Feature Article

There is a general need to change hydropower operational regimes to balance the growing contribution of variable renewable energy sources in power systems. Quantifying the burden on generation equipment is increasingly uncertain and difficult. Here, we propose a framework combining technical and economic indicators to analyze primary frequency control (PFC) on a timescale of seconds.

Original Source

The genetic causes of cancer include both somatic mutations and inherited germline variants. Large-scale tumor sequencing has revolutionized the identification of somatic driver alterations but has had limited impact on the identification of cancer predisposition genes (CPGs). Here we present a statistical method, ALFRED, that tests Knudson’s two-hit hypothesis to systematically identify CPGs from cancer genome data.

Mineral exploitation has spread from land to shallow coastal waters and is now planned for the offshore, deep seabed. Large seafloor areas are being approved for exploration for seafloor mineral deposits, creating an urgent need for regional environmental management plans. Networks of areas where mining and mining impacts are prohibited are key elements of these plans.

Sequence type 36 (ST36) Klebsiella pneumoniae is distributed worldwide. We found an ST36 K. pneumoniae clinical isolate that was carbapenem resistant, carried blaKPC-2, had mucoid regulator gene rmpA, and exhibited high virulence. The finding suggests the emergence of carbapenem-resistant hypervirulent K.

For evaluating the impacts of climate change on crop yields regional climate models (RCMs) are now considered better than general circulation models (GCMs).

The natural conservation of coastal lagoons is important not only for their ecological importance, but also because of the valuable ecosystem services they provide for human welfare and wellbeing. Coastal lagoons are shallow semi-enclosed systems that support important habitats such as wetlands, mangroves, salt-marshes and seagrass meadows, as well as a rich biodiversity.

This paper updates previous assessments of the environmental impacts associated with using crop biotechnology in global agriculture. It focuses on the environmental impacts associated with changes in pesticide use and greenhouse gas emissions arising from the use of GM crops since their first widespread commercial use over 20 years ago.

PM2·5 air pollution is associated with increased risk of diabetes; however, a knowledge gap exists to further define and quantify the burden of diabetes attributable to PM2·5 air pollution. Therefore, we aimed to define the relationship between PM2·5 and diabetes. We also aimed to characterise an integrated exposure response function and to provide a quantitative estimate of the global and national burden of diabetes attributable to PM2·5.

The Orang Asli communities in Malaysia have been practicing indigenous agroforestry for generations, but little is known about the specifics of their practices. This study examined the indigenous management and sustainability of agroforestry practices, constraints experienced and contribution to household income. Data were collected from two Orang Asli villages practicing forest-garden agroforestry (FAF) and homegarden agroforestry (HAF). Tools of participatory rural appraisal namely semi-structured household interviews, group discussion and personal observation were used to collect data.

The bottom-up traffic emission model EMISENS is used to calculate hourly black carbon (BC) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) emission rates on an average workday in Maribor (Slovenia), using emission factors that were previously determined with the on-road chasing measurements in Slovenia. From modeled NOx emission rates and in-situ NOx measurements we empirically determined the hourly dispersion of traffic emissions and applied it to model BC concentrations using BC emission rates.