MR230: Weight Tables for Tree and Shrub Species in Maine

Some biomass data on the components of tree and shrub species were collected nearly every summer from 1963 through 1978 for the express purpose of relating fresh and dry weight to the commonly measured physical dimensions of height and diameter at breast height. The first opportunity to conduct a biomass inventory occurred in 1974 in conjunction with a volume inventory of the Public Lots in Maine. In order to include all woody vegetation at least 1.0\u27 (30 cm) in height it was decided to measure all trees 1.0 (2.5 cm) and larger on a variable point sample and to measure the smaller trees and shrubs on a small fixed plot. In 1978 all of the biomass data in the files were compiled by components within species and three new sets of equations were prepared for each species relating fresh and dry weight by component, aboveground portion and the complete tree to diameter at breast height, and to height for the small saplings. These equations are presented in tabular form extending over the range of the field data in both English and Metric units.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/aes_miscreports/1019/thumbnail.jp

B758: A Biomass Study of the Thinning Potential and Productivity of Immature Forest Stands in Maine

The purpose of this study is to establish the degree of reliability that can be placed in biomass as a means of assessing thinning potential and site productivity of immature forest stands in Maine. The above ground biomass on 205 plots representing a variety of age classes in immature hardwood and softwood stands on meso, wet, and dry sites was cut and weighed including the standing dead trees on softwood sites. In addition, 45 point sample biomass plots were located and measured in mature all aged stands. Graphical analysis was used to relate stand characteristics to age by site and species groups for the immature stands.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/aes_bulletin/1064/thumbnail.jp

The meandering instability of a viscous thread

A viscous thread falling from a nozzle onto a surface exhibits the famous rope-coiling effect, in which the thread buckles to form loops. If the surface is replaced by a belt moving with speed $U$, the rotational symmetry of the buckling instability is broken and a wealth of interesting states are observed [See S. Chiu-Webster and J. R. Lister, J. Fluid Mech., {\bf 569}, 89 (2006)]. We experimentally studied this "fluid mechanical sewing machine" in a new, more precise apparatus. As $U$ is reduced, the steady catenary thread bifurcates into a meandering state in which the thread displacements are only transverse to the motion of the belt. We measured the amplitude and frequency $\omega$ of the meandering close to the bifurcation. For smaller $U$, single-frequency meandering bifurcates to a two-frequency "figure eight" state, which contains a significant $2\omega$ component and parallel as well as transverse displacements. This eventually reverts to single-frequency coiling at still smaller $U$. More complex, highly hysteretic states with additional frequencies are observed for larger nozzle heights. We propose to understand this zoology in terms of the generic amplitude equations appropriate for resonant interactions between two oscillatory modes with frequencies $\omega$ and $2\omega$. The form of the amplitude equations captures both the axisymmetry of the U=0 coiling state and the symmetry-breaking effects induced by the moving belt.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, revised, resubmitted to Physical Review

Asymmetric shallow mantle structure beneath the Hawaiian Swell—evidence from Rayleigh waves recorded by the PLUME network

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2011. This article is posted here by permission of John Wiley & Sons for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Journal International 187 (2011): 1725–1742, doi:10.1111/j.1365-246X.2011.05238.x.We present models of the 3-D shear velocity structure of the lithosphere and asthenosphere beneath the Hawaiian hotspot and surrounding region. The models are derived from long-period Rayleigh-wave phase velocities that were obtained from the analysis of seismic recordings collected during two year-long deployments for the Hawaiian Plume-Lithosphere Undersea Mantle Experiment. For this experiment, broad-band seismic sensors were deployed at nearly 70 seafloor sites as well as 10 sites on the Hawaiian Islands. Our seismic images result from a two-step inversion of path-averaged dispersion curves using the two-station method. The images reveal an asymmetry in shear velocity structure with respect to the island chain, most notably in the lower lithosphere at depths of 60 km and greater, and in the asthenosphere. An elongated, 100-km-wide and 300-km-long low-velocity anomaly reaches to depths of at least 140 km. At depths of 60 km and shallower, the lowest velocities are found near the northern end of the island of Hawaii. No major velocity anomalies are found to the south or southeast of Hawaii, at any depth. The low-velocity anomaly in the asthenosphere is consistent with an excess temperature of 200–250 °C and partial melt at the level of a few percent by volume, if we assume that compositional variations as a result of melt extraction play a minor role. We also image small-scale low-velocity anomalies within the lithosphere that may be associated with the volcanic fields surrounding the Hawaiian Islands.This research was financed by the National Science Foundation under grants OCE-00-02470 and OCE-00-02819. Markee was partly sponsored by a SIO graduate student fellowship

