121 research outputs found

    Eileen J. Cox: her journey with diatoms

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    Eileen already had a keen interest in science during her school years. She studied Botany at Bristol University from 1967–1970, and it was her University teacher, Professor Frank Round, who inspired her interest in diatoms. During her PhD at Bristol under Frank Round’s supervision (1970–1975) she investigated the biology of tube-dwelling diatoms. At the same time, she worked as Departmental Demonstrator in the Botany Department. She left Bristol University in 1976 and became a Claridge Druce Research Fellow at the University of Oxford (1977–1980). Her investigations focused on the genus Navicula and the ultrastructure of diatom cells more generally. From 1979–1980 Eileen took up a post as lecturer at Pembroke College, University of Oxford. In 1980 Eileen moved to Germany and worked as a Royal Society European Exchange Research Fellow at the Litoralstation, Biologische Anstalt Helgoland. Here her studies focused on living diatoms, in particular the genus Donkinia, and she explored the value of live-cell features as diagnostic characters. From 1982–1985 she worked as a Max Planck research fellow at the Max-Planck-Institute at Plön, and from 1985–1988 as a Fellow of the German Research Foundation at the Max-Planck-Institute of Limnology, River Station, in Schlitz. During these years Eileen’s research on Navicula continued, but she also worked on the genera Placoneis, Parlibellus and Pinnularia, and studied relationships between diatom distributions and the environment. In 1989 Eileen returned to the UK to join the University of Sheffield, first as Research Associate, then as NERC Advanced Research Fellow and Honorary Lecturer, and carried out ecotoxicological studies on zooplankton. In 1992 she joined the Natural History Museum as Research Botanist to continue her research on diatoms. Here Eileen made many important contributions to diatom taxonomy and systematics. She carried out important studies on the naviculoid diatoms, and on live diatoms including her novel research on valve morphogenesis. Eileen has been involved in the organisation of many scientific meetings. In 1987 she organized the first meeting of the German-speaking diatomists in Schlitz, Germany, a meeting that has subsequently developed to include a much larger group of scientists from across Europe and from 2020 onwards will be the European Diatom Meeting. Other meetings she has helped organize include those held by the British Phycological Society, British Diatom Meetings, a NorthWest and Midlands Freshwater Group meeting, the Van Heurck Symposium on Taxonomy, a SETAC Europe meeting, a Society for the History of Natural History Meeting, and several European and International Phycological Congresses. Eileen has taught extensively; hosted 7 post-doctoral fellows and many research visitors to the Natural History Museum; supervised 10 PhD students, 4 M.Sc./M.Phil. students, 1 M.Res. student, and 4 final year B.Sc. students; and examined 9 PhDs and 1 DSc. She is currently a member of six learned societies, has refereed manuscripts for 31 scientific journals, has been invited speaker at 32 scientific meetings, gave 28 invited lectures at universities and research institutes, and presented at 56 national and international conferences. Eileen has given great service to several scientific societies, as council member, secretary or president. These include the British Phycological Society (president 2001–2002), the International Society for Diatom Research (president 2000– 112 Pl. Ecol. Evol. 152 (2), 2019 2002), the Systematics Association, and the International Phycological Society. Since 2007 Eileen has been Head of Postgraduate Studies in the Science Directorate of the Natural History Museum. As part of her role she develops and implements the training programmes of students at NHM, is responsible for strategic planning, and coordinates with research and training partners at universities and research institutions across the UK. Eileen is currently Editor in Chief of Diatom Research, and was previously Associate Editor (2011–2014), she is a board member of Fottea (since 2010), was guest co-editor of the Journal of the North American Benthological Society (Special Issue on Ecology of Springs), guest co-editor of the Journal of Limnology (Special Issue on Spring Biodiversity and Conservation), and Co-Editor-in-Chief of the European Journal of Phycology (2004–2009). Private hobbies include gardening, crafts such as cross stitching and sewing, visiting art museums and travelling, especially river and ocean cruises that have taken Eileen and Elliot recently to Alaska, the Caribbean, Germany, the Czech Republic, France and Portugal. Readers may like to read Eileen’s own description of her journey in diatoms, written for the young diatomists’ blog (available at https://youngisdr.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_12. html or in this volume supplementary information).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

    Kvantitativní tvarová analýza rozsivkových frustul: asymetrie, allometrie a struktura tvaroprostorů

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    Tato práce je zaměřena na geometricko morfometrický výzkum alometrické a asymetrické variability ve tvaru frustul raphidních penátních rozsivek. Dřívější studie zabývající se výzkumem rozsivek mnohokrát zaznamenaly vztah tvarové variability a zmenšování frustul v průběhu vegetativního cyklu. Formální kvantitativní analýza těchto patrností se ovšem v literatuře vyskytuje jen poměrně vzácně. Ve své dizertaci jsem použila semilandmarkovou geometrickou morfometriku obrysů frustul pro analýzy morfologických fenoménů alometrie, symetrie a asymetrických odchylek spojených s redukcí jejich velikosti v průběhu mitotické fáze životního cyklu. Provedené analýzy ukázaly, že morfologická alometrie představuje dominantí část tvarové variability u několika studovaných navikuloidních rodů jako je Luticola poulickovae, Navicula cryptocephala a Sellaphora pupula. Tvarové změny v průběhu velikostní redukce u těchto taxonů zahrnovaly simultánní zvýšení cirkularity obrysů valv a disparity mezi buňkami. Dynamika asymetrie valv ovšem nebyla s velikostními změnami korelovaná. Morfometrické analýzy druhu Luticola poulickovae ovšem ukázaly, že jejich frustuly vykazovaly také subtilní ale signifikantní stranově orientovanou asymetrii valvárních obrysů, která souvisí s pozicí primární a sekundární strany valv. Výrazné...This thesis is focused on geometric morphometrics of allometric and asymmetric variation in frustule shape of raphid pennate diatoms. While pronounced shape changes of diatom frustules related to their size reduction were many times reflected in diatom research, formal quantitative evaluation of these patterns has been rarely attempted. My thesis used semilandmark based geometric morphometrics of frustule outlines in analyses of morphological phenomena related to size reduction throughout mitotic phase of the life cycle, such as allometry, symmetry of frustules and their asymmetric deviations. The analyses showed that morphological allometry represents the dominant element of shape variation in several naviculoid species, such as Luticola poulickovae, Navicula cryptocephala, Sellaphora pupula. Shape changes during size reduction throughout the vegetative part of these taxa mostly involved a simultaneous increase in circularity of valve outlines and disparity among cells. On the other hand, asymmetry of valves proved to be unrelated to size changes within populations. However, the morphometric analyses of Luticola poulickovae revealed that there was a subtle but significant side-oriented asymmetry of valve outlines that is related to the position of the primary and secondary valve sides. In...Katedra botanikyDepartment of BotanyPřírodovědecká fakultaFaculty of Scienc

