Regression modeling of the North East Atlantic Spring Bloom suggests previously unrecognized biological roles for V and Mo

In order to identify the biogeochemical parameters controlling pCO(2), total chlorophyll a, and dimethyl sulfide (DMS) concentrations during the North East Atlantic Spring Bloom (NASB), we used previously unpublished particulate and dissolved elemental concentrations to construct several linear regression models; first by hypothesis testing, and then with exhaustive stepwise linear regression followed by leave-one-out cross-validation. The field data was obtained along a latitudinal transect from the Azores Islands to the North Atlantic, and best-fit models (determined by lowest predictive error) of up to three variables are presented. Total chlorophyll a is predicted best by biomass (POC, PON) parameters and by pigments characteristic of picophytoplankton for the southern section of the sampling transect (from the Azores to the Rockhall-Hatton Plateau) and coccolithophores in the northern portion (from the Rockhall-Hatton Plateau to the Denmark Strait). Both the pCO(2) and DMS models included variables traditionally associated with the development of the NASB such as mixed layer depth and with Fe, Si, and P-deplete conditions (dissolved Fe, dissolved and biogenic silica, dissolved PO43-). However, the regressions for pCO(2) and DMS also include intracellular V and Mo concentrations, respectively. Mo is involved in DMS production as a cofactor in dimethylsulfoxide reductase. No significant biological role for V has yet been determined, although intracellular V is significantly correlated (p-value \u3c 0.05) with biogenic silica (R-2 = 0.72) and total chlorophyll a (R-2 = 0.49) while the same is not true for its biogeochemical analogue Mo, suggesting active uptake of V by phytoplankton. Our statistical analysis suggests these two lesser studied metals may play more important roles in bloom dynamics than previously thought, and highlights a need for studies focused on determining their potential biological requirements and cell quotas

Sequential Tasks Shifting for Participation in Demand Response Programs

In this paper, the proposed methodology minimizes the electricity cost of a laundry room by means of load shifting. The laundry room is equipped with washing machines, dryers, and irons. Additionally, the optimization model handles demand response signals, respecting user preferences while providing the required demand reduction. The sequence of devices operation is also modeled, ensuring correct operation cycles of different types of devices which are not allowed to overlap or have sequence rules. The implemented demand response program specifies a power consumption limit in each period and offers discounts for energy prices as incentives. In addition, users can define the required number of operations for each device in specific periods, and the preferences regarding the operation of consecutive days. In the case study, results have been obtained regarding six scenarios that have been defined to survey about effects of different energy tariffs, power limitations, and incentives, in a laundry room equipped with three washing machines, two dryers, and one iron. A sensitivity analysis of the power consumption limit is presented. The results show that the proposed methodology is able to accommodate the implemented scenario, respecting user preferences and demand response program, minimizing energy costs. The final electricity price has been calculated for all scenarios to discuss the more effective schedule in each scenario.This work has received funding from Portugal 2020 under SPEAR project (NORTE-01-0247-FEDER-040224), in the scope of ITEA 3 SPEAR Project 16001 and from FEDER Funds through COMPETE program and from National Funds through (FCT) under the project UIDB/00760/2020, and CEECIND/02887/2017.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Distribution of extracellular flavins in a coastal marine basin and their relationship to redox gradients and microbial community members

The flavins (including flavin mononucleotide (FMN) and riboflavin (RF)) are a class of organic compounds synthesized by organisms to assist in critical redox reactions. While known to be secreted extracellularly by some species in laboratory-based cultures, flavin concentrations are largely unreported in the natural environment. Here, we present pore water and water column profiles of extracellular flavins (FMN and RF) and two degradation products (lumiflavin and lumichrome) from a coastal marine basin in the Southern California Bight alongside ancillary geochemical and 16S rRNA microbial community data. Flavins were detectable at picomolar concentrations in the water column (93–300 pM FMN, 14–40 pM RF) and low nanomolar concentrations in pore waters (250–2070 pM FMN, 11–210 pM RF). Elevated pore water flavin concentrations displayed an increasing trend with sediment depth and were significantly correlated with the total dissolved Fe (negative) and Mn (positive) concentrations. Network analysis revealed a positive relationship between flavins and the relative abundance of Dehalococcoidia and the MSBL9 clade of Planctomycetes, indicating possible secretion by members of these lineages. These results suggest that flavins are a common component of the so-called shared extracellular metabolite pool, especially in anoxic marine sediments where they exist at physiologically relevant concentrations for metal oxide reduction

