Geology of the Molina Member of the Wasatch Formation, Piceance Basin, Colorado

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lorenz, J.; Nadon, G.; LaFreniere, L.

1996-06-01

The Molina Member of the Wasatch Formation has been cored in order to assess the presence/absence and character of microbial communities in the deep subsurface. Geological study of the Molina Member was undertaken in support of the microbiological tasks of this project, for the purposes of characterizing the host strata and of assessing the potential for post-depositional introduction of microbes into the strata. The Molina Member comprises a sandy fluvial unit within a formation dominated by mudstones. Sandy to conglomeratic deposits of braided and meandering fluvial systems are present on the western and eastern margins of the basin respectively, althoughmore » the physical and temporal equivalence of these systems cannot be proven. Distal braided facies of planar-horizontal bedded sandstones are recognized on the western margin of the basin. Natural fractures are present in all Molina sandstones, commonly as apparent shear pairs. Core from the 1-M-18 well contains natural fractures similar to those found in outcrops, and has sedimentological affinities to the meandering systems of the eastern margin of the basin. The hydrologic framework of the Molina, and thus any potential post-depositional introduction of microbes into the formation, should have been controlled by approximately east-west flow through the natural fracture system, the geometries and extent of the sandstones in which the fractures occur, and hydraulic gradient. Migration to the well site, from outcropping recharge areas at the edge of the basin, could have started as early as 40 million years ago if the cored strata are connected to the eastern sedimentary system.« less

2016 AMS Mario J. Molina Symposium

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhang, Renyi

A named symposium to honor Dr. Mario J. Molina was held 10–14 January 2016, as part of the 96th American Meteorological Society (AMS) Annual Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana. Dr. Molina first demonstrated that industrially produced chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) decompose in the stratosphere and release chlorine atoms, leading to catalytic ozone destruction. His research in stratospheric chemistry was instrumental to the establishment of the 1987 United Nations Montreal Protocol to ban ozone-depleting substances worldwide. Dr. Molina’s contributions to preserving the planet Earth not only save the atmospheric ozone layer, but also protect the climate by reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases.more » He was awarded the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his pioneering research in understanding the stratospheric ozone loss mechanism. In 2013, President Barack Obama announced Dr. Molina as a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The 2016 AMS Molina Symposium honored Dr. Molina’s distinguished contributions to research related to atmospheric chemistry. The symposium contained an integrated theme related to atmospheric chemistry, climate, and policy. Dr. Molina delivered a keynote speech at the Symposium. The conference included invited keynote speeches and invited and contributed oral and poster sessions, and a banquet was held on Tuesday January 12, 2016. The symposium covered all aspects of atmospheric chemistry, with topics including (1) Stratospheric chemistry, (2) Tropospheric chemistry, (3) Aerosol nucleation, growth, and transformation, (4) Aerosol properties, (5) Megacity air pollution, and (6) Atmospheric chemistry laboratory, field, and modeling studies. This DOE project supported 14 scientists, including graduate students, post docs, junior research scientists, and non-tenured assistant professors to attend this symposium.« less

Health Issues in the Latino Community.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aguirre-Molina, Marilyn, Ed.; Molina, Carlos W., Ed.; Zambrana, Ruth Enid, Ed.

This collection of papers includes 6 parts. Part 1, "Latino Populations in the United States," includes: (1) "Latino Health Policy: Beyond Demographic Determinism" (Angelo Falcon, Marilyn Aguirre-Molina, and Carlos W. Molina); (2) "Latino Health Status" (Olivia Carter-Pokras and Ruth Enid Zambrana); and (3)…

78 FR 37520 - Order Denying Export Privileges

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-06-21

... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Bureau of Industry and Security Order Denying Export Privileges In the... Molina, Jr. (``Molina'') was convicted of violating Section 38 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C... attempting to export and causing to be exported from the United States to Mexico two AK47 semi-automatic...

Separation and structural analysis of saponins in a bark extract from Quillaja saponaria Molina.

PubMed

Nord, L I; Kenne, L

1999-07-20

Six major saponins were isolated from a bark extract from Quillaja saponaria Molina. Solid-phase extraction, followed by a two-step reversed-phase HPLC separation procedure with phosphate and ammonium acetate buffers of different pH values, was used. The compounds were characterised using NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry and chemical methods.

Designing Universitas Indonesia Molina EV Bus Dashboard Using ECQFD and TRIZ

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Faiq Pradhila, Muhammad; Suzianti, Amalia; Putri Adinda, Prilly

2018-01-01

Universitas Indonesia is involved in the national electric car development program. One of the focus by the research team is to develop the Molina EV Bus which is planned to replace the current operational bus at UI so that it can be more environmental friendly. With UI developing facilities for the disabled, the Molina research team planned to make a new prototype of the Molina EV Bus to contribute to the facilities developed for the disabled. The new prototype is expected to increase the quality of the previous features of the EV Bus, including the dashboard that had been ignored. To support the development of the new prototype, this research was conducted to design a suitable dashboard for the new prototype. Design of the prototype are made using Autodesk Inventor. This research used the integration of ECQFD (Environmentally Conscious Quality Function Deployment) and TRIZ (Theory of Inventive Problem Solving) method. ECQFD was used to translate user needs into quality characteristics based on environmental aspects. TRIZ was used to translate the quality characteristics into technical specifications. This research has generated 3 sustainable, innovative, and user-preferred dashboard design recommendation for the new prototype.

Fluctuations in fluvial style in the Wasatch Formation, Piceance Basin, Colorado: Climatic, tectonic, or sediment driven

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nadon, G.C.; Lorenz, J.C.; Lafrenier, L.

1996-01-01

The Molina Member of the Wasatch Formation is a primary objective for light gas sandstone production. The G-Sandstone unit of the Molina produces an average of 200 MCFGPD. The chert-rich sandstones and conglomerates of the Molina Member, which are exposed in two subparallel belts on the western and eastern sides of the basin, are strikingly different from the remainder of the Wasatch formation. The underlying Atwell Gulch Member and overlying Shire Member are composed of floodplain mudstones with well developed paleosols and rare, lenticular channel sandstones. Both units are interpreted as anastomosed fluvial deposits. The Molina Member, which varies frommore » 32-118 m thick and in places contains clasts >0.2 m, is more difficult to interpret. Different portions of individual sections contain significant proportions of parallel laminated sandstones up to 5 m thick and several hundred meters wide. These parallel laminated sandstones are most common to the north along the western outcrop bell. They are interbedded with sandstones and conglomerates that are typical of a braided fluvial deposit. The contact between the two fluvial styles is sharp but conformable. The Molina Member therefore represents a perturbation in fluvial style from suspended-load to bedload and back to suspended-load over a restricted time interval. This may be the product of a change in climate, i.e., a change in rainfall amount or timing in the source area, source rock, e.g., the unroofing of a Jurassic eolian sandstone, or an increase in the depositional slope due to uplift. The return to a mud-dominated depositional system in the Shire Member argues for either climatic or source-rock variations as the primary control of the fluvial style.« less

Kinetic and equilibrium characteristics of sorption of saponin of Quillaja Saponaria Molina on chitosan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mironenko, N. V.; Smuseva, S. O.; Brezhneva, T. A.; Selemenev, V. F.

2016-12-01

The equilibrium and kinetic curves of the sorption of saponin of Quillaja saponaria molina on chitosan were analyzed. The inner diffusion was found to be limiting, and its coefficients were calculated. It was found that the form of the curves of the sorption isotherms of saponin is determined by the competing processes of association in solution and absorption by chitosan.

[Statements before the Subcommittee on Elementary, Secondary, and Vocational Education, Committee on Education and Labor, U.S. House of Representatives.].

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Molina, John C.; Ridge, Elton W.

This document consists of two statements, one made by John Molina, Director of the Office of Bilingual Education, and the other by Elton W. Ridge, Project Manager of the Lau-Bilingual programs. The statement by Molina discusses the scope and the goals of ESEA Title VII programs and what has been accomplished. Statistics are presented on the number…

Fluctuations in fluvial style in the Wasatch Formation, Piceance Basin, Colorado: Climatic, tectonic, or sediment driven?

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nadon, G.C.; Lorenz, J.C.; Lafrenier, L.

1996-12-31

The Molina Member of the Wasatch Formation is a primary objective for light gas sandstone production. The G-Sandstone unit of the Molina produces an average of 200 MCFGPD. The chert-rich sandstones and conglomerates of the Molina Member, which are exposed in two subparallel belts on the western and eastern sides of the basin, are strikingly different from the remainder of the Wasatch formation. The underlying Atwell Gulch Member and overlying Shire Member are composed of floodplain mudstones with well developed paleosols and rare, lenticular channel sandstones. Both units are interpreted as anastomosed fluvial deposits. The Molina Member, which varies frommore » 32-118 m thick and in places contains clasts >0.2 m, is more difficult to interpret. Different portions of individual sections contain significant proportions of parallel laminated sandstones up to 5 m thick and several hundred meters wide. These parallel laminated sandstones are most common to the north along the western outcrop bell. They are interbedded with sandstones and conglomerates that are typical of a braided fluvial deposit. The contact between the two fluvial styles is sharp but conformable. The Molina Member therefore represents a perturbation in fluvial style from suspended-load to bedload and back to suspended-load over a restricted time interval. This may be the product of a change in climate, i.e., a change in rainfall amount or timing in the source area, source rock, e.g., the unroofing of a Jurassic eolian sandstone, or an increase in the depositional slope due to uplift. The return to a mud-dominated depositional system in the Shire Member argues for either climatic or source-rock variations as the primary control of the fluvial style.« less

[Morbidity caused by industrial accidents in a health zone].

PubMed

Cruzado Quevedo, J; Sánchez Sánchez, J A; Lázaro Gómez, M J; Moreno Pina, J P; Alvarez Orcajada, M J; Cazorla González, M A

1992-05-01

The aim of the present study is to discover the morbidity produced by workplace accidents among the earning population of Molina de Segura Health Area. This was a descriptive crossover study. Site. The study was carried out in the Primary Care framework, in the Molina de Segura Health Area and with the collaboration of the Labour Health Unit of Insalud-Murcia. Over a year a total of 774 cases of time off work due to workplace accidents, out of a total of 9,302 workers, were examined. 679 cases of workers resident in Molina de Segura were included in the study, whose time-off dates fell between July 1, 1989 and June 30, 1990 and where the company for which they worked was based or had its trading name located in Molina. Of the total cases of time off work studied, 539 (79.4%) were men and 140 (20.6%) were women. The pathologies most often found were "blows, bruisings and crushings" (22.8%), "wounds and cuts" (16.8%), "back pain" (10.5%), "strains" (9.4%) and "fractures" (4.5%). A statistically significant association was found between being "a man" and "back pain"; and "a woman" and "sprains". The predominant pathologies among workplace accidents are of a less serious nature. Some pathologies owing to workplace accidents are mistakenly referred to the health services as ordinary illness. There is insufficient compliance by health professionals with filling in the forms for time off work and return to work.

Structured Light in Structured Media: From Classical to Quantum Optics Incubator, OSA Workshop, Washington, DC 28 September-1 October 2013

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-08-02

Optics Gabriel Molina-Terriza, Macquarie University, Australia 17:35-18:00 Tunable Coherent Multicolored Vector Vortex Beam Generator using a q...17:35 Designing Meta-Atoms for Transformation Optics, Gabriel Molina-Terriza, Macquarie University The objective in the field of transformation...copy of the light field interacts with the object and a non spatially resolving detector and the other copy is recorded with a camera . Correlations

Conjugate fracture pairs in the Molina Member of the Wasatch Formation, Piceance basin, Colorado: Implications for fracture origins and hydrocarbon production/exploration

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lorenz, J.C.

1997-05-01

The sandstones of the Molina Member of the Wasatch Formation in the Piceance basin of northwestern Colorado contain a suite of fractures that have a conjugate-pair geometry. The fractures are vertical and intersect at an acute angle of between 20 and 40 degrees. Although direct evidence of shear is rare, the fracture surfaces commonly display small steps. The fracture geometries suggest that the maximum compressive stress during fracturing was in the plane of the acute angle of the conjugate fractures: the steps are interpreted as broken-face manifestations of very low angle en echelon fractures, formed within exceptionally narrow zones ofmore » incipient shear. In contrast to the highly anisotropic permeability enhancement created by subparallel vertical extension fractures in the underlying Mesaverde Formation, the conjugate pairs in the Molina sandstones should create a well connected and relatively isotropic mesh of fracture conductivity. Increases in stress magnitudes and anisotropy during production drawdown of reservoir pressures should cause shear offsets along the fractures, initially enhancing permeability.« less

[Comparative anatomical study of the ventral brain arteries of the Pudu pudu (Molina, 1782) with those of the cow].

PubMed

Schweitzer-Delaunoy, W

1997-06-01

Comparative anatomical study of the ventral brain arteries of the Pudú pudu (Molina, 1782) with those of the cow. A comparison using the corrosion method was made between Pudú pudu (Molina, 1782) ventral brain arteries and those of the cow. The Pudú's Rete mirabile epidurale rostrale (Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria, 1994) is ventrally formed by branches of the A. maxillaris, and caudally formed by the A. vertebralis. The Hypophysis is surrounded by the Rete mirabile rostrale. The lateral parts are rostrally joined to that gland by a thin vascular bridge and caudally by thick arteries. The Pudú's Circulus arteriosus cerebri asymmetrical, that is, on the right side the A. cerebri rostralis ends in the A. cerebri media. The left-side A. cerebri rostralis irrigates every rostral portion of the encephalon. In the cow, practically the same arteries come out of the Circulus arteriosus cerebri, which is not asymmetrical. The A. cerebri caudalis comes first out of the A. communicans caudalis and then the branches for the Pons, and finally the A. cerebelli rostralis. In this species, there are arterial blocks that are not present in Pudú.

Ground Motion in Lima: Pisco Earthquake of August 15, 2007 (Mw7.9)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bernal, I.; Tavera, H.

2008-05-01

On 15 of August of 2007 at 06h 40min, local time, the central region of Peru was shooked by an earthquake magnitude Mw=7.9 with epicenter at 13.49°S and -76.85°W; this is, 74 km west of the city of Pisco. The earthquake was recorded by a total of fourteen accelerometers that operate in the city of Lima which show clearly the development of a complex process of rupture formed by two sources (R1 and R2) separated by 60-70 seconds. Maximum acceleration registered in the city of Lima was of 115.2 cm/seg² (0.12g) in the Urb. The Rinconada of the district the Molina located 155 km northwest from the epicenter. The periods associated to the maximum spectral acceleration appear to be between 0.1 to 0.4s in RIN and MOL, both located in the La Molina District; for ANC, CSM, MAY located in the Ancon, Rímac and Ate Vitarte district, are within the range of 0.1-0.6s; for CER, ANR, PUCP, CLD-CIP located in the San Borja, Santiago de Surco, San Miguel and San Isidro district the range is of 0.1-1.2s, and for CAL in Callao it is of 0.1-1.6s. The predominant periods have values close to 0.1s in the Molina and San Miguel distric, of 0.2s in Ate Vitarte and Rimac, of 0.3s in the Molina, Rimac, Ate Vitarte and Ancon, and of 0.5s in Santiago de Surco disctrict. In the Molina district, two acelerometric stations are located at less than 2 km away from each other, and present predominant periods next to 0.1s and 0.3s, which implies a strong variation of the physical properties of the ground at short distances. Shear wave velocity estimates, using the unidimensional method at stations MOL, MAY and ANC, give values of 80 m/s (with thicknesses less than 2 m), 200 m/s (with thicknesses less than 9 m) and of 690 m/s for the halfspace, values that suggest a compacted ground with respect to the rest of stations. Stations CAL and RIN show velocities of 60 of m/s (with thicknesses of 11 and 3 m respectively), a second layer of 140 m/s (with thicknesses of 12 and 7 m) over a halfspace of 450 m/s. These values are interpreted as representing less compacted grounds.

