Boronia heterophylla vase life is influenced more by ethylene than by bacterial numbers or vase solution pH

Bacterial proliferation in both vase solutions and in cut flower stems has been implicated in reducing the vase life of numerous genera. Boronia heterophylla F. Muell. (Red Boronia) vase life was assessed at two stages of floral maturity for nine vase solution treatments covering a pH range of 2.5-5.7. Vase life for advanced harvest maturity stems ranged from 4.2 d in 10 mM citric acid + 50 mg L-1 chlorine (pH 2.5) to 12.9 d after STS pulsing (pH 5.7). For normal harvest maturity stems, the corresponding range was 5.8-19.0 d, respectively. Vase solutions containing 50 mg L-1 chlorine biocide resulted in decreased longevity. In contrast, pulsing with the ethylene-binding inhibitor, STS, significantly increased vase life. The number of bacteria in the vase solutions after 11 d was determined in stems of advanced maturity. The solution with the greatest number of bacteria, 4.0 x 10(10) cfu mL(-1), was water used after STS pulsing and in which the flowers lasted longest. Vase solution bacteria were enumerated on days 0,3, 6, 9 and 12 of the vase period with stems of normal harvest maturity. There was no relationship between vase life and vase solution bacterial numbers ((R) over bar (2) = 0.000). Moreover, there was a negative relationship between numbers of bacteria in basal 0-5 cm stem segments and vase life. As no correlations were evident between longevity and either the pH or vase solution bacterial numbers, B. heterophylla vase life was evidently limited principally by ethylene action. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

To Greta: The Biography of Kurt Tauber 1914-1995

The memoir contains poems, eulogies and family photos and was written in 1995 in Connecticut. Recollections of the author's childhood in an orthodox Jewish family in the Leopoldstadt, the second district in Vienna. He was the third of four children. His father was a businessman who was dealing with clothing and textile. Kurt was enrolled in the same class as his older brother Hans at Gymnasium. Memories of his Bar Mitzvah celebration. Cello lessons and concerts with his brother Hans. After graduation Kurt started to study medicine at the Anatomic Institute of Julius Tandler at the Vienna University. Member of the liberal medical students' union "Wiener Mediziner". Acquaintance with his future-wife Greta. Skiing trip in the mountains. Antisemitic attacks at University, particularly within the faculties of law and medicine. Arrest under the false accusation of distributing illegal literature. In January 1938 Greta and Kurt Tauber were married. Worsening of political situation and rising of the illegal Nazi movement in Austria. Recollections of the "Anschluss" (Nazi take-over) in March 1938. Affidavit for Greta and Kurt from her brother in the United States. In June 1938 they went to London, where they waited for their visas to the US. Fervent attempts to arrange exit permits for their families in Vienna. Greta and Kurt Tauber arrived in New York in October of 1938. Difficult start at the beginning. Kurt started to work in a bakery. Greta and Kurt moved to a small apartment in the Lower East Side. Move to Queens with Greta's parents. Kurt's parents arrived in 1940 and moved to Washington Heights. Kurt and Greta started a baking business in Kew Gardens, Queens. Birth of their daughters Judy in 1941 and Ellen in 1944. Recollections of Passover family celebrations and vacations in the mountains and at Fleischmann's in the Catskills. Description of business encounters and family events, such as the birth of their grandchildren. Journey to Israel. Retirement and

How do you like America? 1800-1940

The memoirs were written in 2000 in California and contains some of the author's diary entries during the years of the family's emigration and reminiscences of the author's father. Detailed description of family history going back to the early 19th century. The author's grandfather Moses Stern had a rawproduct business in Gelsenkirchen, Westphalia. His father Max Stern took his graduate exam (Abitur) at the Jacobsohn boarding school in 1904 and was sent to a business school in Brussles, Belgium. Work in the family business M. Stern AG. World War One and rise of the family business with branches throughout Germany and offices in New York, London, Milan and Stockholm. Due to political unrest at the end of the war the business administration moved to Essen. Description of the family background of Beate Herzberg, the author's mother. Courtship of his parents and marriage in 1922. Birth of his sister Annelore in 1923. Martin Stern was born in 1924. Description of the family household and domestic life in a well-to-do family the 1920s. Friday visits to the synagogue and celebration of Jewish holidays. Vacations at the North sea and skiinig in the Alps. Martin attended a Jewish elementary school. Rising National Socialism. After Hitler came to power in 1933 the author's father immediately started preparations for the family's emigration, but was persuaded to stay by his family. Life under National Socialism. Martin attended Gymnasium and was one of only two Jewish students in his class. Antisemitic incidents. Private lessons in piano and Hebrew. Bar Mitzvah in 1937. Recollections of performances of the Kulturbund.

