Linking the effects of plant protection products on biodiversity and ecological processes to potential impairment of ecosystem functions and services—A multidisciplinary conceptual framework.

There is growing interest in using the ecosystem services framework for environmental risk assessments of plant protection products (PPP). However, there is still a broad gap between most of the ecotoxicological endpoints used in PPP risk assessment and the evaluation of the risks and effects of PPP on ecosystem services. Here we propose a conceptual framework to link current and future knowledge on the ecotoxicological effects of PPP on biodiversity and ecological processes to their consequences on ecosystem functions and services. We first describe the main processes governing the relationships between biodiversity, ecological processes and ecosystem functions in response to effects of PPP. We define 12 main categories of ecosystem functions that could be directly linked with the ecological processes used as functional endpoints in investigations on the ecotoxicology of PPP. An exploration of perceptions on the possible links between these categories of ecosystem functions and groups of ecosystem services (by a panel scientific experts in various fields of environmental sciences) then finds that these direct and indirect linkages still need clarification. We illustrate how the proposed framework could be used on terrestrial microalgae and cyanobacteria to assess the potential effects of herbicides on ecosystem services. The framework proposed here uses a set of clearly-defined core categories of ecosystem functions and services, which should help identify which of them are effectively or potentially threatened by PPP. We argue that this framework could help harmonize and extend the scientific knowledge that informs decision-making and policy-making.

Bibliometric Analysis of Highly Cited Papers on Resources and the Environment in China

To review the current state of resources and environmental sciences in China, this study assessed highly cited papers of five leading CSSCI journals sourced from the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure database. The fields of resources and environmental sciences were the research focus, and the bibliometric analysis software CiteSpace was used to perform co-occurrence analysis on keywords, authors, and research institutions based on bibliometrics and social network analysis. Furthermore, the research hotspots, scientist groups, and main cooperation models in the field of resources and environmental sciences in China were also explored. The results show that: (1) For 30 years, the interdisciplinarity of resources and environmental sciences has become more and more intense, and research themes have become increasingly extensive. The research hotspots of highly cited papers focused on energy, ecology, land, water resources, and sustainable development. In recent years, problems associated with energy and carbon emissions have aroused great interest. The ecological and sustainable development of resources and environmental elements has emerged as a future research trend. (2) An analysis of scientist-oriented networks shows that highly cited papers are mostly published by group authors. Scientists work closely within their respective academic groups, while intergroup academic cooperation is rare. Furthermore, connectedness between cooperation networks is poor, and scientists are largely connected through their research institutions. Cooperation among scientists is greatly affected by their geographical locations. Research institutions in the same region are more likely to cooperate. Beijing and Nanjing are high-producing areas of highly cited papers. The Institute of Geographic Sciences and Resources, CAS, is the most influential research institution. This paper introduces the state-of-the-art research hotspots of Chinese resources and environmental sciences to international academic circles and provides a basis for the research practice of resources and environmental sciences worldwide.

Red flower apple in the collection of the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine

Apple trees with red flowers are especially attractive during the flowering period, making ones a desirable component of ornamental plantings. 30 samples of apple trees with anthocyanin organ coloring in the collection of Scientific Laboratory "Genetic resources, introduction, and breeding of unusual fruit and ornamental crops", located in Agronomic Research Station of the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine have been studied. In 2001 phenological observations during blooming and morphometric analysis of flowers and leaves were carried out, also decorativeness was evaluated. The dominant gene that controls the anthocyanin pigmentation of organs in the apple tree comes from Malus niedzwetzkyana. Now the rank of this taxon is reduced to a variety – M. domestica var. niedzwetzkyana. Niedzvetzky’s apple was involved in crossing with small-fruited apple species to develop ornamental hybrids, some of which received nothospecies names, and in the breeding of fruit varieties and rootstocks of M. domestica. According to the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants, varieties with anthocyanin-colored petals having in the pedigree M. domestica var. niedzwetzkyana can be distinguished as Malus Niedzwetzkyana Group. If the Malus Niedzwetzkyana Group is supplemented with varieties with anthocyanin color of petals that originate from other species of apple trees, e.g., M. halliana and M. spectabilis, then the expanded Group can be called Malus Purpurea Group. At the same time, some varieties may belong to other Groups, in particular, Malus Pendula Group, Malus Redflesh Group, etc. The highest decorativeness (5 points) during blooming is inherent for the samples Nos. 2332 'Makamik', 2947, 3100 'Aldenhamensis', 3157 'Pionerka', 3305, 3382, 3540, 3592, 3601, 3603, 3656, 3691, 3692, 4292 and hybrids '17-279', '17-316', '18-275', '18-293', '18-325'. The samples No. 1723 'Lawn Krasnolepestnaya', 3314 'Royalty', 3375 'Black Pearl' are slightly inferior to them in decorativeness, but they have a special habitus or intense anthocyanin color of the leaves, which gives them certain advantages. The use of these samples allows you to establish a conveyor of elongated flowering of red-flowered apple trees at green construction sites.

