Acute Toxicity of Xylene on the African Catfish Clarias gariepinus

Acute toxicity of xylene on an African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) was carried out. A total of 210 catfish C. gariepinus juveniles with mean length 15.20±2.3cm, and mean weight of 10.23±2.6g were obtained from the University of Port Harcourt Demonstration Farm. The test was determined for 96hour median lethal concentration using concentrations of 250ml/l, 200ml/l, 150ml/l, 100ml/l, 50ml/l, 25ml/l and 0.0ml/l (control) which gave a LC50 value of 63.965ml/l with upper and lower confidence limits at 106.53 ml/l and 37.82ml/l respectively. The median lethal time LT50 recorded was 55.7 hours. There was a strong correlation between (%) mortality in Probits and the Log10 Dose (R²=0.9772). There was statistical significance (P>0.05) in the number of mortality observed in the six concentrations from 24 hours to 96 hours of exposure and high percentage mortalities were recorded as the concentration of the toxicant increased. No mortalities were recorded in the control. The cumulative mortality recorded after exposure of C. gariepinus to xylene was time dependent. Based on this the high percentage mortalities of the fish species it is therefore recommended that the use of this chemical be minimized and proper contingency plans be carried out before discharging this toxicants into the aquatic environment. Waste from this chemical and spill incidences should be detoxified to a less toxic level before disposing into the aquatic environment. The results obtained may provide valuable information for formulation of environmental policies and serve as a model for bio-monitoring of the aquatic environment.Keywords: Acute toxicity, Clarias gariepinus, and Xylene

Diploptene δ13C values from contemporary thermokarst lake sediments show complex spatial variation

Cryospheric changes in northern high latitudes are linked to significant greenhouse gas flux to the atmosphere, for example, methane that originates from organic matter decomposition in thermokarst lakes. The set of pathways that link methane production in sediments, via oxidation in the lake system, to the flux of residual methane to the atmosphere is complex and exhibits temporal and spatial variation. The isotopic signal of bacterial biomarkers (hopanoids, e.g. diploptene) in sediments has been used to identify contemporary ocean-floor methane seeps and, in the geological record, periods of enhanced methane production (e.g. the PETM). The biomarker approach could potentially be used to assess temporal changes in lake emissions through the Holocene via the sedimentary biomarker record. However, there are no data on the consistency of the signal of isotopic depletion in relation to source or on the amount of noise (unexplained variation) in biomarker values from modern lake sediments. We assessed methane oxidation as represented by the isotopic signal of biomarkers from methane oxidising bacteria (MOB) in multiple surface sediment samples in three distinct areas known to emit varying levels of methane in two shallow Alaskan thermokarst lakes. Diploptene was present and had δ13C values lower than -38g‰ in all sediments analysed, suggesting methane oxidation was widespread. However, there was considerable variation in δ13C values within each area. The most 13C-depleted diploptene was found in an area of high methane ebullition in Ace Lake (diploptene δ13C values between -68.2 and -50.1‰). In contrast, significantly higher diploptene δ13C values (between -42.9 and -38.8g‰) were found in an area of methane ebullition in Smith Lake. δ13C values of diploptene between -56.8 and -46.9g‰ were found in the centre of Smith Lake, where ebullition rates are low but diffusive methane efflux occurs. The small-scale heterogeneity of the samples may reflect patchy distribution of substrate and/or MOB within the sediments. The two ebullition areas differ in age and type of organic carbon substrate, which may affect methane production, transport, and subsequent oxidation. Given the high amount of variation in surface samples, a more extensive calibration of modern sediment properties, within and among lakes, is required before down-core records of hopanoid isotopic signatures are developed. © Author(s) 2016

Geometric Suppression of Single-Particle Energy Spacings in Quantum Antidots

Quantum Antidot (AD) structures have remarkable properties in the integer quantum Hall regime, exhibiting Coulomb-blockade charging and the Kondo effect despite their open geometry. In some regimes a simple single-particle (SP) model suffices to describe experimental observations while in others interaction effects are clearly important, although exactly how and why interactions emerge is unclear. We present a combination of experimental data and the results of new calculations concerning SP orbital states which show how the observed suppression of the energy spacing between states can be explained through a full consideration of the AD potential, without requiring any effects due to electron interactions such as the formation of compressible regions composed of multiple states, which may occur at higher magnetic fields. A full understanding of the regimes in which these effects occur is important for the design of devices to coherently manipulate electrons in edge states using AD resonances.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Sharp Trace Hardy-Sobolev-Maz'ya Inequalities and the Fractional Laplacian

In this work we establish trace Hardy and trace Hardy-Sobolev-Maz'ya inequalities with best Hardy constants, for domains satisfying suitable geometric assumptions such as mean convexity or convexity. We then use them to produce fractional Hardy-Sobolev-Maz'ya inequalities with best Hardy constants for various fractional Laplacians. In the case where the domain is the half space our results cover the full range of the exponent $s \in (0,1)$ of the fractional Laplacians. We answer in particular an open problem raised by Frank and Seiringer \cite{FS}.Comment: 42 page

Impaired functional communication between the L-type calcium channel and mitochondria contributes to metabolic inhibition in the mdx heart

