Value of information in product recovery decisions: A Bayesian approach

There is a widespread recognition of the need for better information sharing and provision to improve the viability of end-of-life (EOL) product recovery operations. The emergence of automated data capture and sharing technologies such as RFID, sensors and networked databases has enhanced the ability to make product information; available to recoverers, which will help them make better decisions regarding the choice of recovery option for EOL products. However, these technologies come with a cost attached to it, and hence the question 'what is its value?' is critical. This paper presents a probabilistic approach to model product recovery decisions and extends the concept of Bayes' factor for quantifying the impact of product information on the effectiveness of these decisions. Further, we provide a quantitative examination of the factors that influence the value of product information, this value depends on three factors: (i) penalties for Type I and Type II errors of judgement regarding product quality; (ii) prevalent uncertainty regarding product quality and (iii) the strength of the information to support/contradict the belief. Furthermore, we show that information is not valuable under all circumstances and derive conditions for achieving a positive value of information. © 2010 Taylor & Francis.

Multiple stable reference points in oyster populations: implications for reference point-based management

In the second of two companion articles, a 54-year time series for the oyster population in the New Jersey waters of Delaware Bay is analyzed to examine how the presence of multiple stable states affects reference-point–based management. Multiple stable states are described by four types of reference points. Type I is the carrying capacity for the stable state: each has associated with it a type-II reference point wherein surplus production reaches a local maximum. Type-II reference points are separated by an intermediate surplus production low (type III). Two stable states establish a type-IV reference point, a point-of-no-return that impedes recovery to the higher stable state. The type-II to type-III differential in surplus production is a measure of the difficulty of rebuilding the population and the sensitivity of the population to collapse at high abundance. Surplus production projections show that the abundances defining the four types of reference points are relatively stable over a wide range of uncertainties in recruitment and mortality rates. The surplus production values associated with type-II and type-III reference points are much more uncertain. Thus, biomass goals are more easily established than fishing mortality rates for oyster population

Bothrops aff. Leucurus (Wagler, 1824) populazio irlatar baten deskribapen morfologikoa: suge populazio irlatar baten morfologia

[EUS] Atrox konplexuko espezieen barruan, Bothrops leucurus (Wagler, 1824) Bahia estatuko oihan atlantikoko sugegorri espezie arruntena da. Polimorfikoa da eta ezaugarri geografikoekin, ontogenikoekin eta sexuarekin erlazionatutako kolore aldakortasuna aurkezten du. Jadanik hainbat ikerketa burutu dira kontinenteko populazioei buruz, baina, oraindik ez da lanik egin BTS badiako populazio uhartetarrekin. Lan honen xedea Bothrops aff. leucurus populazio uhartetarraren deskribapena burutzea izan da, orbanen ereduetan, folidosian eta gorputz tamainan oinarriturik. Lagin tamaina erlatiboki txikia izanik (n=20), Student t testeko emaitzak type II erroreen menpe daude eta kontinenteko eta uharteko populazioen arteko ezberdintasunak estatistikoki ikertu izan ez diren arren, gure datuak garrantzia dute. Izan ere, ikerketa sakonagoetan oinarri bezala erabili ahal izango dira. Biometriari dagokionez, gure populazio uhartetarrean batazbesteko MKL txikiagoa ikusi dugu eta balioen tarteak murritzagoak dira. Ez da sexuen arteko ezberdintasun esangarririk topatu gorputzeko neurrientzat. Folidosian (ezkata zenbateka) lortutako datuak, beste autoreek Bothrops leucurus-entzat deskribatutako parametroekin bat datozen arren, gure laginak ezkata tarte mugatuagoak ageri ditu. Orban ereduak ale guztietan behatu eta irudikatu ostean, oro har bi eredu ezberdindu eta deskribatzea posible izan da. Behatuak izan diren ezberdintasunak, uhartetako baliagai-hornidura mugatuen ondorio gisa uler daitezke, izan ere, halako baldintzetan ale txikiagoak positiboki hautatuak izango liratekeelako.

