Geochemical Tracers Linking Submarine Groundwater Discharge to Hypoxia Formation in Long Bay, South Carolina, USA

Long Bay, South Carolina has experienced hypoxic conditions (\u3c2mg/L dissolved oxygen) in the nearshore environment, not fully attributed to traditional formation mechanisms. Past research suggested physical, biological, and/or anthropogenic influences on low dissolved oxygen levels. This project aimed to determine the contribution of submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) to hypoxia formation. We measured activities of 222Rnxs, 224Raxs, 223Ra, 228Ra, and 226Ra (3.8d, 3.6d, 11.5d, 5.8yr, 1600yr half-lives, respectively) in nearshore bottom waters from April 2012 through April 2013. Radium activities observed during a hypoxic event on 16-Aug-2012 were up to an order of magnitude higher than those seen during oxic conditions and the highest ever observed in the open ocean, to our knowledge. We determined that a hypoxic water mass, comprised heavily of offshore anoxic SGD, migrated inshore due to physical conditions constraining mixing over a two week time period. High groundwater content suggests that observed hypoxic conditions in nearshore Long Bay may be independent of biological influence once offshore SGD occurs

Transition metal terpyridine complexes for molecular electronics

Currently there is a huge amount of interest in the synthesis and electrical characterisation of single molecules that have the potential for use in electronic devices. In order for this technology to move forward it is necessary to gain insights into structure-property relationships at the nanoscale, as well as a basic understanding of the charge transport through various molecular architectures. It has previously been demonstrated that the electrical properties of redox active single molecules can be investigated as a function of potential. This thesis investigates the single molecule conductance properties of molecules incorporating a transition metal centre. The research presented in this thesis investigates two major studies. The first is a study into the electrochemical and conductance properties of a variety of transition metal based complexes. Initial electrochemical and conductance investigations of a series of pyterpy transition metal complexes showed a similar conductance for all the series, this was investigated in two different environments. The ligand was then varied and several ruthenium complexes were investigated, to investigate the anchoring group effect and to examine the length and conductance relationship. The data presented here demonstrates a higher conductance for methyl sulphide anchoring group than the pyridyl anchoring group. The data presented showed a low dependence on molecular length, suggesting a hopping transport mechanism. The conductance behaviour of two [M(pyterpy)2](PF6)2 complexes were investigated as a function of potential in an ionic liquid medium. The data presented exhibited an increase in conductance as the redox potential was reached. The second study investigated the conductance behaviour of two 6-porphyrin nanorings. This is the first conductance study on these porphyrin based complexes. The study investigated a ‘complete’ and ‘broken’ nanoring and showed a smaller than expected difference in conductance between them. This preliminary study has allowed for the development of the structure to investigate possible quantum interference effects

The puzzling difficulty of tool innovation: Why can’t children piece their knowledge together?

AbstractTool innovation—designing and making novel tools to solve tasks—is extremely difficult for young children. To discover why this might be, we highlighted different aspects of tool making to children aged 4 to 6years (N=110). Older children successfully innovated the means to make a hook after seeing the pre-made target tool only if they had a chance to manipulate the materials during a warm-up. Older children who had not manipulated the materials and all younger children performed at floor. We conclude that children’s difficulty is likely to be due to the ill-structured nature of tool innovation problems, in which components of a solution must be retrieved and coordinated. Older children struggled to bring to mind components of the solution but could coordinate them, whereas younger children could not coordinate components even when explicitly provided

A model for the effects of germanium on silica biomineralization in choanoflagellates.

