The Seedling Sanctuary: Automated Cold Frame for Gardner Elementary

The purpose of this report is to provide the details of the Seedling Sanctuary, a mechanical engineering senior design project. The project in question is an automated cold frame designed specifically for Gardner Academy, a local elementary school in San Jose. A cold frame is a miniature greenhouse that opens like a chest and is made from clear plastic. Automated ventilation and watering systems create a microclimate within this greenhouse structure to create the ideal growing conditions for seeds. The main purposes of the cold frame are to lengthen the growing season, be maintenance free, and enhance garden education. From testing, the project goals were verified to have been achieved through several performance metrics. First, the system’s ability to lengthen the growing season is dependent on germinating seedlings that can be planted earlier in the season. The automated system maintained the seedlings at the proper soil moisture levels to grow. The system also implemented passive temperature control systems to maintain the plants in ideal conditions. With the ventilation and thermal mass, the system is able to be cooler at the hottest times of day and warmer at night than unprotected plants. The system has also successfully automated the care of the seedlings, achieving our goal of being maintenance free. Finally, the enhancement of garden education was incorporated through community engagement with the design and building of the cold frame, as well as the Bluetooth application which will be used in the school curriculum

Intersection local times of fractional Brownian motions with H∈(0,1)H\in(0,1) as generalized white noise functionals

In $\R^d$, for any dimension $d\geq 1$, expansions of self-intersection local times of fractional Brownian motions with arbitrary Hurst coefficients in $(0,1)$ are presented. The expansions are in terms of Wick powers of white noises (corresponding to multiple Wiener integrals), being well-defined in the sense of generalized white noise functionals.Comment: 17 page

Searching for Communities in Bipartite Networks

Bipartite networks are a useful tool for representing and investigating interaction networks. We consider methods for identifying communities in bipartite networks. Intuitive notions of network community groups are made explicit using Newman's modularity measure. A specialized version of the modularity, adapted to be appropriate for bipartite networks, is presented; a corresponding algorithm is described for identifying community groups through maximizing this measure. The algorithm is applied to networks derived from the EU Framework Programs on Research and Technological Development. Community groups identified are compared using information-theoretic methods.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, to appear in "Proceedings of the 5th Jagna International Workshop: Stochastic and Quantum Dynamics of Biomolecular Systems," C. C. Bernido and M. V. Carpio-Bernido, editors. A version with full-quality figures and larger file size is available at http://ccm.uma.pt/publications/Barber-Faria-Streit-Strogan-2008.pd

TREE STRUCTURE IN THE FOREST OF PINDO MIRADOR BIOLOGICAL STATION, PASTAZA, ECUADOR

The objective of this research was to characterize the arboreal structure of the evergreen piedmont forest of the Pindo Mirador biological station, Pastaza, Ecuador. Eight plots of 0.1 ha were systematically established; all trees were measured with D1. 30 from the floor ≥ 10 cm, and its total height. The abundance data by species and plots, diameter classes and height ranges were taken to be analyzed with descriptive statistics, and by means of non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis comparisons to verify differences between them. The contribution of species to the structure of the forest was evaluated by determining indices of structural diversity, including the Importance Value Index (IVI) of species, and their basal area. The results show a richness of 89 species belonging to 58 genera from 39 families, where trees with diameters between 10 and 20 cm and heights between 8 and 20 m predominate. It is concluded that it is a relatively homogeneous forest, with typical elements of the Andean-Amazonian transition, whose vertical structure of the dominant flight is of the middle or sub-canopy, moderately dense, dominated by trees of Iriartea deltoidea Ruiz & Pav., Alchornea latifolia Swartz, Hyeronima oblonga (Tul.) Müll. Arg. and Piptocoma discolor (Kunth) Pruski, those that have the greatest impact on its structure

Viral and bacterial septicaemic infections modulate the expression of PACAP splicing variants and VIP/PACAP receptors in brown trout immune organs

Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Acknowledgements The authors thank Richard Paley, Georgina Rimmer and Tom Hill for their contribution during the brown trout infection challenges carried out in CEFAS-Weymouth biosecurity facilities. Bartolomeo Gorgoglione and Nick G. H. Taylor were supported by a DEFRA contract C3490Peer reviewedPostprin

