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Flood mitigation is a strategy that is growing in importance across Europe. This growth corresponds with an increasing emphasis on the need to learn to live with floods and make space for water. Flood mitigation measures aim at reducing the likelihood and magnitude of flooding and complement flood defenses. They are being put in place through the implementation of actions that accommodate (rather than resist) water, such as natural flood management or adapted housing. The strategy has gained momentum over the past 20 years in an effort to improve the sustainability of flood risk management (FRM) and facilitate the diversification of FRM in the pursuit of societal resilience to flooding. Simultaneously, it is increasingly argued that adaptive forms of governance are best placed to address the uncertainty and complexity associated with social-ecological systems responding to environmental challenges, such as flooding. However, there have been few attempts to examine the extent to which current flood risk governance, and flood mitigation specifically, reflect these aspired forms of adaptive governance. Drawing from EU research into flood risk governance, conducted within the STAR-FLOOD project, we examine the governance of flood mitigation in six European countries: Belgium, England, France, the Netherlands, Poland, and Sweden. Using in-depth policy and legal analysis, as well as interviews with key actors, the governance and implementation of flood mitigation in these countries is evaluated from the normative viewpoint of whether, and to what extent, it can be characterized as adaptive governance. We identify five criteria of adaptive governance based on a comprehensive literature review and apply these to each country to determine the "distance" between current governance arrangements and adaptive governance. In conclusion, the flood mitigation strategy provides various opportunities for actors to further pursue forms of adaptive governance. The extent to which the mitigation strategy is capable of doing so varies across countries, however, and its role in stimulating adaptive governance was found to be strongest in Belgium and England.

AbstractIntroductionAIDS‐mortality remains unacceptably high in sub‐Saharan Africa, largely driven by advanced HIV disease (AHD). We nested a study in an existing tuberculosis (TB) contact‐tracing intervention (Xpatial‐TB). The aim was to assess the burden of AHD among high‐risk people living with HIV (PLHIV) identified and to evaluate the provision of the WHO‐recommended package of care to this population.MethodsAll PLHIV ≥14 years old identified between June and December 2018 in Manhiça District by Xpatial‐TB were offered to participate in the study if ART naïve or had suboptimal ART adherence. Consenting individuals were screened for AHD. Patients with AHD (CD4 < 200 cells/μL or WHO stage 3 or 4) were offered a package of interventions in a single visit, including testing for cryptococcal antigen (CrAg) and TB‐lipoarabinomannan (TB‐LAM), prophylaxis and treatment for opportunistic infections, adherence support or accelerated ART initiation. We collected information on follow‐up visits carried out under routine programmatic conditions for six months.ResultsA total of 2881 adults were identified in the Xpatial TB‐contact intervention. Overall, 23% (673/2881) were HIV positive, including 351 TB index (64.2%) and 322 TB contacts (13.8%). Overall, 159/673 PLHIV (24%) were ART naïve or had suboptimal ART adherence, of whom 155 (97%, 124 TB index and 31 TB‐contacts) consented to the study and were screened for AHD. Seventy percent of TB index‐patients (87/124) and 16% of TB contacts (5/31) had CD4 < 200 cells/µL. Four (13%) of the TB contacts had TB, giving an overall AHD prevalence among TB contacts of 29% (9/31). Serum‐CrAg was positive in 4.6% (4/87) of TB‐index patients and in zero TB contacts. All ART naïve TB contacts without TB initiated ART within 48 hours of HIV diagnosis. Among TB cases, ART timing was tailored to the presence of TB and cryptococcosis. Six‐month mortality was 21% among TB‐index cases and zero in TB contacts.ConclusionsA TB contact‐tracing outreach intervention identified undiagnosed HIV and AHD in TB patients and their contacts, undiagnosed cryptococcosis among TB patients, and resulted in an adequate provision of the WHO‐recommended package of care in this rural Mozambican population. Same‐day and accelerated ART initiation was feasible and safe in this population including among those with AHD.

AbstractPatients with Parkinson's disease (PD) often experience reductions in the proficiency to inhibit actions. The motor symptoms of PD can be effectively treated with deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN), a key structure in the frontal–striatal network that may be directly involved in regulating inhibitory control. However, the precise role of the STN in stopping control is unclear. The STN consists of functional subterritories linked to dissociable cortical networks, although the boundaries of the subregions are still under debate. We investigated whether stimulating the dorsal and ventral subregions of the STN would show dissociable effects on ability to stop. We studied 12 PD patients with STN DBS. Patients with two adjacent contacts positioned within the bounds of the dorsal and ventral STN completed two testing sessions (OFF medication) with low amplitude stimulation (0.4 mA) at either the dorsal or ventral contacts bilaterally, while performing the stop task. Ventral, but not dorsal, DBS improved stopping latencies. Go reactions were similar between dorsal and ventral DBS STN. Stimulation in the ventral, but not dorsal, subregion of the STN improved stopping speed, confirming the involvement of the STN in stopping control and supporting the STN functional subregions.

