary Biology. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2015 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

  5. 48 CFR 1852.235-72 - Instructions for responding to NASA Research Announcements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... responding to NASA Research Announcements. 1852.235-72 Section 1852.235-72 Federal Acquisition Regulations... CONTRACT CLAUSES Texts of Provisions and Clauses 1852.235-72 Instructions for responding to NASA Research Announcements. As prescribed in 1835.070(c), insert the following provision: Instructions for Responding to NASA...

  6. 48 CFR 1852.235-72 - Instructions for responding to NASA Research Announcements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... responding to NASA Research Announcements. 1852.235-72 Section 1852.235-72 Federal Acquisition Regulations... CONTRACT CLAUSES Texts of Provisions and Clauses 1852.235-72 Instructions for responding to NASA Research Announcements. As prescribed in 1835.070(c), insert the following provision: Instructions for Responding to NASA...

  7. 48 CFR 1852.235-72 - Instructions for responding to NASA Research Announcements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... responding to NASA Research Announcements. 1852.235-72 Section 1852.235-72 Federal Acquisition Regulations... CONTRACT CLAUSES Texts of Provisions and Clauses 1852.235-72 Instructions for responding to NASA Research Announcements. As prescribed in 1835.070(c), insert the following provision: Instructions for Responding to NASA...

  8. 48 CFR 1852.235-72 - Instructions for responding to NASA Research Announcements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... responding to NASA Research Announcements. 1852.235-72 Section 1852.235-72 Federal Acquisition Regulations... CONTRACT CLAUSES Texts of Provisions and Clauses 1852.235-72 Instructions for responding to NASA Research Announcements. As prescribed in 1835.070(c), insert the following provision: Instructions for Responding to NASA...

  9. 48 CFR 1852.235-72 - Instructions for responding to NASA Research Announcements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... to NASA Research Announcements. 1852.235-72 Section 1852.235-72 Federal Acquisition Regulations... CONTRACT CLAUSES Texts of Provisions and Clauses 1852.235-72 Instructions for responding to NASA Research Announcements. As prescribed in 1835.070(c), insert the following provision: Instructions for Responding to NASA...

  10. 5 CFR 315.611 - Appointment of certain veterans who have competed under agency merit promotion announcements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... competed under agency merit promotion announcements. 315.611 Section 315.611 Administrative Personnel... who have competed under agency merit promotion announcements. (a) Agency authority. An agency may... competition under a merit promotion announcement open to candidates outside the agency's workforce; and (2...

  11. Emerging Personnel Requirements in Academic Libraries as Reflected in Recent Position Announcements.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Block, David

    This study of the personnel requirements and hiring patterns of academic libraries draws on data collected from academic library position announcements issued nationwide during the fourth quarter of 1980. Data on 224 announcements were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, and the resulting statistics are interpreted as a…

  12. UK Announces Intention to Join ESO

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    2000-11-01

    Summary The Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) , the UK's strategic science investment agency, today announced that the government of the United Kingdom is making funds available that provide a baseline for this country to join the European Southern Observatory (ESO) . The ESO Director General, Dr. Catherine Cesarsky , and the ESO Community warmly welcome this move towards fuller integration in European astronomy. "With the UK as a potential member country of ESO, our joint opportunities for front-line research and technology will grow significantly", she said. "This announcement is a clear sign of confidence in ESO's abilities, most recently demonstrated with the construction and operation of the unique Very Large Telescope (VLT) on Paranal. Together we will look forward with confidence towards new, exciting projects in ground-based astronomy." It was decided earlier this year to place the 4-m UK Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope (VISTA) at Paranal, cf. ESO Press Release 03/00. Following negotiations between ESO and PPARC, a detailed proposal for the associated UK/ESO Agreement with the various entry modalities will now be presented to the ESO Council for approval. Before this Agreement can enter into force, the ESO Convention and associated protocols must also be ratified by the UK Parliament. Research and key technologies According to the PPARC press release, increased funding for science, announced by the UK government today, will enable UK astronomers to prepare for the next generation of telescopes and expand their current telescope portfolio through membership of the European Southern Observatory (ESO). The uplift to its baseline budget will enable PPARC to enter into final negotiations for UK membership of the ESO. This will ensure that UK astronomers, together with their colleagues in the ESO member states, are actively involved in global scale preparations for the next generation of astronomy facilities. among these are ALMA

  13. 76 FR 5160 - Emergency Access Advisory Committee; Announcement of Date of Second Meeting

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-01-28

    ... FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION [DA 11-124] Emergency Access Advisory Committee; Announcement of Date of Second Meeting AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: This... 7, 2010, in document DA 10-2318, Chairman Julius Genachowski announced the establishment, and...

  14. 76 FR 39875 - Emergency Access Advisory Committee; Announcement of Date of Next Meeting

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-07-07

    ... FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION [DA 11-1092] Emergency Access Advisory Committee; Announcement of Date of Next Meeting AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: This document announces the date of the Emergency Access Advisory Committee's (Committee or EAAC) next meeting...

  15. Leap Second Announcement - Naval Oceanography Portal

    Science.gov Websites

    section Advanced Search... Sections Home Time Earth Orientation Astronomy Meteorology Oceanography Ice You are here: Home › USNO › Earth Orientation › Leap Second Announcement USNO Logo USNO Navigation Earth Orientation Products GPS-based Products VLBI-based Products EO Information Center Publications

  16. Herbivory and eutrophication mediate grassland plant nutrient responses across a global climatic gradient

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Anderson, T. Michael; Griffith, Daniel M.; Grace, James B.; Lind, Eric M.; Adler, Peter B.; Biederman, Lori A.; Blumenthal, Dana M.; Daleo, Pedro; Firn, Jennifer; Hagenah, Nicole; Harpole, W. Stanley; MacDougall, Andrew S.; McCulley, Rebecca L.; Prober, Suzanne M.; Risch, Anita C.; Sankaran, Mahesh; Schütz, Martin; Seabloom, Eric W.; Stevens, Carly J.; Sullivan, Lauren; Wragg, Peter; Borer, Elizabeth T.

    2018-01-01

    Plant stoichiometry, the relative concentration of elements, is a key regulator of ecosystem functioning and is also being altered by human activities. In this paper we sought to understand the global drivers of plant stoichiometry and compare the relative contribution of climatic vs. anthropogenic effects. We addressed this goal by measuring plant elemental (C, N, P and K) responses to eutrophication and vertebrate herbivore exclusion at eighteen sites on six continents. Across sites, climate and atmospheric N deposition emerged as strong predictors of plot‐level tissue nutrients, mediated by biomass and plant chemistry. Within sites, fertilization increased total plant nutrient pools, but results were contingent on soil fertility and the proportion of grass biomass relative to other functional types. Total plant nutrient pools diverged strongly in response to herbivore exclusion when fertilized; responses were largest in ungrazed plots at low rainfall, whereas herbivore grazing dampened the plant community nutrient responses to fertilization. Our study highlights (1) the importance of climate in determining plant nutrient concentrations mediated through effects on plant biomass, (2) that eutrophication affects grassland nutrient pools via both soil and atmospheric pathways and (3) that interactions among soils, herbivores and eutrophication drive plant nutrient responses at small scales, especially at water‐limited sites.

  17. Herbivory and eutrophication mediate grassland plant nutrient responses across a global climatic gradient.

    PubMed

    Anderson, T Michael; Griffith, Daniel M; Grace, James B; Lind, Eric M; Adler, Peter B; Biederman, Lori A; Blumenthal, Dana M; Daleo, Pedro; Firn, Jennifer; Hagenah, Nicole; Harpole, W Stanley; MacDougall, Andrew S; McCulley, Rebecca L; Prober, Suzanne M; Risch, Anita C; Sankaran, Mahesh; Schütz, Martin; Seabloom, Eric W; Stevens, Carly J; Sullivan, Lauren L; Wragg, Peter D; Borer, Elizabeth T

    2018-04-01

    Plant stoichiometry, the relative concentration of elements, is a key regulator of ecosystem functioning and is also being altered by human activities. In this paper we sought to understand the global drivers of plant stoichiometry and compare the relative contribution of climatic vs. anthropogenic effects. We addressed this goal by measuring plant elemental (C, N, P and K) responses to eutrophication and vertebrate herbivore exclusion at eighteen sites on six continents. Across sites, climate and atmospheric N deposition emerged as strong predictors of plot-level tissue nutrients, mediated by biomass and plant chemistry. Within sites, fertilization increased total plant nutrient pools, but results were contingent on soil fertility and the proportion of grass biomass relative to other functional types. Total plant nutrient pools diverged strongly in response to herbivore exclusion when fertilized; responses were largest in ungrazed plots at low rainfall, whereas herbivore grazing dampened the plant community nutrient responses to fertilization. Our study highlights (1) the importance of climate in determining plant nutrient concentrations mediated through effects on plant biomass, (2) that eutrophication affects grassland nutrient pools via both soil and atmospheric pathways and (3) that interactions among soils, herbivores and eutrophication drive plant nutrient responses at small scales, especially at water-limited sites. © 2018 by the Ecological Society of America.

  18. 45 CFR 1634.4 - Announcement of competition.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... Public Welfare Regulations Relating to Public Welfare (Continued) LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION COMPETITIVE... competitive bidding process, shall take appropriate steps to announce the availability of such a grant or... interested parties are given an opportunity to participate in the competitive bidding process. (b) The...

  19. 45 CFR 1634.4 - Announcement of competition.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... Public Welfare Regulations Relating to Public Welfare (Continued) LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION COMPETITIVE... competitive bidding process, shall take appropriate steps to announce the availability of such a grant or... interested parties are given an opportunity to participate in the competitive bidding process. (b) The...

  20. 75 FR 9211 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Announcement of Board Approval Under Delegated...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-03-01

    ... FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM Agency Information Collection Activities: Announcement of Board Approval... Reserve System heading, the entry for Agency Information Collection Activities: Announcement of Board... information existed on the exposure of the banking system to those firms as this information was obscured by...

  1. Representing Plant Hydraulics in a Global Model: Updates to the Community Land Model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kennedy, D.; Swenson, S. C.; Oleson, K. W.; Lawrence, D. M.; Fisher, R.; Gentine, P.

    2017-12-01

    In previous versions, the Community Land Model has used soil moisture to stand in for plant water status, with transpiration and photosynthesis driven directly by soil water potential. This eschews significant literature demonstrating the importance of plant hydraulic traits in the dynamics of water flow through the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum and in the regulation of stomatal aperture. In this study we install a simplified hydraulic framework to represent vegetation water potential and to regulate root water uptake and turbulent fluxes. Plant hydraulics allow for a more explicit representation of plant water status, which improves the physical basis for many processes represented in CLM. This includes root water uptake and the attenuation of photosynthesis and transpiration with drought. Model description is accompanied by results from a point simulation based at the Caxiuanã flux tower site in Eastern Amazonia, covering a throughfall exclusion experiment from 2001-2003. Including plant hydraulics improves the response to drought forcing compared to previous versions of CLM. Parameter sensitivity is examined at the same site and presented in the context of estimating hydraulic parameters in a global model.

  2. EPA Announces Improvements to Keep Massachusetts Waters Clean

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    Today, US EPA announced a major step forward for Massachusetts’ water quality with improved stormwater management requirements as well as an array of training and implementation tools to assist municipalities with implementation.

  3. 78 FR 52958 - Announcement of Test Concerning Manifesting and Entry of Residue Found in Instruments of...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-08-27

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY U.S. Customs and Border Protection Announcement of Test Concerning... announces U.S. Customs and Border Protection's (CBP's) plan to conduct a test concerning the manifesting and... test announced in this document begins. In HQ Ruling H026715, CBP held that in order to ensure the...

  4. 75 FR 33856 - Announcement of Public Meeting

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-06-15

    ... OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT Announcement of Public Meeting AGENCY: U.S. Office of Personnel Management. ACTION: Notice of meeting. SUMMARY: The Office of Personnel Management will hold a public meeting... normal, competitive hiring is an effective avenue for bringing recent college graduates into the Federal...

  5. 76 FR 42712 - Announcement of Grant Award

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-07-19

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Administration for Children and Families Announcement of..., Public Law 105-285, as amended. SUMMARY: The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of... participants to acquire a lasting economic asset. AFI project families use their IDA savings, including the...

  6. 78 FR 2413 - Office of Urban Indian Health Programs; Announcement Type: Meeting Notice

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-01-11

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Indian Health Service Office of Urban Indian Health Programs; Announcement Type: Meeting Notice AGENCY: Indian Health Service, HHS. ACTION: Meeting Notice. SUMMARY: The purpose of this Notice is to announce an Indian Health Service (IHS) Listening Session on the...

  7. Medical emergency announcements on cruise ships: an audit of outcome.

    PubMed

    Taylor, Christopher James

    2015-01-01

    Public address announcements are an effective way of alerting staff on cruise ships to life -threatening medical emergencies on-board, but should only be used when truly necessary. An audit to investigate the outcome following this method of activating the medical emergency response team (MERT) suggested system flaws. A new elementary first aid training programme for the crew was then developed, emphasising patient assessment and the correct determination of appropriate levels of response. Following fleet-wide implementation, post-intervention audits were performed on two other company ships to evaluate the impact of the new approach. Data from all MERT activations initiated by public address announcement were prospectively collected during the audit periods, including subsequent means of transfer to the ship's medical centre and duration of medical intervention as indicators of clinical severity. After changing the training programme the overall rate of public announcements for medical emergencies fell by 43%. The proportion of patients requiring transfer by stretcher increased from 5% to 33%, whilst the proportion of patients requiring ≥ 4 h of medical intervention increased from 5% to 44%. The audits suggest that the new training programme may have improved the first aid responders' decision-making as there were fewer inappropriate emergency announcements over the public address system. However, two-thirds of all MERT activations were still for patients either well enough to walk or only needing a wheelchair for subsequent transfer, indicating ongoing opportunity for improvement.

  8. The Myths of Chinese Images Revisited: Persuasive Strategies in Hong Kong Anti-Drug Public Service Announcements.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wong, Wendy Siuyi; Cuklanz, Lisa M.

    Hong Kong's Department of Information Services has been producing and systematically airing public service announcements (known as announcements in the public interest, or APIs) on a variety of selected themes such as cleaning up Hong Kong, road safety, crime, drugs, and health issues for over 20 years. The television announcements are shown every…

  9. 20 CFR 625.17 - Announcement of the beginning of a Disaster Assistance Period.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Announcement of the beginning of a Disaster Assistance Period. 625.17 Section 625.17 Employees' Benefits EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR DISASTER UNEMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE § 625.17 Announcement of the beginning of a Disaster...

  10. 20 CFR 625.17 - Announcement of the beginning of a Disaster Assistance Period.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 3 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Announcement of the beginning of a Disaster Assistance Period. 625.17 Section 625.17 Employees' Benefits EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR DISASTER UNEMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE § 625.17 Announcement of the beginning of a Disaster...

  11. 20 CFR 625.17 - Announcement of the beginning of a Disaster Assistance Period.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 3 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Announcement of the beginning of a Disaster Assistance Period. 625.17 Section 625.17 Employees' Benefits EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR DISASTER UNEMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE § 625.17 Announcement of the beginning of a Disaster...

  12. 20 CFR 625.17 - Announcement of the beginning of a Disaster Assistance Period.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 3 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Announcement of the beginning of a Disaster Assistance Period. 625.17 Section 625.17 Employees' Benefits EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR DISASTER UNEMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE § 625.17 Announcement of the beginning of a Disaster...

  13. 76 FR 777 - National Wetland Plant List

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-01-06

    ... the Wetland Conservation Provisions of the Food Security Act. Other applications of the list include wetland restoration, establishment, and enhancement projects. To update the NWPL, the U.S. Army Corps of... Conservation Service (NRCS), is announcing the availability of the draft National Wetland Plant List (NWPL) and...

  14. A first look at the SAPFLUXNET database: global patterns in whole-plant transpiration and implications for ecohydrological research

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Poyatos, R.; Granda, V.; Mencuccini, M.; Flo, V.; Oren, R.; Molowny-Horas, R.; Katul, G. G.; Mahecha, M. D.; Steppe, K.; Cabon, A.; De Cáceres, M.; Martínez-Vilalta, J.

    2017-12-01

    Plant transpiration is the fundamental process linking water and vegetation and it is therefore a central topic in ecohydrological research. Globally, plants display a huge variety of coordinated adjustments in their physiology and structure to regulate transpiration in response to fluctuations of water demand and supply at multiple temporal scales. Sap flow measured in plant stems reveals the temporal patterns of these responses but sap flow data have remained fragmentary and generally unavailable for syntheses of regional to global scope. Here we present the first global database of sap flow measurements from individual plants (SAPFLUXNET, http://sapfluxnet.creaf.cat/), which has been compiled from > 150 datasets contributed by researchers worldwide. Received datasets were harmonised and conveniently stored in custom-designed R objects holding sap flow and environmental data time series, together with several ancillary metadata, enabling data access for synthesis activities. SAPFLUXNET covers most vegetated biomes and holds data for > 1500 individual plants, mostly trees, belonging to >100 species and > 50 genera. We retrieved water use traits indicative of maximum transpiration rates and of transpiration sensitivity to vapour pressure deficit using quantile regression approaches and moving window analyses. Global patterns of these water use traits were then analysed as a function of climate, plant functional type and stand characteristics. For example, maximum transpiration rates at a given plant diameter or sapwood area tended to be higher for Angiosperms compared to Gymnosperms, but this relationships converged to a more similar scaling between transpiration and leaf area across these groups. SAPFLUXNET is also a valuable tool to evaluate water balance components in ecosystem models. We combined SAPFLUXNET data with the MEDFATE model (https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/medfate/index.html) to validate an ecohydrological optimisation approach to retrieve

  15. Predictors of Learning from Public Service Announcements.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sun, Hsiu-hui

    A study focused on predictors of people's learning from public service announcements (PSAs) seen on television. Telephone interviews were conducted with 480 adults randomly selected from residents in Dane County, Wisconsin, in October 1987. Typical demographic information was obtained: sex, age, income, occupation and education. Commercial slogans…

  16. 48 CFR 35.016 - Broad agency announcement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... Scientific Review (see 6.102(d)(2)) for the acquisition of basic and applied research and that part of... CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CONTRACTING 35.016 Broad agency announcement. (a) General... documents, shall— (1) Describe the agency's research interest, either for an individual program requirement...

  17. News & Announcements

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    2001-09-01

    Helge H. Wehmeier, President and Chief Executive Office of Bayer Corporation, is the recipient of the 2001 Leadership in Education Award from the Keystone Center. Wehmeier was cited for his support in spearheading ongoing education and volunteer efforts such as Bayer's Making Science Make Sense program, which, in partnership with NSF, advances science literacy through hands-on, inquiry-based science learning.

    You are invited to send contributions to the News & Announcements column. They should be sent to Elizabeth A. Moore, Associate Editor, by email or by mail at Journal of Chemical Education, 209 N. Brooks St., Madison, WI 53715-1116. Contributions should be concise, to the point, and appropriate for the Journal's audience. They may be edited for clarity, timeliness, appropriateness, or length.

  18. Ants sow the seeds of global diversification in flowering plants.

    PubMed

    Lengyel, Szabolcs; Gove, Aaron D; Latimer, Andrew M; Majer, Jonathan D; Dunn, Robert R

    2009-01-01

    The extraordinary diversification of angiosperm plants in the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods has produced an estimated 250,000-300,000 living angiosperm species and has fundamentally altered terrestrial ecosystems. Interactions with animals as pollinators or seed dispersers have long been suspected as drivers of angiosperm diversification, yet empirical examples remain sparse or inconclusive. Seed dispersal by ants (myrmecochory) may drive diversification as it can reduce extinction by providing selective advantages to plants and can increase speciation by enhancing geographical isolation by extremely limited dispersal distances. Using the most comprehensive sister-group comparison to date, we tested the hypothesis that myrmecochory leads to higher diversification rates in angiosperm plants. As predicted, diversification rates were substantially higher in ant-dispersed plants than in their non-myrmecochorous relatives. Data from 101 angiosperm lineages in 241 genera from all continents except Antarctica revealed that ant-dispersed lineages contained on average more than twice as many species as did their non-myrmecochorous sister groups. Contrasts in species diversity between sister groups demonstrated that diversification rates did not depend on seed dispersal mode in the sister group and were higher in myrmecochorous lineages in most biogeographic regions. Myrmecochory, which has evolved independently at least 100 times in angiosperms and is estimated to be present in at least 77 families and 11 000 species, is a key evolutionary innovation and a globally important driver of plant diversity. Myrmecochory provides the best example to date for a consistent effect of any mutualism on large-scale diversification.

  19. Ants Sow the Seeds of Global Diversification in Flowering Plants

    PubMed Central

    Lengyel, Szabolcs; Gove, Aaron D.; Latimer, Andrew M.; Majer, Jonathan D.; Dunn, Robert R.

    2009-01-01

    Background The extraordinary diversification of angiosperm plants in the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods has produced an estimated 250,000–300,000 living angiosperm species and has fundamentally altered terrestrial ecosystems. Interactions with animals as pollinators or seed dispersers have long been suspected as drivers of angiosperm diversification, yet empirical examples remain sparse or inconclusive. Seed dispersal by ants (myrmecochory) may drive diversification as it can reduce extinction by providing selective advantages to plants and can increase speciation by enhancing geographical isolation by extremely limited dispersal distances. Methodology/Principal Findings Using the most comprehensive sister-group comparison to date, we tested the hypothesis that myrmecochory leads to higher diversification rates in angiosperm plants. As predicted, diversification rates were substantially higher in ant-dispersed plants than in their non-myrmecochorous relatives. Data from 101 angiosperm lineages in 241 genera from all continents except Antarctica revealed that ant-dispersed lineages contained on average more than twice as many species as did their non-myrmecochorous sister groups. Contrasts in species diversity between sister groups demonstrated that diversification rates did not depend on seed dispersal mode in the sister group and were higher in myrmecochorous lineages in most biogeographic regions. Conclusions/Significance Myrmecochory, which has evolved independently at least 100 times in angiosperms and is estimated to be present in at least 77 families and 11 000 species, is a key evolutionary innovation and a globally important driver of plant diversity. Myrmecochory provides the best example to date for a consistent effect of any mutualism on large-scale diversification. PMID:19436714

  20. Nitrogen and Phosphorus Plant Uptake During Periods with no Photosynthesis Accounts for About Half of Global Annual Uptake

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Riley, W. J.; Zhu, Q.; Tang, J.

    2017-12-01

    Uncertainties in current Earth System Model (ESM) predictions of terrestrial carbon-climate feedbacks over the 21st century are as large as, or larger than, any other reported natural system uncertainties. Soil Organic Matter (SOM) decomposition and photosynthesis, the dominant fluxes in this regard, are tightly linked through nutrient availability, and the recent Coupled Model Inter-comparison Project 5 (CMIP5) used for climate change assessment had no credible representations of these constraints. In response, many ESM land models (ESMLMs) have developed dynamic and coupled soil and plant nutrient cycles. Here we quantify terrestrial carbon cycle impacts from well-known observed plant nutrient uptake mechanisms ignored in most current ESMLMs. In particular, we estimate the global role of plant root nutrient competition with microbes and abiotic process at night and during the non-growing season using the ACME land model (ALMv1-ECA-CNP) that explicitly represents these dynamics. We first demonstrate that short-term nutrient uptake dynamics and competition between plants and microbes are accurately predicted by the model compared to 15N and 33P isotopic tracer measurements from more than 20 sites. We then show that global nighttime and non-growing season nitrogen and phosphorus uptake accounts for 46 and 45%, respectively, of annual uptake, with large latitudinal variation. Model experiments show that ignoring these plant uptake periods leads to large positive biases in annual N leaching (globally 58%) and N2O emissions (globally 68%). Biases these large will affect modeled carbon cycle dynamics over time, and lead to predictions of ecosystems that have overly open nutrient cycles and therefore lower capacity to sequester carbon.

  1. Global warming increases the interspecific competitiveness of the invasive plant alligator weed, Alternanthera philoxeroides.

    PubMed

    Wu, Hao; Ismail, Mohannad; Ding, Jianqing

    2017-01-01

    Global warming could accelerate the spread of invasive species to higher latitudes and intensify their effects on native species. Here, we report results of two years of field surveys along a latitudinal gradient (21°N to 31°N) in southern China, to determine the species structure of the invasive plant Alternanthera philoxeroides community. We also performed a replacement series experiment (mono and mixed) to evaluate the effects of elevated temperature on the competitiveness of A. philoxeroides with the native co-occurring species Digitaria sanguinalis. In the field survey, we found that the dominance of A. philoxeroides increased with increasing of latitude gradient while cover of D. sanguinalis decreased. In monospecific plantings, artificial warming reduced the length of D. sanguinalis roots. In mixed plantings, warming reduced both A. philoxeroides abundance and D. sanguinalis stem length when A. philoxeroides was more prevalent in the planting. Warming also significantly reduced D. sanguinalis biomass, but increased that of A. philoxeroides. In addition, elevated temperatures significantly reduced the relative yield (RY) of D. sanguinalis, particularly when A. philoxeroides was planted in higher proportion in the plot. These results suggest that the invasiveness of A. philoxeroides increased with increasing latitude, and that warming may increase the effectiveness of its interspecific competition with D. sanguinalis. Hence, under global warming conditions, the harm to native species from A. philoxeroides would increase at higher latitudes. Our findings are critical for predicting the invasiveness of alien species under climate change. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  2. 77 FR 46443 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Announcement of Office of Management and Budget...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-08-03

    ...] Agency Information Collection Activities; Announcement of Office of Management and Budget Approval; General Administrative Procedures: Citizen Petitions; Petition for Reconsideration or Stay of Action... Administration (FDA) is announcing that a collection of information entitled ``General Administrative Procedures...

