5,667 research outputs found
Nitrite reduction in paracoccus halodenitrificans: Evidence for the role of a cd-type cytochrome in ammonia formation
Cell-free extracts prepared from Paracoccus halodenitrificans catalyzed the reduction of nitrate to ammonia in the presence of dithionite and methyl viologen. Enzyme activity was located in the soluble fraction and was associated with a cytochrome whose spectral properties resembled those of a cd-type cytochrome. Unlike the sissimilatory cd-cytochrome nitrate reductase associated with the membrane fraction of P. halodenitrificans, this soluble cd-cytochrome did not reduce nitrite to nitrous oxide
Functional correlates of optic flow motion processing in Parkinsonâs disease
The visual input created by the relative motion between an individual and the environment, also called optic flow, influences the sense of self-motion, postural orientation, veering of gait, and visuospatial cognition. An optic flow network comprising visual motion areas V6, V3A, and MT+, as well as visuo-vestibular areas including posterior insula vestibular cortex (PIVC) and cingulate sulcus visual area (CSv), has been described as uniquely selective for parsing egomotion depth cues in humans. Individuals with Parkinsonâs disease (PD) have known behavioral deficits in optic flow perception and visuospatial cognition compared to age- and education-matched control adults (MC). The present study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate neural correlates related to impaired optic flow perception in PD. We conducted fMRI on 40 non-demented participants (23 PD and 17 MC) during passive viewing of simulated optic flow motion and random motion. We hypothesized that compared to the MC group, PD participants would show abnormal neural activity in regions comprising this optic flow network. MC participants showed robust activation across all regions in the optic flow network, consistent with studies in young adults, suggesting intact optic flow perception at the neural level in healthy aging. PD participants showed diminished activity compared to MC particularly within visual motion area MT+ and the visuo-vestibular region CSv. Further, activation in visuo-vestibular region CSv was associated with disease severity. These findings suggest that behavioral reports of impaired optic flow perception and visuospatial performance may be a result of impaired neural processing within visual motion and visuo-vestibular regions in PD.Published versio
Feeling down and understanding depression
Recently we were asked to take part in Learning Disability Today with other members of the Tuesday Group to talk about depression, our experiences of mental health and things you can do to help you stay well. This article is about the day and some of the things we took part in. We wanted to go to the LD Today event to meet other people with learning disabilities, their families and friends as well as staff who support them. It also gives us a chance to talk about our work in the Tuesday Group. The Tuesday Group is made up of people with learning disabilities and others without learning disabilities who come together to work together to support us and make people more aware and campaig
Response to freshwater inflow in the Rappahannock Estuary, Virginia : Operation HIFLO \u2778
More sediment, nutrients and pollutants are discharged into an estuary during a few days of flood inflow than during many months or years of average inflow (Meade, 1972; Schubel, 1977), but few observations document the sedimentary response of an estuary to high freshwater inflow. Such inflows are usually unexpected and estuarine water charact~ristics change too rapidly to permit systematic measurements. Moreover, the expenditure of effort and number of sampling vessels required on short notice is beyond the resources of a single research group or institute. Yet, freshwater inflow observations are a key to improving water quality; especially to ameliorate the effects of high turbidity, depleted oxygen and low salinity which can cause oyster motalities (Zaborski and Haven, 1980). Many si9nificant ecological effects are noted by Snedakar, et al., 1977. Exceptional sediment deposition shoals shipping channels, fills boat basins, and blanke~ts oyster grounds. Suspended sediments adsorb toxic contaminates, nutrients and organic matter, and thus can affect plant production and the distribution of shellfish, plants and other life.
