49 research outputs found
Die Bestimmung der Îł-Glutamyltranspeptidase im Urin von nierengesunden und nierenkranken Personen mit einer automatischen kinetischen Methode
Peer Reviewe
Desert grassland responses to climate and soil moisture suggest divergent vulnerabilities across the southwestern United States
Climate change predictions include warming and drying trends, which are expected to be particularly pronounced in the southwestern United States. In this region, grassland dynamics are tightly linked to available moisture, yet it has proven difficult to resolve what aspects of climate drive vegetation change. In part, this is because it is unclear how heterogeneity in soils affects plant responses to climate. Here, we combine climate and soil properties with a mechanistic soil water model to explain temporal fluctuations in perennial grass cover, quantify where and the degree to which incorporating soil water dynamics enhances our ability to understand temporal patterns, and explore the potential consequences of climate change by assessing future trajectories of important climate and soil water variables. Our analyses focused on long-term (20-56Â years) perennial grass dynamics across the Colorado Plateau, Sonoran, and Chihuahuan Desert regions. Our results suggest that climate variability has negative effects on grass cover, and that precipitation subsidies that extend growing seasons are beneficial. Soil water metrics, including the number of dry days and availability of water from deeper (>30Â cm) soil layers, explained additional grass cover variability. While individual climate variables were ranked as more important in explaining grass cover, collectively soil water accounted for 40-60% of the total explained variance. Soil water conditions were more useful for understanding the responses of C3 than C4 grass species. Projections of water balance variables under climate change indicate that conditions that currently support perennial grasses will be less common in the future, and these altered conditions will be more pronounced in the Chihuahuan Desert and Colorado Plateau. We conclude that incorporating multiple aspects of climate and accounting for soil variability can improve our ability to understand patterns, identify areas of vulnerability, and predict the future of desert grasslands
Concepts and characteristics of the 'COST Reference Microplasma Jet'
Biomedical applications of non-equilibrium atmospheric pressure plasmas have attracted intense interest in the past few years. Many plasma sources of diverse design have been proposed for these applications, but the relationship between source characteristics and application performance is not well-understood, and indeed many sources are poorly characterized. This circumstance is an impediment to progress in application development. A reference source with well-understood and highly reproducible characteristics may be an important tool in this context. Researchers around the world should be able to compare the characteristics of their own sources and also their results with this device. In this paper, we describe such a reference source, developed from the simple and robust micro-scaled atmospheric pressure plasma jet (ÎŒ-APPJ) concept. This development occurred under the auspices of COST Action MP1101 'Biomedical Applications of Atmospheric Pressure Plasmas'. Gas contamination and power measurement are shown to be major causes of irreproducible results in earlier source designs. These problems are resolved in the reference source by refinement of the mechanical and electrical design and by specifying an operating protocol. These measures are shown to be absolutely necessary for reproducible operation. They include the integration of current and voltage probes into the jet. The usual combination of matching unit and power supply is replaced by an integrated LC power coupling circuit and a 5âW single frequency generator. The design specification and operating protocol for the reference source are being made freely available
Association between the rs2241883 polymorphism of the fatty acid-binding protein-1 (FABP1) gene and obesity in a population of MASHAD study cohort
Funding Information: We would like to thank Mashhad University of Medical Sciences Research Council for their financial supports.Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Spectroscopic characterization of atmospheric pressure um-jet plasma source
A radio frequency um-jet plasma source is studied using He/O2 mixture. This
um-jet can be used for different applications as a source of chemical active
species e.g. oxygen atoms, molecular metastables and ozone. Using
absolutely-calibrated optical emission spectroscopy and numerical simulation,
the gas temperature in active plasma region and plasma parameters (electron
density and electron distribution function) are determined. Concentrations of
oxygen atoms and ozone in the plasma channel and in the effluent of the plasma
source are measured using emission and absorption spectroscopy. To interpret
the measured spatial distributions, the steady-state species' concentrations
are calculated using determined plasma parameters and gas temperature. At that
the influence of the surface processes and gas flow regime on the loss of the
active species in the plasma source are discussed. The measured spatial
distributions of oxygen atom and ozone densities are compared with the
simulated ones.Comment: 29 pages, 10 figure
Charting Disaster Recovery via Google Street View: A Social Science Perspective on Challenges Raised by the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster
There is increasing interest in using Google Street View (GSV) for research purposes, particularly with regard to âvirtually auditingâ the built environment to assess environmental quality. Research in this field to date generally suggests GSV is a reliable means of understanding the âreal worldâ environment. But limitations around the dates and resolution of images have been identified. An emerging strand within this literature is also concerned with the potential of GSV to understand recovery post-disaster. Using the GSV data set for the evacuated area around the Fukushima Daiâichi nuclear power plant as a case study, this article evaluates GSV as a means of assessing disaster recovery in a dynamic situation with remaining uncertainty and a significant value and emotive dimension. The article suggests that GSV does have value in giving a high-level overview of the post-disaster situation and has potential to track recovery and resettlement over time. Drawing on social science literature relating to Fukushima, and disasters more widely, the article also argues it is imperative for researchers using GSV to reflect carefully on the wider socio-cultural contexts that are often not represented in the photo montage
Die Technik der von Wittmaack angegebenen Operationsmethode zur Behebung der Kehlkopfstenose bei doppelseitiger Medianstellung der StimmbÀnder
Influence of layer type and order on barrier properties of multilayer PECVD barrier coatings
The two Pseudomonas aeruginosa DksA stringent response proteins are largely interchangeable at the whole transcriptome level and in the control of virulence-related traits
The stringent response regulator DksA plays a key role in Gram negative bacteria adaptation to challenging environments. Intriguingly, the plant and human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa is unique as it expresses two functional DksA paralogs: DksA1 and DksA2. However, the role of DksA2 in P. aeruginosa adaptive strategies has been poorly investigated so far. Here, RNA-Seq analysis and phenotypic assays showed that P. aeruginosa DksA1 and DksA2 proteins are largely interchangeable. Relative to wild type P. aeruginosa, transcription of 1779 genes was altered in a dksA1 dksA2 double mutant, and the wild type expression level of â„90% of these genes was restored by in trans complementation with either dksA1 or dksA2. Interestingly, the expression of a small sub-set of genes seems to be preferentially or exclusively complemented by either dksA1 or dksA2. In addition, evidence has been provided that the DksA-dependent regulation of virulence genes expression is independent and hierarchically dominant over two major P. aeruginosa regulatory circuits, i.e., quorum sensing and cyclic-di-GMP signalling systems. Our findings support the prominent role of both DksA paralogs in P. aeruginosa environmental adaptation