  3. Global Value Chain and Manufacturing Analysis on Geothermal Power Plant Turbines

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Akar, Sertac; Augustine, Chad R; Kurup, Parthiv

    The global geothermal electricity market has significantly grown over the last decade and is expected to reach a total installed capacity of 18.4 GWe in 2021 (GEA, 2016). Currently, geothermal project developers customize the size of the power plant to fit the resource being developed. In particular, the turbine is designed and sized to optimize efficiency and resource utilization for electricity production; most often, other power plant components are then chosen to complement the turbine design. These custom turbine designs demand one-off manufacturing processes, which result in higher manufacturing setup costs, longer lead-times, and higher capital costs overall in comparisonmore » to larger-volume line manufacturing processes. In contrast, turbines produced in standard increments, manufactured in larger volumes, could result in lower costs per turbine. This study focuses on analysis of the global supply chain and manufacturing costs for Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) turboexpanders and steam turbines used in geothermal power plants. In this study, we developed a manufacturing cost model to identify requirements for equipment, facilities, raw materials, and labor. We analyzed three different cases 1) 1 MWe geothermal ORC turboexpander 2) 5 MWe ORC turboexpander and 3) 20 MWe geothermal steam turbine, and calculated the cost of manufacturing the major components, such as the impellers/blades, shaft/rotor, nozzles, inlet guide lanes, disks, and casings. Then we used discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis to calculate the minimum sustainable price (MSP). MSP is the minimum price that a company must sell its product for in order to pay back the capital and operating expenses during the plant lifetime (CEMAC, 2017). The results showed that MSP could highly vary between 893 dollar/kW and 30 dollar/kW based on turbine size, standardization and volume of manufacturing. The analysis also showed that the economy of scale applies both to the size of the turbine and the number

  4. Response of smooth rock skullcap (Scutellaria saxatilis), a globally rare plant, to fire

    Treesearch

    Cynthia D. Huebner; Kent Karriker

    2015-01-01

    Scutellaria saxatilis Riddell (smooth rock skullcap or rock skullcap, hereafter abbreviated as SRS), a herbaceous perennial in the mint family, is a globally rare (G3) plant. In West Virginia, SRS is categorized as an S2 species (imperiled and at high risk of extinction due to a very restricted range, very few [

  5. 77 FR 27814 - Model Safety Evaluation for Plant-Specific Adoption of Technical Specifications Task Force...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-05-11

    ... NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [Project No. 753; NRC-2012-0019] Model Safety Evaluation for Plant... Regulatory Commission (NRC) is announcing the availability of the model safety evaluation (SE) for plant... the Improved Standard Technical Specification (ISTS), NUREG-1431, ``Standard Technical Specifications...

  6. Perceived Effectiveness of Weekly Announcements in Provision of Learning Support to Sociology Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jabeen, Sadia

    2015-01-01

    Announcements are considered as important source in provision of academic support to the students. Announcements assist students to get information about the university learning mechanisms, courses and other time management skills, which may help them to make their learning smooth and pleasant. In this context present study documents the perceived…

  7. Activities That Reduce Global Anthropogenic Methane Emissions Grant - Closed Announcement FY 2012

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    Grant to fund eligible projects for activities that advance near-term, cost-effective methane abatement or recovery and use as a clean energy source, and support the goals of of theGlobal Methane Initiative.

  8. 78 FR 37821 - Tribal Self-Governance Program, Negotiation Cooperative Agreement, Announcement Type: New-Limited...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-06-24

    ..., Negotiation Cooperative Agreement, Announcement Type: New--Limited Competition Funding Announcement Number... accepting limited competition Negotiation Cooperative Agreement applications for the Tribal Self-Governance... the IHS Director. A Tribe should contact the respective ALN to begin the Self-Governance negotiations...

  9. The Global Physical Inactivity Pandemic: An Analysis of Knowledge Production

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Piggin, Joe; Bairner, Alan

    2016-01-01

    In July 2012, "The Lancet" announced a pandemic of physical inactivity and a global call to action to effect change. The worldwide pandemic is said to be claiming millions of lives every year. Asserting that physical inactivity is pandemic is an important moment. Given the purported scale and significance of physical inactivity around…

  10. Projected impacts of climate change on regional capacities for global plant species richness.

    PubMed

    Sommer, Jan Henning; Kreft, Holger; Kier, Gerold; Jetz, Walter; Mutke, Jens; Barthlott, Wilhelm

    2010-08-07

    Climate change represents a major challenge to the maintenance of global biodiversity. To date, the direction and magnitude of net changes in the global distribution of plant diversity remain elusive. We use the empirical multi-variate relationships between contemporary water-energy dynamics and other non-climatic predictor variables to model the regional capacity for plant species richness (CSR) and its projected future changes. We find that across all analysed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change emission scenarios, relative changes in CSR increase with increased projected temperature rise. Between now and 2100, global average CSR is projected to remain similar to today (+0.3%) under the optimistic B1/+1.8 degrees C scenario, but to decrease significantly (-9.4%) under the 'business as usual' A1FI/+4.0 degrees C scenario. Across all modelled scenarios, the magnitude and direction of CSR change are geographically highly non-uniform. While in most temperate and arctic regions, a CSR increase is expected, the projections indicate a strong decline in most tropical and subtropical regions. Countries least responsible for past and present greenhouse gas emissions are likely to incur disproportionately large future losses in CSR, whereas industrialized countries have projected moderate increases. Independent of direction, we infer that all changes in regional CSR will probably induce on-site species turnover and thereby be a threat to native floras.

  11. Quo vadis C(4)? An ecophysiological perspective on global change and the future of C(4) plants.

    PubMed

    Sage, Rowan F; Kubien, David S

    2003-01-01

    C(4) plants are directly affected by all major global change parameters, often in a manner that is distinct from that of C(3) plants. Rising CO(2) generally stimulates C(3) photosynthesis more than C(4), but C(4) species still exhibit positive responses, particularly at elevated temperature and arid conditions where they are currently common. Acclimation of photosynthesis to high CO(2) occurs in both C(3) and C(4) plants, most notably in nutrient-limited situations. High CO(2) aggravates nitrogen limitations and in doing so may favor C(4) species, which have greater photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency. C(4) photosynthesis is favored by high temperature, but global warming will not necessarily favor C(4) over C(3) plants because the timing of warming could be more critical than the warming itself. C(3) species will likely be favored where harsh winter climates are moderated, particularly where hot summers also become drier and less favorable to C(4) plant growth. Eutrophication of soils by nitrogen deposition generally favors C(3) species by offsetting the superior nitrogen use efficiency of C(4) species; this should allow C(3) species to expand at the expense of C(4) plants. Land-use change and biotic invasions are also important global change factors that affect the future of C(4) plants. Human exploitation of forested landscapes favors C(4) species at low latitude by removing woody competitors and opening gaps in which C(4) grasses can establish. Invasive C(4) grasses are causing widespread forest loss in Asia, the Americas and Oceania by accelerating fire cycles and reducing soil nutrient status. Once established, weedy C(4) grasses can prevent woodland establishment, and thus arrest ecological succession. In sum, in the future, certain C(4) plants will prosper at the expense of C(3) species, and should be able to adjust to the changes the future brings.

  12. 76 FR 65732 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Announcement of Office of Management and Budget...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-10-24

    ...] Agency Information Collection Activities; Announcement of Office of Management and Budget Approval... Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing that a collection of information entitled ``Health and Diet... of 1995. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Denver Presley, Jr., Office of Information Management, Food...

  13. Company stock prices before and after public announcements related to oncology drugs.

    PubMed

    Rothenstein, Jeffrey M; Tomlinson, George; Tannock, Ian F; Detsky, Allan S

    2011-10-19

    Phase III clinical trials and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory decisions are critical for success of new drugs and can influence a company's market valuation. Knowledge of trial results before they are made public (ie, "inside information") can affect the price of a drug company's stock. We examined the stock prices of companies before and after public announcements regarding experimental anticancer drugs owned by the companies. We identified drugs that were undergoing evaluation in phase III trials or for regulatory approval by the US FDA from January 2000 to January 2009. Stock prices of companies that owned such drugs were analyzed for 120 trading days before and after the first public announcement of 1) results of clinical trials with positive and negative outcomes and 2) positive and negative regulatory decisions. All statistical tests were two-sided. We identified public announcements from 23 positive trials and 36 negative trials and from 41 positive and nine negative FDA regulatory decisions. The mean stock price for the 120 trading days before a phase III clinical trial announcement increased by 13.7% (95% confidence interval = -2.2% to 29.6%) for companies that reported positive trials and decreased by 0.7% (95% confidence interval = -13.8% to 12.3%) for companies that reported negative trials (P = .09). In a post hoc analysis comparing the stock price averaged over 60 trading days before and after day -60 relative to the clinical trial announcement, the mean stock price increased by 9.4% for companies that reported positive trials and decreased by 4.5% for companies that reported negative trials (P = .03). Changes in company stock prices before FDA regulatory decisions did not differ statistically between companies with positive decision and companies with negative decisions. Trends in company stock prices before the first public announcement differ for companies that report positive vs negative trials. This finding has important legal and

  14. 42 CFR 422.312 - Announcement of annual capitation rate, benchmarks, and methodology changes.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... Monday in April each year, CMS announces to MA organizations and other interested parties the following information for each MA payment area for the following calendar year: (i) The annual MA capitation rate. (ii... annual, coordinated election period under § 422.62(a)(2), CMS will announce to MA organizations and other...

  15. 42 CFR 422.312 - Announcement of annual capitation rate, benchmarks, and methodology changes.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... Monday in April each year, CMS announces to MA organizations and other interested parties the following information for each MA payment area for the following calendar year: (i) The annual MA capitation rate. (ii... annual, coordinated election period under § 422.62(a)(2), CMS will announce to MA organizations and other...

  16. A Job Announcement Analysis of Educational Technology Professional Positions: Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kang, YoungJu; Ritzhaupt, Albert D.

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this research was to identify the competencies of an educational technologist via a job announcement analysis. Four hundred job announcements were collected from a variety of online job databases over a 5-month period. Following a systematic process of collection, documentation, and analysis, we derived over 150 knowledge, skill,…

  17. A roadmap for global synthesis of the plant tree of life.

    PubMed

    Eiserhardt, Wolf L; Antonelli, Alexandre; Bennett, Dominic J; Botigué, Laura R; Burleigh, J Gordon; Dodsworth, Steven; Enquist, Brian J; Forest, Félix; Kim, Jan T; Kozlov, Alexey M; Leitch, Ilia J; Maitner, Brian S; Mirarab, Siavash; Piel, William H; Pérez-Escobar, Oscar A; Pokorny, Lisa; Rahbek, Carsten; Sandel, Brody; Smith, Stephen A; Stamatakis, Alexandros; Vos, Rutger A; Warnow, Tandy; Baker, William J

    2018-03-01

    Providing science and society with an integrated, up-to-date, high quality, open, reproducible and sustainable plant tree of life would be a huge service that is now coming within reach. However, synthesizing the growing body of DNA sequence data in the public domain and disseminating the trees to a diverse audience are often not straightforward due to numerous informatics barriers. While big synthetic plant phylogenies are being built, they remain static and become quickly outdated as new data are published and tree-building methods improve. Moreover, the body of existing phylogenetic evidence is hard to navigate and access for non-experts. We propose that our community of botanists, tree builders, and informaticians should converge on a modular framework for data integration and phylogenetic analysis, allowing easy collaboration, updating, data sourcing and flexible analyses. With support from major institutions, this pipeline should be re-run at regular intervals, storing trees and their metadata long-term. Providing the trees to a diverse global audience through user-friendly front ends and application development interfaces should also be a priority. Interactive interfaces could be used to solicit user feedback and thus improve data quality and to coordinate the generation of new data. We conclude by outlining a number of steps that we suggest the scientific community should take to achieve global phylogenetic synthesis. © 2018 Botanical Society of America.

  18. Plant communities as drivers of soil respiration: pathways, mechanisms, and significance for global change

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Metcalfe, D. B.; Fisher, R. A.; Wardle, D. A.

    2011-03-01

    Understanding the impacts of plant community characteristics on soil carbon dioxide efflux (R) is a key prerequisite for accurate prediction of the future carbon balance of terrestrial ecosystems under climate change. In this review, we synthesize relevant information from a wide spectrum of sources to evaluate the current state of knowledge about plant community effects on R, examine how this information is incorporated into global climate models, and highlight priorities for future research. Plant species consistently exhibit cohesive suites of traits, linked to contrasting life history strategies, which exert a variety of impacts on R. As such, we propose that plant community shifts towards dominance by fast growing plants with nutrient rich litter could provide a major, though often neglected, positive feedback to climate change. Within vegetation types, belowground carbon flux will mainly be controlled by photosynthesis, while amongst vegetation types this flux will be more dependent upon the specific characteristics of the plant life form. We also make the case that community composition, rather than diversity, is usually the dominant control on ecosystem processes in natural systems. Individual species impacts on R may be largest where the species accounts for most of the biomass in the ecosystem, has very distinct traits to the rest of the community, or modulates the occurrence of major natural disturbances. We show that climate-vegetation models incorporate a number of pathways whereby plants can affect R, but that simplifications regarding allocation schemes and drivers of litter decomposition may limit model accuracy. This situation could, however, be relatively easily improved with targeted experimental and field studies. Finally, we identify key gaps in knowledge and recommend them as priorities for future work. These include the patterns of photosynthate partitioning amongst belowground components, ecosystem level effects of individual plant traits

  19. Global Invader Impact Network (GIIN): toward standardized evaluation of the ecological impacts of invasive plants.

    PubMed

    Barney, Jacob N; Tekiela, Daniel R; Barrios-Garcia, Maria Noelia; Dimarco, Romina D; Hufbauer, Ruth A; Leipzig-Scott, Peter; Nuñez, Martin A; Pauchard, Aníbal; Pyšek, Petr; Vítková, Michaela; Maxwell, Bruce D

    2015-07-01

    Terrestrial invasive plants are a global problem and are becoming ubiquitous components of most ecosystems. They are implicated in altering disturbance regimes, reducing biodiversity, and changing ecosystem function, sometimes in profound and irreversible ways. However, the ecological impacts of most invasive plants have not been studied experimentally, and most research to date focuses on few types of impacts, which can vary greatly among studies. Thus, our knowledge of existing ecological impacts ascribed to invasive plants is surprisingly limited in both breadth and depth. Our aim was to propose a standard methodology for quantifying baseline ecological impact that, in theory, is scalable to any terrestrial plant invader (e.g., annual grasses to trees) and any invaded system (e.g., grassland to forest). The Global Invader Impact Network (GIIN) is a coordinated distributed experiment composed of an observational and manipulative methodology. The protocol consists of a series of plots located in (1) an invaded area; (2) an adjacent removal treatment within the invaded area; and (3) a spatially separate uninvaded area thought to be similar to pre-invasion conditions of the invaded area. A standardized and inexpensive suite of community, soil, and ecosystem metrics are collected allowing broad comparisons among measurements, populations, and species. The method allows for one-time comparisons and for long-term monitoring enabling one to derive information about change due to invasion over time. Invader removal plots will also allow for quantification of legacy effects and their return rates, which will be monitored for several years. GIIN uses a nested hierarchical scale approach encompassing multiple sites, regions, and continents. Currently, GIIN has network members in six countries, with new members encouraged. To date, study species include representatives of annual and perennial grasses; annual and perennial forbs; shrubs; and trees. The goal of the GIIN

  20. Global Invader Impact Network (GIIN): toward standardized evaluation of the ecological impacts of invasive plants

    PubMed Central

    Barney, Jacob N; Tekiela, Daniel R; Barrios-Garcia, Maria Noelia; Dimarco, Romina D; Hufbauer, Ruth A; Leipzig-Scott, Peter; Nuñez, Martin A; Pauchard, Aníbal; Pyšek, Petr; Vítková, Michaela; Maxwell, Bruce D

    2015-01-01

    Terrestrial invasive plants are a global problem and are becoming ubiquitous components of most ecosystems. They are implicated in altering disturbance regimes, reducing biodiversity, and changing ecosystem function, sometimes in profound and irreversible ways. However, the ecological impacts of most invasive plants have not been studied experimentally, and most research to date focuses on few types of impacts, which can vary greatly among studies. Thus, our knowledge of existing ecological impacts ascribed to invasive plants is surprisingly limited in both breadth and depth. Our aim was to propose a standard methodology for quantifying baseline ecological impact that, in theory, is scalable to any terrestrial plant invader (e.g., annual grasses to trees) and any invaded system (e.g., grassland to forest). The Global Invader Impact Network (GIIN) is a coordinated distributed experiment composed of an observational and manipulative methodology. The protocol consists of a series of plots located in (1) an invaded area; (2) an adjacent removal treatment within the invaded area; and (3) a spatially separate uninvaded area thought to be similar to pre-invasion conditions of the invaded area. A standardized and inexpensive suite of community, soil, and ecosystem metrics are collected allowing broad comparisons among measurements, populations, and species. The method allows for one-time comparisons and for long-term monitoring enabling one to derive information about change due to invasion over time. Invader removal plots will also allow for quantification of legacy effects and their return rates, which will be monitored for several years. GIIN uses a nested hierarchical scale approach encompassing multiple sites, regions, and continents. Currently, GIIN has network members in six countries, with new members encouraged. To date, study species include representatives of annual and perennial grasses; annual and perennial forbs; shrubs; and trees. The goal of the GIIN

  1. 22 CFR 1004.5 - Procedures for announcing meetings.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... of the meeting, whether it is to be open or closed to the public, and the name and phone number of... announcement shall be made unless a majority of the Board of Directors of the IAF determines by a recorded vote...

  2. 22 CFR 1004.5 - Procedures for announcing meetings.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... of the meeting, whether it is to be open or closed to the public, and the name and phone number of... announcement shall be made unless a majority of the Board of Directors of the IAF determines by a recorded vote...

  3. 22 CFR 1004.5 - Procedures for announcing meetings.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... of the meeting, whether it is to be open or closed to the public, and the name and phone number of... announcement shall be made unless a majority of the Board of Directors of the IAF determines by a recorded vote...

  4. 76 FR 4894 - Notice Announcing Preliminary Permit Drawing

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-01-27

    ... Development, LLC, 126 FERC ] 61,132 (2009). On January 27, 2011, at 10 a.m. (Eastern Time), the Secretary of... announcing the results of the drawing. Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary. [FR Doc. 2011-1721 Filed 1-26-11; 8:45 am...

  5. 75 FR 54655 - Announcement of the Career Videos for America's Job Seekers Challenge; Correction

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-09-08

    ... DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Employment and Training Administration Announcement of the Career Videos for..., 2010, announcing the Career Videos for America's Job Seekers Challenge. The dates for all phases of this Video Challenge have been extended. This document contains corrections to the dates published on...

  6. Cancer information seeking in the digital age: effects of Angelina Jolie's prophylactic mastectomy announcement.

    PubMed

    Noar, Seth M; Althouse, Benjamin M; Ayers, John W; Francis, Diane B; Ribisl, Kurt M

    2015-01-01

    . This study used digital surveillance to examine the impact of Angelina Jolie's prophylactic mastectomy announcement on cancer information seeking. . We analyzed 4 categories of breast cancer-related Internet search queries from 2010 to 2013 in the United States. . Compared with the preceding 6 weeks, general information queries were 112% (95% confidence interval [CI], 79-146) higher the day of the announcement and remained 35% (95% CI, 22-49) higher over the week after the editorial. Risk assessment queries were 165% (95% CI, 110-222) higher the day of the announcement and 52% (95% CI, 31-75) higher across the week. Genetics and treatment queries showed little volume before the announcement but increased 2154% (95% CI, 1550-7076) and 9900% (95% CI, 3196-1,064,000) the day of, respectively, and remained higher across the week (812% [95% CI, 402-3913] and 2625% [95% CI, 551-317,000]). All query categories returned to normal volumes by the beginning of the second week. . Jolie's unique announcement spurred significant information seeking about breast cancer genetic testing and treatment procedures, although the surge in queries returned to preannouncement levels after 1 week. Future research should apply digital methods to advance our understanding of cancer information seeking in the digital age. © The Author(s) 2014.

  7. A global Fine-Root Ecology Database to address below-ground challenges in plant ecology

    DOE PAGES

    Iversen, Colleen M.; McCormack, M. Luke; Powell, A. Shafer; ...

    2017-02-28

    Variation and tradeoffs within and among plant traits are increasingly being harnessed by empiricists and modelers to understand and predict ecosystem processes under changing environmental conditions. And while fine roots play an important role in ecosystem functioning, fine-root traits are underrepresented in global trait databases. This has hindered efforts to analyze fine-root trait variation and link it with plant function and environmental conditions at a global scale. This Viewpoint addresses the need for a centralized fine-root trait database, and introduces the Fine-Root Ecology Database (FRED, http://roots.ornl.gov) which so far includes > 70 000 observations encompassing a broad range of rootmore » traits and also includes associated environmental data. FRED represents a critical step toward improving our understanding of below-ground plant ecology. For example, FRED facilitates the quantification of variation in fine-root traits across root orders, species, biomes, and environmental gradients while also providing a platform for assessments of covariation among root, leaf, and wood traits, the role of fine roots in ecosystem functioning, and the representation of fine roots in terrestrial biosphere models. There has been a continued input of observations into FRED to fill gaps in trait coverage will improve our understanding of changes in fine-root traits across space and time.« less

  8. A global Fine-Root Ecology Database to address below-ground challenges in plant ecology

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Iversen, Colleen M.; McCormack, M. Luke; Powell, A. Shafer

    Variation and tradeoffs within and among plant traits are increasingly being harnessed by empiricists and modelers to understand and predict ecosystem processes under changing environmental conditions. And while fine roots play an important role in ecosystem functioning, fine-root traits are underrepresented in global trait databases. This has hindered efforts to analyze fine-root trait variation and link it with plant function and environmental conditions at a global scale. This Viewpoint addresses the need for a centralized fine-root trait database, and introduces the Fine-Root Ecology Database (FRED, http://roots.ornl.gov) which so far includes > 70 000 observations encompassing a broad range of rootmore » traits and also includes associated environmental data. FRED represents a critical step toward improving our understanding of below-ground plant ecology. For example, FRED facilitates the quantification of variation in fine-root traits across root orders, species, biomes, and environmental gradients while also providing a platform for assessments of covariation among root, leaf, and wood traits, the role of fine roots in ecosystem functioning, and the representation of fine roots in terrestrial biosphere models. There has been a continued input of observations into FRED to fill gaps in trait coverage will improve our understanding of changes in fine-root traits across space and time.« less

  9. IMS radionuclide monitoring after the announced nuclear test of the DPRK on 3 September 2017

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kusmierczyk-Michulec, J.; Kalinowski, M.; Bourgouin, P.; Boxue, L.; Gheddou, A.; Klingberg, F.; Leppaenen, A. P.; Schoeppner, M.; Werzi, R.; Wang, J.

    2017-12-01

    The International Monitoring System (IMS) developed by the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) is a global system of monitoring stations, using four complementary technologies: seismic, hydroacoustic, infrasound and radionuclide. The radionuclide network comprises 80 stations, out of which 40 are to be equipped with noble gas systems. The aim of radionuclide stations is a global monitoring of radioactive aerosols, radioactive noble gases and atmospheric transport modelling (ATM). To investigate the transport of radionuclide emissions, the Provisional Technical Secretariat (PTS) operates an Atmospheric Transport Modelling (ATM) system based on the Lagrangian Particle Dispersion Model FLEXPART. The air mass trajectory provides a "link" between a radionuclide release and a detection confirmed by radionuclide measurements. The aim of this study is to demonstrate the RN analysis and the application of ATM to investigate the episodes of elevated levels of radioxenon observed by IMS stations after the sixth nuclear test, announced by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) at the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site on 3 September 2017. A comparison to the previous tests will be presented.

  10. NICBR Announces First Collaboration Project Awards | Poster

    Cancer.gov

    Courtesy of the NICBR Public Affairs/Community Relations Subcommittee The National Interagency Confederation for Biological Research (NICBR) announced the 2012 NICBR Collaboration Project Award (CPA) Program winners in December. The award, the first of its kind for NICBR, was adapted from the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI’s) Young Investigator Award Program. This year, the

  11. 7 CFR 1124.53 - Announcement of class prices, component prices, and advanced pricing factors.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 9 2010-01-01 2009-01-01 true Announcement of class prices, component prices, and advanced pricing factors. 1124.53 Section 1124.53 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture... Announcement of class prices, component prices, and advanced pricing factors. See § 1000.53. ...

  12. 75 FR 33641 - Announcement of the Career Videos for America's Job Seekers Challenge; Correction

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-06-14

    ... DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Employment and Training Administration Announcement of the Career Videos for... Register of May 18, 2010, announcing the Career Videos for America's Job Seekers Challenge. The dates for all phases of this Video Challenge have been extended. This document contains corrections to the dates...

  13. 78 FR 72095 - Announcement of Funding Awards for Fiscal Year 2013 Research Partnerships Program

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-12-02

    ... Awards for Fiscal Year 2013 Research Partnerships Program AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research, HUD. ACTION: Announcement of funding awards. SUMMARY: In accordance with... Unsolicited Research Proposals. The purpose of this document is to announce the names and addresses of the...

  14. Taking it to the grave: gender, cultural capital, and ethnicity in Turkish death announcements.

    PubMed

    Ergin, Murat

    Popularly considered a great equalizer, death and the rituals around it nevertheless accentuate social distinctions. The present study focuses on a sample (N = 2554) of death announcements in a major Turkish daily newspaper (Hürriyet) from 1970 to 2006. Out of the liminal position of Turkish death announcements between obituaries and death notices emerges a large decentralized collection of private decisions responding to death, reflecting attitudes toward gender, ethnic/religious minority status and cultural capital, and echoing the aggregate efforts of privileged groups to maintain a particular self-image. Class closures lead to openings for traditionally under-represented minorities, such as Jewish Turkish citizens and citizens of Greek or Armenian origin. Results reveal that signs of status and power in announcements are largely monopolized by men of Turkish-Muslim origins. Although the changes in the genre-characteristics of death announcements are slow, they correspond to major turning points in Turkish social history.