European cattle breed cluster accordingly to their meat quality parameters

The concept of breed is rather questionable and it's used more as a tool for "labelling" production systems than as a biological category. Here, production system is intended as a whole set of animal units, techniques, breeding schemes, marketing, etc. However, man has demonstrated to be very quick in capturing and disseminating good characteristics whence they appear in a breed by mutation or by selection. Therefore, it might be expected that breeds, nevertheless of recent origin, could bear distinguished productive characteristics. Due to the quan- titative nature of them, more characteristics should be measured in order to obtain a clear and statistically significant distinction. We have measured several meat characteristics in 15 European breeds (30 individuals for each breed), mostly with beef attitude, reared in similar conditions. This was accomplished to better reveal the genetic background of breeds. A canonical discriminant analysis showed a clear distinction among breeds. In particular lipid composition of meat was able to assign individuals to breeds with 57% and 63% of individuals correctly classified respectively for neutral and phospholipids. The classification is generally good for all breeds except for the Spanish ones,indicating probably some crossing in the past for these breeds. Neutral lipids can classify double muscled breeds with high precision (84% and 95% in Asturiana de los Valles and Piedmontese respectively). Tenderness related measures (collagen, µ-calpain, m-calpain, calpastatin, MFI) poorly assign indi- viduals to breeds (average 22%). The good classification of individuals to breeds for lipid composition suggests distinctive genetic features and encourages to look further to genetic determination of fat composition in the meat, as well as to exploit particular breeds to obtain products suitable for categories of consumers needing/searching for special components in their diet

Near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy for predicting the phospholipid fraction and the total fatty acid composition of freeze-dried beef

Peer reviewe

Anatomic mapping of the collateral branches of the external carotid artery with regard to daily clinical practice

Background: To identify the anatomical variations of the main branches of the external carotid artery (lingual, facial, occipital, ascending pharyngeal and sternocleidomastoid), giving information about the calibers and origins with the aim of creating a new classification useful in clinical practice. Material and methods: 193 human embalmed body-donors were dissected. The data collected were analyzed using the Chi² test. The results of previous studies were reviewed. Results: The majority of the anterior arterial branches (superior thyroid, facial and lingual artery) were observed with an independent origin, respectively, classified as pattern I (80.83%, 156/193). In 17.62% (34/193) a linguofacial trunk, pattern II, has been observed, only in 1,04% (2/193) a thyrolingual trunk, pattern III, has been found and in one case (1/193, 0.52%) one thyrolinguofacial trunk, pattern IV, was found. Depending on the posterior branches (occipital and ascending pharyngeal), four different types could be determined: type a, the posterior arteries originated independently, type b, the posterior arteries originated in a common trunk, type c, the ascending pharyngeal artery was absent, type d, the occipital artery was absent. Conclusion: Anatomical variations in these arteries are relevant in daily clinical practice due to growing applications, e.g., in Interventional Radiology techniques. Knowledge of these anatomical references could help clinicians in the interpretation of the carotid system

Distribution of calcifying and silicifying phytoplankton in relation to environmental and biogeochemical parameters during the late stages of the 2005 North East Atlantic Spring Bloom

The late stage of the North East Atlantic (NEA) spring bloom was investigated during June 2005 along a transect section from 45 to 66° N between 15 and 20° W in order to characterize the contribution of siliceous and calcareous phytoplankton groups and describe their distribution in relation to environmental factors. We measured several biogeochemical parameters such as nutrients, surface trace metals, algal pigments, biogenic silica (BSi), particulate inorganic carbon (PIC) or calcium carbonate, particulate organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus (POC, PON and POP, respectively), as well as transparent exopolymer particles (TEP). Results were compared with other studies undertaken in this area since the JGOFS NABE program. Characteristics of the spring bloom generally agreed well with the accepted scenario for the development of the autotrophic community. The NEA seasonal diatom bloom was in the late stages when we sampled the area and diatoms were constrained to the northern part of our transect, over the Icelandic Basin (IB) and Icelandic Shelf (IS). Coccolithophores dominated the phytoplankton community, with a large distribution over the Rockall-Hatton Plateau (RHP) and IB. The Porcupine Abyssal Plain (PAP) region at the southern end of our transect was the region with the lowest biomass, as demonstrated by very low Chl<i>a</i> concentrations and a community dominated by picophytoplankton. Early depletion of dissolved silicic acid (DSi) and increased stratification of the surface layer most likely triggered the end of the diatom bloom, leading to coccolithophore dominance. The chronic Si deficiency observed in the NEA could be linked to moderate Fe limitation, which increases the efficiency of the Si pump. TEP closely mirrored the distribution of both biogenic silica at depth and prymnesiophytes in the surface layer suggesting the sedimentation of the diatom bloom in the form of aggregates, but the relative contribution of diatoms and coccolithophores to carbon export in this area still needs to be resolved

Search for the standard model Higgs boson in the H to ZZ to 2l 2nu channel in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

A search for the standard model Higgs boson in the H to ZZ to 2l 2nu decay channel, where l = e or mu, in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV is presented. The data were collected at the LHC, with the CMS detector, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.6 inverse femtobarns. No significant excess is observed above the background expectation, and upper limits are set on the Higgs boson production cross section. The presence of the standard model Higgs boson with a mass in the 270-440 GeV range is excluded at 95% confidence level.Comment: Submitted to JHE

Search for New Physics with Jets and Missing Transverse Momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

A search for new physics is presented based on an event signature of at least three jets accompanied by large missing transverse momentum, using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36 inverse picobarns collected in proton--proton collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC. No excess of events is observed above the expected standard model backgrounds, which are all estimated from the data. Exclusion limits are presented for the constrained minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard model. Cross section limits are also presented using simplified models with new particles decaying to an undetected particle and one or two jets