Recognize fish as food in policy discourse and development funding

The international development community is off-track from meeting targets for alleviating global malnutrition. Meanwhile, there is growing consensus across scientific disciplines that fish plays a crucial role in food and nutrition security. However, this 'fish as food' perspective has yet to translate into policy and development funding priorities. We argue that the traditional framing of fish as a natural resource emphasizes economic development and biodiversity conservation objectives, whereas situating fish within a food systems perspective can lead to innovative policies and investments that promote nutrition-sensitive and socially equitable capture fisheries and aquaculture. This paper highlights four pillars of research needs and policy directions toward this end. Ultimately, recognizing and working to enhance the role of fish in alleviating hunger and malnutrition can provide an additional long-term development incentive, beyond revenue generation and biodiversity conservation, for governments, international development organizations, and society more broadly to invest in the sustainability of capture fisheries and aquaculture.

High temperature rise dominated cracking mechanisms in ultra-ductile and tough titanium alloy

Extensive use of titanium alloys is partly hindered by a lack of ductility, strain hardening, and fracture toughness. Recently, several β-metastable titanium alloys were designed to simultaneously activate both transformation-induced plasticity and twinning-induced plasticity effects, resulting in significant improvements to their strain hardening capacity and resistance to plastic localization. Here, we report an ultra-large fracture resistance in a Ti-12Mo alloy (wt.%), that results from a high resistance to damage nucleation, with an unexpected fracture phenomenology under quasi-static loading. Necking develops at a large uniform true strain of 0.3 while fracture initiates at a true fracture strain of 1.0 by intense through-thickness shear within a thin localized shear band. Transmission electron microscopy reveals that dynamic recrystallization occurs in this band, while local partial melting is observed on the fracture surface. Shear band temperatures of 1250–2450 °C are estimated by the fusible coating method. The reported high ductility combined to the unconventional fracture process opens alternative avenues toward Ti alloys toughening.

Specific titanium alloys combine transformation-induced plasticity and twinning-induced plasticity for improved work hardening. Here, the authors show that these alloys also have an ultra-large fracture resistance and an unexpected fracture mechanism via dynamic recrystallization and local melting in a deformation band.

Automatic crystallographic characterization in a transmission electron microscope: applications to twinning induced plasticity steels and Al thin films

A new automated crystallographic orientation mapping tool in a transmission electron microscope technique, which is based on pattern matching between every acquired electron diffraction pattern and precalculated templates, has been used for the microstructural characterization of nondeformed and deformed aluminum thin films and twinning-induced plasticity steels. The increased spatial resolution and the use of electron diffraction patterns rather than Kikuchi lines make this tool very appropriate to characterize fine grained and deformed microstructures.

Climate Change Denial Books and Conservative Think Tanks: Exploring the Connection

The conservative movement and especially its think tanks play a critical role in denying the reality and significance of anthropogenic global warming (AGW), especially by manufacturing uncertainty over climate science. Books denying AGW are a crucial means of attacking climate science and scientists, and we examine the links between conservative think tanks (CTTs) and 108 climate change denial books published through 2010. We find a strong link, albeit noticeably weaker for the growing number of self-published denial books. We also examine the national origins of the books and the academic backgrounds of their authors or editors, finding that with the help of American CTTs climate change denial has spread to several other nations and that an increasing portion of denial books are produced by individuals with no scientific training. It appears that at least 90% of denial books do not undergo peer review, allowing authors or editors to recycle scientifically unfounded claims that are then amplified by the conservative movement, media, and political elites.

[Effects of anti-infectious immunomodulators in leprosy and malaria in the mouse]

Immunomodulators, whether natural (polysaccharides) or industrial (non-hemolytic detergents) proved active by themselves, in preventive or curative schemes of experimental leprosy and malaria. However, their activity was most often increased, through joint administration with chemotherapeutic agents.

Immunopotentiating effect of fungal glucans as revealed by frequency limitation of postchemotherapy relapse in experimental mouse tuberculosis

Two kinds of fungal glucan, particulate yeast glucan (PYG) and lentinan, were examined for their immunopotentiating effect illustrated by reduced frequency of post-chemotherapy relapse in experimental mouse tuberculosis. Infected mice were treated by intensive chemotherapy with a three-drug combination [Streptomycin (SM) + isoniazid (INH) + rifampicin (RFP), ethambutol (EB) + INH + RFP, or SM + INH + pyrazinamide (PZA)] for 5 months. After termination of chemotherapy, the mice of each treated group were divided into three subgroups to receive or not to receive glucan for 4 weeks and again for 4 weeks after a month interval. During this 3-month period and the succeeding 5 months, the mice were subjected to occasional sacrifice to examine the growth of latent tubercle bacilli in the lung and spleen by cultivation of tissue homogenates. The results indicated that the regimens with SM + INH + RFP and EB + INH + RFP were highly effective in eliminating persistent tubercle bacilli down to undetectable levels. However, later multiplication of the latent bacilli was observed during the advanced postchemotherapy period. The application of PYG was most effective in prevention of this type of relapse in the spleen, but not so in the lung. Lentinan effect was manifested in the lung, but not in the spleen.