Measurements of absolute absorption cross sections of ozone in the 185- to 254-nm wavelength region and the temperature dependence

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yoshino, K.; Esmond, J. R.; Freeman, D. E.; Parkinson, W. H.

1993-01-01

Laboratory measurements of the relative absorption cross sections of ozone at temperatures 195, 228, and 295 K have been made throughout the 185 to 254 nm wavelength region. The absolute absorption cross sections at the same temperatures have been measured at several discrete wavelengths in the 185 to 250 nm region. The absolute cross sections of ozone have been used to put the relative cross sections on a firm absolute basis throughout the 185 to 255 nm region. These recalibrated cross sections are slightly lower than those of Molina and Molina (1986), but the differences are within a few percent and would not be significant in atmospheric applications.

Maca

MedlinePlus

... product (Maca Gelatinizada La Molina, Laboratories Hersil, Lima, Peru) daily for 12 weeks can increase sexual desire in healthy men. "Tired blood" (anemia). Leukemia. Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Improving energy and ...

Temperature dependence of the ClONO2 UV absorption spectrum

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Burkholder, James B.; Talukdar, Ranajit K.; Ravishankara, A. R.

1994-01-01

The temperature dependence of the ClONO2 absorption spectrum has been measured between 220 and 298 K and between 195 and 430 nm using a diode array spectrometer. The absorption cross sections were determined using both: (1) absolute pressure measurements at 296 K and (2) measurements at various temperatures relative to 296 K using a dual absorption cell arrangement. The temperature dependence of the ClONO2 absorption spectrum shows very broad structure. The amplitude of the temperature dependence relative to that at 296 K is weak at short wavelengths, less than 2% at 215 nm and 220 K, but significant at the wavelengths important in the stratosphere, about 30% at 325 nm and 220 K. Our ClONO2 absorption cross section data are in good general agreement with the previous measurements of Molina and Molina (1979).

Karl Brown's Hardscrabble Roots Prepared Him for His Medicaid Mission.

PubMed

Diamond, Frank

2018-04-01

The CMO of Molina Healthcare of Utah grew up, let's say, not rich. He says that and a varied background-including a stint in the Air Force-helps him deal with changing policies involving a challenging population.

A full-coordinate model of the polymerase domain of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase and its interaction with a nucleic acid substrate

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Setlik, R. F.; Meyer, D. J.; Shibata, M.; Roskwitalski, R.; Ornstein, R. L.; Rein, R.

1994-01-01

We present a full-coordinate model of residues 1-319 of the polymerase domain of HIV-I reverse transcriptase. This model was constructed from the x-ray crystallographic structure of Jacobo-Molina et al. (Jacobo-Molina et al., P.N.A.S. USA 90, 6320-6324 (1993)) which is currently available to the degree of C-coordinates. The backbone and side-chain atoms were constructed using the MAXSPROUT suite of programs (L. Holm and C. Sander, J. Mol. Biol. 218, 183-194 (1991)) and refined through molecular modeling. A seven base pair A-form dsDNA was positioned in the nucleic acid binding cleft to represent the template-primer complex. The orientation of the template-primer complex in the nucleic acid binding cleft was guided by the positions of phosphorus atoms in the crystal structure.

Ultrasonically enhanced extraction of bioactive principles from Quillaja Saponaria Molina.

PubMed

Gaete-Garretón, L; Vargas-Hernández, Yolanda; Cares-Pacheco, María G; Sainz, Javier; Alarcón, John

2011-07-01

A study of ultrasonic enhancement in the extraction of bioactive principles from Quillaja Saponaria Molina (Quillay) is presented. The effects influencing the extraction process were studied through a two-level factorial design. The effects considered in the experimental design were: granulometry, extraction time, acoustic Power, raw matter/solvent ratio (concentration) and acoustic impedance. It was found that for aqueous extraction the main factors affecting the ultrasonically-assisted process were: granulometry, raw matter/solvent ratio and extraction time. The extraction ratio was increased by Ultrasonics effect and a reduction in extraction time was verified without any influence in the product quality. In addition the process can be carried out at lower temperatures than the conventional method. As the process developed uses chips from the branches of trees, and not only the bark, this research contributes to make the saponin exploitation process a sustainable industry. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Identification of selected CITES-protected Araucariaceae using DART TOFMS

Treesearch

Philip D. Evans; Ignacio A. Mundo; Michael C. Wiemann; Gabriela D. Chavarria; Pamela J. McClure; Doina Voin; Edgard O. Espinoza

2017-01-01

Determining the species source of logs and planks suspected of being Araucaria araucana (Molina) K.Koch (CITES Appendix I) using traditional wood anatomy has been difficult, because its anatomical features are not diagnostic. Additionally, anatomical studies of Araucaria angustifolia (Bertol.) Kuntze, Araucaria...

Stratospheric ozone - Impact of human activity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mcelroy, Michael B.; Salawitch, Ross J.

1989-01-01

The current knowledge of the chemistry of the stratosphere is reviewed, with particular consideration given to the measurements from the Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS) experiment and from the Airborne Antarctic Ozone Experiment. Analysis of the ATMOS data at 30 deg N suggests that the current understanding of the contemporary-stratosphere chemistry at mid-latitudes is relatively complete, except for possible problems with the diurnal variations of N2O5 at low altitudes, and with ClNO3 at higher altitudes. Except for some difficulties with these two compounds, the data from ATMOS agree well with the gas phase models for nitrogen and chlorine species at 30 deg N in spring. It is emphasized that, in addition to the HOCl mechanism proposed by Solomon et al. (1986), the ClO-BrO scheme proposed by McElroy et al. (1986), and the ClO dimer mechanism introduced by Molina and Molina (1987), other processes exist that are responsible for ozone removal.

Working Papers in Educational Linguistics, 1996-1997.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Furumoto, Mitchell A., Ed.; And Others

1997-01-01

Reports of language research in the 1996 issue include: "Corpus Planning for the Southern Peruvian Quechua Language" (Serafin M. Coronel-Molina); "Foreign Language Planning in U.S. Higher Education: The Case of a Graduate Business Program" (Mitchell A. Furumoto); "Charting New Directions: Of Communication in a Social…

A Preliminary Evaluation of Efforts to Diversify Psychology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Banks, Brea M.; D'Santiago-Eastman, Verenice

2018-01-01

Underrepresentation of individuals from diverse backgrounds in the field of psychology is a well-documented concern, as identified gaps directly impact individuals served (Rogers & Molina, 2006; Zhang & Katsiyannis, 2002). This pilot examination evaluated a task force that sought to address this deficit through targeting the recruitment…

Coupling 2D Finite Element Models and Circuit Equations Using a Bottom-Up Methodology

DTIC Science & Technology

2002-11-01

EQUATIONS USING A BOTTOM-UP METHODOLOGY E. G6mezl, J. Roger-Folch2 , A. Gabald6nt and A. Molina’ ’Dpto. de Ingenieria Eldctrica. Universidad Polit...de Ingenieria Elictrica. ETSII. Universidad Politdcnica de Valencia. PO Box 22012, 46071. Valencia, Spain. E-mail: iroger adie.upv.es ABSTRACT The

Recasting Madrid and Its Characters in Munoz Molina's "Los misterios de Madrid"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Long, Sheri Spaine

2009-01-01

"Los misterios de Madrid" (1992) provides a burlesque novelistic portrayal of the changing capital city and its inhabitants in the early 1990s. Spanish writer Antonio Munoz Molina creates vignettes of Madrid's people and places while showing the capital as a destination for both foreign-born immigrants and provincial Spaniards alike. In…

Proceedings of the First Inter-American Conference on Bilingual Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Troike, Rudolph C., Ed.; Modiano, Nancy, Ed.

The conference papers presented here are grouped under the six topics around which the conference was organized. The section on program goals and models for bilingual education contains papers by Joshua Fishman, Salomon Nahmad, John C. Molina, Alberto Escobar, G. Kent Gooderham, and Dillon Platero. The section on teaching the second language…

Toward elimination of discrepancies between theory and experiment: The rate constant of the atmospheric conversion of SO3 to H2SO4

PubMed Central

Loerting, Thomas; Liedl, Klaus R.

2000-01-01

The hydration rate constant of sulfur trioxide to sulfuric acid is shown to depend sensitively on water vapor pressure. In the 1:1 SO3-H2O complex, the rate is predicted to be slower by about 25 orders of magnitude compared with laboratory results [Lovejoy, E. R., Hanson, D. R. & Huey, L. G. (1996) J. Phys. Chem. 100, 19911–19916; Jayne, J. T., Pöschl, U., Chen, Y.-m., Dai, D., Molina, L. T., Worsnop, D. R., Kolb, C. E. & Molina, M. J. (1997) J. Phys. Chem. A 101, 10000–10011]. This discrepancy is removed mostly by allowing a second and third water molecule to participate. An asynchronous water-mediated double proton transfer concerted with the nucleophilic attack and a double proton transfer accompanied by a transient H3O+ rotation are predicted to be the fastest reaction mechanisms. Comparison of the predicted negative apparent “activation” energies with the experimental finding indicates that in our atmosphere, different reaction paths involving two and three water molecules are taken in the process of forming sulfate aerosols and consequently acid rain. PMID:10922048

The Civil-Military Gap in El Salvador

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-03-30

Hernandez in USA, Colonel Arturo Molina studied in Mexico . After this period, civilians were presidents and had similar experiences: Napoleon...are inseparable in the effort to win the war. The 2002 Salvadoran National Plan (Plan de Nacion) envisioned the Clausewitzian consensus on matters...1 Peace Agreement January 16, 1992, Chapultepec Mexico , available from http://www. elsalvador.com /noticias/especiales/acuerdosdepaz 2002

Study protocol for the Maule Cohort (MAUCO) of chronic diseases, Chile 2014-2024.

PubMed

Ferreccio, Catterina; Roa, Juan Carlos; Bambs, Claudia; Vives, Alejandra; Corvalán, Alejandro H; Cortés, Sandra; Foerster, Claudia; Acevedo, Johanna; Huidobro, Andrea; Passi, Alvaro; Toro, Pablo; Covacevich, Yerko; de la Cruz, Rolando; Koshiol, Jill; Olivares, Mauricio; Miquel, Juan Francisco; Cruz, Francisco; Silva, Raúl; Quest, Andrew F; Kogan, Marcelo J; Castro, Pablo F; Lavandero, Sergio

2016-02-04

Maule Cohort (MAUCO), a Chilean cohort study, seeks to analyze the natural history of chronic diseases in the agricultural county of Molina (40,000 inhabitants) in the Maule Region, Chile. Molina´s population is of particular interest because in the last few decades it changed from being undernourished to suffering excess caloric intake, and it currently has the highest national rates of cardiovascular diseases, stomach cancer and gallbladder cancer. Between 2009 and 2011 Molina´s poverty rate dropped from 24.1 % to 13.5 % (national average 20.4 %); in this period the county went from insufficient to almost complete basic sanitation. Despite these advances, chemical pollutants in the food and air are increasing. Thus, in Molina risk factors typical of both under-developed and developed countries coexist, generating a unique profile associated with inflammation, oxidative stress and chronic diseases. MAUCO is the core project of the recently established Advanced Center for Chronic Diseases (ACCDiS), Universidad de Chile & Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. In this study, we are enrolling and following 10,000 adults aged 38 to 74 years over 10 years. All eligible Molina residents will be enrolled. Participants were identified through a household census. Consenting individuals answer an epidemiological survey exploring risk factors (psycho-social, pesticides, diet, alcohol, and physical activity), medical history and physical and cognitive conditions; provide fasting blood, urine, and saliva samples; receive an electrocardiogram, abdominal ultrasound and bio-impedance test; and take a hand-grip strength test. These subjects will be re-interviewed after 2, 5 and 7 years. Active surveillance of health events is in place throughout the regional healthcare system. The MAUCO Bio-Bank will store 30 to 50 aliquots per subject using an NIH/NCI biorepository system for secure and anonymous linkage of samples with data. MAUCO´s results will help design public health interventions tailored to agricultural populations in Latin America.

Identification of Novel Targets of the Human Cell Cycle Regulatory Protein Cdc34

DTIC Science & Technology

1998-07-01

Bohman, for stains and plamids, J. La Baer for the cDNA library, C. Molina, H. P. Roest, J. Hoeijmaker, P. Sassone-Corsi for antisera, and to Shirong...mammalian CDC34 cell cycle gene. American Association of Cancer Research, 36, A191 (1995). Hershko, A., Role of ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis in cell

75 FR 60126 - Performance Review Board Members

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-09-29

... Daulaire Beverly W. Davis Jeffrey S. Davis L'Tonya J. Davis Lori E. Davis Diann Dawson Molly P. Dawson.... Miller Tamara L. Miller George G. Mills Jr. Samuel P. Mitchell Madeline Mocko John W. Molina John T... William D. Saunders David W. Sayen James V. Scanlon Donald L. Schneider Lawrence N. Self James D. Seligman...

ARC-2009-ACD09-0153-004

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-07-23

Janice Hahn, Councilwoman, District 15, City of Los Angeles visits NASA Ames Research Center. Associate Director Steve Zornetzer and Center Director S. Pete Worden meet with .Janice Hahn, Councilwoman, District 15, City of Los Angeles, Jenny Chavez, Staffer for Councilwoman Hahn, Walter Zifkin, Commissioner, Los Angles International Airport, Michael Molina, Chief of External Affairs, LAWA, Jaideep Vaswani. Chief of Airport Planning, LAWA

Many-body coherent destruction of tunneling in photonic lattices

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Longhi, Stefano

2011-03-15

An optical realization of the phenomenon of many-body coherent destruction of tunneling, recently predicted for interacting many-boson systems by Gong, Molina, and Haenggi [Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 133002 (2009)], is proposed for light transport in engineered waveguide arrays. The optical system enables a direct visualization in Fock space of the many-body tunneling control process.

Commensal Bacteria Control Cancer Response to Therapy by Modulating the Tumor Microenvironment | Poster

Cancer.gov

Noriho Iida, Amiran Dzutsev, C. Andrew Stewart, Loretta Smith, Nicolas Bouladoux, Rebecca A. Weingarten, Daniel A. Molina, Rosalba Salcedo, Timothy Back, Sarah Cramer, Ren-Ming Dai, Hiu Kiu, Marco Cardone, Shruti Naik, Anil K. Patri, Ena Wang, Francesco M. Marincola, Karen M. Frank, Yasmine Belkaid, Giorgio Trinchieri, Romina S. Goldszmid Science 342(6161):967-970, 2013

Perfect Mirror Design Technology

DTIC Science & Technology

1999-02-01

with Prof. Mario Molina, recipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The partnership, along with Aerodyne Research Inc., looked at how sulfur...Corporation is developing standards for nondestructive evaluation ( NDE ) techniques for industry use. Use of the new standards will result in improved...novel testing methodology that dramatically improves the accuracy of NDE techniques used to detect flaws. Basic Research Five years ago, the main

El primer "Convidado de Piedra" No Espanol (The First Italian Drama on the Don Juan Theme).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garcia Berrio, Antonio

1967-01-01

A manuscript dated 1651 and now housed at the National Library in Florence, Italy, suggests that the document may be the first Italian adaptation of the Spanish drama, "El burlador de Sevilla y Convidado de Piedra" ("The Deceiver of Seville"). The Spanish tragedy, written in 1630 by Gabriel Tellez, known as Tirso de Molina,…

VizieR Online Data Catalog: UBVI CCD photometry of Carina region stars (Molina-Lera+, 2016)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Molina-Lera, J. A.; Baume, G.; Gamen, R.; Costa, E.; Carraro, G.

