Stable water isotopes in HadCM3: isotopic signature of El Nino-Southern Oscillation and the tropical amount effect

Stable water isotopes have been added to the full hydrological cycle of the Hadley Centre Climate model (HadCM3) coupled atmosphere-ocean GCM. Simulations of delta O-18 in precipitation and at the ocean surface compare well with observations for the present-day climate. The model has been used to investigate the isotopic anomalies associated with ENSO; it is found that the anomalous delta O-18 in precipitation is correlated with the anomalous precipitation amount in accordance with the "amount effect.'' The El Nino delta O-18 anomaly at the ocean surface is largest in coastal regions because of the mixing of ocean water and the more depleted runoff from the land surface. Coral delta O-18 anomalies were estimated, using an established empirical relationship, and generally reflect ocean surface delta O-18 anomalies in coastal regions and sea surface temperatures away from the coast. The spatial relationship between tropical precipitation and delta O-18 was investigated for the El Nino anomaly simulated by HadCM3. Weighting the El Nino precipitation anomaly by the precipitation amount at each grid box gave a large increase in the spatial correlation between tropical precipitation and delta O-18. This improvement was most apparent over land points and between 10 and 20 degrees of latitude

Bioinformatic Analyses of Unique (Orphan) Core Genes of the Genus Acidithiobacillus: Functional Inferences and Use As Molecular Probes for Genomic and Metagenomic/Transcriptomic Interrogation

Indexación: Web of Science.Using phylogenomic and gene compositional analyses, five highly conserved gene families have been detected in the core genome of the phylogenetically coherent genus Acidithiobacillus of the class Acidithiobacillia. These core gene families are absent in the closest extant genus Thermithiobacillus tepidarius that subtends the Acidithiobacillus genus and roots the deepest in this class. The predicted proteins encoded by these core gene families are not detected by a BLAST search in the NCBI non-redundant database of more than 90 million proteins using a relaxed cut-off of 1.0e(-5). None of the five families has a clear functional prediction. However, bioinformatic scrutiny, using pI prediction, motif/domain searches, cellular location predictions, genomic context analyses, and chromosome topology studies together with previously published transcriptomic and proteomic data, suggests that some may have functions associated with membrane remodeling during cell division perhaps in response to pH stress. Despite the high level of amino acid sequence conservation within each family, there is sufficient nucleotide variation of the respective genes to permit the use of the DNA sequences to distinguish different species of Acidithiobacillus, making them useful additions to the armamentarium of tools for phylogenetic analysis. Since the protein families are unique to the Acidithiobacillus genus, they can also be leveraged as probes to detect the genus in environmental metagenomes and metatranscriptomes, including industrial biomining operations, and acid mine drainage (AMD).http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmicb.2016.02035/ful

Much Ado About Contemporary Women: Gender Adapted in Contemporary Settings

Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing has been reproduced multiple times in a contemporary context. This thesis focuses on two key productions, BBC’s ShakespeaRe-Told televised adaptation and Joss Whedon’s 2013 film and examines how these productions translate the gender themes in the play to a contemporary setting. To study translations of gender, this thesis is focused on the adaptations of Beatrice and Hero, two major female characters of the play. The comparison of these adaptations is accomplished through analyzing the pieces and reviewing existing work. While there are some important differences between the adaptations, the major problems Beatrice and Hero are limited by as women are problems that can be successfully transferred to the contemporary setting. Conclusively, these adaptations choose to demonstrate that women facing limitations in their own microcultures have the agency to accept these limitations or try to do something about them

