Pond Eutrophication

Citation: Burden, M., Guo, Q., Krueger, L., & Young, N. (2018) Pond Eutrophication. Unpublished manuscript, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS.Kirmser Undergraduate Research Award - Group Category, grand prizeDr. Lisa WilkenLandowners Bruce and Theresa Meyer of Palmer, KS, requested a design to address eutrophication issues causing blue-green algae blooms within their pond. The blooms impact recreational activities such as swimming, fishing, and canoeing. Currently, their solution is temporary and requires the use of chemicals to harden the water and remove the algae. The Meyer’s have requested a more permanent and cost-effective solution. After completing the engineering design process, two design options are proposed for reducing the effects of eutrophication: vegetative buffer strips and a floating garden. Vegetative buffer strips are used to filter nutrients and sediment from runoff, which will reduce the growth of the blue-green algae. A floating garden has the potential to provide an in-pond solution to reduce excess nutrients, but requires more maintenance and recurring costs. Well-planned buffer strips have a higher chance of providing a long-term solution compared to the floating garden, which would have to be maintained and reinstalled yearly. The final proposed design uses both designs in tandem to synergistically reduce the effects of eutrophication. Water inflow will be rerouted through the vegetative filter through present vegetation, which will reduce the amount of incoming nonpoint source pollutants that enter the pond. The floating garden will be utilized to reduce excess nutrients that are within the pond

Efficient Defenses Against Adversarial Attacks

Following the recent adoption of deep neural networks (DNN) accross a wide range of applications, adversarial attacks against these models have proven to be an indisputable threat. Adversarial samples are crafted with a deliberate intention of undermining a system. In the case of DNNs, the lack of better understanding of their working has prevented the development of efficient defenses. In this paper, we propose a new defense method based on practical observations which is easy to integrate into models and performs better than state-of-the-art defenses. Our proposed solution is meant to reinforce the structure of a DNN, making its prediction more stable and less likely to be fooled by adversarial samples. We conduct an extensive experimental study proving the efficiency of our method against multiple attacks, comparing it to numerous defenses, both in white-box and black-box setups. Additionally, the implementation of our method brings almost no overhead to the training procedure, while maintaining the prediction performance of the original model on clean samples.Comment: 16 page

The Synthesis and Reactivity of Vitamin E Quinones

Vitamin E has been the subject of numerous studies over the last nine decades since its discovery. Still, the biological activity of vitamin E is not completely understood. Various studies suggest that the primary function of vitamin E is a fat-soluble antioxidant preventing lipid peroxidation in cellular membranes. The antioxidant efficiency across the vitamin E isomers have been shown to be similar in vitro in various organic solvents and aqueous lipid suspensions. Despite these results, significantly different biological effects have been observed in biological assays supplemented with the various tocols. Furthermore, the differences are more pronounced when comparing the biological effects of the α-tocols to non α-tocols. We hypothesized the different biological effects observed were correlated to differences in the chemical reactivity of the products of tocol oxidation: tocol quinones. Herein, an investigation of the adduct formation of tocol quinones with N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) is described. The synthesis of the tocopheryl quinones is described via the two-electron oxidation of the parent tocols with ceric ammonium nitrate supported on silica. The synthesis of α-tocopherol quinone and α-tocotrienol quinone produced the target compounds in 80% yield. The oxidations of the other tocol isoforms yielded para-tocol quinones (29-45% yield) and ortho-tocol quinones (20-35% yield). The rate of reaction of the tocopheryl quinones with NAC was monitored by following the production of the tocopherol hydroquinone adduct by the increase in absorption at 308 nm over time in a 67% methanol/ 33% aqueous Tris/HCl buffer. The curves generated were fit to a one-phase exponential. The rate of reaction increased as the pH increased for the γ- and δ-tocopheryl quinone isoforms. There was no reactivity observed between the α-tocopheryl quinone isoforms and NAC. There was no significant difference in the reactivity between the tocopherol quinones and tocotrienol quinones with the same methylation pattern. At the most physiologically relevant pH in our study (pH = 7.5), the δ-tocopheryl quinones (k ≈ 0.63) reacted approximately 8 times faster than the γ-tocopheryl quinones (k ≈ 0.08). The electrochemistry of the parent tocols was studied using cyclic voltammetry (CV). The formal redox potential increased slightly as the methylation on the chromanol ring decreased while no significant differences between the tocopherols and tocotrienols were established. The CV of all tocols showed two quasi-reversible one-electron oxidation processes; the first oxidation produced a radical cation, which quickly deprotonated to form a tocopheryl radical, which then undergoes a second oxidation to the corresponding phenoxonium cation. The redox activity of the tocopheryl quinones was also studied using CV. The quinones underwent a quasi-reversible two one-electron reduction process. The δ-tocopheryl quinones have the lowest formal redox potential which slightly increases as methylation increases, while there were no significant differences in the electrochemical behavior of the tocopheryl quinones and the tocotrienyl quinones with the same methylation. We have presented reaction rate differences in the reactivity of the tocol quinones which correlates to the differences in biological activity observed by others with respect to the methylation pattern on the chromanol ring, while no differences in the chemical reactivity of the tocopherol and tocotrienol quinones was observed. Still, this presents convincing evidence that the activity of the tocol quinones should be considered in biological assays

