Moderate-depth benthic habitats of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment’s (CCMA) Biogeography Branch and the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) have completed mapping the moderate-depth marine environment south of St. John. This work is an expansion of ongoing mapping and monitoring efforts conducted by NOAA and NPS in the U.S. Caribbean. The standardized protocols used in this effort will enable scientists and managers to quantitatively compare moderate-depth coral reef ecosystems around St. John to those throughout the U.S. Territories. These protocols and products will also help support the effective management and conservation of the marine resources within the National Park system.

Distribution of pantothenic acid in fish

The distribution of pantothenic acid in free and bound forms in various fish species is reported. It is observed that the fish muscle contains on an average about 12.0µ g pantothenic acid per g. About 60% of the pantothenic acid is present in the bound form as coenzyme A in the fish skeletal muscle.

Magnetophotoluminescence of Zn0.88Mn0.12Se grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition on GaAs substrates

Magnetophotoluminescence properties of Zn0.88Mn0.12Se thin films grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition on GaAs substrates are investigated in fields up to 10 T. The linewidth of the excitonic luminescence peaks decreases with the increasing magnetic field (< 1 T), but the peak energy is almost unchanged. There is a crossover of the photoluminescence intensities between interband and bound excitonic transitions as the magnetic field is increased to about 1 T. These behaviors are interpreted by the strong tuning of the local alloy disorder potential by the applied magnetic field. In addition, the magnetic field-induced suppression of the energy transfers from excitons to Mn2+ ions is also observed.

土壤干旱对2个种源野生酸枣幼苗生长和生理特性的影响

以采自陕西杨陵和安塞的2个1年生酸枣幼苗为材料,采用盆栽称重控水法研究了中度和重度土壤干旱胁迫对它们生长和生理特性的影响。结果表明,不同程度的水分胁迫均使2种源酸枣新生侧枝长度受到极显著抑制,其苗高和基径也受到一定程度抑制,同时分别使叶片相对含水量和水分饱和亏有一定程度的降低和升高;2种源酸枣叶片的叶绿素a含量在各水分胁迫均极显著降低,它们的总叶绿素含量也在重度干旱下显著降低;随土壤干旱胁迫时间的延续,2种源酸枣叶片保护酶SOD、CAT、APX活性上下波动,其脯氨酸和可溶性糖含量逐渐升高,而超氧阴离子含量在较低水平下波动,丙二醛含量逐渐降低。杨陵酸枣在土壤水分较好的条件下表现良好,而安塞酸枣则具有更强的适应旱生能力。研究发现,在不同程度的土壤干旱胁迫下,2个种源酸枣的生长均受到一定程度的抑制,但它们均能调节自身的保护酶系统活性和渗透调节物质含量来减轻干旱伤害,维持植物体的正常生理代谢功能,表现出较强的抗旱耐旱能力。

Effect of volume ratio on thermocapillary flow in liquid bridges of high-Prandtl-number fluids

In present study, the transition of thermocapillary convection from the axisymmetric stationary flow to oscillatory flow in liquid bridges of 5cst silicon oil (aspect ratio 1.0 and 1.6) is investigated in microgravity conditions by the linear instability analysis. The corresponding marginal instability boundary is closely related to the gas/liquid configuration of the liquid bridge noted as volume ratio. With the increasing volume ratio, the marginal instability boundary consists of the increasing branch and the decreasing branch. A gap region exists between the branches where the critical Marangoni number of the corresponding axisymmetric stationary flow increases drastically. Particularly, a unique axisymmetric oscillatory flow (the critical azimuthal wave number is m=0) in the gap region is reported for the liquid bridge of aspect ratio 1.6. Moreover, the energy transfer between the basic state and the disturbance fields of the thermocapillary convection is analyzed at the corresponding critical Marangoni number, which reveals different major sources of the energy transfer for the development of the disturbances in regimes of the increasing branch, the gap region and the decreasing branch, respectively.

