Multidisciplinary approach to studying the formation and development of beach-ridge systems on non-tidal uplifting coasts in Estonia

The coastal ridge–swale systems in the west Estonian archipelago (Röögu, Lõimastu) and on the northern coast (Juminda), where wave and wind-built ridges are separated from each other by wet depressions, contain the records on ancient shoreline positions, major storm events and forest fires. The results are based on cartographic analysis, ground-penetrating radar survey, coring and radiocarbon dating. Seaward tilted layers in lower parts of the ridges refer to storm scarps. Water level rise and acidic waters flowing from ridges favour the accumulation of Sphagnum peat in swales. The main soil-forming processes are podzolization on ridges and paludification in swales. The obtained results show a clear dependence of soil-forming conditions and development of peat layer on morphology and dimensions of landforms, character of parent material, vegetation type and groundwater table. Paludification will lead to a complete burial of the ridges under peat turning the areas to homogeneous bog landscape

Recombination luminescence in Li2Li_2B4B_4O7O_7 doped with manganese and copper

Non-irradiated and irradiated ceramics of Li2B4O7:Mn, Li2B4O7:Mn,Be, and Li2B4O7:Mn,Cu were studied using electron paramagnetic resonance and luminescence spectroscopy. The emission of Mn2+ centres is observed in the thermoluminescence spectra of the low-temperature and dosimetric high-temperature glow peaks in irradiated samples. Arguments are given in favour of hole mobility being responsible for the dosimetric thermoluminescence peak at 490 K in Li2B4O7:Mn. The co-doping of Li2B4O7:Mn with Cu+ is shown to increase the sensitivity of the material to ionizing radiation

IceBear:an intuitive and versatile web application for research-data tracking from crystallization experiment to PDB deposition

Abstract The web-based IceBear software is a versatile tool to monitor the results of crystallization experiments and is designed to facilitate supervisor and student communications. It also records and tracks all relevant information from crystallization setup to PDB deposition in protein crystallography projects. Fully automated data collection is now possible at several synchrotrons, which means that the number of samples tested at the synchrotron is currently increasing rapidly. Therefore, the protein crystallography research communities at the University of Oulu, Weizmann Institute of Science and Diamond Light Source have joined forces to automate the uploading of sample metadata to the synchrotron. In IceBear, each crystal selected for data collection is given a unique sample name and a crystal page is generated. Subsequently, the metadata required for data collection are uploaded directly to the ISPyB synchrotron database by a shipment module, and for each sample a link to the relevant ISPyB page is stored. IceBear allows notes to be made for each sample during cryocooling treatment and during data collection, as well as in later steps of the structure determination. Protocols are also available to aid the recycling of pins, pucks and dewars when the dewar returns from the synchrotron. The IceBear database is organized around projects, and project members can easily access the crystallization and diffraction metadata for each sample, as well as any additional information that has been provided via the notes. The crystal page for each sample connects the crystallization, diffraction and structural information by providing links to the IceBear drop-viewer page and to the ISPyB data-collection page, as well as to the structure deposited in the Protein Data Bank