Silica biomineralization is a widespread phenomenon of major biotechnological interest. Modifying biosilica with substances like germanium (Ge) can confer useful new properties, although exposure to high levels of Ge disrupts normal biosilicification. No clear mechanism explains why this disruption occurs. Here, we study the effect of Ge on loricate choanoflagellates, a group of protists that construct a species-specific extracellular lorica from multiple siliceous costal strips. High Ge exposures were toxic, whereas lower Ge exposures produced cells with incomplete or absent loricae. These effects can be ameliorated by restoring the germanium : silicon ratio, as observed in other biosilicifying organisms. We developed simulations of how Ge interacts with polymerizing silica. In our models, Ge is readily incorporated at the ends of silica forming from silicic acid condensation, but this prevents further silica polymerization. Our 'Ge-capping' model is supported by observations from loricate choanoflagellates. Ge exposure terminates costal strip synthesis and lorica formation, resulting in disruption to cytokinesis and fatal build-up of silicic acid. Applying the Ge-capping model to other siliceous organisms explains the general toxicity of Ge and identifies potential protective responses in metalloid uptake and sensing. This can improve the design of new silica biomaterials, and further our understanding of silicon metabolism.Higher Education Funding Council for England (Strategic Research Infrastructure Funding), Science and Technology Facilities Council, European Research Council (Advanced Investigator Grant ID: 247333), Wellcome Trust (Senior Investigator Award), Medical Research Council (Grant ID: U105960399, MRC-HNR Career Development Fellowship), European Research Council (Starting Grant ID: 282101 under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013))This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Royal Society Publishing via http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2016.048

Agronomic and Chemical Performance of Field-Grown Tobacco Engineered for Triterpene and Methylated Triterpene Metabolism

Squalene is a linear intermediate to nearly all classes of triterpenes and sterols and is itself highly valued for its use in wide range of industrial applications. Another unique linear triterpene is botryococcene and its methylated derivatives generated by the alga Botryococcus braunii race B, which are progenitors to fossil fuel deposits. Production of these linear triterpenes was previously engineered into transgenic tobacco by introducing the key steps of triterpene metabolism into the particular subcellular compartments. In this study, the agronomic characteristics (height, biomass accumulation, leaf area), the photosynthetic capacity (photosynthesis rate, conductance, internal CO2 levels) and triterpene content of select lines grown under field conditions were evaluated for three consecutive growing seasons. We observed that transgenic lines targeting enzymes to the chloroplasts accumulated 50–150 times more squalene than the lines targeting the enzymes to the cytoplasm, without compromising growth or photosynthesis. We also found that the transgenic lines directing botryococcene metabolism to the chloroplast accumulated 10‐ to 33‐fold greater levels than the lines where the same enzymes were targeted to in the cytoplasm. However, growth of these high botryococcene accumulators was highly compromised, yet their photosynthesis rates remained unaffected. In addition, in the transgenic lines targeting a triterpene methyltransferase (TMT) to the chloroplasts of high squalene accumulators, 55%–65% of total squalene was methylated, whereas in the lines expressing a TMT in the cytoplasm, only 6%–13% of squalene was methylated. The growth of these methylated triterpene‐accumulating lines was more compromised than that of nonmethylated squalene lines

Co-producing Justice : International Social Economy Network Programme Report

While the significance of employment to desistance (giving up crime) is well established, there are multifarious obstacles to people with convictions accessing and sustaining work. Social enterprises are businesses that trade for a social purpose, rather than for the enrichment of shareholders or owners. It has been shown that social enterprise and cooperative structures of employment can circumnavigate some of the systemic obstacles to employment, such as criminal records and employer discrimination that people routinely encounter. Yet, one in six people in the UK have a criminal conviction; a large proportion of people are, therefore, affected by the impacts that contact with the justice system has on access to employment and, relatedly, opportunities to move on from offending. The House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee (2016) recognise that employment significantly reduces reoffending and can lead to other outcomes that can reduce reoffending (e.g. financial security and stable accommodation). The Scottish Government (2016) has recently co-produced, with the social enterprise sector, a ten-year Strategy to encourage the further development of the sector and contribute to an overarching ‘inclusive growth’ agenda, demonstrating considerable appetite for an evidence-informed approach for this demographic. Despite this, not only are such structures providing paid work a rarity in the UK justice system, the potential of social enterprises and co-operatives in this context has hardly been explored. Recent research (Roy et al., 2017; Weaver 2016; forthcoming) provides important evidence to suggest their potential to support desistance, recovery and integration; this project sought to build on this by exploring approaches to their implementation, connecting a range of multi-disciplinary international and local experts who can differently contribute towards their realisation. By combining these largely disconnected strands of research, siloed within specific disciplines, our aim has been to advance a more coherent interdisciplinary theorizing and exploration of the interactions, synergies and distinctions in these disciplinary fields and to influence the direction of future research, policy and practice in justice contexts

