A reexamination of stratification processes in Ides Cove, N.Y. with reference to sediment geochemistry

Ides Cove is a small, relatively deep, isolated body of water off Irondequoit Bay of Lake Ontario, Irondequoit, N.Y. In 1970-71, the cove was meromictic with meromixis being attributed to the heavy application of deicing salts in the cove\u27s watershed. Application of deicing salts to roads in the Town of Irondequoit has steadily declined from 31,230 metric tons in 1970-71 to 3,981 tons in 1979-80. Salt concentrations in surface waters of the cove have decreased since 1970. Complete mixing of the water column was observed during the winter of 1979-80 suggesting the town\u27s sensible salt use policy has been a success. However, Cl- concentrations and conductivity in the hypolimnion have remained high due primarily to the saline discharge of ground water streams (mean annual Cl- = 303 mg/1). The discharge of saline ground water streams into the cove will affect mixing periods with autumnal and vernal turnover probably being replaced by a winter mixing period

Quantifying microstructure features for high performance solid oxide cells

Focused ion beam (FIB)-scanning electron microscopy (SEM) allowed the characterization of the microstructure of two solid oxide fuel cells prepared at different sintering temperatures. 3D volume reconstruction showed that a relatively low sintering temperature significantly and positively affected distribution, volume and particle size of yttria-stabilized zirconia, nickel, and pore phases inside the anode, as well as the extent of the important triple-phase boundary interface.Comment: 21 pages and 8 figure

kakapo, a Gene Required for Adhesion Between and Within Cell Layers in Drosophila, Encodes a Large Cytoskeletal Linker Protein Related to Plectin and Dystrophin

Mutations in kakapo were recovered in genetic screens designed to isolate genes required for integrin-mediated adhesion in Drosophila. We cloned the gene and found that it encodes a large protein (>5,000 amino acids) that is highly similar to plectin and BPAG1 over the first 1,000–amino acid region, and contains within this region an α-actinin type actin-binding domain. A central region containing dystrophin-like repeats is followed by a carboxy domain that is distinct from plectin and dystrophin, having neither the intermediate filament-binding domain of plectin nor the dystroglycan/syntrophin-binding domain of dystrophin. Instead, Kakapo has a carboxy terminus similar to the growth arrest–specific protein Gas2. Kakapo is strongly expressed late during embryogenesis at the most prominent site of position-specific integrin adhesion, the muscle attachment sites. It is concentrated at apical and basal surfaces of epidermal muscle attachment cells, at the termini of the prominent microtubule bundles, and is required in these cells for strong attachment to muscles. Kakapo is also expressed more widely at a lower level where it is essential for epidermal cell layer stability. These results suggest that the Kakapo protein forms essential links among integrins, actin, and microtubules

Differences between water permeability of astomatous and stomatous cuticular membranes: effects of air humidity in two species of contrasting drought-resistance strategy

Cuticular water permeabilities of adaxial and abaxial leaf surfaces and their dependence on relative air humidity (RH) applied in long-term and short-term regimes have been analysed for Hedera helix, native in a temperate climate, and Zamioculcas zamiifolia, native in subtropical regions. The water permeability of cuticular membranes (CM) isolated from the adaxial (astomatous) and abaxial (stomatous) leaf sides was measured using a method which allowed the separation of water diffusion through the remnants of the original stomatal pores from water diffusion through the solid cuticle. The long-term effects of low (20–40%) or high (60–80%) RH applied during plant growth and leaf ontogeny (‘growth RH’) and the short-term effects of applying 2% or 100% RH while measuring permeability (‘measurement RH’) were investigated. With both species, water permeability of the solid stomatous CM was significantly higher than the permeability of the astomatous CM. Adaxial cuticles of plants grown in humid air were more permeable to water than those from dry air. The adaxial CM of the drought-tolerant H. helix was more permeable and more sensitive to growth RH than the adaxial CM of Z. zamiifolia, a species avoiding water stress. However, permeability of the solid abaxial CM was similar in both species and independent of growth RH. The lack of a humidity response in the abaxial CM is attributed to a higher degree of cuticular hydration resulting from stomatal transpiration. The ecophysiological significance of higher permeability of the solid stomatous CM compared to the astomatous CM is discussed

Structural and functional responses of benthic invertebrates to imidacloprid in outdoor stream mesocosms

Structural and functional responses of a benthic macroinvertebrate assemblage to pulses of the insecticide imidacloprid were assessed in outdoor stream mesocosms. Imidacloprid pulses reduced invertebrate abundance and community diversity in imidacloprid-dosed streams compared to control streams. These results correlated well with effects of imidacloprid on leaf litter decomposition and feeding rates of Pteronarcys comstocki, a stonefly, in artificial streams. Reductions in oxygen consumption of stoneflies exposed to imidacloprid were also observed in laboratory experiments. Our findings suggest that leaf litter degradation and single species responses can be sensitive ecotoxicological endpoints that can be used as early warning indicators and biomonitoring tools for pesticide contamination. The data generated illustrates the value of mesocosm experiments in environmental assessment and how the consideration of functional and structural endpoints of natural communities together with in situ single species bioassays can improve the evaluation and prediction of pesticide effects on stream ecosystems. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Environment Canada’s Pesticide Science FundFC

Breaking Into the Black Box: Investigating Proprietary Machine Learning Mortgage Algorithms

As black box algorithms continue to penetrate an increasing number of fields, individuals place significant trust in models that they lack any understanding of their specific decision-making processes. Mortgage applicants nationwide receive decisions that drastically impact their financial futures from algorithms that remain confidential. Recent work in machine learning emphasizes explainability and interpretability as methods to gain insight into black box models. Applying concepts of both explainability and interpretability to the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) dataset, we explore algorithms currently making mortgage lending decisions by creating counterfactual explanations for denied applicants and decision tree classifiers that reverse-engineer the models. After analyzing results on interpretability and explainability, we endorse the value of creating interpretable models over depending on post hoc explainability techniques to audit an algorithm’s decision-making process. Additionally, this investigation of interpretability and explainability highlights inconsistent lending decisions from the mortgage algorithms that judge applicants across the United States