    Digital Craft | In Search of a Method of Personal Expression Within the Digital

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    Our relationship with the digital has fundamentally changed within the past decade. A mesh of outside interests have been efficiently folding themselves into our lives. These exist as either a legion of hosted “free” web services touting the promise of a new-found collective intimacy, or a set of tightly coupled IOT(Internet of Things) applications that are slowly being pulled away from our fully capable hardware—all causing us to rely heavily on a virtual infrastructure that demands to host our work and place us at arm’s length of tools that we no longer own or control. This new bargain includes a view into our work and habits so that we can be better understood, tokenized, categorized, mapped, and finally monetized. While many today may be OK with this relationship, I’ll be frank, it unsettles me. I believe something fundamental is lost in this unravelling long-distance relationship. This thesis is a response. It pushes for a more intimate connection with technology within the backdrop of digital design and its many processes. In The Craftsman, Richard Sennett writes: “Making is Thinking,” and in his text he explores the close relationship between head and hand for a small set of traditional craftsmen: a cook, a musician and a glass blower. To elevate the digital within today’s architectural practice, I feel its use must also be seen as craft. But how might a relationship between head and hand manifest itself? Is there some similarity in thinking between Sennett’s craftsmen and the processes of successful digital design? I propose to investigate the mechanisms of digital Making, and hence digital Thinking through three design problems, inspired by the works of Neri Oxman, deskriptiv, Michael Hansmeyer, as well as the methods of D’Arcy Thompson, Shinichi Maruyama, Pina Bausch, and Frei Otto. By mindfully observing my exploration of these from a digital perspective, I believe it will be possible to get a sense of what makes craft possible within this realm

    Modelling the Seasonal Growth of the Brown Seaweed Fucus Vesiculosus in the Kiel Outdoor Benthocosms

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    Warming and acidification of the oceans as a consequence of increasing CO2-concentrations occur globally. In mesocosm experiments, the single and combined impact of elevated seawater temperature and pCO2 (1,100 ppm) on the brown alga Fucus vesiculosus together with its ssociated community (epiphytes and mesograzers) was studied in four consecutive experiments (from April 2013 to April 2014). Based on these experiments, a numerical boxmodel simulating the seasonal growth of F. vesiculosus in the Kiel Outdoor Benthocosms (KOBs) was developed. Nitrogen and carbon cycling in the KOBs were considered and relevant physiological and ecological processes were implemented. To run simulations under present and global change scenarios (e.g. warming, ocean acidification) the model was forced with atmospheric and hydrographic data of the Kiel fjord. DIN and DIC concentration in the water and Fucus growth as carbon and nitrogen increase were explicitly modelled. For instance, the following processes were implemented: (1) Storage of carbon and nitrogen assimilates by Fucus, leading to a temporal decoupling of assimilation and growth. (2) Shading effects of epiphytes. (3) Grazing by Idotea, Gammarus and Littorina on both Fucus and epiphytes, but with species-specific rates and preferences. At present, the model is a suitable scientific tool capable of integrating our knowledge about macroalgal processes, their growth and productivity in coastal areas. It further facilitates the communication of complex knowledge to lay persons. Ultimately, the development of a predictive model, which can be coupled to a 3D-high resolution western Baltic Sea model, is anticipated. This will allow observations on the consequences of global change for the wellbeing and distribution of F. vesiculosus in the western Baltic Sea. Understanding responses of macroalgae and of the associated community is important because changing global temperatures and elevated CO2 may affect the ecological role of Fucus as primary producer, carbon sink, water purifier, and ecosystem engineer in the coastal ecosystem of the Baltic Sea

    Director's discretionary fund report for fiscal year 1994

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    This technical memorandum contains brief technical papers describing research and technology development programs sponsored by the Ames Research Center Director's Discretionary Fund during fiscal year 1991 (October 1993 through September 1994). An appendix provides administrative information for each of the sponsored research programs

    Plankton Communities

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    Plankton is a group of small organisms that are passively displaced by water, that is, they are dragged by marine tides and currents. Marine plankton, which includes organisms such as protozoa, microalgae, small crustaceans, and jellyfish, play an important role in maintaining the health and balance of the ocean and its complex food chains. Over three sections and eight chapters, this book provides a comprehensive overview of zooplankton and phytoplankton as well as their environmental and economic importance

    Aerospace medicine and biology: A cumulative index to a continuing bibliography (supplement 319)

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    This publication is a cumulative index to the abstracts contained in Supplements 307 through 318 of Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A Continuing Bibliography. Seven indexes are included -- subject, personal author, corporate source, foreign technology, contract number, report number and accession number
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