O desamparo da ciência na transição para sociedades sustentáveis

Esse trabalho se constrói diante a conjuntura da virada ontológica das ciências humanas e ambientais. Período em que as crises da sociedade contemporânea exigem da ciência o reconhecimento da potência agentiva de humanos e não humanos na transição para sociedades sustentáveis. Assim, reconhecendo a necessidade da corporificação política para a transição, o destaque e desafio do trabalho é buscar novos caminhos para a corporificação política da ciência através do desamparo como afeto político central, aproximando o campo psicanalítico do reconhecimento das dimensões multiespécie da antropologia contemporânea. Para isso me apoio principalmente nos trabalhos de Vladimir Safatle, Sigmund Freud e Anna Tsing.Palavras-chave: Afetos. Antropoceno. Contingência. Multiespécie. Sustentabilidade. The science helplessness in sustainable societies transitionAbstractThis work is constructed in the conjuncture of the ontological turn of human and environmental sciences. A period when the crisis of contemporary society requires science to recognize the active potential of humans and non-humans in the face of the transition to sustainable societies. Thus, recognizing the need for political embodiment in the transition, the highlight, and challenge of the work is to seek new paths for the political embodiment of science through helplessness as a central political affection, bringing the psychoanalytic field closer to the recognition of the multispecies dimensions of contemporary anthropology. For that, I supported the works by Vladimir Safatle, Sigmund Freud, and Anna Tsing.Keywords: Affect. Anthropocene. Contingency. Multispecies. Sustainability.

Four Generations in Data Engineering for Data Science

Data-driven methods and data science are important scientific methods in many research fields. All data science approaches require professional data engineering components. At the moment, computer science experts are needed for solving these data engineering tasks. Simultaneously, scientists from many fields (like natural sciences, medicine, environmental sciences, and engineering) want to analyse their data autonomously. The arising task for data engineering is the development of tools that can support an automated data curation and are utilisable for domain experts. In this article, we will introduce four generations of data engineering approaches classifying the data engineering technologies of the past and presence. We will show which data engineering tools are needed for the scientific landscape of the next decade.

Homeopathy and the science of high dilutions: when to believe the unbelievable

In 1988, a Nature Editorial titled “When to believe the unbelievable” noted that the famous high-dilution experiments of the Benveniste group had no physical basis and suggested that “prudent people should, for the time being, suspend judgment.” In point of fact, judgment was not suspended and in the ensuing weeks the authors were resoundingly condemned and ridiculed for the purported lack of replication of their findings. Twenty-four years later, the concept that a solution diluted beyond the Avogadro-Loschmidt constant may show some biological and pharmacological activity is still “unbelievable” from an ordinary common sense perspective, but things are dramatically changing. Several groups of researchers from countries all over the world have been investigating this difficult question, which has weighty implications not just for pharmacology (homeopathy) but also for biology, physics and the environmental sciences. The XXVI meeting of GIRI (International research group on ultra-low dose and high-dilution effects), scheduled to take place in Florence on 20-22 September 2012, will present a growing body of evidence in favor of the “existence” of high-dilution/dynamization effects. Continuing the excellent work of the preceding editions, the meeting features a rich and outstanding program organized into four main tracks: physico-chemical features of high dilutions; studies done in planta and in the field; clinical and veterinary evidence; and laboratory models. ... For two centuries, homeopathy and science have been regarded as two opposing and conflicting fields. Now things are changing, as scientific evidence begins to support many homeopathic tenets, and the homeopathic world increasingly stimulates science to investigate previously under-evaluated and little understood subtle phenomena. For over 26 years from the foundation, the international GIRI group has been stimulating fruitful dialogue in the interest of furthering true science—i.e., that which is free from ideological barriers and pre-judgments. Quite often, scientific “dogmas” have been disrupted by new evidence, or previously dismissed phenomena have gained importance in the light of a new conceptual framework. The unusual properties of high dilutions/dynamizations, which merit further investigation, are potentially relevant not just to homeopathic pharmaceutical science, but also to agriculture (“agrohomeopathy”), environmental sciences and, in general, to the future of mankind.