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In the early years of the Space Age spacecraft debris and spent rocket stages were deposited on the surface of the Moon, ostensibly in the name of space science. Although this was not considered ‘pollution’ then, as we look forward to further manned lunar missions and subsequent development, the status of the lunar surface and orbital environment should be of greater concern, not least with regard to the safety of future travellers. By extension, the effect of spacecraft impacts on the surfaces of other planetary bodies and the formation of planetary orbital debris should be of similar concern to the wider space community. In addition to a commentary on the origins and objectives of the Scientific-Legal Round Table of which this paper is a part, the paper presents an initial catalogue of spacecraft impacts on planetary bodies and the resulting debris that may still be found on their surfaces. It also considers the future of scientific exploration and commercial exploitation of the planetary bodies and presents the case for protecting the space environment. In conclusion, the paper calls for the formation of an international consultative study group, or similar body, to consider the issues relevant to ‘Protection of the Space Environment’ and to raise awareness of the subject among the growing body of space professionals and practitioners.

A key premise of science fiction is the existence of worlds beyond our own. In the first E&Tfeature to mark the International Year of Astronomy, Mark Williamson investigates the science of exoplanets and the technology of their detection.

Transformation of data to normality may be illuminating and useful statistically. There are two standard families of transformations, power transformations for positive numbers, bounded at the left, and folded transformations for proportions, bounded both at the left and the right. It has been shown that there is no one satisfactory power transformation for range size data. However, such measures are limited to the right as well as the left, and we consider applying folded transformations to them. Seven data sets of range sizes recorded by 10 km squares are studied. Six are British (native and introduced plants, mammals, dragonflies and two breeding bird surveys) the seventh is of Swiss breeding birds. Using these we show that the right hand limit of the distribution can be estimated and the best folded transformation found. In all cases the right hand limit is larger than the range size of the most widespread species and smaller than the notional scope of the survey. In all cases the logit or flog, the logarithmic folded transformation, is satisfactory: in five cases it is the best. It is well known that abundance is approximately (though not exactly) log-normally distributed. The relationship of that to our discovery that range size data are approximately logit-normal is discussed. There is no fully satisfactory explanation for either observation at present.

How does the 'green' imperative fit with the American Dream and what role does technology play? Mark Williamson visits Florida to find out.

Fictional versions of the Bletchley Park story have sparked interest in an aspect of wartime codebreaking that's often overlooked.

The world's major space companies have undergone continual evolution, through a process of mergers and acquisitions, since their creation from their aerospace parents. Although much of this evolution occurred in the early years of the Space Age, the process seems to have become particularly dynamic in the 1990s, as companies have striven to become ever more competitive in an increasingly global business environment. This article reviews some of the most important mergers and traces the recent development of the world's leading space contractors.

Direct administration of chemotherapeutic drugs to the lungs significantly enhances drug exposure to lung resident cancers and may improve chemotherapy when compared to intravenous administration. Direct inhalation of uncomplexed or unencapsulated cytotoxic drugs, however, leads to bolus release and unacceptable lung toxicity. Here, we explored the utility of a 56kDa PEGylated polylysine dendrimer, conjugated to doxorubicin, to promote the controlled and prolonged exposure of lung-resident cancers to cytotoxic drug. After intratracheal instillation to rats, approximately 60% of the dendrimer was rapidly removed from the lungs (within 24h) via mucociliary clearance and absorption into the blood. This was followed by a slower clearance phase that reflected both absorption from the lungs (bioavailability 10-13%) and biodegradation of the dendrimer scaffold. After 7days, approximately 15% of the dose remained in the lungs. A syngeneic rat model of lung metastasised breast cancer was subsequently employed to compare the anticancer activity of the dendrimer with a doxorubicin solution formulation after intravenous and pulmonary administration. Twice weekly intratracheal instillation of the dendrimer led to a >95% reduction in lung tumour burden after 2weeks in comparison to IV administration of doxorubicin solution which reduced lung tumour burden by only 30-50%. Intratracheal instillation of an equivalent dose of doxorubicin solution led to extensive lung-related toxicity and death withinseveral days of a single dose. The data suggest that PEGylated dendrimers have potential as inhalable drug delivery systems to promote the prolonged exposure of lung-resident cancers to chemotherapeutic drugs and to improve anti-cancer activity.

