A P-Lingua based simulator for tissue P systems

AbstractInvestigations within the field of tissue-like P systems are being conducted, on one hand studying their computational efficiency, and on the other hand exploring the possibilities to use them as a computational modelling framework to biological phenomena.In both cases it is necessary to develop software that provides simulation tools (simulators) for the existing variety of tissue P systems. Such simulators allow us to carry on computations of solutions to computationally hard problems on certain (small) instances. Moreover, they also provide a way to verify tissue-like models for real biological processes, by means of experimental data.The paper presents an extension of P-Lingua (a specification language intended to become a standard for software devoted to P systems), in order to cover the class of tissue-like P systems, that were not considered in the previous release. This extension involves on one hand defining the syntax to be used, and on the other hand introducing a new built-in simulation algorithm that has been added to the core library of P-Lingua

Interactions between Sponges and the Water Column: Nutrient Utilisation and Feeding by New Zealand Subtidal Sponges

Sponges are an important component of New Zealand subtidal communities and play many key functional roles in marine ecosystems, including competition for space, facilitating primary production, nutrient cycling, bioerosion, and interactions with the water column. Sponges are involved in the bidirectional movement of detritus, nutrients, micro-organisms and planktonic particles both to and from the benthos to the pelagic ecosystem, thereby affecting pelagic processes. As suspension-feeders, sponges are capable of filtering large volumes of water, and they depend on food that is suspended in the water column, meaning that their interaction with the water column is likely to be very important. The main goal of my research was to investigate the interactions between sponges and the water column and how this varies in relation to sponge characteristics, nutrient fluxes, seasonality and food supply. I studied the diet composition of 10 sponge species that are abundant and widely distributed along the south coast of Wellington, New Zealand. I found that the diet of the sponge species analysed comprised three types of picoplanktonic organisms: heterotrophic bacteria, Prochlorococcus, and Synechococcus. These micro-organisms (picoplankton) that sponges feed on are vital for benthic food webs because they are involved in the transformation and cycling process of dissolved inorganic nutrients before they become available to other marine organisms. The results from this thesis demonstrated that different sponge species have different retention efficiencies for different types of picoplankton and I propose that this suggests intra-phyletic food particle niche partitioning among sponges. While these findings support the partitioning of food resources between different co-existing sponge species, they also suggest that partitioning may not be essential for co-existence, as some species had similar retention efficiencies implying an overlap in resource use. By measuring rates of carbon assimilation in the form of planktonic food particles, combined with data on a number of characteristics of the sponge species analysed, I found that sponge assemblages play a key role in the transfer of energy from the water column to the benthos. The results from this thesis indicate that there is a wide range of food concentrations in the rocky reefs where the study species are living, over which retention rate, nutrient utilisation and carbon consumption varied temporally. This emphasises the importance of understanding temporal variation in productivity, and suggests that such variations are likely to have important implications for suspension-feeders. By integrating the feeding results with estimations of oxygen consumption rates, and the amount of carbon obtained from the different micro-organisms found in the water column, preliminary carbon budgets were created. These budgets were used to quantify the capacity of carbon obtained via heterotrophic suspension-feeding to support sponge metabolism, as well as infer the potential for this carbon to support other processes such as sponge growth and reproduction. Overall, this project was the first to consider the functional roles of sponges in New Zealand marine ecosystems and provided useful information on their ecological and biological importance. The large amounts of carbon that sponges transfer from the water column to the benthos, in conjunction with the other findings of my thesis, increase our understanding of the ecology of temperate sponges

Training Manual ICAR Short course on Application of advanced molecular methods in marine fishery resource management, conservation and sustainable mariculture

