Biology, Ecology and Range of the Bobcat, Lynx Rufus in New York and its Inferred Interactions with Potentially Reintroduced Lynx, Lynx canadensis canadensis in Adirondack Park

1. To determine and describe the predation ecology, movement patterns, territorial behavior and habitat of bobcats in New York. 2. To determine vital population characteristics and exploitation levels of bobcats in New York. 3. To recommend management alternatives for bobcats in New York on the basis of an information synthesis, range map and model of current bobcat exploitation levels in the region. 4. To make recommendations concerning the feasibility of lynx reintroduction in Adirondack Park based on the inferred level of lynx-bobcat competition and a survey of potential lynx range in the Park

The Potential of Neuroscience for Human-Computer Interaction Research

Due to the increased availability of both neuroscience methods and theories, Information Systems (IS) scholars have begun to investigate the potential of neuroscience for IS research. This new field of research is referred to as NeuroIS. Moreover, large technology companies (e.g., Microsoft and Philips) started research programs to evaluate the potential of neuroscience for their business. The application of neuroscientific approaches is also expected to significantly contribute to advancements in human-computer interaction (HCI) research. Against this background, a panel debate is organized to discuss the potential of neuroscience for HCI studies. The panel hosts an intellectual debate from different perspectives, both conceptually (from behaviorally-oriented research to design science research) and methodologically (from brain imaging to neurophysiological techniques), thereby outlining many facets that neuroscience offers for HCI research. The panel concludes that neuroscience has the potential to become an important reference discipline for the field of HCI in the future

Nocturnal dissolved organic matter release by turf algae and its role in the microbialization of reefs

The increased release of dissolved organic matter (DOM) by algae has been associated with the fast but inefficient growth of opportunistic microbial pathogens and the ongoing degradation of coral reefs. Turf algae (consortia of microalgae and macroalgae commonly including cyanobacteria) dominate benthic communities on many reefs worldwide. Opposite to other reef algae that predominantly release DOM during the day, turf algae containing cyanobacteria may additionally release large amounts of DOM at night. However, this night-DOM release and its potential contribution to the microbialization of reefs remains to be investigated. We first tested the occurrence of hypoxic conditions at the turf algae-water interface, as a lack of oxygen will facilitate the production and release of fermentation intermediates as night-time DOM. Second, the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) release by turf algae was quantified during day time and nighttime, and the quality of day and night exudates as food for bacterioplankton was tested. Finally, DOC release rates of turf algae were combined with estimates of DOC release based on benthic community composition in 1973 and 2013 to explore how changes in benthic community composition affected the contribution of night-DOC to the reef-wide DOC production. A rapid shift from supersaturated to hypoxic conditions at the turf algae-water interface occurred immediately after the onset of darkness, resulting in night-DOC release rates similar to those during daytime. Bioassays revealed major differences in the quality between day and night exudates: Night-DOC was utilized by bacterioplankton two times faster than day-DOC, but yielded a four times lower growth efficiency. Changes in benthic community composition were estimated to have resulted in a doubling of DOC release since 1973, due to an increasing abundance of benthic cyanobacterial mats (BCMs), with night-DOC release by BCMs and turf algae accounting for >50% of the total release over a diurnal cycle. Night-DOC released by BCMs and turf algae is likely an important driver in the microbialization of reefs by stimulating microbial respiration at the expense of energy and nutrient transfer to higher trophic levels via the microbial loop, thereby threatening the productivity and biodiversity of these unique ecosystems. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog

High dissolved organic carbon release by benthic cyanobacterial mats in a Caribbean reef ecosystem