  15. 5 CFR 362.202 - Announcement, nomination, and selection.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... for, as well as a clear interest in and commitment to, leadership in the analysis and management of.... 362.202 Section 362.202 Administrative Personnel OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT CIVIL SERVICE REGULATIONS PRESIDENTIAL MANAGEMENT FELLOWS PROGRAM Program Administration § 362.202 Announcement, nomination...

  16. 48 CFR 305.303 - Announcement of contract awards.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... document face page to [email protected] prior to the day of award or in sufficient time to allow OASL to make an announcement by 5 p.m. Washington, DC time on the day of award. [75 FR 21510, Apr. 26, 2010] ...

  17. ANNOUNCING THE NATIONAL RISK MANAGEMENT RESEARCH LABORATORY'S LISTSERVER

    EPA Science Inventory

    In an effort to expand and improve communication to our stakeholders, the NRMRL is establishing a listserver to more quickly announce publications, workshops, conferences, and other activities related to the Lab's research activities. The listserver is an e-mail based mechanism t...

  18. Replacement of SSE with NASA's POWER Announcement

    Atmospheric Science Data Center

    2018-06-11

    ... We are pleased to announce that on June 13, 2018 the old SSE web site will be replaced with the new data web portal at https://power.larc.nasa.gov with improved solar and ... currently on SSE are now available at the new POWER web site although the parameters might be organized differently.  Also note ...

  19. EPA Announces Improvements to Keep New Hampshire Waters Clean

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    Today, US EPA announced a major step forward for New Hampshire’ water quality with improved stormwater management requirements as well as an array of training and implementation tools to assist municipalities with implementation.

  20. 45 CFR 1703.205 - Public announcement of meeting.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE GOVERNMENT IN THE SUNSHINE ACT Procedures Governing Decisions About... closed; and (3) Name and telephone number of agency official who will respond to requests for information... information that the meeting was closed to protect, the subject matter shall not be announced. ...

  1. 5 CFR 330.104 - Requirements for vacancy announcements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... information: (1) Name of issuing agency; (2) Announcement number; (3) Position title, series, pay plan, and grade (or pay rate); (4) Duty location; (5) Number of vacancies; (6) Opening date and application... the recommended equal employment opportunity statement located on OPM's USAJOBS website.); and (18...

  2. 5 CFR 330.104 - Requirements for vacancy announcements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... information: (1) Name of issuing agency; (2) Announcement number; (3) Position title, series, pay plan, and grade (or pay rate); (4) Duty location; (5) Number of vacancies; (6) Opening date and application... the recommended equal employment opportunity statement located on OPM's USAJOBS website.); and (18...

  3. 5 CFR 330.104 - Requirements for vacancy announcements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... information: (1) Name of issuing agency; (2) Announcement number; (3) Position title, series, pay plan, and grade (or pay rate); (4) Duty location; (5) Number of vacancies; (6) Opening date and application... the recommended equal employment opportunity statement located on OPM's USAJOBS website.); and (18...

  4. 78 FR 26795 - Announcement of Requirements and Registration for the National Radiological and Nuclear Detection...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-05-08

    ... Radiological and Nuclear Detection Challenge AGENCY: Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, DHS. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: DNDO announces the National Radiological and Nuclear Detection (Rad/Nuc) Challenge, a...), Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO), announces the National Radiological and Nuclear Detection (Rad...

  5. Global Thermal Power Plants Database: Unit-Based CO2, SO2, NOX and PM2.5 Emissions in 2010

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tong, D.; Qiang, Z.; Davis, S. J.

    2016-12-01

    There are more than 30,000 thermal power plants now operating worldwide, reflecting a tremendously diverse infrastructure that includes units burning oil, natural gas, coal and biomass and ranging in capacity from <1MW to >1GW. Although the electricity generated by this infrastructure is vital to economic activities across the world, it also produces more CO2 and air pollution emissions than any other industry sector. Here we present a new database of global thermal power-generating units and their emissions as of 2010, GPED (Global Power Emissions Database), including the detailed unit information of installed capacity, operation year, geographic location, fuel type and control measures for more than 70000 units. In this study, we have compiled, combined, and harmonized the available underlying data related to thermal power-generating units (e.g. eGRID of USA, CPED of China and published Indian power plants database), and then analyzed the generating capacity, capacity factor, fuel type, age, location, and installed pollution-control technology in order to determine those units with disproportionately high levels of emissions. In total, this work is of great importance for improving spatial distribution of global thermal power plants emissions and exploring their environmental impacts at global scale.

  6. 78 FR 6785 - Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Listing 38 Species on Molokai, Lanai, and Maui as...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-01-31

    ...We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the reopening of the comment period on our June 11, 2012 (77 FR 34464), proposal to list 38 species as endangered, reaffirm the listing of 2 endemic Hawaiian plants currently listed as endangered, and designate critical habitat for 39 of these 40 plant and animal species on the Hawaiian Islands of Molokai, Lanai, and Maui; designate critical habitat for 11 plant and animal species that are already listed as endangered; and revise critical habitat for 85 plant species that are already listed as endangered or threatened on the Hawaiian Islands of Molokai, Lanai, Maui, and Kahoolawe, under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We also announce the availability of a draft economic analysis (DEA) of the proposed designation and an amended required determinations section of the proposed designation. We are reopening the comment period to allow all interested parties an opportunity to comment simultaneously on the proposed rule, the associated DEA, and the amended required determinations section. Comments previously submitted on this rulemaking do not need to be resubmitted, as they will be fully considered in preparation of the final rule. We also announce a public hearing and public information meeting on our proposed rule and associated documents.

  7. Plant leaf traits, canopy processes, and global atmospheric chemistry interactions.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Guenther, A. B.

    2017-12-01

    Plants produce and emit a diverse array of volatile metabolites into the atmosphere that participate in chemical reactions that influence distributions of air pollutants and short-lived climate forcers including organic aerosol, ozone and methane. It is now widely accepted that accurate estimates of these emissions are required as inputs for regional air quality and global climate models. Predicting these emissions is complicated by the large number of volatile organic compounds, driving variables (e.g., temperature, solar radiation, abiotic and biotic stresses) and processes operating across a range of scales. Modeling efforts to characterize emission magnitude and variations will be described along with an assessment of the observations available for parameterizing and evaluating these models including discussion of the limitations and challenges associated with existing model approaches. A new approach for simulating canopy scale organic emissions on regional to global scales will be described and compared with leaf, canopy and regional scale flux measurements. The importance of including additional compounds and processes as well as improving estimates of existing ones will also be discussed.

  8. 76 FR 10892 - Aquatic Ecosystems, Water Quality, and Global Change: Challenges of Conducting Multi-Stressor...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-02-28

    ... Ecosystems, Water Quality, and Global Change: Challenges of Conducting Multi-Stressor Vulnerability...: EPA is announcing the release of the draft report titled, ``Aquatic Ecosystems, Water Quality, and... for Environmental Assessment within EPA's Office of Research and Development. This draft report...

  9. 76 FR 39880 - Announcement of a Grant Award

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-07-07

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Administration for Children and Families Announcement of a..., Public Law 105-285, as amended. SUMMARY: The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of... participants to acquire a lasting economic asset. AFI project families use their IDA savings, including the...

  10. Global Value Chain and Manufacturing Analysis on Geothermal Power Plant Turbines: Preprint

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Akar, Sertac; Augustine, Chad R; Kurup, Parthiv

    The global geothermal electricity market has significantly grown over the last decade and is expected to reach a total installed capacity of 18.4 GWe in 2021 (GEA, 2016). Currently, geothermal project developers customize the size of the power plant to fit the resource being developed. In particular, the turbine is designed and sized to optimize efficiency and resource utilization for electricity production; most often, other power plant components are then chosen to complement the turbine design. These custom turbine designs demand one-off manufacturing processes, which result in higher manufacturing setup costs, longer lead-times, and higher capital costs overall in comparisonmore » to larger-volume line manufacturing processes. In contrast, turbines produced in standard increments, manufactured in larger volumes, could result in lower costs per turbine. This study focuses on analysis of the global supply chain and manufacturing costs for Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) turboexpanders and steam turbines used in geothermal power plants. In this study, we developed a manufacturing cost model to identify requirements for equipment, facilities, raw materials, and labor. We analyzed three different cases 1) 1 MWe geothermal ORC turboexpander 2) 5 MWe ORC turboexpander and 3) 20 MWe geothermal steam turbine, and calculated the cost of manufacturing the major components, such as the impellers/blades, shaft/rotor, nozzles, inlet guide lanes, disks, and casings. Then we used discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis to calculate the minimum sustainable price (MSP). MSP is the minimum price that a company must sell its product for in order to pay back the capital and operating expenses during the plant lifetime (CEMAC, 2017). The results showed that MSP could highly vary between 893 dollar/kW and 30 dollar/kW based on turbine size, standardization and volume of manufacturing. The analysis also showed that the economy of scale applies both to the size of the turbine and the number

  11. Recall of AIDS public service announcements and their impact on the ranking of AIDS as a national problem.

    PubMed Central

    Siska, M; Jason, J; Murdoch, P; Yang, W S; Donovan, R J

    1992-01-01

    The efficacy of two public service announcements from Phase V of the "America Responds to AIDS" (ARTA) campaign was assessed at two sites. Participants were randomly assigned to view a local news program, one with an ARTA public service announcement appearing six times and the other with no AIDS public service announcements. During telephone interviews with 907 participants 1 to 3 nights after viewing, 21% at Site A and 59% at Site B could correctly recall the ARTA public service announcements. Absolute mentions of AIDS as an important national issue increased. PMID:1609906

  12. Global environmental change effects on plant community composition trajectories depend upon management legacies.

    PubMed

    Perring, Michael P; Bernhardt-Römermann, Markus; Baeten, Lander; Midolo, Gabriele; Blondeel, Haben; Depauw, Leen; Landuyt, Dries; Maes, Sybryn L; De Lombaerde, Emiel; Carón, Maria Mercedes; Vellend, Mark; Brunet, Jörg; Chudomelová, Markéta; Decocq, Guillaume; Diekmann, Martin; Dirnböck, Thomas; Dörfler, Inken; Durak, Tomasz; De Frenne, Pieter; Gilliam, Frank S; Hédl, Radim; Heinken, Thilo; Hommel, Patrick; Jaroszewicz, Bogdan; Kirby, Keith J; Kopecký, Martin; Lenoir, Jonathan; Li, Daijiang; Máliš, František; Mitchell, Fraser J G; Naaf, Tobias; Newman, Miles; Petřík, Petr; Reczyńska, Kamila; Schmidt, Wolfgang; Standovár, Tibor; Świerkosz, Krzysztof; Van Calster, Hans; Vild, Ondřej; Wagner, Eva Rosa; Wulf, Monika; Verheyen, Kris

    2018-04-01

    The contemporary state of functional traits and species richness in plant communities depends on legacy effects of past disturbances. Whether temporal responses of community properties to current environmental changes are altered by such legacies is, however, unknown. We expect global environmental changes to interact with land-use legacies given different community trajectories initiated by prior management, and subsequent responses to altered resources and conditions. We tested this expectation for species richness and functional traits using 1814 survey-resurvey plot pairs of understorey communities from 40 European temperate forest datasets, syntheses of management transitions since the year 1800, and a trait database. We also examined how plant community indicators of resources and conditions changed in response to management legacies and environmental change. Community trajectories were clearly influenced by interactions between management legacies from over 200 years ago and environmental change. Importantly, higher rates of nitrogen deposition led to increased species richness and plant height in forests managed less intensively in 1800 (i.e., high forests), and to decreases in forests with a more intensive historical management in 1800 (i.e., coppiced forests). There was evidence that these declines in community variables in formerly coppiced forests were ameliorated by increased rates of temperature change between surveys. Responses were generally apparent regardless of sites' contemporary management classifications, although sometimes the management transition itself, rather than historic or contemporary management types, better explained understorey responses. Main effects of environmental change were rare, although higher rates of precipitation change increased plant height, accompanied by increases in fertility indicator values. Analysis of indicator values suggested the importance of directly characterising resources and conditions to better

  13. Global Value Chain and Manufacturing Analysis on Geothermal Power Plant Turbines

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Akar, Sertac; Augustine, Chad; Kurup, Parthiv

    In this study, we have undertaken a robust analysis of the global supply chain and manufacturing costs for components of Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) Turboexpander and steam turbines used in geothermal power plants. We collected a range of market data influencing manufacturing from various data sources and determined the main international manufacturers in the industry. The data includes the manufacturing cost model to identify requirements for equipment, facilities, raw materials, and labor. We analyzed three different cases; 1) 1 MW geothermal ORC Turboexpander 2) 5 MW ORC Turboexpander 3) 20 MW geothermal Steam Turbine

  14. What's New on MedlinePlus: Announcements and Special Features

    MedlinePlus

    ... this page: https://medlineplus.gov/whatsnew.html What's New on MedlinePlus: Announcements and Special Features To use ... features on this page, please enable JavaScript. "What's New" Page Retirement Thank you for your interest in ...

  15. A global Fine-Root Ecology Database to address below-ground challenges in plant ecology.

    PubMed

    Iversen, Colleen M; McCormack, M Luke; Powell, A Shafer; Blackwood, Christopher B; Freschet, Grégoire T; Kattge, Jens; Roumet, Catherine; Stover, Daniel B; Soudzilovskaia, Nadejda A; Valverde-Barrantes, Oscar J; van Bodegom, Peter M; Violle, Cyrille

    2017-07-01

    Variation and tradeoffs within and among plant traits are increasingly being harnessed by empiricists and modelers to understand and predict ecosystem processes under changing environmental conditions. While fine roots play an important role in ecosystem functioning, fine-root traits are underrepresented in global trait databases. This has hindered efforts to analyze fine-root trait variation and link it with plant function and environmental conditions at a global scale. This Viewpoint addresses the need for a centralized fine-root trait database, and introduces the Fine-Root Ecology Database (FRED, http://roots.ornl.gov) which so far includes > 70 000 observations encompassing a broad range of root traits and also includes associated environmental data. FRED represents a critical step toward improving our understanding of below-ground plant ecology. For example, FRED facilitates the quantification of variation in fine-root traits across root orders, species, biomes, and environmental gradients while also providing a platform for assessments of covariation among root, leaf, and wood traits, the role of fine roots in ecosystem functioning, and the representation of fine roots in terrestrial biosphere models. Continued input of observations into FRED to fill gaps in trait coverage will improve our understanding of changes in fine-root traits across space and time. © 2017 UT-Battelle LLC. New Phytologist © 2017 New Phytologist Trust.

  16. Examination of the association between announced inspections and inspection scores.

    PubMed

    Waters, A Blake; VanDerslice, James; Porucznik, Christina A; Kim, Jaewhan; DeLegge, Royal; Durrant, Lynne

    2013-09-01

    In 2010 the Salt Lake Valley Health Department conducted a pilot of an announced inspection program utilizing a randomized assignment of restaurants to an intervention group with announced inspections and a control group that remained on the usual schedule of unannounced inspections. After adjusting for food type, visible kitchen, outside quality assurance, season, and standardized inspector, significant reductions were found in the odds ratios of personal hygiene (adjusted odds ratios [aOR] = 0.11, p = .00) and equipment cleanliness (aOR = 0.19, p = .00) violations. In the models for the control group, none of the odds ratios were statistically different from one, indicating no change in the postintervention time period as compared to the preintervention period.

  17. Gene expression profiling--Opening the black box of plant ecosystem responses to global change

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Leakey, A.D.B.; Ainsworth, E.A.; Bernard, S.M.

    The use of genomic techniques to address ecological questions is emerging as the field of genomic ecology. Experimentation under environmentally realistic conditions to investigate the molecular response of plants to meaningful changes in growth conditions and ecological interactions is the defining feature of genomic ecology. Since the impact of global change factors on plant performance are mediated by direct effects at the molecular, biochemical and physiological scales, gene expression analysis promises important advances in understanding factors that have previously been consigned to the 'black box' of unknown mechanism. Various tools and approaches are available for assessing gene expression in modelmore » and non-model species as part of global change biology studies. Each approach has its own unique advantages and constraints. A first generation of genomic ecology studies in managed ecosystems and mesocosms have provided a testbed for the approach and have begun to reveal how the experimental design and data analysis of gene expression studies can be tailored for use in an ecological context.« less

  18. 12 CFR 311.4 - Procedures for announcing meetings.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Procedures for announcing meetings. 311.4 Section 311.4 Banks and Banking FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION PROCEDURE AND RULES OF PRACTICE RULES GOVERNING PUBLIC OBSERVATION OF MEETINGS OF THE CORPORATION'S BOARD OF DIRECTORS § 311.4...

  19. Plant diversity increases with the strength of negative density dependence at the global scale

    Treesearch

    Joseph A. LaManna; Scott A. Mangan; Alfonso Alonso; Norman A. Bourg; Warren Y. Brockelman; Sarayudh Bunyavejchewin; Li-Wan Chang; Jyh-Min Chiang; George B. Chuyong; Keith Clay; Richard Condit; Susan Cordell; Stuart J. Davies; Tucker J. Furniss; Christian P. Giardina; I. A. U. Nimal Gunatilleke; C. V. Savitri Gunatilleke; Fangliang He; Robert W. Howe; Stephen P. Hubbell; Chang-Fu Hsieh; Faith M. Inman-Narahari; David Janík; Daniel J. Johnson; David Kenfack; Lisa Korte; Kamil Král; Andrew J. Larson; James A. Lutz; Sean M. McMahon; William J. McShea; Hervé R. Memiaghe; Anuttara Nathalang; Vojtech Novotny; Perry S. Ong; David A. Orwig; Rebecca Ostertag; Geoffrey G. Parker; Richard P. Phillips; Lawren Sack; I-Fang Sun; J. Sebastián Tello; Duncan W. Thomas; Benjamin L. Turner; Dilys M. Vela Díaz; Tomáš Vrška; George D. Weiblen; Amy Wolf; Sandra Yap; Jonathan A. Myers

    2017-01-01

    Theory predicts that higher biodiversity in the tropics is maintained by specialized interactions among plants and their natural enemies that result in conspecific negative density dependence (CNDD). By using more than 3000 species and nearly 2.4 million trees across 24 forest plots worldwide, we show that global patterns in tree species diversity reflect not only...

  20. 77 FR 24553 - Announcement of National Small Business Week Video Contest Under the America Competes...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-04-24

    ... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Announcement of National Small Business Week Video Contest Under the...) announces a video contest (the ``Contest'') for small businesses to show how they have been assisted by an... 2012, the U.S. Small Business Administration is looking for creative videos from small businesses that...

  1. Space Shuttle Placement Announcement

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2011-04-12

    NASA Administrator Charles Bolden announces where four space shuttle orbiters will be permanently displayed at the conclusion of the Space Shuttle Program during an event held at one of the Orbiter Processing Facilities, Tuesday, April 12, 2011, at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The four orbiters, Enterprise, which currently is on display at the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington Dulles International Airport, will move to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York, Discovery will move to Udvar-Hazy, Endeavour will be displayed at the California Science Center in Los Angeles and Atlantis, in background, will be displayed at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor’s Complex. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

  2. Space Shuttle Placement Announcement

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2011-04-12

    Workers at the NASA Kennedy Space Center listen as NASA Administrator Charles Bolden announces where four space shuttle orbiters will be permanently displayed at the conclusion of the Space Shuttle Program during an event held at one of the Orbiter Processing Facilities, Tuesday, April 12, 2011, at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The four orbiters, Enterprise, which currently is on display at the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington Dulles International Airport, will move to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York, Discovery will move to Udvar-Hazy, Endeavour will be displayed at the California Science Center in Los Angeles and Atlantis, in background, will be displayed at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor’s Complex. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

  3. Space Shuttle Placement Announcement

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2011-04-12

    Pilot of the first space shuttle mission, STS-1, Bob Crippen speaks at an event where NASA Administrator Charles Bolden announced where four space shuttle orbiters will be permanently displayed at the conclusion of the Space Shuttle Program, Tuesday, April 12, 2011, at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The four orbiters, Enterprise, which currently is on display at the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington Dulles International Airport, will move to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York, Discovery will move to Udvar-Hazy, Endeavour will be displayed at the California Science Center in Los Angeles and Atlantis, in background, will be displayed at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor’s Complex. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

  4. Space Shuttle Placement Announcement

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2011-04-12

    The space shuttle Atlantis is seen in the Orbiter Processing Facility at an event where NASA Administrator Charles Bolden announced where four space shuttle orbiters will be permanently displayed at the conclusion of the Space Shuttle Program, Tuesday, April 12, 2011, at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The four orbiters, Enterprise, which currently is on display at the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington Dulles International Airport, will move to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York, Discovery will move to Udvar-Hazy, Endeavour will be displayed at the California Science Center in Los Angeles and Atlantis, will be displayed at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor’s Complex. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

  5. Space Shuttle Placement Announcement

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2011-04-12

    Endeavour Vehicle Manager for United Space Alliance Mike Parrish speaks at an event where NASA Administrator Charles Bolden announced where four space shuttle orbiters will be permanently displayed at the conclusion of the Space Shuttle Program, Tuesday, April 12, 2011, at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The four orbiters, Enterprise, which currently is on display at the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington Dulles International Airport, will move to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York, Discovery will move to Udvar-Hazy, Endeavour will be displayed at the California Science Center in Los Angeles and Atlantis, in background, will be displayed at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor’s Complex. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

  6. Space Shuttle Placement Announcement

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2011-04-12

    Pilot of the first space shuttle mission, STS-1, Bob Crippen speaks at an event where NASA Administrator Charles Bolden announced where four space shuttle orbiters will be permanently displayed at the conclusion of the Space Shuttle Program, Tuesday, April 12, 2011, at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The four orbiters, Enterprise, which currently is on display at the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington Dulles International Airport, will move to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York, Discovery will move to Udvar-Hazy, Endeavour will be displayed at the California Science Center in Los Angeles and Atlantis, in background, will be displayed at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor’s Complex. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

  7. Space Shuttle Placement Announcement

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2011-04-12

    NASA Johnson Space Center Director of Flight Crew Operations, and Astronaut, Janet Kavandi speaks at an event where NASA Administrator Charles Bolden announced where four space shuttle orbiters will be permanently displayed at the conclusion of the Space Shuttle Program, Tuesday, April 12, 2011, at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The four orbiters, Enterprise, which currently is on display at the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington Dulles International Airport, will move to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York, Discovery will move to Udvar-Hazy, Endeavour will be displayed at the California Science Center in Los Angeles and Atlantis, in background, will be displayed at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor’s Complex. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

  8. DSCOVR EPIC L2 VESDR V1 Product Announcement

    Atmospheric Science Data Center

    2018-06-13

    ... Boston University announce the public release of Vegetation Earth System Data Record (VESDR) derived from the Earth Polychromatic Imaging ... derived products.   We also provide two ancillary science data products, namely, 10 km Land Cover Type and Distribution of ...

  9. 77 FR 14538 - Announcement of Funding Awards Family Unification Program (FUP) Fiscal Year (FY) 2010

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-03-12

    ... announcement contains the consolidated names and addresses of the award recipients for this year under the FUP.... Appendix A Fiscal Year 2010 Funding Awards for the Family Unification Program Recipient Address City State... DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT [Docket No. 5415-FA-15] Announcement of Funding Awards...

  10. SSE Announcement - New GIS Web Mapping Applications and Services

    Atmospheric Science Data Center

    2016-06-30

    Dear SSE Users, We are excited to announce SSE-GIS v1.0.3 is now available! If you haven’t already noticed the link to the new SSE-GIS web application on the SSE homepage entitled “GIS Web Mapping ...

  11. Leaf and stem economics spectra drive diversity of functional plant traits in a dynamic global vegetation model.

    PubMed

    Sakschewski, Boris; von Bloh, Werner; Boit, Alice; Rammig, Anja; Kattge, Jens; Poorter, Lourens; Peñuelas, Josep; Thonicke, Kirsten

    2015-01-22

    Functional diversity is critical for ecosystem dynamics, stability and productivity. However, dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs) which are increasingly used to simulate ecosystem functions under global change, condense functional diversity to plant functional types (PFTs) with constant parameters. Here, we develop an individual- and trait-based version of the DGVM LPJmL (Lund-Potsdam-Jena managed Land) called LPJmL- flexible individual traits (LPJmL-FIT) with flexible individual traits) which we apply to generate plant trait maps for the Amazon basin. LPJmL-FIT incorporates empirical ranges of five traits of tropical trees extracted from the TRY global plant trait database, namely specific leaf area (SLA), leaf longevity (LL), leaf nitrogen content (N area ), the maximum carboxylation rate of Rubisco per leaf area (vcmaxarea), and wood density (WD). To scale the individual growth performance of trees, the leaf traits are linked by trade-offs based on the leaf economics spectrum, whereas wood density is linked to tree mortality. No preselection of growth strategies is taking place, because individuals with unique trait combinations are uniformly distributed at tree establishment. We validate the modeled trait distributions by empirical trait data and the modeled biomass by a remote sensing product along a climatic gradient. Including trait variability and trade-offs successfully predicts natural trait distributions and achieves a more realistic representation of functional diversity at the local to regional scale. As sites of high climatic variability, the fringes of the Amazon promote trait divergence and the coexistence of multiple tree growth strategies, while lower plant trait diversity is found in the species-rich center of the region with relatively low climatic variability. LPJmL-FIT enables to test hypotheses on the effects of functional biodiversity on ecosystem functioning and to apply the DGVM to current challenges in ecosystem management from local

  12. 76 FR 31171 - Importation of Plants for Planting; Establishing a Category of Plants for Planting Not Authorized...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-05-27

    ...We are amending the regulations to establish a new category of regulated articles in the regulations governing the importation of nursery stock, also known as plants for planting. This category will list taxa of plants for planting whose importation is not authorized pending pest risk analysis. If scientific evidence indicates that a taxon of plants for planting is a quarantine pest or a host of a quarantine pest, we will publish a notice that will announce our determination that the taxon is a quarantine pest or a host of a quarantine pest, cite the scientific evidence we considered in making this determination, and give the public an opportunity to comment on our determination. If we receive no comments that change our determination, the taxon will subsequently be added to the new category. We will allow any person to petition for a pest risk analysis to be conducted to consider whether to remove a taxon that has been added to the new category. After the pest risk analysis is completed, we will remove the taxon from the category and allow its importation subject to general requirements, allow its importation subject to specific restrictions, or prohibit its importation. We will consider applications for permits to import small quantities of germplasm from taxa whose importation is not authorized pending pest risk analysis, for experimental or scientific purposes under controlled conditions. This new category will allow us to take prompt action on evidence that the importation of a taxon of plants for planting poses a risk while continuing to allow for public participation in the process.

