Ozonation attenuates the steroidogenic disruptive effects of sediment free oil sands process water in the H295R cell line

There is concern regarding oil sands process water (OSPW) produced by the oil sands industry in Alberta, Canada. Little is known about the potential for OSPW, and naphthenic acids (NAs), which are the primary persistent and toxic constituents of OSPW, to affect endocrine systems. Although ozonation significantly reduces concentrations of NAs and OSPW toxicity, it was hypothesized that oxidation of OSPW might produce hydroxylated products with steroidogenic activity. Therefore, untreated and ozone treated OSPW were examined for effects on sex steroid production using the H295R Steroidogenesis Assay. Untreated OSPW significantly decreased testosterone (T) and increased 17 beta-estradiol (E2) concentrations at OSPW dilutions greater or equal to 10-fold. This effect was mainly due to decreased U metabolism. Analysis of CYP19A (aromatase) mRNA abundance and enzyme activity suggested that induction of this enzyme activity may have also contributed to these effects. Reduction of parent NA concentrations by 24% or 85% decreased the effect of OSPW on E2 production. Although T production remained significantly reduced in cells exposed to ozone treated OSPW, the effect was diminished. Aromatase mRNA abundance and enzyme activity were significantly greater in cells exposed to ozone treated OSPW. however the magnitude was less than in cells exposed to untreated OSPW. No change of U metabolism was observed in cells exposed to ozone treated OSPW, which may account for recovery of E2 levels. The results indicate that OSPW exposure can decrease E2 and T production, but zonation is an effective treatment to reduce NA concentrations in OSPW without increasing affects on steroidogenesis. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Alberta Water Research Institute [C4288]; National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada [326415-07]; Western Economic Diversification Canada [6578, 6807]; Canada Foundation for Infrastructur

Bethe-Salpeter Amplitudes and Static Properties of the Deuteron

Extended calculations of the deuteron's static properties, based on the numerical solution of the Bethe-Salpeter equation, are presented. A formalism is developed, which provides a comparative analysis of the covariant amplitudes in various representations and nonrelativistic wave functions. The magnetic and quadrupole moments of the deuteron are calculated in the Bethe-Salpeter formalism and the role of relativistic corrections is discussed.Comment: 33 pages ([aps]{revtex} style), 9 Postscript figures; (55 pages if [preprint,aps]{revtex} style is used

Diagonalization of propagators in thermo field dynamics for relativistic quantum fields

SIGLECopy held by FIZ Karlsruhe; available from UB/TIB Hannover / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman

Electrical resistivity of strongly coupled plasmas in intense fields

It is now possible to measure the electrical resistivity, or alternatively the electron collision frequency, in strongly coupled plasmas through the use of very fast laser pulses. In such experiments, the effect of the intense laser field needs to be included in the calculation of material transport coefficients. We derive a form for the electrical resistivity which includes the effects of strong correlations, as well as an external electric field. Our results are compared with other theories and a recent set of experiments. 17 refs., 1 fig

Retrieving enduring spatial representations after disorientation

Four experiments tested whether there are enduring spatial representations of objects' locations in memory. Previous studies have shown that under certain conditions the internal consistency of pointing to objects using memory is disrupted by disorientation. This disorientation effect has been attributed to an absence of or to imprecise enduring spatial representations of objects' locations. Experiment 1 replicated the standard disorientation effect. Participants learned locations of objects in an irregular layout and then pointed to objects after physically turning to face an object and after disorientation. The expected disorientation was observed. In Experiment 2, after disorientation, participants were asked to imagine they were facing the original learning direction and then physically turned to adopt the test orientation. In Experiment 3, after disorientation, participants turned to adopt the test orientation and then were informed of the original viewing direction by the experimenter. A disorientation effect was not observed in Experiment 2 or 3. In Experiment 4, after disorientation, participants turned to face the test orientation but were not told the original learning orientation. As in Experiment 1, a disorientation effect was observed. These results suggest that there are enduring spatial representations of objects' locations specified in terms of a spatial reference direction parallel to the learning view, and that the disorientation effect is caused by uncertainty in recovering the spatial reference direction relative to the testing orientation following disorientation. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Selection of Spatial Reference Directions Prior to Seeing Objects

Three experiments examined the temporal characteristics in selection of a spatial reference direction. Participants learned a layout of objects presented sequentially in a random order. An array of disks with a symmetric axis different from participants' learning viewpoint was presented before, during, or after learning objects' locations. The results showed that the symmetric axis determined selection of a spatial reference direction when participants perceived the disk array before or during, but not after, learning the objects' locations. These results indicated that participants selected a reference direction prior to seeing objects

Spatial updating according to a fixed reference direction of a briefly viewed layout

Three experiments examined the role of reference directions in spatial updating. Participants briefly viewed an array of five objects. A non-egocentric reference direction was primed by placing a stick under two objects in the array at the time of learning. After a short interval, participants detected which object had been moved at a novel view that was caused by table rotation or by their own locomotion. The stick was removed at test. The results showed that detection of position change was better when an object not on the stick was moved than when an object on the stick was moved. Furthermore change detection was better in the observer locomotion condition than in the table rotation condition only when an object on the stick was moved but not when an object not on the stick was moved. These results indicated that when the reference direction was not accurately indicated in the test scene, detection of position change was impaired but this impairment was less in the observer locomotion condition. These results suggest that people not only represent objects' locations with respect to a fixed reference direction but also represent and update their orientation according to the same reference direction, which can be used to recover the accurate reference direction and facilitate detection of position change when no accurate reference direction is presented in the test scene. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Flow through rotating rectangular ducts

SIGLEAvailable from TIB Hannover: RO 2332(292) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman

Symbolic computation of laminar flow in a uniformly heated horizontal pipe

SIGLECopy held by FIZ Karlsruhe; available from UB/TIB Hannover / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman

The social construct of climate and climate change

Different time scales of climate change and their differential perception in society are discussed. A historical examination of natural climate changes during the past millennium suggests that short-term changes, especially crucial changes, trigger a significant response in and by society. Short-term changes correspond to the 'time horizon of everyday life', that is, to a time scale from days and weeks to a few years. The anticipated anthropogenic climate changes, however, are expected to occur on a longer time scale. They require a response by society not on the basis of primary experience but on the basis of scientifically constructed scenarios and ways in which such information is represented in the modern media for example. Socio-economic impact research relies on concepts that are based on the premise of perfectly informed actors for the development of optimal adaptation strategies. In contrast to such a conception, we develop the concept of a 'social construct of climate' as decisive for the public perception of scientific knowledge about climate and for public policy on climate change. The concept is illustrated using a number of examples. (orig.)Available from TIB Hannover: RR 1347(137) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman