Organization of the Iowa General Assembly, July 16, 2013

Organization of the Iowa General Assembly

Today in the Senate/House 85th Iowa General Assembly, 2013

Today in the Senate/House 85th Iowa General Assembly, Cell Phone Audio Daily Committee Meeting Schedules for the Senate and House of Representatives.

Today in the Senate/House 85th Iowa General Assembly, 2013

Today in the Senate/House 85th Iowa General Assembly, Cell Phone Audio Daily Committee Meeting Schedules for the Senate and House of Representatives.

Iowa General Assembly Committee Meeting Rooms Ground Floor, 2013

I map of all committee meeting room during the legislative session for 2013.

Chemical composition of the small coastal lagoons of the Mediterranean Spanish littoral

About sixty small water bodies (coastal lagoons, marshes, salt pans, channels, springs, etc.) of the Spanish Mediterranean coast were sampled seasonally for one year (1979-1980), in order to study different aspects of their chemical composition. The concentrations of major ions (alkalinity, Cl-, Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, and K+), nutrients (N.NO-3, N.NO2-, TRP and Si), oxygen and pH were determined for this purpose. The salt concentrations measured range between 0.4 and 361.3 g l-1. The samples have been divided into four classes of salinity (in g l-1): Cl, S < 5; C2, 5 40. Within these classes, the pattern of ionic dominance recorded is remarkably constant and similar to that found in most coastal lagoons (Cl- > So42- > Alk., for the anions, and Na+ > Mg2+ > Ca2+ > K+, for the cations), although other models occur especially in the first class. The dominance of Na+ and Cl-, as well as the molar ratios Mg2+/Ca2+ and Cl- / SO42- ,clearly increase from class Cl to class C4. The hyperhaline waters include different subtypes of the major brine type"c",, of EUGSTER & HARDIE (1978), the Na+ - (Mg2+) - Cl- - (SO42-) being the most frequent. Nutrient concentrations fall within a wide range (N.NO3 from 0.1 to 1100 mg-at 1-1; PRT from 0.01 to 23.56 mg-at l-1 and Si from 1.0 to 502.0 mg-at l-1). The oxygen values are very variable too, ranging between 0 and 14.4 ml l-1. Four different patterns of nutrient distribution have been distinguished based on the mean concentrations of N.NO3-, and TRP (mean values in mg-at l-1): A, N.NO3- < 10, TRP > l ; B, N.NO3- > 100, TRP < 1; C, 10 < N.NO3- < 100, TRP < 1; C, D, N.NO3- < 10, TRP < 1. As a rule, lagoons of low salinity (C1 and C2 classes) display the nutrient pattern C, and lagoons of high salinity (C3 and C4) show the nutrient pattern D. Model A only appears in waters of very low salinity, whereas model B does not seem to be related to salinity.

Chemical defenses in Sacoglossan Opisthobranchs: Taxonomic trends and evolutionary implications

Sacoglossan sea slugs (Mollusca: Opisthobranchia) are one of the few groups of specialist herbivores in the marine environment. Sacoglossans feed suctorially on the cell sap of macroalgae, from which they 'steal' chloroplasts (kleptoplasty) and deterrent substances (kleptochemistry), retaining intracellularly both host plastids and chemicals. The ingested chloroplasts continue to photosynthesize for periods ranging from a few hours or days up to 3 months in some species. Shelled, more primitive sacoglossans feed only on the siphonalean green algal genus Caulerpa, and they do not have functional kleptoplasty. The diet of sacoglossans has radiated out from this ancestral food. Among the shell-less Plakobranchidae (=Elysiidae), the more primitive species feed on other siphonales (families Derbesiaceae, Caulerpaceae, Bryopsidaceae and Codiaceae) and fix carbon, while the more 'advanced' species within the Plakobranchidae and Limapontioidae have a more broad dietary range. Most of these 'advanced' species are unable to fix carbon because the chloroplasts of their food algae are mechanically disrupted during ingestion. Mesoherbivores are likely to be eaten if they live on palatable seaweeds, their cryptic coloration and form not always keeping them safe from predators. Sacoglossans prefer to live on and eat chemically defended seaweeds, and they use ingested algal chemicals as deterrents of potential predators. The most ancestral shelled sacoglossans (Oxynoidae) and some Plakobranchidae such as Elysia translucens, Thuridilla hopei and Bosellia mimetica have developed a diet-derived chemical defense mechanism. Oxynoids and Thuridilla hopei are able to biomodify the algal metabolites. However, the Plakobranchidae Elysia timida and E. viridis, together with Limapontioidea species, are characterized by their ability to de novo synthesize polypropionate metabolites. A whole analysis of kleptoplasty and chemical defenses in sacoglossans may offer a better understanding of the ecology and evolution of these specialized opisthobranchs. In this paper we summarize some of the latest findings, related mainly to Mediterranean species, and offer a plausible evolutionary scenario based on the biological and chemical trends we can distinguish in them.

