Advances and visions in large-scale hydrological modelling: findings from the 11th Workshop on Large-Scale Hydrological Modelling

Large-scale hydrological modelling has become increasingly wide-spread during the last decade. An annual workshop series on large-scale hydrological modelling has provided, since 1997, a forum to the German-speaking community for discussing recent developments and achievements in this research area. In this paper we present the findings from the 2007 workshop which focused on advances and visions in large-scale hydrological modelling. We identify the state of the art, difficulties and research perspectives with respect to the themes "sensitivity of model results", "integrated modelling" and "coupling of processes in hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere". Some achievements in large-scale hydrological modelling during the last ten years are presented together with a selection of remaining challenges for the future

Visual span and change detection in soccer: an expertise study

There is evidence to suggest that sports experts are able to extract more perceptual information from a single fixation than novices when exposed to meaningful tasks that are specific to their field of expertise. In particular, Reingold et al. (2001) showed that chess experts use a larger visual span including fewer fixations when compared to their less skilled counterparts. The aim of the present study was to examine whether also in a more complex environment, namely soccer, skilled players use a larger visual span and fewer fixations than less skilled players when attempting to recognise players' positions. To this end, we combined the gaze-contingent window technique with the change detection paradigm. Results seem to suggest that skilled soccer players do not use a larger visual span than less skilled players. However, skilled soccer players showed significantly fewer fixations of longer duration than their less skilled counterparts, supporting the notion that experts may extract more information from a single glance. © 2011 Psychology Press

A conserved filamentous assembly underlies the structure of the meiotic chromosome axis.

The meiotic chromosome axis plays key roles in meiotic chromosome organization and recombination, yet the underlying protein components of this structure are highly diverged. Here, we show that 'axis core proteins' from budding yeast (Red1), mammals (SYCP2/SYCP3), and plants (ASY3/ASY4) are evolutionarily related and play equivalent roles in chromosome axis assembly. We first identify 'closure motifs' in each complex that recruit meiotic HORMADs, the master regulators of meiotic recombination. We next find that axis core proteins form homotetrameric (Red1) or heterotetrameric (SYCP2:SYCP3 and ASY3:ASY4) coiled-coil assemblies that further oligomerize into micron-length filaments. Thus, the meiotic chromosome axis core in fungi, mammals, and plants shares a common molecular architecture, and likely also plays conserved roles in meiotic chromosome axis assembly and recombination control

Improving Co-benefits and 'Triple Win' Impacts from Climate Action: The Role of Guidance Tools

This CDI Practice Paper by L.O. Naess, M. Hagemann, B. Harvey, F. Urban, S. Hendel-Blackford and N. Höhne addresses the role of tools in supporting interventions to achieve the ‘triple wins’ of adaptation, mitigation and development. Over recent years there has been a proliferation of guidance tools to support adaptation or mitigation, increasingly in a development context, but little work on the role tools play in helping to bridge the gap between these three areas in practice. Based on a review of tools in view of ‘climate compatible development’, the paper suggests key considerations for how tools could help achieve ‘triple wins’. They include (1) the importance of understanding how tools are a way of defining and shaping a goal, not merely helping to implement actions to achieve it; (2) the value of acknowledging different starting points, and that a lot of the integration is happening – and will continue to happen – on the side of users; and (3) because tools cannot provide all the answers to complex problems they need to be complemented by analysis of actors, goals and outcomes.UK Department for International Developmen

Production of biochars from crop residues for the remediation of trace elements contaminated soils

