Variability of contour line alignment on sequential images with the Heidelberg Retina Tomograph

•Background: The influence of the contour line alignment software algorithm on the variability of the Heidelberg Retina Tomograph (HRT) parameters remains unclear. •Methods: Nine discrete topographic images were acquired with the HRT from the right eye in six healthy, emmetropic subjects. The variability of topometric data obtained from the same topographic image, analyzed within different samples of images, was evaluated. A total of four mean topographic images was computed for each subject from: all nine discrete images (A), the first six of those images (B), the last six of those nine images (C), and the first three combined with the last three images (D). A contour line was computed on the mean topographic image generated from the nine discrete topographic images (A). This contour line was then applied to the three other mean topographic images (B, C, and D), using the contour line alignment in the HRT software. Subsequently, the contour line on the mean topographic images was applied to each of the discrete members of the particular images subsets used to compute the mean topographic image, and the topometric data for these discrete topographic images was computed successively for each subset. Prior to processing each subset, the contour line on the discrete topographic images was deleted. This strategy provided a total of three analyses on each discrete topographic image: as a member of the nine images (mean topographic image A), and as a member of two subsets of images (mean topographic image B, C, and/or D). The coefficient of variation (100×SD/mean) of the topographic parameters within those three analyses was calculated for each discrete topographic image in each subject ("intraimage” coefficient of variation). In addition, a coefficient of variation between the nine discrete topographic images ("interimage” coefficient of variation) was calculated. •Results: The "intraimage” and "interimage” variability for the various topographic parameters ranged between 0.03% and 3.10% and between 0.03% and 24.07% respectively. The "intraimage” coefficients of variation and "interimage” coefficients of variation correlated significant (r 2=0.77;P<0.0001). •Conclusion: A high "intraimage” variability, i.e. a high variability in contour line alignment between sequential images, might be an important source of test re-test variability between sequential image

Fish Colonization of a Newly Deployed Vessel-reef off Southeast Florida: Preliminary Results

Fish colonization on the Ebenezer II, a 25.5m merchant marine vessel, was studied from May 2002 - July 2003. The ship was scuttled in May 2002 off Broward County, Florida at a depth of 21m and was censused 10 times during the study period using a modified Bohnsack and Bannerot visual census method. Adjacent natural reefs and the Mcallister, a nearby, 30m tugboat deployed in June 1998, were censused during the same period. Distinct changes in the fish assemblage on the Ebenezer II were observed throughout the sample period. A pioneer assemblage was observed during the first three months, characterized by the settlement of juvenile fishes «5 cm). Subsequently, numbers of juveniles decreased either through emigration, predation or growth. Resident species made up 52.5% of the total abundance but transient fish species made up 78% of the total fish biomass during the study period. Surprisingly, attraction of adult fish from both natural reefs and the Mcallister was not a major factor in assemblage fonnation. The primary adult fishes attracted to the Ebenezer II were herbivores. These fishes steadily increased in abundance throughout the study period, presumably due to increased food availability as benthic algal communities developed. A similar trend of increasing herbivores with increasing soak time was observed on the Spiegel Grove, a 153m vessel-reef sunk off Key Largo in May 2002. The fish assemblages on the artificial reefs were more similar to each other than to natural reefs. Vessel-reefs had sixty species in common, while the Ebenezer II only had thirty-nine species in common with natural reefs. Several species common to vessel-reefs were absent or rare on nearby natural reefs. This may indicate that vessel-reefs are providing early juvenile and adult habitat that is not available on natural reefs

GEOCHEMISTRY OF SURFACE WATERS AND GROUNDWATER AT EKU’S MEADOWBROOK FARM, MADISON COUNTY, KENTUCKY

Agricultural activities often contaminate watersheds with excess nutrients leading to poor water quality and eutrophication. Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) Meadowbrook Farm raises crops and livestock, which contribute dissolved nutrients to the neighboring Muddy Creek watershed. Our goal is to understand Farm water geochemistry to develop methods to sequester phosphorous and limit nutrient contamination. During the Cindy storm event, concentration of Ca2+, Mg2+, and Na+ within baseline source waters decreased with increasing discharge through the weir. This behavior represents dilution of Farm groundwater by storm precipitation. However, K+ spiked concurrently with increased discharge then progressively decreased over the duration of the storm, suggesting that K+ was flushed from soil by rain waters. Nutrient concentrations generally increase with increased discharge indicating transport by surface runoff. PO43- closely tracks discharge, suggesting PO43- transport from the surficial soil substrate via flushing by precipitation. NO3- exhibited nearly identical transport behavior as K+, however NO3- levels reached a higher baseline concentration than pre-storm levels. This suggests infiltration and retention of NO3- within soil and groundwater during fair weather, initial flushing during the rain event, and then prolonged NO3- release from Farm soil and groundwater. NH4+ immediately increases with the first rainfall then decreases to levels slightly above background. This behavior suggests rapid release of NH4+ from soil followed by accumulation within the weir pool and then subsequent flushing during the precipitation event

