Education and data-intensive science in the beginning of the 21st century

Data-intensive science will open up new avenues to explore, new questions to ask, and new ways to answer. Yet, this potential cannot be unlocked without new emphasis on education of the researchers gathering data, the analysts analyzing data and the cross-disciplinary participants working together to make it happen. This article is a summary of the education issues and challenges of data-intensive sciences and cloud computing as discussed in the Data-Intensive Science (DIS) workshop in Seattle, September 19-20, 2010.     

Technology and data-intensive science in the beginning of the 21st century

This article is a summary of the technology issues and challenges of data-intensive science and cloud computing as discussed in the Data-Intensive Science (DIS) workshop in Seattle, September 19-20, 2010.     

Communication and data-intensive science in the beginning of the 21st century

The advent of data-intensive science has sharpened our need for better communication within and between the fields of science and technology, to name a few. No one mind can encompass all that is necessary to be successful in controlling and analyzing the data deluge we are experiencing. Therefore, we must bring together diverse fields, communicate clearly, and build crossdisciplinary methods and tools to realize its potential. This article is a summary of the communication issues and challenges as discussed in the Data-Intensive Science (DIS) workshop in Seattle, September 19-20, 2010.     

21世纪初农业生态系统健康研究方向

农业生态系统健康是指农业生态系统免受发生“失调综合症”,处理胁迫的状态和满足持续生产农产品的能力,目前,农业生态系统健康研究范围主要涉及农业生态系统健康评价方法,土壤质量和水质与农业生态系统健康的联系,农业生态系统健康与人类健康的关系,害虫生态管理对农业生态系统健康的贡献,杂草综合管理在农业生态系统健康中的作用,从生态病理学到农业生态系统健康,线虫群落作为农业生态系统健康指示生物的研究,转基因作物对农业生态系统健康的生态影响评价,农业投入政策对农业生态系统健康的影响,景观生态学在农业生态系统健康评价中的应用,农业生态系统健康与绿色食品开发等,首先论述了农业生态系统健康研究的现状,介绍了农业生态系统健康研究实例-土壤健康的生物指标,最后提出了今后农业生态系统健康的研究方向,为保障农产品安全和增进人类健康提供依据。     

Prospects from agroecology and industrial ecology for animal production in the 21st century

Agroecology and industrial ecology can be viewed as complementary means for reducing the environmental footprint of animal farming systems: agroecology mainly by stimulating natural processes to reduce inputs, and industrial ecology by closing system loops, thereby reducing demand for raw materials, lowering pollution and saving on waste treatment. Surprisingly, animal farming systems have so far been ignored in most agroecological thinking. On the basis of a study by Altieri, who identified the key ecological processes to be optimized, we propose five principles for the design of sustainable animal production systems: (i) adopting management practices aiming to improve animal health, (ii) decreasing the inputs needed for production, (iii) decreasing pollution by optimizing the metabolic functioning of farming systems, (iv) enhancing diversity within animal production systems to strengthen their resilience and (v) preserving biological diversity in agroecosystems by adapting management practices. We then discuss how these different principles combine to generate environmental, social and economic performance in six animal production systems (ruminants, pigs, rabbits and aquaculture) covering a long gradient of intensification. The two principles concerning economy of inputs and reduction of pollution emerged in nearly all the case studies, a finding that can be explained by the economic and regulatory constraints affecting animal production. Integrated management of animal health was seldom mobilized, as alternatives to chemical drugs have only recently been investigated, and the results are not yet transferable to farming practices. A number of ecological functions and ecosystem services (recycling of nutrients, forage yield, pollination, resistance to weed invasion, etc.) are closely linked to biodiversity, and their persistence depends largely on maintaining biological diversity in agroecosystems. We conclude that the development of such ecology-based alternatives for animal production implies changes in the positions adopted by technicians and extension services, researchers and policymakers. Animal production systems should not only be considered holistically, but also in the diversity of their local and regional conditions. The ability of farmers to make their own decisions on the basis of the close monitoring of system performance is most important to ensure system sustainability.     

Impact of 21st century climate change on the Baltic Sea fish community and fisheries