Individual differences in children's innovative problem-solving are not predicted by divergent thinking or executive functions

Recent studies of children's tool innovation have revealed that there is variation in children's success in middle-childhood. In two individual differences studies, we sought to identify personal characteristics that might predict success on an innovation task. In Study 1, we found that although measures of divergent thinking were related to each other they did not predict innovation success. In Study 2, we measured executive functioning including: inhibition, working memory, attentional flexibility and ill-structured problem-solving. None of these measures predicted innovation, but, innovation was predicted by children's performance on a receptive vocabulary scale that may function as a proxy for general intelligence. We did not find evidence that children's innovation was predicted by specific personal characteristics

Evidence Report: Risk of Radiation Carcinogenesis

As noted by Durante and Cucinotta (2008), cancer risk caused by exposure to space radiation is now generally considered a main hindrance to interplanetary travel for the following reasons: large uncertainties are associated with the projected cancer risk estimates; no simple and effective countermeasures are available, and significant uncertainties prevent scientists from determining the effectiveness of countermeasures. Optimizing operational parameters such as the length of space missions, crew selection for age and sex, or applying mitigation measures such as radiation shielding or use of biological countermeasures can be used to reduce risk, but these procedures have inherent limitations and are clouded by uncertainties. Space radiation is comprised of high energy protons, neutrons and high charge (Z) and energy (E) nuclei (HZE). The ionization patterns and resulting biological insults of these particles in molecules, cells, and tissues are distinct from typical terrestrial radiation, which is largely X-rays and gamma-rays, and generally characterized as low linear energy transfer (LET) radiation. Galactic cosmic rays (GCR) are comprised mostly of highly energetic protons with a small component of high charge and energy (HZE) nuclei. Prominent HZE nuclei include He, C, O, Ne, Mg, Si, and Fe. GCR ions have median energies near 1 GeV/n, and energies as high as 10 GeV/n make important contributions to the total exposure. Ionizing radiation is a well known carcinogen on Earth (BEIR 2006). The risks of cancer from X-rays and gamma-rays have been established at doses above 50 mSv (5 rem), although there are important uncertainties and on-going scientific debate about cancer risk at lower doses and at low dose rates (<50 mSv/h). The relationship between the early biological effects of HZE nuclei and the probability of cancer in humans is poorly understood, and it is this missing knowledge that leads to significant uncertainties in projecting cancer risks during space exploration (Cucinotta and Durante 2006; Durante and Cucinotta 2008)

Local Guidance of Emerging Vessel Sprouts Requires Soluble Flt-1

Blood vessel networks form via sprouting of endothelial cells from parent vessels. Extrinsic cues guide sprouts once they leave the initiation site, but these cues are likely insufficient to regulate initial outward movement, and many embryonic vessel networks form in the absence of a strong extrinsic gradient. We hypothesized that nascent sprouts are guided by spatial cues produced along their own vessels, and that soluble Flt-1 (sFlt-1) participates in this guidance. Analysis of developing vessels with perturbed flt-1 function revealed mis-guided emerging sprouts, and transgenic sFlt-1 rescued sprout guidance parameters. sFlt-1 activity in endothelial cells immediately adjacent to the emerging sprout significantly improved local sprout guidance. Thus we propose that a vessel-intrinsic system initially guides emerging sprouts away from the parent vessel, utilizing spatially regulated expression of sFlt-1 in conjunction with exogenous VEGF. Local sprout guidance defects are predicted to contribute to vessel dysmorphogenesis during perturbed development and disease