322 research outputs found

    Selective foraging behavior of seabirds in small-scale slicks

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    Lieber L, Füchtencordsjürgen C, Hilder RL, et al. Selective foraging behavior of seabirds in small-scale slicks. Limnology and Oceanography Letters . 2022.Marine predator foraging opportunities are often driven by dynamic physical processes enhancing prey accessibility. Surface slicks are ubiquitous yet ephemeral ocean features where convergent flows accumulate flotsam, concentrating marine organisms and pollutants. Slicks can manifest on the sea surface as meandering lines and seabirds often associate with slicks. Yet, how slicks may influence the fine-scale foraging behavior of seabirds is only coarsely resolved. Here we show that seabirds selectively forage in small-scale slicks. We used aerial drone technology to track surface-foraging terns (Sternidae, 107 tracks) over evolving slicks advected by the mean flow and reshaped by localized turbulence at scales of meters and seconds. Terns were more likely to switch into high-tortuosity foraging behavior when over slicks, with plunge-dive events occurring significantly more often within slicks. As we demonstrate that terns select dynamic slicks for foraging, our approach will also lend itself to interaction studies with pollutants, plumes, and fronts

    Secondary organic aerosol formation from isoprene photooxidation during cloud condensation-evaporation cycles

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    Abstract. The impact of cloud events on isoprene secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation has been studied from an isoprene ∕ NOx ∕ light system in an atmospheric simulation chamber. It was shown that the presence of a liquid water cloud leads to a faster and higher SOA formation than under dry conditions. When a cloud is generated early in the photooxidation reaction, before any SOA formation has occurred, a fast SOA formation is observed with mass yields ranging from 0.002 to 0.004. These yields are 2 and 4 times higher than those observed under dry conditions. When the cloud is generated at a later photooxidation stage, after isoprene SOA is stabilized at its maximum mass concentration, a rapid increase (by a factor of 2 or higher) of the SOA mass concentration is observed. The SOA chemical composition is influenced by cloud generation: the additional SOA formed during cloud events is composed of both organics and nitrate containing species. This SOA formation can be linked to the dissolution of water soluble volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the aqueous phase and to further aqueous phase reactions. Cloud-induced SOA formation is experimentally demonstrated in this study, thus highlighting the importance of aqueous multiphase systems in atmospheric SOA formation estimations. The authors thank Arnaud Allanic, Sylvain Ravier, Pascal Renard and Pascal Zapf for their contributions in the experiments. The authors also acknowledge the institutions that have provided financial support: the French National Institute for Geophysical Research (CNRS-INSU) within the LEFE-CHAT program through the project “Impact de la chimie des nuages sur la formation d’aérosols organiques secondaires dans l’atmosphère” and the French National Agency for Research (ANR) project CUMULUS ANR-2010-BLAN-617-01. This work was also supported by the EC within the I3 project “Integrating of European Simulation Chambers for Investigating Atmospheric Processes” (EUROCHAMP-2, contract no. 228335). The authors thank the MASSALYA instrumental platform (Aix Marseille Université, lce.univ-amu.fr) for the analysis and measurements used in this paper.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Copernicus Publications via http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-1747-201

    Acute Leriche syndrome due to the thrombus in the left ventricle.

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    Abstract. In this contribution we present a variant of a resolution theorem prover which selects resolution steps based on the proportion of models a newly generated clause satisfies compared to all models given in a reference class. This reference class is generated from a subset of the initial clause set. Since the empty clause does not satisfy any models, preference is given to such clauses which satisfy few models only. Because computing the number of models is computationally expensive on the one hand, but will remain almost unchanged after the application of one single resolution step on the other hand, we adapt Kowalski’s connection graph method to store the number of models at each link.

    Data-Driven Modelling of the Inositol Trisphosphate Receptor (IPR) and its Role in Calcium-Induced Calcium Release (CICR)

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    We review the current state of the art of data-driven modelling of the inositol trisphosphate receptor (IPR). After explaining that the IPR plays a crucial role as a central regulator in calcium dynamics, several sources of relevant experimental data are introduced. Single ion channels are best studied by recording single-channel currents under different ligand concentrations via the patch-clamp technique. The particular relevance of modal gating, the spontaneous switching between different levels of channel activity that occur even at constant ligand concentrations, is highlighted. In order to investigate the interactions of IPRs, calcium release from small clusters of channels, so-called calcium puffs, can be used. We then present the mathematical framework common to all models based on single-channel data, aggregated continuous-time Markov models, and give a short review of statistical approaches for parameterising these models with experimental data. The process of building a Markov model that integrates various sources of experimental data is illustrated using two recent examples, the model by Ullah et al. and the “Park–Drive” model by Siekmann et al. (Biophys. J. 2012), the only models that account for all sources of data currently available. Finally, it is demonstrated that the essential features of the Park–Drive model in different models of calcium dynamics are preserved after reducing it to a two-state model that only accounts for the switching between the inactive “park” and the active “drive” modes. This highlights the fact that modal gating is the most important mechanism of ligand regulation in the IPR. It also emphasises that data-driven models of ion channels do not necessarily have to lead to detailed models but can be constructed so that relevant data is selected to represent ion channels at the appropriate level of complexity for a given application
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