The vegetation and flora of Deal Island, Kent Group

There are eight formations mapped for Deal Island comprising forests and woodlands, scrub, sedgeland,grassland and a coastal complex. Tussock grassland, which results from burning and clearing of Allocasuarina forest, occurs on the limestone soils, while the soils formed directly over granite are clothed with Eucalypt-dominated scrub and woodland with a healthy or shrubby understorey. A total of 176 plant taxa are recorded, of which only two are Tasmanian endemics. About one-quarter of the flora comprise exotic species. A distinct Bassian floristic element is present, which includes some Eremean flora

Metalanguage in L1 English-speaking 12-year-olds: which aspects of writing do they talk about?

Traditional psycholinguistic approaches to metalinguistic awareness in L1 learners elicit responses containing metalanguage that demonstrates metalinguistic awareness of pre-determined aspects of language knowledge. This paper, which takes a more ethnographic approach, demonstrates how pupils are able to engage their own focus of metalanguage when reflecting on their everyday learning activities involving written language. What is equally significant is what their metalanguage choices reveal about their understanding and application of written language concepts

Consequences of asteroid fragmentation during impact hazard mitigation

The consequences of the fragmentation of an Earth-threatening asteroid due to an attempted deflection are examined in this paper. The minimum required energy for a successful impulsive deflection of a threatening object is computed and compared to the energy required to break up a small size asteroid. The results show that the fragmentation of an asteroid that underwent an impulsive deflection, such as a kinetic impact or a nuclear explosion, is a very plausible event.Astatistical model is used to approximate the number and size of the fragments as well as the distribution of velocities at the instant after the deflection attempt takes place. This distribution of velocities is a function of the energy provided by the deflection attempt, whereas the number and size of the asteroidal fragments is a function of the size of the largest fragment. The model also takes into account the gravity forces that could lead to a reaggregation of the asteroid after fragmentation. The probability distribution of the pieces after the deflection is then propagated forward in time until the encounter with Earth. A probability damage factor (i.e., expected damage caused by a given size fragment multiplied by its impact probability) is then computed and analyzed for different plausible scenarios, characterized by different levels of deflection energies and lead times

DRUG-NEM: Optimizing drug combinations using single-cell perturbation response to account for intratumoral heterogeneity.

An individual malignant tumor is composed of a heterogeneous collection of single cells with distinct molecular and phenotypic features, a phenomenon termed intratumoral heterogeneity. Intratumoral heterogeneity poses challenges for cancer treatment, motivating the need for combination therapies. Single-cell technologies are now available to guide effective drug combinations by accounting for intratumoral heterogeneity through the analysis of the signaling perturbations of an individual tumor sample screened by a drug panel. In particular, Mass Cytometry Time-of-Flight (CyTOF) is a high-throughput single-cell technology that enables the simultaneous measurements of multiple ([Formula: see text]40) intracellular and surface markers at the level of single cells for hundreds of thousands of cells in a sample. We developed a computational framework, entitled Drug Nested Effects Models (DRUG-NEM), to analyze CyTOF single-drug perturbation data for the purpose of individualizing drug combinations. DRUG-NEM optimizes drug combinations by choosing the minimum number of drugs that produce the maximal desired intracellular effects based on nested effects modeling. We demonstrate the performance of DRUG-NEM using single-cell drug perturbation data from tumor cell lines and primary leukemia samples

A cosmic ray cocoon along the X-ray jet of M87?

Relativistic jets propagating through an ambient medium must produce some observational effects along their side boundaries because of interactions across the large velocity gradient. One possible effect of such an interaction would be a sheared magnetic field structure at the jet boundaries, leading to a characteristic radio polarization pattern. As proposed by Ostrowski, another effect can come from the generation of a high energy cosmic ray component at the boundary, producing dynamic effects on the medium surrounding the jet and forming a cocoon dominated by cosmic rays with a decreased thermal gas emissivity. We selected this process for our first attempt to look for the effects of this type of interaction. We analyzed the Chandra X-ray data for the radio galaxy M87 in order to verify if the expected regions of diminished emissivity may be present near the spectacular X-ray jet in this source. The detailed analysis of the data, merged from 42 separate observations, shows signatures of lower emissivity surrounding the jet. In particular we detect an intensity dip along the part of the jet, which would be approximately 150 pc x 2 kpc in size, if situated along the jet which is inclined toward us. Due to a highly non-uniform X-ray background in the central region we are not able to claim the discovery of a cosmic ray cocoon around the M87 jet: we only have demonstrated that the data show morphological structures which could be accounted for if a cosmic ray cocoon exists.Comment: 8 pages, 8 pictures accepted for publication in MNRA

How Should We Foster the Professional Integrity of Engineers in Japan? A Pride-Based Approach

I discuss the predicament that engineering-ethics education in Japan now faces and propose a solution to this. The predicament is professional motivation, i.e., the problem of how to motivate engineering students to maintain their professional integrity. The special professional responsibilities of engineers are often explained either as an implicit social contract between the profession and society (the “social-contract” view), or as requirements for membership in the profession (the “membership-requirement” view). However, there are empirical data that suggest that such views will not do in Japan, and this is the predicament that confronts us. In this country, the profession of engineering did not exist 10 years ago and is still quite underdeveloped. Engineers in this country do not have privileges, high income, or high social status. Under such conditions, neither the social-contract view nor the membership-requirement view is convincing. As an alternative approach that might work in Japan, I propose a pride-based view. The notion of pride has been analyzed in the virtue-ethics literature, but the full potential of this notion has not been explored. Unlike other kinds of pride, professional pride can directly benefit the general public by motivating engineers to do excellent work even without social rewards, since being proud of themselves is already a reward. My proposal is to foster a particular kind of professional pride associated with the importance of professional services in society, as the motivational basis for professional integrity. There is evidence to suggest that this model works