Benthic cyanobacterial mats (BCMs) are increasing in abundance on coral reefs worldwide. However, their impacts on biogeochemical cycling in the surrounding water and sediment are virtually unknown. By measuring chemical fluxes in benthic chambers placed over sediment covered by BCMs and sediment with BCMs removed on coral reefs in Curaçao, Southern Caribbean, we found that sediment covered by BCMs released 1.4 and 3.5 mmol C m^-2 h^-1 of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) during day and night, respectively. Conversely, sediment with BCMs removed took up DOC, with day and night uptake rates of 0.9 and 0.6 mmol C m^-2 h^-1. DOC release by BCMs was higher than reported rates for benthic algae (turf and macroalgae) and was estimated to represent 79% of the total DOC released over a 24 h diel cycle at our study site. The high nocturnal release of DOC by BCMs is most likely the result of anaerobic metabolism and degradation processes, as shown by high respiration rates at the mat surface during nighttime. We conclude that BCMs are significant sources of DOC. Their increased abundance on coral reefs will lead to increased DOC release into the water column, which is likely to have negative implications for reef health

The global signature of post-1900 land ice wastage on vertical land motion

Melting glaciers, ice caps and ice sheets have made an important contribution to sea-level rise through the last century. Self-attraction and loading effects driven by shrinking ice masses cause a spatially varying redistribution of ocean waters that affects reconstructions of past sea level from sparse observations. We model the solid-earth response to ice mass changes and find significant vertical deformation signals over large continental areas. We show how deformation rates have been strongly varying through the last century, which implies that they should be properly modelled before interpreting and extrapolating recent observations of vertical land motion and sea-level change

Local Delivery of Interleukin 4 by Retrovirus-Transduced T Lymphocytes Ameliorates Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis

Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) is an inflammatory autoimmune disease of the central nervous system which serves as a model for the human disease multiple sclerosis. We demonstrate here that encephalitogenic T cells, transduced with a retroviral gene, construct to express interleukin 4, and can delay the onset and reduce the severity of EAE when adoptively transferred to myelin basic protein–immunized mice. Thus, T lymphocytes transduced with retroviral vectors can deliver “regulatory cytokines” in a site-specific manner and may represent a viable therapeutic strategy for the treatment of autoimmune disease

Measuring the value of placements to employers: A cost-benefit approach

This article explores the concept and measurement of placement value, underexplored in theory and practice to date. The article makes a theoretical contribution to the placement value discourse by examining and articulating the placement value concept. It also offers a practical contribution by exploring a piloted tool to evaluate employer placement value, developed as part of a project funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England. It examines the immaturity of the placement value concept against contemporary value discourse, including service- and goods-dominant logic frameworks (exploring value-in-use and value-in-exchange) and calls for greater attention to be paid to placement value to support the sustainable provision of placements.N/

Zusammenfassende Dokumentation des Laborautomatisierungssystems Radar für die Analytik einer Kernbrennstoff Wiederaufarbeitungsanlage

This report represents the condensed documentation of the computer-based laboratory automation system RADRAR (Remote Analytical Data Acquisition and Reduction) for the analytical laboratory of a reprocessing facility for high temperature reactor fuel elements. The essential tasks of the system are on-line open-loop process control based on in-line measurements and automation of the offline analytical laboratory. The in-line measurements (at 55 tanks of the chemical process area) provide density-, liquid-, level-, and temperature values. The concentration value of a single component may easily be determined, if the solution consists of no more than two phases. The automation of the off-line analytical laboratory contains laboratory organization including sample management and data organization and computer-aided sample transportation control, data acquisition and data processing at chemical and nuclear analytical devices. The computer system consists of two computer-subsystems: a front end system for sample central registration and in-line process control and a central size system for the off-line analytical tasks. The organization of the application oriented system uses a centralized data base. Similar data processing functions concerning different analytical management tasks are structured into the following subsystem: man machine interface, interrupt- and data acquisition system, data base, protocol service and data processing. The procedures for the laboratory managernent (organization and experiment sequences) are defined by application data bases. Following the project phases, engineering requirements-, design-, assembly-, start up- and test run phase are described. In additionfigures on expenditure and experiences are given and the system concept is discussed