Excited OH+, H2O+, and H3O+ in NGC 4418 and Arp 220

We report on Herschel/PACS observations of absorption lines of OH+, H2O+ and H3O+ in NGC 4418 and Arp 220. Excited lines of OH+ and H2O+ with E_lower of at least 285 and \sim200 K, respectively, are detected in both sources, indicating radiative pumping and location in the high radiation density environment of the nuclear regions. Abundance ratios OH+/H2O+ of 1-2.5 are estimated in the nuclei of both sources. The inferred OH+ column and abundance relative to H nuclei are (0.5-1)x10^{16} cm-2 and \sim2x10^{-8}, respectively. Additionally, in Arp 220, an extended low excitation component around the nuclear region is found to have OH+/H2O+\sim5-10. H3O+ is detected in both sources with N(H3O+)\sim(0.5-2)x10^{16} cm-2, and in Arp 220 the pure inversion, metastable lines indicate a high rotational temperature of ~500 K, indicative of formation pumping and/or hot gas. Simple chemical models favor an ionization sequence dominated by H+ - O+ - OH+ - H2O+ - H3O+, and we also argue that the H+ production is most likely dominated by X-ray/cosmic ray ionization. The full set of observations and models leads us to propose that the molecular ions arise in a relatively low density (\gtrsim10^4 cm-3) interclump medium, in which case the ionization rate per H nucleus (including secondary ionizations) is zeta>10^{-13} s-1, a lower limit that is severalx10^2 times the highest rate estimates for Galactic regions. In Arp 220, our lower limit for zeta is compatible with estimates for the cosmic ray energy density inferred previously from the supernova rate and synchrotron radio emission, and also with the expected ionization rate produced by X-rays. In NGC 4418, we argue that X-ray ionization due to an AGN is responsible for the molecular ion production.Comment: 24 pages, 13 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

Tree vegetation of a section of the secondary forest of the Pindo Mirador Biological Station

El bosque secundario de la Estación Biológica Pindo Mirador, provincia de Pastaza, Ecuador, han sido pobremente estudiados, proponiéndose con la investigación, caracterizar su estructura arbórea. Se establecieron cuatro parcelas de 0.1 ha que cubren un área de muestreo de 0.4 ha; fueron medidos todos los árboles con diámetro a 1.30 del suelo ≥ 10 cm, determinándose además su altura absoluta. Las abundancias por especies y parcelas, clases diamétricas y rangos de altura fueron analizadas para extraer sus estadísticos descriptivos, y mediante comparaciones no paramétricas establecer diferencias entre ellos. Se evaluó la contribución de especies a la estructura del bosque mediante la determinación de Índices de diversidad estructural, incluyendo el Índice de Valor de Importancia de especies, y su área basal. Los resultados muestran una riqueza de 49 especies pertenecientes a 36 géneros de 27 familias, donde predominan árboles con diámetros entre 10 y 20 cm y alturas entre 8 y 20 m. Se concluye que es un bosque relativamente homogéneo, con elementos típicos de la transición andino-amazónica, de baja riqueza de especies, cuya estructura vertical del vuelo dominante es del piso medio o subdosel, medianamente denso, dominado por árboles de Hyeronima oblonga y Piptocoma discolor, las que tienen la mayor incidencia en su estructura.The secondary forest of the Biological Station Pindo Mirador, province of Pastaza, Ecuador, have been poorly studied, proposing with the research, to characterize the tree structure in a sector of the forest area of the Station. Above the sea level, four plots of 0.1 ha were established covering a sampling area of 0.4 ha; all trees with diameter a 1.30 from the soil ≥ 10 cm were measured, determining their absolute height. With the measurement records, four diametric classes and similar number of height ranges were established. Species and plot abundances, diametric classes and height ranges were analyzed to extract their descriptive statistics, and by non-parametric comparisons to establish differences between them. The contribution of species to the forest structure was assessed by determining structural diversity indexes, including the Importance Value Index and the basal area for each. The results show a richness of 49 species belonging to 36 genera of 27 families, where trees with diameters between 10 and 20 cm and heights between 8 and 20 m predominate. It is concluded that it is a moderately homogeneous forest with typical elements of the Andean-Amazon transition, of low species richness, whose vertical structure of the dominant flight is of the medium floor or subcanopy, medium dense, dominated by trees of Hyeronimaoblonga and Piptocoma discolor, which have the biggest influence on the structure

TORC1 determines Fab1 lipid kinase function at signaling endosomes and vacuoles

Acknowledgments: We thank Lars Langemeyer for feedback, all members from the Ungermann lab for discussions, and Kathrin Auffarth, Angela Perz, and Malika Jaquenoud for expert technical assistance. This work was supported by the DFG (UN111/10-1 to C.U.), the Canton of Fribourg (to J.D. and C.D.V.), and the Swiss National Science Foundation (310030_166474/184671 to C.D.V. and 310030_184781 and 316030_177088 to J.D.). Z.C. received support from a travel stipend of the Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds. P.C.M. received additional support from the graduate program of the Collaborative Research Center 944 (SFB 944) and Department of Biology/Chemistry Osnabrück. E.E. received a fellowship of FWO Vlaanderen, Belgium (SB-FWO 1S06419N). Author Contributions: Z.C. and P.C.M. conducted all experiments on Fab1 localization and function; R.H. conducted experiments on development and analysis of the Sch91–183 probe; R.N., Z.H., M.-P.P.-G., and J.D. did the phosphorylation assays and analyses; and E.E. and J.W. conceived and performed the initial Sch9 mapping. T.N. and C.J.S. did the lipid analysis of the mutant alleles. J.G. analyzed microcopy data with Z.C. C.D.V. and C.U. conceived the study and wrote the manuscript with support of J.W.Peer reviewedPublisher PD