Physiological and nutritional constraints on zooplankton productivity due to eutrophication and climate change predicted using a resource-based modeling approach

Emerging evidence suggests that zooplankton production is affected by physiological and nutritional constraints due to climate change and eutrophication, which in turn could have broad implications for food-web dynamics and fisheries production. In this study, we developed a resource-based zooplankton production dynamics model that causally links freshwater cladoceran and copepod daily production-to-biomass (P/B) ratios with water temperature, phytoplankton biomass and community composition, and zooplankton feeding selectivity. This model was used to evaluate constraints on zooplankton growth under four hypothetical scenarios: involving natural plankton community seasonal succession; lake fertilization to enhance fisheries production; eutrophication; and climatic warming. Our novel modeling approach predicts zooplankton production is strongly dependent on seasonal variation in resource availability and quality, which results in more complex zooplankton dynamics than predicted by simpler temperature dependent models. For mesotrophic and hypereutrophic lakes, our study suggests that the ultimate control over zooplankton P/B ratios shifts from physiological control during colder periods to strong resource control during warmer periods. Our resource-based model provided important insights into the nature of biophysical control of zooplankton under a changing climate that has crucial implications for food web energy transfer and fisheries production.

Effect of Modeling Resins on Microhardness of Resin Composites

Objectives This study was aimed to determine the effects of modeling resins on the surface microhardness of composites. Materials and Methods Six resin-based composites (Charisma Smart, Estellite Asteria, CeramX-One SphereTEC, Admira Fusion, Filtek Ultimate, and Clearfil Majesty Es-2) and three wetting agents (Modeling Liquid, Composite Primer, and Modeling Resin) were investigated. In all, 240 specimens were prepared, and wetting agents were applied prior to light curing in the experimental groups. After 24 hours, specimens were polished and Vickers microhardness (VHN) values were measured. Statistical Analysis Shapiro–Wilk and two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used for analyses (p < 0.05). Results Both modeling resin and composites were determined to be effective factors (p < 0.001). The control group showed the highest VHN (70.37 ± 7.94), followed by Modeling Liquid (64.68 ± 12.07), Composite Primer (59.84 ± 6.33), and Modeling Resin (58 ± 3.52b; p < 0.001). Filtek Ultimate showed the highest VHN (76.62 ± 9.78c), whereas Charisma Smart (58.87 ± 7.95), and Clearfil Majesty (67.27 ± 2.58) showed the lowest (p < 0.001). Clearfil Majesty–Modeling Liquid (46.62 ± 5.33) and Charisma Smart–Composite Primer (50.81 ± 0.39) combinations showed the lowest VHN, whereas Filtek Ultimate–control (87.15 ± 2.12) and Filtek Ultimate–Modeling Liquid (84.24 ± 3.11) showed the highest (p < 0.001). Conclusion All tested modeling resins decreased VHN value, and the amount of reduction varied among composites and wetting agents. It might be safer not to use wetting agents unless they are necessary.

Achmea versus the Rule of Law: CJEU’s Dogmatic Dismissal of Investors’ Rights in Backsliding Member States of the European Union

We demonstrate that the CJEU’s Achmea judgment has resulted in significantly more damage beyond the termination of intra-EU BITs. It made the application of EU law difficult, if not impossible. Indeed, it has opened the floodgate to deficient judicial protection in the face of structural backsliding of the rule of law in some EU Member States. While the motives of the CJEU and by extension the European Commission to safeguard their ultimate control over the internal market by exclusively relying on the preliminary ruling system of integrated European judiciary may be understandable, they cannot serve as a credible justification for the long-term consequences of disempowering investors in the name of an ideological stance regarding EU judiciary, which cannot work in the backsliding Member States, where the ‘integration of the EU’s judiciary’ could stand for the absence of independent adjudication. Consequently, the Achmea judgment and post-Achmea developments such as the recently signed Termination Agreement to terminate the intra-EU BITs have been leading to significant—possibly irreparable in the short- to medium-term—lowering of the procedural and substantive protection standards for European investors in times when they are in need of more rather than less protection.

Metabolic Responses to Arsenite Exposure Regulated through Histidine Kinases PhoR and AioS in Agrobacterium tumefaciens 5A

Arsenite (AsIII) oxidation is a microbially-catalyzed transformation that directly impacts arsenic toxicity, bioaccumulation, and bioavailability in environmental systems. The genes for AsIII oxidation (aio) encode a periplasmic AsIII sensor AioX, transmembrane histidine kinase AioS, and cognate regulatory partner AioR, which control expression of the AsIII oxidase AioBA. The aio genes are under ultimate control of the phosphate stress response via histidine kinase PhoR. To better understand the cell-wide impacts exerted by these key histidine kinases, we employed 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) and liquid chromatography-coupled mass spectrometry (LC-MS) metabolomics to characterize the metabolic profiles of ΔphoR and ΔaioS mutants of Agrobacterium tumefaciens 5A during AsIII oxidation. The data reveals a smaller group of metabolites impacted by the ΔaioS mutation, including hypoxanthine and various maltose derivatives, while a larger impact is observed for the ΔphoR mutation, influencing betaine, glutamate, and different sugars. The metabolomics data were integrated with previously published transcriptomics analyses to detail pathways perturbed during AsIII oxidation and those modulated by PhoR and/or AioS. The results highlight considerable disruptions in central carbon metabolism in the ΔphoR mutant. These data provide a detailed map of the metabolic impacts of AsIII, PhoR, and/or AioS, and inform current paradigms concerning arsenic–microbe interactions and nutrient cycling in contaminated environments.

The arrogance of hope

This poem explores the depths of the black experience. It expresses the connection between all things and how we have ultimate control if we understand the powers we possess; as above, so below. We are inherently fighters, warriors and creators. Thee creators. In the same breath it talks, satirically, about the arrogance of hope; the hope of possibly changing these things we face without first looking to the source... within.

The Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisitions of Local State-Owned Enterprises: The Role of Home Country Government Involvement

Existing literature tends to treat enterprises as a whole when measuring government intervention. However, in Chinese region-specific institutional development, ultimate control (i.e., local government) tends to control multiple enterprises. This paper considers the enterprises controlled by the same ultimate controller as a portfolio, which is used to measure government intervention by comparing the differences of the enterprises in the portfolio. This paper uses the data of Chinese listed local state-owned enterprises (LSOEs). and we assess whether local state ownership benefits or offsets LSOEs’ cross-border mergers and acquisitions (CBM & A) activities. We propose a new measurement of government intervention to explain the mechanisms through which government influences the cross-border mergers and acquisitions of local SOEs. The experimental results show that government intervention and region-specific marketization institutional development negatively moderate the effect of government internationalization subsidies and government intervention on CBM & A separately. However, government internationalization subsidies, government intervention, and region-specific marketization enhance the CBM & A effect of state ownership separately. This study explores the benefits of government involvement in local SOEs. The value of this paper is to provide a novel perspective, including the intermediary effect of government intervention and the market environment.