An application of Bayesian Belief Networks to assess management scenarios for aquaculture in a complex tropical lake system in Indonesia.

A Bayesian Belief Network, validated using past observational data, is applied to conceptualize the ecological response of Lake Maninjau, a tropical lake ecosystem in Indonesia, to tilapia cage farms operating on the lake and to quantify its impacts to assist decision making. The model captures ecosystem services trade-offs between cage farming and native fish loss. It is used to appraise options for lake management related to the minimization of the impacts of the cage farms.

Management of agricultural soils for greenhouse gas mitigation: Learning from a case study in NE Spain.

A portfolio of agricultural practices is now available that can contribute to reaching European mitigation targets. Among them, the management of agricultural soils has a large potential for reducing GHG emissions or sequestering carbon. Many of the practices are based on well tested agronomic and technical know-how, with proven benefits for farmers and the environment.

Molecular tools for bathing water assessment in Europe: Balancing social science research with a rapidly developing environmental science evidence-base.

The use of molecular tools, principally qPCR, versus traditional culture-based methods for quantifying microbial parameters (e.g., Fecal Indicator Organisms) in bathing waters generates considerable ongoing debate at the science-policy interface.

Discharge management of an adolescent female with posterior fossa syndrome: a case report.

Posterior Fossa Syndrome (PFS) is a constellation of neurological, behavioural and psychological symptoms occurring in pediatric patients following surgical resection of posterior fossa brain tumours. The clinical presentation of PFS typically includes cerebellar mutism, bulbar dysfunction, ataxia, cranial nerve palsies, flaccid hemiparesis and emotional lability. The intent of this paper is to (a) provide an overview of PFS, (b) explore the case of a 16-year-old adolescent who presented with PFS following surgical resection of a fourth ventricle medulloblastoma, (c) reveal the complexity of her discharge, and (d) describe a discharge management framework used by the authors to guide the discharge process from a general pediatric unit in a tertiary care hospital.

Mechanotransduction through growth-factor shedding into the extracellular space.

Physical forces elicit biochemical signalling in a diverse array of cells, tissues and organisms, helping to govern fundamental biological processes. Several hypotheses have been advanced that link physical forces to intracellular signalling pathways, but in many cases the molecular mechanisms of mechanotransduction remain elusive. Here we find that compressive stress shrinks the lateral intercellular space surrounding epithelial cells, and triggers cellular signalling via autocrine binding of epidermal growth factor family ligands to the epidermal growth factor receptor.

Developmental biology of Myxococcus.

McVittie, Anne (Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.), Frances Messik, and Stanley A.