Molecular Biology and Biotechnology has undergone incredible progress in this decade mainly due to the rapid advancements in DNA sequencing technologies. Marine biology and fishery science also reaped the fruits of these modern inventions improving our understanding regarding complex adaptations in aquatic organisms. Fish Genetics have evolved into genomics incorporating knowledge about neutral and non-neutral markers. A project called Genome 10k was started by the international community of scientists for sequencing the genome of 10000 vertebrates. Whole genomes of many marine organisms are now available which provided insights into the evolution of many important traits. Transcriptome sequencing provides insights into expressed genes and metagenome sequencing provides information regarding the microbes present in environment. All these technologies are rapid and cost effective. Over years, these technologies provided exciting opportunities for understanding ecology and evolution. Genomic information can also be sustainably utilized to enhance productivity of mariculture activities by selective breeding, genetic improvement and manipulation of economically important traits. ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute has contributed significantly to marine biotechnology research in the country and played a pivotal role in development of marine fisheries sector. The short course on “Application of advanced molecular methods in marine fisheries resource management, conservation and sustainable mariculture” conducted in ICAR-CMFRI from 24th October, 2018 to 2nd November, 2018 is specially designed to provide exposure to various applications of molecular tools in fisheries resource management, conservation of biodiversity and mariculture. I hope this compendium of lectures and protocols will be extremely useful for the participants to effectively utilize the knowledge in their own area of research. Simultaneously, on behalf of ICAR-CMFRI, I warmly welcome all the participants from various institutions and wish them all success in their future endeavors. I am sure that this training will result in new knowledge, collaborations and friendships

Elucidating the role of a novel DNA-binding protein identified in the diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana for coping with nutrient and temperature stress

Diatoms are associated with nutrient rich waters with high biomass that are commonly found at high latitudes, in coastal waters, in upwelling zones or during seasonal blooms.They display an opportunistic growth described as a ’bloom and bust’ life cyce and a remarkable diversity. These caracteristics are considered to be responsible for their success in aquatic environments and the reason why they contribute about 20% of global primary production and allow them to quickly dominate phytoplankton communities when environmental conditions become favourable. The processes that enable this impressive plasticity of diatoms in response to environmental variability are mostly unknown. A novel conserved DNA binding protein (BIG1) was recently identified and found to differentially regulate genes involved in progression through the cell cycle in centric diatoms as well as about 30% of genes found in natural centric diatom blooms. In our study we show that the BIG1 protein is linked to the regulation of initiation of fast growth upon nutrient addition. Overexpression of BIG1 in the model centric diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana enabled fast recovery and growth after a period of nitrogen stravation and exposure to low and high temperature as well as fostered growth under suboptimal temperatures. We present evidence that BIG1 has an impact on photosynthesis and suggest its involvement in directing the photosynthetic electron flow around Photosystem I. Our results may provide insights into regulatory processes that govern diatoms’ oportunistic growth

Tartu Ülikooli toimetised. Tööd semiootika alalt. 1964-1992. 0259-4668

http://www.ester.ee/record=b1331700*es

Microgravity Science and Applications

The report presents fifteen papers from a workshop on microgravity science and applications held at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, on December 3 to 4, 1984. The workshop and panel were formed by the Solid State Sciences Committee of the Board on Physics and Astronomy of the National Research Council in response to a request from the Office of Science and Technology Policy. The goal was to review the microgravity science and applications (MSA) program of NASA and to evaluate the quality of the program. The topics for the papers are metals and alloys, electronic materials, ceramics and glasses, biotechnology, combustion science, and fluid dynamics

The Largest Unethical Medical Experiment in Human History

This monograph describes the largest unethical medical experiment in human history: the implementation and operation of non-ionizing non-visible EMF radiation (hereafter called wireless radiation) infrastructure for communications, surveillance, weaponry, and other applications. It is unethical because it violates the key ethical medical experiment requirement for “informed consent” by the overwhelming majority of the participants. The monograph provides background on unethical medical research/experimentation, and frames the implementation of wireless radiation within that context. The monograph then identifies a wide spectrum of adverse effects of wireless radiation as reported in the premier biomedical literature for over seven decades. Even though many of these reported adverse effects are extremely severe, the true extent of their severity has been grossly underestimated. Most of the reported laboratory experiments that produced these effects are not reflective of the real-life environment in which wireless radiation operates. Many experiments do not include pulsing and modulation of the carrier signal, and most do not account for synergistic effects of other toxic stimuli acting in concert with the wireless radiation. These two additions greatly exacerbate the severity of the adverse effects from wireless radiation, and their neglect in current (and past) experimentation results in substantial under-estimation of the breadth and severity of adverse effects to be expected in a real-life situation. This lack of credible safety testing, combined with depriving the public of the opportunity to provide informed consent, contextualizes the wireless radiation infrastructure operation as an unethical medical experiment