  13. Predicted global warming scenarios impact on the mother plant to alter seed dormancy and germination behaviour in Arabidopsis.

    PubMed

    Huang, Z; Footitt, S; Tang, A; Finch-Savage, W E

    2018-01-01

    Seed characteristics are key components of plant fitness that are influenced by temperature in their maternal environment, and temperature will change with global warming. To study the effect of such temperature changes, Arabidopsis thaliana plants were grown to produce seeds along a uniquely designed polyethylene tunnel having a thermal gradient reflecting local global warming predictions. Plants therefore experienced the same variations in temperature and light conditions but different mean temperatures. A range of seed-related plant fitness estimates were measured. There were dramatic non-linear temperature effects on the germination behaviour in two contrasting ecotypes. Maternal temperatures lower than 15-16 °C resulted in significantly greater primary dormancy. In addition, the impact of nitrate in the growing media on dormancy was shown only by seeds produced below 15-16 °C. However, there were no consistent effects on seed yield, number, or size. Effects on germination behaviour were shown to be a species characteristic responding to temperature and not time of year. Elevating temperature above this critical value during seed development has the potential to dramatically alter the timing of subsequent seed germination and the proportion entering the soil seed bank. This has potential consequences for the whole plant life cycle and species fitness. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  14. Plant communities as drivers of soil respiration: pathways, mechanisms, and significance for global change

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Metcalfe, D. B.; Fisher, R. A.; Wardle, D. A.

    2011-08-01

    Understanding the impacts of plant community characteristics on soil carbon dioxide efflux (R) is a key prerequisite for accurate prediction of the future carbon (C) balance of terrestrial ecosystems under climate change. However, developing a mechanistic understanding of the determinants of R is complicated by the presence of multiple different sources of respiratory C within soil - such as soil microbes, plant roots and their mycorrhizal symbionts - each with their distinct dynamics and drivers. In this review, we synthesize relevant information from a wide spectrum of sources to evaluate the current state of knowledge about plant community effects on R, examine how this information is incorporated into global climate models, and highlight priorities for future research. Despite often large variation amongst studies and methods, several general trends emerge. Mechanisms whereby plants affect R may be grouped into effects on belowground C allocation, aboveground litter properties and microclimate. Within vegetation types, the amount of C diverted belowground, and hence R, may be controlled mainly by the rate of photosynthetic C uptake, while amongst vegetation types this should be more dependent upon the specific C allocation strategies of the plant life form. We make the case that plant community composition, rather than diversity, is usually the dominant control on R in natural systems. Individual species impacts on R may be largest where the species accounts for most of the biomass in the ecosystem, has very distinct traits to the rest of the community and/or modulates the occurrence of major natural disturbances. We show that climate vegetation models incorporate a number of pathways whereby plants can affect R, but that simplifications regarding allocation schemes and drivers of litter decomposition may limit model accuracy. We also suggest that under a warmer future climate, many plant communities may shift towards dominance by fast growing plants which

  15. U.S. announces one-year delay for visa waiver program change

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    The U.S. State Department has announced that it is delaying by one year a new rule affecting citizens from visa waiver program countries. The new rule, which was scheduled to go into effect on 1 October 2003, requires visitors from these countries to obtain non-immigrant visas to enter the United States if they do not have machine-readable passports. The announced delay means that this rule will now go into effect 26 October 2004 instead.The delay does not apply to five visa waiver countries—Andorra, Brunei, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, and Slovenia—because most of the citizens of these nations already carry passports that are machine-readable.

  16. Estimating global distribution of boreal, temperate, and tropical tree plant functional types using clustering techniques

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Audrey; Price, David T.

    2007-03-01

    A simple integrated algorithm was developed to relate global climatology to distributions of tree plant functional types (PFT). Multivariate cluster analysis was performed to analyze the statistical homogeneity of the climate space occupied by individual tree PFTs. Forested regions identified from the satellite-based GLC2000 classification were separated into tropical, temperate, and boreal sub-PFTs for use in the Canadian Terrestrial Ecosystem Model (CTEM). Global data sets of monthly minimum temperature, growing degree days, an index of climatic moisture, and estimated PFT cover fractions were then used as variables in the cluster analysis. The statistical results for individual PFT clusters were found consistent with other global-scale classifications of dominant vegetation. As an improvement of the quantification of the climatic limitations on PFT distributions, the results also demonstrated overlapping of PFT cluster boundaries that reflected vegetation transitions, for example, between tropical and temperate biomes. The resulting global database should provide a better basis for simulating the interaction of climate change and terrestrial ecosystem dynamics using global vegetation models.

  17. 32. AERIAL VIEW OF THE ROCKY FLATS PLANT LOOKING NORTHWEST. ...

    Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

    32. AERIAL VIEW OF THE ROCKY FLATS PLANT LOOKING NORTHWEST. DURING THE 1980S, A NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS CONCERNING SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ERRORS SURFACED, CULMINATING IN THE 1989 RAID ON THE PLANT BY THE FBI FOR ALLEGED ENVIRONMENTAL INFRACTIONS. THAT SAME YEAR, PRODUCTION AT THE PLANT WAS HALTED FOR CORRECTION OF SAFETY DEFICIENCIES. BY 1991, A SERIES OF EVENTS WORLDWIDE REDUCED THE COLD WAR THREAT, AND IN 1992, THE SECRETARY OF ENERGY ANNOUNCED THAT THE MISSION AT THE PLANT WOULD BE CHANGED TO ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION AND WASTE MANAGEMENT, WITH THE GOAL OF CLEANING UP THE PLANT AND SITE (1989). - Rocky Flats Plant, Bounded by Indiana Street & Routes 93, 128 & 72, Golden, Jefferson County, CO

  18. 76 FR 43664 - Announcement of Federal Funding Opportunity (FFO)

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-07-21

    ... DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Office of the Secretary Announcement of Federal Funding Opportunity (FFO) AGENCY: Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA), Department of Defense (DoD). ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: This... Siegel, Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison Officer, Department of Defense. [FR Doc. 2011-18400 Filed...

  19. 78 FR 36171 - Announcement of Federal Funding Opportunity (FFO)

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-06-17

    ... DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Office of the Secretary Announcement of Federal Funding Opportunity (FFO) AGENCY: Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA), Department of Defense (DoD). ACTION: Federal Funding... reductions or cancellations in Department of Defense (DoD) spending. Assistance may be granted if the...

  20. 77 FR 23492 - Announcement of Funding Awards; Capital Fund Safety and Security Grants; Fiscal Year 2011

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-04-19

    ... award recipients under the Capital Fund Safety and Security grant program. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION... DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT [Docket No. 5636-FA-01] Announcement of Funding Awards... Public and Indian Housing, HUD. ACTION: Announcement of funding awards. SUMMARY: In accordance with...

  1. 76 FR 77832 - Availability of Draft NTP Technical Reports; Request for Comments; Announcement of a Public...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-12-14

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Availability of Draft NTP Technical Reports; Request for Comments; Announcement of a Public Meeting To Peer Review Draft NTP Technical Reports AGENCY: National... Meeting. SUMMARY: The NTP announces the availability of seven draft NTP Technical Reports (TRs...

  2. 78 FR 14107 - Announcement of Funding Awards for the Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-03-04

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT [Docket Number FR-5500-FA-13] Announcement of Funding... AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development, HUD. ACTION... and Urban Development Reform Act of 1989, this notice announces 26 permanent supportive housing...

  3. The global biopharma industry and the rise of Indian drug multinationals: implications for Australian generics policy.

    PubMed

    Löfgren, Hans

    2007-06-01

    This article provides a synopsis of the new dynamics of the global biopharma industry. The emergence of global generics companies with capabilities approximating those of 'big pharma' has accelerated the blurring of boundaries between the innovator and generics sectors. Biotechnology-based products form a large and growing segment of prescription drug markets and regulatory pathways for biogenerics are imminent. Indian biopharma multinationals with large-scale efficient manufacturing plants and growing R&D capabilities are now major suppliers of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) and generic drugs across both developed and developing countries. In response to generic competition, innovator companies employ a range of life cycle management techniques, including the launch of 'authorised generics'. The generics segment in Australia will see high growth rates in coming years but the prospect for local manufacturing is bleak. The availability of cheap generics in international markets has put pressure on Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) pricing arrangements, and a new policy direction was announced in November 2006. Lower generics prices will have a negative impact on some incumbent suppliers but industrial renewal policies for the medicines industry in Australia are better focused on higher value R&D activities and niche manufacturing of sophisticated products.

  4. Space Shuttle Placement Announcement

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2011-04-12

    A video highlighting the 30 years of space flight and more than 130 missions of the space shuttle transportation system is shown at an event where NASA Administrator Charles Bolden announced where the four space shuttle orbiters will be permanently displayed, Tuesday, April 12, 2011, at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The four orbiters, Enterprise, which currently is on display at the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington Dulles International Airport, will move to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York, Discovery will move to Udvar-Hazy, Endeavour will be displayed at the California Science Center in Los Angeles and Atlantis, in background, will be displayed at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor’s Complex. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

  5. Space Shuttle Placement Announcement

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2011-04-12

    NASA Kennedy Space Center Director and former astronaut Bob Cabana introduces NASA Administrator Charles Bolden where Bolden announced where four space shuttle orbiters will be permanently displayed at the conclusion of the Space Shuttle Program during an event held at one of the Orbiter Processing Facilities, Tuesday, April 12, 2011, at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The four orbiters, Enterprise, which currently is on display at the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington Dulles International Airport, will move to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York, Discovery will move to Udvar-Hazy, Endeavour will be displayed at the California Science Center in Los Angeles and Atlantis, in background, will be displayed at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor’s Complex. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

  6. 77 FR 5527 - Announcement of Funding Awards for Fiscal Year 2010 Sustainable Construction in Indian Country...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-02-03

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT [Docket No. FR-5415-FA-42] Announcement of Funding Awards for Fiscal Year 2010 Sustainable Construction in Indian Country Small Grant Program AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research, HUD. ACTION: Announcement of funding...

  7. 78 FR 14109 - Announcement of Funding Awards for the Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-03-04

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT [Docket Number FR-5600-FA-41] Announcement of Funding... AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development, HUD. ACTION: Notice of... Urban Development Reform Act of 1989, this notice announces 28 permanent supportive housing renewal...

  8. Phosphorus nutrition of phosphorus-sensitive Australian native plants: threats to plant communities in a global biodiversity hotspot

    PubMed Central

    Lambers, Hans; Ahmedi, Idriss; Berkowitz, Oliver; Dunne, Chris; Finnegan, Patrick M.; Hardy, Giles E. St J.; Jost, Ricarda; Laliberté, Etienne; Pearse, Stuart J.; Teste, François P.

    2013-01-01

    South-western Australia harbours a global biodiversity hotspot on the world's most phosphorus (P)-impoverished soils. The greatest biodiversity occurs on the most severely nutrient-impoverished soils, where non-mycorrhizal species are a prominent component of the flora. Mycorrhizal species dominate where soils contain slightly more phosphorus. In addition to habitat loss and dryland salinity, a major threat to plant biodiversity in this region is eutrophication due to enrichment with P. Many plant species in the south-western Australian biodiversity hotspot are extremely sensitive to P, due to a low capability to down-regulate their phosphate-uptake capacity. Species from the most P-impoverished soils are also very poor competitors at higher P availability, giving way to more competitive species when soil P concentrations are increased. Sources of increased soil P concentrations include increased fire frequency, run-off from agricultural land, and urban activities. Another P source is the P-fertilizing effect of spraying natural environments on a landscape scale with phosphite to reduce the impacts of the introduced plant pathogen Phytophthora cinnamomi, which itself is a serious threat to biodiversity. We argue that alternatives to phosphite for P. cinnamomi management are needed urgently, and propose a strategy to work towards such alternatives, based on a sound understanding of the physiological and molecular mechanisms of the action of phosphite in plants that are susceptible to P. cinnamomi. The threats we describe for the south-western Australian biodiversity hotspot are likely to be very similar for other P-impoverished environments, including the fynbos in South Africa and the cerrado in Brazil. PMID:27293594

  9. Phosphorus nutrition of phosphorus-sensitive Australian native plants: threats to plant communities in a global biodiversity hotspot.

    PubMed

    Lambers, Hans; Ahmedi, Idriss; Berkowitz, Oliver; Dunne, Chris; Finnegan, Patrick M; Hardy, Giles E St J; Jost, Ricarda; Laliberté, Etienne; Pearse, Stuart J; Teste, François P

    2013-01-01

    South-western Australia harbours a global biodiversity hotspot on the world's most phosphorus (P)-impoverished soils. The greatest biodiversity occurs on the most severely nutrient-impoverished soils, where non-mycorrhizal species are a prominent component of the flora. Mycorrhizal species dominate where soils contain slightly more phosphorus. In addition to habitat loss and dryland salinity, a major threat to plant biodiversity in this region is eutrophication due to enrichment with P. Many plant species in the south-western Australian biodiversity hotspot are extremely sensitive to P, due to a low capability to down-regulate their phosphate-uptake capacity. Species from the most P-impoverished soils are also very poor competitors at higher P availability, giving way to more competitive species when soil P concentrations are increased. Sources of increased soil P concentrations include increased fire frequency, run-off from agricultural land, and urban activities. Another P source is the P-fertilizing effect of spraying natural environments on a landscape scale with phosphite to reduce the impacts of the introduced plant pathogen Phytophthora cinnamomi, which itself is a serious threat to biodiversity. We argue that alternatives to phosphite for P. cinnamomi management are needed urgently, and propose a strategy to work towards such alternatives, based on a sound understanding of the physiological and molecular mechanisms of the action of phosphite in plants that are susceptible to P. cinnamomi. The threats we describe for the south-western Australian biodiversity hotspot are likely to be very similar for other P-impoverished environments, including the fynbos in South Africa and the cerrado in Brazil.

  10. 76 FR 43688 - Announcement of Expansion Supplement Grant Awards

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-07-21

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Administration for Children and Families Announcement of...) initiative. CFDA : 93.612. Statutory Authority: The awards will be made pursuant to Section 803 of the Native... 2011--September 30, 2011. SUMMARY: The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Administration...

  11. Effects of Anti-Smoking Public Service Announcements on the Attitudes of Korean College Students toward Smoking.

    PubMed

    Cho, Kyoung Won; Lee, Jakyoung; Ryu, Ji-Hye; Kim, Soo Jeong

    2017-12-01

    This study aimed to identify the effects of anti-smoking public service announcements on the attitudes of Korean college students toward smoking. This study involved students via convenience sampling from seven universities who were randomly assigned to four groups. All groups completed a preliminary questionnaire, before being shown a public service announcement twice, and then completed a post viewing questionnaire. For announcements with positive messages, the proportion of changes in beliefs and attitudes were 39.1% and 19.8%, respectively, whereas those with negative messages showed a greater proportion of changes in the beliefs (59.7%) and attitudes (40.3%). After adjusting for sex and change in belief, the message types and smoking status were identified as factors affecting the change in the participants attitudes. A negative message resulted in a greater change in attitudes (odds ratio [OR], 3.047; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.847-5.053). Ever-smokers including current smokers showed a greater positive change in attitude than never-smokers (OR, 6.965; 95% CI, 4.107-11.812). This study found that positive anti-smoking public service announcements were more effective on attitude change than negative messages. Additionally these announcements were more effective among viewers who were current smokers or had a prior smoking experience.

  12. Implications of nonrandom seed abscission and global stilling for migration of wind-dispersed plant species.

    PubMed

    Thompson, Sally E; Katul, Gabriel G

    2013-06-01

    Migration of plant populations is a potential survival response to climate change that depends critically on seed dispersal. Biological and physical factors determine dispersal and migration of wind-dispersed species. Recent field and wind tunnel studies demonstrate biological adaptations that bias seed release toward conditions of higher wind velocity, promoting longer dispersal distances and faster migration. However, another suite of international studies also recently highlighted a global decrease in near-surface wind speeds, or 'global stilling'. This study assessed the implications of both factors on potential plant population migration rates, using a mechanistic modeling framework. Nonrandom abscission was investigated using models of three seed release mechanisms: (i) a simple drag model; (ii) a seed deflection model; and (iii) a 'wear and tear' model. The models generated a single functional relationship between the frequency of seed release and statistics of the near-surface wind environment, independent of the abscission mechanism. An Inertial-Particle, Coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian Closure model (IP-CELC) was used to investigate abscission effects on seed dispersal kernels and plant population migration rates under contemporary and potential future wind conditions (based on reported global stilling trends). The results confirm that nonrandom seed abscission increased dispersal distances, particularly for light seeds. The increases were mitigated by two physical feedbacks: (i) although nonrandom abscission increased the initial acceleration of seeds from rest, the sensitivity of the seed dispersal to this initial condition declined as the wind speed increased; and (ii) while nonrandom abscission increased the mean dispersal length, it reduced the kurtosis of seasonal dispersal kernels, and thus the chance of long-distance dispersal. Wind stilling greatly reduced the modeled migration rates under biased seed release conditions. Thus, species that require

  13. Unannounced versus announced hospital surveys: a nationwide cluster-randomized controlled trial.

    PubMed

    Ehlers, Lars Holger; Simonsen, Katherina Beltoft; Jensen, Morten Berg; Rasmussen, Gitte Sand; Olesen, Anne Vingaard

    2017-06-01

    To evaluate the effectiveness of unannounced versus announced surveys in detecting non-compliance with accreditation standards in public hospitals. A nationwide cluster-randomized controlled trial. All public hospitals in Denmark were invited. Twenty-three hospitals (77%) (3 university hospitals, 5 psychiatric hospitals and 15 general hospitals) agreed to participate. Twelve hospitals were randomized to receive unannounced surveys (intervention group) and eleven hospitals to receive announced surveys (control group). We hypothesized that the hospitals receiving the unannounced surveys would reveal a higher degree of non-compliance with accreditation standards than the hospitals receiving announced surveys. Nine surveyors trained and employed by the Danish Institute for Quality and Accreditation in Healthcare (IKAS) were randomized into teams and conducted all surveys. The outcome was the surveyors' assessment of the hospitals' level of compliance with 113 performance indicators-an abbreviated set of the Danish Healthcare Quality Programme (DDKM) version 2, covering organizational standards, patient pathway standards and patient safety standards. Compliance with performance indicators was analyzed using binomial regression analysis with bootstrapped robust standard errors. In all, 16 202 measurements were acceptable for data analysis. The risk of observing non-compliance with performance indicators for the intervention group compared with the control group was statistically insignificant (risk difference (RD) = -0.6 percentage points [-2.51-1.31], P = 0.54). A converged analysis of the six patient safety critical standards, requiring 100% compliance to gain accreditation status revealed no statistically significant difference (RD = -0.78 percentage points [-4.01-2.44], P = 0.99). Unannounced hospital surveys were not more effective than announced surveys in detecting quality problems in Danish hospitals. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02348567, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2

  14. Global scale analysis and evaluation of an improved mechanistic representation of plant nitrogen and carbon dynamics in the Community Land Model (CLM)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ghimire, B.; Riley, W. J.; Koven, C. D.; Randerson, J. T.; Mu, M.; Kattge, J.; Rogers, A.; Reich, P. B.

    2014-12-01

    In many ecosystems, nitrogen is the most limiting nutrient for plant growth and productivity. However mechanistic representation of nitrogen uptake linked to root traits, and functional nitrogen allocation among different leaf enzymes involved in respiration and photosynthesis is currently lacking in Earth System models. The linkage between nitrogen availability and plant productivity is simplistically represented by potential photosynthesis rates, and is subsequently downregulated depending on nitrogen supply and other nitrogen consumers in the model (e.g., nitrification). This type of potential photosynthesis rate calculation is problematic for several reasons. Firstly, plants do not photosynthesize at potential rates and then downregulate. Secondly, there is considerable subjectivity on the meaning of potential photosynthesis rates. Thirdly, there exists lack of understanding on modeling these potential photosynthesis rates in a changing climate. In addition to model structural issues in representing photosynthesis rates, the role of plant roots in nutrient acquisition have been largely ignored in Earth System models. For example, in CLM4.5, nitrogen uptake is linked to leaf level processes (e.g., primarily productivity) rather than root scale process involved in nitrogen uptake. We present a new plant model for CLM with an improved mechanistic presentation of plant nitrogen uptake based on root scale Michaelis Menten kinetics, and stronger linkages between leaf nitrogen and plant productivity by inferring relationships observed in global databases of plant traits (including the TRY database and several individual studies). We also incorporate improved representation of plant nitrogen leaf allocation, especially in tropical regions where significant over-prediction of plant growth and productivity in CLM4.5 simulations exist. We evaluate our improved global model simulations using the International Land Model Benchmarking (ILAMB) framework. We conclude that

  15. Functional traits determine plant co-occurrence more than environment or evolutionary relatedness in global drylands.

    PubMed

    Soliveres, Santiago; Maestre, Fernando T; Bowker, Matthew A; Torices, Rubén; Quero, José L; García-Gómez, Miguel; Cabrera, Omar; Cea, Alex; Coaguila, Daniel; Eldridge, David J; Espinosa, Carlos I; Hemmings, Frank; Monerris, Jorge J; Tighe, Matthew; Delgado-Baquerizo, Manuel; Escolar, Cristina; García-Palacios, Pablo; Gozalo, Beatriz; Ochoa, Victoria; Blones, Julio; Derak, Mchich; Ghiloufi, Wahida; Gutiérrez, Julio R; Hernández, Rosa M; Noumi, Zouhaier

    2014-08-20

    Plant-plant interactions are driven by environmental conditions, evolutionary relationships (ER) and the functional traits of the plants involved. However, studies addressing the relative importance of these drivers are rare, but crucial to improve our predictions of the effects of plant-plant interactions on plant communities and of how they respond to differing environmental conditions. To analyze the relative importance of -and interrelationships among- these factors as drivers of plant-plant interactions, we analyzed perennial plant co-occurrence at 106 dryland plant communities established across rainfall gradients in nine countries. We used structural equation modeling to disentangle the relationships between environmental conditions (aridity and soil fertility), functional traits extracted from the literature, and ER, and to assess their relative importance as drivers of the 929 pairwise plant-plant co-occurrence levels measured. Functional traits, specifically facilitated plants' height and nurse growth form, were of primary importance, and modulated the effect of the environment and ER on plant-plant interactions. Environmental conditions and ER were important mainly for those interactions involving woody and graminoid nurses, respectively. The relative importance of different plant-plant interaction drivers (ER, functional traits, and the environment) varied depending on the region considered, illustrating the difficulty of predicting the outcome of plant-plant interactions at broader spatial scales. In our global-scale study on drylands, plant-plant interactions were more strongly related to functional traits of the species involved than to the environmental variables considered. Thus, moving to a trait-based facilitation/competition approach help to predict that: 1) positive plant-plant interactions are more likely to occur for taller facilitated species in drylands, and 2) plant-plant interactions within woody-dominated ecosystems might be more

  16. Influence of the Angelina Jolie Announcement and Insurance Reimbursement on Practice Patterns for Hereditary Breast Cancer

    PubMed Central

    Lee, Jihyoun; Kang, Eunyoung; Park, Suyeon; Kim, Zisun; Lee, Min Hyuk

    2017-01-01

    Lack of awareness, the stigma of carrying a genetic mutation, and economic factors are barriers to acceptance of BRCA genetic testing or appropriate risk management. We aimed to investigate the influence of Angelina Jolie's announcement of her medical experience and also health insurance reimbursement for BRCA gene testing on practice patterns for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC). A survey regarding changes in practice patterns for HBOC before and after the announcement was conducted online. The rate of BRCA gene testing was obtained from the National Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service database. From May to August 2016, 70 physicians responded to the survey. Genetic testing recommendations and prophylactic management were increased after the announcement. Risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy and contralateral prophylactic mastectomy was significantly increased in BRCA carriers with breast cancer. The BRCA testing rate increased annually. Health insurance and a celebrity announcement were associated with increased genetic testing. PMID:28690658

  17. Plant diversity drives soil microbial biomass carbon in grasslands irrespective of global environmental change factors.

