87 research outputs found
Bibliyometrik Yöntemlerle DĂŒnya Ăniversitelerinin DeÄerlendirilmesinde KarĆılaĆılan Zorluklar
URAP AraĆtırma Laboratuvarı, 2009 yılında Enformatik EnstitĂŒsĂŒ bĂŒnyesinde kurulmuĆ olup yĂŒkseköÄretim kurumlarını akademik performansları doÄrultusunda deÄerlendirebilmek için bilimsel metodlar geliĆtirmeyi hedefler
Benchmarking van der Waals Density Functionals with Experimental Data: Potential Energy Curves for H2 Molecules on Cu(111), (100), and (110) Surfaces
Detailed physisorption data from experiment for the H_2 molecule on low-index
Cu surfaces challenge theory. Recently, density-functional theory (DFT) has
been developed to account for nonlocal correlation effects, including van der
Waals (dispersion) forces. We show that the functional vdW-DF2 gives a
potential-energy curve, potential-well energy levels, and difference in lateral
corrugation promisingly close to the results obtained by resonant elastic
backscattering-diffraction experiments. The backscattering barrier is found
selective for choice of exchange-functional approximation. Further, the DFT-D3
and TS-vdW corrections to traditional DFT formulations are also benchmarked,
and deviations are analyzed.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figure
Changes in Cross-Sectional Area of Spinal Canal and Vertebral Body Under 2 Years of Teriparatide Treatment: Results from the EUROFORS Study
The treatment of osteoporotic patients with teriparatide is associated with a significant increase in bone formation and gain of bone mass. The purpose of this post hoc analysis was to determine if the cross-sectional area (CSA) of the spinal canal and the vertebral body is affected by teriparatide treatment. Narrowing of the spinal canal might represent a safety problem, while widening of the vertebral CSA might improve mechanical stability. High-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) scans of vertebra T12 were obtained at baseline and after 6, 12, and 24Â months of teriparatide treatment (20Â ÎŒg/day) from 44 postmenopausal women with established osteoporosis participating in the prospective, randomized EUROFORS study. The CSA of the spinal canal did not decrease but increased marginally by 0.9% (2.6Â mm2) over 24Â months (PÂ <Â 0.001), with a range from â0.5% (â2Â mm2) to 3.1% (+8Â mm2). Even when analyzing the spinal CSA on a slice-by-slice basis, no clinically relevant narrowing of the spinal canal was observed. For vertebral bodies, the CSA increased by 0.7% (5.7Â mm2) over 24Â months (PÂ <Â 0.001), with a range from â0.4% (â3Â mm2) to 1.6% (+14Â mm2). Our data do not provide evidence for safety concerns regarding spinal canal narrowing. On the other hand, the increases observed for vertebral CSA apparently also only minimally contribute to the mechanical strengthening of the vertebral body under teriparatide treatment
Floating Ice-Algal Aggregates below Melting Arctic Sea Ice
During two consecutive cruises to the Eastern Central Arctic in late summer 2012, we observed floating algal aggregates in the melt-water layer below and between melting ice floes of first-year pack ice. The macroscopic (1-15 cm in diameter) aggregates had a mucous consistency and were dominated by typical ice-associated pennate diatoms embedded within the mucous matrix. Aggregates maintained buoyancy and accumulated just above a strong pycnocline that separated meltwater and seawater layers. We were able, for the first time, to obtain quantitative abundance and biomass estimates of these aggregates. Although their biomass and production on a square metre basis was small compared to ice-algal blooms, the floating ice-algal aggregates supported high levels of biological activity on the scale of the individual aggregate. In addition they constituted a food source for the ice-associated fauna as revealed by pigments indicative of zooplankton grazing, high abundance of naked ciliates, and ice amphipods associated with them. During the Arctic melt season, these floating aggregates likely play an important ecological role in an otherwise impoverished near-surface sea ice environment. Our findings provide important observations and measurements of a unique aggregate-based habitat during the 2012 record sea ice minimum yea
The seeding of ice algal blooms in Arctic pack ice: The multiyear ice seed repository hypothesis
Source at http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2016JG003668 During the Norwegian young sea ICE expedition (N-ICE2015) from January to June 2015 the pack
ice in the Arctic Ocean north of Svalbard was studied during four drifts between 83° and 80°N. This pack ice
consisted of a mix of second year,
fi
rst year, and young ice. The physical properties and ice algal community
composition was investigated in the three different ice types during the winter-spring-summer transition.
Our results indicate that algae remaining in sea ice that survived the summer melt season are subsequently
trapped in the upper layers of the ice column during winter and may function as an algal seed repository.
