Using Moored Arrays and Hyperspectral Aerial Imagery to Develop Nutrient Criteria for New Hampshire\u27s Estuaries

Increasing nitrogen concentrations and declining eelgrass beds in Great Bay, NH are clear indicators of impending problems for the state’s estuaries. A workgroup established in 2005 by the NH Department of Environmental Services and the NH Estuaries Project (NHEP) adopted eelgrass survival as the water quality target for nutrient criteria development for NH’s estuaries. In 2007, the NHEP received a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to collect water quality information including that from moored sensors and hyper-spectral imagery data of the Great Bay Estuary. Data from the Great Bay Coastal Buoy, part of the regional Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS), were used to derive a multivariate model of water clarity with phytoplankton, Colored Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM), and non-algal particles. Non-algal particles include both inorganic and organic matter. Most of the temporal variability in the diffuse attenuation coefficient of Photosynthetically Available Radiation (PAR) was associated with non-algal particles. However, on a mean daily basis non-algal particles and CDOM contributed a similar fraction (~30 %) to the attenuation of light. The contribution of phytoplankton was about a third of the other two optically important constituents. CDOM concentrations varied with salinity and magnitude of riverine inputs demonstrating its terrestrial origin. Non-algal particle concentration also varied with river flow but also wind driven resuspension. Twelve of the NHEP estuarine assessment zones were observed with the hyperspectral aerial imagery on August 29 and October 17. A concurrent in situ effort included buoy measurements, continuous along-track sampling, discrete water grab samples, and vertical profiles of light attenuation. PAR effective attenuation coefficients retrieved from deep water regions in the imagery agreed well with in-situ observations. Water clarity was lower and optically important constituent concentrations were higher in the tributaries. Eelgrass survival depth, estimated as the depth at which 22% of surface light was available, ranged from less than half a meter to over two meters. The best water clarity was found in the Great Bay (GB), Little Bay (LB), and Lower Piscataqua River (LPR) assessment zones. Absence of eelgrass from these zones would indicate controlling factors other than water clarity

Modifiable predictors of ventricular ectopy in the community

Background Premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) predict heart failure and death. Data regarding modifiable risk factors for PVCs are scarce. Methods and Results We studied 1424 Cardiovascular Health Study participants randomly assigned to 24-hour Holter monitoring. Demographics, comorbidities, habits, and echocardiographic measurements were examined as predictors of PVC frequency and, among 845 participants, change in PVC frequency 5 years later. Participants exhibited a median of 0.6 (interquartile range, 0.1-7.1) PVCs per hour. Of the more directly modifiable characteristics and after multivariable adjustment, every SD increase in systolic blood pressure was associated with 9% more PVCs (95% confidence interval [CI], 2%-17%; P=0.01), regularly performing no or low-intensity exercise compared with more physical activity was associated with ≈15% more PVCs (95% CI, 3-25%; P=0.02), and those with a history of smoking exhibited an average of 18% more PVCs (95% CI, 3-36%; P=0.02) than did never smokers. After 5 years, PVC frequency increased from a median of 0.5 (IQR, 0.1-4.7) to 1.2 (IQR, 0.1-13.8) per hour ( P<0.0001). Directly modifiable predictors of 5-year increase in PVCs, described as the odds per each quintile increase in PVCs, included increased diastolic blood pressure (odds ratio per SD increase, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.02-1.31; P=0.02) and a history of smoking (OR, 1.31; 95% CI, 1.02-1.68; P=0.04). Conclusions Enhancing physical activity, smoking cessation, and aggressive control of blood pressure may represent fruitful strategies to mitigate PVC frequency and PVC-associated adverse outcomes

W269 Weed Control in Centipedegrass

Turfgrass Science factshee

W269 Weed Control in Centipedegrass

Turfgrass Science factsheet Version 3.

Nucleic acid visualization with UCSF Chimera

With the increase in the number of large, 3D, high-resolution nucleic acid structures, particularly of the 30S and 50S ribosomal subunits and the intact bacterial ribosome, advancements in the visualization of nucleic acid structural features are essential. Large molecular structures are complicated and detailed, and one goal of visualization software is to allow the user to simplify the display of some features and accent others. We describe an extension to the UCSF Chimera molecular visualization system for the purpose of displaying and highlighting nucleic acid characteristics, including a new representation of sugar pucker, several options for abstraction of base geometries that emphasize stacking and base pairing, and an adaptation of the ribbon backbone to accommodate the nucleic acid backbone. Molecules are displayed and manipulated interactively, allowing the user to change the representations as desired for small molecules, proteins and nucleic acids. This software is available as part of the UCSF Chimera molecular visualization system and thus is integrated with a suite of existing tools for molecular graphics

W269 Weed Control in Centipedegrass

Turfgrass Science factsheet Version 3.

The Single-Angle Plane-Wave Spectral Response of One-Dimensional Photonic Crystal Structures

The multiple-incident-angle transmittances or reflectances of fabricated 1-D photonic crystal (PC) structures are measured. Regularization methods are applied to these measurements to determine the single-angle plane-wave spectral response of the structure