The impact of human activities on our planet's natural systems has been intensifying rapidly in the past several decades, leading to disruption and transformation of most natural systems. These ...disruptions in the atmosphere, oceans, and across the terrestrial land surface are not only driving species to extinction, they pose serious threats to human health and wellbeing. Characterising and addressing these threats requires a paradigm shift. In a lecture delivered to the Academy of Medical Sciences on Nov 13, 2017, I describe the scale of human impacts on natural systems and the extensive associated health effects across nearly every dimension of human health. I highlight several overarching themes that emerge from planetary health and suggest advances in the way we train, reward, promote, and fund the generation of health scientists who will be tasked with breaking out of their disciplinary silos to address this urgent constellation of health threats. I propose that protecting the health of future generations requires taking better care of Earth's natural systems.
We develop a global‐scale P wave velocity model (LLNL‐G3Dv3) designed to accurately predict seismic travel times at regional and teleseismic distances simultaneously. The model provides a new image ...of Earth's interior, but the underlying practical purpose of the model is to provide enhanced seismic event location capabilities. The LLNL‐G3Dv3 model is based on ∼2.8 millionP and Pnarrivals that are re‐processed using our global multiple‐event locator called Bayesloc. We construct LLNL‐G3Dv3 within a spherical tessellation based framework, allowing for explicit representation of undulating and discontinuous layers including the crust and transition zone layers. Using a multiscale inversion technique, regional trends as well as fine details are captured where the data allow. LLNL‐G3Dv3 exhibits large‐scale structures including cratons and superplumes as well numerous complex details in the upper mantle including within the transition zone. Particularly, the model reveals new details of a vast network of subducted slabs trapped within the transition beneath much of Eurasia, including beneath the Tibetan Plateau. We demonstrate the impact of Bayesloc multiple‐event location on the resulting tomographic images through comparison with images produced without the benefit of multiple‐event constraints (single‐event locations). We find that the multiple‐event locations allow for better reconciliation of the large set of direct P phases recorded at 0–97° distance and yield a smoother and more continuous image relative to the single‐event locations. Travel times predicted from a 3‐D model are also found to be strongly influenced by the initial locations of the input data, even when an iterative inversion/relocation technique is employed.
Key Points
A global P‐wave model (LLNL‐G3Dv3) is produced
The LLNL‐G3Dv3 model is designed to enhance seismic event monitoring
Accurate seismic location prior to tomographic inversion is essential
GW170817 was the first gravitational-wave detection of a binary neutron-star merger. It was accompanied by radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum and localized to the galaxy NGC 4993 at a ...distance of 40 megaparsecs. It has been proposed that the observed γ-ray, X-ray and radio emission is due to an ultra-relativistic jet being launched during the merger (and successfully breaking out of the surrounding material), directed away from our line of sight (off-axis). The presence of such a jet is predicted from models that posit neutron-star mergers as the drivers of short hard-γ-ray bursts. Here we report that the radio light curve of GW170817 has no direct signature of the afterglow of an off-axis jet. Although we cannot completely rule out the existence of a jet directed away from the line of sight, the observed γ-ray emission could not have originated from such a jet. Instead, the radio data require the existence of a mildly relativistic wide-angle outflow moving towards us. This outflow could be the high-velocity tail of the neutron-rich material that was ejected dynamically during the merger, or a cocoon of material that breaks out when a jet launched during the merger transfers its energy to the dynamical ejecta. Because the cocoon model explains the radio light curve of GW170817, as well as the γ-ray and X-ray emission (and possibly also the ultraviolet and optical emission), it is the model that is most consistent with the observational data. Cocoons may be a ubiquitous phenomenon produced in neutron-star mergers, giving rise to a hitherto unidentified population of radio, ultraviolet, X-ray and γ-ray transients in the local Universe.
Far-reaching changes to the structure and function of the Earth's natural systems represent a growing threat to human health. And yet, global health has mainly improved as these changes have gathered ...pace. What is the explanation? As a Commission, we are deeply concerned that the explanation is straightforward and sobering: we have been mortgaging the health of future generations to realise economic and development gains in the present.
Crops grown under elevated atmospheric CO
concentrations (eCO
) contain less protein. Crops particularly affected include rice and wheat, which are primary sources of dietary protein for many ...countries.
We aimed to estimate global and country-specific risks of protein deficiency attributable to anthropogenic CO
emissions by 2050.
