Measurements and comparison of primary biological aerosol above and below a tropical forest canopy using a dual channel fluorescence spectrometer

Original article can be found at: http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/10/issue10.html Copyright - the authors. Authors grant any third party the right to use the article freely as long as its original authors and citation details are identified. The article and any associated published material is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.Aerosol particle size distributions were measured below and above a tropical rainforest canopy in Borneo, Malaysia, in June/July 2008 using the WIBS-3: a single particle dual channel fluorescence spectrometer. Material in the size range 0.8–20 μm was characterized according to optical equivalent diameter (DP), morphology and fluorescence at 310–400 nm and 400–600 nm following excitation at 280 nm and 370 nm respectively. Particles fluorescent after both excitations are likely to be fluorescent primary biological aerosol particles (FBAP). Measured FBAP number concentration (NFBAP) at both sites exhibited clear diurnal cycles. The largest variability was observed in the understorey, where NFBAP reached a minimum of 50–100 L−1 in late morning. In mid afternoon it exhibited strong transient fluctuations as large as 4000 L−1 that were followed by sustained concentrations of 1000–2500 L−1 that reduced steadily between midnight and sunrise. Above the canopy FBAP number ranged from 50–100 L−1 during the daytime to 200–400 L−1 at night but did not exhibit the transient enhancements seen in the understorey. The strong FBAP fluctuations were attributed to the release of fungal spores below the canopy and appeared to be linked to elevated relative humidity. The mean FBAP number fraction in the size range 0.8 μm<DP<20 μm was 55% in the understorey and 28% above canopy. A size mode at 2 μm<DP<4 μm appears at both sites and is primarily FBAP, which dominated the coarse (DP≥2.5 μm) number concentration at both sites, accounting for 75% in the understorey and 57% above the canopy. In contrast, the concentration of non-fluorescent particles (NNON) at both sites was typically 200–500 L−1, the majority of which occupied a size mode at 0.8<DP<1.5 μm. Enhanced understorey NNON was observed daily in mid-afternoon and also at midday on three occasions: the former coincided with the FBAP enhancements and measured approximately 10% of their magnitude; the latter occurred independently of the NFBAP diurnal cycle and comprised particles smaller than 2 μm. Particle diameter of 3–5 μm is consistent with smaller fungal spores, though absolute identification of biological species is not possible with the UV-LIF technique. Based on the measured FBAP and non-fluorescent particle abundances and their observed recovery times following rain showers, FBAP originated beneath the canopy while the non-fluorescent material was transported from further away. It is concluded that these separate sources contributed the majority of the aerosol measured by the WIBS-3 at both sites.Peer reviewe

Principles of Clinical Practice with Older Men

Older men are much less likely to be aware of community services available to them and they are less likely to utilize services generally. This underutilization is affected by the way in which social services are organized and how practitioners function within them. Since there are greater numbers of elderly women and women utilize services more readily, practice tends to be female-centered. It is important that gender-sensitive intervention processes are established that recognize the unique experiences and concerns of older men in order to better serve them. The uniqueness of men\u27s experiences with such issues as loss of a spouse, retirement, caregiving, and victimization warrant particulara ttention by gerontologicalp ractitioners. Male-friendly interventions that take into account traditional male values will foster greater participation and better quality care for older men

A Whole Woman Strategy and Action Plan to Raise National Awareness About Osteoporosis

The University of Maine Center on Aging, in partnership with the Maine Center for Osteoporosis Research and Education, was one of three grantees taking part in a U.S. Administration on Aging-funded project to develop a national osteoporosis awareness and action plan targeting postmenopausal womenThe University of Maine Center on Aging’s portion of the research entailed several phases of activity. Initially, focus groups were conducted with 147 ethnically and racially diverse older women around the country (Maine, New York, Pennsylvania, California, and Kansas) to determine where older women obtain their health information, what they consider reliable and unreliable informational sources, and where they’ve gotten information in the past that has resulted in changes in their health behavior. The second phase focused on researching existing osteoporosis education programs and previous or ongoing campaigns to ascertain what programmatic elements have been most and least effective. Phase three entailed obtaining feedback from 13 focus groups with 122 ethnically and racially diverse older women around the country (California, Illinois, Georgia, Maine, and New York), concerning mock brochures, graphics, and messages for the campaign as well as ideas about spokespeople and promotional items.The report concludes by making a series of recommendations for implementing a nation osteoporosis education program based on the data gathered through the three research phases

