Diversity, abundance and distribution of amoA-encoding archaea in deep-sea methane seep sediments of the Okhotsk Sea

The authors would like to thank Jin Sun, Jian Sun, Liangliang Kong, Nianshuang Wang, Chunhui Wang, Linbao Zhang and Ying Zhang for their assistance in the project. This work was supported by China Ocean Mineral Resources R&D Association grants DYXM-115-02-2-20 and DYXM-115-02-2-6, Hi-Tech Research and Development Program of China grant 2007AA091903, China National Natural Science Foundation grant 40576069, National Basic Research Program of China grant 2009CB219506 and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China grant 09CX05005A. M. G. K. was funded by incentive funds provided by the UofL-EVPR office and the US National Science Foundation (EF-0412129).

Diversity and spatial distribution of amoA-encoding archaea in the deep-sea sediments of the tropical West Pacific Continental Margin

The ecological characteristics of the deep-sea amoA-encoding archaea (AEA) are largely unsolved. Our aim was to study the diversity, structure and distribution of the AEA community in the sediments of the tropical West Pacific Continental Margin, to develop a general view of the AEA biogeography in the deep-sea extreme environment. Archaeal amoA clone libraries were constructed. Diverse and novel amoA sequences were identified, with the Bohol Sea, Bashi Strait and Sibuyan Sea harbouring the highest and the Bicol Shelf the lowest AEA diversity. Phylogenetic and statistical analyses illustrate a heterogeneous distribution of the AEA community, probably caused by the differential distribution of the terrestrial or estuarine AEA in the various sampling sites. The deep-sea sedimentary environments potentially harbour diverse and novel AEA in the tropical West Pacific Continental Margin. The stations in the Philippine inland seas (including station 3043) may represent AEA assemblages with various terrestrial influences and the stations connected directly to the open Philippine Sea may represent marine environment-dominant AEA assemblages. Our study indicates the potential importance of geological and climatic events in the transport of terrestrial micro-organisms to the deep-sea sedimentary environments, almost totally neglected previously.

Characterization of a homogeneous taxonomic group of marine magnetotactic cocci within a low tide zone in the China Sea

Magnetotactic bacteria are a heterologous group of motile prokaryotes, ubiquitous in aquatic habitats and cosmopolitan in distribution. Here, we studied the diversity of magnetotactic bacteria in a seawater pond within an intertidal zone at Huiquan Bay in the China Sea. The pond is composed of a permanently submerged part and a low tide subregion. The magnetotactic bacteria collected from the permanently submerged part display diversity in morphology and taxonomy. In contrast, we found a virtually homogenous population of ovoid-coccoid magnetotactic bacteria in the low tide subregion of the pond. They were bilophotrichously flagellated and exhibited polar magnetotactic behaviour. Almost all cells contained two chains of magnetosomes composed of magnetite crystals. Intriguingly, the combination of restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis (RFLP) and sequencing of cloned 16S rDNA genes from the low tide subregion samples as well as fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) revealed the presence of a homogenous population. Moreover, phylogenetic analysis indicated that the Qingdao Huiquan low tide magnetotactic bacteria belong to a new genus affiliated with the alpha-subclass of Proteobacteria. This finding suggests the adaptation of the magnetotactic bacterial population to the marine tide.

Taxonomic study on the family Mitridae (Mollusca : Gastropoda : Neogastropoda) from the China's Seas. Subfamilies: Imbricariinae and Cylindromitrinae

Ninteen species of subfamilies Imbricariinae and Cylindromitrinae, family Mitridae, are recorded from the China's seas. Of which, one genus and six species are recorded for the first time from China's seas, i.e., genus Ziba Adams H and Adams A, Cancilla (Cancilla) carnicolor, Ziba duplilirata, Z. insculpta, Neocancilla circula, Scabricola (Scabricola) desetangsii, Scabricola (Swainsonia) ocellata ocellata.

On the taxonomic system of Eurasian Pamphagidae (Orthoptera: Caelifera)

This paper provides a new taxonomic system for the Eurasian Pamphagidae, in which the 47 known genera are divided into 6 subfamilies including 4 new subfamilies: Prionotropisinae nov., Thrinchinae, Pamphaginae, Tropidaucheninae nov., Nocarodesinae nov., Orchaminae nov.

Karyomorphology of Biebersteinia Stephan (Geraniaceae) and its systematic and taxonomic significance

The systematic and taxonomic position of Biebersteinia Stephan has long been in dispute. The present paper describes for the first time the karyomorphology of two species in Biebersteinia Stephan. Both species commonly showed the interphase nuclei of the simple chromocenter type and the mitotic prophase chromosomes of the interstitial type. The karyotype formulae of both B. heterostemon and B. odora were 2n=10=2m(2sec)+8sm(2sec), belonging to the 3A type of Stebbins' classification. The karyotype of this genus is recorded for the first time. The basic chromosome numbers of four of the five known species of Biebersteinia have been recorded as x=5. The combination of resting nuclei of the simple chromocenter type, mitotic prophase chromosomes of the interstitial type, two pairs of chromosomes with four obvious secondary constrictions at the mitotic prophase and metaphase stages, and the peculiar 3A karyotype in Biebersteinia can be regarded as the karymorphological marker of this genus. The karyomorphological data presented here do not support the traditional grouping of this genus in Geraniaceae. The unique karyomorphology of Biebersteinia justifies its familiar or ordinal status, which is congruent with embryological, anatomical, chemical and molecular data. The systematic position of Biebersteinia needs further study.