Functions to automate TEM sample alignment and focus have been developed and tested on a 200 kV S/TEM. Sensitivity and repeatability data for functions allowing for automated eucentric height, focus, and zone axis alignment are presented. Eucentric and focus autofunctions were used to collect dynamic precision metrology data from a commercially available 22nm microprocessor. Results show 3σ standard deviation dynamic precision values better than 0.5nm for all recorded measurements.

Nanog has an important role in pluripotency induction in bovines and snow leopards. To examine whether it was required for wild felids globally, we examined the induction of pluripotency in felids from Asia (Bengal tiger, Panthera tigris), Africa (serval, Leptailurus serval), and the Americas (jaguar, Panthera onca). Dermal fibroblasts were transduced with genes encoding the human transcription factors OCT4, SOX2, KLF4, and cMYC with or without NANOG. Both four- and five-factor induction resulted in colony formation at day 3 in all three species tested; however, we were not able to maintain colonies that were generated without NANOG beyond passage (P) 7. Five-factor induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) colonies from wild cats were expanded in vitro on feeder layers and were positive for alkaline phosphatase and protein expression of OCT-4, NANOG, and stage-specific embryonic antigen-4 at P4 and P14. Reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction confirmed that all five human transgenes were transcribed at P4; however, OCT4, SOX2, and NANOG transgenes were silenced by P14. Endogenous OCT4 and NANOG transcripts were detected at P4 and P14 in all cell lines confirming successful reprogramming. At P14, the iPSCs from all three species remained euploid and differentiated in vivo and in vitro into derivatives of the three germ layers. This study describes an effective method for inducing pluripotency in three endangered wild cats from across the globe and confirms Nanog as an essential factor in the reprogramming event. Efficient production of iPSC from endangered felids creates a unique opportunity for species preservation through gamete production, nuclear transfer, embryo complementation, and future novel technologies.

The character&tics of invading species were explored using the Ecological Flora Database, and by using comparisons available in other studies. Invasion success has been related to both abundance and distribution in the native range, which are themselves related. Abundance is probably the key variable. In the British flora invading species are characterized more by their distribution and morphology than by their life history and reproductive behaviour. The size of the plant and characters related to propagule pressure created by humans come out as important correlates of success. For biological characters, genetic studies and the phenomenon of boom-and-bust both suggest that the critical interaction between species and habitat is often subtle. Nevertheless, studies on pines and squirrels show that such important biological characters can be determined. Copyright © 1996 Elsevier Science Limited

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Virtual reality could almost be made for military applications, since the key advantage of simulating as opposed to actually engaging in a conflict situation is that nobody gets hurt. According to Brigadier SC Sharma, president of Axis Aerospace, "The military uses VR for everything from training and safety enhancement to analysing military manoeuvres and battlefield positions". Given even a basic understanding of what teenage gamers do with PS4s, it's easy to imagine how a more immersive version could provide training for real soldiers. In fact, VR can be extended to the battlefield itself and used as "battlefield visualisation", says Sharma, "to control combat operations in real time and help commanders assess their options".

This research presents a strategy to aid in the development of a decision support toolset in the Advanced Simulation Capability for Environmental Monitoring (ASCEM) modeling platform for determining the near-optimal placement of monitoring wells. There are two scenarios that are studied in determining the near-optimal placement of monitoring wells: (1) placement of an entirely new network and (2) placement of additional monitoring wells within a previously placed network. The key technique utilized in this strategy minimizes the variance of spatial analysis using Geostatistical analysis and optimizes using Monte Carlo analysis. A clustering technique, namely k-means, is used in the second scenario to determine specific locations of importance relative to previously placed monitoring wells. This strategy is applied to chromium contamination at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The purpose is the determination of monitoring well placement to detect potential contaminant arrival in a regional aquifer located at Sandia and Mortandad Canyons.

