Ammonia Inhibition in Thermophilic Anaerobic Digestion of Dairy Cattle Manure

This study investigated the effect of five different concentrations of total ammonia nitrogen (TAN)and free ammonia (FA) on the methane yield and digester performance under thermophilic conditions(50°C). Five identical continuously fed digesters were used. The experiment was run for four timeshydraulic retention time (HRT). Data were statitically analysed using the data Analysis Tool Packavailable with the Microsoft Excel program. Different ammonia levels were obtained by pulsing urea toobtain the target level of TAN and FA, and to subsequently maintaining the concentration of ammonialevels by daily urea additions. The result showed a strong negative correlation between both TAN andFA concentrations and methane yield. The methane yield was reduced by 24, 30, 52 and 66% indigesters that had TAN levels of 2.9, 3.6, 4.4 and 5.1 g/L, respectively, corresponding to 0.7, 1.1,1.5 and1.8 g/L FA. Total volatile fatty acid and especially isovaleric and isobutyric acid concentrations wereelevated during ammonia inhibition. Concentration of TAN in the biogas digester exceeding 3 g/Lindicating that very often the full biogas potential is not achieved due to ammonia inhibition and thatlonger HRT should be used to compensate or a lower process temperature should be chosen

Austral seabirds: challenges and opportunities for research and conservation

This paper draws together the themes of papers on procellariiform biology contained within this special issue of the Papers and Proceedings ofthe Royal Society ofTasmania which is a tribute to Irynej Skira. The role of these birds as generalised biomonitors of marine ecosystem health as well as their important interactions with commercial fisheries and human societies are major considerations. Seabird conservation faces challenges from introduced pest loss of habitat to urban development, marine pollution and climate and oceanographic changes. Studies are hampered by the difficulties of dealing with birds in remote areas (that are therefore expensive to study), a paucity of funds and problems of overlapping national and international jurisdictions in their individual home ranges or on their migration routes. There is a real need for long-term studies ofseabirds because they have delayed breeding systems, a slow rate ofreproduction, long life-spans and high adult survival. Such knowledge is important in understanding their population dynamics, the effects of changing climate, the impacts of commercial fishing, pollution, breeding habitat loss and the harvesting of chicks. The value of the long-term studies of Shorttailed Shearwaters, Puffinus tenuirostris on Fisher Island, Tasmania, is considered in the light of the importance of research investment in basic curiosity-driven research. Neglect of long-term studies and the diminishing role of local scientific journals in the dissemination of baseline data on which to build generalities are the result of changing priorities of government and other funding agencies towards shortterm output-based assessment models. Our present inability to answer the basic question of what determines seabird population abundance and distribution highlights a lack of fundamental population data in Austral seabird research. This must be addressed so that a mixture of comparative, experimental and modelling studies can be mobilised to complement descriptive studies

Dating Metasomatism: Monazite and Zircon Growth during Amphibolite Facies Albitization

We present coupled textural observations and trace element and geochronological data from metasomatic monazite and zircon, to constrain the timing of high-grade Na-metasomatism (albitization) of an Archean orthogneiss in southwest Montana, USA. Field, mineral textures, and geochemical evidence indicate albitization occurred as a rind along the margin of a ~3.2 Ga granodioritic orthogneiss (Pl + Hbl + Kfs + Qz + Bt + Zrn) exposed in the Northern Madison range. The metasomatic product is a weakly deformed albitite (Ab + Bt + OAm + Zrn + Mnz + Ap + Rt). Orthoamphibole and biotite grew synkinematically with the regional foliation fabric, which developed during metamorphism that locally peaked at upper amphibolite-facies during the 1800–1710 Ma Big Sky orogeny. Metasomatism resulted in an increase in Na, a decrease in Ca, K, Ba, Fe, and Sr, a complete transformation of plagioclase and K-feldspar into albite, and loss of quartz. In situ geochronology on zoned monazite and zircon indicate growth by dissolution–precipitation in both phases at ~1750–1735 Ma. Trace element geochemistry of rim domains in these phases are best explained by dissolution–reprecipitation in equilibrium with Na-rich fluid. Together, these data temporally and mechanistically link metasomatism with high-grade tectonism and prograde metamorphism during the Big Sky orogeny.Funding for this work was provided by NSF grant (EAR1252295) to Maha

Comment on "Giant absorption cross section of ultracold neutrons in Gadolinium"

Rauch et al (PRL 83, 4955, 1999) have compared their measurements of the Gd cross section for Ultra-cold neutrons with an exptrapolation of the cross section for thermal neutrons and interpreted the discrepancy in terms of coherence properties of the neutron. We show the extrapolation used is based on a misunderstanding and that coherence properties play no role in absorption.Comment: 2 pages, 1 postscript figure, comment on Rauch et al, PRL 83,4955 (1999