Taxonomic Syntax for First-Order Inference

Most knowledge representation languages are based on classes and taxonomic relationships between classes. Taxonomic hierarchies without defaults or exceptions are semantically equivalent to a collection of formulas in first order predicate calculus. Although designers of knowledge representation languages often express an intuitive feeling that there must be some advantage to representing facts as taxonomic relationships rather than first order formulas, there are few, if any, technical results supporting this intuition. We attempt to remedy this situation by presenting a taxonomic syntax for first order predicate calculus and a series of theorems that support the claim that taxonomic syntax is superior to classical syntax.

A Circuit Grammar For Operational Amplifier Design

Electrical circuit designers seldom create really new topologies or use old ones in a novel way. Most designs are known combinations of common configurations tailored for the particular problem at hand. In this thesis I show that much of the behavior of a designer engaged in such ordinary design can be modelled by a clearly defined computational mechanism executing a set of stylized rules. Each of my rules embodies a particular piece of the designer's knowledge. A circuit is represented as a hierarchy of abstract objects, each of which is composed of other objects. The leaves of this tree represent the physical devices from which physical circuits are fabricated. By analogy with context-free languages, a class of circuits is generated by a phrase-structure grammar of which each rule describes how one type of abstract object can be expanded into a combination of more concrete parts. Circuits are designed by first postulating an abstract object which meets the particular design requirements. This object is then expanded into a concrete circuit by successive refinement using rules of my grammar. There are in general many rules which can be used to expand a given abstract component. Analysis must be done at each level of the expansion to constrain the search to a reasonable set. Thus the rule of my circuit grammar provide constraints which allow the approximate qualitative analysis of partially instantiated circuits. Later, more careful analysis in terms of more concrete components may lead to the rejection of a line of expansion which at first looked promising. I provide special failure rules to direct the repair in this case.

Evaluating SWICE-R (South West Information for Clinical Effectiveness - Rural). Final report for South West Workforce Development Confederations (Knowledge Resources Development Unit)

Yeoman, A., Durbin, J. & Urquhart, C. (2004). Evaluating SWICE-R (South West Information for Clinical Effectiveness - Rural). Final report for South West Workforce Development Confederations, (Knowledge Resources Development Unit). Aberystwyth: Department of Information Studies, University of Wales Aberystwyth. Sponsorship: South West WDCs (NHS)

E-marketing and SMEs: Operational lessons for the future

Gilmore, A.; Gallagher, D.; and Henry, S. (2007). E-marketing and SMEs: Operational lessons for the future. European Business Review. 19(3), pp.234-247 RAE2008

Towards persistent structural health monitoring through sustainable wireless sensor networks

This paper documents the design, implementation and characterisation of a wireless sensor node (GENESI Node v1.0), applicable to long-term structural health monitoring. Presented is a three layer abstraction of the hardware platform; consisting of a Sensor Layer, a Main Layer and a Power Layer. Extended operational lifetime is one of the primary design goals, necessitating the inclusion of supplemental energy sources, energy awareness, and the implementation of optimal components (microcontroller(s), RF transceiver, etc.) to achieve lowest-possible power consumption, whilst ensuring that the functional requirements of the intended application area are satisfied. A novel Smart Power Unit has been developed; including intelligence, ambient available energy harvesting (EH), storage, electrochemical fuel cell integration, and recharging capability, which acts as the Power Layer for the node. The functional node has been prototyped, demonstrated and characterised in a variety of operational modes. It is demonstrable via simulation that, under normal operating conditions within a structural health monitoring application, the node may operate perpetually.

A smart wireless inertial measurement unit system: simplifying & encouraging usage of WIMU technology

Wireless Inertial Measurement Units (WIMUs) combine motion sensing, processing & communications functionsin a single device. Data gathered using these sensors has the potential to be converted into high quality motion data. By outfitting a subject with multiple WIMUs full motion data can begathered. With a potential cost of ownership several orders of magnitude less than traditional camera based motion capture, WIMU systems have potential to be crucially important in supplementing or replacing traditional motion capture and opening up entirely new application areas and potential markets particularly in the rehabilitative, sports & at-home healthcarespaces. Currently WIMUs are underutilized in these areas. A major barrier to adoption is perceived complexity. Sample rates, sensor types & dynamic sensor ranges may need to be adjusted on multiple axes for each device depending on the scenario. As such we present an advanced WIMU in conjunction with a Smart WIMU system to simplify this aspect with 3 usage modes: Manual, Intelligent and Autonomous. Attendees will be able to compare the 3 different modes and see the effects of good andbad set-ups on the quality of data gathered in real time.