Despite tremendous efforts on isolation of pluripotent equine embryonic stem (ES) cells, to date there are few reports about successful isolation of ESCs and no report ofin vivodifferentiation of this important companion species. We report the induction of pluripotency in adult equine fibroblasts via retroviral transduction with three transcription factors usingOCT4, SOX2, andKLF4in the absence of c-MYC. The cell lines were maintained beyond 27 passages (more than 11 months) and characterized. The equine iPS (EiPS) cells stained positive for alkaline phosphatase by histochemical staining and expressed OCT4, NANOG, SSEA1, and SSEA4. Gene expression analysis of the cells showed the expression ofOCT4, SOX2 NANOG, andSTAT3. The cell lines retained a euploid chromosome count of 64 after long-term culture cryopreservation. The EiPS demonstrated differentiation capacity for the three embryonic germ layers bothin vitroby embryoid bodies (EBs) formation andin vivoby teratoma formation. In conclusion, we report the derivation of iPS cells from equine adult fibroblasts and long-term maintenance using either of the three reprogramming factors.

All diversity indices are functions of the vector of the numbers of individuals in different species in a statistical population. So they are also functions of the number of species. It is well known, from the species-area curve and from collector's curves, that the number of species is a function of sampling effort. The rarefaction and Coleman functions are both functions that allow comparisons to be made at the same number of individuals, but have different mathematical forms. We show that the numerical difference between them, in the samples we have studied, is negligibly small. We show how to modify the Coleman function to allow for sampling without replacement, and show that the modified function is identical to the hypergeometric rarefaction function. Rarefaction should always be used, with any index, when comparing diversity in different size samples, but the number of species is the preferred index. Suggestions for comparing rarefaction curves from different samples are made.

A biological attack would present an unprecedented challenge for local, state, and federal agencies, the military, the private sector, and individuals on many fronts, ranging from vaccination and treatment to prioritization of cleanup actions to waste disposal. To prepare for recovery from this type of incident, the Seattle Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) partners collaborated with military and federal agencies to develop a regional recovery framework. The goal was to identify key information that will assist policymakers and emergency managers in shortening the timeline for recovery and minimizing the economic and public health impacts of a catastrophic anthrax attack. Based on discussions in workshops, tabletop exercises, and interviews with local, state, federal, military, and private sector entities responsible for recovery, the authors identified goals, assumptions, and concepts of operation for various areas to address critical issues the region will face as recovery progresses. Although the framework is specific to a catastrophic, wide-area biological attack using anthrax, it was designed to be flexible and scalable so it could also serve as the recovery framework for an all-hazards approach in other regions and jurisdictions. Benefits from this process include enhanced coordination and collaboration across agencies, a more thorough understanding of the anthrax threat, an opportunity to proactively consider long-term recovery, and a better understanding of the specific policy questions requiring resolution.

The United States Department Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) determined that uniform application of advanced modeling in the subsurface could help reduce the cost and risks associated with its environmental cleanup mission. In response to this determination, the EM Office of Technology Innovation and Development (OTID), Groundwater and Soil Remediation (GW&S) began the program Advanced Simulation Capability for Environmental Management (ASCEM). ASCEM is a state-of-the-art scientific tool and approach for integrating data and scientific understanding to enable prediction of contaminant fate and transport in natural and engineered systems. This initiative supports the reduction of uncertainties and risks associated with EM’s environmental cleanup and closure programs through better understanding and quantifying the subsurface flow and contaminant transport behavior in complex geological systems. This involves the long-term performance of engineered components, including cementitious materials in nuclear waste disposal facilities that may be sources for future contamination of the subsurface. This paper describes the ASCEM tools and approach and the ASCEM programmatic accomplishments completed in 2010 including recent advances and technology transfer.Copyright © 2011 by ASME

