1,605 research outputs found
Process studies of odour emissions from effluent ponds using machine-based odour measurement
Replicable experimental studies using a novel experimental facility and a machine-based odour quantification technique were conducted to demonstrate the relationship between odour emission rates and pond loading rates. The odour quantification technique consisted of an electronic nose, AromaScan A32S, and an artificial neural network. Odour concentrations determined by olfactometry were used along with the AromaScan responses to train the artificial neural network. The trained network was able to predict the odour emission rates for the test data with a correlation coefficient of 0.98. Time averaged odour emission rates predicted by the machine-based odour quantification technique, were strongly correlated with volatile solids loading rate, demonstrating the increased magnitude of emissions from a heavily loaded effluent pond. However, it was not possible to obtain the same relationship between volatile solids loading rates and odour emission rates from the individual data. It is concluded that taking a limited number of odour samples over a short period is unlikely to provide a representative rate of odour emissions from an effluent pond. A continuous odour monitoring instrument will be required for that more demanding task
A simulation of the NiO/Ag interface with point defects
The NiO/Ag interface has been modelled using established simulation techniques, which have been modified to include the image interactions between the oxide ions and the induced charge in the metal. The energies of point defects near the interface were calculated and it was found that the surface rumpling was such that defects with a negative net charge were favoured. This will result in a space charge layer with excess cation vacancies which will cancel the interfacial potential. A low energy interface was modelled in which the cation sub-lattice of the second oxide plane was saturated with vacancies and Ni3+. ions. Such a structure may be responsible for the observed excess of oxygen near the NiO/Ni interface, and also for the low wetting angles of metals on NiO, compared with MgO
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DO Leonis - a new eclipsing cataclysmic variable
Photometric and spectroscopic observations of DO Leo have been obtained using the McDonald Observatory high-speed CCD photometer and a conventional two-channel photoelectric photometer. The data reveal eclipses that are approximately 1.5 m deep. A total of nine eclipses were observed in February and March 1988 and in April 1989. These data were used to establish an orbital period of 0.2345147(2) d. A low-resolution optical spectrum reveals significant He II 4686 emission in addition to the characteristic Balmer and He I emission lines
CRISPR-Cas defense system and potential prophages in cyanobacteria associated with the coral black band disease
Understanding how pathogens maintain their virulence is critical to developing tools to mitigate disease in animal populations. We sequenced and assembled the first draft genome of Roseofilum reptotaenium AO1, the dominant cyanobacterium underlying pathogenicity of the virulent coral black band disease (BBD), and analyzed parts of the BBD-associated Geitlerinema sp. BBD_1991 genome in silico. Both cyanobacteria are equipped with an adaptive, heritable clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-Cas defense system type I-D and have potential virulence genes located within several prophage regions. The defense system helps to prevent infection by viruses and mobile genetic elements via identification of short fingerprints of the intruding DNA, which are stored as templates in the bacterial genome, in so-called CRISPRs. Analysis of CRISPR target sequences (protospacers) revealed an unusually high number of self-targeting spacers in R. reptotaenium AO1 and extraordinary long CRIPSR arrays of up to 260 spacers in Geitlerinema sp. BBD_1991. The self-targeting spacers are unlikely to be a form of autoimmunity; instead these target an incomplete lysogenic bacteriophage. Lysogenic virus induction experiments with mitomycin C and UV light did not reveal an actively replicating virus population in R. reptotaenium AO1 cultures, suggesting that phage functionality is compromised or excision could be blocked by the CRISPR-Cas system. Potential prophages were identified in three regions of R. reptotaenium AO1 and five regions of Geitlerinema sp. BBD_1991, containing putative BBD relevant virulence genes, such as an NAD-dependent epimerase/dehydratase (a homolog in terms of functionality to the third and fourth most expressed gene in BBD), lysozyme/metalloendopeptidases and other lipopolysaccharide modification genes. To date, viruses have not been considered to be a component of the BBD consortium or a contributor to the virulence of R. reptotaenium AO1 and Geitlerinema sp. BBD_(1)991. We suggest that the presence of virulence genes in potential prophage regions, and the CRISPR-Cas defense systems are evidence of an arms race between the respective cyanobacteria and their bacteriophage predators. The presence of such a defense system likely reduces the number of successful bacteriophage infections and mortality in the cyanobacteria, facilitating the progress of BBD