    PubMed

    Thakur, Madhav Prakash; Milcu, Alexandru; Manning, Pete; Niklaus, Pascal A; Roscher, Christiane; Power, Sally; Reich, Peter B; Scheu, Stefan; Tilman, David; Ai, Fuxun; Guo, Hongyan; Ji, Rong; Pierce, Sarah; Ramirez, Nathaly Guerrero; Richter, Annabell Nicola; Steinauer, Katja; Strecker, Tanja; Vogel, Anja; Eisenhauer, Nico

    2015-11-01

    Soil microbial biomass is a key determinant of carbon dynamics in the soil. Several studies have shown that soil microbial biomass significantly increases with plant species diversity, but it remains unclear whether plant species diversity can also stabilize soil microbial biomass in a changing environment. This question is particularly relevant as many global environmental change (GEC) factors, such as drought and nutrient enrichment, have been shown to reduce soil microbial biomass. Experiments with orthogonal manipulations of plant diversity and GEC factors can provide insights whether plant diversity can attenuate such detrimental effects on soil microbial biomass. Here, we present the analysis of 12 different studies with 14 unique orthogonal plant diversity × GEC manipulations in grasslands, where plant diversity and at least one GEC factor (elevated CO2 , nutrient enrichment, drought, earthworm presence, or warming) were manipulated. Our results show that higher plant diversity significantly enhances soil microbial biomass with the strongest effects in long-term field experiments. In contrast, GEC factors had inconsistent effects with only drought having a significant negative effect. Importantly, we report consistent non-significant effects for all 14 interactions between plant diversity and GEC factors, which indicates a limited potential of plant diversity to attenuate the effects of GEC factors on soil microbial biomass. We highlight that plant diversity is a major determinant of soil microbial biomass in experimental grasslands that can influence soil carbon dynamics irrespective of GEC. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  18. Functional traits determine plant co-occurrence more than environment or evolutionary relatedness in global drylands

    PubMed Central

    Soliveres, Santiago; Maestre, Fernando T.; Bowker, Matthew A.; Torices, Rubén; Quero, José L.; García-Gómez, Miguel; Cabrera, Omar; Cea, Alex; Coaguila, Daniel; Eldridge, David J.; Espinosa, Carlos I.; Hemmings, Frank; Monerris, Jorge J.; Tighe, Matthew; Delgado-Baquerizo, Manuel; Escolar, Cristina; García-Palacios, Pablo; Gozalo, Beatriz; Ochoa, Victoria; Blones, Julio; Derak, Mchich; Ghiloufi, Wahida; Gutiérrez, Julio R.; Hernández, Rosa M.; Noumi, Zouhaier

    2015-01-01

    Plant-plant interactions are driven by environmental conditions, evolutionary relationships (ER) and the functional traits of the plants involved. However, studies addressing the relative importance of these drivers are rare, but crucial to improve our predictions of the effects of plant-plant interactions on plant communities and of how they respond to differing environmental conditions. To analyze the relative importance of –and interrelationships among– these factors as drivers of plant-plant interactions, we analyzed perennial plant co-occurrence at 106 dryland plant communities established across rainfall gradients in nine countries. We used structural equation modeling to disentangle the relationships between environmental conditions (aridity and soil fertility), functional traits extracted from the literature, and ER, and to assess their relative importance as drivers of the 929 pairwise plant-plant co-occurrence levels measured. Functional traits, specifically facilitated plants’ height and nurse growth form, were of primary importance, and modulated the effect of the environment and ER on plant-plant interactions. Environmental conditions and ER were important mainly for those interactions involving woody and graminoid nurses, respectively. The relative importance of different plant-plant interaction drivers (ER, functional traits, and the environment) varied depending on the region considered, illustrating the difficulty of predicting the outcome of plant-plant interactions at broader spatial scales. In our global-scale study on drylands, plant-plant interactions were more strongly related to functional traits of the species involved than to the environmental variables considered. Thus, moving to a trait-based facilitation/competition approach help to predict that: 1) positive plant-plant interactions are more likely to occur for taller facilitated species in drylands, and 2) plant-plant interactions within woody-dominated ecosystems might be more

  19. A global analysis of the concentration and dynamics of non-structural carbohydrates in plants: does it matter under global change? (Invited)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sala, A.; Martínez-Vilalta, J.; Asencio, M.; Lloret, F.; Palacio, S.; Galiano, L.; Hoch, G.; Piper, F.

    2013-12-01

    Forests store significant amounts of C globally and recent reports of forest mortality world-wide have generated strong concern. Evidence suggests that increasing drought associated with climate change is a primary cause of tree stress and subsequent mortality. This has generated an urgent need to predict how forests will cope with increasing stress. Storage of non-structural C compounds (NSC, compounds not permanently invested in structural biomass that can later be used to support diverse plant functions) is critical for survival during periods when C assimilation does not meet demand. However, remarkable knowledge gaps exist to accurately predict plant growth and survival under climate change. Although trees accumulate relatively large pools of NSC, there is a strong debate on how these pools build up over time. On the one hand, it is frequently assumed that the build- up of NSC in trees occurs when supply via photosynthesis exceeds overall demands. If so, the abundant NSC pools in trees reflect an overabundance of C in the long term. An alternative explanation is that trees regulate NSC storage to maintain sufficient pools to cope with asynchronies between demand and supply and with stresses that long lived plants inevitably experience during their life time. However, our understanding of whether and how trees regulate storage in the long term is minimal. Here, we assembled a new global database to examine broad patterns of seasonal NSC variation across organs, life forms and biomes, and the degree to which NSC storage is depleted in plants under a wide range of natural conditions. We compiled seasonal data (at least three measurements over a minimum of four months) for ca. 200 wild species under natural conditions. On average, NSC account for ca. 8-10% of dry plant biomass. NSC and starch concentrations do not vary significantly with biome, but soluble sugars (SS) in plants from Mediterranean biomes are higher than in temperate or tropical biomes. On average

  20. Bibliography of Lewis Research Center Technical Publications announced in 1978

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1979-01-01

    All the publications were announced in the 1978 issues of STAR (Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports) and/or IAA (International Aerospace Abstracts). Included are research reports, journal articles, conference presentations, patents and patent applications, and theses.

  1. 75 FR 60781 - Announcement of Funding Awards for Fiscal Year 2010 Tribal Colleges and Universities Program

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-10-01

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT [Docket No. FR-5415-N-06] Announcement of Funding... Secretary for Policy Development and Research, HUD. ACTION: Announcement of funding awards. SUMMARY: In accordance with section 102(a)(4)(C) of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Reform Act of...

  2. [Leaking: Frequency and correlates of announcements and threats of homicidal violence reported by Berlin schools between 1996 and 2007].

    PubMed

    Leuschner, Vincenz; Bondü, Rebecca; Allroggen, Marc; Scheithauer, Herbert

    2016-01-01

    Threats and announcements of homicidal violence at schools may have massive consequences like evacuations, police searches, criminal investigations, or loss of the sense of security by students, teachers, and parents. However, there is a lack of systematic studies about that phenomenon. The present article would like to contribute to closing the research gap. It presents results about the frequency and structure of threats and announcements of homicidal violence in schools in Berlin. The study is based on an official dataset from school administration reports of violent acts in Berlin schools which has been studied within the Berlin Leaking-Projekt. The sample consists of 427 threats and announcements of homicidal violence between 1996 and 2007. The study is an exceptional analysis of the phenomenon: it presents crosscutting results about frequency and characteristics of threats and the threatening students as well as results of a longitudinal analysis about the development of threats and announcements. Results show a rate of 0,3 threats and announcements per 1 000 student and year. During the observation time span a steady increase of threats and announcements – year by year, influenced by imitation effects after school shootings – has been observed.

  3. 32 CFR 242a.5 - Procedure for announcing meetings.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 32 National Defense 2 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Procedure for announcing meetings. 242a.5 Section 242a.5 National Defense Department of Defense (Continued) OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE (CONTINUED) MISCELLANEOUS PUBLIC MEETING PROCEDURES OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS, UNIFORMED SERVICES UNIVERSITY OF...

  4. 32 CFR 242a.5 - Procedure for announcing meetings.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 32 National Defense 2 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Procedure for announcing meetings. 242a.5 Section 242a.5 National Defense Department of Defense (Continued) OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE (CONTINUED) MISCELLANEOUS PUBLIC MEETING PROCEDURES OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS, UNIFORMED SERVICES UNIVERSITY OF...

  5. 32 CFR 242a.5 - Procedure for announcing meetings.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 32 National Defense 2 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Procedure for announcing meetings. 242a.5 Section 242a.5 National Defense Department of Defense (Continued) OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE (CONTINUED) MISCELLANEOUS PUBLIC MEETING PROCEDURES OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS, UNIFORMED SERVICES UNIVERSITY OF...

  6. 32 CFR 242a.5 - Procedure for announcing meetings.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 32 National Defense 2 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Procedure for announcing meetings. 242a.5 Section 242a.5 National Defense Department of Defense (Continued) OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE (CONTINUED) MISCELLANEOUS PUBLIC MEETING PROCEDURES OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS, UNIFORMED SERVICES UNIVERSITY OF...

  7. The contribution of Paris to limit global warming to 2 °C

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Iyer, Gokul C.; Edmonds, James A.; Fawcett, Allen A.; Hultman, Nathan E.; Alsalam, Jameel; Asrar, Ghassem R.; Calvin, Katherine V.; Clarke, Leon E.; Creason, Jared; Jeong, Minji; Kyle, Page; McFarland, James; Mundra, Anupriya; Patel, Pralit; Shi, Wenjing; McJeon, Haewon C.

    2015-12-01

    The international community has set a goal to limit global warming to 2 °C. Limiting global warming to 2 °C is a challenging goal and will entail a dramatic transformation of the global energy system, largely complete by 2040. As part of the work toward this goal, countries have been submitting their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, indicating their emissions reduction commitments through 2025 or 2030, in advance of the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) in Paris in December 2015. In this paper, we use the Global Change Assessment Model (GCAM) to analyze the near versus long-term energy and economic-cost implications of these INDCs. The INDCs imply near-term actions that reduce the level of mitigation needed in the post-2030 period, particularly when compared with an alternative path in which nations are unable to undertake emissions mitigation until after 2030. We find that the latter case could require up to 2300 GW of premature retirements of fossil fuel power plants and up to 2900 GW of additional low-carbon power capacity installations within a five-year period of 2031-2035. INDCs have the effect of reducing premature retirements and new-capacity installations after 2030 by 50% and 34%, respectively. However, if presently announced INDCs were strengthened to achieve greater near-term emissions mitigation, the 2031-2035 transformation could be tempered to require 84% fewer premature retirements of power generation capacity and 56% fewer new-capacity additions. Our results suggest that the INDCs delivered for COP21 in Paris will have important contributions in reducing the challenges of achieving the goal of limiting global warming to 2 °C.

  8. Effects of Anti-Smoking Public Service Announcements on the Attitudes of Korean College Students toward Smoking

    PubMed Central

    Cho, Kyoung Won; Lee, Jakyoung; Ryu, Ji-hye; Kim, Soo Jeong

    2017-01-01

    Objectives This study aimed to identify the effects of anti-smoking public service announcements on the attitudes of Korean college students toward smoking. Methods This study involved students via convenience sampling from seven universities who were randomly assigned to four groups. All groups completed a preliminary questionnaire, before being shown a public service announcement twice, and then completed a post viewing questionnaire. Results For announcements with positive messages, the proportion of changes in beliefs and attitudes were 39.1% and 19.8%, respectively, whereas those with negative messages showed a greater proportion of changes in the beliefs (59.7%) and attitudes (40.3%). After adjusting for sex and change in belief, the message types and smoking status were identified as factors affecting the change in the participants attitudes. A negative message resulted in a greater change in attitudes (odds ratio [OR], 3.047; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.847–5.053). Ever-smokers including current smokers showed a greater positive change in attitude than never-smokers (OR, 6.965; 95% CI, 4.107–11.812). Conclusion This study found that positive anti-smoking public service announcements were more effective on attitude change than negative messages. Additionally these announcements were more effective among viewers who were current smokers or had a prior smoking experience. PMID:29354398

  9. 77 FR 58404 - Announcing the Award of Two Urgent Single-Source Grants To Support Unaccompanied Alien Children...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-09-20

    ...] Announcing the Award of Two Urgent Single-Source Grants To Support Unaccompanied Alien Children Program...) announces the award of two urgent single-source grants from the Unaccompanied Alien Children's Program to... providing services under the Unaccompanied Alien Children's program. Award Grantee organization Location...

  10. NOAA announces significant investment in next generation of supercomputers

    Science.gov Websites

    provide more timely, accurate weather forecasts. (Credit: istockphoto.com) Today, NOAA announced the next phase in the agency's efforts to increase supercomputing capacity to provide more timely, accurate turn will lead to more timely, accurate, and reliable forecasts." Ahead of this upgrade, each of

  11. 77 FR 26241 - Announcement of Grant Application Deadlines and Funding Levels

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-05-03

    ... window for Fiscal Year (FY) 2012. In addition, RUS announces the minimum and maximum amounts for... supplement existing projects are welcomed (grant applications must be submitted during the application window...

  12. Global variability in leaf respiration in relation to climate, plant functional types and leaf traits.

    PubMed

    Atkin, Owen K; Bloomfield, Keith J; Reich, Peter B; Tjoelker, Mark G; Asner, Gregory P; Bonal, Damien; Bönisch, Gerhard; Bradford, Matt G; Cernusak, Lucas A; Cosio, Eric G; Creek, Danielle; Crous, Kristine Y; Domingues, Tomas F; Dukes, Jeffrey S; Egerton, John J G; Evans, John R; Farquhar, Graham D; Fyllas, Nikolaos M; Gauthier, Paul P G; Gloor, Emanuel; Gimeno, Teresa E; Griffin, Kevin L; Guerrieri, Rossella; Heskel, Mary A; Huntingford, Chris; Ishida, Françoise Yoko; Kattge, Jens; Lambers, Hans; Liddell, Michael J; Lloyd, Jon; Lusk, Christopher H; Martin, Roberta E; Maksimov, Ayal P; Maximov, Trofim C; Malhi, Yadvinder; Medlyn, Belinda E; Meir, Patrick; Mercado, Lina M; Mirotchnick, Nicholas; Ng, Desmond; Niinemets, Ülo; O'Sullivan, Odhran S; Phillips, Oliver L; Poorter, Lourens; Poot, Pieter; Prentice, I Colin; Salinas, Norma; Rowland, Lucy M; Ryan, Michael G; Sitch, Stephen; Slot, Martijn; Smith, Nicholas G; Turnbull, Matthew H; VanderWel, Mark C; Valladares, Fernando; Veneklaas, Erik J; Weerasinghe, Lasantha K; Wirth, Christian; Wright, Ian J; Wythers, Kirk R; Xiang, Jen; Xiang, Shuang; Zaragoza-Castells, Joana

    2015-04-01

    Leaf dark respiration (Rdark ) is an important yet poorly quantified component of the global carbon cycle. Given this, we analyzed a new global database of Rdark and associated leaf traits. Data for 899 species were compiled from 100 sites (from the Arctic to the tropics). Several woody and nonwoody plant functional types (PFTs) were represented. Mixed-effects models were used to disentangle sources of variation in Rdark . Area-based Rdark at the prevailing average daily growth temperature (T) of each site increased only twofold from the Arctic to the tropics, despite a 20°C increase in growing T (8-28°C). By contrast, Rdark at a standard T (25°C, Rdark (25) ) was threefold higher in the Arctic than in the tropics, and twofold higher at arid than at mesic sites. Species and PFTs at cold sites exhibited higher Rdark (25) at a given photosynthetic capacity (Vcmax (25) ) or leaf nitrogen concentration ([N]) than species at warmer sites. Rdark (25) values at any given Vcmax (25) or [N] were higher in herbs than in woody plants. The results highlight variation in Rdark among species and across global gradients in T and aridity. In addition to their ecological significance, the results provide a framework for improving representation of Rdark in terrestrial biosphere models (TBMs) and associated land-surface components of Earth system models (ESMs). © 2015 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2015 New Phytologist Trust.

  13. 76 FR 44934 - Announcement of Five Single Source Grant Awards

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-07-27

    ... to promote outcomes such as improvements in maternal and prenatal health, infant health, and child health and development; reduced child maltreatment; improved parenting practices related to child... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Administration for Children And Families Announcement of...

  14. 75 FR 25208 - Announcement of Body Armor Research Needs Meeting

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-05-07

    ... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Institute of Standards and Technology Announcement of Body Armor Research Needs Meeting AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Department of Commerce. ACTION: Notice of meeting. SUMMARY: The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) invites...

  15. Predicting the Global Potential Distribution of Four Endangered Panax Species in Middle-and Low-Latitude Regions of China by the Geographic Information System for Global Medicinal Plants (GMPGIS).

    PubMed

    Du, Zhixia; Wu, Jie; Meng, Xiangxiao; Li, Jinhua; Huang, Linfang

    2017-09-28

    Global biodiversity is strongly influenced by the decrease in endangered biological species. Predicting the distribution of endangered medicinal plants is necessary for resource conservation. A spatial distribution model-geographic information system for global medicinal plants (GMPGIS)-is used to predict the global potential suitable distribution of four endangered Panax species, including Panax japonicas (T. Nees) C. A. Meyer and Panax japonicas var. major (Burkill) C. Y. Wu & K. M. Feng distributed in low- and middle-latitude, Panax zingiberensis C. Y. Wu & K. M. Feng and Panax stipuleanatus C. T. Tsai & K. M. Feng in low-latitude regions of China based on seven bioclimatic variables and 600 occurrence points. Results indicate that areas of P. japonicus and P. japonicus var. major are 266.29 × 10⁵ and 77.5 × 10⁵ km², respectively, which are mainly distributed in China and America. By contrast, the areas of P. zingiberensis and P. stipuleanatus are 5.09 × 10⁵ and 2.05 × 10⁵ km², respectively, which are mainly distributed in Brazil and China. P. japonicus has the widest distribution among the four species. The data also indicate that the mean temperature of coldest quarter is the most critical factor. This scientific prediction can be used as reference for resource conservation of endangered plants and as a guide to search for endangered species in previously unknown areas.

  16. 78 FR 21180 - Announcement of the 2013 SBA-Visa Export Video Contest Under the America COMPETES Reauthorization...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-04-09

    ... submitted per business. Videos must not contain violence, profanity, sex, images of a prurient nature, or... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Announcement of the 2013 SBA-Visa Export Video Contest Under the... the ``Cosponsors'') announce a video contest for eligible small businesses to showcase the advantages...

  17. Multivariable adaptive closed-loop control of an artificial pancreas without meal and activity announcement.

    PubMed

    Turksoy, Kamuran; Bayrak, Elif Seyma; Quinn, Lauretta; Littlejohn, Elizabeth; Cinar, Ali

    2013-05-01

    Accurate closed-loop control is essential for developing artificial pancreas (AP) systems that adjust insulin infusion rates from insulin pumps. Glucose concentration information from continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems is the most important information for the control system. Additional physiological measurements can provide valuable information that can enhance the accuracy of the control system. Proportional-integral-derivative control and model predictive control have been popular in AP development. Their implementations to date rely on meal announcements (e.g., bolus insulin dose based on insulin:carbohydrate ratios) by the user. Adaptive control techniques provide a powerful alternative that do not necessitate any meal or activity announcements. Adaptive control systems based on the generalized predictive control framework are developed by extending the recursive modeling techniques. Physiological signals such as energy expenditure and galvanic skin response are used along with glucose measurements to generate a multiple-input-single-output model for predicting future glucose concentrations used by the controller. Insulin-on-board (IOB) is also estimated and used in control decisions. The controllers were tested with clinical studies that include seven cases with three different patients with type 1 diabetes for 32 or 60 h without any meal or activity announcements. The adaptive control system kept glucose concentration in the normal preprandial and postprandial range (70-180 mg/dL) without any meal or activity announcements during the test period. After IOB estimation was added to the control system, mild hypoglycemic episodes were observed only in one of the four experiments. This was reflected in a plasma glucose value of 56 mg/dL (YSI 2300 STAT; Yellow Springs Instrument, Yellow Springs, OH) and a CGM value of 63 mg/dL). Regulation of blood glucose concentration with an AP using adaptive control techniques was successful in clinical studies, even

  18. Impacts of invasive plants on resident animals across ecosystems, taxa, and feeding types: a global assessment.

    PubMed

    Schirmel, Jens; Bundschuh, Mirco; Entling, Martin H; Kowarik, Ingo; Buchholz, Sascha

    2016-02-01

    As drivers of global change, biological invasions have fundamental ecological consequences. However, it remains unclear how invasive plant effects on resident animals vary across ecosystems, animal classes, and functional groups. We performed a comprehensive meta-analysis covering 198 field and laboratory studies reporting a total of 3624 observations of invasive plant effects on animals. Invasive plants had reducing (56%) or neutral (44%) effects on animal abundance, diversity, fitness, and ecosystem function across different ecosystems, animal classes, and feeding types while we could not find any increasing effect. Most importantly, we found that invasive plants reduced overall animal abundance, diversity and fitness. However, this significant overall effect was contingent on ecosystems, taxa, and feeding types of animals. Decreasing effects of invasive plants were most evident in riparian ecosystems, possibly because frequent disturbance facilitates more intense plant invasions compared to other ecosystem types. In accordance with their immediate reliance on plants for food, invasive plant effects were strongest on herbivores. Regarding taxonomic groups, birds and insects were most strongly affected. In insects, this may be explained by their high frequency of herbivory, while birds demonstrate that invasive plant effects can also cascade up to secondary consumers. Since data on impacts of invasive plants are rather limited for many animal groups in most ecosystems, we argue for overcoming gaps in knowledge and for a more differentiated discussion on effects of invasive plant on native fauna. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  19. [Orthodontic and orthognathic protocoles: systematization of the consultation of announcement and contribution of integrative medicine].

    PubMed

    Racy, Emmanuel; Le Norcy, Elvire

    2017-12-01

    The consultation of announcement is one of the key periods in an orthodontic and surgical process. The aim of this consultation is not only to make an aesthetic and orthodontic diagnosis but also a fine psychological analysis of the patient and his family before proposing a treatment plan. Integrative medical therapies, a recent evolution of medicine within the framework of the doctor-patient relation, have shown the positive impact on the treatment success of a good relationship. The preliminary collection of information on the patient's psyches is now part of the treatment guidelines and has a positive impact on treatment observance, management of pre- and post-operative care or more simply surgery acceptance. Therefore, a systematized patient record process including global medical assessment of the patient and not only orthodontic and cephalometric diagnosis is a key factor for the treatment outcome. © EDP Sciences, SFODF, 2017.

  20. 77 FR 14558 - Announcement of Funding Awards for the Public and Indian Housing Resident Opportunity and Self...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-03-12

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT [Docket No. FR-5500-FA-08] Announcement of Funding... the Department of Housing and Urban Development Reform Act of 1989, this announcement notifies the... Indian Housing, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street SW., B133 Potomac Center...

  1. [Assessment of the announcement procedure in 29 cancer-accredited hospitals in the Aquitaine region: the EVADA project].

    PubMed

    Rongère-Casteigt, Julie; Pinon, Elodie; Domecq, Sandrine; Hoppe, Stéphanie; Bousser, Véronique; Vimard, Edwige; Saillour-Glenisson, Florence

    2015-01-01

    An announcement procedure is mandatory to obtain accreditation to treat cancer patients. Health care professionals in the Aquitaine region evaluated the organization of this announcement procedure in their institutions and the patients' perception, in order to initiate actions to improve the structure and traceability of this procedure. Self-assessment approach based on a retrospective study plan comprising three concomitant steps: organizational audit, medical records audit and patient experience survey. 29 institutions participated in the study. Heterogeneous organizations were observed, although progress had been made in the deployment of the announcement procedure in terms of personnel training,formal organization and the resources devoted to this procedure, but there remains considerable room for improvement in terms of traceability, coordination between doctors and nursing staff, and referral of patients to supportive care. This evaluation triggered active mobilization of hospital teams concerning the announcement procedure in the Aquitaine region and a better awareness of the patient's perception. The regional dynamic allowed exchanges between institutions, facilitating the implementation of improvement actions.

  2. 76 FR 6810 - Announcement of Funding Awards for the Special Needs Assistance Programs-Technical Assistance...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-02-08

    ...In accordance with section 102(a)(4)(C) of the Department of Housing and Urban Development Reform Act of 1989, this announcement notifies the public of funding decisions made by the Department in a competition for funding under the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the Special Needs Assistance Programs Technical Assistance program. This announcement contains the names of the awardees and amounts of the awards made available by HUD.

  3. Fermilab History and Archives Project | Announcement of Renaming NAL

    Science.gov Websites

    Archives Project Home About the Archives History and Archives Online Request Contact Us History & Fermi Laboratory In 1972 Enrico Fermi, Nobel Laureate Physicist Return to the Wilson Years NAL TO BECOME ENRICO FERMI LABORATORY IN 1972 Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg, Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, announced

  4. Comparative water use of native and invasive plants at multiple scales: a global meta-analysis.

    PubMed

    Cavaleri, Molly A; Sack, Lawren

    2010-09-01

    Ecohydrology and invasive ecology have become increasingly important in the context of global climate change. This study presents the first in-depth analysis of the water use of invasive and native plants of the same growth form at multiple scales: leaf, plant, and ecosystem. We reanalyzed data for several hundred native and invasive species from over 40 published studies worldwide to glean global trends and to highlight how patterns vary depending on both scale and climate. We analyzed all pairwise combinations of co-occurring native and invasive species for higher comparative resolution of the likelihood of an invasive species using more water than a native species and tested for significance using bootstrap methods. At each scale, we found several-fold differences in water use between specific paired invasive and native species. At the leaf scale, we found a strong tendency for invasive species to have greater stomatal conductance than native species. At the plant scale, however, natives and invasives were equally likely to have the higher sap flow rates. Available data were much fewer for the ecosystem scale; nevertheless, we found that invasive-dominated ecosystems were more likely to have higher sap flow rates per unit ground area than native-dominated ecosystems. Ecosystem-scale evapotranspiration, on the other hand, was equally likely to be greater for systems dominated by invasive and native species of the same growth form. The inherent disconnects in the determination of water use when changing scales from leaf to plant to ecosystem reveal hypotheses for future studies and a critical need for more ecosystem-scale water use measurements in invasive- vs. native-dominated systems. The differences in water use of native and invasive species also depended strongly on climate, with the greater water use of invasives enhanced in hotter, wetter climates at the coarser scales.

  5. 76 FR 54774 - Notice of Intent To Award Affordable Care Act Funding, Funding Opportunity Announcement CDC-RFA...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-09-02

    ... Intent To Award Affordable Care Act Funding, Funding Opportunity Announcement CDC-RFA-DP10-1014 AGENCY... Funding Opportunity CDC-RFA- DP10-1014. It is the intent of CDC to provide continuation funding to one (1... published in the above referenced REACH CORE Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). Award Information...

  6. 26. AERIAL VIEW OF THE ROCKY FLATS PLANT LOOKING NORTHEAST. ...

    Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

    26. AERIAL VIEW OF THE ROCKY FLATS PLANT LOOKING NORTHEAST. IN 1951, A GOOD FRIDAY ISSUE OF THE DENVER POST ANNOUNCED THE ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION'S PLANS TO BUILD THE ROCKY FLATS PLANT. UNDER THE HEADLINE 'THERE'S GOOD NEWS TODAY.' POLITICAL LEADERS EXPRESSED GREAT PRIDE IN THE CHOICE OF THE DENVER-BOULDER AREA AS THE SITE FOR AN ATOMIC PLANT AS QUOTED IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS: 'WE ARE PROUD THAT THE AREA HAS BEEN CHOSEN FOR ANOTHER IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTION TO THE NATION'S STRENGTH AND FUTURE SECURITY.' BY THE MID 1970S, PUBLIC OPINION OF THE SITE HAD CHANGED (5/4/78). - Rocky Flats Plant, Bounded by Indiana Street & Routes 93, 128 & 72, Golden, Jefferson County, CO

  7. FY 2017 Grant Announcement: FY 2017 Source Reduction Assistance Grant Program

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    The EPA Region 10 Pollution Prevention Program is announcing a grant competition for Source Reduction Assistance (SRA) awards. EPA Region 10 anticipates awarding approximately $95,000 in federal grant funding to support SRA agreements.

  8. The timing of drug funding announcements relative to elections: a case study involving dementia medications.

    PubMed

    Gill, Sudeep S; Gupta, Neeraj; Bell, Chaim M; Rochon, Paula A; Austin, Peter C; Laupacis, Andreas

    2013-01-01

    Following initial regulatory approval of prescription drugs, many factors may influence insurers and health systems when they decide whether to add these drugs to their formularies. The role of political pressures on drug funding announcements has received relatively little attention, and elections represent an especially powerful form of political pressure. We examined the temporal relationship between decisions to add one class of drugs to publicly funded formularies in Canada's ten provinces and elections in these jurisdictions. Dates of provincial formulary listings for cholinesterase inhibitors, which are drugs used to treat Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, were compared to the dates of provincial elections. Medical journal articles, media reports, and proceedings from provincial legislatures were reviewed to assemble information on the chronology of events. We tested whether there was a statistically significant increase in the probability of drug funding announcements within the 60-day intervals preceding provincial elections. Decisions to fund the cholinesterase inhibitors were made over a nine-year span from 1999 to 2007 in the ten provinces. In four of ten provinces, the drugs were added to formularies in a time period closely preceding a provincial election (P = 0.032); funding announcements in these provinces were made between 2 and 47 days prior to elections. Statements made in provincial legislatures highlight the key role of political pressures in these funding announcements. Impending elections appeared to affect the timing of drug funding announcements in this case study. Despite an established structure for evidence-based decision-making, drug funding remains a complex process open to influence from many sources. Awareness of such influences is critical to maintain effective drug policy and public health decision-making.

  9. 75 FR 71421 - Notice Announcing OMB Approval of Information Collections

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-11-23

    ... Department of Education (Department) announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved... control numbers, and their current expiration dates. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For the Talent... No. 1840-0818, Talent Search Grant Application. The expiration date for this collection is October 31...

  10. The Communication of Opportunities and Barriers to Prospective Applicants: An Analysis of Interscholastic Athletic Administrative Job Announcements

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Miller, John J.; Whisenant, Warren A.; Pedersen, Paul M.

    2007-01-01

    Job announcements often work to either encourage or discourage prospective applicants. The purpose of this investigation was to determine if gender bias existed within the job announcements for interscholastic athletic administrators. The study's results revealed that over a two-year period there were 301 advertisements for positions in the state…

  11. ACHP | News | Laura Bush Announces Preserve America Grants Budget

    Science.gov Websites

    , Kentucky. In addition, Mrs. Bush announced two new education efforts to enhance the teaching of history in America's classrooms: Preserve America has worked with the History Channel's Save Our History initiative to support the creation of a history education manual. This manual provides teachers with lesson plans and

  12. 32 CFR 242a.5 - Procedure for announcing meetings.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... THE HEALTH SCIENCES § 242a.5 Procedure for announcing meetings. (a) Except to the extent such...; (4) Whether the meeting or parts thereof are to be open or closed to the public; and (5) The name and... subject matter of such meeting, and whether open or closed to the public, at the earliest practicable time...

  13. Boosting the globalization of plant proteomics through INPPO: current developments and future prospects.

    PubMed

    Agrawal, Ganesh Kumar; Sarkar, Abhijit; Agrawal, Raj; Ndimba, Bongani Kaiser; Tanou, Georgia; Dunn, Michael J; Kieselbach, Thomas; Cramer, Rainer; Wienkoop, Stefanie; Chen, Sixue; Rafudeen, Mohammed Suhail; Deswal, Renu; Barkla, Bronwyn J; Weckwerth, Wolfram; Heazlewood, Joshua L; Renaut, Jenny; Job, Dominique; Chakraborty, Niranjan; Rakwal, Randeep

    2012-02-01

    The International Plant Proteomics Organization (INPPO) is a non-profit-organization consisting of people who are involved or interested in plant proteomics. INPPO is constantly growing in volume and activity, which is mostly due to the realization among plant proteomics researchers worldwide for the need of such a global platform. Their active participation resulted in the rapid growth within the first year of INPPO's official launch in 2011 via its website (www.inppo.com) and publication of the 'Viewpoint paper' in a special issue of PROTEOMICS (May 2011). Here, we will be highlighting the progress achieved in the year 2011 and the future targets for the year 2012 and onwards. INPPO has achieved a successful administrative structure, the Core Committee (CC; composed of President, Vice-President, and General Secretaries), Executive Council (EC), and General Body (GB) to achieve INPPO objectives. Various committees and subcommittees are in the process of being functionalized via discussion amongst scientists around the globe. INPPO's primary aim to popularize the plant proteomics research in biological sciences has also been recognized by PROTEOMICS where a section dedicated to plant proteomics has been introduced starting January 2012, following the very first issue of this journal devoted to plant proteomics in May 2011. To disseminate organizational activities to the scientific community, INPPO has launched a biannual (in January and July) newsletter entitled 'INPPO Express: News & Views' with the first issue published in January 2012. INPPO is also planning to have several activities in 2012, including programs within the Education Outreach committee in different countries, and the development of research ideas and proposals with priority on crop and horticultural plants, while keeping tight interactions with proteomics programs on model plants such as Arabidopsis thaliana, rice, and Medicago truncatula. Altogether, the INPPO progress and upcoming activities

  14. Public Service Announcement: Heart Disease Doesn't Care What You Wear

    MedlinePlus

    ... Home Current Issue Past Issues Public Service Announcement Heart Disease Doesn't Care What You Wear Past Issues / ... version of this page please turn Javascript on. Heart Disease Doesn't Care What You Wear IT'S THE # ...

  15. 75 FR 36349 - Announcement of Rural Cooperative Development Grant Application Deadlines

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-06-25

    ... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Rural Business-Cooperative Service Announcement of Rural Cooperative Development Grant Application Deadlines AGENCY: Rural Business-Cooperative Service, USDA. ACTION: Notice of...: Overview Federal Agency: Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBS). Funding Opportunity Title: Rural...

  16. MSAP markers and global cytosine methylation in plants: a literature survey and comparative analysis for a wild-growing species.

    PubMed

    Alonso, Conchita; Pérez, Ricardo; Bazaga, Pilar; Medrano, Mónica; Herrera, Carlos M

    2016-01-01

    Methylation of DNA cytosines affects whether transposons are silenced and genes are expressed, and is a major epigenetic mechanism whereby plants respond to environmental change. Analyses of methylation-sensitive amplification polymorphism (MS-AFLP or MSAP) have been often used to assess methyl-cytosine changes in response to stress treatments and, more recently, in ecological studies of wild plant populations. MSAP technique does not require a sequenced reference genome and provides many anonymous loci randomly distributed over the genome for which the methylation status can be ascertained. Scoring of MSAP data, however, is not straightforward, and efforts are still required to standardize this step to make use of the potential to distinguish between methylation at different nucleotide contexts. Furthermore, it is not known how accurately MSAP infers genome-wide cytosine methylation levels in plants. Here, we analyse the relationship between MSAP results and the percentage of global cytosine methylation in genomic DNA obtained by HPLC analysis. A screening of literature revealed that methylation of cytosines at cleavage sites assayed by MSAP was greater than genome-wide estimates obtained by HPLC, and percentages of methylation at different nucleotide contexts varied within and across species. Concurrent HPLC and MSAP analyses of DNA from 200 individuals of the perennial herb Helleborus foetidus confirmed that methyl-cytosine was more frequent in CCGG contexts than in the genome as a whole. In this species, global methylation was unrelated to methylation at the inner CG site. We suggest that global HPLC and context-specific MSAP methylation estimates provide complementary information whose combination can improve our current understanding of methylation-based epigenetic processes in nonmodel plants. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  17. CALIOP V4.10 L1 & L2 Release Announcement

    Atmospheric Science Data Center

    2016-11-14

    ... CALIPSO mission announces the release of new versions of its standard Level 1 and Level 2 lidar data products.  These products are ... essential ancillary data sets. The GTOPO30 Digital Elevation Model (DEM) used in V4.00 has been replaced by a substantially more accurate ...

  18. Global volatile profile of virgin olive oils flavoured by aromatic/medicinal plants.

    PubMed

    Perestrelo, R; Silva, C; Silva, P; Câmara, J S

    2017-07-15

    The global volatile profile of commercial virgin olive oils and flavoured olive oils with aromatic/medicinal plants, was established using liquid-liquid microextraction (LLME) and headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) combined with gas chromatography-quadrupole mass spectrometry (GC-qMS). More than 60 volatile organic compounds (VOCs belonging to different groups were identified using both methods. Olive oils volatile profile was slightly influenced by maceration process, which occurred at room temperature (20±2°C) for 15days. The predominant differences were observed in terpenoids group, since some of them were only identified in the flavoured olive oils, while others showed an increase with the maceration process. VOCs mass transfer from plants to olive oils could explain the observed results. Principal components analysis (PCA) applied to LLME/GC-qMS data allowed to distinguish the olive oils. The flavoured oils would increase the use of olive oil among consumers as consequence of the improvement of its aromatic profile and healthy properties. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. The global biopharma industry and the rise of Indian drug multinationals: implications for Australian generics policy

    PubMed Central

    Löfgren, Hans

    2007-01-01

    This article provides a synopsis of the new dynamics of the global biopharma industry. The emergence of global generics companies with capabilities approximating those of 'big pharma' has accelerated the blurring of boundaries between the innovator and generics sectors. Biotechnology-based products form a large and growing segment of prescription drug markets and regulatory pathways for biogenerics are imminent. Indian biopharma multinationals with large-scale efficient manufacturing plants and growing R&D capabilities are now major suppliers of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) and generic drugs across both developed and developing countries. In response to generic competition, innovator companies employ a range of life cycle management techniques, including the launch of 'authorised generics'. The generics segment in Australia will see high growth rates in coming years but the prospect for local manufacturing is bleak. The availability of cheap generics in international markets has put pressure on Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) pricing arrangements, and a new policy direction was announced in November 2006. Lower generics prices will have a negative impact on some incumbent suppliers but industrial renewal policies for the medicines industry in Australia are better focused on higher value R&D activities and niche manufacturing of sophisticated products. PMID:17543115

  20. 75 FR 21022 - Announcement of Funding Awards for the Housing Choice Voucher Family Self-Sufficiency...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-04-22

    ...In accordance with Section 102(a)(4)(C) of the Department of Housing and Urban Development Reform Act of 1989, this announcement notifies the public of funding decisions made by the Department for funding under Notice PIH 2009-40 (HA) for the Housing Choice Voucher Family Self-Sufficiency (HCV/FSS) Administrative Fee funding. This announcement contains the consolidated names and addresses of those award recipients selected for funding based on the funding priority categories established in the NOFA.

  1. FY 2018 Grant Announcement: FY2018 Support for Geospatial Analysis Support

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Chesapeake Bay Program Office (CBPO) is announcing a Request for Proposals (RFP) for applicants to provide the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) partners with a proposal for providing geospatial analysis support

  2. Publisher's Announcement

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Scriven, Neil

    2003-12-01

    We are delighted to announce that the new Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and General for 2004 will be Professor Carl M Bender of Washington University, St. Louis. Carl will, with the help of his world class editorial board, maintain standards of scientific rigour whilst ensuring that research published is of the highest importance. Carl attained his first degree in physics at Cornell University before studying for his PhD at Harvard. He later worked at The Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton and at MIT before assuming his current position at Washington University, St Louis. He has been a visiting professor at Technion, Haifa, and Imperial College, London and a scientific consultant for Los Alamos National Laboratory. His main expertise is in using classical applied mathematics to solve a broad range of problems in high-energy theoretical physics and mathematical physics. Since the publication of his book Advanced Mathematical Methods for Scientists and Engineers, written with Steven Orszag, he has been regarded as an expert on the subject of asymptotic analysis and perturbative methods. `Carl publishes his own internationally-important research in the journal and has been an invaluable, energetic member of the Editorial Board for some time' said Professor Ed Corrigan, Carl's predecessor as Editor, `he will be an excellent Editor-in-Chief'. Our grateful thanks and best wishes go to Professor Corrigan who has done a magnificent job for the journal during his five-year tenure.

  3. ACHP | News | Mrs. Laura Bush Announces Preserve America Community

    Science.gov Websites

    Sept. 15, 2003, Mobile, Alabama—Mrs. Laura Bush today announced details of two new key components of continue to build upon. Mobile is a great example of a community that is using its past to build a better recognition program included ACHP member Emily Summers; Mobile, AL, mayor Mike Dow; Secretary of the Interior

  4. The contribution of Paris to limit global warming to 2 °C

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Iyer, Gokul C.; Edmonds, James A.; Fawcett, Allen A.

    International negotiators have clearly articulated a goal to limit global warming to 2°C. In preparation for the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) in Paris in December 2015, countries are submitting their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change indicating their emissions reduction commitments through 2025 or 2030. Limiting global warming to 2°C is a challenging goal and will entail a dramatic transformation of the global energy system, largely complete by 2040. The deliberations in Paris will help determine the balance of challenges faced in the near-term and long-term. We use GCAM, a globalmore » integrated assessment model, to analyze the energy and economic-cost implications of INDCs. The INDCs imply near-term actions that reduce the level of mitigation needed in the post-2030 period, particularly when compared with an alternative path, in which nations are unable to undertake emissions mitigation until after 2030. We find that the latter case could require up to 2300 GW of premature retirements of fossil fuel power plants and up to 2900 GW of additional low-carbon power capacity installations within a five-year period of 2031 to 2035. INDCs have the effect of reducing premature retirements and new-capacity installations after 2030 by 50% and 34% respectively. However, if presently announced INDCs were strengthened to achieve greater near-term emissions mitigation, the 2031-2035 transformation could be tempered to require 84% fewer premature retirements of power generation capacity and 56% fewer new-capacity additions. Our results suggest that the ensuing COP21 in Paris will be critical in shaping the challenges of limiting global warming to 2°C.« less

  5. News & Announcements

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    2000-01-01

    /TD/TDhome.html. This site also has links to JCE guidelines for prospective authors. Volunteers should contact Vitz by the medium of their preference: Ed Vitz, Editor, Tested Demonstrations, Journal of Chemical Education, Department of Chemistry, Kutztown University, Kutztown, PA 19530; phone: 610/683-4443; fax: 610/683-1352; email: vitz@kutztown.edu.

    Awards Announced

    ACS Regional Awards in High School Chemistry Teaching The American Chemical Society has announced winners of regional awards in high school chemistry teaching for 1999. Winners have demonstrated excellence in teaching, exceptional ability to challenge and inspire students, extracurricular work, and willingness to keep up to date in the field. The award consists of two certificates (one for the recipient, the other for display at the recipient's school) and a cash prize of 1,000.
    • Thomas W. Adams, Indiana Academy for Science, Mathematics & Humanities at Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana: Central Region
    • Arthur J. Crumm, Barstow School, Kansas City, Missouri: Midwest Region
    • Esther H. Freeman, Tabb High School, Yorktown, Virginia: Southeast Region
    • Joan A. Laredo-Liddell, St. Barnabas High School, Bronx, New York: Middle Atlantic Region, 1998
    • David T. Lee, Mountain Lakes High School, Mountain Lakes, New Jersey: Middle Atlantic Region, 1999
    • Diane Coley McGann, Santa Ana High School, Santa Ana, California: Western Region
    • William J. Pilotte, Newington High School, Newington, Connecticut: Northeast Region
    • Judith C. Seydel, Idaho Falls High School, Idaho Falls, Idaho: Northwest Region
    • Brenda A. Wolpa, Canyon Del Oro High School, Tucson, Arizona: Southwest/Rocky Mountain Region
    NSF Distinguished Public Service Award As a part of its celebration in 2000 of its half-century in existence, the National Science Foundation has announced the recipient of its Distinguished Public Service Award.
    • Samuel P. Massie, U.S. Naval Academy

    • Accounting for sampling patterns reverses the relative importance of trade and climate for the global sharing of exotic plants

      USGS Publications Warehouse

      Sofaer, Helen R.; Jarnevich, Catherine S.

      2017-01-01

      AimThe distributions of exotic species reflect patterns of human-mediated dispersal, species climatic tolerances and a suite of other biotic and abiotic factors. The relative importance of each of these factors will shape how the spread of exotic species is affected by ongoing economic globalization and climate change. However, patterns of trade may be correlated with variation in scientific sampling effort globally, potentially confounding studies that do not account for sampling patterns.LocationGlobal.Time periodMuseum records, generally from the 1800s up to 2015.Major taxa studiedPlant species exotic to the United States.MethodsWe used data from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) to summarize the number of plant species with exotic occurrences in the United States that also occur in each other country world-wide. We assessed the relative importance of trade and climatic similarity for explaining variation in the number of shared species while evaluating several methods to account for variation in sampling effort among countries.ResultsAccounting for variation in sampling effort reversed the relative importance of trade and climate for explaining numbers of shared species. Trade was strongly correlated with numbers of shared U.S. exotic plants between the United States and other countries before, but not after, accounting for sampling variation among countries. Conversely, accounting for sampling effort strengthened the relationship between climatic similarity and species sharing. Using the number of records as a measure of sampling effort provided a straightforward approach for the analysis of occurrence data, whereas species richness estimators and rarefaction were less effective at removing sampling bias.Main conclusionsOur work provides support for broad-scale climatic limitation on the distributions of exotic species, illustrates the need to account for variation in sampling effort in large biodiversity databases, and highlights the

    • Warmest Global Temperature on Record on This Week @NASA – January 20, 2017

      NASA Image and Video Library

      2017-01-20

      NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced on Jan. 18, that global surface temperatures in 2016 were the warmest since modern record keeping began in 1880. The finding was based on results of independent analyses by both agencies. According to analysis by scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York, 2016 is the third year in a row to set a new record for global average surface temperatures, further demonstrating a long-term warming trend. Also, Cygnus Cargo Module Arrives at KSC, Up in 30 Seconds, and Remembering Gene Cernan.

    • [Long-term impact of the diagnostic announcement on the insight of patients suffering from schizophrenic disorders].

      PubMed

      Gastal, D; Januel, D

      2010-06-01

      with this disease for many years, these episodes have taken on a taboo status compared to patients in the early stage of the disease. One can consider that the psychiatrists proposed this psycho-informative protocol to younger patients. The results obtained with the SUMD scale were improved in the population "P" as regards development of insight (significantly with the factor 5). Attribution (factor 5) is the factor which the patients had the greatest difficulty estimating. Attribution is the result of external training, rather than awareness which solicits greater introspection. Therefore, psycho-education support played the role of "apprenticeship". Degree of insight was globally of good quality in this questionnaire (compared with the self-questionnaire). Results of the self-questionnaire: SAIQ shows that the degree of insight is quite low in both populations. Few authentic and reflected answers were possible in either of the two groups. However, the presence of a correlation between the overall two scores confirms that we did assess the same phenomenon. The PANSS clinical evaluation shows that the population "P" has symptoms of lesser intensity overall and significantly fewer positive symptoms than the population "SP". The limits of our study are linked to the small number of patients included, despite a homogeneous sample. In conclusion, the protocol of diagnostic announcement and psycho-education have helped stabilize schizophrenic patients in order to improve their insight, without increasing the intensity of this disease in the short- or long-term. Work on insight should allow a new understanding of the patient's relation with the disease along with the medical team and his close relations. Copyright (c) 2009 L'Encéphale, Paris. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

    • 75 FR 71137 - Announcement of Funding Awards for the HOPE VI Revitalization Grant Program for Fiscal Year 2009

      Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

      2010-11-22

      ... grant program. This announcement contains the names and addresses of this FY 2009's award recipients... Awards for the HOPE VI Revitalization Grant Program for Fiscal Year 2009 AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing, HUD. ACTION: Announcement of funding awards. SUMMARY: In accordance...

    • Estimating unbiased magnitudes for the announced DPRK nuclear tests, 2006-2016

      NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

      Peacock, Sheila; Bowers, David

      2017-04-01

      The seismic disturbances generated from the five (2006-2016) announced nuclear test explosions by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) are of moderate magnitude (body-wave magnitude mb 4-5) by global earthquake standards. An upward bias of network mean mb of low- to moderate-magnitude events is long established, and is caused by the censoring of readings from stations where the signal was below noise level at the time of the predicted arrival. This sampling bias can be overcome by maximum-likelihood methods using station thresholds at detecting (and non-detecting) stations. Bias in the mean mb can also be introduced by differences in the network of stations recording each explosion - this bias can reduced by using station corrections. We apply a maximum-likelihood (JML) inversion that jointly estimates station corrections and unbiased network mb for the five DPRK explosions recorded by the CTBTO International Monitoring Network (IMS) of seismic stations. The thresholds can either be directly measured from the noise preceding the observed signal, or determined by statistical analysis of bulletin amplitudes. The network mb of the first and smallest explosion is reduced significantly relative to the mean mb (to < 4.0 mb) by removal of the censoring bias.

    • Pre-Production Planning for Public Service Announcements: A Case Study.

      ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

      Johnson, Mark

      To investigate the factors behind the overall lack of success of televised public service announcements (PSAs), five Marine recruitment PSAs were studied using 138 college undergraduate students (75% male and 90% freshmen and sophomores). Results indicated the following: in general, the PSA messages were perceived as alienating by the students;…

    • CALIPSO V1.00 L3 IceCloud Formal Release Announcement

      Atmospheric Science Data Center

      2018-06-13

      ... The Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC) at NASA Langley Research Center in collaboration with the CALIPSO mission team announces the ... distributions of ice cloud extinction coefficients and ice water content histograms on a uniform spatial grid.  All parameters are ...

    • 78 FR 16502 - Emergency Access Advisory Committee; Announcement of Charter Extension

      Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

      2013-03-15

      ... FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION [DA 13-28 and DA 13-331] Emergency Access Advisory Committee; Announcement of Charter Extension AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission. ACTION: Notice; correction. SUMMARY: In this document, the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) is correcting a notice that appeared...

    • PUBLISHER'S ANNOUNCEMENT: Editorial developments

      NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

      2009-01-01

      We are delighted to announce that from January 2009, Professor Murray T Batchelor of the Australian National University, Canberra will be the new Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical. Murray Batchelor has been Editor of the Mathematical Physics section of the journal since 2007. Prior to this, he served as a Board Member and an Advisory Panel member for the journal. His primary area of research is the statistical mechanics of exactly solved models. He holds a joint appointment in mathematics and physics and has held visiting positions at the Universities of Leiden, Amsterdam, Oxford and Tokyo. We very much look forward to working with Murray to continue to improve the journal's quality and interest to the readership. We would like to thank our outgoing Editor-in-Chief, Professor Carl M Bender. Carl has done a magnificent job as Editor-in-Chief and has worked tirelessly to improve the journal over the last five years. Carl has been instrumental in designing and implementing strategies that have enhanced the quality of papers published and service provided by Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical. Notably, under his tenure, we have introduced the Fast Track Communications (FTC) section to the journal. This section provides a venue for outstanding short papers that report new and timely developments in mathematical and theoretical physics and offers accelerated publication and high visibility for our authors. During the last five years, we have raised the quality threshold for acceptance in the journal and now reject over 60% of submissions. As a result, papers published in Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical are amongst the best in the field. We have also maintained and improved on our excellent receipt-to-first-decision times, which now average less than 50 days for papers. We have recently announced another innovation; the Journal of Physics A Best Paper Prize. These prizes will honour excellent papers

    • A mechanistic, globally-applicable model of plant nitrogen uptake, retranslocation and fixation

      NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

      Fisher, J. B.; Tan, S.; Malhi, Y.; Fisher, R. A.; Sitch, S.; Huntingford, C.

      2008-12-01

      Nitrogen is one of the nutrients that can most limit plant growth, and nitrogen availability may be a controlling factor on biosphere responses to climate change. We developed a plant nitrogen assimilation model based on a) advective transport through the transpiration stream, b) retranslocation whereby carbon is expended to resorb nitrogen from leaves, c) active uptake whereby carbon is expended to acquire soil nitrogen, and d) biological nitrogen fixation whereby carbon is expended for symbiotic nitrogen fixers. The model relies on 9 inputs: 1) net primary productivity (NPP), 2) plant C:N ratio, 3) available soil nitrogen, 4) root biomass, 5) transpiration rate, 6) saturated soil depth,7) leaf nitrogen before senescence, 8) soil temperature, and 9) ability to fix nitrogen. A carbon cost of retranslocation is estimated based on leaf nitrogen and compared to an active uptake carbon cost based on root biomass and available soil nitrogen; for nitrogen fixers both costs are compared to a carbon cost of fixation dependent on soil temperature. The NPP is then allocated to optimize growth while maintaining the C:N ratio. The model outputs are total plant nitrogen uptake, remaining NPP available for growth, carbon respired to the soil and updated available soil nitrogen content. We test and validate the model (called FUN: Fixation and Uptake of Nitrogen) against data from the UK, Germany and Peru, and run the model under simplified scenarios of primary succession and climate change. FUN is suitable for incorporation into a land surface scheme of a General Circulation Model and will be coupled with a soil model and dynamic global vegetation model as part of a land surface model (JULES).

    • Speech intelligibility and speech quality of modified loudspeaker announcements examined in a simulated aircraft cabin.