Newmont Mining Corporation’s Phoenix Mine in Nevada, USA is actively reclaiming historic and current waste rock disposal areas with evapotranspiration (ET) covers to reduce the long-term risk of acid rock drainage. The waste rock is typically sulphide enriched and considered to be potentially acid generating (PAG). The total sulphide content of all waste material averages 2–3%, of which less than 20% is pyrrhotite with the remaining being a combination of pyrite and marcasite. There are pockets (often in the hundreds of tons range) of material that average greater than 50% sulphide. ET covers consist of nominal 2 m thick alluvial soil and/or non-PAG waste rock placed over the waste rock material. To monitor the ET cover’s capacity to store and release incident precipitation and the evolution of potential acid rock drainage generation in closed waste rock facilities, near surface (less than 3.5 m below ground surface) cover performance monitoring sensor nests and deeper subsurface geochemical evolution monitoring wells (to a maximum depth of 67 m) have been installed in the South Iron Canyon and North Fortitude rock disposal areas. Near-surface sensor nests and the geochemical evolution monitoring wells are instrumented at various depths with water content, water pressure potential, air pressure, oxygen concentration, temperature, and water flux sensors. These monitoring systems provide information on net percolation in the waste rock, air flow within the waste rock, and the relative oxidation of sulphide material at depth. In addition, the instrumentation has been designed to test hypotheses regarding the distribution and movement of water and air in “end dumped” lifts. Initial data indicates that the cover systems are effectively storing and releasing precipitation. Deep zones of elevated temperature within the waste rock have been identified and may indicate the presence of sulphide enriched waste rock being exposed to incident precipitation for prolonged periods during the disposal area construction phase. Three years of monitoring data will be presented to illustrate cover system performance and controlling factors in the geochemical evolution of the waste rock disposal areas.

BACKGROUND: Rapid, reliable fusion is the goal in anterior cervical diskectomy and fusion. Iliac crest autograft has a high rate of donor-site morbidity. Alternatives such as bone graft substitutes lack osteoinductivity, and recombinant bone morphogenetic proteins risk life-threatening complications. Both allogeneic mesenchymal precursor cells (MPCs) and amnion derived epithelial cells (AECs) have osteogenic potential. OBJECTIVE: To compare for the first time the capacity of MPCs and AECs to promote osteogenesis in an ovine model. METHODS: Five groups of 2-year-old ewes were subjected to C3-4 anterior cervical diskectomy and fusion with a Fidji interbody cage packed with iliac crest autograft alone (group A; n = 6), hydroxyapatite-tricalcium phosphate Mastergraft granules (HA/TCP) alone (group B; n = 6), HA/TCP containing 5 million MPCs (group C; n = 6), or HA/TCP containing 5 million AECs (group D; n = 5); group E was made up of age-matched nonoperative controls (n = 6). At 3 months, animals were euthanized and quantitative multislice computed tomography, functional radiography, biomechanics, histology, and histomorphometry were performed. RESULTS: No procedure- or cell-related adverse events were observed. There was significantly more fusion in the MPC group (C) than in group A, B, or D. Computed tomography scan at 3 months revealed that 5 of 6 MPC-treated animals (83%) had continuous bony bridging compared with 0 of 5 AEC-treated and only 1 of 6 autograft-and 2 of 6 HA/TCP-treated animals (P = .01). CONCLUSION: Implantation of allogeneic MPCs in combination with HA/TCP within an interbody spacer facilitates interbody fusion after diskectomy. The earlier, more robust fusion observed with MPCs relative to autograft and HA/TCP bone substitute indicates that this approach may offer a therapeutic benefit.

The U.S. Department of Energy (US DOE) Office of Environmental Management, Technology Innovation and Development is supporting a multi-National Laboratory effort to develop the Advanced Simulation Capability for Environmental Management (ASCEM). ASCEM is an emerging state-of-the-art scientific approach and software infrastructure for understanding and predicting contaminant fate and transport in natural and engineered systems. These modular and open-source high performance computing tools and user interfaces will facilitate integrated approaches that enable standardized assessments of performance and risk for EM cleanup and closure decisions. The ASCEM team recognized that engaging end-users in the ASCEM development process would lead to enhanced development and implementation of the ASCEM toolsets in the user community. End-user involvement in ASCEM covers a broad spectrum of perspectives, including: performance assessment (PA) and risk assessment practitioners, research scientists, decision-makers, oversight personnel, and regulators engaged in the US DOE cleanup mission. End-users are primarily engaged in ASCEM via the ASCEM User Steering Committee (USC) and the ‘user needs interface’ task. Future plans also include user involvement in demonstrations of the ASCEM tools. This paper will describe the details of how end users have been engaged in the ASCEM program and will demonstrate how this involvement has strengthened both the tool development and community confidence. ASCEM tools requested by end-users specifically target modeling challenges associated with US DOE cleanup activities. The demonstration activities involve application of ASCEM tools and capabilities to representative problems at DOE sites. Selected results from the ASCEM Phase 1 demonstrations are discussed to illustrate how capabilities requested by end-users were implemented in prototype versions of the ASCEM tool.Copyright © 2011 by ASME