To model per capita protein intake in countries around the world under eCO
, we first established the effect size of eCO
on the protein concentration of edible portions of crops by performing a meta-analysis of published literature. We then estimated per-country protein intake under current and anticipated future eCO
using global food balance sheets (FBS). We modeled protein intake distributions within countries using Gini coefficients, and we estimated those at risk of deficiency from estimated average protein requirements (EAR) weighted by population age structure.
Under eCO
, rice, wheat, barley, and potato protein contents decreased by 7.6%, 7.8%, 14.1%, and 6.4%, respectively. Consequently, 18 countries may lose >5% of their dietary protein, including India (5.3%). By 2050, assuming today's diets and levels of income inequality, an additional 1.6% or 148.4 million of the world's population may be placed at risk of protein deficiency because of eCO
. In India, an additional 53 million people may become at risk.
Anthropogenic CO
emissions threaten the adequacy of protein intake worldwide. Elevated atmospheric CO
may widen the disparity in protein intake within countries, with plant-based diets being the most vulnerable. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP41.
FNR is a well-studied global regulator of anaerobiosis, which is widely conserved across bacteria. Despite the importance of FNR and anaerobiosis in microbial lifestyles, the factors that influence ...its function on a genome-wide scale are poorly understood. Here, we report a functional genomic analysis of FNR action. We find that FNR occupancy at many target sites is strongly influenced by nucleoid-associated proteins (NAPs) that restrict access to many FNR binding sites. At a genome-wide level, only a subset of predicted FNR binding sites were bound under anaerobic fermentative conditions and many appeared to be masked by the NAPs H-NS, IHF and Fis. Similar assays in cells lacking H-NS and its paralog StpA showed increased FNR occupancy at sites bound by H-NS in WT strains, indicating that large regions of the genome are not readily accessible for FNR binding. Genome accessibility may also explain our finding that genome-wide FNR occupancy did not correlate with the match to consensus at binding sites, suggesting that significant variation in ChIP signal was attributable to cross-linking or immunoprecipitation efficiency rather than differences in binding affinities for FNR sites. Correlation of FNR ChIP-seq peaks with transcriptomic data showed that less than half of the FNR-regulated operons could be attributed to direct FNR binding. Conversely, FNR bound some promoters without regulating expression presumably requiring changes in activity of condition-specific transcription factors. Such combinatorial regulation may allow Escherichia coli to respond rapidly to environmental changes and confer an ecological advantage in the anaerobic but nutrient-fluctuating environment of the mammalian gut.
To provide an in-depth description of the experience of chemotherapy-related cognitive impairment (CRCI) for women with breast cancer and identify related information that women would find useful ...prior to chemotherapy and at the onset of cognitive changes.
Qualitative, descriptive design.
Academic breast cancer survivorship center in Kansas City, KS.
18 breast cancer survivors within 6-12 months of having completed chemotherapy who self-reported changes in cognitive function.
Data were collected with a demographic questionnaire, semistructured interviews, and a focus group. Qualitative content analysis was performed.
Study themes were Life With Chemobrain, How I Changed, How I Cope, and How to Teach Me. Participants described difficulty with short-term memory, focusing, word finding, reading, and driving. Issues with fatigue, trouble sleeping, neuropathy, balance, and coordination also were of concern. Coping strategies included writing things down, depending on others, focusing on one task at a time, and giving oneself permission to make mistakes. Participants described exercise and getting enough rest to be helpful and recommended activities to stimulate the mind. Participants wanted information about the potential for CRCI prior to initiating chemotherapy and desired an individualized approach to education. Specific recommendations for education were provided.
The study results provide a framework for understanding the experience of CRCI that can be used to guide development of patient and family education and generate questions for additional research.
Application of the study results will enhance informed consent, validate the experience of CRCI, and contribute to patient satisfaction.
A radio counterpart to a neutron star merger Hallinan, G.; Corsi, A.; Mooley, K. P. ...
Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science),
12/2017, Letnik:
358, Številka:
6370
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Gravitational waves have been detected from a binary neutron star merger event, GW170817. The detection of electromagnetic radiation from the same source has shown that the merger occurred in the ...outskirts of the galaxy NGC 4993, at a distance of 40 megaparsecs from Earth. We report the detection of a counterpart radio source that appears 16 days after the event, allowing us to diagnose the energetics and environment of the merger. The observed radio emission can be explained by either a collimated ultrarelativistic jet, viewed off-axis, or a cocoon of mildly relativistic ejecta. Within 100 days of the merger, the radio light curves will enable observers to distinguish between these models, and the angular velocity and geometry of the debris will be directly measurable by very long baseline interferometry.
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