Additions and Corrections to the Stoneflies (Plecoptera) of Iowa, U.S.A.

(exerpt) Until recently, Iowa’s stonefly fauna was poorly documented. Heimdal et al. (2004) published a comprehensive report on stonefly distributions within the state, reporting seven families and 43 species. Five species, Allocapnia pygmaea (Burmeister) (Capiniidae), Leuctra tenuis (Pictet) (Leuctridae), Amphinemura linda (Ricker) (Nemouridae), Nemoura trispinosa Claassen (Nemouridae), and Soyedina vallicularia (Wu) (Nemouridae), were recommended for state protection because of their limited distribution within Iowa. Four species, Amphinemura delosa (Ricker), Isogenoides doratus (Frison) (Perlodidae), I. krumholzi (Ricker), and I. varians (Walsh), had limited distributions, but were not listed because their observed habitat preferences appeared common or were difficult to sample and poorly collected. From 2004 to 2006, fifteen county, state, and federal parks and preserves in east and northeast Iowa were sampled during the spring and summer in an effort to find additional locations for these nine species. The surveys yielded new distributional data for five species, including two new state records, and one species deletion, updating the total number of species recorded from Iowa to 44. A discussion for these records and corrections is presented below. Material collected from these surveys was deposited in the University of Iowa Hygienic Laboratory Collection (UHL) and the Illinois Natural History Survey Insect Collection (INHS)

The influence of large-amplitude librational motion on the hydrogen bond energy for alcohol–water complexes

The far-infrared absorption spectra have been recorded for hydrogen-bonded complexes of water with methanol and t-butanol embedded in cryogenic neon matrices at 2.8 K. The partial isotopic substitution of individual subunits enabled by a dual inlet deposition procedure provides for the first time unambiguous assignments of the intermolecular high-frequency out-of-plane and low-frequency in-plane donor OH librational modes for mixed alcohol-water complexes. The vibrational assignments confirm directly that water acts as the hydrogen bond donor in the most stable mixed complexes and the tertiary alcohol is a superior hydrogen bond acceptor. The class of large-amplitude donor OH librational motion is shown to account for up to 5.1 kJ mol(-1) of the destabilizing change of vibrational zero-point energy upon intermolecular OH center dot center dot center dot O hydrogen bond formation. The experimental findings are supported by complementary electronic structure calculations at the CCSD(T)-F12/aug-cc-pVTZ level of theory

THz absorption spectrum of the CO2–H2O complex: Observation and assignment of intermolecular van der Waals vibrations

Terahertz absorption spectra have been recorded for the weakly bound CO2-H2O complex embedded in cryogenic neon matrices at 2.8 K. The three high-frequency van der Waals vibrational transitions associated with out-of-plane wagging, in-plane rocking, and torsional motion of the isotopic H2O subunit have been assigned and provide crucial observables for benchmark theoretical descriptions of this systems' flat intermolecular potential energy surface. A (semi)-empirical value for the zero-point energy of 273 ± 15 cm(-1) from the class of intermolecular van der Waals vibrations is proposed and the combination with high-level quantum chemical calculations provides a value of 726 ± 15 cm(-1) for the dissociation energy D0

The effect of hydrogen bonding on torsional dynamics: A combined far-infrared jet and matrix isolation study of methanol dimer.

The effect of strong intermolecular hydrogen bonding on torsional degrees of freedom is investigated by far-infrared absorption spectroscopy for different methanol dimer isotopologues isolated in supersonic jet expansions or embedded in inert neon matrices at low temperatures. For the vacuum-isolated and Ne-embedded methanol dimer, the hydrogen bond OH librational mode of the donor subunit is finally observed at ∼560 cm(-1), blue-shifted by more than 300 cm(-1) relative to the OH torsional fundamental of the free methanol monomer. The OH torsional mode of the acceptor embedded in neon is observed at ∼286 cm(-1). The experimental findings are held against harmonic predictions from local coupled-cluster methods with single and double excitations and a perturbative treatment of triple excitations [LCCSD(T)] and anharmonic. VPT2 corrections at canonical MP2 and density functional theory (DFT) levels in order to quantify the contribution of vibrational anharmonicity for this important class of intermolecular hydrogen bond vibrational motion