Supplementary information to: Non-natives: 141 scientists object Full list of co-signatories to a Correspondence published in Nature 475, 36 (2011); doi: 10.1038/475036a. Daniel Simberloff University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. dsimberloff@utk.edu Jake Alexander Institute of Integrative Biology, Zurich, Switzerland. Fred Allendorf University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, USA. James Aronson CEFE/CNRS, Montpellier, France. Pedro M. Antunes Algoma University, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada. Sven Bacher University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland. Richard Bardgett Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK. Sandro Bertolino University of Turin, Grugliasco, Italy. Melanie Bishop Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. Tim M. Blackburn Zoological Society of London, London, UK. April Blakeslee Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, Maryland, USA. Dana Blumenthal USDA Agricultural Research Service, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA. Alejandro Bortolus Centro Nacional Patagónico-CONICET, Puerto Madryn, Argentina. Ralf Buckley Griffith University, Southport, Queensland, Australia. Yvonne Buckley CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences and The University of Queensland, ARC Centre of Excellence in Environmental Decisions, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia. Jeb Byers The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA. Ragan M. Callaway University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, USA. Faith Campbell The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, Virginia, USA. Karl Campbell Island Conservation, Santa Cruz, California, USA. Marnie Campbell Central Queensland University, Queensland, Australia. James T. CarltonWilliams College — Mystic Seaport, Mystic, Connecticut, USA. Phillip Cassey University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. Jane Catford The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Laura Celesti-Grapow Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy. John Chapman Hatfield Marine Science Center, Oregon State University, Newport, Oregon, USA. Paul Clark Natural History Museum, London, UK. Andre Clewell Tall Timbers Research Station, Tallahassee, Florida USA. João Canning Clode Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, Maryland USA Andrew Chang Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, Maryland, USA. Milan Chytrý Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic. Mick Clout University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. Andrew Cohen Center for Research on Aquatic Bioinvasions, Richmond, California, USA. Phil Cowan Landcare Research, Palmerston North, New Zealand. Robert H. Cowie University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. Alycia W. Crall Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA. Jeff Crooks Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve, Imperial Beach, California, USA. Marty Deveney South Australian Aquatic Sciences Centre,West Beach, Australia. Kingsley Dixon Kings Park and Botanic Garden,West Perth, Australia. Fred C. Dobbs Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia, USA. David Cameron Duffy University of Hawaii Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. Richard Duncan Lincoln University, Lincoln, New Zealand. Paul R. Ehrlich Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA. Lucius Eldredge Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. Neal Evenhuis Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. Kurt D. Fausch Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA. Heike Feldhaar University of Osnabrück, Osnabrück, Germany. Jennifer Firn Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Amy Fowler Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, Maryland, USA. Bella Galil National Institute of Oceanography, Haifa, Israel. Emili Garcia-Berthou Universitat de Girona, Girona, Spain. Jonathan Geller Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, Moss Landing, California, USA. Piero Genovesi Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, Rome, Italy. Esther Gerber CABI Europe, Delemont, Switzerland. Francesca Gherardi Universita’ di Firenze, Firenze, Italy. Stephan Gollasch Hamburg, Germany. Doria Gordon University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA. Jim Graham Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA. Paul Gribben University of Technology, Sydney, Australia. Blaine Griffen Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, Maryland, USA. Edwin D. Grosholz University of California, Davis, California, USA. Chad Hewitt Central Queensland University, Queensland, Australia. José L. Hierro CONICET-Universidad Nacional de La Pampa, La Pampa, Argentina. Philip Hulme Lincoln University, Lincoln, New Zealand. Pat Hutchings Australian Museum, Sydney, Australia. Vojtěch Jarošík Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic. Jonathan M. Jeschke Technische Universität München, Freising- Weihenstephan, Germany. Chris Johnson University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. Ladd Johnson Université Laval, Ville de Québec, Quebec, Canada. Emma L. Johnston University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. Carl G. Jones Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, Jersey, Channel Islands, UK. Reuben Keller