Comparative analysis of forest lands cadastral appraisal estimated with regards to wood and food resources

Cadastral appraisal of forest fund is one of the topical challenges of modern natural resource management. The paper delivers comparison of different approaches to cadastral appraisal of forest lands. The authors suggest a uniformed model to compare objectively and choose the most effective use of parcels

Sound Synthesis with Auditory Distortion Products

This article describes methods of sound synthesis based on auditory distortion products, often called combination tones. In 1856, Helmholtz was the first to identify sum and difference tones as products of auditory distortion. Today this phenomenon is well studied in the context of otoacoustic emissions, and the “distortion” is understood as a product of what is termed the cochlear amplifier. These tones have had a rich history in the music of improvisers and drone artists. Until now, the use of distortion tones in technological music has largely been rudimentary and dependent on very high amplitudes in order for the distortion products to be heard by audiences. Discussed here are synthesis methods to render these tones more easily audible and lend them the dynamic properties of traditional acoustic sound, thus making auditory distortion a practical domain for sound synthesis. An adaptation of single-sideband synthesis is particularly effective for capturing the dynamic properties of audio inputs in real time. Also presented is an analytic solution for matching up to four harmonics of a target spectrum. Most interestingly, the spatial imagery produced by these techniques is very distinctive, and over loudspeakers the normal assumptions of spatial hearing do not apply. Audio examples are provided that illustrate the discussion

Disposition of Federally Owned Surpluses

PDZ domains are scaffolding modules in protein-protein interactions that mediate numerous physiological functions by interacting canonically with the C-terminus or non-canonically with an internal motif of protein ligands. A conserved carboxylate-binding site in the PDZ domain facilitates binding via backbone hydrogen bonds; however, little is known about the role of these hydrogen bonds due to experimental challenges with backbone mutations. Here we address this interaction by generating semisynthetic PDZ domains containing backbone amide-to-ester mutations and evaluating the importance of individual hydrogen bonds for ligand binding. We observe substantial and differential effects upon amide-to-ester mutation in PDZ2 of postsynaptic density protein 95 and other PDZ domains, suggesting that hydrogen bonding at the carboxylate-binding site contributes to both affinity and selectivity. In particular, the hydrogen-bonding pattern is surprisingly different between the non-canonical and canonical interaction. Our data provide a detailed understanding of the role of hydrogen bonds in protein-protein interactions

Adoption incentives and environmental policy timing under asymmetric information and strategic firm behaviour

We consider the incentives of a single firm to invest in a cleaner technology under emission quotas and emission taxation. We assume asymmetric information about the firm's cost of employing the new technology. Policy is set either before the firm invests (commitment) or after (time consistency). Contrary to conventional wisdom, we find that with commitment (time consistency), quotas give higher (lower) investment incentives than taxes. With quotas (taxes), commitment generally leads to higher (lower) welfare than time consistency. Under commitment with quadratic abatement costs and environmental damages, a modified Weitzman rule applies and quotas usually lead to higher welfare than taxes

Increased dynamics in the 40-57 Ω-loop of the G41S variant of human cytochrome c promote its pro-apoptotic conformation

Thrombocytopenia 4 is an inherited autosomal dominant thrombocytopenia, which occurs due to mutations in the human gene for cytochrome c that results in enhanced mitochondrial apoptotic activity. The Gly41Ser mutation was the first to be reported. Here we report stopped-flow kinetic studies of azide binding to human ferricytochrome c and its Gly41Ser variant, together with backbone amide H/D exchange and 15N-relaxation dynamics using NMR spectroscopy, to show that alternative conformations are kinetically and thermodynamically more readily accessible for the Gly41Ser variant than for the wild-type protein. Our work reveals a direct conformational link between the 40-57 Ω-loop in which residue 41 resides and the dynamical properties of the axial ligand to the heme iron, Met80, such that the replacement of glycine by serine promotes the dissociation of the Met80 ligand, thereby increasing the population of a peroxidase active state, which is a key non-native conformational state in apoptosis

