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Sustainable agricultural soil management practices are key to restore, maintain and improve soil health. The European Joint Programme for SOIL (EJP SOIL) has identified twelve main soil challenges in Europe. To assess the potential and eventually increase the adoption of soil‐improving management practices, it is necessary to know (i) the current levels of adoption of the practices, (ii) socio‐technical barriers influencing their adoption, and (iii) their bio‐physical limits. This study compiled an inventory of soil‐improving management practices relevant to European conditions, and used a survey among soil scientists to assess the levels of adoption of these practices in Europe. In total, 53 soil management practices were identified that address one or several of the soil challenges. The adoption of most practices was low or spatially heterogeneous across Europe, highlighting region‐specific limitations to sustainable soil management. Qualitative interviews were conducted to explore the importance of socio‐technical aspects of adoption. Using conservation agriculture as an example, factors that can hinder adoption included the availability of knowledge and adequate machinery, financial risks, and farming traditions. Through a modelling approach, 54% of arable land in Europe was found to be suitable for cover cropping, indicating that the adoption of soil management practices is frequently limited by climatic constraints. We propose a region‐specific approach that recognizes the importance of identifying and overcoming socio‐technical barriers, and by acknowledging bio‐physical limits that may be expanded by innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the greatest challenges of forest restoration is the choice of appropriate plant material that is adapted to local environments, provides the desired ecological services, and does not compromise the local biodiversity. Plant restoration programs use native seeds, a mixture of local and introduced seeds of the same species or allopatric species. However, restoration programs rarely use local hybrid individuals if a local species exhibits natural hybridization. Hybridization is an important evolutionary process that can result in new genotypic combinations that might be suited better to the target habitat than the parental species and allow adaptation to rapid environmental change. European forests are generally under strict legal regulations so that only certified seeds can be used for their restoration. The European certification procedure for seeds from forest trees has been devised to commercialize clearly identified species with known adaptation to a given area. Natural hybrids, for which taxonomic status is uncertain and fitness is generally unknown, are excluded, which is not the case of artificial hybrids because they have been previously tested in the field. Here we discuss the pressing need to include natural hybrid populations as a source of certified seeds for restoration purposes. Using the example of two ash species and their well-adapted hybrids along the Loire River in France, we show why European forest guidelines must be made more flexible to allow the provision of stable ecosystem services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Commission is funding within its Sixth Framework Programme a three-year project (2005–2007) called CONRAD, COordinated Network for RAdiation Dosimetry. The organisational framework for this project is provided by the European Radiation Dosimetry Group EURADOS. One task within the CONRAD project, Work Package 6 (WP6), was to provide a report outlining research needs and research activities within Europe to develop new and improved methods and techniques for the characterisation of complex radiation fields at workplaces around high-energy accelerators, but also at the next generation of thermonuclear fusion facilities. The paper provides an overview of the report, which will be available as CERN Yellow Report. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Within the EC project EVIDOS, double-differential (energy and direction) fluence spectra were determined by means of novel direction spectrometers. By folding the spectra with fluence-to-dose equivalent conversion coefficients, contributions to H*(10) for 14 directions, and values of the personal dose equivalent Hp(10) and the effective dose E for 6 directions of a person's orientation in the field were determined. The results of the measurements and calculations obtained within the EVIDOS project in workplace fields in nuclear installations in Europe, i.e., at Krümmel (boiling water reactor and transport cask), at Mol (Venus research reactor and fuel facility Belgonucléaire) and at Ringhals (pressurised reactor and transport cask) are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the EC project EVLDOS ('Evaluation of Individual Dosimetry in Mixed Neutron and Photon Radiation Fields'), different types of active neutron personal dosemeters (and some passive ones) were tested in workplace fields at nuclear installations in Europe. The results of the measurements which have been performed up to now are summarised and compared to our currently best estimates of the personal dose equivalent Hp(10). Under- and over-readings by more than a factor of two for the same dosemeter in different workplace fields indicate that in most cases the use of field-specific correction factors is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supported by the European Commission, the EVIDOS project started in November 2001 with the broad goal of evaluating state of the art dosimetry techniques in representative workplaces of the nuclear industry. Seven European institutes joined efforts with end users at nuclear power plants, at fuel processing and reprocessing plants, and at transport and storage facilities. A comprehensive programme was devised to evaluate capabilities and limitations of standard and innovative personal dosemeters in relation to the mixed neutron-photon fields of concern to the nuclear industry. This paper describes the criteria behind the selection of dosimetry techniques and workplaces that were analysed, as well as the organisation of the measurement campaigns. Particular emphasis was placed on the evaluation of a variety of electronic personal dosemeters, either commercially available or previously developed by the partners. The