AbstractKareiva and Fuller (2016) consider the future prospects for biodiversity conservation in the face of the profound disruptions of the Anthropocene. They argue that more flexible and entrepreneurial approaches to conservation are needed. While some of the approaches they promote may work in particular situations, we believe their proposal risks unintended and detrimental social and ecological consequences by presenting them as global solutions to complex political, economic, social and ethical problems that are context‐dependent. Here we argue that the authors inadequately considers the following core issues of biodiversity conservation, namely: (1) the structural causes of biodiversity depletion and the responsibilities of key actors; (2) the questions around what should be conserved, the processes by which biodiversity is valued, and who has the legitimate authority to value it; (3) the fact that new tools, technologies and innovative approaches are unsuitable as guiding principles to solve complex, context‐dependent social‐ecological problems; (4) the challenges of choosing relevant interventions, given experts' limited ability to 'manage for change and evolution'; and (5) the risks associated with promoting a utilitarian approach and a neoliberal governance model for conservation at the global scale.

Vegetated coastal ecosystems provide goods and services to billions of people. In the aftermath of a series of recent natural disasters, including the Indian Ocean Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and Cyclone Nargis, coastal vegetation has been widely promoted for the purpose of reducing the impact of large storm surges and tsunami. In this paper, we review the use of coastal vegetation as a "bioshield" against these extreme events. Our objective is to alter bioshield policy and reduce the long-term negative consequences for biodiversity and human capital. We begin with an overview of the scientific literature, in particular focusing on studies published since the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004 and discuss the science of wave attenuation by vegetation. We then explore case studies from the Indian subcontinent and evaluate the detrimental impacts bioshield plantations can have upon native ecosystems, drawing a distinction between coastal restoration and the introduction of exotic species in inappropriate locations. Finally, we place bioshield policies into a political context, and outline a new direction for coastal vegetation policy and research. ©2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. ; SCOPUS: re.j ; info:eu-repo/semantics/published

Vegetated coastal ecosystems provide goods and services to billions of people. In the aftermath of a series of recent natural disasters, including the Indian Ocean Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and Cyclone Nargis, coastal vegetation has been widely promoted for the purpose of reducing the impact of large storm surges and tsunami. In this paper, we review the use of coastal vegetation as a "bioshield" against these extreme events. Our objective is to alter bioshield policy and reduce the long-term negative consequences for biodiversity and human capital. We begin with an overview of the scientific literature, in particular focusing on studies published since the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004 and discuss the science of wave attenuation by vegetation. We then explore case studies from the Indian subcontinent and evaluate the detrimental impacts bioshield plantations can have upon native ecosystems, drawing a distinction between coastal restoration and the introduction of exotic species in inappropriate locations. Finally, we place bioshield policies into a political context, and outline a new direction for coastal vegetation policy and research.

Publisher's version (útgefin grein) ; Impact assessments for sonar operations typically use received sound levels to predict behavioural disturbance in marine mammals. However, there are indications that cetaceans may learn to associate exposures from distant sound sources with lower perceived risk. To investigate the roles of source distance and received level in an area without frequent sonar activity, we conducted multi-scale controlled exposure experiments ( n = 3) with 12 northern bottlenose whales near Jan Mayen, Norway. Animals were tagged with high-resolution archival tags ( n = 1 per experiment) or medium-resolution satellite tags ( n = 9 in total) and subsequently exposed to sonar. We also deployed bottom-moored recorders to acoustically monitor for whales in the exposed area. Tagged whales initiated avoidance of the sound source over a wide range of distances (0.8-28 km), with responses characteristic of beaked whales. Both onset and intensity of response were better predicted by received sound pressure level (SPL) than by source distance. Avoidance threshold SPLs estimated for each whale ranged from 117-126 dB re 1 µPa, comparable to those of other tagged beaked whales. In this pristine underwater acoustic environment, we found no indication that the source distances tested in our experiments modulated the behavioural effects of sonar, as has been suggested for locations where whales are frequently exposed to sonar. ; The research described in this paper was supported by US Office of Naval Research (ONR grants N00014-15-1-2533 and N00014-16-1-3059), US Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP award RC-2337), the French Ministry of Defence (DGA) and the Netherlands Ministry of Defence. P.L.T. acknowledges support from the MASTS pooling initiative (Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland; supported by the Scottish Funding Council, grant reference HR09011, and contributing institutions). The funding sources had no role in the planning, execution, analysis or writing of this study. ; Peer Reviewed