CD81 and claudin 1 coreceptor association: role in hepatitis C virus entry.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is an enveloped positive-stranded RNA hepatotropic virus. HCV pseudoparticles infect liver-derived cells, supporting a model in which liver-specific molecules define HCV internalization. Three host cell molecules have been reported to be important entry factors or receptors for HCV internalization: scavenger receptor BI, the tetraspanin CD81, and the tight junction protein claudin-1 (CLDN1). None of the receptors are uniquely expressed within the liver, leading us to hypothesize that their organization within hepatocytes may explain receptor activity. Since CD81 and CLDN1 act as coreceptors during late stages in the entry process, we investigated their association in a variety of cell lines and human liver tissue. Imaging techniques that take advantage of fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) to study protein-protein interactions have been developed. Aequorea coerulescens green fluorescent protein- and Discosoma sp. red-monomer fluorescent protein-tagged forms of CD81 and CLDN1 colocalized, and FRET occurred between the tagged coreceptors at comparable frequencies in permissive and nonpermissive cells, consistent with the formation of coreceptor complexes. FRET occurred between antibodies specific for CD81 and CLDN1 bound to human liver tissue, suggesting the presence of coreceptor complexes in liver tissue. HCV infection and treatment of Huh-7.5 cells with recombinant HCV E1-E2 glycoproteins and anti-CD81 monoclonal antibody modulated homotypic (CD81-CD81) and heterotypic (CD81-CLDN1) coreceptor protein association(s) at specific cellular locations, suggesting distinct roles in the viral entry process

Genomes from bacteria associated with the canine oral cavity: A test case for automated genome-based taxonomic assignment

© 2019 Coil et al. Taxonomy for bacterial isolates is commonly assigned via sequence analysis. However, the most common sequence-based approaches (e.g. 16S rRNA gene-based phylogeny or whole genome comparisons) are still labor intensive and subjective to varying degrees. Here we present a set of 33 bacterial genomes, isolated from the canine oral cavity. Taxonomy of these isolates was first assigned by PCR amplification of the 16S rRNA gene, Sanger sequencing, and taxonomy assignment using BLAST. After genome sequencing, taxonomy was revisited through a manual process using a combination of average nucleotide identity (ANI), concatenated marker gene phylogenies, and 16S rRNA gene phylogenies. This taxonomy was then compared to the automated taxonomic assignment given by the recently proposed Genome Taxonomy Database (GTDB). We found the results of all three methods to be similar (25 out of the 33 had matching genera), but the GTDB approach required fewer subjective decisions, and required far less labor. The primary differences in the non-identical taxonomic assignments involved cases where GTDB has proposed taxonomic revisions

Radio spectral study of the cluster of galaxies Abell 2255

Spectral index studies of halos, relics, and radio galaxies provide useful information on their origin and connection with merger processes. We present WSRT multi-wavelength observations of the galaxy cluster Abell 2255 at 25 cm, 85 cm, and 2 m. The spectral index images allowed us to study the integrated spectrum of halo and relic and to investigate the physical properties of the Beaver head-tail radio galaxy belonging to the cluster. In the radio halo, the spectral index is steeper at the center and flatter at the locations of the radio filaments, clearly detected at 25 cm. In the relics, the spectral index flattens, moving away from the cluster center. For the Beaver radio galaxy, the spectrum severely steepens from the head towards the end of the tail, because of the energy losses suffered by the relativistic particles. In the 2 m map, which is the first high-sensitivity image presented in the literature at such a long wavelength, a new Mpc-size emission region is detected between the known radio halo and the NW relic. Not detecting this feature in the more sensitive 85 cm observations implies that it must have a very steep spectrum (alpha <= -2.6). The observational properties of the radio halo suggest that either we are looking at a superposition of different structures (filaments in the foreground plus real halo in the background) seen in projection across the cluster center or that the halo is intrinsically peculiar. The newly detected extended region to the NW of the halo could be considered as an asymmetric extension of the halo itself. However, since radio halos are known in the literature as structures showing a regular morphology, the new feature could represent the first example of steep Mpc-size diffuse structures (MDS), detected around clusters at very low frequencies.Comment: 23 pages, 18 figures. A&A, in pres

Repeat temperature measurements in boreholes from northwestern Utah link ground and air temperature changes at the decadal time scale

Borehole temperature profiles provide a record of ground surface temperature (GST) change at the decadal to centennial time scale. GST histories reconstructed from boreholes are particularly useful in climate reconstruction if changes in GST and surface air temperature (SAT) are effectively coupled at decadal and longer time periods and it can be shown that borehole temperatures respond faithfully to surface temperature changes. We test these assumptions using three boreholes in northwestern Utah that have been repeatedly logged for temperature over a time span of 29 years. We report 13 temperaturedepth logs at the Emigrant Pass Observatory borehole GC‐1, eight at borehole SI‐1 and five at borehole DM‐1, acquired between 1978 and 2007. Systematic subsurface temperature changes of up to 0.6°C are observed over this time span in the upper sections of the boreholes; below approximately 100 m any temperature transients are within observational noise. We difference the temperature logs to highlight subsurface transients and to remove any ambiguity resulting from steady state source of curvature. Synthetic temperature profiles computed from SAT data at nearby meteorological stations reproduce both the amplitude and pattern of the transient temperature observations, fitting the observations to within 0.03°C or better. This observational confirmation of the strong coupling between surface temperature change and borehole temperature transients lends further support to the use of borehole temperatures to complement SAT and multiproxy reconstructions of climate change.Keywords: Northwestern Utah, Borehole temperatur