The HIFLO experiment was planned to observe and evaluate the response of an estuary to high freshwater inflow and high influx of suspended sediment. Of special interest are the questions: How far seaward does the sediment load from an event go before settling to the bed? How do the hydrodynamic conditions for sediment transport change? What is the sequence of estuarine processes triggered by a river flood
Methods for estimating long-distance dispersal
Long-distance dispersal (LDD) includes events in which propagules arrive, but do not necessarily establish, at a site far removed from their origin. Although important in a variety of ecological contexts, the system-specific nature of LDD makes far removed difficult to quantify, partly, but not exclusively, because of inherent uncertainty typically involved with the highly stochastic LDD processes. We critically review the main methods employed in studies of dispersal, in order to facilitate the evaluation of their pertinence to specific aspects of LDD research. Using a novel classification framework, we identify six main methodological groups: biogeographical; Eulerian and Lagrangian movement/redistributional; short-term and long-term genetic analyses; and modeling. We briefly discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the most promising methods available for estimation of LDD, illustrating them with examples from current studies. The rarity of LDD events will continue to make collecting, analyzing, and interpreting the necessary data difficult, and a simple and comprehensive definition of LDD will remain elusive. However, considerable advances have been made in some methodological areas, such as miniaturization of tracking devices, elaboration of stable isotope and genetic analyses, and refinement of mechanistic models. Combinations of methods are increasingly used to provide improved insight on LDD from multiple angles. However, human activities substantially increase the variety of long-distance transport avenues, making the estimation of LDD even more challenging
The influence of self-citation corrections on Egghe's g index
The g index was introduced by Leo Egghe as an improvement of Hirsch's index h
for measuring the overall citation record of a set of articles. It better takes
into account the highly skewed frequency distribution of citations than the h
index. I propose to sharpen this g index by excluding the self-citations. I
have worked out nine practical cases in physics and compare the h and g values
with and without self-citations. As expected, the g index characterizes the
data set better than the h index. The influence of the self-citations appears
to be more significant for the g index than for the h index.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Scientometric
On CP-Odd Effects in K_L \to 2\pi and K^{\pm} \to \pi^{\pm} \pi^{\pm} \pi^{\mp} Decays Generated by Direct CP Violation
The amplitudes of the K^{\pm} \to 3\pi and K \to 2\pi decays are expressed in
terms of different combinations of one and the same set of CP-conserving and
CP-odd parameters. Extracting the magnitudes of these parameters from the data
on K \to 2\pi decays, we estimate an expected CP-odd difference between the
values of the slope parameters g^+ and g^- of the energy distributions of "odd"
pions in K^+ \to \pi^+\pi^+\pi^- and K^- \to \pi^-\pi^-\pi^+ decays.Comment: 12 pages, no figure
Characteristics of the summit lakes of Ambae volcano and their potential for generating lahars
Volcanic eruptions through crater lakes often generate lahars, causing loss of life and property. On Ambae volcano, recent eruptive activities have rather tended to reduce the water volume in the crater lake (Lake Voui), in turn, reducing the chances for outburst floods. Lake Voui occupies a central position in the summit caldera and is well enclosed by the caldera relief. Eruptions with significantly higher magnitude than that of 1995 and 2005 are required for an outburst. A more probable scenario for lahar events is the overflow from Lake Manaro Lakua bounded on the eastern side by the caldera wall. Morphology and bathymetry analysis have been used to identify the weakest point of the caldera rim from which water from Lake Manaro Lakua may overflow to initiate lahars. The 1916 disaster described on south-east Ambae was possibly triggered by such an outburst from Lake Manaro Lakua. Taking into account the current level of Lake Manaro Lakua well below a critical overflow point, and the apparently low potential of Lake Voui eruptions to trigger lahars, the Ambae summit lakes may not be directly responsible for numerous lahar deposits identified around the Island
The role of regional feedbacks in glacial inception on Baffin Island: the interaction of ice flow and meteorology
Over the past 0.8 million years, 100 kyr ice ages have dominated
Earth's climate with geological evidence suggesting the last glacial
inception began in the mountains of Baffin Island. Currently,
state-of-the-art global climate models (GCMs) have difficulty simulating
glacial inception, possibly due in part to their coarse horizontal resolution
and the neglect of ice flow dynamics in some models. We attempt to address
the role of regional feedbacks in the initial inception problem on Baffin
Island by asynchronously coupling the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model,
configured as a high-resolution inner domain over Baffin and an outer
domain incorporating much of North America, to an ice flow model using the
shallow ice approximation. The mass balance is calculated from WRF
simulations and used to drive the ice model, which updates the ice extent
and elevation, that then serve as inputs to the next WRF run. We drive the
regional WRF configuration using atmospheric boundary conditions from 1986
that correspond to a relatively cold summer, and with 115 kya insolation.
Initially, ice accumulates on mountain glaciers, driving downslope ice flow
which expands the size of the ice caps. However, continued iterations of the
atmosphere and ice models reveal a stagnation of the ice sheet on Baffin
Island, driven by melting due to warmer temperatures at the margins of the
ice caps. This warming is caused by changes in the regional circulation that
are forced by elevation changes due to the ice growth. A stabilizing feedback
between ice elevation and atmospheric circulation thus prevents full
inception from occurring.</p
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