Caracterização da matéria orgânica potencialmente geradora de petróleo e seu posicionamento bioestratigráfico, com base em palinologia e palinofácies da Formação Pojuca - Bacia do Recôncavo

O presente estudo baseou-se na análise do conteúdo orgânico de 173 amostras da Formação Pojuca, provenientes dos furos de sondagem 9-FBA-65-BA e 9-FBA-79-BA perfurados na Bacia do Recôncavo. Neste trabalho procedeu-se a um estudo integrando, resultados palinológicos, palinofaciológicos e de geoquímica orgânica com base nos dados de teores de Carbono Orgânico Total (COT) e de pirólise Rock-Eval. A associação palinoflorística identificada indica um paleoambiente dominantemente continental, composto por um sistema fluvial deltaico-lacustre, sob um clima quente e árido. Tal associação enquadra-se àquelas observadas nas bacias do Nordeste brasileiro e insere-se nas características das associações pertencentes à Província Microflorística Dicheiropollis (ex WASA). Foram identificadas 55 espécies de palinomorfos, incluindo grãos de pólen e esporos. A identificação das espécies, Dicheiropollis etruscus e Vitreisporites pallidus permitiu posicionar o intervalo analisado na Biozona Vitreisporites pallidus, considerada como de idade Aratu. Por meio de observação em microscopia óptica com luz branca transmitida e luz ultravioleta; e le-BA, caracterizando um conteúdo orgânico na janela de geração de hidrocarbonetos. Com base nos resultados de pirólise Rock-Eval, verificou-se que a Formação Pojuca, na área, é constituída vando-se em conta os tipos e o grau de preservação da matéria orgânica, foi possível individualizar três palinofácies distintas. As análises quantitativas do conteúdo orgânico mostram uma mistura de material orgânico de origem alóctone, representado por grãos de pólen, esporos e fitoclastos e autóctone dominada por material orgânico amorfo. As mais altas fluorescências são observadas nas Palinofácies 1 e 2, indicando um ambiente mais reduto r à época de sedimentação, destes estratos. Os dados de ICE apresentam valores de maturação de 5 para os sedimentos atravessados pelo poço 9-FBA-65-BA e 6,5-7 para o poço 9-FBA-79 na sua quase totalidade por matéria orgânica do tipo II, rica em hidrogênio e pobre em oxigênio, correspondendo ao um tipo de matéria orgânica propícia à geração de hidrocarbonetos líquidos e gasosos. Os níveis 3 e 4, localizados nas Palinofácies 1 e 2 do poço 9-FBA-79-BA apresentam valores de COT superiores a 1,5%, e considerando os dados de pirólise Rock-Eval, nota-se que estes intervalos são os que oferecem um maior potencial gerador, já que os valores de S2 excedem a 5,0 mg HC/g de rocha, além de valores de IH superiores a 200 e atingindo 600.

Geoquímica orgânica das Formações Ererê, Barreirinha e Curiri (meso e neo devoniano) em dois poços na porção oeste da bacia do Amazonas