2016-08-01

Photometric parameters for 62730 stars in the carina region covering 6 stellar clusters (NGC 3752, Trumpler 18, NGC 3590, Hogg 10, 11 and 12) and the surrounding field. The photometry was secured in March 2006 and March 2009 with the Y4KCAM camera attached to the Cerro Tololo Inter American Observatory (CTIO, Chile) 1.0-m telescope. (1 data file).

Proceedings of the Complex Systems Engineering Synthesis and Assessment Technology Workshop Held in Silver Spring, Maryland on 20-24 July 1992

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-07-24

Pmo Pbuf Tarr PenvTmm Patneo TTneo Teo Pateo ’,- r 0,Traneo 8 a e P naco Pfa Te aco Tsro- - PPatnen Them, Teyn Pate.. ••==P a• Tat e,- Fr ti I 3 456...Trivedi. Reliability modeling using SHARPE. IEEE Trans. Reliability, R-36(2):186-193, June 1987. 3 [14] K. Salem and H. Garcia-Molina. Disk striping

Case 3058. Arctocephalus F. Cuvier, 1826 and Callorhinus Gray, 1859 (Mammalia, Pinnipedia): proposed conservation by the designation of Phoca pusilla Schreber, [1775] as the type species of Arctocephalus; and Otaria Peron, 1816 and Eumetopias Gill, 1866: proposed conservation by the designation of Phoca leonina Molina, 1782 as the type species of Otaria

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gardner, A.L.; Robbins, C.B.

1999-01-01

The purpose of this application is to conserve the accustomed understanding and usage of the fur seal name Arctocephalus F. Cuvier, 1826 by the designation of Phoca pusilia Schreber, [1775] as the type species, thus conserving also the name Callorhinus Gray, 1859. At present Phoca ursina Linnaeus, 1758 is the valid type species of both Arctocephalus and Callorhinus. The name Arctocephalus relates to a genus of some seven fur seals from the southern hemisphere, while Callorhinus is used for the single species C. ursinus (Linnaeus) from the northern hemisphere. It is also proposed that the universal understanding of the names Otaria Peron, 1816 and Eumetopias Gill, 1866 should be conserved for the southern and northern sea lions respectively by designating Phoca leonina Molina, 1782 (for which the valid specific name is P. byronia de Blainville, 1820) as the type species of Otaria. At present Phoca jubata Schreber, [1776] is the type species of Otaria and the name Otaria is a senior subjective synonym of Eumetopias. The four genera Arctocephalus, Callorhinus, Otaria and Eumetopias are all placed in the family OTARIIDAE Gray, 1825.

Software Mechanisms for Multiprocessor TLB Consistency

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-12-01

thanks. Raj V aswani implemented the DASH message-passing system. Ramesh Govindan implemented part of the DASH virtual memory system. G . Scott...1 Latency (ma) 5𔃺 ---·-r··-·r···r··-T·-·-r··-·r····r····-r··-·r··- . g ~~~R=r 18 -----1·--·-r··-T·----1·--··r·---1·----1·--··r·---T·----1 16...model development. Synchronizing TLBs is similar to updating replicated data in a distributed environment. Lee and Garcia-Molina both used an M/ G /1

Extended hatching periods in the subantarctic lithodid crabs Lithodes santolla and Paralomis granulosa (Crustacea: Decapoda: Lithodidae)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thatje, S.; Calcagno, J. A.; Lovrich, G. A.; Sartoris, F. J.; Anger, K.

2003-06-01

Temporal pattern of hatching was studied in the subantarctic lithodid crabs Lithodes santolla (Molina) and Paralomis granulosa (Jaquinot) from the Argentine Beagle Channel. In both species, larval hatching occurred in low daily numbers over an extended period of up to several weeks, depending on hatch size. Low daily hatching activity and low oxygen-consumption rates in freshly hatched P. granulosa larvae are discussed as life history adaptations to, and/or physiological constraints by, the environmental conditions of high latitudes.

Numerical Electromagnetic Models of Cube-Shaped Boxes - An Initial Investigation for Near-Field Prediction of HF Shipboard Environments

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-12-01

de Armamento y Electronica 2 Comandancia de la Armada Av. Vollmer San Benardino Caracas, 1011 Venezuela 10. Director de Comunicaciones 2 Comandancia...Prof. Harry Atwater, Code 62An 1 Naval Postgraduate School Monterey, CA 93943-5000 6. Capitdn de Corbeta 5 Carlos R Molina T Comandancia de la Armada Av...Vollmer San Benardino Caracas, 1011 Venezuela 7. Escuela Naval de Venezuela 2 Director Comandancia de la Armada Av. Vollmer San Benardino Caracas

Evaluation of a Three-Dimensional Chemical Transport Model (PMCAMx) in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsimpidi, A. P.; Karydis, V. A.; Zavala, M.; Lei, W.; Molina, L. T.; Pandis, S. N.

2007-05-01

Atmospheric aerosols have adverse effects on human health, contribute to the visibility reduction and influence the energy balance of the planet. A three-dimensional chemical transport model (PMCAMx) (Gaydos et al., 2007) is used to simulate the particular matter (PM) mass composition distribution in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA). PMCAMx uses the framework of CAMx (ENVIRON, 2002) modelling the processes of horizontal and vertical advection, horizontal and vertical dispersion, wet and dry deposition, and gas-phase chemistry. In addition to the above, PMCAMx includes three detailed aerosol modules: inorganic aerosol growth (Gaydos et al., 2003; Koo et al., 2003a), aqueous-phase chemistry (Fahey and Pandis, 2001), and secondary organic aerosol formation and growth (Koo et al., 2004). The aerosol thermodynamic model ISORROPIA has been improved as it now simulates explicitly the chemistry of Ca, Mg, and K salts and is linked to PMCAMx. The hybrid approach (Koo et al., 2003b) for modelling aerosol dynamics is applied in order to accurately simulate the inorganic components in coarse mode. This approach assumes that the smallest particles are in equilibrium while the condensation/evaporation equation is solved for the larger ones. The new CMU organic aerosol model, which is based on the splitting of the organic aerosol volatility range in discrete bins, is also used. The model predictions are evaluated against the PM and vapour concentration measurements from the MCMA-2003 Campaign (Molina et al., 2007). References Gaydos, T., Pinder, R., Koo, B., Fahey, Κ., Yarwood, G., and Pandis, S. N., (2007). Development and application of a three-dimensional Chemical Transport Model, PMCAMx. Atmospheric Environment, in press. ENVIRON (2002). User's guide to the comprehensive air quality model with extensions (CAMx). Version 3.10. Report prepared by ENVIRON International corporation, Novato, CA Gaydos, T., Koo, B., and Pandis, S. N., (2003). Development and application of an efficient moving sectional approach for the solution of the atmospheric aerosol condensation/evaporation equations. Atmospheric Environment, 37, 3303-3316. Fahey, K. and Pandis, S. N., (2001). Optimizing model performance: variable size resolution in cloud chemistry modelling. Atmospheric Environment 35, 4471-4478. Koo, B., Pandis S. N., and Ansari, A. (2003a). Integrated approaches to modelling the organic and inorganic atmospheric aerosol components. Atmospheric Environment, 37, 4757-4768. Koo, B., Gaydos, T.M., Pandis, S.N., (2003b). Evaluation of the equilibrium, hybrid, and dynamic aerosol modeling approaches. Aerosol Science and Technology 37, 53-64 Molina, L.T., Kolb, C.E., de Foy, B., Lamb, B., Brune, W., Molina, M.J., (2007). Air Quality in North Americas Most Populous City Overview of MCMA-2003 Campaign. Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss. 7.

Flash photolysis resonance fluorescence investigation of the reaction of O /P-3/ atoms with ClONO2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kurylo, M. J.

1977-01-01

The rate constant for the reaction of O (P-3) atoms with ClONO2 at 10 torr total pressure is assessed over the temperature range 225-273 K by the flash photolysis resonance fluorescence technique. The data, taken together with results given by Molina et al. (1977), have been used to formulate an Arrhenius expression suitable for stratospheric modeling applications. Comparison of the rate of ClONO2 destruction via the oxygen atom reaction with the solar photolysis rate shows that chemical reaction accounts for less than 15% of the CLONO2 removal at altitudes between 20 and 30 km.

John Punch, Scotist Holy War, and the Irish Catholic Revolutionary Tradition in the Seventeenth Century.

PubMed

Campbell, Ian W

2016-07-01

During the 1640s, the Irish Franciscan theologian John Punch taught his theology students in Rome that war against Protestants was made just by their religion alone. Jesuits like Luis de Molina identified the holy war tradition in which Punch stood as a Scotist one, and insisted that the Scotists had confused the natural and supernatural spheres. Among Irishmen, Punch was unusual. The main Irish Catholic revolutionary tradition employed Jesuit and Thomist theory. They argued that the Stuarts had lost the right to rule Ireland for natural reasons, not supernatural ones; because the Stuarts were tyrants, not because they were Protestants.

A QTAIM topological analysis of the P3HT⿿PCBM dimer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodríguez, Juan I.; Matta, Chérif F.; Uribe, Emilbus A.; Götz, Andreas W.; Castillo-Alvarado, F. L.; Molina-Brito, Bertha

2016-01-01

In order to cast some light onto the nature of the chemical bonding between a 8-unit oligomer of the poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and the fullerene derivative [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) in the two stables isomers reported recently [I. Gutiérrez-González, B. Molina-Brito, A.W. Götz, F.L. Castillo-Alvarado, J.I. Rodríguez, Chem. Phys. Lett. 612, 234 (2014)], we have performed a Bader's quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM) analysis. According to QTAIM, no covalent bonds are formed between P3HT and PCBM, and hydrogen and stacking interactions account for about 90% and 10% of the total number of bonds between P3HT and PCBM, respectively.

Soil moisture under contrasted atmospheric conditions in Eastern Spain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Azorin-Molina, César; Cerdà, Artemi; Vicente-Serrano, Sergio M.

2014-05-01

Soil moisture plays a key role on the recently abandoned agriculture land where determine the recovery and the erosion rates (Cerdà, 1995), on the soil water repellency degree (Bodí et al., 2011) and on the hydrological cycle (Cerdà, 1999), the plant development (García Fayos et al., 2000) and the seasonality of the geomorphological processes (Cerdà, 2002). Moreover, Soil moisture is a key factor on the semiarid land (Ziadat and Taimeh, 2013), on the productivity of the land (Qadir et al., 2013) and soils treated with amendments (Johnston et al., 2013) and on soil reclamation on drained saline-sodic soils (Ghafoor et al., 2012). In previous study (Azorin-Molina et al., 2013) we investigated the intraannual evolution of soil moisture in soils under different land managements in the Valencia region, Eastern Spain, and concluded that soil moisture recharges are much controlled by few heavy precipitation events; 23 recharge episodes during 2012. Most of the soil moisture recharge events occurred during the autumn season under Back-Door cold front situations. Additionally, sea breeze front episodes brought isolated precipitation and moisture to mountainous areas within summer (Azorin-Molina et al., 2009). We also evidenced that the intraanual evolution of soil moisture changes are positively and significatively correlated (at p<0.01) with the amount of measured precipitation. In this study we analyze the role of other crucial atmospheric parameters (i.e., temperature, relative humidity, global solar radiation, and wind speed and wind direction) in the intraanual evolution of soil moisture; focussing our analyses on the soil moisture discharge episodes. Here we present 1-year of soil moisture measurements at two experimental sites in the Valencia region, one representing rainfed orchard typical from the Mediterranean mountains (El Teularet-Sierra de Enguera), and a second site corresponding to an irrigated orange crop (Alcoleja). Key Words: Soil Moisture Discharges, Intraannual changes, Atmospheric parameters, Eastern Spain Acknowledgements The research projects GL2008-02879/BTE, LEDDRA 243857 and RECARE FP7 project 603498 supported this research. References: Azorin-Molina, C., Connell, B.H., Baena-Calatrava, R. 2009. Sea-breeze convergence zones from AVHRR over the Iberian Mediterranean Area and the Isle of Mallorca, Spain. Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology 48 (10), 2069-2085. Azorin-Molina, C., Vicente-Serrano, S. M., Cerdà, A. 2013. Soil moisture changes in two experimental sites in Eastern Spain. Irrigation versus rainfed orchards under organic farming. EGU, Geophysical Research Abstracts, EGU2013-13286. Bodí, M.B., Mataix-Solera, J., Doerr, S.H. & Cerdà, A. 2011. The wettability of ash from burned vegetation and its relationship to Mediterranean plant species type, burn severity and total organic carbon content. Geoderma, 160, 599-607. 10.1016/j.geoderma.2010.11.009 Cerdà, A. 1995. Soil moisture regime under simulated rainfall in a three years abandoned field in Southeast Spain. Physics and Chemistry of The Earth, 20 (3-4), 271-279. Cerdà, A. 1999. Seasonal and spatial variations in infiltration rates in badland surfaces under Mediterranean climatic conditions. Water Resources Research, 35 (1) 319-328. Cerdà, A. 2002. The effect of season and parent material on water erosion on highly eroded soils in eastern Spain. Journal of Arid Environments, 52, 319-337. García-Fayos, P. García-Ventoso, B. Cerdà, A. 2000. Limitations to Plant establishment on eroded slopes in Southeastern Spain. Journal of Vegetation Science, 11- 77- 86. Ghafoor, A., Murtaza, G., Rehman, M. Z., Saifullah Sabir, M. 2012. Reclamation and salt leaching efficiency for tile drained saline-sodic soil using marginal quality water for irrigating rice and wheat crops. Land Degradation & Development, 23: 1 -9. DOI 10.1002/ldr.1033 Johnston, C. R., Vance, G. F., Ganjegunte, G. K. 2013. Soil properties changes following irrigation with coalbed natural gas water: role of water treatments, soil amendments and land suitability. Land Degradation & Development, 24: 350- 362. DOI 10.1002/ldr.1132 Qadir, M., Noble, A. D., Chartres, C. 2013. Adapting to climate change by improving water productivity of soil in dry areas. Land Degradation & Development, 24: 12- 21. DOI 10.1002/ldr.1091 Ziadat, F. M., and Taimeh, A. Y. 2013. Effect of rainfall intensity, slope and land use and antecedent soil moisture on soil erosion in an arid environment. Land Degradation & Development, 24: 582- 590. DOI 10.1002/ldr.2239

Geochemical signatures of bedded cherts of the upper La Luna Formation in Táchira State, western Venezuela: Assessing material provenance and paleodepositional setting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garbán, G.; Martínez, M.; Márquez, G.; Rey, O.; Escobar, M.; Esquinas, N.