estimates provided by these personal dosemeters were compared to reference values of dose equivalent quantities derived from spectrometry and fluence-to-dose equivalent conversion coefficients. Spectrometry was performed both with conventional multisphere and with some original instrumentation providing energy and direction resolution, based on silicon detectors and superheated drop detectors mounted on or in spherical moderators. The results were collected in a large, searchable database and are intended to be used in the harmonisation of dosimetric procedures for mixed radiation fields and for the approval of dosimetry services in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the main conclusions and recommendations derived from the EVIDOS project, which is supported by the European Commission within the 5th Framework Programme. EVIDOS aims at evaluating state of the art neutron dosimetry techniques in representative workplaces of the nuclear industry with complex mixed neutron-photon radiation fields. This analysis complements a series of individual papers which present detailed results and it summarises the main findings from a practical point of view. Conclusions and recommendations are given concerning characterisation of radiation fields, methods to derive radiation protection quantities and dosemeter results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We used chloroplast polymerase chain reaction-restriction-fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and chloroplast microsatellites to assess the structure of genetic variation and postglacial history across the entire natural range of the common ash (Fraxinus excelsiorL.), a broad-leaved wind-pollinated and wind-dispersed European forest tree. A low level of polymorphism was observed, with only 12 haplotypes at four polymorphic microsatellites in 201 populations, and two PCR-RFLP haplotypes in a subset of 62 populations. The clear geographical pattern displayed by the five most common haplotypes was in agreement with glacial refugia for ash being located in Iberia, Italy, the eastern Alps and the Balkan Peninsula, as had been suggested from fossil pollen data. A low chloroplast DNA mutation rate, a low effective population size in glacial refugia related to ash's life history traits, as well as features of postglacial expansion were put forward to explain the low level of polymorphism. Differentiation among populations was high (GST = 0.89), reflecting poor mixing among recolonizing lineages. Therefore, the responsible factor for the highly homogeneous genetic pattern previously identified at nuclear microsatellites throughout western and central Europe () must have been efficient postglacial pollen flow. Further comparison of variation patterns at both marker systems revealed that nuclear microsatellites identified complex differentiation patterns in south-eastern Europe which remained undetected with chloroplast microsatellites. The results suggest that data from different markers should be combined in order to capture the most important genetic patterns in a species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To determine extant patterns of population genetic structure in common ash and gain insight into postglacial recolonization processes, we applied multilocus-based Bayesian approaches to data from 36 European populations genotyped at five nuclear microsatellite loci. We identified two contrasting patterns in terms of population genetic structure: (1) a large area from the British Isles to Lithuania throughout central Europe constituted effectively a single deme, whereas (2) strong genetic differentiation occurred over short distances in Sweden and southeastern Europe. Concomitant geographical variation was observed in estimates of allelic richness and genetic diversity, which were lowest in populations from southeastern Europe, that is, in regions close to putative ice age refuges, but high in western and central Europe, that is, in more recently recolonized areas. We suggest that in southeastern Europe, restricted postglacial gene flow caused by a rapid expansion of refuge populations in a mountainous topography is responsible for the observed strong genetic structure. In contrast, admixture of previously differentiated gene pools and high gene flow at the onset of postglacial recolonization of western and central Europe would have homogenized the genetic structure and raised the levels of genetic diversity above values in the refuges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies the ash tree, Fraxinus excelsior, which is a deciduous tree distributed throughout Europe and Asia Minor. How the wood from the ash is the favorite among foresters in Europe as indicated by improvement and plantation programs; Need for identification tools, such as molecular markers, to identify accurately the elite material to be propagated; Study characterizing ten microsatellite markers in Fraxinus excelsior showing their potential in other species of the Oleaceae family which includes the olive genus Olea.

Background: Most new SARS-CoV-2 epidemics in France occurred following the importation from abroad of emerging viral variants. Currently, the risk of new variants being imported is controlled based on a negative screening test (PCR or antigenic) and proof of up-to-date vaccine status, such as the International Air Transport Association travel pass., Methods: The wastewater from two planes arriving in Marseille (France) from Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) in December 2021 was tested by RT-PCR to detect SARS-CoV2 and screen for variants. These tests were carried out between landing and customs clearance and were then sequenced by MiSeq Illumina. Antigenic tests and sequencing by NovaSeq were carried out on respiratory samples collected from the 56 passengers on the second flight., Results: SARS-CoV-2 RNA suspected of being from the Omicron BA.1 variant was detected in the aircraft's wastewater. SARS-CoV2 RNA was detected in 11 [20%) passengers and the Omicron BA.1 variant was identified., Conclusion: Our work shows the efficiency of aircraft wastewater testing to detect SARS-CoV-2 cases among travellers and to identify the viral genotype. It also highlights the low efficacy of the current control strategy for flights entering France from outside Europe, which combines a requirement to produce a vaccine pass and proof of a negative test before boarding.