arXiv:1802.07808v2 ; III-V semiconductor nanowires have shown great potential in various quantum transport experiments. However, realizing a scalable high-quality nanowire-based platform that could lead to quantum information applications has been challenging. Here, we study the potential of selective area growth by molecular beam epitaxy of InAs nanowire networks grown on GaAs-based buffer layers, where Sb is used as a surfactant. The buffered geometry allows for substantial elastic strain relaxation and a strong enhancement of field effect mobility. We show that the networks possess strong spin-orbit interaction and long phase-coherence lengths with a temperature dependence indicating ballistic transport. With these findings, and the compatibility of the growth method with hybrid epitaxy, we conclude that the material platform fulfills the requirements for a wide range of quantum experiments and applications. ; The project was supported by Microsoft Station Q, the European Research Council (ERC) under the grant agreement No.716655 (HEMs-DAM), the European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 722176, the Danish National Science Research Foundation and the Villum Foundation. SMS acknowledges funding from >Programa Internacional de Becas >la Caixa>-Severo Ochoa>. JA and SMS also acknowledge funding from Generalitat de Catalunya 2017 SGR 327. ICN2 acknowledges support from the Severo Ochoa Programme (MINECO, Grant no. SEV-2013-0295) and is funded by the CERCA Programme / Generalitat de Catalunya.

The protection, preservation and restoration of aquatic ecosystems and their functions are of global importance. For European states it became legally binding mainly through the EU-Water Framework Directive (WFD). In order to assess the ecological status of a given water body, aquatic biodiversity data are obtained and compared to a reference water body. The quantified mismatch obtained determines the extent of potential management actions. The current approach to biodiversity assessment is based on morpho-taxonomy. This approach has many drawbacks such as being time consuming, limited in temporal and spatial resolution, and error-prone due to the varying individual taxonomic expertise of the analysts. Novel genomic tools can overcome many of the aforementioned problems and could complement or even replace traditional bioassessment. Yet, a plethora of approaches are independently developed in different institutions, thereby hampering any concerted routine application. The goal of this Action is to nucleate a group of researchers across disciplines with the task to identify gold-standard genomic tools and novel eco-genomic indices for routine application in biodiversity assessments of European fresh- and marine water bodies. Furthermore, DNAqua-Net will provide a platform for training of the next generation of European researchers preparing them for the new technologies. Jointly with water managers, politicians, and other stakeholders, the group will develop a conceptual framework for the standard application of eco-genomic tools as part of legally binding assessments. ; ISSN:2367-7163

The protection, preservation and restoration of aquatic ecosystems and their functions are of global importance. For European states it became legally binding mainly through the EUWater Framework Directive (WFD). In order to assess the ecological status of a given water body, aquatic biodiversity data are obtained and compared to a reference water body. The quantified mismatch obtained determines the extent of potential management actions. The current approach to biodiversity assessment is based on morpho-taxonomy. This approach has many drawbacks such as being time consuming, limited in temporal and spatial resolution, and error-prone due to the varying individual taxonomic expertise of the analysts. Novel genomic tools can overcome many of the aforementioned problems and could complement or even replace traditional bioassessment. Yet, a plethora of approaches are independently developed in different institutions, thereby hampering any concerted routine application. The goal of this Action is to nucleate a group of researchers across disciplines with the task to identify gold-standard genomic tools and novel ecogenomic indices for routine application in biodiversity assessments of European fresh- and marine water bodies. Furthermore, DNAqua-Net will provide a platform for training of the next generation of European researchers preparing them for the new technologies. Jointly with water managers, politicians, and other stakeholders, the group will develop a conceptual framework for the standard application of eco-genomic tools as part of legally binding assessments. ; Funding program European Cooperation in Science & Technology program (EU COST)