Optogenetic Interrogation of Functional Synapse Formation by Corticospinal Tract Axons in the Injured Spinal Cord

To restore function after injury to the CNS, axons must be stimulated to extend into denervated territory and, critically, must form functional synapses with appropriate targets. We showed previously that forced overexpression of the transcription factor Sox11 increases axon growth by corticospinal tract (CST) neurons after spinal injury. However, behavioral outcomes were not improved, raising the question of whether the newly sprouted axons are able to form functional synapses. Here we developed an optogenetic strategy, paired with single-unit extracellular recordings, to assess the ability of Sox11-stimulated CST axons to functionally integrate in the circuitry of the cervical spinal cord. Initial time course experiments established the expression and function of virally expressed Channelrhodopsin (ChR2) in CST cell bodies and in axon terminals in cervical spinal cord. Pyramidotomies were performed in adult mice to deprive the left side of the spinal cord of CST input, and the right CST was treated with adeno-associated virus (AAV)–Sox11 or AAV–EBFP control, along with AAV–ChR2. As expected, Sox11 treatment caused robust midline crossing of CST axons into previously denervated left spinal cord. Clear postsynaptic responses resulted from optogenetic activation of CST terminals, demonstrating the ability of Sox11-stimulated axons to form functional synapses. Mapping of the distribution of CST-evoked spinal activity revealed overall similarity between intact and newly innervated spinal tissue. These data demonstrate the formation of functional synapses by Sox11-stimulated CST axons without significant behavioral benefit, suggesting that new synapses may be mistargeted or otherwise impaired in the ability to coordinate functional output. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT As continued progress is made in promoting the regeneration of CNS axons, questions of synaptic integration are increasingly prominent. Demonstrating direct synaptic integration by regenerated axons and distinguishing its function from indirect relay circuits and target field plasticity have presented technical challenges. Here we force the overexpression of Sox11 to stimulate the growth of corticospinal tract axons in the cervical spinal cord and then use specific optogenetic activation to assess their ability to directly drive postsynaptic activity in spinal cord neurons. By confirming successful synaptic integration, these data illustrate a novel optogenetic-based strategy to monitor and optimize functional reconnection by newly sprouted axons in the injured CNS

Rock Deformation Studies in the Mineral Mountains and Sevier Desert of West-Central Utah: Implications for Upper Crustal Low-Angle Normal Faulting

The Cave Canyon detachment, a low-angle normal fault that crops out in the Mineral Mountains, west-central Utah, has been interpreted as a hanging-wall splay of a much larger structure (the Sevier Desert detachment) that was influential in development of the idea that low-angle normal faults play a role in crustal extension. The Cave Canyon detachment provides expectations for the deformational features that might be expected along the hypothesized Sevier Desert detachment, which is not exposed in outcrop and is inferred to exist primarily on the basis of seismic reflection data. The footwall of the Cave Canyon detachment is characterized by a 200-m-thick granite cataclasite, which exhibits a clear decrease in grain size and increase in microfracture density as the fault surface is approached. Undulatory extinction in quartz and feldspar and abundant quartz deformation lamellae at distances more than 200 m from the fault surface are interpreted as related to cooling of the Miocene granite rather than to normal faulting. Although mylonitic textures have previously been described in the granite, we found no evidence for mylonitization in the footwall rocks. The hanging wall of the detachment is characterized by 9 m of deformed, partially dolomitized limestone, with a 2-m-thick carbonate mylonite at the contact. Deformation features include dynamic recrystallization, grain-size reduction, development of twinning with a strong preferred orientation, some grain-size layering, and undulatory extinction close to the fault. Static recrystallization overprints fossils and ooids at distances greater than 9 m. Drill cuttings and some core recovered at similar distances above and below the hypothesized Sevier Desert detachment show no evidence for localized deformation (ARCO Hole-in-the-Rock No. 1, ARCO Meadow Federal No. 1, and Argonaut Energy Federal No. 1 wells). Fossils and ooids are undeformed in Paleozoic carbonate rocks within 3 m below the contact, and sandstone and conglomerate with rounded clasts lacking more than background levels of microfracturing are found in samples within 3 m above the contact. These features contrast markedly with those of the Cave Canyon detachment, which was active at a considerably shallower and cooler level in the crust (∼5 km and less than 300 °C) than is implied for Paleozoic rocks beneath the Sevier Desert, once hanging-wall rocks are restored along the hypothesized detachment (9−14 km and 280−425 °C at the locations studied). The very different character of the two surfaces reinforces our earlier suggestion that beneath much of the Sevier Desert basin, the base of the Tertiary section is an unconformity rather than a low-angle normal fault

