Near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) to predict biological parameters of maize silage: effects of particle comminution, oven drying temperature and the presence of residual moisture

Maize silage nutritive quality is routinely determined by near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS). However, little is known about the impact of sample preparation on the accuracy of the calibration to predict biological traits. A sample population of 48 maize silages representing a wide range of physiological maturities was used in a study to determine the impact of different sample preparation procedures (i.e., drying regimes; the presence or absence of residual moisture; the degree of particle comminution) on resultant NIR prediction statistics. All silages were scanned using a total of 12 combinations of sample pre-treatments. Each sample preparation combination was subjected to three multivariate regression techniques to give a total of 36 predictions per biological trait. Increased sample preparations procedure, relative to scanning the unprocessed whole plant (WP) material, always resulted in a numerical minimisation of model statistics. However, the ability of each of the treatments to significantly minimise the model statistics differed. Particle comminution was the most important factor, oven-drying regime was intermediate, and residual moisture presence was the least important. Models to predict various biological parameters of maize silage will be improved if material is subjected to a high degree of particle comminution (i.e., having been passed through a 1 mm screen) and developed on plant material previously dried at 60 degrees C. The extra effort in terms of time and cost required to remove sample residual moisture cannot be justified. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The effect of highly active antiretroviral therapy for HIV on the anti-HCV specific humoral immune response

The effect of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) on HCV replication is controversial, with some studies reporting no effect and others increases, reductions and even clearances of HCV RNA after treatment. In this study, the effect of HAART was investigated on the titre of anti-HCV specific antibodies and on the relationship between these antibodies and HCV RNA level in a cohort of 24 patients with inherited bleeding disorders. A significant inverse correlation between antibodies to both total HCV proteins and HCV RNA (R = -0.42, P = 0.05) and between antibodies to HCV envelope glycoproteins and HCV RNA (R = -0.54, P = 0.01) was observed pre-HAART. The relationship disappeared or was obscured after therapy (R = 0.24, P = 0.30 and R = 0.16, P = 0.50, respectively). Thus, we show that HAART affects the HCV specific humoral immune responses without affecting the HCV RNA level. (C) 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Stability of plasmid profile of highly virulent races of Xanthomonas campestris pv. malvacearum during storage and subculturing

Four races of Xanthomonas campestris pv. mal-vacearum (Xcm) viz. races 23, 27 and 32 (isolated from Gossypium hirsutum) and race 23b (from Gossypium barbadense) were studied. The plasmid profile of the natural isolates showed four plasmids in races 23 and 23b (ca. 60, 40, 23, 8.2 kb), five in race 27 (ca. 60, 40, 23, 8.2 and 3.7 kb) and six in race 32 (ca. 60, 40, 23, 8.2, 3.7 and 1.6 kb). Continuously sub-cultured laboratory isolates of the Xcm races resulted in the loss of all but two plasmids, ca. 60 and 40 kb in size. When the laboratory isolates were passed through cotton (Gossypium hirsutum), they regained certain plasmids so that four plasmids were found in race 23 and 23b (ca. 60, 40, 23 and 8.2 kb), five in race 27 (ca. 60, 40, 23, 8.2 and 3.7 kb) and six in race 32 (ca. 60, 40, 23, 8.2, 3.7 and 1.6 kb), which was more or less similar to the original isolates. The isolates recovered from cotton maintained their plasmid profile (except for minor changes in the miniplasmids) after storage for six months at -70degreesC in 50% glycerol. It is suggested that plasmid profiles among highly virulent races of Xcm are unstable during repeated sub-culturing at room temperature, resulting in rapid loss of some plasmids. However, when the cultures were sub-cultured and stored at -70degreesC the plasmid profile was fairly stable except for the miniplasmids (ca. 3.7 and 1.6 kb).

1,3-Dipolar cycloadditions to unsymmetrical ketone-derived chiral stabilized azomethine ylides: strategies for the synthesis of highly substituted amino acids

We report herein, the first generation of unsymmetrical ketone-derived chiral stabilized azomethine ylides. Intrairiolecular and intermolecular cycloaddition strategies have been utilized to synthesize both an enantiornerically pure bicyclic proline derivative and an enantionierically pure beta-hydroxy-alpha-amino acid.

Enthalpy-driven ring-opening polymerization of highly strained macrocyclic biaryl-ether-ketones

Highly strained macrocyclic ether-ketones obtained by nickel-catalyzed cyclization of linear precursor oligomers undergo ring-opening polyinerization via ether exchange in the presence of nucleophilic initiators such as fluoride or phenoxide anions. Strain enthapies of these macrocycles, from DSC analyses of their exothermic ring-opening polymerization are in the range 50-90 kJ mol(-1). Melt-phase polymerization generally affords slightly cross-linked materials, but solution-phase polymerization at high macrocycle concentrations gives fully soluble, high molar mass polymers with inherent viscosities of up to 1.78 dL g(-1). Sequence-analysis of the resulting polymers by C-13 NMR shows that alternating or random monomer sequences may be obtained, depending on whether one or both aromatic rings adjacent to the ether linkages are activated toward nucleophilic attack.

