Flow injection determination of readily assimilable nitrogen compounds during vinification

A flow injection method for the determination of readily assimilable nitrogen (r.a.n.), i.e. ammonium and aminated nitrogen, is reported. The difference in pH of the sample in the presence and absence of formaldehyde, which blocks the amino function, provides the value of r.a.n. by monitoring the changes in absorbance of bromothymol blue at 616 nm. The detection and quantification limits are 10 and 11.6 mg l-1, respectively; the reproducibility and repeatability are 3.94 mg l-1 and 1.35 mg l-1, respectively; and the sample throughput is 20 samples h-1. The method has been applied to the analysis of 120 samples of must and wine subjected to biological aging. The proposed method also provides good correlation with the reference method used in routine analysis, and it is faster and gives sufficient precision for wineries requirements

Development of a 9.3 micrometer CW LIDAR for the study of atmospheric aerosol

This report provides a brief summary of the basic requirements to obtain coherent or heterodyne mixing of the optical radiation backscattered by atmospheric aerosols with that from a fixed frequency source. The continuous wave (CW) mode of operation for a coherent lidar is reviewed along with the associated lidar transfer equation. A complete optical design of the three major subsystems of a CW, coherent lidar is given. Lens design software is implemented to model and optimize receiver performance. Techniques for the opto-mechanical assembly and some of the critical tolerances of the coherent lidar are provided along with preliminary tests of the subsystems. Included in these tests is a comparison of the experimental and the theoretical average power signal-to-noise ratio. The analog to digital software used to evaluate the power spectrum of the backscattered signal is presented in the Appendix of this report

Aspects of the Life History of the Tadpole Madtom, Noturus gyrinus (Siluriformes: Ictaluridae), in Southern Illinois

Author Institution: Department of Zoology, Southern Illinois University at CarbondaleAspects of the life history of Noturus gyrinus were studied from collections and observations made at Dutchman Creek, Johnson County, Illinois, between 25 October 1982 and 21 April 1984, and from specimens collected from Silver and Sugar creeks, Clinton, Madison, and St. Clair counties, Illinois, in July and August, 1982. N. gyrinus grew in length at a decreasing rate and in weight at a nearly constant rate for at least three (females) or four years (males). The largest individuals observed were a 97.5-mm standard length (SL) male and a 78.1-mm SL female. Mean annual SL was not significantly different between sexes except that males were both longer and heavier than females at age 3 + . There were 4.5 times as many males as females at age 3+, although the overall sex ratio was nearly 1:1 in the total sample. Only 29% survived past their first year; 90.5% did not live past their second year. Individuals (78%) usually matured in two years (sexes combined), although about 5% of males and 17% of females matured in one year. Mature males were 55-mm SL or longer, and mature females 48-mm or longer at one year. Mature females examined for the presence of eggs ranged from 52.6 to 78.9-mm SL, and contained 48 to 323 (x = 151.3) mature ova. Lengths and weights of mature females 'were both significant (P < 0.05) predictors of the numbers of mature ova. Dipteran larvae (chironomids) and small crustaceans (mainly isopods) constituted the major portion of the annual diet of all size classes. Gut contents of five species of piscivorous fish were examined; no evidence of predation on N. gyrinus was found

Providing support for decision making to adults with intellectual disability: Perspectives of family members and workers in disability support services

Background: Supporting people with intellectual disability to make decisions is an important issue for policy implementation yet there is little evidence about the practice of providing support. Method: This study aimed to understand the experiences of family members and disability support workers in providing support to adults with intellectual disability in Victoria, Australia. Twenty-three people drawn from these two groups participated in individual or focus group interviews. Results: Three major themes emerged from inductive thematic analysis: their ideas about decision support, approaches to support, and challenges they faced. Overall these revolved around juggling rights, practicalities, and risks Conclusions: This study identified some of the challenges and practical strategies for providing decision support that can be used to inform practice and capacity building resources for supporters

TASK DECOMPOSITION AND THE HIGH PERFORMANCE JUNIOR TENNIS SERVE

To develop consistency in the toss placement and racket trajectory, coaches often decompose the serve and practise it in separate parts. This study compared the kinematics of the ball toss as part of the discrete serve skill and when the skill was decomposed. A 22 camera VICON MX motion analysis system, operating at 250 Hz, captured racket and ball kinematics of 5 elite junior players hitting flat first serves (FS) directed to the ‘T’ of the deuce service box and a ball toss (BT) drill where players were instructed to perform the decomposed skill as in the FS. Paired t-tests were used to assess within-group differences. Vertical displacement of ball zenith increased significantly (~20cm) during BT. Consistency in select racket and ball kinematics characterised the FS, while this appeared to decrease in BT

Calibration of the NASA-GSFC high energy cosmic ray experiment

Calibration of high energy cosmic ray experimen

Natural and Anthropogenic Forces Acting on a Forest Lake

ABS1RACT-Lak~ Itasca, Minnes~ta is located within one of the more popular state parks. Since the turn of the centmy, loggmg, fire protection, and development within the watershed have put modest pressures on the ecosystem. The presence of the University of Minnesota\u27s Biological and Forestry Station on the lake has encouraged research in this region. Consequently there are numerous research reports and papers which are available _at the station\u27s library. We examined data collected over the past 25 years to see if we could detect changes ~~ the lake. We detected no changes in phytoplankton, macrophyte, zooplankton, or zoobenthos com~urnues, but ch~ges have ?ccu_rred in four species of the fish community-bluegill, walleye, black crapp~e an? northern pike. There 1s evidence for warmer temperatures during a critical period (May) for most aquatic animals. If true it will affect the biotic interactions to the extent of shifting the equilibrium of the lake

Isolation and characterization of CD34+ blast-derived exosomes in acute myeloid leukemia

Exosomes are membrane-bound vesicles found in all biological fluids. AML patients' plasma collected at diagnosis contains elevated exosome levels relative to normal donor (ND) plasma. The molecular profile of AML exosomes changes in the course of therapy and may serve as a measure of disease progression or response to therapy. However, plasma contains a mix of exosomes derived from various cell types. To be able to utilize blast-derived exosomes as biomarkers for AML, we have developed an immunoaffinity-based capture method utilizing magnetic microbeads coated with anti-CD34 antibody (Ab). This Ab is specific for CD34, a unique marker of AML blasts. The capture procedure was developed using CD34+ exosomes derived from Kasumi-1 AML cell culture supernatants. The capture capacity of CD34microbeads was shown to linearly correlate with the input exosomes. A 10 uL aliquot of CD34 microbeads was able to capture all of CD34+ exosomes present in 100-1,000 uL of AML plasma. The levels of immunocaptured CD34+ exosomes correlated with the percentages of CD34+ blasts in the AML patients' peripheral blood. The immunocaptured exosomes had a typical cup-shaped morphology by transmission electron microscopy, and their molecular cargo was similar to that of parental blasts. These exosomes were biologically-active. Upon co-incubation with natural killer (NK) cells, captured blast-derived exosomes down-regulated surface NKG2D expression, while non-captured exosomes reduced expression levels of NKp46. Our data provide a proof-of-principle that blast-derived exosomes can be quantitatively recovered from AML patients' plasma, their molecular profile recapitulates that of autologous blasts and they retain the ability to mediate immune suppression. These data suggest that immunocaptured blast-derived exosomes might be useful in diagnosis and/or prognosis of AML in the future. © 2014 Hong et al