Nitrogen in Surface Water and Groundwater a EKU’s Meadowbrook Farm

Agricultural activities often contaminate watersheds with excess nutrients leading to poor water quality and eutrophication. Eastern Kentucky University’s Meadowbrook Farm, contributes dissolved nitrogen into the Muddy Creek watershed. To assess the concentrations of dissolved nitrogen compounds, we sampled waters draining from the Farm as springs, runoff, and subsurface pipe drainage as well as Muddy Creek on six days from May to August 2016 under a variety of weather conditions. We measured dissolved nitrate (NO3-) and ammonium (NH4+) using standard colorimetric methods and spectrophotometry with an accuracy of ~0.1 mg/L. Nitrate was the dominant nutrient contaminant, whereas ammonium was often absent in water samples. Nitrate levels were usually/L in surface waters. Springs and some tributaries exhibited the largest nitrate values generally ranging from 7.0 to 14.3 mg/L. Ammonium displayed sporadic concentration spikes between 2.0 and 4.3 mg/L. Dissolved nitrogen concentrations responded to rainfall. We saw a general decrease of nitrogen concentration during dry periods, especially in Muddy Creek and an increase in nitrogen concentration under wetter conditions. Springs maintained high nitrogen concentrations regardless of different rainfall conditions. We compared our nitrogen measurements from Meadowbrook Farm to national values. For surface waters, the median nitrate concentration was 2.7 mg/L, lower than the national median (3.8 mg/L), whereas ammonium values were 0.2 mg/L, higher than the national median (0.1 mg/L). In groundwater, we found the median nitrate concentration was 3.9 mg/L, higher than the national median (3.4 mg/L), whereas the median ammonium concentration was 0.05 mg/L, higher than the national median (0.02 mg/L)

Optimizing the vertebrate vestibular semicircular canal: could we balance any better?

The fluid-filled semicircular canals (SCCs) of the vestibular system are used by all vertebrates to sense angular rotation. Despite masses spanning seven decades, all mammalian SCCs are nearly the same size. We propose that the SCC represents a sensory organ that evolution has `optimally designed'. Four geometric parameters are used to characterize the SCC, and `building materials' of given physical properties are assumed. Identifying physical and physiological constraints on SCC operation, we find that the most sensitive SCC has dimensions consistent with available data.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

A novel class of microRNA-recognition elements that function only within open reading frames.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are well known to target 3' untranslated regions (3' UTRs) in mRNAs, thereby silencing gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. Multiple reports have also indicated the ability of miRNAs to target protein-coding sequences (CDS); however, miRNAs have been generally believed to function through similar mechanisms regardless of the locations of their sites of action. Here, we report a class of miRNA-recognition elements (MREs) that function exclusively in CDS regions. Through functional and mechanistic characterization of these 'unusual' MREs, we demonstrate that CDS-targeted miRNAs require extensive base-pairing at the 3' side rather than the 5' seed; cause gene silencing in an Argonaute-dependent but GW182-independent manner; and repress translation by inducing transient ribosome stalling instead of mRNA destabilization. These findings reveal distinct mechanisms and functional consequences of miRNAs that target CDS versus the 3' UTR and suggest that CDS-targeted miRNAs may use a translational quality-control-related mechanism to regulate translation in mammalian cells

The braid groups of the projective plane and the Fadell-Neuwirth short exact sequence

International audienceWe study the pure braid groups $P_n(RP^2)$ of the real projective plane $RP^2$, and in particular the possible splitting of the Fadell-Neuwirth short exact sequence $1 \to P_m(RP^2 \ {x_1,...,x_n} \to P_{n+m}(RP^2) \stackrel{p_{\ast}}{\to} P_n(RP^2) \to 1$, where $n\geq 2$ and $m\geq 1$, and $p_{\ast}$ is the homomorphism which corresponds geometrically to forgetting the last $m$ strings. This problem is equivalent to that of the existence of a section for the associated fibration $p: F_{n+m}(RP^2) \to F_n(RP^2)$ of configuration spaces. Van Buskirk proved in 1966 that $p$ and $p_{\ast}$ admit a section if $n=2$ and $m=1$. Our main result in this paper is to prove that there is no section if $n\geq 3$. As a corollary, it follows that $n=2$ and $m=1$ are the only values for which a section exists. As part of the proof, we derive a presentation of $P_n(RP^2)$: this appears to be the first time that such a presentation has been given in the literature