The Baltic Sea is a large brackish semienclosed sea whose species-poor fish community supports important commercial and recreational fisheries. Both the fish species and the fisheries are strongly affected by climate variations. These climatic effects and the underlying mechanisms are briefly reviewed. We then use recent regional – scale climate – ocean modelling results to consider how climate change during this century will affect the fish community of the Baltic and fisheries management. Expected climate changes in northern Europe will likely affect both the temperature and salinity of the Baltic, causing it to become warmer and fresher. As an estuarine ecosystem with large horizontal and vertical salinity gradients, biodiversity will be particularly sensitive to changes in salinity which can be expected as a consequence of altered precipitation patterns. Marine-tolerant species will be disadvantaged and their distributions will partially contract from the Baltic Sea; habitats of freshwater species will likely expand. Although some new species can be expected to immigrate because of an expected increase in sea temperature, only a few of these species will be able to successfully colonize the Baltic because of its low salinity. Fishing fleets which presently target marine species (e.g. cod, herring, sprat, plaice, sole) in the Baltic will likely have to relocate to more marine areas or switch to other species which tolerate decreasing salinities. Fishery management thresholds that trigger reductions in fishing quotas or fishery closures to conserve local populations (e.g. cod, salmon) will have to be reassessed as the ecological basis on which existing thresholds have been established changes, and new thresholds will have to be developed for immigrant species. The Baltic situation illustrates some of the uncertainties and complexities associated with forecasting how fish populations, communities and industries dependent on an estuarine ecosystem might respond to future climate change.     

Psychiatric diagnosis and treatment in the 21st century: paradigm shifts versus incremental integration

Psychiatry has always been characterized by a range of different models of and approaches to mental disorder, which have sometimes brought progress in clinical practice, but have often also been accompanied by critique from within and without the field. Psychiatric nosology has been a particular focus of debate in recent decades; successive editions of the DSM and ICD have strongly influenced both psychiatric practice and research, but have also led to assertions that psychiatry is in crisis, and to advocacy for entirely new paradigms for diagnosis and assessment. When thinking about etiology, many researchers currently refer to a biopsychosocial model, but this approach has received significant critique, being considered by some observers overly eclectic and vague. Despite the development of a range of evidence‐based pharmacotherapies and psychotherapies, current evidence points to both a treatment gap and a research‐practice gap in mental health. In this paper, after considering current clinical practice, we discuss some proposed novel perspectives that have recently achieved particular prominence and may significantly impact psychiatric practice and research in the future: clinical neuroscience and personalized pharmacotherapy; novel statistical approaches to psychiatric nosology, assessment and research; deinstitutionalization and community mental health care; the scale‐up of evidence‐based psychotherapy; digital phenotyping and digital therapies; and global mental health and task‐sharing approaches. We consider the extent to which proposed transitions from current practices to novel approaches reflect hype or hope. Our review indicates that each of the novel perspectives contributes important insights that allow hope for the future, but also that each provides only a partial view, and that any promise of a paradigm shift for the field is not well grounded. We conclude that there have been crucial advances in psychiatric diagnosis and treatment in recent decades; that, despite this important progress, there is considerable need for further improvements in assessment and intervention; and that such improvements will likely not be achieved by any specific paradigm shifts in psychiatric practice and research, but rather by incremental progress and iterative integration.     

21世纪植物化学生态学前沿领域

植物和其它有机体通过次生物质为媒介的化学作用关系近年引入注目,其中植物的诱导化学防御,植物的化学通讯,植物次生物质和进化的关系,植物与人类的化学关系和海洋植物化学生态学是21世纪植物化学生态学值得关注的前沿领域。植物化学生态学前沿领域的进展将为实现21世纪的持续,发展是在生态安全条件下提高农业产量并达到对病虫草害的有效控制方面具有重要意义。     

Trade, Materials Flows, and Economic Development in the South: The Example of Chile

Materials flow analysis (MFA) is internationally recognized as a key tool to assess the biophysical metabolism of societies and to provide aggregated indicators for environmental pressures of human activities. Economy-wide MFAs have been compiled for a number of Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, but so far very few studies exist for countries in the South. In this article, the first materials-flow-based indicators for Chile are presented. The article analyzes the restructuring of the Chilean economy toward an active integration in the world markets from the perspective of natural resource use in a time series from 1973 to 2000. Special emphasis is placed on the assessment of materials flows related to Chile's international trade relations. Results show that material inputs to the Chilean economy increased by a factor of 6, mainly as a result of the promotion of resource-intensive exports from the mining, fruit growing, forestry, and fishery sectors. At more than 40 tons, Chile's resource use per capita at present is one of the highest in the world. The article addresses the main shortcomings of the MFA approach, such as weightbased aggregation and the missing links between environmental pressures and impacts, and gives suggestions for methodological improvements and possible extensions of the MFA framework, with the intent of developing MFA into a more powerful tool for policy use.     

