Practical analysis of polymers with depth varying compositions using Fourier transform infrared photoacoustic spectroscopy (plenary)

Fourier transform infrared photoacoustic spectroscopy can be used as a nondestructive method to probe the molecular composition of materials as a function of depth into the sample. This is done by varying the thickness of the surface layer being analyzed, which can be as great as some tens of micrometers, depending on optical and thermal properties.Computational methods are described to process photoacoustic amplitude and phase spectra for both semiquantitative and quantitative depth analyses. These methods are demonstrated on layered and gradient samples

Limnological Features of Some Northwestern Iowa Lakes

Quantitative information on the morphology, watershed characteristics, water transparency, water chemistry and algal crops of six Iowa lakes is summarized. Lake West Okoboji had less oxygen present in the hypolimnion in 1950-1973 than in 1919-1928, indicating an increase in eutrophication. On the basis of increasing plant-nutrient concentrations, increasing summer algal standing crops and decreasing water transparency, the lakes can be ranked thus: Lake West Okoboji, Big Spirit Lake, Lake East Okoboji (including Upper Gar and Minnewashta) and Lower Gar Lake. These differences among lakes are related to the ratio of watershed area to lake volume, which controls the impact of annual nutrient inputs from the watersheds

A Survey of Water Transparency in Iowa Lakes

Measurements of Secchi disk transparency were made in 50 Iowa lakes and reservoirs in the summer of 1975. Averages of July and August readings for individual lakes ranged from 0.1 to 2.7 m. The man-made lakes in the southern part of the state generally had greater transparencies than the natural lakes in the north. Reduced transparency was related more to algal density than to suspended inorganic matter

A journey into e-resource administration hell

The author discusses the administrative problems which can still occur when looking after a large and complex portfolio of electronic resources, and focuses on some of the recurring ‘nightmares’ involving e-journals in particular. Amongst the subjects discussed are lost archives, activation codes which change without anyone being told, unreasonable expiry dates, poor service, wandering URLs, lack of publicity, failure to keep licensing conditions, and title changes. The article ends with a look at some emerging examples of excellent practice to do with e-journal management, proving all parties involved can work together to ensure a smooth and efficient service

A Multi-wavelength Study of the Host Environment of SMBHB 4C+37.11

4C+37.11, at z=0.055 shows two compact radio nuclei, imaged by VLBI at 7mas separation, making it the closest known resolved super-massive black hole binary (SMBHB). An important question is whether this unique object is young, caught on the way to a gravitational in-spiral and merger, or has `stalled' at 7pc. We describe new radio/optical/X-ray observations of the massive host and its surrounding X-ray halo. These data reveal X-ray/optical channels following the radio outflow and large scale edges in the X-ray halo. These structures are promising targets for further study which should elucidate their relationship to the unique SMBHB core.Comment: To appear in the Astrophysical Journa

Structural changes accompanying phosphorylation of tarantula muscle myosin filaments

Electron microscopy has been used to study the structural changes that occur in the myosin filaments of tarantula striated muscle when they are phosphorylated. Myosin filaments in muscle homogenates maintained in relaxing conditions (ATP, EGTA) are found to have nonphosphorylated regulatory light chains as shown by urea/glycerol gel electrophoresis and [32P]phosphate autoradiography. Negative staining reveals an ordered, helical arrangement of crossbridges in these filaments, in which the heads from axially neighboring myosin molecules appear to interact with each other. When the free Ca2+ concentration in a homogenate is raised to 10(-4) M, or when a Ca2+-insensitive myosin light chain kinase is added at low Ca2+ (10(-8) M), the regulatory light chains of myosin become rapidly phosphorylated. Phosphorylation is accompanied by potentiation of the actin activation of the myosin Mg-ATPase activity and by loss of order of the helical crossbridge arrangement characteristic of the relaxed filament. We suggest that in the relaxed state, when the regulatory light chains are not phosphorylated, the myosin heads are held down on the filament backbone by head-head interactions or by interactions of the heads with the filament backbone. Phosphorylation of the light chains may alter these interactions so that the crossbridges become more loosely associated with the filament backbone giving rise to the observed changes and facilitating crossbridge interaction with actin

Active Learning in Japanese University EFL Classes : Clarifying the Construct

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