Risk and Cooperation: Managing Hazardous Fuel in Mixed Ownership Landscapes

Managing natural processes at the landscape scale to promote forest health is important, especially in the case of wildfire, where the ability of a landowner to protect his or her individual parcel is constrained by conditions on neighboring ownerships. However, management at a landscape scale is also challenging because it requires cooperation on plans and actions that cross ownership boundaries. Cooperation depends on people’s beliefs and norms about reciprocity and perceptions of the risks and benefits of interacting with others. Using logistic regression tests on mail survey data and qualitative analysis of interviews with landowners, we examined the relationship between perceived wildfire risk and cooperation in the management of hazardous fuel by nonindustrial private forest (NIPF) owners in fire-prone landscapes of eastern Oregon. We found that NIPF owners who perceived a risk of wildfire to their properties, and perceived that conditions on nearby public forestlands contributed to this risk, were more likely to have cooperated with public agencies in the past to reduce fire risk than owners who did not perceive a risk of wildfire to their properties. Wildfire risk perception was not associated with past cooperation among NIPF owners. The greater social barriers to private–private cooperation than to private–public cooperation, and perceptions of more hazardous conditions on public compared with private forestlands may explain this difference. Owners expressed a strong willingness to cooperate with others in future cross-boundary efforts to reduce fire risk, however. We explore barriers to cooperative forest management across ownerships, and identify models of cooperation that hold potential for future collective action to reduce wildfire risk

Nifedipin ublažava djelovanje kokaina na enzimsku aktivnost u mozgu i jetri te smanjuje njegovo izlučivanje putem mokraće

The aim of this study was to see how nifedipine counters the effects of cocaine on hepatic and brain enzymatic activity in rats and whether it affects urinary excretion of cocaine. Male Wistar rats were divided in four groups of six: control, nifedipine group (5 mg kg-1 i.p. a day for five days); cocaine group (15 mg kg-1 i.p. a day for five days), and the nifedipine+cocaine group. Twenty-four hours after the last administration, we measured neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) activity in the brain and cytochrome P450 quantity, ethylmorphine-N-demethylase, and anilinehydroxylase activity in the liver. Urine samples were collected 24 h after the last cocaine and cocaine+nifedipine administration. Urinary cocaine concentration was determined using the GC/MS method. Cocaine administration increased brain nNOS activity by 55 % (p<0.05) in respect to control, which indicates the development of tolerance and dependence. In the combination group, nifedipine decreased the nNOS activity in respect to the cocaine-only group. In the liver, cocaine significantly decreased and nifedipine significantly increased cytochrome P450, ethylmorphine-N-demethylase, and anilinehydroxylase in respect to control. In combination, nifedipine successfully countered cocaine effects on these enzymes. Urine cocaine excretion in the cocaine+nifedipine group significantly dropped (by 35 %) compared to the cocaine-only group. Our results have confirmed the effects of nifedipine against cocaine tolerance and development of dependence, most likely due to metabolic interactions between them.Cilj je ovoga istraživanja bio utvrditi kako nifedipin ublažava djelovanje kokaina na enzimsku aktivnost u mozgu i jetri Wistar štakora te utječe li na njegovo izlučivanje putem mokraće. Mužjaci su podijeljeni u četiri skupine po šest jedinki: kontrolnu skupinu, nifedipinsku skupinu koja je pet dana intraperitonealno primala nifedipin u dozi od 5 mg kg-1; skupinu koja je pet dana primala kokain u dozi od 15 mg kg-1 na dan te skupinu koja je zajedno primala nifedipin i kokain u odgovarajućim dozama. Dvadeset i četiri sata nakon posljednje doze izmjerena je enzimska aktivnost sintaze dušičnoga oksida (nNOS) u mozgu, razina citokroma P450 te aktivnosti enzima etilmorfi n-N-demetilaze i anilinhidroksilaze u jetri štakora. Uzorci mokraće prikupljeni su 24 sata nakon posljednje doze kokaina odnosno kombinacije nifedipina i kokaina. Koncentracija kokaina u mokraći izmjerena je s pomoću vezanog sustava plinske kromatografi je i spektrometrije masa. Kokain je povećao aktivnost nNOS-a u mozgu za 55 % (p<0,05) u odnosu na kontrolnu skupinu, što upućuje na stvaranje tolerancije i ovisnosti. U kombiniranoj skupini nifedipin je značajno smanjio aktivnost nNOS-a u odnosu na skupinu koja je primila samo kokain. Kokain je značajno snizio, a nifedipin značajno povisio razinu citokroma P450 u jetri te aktivnost etilmorfi n-N-demetilaze i anilinhidroksilaze u odnosu na kontrolnu skupinu. U kombiniranoj skupini nifedipin je uspješno ublažio djelovanje kokaina na aktivnost spomenutih enzima. Izlučivanje kokaina putem mokraće u kombiniranoj skupini bilo je značajno manje (35 %) nego u skupini koja je primala samo kokain. Ovi rezultati potvrđuju da nifedipin štiti od djelovanja kokaina i stvaranja ovisnosti, najvjerojatnije zbog interakcija u metabolizmu dvaju spojeva