Under Swastika and the French flag.

The memoirs were originally written for the Harvard University competition in 1940 and were translated by the author in 2001. Reflections on his childhood in Germany and Austria. His parents were both from Poland. They moved to Vienna in 1921, where his father opened a haberdashery store in the Second district (Leopoldstadt). Otto attended primary school in Czerningasse. Birth of his sister Cecile in 1924. After his failing business endeavors his father decided to move back to Germany, where the family opened a department store in Elbing, East Prussia. Otto attended Gymnasium, where he was one of only two Jewish students in his class. Growing Nazi movement among students. Summer vacations on the Baltic Sea. Private piano lessons. Hitler’s rise in Germany and life under National Socialism. Bar mitzvah in 1933. Anti-Jewish boycotts. His father fled to Vienna in order to escape a rounding up of Jews. The family followed soon after to Austria. Otto attended Gymnasium in the Zirkusgasse and started to work as a tutor. Member of a youth group and hiking tours in the mountains. Recollections of the Anschluss in 1938. Fervent attempts to obtain an exit visa for the United States, where they had a relative in New York. Description of discriminations and frequent attacks on Jewish friends and relatives in the weeks after the Anschluss. Otto was picked up by Nazi stormtroops. He was forced to hold up an anti-Jewish sign and was walked up and down, receiving beatings and spittings in front of a jeering crowd. Detailed account of the atmosphere within the Jewish population. The Gymnasium Zirkusgasse was transferred into a Jewish school. Frequent attacks of Hitler Youths on the students. Preparations for the “Matura” despite the turmoil. In June of 1938 his father was arrested and sent to Dachau concentration camp. After passing the final exams, Otto planned on leaving the country illegally, since he was subject to the Polish quota for the United States with

My First 6701 Days : July 31 1921 to December 1939 /

The memoirs contain photocopies of documents and photos as well as extracts from letters and were written in October 1989 in the United States. Description of life in Baden, a famous health resort near Vienna. The family lived in Vienna in the second district (Leopoldstadt). Recollections of schoolteachers and childhood friends. Occasional Friday night services in the Leopoldstadt temple. Theater and opera visits and cultural life in Vienna. Private piano and music lessons. Description of the family apartment and Jewish life in the Leopoldstadt. The family celebrated Christmas and observed the high Jewish holidays. Recollections of the author's bar mitzvah celebration. His mother Charlotte, nee Schwadron, was an artistic woman, who studied painting at the Frauenakademie with Tina Blau. Walter's father Leo Schaffir was born in Byalistock, Russia and studied in Berlin. He was a travelling businessmen. His family lived in Lemberg, Galicia. Leo and Charlotte Schaffir got married in 1919 in Vienna by rabbi Dr. Grunwald. Recollections of a family trip to Poland and to the World Fair in Posen in 1930. Suicide of the author's father due to business failure in 1930. Schaffir and Schwadron family history. Both families originated in Galicia, Poland. Family and social life. Summer vacation at the Semmering. Austrian politics in the 1930's and rising National Socialism. Life in Vienna after the "Anschluss" in 1938. Walter had to leave school and took lessons in graphic arts with the artist Heinrich Koerner. Preparations to emigrate. Walter was picked up in the streets in the days after Kristallnacht and released due to his mother's intervention. He was sent with his brother Kurt on a "Kindertransport" to Holland. They were sent to a quarantine camp at Heyplaat. Reunition with their mother in the United States in December 1939. Reflections on life as an emigre.