University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Carolyn M. King University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand. Bart G. J. Knols Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; K&S Consulting, Dodewaard, the Netherlands. Johannes Kollmann Technische Universität München, Freising, Germany. Thomas Kompas The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. Peter M. Kotanen University of Toronto at Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Ingo Kowarik Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany. Ingolf Kühn Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung, Halle, Germany. Sabrina Kumschick Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA. Brian Leung McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Andrew Liebhold USDA Forest Service, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA. Hugh MacIsaac University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Richard Mack Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, USA. Deborah G. McCullough Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Robbie McDonald The Food and Environmental Research Agency, Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs, Stonehouse, UK. David M. Merritt United States Forest Service, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA. Laura Meyerson University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island, USA. Dan Minchin Marine Organism Investigations, Killaloe, Ireland. Harold A. Mooney Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA. Jeffrey T. Morisette United States Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA. Peter Moyle University of California, Davis, California, USA. Heinz Müller-Schärer Université de Fribourg/Pérolles, Fribourg, Switzerland. Brad R. Murray University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia. Stefan Nehring Bundesamt für Naturschutz, Bonn, Germany. Wendy Nelson National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, Wellington, New Zealand. Wolfgang Nentwig University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland. Stephen J. Novak Boise State University, Boise, Idaho, USA. Anna Occhipinti Universita di Pavia, Pavia, Italy. Henn Ojaveer University of Tartu, Pärnu, Estonia. Bruce Osborne University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland. Richard S. Ostfeld Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, New York, USA. John Parker Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, Maryland, USA. Judith Pederson Worcester, Massachusetts, USA. Jan Pergl Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Pruhonice, Czech Republic. Megan L. Phillips University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia. Petr Pyšek Academy of Sciences, Průhonice, Czech Republic. Marcel Rejmánek University of California, Davis, California, USA. Anthony Ricciardi McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Carlo Ricotta University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’, Rome, Italy. David Richardson Stellenbosch University, Matieland, South Africa. Gil Rilov National Institute of Oceanography, Haifa, Israel. Euan Ritchie Deakin University, Burwood, Victoria, Australia. Peter A. Robertson Food and Environment Research Agency, York, UK. Joe Roman University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, USA. Gregory Ruiz Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, Maryland, USA. Hanno Schaefer Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Britta Schaffelke Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Australia. Kristina A. Schierenbeck California State University, Chico, California, USA. Don C. Schmitz Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Tallahassee, Florida, USA. Evangelina Schwindt Centro Nacional Patagónico-CONICET, Puerto Madryn, Argentina. Jim Seeb University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA. L. David Smith Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts, USA. Gideon F. Smith University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa. Thomas Stohlgren Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA. David L. Strayer Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, New York, USA. Donald Strong University of California, Davis, California,USA. William J. Sutherland University of Cambridge , Cambridge, UK. Thomas Therriault Pacific Biological Station, Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada. Wilfried Thuiller Université Joseph Fourier, Grenoble, France. Mark Torchin Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panama. Wim van der Putten Netherlands Institute of Ecology, Wageningen, the Netherlands. Montserrat Vilà Estación Biológica de Doñana, Sevilla, Spain. Betsy Von Holle University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USA. Inger Wallentinus University of Gothenburg, Goteborg, Sweden. David Wardle Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden. Mark Williamson University of York, York, UK. John Wilson Stellenbosch University, Matieland, South Africa. Marten Winter Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung, Halle, Germany. Lorne M. Wolfe Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia, USA. Jeff Wright The University of Tasmania, Launceston, Australia. Marjorie Wonham Quest University, Squamish, British Columbia, Canada. Chela Zabin Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, Maryland, USA.

