The identification and biogeochemical interpretation of fossil magnetotactic bacteria

Magnetotactic bacteria, which most commonly live within the oxic-anoxic transition zone (OATZ) of aquatic environments, produce intracellular crystals of magnetic minerals, specifically magnetite or greigite. The crystals cause the bacteria to orient themselves passively with respect to the geomagnetic field and thereby facilitate the bacteria’s search for optimal conditions within the sharp chemical gradients of the OATZ. The bacteria may also gain energy from the redox cycling of their crystals. Because magnetotactic bacteria benefit from their magnetic moments, natural selection has promoted the development of traits that increase the efficiency with which the intracellular crystals impart magnetic moments to cells. These traits also allow crystals produced by magnetotactic bacteria (called magnetofossils when preserved in sediments) to be distinguished from abiogenic particles and particles produced as extracellular byproducts of bacterial metabolism. Magnetofossils are recognizable based on their narrow size and shape distributions, distinctive morphologies with blunt crystal edges, chain arrangement, chemical purity, and crystallographic perfection. This article presents a scheme for rating magnetofossil robustness based on these traits. The magnetofossil record extends robustly to the Cretaceous and with lesser certainty to the late Archean. Because magnetotactic bacteria predominantly live in the OATZ, the abundance and character of their fossils can reflect environmental changes that alter the chemical stratification of sediments and the water column. The magnetofossil record therefore provides an underutilized archive of paleoenvironmental information. Several studies have demonstrated a relationship between magnetofossil abundance and glacial/interglacial cycles, likely mediated by changes in pore water oxygen levels. More speculatively, a better-developed magnetofossil record might provide constraints on the long-term evolution of marine redox stratification. More work in modern and ancient settings is necessary to explicate the mechanisms linking the abundance and character of magnetofossils to ancient biogeochemistry

The Earth's Worst Climate Disaster

Scientists, environmentalists, and the wiser members of the political class worry today about global climate change. Will rising tides plunge Tokyo, London, and New York beneath the ocean’s waves? Will meltwater pouring off of North America shift the circulation of the North Atlantic Ocean and plunge Europe into an Ice Age? Yet, as worrisome as these prospects are, the Earth has faced far greater climatic catastrophes in the past. The greatest among these was the Paleoproterozoic Snowball Earth event, which 2.3 billion years ago smothered the planet with a blanket of ice for tens of millions of years

Paleoproterozic Icehouses and the Evolution of Oxygen Mediating Enzymes: The Case for a Late Origin of Photosystem -- II

Two major geological problems regarding the origin of oxygenic photosynthesis are: (1) identifying a source of oxygen predating biological oxygen production and capable of driving the evolution of oxygen tolerance, and (2) determining when oxygenic photosynthesis evolved. One solution to the first problem is the accumulation of photochemically-produced H2O2 at the surface of glaciers and its subsequent incorporation into ice. Melting at the glacier base would release H2O2, which interacts with seawater to produce O2 in an environment shielded from the lethal levels of ultraviolet radiation needed to produce H2O2. Answers to the second problem are controversial and range from 3.8 to 2.2 Ga. A skeptical view, based on metals that have redox potentials close to oxygen, argues for the late end of the range. The preponderance of geological evidence suggests little or no oxygen in the late Archaean atmosphere (< 1 ppm). The main piece of evidence for an earlier evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis comes from lipid biomarkers. Recent work, however, has shown that 2-methylhopanes, once thought to be unique biomarkers for cyanobacteria, are also produced anaerobically in significant quantities by at least two strains of anoxygenic phototrophs. Sterane biomarkers provide the strongest evidence for a date ≥2.7 Ga but could also be explained by the common evolutionary pattern of replacing anaerobic enzymes with oxygen-dependent ones. Although no anaerobic sterol synthesis pathway has been identified in the modern biosphere, enzymes that perform the necessary chemistry do exist. This analysis suggests that oxygenic photosynthesis could have evolved close in geological time to the Makganyene Snowball Earth Event and argues for a causal link between the two

Информационная поддержка анализа навыков и умений контингента студентов высшего учебного заведения