Nutrient contamination from non-point sources: Dissolved nitrate and ammonium in surface and subsurface waters at EKU Meadowbrook Farm, Madison County, Kentucky

Agricultural activities often contaminate watersheds with excess nutrients leading to poor water quality and eutrophication. Eastern Kentucky University’s Meadowbrook Farm, contributes dissolved nitrogen into the Muddy Creek watershed. To assess the concentrations of dissolved nitrogen compounds, we sampled waters draining from the Farm as springs, runoff, and subsurface pipe drainage as well as Muddy Creek on six days from May to August 2016 under a variety of weather conditions. We measured dissolved nitrate (NO­3-) and ammonium (NH4+) using standard colorimetric methods and spectrophotometry with an accuracy of ~0.1 mg/L. Nitrate was the dominant nutrient contaminant, whereas ammonium was often absent in water samples. Nitrate levels were usually \u3c2 mg/L in surface waters. Springs and some tributaries exhibited the largest nitrate values generally ranging from 7.0 to 14.3 mg/L. Ammonium displayed sporadic concentration spikes between 2.0 and 4.3 mg/L. Dissolved nitrogen concentrations responded to rainfall. We saw a general decrease of nitrogen concentration during dry periods, especially in Muddy Creek and an increase in nitrogen concentration under wetter conditions. Springs maintained high nitrogen concentrations regardless of different rainfall conditions. We compared our nitrogen measurements from Meadowbrook Farm to national values. For surface waters, the median nitrate concentration was 2.7 mg/L, lower than the national median (3.8 mg/L), whereas ammonium values were 0.2 mg/L, higher than the national median (0.1 mg/L). In groundwater, we found the median nitrate concentration was 3.9 mg/L, higher than the national median (3.4 mg/L), whereas the median ammonium concentration was 0.05 mg/L, higher than the national median (0.02 mg/L)

Geochemical Characteristics and Storm Dynamics of Surface Waters and Groundwater at Eastern Kentucky University’s Meadowbrook Farm, Madison County, Kentucky

Agricultural activities often contaminate watersheds with excess nutrients leading to poor water quality and eutrophication. Eastern Kentucky University’s Meadowbrook Farm raises crops and livestock, contributing dissolved nutrients to the neighboring Muddy Creek watershed. Consequently, the Farm is developing methods to sequester and limit nutrient contamination. Before phosphorous sequestration methods can be tested, the geochemistry of surface water and groundwater on the Farm need to be better understood to determine hydrological pathways. We use naturally-occurring, dissolved cations as tracers to identify the contribution of different water sources and interpret storm events. Water samples taken from springs (groundwater), surface water, and storm water on the Farm were analyzed for dissolved cations via ICP-OES for sodium (Na+), potassium (K+), calcium (Ca2+), and magnesium (Mg2+). A V-notch weir was used to quantify volumetric flow for a rain event during tropical storm Cindy. Ca2+ and Mg2+ concentrations (55.5-80.0 mg/L and 21.7-32.5 mg/L, respectively) and lower Na+ and K+ concentrations (9.6-14.8 mg/L and 1.7-18.3 mg/L, respectively) seem to predominantly characterize source groundwater. During Cindy, Ca2+, Mg2+, and Na+ decreased with increasing volumetric flow rate, likely indicating dilution of groundwater. However, K+ exhibited elevated concentrations that spike concurrently with initial discharge peaks and then progressively decrease over the duration of the storm event. We hypothesize that initial K+ increases represent significant overland flow followed by dilution with groundwater and/or continued runoff. If nutrient runoff behavior is similar to potassium, those nutrients should exhibit peak export with initial runoff

Market Valuations in the New Economy: An Investigation of What Has Changed

We find mixed support for the hypothesis that a “New Economy” subperiod occurred in the late 1990s in which the relation between equity value and traditional financial variables differs from previous periods. We examine a regression model of equity value on financial variables over 25 years for a broad firm sample and for firm subsamples thought to be emblematic of the New Economy. We find the regression model\u27s explanatory power declined in the New Economy subperiod for all firm subsamples. However, for all subsamples, the regression model\u27s structure during the New Economy subperiod is not unusual compared to other subperiods