      PubMed

      Pennig, Sibylle; Quehl, Julia; Wittkowski, Martin

      2014-01-01

      Acoustic modifications of loudspeaker announcements were investigated in a simulated aircraft cabin to improve passengers' speech intelligibility and quality of communication in this specific setting. Four experiments with 278 participants in total were conducted in an acoustic laboratory using a standardised speech test and subjective rating scales. In experiments 1 and 2 the sound pressure level (SPL) of the announcements was varied (ranging from 70 to 85 dB(A)). Experiments 3 and 4 focused on frequency modification (octave bands) of the announcements. All studies used a background noise with the same SPL (74 dB(A)), but recorded at different seat positions in the aircraft cabin (front, rear). The results quantify speech intelligibility improvements with increasing signal-to-noise ratio and amplification of particular octave bands, especially the 2 kHz and the 4 kHz band. Thus, loudspeaker power in an aircraft cabin can be reduced by using appropriate filter settings in the loudspeaker system.

    • 40 CFR 1603.9 - Procedures for public announcement of meetings.

      Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

      2010-07-01

      ... meetings. (a) For each meeting, the CSB shall make public announcement, at least one week before the... meeting; (4) Whether the meeting is to be open or closed; and (5) The name and business telephone number...) The one week advance notice required by paragraph (a) of this section may be reduced only if: (1) A...

    • 40 CFR 1603.9 - Procedures for public announcement of meetings.

      Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

      2011-07-01

      ... meetings. (a) For each meeting, the CSB shall make public announcement, at least one week before the... meeting; (4) Whether the meeting is to be open or closed; and (5) The name and business telephone number...) The one week advance notice required by paragraph (a) of this section may be reduced only if: (1) A...

    • Bibliography of Lewis Research Center technical publications announced in 1980

      NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

      1981-01-01

      This compilation of abstracts describes and indexes over 780 research reports, journal articles, conference presentations, patents and patent applications, and theses resulting from the scientific and engineering work performed and managed by the Lewis Research Center in 1980. All the publications were announced in Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports and/or International Aerospace Abstracts.

    • Best Collaborative Publication Announced during Spring Research Festival Week | Poster

      Cancer.gov

      By Nancy Parrish, Staff Writer The winner of the 2012 competition for the best collaborative publication was announced on May 7, as part of the lead-up to the Spring Research Festival sponsored by the National Interagency Confederation for Biological Research (NICBR) and the National Cancer Institute at Frederick on May 8 and 9.

  1. 75 FR 48723 - Meeting Announcement: Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Advisory Group

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-08-11

    ...] Meeting Announcement: Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Advisory Group AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife... Bird Conservation Act (NMBCA) grants program (Advisory Group) will meet in person and via conference...: Recognizing the importance of conserving migratory birds, the U.S. Congress passed the NMBCA (Pub. L. 106-247...

  2. Announced United States nuclear tests, July 1945 through December 1987

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Not Available

    1988-04-01

    This document lists chronologically and alphabetically by event name all nuclear tests conducted and announced by the United States from July 1945 through December 1987, with the exception of the GMX experiments. The 24 GMX experiments, conducted at the Nevada Test Site (NTS) between December 1954 and February 1956, were /open quotes/equation-of-state/close quotes/ physics studies that used small chemical explosives and small quantities of plutonium. Several tests conducted during Operation Dominic involved missile launches from Johnston Atoll. Several of these missle launches were aborted, resulting in the destruction of the missile and nuclear device either on the pad or inmore » the air. Data on United States tests were obtained from and verified by the Department of Energy's three weapons laboratories--Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California; and Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Additionally, data were obtained from public announcements issued by the Atomic Energy Commission and its successors, the Energy Research and Development Administation and the Department of Energy, respectively.« less

  3. Impact of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Safety-Related Announcements on the Use of Bisphosphonates After Hip Fracture.

    PubMed

    Kim, Seoyoung C; Kim, Dae Hyun; Mogun, Helen; Eddings, Wesley; Polinski, Jennifer M; Franklin, Jessica M; Solomon, Daniel H

    2016-08-01

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued several announcements related to potential risk of bisphosphonates including osteonecrosis of the jaw (2005), atrial fibrillation (2007), and atypical femur fracture (2010). We aimed to evaluate the impact of three FDA drug safety announcements on the use of bisphosphonates in patients with hip fracture using claims data from a U.S. commercial health plan (2004-2013). We calculated the proportion of patients in each quarter who received a bisphosphonate or other osteoporosis medication in the 6 months following hospitalization for hip fracture. Segmented logistic regression models examined the time trends. Among 22,598 patients with hip fracture, use of bisphosphonate decreased from 15% in 2004 to 3% in the last quarter of 2013. Prior to the 2007 announcement, there was a 4% increase in the odds of bisphosphonate use every quarter (OR 1.04; 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.07). After the 2007 announcement, there was a 4% decrease in the odds of bisphosphonate use (OR 0.96; 95% CI, 0.93 to 0.99) every quarter. The announcement in 2007 was associated with a significant decline in the rate of change of bisphosphonate uses over time (p < 0.001), but no impact on other osteoporosis medication use (p = 0.2). After the 2010 announcement, the odds of bisphosphonate use continued to decrease by 4% (OR 0.96; 95% CI, 0.94 to 0.98) each quarter and the odds of other osteoporosis medication use remained stable over time (OR 0.99; 95% CI, 0.96 to 1.02). The FDA safety announcement related to atrial fibrillation in 2007 was significantly associated with a decrease in bisphosphonate use among patients with hip fracture. © 2016 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research. © 2016 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

  4. 76 FR 21802 - Notice Announcing the Price of the 2010 America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated CoinsTM

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-04-18

    ... DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY United States Mint Notice Announcing the Price of the 2010 America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated CoinsTM ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The United States Mint is announcing the price of the 2010 America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coins TM . In...

  5. 78 FR 8552 - Announcement of Funding Awards, HOPE VI Main Street Grant Program, Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 and 2012

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-02-06

    ... Program. This announcement contains the consolidated names and addresses of the award recipients under... Awards, HOPE VI Main Street Grant Program, Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 and 2012 AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing, HUD. ACTION: Announcement of funding awards. SUMMARY: In accordance...

  6. Space Shuttle Placement Announcement

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2011-04-12

    From left, Pilot of the first space shuttle mission, STS-1, Bob Crippen, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, NASA Johnson Space Center Director of Flight Crew Operations, and Astronaut, Janet Kavandi, NASA Kennedy Space Center Director and former astronaut Bob Cabana, and Endeavour Vehicle Manager for United Space Alliance Mike Parrish pose for a photograph outside of the an Orbiter Processing Facility with the space shuttle Atlantis shortly after Bolden announced where four space shuttle orbiters will be permanently displayed at the conclusion of the Space Shuttle Program, Tuesday, April 12, 2011, at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The four orbiters, Enterprise, which currently is on display at the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington Dulles International Airport, will move to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York, Discovery will move to Udvar-Hazy, Endeavour will be displayed at the California Science Center in Los Angeles and Atlantis, in background, will be displayed at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor’s Complex. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

  7. Bibliography of Lewis Research Center technical publications announced in 1982

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1983-01-01

    The technical reporting that resulted from the scientific and engineering work performed and managed by the Lewis Research Center in 1982 is described. All the publications were announced in the 1982 issues of STAR (Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports) and/or IAA (International Aerospace Abstracts). Included are research reports, journal articles, conference presentations, patents and patent applications, and theses.

  8. Sec. Chu Announces the First Auto Loans for Advanced Technologies

    ScienceCinema

    Secretary Chu

    2017-12-09

    Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced $8 billion in conditional loan commitments for the development of innovative, advanced vehicle technologies that will create thousands of green jobs while helping reduce the nation’s dangerous dependence on foreign oil. The first three auto loans for advanced technologies were awarded to Ford Motor Company, Nissan Motors and Tesla Motors.

  9. Accuracy of Voice-Announcement Pedometers for Youth with Visual Impairment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Beets, Michael W.; Foley, John T.; Tindall, Daniel W. S.; Lieberman, Lauren J.

    2007-01-01

    Thirty-five youth with visual impairments (13.5 plus or minus 2.1 yrs, 13 girls and 22 boys) walked four 100-meter distances while wearing two units (right and left placement) of three brands of voice-announcement (VA) pedometers (Centrios[TM] Talking Pedometer, TALKiNG Pedometer, and Sportline Talking Calorie Pedometer 343) and a reference…

  10. Sec. Chu Announces the First Auto Loans for Advanced Technologies

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Secretary Chu

    2009-07-16

    Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced $8 billion in conditional loan commitments for the development of innovative, advanced vehicle technologies that will create thousands of green jobs while helping reduce the nation’s dangerous dependence on foreign oil. The first three auto loans for advanced technologies were awarded to Ford Motor Company, Nissan Motors and Tesla Motors.

  11. DEIMOS-1 Announcement of Opportunity: New Challenges and Achievements

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Casanova, J.-L.; Duque, P.; Calle, A.; Romo, A.; Sanz, J.; Bello, M.

    2010-12-01

    This paper will show the projects and results obtained as consequence of the Deimos-1 Announcement of Opportunity, AO, offered by the Spanish company Deimos Imaging, owner and manager of the first commercial Spanish satellite dedicated to Earth Observation: Deimos-1. The satellite Deimos-1 belongs to the DMC (Disaster Managing Constellation) and it was launched on July, 2009, by means of a Dnepr rocket, from the Russian cosmodrome of Baikonur.

  12. 45 CFR 1703.207 - Change in meeting plans after public announcement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 45 Public Welfare 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Change in meeting plans after public announcement. 1703.207 Section 1703.207 Public Welfare Regulations Relating to Public Welfare (Continued) NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE GOVERNMENT IN THE SUNSHINE ACT Procedures Governing Decisions...

  13. 45 CFR 1703.207 - Change in meeting plans after public announcement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... 45 Public Welfare 4 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Change in meeting plans after public announcement. 1703.207 Section 1703.207 Public Welfare Regulations Relating to Public Welfare (Continued) NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE GOVERNMENT IN THE SUNSHINE ACT Procedures Governing Decisions...

  14. Announcing the Availability of the MIT SMASS and SMASSIR Data Sets

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Binzel, R. P.; Bus, S. J.; Burbine, T. H.; Rivkin, A. S.

    2001-01-01

    We announce the release of visible and near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy measurements for nearly 2000 asteroids obtained by the MIT Small Main-Belt Asteroid Spectroscopic Survey (SMASS) program. Data are being released via http://smass.mit.edu. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

  15. 77 FR 27015 - Announcement of Grant Application Deadlines and Funding Levels

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-05-08

    ... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Rural Utilities Service Announcement of Grant Application Deadlines and Funding Levels Correction In notice document 2012-10614 appearing on pages 26241-26245 the issue of Thursday, May 3, 2012 make the following correction: On page 26244, in the second column, in the second...

  16. 76 FR 9614 - Notice of Availability of the Proposed Models for Plant-Specific Adoption of Technical...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-02-18

    ... NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [NRC-2011-0039] Notice of Availability of the Proposed Models for..., ``Technical Specifications End States, NEDC-32988-A,'' for Boiling Water Reactor Plants Using the Consolidated... Availability. SUMMARY: The NRC is announcing the availability of the model application (with model no...

  17. 75 FR 39953 - Modification to the Basic Center Program Funding Opportunity Announcement

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-07-13

    .... Announcement Type: Modification. Funding Opportunity Number: HHS-2010-ACF-ACYF-CY-0002. CFDA Number: 93.623... points. Margins less than \\1/2\\ inch: Deduction of 3 points. Font is not at least 12-point size or Times...

  18. Announced reward counteracts the effects of chronic social stress on anticipatory behavior and hippocampal synaptic plasticity in rats.

    PubMed

    Kamal, Amer; Van der Harst, Johanneke E; Kapteijn, Chantal M; Baars, Annemarie J M; Spruijt, Berry M; Ramakers, Geert M J

    2010-04-01

    Chronic stress causes insensitivity to rewards (anhedonia) in rats, reflected by the absence of anticipatory behavior for a sucrose-reward, which can be reversed by antidepressant treatment or repeated announced transfer to an enriched cage. It was, however, not clear whether the highly rewarding properties of the enriched cage alone caused this reversal or whether the anticipation of this reward as such had an additional effect. Therefore, the present study compared the consequences of the announcement of a reward to the mere effect of a reward alone with respect to their efficacy to counteract the consequences of chronic stress. Two forms of synaptic plasticity, long-term potentiation and long-term depression were investigated in area CA1 of the hippocampus. This was done in socially stressed rats (induced by defeat and subsequent long-term individual housing), socially stressed rats that received a reward (short-term enriched housing) and socially stressed rats to which this reward was announced by means of a stimulus that was repeatedly paired to the reward. The results were compared to corresponding control rats. We show that announcement of enriched housing appeared to have had an additional effect compared to the enriched housing per se as indicated by a significant higher amount of LTP. In conclusion, announced short-term enriched housing has a high and long-lasting counteracting efficacy on stress-induced alterations of hippocampal synaptic plasticity. This information is important for counteracting the consequences of chronic stress in both human and captive rats.

  19. Next biotech plants: new traits, crops, developers and technologies for addressing global challenges.

    PubMed

    Ricroch, Agnès E; Hénard-Damave, Marie-Cécile

    2016-08-01

    Most of the genetically modified (GM) plants currently commercialized encompass a handful of crop species (soybean, corn, cotton and canola) with agronomic characters (traits) directed against some biotic stresses (pest resistance, herbicide tolerance or both) and created by multinational companies. The same crops with agronomic traits already on the market today will continue to be commercialized, but there will be also a wider range of species with combined traits. The timeframe anticipated for market release of the next biotech plants will not only depend on science progress in research and development (R&D) in laboratories and fields, but also primarily on how demanding regulatory requirements are in countries where marketing approvals are pending. Regulatory constraints, including environmental and health impact assessments, have increased significantly in the past decades, delaying approvals and increasing their costs. This has sometimes discouraged public research entities and small and medium size plant breeding companies from using biotechnology and given preference to other technologies, not as stringently regulated. Nevertheless, R&D programs are flourishing in developing countries, boosted by the necessity to meet the global challenges that are food security of a booming world population while mitigating climate change impacts. Biotechnology is an instrument at the service of these imperatives and a wide variety of plants are currently tested for their high yield despite biotic and abiotic stresses. Many plants with higher water or nitrogen use efficiency, tolerant to cold, salinity or water submergence are being developed. Food security is not only a question of quantity but also of quality of agricultural and food products, to be available and accessible for the ones who need it the most. Many biotech plants (especially staple food) are therefore being developed with nutritional traits, such as biofortification in vitamins and metals. The main

  20. 76 FR 13125 - Announcement of Grant Application Deadlines and Funding Levels; Correction

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-03-10

    ... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Rural Utilities Service Announcement of Grant Application Deadlines and Funding Levels; Correction AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, USDA. ACTION: Notice of Solicitation of Applications; correction. SUMMARY: The United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Rural Utilities Service...

  1. 76 FR 68499 - Draft WaterSMART Cooperative Watershed Management Program Funding Opportunity Announcement

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-11-04

    ... local watersheds through collaborative conservation. We plan to publish a final announcement as soon as... watershed needs. Through this program, we provide Federal leadership and assistance on; Efficient use of...

  2. 29 CFR 1209.07 - Notice of meetings; public announcement and publication.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    .... 1209.07 Section 1209.07 Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) NATIONAL MEDIATION BOARD PUBLIC OBSERVATION OF NATIONAL MEDIATION BOARD MEETINGS § 1209.07 Notice of meetings; public announcement and... organizations may request the Chief of Staff, National Mediation Board, Washington, DC 20572 to place them on a...

  3. 78 FR 79411 - Announcement of Competition Under the America COMPETES Act

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-12-30

    ... announces the Cyber Grand Challenge (CGC), a prize competition under 15 U.S.C. 3719, the America COMPETES... cyber defense systems. The CGC seeks to engender a new generation of autonomous cyber defense... experts. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: All questions regarding the competition may be sent to Cyber...

  4. 78 FR 53452 - Notice Announcing Filing Priority for Preliminary Permit Applications

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-08-29

    ... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Notice Announcing Filing Priority for Preliminary Permit Applications Lock+ Hydro Friends Fund XXX, LLC.. Project No. 13625-003 FFP Project 121, LLC.... FFP Project 121, LLC Project No. 14504-000 2. Lock+ Hydro Friends Fund XXX, LLC Project No. 13625-003...

  5. 76 FR 66250 - Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Designation of Critical Habitat for Lepidium...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-10-26

    ...-0-0009] RIN 1018-AX16 Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Designation of Critical Habitat...), announce the reopening of the comment period on our May 10, 2011, proposal to designate critical habitat... comment period on our proposed critical habitat for Lepidium papilliferum that was published in the...

  6. Remote sensing/global change. A special bibliography

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1994-01-01

    The first portion of this bibliography contains citations (with abstracts, when available) to unclassified literature contained in the NASA STI Database. These citations also appeared in issues of the abstract journal 'Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports (STAR)', or in other announcement products offered by the NASA STI Program. The citations appear in ascending accession number order. A second section provides several indexes to the citations. They are subject term, personal author, report number, and accession number. The citations are included for the following disciplines as they relate to remote sensing and global change: astronautics, engineering, geosciences, life sciences, mathematical and computer sciences, social sciences, and space sciences.

  7. Low flows and water temperature risks to Asian coal power plants in a warming world

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Y.; Byers, E.; Parkinson, S.; Wanders, N.; Wada, Y.; Bielicki, J. M.

    2017-12-01

    Thermoelectric power generation requires cooling, normally provided by wet cooling systems. The withdrawal and discharge of cooling water are subject to regulation. Therefore, operation of power plants may be vulnerable to changes in streamflow and rises in water temperatures. In Asia, about 489 GW of coal-fired power plants are currently under construction, permitted, or announced. Using a comprehensive dataset of these planned coal power plants (PCPPs) and cooling water use models, we investigated whether electricity generation at these power plants will be limited by streamflow and water temperature. Daily streamflow and water temperature time series are from the high-resolution (0.08ox0.08o) runs of the PCRGLOBWB hydrological model, driven by downscaled meteorological forcing from five global climate models. We compared three climate change scenarios (1.5oC, 2oC, and 3oC warming in global mean temperature) and three cooling system choice scenarios (freshwater once-through, freshwater cooling tower, and "business-as-usual" - where a PCPP uses the same cooling system as the nearest existing coal power plant). The potential available capacity of the PCPPs increase slightly from the 1.5oC to the 2oC and 3oC warming scenario due to increase in streamflow. The once-through cooling scenario results in virtually zero available capacity at the PCPPs. The other two cooling scenarios result in about 20% of the planned capacity being unavailable under all warming scenarios. Hotspots of the most water-limited PCPPs are in Pakistan, northwestern India, northwestern and north-central China, and northern Vietnam, where most of the PCPPs will face 30% to 90% unavailable nameplate capacity on annual average. Since coal power plants cannot operate effectively when the capacity factor falls below a minimum load level (about 20% to 50%), the actual limitation on generation capacity would be larger. In general, the PCPPs that will have the highest limitation on annual average

  8. Tree die-off in response to global change-type drought: Mortality insights from a decade of plant water potential measurements

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Breshears, D.D.; Myers, O.B.; Meyer, Clifton W.; Barnes, F.J.; Zou, C.B.; Allen, Craig D.; McDowell, N.G.; Pockman, W. T.

    2009-01-01

    Global climate change is projected to produce warmer, longer, and more frequent droughts, referred to here as “global change-type droughts”, which have the potential to trigger widespread tree die-off. However, drought-induced tree mortality cannot be predicted with confidence, because long-term field observations of plant water stress prior to, and culminating in, mortality are rare, precluding the development and testing of mechanisms. Here, we document plant water stress in two widely distributed, co-occurring species, piñon pine (Pinus edulis) and juniper (Juniperus monosperma), over more than a decade, leading up to regional-scale die-off of piñon pine trees in response to global change-related drought. Piñon leaf water potentials remained substantially below their zero carbon assimilation point for at least 10 months prior to dying, in contrast to those of juniper, which rarely dropped below their zero-assimilation point. These data suggest that piñon mortality was driven by protracted water stress, leading to carbon starvation and associated increases in susceptibility to other disturbances (eg bark beetles), a finding that should help to improve predictions of mortality during drought.

  9. Bibliography of Lewis Research Center Technical Publications announced in 1991

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1992-01-01

    This compilation of abstracts describes and indexes the technical reporting that resulted from the scientific engineering work performed and managed by the Lewis Research Center in 1991. All the publications were announced in the 1991 issues of STAR (Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports) and/or IAA (International Aerospace Abstracts). Included are research reports, journal articles, conference presentations, patents and patent applications, and theses.

  10. Bibliography of Lewis Research Center technical publications announced in 1983

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1984-01-01

    This compilation of abstracts describes and indexes over 800 technical publications that resulted from the scientific and engineering work performed and managed by the Lewis Research Center in 1983. Announced in the 1983 issues of STAR (Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports) and/or IAA (International Aerospace Abstracts), the documents cited include research reports, journal articles, conference presentations, patents and patent applications, and theses.

  11. NCI's Proteome Characterization Centers Announced | Office of Cancer Clinical Proteomics Research

    Cancer.gov

    The National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, announces the launch of a Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (CPTAC). CPTAC is a comprehensive, coordinated team effort to accelerate the understanding of the molecular basis of cancer through the application of robust, quantitative, proteomic technologies and workflows.

  12. 32 CFR 37.405 - What must my announcement or solicitation include?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 32 National Defense 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false What must my announcement or solicitation include? 37.405 Section 37.405 National Defense Department of Defense OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE... competitive procedure, must include the basic information described in 32 CFR 22.315(a). Additional elements...

  13. Invasive Plants on Rangelands: a Global Threat

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Invasive plant species are spreading and invading rangelands at an unprecedented rate costing ranchers billions of dollars to control invasive plants each year. In its simplest form, the invasion process has four primary stages, including introduction, establishment, spread and colonization. Th...

  14. Root Systems of Individual Plants, and the Biotic and Abiotic Factors Controlling Their Depth and Distribution: a Synthesis Using a Global Database.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tumber-Davila, S. J.; Schenk, H. J.; Jackson, R. B.

    2017-12-01

    This synthesis examines plant rooting distributions globally, by doubling the number of entries in the Root Systems of Individual Plants database (RSIP) created by Schenk and Jackson. Root systems influence many processes, including water and nutrient uptake and soil carbon storage. Root systems also mediate vegetation responses to changing climatic and environmental conditions. Therefore, a collective understanding of the importance of rooting systems to carbon sequestration, soil characteristics, hydrology, and climate, is needed. Current global models are limited by a poor understanding of the mechanisms affecting rooting, carbon stocks, and belowground biomass. This improved database contains an extensive bank of records describing the rooting system of individual plants, as well as detailed information on the climate and environment from which the observations are made. The expanded RSIP database will: 1) increase our understanding of rooting depths, lateral root spreads and above and belowground allometry; 2) improve the representation of plant rooting systems in Earth System Models; 3) enable studies of how climate change will alter and interact with plant species and functional groups in the future. We further focus on how plant rooting behavior responds to variations in climate and the environment, and create a model that can predict rooting behavior given a set of environmental conditions. Preliminary results suggest that high potential evapotranspiration and seasonality of precipitation are indicative of deeper rooting after accounting for plant growth form. When mapping predicted deep rooting by climate, we predict deepest rooting to occur in equatorial South America, Africa, and central India.

  15. 76 FR 31241 - Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) Program; Massachusetts; Announcing Delegation...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-05-31

    ... Deterioration (PSD) Program; Massachusetts; Announcing Delegation Agreement Between EPA and Massachusetts... authority to implement and enforce the Federal Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) program to the MassDEP. Therefore, effective that date, MassDEP is the implementing authority for the PSD program in...

  16. 17 CFR 240.10b-17 - Untimely announcements of record dates.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... distribution and if that security is a right or a warrant, the subscription price, (e) In any other property... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Untimely announcements of record dates. 240.10b-17 Section 240.10b-17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE...

  17. Evaluating the Effect of a Television Public Service Announcement about Epilepsy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Martiniuk, Alexandra L. C.; Secco, Mary; Yake, Laura; Speechley, Kathy N.

    2010-01-01

    Public service announcements (PSAs) are non-commercial advertisements aiming to improve knowledge, attitudes and/or behavior. No evaluations of epilepsy PSAs exist. This study sought to evaluate a televised PSA showing first aid for a seizure. A multilevel regression analysis was used to determine the effect of the PSA on epilepsy knowledge and…

  18. The National Plant Germplasm System and GRIN-Global

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS) is a cooperative effort by public and private organizations to preserve plant genetic diversity. Federal and State personnel at 20 sites are responsible for approximately 547,000 unique accessions of a wide array of plant genetic resources (PGR) representi...

  19. [Enriching the diagnosis announcement system with the coordination passport].

    PubMed

    Bertrand, Nathalie

    2016-05-01

    The personalised care plan of a person with cancer requires proper coordination between the various professionals involved in their care at the different stages of their illness. In order to organise this coordination efficiently, for the patient as well as for the health professionals, an oncology hospital team has developed a practical and modular tool. The coordination passport enriches the diagnosis announcement system used in the hospital. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  20. New bipartisan Senate Oceans Caucus announced

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Uhlenbrock, Kristan

    2011-10-01

    The U.S. Senate has a new Oceans Caucus, which held its inaugural meeting on Tuesday, 13 September 2011, when it announced its focus: to “increase awareness and find common ground in responding to issues facing the oceans and coasts, which support millions of jobs in America.” The House of Representatives has had an Oceans Caucus for almost 10 years. Caucus members are listed below. The caucus is looking for additional senators to join, especially those representing the Great Lakes region. If your senators are not members of the caucus and you would like them to be, contact their office and let them know. AGU public affairs can provide you with more information on how to connect with your senators; check us out at http://www.agu.org/sci_pol/

  1. 76 FR 41264 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Announcement of Office of Management and Budget...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-07-13

    ...; Cosmetic Labeling Regulations AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing that a collection of information entitled ``Cosmetic...

  2. Bibliography of Lewis Research Center technical publications announced in 1992

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1993-01-01

    This compilation of abstracts describes and indexes the technical reporting that resulted from the scientific and engineering work performed and managed by the Lewis Research Center in 1992. All the publications were announced in the 1992 issues of STAR (Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports) and/or IAA (International Aerospace Abstracts). Included are research reports, journal articles, conference presentations, patents and patent applications, and theses.