大气CO2浓度升高对红桦碳水化合物含量和分配的影响

碳水化合物按其存在的形式可分为结构性碳水化合物和非结构性碳水化合物两种。前者主要用于植物体的形态建成；后者是参与植物生命代谢的重要物质。迄今为止，有关CO2浓度升高对植物叶片中的碳水化合物含量的研究较多，而对其它器官中碳水化合物含量以及碳水化合物在植物体内的分配响应研究较少。碳水化合物含量在植物各器官中的变化能够反映光合同化产物在叶和茎、枝和根中的转运情况；碳水化合物的分配与植物的生长模式相关，它的变化会对植物的生长情况产生影响。因此，为全面认识植物生理生化与生长过程对大气CO2浓度升高响应情况，需要对CO2浓度升高条件下植物体内碳水化合物的含量及分配变化进行深入的研究与探讨。本文应用自控、独立、封闭的生长室系统，研究了红桦幼苗根、茎、叶和枝的碳水化合物含量以及分配格局对大气CO2浓度升高(环境CO2浓度+350 µmol·mol-1) 的响应。研究结果表明：1) CO2浓度升高使红桦幼苗叶片中的非结构性碳水化合物含量显著增加。这可能会对光合作用造成反馈抑制，降低光合速率。2) CO2浓度升高使红桦幼苗根、茎和枝中的还原糖、蔗糖、总可溶性糖、淀粉和总的非结构性碳水化合物(TNC) 含量显著增加。说明CO2浓度升高促进了碳水化合物由叶片向枝、茎和根中的运输转移，支持了Finn和Brun的假设。3) 在总的非结构性碳水化合物(TNC) 中，淀粉所占比例最大。同样地，CO2浓度升高使TNC含量增加的部分中，淀粉所占的比例也最大。在叶片、枝、茎和根中淀粉含量增加部分占TNC含量增加部分的91.45%、88.23%、83.23%和82.01%。4) CO2浓度升高使红桦幼苗根、茎、叶和枝内的纤维素含量有增加的趋势，但未达到显著水平。需要进一步研究长期CO2浓度升高下，纤维素含量的响应程度。5) CO2浓度升高使碳水化合物在红桦幼苗体内的分配发生了改变。红桦幼苗体内碳水化合物分配变化的一致趋势是由地上部分向地下部分分配转移。其中，测定的所有碳水化合物均向根中分配增多。同时，CO2浓度升高使红桦幼苗的根冠比显著增大；根系干重显著增加。这些结果支持了Gorissen 和Cotrufo的假设，即碳水化合物向根中分配增多是根冠比增大的主要原因。6) CO2浓度升高使红桦幼苗体内的氮含量显著下降。氮含量的下降可能主要是由生长的加快和TNC (主要是淀粉) 含量的增加对氮的稀释造成的。Carbohydrates found in plants are frequently grouped into two different classes:structural carbohydrates and non-structural carbohydrates. The former mainlyconstruct the plant basic framework, while the latter are essential for plant growth andmetabolism. As yet there is lack of information on the effects of elevated CO2concentration on carbohydrate contents in stem, branch and root of plant, and oncarbohydrate allocation in organs of plant although there have been many reports onthe responses of carbohydrate contents to elevated CO2 concentration in plant foliages.A shift of carbohydrate contents in plant reflects a change in transporting ofphotosynthetic production from leaf to stem, branch and root of plant. The allocationof carbohydrates that is correlated to plant growth patterns affects plant growth. Thus,in order to understand the influences of elevated CO2 on biochemical process,physiological change and plant growth well, the response of carbohydrate contentsand allocation in plant to elevated CO2 should be further investigated. In our study, theeffects of elevated CO2 on carbohydrate contents and their allocation between leaf,stem, branch and root tissue of Betula albosinensis seedlings were determined. Theseedlings were grown in independent and enclosed-top chambers. Chambers werecontrolled to reproduce ambient (CK) and ambient + 350 µmol·mol-1 CO2 (EC)concentration for 1 year. The results here showed that,1) Elevated CO2 significantly increased non-structural carbohydrate contents in leafof red birch seedlings. This will reduce photosynthetic rate.2) Elevated CO2 also significantly increased non-structural carbohydrate contentsin root, stem and branch of red birch seedlings. These findings supported thehypothesis that elevated CO2 accelerated carbohydrates from leaf to branch, stem androot.3) Starch makes up the largest parts of total non-structural carbohydrate. In thesame way, the increase of starch plays a main role in the increase of totalnon-structural carbohydrate under elevated CO2. In leaf, branch, stem and root, theincrements of starch contents comprised 91.45%, 88.23%, 83.23% and 82.01% of theincrements of total non-structural carbohydrate contents.4) Under elevated CO2 the cellulose contents have an increasing tendency in redbirch seedlings. It is needed to investigate the effects of long-term elevated CO2 oncellulose contents in plant.5) There are significant CO2 effects on the allocation of carbohydrate in organs ofred birch seedlings. Under elevated CO2 more carbohydrates were allocated to root.Moreover, CO2 enrichment significantly increased the root to shoot ratio of red birchseedlings and the dry weight of roots. These results supported Gorissen and Cotrufo ‘shypothesis that increase of carbohydrate allocation to root mostly contributed to theincrease of root to shoot ratio.6) Elevated CO2 brought about a reduction in the nitrogen contents of leaf, stem,branch and root. The decline of nitrogen contents under elevated CO2 is mainlycaused by the dilution effects of increasing starch level and growth of red birchseedlings.

