Application of triggered lightning numerical models to the F106B and extension to other aircraft

The goal of the F106B Thunderstorm Research Program is to characterize the lightning environment for aircraft in flight. This report describes the application of numerical electromagnetic models to this problem. Topics include: (1) Extensive application of linear triggered lightning to F106B data; (2) Electrostatic analysis of F106B field mill data; (3) Application of subgrid modeling to F106B nose region, including both static and nonlinear models; (4) Extension of F106B results to other aircraft of varying sizes and shapes; and (5) Application of nonlinear model to interaction of F106B with lightning leader-return stroke event

Wheat middlings in high concentrate rations: digestibility and ruminal metabolism

Six medium-framed steers, fitted with ruminal cannulae were used in a 6 × 6 Latin square design and fed the following six high concentrat e (90%) rations: control; 5, 10, or 15% pelleted wheat middlings (WM) replacing the concentrate (dry rolled corn); and 5 or 10% pelleted WM replacing the roughage (chopped alfalfa hay). Dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), and starch digestibilities decreased linearly when increasing levels of WM replaced the concentrate , but replacing the roughage increased DM and OM digestibilities linearly. WM could replace only up to 5 % of the concentrate without reducing nutrient digestibilities, but complete (10% WM) replacement of the roughage increased nutrient digestibilities

Biopython: freely available Python tools for computational molecular biology and bioinformatics

Summary: The Biopython project is a mature open source international collaboration of volunteer developers, providing Python libraries for a wide range of bioinformatics problems. Biopython includes modules for reading and writing different sequence file formats and multiple sequence alignments, dealing with 3D macro molecular structures, interacting with common tools such as BLAST, ClustalW and EMBOSS, accessing key online databases, as well as providing numerical methods for statistical learning. Availability: Biopython is freely available, with documentation and source code at www.biopython.org under the Biopython license. Contact: All queries should be directed to the Biopython mailing lists, see www.biopython.org/wiki/[email protected]

Hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase-independent toxicity of azathioprine in human lymphoblasts

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/24724/1/0000146.pd

Spectroscopic study of plasma nitrocarburizing processes with an industrial-scale carbon active screen

The active screen plasma nitrocarburizing technology is an improvement of conventional plasma nitrocarburizing by providing a homogeneous temperature distribution within the workload and reducing soot formation. In this study, an industrial-scale active screen (AS) made of carbon-fibre-reinforced carbon serves as the cathode as well as the carbon source for the plasma-chemical processes taking place. The pulsed dc discharge was maintained at a few mbar of pressure while simultaneously being fed with a mixed gas flow of hydrogen and nitrogen ranging from 10 to 100 slh. Using in situ infrared laser absorption spectroscopy with lead salt tuneable diode lasers and external-cavity quantum cascade lasers, the temperatures and concentrations of HCN, NH3, CH4, C2H2, and CO have been monitored as a function of pressure and total gas flow. To simulate industrial treatment conditions the temperature of the sample workload in the centre of the reactor volume was kept at 773 K by varying the plasma power at the AS between 6 and 8.5 kW. The resulting spectroscopically measured temperatures in the plasma agreed well with this value. Concentrations of the various species ranged from 6 × 1013 to 1 × 1016 cm−3 with HCN being the most abundant species

TRY plant trait database - enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits-the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants-determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait-based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits-almost complete coverage for 'plant growth form'. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait-environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives

Recommendations for measuring whisker movements and locomotion in mice with sensory, motor and cognitive deficits.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have measured whisker movements and locomotion to characterise mouse models of neurodegenerative disease. However, these studies have always been completed in isolation, and do not involve standardized procedures for comparisons across multiple mouse models and background strains. NEW METHOD: We present a standard method for conducting whisker movement and locomotion studies, by carrying out qualitative scoring and quantitative measurement of whisker movements from high-speed video footage of mouse models of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Cerebellar Ataxia, Somatosensory Cortex Development and Ischemic stroke. RESULTS: Sex, background strain, source breeder and genotype all affected whisker movements. All mouse models, apart from Parkinson's disease, revealed differences in whisker movements during locomotion. R6/2 CAG250 Huntington's disease mice had the strongest behavioural phenotype. Robo3R3-5-CKO and RIM-DKOSert mouse models have abnormal somatosensory cortex development and revealed significant changes in whisker movements during object exploration. COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHOD(S): Our results have good agreement with past studies, which indicates the robustness and reliability of measuring whisking. We recommend that differences in whisker movements of mice with motor deficits can be captured in open field arenas, but that mice with impairments to sensory or cognitive functioning should also be filmed investigating objects. Scoring clips qualitatively before tracking will help to structure later analyses. CONCLUSIONS: Studying whisker movements provides a quantitative measure of sensing, motor control and exploration. However, the effect of background strain, sex and age on whisker movements needs to be better understood