Simulating soil carbon sequestration from long term fertilizer and manure additions under continuous wheat using the DailyDayCent model

Bangabandhu Fellowship on Science and ICT project, Ministry of Science and Technology, People’s Republic of Bangladesh. Open Access via Springer Compact AgreementPeer reviewedPublisher PD

Trapping of dielectric particles with light-induced space-charge fields

Light-induced space-charge fields in lithium niobate crystals are used to trap and manipulate dielectric particles on the surface of such crystals. Without any external voltage source, strong field gradients are present in the proximity of the crystal surface. These are used to trap particles with diameters in the range between 100 nm and some tens of micrometers

Use of recombinant ApxIV in serodiagnosis of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae infections and development of an ApxIV ELISA

Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae (App) is the etiological agent of porcine pleuropneumonia. The virulence of the fifteen serotypes of App is mainly determined by the three major RTX toxins ApxI, ApxII and ApxIII, which are secreted by the different serotypes in various combinations. A fourth RTX toxin, ApxIV, is produced by all 15 serotypes specifically during infection of pigs, but not under in vitro conditions. Pigs infected with App show specific antibodies directed against ApxIV. The analysis of sera of experimentally infected pigs revealed that ApxIV-immunoblots detected App infections in the second to third week post infection. We developed an indirect ELISA based on purified recombinant N’-terminal moiety of ApxIV that showed a specificity of 100% and a sensitivity of 93.8%

Azaphilone Pigments from Hypoxylon rubiginosum and H. texense: Absolute Configuration, Bioactivity, and Biosynthesis

We report new stromatal azaphilone pigments rubiginosins Z-X from the ascomycete Hypoxylon rubiginosum, as well as rubiginosins Z and W from H. texense, which were isolated along with known monomeric and dimeric congeners. Structures were elucidated using comprehensive HRMS, NMR, and ECD analysis, revealing azaphilones from both fungi to be exclusively C-8(S)-configured. The orsellinic acid (OA)-carrying rubiginosins A, Z and dimeric rutilins A-B exhibited cytotoxicity. Rubiginosins X-W bearing linear polyketide side chains as well as rutilins A-B were antimicrobial. Structures of the differently-substituted azaphilones were linked to two putative biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs; hraza1/2) in H. rubiginosum, which are proposed to collaboratively synthesize the OA-substituted azaphilones. These share high homology with the azaphilone-forming BGCs hfaza1/2 from H. fragiforme. Comparison of hraza and hfaza suggests that lack of an FAD-dependent monooxygenase and acyltransferase gene in hraza1 prevent formation of C-8(R)-configured fatty acid-substituted azaphilones in H. rubiginosum. The polyketide synthase-derived side chain of rubiginosins C and X-W is not encoded in the respective BGCs, showing that a third BGC is hypothetically involved in their formation. Cross-interaction of three BGCs which are forming a single molecule is unprecedented in fungal natural product biosynthesis

Solving One Dimensional Scalar Conservation Laws by Particle Management

We present a meshfree numerical solver for scalar conservation laws in one space dimension. Points representing the solution are moved according to their characteristic velocities. Particle interaction is resolved by purely local particle management. Since no global remeshing is required, shocks stay sharp and propagate at the correct speed, while rarefaction waves are created where appropriate. The method is TVD, entropy decreasing, exactly conservative, and has no numerical dissipation. Difficulties involving transonic points do not occur, however inflection points of the flux function pose a slight challenge, which can be overcome by a special treatment. Away from shocks the method is second order accurate, while shocks are resolved with first order accuracy. A postprocessing step can recover the second order accuracy. The method is compared to CLAWPACK in test cases and is found to yield an increase in accuracy for comparable resolutions.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures. Submitted to proceedings of the Fourth International Workshop Meshfree Methods for Partial Differential Equation

The influence of warm rolling parameters (temperature and reheating time between passes) on the superplastic response of Al-Mg alloys

The effects of rolling temperature and reheating interval between consecutive rolling passes on the superplastic response of two Al-Mg alloys were investigated. The alloys were Al-8%Mg-0 .1%Zr and Al-10%Mg-0 .1%Zr (wt. pct.). The effects of varying the process parameters were observed on resultant superplastic ductility during testing at 300°C. The data support a model for microstructure evolution during processing by a mechanism of continuous recrystallization (CRX). The model for CRX assumes that dislocations recover to sub boundaries which are stabilized by precipitates, of size on the order of one micron, located at nodes of the substructure. Continued recovery results in formation of boundaries of moderate misorientation, in the absence of the migration of a high angle boundary. The dependence of CRX on reheating time and rolling temperature was investigated and a strong dependence of subsequent superplastic response on these two processing parameters was observed. The influence of grain size on resultant superplasticity was also noted, indicating that the extent of grain refinement is limited to the spacing of particles.http://archive.org/details/influenceofwarmr00kuhnLieutenant, United States NavyApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Review of the Marine Monitoring Program (MMP)

The Marine Monitoring Program (MMP) monitors the condition of inshore water quality and aims to link this to changes in the health of key inshore environments (coral reefs and seagrass). This report provides a review of each of the 5 programs based on the best available information that was provided by the MMP providers at the time of the review

The challenge of modelling nitrogen management at the field scale : simulation and sensitivity analysis of N2O fluxes across nine experimental sites using DailyDayCent

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Update on Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae infections in pigs : knowledge gaps for improved disease control

Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae (M. hyopneumoniae) is the primary pathogen of enzootic pneumonia, a chronic respiratory disease in pigs. Infections occur worldwide and cause major economic losses to the pig industry. The present paper reviews the current knowledge on M. hyopneumoniae infections, with emphasis on identification and analysis of knowledge gaps for optimizing control of the disease. Close contact between infected and susceptible pigs is the main route of M. hyopneumoniae transmission. Management and housing conditions predisposing for infection or disease are known, but further research is needed to better understand M. hyopneumoniae transmission patterns in modern pig production systems, and to assess the importance of the breeding population for downstream disease control. The organism is primarily found on the mucosal surface of the trachea, bronchi and bronchioles. Different adhesins and lipoproteins are involved in the adherence process. However, a clear picture of the virulence and pathogenicity of M. hyopneumoniae is still missing. The role of glycerol metabolism, myoinositol metabolism and the Mycoplasma Ig binding protein-Mycoplasma Ig protease system should be further investigated for their contribution to virulence. The destruction of the mucociliary apparatus, together with modulating the immune response, enhances the susceptibility of infected pigs to secondary pathogens. Clinical signs and severity of lesions depend on different factors, such as management, environmental conditions and likely also M. hyopneumoniae strain. The potential impact of strain variability on disease severity is not well defined. Diagnostics could be improved by developing tests that may detect virulent strains, by improving sampling in live animals and by designing ELI-SAs allowing discrimination between infected and vaccinated pigs. The currently available vaccines are often cost-efficient, but the ongoing research on developing new vaccines that confer protective immunity and reduce transmission should be continued, as well as optimization of protocols to eliminate M. hyopneumoniae from pig herds