7,343 research outputs found
Identification and characterisation of 17 polymorphic candidate genes for response to parasitic nematode (Trichostrongylus tenuis) infection in red grouse (Lagopus lagopus scotica)
Acknowledgements This study was funded by a BBSRC studentship (MA Wenzel) and NERC Grants NE/H00775X/1 and NE/D000602/1 (SB Piertney). We are grateful to Jacob Hoglund for providing willow grouse samples, Mario Roder, Keliya Bai, Marianne James, Matt Oliver, Gill Murray-Dickson, Francois Mougeot and Jesus MartÄąnez-Padilla for help with fieldwork, and all grouse estate factors, owners and keepers, most particularly Alistair Mitchell, Shaila Rao, Christopher Murphy, Richard Cooke and Fred Taylor, for providing access to estate game larders.Peer reviewedPostprin
Global land use implications of biofuels: State of the art conference and workshop on modelling global land use implications in the environmental assessment of biofuels
Background, Aims and Scope On 4Âż5 June 2007, an international conference was held in Copenhagen. It provided an interdisciplinary forum where economists and geographers met with LCA experts to discuss the challenges of modelling the ultimate land use changes caused by an increased demand for biofuels. Main Features The main feature of the conference was the cross-breeding of experience from the different approaches to land use modelling: The field of LCA could especially benefit from economic modelling in the identification of marginal crop production and the resulting expansion of the global agricultural area. Furthermore, the field of geography offers insights in the complexity behind new land cultivation and practical examples of where this is seen to occur on a regional scale. Results Results presented at the conference showed that the magnitude and location of land use changes caused by biofuels demand depend on where the demand arises. For instance, mandatory blending in the EU will increase land use both within and outside of Europe, especially in South America. A key learning for the LCA society was that the response to a change in demand for a given crop is not presented by a single crop supplier or a single country, but rather by responses from a variety of suppliers of several different crops in several countries. Discussion The intensification potential of current and future crop and biomass production was widely discussed. It was generally agreed that some parts of the third world hold large potentials for intensification, which are not realised due to a number of barriers resulting in so-called yield gaps. Conclusions Modelling the global land use implications of biofuels requires an interdisciplinary approach optimally integrating economic, geographical, biophysical, social and possibly other aspects in the modelling. This interdisciplinary approach is necessary but also difficult due to different perspectives and mindsets in the different disciplines. Recommendations and Perspectives The concept of a location dependent marginal land use composite should be introduced in LCA of biofuels and it should be acknowledged that the typical LCA assumption of linear substitution is not necessarily valid. Moreover, fertiliser restrictions/accessibility should be included in land use modelling and the relation between crop demand and intensification should be further explored. In addition, environmental impacts of land use intensification should be included in LCA, the powerful concept of land use curves should be further improved, and so should the modelling of diminishing returns in crop production
Isolation and characterisation of 17 microsatellite loci for the red-billed chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax)
Peer reviewedPostprin
Performance assessment of different constraining potentials in computational structure prediction for disulfide-bridged proteins
A transcriptomic investigation of handicap models in sexual selection
We are grateful to D. Calder and T. Helps for access to study sites, and G. Murray-Dickson and M. Oliver for help with fieldwork and comments on manuscript drafts. This work was funded by NERC grant NE/D000602/1 (SBP), a NERC advanced fellowship (FM) and a BBSRC studentship (MAW)Peer reviewedPostprin
Applying the extended molecule approach to correlated electron transport: important insight from model calculations
Theoretical approaches of electronic transport in correlated molecules
usually consider an extended molecule, which includes, in addition to the
molecule itself, parts of electrodes. In the case where electron correlations
remain confined within the molecule, and the extended molecule is sufficiently
large, the current can be expressed by means of Laudauer-type formulae.
Electron correlations are embodied into the retarded Green function of a
sufficiently large but isolated extended molecule, which represents the key
quantity that can be accurately determined by means of ab initio quantum
chemical calculations. To exemplify these ideas, we present and analyze
numerical results obtained within full CI calculations for an extended molecule
described by the interacting resonant level model. Based on them, we argue that
for organic electrodes the transport properties can be reliably computed,
because the extended molecule can be chosen sufficiently small to be tackled
within accurate ab initio methods. For metallic electrodes, larger extended
molecules have to be considered in general, but a (semi-)quantitative
description of the transport should still be possible particularly in the
typical cases where electron transport proceeds by off-resonant tunneling. Our
numerical results also demonstrate that, contrary to the usual claim, the ratio
between the characteristic Coulomb strength and the level width due to
molecule-electrode coupling is not the only quantity needed to assess whether
electron correlation effects are strong or weak
Capturing Hiproofs in HOL Light
Hierarchical proof trees (hiproofs for short) add structure to ordinary proof
trees, by allowing portions of trees to be hierarchically nested. The
additional structure can be used to abstract away from details, or to label
particular portions to explain their purpose. In this paper we present two
complementary methods for capturing hiproofs in HOL Light, along with a tool to
produce web-based visualisations. The first method uses tactic recording, by
modifying tactics to record their arguments and construct a hierarchical tree;
this allows a tactic proof script to be modified. The second method uses proof
recording, which extends the HOL Light kernel to record hierachical proof trees
alongside theorems. This method is less invasive, but requires care to manage
the size of the recorded objects. We have implemented both methods, resulting
in two systems: Tactician and HipCam
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