The Magnitude And Persistence Of Soil No, N2O, Ch4, And Co, Fluxes From Burned Tropical Savanna In Brazil

Among all global ecosystems, tropical savannas are the most severely and extensively affected by anthropogenic burning. Frequency of fire in cerrado,a type of tropical savanna covering 25% of Brazil, is 2 to 4 years. In 1992 we measured soil fluxes of NO, N2O, CH4, and CO2 from cerrado sites that had been burned within the previous 2 days, 30 days, 1 year, and from a control site last burned in 1976. NO and N2O fluxes responded dramatically to fire with the highest fluxes observed from newly burned soils after addition of water. Emissions of N-trace gases after burning were of similar magnitude to estimated emissions during combustion. NO fluxes immediately after burning are among the highest observed for any ecosystem studied to date. These rates declined with time after burning and had returned to control levels 1 year after the burn. An assessment of our data suggested that tropical savanna, burned or unburned, is a major source of NO to the troposphere. Cerrado appeared to be a minor source of N2O and a sink for atmospheric CH4. Burning also elevated CO2 fluxes, which remained detectably elevated 1 year later

The long noncoding RNA RNCR2 directs mouse retinal cell specification

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Recent work has identified that many long mRNA-like noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are expressed in the developing nervous system. Despite their abundance, the function of these ncRNAs has remained largely unexplored. We have investigated the highly abundant lncRNA RNCR2 in regulation of mouse retinal cell differentiation.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We find that the RNCR2 is selectively expressed in a subset of both mitotic progenitors and postmitotic retinal precursor cells. ShRNA-mediated knockdown of RNCR2 results in an increase of both amacrine cells and Müller glia, indicating a role for this lncRNA in regulating retinal cell fate specification. We further report that RNCR2 RNA, which is normally nuclear-retained, can be exported from the nucleus when fused to an IRES-GFP sequence. Overexpression of RNCR2-IRES-GFP phenocopies the effects of shRNA-mediated knockdown of RNCR2, implying that forced mislocalization of RNCR2 induces a dominant-negative phenotype. Finally, we use the IRES-GFP fusion approach to identify specific domains of RNCR2 that are required for repressing both amacrine and Müller glial differentiation.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These data demonstrate that the lncRNA RNCR2 plays a critical role in regulating mammalian retinal cell fate specification. Furthermore, we present a novel approach for generating dominant-negative constructs of lncRNAs, which may be generally useful in the functional analysis of this class of molecules.</p

A study of cryogenic propellant mixing techniques. Volume 1 - Mixer design and experimental investigations Final report, Jul. 1967 - Sep. 1968

Mixer design and experimental tank study for cryogenic propellants, with applications for manned Mars missio

Design of an airborne launch vehicle and an air launched space booster

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/77293/1/AIAA-1993-3955-297.pd

Electron-ion recombination of Si IV forming Si III: Storage-ring measurement and multiconfiguration Dirac-Fock calculations

The electron-ion recombination rate coefficient for Si IV forming Si III was measured at the heavy-ion storage-ring TSR. The experimental electron-ion collision energy range of 0-186 eV encompassed the 2p(6) nl n'l' dielectronic recombination (DR) resonances associated with 3s to nl core excitations, 2s 2p(6) 3s nl n'l' resonances associated with 2s to nl (n=3,4) core excitations, and 2p(5) 3s nl n'l' resonances associated with 2p to nl (n=3,...,infinity) core excitations. The experimental DR results are compared with theoretical calculations using the multiconfiguration Dirac-Fock (MCDF) method for DR via the 3s to 3p n'l' and 3s to 3d n'l' (both n'=3,...,6) and 2p(5) 3s 3l n'l' (n'=3,4) capture channels. Finally, the experimental and theoretical plasma DR rate coefficients for Si IV forming Si III are derived and compared with previously available results.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures, 3 tables. Accepted for publication in Physical Review

Using the virtual reality device Oculus Rift for neuropsychological assessment of visual processing capabilities

Foerster RM, Poth CH, Behler C, Botsch M, Schneider WX. Using the virtual reality device Oculus Rift for neuropsychological assessment of visual processing capabilities. Scientific Reports. 2016;6(1): 37016.Neuropsychological assessment of human visual processing capabilities strongly depends on visual testing conditions including room lighting, stimuli, and viewing-distance. This limits standardization, threatens reliability, and prevents the assessment of core visual functions such as visual processing speed. Increasingly available virtual reality devices allow to address these problems. One such device is the portable, light-weight, and easy-to-use Oculus Rift. It is head-mounted and covers the entire visual field, thereby shielding and standardizing the visual stimulation. A fundamental prerequisite to use Oculus Rift for neuropsychological assessment is sufficient test-retest reliability. Here, we compare the test-retest reliabilities of Bundesen’s visual processing components (visual processing speed, threshold of conscious perception, capacity of visual working memory) as measured with Oculus Rift and a standard CRT computer screen. Our results show that Oculus Rift allows to measure the processing components as reliably as the standard CRT. This means that Oculus Rift is applicable for standardized and reliable assessment and diagnosis of elementary cognitive functions in laboratory and clinical settings. Oculus Rift thus provides the opportunity to compare visual processing components between individuals and institutions and to establish statistical norm distributions

Cell transformation assays for prediction of carcinogenic potential: State of the science and future research needs

Copyright @ 2011 The Authors. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Cell transformation assays (CTAs) have long been proposed as in vitro methods for the identification of potential chemical carcinogens. Despite showing good correlation with rodent bioassay data, concerns over the subjective nature of using morphological criteria for identifying transformed cells and a lack of understanding of the mechanistic basis of the assays has limited their acceptance for regulatory purposes. However, recent drivers to find alternative carcinogenicity assessment methodologies, such as the Seventh Amendment to the EU Cosmetics Directive, have fuelled renewed interest in CTAs. Research is currently ongoing to improve the objectivity of the assays, reveal the underlying molecular changes leading to transformation and explore the use of novel cell types. The UK NC3Rs held an international workshop in November 2010 to review the current state of the art in this field and provide directions for future research. This paper outlines the key points highlighted at this meeting

Ultrahigh temporal resolution of visual presentation using gaming monitors and G-Sync

Poth CH, Foerster RM, Behler C, Schwanecke U, Schneider WX, Botsch M. Ultrahigh temporal resolution of visual presentation using gaming monitors and G-Sync. Behavior Research Methods. 2018;50(1):26-38.all implementations, we confirmed the ultra-high temporal resolution of visual presentation with external measurements using a photodiode. Moreover, a psychophysical experiment revealed that the ultra-high temporal resolution impacts on human visual performance. Specifically, observers’ object recognition performance improved over fine-grained increases of object presentation duration in a theoretically predicted way. Taken together, the present study shows that the G- Sync-based presentation method enables to investigate visual processes whose data patterns were concealed by the low temporal resolution of previous technologies. Therefore, this new presentation method may be a valuable tool for experimental psychologists and neuroscientists studying vision and its temporal characteristics