X-ray structure of a putative reaction intermediate of 5-aminolaevulinic acid dehydratase
The X-ray structure of yeast 5-aminolaevulinic acid dehydratase, in which the catalytic site of the enzyme is complexed with a putative cyclic intermediate composed of both substrate moieties, has been solved at 0.16 nm (1.6 Å) resolution. The cyclic intermediate is bound covalently to Lys(263) with the amino group of the aminomethyl side chain ligated to the active-site zinc ion in a position normally occupied by a catalytic hydroxide ion. The cyclic intermediate is catalytically competent, as shown by its turnover in the presence of added substrate to form porphobilinogen. The findings, combined with those of previous studies, are consistent with a catalytic mechanism in which the C–C bond linking both substrates in the intermediate is formed before the C–N bond
Hemigrapsus takanoi Asakura and Watanabe, 2005 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura: Grapsoidea): first records of the brush-clawed shore crab from Great Britain
The brush-clawed shore crab is reported from the River Medway, Kent and the River Colne, Essex, England. These represent the first records of Hemigrapsus takanoi Asakura and Watanabe, 2005 from Great Britain. If H. takanoi becomes established in GB, it may pose a threat to populations of the native shore crab Carcinus maenas
The stellar mass ratio of GK Persei
We study the absorption lines present in the spectra of the long-period
cataclysmic variable GK Per during its quiescent state, which are associated
with the secondary star. By comparing quiescent data with outburst spectra we
infer that the donor star appears identical during the two states and the inner
face of the secondary star is not noticeably irradiated by flux from the
accreting regions. We obtain new values for the radial velocity semi-amplitude
of the secondary star, Kk = 120.5 +- 0.7 km/s, a projected rotational velocity,
Vksin i = 61.5 +- 11.8 km/s and consequently a measurement of the stellar mass
ratio of GK Per, q = Mk/Mwd = 0.55 +- 0.21. The inferred white dwarf radial
velocities are greater than those measured traditionally using the wings of
Doppler-broadened emission lines suspected to originate in an accretion disk,
highlighting the unsuitability of emission lines for mass determinations in
cataclysmic variables. We determine mass limits for both components in the
binary, Mk >= 0.48 +- 0.32 Msolar and Mwd >= 0.87 +- 0.24 Msolar.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures, accepted by MNRA
IBM-1 description of the fission products Ru
IBM-1} calculations for the fission products Ru have been
carried out. The even-even isotopes of Ru can be described as transitional
nuclei situated between the U(5) (spherical vibrator) and SO(6)
(-unstable rotor) symmetries of the Interacting Boson Model. At first,
a Hamiltonian with only one- and two-body terms has been used. Excitation
energies and (E2) ratios of gamma transitions have been calculated. A
satisfactory agreement has been obtained, with the exception of the odd-even
staggering in the quasi- bands of Ru. The observed pattern
is rather similar to the one for a rigid triaxial rotor. A calculation based on
a Hamiltonian with three-body terms was able to remove this discrepancy. The
relation between the IBM and the triaxial rotor model was also examined.Comment: 22 pages, 8 figure
Manipulating the Mouse Genome to Engineer Precise Functional Syntenic Replacements with Human Sequence
SummaryWe have devised a strategy (called recombinase-mediated genomic replacement, RMGR) to allow the replacement of large segments (>100 kb) of the mouse genome with the equivalent human syntenic region. The technique involves modifying a mouse ES cell chromosome and a human BAC by inserting heterotypic lox sites to flank the proposed exchange interval and then using Cre recombinase to achieve segmental exchange. We have demonstrated the feasibility of this approach by replacing the mouse α globin regulatory domain with the human syntenic region and generating homozygous mice that produce only human α globin chains. Furthermore, modified ES cells can be used iteratively for functional studies, and here, as an example, we have used RMGR to produce an accurate mouse model of human α thalassemia. RMGR has general applicability and will overcome limitations inherent in current transgenic technology when studying the expression of human genes and modeling human genetic diseases
Three-body non-additive forces between spin-polarized alkali atoms
Three-body non-additive forces in systems of three spin-polarized alkali
atoms (Li, Na, K, Rb and Cs) are investigated using high-level ab initio
calculations. The non-additive forces are found to be large, especially near
the equilateral equilibrium geometries. For Li, they increase the three-atom
potential well depth by a factor of 4 and reduce the equilibrium interatomic
distance by 0.9 A. The non-additive forces originate principally from chemical
bonding arising from sp mixing effects.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures (in 5 files
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