A countercurrent liquid-liquid extractor

A novel countercurrent liquid-liquid extractor is presented and illustrated with applications. The apparatus consists essentially of an assembly of mixer-settlers, feeders, reservoirs, and flow lines that are made of glass or other chemical resistant materials. In operation this multistage assembly rotates intermittently in one direction on a horizontal axis causing the immiscible phases to progress to opposite ends of the unit. Details for the construction of the extractor and its principles of operation are given. Extractors of this design are applicable to experimental work and to the preparation of pure compounds in quantity

Historical Fire In Longleaf Pine (\u3ci\u3ePinus palustris\u3c/i\u3e) Forests of South Mississippi and Its Relation to Land Use and Climate

We characterized historical fire regimes in Pinus palustris (longleaf pine) forests of southern Mississippi with regard to global and regional coupled climate systems (e.g., El Niño–Southern Oscillation) and past human activity. The composite fire chronology spanned 1756–2013 with 132 individual scars representing 89 separate fire events. The mean fire interval was 2.9 yr, and mean intervals were significantly different between identified time periods (e.g., settlement period vs. management period). Evidence of biannual fire activity (up to three fires occurring within a 12‐ to 15‐month period) was found coeval with a peak in livestock grazing and logging from the 1850s through the 1880s. Connections were also found between historical fire and Pacific climate variability (e.g., El Niño–Southern Oscillation and Pacific Decadal Oscillation; P \u3c 0.05), yet the fire–climate linkage was likely at least partially masked by substantial human land use activities over the past several centuries. Coupled climate and human land use activity controlled the historical fire regime over the past ca. 240 yr. Although the many fire adaptions of P. palustris yield limitations in tree‐ring‐based fire history studies (e.g., thick bark), we highlight the efficacy of considering the height at which fire scars are analyzed along the bole as a way to glean a more accurate depiction of historical fire occurrence, especially in ecosystems characterized by a frequent, low‐severity fire regime. This study suggests growing‐season fire prescribed at a 2‐ to 3‐yr interval would be the first step toward simulating historical landscape conditions and fire activity, should that be the goal by land managers

Gorceixia decurrens (Compositae: Vernonieae): nova espécie para o estado da Bahia, Brasil

Recent fieldwork and collections have added a new genus to the Compositae flora of Bahia State, Brazil. Gorceixia decurrens is newly recorded for the State from Caatinga woodland along the lower part of the Estrada Real, in the municipality of Rio de Contas. A full description is provided, its distribution and conservation status discussed; likely affinities in the Vernonieae are discussed with the conclusion that it belongs to the subtribe Piptocarphinae.Trabalhos de campo e coletas recentes na Bahia, Brasil, permitiram adicionar mais um gênero para a flora do Estado. Gorceixia decurrens foi coletada em 2001, em área de Caatinga Arbórea, na base da Estrada Real no município a Rio de Contas. É fornecida uma completa descrição da espécie e discussão sobre sua distribuição e estado de conservação. Também, é apresentada discussão do posicionamento do gênero monotípico nas Vernonieae concluindo-se que o mesmo pertence à subtribo Piptocarphinae

Flora da Bahia: Martyniaceae

This account of Martyniaceae is a further contribution to the ongoing Flora of Bahia, Brazil. The genus Holoregmia, an endemic of Bahia´s Caatinga, is represented by its only species H. viscida. Descriptions for the family, genus and species, as well as illustrations, and general comments for the species are presented.É apresentado o levantamento florístico de Martyniaceae da Bahia, Brasil, como contribuição ao conhecimento da flora do Estado. O gênero Holoregmia, endêmico da Caatinga da Bahia, é representado por sua única espécie H. viscida. São apresentadas descrições da família e da espécie, ilustrações e comentários gerais para a espécie

FJ44 Turbofan Engine Test at NASA Glenn Research Center's Aero-Acoustic Propulsion Laboratory

A Williams International FJ44-3A 3000-lb thrust class turbofan engine was tested in the NASA Glenn Research Center s Aero-Acoustic Propulsion Laboratory. This report presents the test set-up and documents the test conditions. Farfield directivity, in-duct unsteady pressures, duct mode data, and phased-array data were taken and are reported separately

Genomic analysis on broiler-associated Clostridium perfringens strains and exploratory caecal microbiome investigation reveals key factors linked to poultry necrotic enteritis.

