Benchmarking Australia's Urban Tree Canopy: An i-Tree assessment, Final Report

This report aims to provide 139 Local Governments in urban and semi urban environments across Australia with an estimate of land surface cover. This study is part of the 202020 Vision, funded by Horticulture Limited Australia, in working towards a 20% increase in the level of green space in Local Government Areas (LGAs) across the country. View/download http://202020vision.com.au/media/7141/benchmarking_australias_urban_tree_canopy.pd

Geometrically Induced Gauge Structure on Manifolds Embedded in a Higher Dimensional Space

We explain in a context different from that of Maraner the formalism for describing motion of a particle, under the influence of a confining potential, in a neighbourhood of an n-dimensional curved manifold M^n embedded in a p-dimensional Euclidean space R^p with p >= n+2. The effective Hamiltonian on M^n has a (generally non-Abelian) gauge structure determined by geometry of M^n. Such a gauge term is defined in terms of the vectors normal to M^n, and its connection is called the N-connection. In order to see the global effect of this type of connections, the case of M^1 embedded in R^3 is examined, where the relation of an integral of the gauge potential of the N-connection (i.e., the torsion) along a path in M^1 to the Berry's phase is given through Gauss mapping of the vector tangent to M^1. Through the same mapping in the case of M^1 embedded in R^p, where the normal and the tangent quantities are exchanged, the relation of the N-connection to the induced gauge potential on the (p-1)-dimensional sphere S^{p-1} (p >= 3) found by Ohnuki and Kitakado is concretely established. Further, this latter which has the monopole-like structure is also proved to be gauge-equivalent to the spin-connection of S^{p-1}. Finally, by extending formally the fundamental equations for M^n to infinite dimensional case, the present formalism is applied to the field theory that admits a soliton solution. The resultant expression is in some respects different from that of Gervais and Jevicki.Comment: 52 pages, PHYZZX. To be published in Int. J. Mod. Phys.

Kinetic parameters of the uranium luminescence in Lif crystals

The results of researches with nanosecond time resolution of kinetic characteristics of luminescence buildup and decay in crystals LiF(U)-O at 300 K under action of both laser pulse with energy 3,68 eV and electron pulse with energy 300 keV have been presented. Influence of excite method on kinetic characteristics of uranium luminescence buildup and influence of uranium on kinetic characteristics of oxygen luminescence in crystal were establishe

Effect of thermomechanical impacts on the deformation of thin polyimide films at uniaxial tension

Thermomechanical studies of the dependence of deformation on time (t) and temperature (T) for various static stresses in polyimide under uniaxial tension were carried out. Temporal deformation curves for static stresses in the range from 75 to 110 MPa consist of two stages: 1 - increase; 2 - exit to saturation, which is associated with a change in the nature of structural transformations of macromolecules, due to the action of the static stresses. An increase in temperature and voltage leads to an increase in the dependence e (Т). This is due to the intensification of the processes of structuring macromolecules with increasing temperature and are supplemented by processes of breaking bonds between macromolecules, which increase the strain rate. Experimental data are described in terms of exponential and linear models

Thermal Behavior of Fluorinated Double-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWNTs), produced by a catalytic chemical vapor deposition method, have been fluorinated using a volatile mixture of BrF3 and Br2. Optical absorption spectroscopic study on the product detected nonfluorinated nanotubes, which could correspond to the inner walls of DWNTs. The fluorinated DWNTs have been annealed in vacuum at fixed temperatures, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed almost no fluorine in the sample heated to 300 °C. Comparison between X-ray fluorescent C KR spectra of the pristine DWNT sample and the annealed fluorinated sample revealed change of the atomic structure of graphitic shells in the process of thermal defluorination

The use of microarrays for the identification of the origin of genes of avian influenza viruses in wild birds

Forty-two strains of avian influenza viruses were isolated from the wild waterfowls’ feces in the city of Moscow. These viruses, as well as reference strains and some experimental reassortants, were analyzed by microarrays. The microarrays contained 176 probes to the different segments of influenza virus genome. The microarray helps to determine 1) the hemagglutinin and neuraminidase proteins subtype; 2) the primary structure of the C-terminal sequence of the viral NS1 protein, which serves as a ligand for the PDZ domain; 3) the presence of stop codons in the reading frame of PB1-F2 as well as the N66S substitution in the PB1-F2 viral protein; 4) the presence of the polybasic site for hemagglutinin cleavage. The viruses of the H3N1, H3N6, H3N8, H4N6, H1N1, H5N3, and H11N9 subtypes were identified from the group of wild birds’ isolates. All isolates contained the ESEV sequence at the C-terminus of the NS1 protein and the full-length reading frame for the PB1-F2 protein. The replacement of N66S in PB1-F2 was found in six strains. However, the presence of the ESEV sequence (ligand of PDZ domain) in the NS1 virus protein and the N66S substitution in PB1-F2 did not lead to the pathogenicity of these viruses for mice. All isolates demonstrated high yield growth in chicken embryos and were infectious and immunogenic for mice, but did not induce any clinical symptoms.Forty-two strains of avian influenza viruses were isolated from the wild waterfowls’ feces in the city of Moscow. These viruses, as well as reference strains and some experimental reassortants, were analyzed by microarrays. The microarrays contained 176 probes to the different segments of influenza virus genome. The microarray helps to determine 1) the hemagglutinin and neuraminidase proteins subtype; 2) the primary structure of the C-terminal sequence of the viral NS1 protein, which serves as a ligand for the PDZ domain; 3) the presence of stop codons in the reading frame of PB1-F2 as well as the N66S substitution in the PB1-F2 viral protein; 4) the presence of the polybasic site for hemagglutinin cleavage. The viruses of the H3N1, H3N6, H3N8, H4N6, H1N1, H5N3, and H11N9 subtypes were identified from the group of wild birds’ isolates. All isolates contained the ESEV sequence at the C-terminus of the NS1 protein and the full-length reading frame for the PB1-F2 protein. The replacement of N66S in PB1-F2 was found in six strains. However, the presence of the ESEV sequence (ligand of PDZ domain) in the NS1 virus protein and the N66S substitution in PB1-F2 did not lead to the pathogenicity of these viruses for mice. All isolates demonstrated high yield growth in chicken embryos and were infectious and immunogenic for mice, but did not induce any clinical symptoms

Investigation of the optical properties of unirradiated and irradiated sediments

Complex experimental studies of the properties of unirradiated and irradiated sediments using an optical method have been carried out. On the curves of intensity (I) versus time (t), regularities that are of different nature for unirradiated and irradiated by electrons and photons (gamma quanta and X-ray radiation) of biomaterial samples are found. The curves obtained are satisfactorily described within the framework of the exponential model

Investigation of Mechanical Properties of Polyimide- Polyethyl-eneterephthalate System

The study of the physico-mechanical properties of new composite materials based on polyimide (PI) and polyethyleneterephthalate (PET) was carried out. Dependences of σ from ε for different concentrations of the second component and irradiation doses were measured. The experimental data are described satisfactorily by the exponential cascadeprobabilistic model