Report of the Interim Flood Control Committee : to Governor Robert D. Blue for submission to the fifty-third General Assembly,1948

This report includes discussions of the general subject of water resources and flood control, including the presentation of facts and arguments which were considered in the drafting of this report. It also discusses various bills presented and a brief explanation of each bill.

Designing pheromone communication in swarm robotics: Group foraging behavior mediated by chemical substance

In swarm robotics, communication among the robots is essential. Inspired by biological swarms using pheromones, we propose the use of chemical compounds to realize group foraging behavior in robot swarms. We designed a fully autonomous robot, and then created a swarm using ethanol as the trail pheromone allowing the robots to communicate with one another indirectly via pheromone trails. Our group recruitment and cooperative transport algorithms provide the robots with the required swarm behavior. We conducted both simulations and experiments with real robot swarms, and analyzed the data statistically to investigate any changes caused by pheromone communication in the performance of the swarm in solving foraging recruitment and cooperative transport tasks. The results show that the robots can communicate using pheromone trails, and that the improvement due to pheromone communication may be non-linear, depending on the size of the robot swarm.

Assembly of the Escherichia coli RuvABC resolvasome directs the orientation of holliday junction resolution.

Genetic recombination can lead to the formation of intermediates in which DNA molecules are linked by Holliday junctions. Movement of a junction along DNA, by a process known as branch migration, leads to heteroduplex formation, whereas resolution of a junction completes the recombination process. Holliday junctions can be resolved in either of two ways, yielding products in which there has, or has not, been an exchange of flanking markers. The ratio of these products is thought to be determined by the frequency with which the two isomeric forms (conformers) of the Holliday junction are cleaved. Recent studies with enzymes that process Holliday junctions in Escherichia coli, the RuvABC proteins, however, indicate that protein binding causes the junction to adopt an open square-planar configuration. Within such a structure, DNA isomerization can have little role in determining the orientation of resolution. To determine the role that junction-specific protein assembly has in determining resolution bias, a defined in vitro system was developed in which we were able to direct the assembly of the RuvABC resolvasome. We found that the bias toward resolution in one orientation or the other was determined simply by the way in which the Ruv proteins were positioned on the junction. Additionally, we provide evidence that supports current models on RuvABC action in which Holliday junction resolution occurs as the resolvasome promotes branch migration.

Chemical sensing in Drosophila.

Chemical sensing begins when peripheral receptor proteins recognise specific environmental stimuli and translate them into spatial and temporal patterns of sensory neuron activity. The chemosensory system of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, has become a dominant model to understand this process, through its accessibility to a powerful combination of molecular, genetic and electrophysiological analysis. Recent results have revealed many surprises in the biology of peripheral chemosensation in Drosophila, including novel structural and signalling properties of the insect odorant receptors (ORs), combinatorial mechanisms of chemical recognition by the gustatory receptors (GRs), and the implication of Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) ion channels as a novel class of chemosensory receptors.

Determination of picogram levels of midazolam, and 1- and 4-hydroxymidazolam in human plasma by gas chromatography-negative chemical ionization-mass spectrometry.