Spectroscopy of highly excited vibrational states of HCN in its ground electronic state

An experimental technique based on a scheme of vibrationally mediated photodissociation has been developed and applied to the spectroscopic study of highly excited vibrational states in HCN, with energies between 29 000 and 30 000 cm(-1). The technique consists of four sequential steps: in the first one, a high power laser is used to vibrationally excite the sample to an intermediate state, typically (0,0,4), the nu(3) mode being approximately equivalent to the C-H stretching vibration. Then a second laser is used to search for transitions between this intermediate state and highly vibrationally excited states. When one of these transitions is found, HCN molecules are transferred to a highly excited vibrational state. Third, a ultraviolet laser photodissociates the highly excited molecules to produce H and CN radicals in its A (2)Pi electronic state. Finally, a fourth laser (probe) detects the presence of the CN(A) photofragments by means of an A-->B-->X laser induced fluorescence scheme. The spectra obtained with this technique, consisting of several rotationally resolved vibrational bands, have been analyzed. The positions and rotational parameters of the states observed are presented and compared with the results of a state-of-the-art variational calculation. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.

Design of highly parallel architecture with Alpha and Handel

We propose a bridge between two important parallel programming paradigms: data parallelism and communicating sequential processes (CSP). Data parallel pipelined architectures obtained with the Alpha language can be embedded in a control intensive application expressed in CSP-based Handel formalism. The interface is formally defined from the semantics of the languages Alpha and Handel. This work will ease the design of compute intensive applications on FPGAs.

Soil pH governs production rate of calcium carbonate secreted by the earthworm Lumbricus terrestris

Lumbricus terrestris earthworms exposed to 11 soils of contrasting properties produced, on average, 0.8 ± 0.1 mgCaCO3 earthworm−1 day−1 in the form of granules up to 2 mm in diameter. Production rate increased with soil pH (r2 = 0.68, p < 0.01). Earthworms could be a significant source of calcite in soils.

Dependence of Indian monsoon rainfall on moisture fluxes across the Arabian Sea and the impact of coupled model sea surface temperature biases

The Arabian Sea is an important moisture source for Indian monsoon rainfall. The skill of climate models in simulating the monsoon and its variability varies widely, while Arabian Sea cold sea surface temperature (SST) biases are common in coupled models and may therefore influence the monsoon and its sensitivity to climate change. We examine the relationship between monsoon rainfall, moisture fluxes and Arabian Sea SST in observations and climate model simulations. Observational analysis shows strong monsoons depend on moisture fluxes across the Arabian Sea, however detecting consistent signals with contemporaneous summer SST anomalies is complicated in the observed system by air/sea coupling and large-scale induced variability such as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation feeding back onto the monsoon through development of the Somali Jet. Comparison of HadGEM3 coupled and atmosphere-only configurations suggests coupled model cold SST biases significantly reduce monsoon rainfall. Idealised atmosphere-only experiments show that the weakened monsoon can be mainly attributed to systematic Arabian Sea cold SST biases during summer and their impact on the monsoon-moisture relationship. The impact of large cold SST biases on atmospheric moisture content over the Arabian Sea, and also the subsequent reduced latent heat release over India, dominates over any enhancement in the land-sea temperature gradient and results in changes to the mean state. We hypothesize that a cold base state will result in underestimation of the impact of larger projected Arabian Sea SST changes in future climate, suggesting that Arabian Sea biases should be a clear target for model development.

Development of highly selective ligands for separations of actinides from lanthanides in the nuclear fuel cycle

This account summarizes recent work by us and others on the development of ligands for the separation of actinides from lanthanides contained in nuclear waste streams in the context of a future European strategy for nuclear waste management. The current status of actinide/lanthanide separations worldwide is briefly discussed, and the synthesis, development, and testing of different classes of heterocyclic soft N- and S-donor ligands in Europe over the last 20 years is presented. This work has led to the current benchmark ligand that displays many of the desirable qualities for industrial use. The improvement of radiolytic stability through ligand design is also discussed.

The representation of highly pathogenic avian influenza in the Chinese media

In the early 2000s the threat of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza captured the attention of the world's media. While China is often considered the epicentre of the panzootic, few studies have explored coverage of this variant of avian flu in China. To address this issue, the authors examined the portrayal of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza across four Chinese newspapers at the local and national level. A textual analysis was performed on 160 articles across an eight-year period from 2001–2008. The study approach drew from Critical Discourse Analysis and Social Representation Theory. The headline analysis showed the extent that risk of the disease was subverted by the depiction of a strong and efficient ‘China’ that was a global leader in the fight against the disease. Ideological referents were called upon to stress teamwork in confronting the crisis. The diachronic analysis illustrated how the relationship between commercial interests, science and public health risks played out within the Chinese media.

Spatial disaggregation and intensity correction of TRMM-based rainfall time series for hydrological applications in dryland catchments

A novel approach is presented for combining spatial and temporal detail from newly available TRMM-based data sets to derive hourly rainfall intensities at 1-km spatial resolution for hydrological modelling applications. Time series of rainfall intensities derived from 3-hourly 0.25° TRMM 3B42 data are merged with a 1-km gridded rainfall climatology based on TRMM 2B31 data to account for the sub-grid spatial distribution of rainfall intensities within coarse-scale 0.25° grid cells. The method is implemented for two dryland catchments in Tunisia and Senegal, and validated against gauge data. The outcomes of the validation show that the spatially disaggregated and intensity corrected TRMM time series more closely approximate ground-based measurements than non-corrected data. The method introduced here enables the generation of rainfall intensity time series with realistic temporal and spatial detail for dynamic modelling of runoff and infiltration processes that are especially important to water resource management in arid regions.