271 research outputs found
Testing of a Water Loss Distribution Model for Moving Sprinkler Systems
Field water balance measurements using monolithic lysimeters were used in validating the Cupid-DPE model for predicting water loss partitioning during sprinkler irrigation from a moving lateral system fitted with impact sprinklers and spray nozzles. The model combines equations governing water droplet evaporation and droplet ballistics with a comprehensive plant-environment energy balance model. Comparisons indicate good agreement between measured and modeled transpiration, and the measured and modeled soil evaporation during the day of irrigation. Total predicted evapotranspiration during the day of irrigation was greater than measured totals using the monolithic lysimeters. However, part of this difference was because the lysimeters could not measure water use during irrigation. Total measured and predicted evapo-transpiration agreed well for the day following irrigation. Predicted soil evaporation rates matched well for the period immediately following irrigation, and cumulative soil evaporation was nearly identical to the measured total through the end of the next day. During irrigation, the main water loss was shifted from transpiration to evaporation of the wetted-canopy. For equal application volumes, the duration of this effect was greater using impact sprinklers due to the greater wetted diameter and lower average application rate compared to spray nozzles. Predicted water flux rates during irrigation were up to 50% greater for canopy evaporation than for transpiration rates predicted immediately prior to the start of irrigation. Canopy evaporation amounted to 69% and 63% of the total predicted water use during impact and spray irrigation, respectively. It also was 0.69 and 0.28 mm greater, respectively, than the predicted transpiration total during this same time span assuming no irrigation had been applied. About 13 and 5% of the water applied by overhead sprinkling was evaporated or transpired during impact and spray irrigation, respectively. However, the net increase in predicted water loss during irrigation was only 5.8% and 2.4% of the irrigated water depth applied for the impact and spray cases, respectively, because transpiration and soil evaporation would have occurred even without irrigation. Although droplet evaporation represented less than 1% of the total water loss for the day using either type of sprinkler, irrigation water did influence the energy transfer between the plant-environment and water droplets during flight, on the canopy, and the soil
On Bayesian Modelling of the Uncertainties in Palaeoclimate Reconstruction
We outline a model and algorithm to perform inference on the palaeoclimate
and palaeoclimate volatility from pollen proxy data. We use a novel
multivariate non-linear non-Gaussian state space model consisting of an
observation equation linking climate to proxy data and an evolution equation
driving climate change over time. The link from climate to proxy data is
defined by a pre-calibrated forward model, as developed in Salter-Townshend and
Haslett (2012) and Sweeney (2012). Climatic change is represented by a
temporally-uncertain Normal-Inverse Gaussian Levy process, being able to
capture large jumps in multivariate climate whilst remaining temporally
consistent. The pre-calibrated nature of the forward model allows us to cut
feedback between the observation and evolution equations and thus integrate out
the state variable entirely whilst making minimal simplifying assumptions. A
key part of this approach is the creation of mixtures of marginal data
posteriors representing the information obtained about climate from each
individual time point. Our approach allows for an extremely efficient MCMC
algorithm, which we demonstrate with a pollen core from Sluggan Bog, County
Antrim, Northern Ireland.Comment: 25 pages, 7 figure
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Global biome patterns of the Middle and Late Pleistocene
Our primary aim was to assess the hypothesis that distinctive features of the patterns of vegetation change during successive Quaternary glacialâinterglacial cycles reflect climatic differences arising from forcing differences. We addressed this hypothesis using 207 half-degree resolution global biome pattern simulations, for time slices between 800 and 2âka, made using the LPJ-GUESS dynamic global vegetation model. Simulations were driven using ice-core atmospheric CO2 concentrations, Earth's obliquity, and outputs from a pre-industrial and 206 palaeoclimate experiments; four additional simulations were driven using projected future CO2 concentrations. Climate experiments were run using HadCM3. Using a rule-based approach, above-ground biomass and leaf area index of LPJ-GUESS plant functional types were used to infer each grid cell's biome. The hypothesis is supported by the palaeobiome simulations. To enable comparisons with the climatic forcing, multivariate analyses were performed of global vegetation pattern dissimilarities between simulations. Results showed generally similar responses to glacialâinterglacial climatic variations during each cycle, although no two interglacials or glacials had identical biome patterns. Atmospheric CO2 concentration was the strongest driver of the dissimilarity patterns. Dissimilarities relative to the time slice with the lowest atmospheric CO2 concentration show the log-linear relationship to atmospheric CO2 concentration expected of an index of ecocarbon sensitivity. For each simulation, extent and total above-ground biomass of each biome were calculated globally and for three longitudinal segments corresponding to the major continental regions. Mean and minimum past extents of forest biomes, notably Temperate Summergreen Forest, in the three major continental regions strongly parallel relative tree diversities, hence supporting the hypothesis that past biome extents played an important role in determining present diversity. Albeit that they reflect the climatic consequences only of the faster Earth system components, simulated potential future biome patterns are unlike any during the past 800âky, and likely will continue to change markedly for millennia if projected CO2 concentrations are realised
The ACER pollen and charcoal database: a global resource to document vegetation and fire response to abrupt climate changes during the last glacial period
Quaternary records provide an opportunity to examine the nature of the
vegetation and fire responses to rapid past climate changes comparable in
velocity and magnitude to those expected in the 21st-century. The best
documented examples of rapid climate change in the past are the warming events
associated with the DansgaardâOeschger (DâO) cycles during the last glacial
period, which were sufficiently large to have had a potential feedback through
changes in albedo and greenhouse gas emissions on climate. Previous
reconstructions of vegetation and fire changes during the DâO cycles used
independently constructed age models, making it difficult to compare the
changes between different sites and regions. Here, we present the ACER (Abrupt
Climate Changes and Environmental Responses) global database, which includes
93 pollen records from the last glacial period (73â15âŻka) with a temporal
resolution better than 1000âŻyears, 32 of which also provide charcoal records.