Midazolam is a widely accepted probe for phenotyping cytochrome P4503A. A gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS)-negative chemical ionization method is presented which allows measuring very low levels of midazolam (MID), 1-OH midazolam (1OHMID) and 4-OH midazolam (4OHMID), in plasma, after derivatization with the reagent N-tert-butyldimethylsilyl-N-methyltrifluoroacetamide. The standard curves were linear over a working range of 20 pg/ml to 5 ng/ml for the three compounds, with the mean coefficients of correlation of the calibration curves (n = 6) being 0.999 for MID and 1OHMID, and 1.0 for 4OHMID. The mean recoveries measured at 100 pg/ml, 500 pg/ml, and 2 ng/ml, ranged from 76 to 87% for MID, from 76 to 99% for 1OHMID, from 68 to 84% for 4OHMID, and from 82 to 109% for N-ethyloxazepam (internal standard). Intra- (n = 7) and inter-day (n = 8) coefficients of variation determined at three concentrations ranged from 1 to 8% for MID, from 2 to 13% for 1OHMID and from 1 to 14% for 4OHMID. The percent theoretical concentrations (accuracy) were within +/-8% for MID and 1OHMID, within +/-9% for 4OHMID at 500 pg/ml and 2 ng/ml, and within +/-28% for 4OHMID at 100 pg/ml. The limits of quantitation were found to be 10 pg/ml for the three compounds. This method can be used for phenotyping cytochrome P4503A in humans following the administration of a very low oral dose of midazolam (75 microg), without central nervous system side-effects.

Pom1 regulates the assembly of Cdr2-Mid1 cortical nodes for robust spatial control of cytokinesis.

Proper division plane positioning is essential to achieve faithful DNA segregation and to control daughter cell size, positioning, or fate within tissues. In Schizosaccharomyces pombe, division plane positioning is controlled positively by export of the division plane positioning factor Mid1/anillin from the nucleus and negatively by the Pom1/DYRK (dual-specificity tyrosine-regulated kinase) gradients emanating from cell tips. Pom1 restricts to the cell middle cortical cytokinetic ring precursor nodes organized by the SAD-like kinase Cdr2 and Mid1/anillin through an unknown mechanism. In this study, we show that Pom1 modulates Cdr2 association with membranes by phosphorylation of a basic region cooperating with the lipid-binding KA-1 domain. Pom1 also inhibits Cdr2 interaction with Mid1, reducing its clustering ability, possibly by down-regulation of Cdr2 kinase activity. We propose that the dual regulation exerted by Pom1 on Cdr2 prevents Cdr2 assembly into stable nodes in the cell tip region where Pom1 concentration is high, which ensures proper positioning of cytokinetic ring precursors at the cell geometrical center and robust and accurate division plane positioning.

Dewaterability of sewage sludge by ultrasonic, thermal and chemical treatments

Sludges resulting from wastewater treatment processes have a characteristically high water content, which complicates handling operations such as pumping, transport and disposal. To enhance the dewatering of secondary sludge, the effect of ultrasound waves, thermal treatment and chemical conditioning with NaOH have been studied. Two features of treated sludges were examined: their rheological behavior and their dewaterability. The rheological tests consisted of recording shear stress when the shear rate increases and decreases continuously and linearly with time, and when it increases and decreases in steps. Steady-state viscosity and thixotropy were obtained from the rheological tests, and both decreased significantly in all cases with increased treatment intensity. Centrifugation of ultrasonicated and thermally treated sludges allowed the total solid content to be increased by approximately 16.2% and 17.6%, respectively. These dewatered sludges had a lower viscosity and thixotropy than the untreated sludge. In contrast, alkali conditioning barely allowed the sludge to be dewatered by centrifugation, despite decreasing its viscosity and thixotropy.

7Ni-O chemical interaction and the transition temperature of Ni-doped Bi2Sr2Ca1Cu2O8

We find that even very low Ni doping levels of high-quality Bi2Sr2Ca1Cu2O8 single crystals strongly affect the transition temperature T(c). We also observed that T(c) is not related to the total Ni concentration, but only to that of Ni engaged in NiO-type bonds. By controlling the temperature during crystal growth, one can modify the relative weight of Ni in NiO-type bonds with respect to other configurations-and therefore T(c).