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a fatal X-linked disease characterized by the absence of dystrophin. Approximately 20% of boys will die of dilated cardiomyopathy that is associated with cytoskeletal protein disarray, contractile dysfunction, and reduced energy production. However, the mechanisms for altered energy metabolism are not yet fully clarified. Calcium influx through the L-type Ca2+ channel is critical for maintaining cardiac excitation and contraction. The L-type Ca2+ channel also regulates mitochondrial function and metabolic activity via transmission of movement of the auxiliary beta subunit through intermediate filament proteins. Here, we find that activation of the L-type Ca2+ channel is unable to induce increases in mitochondrial membrane potential and metabolic activity in intact cardiac myocytes from the murine model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (mdx) despite robust increases recorded in wt myocytes. Treatment of mdx mice with morpholino oligomers to induce exon skipping of dystrophin exon 23 (that results in functional dystrophin accumulation) or application of a peptide that resulted in block of voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC) “rescued” mitochondrial membrane potential and metabolic activity in mdx myocytes. The mitochondrial VDAC coimmunoprecipitated with the L-type Ca2+ channel. We conclude that the absence of dystrophin in the mdx ventricular myocyte leads to impaired functional communication between the L-type Ca2+ channel and mitochondrial VDAC. This appears to contribute to metabolic inhibition. These findings provide new mechanistic and functional insight into cardiomyopathy associated with Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Automated analysis of atrial late gadolinium enhancement imaging that correlates with endocardial voltage and clinical outcomes: A 2-center study

This work was supported by the British Heart Foundation PG/10/37/28347, RG/10/11/28457, NIHR Biomedical Research Centre funding, and the ElectroCardioMaths Programme of the Imperial BHF Centre of Research Excellence

A new terrestrial palaeoenvironmental record from the Bering Land Bridge and context for human dispersal

Palaeoenvironmental records from the now-submerged Bering Land Bridge (BLB) covering the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) to the present are needed to document changing environments and connections with the dispersal of humans into North America. Moreover, terrestrially based records of environmental changes are needed in close proximity to the re-establishment of circulation between Pacific and Atlantic Oceans following the end of the last glaciation to test palaeo-climate models for the high latitudes. We present the first terrestrial temperature and hydrologic reconstructions from the LGM to the present from the BLB’s south-central margin. We find that the timing of the earliest unequivocal human dispersals into Alaska, based on archaeological evidence, corresponds with a shift to warmer/wetter conditions on the BLB between 14 700 and 13 500 years ago associated with the early Bølling/Allerød interstadial (BA). These environmental changes could have provided the impetus for eastward human dispersal at that time, from Western or central Beringia after a protracted human population standstill. Our data indicate substantial climate-induced environmental changes on the BLB since the LGM, which would potentially have had significant influences on megafaunal and human biogeography in the region. © 2018 The Authors

Exciton swapping in a twisted graphene bilayer as a solid-state realization of a two-brane model

It is shown that exciton swapping between two graphene sheets may occur under specific conditions. A magnetically tunable optical filter is described to demonstrate this new effect. Mathematically, it is shown that two turbostratic graphene layers can be described as a "noncommutative" two-sheeted (2+1)-spacetime thanks to a formalism previously introduced for the study of braneworlds in high energy physics. The Hamiltonian of the model contains a coupling term connecting the two layers which is similar to the coupling existing between two braneworlds at a quantum level. In the present case, this term is related to a K-K' intervalley coupling. In addition, the experimental observation of this effect could be a way to assess the relevance of some theoretical concepts of the braneworld hypothesis.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures, final version published in European Physical Journal

Elevated CO2 interacts with nutrient inputs to restructure plant communities in phosphorus-limited grasslands

Globally pervasive increases in atmospheric CO2 and nitrogen (N) deposition could have substantial effects on plant communities, either directly or mediated by their interactions with soil nutrient limitation. While the direct consequences of N enrichment on plant communities are well documented, potential interactions with rising CO2 and globally widespread phosphorus (P) limitation remain poorly understood. We investigated the consequences of simultaneous elevated CO2 (eCO2) and N and P additions on grassland biodiversity, community and functional composition in P-limited grasslands. We exposed soil-turf monoliths from limestone and acidic grasslands that have received >25 years of N additions (3.5 and 14 g m−2 year−1) and 11 (limestone) or 25 (acidic) years of P additions (3.5 g m−2 year−1) to eCO2 (600 ppm) for 3 years. Across both grasslands, eCO2, N and P additions significantly changed community composition. Limestone communities were more responsive to eCO2 and saw significant functional shifts resulting from eCO2–nutrient interactions. Here, legume cover tripled in response to combined eCO2 and P additions, and combined eCO2 and N treatments shifted functional dominance from grasses to sedges. We suggest that eCO2 may disproportionately benefit P acquisition by sedges by subsidising the carbon cost of locally intense root exudation at the expense of co-occurring grasses. In contrast, the functional composition of the acidic grassland was insensitive to eCO2 and its interactions with nutrient additions. Greater diversity of P-acquisition strategies in the limestone grassland, combined with a more functionally even and diverse community, may contribute to the stronger responses compared to the acidic grassland. Our work suggests we may see large changes in the composition and biodiversity of P-limited grasslands in response to eCO2 and its interactions with nutrient loading, particularly where these contain a high diversity of P-acquisition strategies or developmentally young soils with sufficient bioavailable mineral P

Number of particle creation and decoherence in the nonideal dynamical Casimir effect at finite temperature

In this work we investigate the dynamical Casimir effect in a nonideal cavity by deriving an effective Hamiltonian. We first compute a general expression for the average number of particle creation, applicable for any law of motion of the cavity boundary. We also compute a general expression for the linear entropy of an arbitrary state prepared in a selected mode, also applicable for any law of motion of the cavity boundary. As an application of our results we have analyzed both the average number of particle creation and linear entropy within a particular oscillatory motion of the cavity boundary. On the basis of these expressions we develop a comprehensive analysis of the resonances in the number of particle creation in the nonideal dynamical Casimir effect. We also demonstrate the occurrence of resonances in the loss of purity of the initial state and estimate the decoherence times associated with these resonances.Comment: comments are welcom