Physiological capacity of Cancer setosus larvae — Adaptation to El Niño Southern Oscillation conditions

Temperature changes during ENSO challenge the fauna of the Pacific South American coast. In many ectotherm benthic species pelagic larvae are the most important dispersal stage, which may, however, be particularly vulnerable to such environmental stress. Thermal limitation in aquatic ecotherms is hypothesized to be reflected first in the aerobic scope of an animal. Here we present results on whole animal oxygen consumption and on the activities of two metabolic key enzymes, citrate synthase (CS) and pyruvate kinase (PK)) of Cancer setosus zoeal larvae, acclimated to different temperatures. Larvae acclimated to cooler temperatures (12 and 16 °C) were able to compensate for the temperature effect as reflected in elevated mass specific respiration rates (MSR) and enzyme activities. In contrast, warm acclimated larvae (20 and 22 °C) seem to have reached their upper thermal limits, which is reflected in MSR decoupling from temperature and low Q10 values (Zoea I: 1.4; Zoea III: 1.02). Thermal deactivation of CS in vitro occurred close to habitat temperature (between 20 and 24 °C), indicating instability of the enzyme close to in vivo thermal limits. The capacity of anaerobic metabolism, reflected by PK, was not influenced by temperature, but increased with instar, reflecting behavioral changes in larval life style. Functioning of the metabolic key enzyme CS was identified to be one possible key for larval limitation in temperature tolerance

Doppler Shift in Andreev Reflection from a Moving Superconducting Condensate in Nb/InAs Josephson Junctions

We study narrow ballistic Josephson weak links in a InAs quantum wells contacted by Nb electrodes and find a dramatic magnetic-field suppression of the Andreev reflection amplitude, which occurs even for in-plane field orientation with essentially no magnetic flux through the junction. Our observations demonstrate the presence of a Doppler shift in the energy of the Andreev levels, which results from diamagnetic screening currents in the hybrid Nb/InAs-banks. The data for conductance, excess and critical currents can be consistently explained in terms of the sample geometry and the McMillan energy, characterizing the transparency of the Nb/InAs-interface.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, title modifie

UBC®Rapid Test for detection of carcinoma in situ for bladder cancer

UBC®Rapid Test is a test that detects fragments of cytokeratins 8 and 18 in urine. We present results of a multicentre study measuring UBC®Rapid Test in bladder cancer patients and healthy controls with focus on carcinoma in situ (CIS) and high-grade bladder cancer. From our study with N = 452 patients, we made a stratified sub-analysis for carcinoma in situ of the urinary bladder. Clinical urine samples were used from 87 patients with tumours of the urinary bladder (23 carcinoma in situ, 23 non-muscle-invasive low-grade tumours, 21 non-muscle-invasive high-grade tumours and 20 muscle-invasive high-grade tumours) and from 22 healthy controls. The cut-off value was defined at 10.0 µg/L. Urine samples were analysed by the UBC®Rapid Test point-of-care system (concile Omega 100 POC reader). Pathological levels of UBC Rapid Test in urine are higher in patients with bladder cancer in comparison to the control group (p < 0.001). Sensitivity was calculated at 86.9% for carcinoma in situ, 30.4% for non-muscle-invasive low-grade bladder cancer, 71.4% for nonmuscle-invasive high grade bladder cancer and 60% for muscle-invasive high-grade bladder cancer, and specificity was 90.9%. The area under the curve of the quantitative UBC®Rapid Test using the optimal threshold obtained by receiveroperated curve analysis was 0.75. Pathological values of UBC®Rapid Test in urine are higher in patients with high-grade bladder cancer in comparison to low-grade tumours and the healthy control group. UBC®Rapid Test has potential to be more sensitive and specific urinary protein biomarker for accurate detection of high-grade patients and could be added especially in the diagnostics for carcinoma in situ and non-muscle-invasive high-grade tumours of urinary bladder cancer

