Water Body Distributions Across Scales: A Remote Sensing Based Comparison of Three Arctic Tundra Wetlands

Water bodies are ubiquitous features in Arctic wetlands. Ponds, i.e., waters with a surface area smaller than 104 m2, have been recognized as hotspots of biological activity and greenhouse gas emissions but are not well inventoried. This study aimed to identify common characteristics of three Arctic wetlands including water body size and abundance for different spatial resolutions, and the potential of Landsat-5 TM satellite data to show the subpixel fraction of water cover (SWC) via the surface albedo. Water bodies were mapped using optical and radar satellite data with resolutions of 4mor better, Landsat-5 TM at 30mand the MODIS water mask (MOD44W) at 250m resolution. Study sites showed similar properties regarding water body distributions and scaling issues. Abundance-size distributions showed a curved pattern on a log-log scale with a flattened lower tail and an upper tail that appeared Paretian. Ponds represented 95% of the total water body number. Total number of water bodies decreased with coarser spatial resolutions. However, clusters of small water bodies were merged into single larger water bodies leading to local overestimation of water surface area. To assess the uncertainty of coarse-scale products, both surface water fraction and the water body size distribution should therefore be considered. Using Landsat surface albedo to estimate SWC across different terrain types including polygonal terrain and drained thermokarst basins proved to be a robust approach. However, the albedo–SWC relationship is site specific and needs to be tested in other Arctic regions. These findings present a baseline to better represent small water bodies of Arctic wet tundra environments in regional as well as global ecosystem and climate models

The rise of the global south: paper presented at FLACSO, Argentina, September 2008

Der Aufstieg des globalen Südens hat Folgen für die bislang eurozentrische Soziologie. Der Aufsatz fasst einige Aspekte des Aufstiegs und der eurozentrischen Soziologie zusammen, um dann einige Folgerungen für die Erneuerung der Soziologie zu ziehen

Rethinking Gender Opportunities: Nontraditional Sports Seasons and Local Preferences

In Communities for Equity v. Michigan High School Athletic Association, the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed a district court decision, holding that the scheduling of high school girls\u27 sports in nontraditional seasons in Michigan violated the Equal Protection Clause. The Supreme Court of the United States, granting certiorari, vacated and remanded this case back to the Sixth Circuit. This Note suggests reasons why the Sixth Circuit and/or the United States Supreme Court should protect the Michigan High School Athletic Association\u27s (MHSAA) current scheduling of sports seasons. Specifically, using the model provided by Romer v. Evans and Washington v. Seattle School District, MHSAA should be afforded local control over high school sports seasons. This Note also discusses legal and policy implications resulting from MHSAA\u27s loss of control in this arena and the possible harms associated with this proposed change

Seasonal hydrology and geochemistry of two small high Arctic catchments, Axel Heiberg Island, Northwest Territories

This study examines hydrological and geochemical processes in a continuous permafrost setting in the Canadian High Arctic on Axel Heiberg Island (79°25 \u27 N; 90°45 \u27 W) with the following objective: to identify spatial and seasonal variation in hydrology and geochemistry of the East Inflow (EIF) and West Inflow (WIF) sub basins draining into Colour Lake and relate them to processes operating in the basins. Field work in the catchment was carried out between 20 May to 16 August 1991 and 23 July to 20 August 1992. Surface flow and suprapermafrost groundwater in the active layer were monitored to assess seasonal changes in flowpaths of water. Water samples were taken from streams, suprapermafrost groundwaters and precipitation and analyzed for total dissolved solids (TDS), pH and major cations and anions. Hydrological and chemical processes are examined in three periods 1. snowmelt (1-12 June) 2. period of active layer development (12 June to 2 August) and 3. the rainstorm (2 August to 10 August). Results show that several processes are responsible for the observed spatial and temporal changes in the hydrology and chemistry of the streams. In the WIF/W, a large proportion of snowmelt water refreezes on boulders of the felsenmeer forming ground ice. Three results identify the melting of ground ice as an important stream flow generating factor in the WIF/W during the period of active layer development: 1. diurnal cycles in discharge 2. a positive significant correlation between air temperature and discharge 3. TDS are inversely correlated with discharge. The hydrological regime of the WIF/W, which shows the characteristics of a proglacial regime is therefore best described as melting ground ice regime . In the EIF, geomorphological characteristics of the basin result in a higher proportion of water travelling through the active layer, thus the response of discharge to high air temperatures is significantly lagged for 2 days ( modified melting ground ice regime). Chemical differences of the two streams are related to geological sources. Seasonal changes of ions in the EIF are related to two hydrological and chemical different source areas within the EIF basin. The seasonally increasing concentrations of ions during the third period of active layer development in both streams are explained by two processes: 1. increasing contribution of suprapermafrost groundwater to the stream runoff as a result of higher storage capacities of the active layer towards the end of the summer and 2. seasonally increasing ion concentrations of suprapermafrost groundwater with a longer residence time of water in the soil. Sulphate is the ion with the highest export rate for all streams. ln the EIF, the sum of Ca^2+ and SO4^2- is more than 90% of the total TDS exported. In the WIF/W, the percentage of Ca^2+ and SO4^2- exported is seasonally increasing from 83 to 90%. Overall, the rainstorm is the dominating event in both streams in terms of total export of TDS

