Individual and competitive adsorption of MSMA and phosphate onto iron and non-iron soil

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on May 30, 2013).The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file.Thesis advisor: Dr. Baolin DengIncludes bibliographical references.M.S. University of Missouri-Columbia 2012."May 2012"Monosodium monomethylarsenate (MSMA (V)) is a common constitute in herbicides and pesticides used widely in the world, and yet its mobility and transport properties are still a relatively understudied area. Knowledge of the MSMA (V) sorption process is a key to understanding the properties. This research investigated the adsorption of MSMA (V) of soil samples collected at the USDA-ARS Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center located near Stuttgart, Arkansas. Batch experiments were performed to evaluate the effect of Fe, phosphate, and pH conditions on MSMA (V) adsorption. The results indicate: 1) MSMA (V) was strongly adsorbed onto the whole soil ( no Fe removed), implying that adsorption is an important process controlling the MSMA (V) mobility in environments; 2) the reductive removal of iron minerals from the soil effectively eliminated MSMA (V) adsorption indicating that iron oxides in the soil are primarily responsible for MSMA (V) adsorption; 3) the presence of phosphate in aqueous solutions inhibited MSMA (V) adsorption as a result of competitive adsorption between phosphate and MSMA (V); and 4) MSMA (V) adsorption and apparent adsorption extent were strongly influenced by pH indicating that surface complexation on amphoteric sorption sites in the soil was responsible for MSMA (V) adsorption

A novel architecture for tamper proof electronic health record management system using blockchain wrapper

In this paper, we present a novel architecture of blockchain-based tamper-proof electronic health record (EHR) management system. Recording electronic health data in cloud-based storage systems always pose a threat to information security. Intruders can delete or tamper EHR of patients, giving benefits to insurance companies or hiding medical malpractices (e.g. misdiagnosis and delayed diagnosis). A tamper-proof EHR management system is required that would essentially solve such issues. The blockchain is an emerging technology that can be adapted to develop a tamper-proof data management system. However, establishing a new blockchain based system replacing the existing system is expensive. In our proposed architecture, we introduce a wrapper layer integration mechanism, named as the blockchain handshaker, between the existing cloud-based EHR management system and public blockchain network to develop a tamper-proof health record management system. We implement a prototype to provide evidence on the feasibility of the proposed concept. - 2019 Association for Computing Machinery.Scopu

Terror Management: The Effects of Mortality Salience on Desire for Money Among Singaporeans

Terror management theory has been used to explain our penchant for materialism. While materialism includes both the desire for products and the desire for money, research has generally examined the former. Consequently, this article aimed to examine the effects of mortality salience on desire for money in Singapore. Study 1 found that mortality salience did not increase self-reported desire for money but increased the size of a drawn coin. Study 2 found that mortality salience did not increase the preferred selling price of a used laptop. Finally, Study 3 found that mortality salience did not increase the willingness to listen to unpleasant sounds in exchange for money. Furthermore, attitudes toward money did not moderate the effects of mortality salience on desire for money. The nonsignificant results could be due to data collection during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the use of a Singaporean sample. Future research directions include examining the effects of the pandemic on terror management theory research and examining both the desire for products and the desire for money concurrently as dependent variables

Protein complex compositions predicted by structural similarity

Proteins function through interactions with other molecules. Thus, the network of physical interactions among proteins is of great interest to both experimental and computational biologists. Here we present structure-based predictions of 3387 binary and 1234 higher order protein complexes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae involving 924 and 195 proteins, respectively. To generate candidate complexes, comparative models of individual proteins were built and combined together using complexes of known structure as templates. These candidate complexes were then assessed using a statistical potential, derived from binary domain interfaces in PIBASE (). The statistical potential discriminated a benchmark set of 100 interface structures from a set of sequence-randomized negative examples with a false positive rate of 3% and a true positive rate of 97%. Moreover, the predicted complexes were also filtered using functional annotation and sub-cellular localization data. The ability of the method to select the correct binding mode among alternates is demonstrated for three camelid VHH domain—porcine α–amylase interactions. We also highlight the prediction of co-complexed domain superfamilies that are not present in template complexes. Through integration with MODBASE, the application of the method to proteomes that are less well characterized than that of S.cerevisiae will contribute to expansion of the structural and functional coverage of protein interaction space. The predicted complexes are deposited in MODBASE ()

