Simulated Use of the Exponential Polynomial/Maximum Likelihood Technique in Developing Suitability of Use Functions for Fish Habitat

The purpose of this paper is to present a new methodology for producing fish habitat suitability at use functions. The suitability functions are relative measures of the voluntary or involuntary preference for combinations of the values of environmental attributes by a fish species and age class. This suitability function is used to determine the relative usability of a physical stream environment as fish habitat. A generalized function form, exponential polynomials, was selected for the development of these suitability of use functions. The maximum likelihood technique was used for function parameter solution. Derivation of the suitability functions was simulated for several stream environments having variable fish densities

Cell Quota Growth and Uptake Models Applied to Growth of Selenastrum Capricornutum, Printz in a Non-Steady State Environment

Recently propsed algal uptake and growth models dependent on the cell quote (Q), the intracellular limiting nutrient to cell population quotient, were analyze and applied to experimental data. The data base used for comparing the models consisted o

Growth and Uptake Dynamics of Selenastrum Capricornutum Parameterized by Percent Nitrogen

Batch cultures o

Ethical Leadership in Modern Employment Relationships: Lessons from St. Benedict

consultation, employee relations, ethics, leadership behavior, organizational change, Rule of St. Benedict,

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field