Titanium Complexes for the Polymerisation of Ethene and Caprolactone

The literature part of the thesis mainly reviews the results of the use of titanium catalysts for ethene and caprolactone polymerisation. The behaviour of titanium catalysts bearing phenoxy-imino ligands has been the focus of more detailed investigations in ethene polymerisation. Reasons for the production of multimodal polyethene for a range of catalysts are also given. The experimental part of the thesis is divided into two sections based on the monomers used in the polymerisations: Part A (ethene) and part B (caprolactone). Part A: Titanium(IV) complexes bearing phenoxy-imino ligands are known to possess high ethene polymerisation activities after MAO activation. Depending on the ligand, the activities of the catalysts in polymerisation can vary between 1 and 44000 kgPE/(mol*cat*h*bar). Depending on the polymerisation temperature and the electronic and steric properties of the catalyst ligands, low to high molar mass values and uni- and multimodal polydispersity values can been observed. In order to discover the reasons for these differences, 22 titanium(IV) complexes containing differently substituted phenoxy-imino derivatives as di- and tetradentate ligands were synthesised with high yields and used as homogeneous catalysts in ethene polymerisations. Computational methods were used to predict the geometry of the synthesised complexes and their configuration after activation. Based on the results obtained, the geometry of the catalyst together with the ligand substituents seem to play a major role in defining the catalytic activity. Novel titanium(IV) complexes bearing malonate ligands were also synthesised. Malonates are considered to be suitable ligand pre-cursors since they can be produced by the simple reaction of any primary or secondary alcohol with malonylchloride, and thus they are easily modifiable. After treatment with MAO these complexes had polymerisation activities between 10 and 50 kgPE/(mol*cat*h*bar) and surprisingly low polydispersity values when compared with similar types of catalysts bearing the O?O chelate ligand. Part B: One of the synthesis routes in the preparation of the above mentioned phenoxy-imino titanium dichloride complexes involved the use of Ti(NMe2)4 with a range of salicylaldimine type compounds. On reaction, these two compounds formed an intermediate product selectively and quantitatively which was active in the ring-opening polymerisation of caprolactone. Several mono-anionic alcoholates were also combined with Ti(NMe2)4 in different molar ratios and used as catalysts. Full conversion of the monomer was achieved within 15 minutes with catalysts having a co-ordination number of 4 while after 22 hours full conversion was achieved with catalysts having a co-ordination number of 6.

Tailoring polyolefin properties by metallocene catalysis

This doctoral thesis deals with the syntheses of olefin homo- and copolymers using different kind of metallocene catalyst. Ethene, propene, 1-hexene, 1-hexadecene, vinylcyclohexane and phenylnorbornene were homo- or copolymerized with the catalysts. The unbridged benzyl substituted zirconium dichloride catalysts (1-4), ansa- bridged acenaphtyl substituted zirconium dichloride catalysts, ( 5, 6), rac- and meso-ethylene-bis(1-indenyl)zirconium dichlorides, (rac- and meso-8), rac-ethylene-bis(1-indenyl)hafnium dichloride, ( 12), bis(9-fluorenyl)hafnium dichloride (14 ) enantiomerically pure (R)- phenylethyl[(9-fluorenyl-1-indenyl)]ZrCl2, (11), 14 and asymmetric dimethylsilyl[(3-benzylindenyl-(2-methylbenzen[e]indenyl)] zirconium dichloride, (13), were prepared in our laboratory. Dimethylsilyl-bis(1-indenyl)zirconium dichloride, (9), isopropylidene(9-fluorenyl-cyclopentadienyl)zirconium dichloride, (10), and were obtained commercially. The solid-state structures of the catalysts rac- and meso-1 were determined by X-ray crystallography. Computational methods were used for the structure optimization of the catalyst rac- and meso-1 in order to compare the theoretical calculations with the experimental results. Polymerization experiments were conducted in a highly purified autoclave system using low pressures (< 5 bar) of gaseous monomers. The experiments were designed to attain the optimal catalytic activity and a uniform copolymer composition. The prepared homo- and copolymers were characterized by the gel permeation chromatography, GPC, differential scanning calorimetry, DSC, nuclear magnetic resonance, NMR, and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, FTIR . Molar mass (Mw, Mn), molar mass distribution (Mw/Mn), tacticity, comonomer content, melting temperature, glass transition temperature, and end group structures and content were determined. A special attention was paid on the correlation of the polymer properties with the catalyst structures and polymerization conditions. An intramolecular phenyl coordination was found in phenyl substituted benzyl zirconocenes 1-3 explaining the decreased activity of the catalysts. Novel copolymers poly(propene-co-phenylnorbornene) and poly(propene co-vinylcyclohexane), were synthesized and high molar mass poly(ethene-co-1-hexene) and poly(ethene-co-1-hexadecene) copolymers with elastic properties were prepared. Activation of a hafnocene catalyst was studied with UV-Vis spectrometry and activation process for the synthesis of ultra high molar mass poly(1-hexene) was found out.