2017-01-01

Here we undertook an inorganic geochemical study of Cenomanian-Campanian bedded cherts (the Táchira Ftanita Member of the La Luna Formation) in the western region of the Táchira State, Venezuela. The aim of this study was to determine the paleo-oceanographic and paleo-environmental conditions that governed the deposition of chert beds and put forward a sedimentation model for the Táchira Ftanita Member in the study area. Seventy-two chert samples were collected and trace/rare earth elements (La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu, Rb, Cs, Th, U, Y, Co, and Sc) and major/trace elements (SiO2, TiO2, Al2O3, Fe2O3, MgO, CaO, Na2O, K2O, P2O5, Mn, Ba, Sr, Cr, Ni, and V) were determined by ICP-MS and ICP-OES, respectively. On the basis of the stratigraphic abundance and distribution of relatively immobile elements, as well as the distribution of rare earth elements, we established that the detrital sediments associated with the sequences studied have matching characteristics with distinct continental materials, with an intermediate composition, thus pointing to the Guayana Massif as the main source of sediments. In addition, we also determined the influence of hydrothermal input on the chemical composition of some cherts from La Molina Mine. On the basis of geochemistry, we found a biological influence regarding the uptake of dissolved silica for forming chert beds. The application of parameters for relatively immobile elements allowed us to establish a still proximal continental-margin (hemipelagic) for most samples from the Zorca River and a continental-margin for almost all the cherts from the Delicias-Villa Páez section and the remaining samples from La Molina Mine. Finally, we propose that the rhythmicity that accompanies the sequence of bedded cherts is related to changes in the intensity of upwelling patterns of water and/or to variability in the supply of silica dissolved in the Táchira sub-basin.

On the ability of the Viking gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer to detect organic matter.

PubMed

Biemann, Klaus

2007-06-19

A recent paper by Navarro-Gonzalez et al. [Navarro-Gonzalez R, Navarro KF, de la Rosa J, Iniguez E, Molina P, Miranda LD, Morales P, Cienfuegos E, Coll P, Raulin F, et al. (2006) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 103:16089-16094] claims to show that the Viking GCMS (gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer) experiment, which carried out a search for organic matter at the surface of Mars in 1976, "may have been blind to low levels of organics." To rebut this assertion, the Viking experiment, test data, and results on Mars are reviewed, and the fallacies in the design, execution, and interpretation of the new experiments presented by Navarro-Gonzalez et al. are critically examined.

Multimedia Content Development as a Facial Expression Datasets for Recognition of Human Emotions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mamonto, N. E.; Maulana, H.; Liliana, D. Y.; Basaruddin, T.

2018-02-01

Datasets that have been developed before contain facial expression from foreign people. The development of multimedia content aims to answer the problems experienced by the research team and other researchers who will conduct similar research. The method used in the development of multimedia content as facial expression datasets for human emotion recognition is the Villamil-Molina version of the multimedia development method. Multimedia content developed with 10 subjects or talents with each talent performing 3 shots with each capturing talent having to demonstrate 19 facial expressions. After the process of editing and rendering, tests are carried out with the conclusion that the multimedia content can be used as a facial expression dataset for recognition of human emotions.

On the ability of the Viking gas chromatograph–mass spectrometer to detect organic matter

PubMed Central

Biemann, Klaus

2007-01-01

A recent paper by Navarro-Gonzalez et al. [Navarro-Gonzalez R, Navarro KF, de la Rosa J, Iniguez E, Molina P, Miranda LD, Morales P, Cienfuegos E, Coll P, Raulin F, et al. (2006) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 103:16089–16094] claims to show that the Viking GCMS (gas chromatograph–mass spectrometer) experiment, which carried out a search for organic matter at the surface of Mars in 1976, “may have been blind to low levels of organics.” To rebut this assertion, the Viking experiment, test data, and results on Mars are reviewed, and the fallacies in the design, execution, and interpretation of the new experiments presented by Navarro-Gonzalez et al. are critically examined. PMID:17548829

Social Environmental Influences on the Development and Resolution of Alcohol Problems

PubMed Central

McCrady, Barbara S.; Zucker, Robert A.; Molina, Brooke S. G.; Ammon, Lyndsay; Ames, Genevieve M.; Longabaugh, Richard

2006-01-01

This article summarizes the proceedings of a symposium presented at the 2005 Annual Meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism, Santa Barbara, California, June 25–30. The overall goal of the symposium was to consider the broad impact of the social environment on the development of and successful or unsuccessful resolution of drinking problems. The presentations addressed multiple social environmental influences including: the influence of children on parents (Dr. Zucker), the influence of peers and parents on adolescents (Dr. Molina), the influence of family members on adult drinking (Dr. McCrady), the influence of adult peers/friends (Dr. Kaskutas), and the influence of the occupational environment (Dr. Ames). Dr. Longabaugh, the symposium discussant, addressed models for understanding the relationships between social influences and drinking problems. PMID:16573588

How Do We See Art: An Eye-Tracker Study

PubMed Central

Quiroga, Rodrigo Quian; Pedreira, Carlos

2011-01-01

We describe the pattern of fixations of subjects looking at figurative and abstract paintings from different artists (Molina, Mondrian, Rembrandt, della Francesca) and at modified versions in which different aspects of these art pieces were altered with simple digital manipulations. We show that the fixations of the subjects followed some general common principles (e.g., being attracted to saliency regions) but with a large variability for the figurative paintings, according to the subject’s personal appreciation and knowledge. In particular, we found different gazing patterns depending on whether the subject saw the original or the modified version of the painting first. We conclude that the study of gazing patterns obtained by using the eye-tracker technology gives a useful approach to quantify how subjects observe art. PMID:21941476

Temperature dependence of the ClONO{sub 2} UV absorption spectrum

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Burkholder, J.B.; Talukdar, R.K.; Ravishankara, A.R.

1994-04-01

The temperature dependence of the ClONO{sub 2} absorption spectrum has been measured between 220 and 298 K and between 195 and 430 nm using a diode array spectrometer. The absorption cross sections were determined using both: (1) absolute pressure measurements at 296 K and (2) measurements at various temperatures relative to 296 K using a dual absorption cell arrangement. The temperature dependence of the ClONO{sub 2} absorption spectrum shows very broad structure. The amplitude of the temperature dependence relative to that at 296 K is weak at short wavelengths, < 2% at 215 nm and 220 K, but significant atmore » the wavelengths important in the stratosphere, {approximately} 30% at 325 nm and 220 K. The authors ClONO{sub 2} absorption cross section data are in good general agreement with the previous measurements of Molina and Molina.« less

Organisation of autonomic nervous structures in the small intestine of chinchilla (Chinchilla laniger, Molina).

PubMed

Nowak, E

2014-08-01

Using histochemical, histological and immunocytochemical methods, organisation of the autonomic nerve structures in small intestine of chinchilla was investigated. Myenteric plexus was localised between circular and longitudinal layers of the smooth muscles. Forming network nodes, the small autonomic, cholinergic ganglia were linked with the bundles of nerve fibres. Adrenergic structures were visible as specific varicose, rosary-like fibres forming bundles of parallel fibres connecting network nodes. Structures of the submucosal plexus formed a finer network than those of the myenteric plexus. Moreover, in 'whole-mount' specimens, fibres forming thick perivascular plexuses were also observed. Immunocytochemical studies confirmed the cholinergic and adrenergic character of the investigated structures. VAChT-positive neurones were found only in myenteric plexus, and numerous VAChT-positive and DBH-positive fibres were found in both plexuses. © 2013 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Integration of statistical and physiological analyses of adaptation of near-isogenic barley lines.

PubMed

Romagosa, I; Fox, P N; García Del Moral, L F; Ramos, J M; García Del Moral, B; Roca de Togores, F; Molina-Cano, J L

1993-08-01

Seven near-isogenic barley lines, differing for three independent mutant genes, were grown in 15 environments in Spain. Genotype x environment interaction (G x E) for grain yield was examined with the Additive Main Effects and Multiplicative interaction (AMMI) model. The results of this statistical analysis of multilocation yield-data were compared with a morpho-physiological characterization of the lines at two sites (Molina-Cano et al. 1990). The first two principal component axes from the AMMI analysis were strongly associated with the morpho-physiological characters. The independent but parallel discrimination among genotypes reflects genetic differences and highlights the power of the AMMI analysis as a tool to investigate G x E. Characters which appear to be positively associated with yield in the germplasm under study could be identified for some environments.

Porosity characterization of fresh and altered stones by ultrasound velocity and mercury intrusion porosimetry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scrivano, Simona; Gaggero, Laura; Gisbert Aguilar, Josep

2016-04-01

Porosity is the main physical feature dealing with rocks durability and storage capacity. The analysis of this parameter is key factor in predicting rock performances (Molina et al., 2011). There are several techniques that can be applied to acquire the widest information range possible about pores (e.g. size, shape, distribution), leading to a better understanding of decay processes and trapping capacity. The coupling of a detailed minero-petrographic analysis with physical measures such as ultrasounds and mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) proved to be a valid tool for understanding the porous network and its evolution during weathering processes. Both fresh and salt-weathered samples were analysed to investigate the modification triggered in the porous network by crystallization. The ageing process was induced using a Na2SO4 saturated saline solution with the partial continuous immersion method (Benavente et al., 2001). The study was addressed to four sedimentary lithotypes: 1) Arenaria Macigno, a greywacke made up of thickened clasts of quartz, plagioclase and K-feldspar cemented by micritic calcite and phyllosilicates; 2) Breccia Aurora, a calcareous breccia with nodules of compact limestone and micritic cement joints; 3) Rosso Verona, a biomicrite where the compact bio-micrite matrix is cut by clay minerals veins; and 4) Vicenza Stone, an organogenic limestone rich in micro- and macro foraminifera, algae, bryozoans and remains of echinoderms, with iron oxides. An appropriate description of the porous network variation and recognition of the origin of secondary porosity was attained. The study defined that the pore shape and distribution (anisotropy coefficient K) has a fluctuation up to the 50% after weathering treatments and pore-size distribution (defined in a range between 0,0025 - 75 μm), allowing modelling the mechanisms of water transport and evaluating decay susceptibility of these lithotypes. Molina E, Cultrone G, Sebastián E, Alonso FJ, Carrizo L, Gisbert J, et al. The pore system of sedimentary rocks as a key factor in the durability of building materials. Eng Geol 118 (2011) 110-21. D. Benavente, M.A. Garcia del Cura, A. Bernabeu, S. Ordonez. Quantification of salt weathering in porous stones using an experimental continuous partial immersion method. Eng Geol 59 (2001) 313-325.

Algae biodiesel - a feasibility report

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Algae biofuels have been studied numerous times including the Aquatic Species program in 1978 in the U.S., smaller laboratory research projects and private programs. Results Using Molina Grima 2003 and Department of Energy figures, captial costs and operating costs of the closed systems and open systems were estimated. Cost per gallon of conservative estimates yielded $1,292.05 and $114.94 for closed and open ponds respectively. Contingency scenarios were generated in which cost per gallon of closed system biofuels would reach $17.54 under the generous conditions of 60% yield, 50% reduction in the capital costs and 50% hexane recovery. Price per gallon of open system produced fuel could reach $1.94 under generous assumptions of 30% yield and $0.2/kg CO2. Conclusions Current subsidies could allow biodiesel to be produced economically under the generous conditions specified by the model. PMID:22540986

Making a case for systematic integration of theory-based tobacco education into graduate psychiatric/mental health nursing curriculum.

PubMed

Schwindt, Rhonda G; Sharp, Daryl

2013-08-01

Tobacco use and dependence is a serious public health issue that disproportionately affects the mentally ill client population. Mental health professionals, including psychiatric/mental health advanced practice nurses (PMHAPNs), are disinclined to integrate tobacco cessation interventions into their practice, due in part, to a general lack of tobacco-related knowledge (C. Essenmacher, C. Karvonen-Gutierrez, J. Lynch-Sauer, & S. A., Duffy, 2008; A. J. Molina, T. Fernandez, D. Fernandez, M. Delgado, S. de Abajo, & V. Martin, 2012; L. Sarna, L. L. Danao, S. Chan, S. Shin, L. Baldago, E. Endo, & M. E. Wewers, 2006); D. Sharp, S. Blaakman, R. Cole, & J. Evinger, 2009). This paper provides an in-depth literature review of tobacco education in nursing curricula and proposes the systematic integration of theory-based tobacco content into psychiatric/mental health graduate nursing programs. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Solid-phase extraction NMR studies of chromatographic fractions of saponins from Quillaja saponaria.

PubMed

Nyberg, Nils T; Baumann, Herbert; Kenne, Lennart

2003-01-15

The saponin mixture QH-B from the tree Quillaja saponaria var. Molina was fractionated by RP-HPLC in several steps. The fractions were analyzed by solid-phase extraction NMR (SPE-NMR), a technique combining the workup by solid-phase extraction with on-line coupling to an NMR flow probe. Together with MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and comparison with chemical shifts of similar saponins, the structures of both major and minor components in QH-B could be obtained. The procedure described is a simple method to determine the structure of components in a complex mixture. The two major fractions of the mixture were found to contain at least 28 saponins, differing in the carbohydrate substructures. Eight of these have not previously been determined. The 28 saponins formed 14 equilibrium pairs by the migration of an O-acyl group between two adjacent positions on a fucosyl residue.

A system to evaluate fire impacts from simulated fire behavior in Mediterranean areas of Central Chile.

PubMed

Castillo, Miguel E; Molina, Juan R; Rodríguez Y Silva, Francisco; García-Chevesich, Pablo; Garfias, Roberto

2017-02-01

Wildfires constitute the greatest economic disruption to Mediterranean ecosystems, from a socio-economic and ecological perspective (Molina et al., 2014). This study proposes to classify fire intensity levels based on potential fire behavior in different types of Mediterranean vegetation types, using two geographical scales. The study considered >4 thousand wildfires over a period of 25years, identifying fire behavior on each event, based on simulations using "KITRAL", a model developed in Chile in 1993 and currently used in the entire country. Fire intensity values allowed results to be classified into six fire effects categories (levels), each of them with field indicators linking energy values with damage related to burned vegetation and wildland urban interface zone. These indicators also facilitated a preliminary assessment of wildfire impact on different Mediterranean land uses and, are therefore, a useful tool to prioritize future interventions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

New isotonic drinks with antioxidant and biological capacities from berries (maqui, açaí and blackthorn) and lemon juice.

PubMed

Gironés-Vilaplana, Amadeo; Villaño, Débora; Moreno, Diego A; García-Viguera, Cristina

2013-11-01

The aim of the study was to design new isotonic drinks with lemon juice and berries: maqui [Aristotelia chilensis (Molina) Stuntz], açaí (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) and blackthorn (Prunus spinosa L.), following on from previous research. Quality parameters - including colour (CIELab parameters), minerals, phytochemical identification and quantification by high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detector, total phenolic content by the Folin-Ciocalteu reagent, the antioxidant capacity (ABTS(+), DPPH• and [Formula: see text] assays) and biological activities (in vitro alpha-glucosidase and lipase inhibitory effects) - were tested in the samples and compared to commercially available isotonic drinks. The new isotonic blends with lemon and anthocyanins-rich berries showed an attractive colour, especially in maqui samples, which is essential for consumer acceptance. Significantly higher antioxidant and biological effects were determined in the new blends, in comparison with the commercial isotonic beverages.

Early evolution of the Gulf of Mexico and the origin of the pervasive salt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lawver, L. A.; Norton, I. O.; Gahagan, L.