Slow fluctuations in enhanced Raman scattering and surface roughness relaxation

We propose an explanation for the recently measured slow fluctuations and ``blinking'' in the surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectrum of single molecules adsorbed on a silver colloidal particle. We suggest that these fluctuations may be related to the dynamic relaxation of the surface roughness on the nanometer scale and show that there are two classes of roughness with qualitatively different dynamics. The predictions agree with measurements of surface roughness relaxation. Using a theoretical model for the kinetics of surface roughness relaxation in the presence of charges and optical electrical fields, we predict that the high-frequency electromagnetic field increases both the effective surface tension and the surface diffusion constant and thus accelerates the surface smoothing kinetics and time scale of the Raman fluctuations in manner that is linear with the laser power intensity, while the addition of salt retards the surface relaxation kinetics and increases the time scale of the fluctuations. These predictions are in qualitative agreement with the Raman experiments

BRITE-Constellation: Data processing and photometry

The BRITE mission is a pioneering space project aimed at the long-term photometric monitoring of the brightest stars in the sky by means of a constellation of nano-satellites. Its main advantage is high photometric accuracy and time coverage inaccessible from the ground. The main aim of this paper is the presentation of procedures used to obtain high-precision photometry from a series of images acquired by the BRITE satellites in two modes of observing, stare and chopping. We developed two pipelines corresponding to the two modes of observing. The assessment of the performance of both pipelines is presented. It is based on two comparisons, which use data from six runs of the UniBRITE satellite: (i) comparison of photometry obtained by both pipelines on the same data, which were partly affected by charge transfer inefficiency (CTI), (ii) comparison of real scatter with theoretical expectations. It is shown that for CTI-affected observations, the chopping pipeline provides much better photometry than the other pipeline. For other observations, the results are comparable only for data obtained shortly after switching to chopping mode. Starting from about 2.5 years in orbit, the chopping mode of observing provides significantly better photometry for UniBRITE data than the stare mode. This paper shows that high-precision space photometry with low-cost nano-satellites is achievable. The proposed meth- ods, used to obtain photometry from images affected by high impulsive noise, can be applied to data from other space missions or even to data acquired from ground-based observations

The Sea Peoples, from Cuneiform Tablets to Carbon Dating

The 13th century BC witnessed the zenith of the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean civilizations which declined at the end of the Bronze Age, ∼3200 years ago. Weakening of this ancient flourishing Mediterranean world shifted the political and economic centres of gravity away from the Levant towards Classical Greece and Rome, and led, in the long term, to the emergence of the modern western civilizations. Textual evidence from cuneiform tablets and Egyptian reliefs from the New Kingdom relate that seafaring tribes, the Sea Peoples, were the final catalyst that put the fall of cities and states in motion. However, the lack of a stratified radiocarbon-based archaeology for the Sea People event has led to a floating historical chronology derived from a variety of sources spanning dispersed areas. Here, we report a stratified radiocarbon-based archaeology with anchor points in ancient epigraphic-literary sources, Hittite-Levantine-Egyptian kings and astronomical observations to precisely date the Sea People event. By confronting historical and science-based archaeology, we establish an absolute age range of 1192–1190 BC for terminal destructions and cultural collapse in the northern Levant. This radiocarbon-based archaeology has far-reaching implications for the wider Mediterranean, where an elaborate network of international relations and commercial activities are intertwined with the history of civilizations