The kinetics and reactivity of several polyatomic free radicals in reactions with NO2, O2, Cl2, and HCl

In this thesis, the kinetics of several alkyl, halogenated alkyl, and alkenyl free radical reactions with NO2, O2, Cl2, and HCl reactants were studied over a wide temperature range in time resolved conditions. Laser photolysis photoionisation mass spectrometer coupled to a flow reactor was the experimental method employed and this thesis present the first measurements performed with the experimental system constructed. During this thesis a great amount of work was devoted to the designing, building, testing, and improving the experimental apparatus. Carbon-centred free radicals were generated by the pulsed 193 or 248 nm photolysis of suitable precursors along the tubular reactor. The kinetics was studied under pseudo-first-order conditions using either He or N2 buffer gas. The temperature and pressure ranges employed were between 190 and 500 K, and 0.5 45 torr, respectively. The possible role of heterogeneous wall reactions was investigated employing reactor tubes with different sizes, i.e. to significantly vary the surface to volume ratio. In this thesis, significant new contributions to the kinetics of carbon-centred free radical reactions with nitrogen dioxide were obtained. Altogether eight substituted alkyl (CH2Cl, CHCl2, CCl3, CH2I, CH2Br, CHBr2, CHBrCl, and CHBrCH3) and two alkenyl (C2H3, C3H3) free radical reactions with NO2 were investigated as a function of temperature. The bimolecular rate coefficients of all these reactions were observed to possess negative temperature dependencies, while pressure dependencies were not noticed for any of these reactions. Halogen substitution was observed to moderately reduce the reactivity of substituted alkyl radicals in the reaction with NO2, while the resonance stabilisation of the alkenyl radical lowers its reactivity with respect to NO2 only slightly. Two reactions relevant to atmospheric chemistry, CH2Br + O2 and CH2I + O2, were also investigated. It was noticed that while CH2Br + O2 reaction shows pronounced pressure dependence, characteristic of peroxy radical formation, no such dependence was observed for the CH2I + O2 reaction. Observed primary products of the CH2I + O2 reaction were the I-atom and the IO radical. Kinetics of CH3 + HCl, CD3 + HCl, CH3 + DCl, and CD3 + DCl reactions were also studied. While all these reactions possess positive activation energies, in contrast to the other systems investigated in this thesis, the CH3 + HCl and CD3 + HCl reactions show a non-linear temperature dependency on the Arrhenius plot. The reactivity of substituted methyl radicals toward NO2 was observed to increase with decreasing electron affinity of the radical. The same trend was observed for the reactions of substituted methyl radicals with Cl2. It is proposed that interactions of frontier orbitals are responsible to these observations and Frontier Orbital Theory could be used to explain the observed reactivity trends of these highly exothermic reactions having reactant-like transition states.

Jerusalem Commemorative Medal

Obverse: Stylized picture of Jerusalem atop mountains surrounded by clouds. Reverse: Bar Kochba coin from Jerusalem, in the center four columns, an arc, a symbol of the Torah.

Jerusalem Commemorative Coin

Obverse: Stylized picture of Jerusalem atop mountain surrounded by clouds. Reverse: Bar Kochba coin from Jerusalem. In the center of the coin 4 columns, an arc, symbol of the Torah.

A new nondestructive method for three-dimensional photoelasticity

A new set of equations describing completely the optical phenomena in a model involving continuous rotation of secondary axes and secondary principal-stress differences are obtained. These are solved by Peano-Baker method using experimentally determined characteristic parameters for several wavelengths of light. Experimental verifications are obtained for a rectangular bar subjected to combined torsion and tension.