EFFECTS OF QIGONG ON CELL-FREE MYOSIN PHOSPHORYLATION: PRELIMINARY EXPERIMENTS

This work examines the effect of Qigong from two experienced practitioners on in vitro cellfree myosin phosphorylation. This system has a demonstrated sensitivity to variations in static magnetic fields above and below ambient values. The results show that both Qigong practitioners were able to consistently yield results similar to those observed for variations in applied magnetic fields near the ambient level. Qigong treatment with the myosin reaction mixture in the ambient magnetic field reduced phosphorylation in each experiment by an average of approximately 15% (p < .05). For trials with the myosin samples in a magnetic shield, two of four (one for each practitioner) Qi treatments yielded significant reductions in phosphorylation (average approximately 10%, p < .05). These effects were somewhat lower and not as consistent as those obtained under ambient field conditions. The results obtained in this study demonstrate that Qigong practice can consistently affect a biologically relevant enzyme system. requiring no physical contact between the practitioner and the sample. The mechanisms of the Qigong effects observed in this study are as yet unclear

D-Brane Probe and Closed String Tachyons

We consider a D-brane probe in unstable string background associated with flux branes. The twist in spacetime metric reponsible for the supersymmetry breaking is shown to manifest itself in mixing of open Wilson lines with the phases of some adjoint matter fields, resulting in a nonlocal and nonsupersymmetric form of Yang-Mills theory as the probe dynamics. This provides a setup where one can study fate of a large class of unstable closed string theories that include as a limit type 0 theories and various orbifolds of type II and type 0 theories. We discuss the limit of ${\bf C}/Z_n$ orbifold in some detail and speculate on couplings with closed string tachyons.Comment: LaTeX, 17 pages, typos fixed, references update

A microsatellite marker for yellow rust resistance in wheat

Bulk segregant analysis (BSA) was used to identify molecular markers associated with yellow rust disease resistance in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). DNAs isolated from the selected yellow rust tolerant and susceptible F-2 individuals derived from a cross between yellow rust resistant and susceptible wheat genotypes were used to established a "tolerant" and a "susceptible" DNA pool. The BSA was then performed on these DNA pools using 230 markers that were previously mapped onto the individual wheat chromosomes. One of the SSR markers (Xgwm382) located on chromosome group 2 (A, B, D genomes) was present in the resistant parent and the resistant bulk but not in the susceptible parent and the susceptible bulk, suggesting that this marker is linked to a yellow rust resistance gene. The presence of Xgwm382 was also tested in 108 additional wheat genotypes differing in yellow rust resistance. This analysis showed that 81% of the wheat genotypes known to be yellow rust resistant had the Xgwm382 marker, further suggesting that the presence of this marker correlates with yellow rust resistance in diverse wheat germplasm. Therefore, Xgwm382 could be useful for marker assisted selection of yellow rust resistances genotypes in wheat breeding programs

Quantum logic between atoms inside a high Q optical cavity

We propose a protocol for conditional quantum logic between two 4-state atoms inside a high Q optical cavity. The process detailed in this paper utilizes a direct 4-photon 2-atom resonant process and has the added advantage of commonly addressing the two atoms when they are inside the high Q optical cavity.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figs. submitte

Proposed minimal standards for the use of genome data for the taxonomy of prokaryotes

Advancement of DNA sequencing technology allows the routine use of genome sequences in the various fields of microbiology. The information held in genome sequences proved to provide objective and reliable means in the taxonomy of prokaryotes. Here, we describe the minimal standards for the quality of genome sequences and how they can be applied for taxonomic purposes