Medieval coastal Syrian vegetation patterns in the principality of Antioch

The coastal area of Jableh, in the vicinity of the Saladin and Al-Marquab castles, is a fertile alluvial plain located on the northwestern part of Syria, in what was once the crusader Principality of Antioch. In order to detail the coastal environment during the crusader period in the Middle East, palynological analyses have been conducted on the underlying coastal-alluvial deposits. The recovered sediments represent a continuous record of the environmental history of the area spanning a c. AD 850—1850 cal. yr period, from the Muslim Era up to and including the late Ottoman times. During the local crusader period (AD 1100—1270), the area was dominated by an arborescent mattoral mixed with a xerophytic shrub-steppe. The alluvial plain was slightly waterlogged and colonized by a wetland meadow with an open vegetation of steppe-like character on bare surfaces and fresh arable soils. The riparian and open deciduous riverine forests were weakly developed. Signs of agricultural activities are mainly recorded for the High Medieval period (AD 1000—1300), with an increase of vineyards in the coastal area. Since c. AD 1250 cal. yr until the end of the crusader period, agricultural activities never reached the same intensity as during the Mameluke Sultanate and the Ottoman Empire

A process-based model of conifer forest structure and function with special emphasis on leaf lifespan

We describe the University of Sheffield Conifer Model (USCM), a process-based approach for simulating conifer forest carbon, nitrogen, and water fluxes by up-scaling widely applicable relationships between leaf lifespan and function. The USCM is designed to predict and analyze the biogeochemistry and biophysics of conifer forests that dominated the ice-free high-latitude regions under the high pCO2 “greenhouse” world 290–50 Myr ago. It will be of use in future research investigating controls on the contrasting distribution of ancient evergreen and deciduous forests between hemispheres, and their differential feedbacks on polar climate through the exchange of energy and materials with the atmosphere. Emphasis is placed on leaf lifespan because this trait can be determined from the anatomical characteristics of fossil conifer woods and influences a range of ecosystem processes. Extensive testing of simulated net primary production and partitioning, leaf area index, evapotranspiration, nitrogen uptake, and land surface energy partitioning showed close agreement with observations from sites across a wide climatic gradient. This indicates the generic utility of our model, and adequate representation of the key processes involved in forest function using only information on leaf lifespan, climate, and soils

ACE inhibition attenuates uremia-induced aortic valve thickening in a novel mouse model

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>We examined whether impaired renal function causes thickening of the aortic valve leaflets in hyperlipidemic apoE-knockout (apoE^-/-) mice, and whether the putative effect on the aortic valves could be prevented by inhibiting the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) with enalapril.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Thickening of the aortic valve leaflets in apoE^-/-mice was induced by producing mild or moderate chronic renal failure resulting from unilateral nephrectomy (1/2 NX, n = 18) or subtotal nephrectomy (5/6 NX, n = 22), respectively. Additionally, the 5/6 NX mice were randomized to no treatment (n = 8) or enalapril treatment (n = 13). The maximal thickness of each leaflet was measured from histological sections of the aortic roots.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Leaflet thickness was significantly greater in the 5/6 NX mice than in the 1/2 NX mice (P = 0.030) or the unoperated mice (P = 0.003). The 5/6 NX mice treated with enalapril had significantly thinner leaflets than did the untreated 5/6 NX mice (P = 0.014).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Moderate uremia causes thickening of the aortic valves in apoE^-/-mice, which can be attenuated by ACE inhibition. The nephrectomized apoE^-/-mouse constitutes a new model for investigating the mechanisms of uremia-induced aortic valve disease, and also provides an opportunity to study its pharmacologic prevention.</p

The Intentional Use of Service Recovery Strategies to Influence Consumer Emotion, Cognition and Behaviour

Service recovery strategies have been identified as a critical factor in the success of. service organizations. This study develops a conceptual frame work to investigate how specific service recovery strategies influence the emotional, cognitive and negative behavioural responses of . consumers., as well as how emotion and cognition influence negative behavior. Understanding the impact of specific service recovery strategies will allow service providers' to more deliberately and intentionally engage in strategies that result in positive organizational outcomes. This study was conducted using a 2 x 2 between-subjects quasi-experimental design. The results suggest that service recovery has a significant impact on emotion, cognition and negative behavior. Similarly, satisfaction, negative emotion and positive emotion all influence negative behavior but distributive justice has no effect