International audience ; Independence of science and best available science are fundamental pillars of the UN-FAO code of conduct 41 for responsible fisheries and are also applied to the European Union (EU) Common Fishery Policy (CFP), 42 with the overarching objective being the sustainable exploitation of the fisheries resources. CFP is 43 developed by DG MARE, the department of the European Commission responsible for EU policy on 44 maritime affairs and fisheries, which has the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries 45 (STECF) as consultant body. In the Mediterranean and Black Sea, the General Fisheries Commission for the 46 Mediterranean (FAO-GFCM), with its own Scientific Advisory Committee on Fisheries (GFCM-SAC), plays a 47 critical role in fisheries governance, having the authority to adopt binding recommendations for fisheries 48 conservation and management. During the last years, advice on the status of the main stocks in the 49 Mediterranean and Black Sea has been provided both by GFCM-SAC and EU-STECF, often without a clear 50coordination and a lack of shared rules and practices. This has led in the past to: i) duplications of the 51 advice on the status of the stocks thus adding confusion in the management process and, ii) a continuous 52 managers' interference in the scientific process by DG MARE officials hindering its transparency and 53 independence. Thus, it is imperative that this stalemate is rapidly resolved and that the free role of science 54 in Mediterranean fisheries assessment and management is urgently restored to assure the sustainable 55 exploitation of Mediterranean marine resources in the future.
International audience Independence of science and best available science are fundamental pillars of the UN-FAO code of conduct 41 for responsible fisheries and are also applied to the European Union (EU) Common Fishery Policy (CFP), 42 with the overarching objective being the sustainable exploitation of the fisheries resources. CFP is 43 developed by DG MARE, the department of the European Commission responsible for EU policy on 44 maritime affairs and fisheries, which has the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries 45 (STECF) as consultant body. In the Mediterranean and Black Sea, the General Fisheries Commission for the 46 Mediterranean (FAO-GFCM), with its own Scientific Advisory Committee on Fisheries (GFCM-SAC), plays a 47 critical role in fisheries governance, having the authority to adopt binding recommendations for fisheries 48 conservation and management. During the last years, advice on the status of the main stocks in the 49 Mediterranean and Black Sea has been provided both by GFCM-SAC and EU-STECF, often without a clear 50coordination and a lack of shared rules and practices. This has led in the past to: i) duplications of the 51 advice on the status of the stocks thus adding confusion in the management process and, ii) a continuous 52 managers' interference in the scientific process by DG MARE officials hindering its transparency and 53 independence. Thus, it is imperative that this stalemate is rapidly resolved and that the free role of science 54 in Mediterranean fisheries assessment and management is urgently restored to assure the sustainable 55 exploitation of Mediterranean marine resources in the future.
The COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) Action ES0601: advances in homogenization methods of climate series: an integrated approach (HOME) has executed a blind intercomparison and validation study for monthly homogenization algorithms. Time series of monthly temperature and precipitation were evaluated because of their importance for climate studies and because they represent two important types of statistics (additive and multiplicative). The algorithms were validated against a realistic benchmark dataset. The benchmark contains real inhomogeneous data as well as simulated data with inserted inhomogeneities. Random independent break-type inhomogeneities with normally distributed breakpoint sizes were added to the simulated datasets. To approximate real world conditions, breaks were introduced that occur simultaneously in multiple station series within a simulated network of station data. The simulated time series also contained outliers, missing data periods and local station trends. Further, a stochastic nonlinear global (network-wide) trend was added. ; This study has been performed with support of the European Union, through the COST Action ES0601 – Advances in Homogenisation Methods of Climate Series: an Integrated Approach (HOME), as well as the project Large Scale Climate Changes and their Environmental Relevance funded by the North Rhine-Westphalia Academy of Science. The contribution of VV was supported by the surrogate cloud project (VE 366/3), the one of RL by the Daily Stew project (VE366/5), both sponsored by the German Science Foundation (DFG). The contribution of EA was sponsored by the "Cambios en la Frecuencia, Intensidad y Duracion de eventos Extremos en la Península Ibérica", code number: CGL2007-65546-C03-02.
Independence of science and best available science are fundamental pillars of the UN-FAO code of conduct for responsible fisheries and are also applied to the European Union (EU) Common Fishery Policy (CFP), with the overarching objective being the sustainable exploitation of the fisheries resources. CFP is developed by DG MARE, the department of the European Commission responsible for EU policy on maritime affairs and fisheries, which has the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) as consultant body. In the Mediterranean and Black Sea, the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (FAO-GFCM), with its own Scientific Advisory Committee on Fisheries (GFCM-SAC), plays a critical role in fisheries governance, having the authority to adopt binding recommendations for fisheries conservation and management. During the last years, advice on the status of the main stocks in the Mediterranean and Black Sea has been provided both by GFCM-SAC and EU-STECF, often without a clear coordination and a lack of shared rules and practices. This has led in the past to: i) duplications of the advice on the status of the stocks thus adding confusion in the management process and, ii) a continuous managers' interference in the scientific process by DG MARE officials hindering its transparency and independence. Thus, it is imperative that this stalemate is rapidly resolved and that the free role of science in Mediterranean fisheries assessment and management is urgently restored to assure the sustainable exploitation of Mediterranean marine resources in the future. ; En prensa
[Image: see text] Rising antimicrobial resistance challenges our ability to combat bacterial infections. The problem is acute for tuberculosis (TB), the leading cause of death from infection before COVID-19. Here, we developed a framework for multiple pharmaceutical companies to share proprietary information and compounds with multiple laboratories in the academic and government sectors for a broad examination of the ability of β-lactams to kill Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). In the TB Drug Accelerator (TBDA), a consortium organized by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, individual pharmaceutical companies collaborate with academic screening laboratories. We developed a higher order consortium within the TBDA in which four pharmaceutical companies (GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi, MSD, and Lilly) collectively collaborated with screeners at Weill Cornell Medicine, the Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI), and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), pharmacologists at Rutgers University, and medicinal chemists at the University of North Carolina to screen ∼8900 β-lactams, predominantly cephalosporins, and characterize active compounds. In a striking contrast to historical expectation, 18% of β-lactams screened were active against Mtb, many without a β-lactamase inhibitor. One potent cephaloporin was active in Mtb-infected mice. The steps outlined here can serve as a blueprint for multiparty, intra- and intersector collaboration in the development of anti-infective agents.