Simplified decoding techniques for linear block codes

Error correcting codes are combinatorial objects, designed to enable reliable transmission of digital data over noisy channels. They are ubiquitously used in communication, data storage etc. Error correction allows reconstruction of the original data from received word. The classical decoding algorithms are constrained to output just one codeword. However, in the late 50’s researchers proposed a relaxed error correction model for potentially large error rates known as list decoding. The research presented in this thesis focuses on reducing the computational effort and enhancing the efficiency of decoding algorithms for several codes from algorithmic as well as architectural standpoint. The codes in consideration are linear block codes closely related to Reed Solomon (RS) codes. A high speed low complexity algorithm and architecture are presented for encoding and decoding RS codes based on evaluation. The implementation results show that the hardware resources and the total execution time are significantly reduced as compared to the classical decoder. The evaluation based encoding and decoding schemes are modified and extended for shortened RS codes and software implementation shows substantial reduction in memory footprint at the expense of latency. Hermitian codes can be seen as concatenated RS codes and are much longer than RS codes over the same aphabet. A fast, novel and efficient VLSI architecture for Hermitian codes is proposed based on interpolation decoding. The proposed architecture is proven to have better than Kötter’s decoder for high rate codes. The thesis work also explores a method of constructing optimal codes by computing the subfield subcodes of Generalized Toric (GT) codes that is a natural extension of RS codes over several dimensions. The polynomial generators or evaluation polynomials for subfield-subcodes of GT codes are identified based on which dimension and bound for the minimum distance are computed. The algebraic structure for the polynomials evaluating to subfield is used to simplify the list decoding algorithm for BCH codes. Finally, an efficient and novel approach is proposed for exploiting powerful codes having complex decoding but simple encoding scheme (comparable to RS codes) for multihop wireless sensor network (WSN) applications.

A search for circumstellar material around B-type stars in the Galactic halo

19 B-type stars, selected from the Palomar-Green Survey, have been observed at infrared wavelengths to search for possible infrared excesses, as part of an ongoing programme to investigate the nature of early-type stars at high Galactic latitudes. The resulting infrared fluxes, along with Stromgren photometry, are compared with theoretical flux profiles to determine whether any of the targets show evidence of circumstellar material, which may be indicative of post-main- sequence evolution. Eighteen of the targets have flux distributions in good agreement with theoretical predictions. However, one star, PG 2120 + 062, shows a small near-infrared excess, which may be due either to a cool companion of spectral type F5-F7, or to circumstellar material, indicating that it may be an evolved object such as a post-asymptotic giant branch star, in the transition region between the asymptotic giant branch and planetary nebula phase, with the infrared excess due to recent mass loss during giant branch evolution.

The immediate Life support course: implementation into an undergraduate nursing programme

This paper outlines how the immediate life support (ILS) course was incorporated into an undergraduate-nursing curriculum in a university in Northern Ireland. It also reports on how the students perceived the impact of this course on their clinical practice. The aim was to develop the student’s ability to recognise the acutely ill patient and to determine the relevance of this to clinical practice. Prior to this the ILS course was only available to qualified nurses and this paper reports on the first time students were provided with an ILS course in an undergraduate setting. The ILS course was delivered to 89 third year nursing students (Adult Branch) and comprised one full teaching day per week over two weeks. Recognised Advanced Life Support (ALS) instructors, in keeping with the United Kingdom Resuscitation Council guidelines, taught the students. Participants completed a 17 item questionnaire which comprised an open-ended section for student comment. Questionnaire data was analysed descriptively using SSPSS version 15.0. Open-ended responses from the questionnaire data was analysed by content and thematic analysis. Results Student feedback reported that the ILS course helped them understand what constituted the acutely ill patient and the role of the nurse in managing a deteriorating situation. Students also reported that they valued the experience as highlighting gaps in their knowledge Conclusion. The inclusion of the ILS course provides students with necessary skills to assess and manage the deteriorating patient. In addition the data from this study suggest the ILS course should be delivered in an inter-professional setting – i.e taught jointly with medical students. References: Department of Health & Quality Assurance Agency (2006). Department of Health Phase 2 benchmarking project – final report. Gloucester: Department of Health, London and Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education

Electrochemical methodology to study labile trace metal/natural organic matter complexation at low concentration levels in natural waters

A new electrochemical methodology to study labile trace metal/natural organic matter complexation at low concentration levels in natural waters is presented. This methodology consists of three steps: (i) an estimation of the complex diffusion coefficient (DML), (ii) determination at low pH of the total metal concentration initially present in the sample, (iii) a metal titration at the desired pH. The free and bound metal concentrations are determined for each point of the titration and modeled with the non-ideal competitive adsorption (NICA-Donnan) model in order to obtain the binding parameters. In this methodology, it is recommended to determine the hydrodynamic transport parameter, α, for each set of hydrodynamic conditions used in the voltammetric measurements. The methodology was tested using two fractions of natural organic matter (NOM) isolated from the Loire river, namely the hydrophobic organic matter (HPO) and the transphilic organic matter (TPI), and a well characterized fulvic acid (Laurentian fulvic acid, LFA). The complex diffusion coefficients obtained at pH 5 were 0.4 ± 0.2 for Pb and Cu/HPO, 1.8 ± 0.2 for Pb/TPI and (0.612 ± 0.009) × 10−10 m2 s−1 for Pb/LFA. NICA-Donnan parameters for lead binding were obtained for the HPO and TPI fractions. The new lead/LFA results were successfully predicted using parameters derived in our previous work.