A harmonized and consistent chronology based on radiometric dating (14C,
234Uâ230Th, optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), 40Arâ39Ar-dated tephra
layers) has been constructed for 86 of these records, although in some cases
additional information was derived using common control points based on event
stratigraphy. The ACER database compiles metadata including geospatial and
dating information, pollen and charcoal counts, and pollen percentages of the
characteristic biomes and is archived in Microsoft AccessTM at
https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.870867
Rapid Surface Oxidation as a Source of Surface Degradation Factor for Bi2Se3
Bi2Se3 is a topological insulator with metallic surface states residing in a
large bulk bandgap. It is believed that Bi2Se3 gets additional n-type doping
after exposure to atmosphere, thereby reducing the relative contribution of
surface states in total conductivity. In this letter, transport measurements on
Bi2Se3 nanoribbons provide additional evidence of such environmental doping
process. Systematic surface composition analyses by X-ray photoelectron
spectroscopy reveal fast formation and continuous growth of native oxide on
Bi2Se3 under ambient conditions. In addition to n-type doping at the surface,
such surface oxidation is likely the material origin of the degradation of
topological surface states. Appropriate surface passivation or encapsulation
may be required to probe topological surface states of Bi2Se3 by transport
measurements
Identification of a novel toxicophore in anti-cancer chemotherapeutics that targets mitochondrial respiratory complex I
Disruption of mitochondrial function selectively targets tumour cells that are dependent on oxidative phosphorylation. However, due to their high energy demands, cardiac cells are disproportionately targeted by mitochondrial toxins resulting in a loss of cardiac function. An analysis of the effects of mubritinib on cardiac cells showed that this drug did not inhibit HER2 as reported, but directly inhibits mitochondrial respiratory complex I, reducing cardiac-cell beat rate, with prolonged exposure resulting in cell death. We used a library of chemical variants of mubritinib and showed that modifying the 1H-1,2,3-triazole altered complex I inhibition, identifying the heterocyclic 1,3-nitrogen motif as the toxicophore. The same toxicophore is present in a second anti-cancer therapeutic carboxyamidotriazole (CAI) and we demonstrate that CAI also functions through complex I inhibition, mediated by the toxicophore. Complex I inhibition is directly linked to anti-cancer cell activity, with toxicophore modification ablating the desired effects of these compounds on cancer cell proliferation and apoptosis
BRCA2 polymorphic stop codon K3326X and the risk of breast, prostate, and ovarian cancers
Background: The K3326X variant in BRCA2 (BRCA2*c.9976A>T; p.Lys3326*; rs11571833) has been found to be associated with small increased risks of breast cancer. However, it is not clear to what extent linkage disequilibrium with fully pathogenic mutations might account for this association. There is scant information about the effect of K3326X in other hormone-related cancers.
Methods: Using weighted logistic regression, we analyzed data from the large iCOGS study including 76 637 cancer case patients and 83 796 control patients to estimate odds ratios (ORw) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for K3326X variant carriers in relation to breast, ovarian, and prostate cancer risks, with weights defined as probability of not having a pathogenic BRCA2 variant. Using Cox proportional hazards modeling, we also examined the associations of K3326X with breast and ovarian cancer risks among 7183 BRCA1 variant carriers. All statistical tests were two-sided.