BACKGROUND: Clostridium perfringens is a key pathogen in poultry-associated necrotic enteritis (NE). To date there are limited Whole Genome Sequencing based studies describing broiler-associated C. perfringens in healthy and diseased birds. Moreover, changes in the caecal microbiome during NE is currently not well characterised. Thus, the aim of this present study was to investigate C. perfringens virulence factors linked to health and diseased chickens, including identifying putative caecal microbiota signatures associated with NE. RESULTS: We analysed 88 broiler chicken C. perfringens genomes (representing 66 publicly available genomes and 22 newly sequenced genomes) using different phylogenomics approaches and identified a potential hypervirulent and globally-distributed clone spanning 20-year time-frame (1993-2013). These isolates harbored a greater number of virulence genes (including toxin and collagen adhesin genes) when compared to other isolates. Further genomic analysis indicated exclusive and overabundant presence of important NE-linked toxin genes including netB and tpeL in NE-associated broiler isolates. Secondary virulence genes including pfoA, cpb2, and collagen adhesin genes cna, cnaA and cnaD were also enriched in the NE-linked C. perfringens genomes. Moreover, an environmental isolate obtained from farm animal feeds was found to encode netB, suggesting potential reservoirs of NetB-positive C. perfringens strains (toxinotype G). We also analysed caecal samples from a small sub-set of 11 diseased and healthy broilers for exploratory microbiome investigation using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, which indicated a significant and positive correlation in genus Clostridium within the wider microbiota of those broilers diagnosed with NE, alongside reductions in beneficial microbiota members. CONCLUSIONS: These data indicate a positive association of virulence genes including netB, pfoA, cpb2, tpeL and cna variants linked to NE-linked isolates. Potential global dissemination of specific hypervirulent lineage, coupled with distinctive microbiome profiles, highlights the need for further investigations, which will require a large worldwide sample collection from healthy and NE-associated birds

Flora da Serra do Cipó, Minas Gerais: Lamiaceae

The study of the family Lamiaceae is part of the project of “Flora of the Serra do Cipó, Minas Gerais, Brazil”. In that area, the family is represented by the following genera, with their respective number of species: Cantinoa (3), Cyanocephalus (2), Eriope (5), Hypenia (1), Hyptidendron (3), Hyptis (16), Medusantha (2), Mesosphaerum (3), Ocimum (1), Oocephalus (2), Rhabdocaulon (1) and Salvia (5). Keys to genera and species, descriptions, illustrations and comments on the geographical distribution, habitat, phenology and morphological variability are presented.O estudo da família Lamiaceae é parte do levantamento da Flora da Serra do Cipó, Minas Gerais, Brasil. A família está representada na área pelos seguintes gêneros, com seus respectivos número de espécies: Cantinoa (3), Cyanocephalus (2), Eriope (5), Hypenia (1), Hyptidendron (3), Hyptis (16), Medusantha (2), Mesosphaerum (3), Ocimum (1), Oocephalus (2), Rhabdocaulon (1) e Salvia (5). São apresentadas chaves para gêneros e espécies, descrições, ilustrações e comentários sobre habitat, distribuição geográfica, fenologia e variabilidade morfológica

Latewood Ring Width Reveals CE 1734 Felling Dates for Walker House Timbers In Tupelo, Mississippi, USA

Dendroarchaeology is under-represented in the Gulf Coastal Plain region of the United States (US), and at present, only three published studies have precision dated a collection of 18th–19th-century structures. In this study, we examined the tree-ring data from pine, poplar, and oak timbers used in the Walker House in Tupelo, Mississippi. The Walker House was constructed ca. the mid-1800s with timbers that appeared to be recycled from previous structures. In total, we examined 30 samples (16 pines, 8 oaks, and 6 poplars) from the attic and crawlspace. We cross-dated latewood ring growth from the attic pine samples to the period 1541–1734 (r = 0.52, t = 8.43, p \u3c 0.0001) using a 514-year longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) latewood reference chronology from southern Mississippi. The crawlspace oak samples produced a 57-year chronology that we dated against a white oak (Quercus alba L.) reference chronology from northeast Alabama to the period 1765–1822 (r = 0.36, t = 2.83, p \u3c 0.01). We were unable to cross-date the six poplar samples due to a lack of poplar reference chronologies in the region. Our findings have two important implications: (1) the pine material dated to 1734 represents the oldest dendroarchaeology-confirmed dating match for construction materials in the southeastern US, and (2) cross-dating latewood growth for southeastern US pine species produced statistically significant results, whereas total ring width failed to produce significant dating results

Flora da Bahia: Zygophyllaceae

This account of the Zygophyllaceae is a further contribution to the ongoing Flora of Bahia project. Kallstroemia tribuloides and Tribulus terrestris are recognized for the state of Bahia, Brazil. A key to species is provided together with descriptions, illustrations, and general notes for the taxa.É apresentado o levantamento florístico de Zygophyllaceae da Bahia, Brasil, como contribuição ao conhecimento da Flora do Estado. São reconhecidas as espécies Kallstroemia tribuloides e Tribulus terrestris. São apresentadas chave de identificação, descrições e ilustrações, além de comentários gerais sobre os táxons

Can we predict ectotherm responses to climate change using thermal performance curves and body temperatures?

Thermal performance curves (TPCs), which quantify how an ectotherm\u27s body temperature (Tb ) affects its performance or fitness, are often used in an attempt to predict organismal responses to climate change. Here, we examine the key - but often biologically unreasonable - assumptions underlying this approach; for example, that physiology and thermal regimes are invariant over ontogeny, space and time, and also that TPCs are independent of previously experienced Tb. We show how a critical consideration of these assumptions can lead to biologically useful hypotheses and experimental designs. For example, rather than assuming that TPCs are fixed during ontogeny, one can measure TPCs for each major life stage and incorporate these into stage-specific ecological models to reveal the life stage most likely to be vulnerable to climate change. Our overall goal is to explicitly examine the assumptions underlying the integration of TPCs with Tb , to develop a framework within which empiricists can place their work within these limitations, and to facilitate the application of thermal physiology to understanding the biological implications of climate change