Millennium BCP: Optimization of the branches closure process

Nowadays, a significant number of banks in Portugal are facing a bank-branch restructuring problem, and Millennium BCP is not an exception. The closure of branches is a major component of profit maximization through the reduction in operational and personnel costs but also an opportunity to approach the idea of “baking of future” and start thinking on the benefits of the digital era. This dissertation centers on a current high-impact organizational problem addressed by the company and consists in a proposal of optimization to the model that Millennium BCP uses. Even though measures of performance are usually considered the most important elements in evaluating the viability of branches, there is evidence suggesting that other general factors can be important to assess branch potential, such as the influx on branches, business dimensions of a branch and its location, which will be addressed in this project.

Expression of Staphylococcus aureus clumping factor A in Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris using a new shuttle vector.

Staphylococcus aureus harbors redundant adhesins mediating tissue colonization and infection. To evaluate their intrinsic role outside of the staphylococcal background, a system was designed to express them in Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris 1363. This bacterium is devoid of virulence factors and has a known genetic background. A new Escherichia coli-L. lactis shuttle and expression vector was constructed for this purpose. First, the high-copy-number lactococcal plasmid pIL253 was equipped with the oriColE1 origin, generating pOri253 that could replicate in E. coli. Second, the lactococcal promoters P23 or P59 were inserted at one end of the pOri253 multicloning site. Gene expression was assessed by a luciferase reporter system. The plasmid carrying P23 (named pOri23) expressed luciferase constitutively at a level 10,000 times greater than did the P59-containing plasmid. Transcription was absent in E. coli. The staphylococcal clumping factor A (clfA) gene was cloned into pOri23 and used as a model system. Lactococci carrying pOri23-clfA produced an unaltered and functional 130-kDa ClfA protein attached to their cell walls. This was indicated both by the presence of the protein in Western blots of solubilized cell walls and by the ability of ClfA-positive lactococci to clump in the presence of plasma. ClfA-positive lactococci had clumping titers (titer of 4,112) similar to those of S. aureus Newman in soluble fibrinogen and bound equally well to solid-phase fibrinogen. These experiments provide a new way to study individual staphylococcal pathogenic factors and might complement both classical knockout mutagenesis and modern in vivo expression technology and signature tag mutagenesis.

Bill of Lading from Oporto, Portugal, 1906

A bill of lading for the UK shipping company Ellerman Lines. The cargo on board is "Four Quarter Casks Red Port Wine" in Oporto, Portugal and bound for Liverpool, England. The document is dated 1 August 1906.

Memorandum of material furnished for superstructure on the line of the Port Dalhousie Thorold Railway by contract

Memorandum of material furnished for superstructure on the line of the Port Dalhousie Thorold Railway by contract. This document includes: Bills of timber, memorandums of planking, fencing, ties, track laying, masonry and bolts and spikes. There are also diagrams of culverts. One of the pages is loose and the outer pages are somewhat discoloured (32 pages, handwritten and bound with ribbon, n.d.

Étude structurale de la fructoselysine 6-kinase d’Escherichia coli : reconnaissance de substrats et mécanisme enzymatique

Quelques enzymes sont connus pour déglyquer les kétoamines résultants de la réaction de Maillard entre des sucres et des amines primaires. Il a été démontré qu’Escherichia coli possède un opéron afin de métaboliser la fructoselysine. La fructoselysine 6-kinase, de la famille des PfkB, initie le processus de déglycation permettant l’utilisation ultérieure du glucose-6-P par la bactérie. La résolution de la structure de la FL6K par cristallographie et diffraction des rayons X a permis d’identifier son site actif en présence d’ATP, d’ADP et d’AMP-PNP. La modélisation de la fructoselysine au site actif de la kinase a permis d’identifier des résidus pouvant être importants pour sa liaison et son mécanisme enzymatique. De plus, les résultats de cinétique suggèrent que le mécanisme utilisé par la FL6K semble passer par un état ternaire de type SN2. Des modifications structurales à la FL6K pourraient permettre d’augmenter la taille des substrats afin de permettre ultimement la déglycation de protéines.