Biochar is the solid material obtained from thermochemical conversion of biomass under oxygen-limited conditions (pyrolysis), which can be applied as soil ameliorant [1]. In general, biochar properties are very heterogeneous due to the diverse pyrolytic conditions and the wide variety of organic residues used as feedstock [2,3]. This study intends to discern the relationship between feedstock, pyrolysis conditions and biochar properties with the goal of producing biochar with a high potential for the stabilization of trace elements in contaminated soils. For that purpose, biochars were produced using four different feedstock (rice husk, pruned olive trees, olive pit and “alperujo”, a byproduct of olive oil production) and two contrasting pyrolysis systems: a batch reactor (temperature ranged from 350 to 600 ºC; reaction time from 0.5 to 4 h under N2 atmosphere with a heating and cooling rate of XY K s-1) and a continuously feed reactor with a screw conveyor (Pyreka reactor; 500 ºC, residence time 12 min and N2 flux). Biochars were characterized by determining their pH, water holding capacity (WHC), elemental composition (C, H, N), ash content, internal structure by micro-computed tomography and chemical composition by field emission scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. To complete the characterization, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller specific surface area (SSABET; N2 adsorptive) and solid-state 13C-NMR spectroscopy were performed. Biochars produced in the batch reactor showed that pH, WHC, TC, SSABET, ash content and aromaticity increased with temperature and reaction time. Rice husk biochars showed the highest WHC (> 100%), while olive pit biochars the lowest ones. Rice husk and olive pit biochars had the highest aromaticity (between 75 and 91% of aryl carbon). The H/Cat ratio decreased with increasing pyrolysis temperature, which suggests an increase in the condensation degree of the aromatic structures. SSABET surface area ranged from 20 to 100 m2 g-1 and increased with temperature. Biochars produced in the batch reactor resulted in greater SSA values than Pyreka biochars. The pyrolysis conditions of 500 ºC and 2 h at the batch reactor resulted in similar biochars than those produced by the Pyreka reactor at 500 ºC and 12 min. Taking into account the necessity of applying biochar to soil for remediation purposes, we selected those biochars of high stability (ratio H/Cat ≤ 0.7 & high aromaticity by 13C NMR spectroscopy), great capacity for the sorption and stabilization of trace elements2 (SSABET ≥ 100 m2g-1; pH ≥9) and good potential to act as soil amendment (high WHC). The pyrolysis conditions finally selected were 500 ºC and 2 hours for the steel-batch reactor and 500 ºC and 12 min for the continuous reactor. At these conditions, rice husk biochars showed the most appropriate characteristics to be used as soil amendment for trace-elements contaminated soils

Lifetime measurements of Triaxial Strongly Deformed bands in 163^{163}Tm

With the Doppler Shift Attenuation Method, quadrupole transition moments, $Q_t$, were determined for the two recently proposed Triaxial Strongly Deformed (TSD) bands in $^{163}$Tm. The measured $Q_t$ moments indicate that the deformation of these bands is larger than that of the yrast, signature partners. However, the measured values are smaller than those predicted by theory. This observation appears to be valid for TSD bands in several nuclei of the regionComment: 8 pages, 5 figures. Submitted to Physical Review

First measurement of the Head-Tail directional nuclear recoil signature at energies relevant to WIMP dark matter searches

We present first evidence for the so-called Head-Tail asymmetry signature of neutron-induced nuclear recoil tracks at energies down to 1.5 keV/amu using the 1m^3 DRIFT-IIc dark matter detector. This regime is appropriate for recoils induced by Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMPs) but one where the differential ionization is poorly understood. We show that the distribution of recoil energies and directions induced here by Cf-252 neutrons matches well that expected from massive WIMPs. The results open a powerful new means of searching for a galactic signature from WIMPs.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, 1 tabl

A novel interaction between ATOH8 and PPP3CB

ATOH8 is a bHLH transcription factor playing roles in a variety of developmental processes such as neurogenesis, differentiation of pancreatic precursor cells, development of kidney and muscle, and differentiation of endothelial cells. PPP3CB belongs to the catalytic subunit of the serine/threonine phosphatase, calcineurin, which can dephosphorylate its substrate proteins to regulate their physiological activities. In our study, we demonstrated that ATOH8 interacts with PPP3CB in vitro with different approaches. We show that the conserved catalytic domain of PPP3CB interacts with both the N-terminus and the bHLH domain of ATOH8. Although the interaction domain of PPP3CB is conserved among all isoforms of calcineurin A, ATOH8 selectively interacts with PPP3CB instead of PPP3CA, probably due to the unique proline-rich region present in the N-terminus of PPP3CB, which controls the specificity of its interaction partners. Furthermore, we show that inhibition of the interaction with calcineurin inhibitor, cyclosporin A (CsA), leads to the retention of ATOH8 to the cytoplasm, suggesting that the interaction renders nuclear localization of ATOH8 which may be critical to control its activity as transcription factor

Quantum generalized constant coupling model for geometrically frustrated antiferromagnets

A generalized constant coupling approximation for quantum geometrically frustrated antiferromagnets is presented. Starting from a frustrated unit, we introduce the interactions with the surrounding units in terms of an internal effective field which is fixed by a self consistency condition. Results for the static magnetic susceptibility and specific heat are compared with previous results in the framework of this same model for the classical limit. The range of applicability of the model is discussed.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, 1 Tables, typeset using RevTeX 4, small correction in Table