Estimates of real damage from air pollution: Site dependence and simple impact indices for LCA

In contrast to the various “potential impact” indices that have been proposed, we show that indices for real damage can be derived, based on the impact pathway methodology which involves the calculation of increased pollutant concentration in all affected regions due to an incremental emission (e.g. μg/m³ of particles, using models of atmospheric dispersion and chemistry), followed by the calculation of physical impacts (e.g. number of cases of asthma due to these particles, using a concentration-response function). The numbers are summed over all receptors of concern (population, crops, buildings,…). We show that in a uniform world (linear dose-response function, uniform receptor density and uniform atmospheric removal rate) the conservation of matter implies a very simple formula for the total damage. The generalization to secondary pollutants is straightforward. By detailed numerical evaluations, using real data for atmospheric dispersion and geographic receptor distribution, we have demonstrated that this simple formula is an excellent representation of typical damages. Results are shown for the principal air pollutants emitted by smoke stacks of industrial installations or by road transport. A preliminary version was presented as a key note lecture at the SETAC Meeting in Bordeaux, April 14-18, 1998     

Impact of changing wood demand,climate and land use on European forest resources and carbon stocks during the 21st century

We used the European Forest Information Scenario Model (EFISCEN) to project the development of forest resources for 15 European countries from 2000 to 2100 under a broad range of climate scenarios, which were based on the a1fi, a2, b1 and b2 storylines of the Special Report on Emissions Scenarios of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Each climate scenario was associated with consistent land-use change and wood demand assumptions. Climate change-induced growth changes were incorporated into the calculations by scaling inventory-based stem growth in EFISCEN by net primary productivity estimated from the Lund–Potsdam–Jena dynamic global vegetation model. The impact of changes in wood demand, climate and forest area were studied separately, and in combination, in order to assess their respective effects. For all climate scenarios under consideration, climate change resulted in increased forest growth, especially in Northern Europe. In Southern Europe, higher precipitation in spring and the projected increased water-use efficiency in response to rising atmospheric CO₂ concentrations mitigated the effects of increasing summer drought. Climate change enhanced carbon sequestration in tree biomass. The climate change-induced increase in tree growth led to a faster increase in growing stocks compared with the simulation using current climate. As productivity decreased in higher stocked forests, the positive impact of climate change began to level off during the second half of the 21st century in the scenarios where wood demand was low. Afforestation measures had the potential to increase growing stock and annual increment; however, large areas were needed to obtain notable effects. Despite noticeable differences in the growth response between the climate scenarios, changes in wood demand proved to be the crucial driving force in forest resource development. Tree carbon stocks increased by 33–114% between 2000 and 2100 when only changes in wood demand were regarded. Climate change added another 23–31% increase, while changes in forest area accounted for an additional increase of 2–40%. Our results highlight potential future pathways of forest resource development resulting from different scenarios of wood demand, land use and climate changes, and stress the importance of resource utilization in the European forest carbon balance.     

Freshwater fish introductions in Spain: facts and figures at the beginning of the 21st century

Twenty-five introduced fish species are established in Spanish fresh waters. Most of the introductions took place after 1900, with a significant exponential increase during the second half of the 20th century (15 species introduced from 1949). Major stocking efforts in Spanish waters have been suspended, but recently some species have been released by anglers or are suspected to be escapes from fish farms. Stream regulation is considered to be one of the main negative factors affecting river ecosystems in Spain, but many of the aliens adapt well to these altered habitats. Competition between native and exotic fishes is certain to occur to some degree, but there is little quantitative information. Fish conservation and fishery management must not be based on the 'introduce anything' sentiment that has developed over more than a century. Information, education and public awareness are critical components of any effort to prevent the spread of introduced fish species.     

Measurement and mapping of the GSM-based electromagnetic pollution in the Black Sea region of Turkey

Electromagnetic pollution caused by mobile communication devices, a new form of environmental pollution, has been one of the most concerning problems to date. Consequences of long-term exposure to the electromagnetic radiation caused by cell phone towers are still unknown and can potentially be a new health hazard. It is important to measure, analyze and map the electromagnetic radiation levels periodically because of the potential risks. The electromagnetic pollution maps can be used for the detection of diseases caused by the radiation. With the help of the radiation maps of different regions, comparative analysis can be provided and distribution of the diseases can be investigated. In this article, Global System for Mobile communication (GSM)-based electromagnetic pollution map of the Rize Providence, which has high cancer rates because of the Chernobyl nuclear explosion, is generated. First, locations of the GSM base stations are identified and according to the antenna types of the base stations, safety distances are determined. Subsequently, 155 measurements are taken during November 2014 from the nearest living quarters of the Rize city center in Turkey. The measurements are then assessed statistically. Thenceforth, for visual judgment of the determined statistics, collected measurements are presented on the map. It is observed that national limits are not exceeded, but it is also discovered that the safety distance is waived at some of the measurement points and above the average radiation levels are noted. Even if the national limits are not exceeded, the long-term effects of the exposition to the electromagnetic radiation can cause serious health problems.     

Discovery of veterinary antiparasitic agents in the 21st Century: A view from industry

Discovery of antiparasitic agents is a challenging process, requiring discovery of molecules with the ability to kill parasites but not their hosts. Customer preference is for fewer doses and ease of application, but this is not always compatible with reduced withdrawal times, human food safety and/or user safety. This article describes some of the difficulties faced by researchers in the search for new antiparasitic agents, while highlighting advances that may improve the discovery process and the chance of success in discovering novel drugs.