Global change threatens invertebrate biodiversity and its central role in numerous ecosystem functions and services. Functional trait analyses have been advocated to uncover global mechanisms behind biodiversity responses to environmental change, but the application of this approach for invertebrates is underdeveloped relative to other organism groups. From an evaluation of 363 records comprising >1.23 million invertebrates collected from rivers across nine biogeographic regions on three continents, consistent responses of community trait composition and diversity to replicated gradients of reduced glacier cover are demonstrated. After accounting for a systematic regional effect of latitude, the processes shaping river invertebrate functional diversity are globally consistent. Analyses nested within individual regions identified an increase in functional diversity as glacier cover decreases. Community assembly models demonstrated that dispersal limitation was the dominant process underlying these patterns, although environmental filtering was also evident in highly glacierized basins. These findings indicate that predictable mechanisms govern river invertebrate community responses to decreasing glacier cover globally. ; This work was funded by the following organisations: The UK Natural Environment Research Council grants and studentships GR9/2913, NE/E003729/1, NE/E004539/1, NE/E004148/1, 20 NE/G523963/1, NER/S/A/2003/11192, and NE/L002574/1; the European Union Environment and Climate Programme Arctic and Alpine Stream Ecosystem Research (AASER) project (ENV-CT95-0164); EU-FP7 Assessing Climate impacts on the Quality and quantity of WAter (ACQWA) project (212250); Icelandic Research Council (954890095, 954890096); University of Iceland Research Fund (GMG96, GMG97, GMG98), Wyoming Center for Environmental Hydrology and Geophysics-National Science Foundation (1208909); USA-Wyoming NASA Space Grant Faculty Research Initiation (#NNX10A095H); USA-NSF Wyoming Epscor; Nationalpark Hohe Tauern, Austria; the Royal Society (International Outgoing Grant 2006/R4); the Leverhulme Trust; the Universities of Leeds, Birmingham, Iceland and Innsbruck; European Centre for Arctic Environmental Research (ARCFAC): a Research Infrastructures Action of the European Community FP6 (026129-2008- 72); the Stelvio National Park (2000-2001); the Autonomous Province of Trento (HIGHEST project, 2001-2004, del. PAT n. 1060/2001; VETTA project, 2003-2006, del. PAT n. 3402/2002); MUSE-Museo delle Scienze. We are grateful to Russell Taylor and Mike Winterbourn at the University of Canterbury, NZ, who helped to collect NZ invertebrate data and assisted with identification, and to Hakon Adalsteinsson who contributed to data collection in Iceland. Many other people, too numerous to mention, assisted with fieldwork at all of the study locations. The European Science Foundation sponsored an exploratory ┘ラヴニゲエラヮ WミデキデノWS さGノ;IキWヴ-fed rivers, hydroecology and climate change: current knowledge and future network of monitoring sites (GLAC-HYDROECO-NETぶざ デエ;デ ┘;ゲ エWノS キミ Birmingham, UK in September of 2013 where some of the ideas in this paper were first discussed ; Peer Reviewed

Multiple interventions in the aging process have been discovered to extend the healthspan of model organisms. Both industry and academia are therefore exploring possible transformative molecules that target aging and age‐associated diseases. In this overview, we summarize the presented talks and discussion points of the 5th Annual Aging and Drug Discovery Forum 2018 in Basel, Switzerland. Here academia and industry came together, to discuss the latest progress and issues in aging research. The meeting covered talks about the mechanistic cause of aging, how longevity signatures may be highly conserved, emerging biomarkers of aging, possible interventions in the aging process and the use of artificial intelligence for aging research and drug discovery. Importantly, a consensus is emerging both in industry and academia, that molecules able to intervene in the aging process may contain the potential to transform both societies and healthcare ; DB is supported by the German Research Foundation (Forschungsstipendium; BA 6276/1-1). CYE is supported by Swiss National Science Foundation [163898]. VNG is supported by grants from National Institutes of Health, and by the Russian Federation grant 14.W03.31.0012. DWL presented the results of research supported in part by research grants and funds from the National Institutes of Health, the Wisconsin Partnership Program, the Progeria Research Foundation, the American Federation for Aging Research, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health and Department of Medicine, as well as the facilities and resources of the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH. This work does not represent the views of the Department of Veterans Affairs or the United States Government. MSL is supported by an LUMC research fellowship and a VIDI grant from the Netherlands scientific organization (NWO- ALW-016.161.320). A.M.-M. is supported by grants from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III co-funded by Instituto de Salud Carlos III and FEdeR (CP14/00105 and PI15/00134). SM was supported by the FWO-OP/Odysseus program (42/FA010100/32/6484). SJO's current work is funded by The Glenn Award from the Glenn Foundation for Medical Research. MR is supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation and the European Union Horizon 2020 program. MSK is supported by grants from the Danish Cancer Society (#R167-A11015_001), the Independent Research Fund Denmark (#7016- 00230B) and the Novo Nordisk Foundation (NNF17OC0027812). ; Peer reviewed