Changes in fish populations in the Lower Canyons of the Rio Grande

The Lower Canyons of the Rio Grande suffer from environmental degradation that has negatively impacted native fish populations and their distributions. Macrhybopsis aestivalis (speckled chub), Notropis jemezanus (Rio Grande shiner), Rhinichthys cataractae (longnose dace) and Cycleptus elongatus (blue sucker) populations appear to have suffered recent declines. Although diminished water quantity is likely an important factor in these declines, related changes in channel morphology precipitated by massive stands of Arundo donax (giant reed) and Tamarix sp. (salt cedar) may also be responsible. These invasive exotics have essentially channelized the river, disrupted normal sediment distribution and reduced shallow, low-velocity habitats. Much of the Lower Canyons of the Rio Grande are devoid of sandy sediment and most riffles are now composed of gravel and cobble.Integrative Biolog

Signalling pathways and gene expression profiles in prostate cancer

In general, cancer, encompassing prostate cancer (PCa), is a disease that utilises signalling pathways to progress through the uncontrolled proliferation of cancerous cells. Although the mechanisms of how the cells evade intrinsic or extrinsic signals of death and keep on dividing is not completely understood, there is a plethora of evidence that point to certain signalling molecules that are crucial conveyors of the fine tuning that slightly differs in cancer in comparison to control states. The present chapter provides a detailed description of the key regulators of PCa cell life and unveils their closely communicating proteins that aid in the fine tuning of the cancerous state

Mobile terminal equipment design utilising split-loop phase-lock techniques

The design and resultant performance of the terminal equipment in a mobile satellite system is vitally important in respect to the overall cost/performance compromise of the whole system. Improvements in system performance which also result in a reduction of the equipment cost are rare. However, this paper details a significant advance in terminal design, utilizing a novel form of 'split-loop' phase locked receiver/downconverter system to enable an accurate, stable and wide coverage terminal to be realized at a reduced cost. The system has the capability of automatically locking onto any carrier within a complete transponder, and can cope with severe amplitude modulation and fading effects

Muon and neutrino fluxes

The result of a new calculation of the atmospheric muon and neutrino fluxes and the energy spectrum of muon-neutrinos produced in individual extensive air showers (EAS) initiated by proton and gamma-ray primaries is reported. Also explained is the possibility of detecting atmospheric nu sub mu's due to gamma-rays from these sources

The muon content of gamma-ray showers

The result of a calculation of the expected number of muons in gamma ray initiated and cosmic ray initiated air showers using a realistic model of hadronic collisions in an effort to understand the available experimental results and to assess the feasibility of using the muon content of showers as a veto to reject cosmic ray initiated showers in ultra-high energy gamma ray astronomy are reported. The possibility of observing very-high energy gamma-ray sources by detecting narrow angle anisotropies in the high energy muon background radiation are considered

The impact of Chinese import penetration on the South African manufacturing sector

This article uses a Chenery-type decomposition and econometric estimation to evaluate the impact of Chinese trade on production and employment in South African manufacturing from 1992 to 2010. The results suggest that increased import penetration from China caused South African manufacturing output to be 5 per cent lower in 2010 than it otherwise would have been. The estimated reduction of total employment in manufacturing as a result of trade with China is larger – in 2010 about 8 per cent – because the declines in output were concentrated on labour-intensive industries and because the increase in imports raised labour productivity within industries

An Annotated Checklist of the Freshwater Fishes of Texas, with Keys to Identification of Species

Forty-five families and 247 species of fishes are known to inhabit the freshwaters of Texas. We report on the distribution and status of these fishes and provide a key to their identification. Of the native fishes originally found in Texas, five taxa, Notropis orca (phantom shiner), Notropis simus simus (Rio Grande bluntnose shiner), Cyprinella lutrensis blairi (Maravillas red shiner), Gambusia amistadensis (Amistad gambusia) and Gambusia georgei (San Marcos gambusia) are apparently extinct, and three, Oncorhynchus clarki virginalis (Rio Grande cutthroat trout), Hybognathus amarus (Rio Grande silvery minnow) and Gambusia senilis (blotched gambusia) appear to be extirpated from the state. More than 20 percent of the remaining primary freshwater species appear to be in some need of protection.Integrative Biolog

Establishing a support service for educational technology within a university

This paper covers some of the issues associated with the support of learning technology within an institution. It describes the activities of a working support service, and highlights approaches to some of the academic, technological, political and management issues that have helped it perform effectively over a four‐year period

Representing Structural Information of Helical Charge Distributions in Cylindrical Coordinates

Structural information in the local electric field produced by helical charge distributions, such as dissolved DNA, is revealed in a straightforward manner employing cylindrical coordinates. Comparison of structure factors derived in terms of cylindrical and helical coordinates is made. A simple coordinate transformation serves to relate the Green function in cylindrical and helical coordinates. We also compare the electric field on the central axis of a single helix as calculated in both systems.Comment: 11 pages in plain LaTex, no figures. Accepted for publication in PRE March, 199

Share and share alike

Nearly 90 higher education libraries in the UK are participating in a reciprocal access and borrowing scheme which will benefit lifelong learners. UK Libraries Plus enables part-time, distance, and placement students to borrow from other libraries close to where they live or work. It also offers staff and full-time students access to each other’s libraries for reference. It is just over a year ago since a meeting of representatives from 19 libraries in membership of the Coalition of Modern Universities (CMU) took place at the University of Derby. The meeting was convened within the context of the increasing challenge posed in providing adequate support for off-campus learners. In particular, all of our libraries were grappling with the issue of supporting distance learners. How do we help students on courses, that do not require regular attendance at the University, gain access to the information resources that they need for their studies