Updated Nucleosynthesis Constraints on Unstable Relic Particles

We revisit the upper limits on the abundance of unstable massive relic particles provided by the success of Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis calculations. We use the cosmic microwave background data to constrain the baryon-to-photon ratio, and incorporate an extensively updated compilation of cross sections into a new calculation of the network of reactions induced by electromagnetic showers that create and destroy the light elements deuterium, he3, he4, li6 and li7. We derive analytic approximations that complement and check the full numerical calculations. Considerations of the abundances of he4 and li6 exclude exceptional regions of parameter space that would otherwise have been permitted by deuterium alone. We illustrate our results by applying them to massive gravitinos. If they weigh ~100 GeV, their primordial abundance should have been below about 10^{-13} of the total entropy. This would imply an upper limit on the reheating temperature of a few times 10^7 GeV, which could be a potential difficulty for some models of inflation. We discuss possible ways of evading this problem.Comment: 40 pages LaTeX, 18 eps figure

CSF1R inhibitor JNJ-40346527 attenuates microglial proliferation and neurodegeneration in P301S mice

Neuroinflammation and microglial activation are significant processes in Alzheimer’s disease pathology. Recent genome-wide association studies have highlighted multiple immune-related genes in association with Alzheimer’s disease, and experimental data have demonstrated microglial proliferation as a significant component of the neuropathology. In this study, we tested the efficacy of the selective CSF1R inhibitor JNJ-40346527 (JNJ-527) in the P301S mouse tauopathy model. We first demonstrated the anti-proliferative effects of JNJ-527 on microglia in the ME7 prion model, and its impact on the inflammatory profile, and provided potential CNS biomarkers for clinical investigation with the compound, including pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamics and efficacy assessment by TSPO autoradiography and CSF proteomics. Then, we showed for the first time that blockade of microglial proliferation and modification of microglial phenotype leads to an attenuation of tau-induced neurodegeneration and results in functional improvement in P301S mice. Overall, this work strongly supports the potential for inhibition of CSF1R as a target for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and other tau-mediated neurodegenerative diseases

Inflammatory biomarkers in Alzheimer's disease plasma

Plasma biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease (AD) diagnosis/stratification are a "Holy Grail" of AD research and intensively sought; however, there are no well-established plasma markers. A hypothesis-led plasma biomarker search was conducted in the context of international multicenter studies. The discovery phase measured 53 inflammatory proteins in elderly control (CTL; 259), mild cognitive impairment (MCI; 199), and AD (262) subjects from AddNeuroMed. Ten analytes showed significant intergroup differences. Logistic regression identified five (FB, FH, sCR1, MCP-1, eotaxin-1) that, age/APOε4 adjusted, optimally differentiated AD and CTL (AUC: 0.79), and three (sCR1, MCP-1, eotaxin-1) that optimally differentiated AD and MCI (AUC: 0.74). These models replicated in an independent cohort (EMIF; AUC 0.81 and 0.67). Two analytes (FB, FH) plus age predicted MCI progression to AD (AUC: 0.71). Plasma markers of inflammation and complement dysregulation support diagnosis and outcome prediction in AD and MCI. Further replication is needed before clinical translation