An analysis of oxidative damage to lactate dehydrogenase in context of neurodegeneration and catechol-based phenolic antioxidant chemistry

Lactate dehydrogenase, a redox-active enzyme with five reactive cysteine residues, reversibly converts pyruvate to lactate during anaerobic glycolysis. In the case of certain disease states, when oxygen levels are low or increased oxidative stress damages mitochondrial respiration, cells must rely heavily on anaerobic glycolysis for ATP production. This is true of Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, ALS, and many cancers. Diseased cells upregulate anaerobic glycolytic enzymes - particularly LDH – to produce enough energy to survive. Upregulated LDH plays a key role because as it produces lactate, it also replenishes NAD+, allowing for high levels of glycolysis to continue uninterrupted. Despite research into the function of LDH as a glycolytic enzyme, little focus has been allocated to its role outside of glycolysis and its interaction with reactive oxygen species and other cysteine reactive compounds – knowledge of which could illuminate further disease mechanics. For this project, we first investigated the effects of bleach (HOCl) – a common reactive oxygen species found elevated in Alzheimer’s disease – on LDH structure and function. We then examined the effects of oxidized plant-derived phenolic antioxidants on LDH activity. Research shows that catechol-based antioxidants are readily oxidized by radicals to quinones. These quinones can further react with protein thiols, demonstrating the potential for beneficial antioxidants to become damaging pro-oxidants, and thus prompting our investigation into their reactivity with LDH cysteine residues. We compared our results with LDH to those obtained using alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), a model protein that also contains readily oxidized cysteine residues. In our work we utilized UV/Vis spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, and SDS-PAGE techniques to examine how LDH and ADH structure and function changed when respective available protein thiols were reacted with HOCl or oxidized plant-derived phenolic antioxidants. Resulting data confirms these compounds inhibit LDH and ADH activity, strongly suggesting that modification of key cysteine residues occurs, changing the conformation of the protein

Critical theory and social inequality

Este artigo argumenta que, por motivos epistemológicos bem como éticos, a desigualdade social é, possivelmente, um tema central de qualquer teoria crítica nas ciências sociais. Visto que cientistas sociais são parte do objeto científico, isto é, a sociedade, o projeto da ciência é interdependente com o seu objeto. Por essa razão, a estrutura da sociedade em si influencia a forma da ciência social. Ao mesmo tempo, os processos e resultados do projeto científico exercem um impacto sobre a sociedade. A ciência transforma o seu próprio objeto. Essas questões epistemológicas encontram-se, portanto, ligadas a questões éticas acerca da organização social do projeto científico, do acesso à ciência, da estrutura da sociedade e da desigualdade. Se o acesso à ciência é desigual e se a ciência contribui para a desigualdade, então isso precisa ser legitimado cientificamente.This paper argues that social inequality is possibly the core topic of any critical theory in the social sciences – for epistemological as well as ethical reasons. As the social scientist is part of the scientific object, namely society, the project of science is interdependent with its object. For this reason, the structure of society itself influences the shape of social science. At the same time, the processes and results of the scientific project have an impact on society. Science changes its own object. Epistemological issues are therefore tied to the ethical questions about the social organization of the scientific project, access to science, the structure of society and inequality. If access to science is unequal and if science contributes to inequality, this has to be legitimized scientifically