Small-scale capture, transport and tank adaptation of live, medium-sized Scombrids using "Tuna Tubes"

The transport of live fish is a crucial step to establish fish culture in captivity, and is especially challenging for species that have not been commonly cultured before, therefore transport and handling methods need to be optimized and tailored. This study describes the use of tuna tubes for small-scale transport of medium-sized pelagic fish from the Scombridae family. Tuna tubes are an array of vertical tubes that hold the fish, while fresh seawater is pumped up the tubes and through the fish mouth and gills, providing oxygen and removing wastes. In this study, 19 fish were captured using rod and line and 42% of the captured fish were transported alive in the custom-designed tuna tubes to an on-shore holding tank: five mackerel tuna (Euthynnus affinis) and three leaping bonito (Cybiosarda elegans). Out of these, just three (15.8% of total fish) acclimatized to the tank's condition. Based on these results, we discuss an improved design of the tuna tubes that has the potential to increase survival rates and enable a simple and low cost method of transporting of live pelagic fish.

VisArchive: a time and relevance based visual interface for searching, browsing, and exploring project archives

Background Project archives are becoming increasingly large and complex. On construction projects in particular, the increasing amount of information and the increasing complexity of its structure make searching and exploring information in the project archive challenging and time-consuming. Methods This research investigates a query-driven approach that represents new forms of contextual information to help users understand the set of documents resulting from queries of construction project archives. Specifically, this research extends query-driven interface research by representing three types of contextual information: (1) the temporal context is represented in the form of a timeline to show when each document was created; (2) the search-relevance context shows exactly which of the entered keywords matched each document; and (3) the usage context shows which project participants have accessed or modified a file. Results We implemented and tested these ideas within a prototype query-driven interface we call VisArchive. VisArchive employs a combination of multi-scale and multi-dimensional timelines, color-coded stacked bar charts, additional supporting visual cues and filters to support searching and exploring historical project archives. The timeline-based interface integrates three interactive timelines as focus + context visualizations. Conclusions The feasibility of using these visual design principles is tested in two types of project archives: searching construction project archives of an educational building project and tracking of software defects in the Mozilla Thunderbird project. These case studies demonstrate the applicability, usefulness and generality of the design principles implemented.

Större frihet - bättre lokalt anpassad service? : Förvaltningsreformer och kommunernas service för utvecklingsstörda 1994-2000

In the beginning of the 1990s the legislation regarding the municipalities and the system of central government transfers were reformed in Finland. This resulted in a move from detailed governmental control to increased municipal autonomy. The purpose of this decentralization was to enable the municipalities to better adapt their administration and service supply to local needs. The aim of this study was to explore the effects of the increased municipal autonomy on the organization of services for people with intellectual disabilities. Did the increased autonomy cause the municipalities to alter their service supply and production and did the services become more adapted to local needs? The data consists of statistical information on service use and production, and also of background data such as demographics, economics and political elections on 452 municipalities in Finland from the years 1994 and 2000. The methods used are cluster analysis, discriminant analysis and factor analysis. The municipalities could be grouped in two categories: those which offered mainly one kind of residential services and others which had more varied mixes of services. The use of institutional care had decreased and municipalities which used institutional care as their primary form of service were mostly very small municipalities in 2000. The situation had changed from 1994, when institutional care was the primary service for municipalities of all sizes. Also the service production had become more differentiated and the municipalities had started using more varied ways of production. More municipalities had started producing their own services and private production had increased as well. Furthermore, the increase in local autonomy had opened up possibilities for local politics to influence both the service selection and methods of production. The most significant motive for changes in the service structure was high unemployment and an increasing share of elderly people in the population, particularly in sparsely populated areas. Municipalities with a low level of resources had made more changes in their service organization while those with more resources had been able to carry on as before. Key words: service structure, service for people with intellectual disabilities, municipalities, contingency theory, New Public Management

Use of transverse beam polarization to probe anomalous V V H interactions at a Linear Collider

We investigate use of transverse beam polarization in probing anomalous coupling of a Higgs boson to a pair of vector bosons, at the International Linear Collider (ILC). We consider the most general form of V V H (V = W/Z) vertex consistent with Lorentz invariance and investigate its effects on the process e(+)e(-) -> f (f) over barH, f being a light fermion. Constructing observables with definite C P and naive time reversal ((T) over tilde) transformation properties, we find that transverse beam polarization helps us to improve on the sensitivity of one part of the anomalous Z Z H Coupling that is odd under C P. Even more importantly it provides the possibility of discriminating from each other, two terms in the general Z Z H vertex, both of which are even under C P and (T) over bar. Use of transversebeam polarization when combined with information from unpolarized and linearly polarized beams therefore, allows one to have completely independent probes of all the different parts of a general ZZH vertex.