  3. Bibliography of Lewis Research Center technical publications announced in 1993

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1994-01-01

    This compilation of abstracts describes and indexes the technical reporting that resulted from the scientific and engineering work performed and managed by the Lewis Research Center in 1993. All the publications were announced in the 1993 issues of STAR (Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports) and/or IAA (International Aerospace Abstracts). Included are research reports, journal articles, conference presentations, patents and patent applications, and theses.

  4. Bibliography of Lewis Research Center technical publications announced in 1990

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1991-01-01

    This compilation of abstracts describes and indexes the technical reporting that resulted from the scientific and engineering work performed and managed by the Lewis Research Center in 1990. All the publications were announced in the 1990 issues of STAR (Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports) and/or IAA (International Aerospace Abstracts). Included are research reports, journal articles, conference presentations, patents and patent applications, and theses.

  5. Bibliography of Lewis Research Center technical publications announced in 1977

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1978-01-01

    This compilation of abstracts describes and indexes over 780 technical reports resulting from the scientific and engineering work performed and managed by the Lewis Research Center in 1977. All the publications were announced in the 1977 issues of STAR (Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports) and/or IAA (International Aerospace Abstracts). Documents cited include research reports, journal articles, conference presentations, patents and patent applications, and theses.

  6. Bibliography of Lewis Research Center technical publications announced in 1985

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1986-01-01

    This compilation of abstracts describes and indexes the technical reporting that resulted from the scientific and engineering work performed and managed by the Lewis Research Center in 1985. All the publications were announced in the 1985 issues of STAR (Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports) and/or IAA (International Aerospace Abstracts). Included are research reports, journal articles, conference presentations, patents and patent applications, and theses.

  7. Bibliography of Lewis Research Center technical publications announced in 1981

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1982-01-01

    Technical reporting that resulted from the scientific and engineering work performed and managed by the Lewis Research Center in 1981 are indexed and abstracted. All the publications were announced in the 1981 issues of STAR (Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports) and/or IAA (International Aerospace Abstracts). Included are research reports, journal articles, conference presentations, patent applications, and theses. A total of 384 technical publications is listed.

  8. Bibliography of Lewis Research Center technical publications announced in 1987

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1988-01-01

    This compilation of abstracts describes and indexes the technical reporting that resulted from the scientific and engineering work performed and managed by the Lewis Research Center in 1987. All the publications were announced in the 1987 issues of STAR (Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports) and/or IAA (International Aerospace Abstracts). Included are research reports, journal articles, conference presentations, patents and patent applications, and theses.

  9. Bibliography of Lewis Research Center technical publications announced in 1989

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1990-01-01

    This compilation of abstracts describes and indexes the technical reporting that resulted from the scientific and engineering work performed and managed by the Lewis Research Center in 1989. All the publications were announced in the 1989 issues of STAR (Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports) and/or IAA (International Aerospace Abstracts). Included are research reports, journal articles, conference presentations, patents and patent applications, and theses.

  10. Bibliography of Lewis Research Center technical publications announced in 1984

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1985-01-01

    This compilation of abstracts describes and indexes the technical reporting that resulted from the scientific and engineering work performed and managed by the Lewis Research Center in 1984. All the publications were announced in the 1984 issues of STAR (Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports) and/or IAA (International Aerospace Abstracts). Included are research reports, journal articles, conference presentations, patents and patent applications, and theses.

  11. Bibliography of Lewis Research Center technical publications announced in 1986

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1987-01-01

    This compilation of abstracts describes and indexes the technical reporting that resulted from the scientific and engineering work performed and managed by the Lewis Research Center in 1986. All the publications were announced in the 1986 issues of Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports (STAR) and/or International Aerospace Abstracts (IAA). Included are research reports, journal articles, conference presentations, patents and patent applications, and theses.

  12. 78 FR 9914 - Emergency Access Advisory Committee; Announcement of Date of Next Meeting

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-02-12

    ... FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION [DA 12-127] Emergency Access Advisory Committee; Announcement of Date of Next Meeting AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: This document... the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission). ADDRESSES: Federal Communications...

  13. 76 FR 38203 - Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Amendment to the Draft Recovery Plan for the...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-06-29

    ..., habituation to captive conditions, and genetic bottlenecks. The prospects for long-term viability of the...] Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Amendment to the Draft Recovery Plan for the Columbia Basin...), announce the availability of an amendment to the Draft Recovery Plan for the Columbia Basin Distinct...

  14. Advancing Genomics through the Global Invertebrate Genomics Alliance (GIGA).

    PubMed

    Voolstra, Christian R; Wörheide, Gert; Lopez, Jose V

    2017-03-01

    The Global Invertebrate Genomics Alliance (GIGA), a collaborative network of diverse scientists, marked its second anniversary with a workshop in Munich, Germany, where international attendees focused on discussing current progress, milestones and bioinformatics resources. The community determined the recruitment and training talented researchers as one of the most pressing future needs and identified opportunities for network funding. GIGA also promotes future research efforts to prioritize taxonomic diversity and create new synergies. Here, we announce the generation of a central and simple data repository portal with a wide coverage of available sequence data, via the compagen platform, in parallel with more focused and specialized organism databases to globally advance invertebrate genomics. Therefore this article serves the objectives of GIGA by disseminating current progress and future prospects in the science of invertebrate genomics with the aim of promotion and facilitation of interdisciplinary and international research.

  15. 75 FR 4414 - Wind Turbine Guidelines Advisory Committee; Announcement of Public Meeting

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-01-27

    ...] Wind Turbine Guidelines Advisory Committee; Announcement of Public Meeting AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife... (Service), will host a Wind Turbine Guidelines Advisory Committee (Committee) meeting March 2- 4, 2010. The.../wind_turbine_advisory_committee.html , by February 23, 2010. Seating is limited due to room capacity...

  16. Institutional Branding: A Content Analysis of Public Service Announcements from American Universities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Clayton, Michael J.; Cavanagh, Kevin V.; Hettche, Matt

    2012-01-01

    American universities receive millions of dollars worth of media exposure every year via Public Service Announcements (PSAs) broadcast during their respective school's athletic competitions. This research explores the message strategies and executional devices used by NCAA FBS (National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Bowl Subdivision)…

  17. 75 FR 67983 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Announcement of Office of Management and Budget...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-11-04

    ...; Infant Formula Requirements AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing that a collection of information entitled ``Infant Formula...

  18. A Global Phylogeny of Leafmining Ectoedemia Moths (Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae): Exploring Host Plant Family Shifts and Allopatry as Drivers of Speciation

    PubMed Central

    Doorenweerd, Camiel; van Nieukerken, Erik J.; Menken, Steph B. J.

    2015-01-01

    Background Host association patterns in Ectoedemia (Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae) are also encountered in other insect groups with intimate plant relationships, including a high degree of monophagy, a preference for ecologically dominant plant families (e.g. Fagaceae, Rosaceae, Salicaceae, and Betulaceae) and a tendency for related insect species to feed on related host plant species. The evolutionary processes underlying these patterns are only partly understood, we therefore assessed the role of allopatry and host plant family shifts in speciation within Ectoedemia. Methodology Six nuclear and mitochondrial DNA markers with a total aligned length of 3692 base pairs were used to infer phylogenetic relationships among 92 species belonging to the subgenus Ectoedemia of the genus Ectoedemia, representing a thorough taxon sampling with a global coverage. The results support monophyletic species groups that are congruent with published findings based on morphology. We used the obtained phylogeny to explore host plant family association and geographical distribution to investigate if host shifts and allopatry have been instrumental in the speciation of these leafmining insects. Significance We found that, even though most species within species groups commonly feed on plants from one family, shifts to a distantly related host family have occasionally occurred throughout the phylogeny and such shifts are most commonly observed towards Betulaceae. The largest radiations have occurred within species groups that feed on Fagaceae, Rosaceae, and Salicaceae. Most species are restricted to one of the seven global biogeographic regions, but within species groups representatives are commonly found in different biogeographic regions. Although we find general patterns with regard to host use and biogeography, there are differences between clades that suggest that different drivers of speciation, and perhaps drivers that we did not examine, have shaped diversity patterns in different

  19. 77 FR 34972 - Announcement of Funding Awards for the McKinney-Vento HMIS Technical Assistance (HMIS TA) Fiscal...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-06-12

    ...In accordance with section 102(a)(4)(C) of the Department of Housing and Urban Development Reform Act of 1989, this announcement notifies the public of funding decisions made by the Department in a competition for funding under the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the McKinney-Vento HMIS Technical Assistance program. This announcement contains the names of the awardees and amounts of the awards made available by HUD.

  20. 77 FR 10766 - Announcement of Funding Awards for the McKinney-Vento HMIS Technical Assistance (HMIS TA) Fiscal...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-02-23

    ...In accordance with section 102(a)(4)(C) of the Department of Housing and Urban Development Reform Act of 1989, this announcement notifies the public of funding decisions made by the Department in a competition for funding under the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the McKinney-Vento HMIS Technical Assistance program. This announcement contains the names of the awardees and amounts of the awards made available by HUD.

  1. 75 FR 78209 - Black Hills National Forest Advisory Board Public Meeting Dates Announced

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-12-15

    ... National Forest Advisory Board (NFAB) has announced its meeting dates for 2011. These meetings are open to...). February 16. March 16. April 20. May 18. June 15. July (No Meeting). August 17 (Summer Field Trip--TBA...

  2. 78 FR 97 - Emergency Access Advisory Committee; Announcement of Date of Next Meeting

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-01-02

    ... FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION [DA 12-2071] Emergency Access Advisory Committee; Announcement of Date of Next Meeting AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: This... headquarters of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission). ADDRESSES: Federal Communications...

  3. The Ingredients of a Public-Private Partnership in Education: The Global Development Alliance Model School Expansion Project in Nicaragua

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Galisson, Kirsten; Brady, Kristin

    2006-01-01

    In May 2001, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell announced the establishment of the Global Development Alliance (GDA) as a key part of a new business model for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The GDA initiative aims to launch best practices in public-private partnerships around the world. The model is designed to…

  4. 78 FR 28606 - Announcement of Funding Awards for the Housing Choice Voucher Family Self-Sufficiency (HCV FSS...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-05-15

    ...In accordance with Section 102(a)(4)(C) of the Department of Housing and Urban Development Reform Act of 1989, this announcement notifies the public of funding decisions made by the Department for funding under the Fiscal Year 2012 (FY2012) Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the Housing Choice Voucher Family Self-Sufficiency (HCV-FSS) program. This announcement contains the consolidated names and addresses of those award recipients selected for funding based on the funding priority categories established in the NOFA.

  5. Youth Gambling Prevention: Can Public Service Announcements Featuring Celebrity Spokespersons Be Effective?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shead, N. Will; Walsh, Kelly; Taylor, Amy; Derevensky, Jeffrey L.; Gupta, Rina

    2011-01-01

    Children and adolescents are at increased risk of developing gambling problems compared to adults. A review of successful prevention campaigns targeting drinking and driving, smoking, unprotected sex, and drug use suggests that public service announcements (PSAs) featuring celebrity spokespersons have strong potential for raising awareness of the…

  6. 78 FR 63176 - Notice Announcing Workshop; Zero Rate Reactive Power Rate Schedules

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-10-23

    ... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket No. AD14-1-000] Notice Announcing Workshop; Zero Rate Reactive Power Rate Schedules Concurrent with this notice, the Commission is issuing an order in Chehalis Power Generating, L.P., Docket No. ER05-1056-007 clarifying its policy...

  7. Stable carbon isotope ratio of methyl chloride emitted from glasshouse-grown tropical plants and its implication for the global methyl chloride budget

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Saito, Takuya; Yokouchi, Yoko

    2008-04-01

    Stable carbon isotope ratios of methyl chloride (CH3Cl) were measured in foliar emissions from 14 species of tropical plants growing in a glasshouse. The isotopic ratio of CH3Cl (arithmetic mean: -83.2 +/- 15.2‰) ranged from -56‰ to -114‰ that from dipterocarp trees (-87.4 +/- 12.3‰) was on average more depleted in 13C than that from tree ferns (-61.9 +/- 9.7‰). The isotopic ratio was lower than that of CH3Cl produced by other known sources (e.g., biomass burning and salt marshes), with the exception of that by dead leaves. Using the distinctive isotope ratio of CH3Cl emitted from tropical plants together with previously reported isotopic data of CH3Cl sources and sinks to an isotopic mass balance calculation, global CH3Cl emission by tropical plants was estimated to be approximately 1500-3000 Gg yr-1 with uncertainties of 30-60%, which could account for 30-50% of the global emission.

  8. Population dynamics of Agriophyllum squarrosum, a pioneer annual plant endemic to mobile sand dunes, in response to global climate change.

    PubMed

    Qian, Chaoju; Yin, Hengxia; Shi, Yong; Zhao, Jiecai; Yin, Chengliang; Luo, Wanyin; Dong, Zhibao; Chen, Guoxiong; Yan, Xia; Wang, Xiao-Ru; Ma, Xiao-Fei

    2016-05-23

    Climate change plays an important role in the transition of ecosystems. Stratigraphic investigations have suggested that the Asian interior experienced frequent transitions between grassland and desert ecosystems as a consequence of global climate change. Using maternally and bi-parentally inherited markers, we investigated the population dynamics of Agriophyllum squarrosum (Chenopodiaceae), an annual pioneer plant endemic to mobile sand dunes. Phylogeographic analysis revealed that A. squarrosum could originate from Gurbantunggut desert since ~1.6 Ma, and subsequently underwent three waves of colonisation into other deserts and sandy lands corresponding to several glaciations. The rapid population expansion and distribution range shifts of A. squarrosum from monsoonal climate zones suggested that the development of the monsoonal climate significantly enhanced the population growth and gene flow of A. squarrosum. These data also suggested that desertification of the fragile grassland ecosystems in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau was more ancient than previously suggested and will be aggravated under global warming in the future. This study provides new molecular phylogeographic insights into how pioneer annual plant species in desert ecosystems respond to global climate change, and facilitates evaluation of the ecological potential and genetic resources of future crops for non-arable dry lands to mitigate climate change.

  9. Population dynamics of Agriophyllum squarrosum, a pioneer annual plant endemic to mobile sand dunes, in response to global climate change

    PubMed Central

    Qian, Chaoju; Yin, Hengxia; Shi, Yong; Zhao, Jiecai; Yin, Chengliang; Luo, Wanyin; Dong, Zhibao; Chen, Guoxiong; Yan, Xia; Wang, Xiao-Ru; Ma, Xiao-Fei

    2016-01-01

    Climate change plays an important role in the transition of ecosystems. Stratigraphic investigations have suggested that the Asian interior experienced frequent transitions between grassland and desert ecosystems as a consequence of global climate change. Using maternally and bi-parentally inherited markers, we investigated the population dynamics of Agriophyllum squarrosum (Chenopodiaceae), an annual pioneer plant endemic to mobile sand dunes. Phylogeographic analysis revealed that A. squarrosum could originate from Gurbantunggut desert since ~1.6 Ma, and subsequently underwent three waves of colonisation into other deserts and sandy lands corresponding to several glaciations. The rapid population expansion and distribution range shifts of A. squarrosum from monsoonal climate zones suggested that the development of the monsoonal climate significantly enhanced the population growth and gene flow of A. squarrosum. These data also suggested that desertification of the fragile grassland ecosystems in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau was more ancient than previously suggested and will be aggravated under global warming in the future. This study provides new molecular phylogeographic insights into how pioneer annual plant species in desert ecosystems respond to global climate change, and facilitates evaluation of the ecological potential and genetic resources of future crops for non-arable dry lands to mitigate climate change. PMID:27210568

  10. Complementary Public Service Announcements as a Strategy for Enhancing the Impact of Health-Promoting Messages in Fictional Television Programs.

    PubMed

    Bavin, Lynda M; Owens, R Glynn

    2018-05-01

    Research suggests that health-promoting storylines in developed nations' fictional television programs can have a beneficial impact on viewers' beliefs, attitudes, intentions, or behaviors. The sizes of the effects are generally modest; however, the audience reach is substantial. Given that many fictional programs may hold the prolonged attention of millions of viewers, it is of value to examine potential strategies for enhancing the persuasive impact of their health-promoting storylines. Complementary public service announcements may be a promising strategy. This randomized experimental study (N = 310) examined the effects of viewing a complementary public service announcement after an organ donation story in an episode of Grey's Anatomy. Results indicated that the public service announcement enhanced the beneficial impact of the story on viewers' discussion behavior (about one's organ donor wishes), discussion intention, and perceived learning. This experimental study is the first to examine the effects of viewing a non-character public service announcement after a health-related storyline in a developed nation's fictional program compared to viewing the same episode of the program on its own. It is important for future research to examine whether these findings replicate for different health issues and with a nationally representative sample.

  11. Bibliography of Lewis Research Center technical publications announced in 1988

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1989-01-01

    This bibliography contains abstracts of the technical reports that resulted from the scientific and engineering work performed and managed by the Lewis Research Center in 1988. Subject, author, and corporate source indexes are also included. All the publications were announced in the 1988 issues of STAR (Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports) and/or IAA (International Aerospace Abstracts). Included are research reports, journal articles, conference presentations, patents and patent applications, and theses.

  12. 77 FR 68567 - Announcement of Funding Awards for the Continuum of Care Program for Fiscal Year (FY) 2011

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-11-15

    ...In accordance with section 102(a)(4)(C) of the Department of Housing and Urban Development Reform Act of 1989, this announcement notifies the public of past funding decisions made by the Department in a competition for funding under the FY2011 Notice of Funding Availability (NOFAs) for the Homeless Assistance Grants program. This announcement contains the names of the awardees and the amounts of the awards made available by HUD in FY2011.

  13. Climate, soil and plant functional types as drivers of global fine-root trait variation

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Freschet, Grégoire T.; Valverde-Barrantes, Oscar J.; Tucker, Caroline M.

    Ecosystem functioning relies heavily on below-ground processes, which are largely regulated by plant fine-roots and their functional traits. However, our knowledge of fine-root trait distribution relies to date on local- and regional-scale studies with limited numbers of species, growth forms and environmental variation. We compiled a world-wide fine-root trait dataset, featuring 1115 species from contrasting climatic areas, phylogeny and growth forms to test a series of hypotheses pertaining to the influence of plant functional types, soil and climate variables, and the degree of manipulation of plant growing conditions on species fine-root trait variation. Most particularly, we tested the competing hypothesesmore » that fine-root traits typical of faster return on investment would be most strongly associated with conditions of limiting versus favourable soil resource availability. We accounted for both data source and species phylogenetic relatedness. We demonstrate that: (i) Climate conditions promoting soil fertility relate negatively to fine-root traits favouring fast soil resource acquisition, with a particularly strong positive effect of temperature on fine-root diameter and negative effect on specific root length (SRL), and a negative effect of rainfall on root nitrogen concentration; (ii) Soil bulk density strongly influences species fine-root morphology, by favouring thicker, denser fine-roots; (iii) Fine-roots from herbaceous species are on average finer and have higher SRL than those of woody species, and N 2-fixing capacity positively relates to root nitrogen; and (iv) Plants growing in pots have higher SRL than those grown in the field. Synthesis. This study reveals both the large variation in fine-root traits encountered globally and the relevance of several key plant functional types and soil and climate variables for explaining a substantial part of this variation. Climate, particularly temperature, and plant functional types were the two

  14. Climate, soil and plant functional types as drivers of global fine-root trait variation

    DOE PAGES

    Freschet, Grégoire T.; Valverde-Barrantes, Oscar J.; Tucker, Caroline M.; ...

    2017-03-08

    Ecosystem functioning relies heavily on below-ground processes, which are largely regulated by plant fine-roots and their functional traits. However, our knowledge of fine-root trait distribution relies to date on local- and regional-scale studies with limited numbers of species, growth forms and environmental variation. We compiled a world-wide fine-root trait dataset, featuring 1115 species from contrasting climatic areas, phylogeny and growth forms to test a series of hypotheses pertaining to the influence of plant functional types, soil and climate variables, and the degree of manipulation of plant growing conditions on species fine-root trait variation. Most particularly, we tested the competing hypothesesmore » that fine-root traits typical of faster return on investment would be most strongly associated with conditions of limiting versus favourable soil resource availability. We accounted for both data source and species phylogenetic relatedness. We demonstrate that: (i) Climate conditions promoting soil fertility relate negatively to fine-root traits favouring fast soil resource acquisition, with a particularly strong positive effect of temperature on fine-root diameter and negative effect on specific root length (SRL), and a negative effect of rainfall on root nitrogen concentration; (ii) Soil bulk density strongly influences species fine-root morphology, by favouring thicker, denser fine-roots; (iii) Fine-roots from herbaceous species are on average finer and have higher SRL than those of woody species, and N 2-fixing capacity positively relates to root nitrogen; and (iv) Plants growing in pots have higher SRL than those grown in the field. Synthesis. This study reveals both the large variation in fine-root traits encountered globally and the relevance of several key plant functional types and soil and climate variables for explaining a substantial part of this variation. Climate, particularly temperature, and plant functional types were the two

  15. Global risk from the atmospheric dispersion of radionuclides by nuclear power plant accidents in the coming decades

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Christoudias, T.; Proestos, Y.; Lelieveld, J.

    2014-05-01

    We estimate the global risk from the release and atmospheric dispersion of radionuclides from nuclear power plant accidents using the EMAC atmospheric chemistry-general circulation model. We included all nuclear reactors that are currently operational, under construction and planned or proposed. We implemented constant continuous emissions from each location in the model and simulated atmospheric transport and removal via dry and wet deposition processes over 20 years (2010-2030), driven by boundary conditions based on the IPCC A2 future emissions scenario. We present global overall and seasonal risk maps for potential surface layer concentrations and ground deposition of radionuclides, and estimate potential doses to humans from inhalation and ground-deposition exposures to radionuclides. We find that the risk of harmful doses due to inhalation is typically highest in the Northern Hemisphere during boreal winter, due to relatively shallow boundary layer development and limited mixing. Based on the continued operation of the current nuclear power plants, we calculate that the risk of radioactive contamination to the citizens of the USA will remain to be highest worldwide, followed by India and France. By including stations under construction and those that are planned and proposed, our results suggest that the risk will become highest in China, followed by India and the USA.

  16. Global risk from the atmospheric dispersion of radionuclides by nuclear power plant accidents in the coming decades

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Christoudias, T.; Proestos, Y.; Lelieveld, J.

    2013-11-01

    We estimate the global risk from the release and atmospheric dispersion of radionuclides from nuclear power plant accidents using the EMAC atmospheric chemistry-general circulation model. We included all nuclear reactors that are currently operational, under construction and planned or proposed. We implemented constant continuous emissions from each location in the model and simulated atmospheric transport and removal via dry and wet deposition processes over 20 yr (2010-2030), driven by boundary conditions based on the IPCC A2 future emissions scenario. We present global overall and seasonal risk maps for potential surface layer concentrations and ground deposition of radionuclides, and estimate potential dosages to humans from the inhalation and the exposure to ground deposited radionuclides. We find that the risk of harmful doses due to inhalation is typically highest during boreal winter due to relatively shallow boundary layer development and reduced mixing. Based on the continued operation of the current nuclear power plants, we calculate that the risk of radioactive contamination to the citizens of the USA will remain to be highest worldwide, followed by India and France. By including stations under construction and those that are planned and proposed our results suggest that the risk will become highest in China, followed by India and the USA.

  17. Global Risk from the Atmospheric Dispersion of Radionuclides by Nuclear Power Plant Accidents in the Coming Decades

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Christoudias, T.; Proestos, Y.; Lelieveld, J.

    2014-12-01

    We estimate the global risk from the release and atmospheric dispersion of radionuclides from nuclear power plant accidents using the EMAC atmospheric chemistry-general circulation model. We included all nuclear reactors that are currently operational, under construction and planned or proposed. We implemented constant continuous emissions from each location in the model and simulated atmospheric transport and removal via dry and wet deposition processes over 20 years (2010-2030), driven by boundary conditions based on the IPCC A2 future emissions scenario. We present global overall and seasonal risk maps for potential surface layer concentrations and ground deposition of radionuclides, and estimate potential doses to humans from inhalation and ground-deposition exposures to radionuclides. We find that the risk of harmful doses due to inhalation is typically highest in the Northern Hemisphere during boreal winter, due to relatively shallow boundary layer development and limited mixing. Based on the continued operation of the current nuclear power plants, we calculate that the risk of radioactive contamination to the citizens of the USA will remain to be highest worldwide, followed by India and France. By including stations under construction and those that are planned and proposed, our results suggest that the risk will become highest in China, followed by India and the USA.

  18. Remote sensing/global change. A special bibliography

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Not Available

    1994-11-01

    The first portion of this bibliography contains citations (with abstracts, when available) to unclassified literature contained in the NASA STI Database. These citations also appeared in issues of the abstract journal 'Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports (STAR)', or in other announcement products offered by the NASA STI Program. The citations appear in ascending accession number order. A second section provides several indexes to the citations. They are subject term, personal author, report number, and accession number. The citations are included for the following disciplines as they relate to remote sensing and global change: astronautics, engineering, geosciences, life sciences, mathematical andmore » computer sciences, social sciences, and space sciences.« less

  19. 76 FR 5820 - Meeting Announcements: North American Wetlands Conservation Council; Neotropical Migratory Bird...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-02-02

    ...] Meeting Announcements: North American Wetlands Conservation Council; Neotropical Migratory Bird... Conservation Act (NAWCA) grant proposals for recommendation to the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission (Commission). This meeting is open to the public. The Advisory Group for the Neotropical Migratory Bird...

  20. 76 FR 1663 - Announcement of a Meeting of the International Telecommunication Advisory Committee

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-01-11

    ... Telecommunication Advisory Committee SUMMARY: This notice announces a meeting of the International Telecommunication Advisory Committee (ITAC) to prepare for the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) World Conference on International Telecommunications, as well as for the Organization of American States' Inter...

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