Invaders, weeds and colonizers comprise different but overlapping sets of species. The probability of successful invasion is low. The 10:10 rule state that 10% of introduced speices (those with feral individuals) become established, 10% of established species (those with self-sustaining populations) become pests. The rule gives an adequate fit to British plant data. The rule predicts that invaders will be rarer than natives. This is shown for British Anatidae. There is a continuous spectrum of perceived weediness. Although this spectrum is significantly related to Baker characters, neither those characters or any others can usefully predict which species will be weeds over a wide range of species. Characters tuned to sets of closely related species shown more promise. A study of BritishImpatiens shows that the characters responsible for critical ecological behaviour are still obscure. Small genetic changes can cause large ecological changes. GMOs will have characters entirely new to that species' evolutionary history. While most will have little ecological effect, a few may be ecologically and economically damaging. A sensible programme of field trials and monitoring is justified to minimize the risk.

The first-in-class proteasome inhibitor, bortezomib, has provided proof-of-concept for the therapeutic approach of proteasome inhibition in a number of malignancies. However, as we look to the future and to further improving upon the contributions of this class of drugs, we will need to consider optimizing activity in solid tumors, reducing peripheral neuropathy and utilizing more convenient routes of administration. A number of “second-generation” proteasome inhibitors have been identified and are now in preclinical and clinical development, including MLN9708, CEP-18770, carfilzomib, and salinosporamide A (NPI-0052). These agents differ from bortezomib in some of their key characteristics, and differences in their pharmacology may result in different activity and safety profiles. This chapter reviews the second-generation proteasome inhibitors, together with other potential therapeutic targets in the ubiquitin–proteasome system.

In this paper, we consider the factors behind the growth of invasive species as a global problem, and the scope for international cooperation and coordination in addressing that problem. This is limited by the terms of the various international agreements governing trade, health, and biodiversity. The default strategy in most cases has two parts: border protection and the control of or adaptation to introduced species that have escaped detection at the border. Most invasive species policy involves unilateral national defensive action as opposed to coordinated international action. We argue that an important part of the solution to the problem lies in global coordination and cooperation in the management of both pathways and sanitary and phytosanitary risks at all scales. More particularly, because invasive species are an externality of trade, transport, and travel that involve public goods, they require collective regulation of international markets that goes beyond that admitted under the World Trade Organization's (WTO) Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures. We argue that it is important to bring that agreement into conformity with the International Health Regulations (IHR), and to develop an international mechanism to generate and disseminate information on invasive species risks and their impacts.

The average range size of alien plants in Spain reaches a maximum at 143 years. This is consistent with estimates of such a maximum in Ireland, Britain, Germany and the Czech Republic. A round figure of about 150 years on average for neophytes to reach their maximum range in European countries is indicated

Irrespective of whether you are just starting out on your HR transformation journey or are initiating a new phase of HR transformation, it is essential that you spend time working out what a transformed HR function looks like. We call this ‘envisioning’ and in this section, we address a number of key questions critical to this phase: ▪ What is our starting point/current reality?

In preceding chapters, we have identified the crucial importance of securing the commitment of managers and employees to the HR transformation process. The formalisation of this should be a feature of the HR transformation business case, covered in Chapter 6 .

This chapter deals with the construction of the business case. Chapter 5 talked about how to develop the future vision for HR, this chapter will focus upon taking the vision and building a strong rationale for change, being clear about the costs of implementing the vision and the financial and non-financial benefits it will deliver. To some in the organisation, the business case is the item that will persuade them that the changes that are being proposed are credible.

In the past few years the UK has become increasingly active as the financial conscience of the European Space Agency. This is not because the UK government has a wish to spend more on its national space effort; it is because it remains unconvinced of the benefits of certain European space activities, notably manned endeavours. In the absence of an effective UK space lobby, the government's policies have remained largely unchallenged. This article traces the growth of the Parliamentary Space Committee in the context of developments in recent European space policy and highlights the need for an active UK space lobby.