Once the connectivity in the entire ice column is established, as a result of temperature-driven increase in ice
porosity during spring, algae in the upper parts of the ice are able to migrate toward the bottom and initiate
the ice algal spring bloom. Furthermore, this algal repository might seed the bloom in younger ice formed
in adjacent leads. This mechanism was studied in detail for the dominant ice diatom
Nitzschia frigida
. The
proposed seeding mechanism may be compromised due to the disappearance of older ice in the anticipated
regime shift toward a seasonally ice-free Arctic Ocean
Leads in Arctic pack ice enable early phytoplankton blooms below snow-covered sea ice
© The Author(s), 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 7 (2017): 40850, doi:10.1038/srep40850.The Arctic icescape is rapidly transforming from a thicker multiyear ice cover to a thinner and largely seasonal first-year ice cover with significant consequences for Arctic primary production. One critical challenge is to understand how productivity will change within the next decades. Recent studies have reported extensive phytoplankton blooms beneath ponded sea ice during summer, indicating that satellite-based Arctic annual primary production estimates may be significantly underestimated. Here we present a unique time-series of a phytoplankton spring bloom observed beneath snow-covered Arctic pack ice. The bloom, dominated by the haptophyte algae Phaeocystis pouchetii, caused near depletion of the surface nitrate inventory and a decline in dissolved inorganic carbon by 16â±â6âgâC mâ2. Ocean circulation characteristics in the area indicated that the bloom developed in situ despite the snow-covered sea ice. Leads in the dynamic ice cover provided added sunlight necessary to initiate and sustain the bloom. Phytoplankton blooms beneath snow-covered ice might become more common and widespread in the future Arctic Ocean with frequent lead formation due to thinner and more dynamic sea ice despite projected increases in high-Arctic snowfall. This could alter productivity, marine food webs and carbon sequestration in the Arctic Ocean.This study was supported by the Centre for Ice, Climate and Ecosystems (ICE) at the Norwegian Polar Institute, the Ministry of Climate and Environment, Norway, the Research Council of Norway (projects Boom or Bust no. 244646, STASIS no. 221961, CORESAT no. 222681, CIRFA no. 237906 and AMOS CeO no. 223254), and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway (project ID Arctic), the ICE-ARC program of the European Union 7th Framework Program (grant number 603887), the Polish-Norwegian Research Program operated by the National Centre for Research and Development under the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2009â2014 in the frame of Project Contract Pol-Nor/197511/40/2013, CDOM-HEAT, and the Ocean Acidification Flagship program within the FRAM- High North Research Centre for Climate and the Environment, Norway
Enhanced Notch Activation Is Advantageous but Not Essential for T Cell Lymphomagenesis in Id1 Transgenic Mice
T cell lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is known to be associated with chromosomal abnormalities that lead to aberrant expression of a number of transcription factors such as TAL1, which dimerizes with basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) E proteins and inhibits their function. Activated Notch receptors also efficiently induce T cell leukemogenesis in mouse models. Interestingly, gain-of-function mutations or cryptic transcription initiation of the Notch1 gene have been frequently found in both human and mouse T-ALL. However, the correlations between these alterations and overall Notch activities or leukemogenesis have not been thoroughly evaluated. Therefore, we made use of our collection of T cell lymphomas developed in transgenic mice expressing Id1, which like TAL1, inhibits E protein function. By comparing expression levels of Notch target genes in Id1-expressing tumors to those in tumors induced by a constitutively active form of Notch1, N1C, we were able to assess the overall activities of Notch pathways and conclude that the majority of Id1-expressing tumors had elevated Notch function to a varying degree. However, 26% of the Id1-expressing tumors had no evidence of enhanced Notch activation, but that did not delay the onset of tumorigenesis. Furthermore, we examined the genetic or epigenetic alterations thought to contribute to ligand-independent activation or protein stabilization of Notch1 and found that some of the Id1-expressing tumors acquired these changes, but they are not uniformly associated with elevated Notch activities in Id1 tumor samples. In contrast, N1C-expressing tumors do not harbor any PEST domain mutations nor exhibit intragenic transcription initiation. Taken together, it appears that Notch activation provides Id1-expressing tumor cells with selective advantages in growth and survival. However, this may not be absolutely essential for lymphomagenesis in Id1 transgenic mice and additional factors could also cooperate with Id1 to induce T cell lymphoma. Therefore, a broad approach is necessary in designing T-ALL therapy
Tidewater Glaciers and Bedrock Characteristics Control the Phytoplankton Growth Environment in a Fjord in the Arctic
Meltwater discharge from tidewater glaciers impacts the adjacent marine environment. Due to the global warming, tidewater glaciers are retreating and will eventually terminate on land. Yet, the mechanisms through which meltwater runoff and subglacial discharge from tidewater glaciers influence marine primary production remain poorly understood, as data in close proximity to glacier fronts are scarce. Here, we show that subglacial meltwater discharge and bedrock characteristics of the catchments control the phytoplankton growth environment inside the fjord, based on data collected in close proximity to tidewater glacier fronts in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard from 26 to 31 July 2017. In the southern part of the inner fjord, glacial meltwater from subglacial discharge was rich in fine sediments derived from erosion of Devonian Old Red Sandstone and carbonate rock deposits, limiting light availability for phytoplankton (0.6 mg mâ3 Chl a on average, range 0.2â1.9 mg mâ3). In contrast, coarser sediments derived from gneiss and granite bedrock and lower subglacial discharge rates were associated with more favourable light conditions facilitating a local phytoplankton bloom in the northern part of the inner fjord with mean Chl a concentration of 2.8 mg mâ3 (range 1.3â7.4 mg mâ3). In the northern part, glacier meltwater was a direct source of silicic acid through weathering of the silica-rich gneiss and granite bedrock. Upwelling of the subglacial freshwater discharge plume at the Kronebreen glacier front in the southern part entrained large volumes of ambient, nutrient-rich bottom waters which led to elevated surface concentrations of ammonium, nitrate, and partly silicic acid. Total dissolved inorganic nitrogen transported to the surface with the upwelling of the subglacial discharge plume has a significant potential to enhance summer primary production in Kongsfjorden, with ammonium released from the seafloor being of particular importance. The transition from tidewater to land-terminating glaciers may, thus, reduce the input of nutrients to the surface layer with negative consequences for summer productivity
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