Book Review: The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Edited by Walter S. Tamopolsky and Gerald-A. Beaudoin.

Book review: The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Edited by Walter S. Tamopolsky and Gerald-A. Beaudoin. Toronto: Carswell Co. Ltd. 1982. Pp. liii, 590. Reviewed by: Stephen Allan Scott

Book Review: The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Edited by Walter S. Tamopolsky and Gerald-A. Beaudoin.

Book review: The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Edited by Walter S. Tamopolsky and Gerald-A. Beaudoin. Toronto: Carswell Co. Ltd. 1982. Pp. liii, 590. Reviewed by: Stephen Allan Scott

Hidden negative linear compressibility in lithium L-tartrate†

Development of artificial muscles, next-generation pressure sensors and precision optics relies on advances in materials with anomalous mechanical properties. Negative linear compressibility, NLC, is one such rare, counterintuitive phenomenon, in which a material expands along one axis under hydrostatic pressure. Both classical and recent NLC materials face a pay-off between the active pressure range and magnitude of NLC, and in the vast majority of cases the NLC effect decreases with pressure. By decoupling the mechanical behaviour of building units for the first time in a winerack framework containing two different strut types, we show that lithium L-tartrate exhibits NLC with a maximum value, Kmax = -21 TPa^-1, and an overall NLC capacity, χNLC = 5.1 %, that are comparable to the most exceptional materials to date. Furthermore, the contributions from molecular strut compression and angle opening interplay to give rise to so-called “hidden” negative linear compressibility, in which NLC is absent at ambient pressure, switched on at 2 GPa and sustained up to the limit of our experiment, 5.5 GPa. Analysis of the changes in crystal structure using variable-pressure synchrotron X-ray diffraction reveals new chemical and geometrical design rules to assist the discovery of other materials with exciting hidden anomalous mechanical properties

Phred-Phrap package to analyses tools: a pipeline to facilitate population genetics re-sequencing studies

BACKGROUND: Targeted re-sequencing is one of the most powerful and widely used strategies for population genetics studies because it allows an unbiased screening for variation that is suitable for a wide variety of organisms. Examples of studies that require re-sequencing data are evolutionary inferences, epidemiological studies designed to capture rare polymorphisms responsible for complex traits and screenings for mutations in families and small populations with high incidences of specific genetic diseases. Despite the advent of next-generation sequencing technologies, Sanger sequencing is still the most popular approach in population genetics studies because of the widespread availability of automatic sequencers based on capillary electrophoresis and because it is still less prone to sequencing errors, which is critical in population genetics studies. Two popular software applications for re-sequencing studies are Phred-Phrap-Consed-Polyphred, which performs base calling, alignment, graphical edition and genotype calling and DNAsp, which performs a set of population genetics analyses. These independent tools are the start and end points of basic analyses. In between the use of these tools, there is a set of basic but error-prone tasks to be performed with re-sequencing data. RESULTS: In order to assist with these intermediate tasks, we developed a pipeline that facilitates data handling typical of re-sequencing studies. Our pipeline: (1) consolidates different outputs produced by distinct Phred-Phrap-Consed contigs sharing a reference sequence; (2) checks for genotyping inconsistencies; (3) reformats genotyping data produced by Polyphred into a matrix of genotypes with individuals as rows and segregating sites as columns; (4) prepares input files for haplotype inferences using the popular software PHASE; and (5) handles PHASE output files that contain only polymorphic sites to reconstruct the inferred haplotypes including polymorphic and monomorphic sites as required by population genetics software for re-sequencing data such as DNAsp. CONCLUSION: We tested the pipeline in re-sequencing studies of haploid and diploid data in humans, plants, animals and microorganisms and observed that it allowed a substantial decrease in the time required for sequencing analyses, as well as being a more controlled process that eliminates several classes of error that may occur when handling datasets. The pipeline is also useful for investigators using other tools for sequencing and population genetics analyses

Gas emissions, minerals, and tars associated with three coal fires, Powder River Basin, USA.

Ground-based surveys of three coal fires and airborne surveys of two of the fires were conducted near Sheridan, Wyoming. The fires occur in natural outcrops and in abandoned mines, all containing Paleocene-age subbituminous coals. Diffuse (carbon dioxide (CO(2)) only) and vent (CO(2), carbon monoxide (CO), methane, hydrogen sulfide (H(2)S), and elemental mercury) emission estimates were made for each of the fires. Additionally, gas samples were collected for volatile organic compound (VOC) analysis and showed a large range in variation between vents. The fires produce locally dangerous levels of CO, CO(2), H(2)S, and benzene, among other gases. At one fire in an abandoned coal mine, trends in gas and tar composition followed a change in topography. Total CO(2) fluxes for the fires from airborne, ground-based, and rate of fire advancement estimates ranged from 0.9 to 780mg/s/m(2) and are comparable to other coal fires worldwide. Samples of tar and coal-fire minerals collected from the mouth of vents provided insight into the behavior and formation of the coal fires

The effect of pressure on the post-synthetic modification of a nanoporous metal-organic framework

This work is supported by funding from the EPSRC UK and the Leverhulme TrustHere we report four post-synthetic modifications, including the first ever example of a high pressure-induced post-synthetic modification, of a porous copper-based metal-organic framework. Ligand exchange with a water ligand at the axial metal site occurs with methanol, acetonitrile, methylamine and ethylamine within a single-crystal and without the need to expose a free metal site prior to modification, resulting in significant changes in the pore size, shape and functionality. Pressure experiments carried out using isopropylalcohol and acetaldehyde, however, results in no ligand exchange. By using these solvents as hydrostatic media for high-pressure single-crystal X-ray diffraction experiments, we have investigated the effect of ligand exchange on the stability and compressibility of the framework and demonstrate that post-synthetic ligand exchange is very sensitive to both the molecular size and functionality of the exchanged ligand. We also demonstrate the ability to force hydrophilic molecules into hydrophobic pores using high pressures which results in a pressure-induced chemical decomposition of the Cu-framework.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Establishing effective conservation management strategies for a poorly known endangered species: A case study using Australia’s night parrot (Pezoporus occidentalis)

An evidence-based approach to the conservation management of a species requires knowledge of that species’ status, distribution, ecology, and threats. Coupled with budgets for specific conservation strategies, this knowledge allows prioritisation of funding toward activities that maximise benefit for the species. However, many threatened species are poorly known, and determining which conservation strategies will achieve this is difficult. Such cases require approaches that allow decision-making under uncertainty. Here we used structured expert elicitation to estimate the likely benefit of potential management strategies for the Critically Endangered and, until recently, poorly known Night Parrot (Pezoporus occidentalis). Experts considered cat management the single most effective management strategy for the Night Parrot. However, a combination of protecting and actively managing existing intact Night Parrot habitat through management of grazing, controlling feral cats, and managing fire specifically to maintain Night Parrot habitat was thought to result in the greatest conservation gains. The most cost-effective strategies were thought to be fire management to maintain Night Parrot habitat, and intensive cat management using control methods that exploit local knowledge of cat movements and ecology. Protecting and restoring potentially suitable, but degraded, Night Parrot habitat was considered the least effective and least cost-effective strategy. These expert judgements provide an informed starting point for land managers implementing on-ground programs targeting the Night Parrot, and those developing policy aimed at the species’ longer-term conservation. As a set of hypotheses, they should be implemented, assessed, and improved within an adaptive management framework that also considers the likely co-benefits of these strategies for other species and ecosystems. The broader methodology is applicable to conservation planning for the management and conservation of other poorly known threatened species