2016-12-01

The final stage of formation of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) is fairly well constrained, while the earlier evolution is still debated. During the final stage, Yucatan rotated about a Florida Straits Euler pole that created most of the oceanic crust in the GOM. From observations of salt overlying seaward-dipping reflectors (diagnostic of volcanism during the rift to drift transition) in the northeast GOM we suggest that salt was deposited at the onset of sea floor spreading, which coincides with initiation of the rotational motion of Yucatan. Salt is Callovian or earliest Oxfordian in age, and the next oldest rocks known from the northern GOM are Late Triassic redbeds found in what are generally regarded as grabens formed during early rifting. Since there was a long-lived, strikingly linear, continental margin arc in Mexico that lasted from the Permian through the Middle Jurassic (Barboza-Gudino et al., 2012), a lot of the rocks of this age seen in Mexico that are linked to GOM rifting are in fact associated with this earlier arc. This arc places major constraints on a pre-rift reconstruction involving North America, Africa, South America, Yucatan and the Tampico block of Mexico and defines the space available for Yucatan. In this presentation we will review reconstructions of the region and develop a tectonic model that forms the basis for further understanding of rifting in the GOM. A consequence of our new model involves a back-arc basin that is represented by the compressed Juarez or Cuicateco terrane of southeastern Mexico. The opening of this basin, coupled with the early opening of the Central Atlantic and the motion of South America away from Yucatan, not only allowed Yucatan to begin its rotation but may also be part of the "western" seaway that brought the necessary sea water into the Gulf to form the thick salt deposits. Barboza-Gudino, J.R., Molina-Garza. R.S., and Lawton, T.E., 2012. Sierra de Cato-: Remnants of the ancient western equatorial margin of Pangea in central Mexico, in Aranda-Górner. J.J., Tolsan. G., 2nd Molina-Gana, R.S.. eds., The Southern Cordillera and Beyond: Geological Society of America Field Guide 25. p. 1-18, doi:lO.l I30/2012.W25(01).

Total Effective Xenoestrogen Burden in Serum Samples and Risk for Breast Cancer in a Population-Based Multicase–Control Study in Spain

PubMed Central

Pastor-Barriuso, Roberto; Fernández, Mariana F.; Castaño-Vinyals, Gemma; Whelan, Denis; Pérez-Gómez, Beatriz; Llorca, Javier; Villanueva, Cristina M.; Guevara, Marcela; Molina-Molina, José-Manuel; Artacho-Cordón, Francisco; Barriuso-Lapresa, Laura; Tusquets, Ignasi; Dierssen-Sotos, Trinidad; Aragonés, Nuria; Olea, Nicolás; Kogevinas, Manolis; Pollán, Marina

2016-01-01

Background: Most studies on endocrine-disrupting chemicals and breast cancer have focused on single compounds and have produced inconclusive findings. Objectives: We assessed the combined estrogenic effects of mixtures of xenoestrogens in serum and their relationship to breast cancer risk. Methods: A total of 186 incident pretreatment breast cancer cases and 196 frequency-matched controls were randomly sampled from a large population-based multicase–control study in Spain. The total effective xenoestrogen burden attributable to organohalogenated xenoestrogens (TEXB-α) and endogenous hormones and more polar xenoestrogens (TEXB-β) was determined in serum samples using high-performance liquid chromatography and E-Screen bioassay. Odds ratios for breast cancer comparing tertiles of serum TEXB-α and TEXB-β were estimated using logistic models, and smooth risk trends were obtained using spline models. Results: Cases had higher geometric mean TEXB-α and TEXB-β levels (8.32 and 9.94 Eeq pM/mL, respectively) than controls (2.99 and 5.96 Eeq pM/mL, respectively). The fully adjusted odds ratios for breast cancer (95% confidence intervals) comparing the second and third tertiles of TEXB-α with the first tertile were 1.77 (0.76, 4.10) and 3.45 (1.50, 7.97), respectively, and those for TEXB-β were 2.35 (1.10, 5.03) and 4.01 (1.88, 8.56), respectively. A steady increase in risk was evident across all detected TEXB-α levels and a sigmoidal trend was observed for TEXB-β. Individual xenoestrogens showed weak and opposing associations with breast cancer risk. Conclusions: This is the first study to show a strong positive association between serum total xenoestrogen burden and breast cancer risk, highlighting the importance of evaluating xenoestrogen mixtures, rather than single compounds, when studying hormone-related cancers. Citation: Pastor-Barriuso R, Fernández MF, Castaño-Vinyals G, Whelan D, Pérez-Gómez B, Llorca J, Villanueva CM, Guevara M, Molina-Molina JM, Artacho-Cordón F, Barriuso-Lapresa L, Tusquets I, Dierssen-Sotos T, Aragonés N, Olea N, Kogevinas M, Pollán M. 2016. Total effective xenoestrogen burden in serum samples and risk for breast cancer in a population-based multicase–control study in Spain. Environ Health Perspect 124:1575–1582; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/EHP157 PMID:27203080

A CRDS approach to gas phase equilibrium constants: the case of N 2O 4 ↔ 2NO 2 at 283 K

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tuchler, Matthew F.; Schmidt, Kierstin L.; Morgan, Mackenzie

2005-01-01

We report a general technique for determining the gas phase equilibrium constant, KP, of the A ↔ 2C system using cavity ringdown spectroscopy (CRDS). Working at a constant temperature, the absorption of one of the equilibrium species is measured at two different total pressures. KP is determined from the total pressures of the equilibrium mixture and the ratio of the absorptions. Theoretical limits on sensitivity of this technique are described as a function of experimental conditions. We present results from the reaction N 2O 4 ↔ 2NO 2 measured at T = 283 K. KP measured in this experiment, 21 (±5) Torr, is found to be lower than that recommended by the NASA Panel for Data Evaluation, 32 Torr. [S.P. Sander, A.R. Ravishankara, D.M. Golden, C.E. Kolb, M.J. Kurylo, R.E. Huie, V.L. Orkin, M.J. Molina, G.K. Moortgat, B.J. Finlayson-Pitts, Chemical Kinetics and Photochemical Data for Use in Atmospheric Studies. Evaluation No. 14; Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, 2003].

Phytochemical and pharmacological review of Lagenaria sicereria

PubMed Central

Prajapati, Rakesh P.; Kalariya, Manisha; Parmar, Sachin K.; Sheth, Navin R.

2010-01-01

Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) standley (LS) (Family: Cucurbitaceae) is an annual herbaceous climbing plant with a long history of traditional medicinal uses in many countries, especially in tropical and subtropical regions. Since ancient times the climber has been known for its curative properties, and has been utilized for treatment of various ailments, including jaundice, diabetes, ulcer, piles, colitis, insanity, hypertension, congestive cardiac failure (CCF), and skin diseases. Its fruit pulp is used both as an emetic and purgative, and for its cooling, diuretic, antibilious, and pectoral properties. Boiled in oil this pulp is used to treat rheumatism and insomnia. A wide range of chemical compounds including sterols, terpenoids, flavonoids, and saponins have been isolated from the species. Its extracts have been found to possess various pharmacological activities. Below, we give a comprehensive review of its ethnomedical uses, chemical constituents, and pharmacological profile as a medicinal plant. Particular attention is given to its analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antihyperlipidemic, diuretic, hepatoprotective, anthelmintic, and antibacterial effects so that its potential uses in pharmaceutics can be better evaluated. PMID:21731373

Evaluation of protective effect of different dietary fibers on polyphenolic profile stability of maqui berry (Aristotelia chilensis (Molina) Stuntz) during in vitro gastrointestinal digestion.

PubMed

Viuda-Martos, Manuel; Lucas-Gonzalez, Raquel; Ballester-Costa, Carmen; Pérez-Álvarez, José A; Muñoz, Loreto A; Fernández-López, Juana

2018-01-24

The aim of this work was to determine the protective effect of different dietary fibers on (i) the recovery and bioaccessibility indexes, and (ii) the stability of polyphenolic compounds (phenolic acids, flavonoids and anthocyanins) of maqui berry powder subjected to in vitro gastrointestinal digestion (GID). The extracts obtained in each phase (oral, gastric and intestinal) of GID were used to analyze the stability of polyphenolic compounds by HPLC, and the bioaccessibility of these compounds was also determined. At the end of the GID process, the mixture of maqui berry with the different fibers increased the bioaccessibility index of the phenolic and flavonoid compounds in all cases. The results obtained suggest that the anthocyanins and phenolic acids and flavonoid compounds present in maqui are stabilized through dietary fiber interactions, which might provide sufficient levels for absorption during gastrointestinal digestion. The gums sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, xanthan gum and guar gum provided the best protective effect.

Spin-orbit effects on reflectance anisotropy spectroscopy of aclean CdTe(001) surface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vázquez-Nava, Raül A.

2005-03-01

The spectroscopical reflectance anisotropy (RA) response of a clean (001) surface of CdTe, which exhibits a c(2 x2) surface reconstruction, is studied using a microscopic formulation based on a semi-empirical tight binding approach (SETB) which includes the spin-orbit (SO) interaction. Following Ref. 1, we apply an unitary transformation to the usual SETB sp^3s^* basis to describe the electronic states in terms of a set of atomic states which are eigenstates of the total angular momentum (TAM). These states are better suited to treat the SO interaction in this model, and their use in the computation of the RA signal is straightforward [1]. We show how the RA changes when SO is taken into account and compare our theoretical results with experimental measurements of Ref. 2. [1] R.A. V'azquez-Nava, B.S. Mendoza and C. Castillo, Phys. Rev. B 70, 165306 (2004). [2] J. R. Molina and R. Espinosa-Luna, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. (2004), accepted.

Midwife to the greens: the electron capture detector.

PubMed

Lovelock, J E

1997-03-01

James E. Lovelock makes an account of the path he has followed since he started his scientific research at the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) in London in the 1940s, emphasizing the aspects related to environmental sciences. Lovelock explains the origins of the electron capture detector (ECD). So far, the ECD is the most sensitive, easily portable and inexpensive analytical apparatus capable of detecting substances present in the atmosphere at concentrations as low as parts per trillion (10(-12)). It has been the first device specifically sensitive to pollutants, and its use has provided the grounds for the development of environmental sciences, and green politics. The data gathered by the ECD about the persistence of pesticides in the environment led American biologist Rachel Carson to write her seminal book Silent Spring; data regarding the global presence of chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) in the atmosphere led Sherwood Rowland and Mario Molina to develop their theory of ozone depletion. The results of his research over the years led Lovelock himself to the development of the Gaia theory.

Glacialmorphological reconstruction of glacier advances and glacial lake outburst floods at the Cachapoal glacier in the Dry Central Andes of Chile (34°S)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iturrizaga, Lasafam; Charrier, Reynaldo

2013-04-01

Throughout the Andes Mountain range of South America a general trend of glacier shrinkage has taken place in the last century. Only a few glaciers have shown a rather non-continuous trend of glacier retreat and temporally advanced or even surged during the mid-19th to 20th century. One of the earliest assumed glacier surges has occurred in the upper Cachapoal catchment area at the homonymous glacier. In climatic respect the Cachapoal glacier is located in the transition zone from the most southern part of the Dry Central Andes of Chile to the more humid zone of the Wet Andes. The region is affected mainly by winter precipitation deriving from the Westerlies. The debris-covered, 12 km-long Cachapoal glacier represents one of the largest valley glaciers in the Central Andes. It is an avalanche-fed glacier with an almost 1500 m-high head wall in its upper catchment area flowing down from Picos del Barroso (5180 m) and terminates at an elevation of 2630 m a.s.l. with a bifurcated glacier tongue. A large moraine complex, almost 2 km in length and 500 m in width, separates the two glacier lobes. During times of advanced glacier tongue positions the Ríos Molina and Cachapoal may be have blocked independently at two distinct localities which are situated about 2300 m apart from each other. A blockage with temporal lake formation has occurred at least in the years 1848, 1955 and 1981 (cf. Plagemann 1887, Peña 1981), from which the rupture of the earliest glacier barrier has been the most devastating. This event is locally reminded as "la gran avenida en seco" in the historical record. Geomorphological evidence of the past historical and modern glacier expansions is given in the proglacial area by a fresh dead-ice hummocky topography and glacial trimlines at the valley flanks. More down valley broad outwash plains and boulder clusters indicate past high energy floods produced by glacier lake outbursts. Regarding the small size of the catchment area of the Río Molina, which has been the main source of the former impounded glacial lakes, the present risk of potential glacier lake outbursts might be considered as comparatively low. The project is financed by the Universidad de Andrés Bello (Santiago de Chile) as well as by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

Ploidy levels among species in the 'Oxalis tuberosa alliance' as inferred by flow cytometry.

PubMed

Emshwiller, Eve

2002-06-01

The 'Oxalis tuberosa alliance' is a group of Andean Oxalis species allied to the Andean tuber crop O. tuberosa Molina (Oxalidaceae), commonly known as 'oca'. As part of a larger project studying the origins of polyploidy and domestication of cultivated oca, flow cytometry was used to survey DNA ploidy levels among Bolivian and Peruvian accessions of alliance members. In addition, this study provided a first assessment of C-values in the alliance by estimating nuclear DNA contents of these accessions using chicken erythrocytes as internal standard. Ten Bolivian accessions of cultivated O. tuberosa were confirmed to be octoploid, with a mean nuclear DNA content of approx. 3.6 pg/2C. Two Peruvian wild Oxalis species, O. phaeotricha and O. picchensis, were inferred to be tetraploid (both with approx. 1.67 pg/2C), the latter being one of the putative progenitors of O. tuberosa identified by chloroplast-expressed glutamine synthetase data in prior work. The remaining accessions (from 78 populations provisionally identified as 35 species) were DNA diploid, with nuclear DNA contents varying from 0.79 to 1.34 pg/2C.

Ploidy Levels among Species in the ‘Oxalis tuberosa Alliance’ as Inferred by Flow Cytometry

PubMed Central

EMSHWILLER, EVE

2002-01-01

The ‘Oxalis tuberosa alliance’ is a group of Andean Oxalis species allied to the Andean tuber crop O. tuberosa Molina (Oxalidaceae), commonly known as ‘oca’. As part of a larger project studying the origins of polyploidy and domestication of cultivated oca, flow cytometry was used to survey DNA ploidy levels among Bolivian and Peruvian accessions of alliance members. In addition, this study provided a first assessment of C‐values in the alliance by estimating nuclear DNA contents of these accessions using chicken erythrocytes as internal standard. Ten Bolivian accessions of cultivated O. tuberosa were confirmed to be octoploid, with a mean nuclear DNA content of approx. 3·6 pg/2C. Two Peruvian wild Oxalis species, O. phaeotricha and O. picchensis, were inferred to be tetraploid (both with approx. 1·67 pg/2C), the latter being one of the putative progenitors of O. tuberosa identified by chloroplast‐expressed glutamine synthetase data in prior work. The remaining accessions (from 78 populations provisionally identified as 35 species) were DNA diploid, with nuclear DNA contents varying from 0·79 to 1·34 pg/2C. PMID:12102530

Model Selection in the Analysis of Photoproduction Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Landay, Justin

2017-01-01

Scattering experiments provide one of the most powerful and useful tools for probing matter to better understand its fundamental properties governed by the strong interaction. As the spectroscopy of the excited states of nucleons enters a new era of precision ushered in by improved experiments at Jefferson Lab and other facilities around the world, traditional partial-wave analysis methods must be adjusted accordingly. In this poster, we present a rigorous set of statistical tools and techniques that we implemented; most notably, the LASSO method, which serves for the selection of the simplest model, allowing us to avoid over fitting. In the case of establishing the spectrum of exited baryons, it avoids overpopulation of the spectrum and thus the occurrence of false-positives. This is a prerequisite to reliably compare theories like lattice QCD or quark models to experiments. Here, we demonstrate the principle by simultaneously fitting three observables in neutral pion photo-production, such as the differential cross section, beam asymmetry and target polarization across thousands of data points. Other authors include Michael Doring, Bin Hu, and Raquel Molina.