Results: The K3326X variant was associated with breast (ORw = 1.28, 95% CI = 1.17 to 1.40, P = 5.9x10- 6) and invasive ovarian cancer (ORw = 1.26, 95% CI = 1.10 to 1.43, P = 3.8x10-3). These associations were stronger for serous ovarian cancer and for estrogen receptorânegative breast cancer (ORw = 1.46, 95% CI = 1.2 to 1.70, P = 3.4x10-5 and ORw = 1.50, 95% CI = 1.28 to 1.76, P = 4.1x10-5, respectively). For BRCA1 mutation carriers, there was a statistically significant inverse association of the K3326X variant with risk of ovarian cancer (HR = 0.43, 95% CI = 0.22 to 0.84, P = .013) but no association with breast cancer. No association with prostate cancer was observed.
Conclusions: Our study provides evidence that the K3326X variant is associated with risk of developing breast and ovarian cancers independent of other pathogenic variants in BRCA2. Further studies are needed to determine the biological mechanism of action responsible for these associations
Depicting the tree of life in museums: guiding principles from psychological research
The Tree of Life is revolutionizing our understanding of life on Earth, and, accordingly, evolutionary trees are increasingly important parts of exhibits on biodiversity and evolution. The authors argue that in using these trees to effectively communicate evolutionary principles, museums need to take into account research results from cognitive, developmental, and educational psychology while maintaining a focus on visitor engagement and enjoyment. Six guiding principles for depicting evolutionary trees in museum exhibits distilled from this research literature were used to evaluate five current or recent museum trees. One of the trees was then redesigned in light of the research while preserving the exhibitâs original learning goals. By attending both to traditional factors that influence museum exhibit design and to psychological research on how people understand diagrams in general and Tree of Life graphics in particular, museums can play a key role in fostering 21st century scientific literacy
CATMoS: Collaborative Acute Toxicity Modeling Suite.
BACKGROUND: Humans are exposed to tens of thousands of chemical substances that need to be assessed for their potential toxicity. Acute systemic toxicity testing serves as the basis for regulatory hazard classification, labeling, and risk management. However, it is cost- and time-prohibitive to evaluate all new and existing chemicals using traditional rodent acute toxicity tests. In silico models built using existing data facilitate rapid acute toxicity predictions without using animals. OBJECTIVES: The U.S. Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods (ICCVAM) Acute Toxicity Workgroup organized an international collaboration to develop in silico models for predicting acute oral toxicity based on five different end points: Lethal Dose 50 (LD50 value, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency hazard (four) categories, Globally Harmonized System for Classification and Labeling hazard (five) categories, very toxic chemicals [LD50 (LD50â€50mg/kg)], and nontoxic chemicals (LD50>2,000mg/kg). METHODS: An acute oral toxicity data inventory for 11,992 chemicals was compiled, split into training and evaluation sets, and made available to 35 participating international research groups that submitted a total of 139 predictive models. Predictions that fell within the applicability domains of the submitted models were evaluated using external validation sets. These were then combined into consensus models to leverage strengths of individual approaches. RESULTS: The resulting consensus predictions, which leverage the collective strengths of each individual model, form the Collaborative Acute Toxicity Modeling Suite (CATMoS). CATMoS demonstrated high performance in terms of accuracy and robustness when compared with in vivo results. DISCUSSION: CATMoS is being evaluated by regulatory agencies for its utility and applicability as a potential replacement for in vivo rat acute oral toxicity studies. CATMoS predictions for more than 800,000 chemicals have been made available via the National Toxicology Program's Integrated Chemical Environment tools and data sets (ice.ntp.niehs.nih.gov). The models are also implemented in a free, standalone, open-source tool, OPERA, which allows predictions of new and untested chemicals to be made. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP8495
âWhoa! weâre going deep in the trees!â: patterns of collaboration around an interactive information visualization exhibit
In this paper we present a qualitative analysis of natural history museum visitor interaction around a multi-touch tabletop exhibit called DeepTree that we designed around concepts of evolution and common descent. DeepTree combines several large scientific datasets and an innovative visualization technique to display a phylogenetic tree of life consisting of over 70,000 species. After describing our design, we present a study involving pairs of children interacting with DeepTree in two natural history museums. Our analysis focuses on two questions. First, how do dyads negotiate their moment-to-moment exploration of the exhibit? Second, how do dyads develop and negotiate their understanding of evolutionary concepts? In order to address these questions we present an analytical framework that describes dyadsâ exploration along two dimensions: coordination and target of action. This framework reveals four distinct patterns of interaction, which, we argue, are relevant for similar interactive designs. We conclude with a discussion of the role of design in helping visitors make sense of interactive experiences involving the visualization of large scientific datasets
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