PENGARUH REKRUTMEN, SELEKSI DAN PENEMPATAN PEGAWAI TERHADAP KINERJA PEGAWAI PENGELOLAAN KEUANGAN GKI DI TANAH PAPUA

Dalam Organisasi  apapun  fungsi-fungsi  Sumber Daya Manusia  (SDM) harus diterapkan dengan baik dan terstruktur  agar mendapatkan Pegawai yang   bermutu dan berkualitas sesuai dengan bidang kerjanya, sehingga dapat memberikan dampak atau hasil yang posetif  bagi perusahaan dalam persaingan di waktu yang akan datang. Hal ini juga diterapkan dalam Lembaga Gereja Kristen Injili di Tanah Papua, salah satu lembaga yang bersifat pelayanan atau non profit. Di dalam Penelitian ini penulis menggunakan metode penelitian kuantitatif, dengan menggunakan  instrumen kuisioner, hasil pengujian berdasarkan Uji Parsial  (Uji t), pada analisa Regresi mendapat pembuktian  bahwa Rekrutmen (X1) terhadap kinerja berpengaruh positif dan signifikan dengan nilai t  hitung 2,092 > 1,666 dengan tingkat signifikan (0,040 < 0,5) ,  kemudian  pada analisa Regresi  Seleksi (X2) terhadap kinerja berpengaruh positif dan signifikan dengan nilai t  hitung 4,256 > 1,666 dengan tingkat signifikan (0,000 < 0,5), dan Penempatan (X3) tidak berpengaruh signifikan terhadap kinerja dengan nilai t hitung 0,872 < 1,666 dengan tingkat  (0,386 > 0,5). Secara simultan ketiga variabel (X1,X2,X3) berpengaruh signifikan terhadap Kinerja,  digunakan uji F 11,862 > 3,12  atau tingkatan 0,000 < 0,05. Dari pengujian Analisis Koefisien determinas didapat ketiga variabel diatas hanya berpengaruh 0,340  melalui persamaan regresi berganda  Y =  16,695 + 0,161X1 + 0,305X2 + 0,096X3  sisanya  66 % dipengaruhi variabel lain yang tidak diteliti seperti Kompensasi, Komitmen,   dan lain-lain . Kata Kunci : Rekrutmen, Seleksi, Penempatan  terhadap Kinerja Pegawai    &nbsp

A study of the large-scale climatic effects of a possible disappearance of high-latitude inland water surfaces during the 21st centurys

This study evaluates the climatic impact of possible future changes in high-latitude inland water surface (IWS) area. We carried out a set of climate-change experiments with an atmospheric general circulation model in which different scenarios of future changes of IWS extent were prescribed. The simulations are based on the SRES-A1B greenhouse gas emission scenario and represent the transient climatic state at the end of the 21st century.Our results indicate that the impact of a reduction in IWS extent depends on the season considered: the total disappearance of IWS would lead to cooling during cold seasons and to warming in summer. In the annual mean, the cooling effect would be dominant. In an experiment in which the future change of prescribed IWS extent is prescribed as a function of the simulated changes of permafrost extent, we find that these changes are self-consistent in the sense that their effects on the simulated temperature and precipitation patterns would not be contradictory to the underlying scenario of changes in IWS extent. In this best guess simulation, the projected changes in IWS extent would reduce future nearsurface warming over large parts of northern Eurasia by about 20% during the cold season, while the impact in North America and during summer is less clear. As a whole, the direct climatic impact of future IWS changes is likely to be moderate

Paint Sludge Reuse

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/106047/1/ME589F13_881-7_Paint Sludge Reuse_Public Summary.pd

Importance of the Webb, Pearman, and Leuning (WPL) correction for the measurement of small CO2 fluxes

The WPL (Webb, Pearman, and Leuning) correction is fully accepted to correct trace gas fluxes like CO2 for density fluctuations due to water vapour and temperature fluctuations for open-path gas analysers. It is known that this additive correction can be on the order of magnitude of the actual flux. However, this is hardly ever included in the analysis of data quality. An example from the Arctic shows the problems, because the size of the correction is a multiple of the actual flux. As a general result, we examined and tabulated the magnitude of the WPL correction for carbon dioxide flux as a function of sensible and latent heat flux. Furthermore, we propose a parameter to better estimate possible deficits in data quality and recommend integrating the quality flag derived with this parameter into the general study of small carbon dioxide fluxes