Extensional Detachment faulting in melange rocks. Plurikilometres migration by W the External Zone (Cordillera Bética, Spain)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roldán, Francisco Javier; Azañon, Jose Miguel; Rodríguez, Jose; Mateos, Rosa Maria

2014-05-01

The synthesis and correlation of units carried out in the continuous geological map (Roldán et al., 2012), has revealed a fragmentation of the carbonate outcrops belong to the Subbetic Domain (García-Hernández et al., 1980). Subbetic NW verging thrust and fold axial traces have not lateral continuity and Jurassic carbonate outscrops appear as klippes on the olistotromic unit. These ductile structures that can be observed in the internal structure of these jurassic blocks are unrelated to the brittle-ductile deformation bands observed at the basal pelitic levels. Basal detachments are rooted in: a) the Olistostromic unit, a Upper Langhian-Lower Serravallian breccia constituted by gypsum-bearing clay and marls; b) Cretaceous-Tertiary marly sedimentary rocks (Rodríguez-Fernández, et al., 2013) . In both kind of rocks, cataclastic structures allows to infer a top-to-the WSW displacement. Paleostress measurements, made on these detachments levels, are compatible with a extensional regime (Roldán et al., 2012). At the same time, the analysis and interpretation of subsurface data (seismic surveys and borehole testing) shows that the Subbetic Domain (External Subbetic, Molina 1987) are affected by westward low-angle normal faults. A balanced cross-section, based on morphological and cartographic data in the area between Sierra de Cabra and Sierra de Alta Coloma (Valdepeñas de Jaén), shows plurikilometric displacements which has been produced during Late Serravallian-Early Tortonian times. References: García-Hernández, M., López-Garrido, A.C., Rivas, P., Sanz de Galdeano, C., Vera, J.A. (1980): Mesozoic paleogeographic evolution of the zones of the Betic Cordillera. Geol. Mijnb. 59 (2). 155-168. Molina, J.M. (1987). Análisis de facies del Mesozoico en el Subbético. Tesis Doctoral, Univ. Granada. 518 p. Rodríguez-Fernández, J., Roldán, F. J., Azañón, J.M. y García-Cortés, A. (2013). El colapso gravitacional del frente orogénico a lpino en el Dominio Subbético durante el Mioceno medio-superior: El Complejo Extensional Subbético. Boletín Geológico y Minero, 124 (3): 477-504. Roldán, F.J., Azañón, J.M. y Rodríguez-Fernández, J. (2012): Desplazamiento extensional del Subbético entre las sierras de Cabra y Alta Coloma (Valdepeñas de Jaén. Zonas Externas de la Cordillera Bética). VIII Congreso Geológico de España oviedo. GEOTEMAS, V-13: 484. Roldán, F.J., Rodríguez-Fernández, J., Villalobos, M., Lastra, J., Díaz-Pinto, G., Pérez Rodríguez, A.B. (2012). Zonas: Subbético, Cuenca del Guadalquivir y Campo de Gibraltar. In GEODE. Mapa Geológico Digital Continuo de España. Sistema de Información Geológica Continua: SIGECO. IGME. Editor Navas, J. Disponible en: http://cuarzo.igme.es/sigeco.default.htm

[Emergency department triage: independent nursing intervention?].

PubMed

Corujo Fontes, Sergio José

2014-03-01

The branch hospital triage aimed at, as well as exercised by nurses, has evolved to meet their needs to organize and make visible the nurses' duties. However, it is still not properly considered as independent nursing intervention. Evidencing practice triage nurse in hospital as experienced by their protagonists disclosed the possible causes of this paradoxical competence. In a sample of 41 nurses, of the 52 possible with previous experience in hospital triage in the Emergency Department of the Hospital General Dr. José Molina Orosa in Lanzarote, the nurses themselves carried out an opinion survey that group together statements about different aspects of the triaje nurse. In its results, 65.8% of those polled thought the triaje nursing training to be deficient and even though nearly half 48.7%, was considered competent to decide the level of emergency, 46.3% disagreed to take this task part of their duty. It is conclusive that the training received in hospital triage, regulated and sustained, is deficient, that is the main reason why professionals have their doubts to take on an activity they are not familiar with. Triage systems do not record the entire outcome of the nursing work and nursing methodology does not seem to be quite indicative for this task.

Commentary on: "Clonal evolution of chemotherapy-resistant urothelial carcinoma." Faltas BM, Prandi D, Tagawa ST, Molina AM, Nanus DM, Sternberg C, Rosenberg J, Mosquera JM, Robinson B, Elemento O, Sboner A, Beltran H, Demichelis F, Rubin MA.: Nat Genet. 2016 Oct 17. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ng.3692.

PubMed

Lee, Byron H

2017-09-01

Chemotherapy-resistant urothelial carcinoma has no uniformly curative therapy. Understanding how selective pressure from chemotherapy directs the evolution of urothelial carcinoma and shapes its clonal architecture is a central biological question with clinical implications. To address this question, we performed whole-exome sequencing and clonality analysis of 72 urothelial carcinoma samples, including 16 matched sets of primary and advanced tumors prospectively collected before and after chemotherapy. Our analysis provided several insights that are as follows: (1) chemotherapy-treated urothelial carcinoma is characterized by intrapatient mutational heterogeneity, and most mutations are not shared; (2) both branching evolution and metastatic spread are very early events in the natural history of urothelial carcinoma; (3) chemotherapy-treated urothelial carcinoma is enriched with clonal mutations involving L1 cell-adhesion molecule and integrin signaling pathways; and (4) APOBEC-induced mutagenesis is clonally enriched in chemotherapy-treated urothelial carcinoma and continues to shape the evolution of urothelial carcinoma throughout its lifetime. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Corrigendum.

PubMed

2017-09-01

Baïz, N., Chastang, J., Ibanez, G., & Annesi-Maesano I. (2016). Prenatal exposure to selenium may protect against wheezing in children by the age of 3. Immunity, Inflammation and Disease, 5 (1), 37-44. DOI: 10.1002/iid3.138. In the article "Prenatal exposure to selenium may protect against wheezing in children by the age of 3", it has been noted that the 'EDEN Mother-Child Cohort Study Group was omitted in error. The correct author list for the article is shown below. Nour Baïz 1 , Julie Chastang 1,2 , Gladys Ibanez 1,2 , Isabella Annesi-Maesano 1 and the EDEN Mother-Child Cohort Study Group 3 . 3 Members of the EDEN Mother-Child Cohort Study Group includes the following members: I. Annesi-Maesano, J. Y. Bernard, J. Botton, M.A. Charles, P. Dargent-Molina, B. de Lauzon-Guillain, P. Ducimetière, M. de Agostini, B. Foliguet, A. Forhan, X. Fritel, A. Germa, V. Goua, R. Hankard, B. Heude, M. Kaminski, B. Larroque, N. Lelong, J. Lepeule, G. Magnin, L. Marchand, C. Nabet, F. Pierre, R. Slama, M.J. Saurel-Cubizolles, M. Schweitzer, O. Thiebaugeorges. We apologize for any inconvenience caused. © 2017 The Authors. Immunity, Inflammation and Disease Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Virtual special issue on IODP Expedition 339: The Mediterranean outflow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hodell, D. A.; Hernández-Molina, F. Javier; Stow, Dorrik A. V.; Alvarez-Zarikian, Carlos

2016-09-01

IODP Expedition 339 had two inter-related objectives to recover continuous sedimentary sequences for: (i) studying the Contourite Depositional System formed by the MOW; and (ii) reconstructing North Atlantic climate variability on orbital and suborbital time scales. This Elsevier Virtual Special Issue (VSI) ;Mediterranean Outflow; is comprised of two volumes that are roughly divided along these lines with Marine Geology devoted to (i) and Global and Planetary Change to (ii), although some papers overlap the two themes. The Marine Geology volume contains 9 contributions addressing specific aspects of IODP Expedition 339 related to contourite deposits including sedimentology, seismic interpretation, stratigraphy, physical properties, downhole logging and ichnofacies (Hernández-Molina et al., 2015; Lofi et al., 2015; Ducassou et al., 2015; Alonso et al., 2015; Takashimizu et al., 2016; Nishida, 2015; Dorador and Rodríguez-Tovar, 2015a, 2015b; Kaboth et al., 2015). The Global and Planetary Change volume consists of 18 papers described below, highlighting paleoclimatic results from sites drilled on the SW Iberian Margin and in the Gulf of Cadiz. The two volumes provide a sample of emerging results of Expedition 339 and foretell of the promising research yet to come.

Chemosensory Factors Influencing Alcohol Perception, Preferences, and Consumption

PubMed Central

Bachmanov, Alexander A.; Kiefer, Stephen W.; Molina, Juan Carlos; Tordoff, Michael G.; Duffy, Valerie B.; Bartoshuk, Linda M.; Mennella, Julie A.

2007-01-01

This article presents the proceedings of a symposium at the 2002 RSA/ISBRA Meeting in San Francisco, California, co-organized by Julie A. Mennella and Alexander A. Bachmanov of the Monell Chemical Senses Center. The goal of this symposium was to review the role that chemosensory factors (taste, smell, and chemical irritation) play in the perception, preference, and consumption of alcohol. The presented research focused on both humans and laboratory animals and used a variety of approaches including genetic, developmental, pharmacological, behavioral, and psychophysical studies. The presentations were as follows: (1) Introduction and overview of the chemical senses (Julie A. Mennella and Alexander A. Bachmanov); (2) Taste reactivity as a measure of alcohol palatability and its relation to alcohol consumption in rats (Stephen W. Kiefer); (3) Early learning about the sensory properties of alcohol in laboratory animals (Juan Carlos Molina); (4) Early learning about the sensory properties of alcohol in humans (Julie A. Mennella); (5) Genetic dissection of the ethanol-sweet taste relationship in mice (Alexander A. Bachmanov and Michael Tordoff); and (6) Human genetic variation in taste: connections with alcohol sensation and intake (Valerie B. Duffy and Linda M. Bartoshuk). The symposium concluded with a general discussion. PMID:12605071

Origins of domestication and polyploidy in oca (Oxalis Tuberosa: Oxalidaceae). 2. Chloroplast-expressed glutamine synthetase data.

PubMed

Emshwiller, Eve; Doyle, Jeff J

2002-07-01

In continuing study of the origins of the octoploid tuber crop oca, Oxalis tuberosa Molina, we used phylogenetic analysis of DNA sequences of the chloroplast-active (nuclear encoded) isozyme of glutamine synthetase (ncpGS) from cultivated oca, its allies in the "Oxalis tuberosa alliance," and other Andean Oxalis. Multiple ncpGS sequences found within individuals of both the cultigen and a yet unnamed wild tuber-bearing taxon of Bolivia were separated by molecular cloning, but some cloned sequences appeared to be artifacts of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) recombination and/or Taq error. Nonetheless, three classes of nonrecombinant sequences each joined a different part of the O. tuberosa alliance clade on the ncpGS gene tree. Octoploid oca shares two sequence classes with the Bolivian tuber-bearing taxon (of unknown ploidy level). Fixed heterozygosity of these two sequence classes in all ocas sampled suggests that they represent homeologous loci and that oca is allopolyploid. A third sequence class, found in eight of nine oca plants sampled, might represent a third homeologous locus, suggesting that oca may be autoallopolyploid, and is shared with another wild tuber-bearing species, tetraploid O. picchensis of southern Peru. Thus, ncpGS data identify these two taxa as the best candidates as progenitors of cultivated oca.

Feeling and thinking of others: affective and cognitive empathy and emotion comprehension in prosocial/hostile preschoolers.

PubMed

Belacchi, Carmen; Farina, Eleonora

2012-01-01

This study aims at investigating the affective and cognitive components of empathy in relation to both emotion comprehension and prosocial/hostile behaviors in preschoolers. A total of 219 children (54% boys; aged between 3 and 6: mean age 4.10) and 20 teachers (two for each class: group A and group B) took part in this research. Pupils' empathy and hostile/prosocial roles were assessed by teacher reports [Belacchi and Farina, 2010] and children's emotion comprehension by a nonverbal test [Test of Emotion Comprehension: Pons and Harris, 2000; adapted by Albanese and Molina; 2008]. As expected, the results showed a significant influence of gender, with girls being more empathic than boys, according to all of the teachers' perception. Contrary to our expectations, no systematic age influence emerged. Regarding the relations of children's emotion comprehension with both empathy measures and their prosocial/hostile attitudes, we have found: (1) a low significant relation with the total empathy measure, according to all the teachers, but with the cognitive empathy only according to teachers B; (2) a robust negative relationship of both affective and cognitive empathy with Hostile roles and with Outsider role, contrary to a positive correlation of only affective empathy with Prosocial roles. No relationships emerged between empathy measures and Victim role. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Larval development of the subantarctic king crabs Lithodes santolla and Paralomis granulosa reared in the laboratory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Calcagno, J. A.; Anger, K.; Lovrich, G. A.; Thatje, S.; Kaffenberger, A.

2004-02-01

The larval development and survival in the two subantarctic lithodid crabs Lithodes santolla (Jaquinot) and Paralomis granulosa (Molina) from the Argentine Beagle Channel were studied in laboratory cultures. In L. santolla, larval development lasted about 70 days, passing through three zoeal stages and the megalopa stage, with a duration of approximately 4, 7, 11 and 48 days, respectively. The larval development in P. granulosa is more abbreviated, comprising only two zoeal stages and the megalopa stage, with 6, 11 and 43 days' duration, respectively. In both species, we tested for effects of presence versus absence of food (Artemia nauplii) on larval development duration and survival rate. In P. granulosa, we also studied effects of different rearing conditions, such as individual versus mass cultures, as well as aerated versus unaerated cultures. No differences in larval development duration and survival were observed between animals subjected to those different rearing conditions. The lack of response to the presence or absence of potential food confirms, in both species, a complete lecithotrophic mode of larval development. Since lithodid crabs are of high economic importance in the artisanal fishery in the southernmost parts of South America, the knowledge of optimal rearing conditions for lithodid larvae is essential for future attempts at repopulating the collapsing natural stocks off Tierra del Fuego.

Isolation and quantification of Quillaja saponaria Molina saponins and lipids in iscom-matrix and iscoms.

PubMed

Behboudi, S; Morein, B; Rönnberg, B

1995-12-01

In the iscom, multiple copies of antigen are attached by hydrophobic interaction to a matrix which is built up by Quillaja triterpenoid saponins and lipids. Thus, the iscom presents antigen in multimeric form in a small particle with a built-in adjuvant resulting in a highly immunogenic antigen formulation. We have designed a chloroform-methanol-water extraction procedure to isolate the triterpenoid saponins and lipids incorporated into iscom-matrix and iscoms. The triterpenoids in the triterpenoid phase were quantitated using orcinol sulfuric acid detecting their carbohydrate chains and by HPLC. The cholesterol and phosphatidylcholine in the lipid phase were quantitated by HPLC and a commercial colorimetric method for the cholesterol. The quantitative methods showed an almost total separation and recovery of triterpenoids and lipids in their respective phases, while protein was detected in all phases after extraction. The protein content was determined by the method of Lowry and by amino acid analysis. Amino acid analysis was shown to be the reliable method of the two to quantitate proteins in iscoms. In conclusion, simple, reproducible and efficient procedures have been designed to isolate and quantitate the triterpenoids and lipids added for preparation of iscom-matrix and iscoms. The procedures described should also be useful to adequately define constituents in prospective vaccines.