O estudo geoquímico detalhado em dois poços (A e B) na porção oeste da Bacia do Amazonas visou o entendimento da quantidade, fonte e evolução térmica da matéria orgânica presente nas Formações Ererê, Barreirinha e Curiri. Foram efetuadas análises de Carbono Orgânico Total (COT), pirólise Rock-Eval e biomarcadores. Os teores de carbono orgânico total da Formação Barreirinha (Membro Abacaxis) que variam de 1,43% a 8,39%, indicaram que este intervalo possui quantidade de matéria orgânica necessária para ser considerado potencialmente gerador de óleo e gás. As outras unidades litoestratigráficas apresentaram teores de COT pouco significativos. Com base nos dados de pirólise, identificou-se que o intervalo com o melhor potencial gerador corresponde ao Membro Abacaxis. Esta seção no poço A possui índice de hidrogênio (IH) ligeiramente superior a 200 mg HC/gCOT e um potencial gerador (S2)variando de 4 a 17,76 mg de HC/g de rocha, indicando um bom à excelente potencial adequado à geração de gás e condensado. Já no poço B, em decorrência do aumento da evolução térmica, os valores de S2 e IH são mais baixos(variando de 5 a 10 mgHC/g de rocha e com valores entre 50 e 150 mg HC/gCOT, respectivamente), apenas indicando um bom potencial à geração de gás. Segundo diagrama tipo Van Krevlen, a matéria orgânica deste intervalo é heterogênea e se comporta como querogênio tipo II e III no poço A e do tipo III e IV no poço B. As características dos biomarcadores encontrados no Membro Abacaxis indicam uma origem algal e ambiente marinho. O Membro Urariá e a Formação Curiri apresentam indicadores sugestivos de aporte de matéria orgânica de origem terrestre, sendo que o Membro Urariá ainda mostra algumas assinaturas semelhantes com o Membro Abacaxis. Devido a baixa concentração dos biomarcadores cíclicos nas amostras do Poço B, não foi possível realizar uma caracterização da fonte da matéria orgânica da Formação Ererê. A avaliação dos parâmetros utilizados para a interpretação da evolução térmica, como Tmax, taxa de transformação (TT), índice de produção (IP), reflectância da vitrinita calculada (Roc) e razões entre alcanos lineares e ramificados (P/nC17 e F/nC18), indicaram que no intervalo gerador do Poço A houve geração de hidrocarbonetos, mas ainda não correu a migração. No caso do Poço B, os dados mostram que neste intervalo já houve geração e migração de hidrocarbonetos.

A geoquímica orgânica aplicada à Formação Irati-Bacia do Paraná, poço SC-20-RS, área de Pinheiro Machado RS

O presente estudo aborda a caracterização quimioestratigráfica da Formação Irati (Permiano da Bacia doParaná), bem como a avaliçãodo potencial gerador. Foi realizada coleta sistemática de amostras de testemunho do poço SC-20-RS, para as quais foram realizadas análisesdos teores de COT, S e RI,Pirólise Rock-Eval e de Biomarcadores. Com base nesses dados,nove intervalos quimioestratigráficos (designados de A-I a partir da base) foram definidos nos 57,7 metros de espessura.Com base nos dados de biomarcadores obtidos pela cromatografia liquida e gasosa foi possível fazer um estudo mais detalhado da variação ambiental e input da matéria orgânica, e identificar como foi o ambiente deposicionaldo intervalo de maior potencial gerador da Bacia do Paraná. O Membro Assistência, desta formação, caracterizado por ter sido depositado em ambiente restrito, possui o intervalo mais promissor (Intervalo E), que compreende uma seção de cerca de 5 metros de espessura, nota-se que há uma maior preservação da matéria orgânica rica em hidrogênio(Tipo II) e aumento do COT% quando, o ambiente torna-se menos restrito, e a salinidade do ambiente diminui o que também foi identificado através dos biomarcadores. A Formação Irati constitui a fonte de folhelhos betuminosos utilizados pela Petrobrás para a obtenção industrial de óleo, gás, enxofre e subprodutos derivados a partir do processo de industrialização dessas rochas. É também uma das principais geradoras dos indícios de petróleo encontrados na Bacia do Paraná. Assim, a obtenção de dados que possam agregar conhecimentos sobre esta formação será sempre de extrema importância

Microbial community analysis of Acropora palamata mucus swabs, water and sediment samples from Hawksnest Bay, St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands

Colonies of the scleractinian coral Acropora palmata, listed as threatened under the US Endangered Species Act in 2006, have been monitored in Hawksnest Bay, within Virgin Islands National Park, St. John, from 2004 through 2010 by scientists with the US Geological Survey, National Park Service, and the University of the Virgin Islands. The focus has been on documenting the prevalence of disease, including white band, white pox (also called patchy necrosis and white patches), and unidentified diseases (Rogers et al., 2008; Muller et al., 2008). In an effort to learn more about the pathologies that might be involved with the diseases that were observed, samples were collected from apparently healthy and diseased colonies in July 2009 for analysis. Two different microbial assays were performed on Epicentre Biotechnologies DNA swabs containing A. palmata coral mucus, and on water and sediment samples collected in Hawksnest Bay. Both assays are based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of portions of the small rRNA gene (16S). The objectives were to determine 1) if known coral bacterial pathogens Serratia marcescens (Acroporid Serratiosis), Vibrio coralliilyticus (temperature-dependent bleaching, White Syndrome), Vibrio shiloi (bleaching, necrosis), and Aurantimonas coralicida (White Plague Type II) were present in any samples, and 2) if there were any differences in microbial community profiles of each healthy, unaffected or diseased coral mucus swab. In addition to coral mucus, water and sediment samples were included to show ambient microbial populations. In the first test, PCR was used to separately amplify the unique and diagnostic region of the 16S rRNA gene for each of the coral pathogens being screened. Each pathogen test was designed so that an amplified DNA fragment could be seen only if the specific pathogen was present in a sample. A positive result was indicated by bands of DNA of the appropriate size on an agarose gel, which separates DNA fragments based on the size of the molecule. DNA from pure cultures of each of the pathogens was used as a positive control for each assay.

Recent origin of a hominoid-specific splice form of neuropsin, a gene involved in learning and memory

Neuropsin is a secreted-type serine protease involved in learning and memory. The type II splice form of neuropsin is abundantly expressed in the human brain but not in the mouse brain. We sequenced the type II-spliced region of neuropsin gene in humans and representative nonhuman primate species. Our comparative sequence analysis showed that only the hominoid species (humans and apes) have the intact open reading frame of the type II splice form, indicating that the type II neuropsin originated recently in the primate lineage about 18 MYA. Expression analysis using RT-PCR detected abundant expression of the type II form in the frontal lobe of the adult human brain, but no expression was detected in the brains of lesser apes and Old World monkeys, indicating that the type II form of neuropsin only became functional in recent time, and it might contribute to the progressive change of cognitive abilities during primate evolution.

A human-specific mutation leads to the origin of a novel splice form of neuropsin (KLK8), a gene involved in learning and memory

Neuropsin (kallikrein 8, ELKS) is a secreted-type serine protease preferentially expressed in the central nervous system and involved in learning and memory. Its splicing pattern is different in human and mouse, with the longer form (type II) only express

Measuring the kinetics of amyloid fibril elongation using quartz crystal microbalances.

Kinetic measurements of amyloid growth provide insight into the free energy landscape of this supramolecular process and are crucial in the search for potent inhibitors of the main disorders with which it is associated, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases and Type II diabetes. In recent years, a new class of surface-bound biosensor assays, e.g., those based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and the quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) have been established as extremely valuable tools for kinetic measurements of amyloid formation. Here we describe detailed protocols of how QCM techniques can be used to monitor the elongation of amyloid fibrils in real time and to study the influence of external factors on the kinetics of amyloid growth with unprecedented accuracy.

Strong carrier lifetime enhancement in GaAs nanowires coated with semiconducting polymer.

The ultrafast charge carrier dynamics in GaAs/conjugated polymer type II heterojunctions are investigated using time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy at 10 K. By probing the photoluminescence at the band edge of GaAs, we observe strong carrier lifetime enhancement for nanowires blended with semiconducting polymers. The enhancement is found to depend crucially on the ionization potential of the polymers with respect to the Fermi energy level at the surface of the GaAs nanowires. We attribute these effects to electron doping by the polymer which reduces the unsaturated surface-state density in GaAs. We find that when the surface of nanowires is terminated by native oxide, the electron injection across the interface is greatly reduced and such surface doping is absent. Our results suggest that surface engineering via π-conjugated polymers can substantially improve the carrier lifetime in nanowire hybrid heterojunctions with applications in photovoltaics and nanoscale photodetectors.

Vortex migration caused by travelling magnetic wave in a 2 in. diameter YBa2Cu3O7-δ thin film

We provide experimental evidence for a vortex migration phenomenon in YBa2Cu3O7-δ (YBCO) thin film caused by travelling magnetic wave. The experiment is carried out on a 2 in. diameter YBCO thin film with a circular-type magnetic flux pump. We found that the travelling wave helps the vortices migrate into the centre of the sample: after the zero-field cooling process, the increase of the flux density in the centre is four times larger than the amplitude of the travelling wave. The reason for this massive vortex migration is probably due to the magnetic stress variation caused by the travelling wave: the magnetic stress increases locally in the crest region while decreases locally in the trough region, which could help the vortices to move locally. A comparison shows that the magnetization by standing wave can be easily predicted by Bean's model while travelling wave causes vortex migration generally much larger than the prediction of Bean's model. It is possible that travelling magnetic wave can be an effective way to magnetize a type II superconductor in considering this unusual vortex dynamics. © 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.

Direct observation of charge-carrier heating at WZ-ZB InP nanowire heterojunctions.

We have investigated the dynamics of hot charge carriers in InP nanowire ensembles containing a range of densities of zinc-blende inclusions along the otherwise wurtzite nanowires. From time-dependent photoluminescence spectra, we extract the temperature of the charge carriers as a function of time after nonresonant excitation. We find that charge-carrier temperature initially decreases rapidly with time in accordance with efficient heat transfer to lattice vibrations. However, cooling rates are subsequently slowed and are significantly lower for nanowires containing a higher density of stacking faults. We conclude that the transfer of charges across the type II interface is followed by release of additional energy to the lattice, which raises the phonon bath temperature above equilibrium and impedes the carrier cooling occurring through interaction with such phonons. These results demonstrate that type II heterointerfaces in semiconductor nanowires can sustain a hot charge-carrier distribution over an extended time period. In photovoltaic applications, such heterointerfaces may hence both reduce recombination rates and limit energy losses by allowing hot-carrier harvesting.

The search for the IFN-gamma receptor in fish: Functional and expression analysis of putative binding and signalling chains in rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss

Interferons (IFNs), consisting of three major subfamilies, type I, type II (gamma) and type III (lambda) IFN, activate vertebrate antiviral defences once bound to their receptors. The three IFN subfamilies bind to different receptors, IFNAR1 and IFNAR2 for type I IFNs, IFN gamma R1 and IFN gamma R2 for type II IFN, and IL-28R1 and IL-10R2 for type III IFNs. In fish, although many types I and II IFN genes have been cloned, little is known about their receptors. In this report, two putative IFN-gamma receptor chains were identified and sequenced in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), and found to have many common characteristics with mammalian type II IFN receptor family members. The presented gene synteny analysis, phylogenetic tree analysis and ligand binding analysis all suggest that these molecules are the authentic IFN gamma Rs in fish. They are widely expressed in tissues, with IFN gamma R1 typically more highly expressed than IFN gamma R2. Using the trout RTG-2 cell line it was possible to show that the individual chains could be differentially modulated, with rIFN-gamma and rIL-1 beta down regulating IFN gamma R1 expression but up regulating IFN gamma R2 expression. Overexpression of the two receptor chains in RTG-2 cells revealed that the level of IFN gamma R2 transcript was crucial for responsiveness to rIFN-gamma, in terms of inducing gamma IP expression. Transfection experiments showed that the two putative receptors specifically bound to rIFN-gamma. These findings are discussed in the context of how the IFN gamma R may bind IFN-gamma in fish and the importance of the individual receptor chains to signal transduction. (c) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Digital data transmission using electro-optically modulated vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser with saturable absorber

An electro-optically (EO) modulated oxide-confined vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) containing a saturable absorber in the VCSEL cavity is studied. The device contains an EO modulator section that is resonant with the VCSEL cavity. A type-II EO superlattice medium is employed in the modulator section and shown to result in a strong negative EO effect in weak electric fields. Applying the reverse bias voltages to the EO section allows triggering of short pulses in the device. Digital data transmission (return-to-zero pseudo-random bit sequence, 27-1) at 10Gb/s at bit-error-rates well below 10-9 is demonstrated. © 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.