Positive electrodes of nickel-cadmium batteries

Ni hydroxide sintered electrodes which are filled electrochemically are superior to chemically treated electrodes. In the electrochemical process, the hydroxide grows on the Ni grains and possesses a well-defined porous structure. Diffusion and conducting mechanisms are therefore facilitated

Personality traits below facets:The consensual validity, longitudinal stability, heritability, and utility of personality nuances

Mõttus R, Kandler C, Bleidorn W, Riemann R, McCrae RR. Personality Traits Below Facets: The Consensual Validity, Longitudinal Stability, Heritability, and Utility of Personality Nuances. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 2016;112(3):474-490

Climate change alterations to ecosystem dominance: how might sponge-dominated reefs function?

Anthropogenic stressors are impacting ecological systems across the world. Of particular concern are the recent rapid changes occurring in coral reef systems. With ongoing degradation from both local and global stressors, future reefs are likely to function differently to current coral-dominated ecosystems. Determining key attributes of future reef states is critical to reliably predict outcomes for ecosystem service provision. Here we explore the impacts of changing sponge dominance on coral reefs. Qualitative modelling of reef futures suggests that changing sponge dominance due to increased sponge abundance will have different outcomes for other trophic levels compared with increased sponge dominance as a result of declining coral abundance. By exploring uncertainty in the model outcomes we identify the need to: i) quantify changes in carbon flow through sponges, ii) determine the importance of food limitation for sponges, iii) assess the ubiquity of the recently described 'sponge loop', iv) determine the competitive relationships between sponges and other benthic taxa, particularly algae, and v) understand how changing dominance of other organisms alters trophic pathways and energy flows through ecosystems. Addressing these knowledge gaps will facilitate development of more complex models that assess functional attributes of sponge-dominated reef ecosystems. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Mass deposition fluxes of Saharan mineral dust to the tropical northeast Atlantic Ocean: an intercomparison of methods

Mass deposition fluxes of mineral dust to the tropical northeast Atlantic Ocean were determined within this study. In the framework of SOPRAN (Surface Ocean Processes in the Anthropocene), the interaction between the atmosphere and the ocean in terms of material exchange were investigated at the Cape Verde atmospheric observatory (CVAO) on the island Sao Vicente for January 2009. Five different methods were applied to estimate the deposition flux, using different meteorological and physical measurements, remote sensing, and regional dust transport simulations. The set of observations comprises micrometeorological measurements with an ultra-sonic anemometer and profile measurements using 2-D anemometers at two different heights, and microphysical measurements of the size-resolved mass concentrations of mineral dust. In addition, the total mass concentration of mineral dust was derived from absorption photometer observations and passive sampling. The regional dust model COSMO-MUSCAT was used for simulations of dust emission and transport, including dry and wet deposition processes. This model was used as it describes the AOD's and mass concentrations realistic compared to the measurements and because it was run for the time period of the measurements. The four observation-based methods yield a monthly average deposition flux of mineral dust of 12–29 ng m−2 s−1. The simulation results come close to the upper range of the measurements with an average value of 47 ng m−2 s−1. It is shown that the mass deposition flux of mineral dust obtained by the combination of micrometeorological (ultra-sonic anemometer) and microphysical measurements (particle mass size distribution of mineral dust) is difficult to compare to modeled mass deposition fluxes when the mineral dust is inhomogeneously distributed over the investigated area