Trends in stratospheric minor constituents

Photochemical models predict that increasing source gas concentrations are also expected to lead to changes in the concentrations of both catalytically active radical species (such as NO2, ClO, and OH) and inactive reservoir species (such as HNO3, HCl, and H2O). For simplicity, we will refer to all these as trace species. Those species that are expected to have increasing concentration levels are investigated. Additionally, the trace species concentration levels are monitored for unexpected changes on the basis of the measure increase in source gases. Carrying out these investigations is difficult due to the limited data base of measurements of stratospheric trace species. In situ measurements are made only infrequently, and there are few satelliteborne measurements, most over a time space insufficient for trend determination. Instead, ground-based measurements of column content must be used for many species, and interpretation is complicated by contributions from the troposphere or mesosphere or both. In this chapter, we examine existing measurements as published or tabulated

Single-qubit unitary gates by graph scattering

We consider the effects of plane-wave states scattering off finite graphs, as an approach to implementing single-qubit unitary operations within the continuous-time quantum walk framework of universal quantum computation. Four semi-infinite tails are attached at arbitrary points of a given graph, representing the input and output registers of a single qubit. For a range of momentum eigenstates, we enumerate all of the graphs with up to $n=9$ vertices for which the scattering implements a single-qubit gate. As $n$ increases, the number of new unitary operations increases exponentially, and for $n>6$ the majority correspond to rotations about axes distributed roughly uniformly across the Bloch sphere. Rotations by both rational and irrational multiples of $\pi$ are found.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure

The Aging and Developmental Disabilities Networks: Can the Silos Be Dismantled?

The authors discuss the service networks for aging and developmental and physical disabilities, which have traditionally functioned in distinctly separate camps. They present the case for greater crossover between these networks and endorse increased alignment of the aging and disability networks in all arenas, including policy making, program development, education, and research

Beam tests of the 12 MHz RFQ RIB injector for ATLAS

Beam tests of the ANL 12 MHz Radio-Frequency Quadrupole (RFQ), designed for use as the initial element of an injector system for radioactive beams into the existing ATLAS accelerators, are in progress. Recent high-voltage tests of the RFQ without beam achieved the design intervane voltage of 100 kV cw, enabling beam tests with A /q as large as 132 using beams from the ANL Physics Division 4 MV Dynamitron accelerator facility. Although the RFQ was designed for bunched beams, initial tests have been performed with unbunched beams. Experiments with stable, unbunched beams of singly-charged /sup 132/Xe and /sup 84/Kr measured the output beam energy distribution as a function of the RFQ operating voltage. The observed energies are in excellent agreement with numerical beam simulations. (5 refs)

Light scattering and phase behavior of Lysozyme-PEG mixtures

Measurements of liquid-liquid phase transition temperatures (cloud points) of mixtures of a protein (lysozyme) and a polymer, poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) show that the addition of low molecular weight PEG stabilizes the mixture whereas high molecular weight PEG was destabilizing. We demonstrate that this behavior is inconsistent with an entropic depletion interaction between lysozyme and PEG and suggest that an energetic attraction between lysozyme and PEG is responsible. In order to independently characterize the lysozyme/PEG interactions, light scattering experiments on the same mixtures were performed to measure second and third virial coefficients. These measurements indicate that PEG induces repulsion between lysozyme molecules, contrary to the depletion prediction. Furthermore, it is shown that third virial terms must be included in the mixture's free energy in order to qualitatively capture our cloud point and light scattering data. The light scattering results were consistent with the cloud point measurements and indicate that attractions do exist between lysozyme and PEG.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, 1 tabl

Technology and Aging: An Emerging Research and Development Sector in Maine

The authors discuss the importance of research for developing products and services that cater to the needs of a rapidly growing aging population and provide examples of projects underway at the University of Maine. Products designed to improve and protect older adult health and well-being represent a significant opportunity for economic growth in Maine