Impact of EMG Changes in Continuous Vagal Nerve Monitoring in High-Risk Endocrine Neck Surgery

Background: Continuous vagal intraoperative neuromonitoring (CIONM) of the recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) may reduce the risk of RLN lesions during high-risk endocrine neck surgery such as operation for large goiter potentially requiring transsternal surgery, advanced thyroid cancer, and recurrence. Methods: Fifty-five consecutive patients (41 female, median age 61 years, 87 nerves at risk) underwent high-risk endocrine neck surgery. CIONM was performed using the commercially available NIM-Response 3.0 nerve monitoring system with automatic periodic stimulation (APS) and matching endotracheal tube electrodes (Medtronic Inc.). All CIONM events (decreased amplitude/increased latency) were recorded. Results: APS malfunction occurred on three sides (3 %). A total of 138 CIONM events were registered on 61 sides. Of 138, 47 (34 %) events were assessed as imminent (13 events) or potentially imminent (34 events) lesions, whereas 91 (66 %) were classified as artifacts. Loss of signal was observed in seven patients. Actions to restore the CIONM baseline were undertaken in 58/138 (42 %) events with a median 60 s required per action. Four RLN palsies (3 transient, 1 permanent) occurred: one in case of CIONM malfunction, two sudden without any significant previous CIONM event, and one without any CIONM event. The APS vagus electrode led to temporary damage to the vagus nerve in two patients. Conclusions: CIONM may prevent RLN palsies by timely recognition of imminent nerve lesions. In high-risk endocrine neck surgery, CIONM may, however, be limited in its utility by system malfunction, direct harm to the vagus nerve, and particularly, inability to indicate RLN lesions ahead in time.publishedVersio

Climate Independent Snow Production and Solutions for Snow Storage - Klimauavhengig snøproduksjon og ulike løsninger for lagring av snø

This thesis studies different alternatives for snow storage in Granåsen (Trondheim). It is planned to improve the arena in Granåsen, which will give possibilities for future winter games and cross-country skiing facilities from October to the end of March. For that reason, it is assumed that 24 000 m3 snow is to be stored from the beginning of April to the end of September. Both outdoor and indoor snow storage are analyzed. The snow pile stored outside will be covered with sawdust. This is already practiced in Granåsen, but with a smaller volume of snow. A multipurpose hall will be studied as an alternative for an indoor storage. No such hall exists in Granåsen today, but might be a good alternative that fits the ambition for Granåsen to become a future all-inclusive sports arena. The multipurpose hall will be used for snow storage during the summer, and can be used for indoor training and sports arrangements during the winter. A snowmelt model has been developed in Excel. The model calculates the amount of melted snow for every hour during the storage season, with respect to weather statistics for Granåsen. The calculations show that approximately 20 % of the initial snow volume will be lost for the outdoor storage. Among the evaluated solutions to reduce the snowmelt, increasing the thickness of the insulation layer gives the best result. A solar shading wall or different snow pile geometries do not lead to any significant melt reduction. When the sawdust thickness is changes from 0.4 m to 0.8 m, the snowmelt is reduced from 20 % to 12 %. However, analysis of the costs proves this to be an expensive alternative. Maintenance of sawdust is therefore concluded to be the most important measure to reduce the snowmelt. This includes necessary drying to maintain the quality and the low thermal conductivity of the sawdust. An insulation thickness of 0.3-0.5 m sawdust can be recommended. As it can be expected, the melting loss for the snow stored inside will be very small. If the refrigeration capacity of the hall cooling system is set to 20 kW, only 0.21 % of the initial volume will be lost. The snowmelt model demonstrates that there will be great variations in indoor air temperature at different refrigeration capacities. This is a storage alternative with high investment costs compared to the costs for the outdoor storage. More than 50 % of the annual costs for snow storage will be related to the transportation and distribution of the snow from the storage and to the trails. It will therefore be important to have detailed strategies in advance, regarding the need for snow and how much snow which should be distributed during the winter