Characterization of Bovine Osteoclasts on an Ionomeric Cement In Vitro

Primary bovine osteoclasts were obtained by an outgrowth method from bovine periosteum and cultured for 7 days on an ionomeric cement for biomaterial testing. Osteoclasts cultured on slices of bovine bone and on glass microscope cover-slides served as a control. The cells were characterised as osteoclasts by a number of tests. Osteoclasts showed positive staining for tartrate resistant acid phosphatase and reactivity with the antibodies 13C2 and 23C6, which react with the alphachain of the vitronectin receptor. Addition of salmon calcitonin to the culture medium led to sudden cessation of lamellipodial activity. The cells resorbed bone by making pits. In mixed cultures with osteoblasts, the morphology of the osteoclasts on the smooth ionomeric cement surface was comparable to the one on glass cover-slides, revealing broad cytoplasmatic extensions on the material. Acridine orange staining demonstrated viability of cells until the end of the culture period and increased acidification after parathyroid hormone (PTH) stimulation. Scanning electron microscopy did not reveal erosion of the material by osteoclasts. No signs of aluminium toxicity on osteoclasts could be detected during the 7 day culture period, although an increased uptake of aluminium into the cell was demonstrated

The Properties of Field Elliptical Galaxies at Intermediate Redshift. I: Empirical Scaling Laws

We present measurements of the Fundamental Plane (FP) parameters (the effective radius, the mean effective surface brightness, and the central velocity dispersion) of six field elliptical galaxies at intermediate redshift. The imaging is taken from the Medium Deep Survey of the Hubble Space Telescope, while the kinematical data are obtained from long-slit spectroscopy using the 3.6-m ESO telescope. The Fundamental Plane appears well defined in the field even at redshift $\approx$ 0.3. The data show a shift in the FP zero point with respect to the local relation, possibly indicating modest evolution, consistent with the result found for intermediate redshift cluster samples. The FP slopes derived for our field data, plus other cluster ellipticals at intermediate redshift taken from the literature, differ from the local ones, but are still consistent with the interpretation of the FP as a result of homology, of the virial theorem and of the existence of a relation between luminosity and mass, $L \propto M^{\eta}$. We also derive the surface brightness vs. effective radius relation for nine galaxies with redshift up to $z \approx0.6$, and data from the literature; the evolution that can be inferred is consistent with what is found using the FP.Comment: 17 pages, including 9 figures, MNRAS, accepte

Effects of Ellipticity and Shear on Gravitational Lens Statistics

We study the effects of ellipticity in lens galaxies and external tidal shear from neighboring objects on the statistics of strong gravitational lenses. For isothermal lens galaxies normalized so that the Einstein radius is independent of ellipticity and shear, ellipticity {\it reduces} the lensing cross section slightly, and shear leaves it unchanged. Ellipticity and shear can significantly enhance the magnification bias, but only if the luminosity function of background sources is steep. Realistic distributions of ellipticity and shear {\it lower} the total optical depth by a few percent for most source luminosity functions, and increase the optical depth only for steep luminosity functions. The boost in the optical depth is noticeable (>5%) only for surveys limited to the brightest quasars (L/L_* > 10). Ellipticity and shear broaden the distribution of lens image separations but do not affect the mean. Ellipticity and shear naturally increase the abundance of quadruple lenses relative to double lenses, especially for steep source luminosity functions, but the effect is not enough (by itself) to explain the observed quadruple-to-double ratio. With such small changes to the optical depth and image separation distribution, ellipticity and shear have a small effect on cosmological constraints from lens statistics: neglecting the two leads to biases of just Delta Omega_M = 0.00 \pm 0.01 and Delta Omega_Lambda = -0.02 \pm 0.01 (where the errorbars represent statistical uncertainties in our calculations).Comment: Optical depth normalization discussed. Matches the published versio

A rapid landscape review of postpartum anaemia measurement: challenges and opportunities

BACKGROUND: Anaemia is a reduction in haemoglobin concentration below a threshold, resulting from various factors including severe blood loss during and after childbirth. Symptoms of anaemia include fatigue and weakness, among others, affecting health and quality of life. Anaemic pregnant women have an increased risk of premature delivery, a low-birthweight infant, and postpartum depression. They are also more likely to have anaemia in the postpartum period which can lead to an ongoing condition and affect subsequent pregnancies. In 2019 nearly 37% of pregnant women globally had anaemia, and estimates suggest that 50-80% of postpartum women in low- and middle-income countries have anaemia, but currently there is no standard measurement or classification for postpartum anaemia. METHODS: A rapid landscape review was conducted to identify and characterize postpartum anaemia measurement searching references within three published systematic reviews of anaemia, including studies published between 2012 and 2021. We then conducted a new search for relevant literature from February 2021 to April 2022 in EMBASE and MEDLINE using a similar search strategy as used in the published reviews. RESULTS: In total, we identified 53 relevant studies. The timing of haemoglobin measurement ranged from within the immediate postpartum period to over 6 weeks. The thresholds used to diagnose anaemia in postpartum women varied considerably, with < 120, < 110, < 100 and < 80 g/L the most frequently reported. Other laboratory results frequently reported included ferritin and transferrin receptor. Clinical outcomes reported in 32 out of 53 studies included postpartum depression, quality of life, and fatigue. Haemoglobin measurements were performed in a laboratory, although it is unclear from the studies if venous samples and automatic analysers were used in all cases. CONCLUSIONS: This review demonstrates the need for improving postpartum anaemia measurement given the variability observed in published measures. With the high prevalence of anaemia, the relatively simple treatment for non-severe cases of iron deficiency anaemia, and its importance to public health with multi-generational effects, it is crucial to develop common measures for women in the postpartum period and promote rapid uptake and reporting