SWI/SNF-like chromatin remodeling factor Fun30 supports point centromere function in S. cerevisiae

Budding yeast centromeres are sequence-defined point centromeres and are, unlike in many other organisms, not embedded in heterochromatin. Here we show that Fun30, a poorly understood SWI/SNF-like chromatin remodeling factor conserved in humans, promotes point centromere function through the formation of correct chromatin architecture at centromeres. Our determination of the genome-wide binding and nucleosome positioning properties of Fun30 shows that this enzyme is consistently enriched over centromeres and that a majority of CENs show Fun30-dependent changes in flanking nucleosome position and/or CEN core micrococcal nuclease accessibility. Fun30 deletion leads to defects in histone variant Htz1 occupancy genome-wide, including at and around most centromeres. FUN30 genetically interacts with CSE4, coding for the centromere-specific variant of histone H3, and counteracts the detrimental effect of transcription through centromeres on chromosome segregation and suppresses transcriptional noise over centromere CEN3. Previous work has shown a requirement for fission yeast and mammalian homologs of Fun30 in heterochromatin assembly. As centromeres in budding yeast are not embedded in heterochromatin, our findings indicate a direct role of Fun30 in centromere chromatin by promoting correct chromatin architecture

Evidence of sound production by spawning lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) in lakes Huron and Champlain

Two sounds associated with spawning lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) in lakes Huron and Champlain were characterized by comparing sound recordings with behavioral data collected using acoustic telemetry and video. These sounds were named “growls” and “snaps” and were heard on lake trout spawning reefs, but not on a nonspawning reef, and were more common at night than during the day. Growls also occurred more often during the spawning period than the prespawning period, while the trend for snaps was reversed. In a laboratory flume, sounds occurred when male lake trout were displaying spawning behaviors: growls when males were quivering and parallel swimming and snaps when males moved their jaw. Combining our results with the observation of possible sound production by spawning splake (Salvelinus fontinalis × Salvelinus namaycush hybrid) provides rare evidence for spawning-related sound production by a salmonid or any other fish in the superorder Protacanthopterygii. Further characterization of these sounds could be useful for lake trout assessment, restoration, and control

Progress in achieving quantitative classification of psychopathology

Shortcomings of approaches to classifying psychopathology based on expert consensus have given rise to contemporary efforts to classify psychopathology quantitatively. In this paper, we review progress in achieving a quantitative and empirical classification of psychopathology. A substantial empirical literature indicates that psychopathology is generally more dimensional than categorical. When the discreteness versus continuity of psychopathology is treated as a research question, as opposed to being decided as a matter of tradition, the evidence clearly supports the hypothesis of continuity. In addition, a related body of literature shows how psychopathology dimensions can be arranged in a hierarchy, ranging from very broad "spectrum level" dimensions, to specific and narrow clusters of symptoms. In this way, a quantitative approach solves the "problem of comorbidity" by explicitly modeling patterns of co-occurrence among signs and symptoms within a detailed and variegated hierarchy of dimensional concepts with direct clinical utility. Indeed, extensive evidence pertaining to the dimensional and hierarchical structure of psychopathology has led to the formation of the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) Consortium. This is a group of 70 investigators working together to study empirical classification of psychopathology. In this paper, we describe the aims and current foci of the HiTOP Consortium. These aims pertain to continued research on the empirical organization of psychopathology; the connection between personality and psychopathology; the utility of empirically based psychopathology constructs in both research and the clinic; and the development of novel and comprehensive models and corresponding assessment instruments for psychopathology constructs derived from an empirical approach