In the below article, the application of the fuzzy logical conclusion method is considered as decision-maker in the process of analyzing the students skills and abilities based on the requirements of potential employers, in order to reduce the time of the first interview for potential candidates on a vacant position. When analyzing the results of the assessment of the competence of university students, a certain degree of fuzziness arises. In modern practice, fuzzy logic is used in many different assessment methods, including questioning, interviewing, testing, descriptive method, classification method, pairwise comparison, rating method, business games competence models, and the like. Each of the methods has its advantages and disadvantages, but they are effective only as part of a unified personnel management system. As a method for implementing a systematic approach to the assessment of the contingent of students, it is proposed to use fuzzy logic, a mathematical apparatus that allows you to build a model of an object based on fuzzy judgments. The use of fuzzy logic, the mathematical apparatus of which allows you to build a model of the object, based on fuzzy reasoning and rules. The most important condition for creating such a model is to translate the fuzzy, qualitative assessments used by man into the language of mathematics, which will be understood by the computer. The most used are fuzzy inferences using the Mamdani and Sugeno methods. In a fuzzy inference of the Mamdani type, the value of the output variable is given by fuzzy terms, in the conclusion of the Sugeno type, as a linear combination of the input variables. Research in the field of application of fuzzy logic in socio-economic systems suggests that it can be used to assess the competencies of university students.В данной работе рассмотрено использование метода нечеткого логического вывода для поддержки принятия решения в задачах анализа навыков и умений контингента студентов исходя из требований потенциальных работодателей, с целью уменьшения времени на первичную обработку информации касательно потенциальных кандидатов на вакантную должность. При анализе результатов оценки компетентности студентов вузов возникает определенная степень нечеткости. В современной практике нечеткая логика применяется во многих различных методах оценки, в том числе анкетирование, интервью, тестирование, описательный метод, метод классификации, парное сравнение, рейтинговый метод, деловые игры модели компетентности и тому подобное. Каждый из методов имеет свои преимущества и недостатки, но эффективны они только в составе единой системы управления персоналом. Как метод для реализации системного подхода к оценке контингента студентов предложено использовать нечеткую логику, математический аппарат, который позволяет построить модель объекта, основанную на нечетких суждениях. Использование нечеткой логики, математический аппарат которой позволяет построить модель объекта, основываясь на нечетких рассуждениях и правилах. Важнейшее условие создания такой модели заключается в том, чтобы перевести нечеткие, качественные оценки, применяемые человеком, на язык математики, которая будет понятна вычислительной машине. Наиболее используемыми являются нечеткие выводы с помощью способов Мамдани и Сугено. В нечетком выводе типа Мамдани значение выходной переменной задаются нечеткими термами, в заключении типа Сугено – как линейная комбинация входных переменных. Исследования в области применения нечеткой логики в социоэкономических системах позволяют говорить о возможности ее использования для оценки компетенций студентов вузов

One Size Does Not Fit All: Meeting the Health Care Needs of Diverse Populations

Proposes a framework for meeting patients' cultural and linguistic needs: policies and procedures that support cultural competence, data collection, population-tailored services, and internal and external collaborations. Includes a self-assessment tool

Identifying high-risk areas of N leaching in the Salt Lake Valley

Nitrogen (N) fertilization of urban turf areas, and potential nitrate (NO3-N) leaching, may pose a hazard to groundwater quality. This research utilized a Geographic Information System (GIS) approach to estimate NO3-N leaching mass from urban turf areas based on a one-dimensional N leaching model and to classify the NO3-N leaching risk in the Salt Lake Valley, Utah, USA, based on soil texture. The methodology integrated a calibrated and verified Hydrus-1D N model, soil textures and urban turf areas to predict NO3-N leaching to groundwater. Thirty United States Geological Survey (USGS) residential wells were installed and sampled in 1999 for NO3-N concentration. A relationship between estimated NO3-N leaching from urban landscapes and groundwater NO3-N concentration was developed to determine the effect of soil texture and landscaped area on NO3-N leaching from urban landscapes. The GIS approach was used to estimate the NO3-N leaching risk to groundwater under efficient irrigation and fertilization scenarios and over-irrigation and over-fertilization scenarios. The results showed that soil texture played a role in NO3-N leaching from urban landscapes to groundwater, and shallow groundwater was more susceptible to surface contamination compared to deep groundwater. The GIS technique identified areas where improved irrigation and fertilization management could reduce landscape NO3-N leaching significantly, resulting in fewer NO3-N leaching risk areas in the Salt Lake Valley, Utah, USA