New beverages of lemon juice enriched with the exotic berries maqui, açaı́, and blackthorn: bioactive components and in vitro biological properties.

PubMed

Gironés-Vilaplana, Amadeo; Valentão, Patrícia; Moreno, Diego A; Ferreres, Federico; García-Viguera, Cristina; Andrade, Paula B

2012-07-04

Following previous research on lemon juice enriched with berries, the aim of this work was to design new blends based on lemon juice mixed with different edible berries of exotic and national origin: maqui ( Aristotelia chilensis (Molina) Stuntz), açaı́ ( Euterpe oleracea Mart.), and blackthorn ( Prunus spinosa L.). The phytochemical characterization of controls and blends was performed by HPLC-DAD-ESI/MS(n). Their antioxidant capacity against DPPH, superoxide, and hydroxyl radicals and hypochlorous acid and their potential to inhibit cholinesterases were also assessed. The profiling of the red fruits and lemon revealed a wide range of bioactive phenolics. The novel beverage based on lemon juice and maqui berry (LM) was the most interesting blend in terms of antioxidant capacity. Berry control samples displayed reduced effects on acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase, the lemon juice control being always the most active. This activity was also remarkable for lemon-blackthorn (LB) and lemon-açaı́ (LA) blends, the last being the most effective inhibitor of cholinesterases among all samples. The results suggested that lemon juice enriched with berries could be of potential interest in the design of new drinks with a nutritive related function on health for chronic diseases.

High Time Resolution Measurements of Methane Fluxes From Enteric Fermentation in Cattle Rumen

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Floerchinger, C. R.; Herndon, S.; Fortner, E.; Roscioli, J. R.; Kolb, C. E.; Knighton, W. B.; Molina, L. T.; Zavala, M.; Castelán, O.; Ku Vera, J.; Castillo, E.

2013-12-01

Methane accounts for roughly 20% of the global radiative climate forcing in the last two and a half centuries. Methane emissions arise from a number of anthropogenic and biogenic sources. In some areas enteric fermentation in livestock produces over 90% of agricultural methane. In the spring of 2013, as a part of the Short Lived Climate Forcer-Mexico field campaign, the Aerodyne Mobile Laboratory in partnership with the Molina Center for the Environment studied methane production associated with enteric fermentation in the rumen of cattle. A variety of different breeds and stocks being raised in two agricultural and veterinary research facilities located in different areas of Mexico were examined. Methane fluxes were quantified using two methods: 1) an atmospherically stable gaseous tracer release was collocated with small herds in a pasture, allowing tracer ratio flux measurements; 2) respiratory CO2 was measured in tandem with methane in the breath of individual animals allowing methane production to be related to metabolism. The use of an extensive suite of very high time response instruments allows for differentiation of individual methane producing rumination events and respiratory CO2 from possible background interferences. The results of these studies will be presented and compared to data from traditional chamber experiments.

Functional insights into the testis transcriptome of the edible sea urchin Loxechinus albus

PubMed Central

Gaitán-Espitia, Juan Diego; Sánchez, Roland; Bruning, Paulina; Cárdenas, Leyla

2016-01-01

The edible sea urchin Loxechinus albus (Molina, 1782) is a keystone species in the littoral benthic systems of the Pacific coast of South America. The international demand for high-quality gonads of this echinoderm has led to an extensive exploitation and decline of its natural populations. Consequently, a more thorough understanding of L. albus gonad development and gametogenesis could provide valuable resources for aquaculture applications, management, conservation and studies about the evolution of functional and structural pathways that underlie the reproductive toolkit of marine invertebrates. Using a high-throughput sequencing technology, we explored the male gonad transcriptome of this highly fecund sea urchin. Through a de novo assembly approach we obtained 42,530 transcripts of which 15,544 (36.6%) had significant alignments to known proteins in public databases. From these transcripts, approximately 73% were functionally annotated allowing the identification of several candidate genes that are likely to play a central role in developmental processes, nutrient reservoir activity, sexual reproduction, gamete generation, meiosis, sex differentiation, sperm motility, male courtship behavior and fertilization. Additionally, comparisons with the male gonad transcriptomes of other echinoderms revealed several conserved orthologous genes, suggesting that similar functional and structural pathways underlie the reproductive development in this group and other marine invertebrates. PMID:27805042

Interaction of on-site and near real time measured turbidity and enzyme activity in stream water.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stadler, Philipp; Farnleitner, Andreas H.; Zessner, Matthias

2013-04-01

On-site and on-line systems that provide an integrated surveillance of physicochemical and microbiological parameters gain significance in water quality monitoring. Particular relating to diffuse pollution from agricultural areas and use-orientated protection of waters the detection of faecal pollution is a fundamental part. For the near real time and on-site detection of microbiological faecal pollution of water, the beta-D- Glucuronidase (GLUC) enzymatic activity has been suggested as a surrogate parameter. Due to possible short measure intervals of three hours, this method has high potential as a water quality monitoring tool. While cultivation based standard determination takes more than one working day (Cabral 2010) the potential advantage of detecting the GLUC activity is the high temporal measuring resolution. Yet, there is still a big gap of knowledge on the sensitivity and specificity concerning the faecal indication capacity of GLUC in relation to standard assays (Cabral 2010). Interference effects of physicochemical parameters on the enzymatic activity respectively fluorescence have been discussed (Molina-Munoz et al. 2007; Tryland and Fiksdal 1998, Biswal et al. 2003). Results from a monitoring of a rivulet in an agricultural catchment in Lower Austria (HOAL - Hydrological Open Air Laboratory) are presented here. The HOAL offers technical resources that allow measurements at high temporal and spatial resolution and to apply various hydrological methods in one catchment. Two automated enzymatic measuring devices (Coliguard, mbOnline, Austria) and physicochemical in-stream measurements are used, as well as in-stream spectroscopy (spectrolyser, s::can, Austria). Accuracy of both enzymatic measuring devices is compared through diverse hydrological and seasonal conditions. Reference analyses by cultivation based determination were performed. Data from Coliguard devices is combined with physicochemical and spectroscopy data to gain information about the influence of turbidity on rapid GLUC measurements of stream water. During event run off conditions with high sediment load, accuracy of the GLUC determination was assayed. Various on-site set ups were tested to ascertain the use of sample prefiltration. We would like acknowledge financial support from the Austrian Science Funds (FWF) as part of the Vienna Doctoral Programme on Water Resource Systems (DK-plus W1219-N22). References: Cabral, J. P. S. 2010. "Water Microbiology. Bacterial Pathogens and Water." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 7 (10): 3657-3703. Biswal , N. , S. Gupta, N. Ghosh, and A. Pradhan 2003. "Recovery of turbidity free fluorescence from measured fluorescence: An experimental approach. Optics Express 11, (24): 3320. Molina-Munoz, M., J. M. Poyatos, R. Vilchez, E. Hontoria, B. Rodelas, and J. Gonzalez-Lopez. 2007. "Effect of the Concentration of Suspended Solids on the Enzymatic Activities and Biodiversity of a Submerged Membrane Bioreactor for Aerobic Treatment of Domestic Wastewater." Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 73 (6): 1441-1451. Tryland, I., and L. Fiksdal. 1998. "Enzyme Characteristics of β-d-Galactosidase-and β-d-Glucuronidase-Positive Bacteria and Their Interference in Rapid Methods for Detection of Waterborne Coliforms andEscherichia Coli." Applied and Environmental Microbiology 64 (3): 1018-1023.

Multidimensional profiling of components in complex mixtures of natural products for metabolic analysis, proof of concept: application to Quillaja saponins.

PubMed

Bankefors, Johan; Nord, Lars I; Kenne, Lennart

2010-02-01

A method for separation and detection of major and minor components in complex mixtures has been developed, utilising two-dimensional high-performance liquid chromatography (2D-HPLC) combined with electrospray ionisation ion-trap multiple-stage mass spectrometry (ESI-ITMS(n)). Chromatographic conditions were matched with mass spectrometric detection to maximise the number of components that could be separated. The described procedure has proven useful to discern several hundreds of saponin components when applied to Quillaja saponaria Molina bark extracts. The discrimination of each saponin component relies on the fact that three coordinates (x, y, z) for each component can be derived from the retention time of the two chromatographic steps (x, y) and the m/z-values from the multiple-stage mass spectrometry (z(n), n=1, 2, ...). Thus an improved graphical representation was obtained by combining retention times from the two-stage separation with +MS(1) (z(1)) and the additional structural information from the second mass stage +MS(2) (z(2), z(3)) corresponding to the main fragment ions. By this approach three-dimensional plots can be made that reveal both the chromatographic and structural properties of a specific mixture which can be useful in fingerprinting of complex mixtures. 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Synthesis of hydrogen cyanide under simulated hydrothermal conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pinedo-González, Paulina

Nitrogen is a fundamental element for life, where is present in structural (e.g., proteins), catalytic (e.g., enzymes and ribozymes), energy transfer (e.g., ATP) and information storage (RNA and DNA) biomolecules. Atmospheric and planetary models suggest that nitrogen was abundant in the early atmospheres of Earth as dinitrogen (N2 ), an inert gas under normal atmospheric conditions. To be available for prebiotic synthesis it must be converted into hydrogen cyanide (HCN), ammonia (NH3 ) and/or nitric oxide (NO), in a process referred to as nitrogen fixation. Due to the strength of the triple bond in N2 , nitrogen fixation, while thermodynamically favored is kinetically restricted. In a reducing atmosphere dominated by CH4 -N2 , thunderstorm lightning efficiently produces HCN and NH3 (Stribling and Miller, 1987). Nevertheless, photochemical and geochemical constraints strongly suggest that the early atmosphere was weakly reducing, dominated by CO2 and N2 with traces of CH4 , CO, and H2 (Kasting, 1993). Under these conditions, HCN is no longer synthesized in the lightning channel and instead NO is formed (Navarro-Gonźlez, et al., 2001). In volcanic plumes, where magmatic gases a were more reducing than in the atmosphere, NO can also be formed by the lava heat (Mather et al., 2004) or volcanic lightning (Navarro-Gonźlez et al., 1998). Surprisingly, dinitrogen can be a reduced to NH3 in hydrothermal systems (Brandes et al., 1998), but the formation of HCN and its derivates were not investigated. The present work explores the possibility of the formation of HCN as well as other nitrile derivatives catalyzed by mineral surfaces in hydrothermal vents. To simulate a hydrothermal atmosphere, the experiments were carried out in a stainless steel Parr R minireactor with a 0.1 M NH4 HCO3 solution (200 ml) with or without a mineral surface exposed at 1 bar at temperatures ranging from 100 to 375° C. Different mineral matrices are been investigated. Our preliminary results have been conducted with pyrite and quantified by headspace-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. These results indicate that catalysis induced by the mineral surface under hydrothermal conditions does not stop with the production of HCN, but the reaction continues leading to more complex nitriles. The experiments also reveal a clear trend between time and the production of more complex molecules, which are measurable by the chromatographic method. Brandes, J.A., Boctor, N.Z., Cody, G.D., Cooper, B. A., Hazen, R. M. and Yoder Jr, H.S. (1998). Abiotic nitrogen reduction on the early Earth. Nature 395, 365-367. Kasting J.F. (1993) Earth's early atmosphere. Science 259, 920-926. Mather, T.A., Pyle, D.M., and Allen, A.G. (2004) Volcanic source of fixed nitrogen in the early Earth's atmosphere. Geology 32, 905-908. Navarro-Gonźlez, R., Molina, M.J. and. Molina, L.T. (1998) Nitrogen fixation by volcanic a lightning in the early Earth. Geophys. Res. Lett. 25, 3123-3126. Navarro-Gonźlez, R., McKay, C.P. and Nna Mvondo, D. ( 2001) A possible nitrogen crisis for a Archean life due to reduced nitrogen fixation by lightning. Nature 412, 61-64. Stribling, R., and Miller, S.L. (1987) Energy yields for the hydrogen cyanide and formaldehyde synthesis: the HCN and amino acid concentrations in the primitive ocean. Origins Life 17, 261-273.

A gallotannin-rich fraction from Caesalpinia spinosa (Molina) Kuntze displays cytotoxic activity and raises sensitivity to doxorubicin in a leukemia cell line

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Enhancement of tumor cell sensitivity may help facilitate a reduction in drug dosage using conventional chemotherapies. Consequently, it is worthwhile to search for adjuvants with the potential of increasing chemotherapeutic drug effectiveness and improving patient quality of life. Natural products are a very good source of such adjuvants. Methods The biological activity of a fraction enriched in hydrolysable polyphenols (P2Et) obtained from Caesalpinia spinosa was evaluated using the hematopoietic cell line K562. This fraction was tested alone or in combination with the conventional chemotherapeutic drugs doxorubicin, vincristine, etoposide, camptothecin and taxol. The parameters evaluated were mitochondrial depolarization, caspase 3 activation, chromatin condensation and clonogenic activity. Results We found that the P2Et fraction induced mitochondrial depolarization, activated caspase 3, induced chromatin condensation and decreased the clonogenic capacity of the K562 cell line. When the P2Et fraction was used in combination with chemotherapeutic drugs at sub-lethal concentrations, a fourfold reduction in doxorubicin inhibitory concentration 50 (IC50) was seen in the K562 cell line. This finding suggested that P2Et fraction activity is specific for the molecular target of doxorubicin. Conclusions Our results suggest that a natural fraction extracted from Caesalpinia spinosa in combination with conventional chemotherapy in combination with natural products on leukemia cells may increase therapeutic effectiveness in relation to leukemia. PMID:22490328

Evaluation of sensorial, phytochemical and biological properties of new isotonic beverages enriched with lemon and berries during shelf life.

PubMed

Gironés-Vilaplana, Amadeo; Mena, Pedro; Moreno, Diego A; García-Viguera, Cristina

2014-04-01

The aim of this work was to design new isotonic drinks with lemon juice and berries: maqui (Aristotelia chilensis (Molina) Stuntz), açaí (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) and blackthorn (Prunus spinosa L.), following previous research. Quality parameters, sensorial attributes, antioxidant activities (ABTS(+), DPPH(•) and O2(•-) assays) and biological capacities (α-glucosidase and lipase inhibitory assays) were evaluated over 70 days of shelf-life period. Maqui isotonic blends were the most active in all antioxidant assays (8.35 and 3.07 mmol L(-1) Trolox for ABTS(+) and DPPH(•)), in the lipase inhibitory assay (43.19 U L(-1)), and showed the highest total phenol content by the Folin-Ciocalteu test (80.97 mg 100 mL(-1) gallic acid), as a result of its higher content of total anthocyanins (42.42 mg 100 mL(-1)). Berry mixtures were also the most potent inhibitors of α-glucosidase between all samples, and displayed an attractive red colour and good sensorial attributes. All the studied parameters remained quite stable during preservation, in general, and the new isotonic drinks can be useful to equilibrate redox balance in acute and intense exercise, and support weight loss programmes, avoiding triglyceride absorption and hyperglycaemia involved in obesity and diabetes mellitus, respectively. Further research in vivo is necessary to verify their beneficial effects for sports, nutrition and health. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry.

FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTIONS OF 90SR AND 137CS CONCENTRATIONS IN AN ECOSYSTEM OF THE 'RED FOREST' AREA IN THE CHERNOBYL EXCLUSION ZONE

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Farfan, E.; Jannik, T.; Caldwell, E.