The effects of long-day lighting and removal of young leaves on tomato yield

While low intensity long-day (LD) lighting has been shown to enhance the growth of young plants under low light levels, its effect on the yield of a long-season glasshouse tomato crop has not been previously examined. LD were provided by the use of tungsten lamps (2.8 μmol m-2 s-1 at approx. 0.5 m from the ground) between 04.00 h to sunrise and from sunset until 20.00 h (GMT). LD lighting increased leaf chlorophyll contents, and the numbers of flowers and fruits set per truss when the plants were young. However, this treatment did not affect the total yield of tomatoes. Different leaf removal treatments were applied within each glasshouse compartment. A previous experiment had shown that reducing the leaf area index (LAI) from 5.2 to 2.6, by removing old leaves, did not affect yield. It was also thought that removal of young leaves reduced the total vegetative sink-strength and favoured assimilate partitioning into the fruit. Therefore, removal of young leaves could increase fruit yield. In the present experiments, one-third of the leaves were removed in March (those immediately below each truss) and, subsequently, every third leaf was removed at an early stage of its development. This reduced the LAI from 4.1 to 2.9 and resulted in a loss of yield from 3 – 4 weeks after leaf removal until the end of the experiment, at which point there was an 8% loss of cumulative yield due to a reduction in the average number of fruits set per truss and in mean fruit weight. We postulate that the light which would have been intercepted by young photosynthetically-efficient leaves at the top of the canopy was intercepted instead by older leaves which were less efficient, reducing overall net canopy photosynthesis

Influences of thermal environment on fish growth

Indexación: Scopus.Thermoregulation in ectothermic animals is influenced by the ability to effectively respond to thermal variations. While it is known that ectotherms are affected by thermal changes, it remains unknown whether physiological and/or metabolic traits are impacted by modifications to the thermal environment. Our research provides key evidence that fish ectotherms are highly influenced by thermal variability during development, which leads to important modifications at several metabolic levels (e.g., growth trajectories, microstructural alterations, muscle injuries, and molecular mechanisms). In Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), a wide thermal range (ΔT 6.4°C) during development (posthatch larvae to juveniles) was associated with increases in key thermal performance measures for survival and growth trajectory. Other metabolic traits were also significantly influenced, such as size, muscle cellularity, and molecular growth regulators possibly affected by adaptive processes. In contrast, a restricted thermal range (ΔT 1.4°C) was detrimental to growth, survival, and cellular microstructure as muscle growth could not keep pace with increased metabolic demands. These findings provide a possible basic explanation for the effects of thermal environment during growth. In conclusion, our results highlight the key role of thermal range amplitude on survival and on interactions with major metabolism-regulating processes that have positive adaptive effects for organisms.http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.3239/ful

An Educational Module for the Utilization of Sphenopalatine Ganglion Blocks as a Treatment Alternative for Post Dural Puncture Headache: A Quality Improvement Project

Background: Post-dural puncture headache (PDPH) is a possible adverse effect of some spinal and neuraxial anesthesia procedures; it is characterized by visual disturbances, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, photophobia, and a postural component occurring within five days of a dural puncture. The epidural blood patch (EBP) has been considered the standard treatment for PDPH; however, the EBP has a considerable number of risks due to its invasive nature. The Sphenopalatine Ganglion Block (SPGB) is a non-invasive alternative therapy that shows promise in the treatment of PDPH. Methods: A thorough search of research was performed utilizing MEDLINE (ProQuest) and CINAHL to distinguish research studies published within the past five years that have assessed the efficacy of the sphenopalatine ganglion block as a treatment for post-dural puncture headaches. Results: Five published studies were classified as appropriate for analysis. The studies evaluated sphenopalatine ganglion block as an alternative to conservative treatment for post-dural puncture headache

Apreciaciones de docentes del Nivel Secundario acerca de la formación de profesores en Ciencias Biológicas: Un análisis comparativo de dos planes de estudio

Con el propósito de conocer las percepciones acerca del desempeño de los futuros profesores en ciencias en los diferentes establecimientos educativos, se implementaron cuestionarios de encuesta a los docentes del Nivel Secundario (co-formadores) que recibieron a los estudiantes del profesorado en sus primeras prácticas de enseñanza. Los aspectos evaluados, dominio de los contenidos disciplinares, enfoques y estrategias de enseñanza utilizadas y actividades diseñadas e implementadas, mostraron diferencias significativas en la formación, tanto disciplinar como pedagógico-didáctica entre los planes de estudio 1995 y 2004. Estos resultados permiten avanzar con las acciones remediales que se vienen desarrollando a fin de proyectar nuevas propuestas en la formación docente en Ciencias Biológicas adecuadas a las demandas actuales