2011-10-01

In the most highly contaminated region of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone: the 'Red Forest' site, the accumulation of the major dose-affecting radionuclides ({sup 90}Sr and {sup 137}Cs) within the components of an ecological system encompassing 3,000 m{sup 2} were characterized. The sampled components included soils (top 0-10 cm depth), Molina caerulea (blue moor grass), Camponotus vagus (carpenter ants) and Pelobates fuscus (spade-footed toad). In a comparison among the components of this ecosystem, the {sup 90}Sr and {sup 137}Cs concentrations measured in 40 separate grids exhibited significant differences, while the frequency distribution of the values were close to a logarithmically normalmore » leptokurtic distribution with a significant right-side skew. While it is important to identify localized areas of high contamination or 'hot spots,' including these values in the arithmetic mean may overestimate the exposure risk. In component sample sets that exhibited logarithmically normal distribution, the geometrical mean more accurately characterizes a site. Ideally, risk assessment is most confidently achieved when the arithmetic and geometrical means are most similar, meaning the distribution approaches normal. Through bioaccumulation, the highest concentrations of {sup 90}Sr and {sup 137}Cs were measured in the blue moor grass and spade-footed toad. These components also possessed distribution parameters that shifted toward a normal distribution.« less

Saponin Interactions with Model Membrane Systems - Langmuir Monolayer Studies, Hemolysis and Formation of ISCOMs.

PubMed

de Groot, Carolin; Müller-Goymann, Christel C

2016-12-01

Saponins are used in medicine due to their pharmacological and immunological effects. To better understand interactions of saponins with model membranes and natural membranes of, for example, erythrocytes, Langmuir film balance experiments are well established. For most saponins, a strong interaction with cholesterol was demonstrated in dependence of both the aglycone part and the sugar moieties and is suggested to be correlated with a strong hemolytic activity, high toxicity, and high surface activity, as was demonstrated for the steroid saponin digitonin. In general, changes in the sugar chain or in substituents of the aglycone result in a modification of the saponin properties. A promising saponin with regard to fairly low hemolytic activity and high adjuvant effect is α -tomatine, which still shows a high affinity for cholesterol. An interaction with cholesterol and lipids has also been proven for the Quillaja saponin from the bark of Quillaja saponaria Molina. This triterpene saponin was approved in marketed vaccines as an adjuvant due to the formation of immunostimulating complexes. Immunostimulating complexes consist of a Quillaja saponin, cholesterol, phospholipids, and a corresponding antigen. Recently, another saponin from Quillaja brasiliensis was successfully tested in immunostimulating complexes, too. Based on the results of interaction studies, the formation of drug delivery systems such as immunostimulating complexes or similar self-assembled colloids is postulated for a variety of saponins. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Final report for "Characterization of Fine Particulate Matter (PM) and secondary PM Precursor Gases in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area"

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Prof. Jose-Luis Jimenez

2009-05-18

The objectives of this funded project were (a) to further analyze the data collected by our group and collaborators in Mexico City during the MCMA-2003 field campaign, with the goal of further our understanding of aerosol sources and processes; and (b) to deploy several advanced instruments, including the newly developed high-resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer (HR-ToF-AMS) and thermal-denuder (TD), during the MILAGRO/MAX-Mex/MCMA-2006 field campaign, and to analyze those data (together with the 2003 data) to provide additional insights on the formation and transformation of aerosols in the Mexico City area. These goals were addressed in collaboration with our project partners,more » MIT/Molina Center, and Aerodyne Research. Overall this project was very successful, resulting on 22+ journal papers including six “highly cited papers” and three papers that are the most cited in their respective journals (out of several thousand papers) since the year in which they were published. Multiple discoveries, such as the the underestimation of SOA in urban areas even for short photochemical ages, the demonstration that urban POA is of similar or higher volatility than urban SOA, and the first analysis of organic aerosol elemental composition in real-time have been recently published. Several dozen presentations at major US and international conferences and seminars also acknowledged this grant.« less

The Offlap Break Position Vs Sea Level: A Discussion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tropeano, M.; Pieri, P.; Pomar, L.; Sabato, L.

Sedimentary lithosomes with subhorizontal topsets, basinward prograding foresets and subhorizontal bottomsets are common in the geologic record, and most of them display similar bedding architectures and/or seismic reflection patterns (i.e. Gylbert- type deltas and shelf wedges). Nevertheless, in shallow marine settings these bodies may form in distinct sedimentary environments and they result from different sed- imentary processes. The offlap break (topset edge) occurs in relation to the posi- tion of baselevel and two main groups of lithosomes can be differentiated with re- spect to the position of the offlap break within the shelf profile. The baselevel of the first group is the sea level (or lake level); the topsets are mainly composed by continental- or very-shallow-water sedimentary facies and the offlap break practi- cally corresponds to the shoreline. Exemples of these lithosomes are high-constructive deltas (river-dominated deltas) and prograding beaches. For the second group, base- level corresponds to the base of wave/tide traction, and their topsets are mostly composed by shoreface/nearshore deposits. Examples of these lithosomes are high- destructive deltas (wave/tide-dominated deltas) and infralittoral prograding wedges (i.e Hernandez-Molina et al., 2000). The offlap break corresponds to the shelf edge (shoreface edge), which is located at the transition between nearshore and offshore set- tings, where a terrace prodelta- or transition-slope may develop (Pomar &Tropeano, 2001). Two main problems derive from these alternative interpretations of shallow- marine seaward prograding lithosomes: 1) both in ancient sedimentary shallow-marine successios (showing seaward prograding foresets) and in high resolution seismic pro- files (showing shelf wedges), the offlap break is commonly considered to correspond to the sea-level (shoreline) and used to inferr paleo sea-level positions and to construct sea-level curves. Without a good facies control, this use of the offlap break might cause a misinterpretation of the ancient sea-level positions and the inferred relative sea-level changes. 2) both baselevels, the sea level and the wave/tide base, govern sedimentary accumulation in wave/tide dominated shelves and, consequently, two offlap breaks may coexist (beach edge and shoreface edge) in shallow-marine depositional profiles (Carter et al., 1991). In this setting, two seaward-clinobedded lithosomes, separated by an unconformity, may develop during relative still-stand or falls of the sea-level (Hill et al., 1998). In this case, the two stacked lithosomes could be misinterpreted as two different systems tracts, or sequences, and it could led to the construction of an 1 uncorrect curve of sea-level changes. Carter R.M., Abbott S.T., Fulthorpe C.S., Haywick D.W. and Henderson R.A. (1991): Application of global sea-level and sequence-stratigraphic models in Southern Hemi- sphere Neogene strata from New Zealand. Sp. Publ. IAS, 12, 41-65. Hernández- Molina F.J., Fernández-Salas L.M., Lobo F., Somoza L., Diaz-del-Rio V. and Alver- inho Dias J.M. (2000): The infralittoral prograding wedge: a new large-scale prograda- tional sedimentary body in shallow marine environments. Geo-Marine Letters, 20, 109-117. Hill P.R., Longuépée H. and Roberge M. (1998). Live from Canada: forced regression in action; deltaic shoreface sandbodies being formed. Abstracts, 15th Int. Cong. IAS, Alicante (Spain), 427-428. Pomar L. and Tropeano M. (2001). The Cal- carenite di Gravina Formation in Matera (southern Italy): new insights for coarse- grained, large-scale, cross-bedded bodies encased in offshore deposits. AAPG Bull., 85, 661-689. 2

[The concept of identity in relation to motherhood in the discourse of teenagers who attend a pregnancy from a linguistic and psychoanalytical perspective].

PubMed

Pardo, María L

2013-01-01

My aim in this paper is to briefly discuss the notion of identity and how can unify the Psychoanalytical concept with the discursive, in order to carry out multidisciplinary research on this topic. This work is based on life stories collected in the Hospital Larcade, from 2008 to 2011, from teenagers who attend a pregnancy. Through the linguistic analysis of the guarantees, following the model of Toulmin (17), as it has been redefined by Pardo (14) and Molina (12), I intend to give an account of the discursive and psychological bases of what will then form an identity for these young women on maternity. They live in extreme poverty in the Buenos Aires suburbs and are combined with a large dose of family violence that links their identities as mothers to the image (or identities of the other) who have over their own mothers, parents, couples in these contexts of violence. These data are also confronted with domestic violence cases that appear in the media and how they are dealt with discursively at these. Thus realizes the contradictions imposed the cultural identity of a group (the viewers or readers of means, which are a large part of society) against the experience of violence of these mothers. This research has as theoretical framework the Critical Discourse Analysis and the methodology is qualitative.

New species and records of mites of the superfamily Sarcoptoidea (Acariformes: Psoroptidia) from mammals in Brazil.

PubMed

Bochkov, Andre V; Valim, Michel P

2016-01-01

Sixteen species of the superfamily Sarcoptoidea (Acariformes: Psoroptidia) belonging to 10 genera of the families Atopomelidae, Listrophoridae, Chirodiscidae, and Listropsoralgidae are recorded in Brazil. Among them, three species, Prolistrophorus hylaeamys sp. nov. from Hylaeamys laticeps (Lund, 1840) (Cricetidae: Sigmodontinae) from Minas Gerais, Lynxacarus serrafreirei sp. nov. from Galictis cuja (Molina, 1782) (Carnivora: Mustelidae) from Rio de Janeiro (Listrophoridae), and Didelphoecius micoureus sp. nov. (Atopomelidae) from Micoureus paraguayanus (Tate, 1931) (Didelphimorphia: Didelphidae) from Minas Gerais are described as new for science. Three species of the family Listrophoridae, Prolistrophorus bidentatus Fain et Lukoschus, 1984 from Akodon cursor (Winge, 1887) (Rodentia: Cricetidae) (new host), Prolistrophorus ctenomys Fain, 1970 from Ctenomys torquatus Lichtenstein, 1830 (Rodentia: Ctenomyidae) (new host), and Leporacarus sylvilagi Fain, Whitaker et Lukoschus, 1981 from Sylvilagus brasiliensis (Linnaeus, 1758) (Lagomorpha: Leporidae) (new host) -from Minas Gerais and Rio Grande do Sul, and one species of the family Chirodiscidae, Parakosa tadarida McDaniel and Lawrence, 1962 from Molossus molossus (Pallas, 1766) (Chiroptera: Molossidae) are recorded for the first time in Brazil. The previously unknown female of Didelphoecius validus Fain, Zanatta-Coutinho et Fonseca, 1996 (Atopomelidae) from Metachirus nudicaudatus (Geoffroy, 1803) (Didelphimorphia: Didelphidae) from Minas Gerais is described. All data on host-parasite associations of sarcoptoids in Brazil are summarized. Totally, 61 sarcoptoid species of 8 families are recorded in Brazil.

[Influence of a programme of therapeutic exercise on different clinical indicators related to dyslipidaemia in adult subjects aged between 26 to 73 years with a cardiovascular risk factor].

PubMed

Meseguer Zafra, M; Rosa Guillamón, A; García-Cantó, E; Rodríguez García, P L; Pérez-Soto, J J; Tárraga López, P J; Del Moral García, J E; Tárraga Marcos, M L

2018-04-07

A sedentary lifestyle is indicated in the international literature as one of the main causes for the onset of some cardiovascular risk factors. To assess the effect of a therapeutic physical exercise programme on different clinical indicators related to dyslipidaemia (total cholesterol, HDL and LDL) in sedentary subjects with a cardiovascular risk factor. Intervention study with before-and-after evaluation of a sample of 340 patients (132 males and 208 females) referred from the 2 primary care centres of the municipality of Molina de Segura (Murcia), and who participated in a 30-week programme of physical exercise combining muscle-conditioning work circuits with other cardio-respiratory resistance workouts. Regarding the clinical indicators, the health professionals collected in the medical history the health indicators corresponding to the biological evolution of the process for which the subjects studied had started the physical exercise programme. The statistical analyses showed a significant improvement (p<.005) in the LDL indicator and a non-significant improvement in total and HDL cholesterol indicators after a 3-month exercise programme of 3 weekly sessions. The prescription of physical exercise in dyslipidaemic subjects from primary care centre should be evaluated as a resource for improving the clinical indicators specific to their pathology. Copyright © 2018 SEH-LELHA. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Links between extreme UV-radiation, total ozone, surface albedo and cloudiness: An analysis of 30 years of data from Switzerland and Austria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rieder, H. E.; Staehelin, J.; Weihs, P.; Vuilleumier, L.; Blumthaler, M.; Holawe, F.; Lindfors, A.; Maeder, J. A.; Simic, S.; Wagner, J. E.; Walker, D.; Ribatet, M.

2009-04-01

Since the discovery of anthropogenic ozone depletion in the early 1970s (e.g. Molina and Rowland, 1974; Farman et al., 1985) the interest in stratospheric ozone trends and solar UV-B increased within the scientific community and the general public because of the link between reduced total column ozone and increased UV-radiation doses. Stratospheric ozone (e.g. Koch et al., 2005) and erythemal UV-radiation (e.g. Rieder et al., 2008) in the northern mid-latitudes are characterized by strong temporal variability. Long-term measurements of UV-B radiation are rare and datasets are only available for few locations and most of these measurements do not provide spectral information on the UV part of the spectra. During strong efforts in the reconstruction of erythemal UV, datasets of past UV-radiation doses became available for several measurement sites all over the globe. For Switzerland and Austria reconstructed UV datasets are available for 3 measurement sites (Davos, Sonnblick and Vienna) (Lindfors and Vuilleumier, 2005; Rieder et al., 2008). The world's longest ozone time series dating back to 1926 is available from Arosa, Switzerland, and is discussed in detail by Staehelin et al. (1998a,b). Recently new tools from extreme value theory have been applied to the Arosa time series to describe extreme events in low and high total ozone (Rieder et al., 2009). In our study we address the question of how much of the extremes in UV-radiation can be attributed to extremes in total ozone, high surface albedo and cloudiness. An analysis of the frequency distributions of such extreme events for the last decades is presented to gain a better understanding of the links between extreme erythemal UV-radiation, total ozone, surface albedo and clouds. References: Farman, J. C., Gardiner, B. G., and Shanklin, J. D.: Large losses of total ozone in Antarctica reveal seasonal ClOx/NOx interaction, Nature, 315, 207-210, 1985. Koch, G., Wernli, H., Schwierz, C., Staehelin, J., and Peter, T.: A composite study on the structure and formation of ozone miniholes and minihights over central Europe, J. Geophys. Res., 32, doi:10.1029/2004GL022062, 2005. Lindfors, A., and Vuilleumier, L.: Erythemal UV at Davos (Switzerland), 1926-2003, estimated using total ozone, sunshine duration, and snow depth, J. Geophys. Res., 110, D02104, doi:10.1029/2004JD005231, 2005. Molina, M. J., and Rowland, F. S.: Stratospheric sink for chlorofluoromethans: Chlorine atom-catalysed destruction of ozone, Nature, 249, 810-812, 1974. Rieder, H.E., Holawe, F., Simic, S., Blumthaler, M., Krzyscin, J.W., Wagner J.E., Schmalwieser A.W., and Weihs, P.: Reconstruction of erythemal UV-doses for two stations in Austria: A comparison between alpine and urban regions, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 8, 6309-6323, 2008. Rieder, H.E., Staehelin, J., Maeder, J.A., Ribatet, M., Stübi, R., Weihs, P., Holawe, F., Peter, T., and Davison, A.C.: From ozone mini holes and mini highs towards extreme value theory: New insights from extreme events and non stationarity, submitted to J. Geophys. Res., 2009. Staehelin, J., Kegel, R., and Harris, N. R.: Trend analysis of the homogenized total ozone series of Arosa (Switzerland), 1929-1996, J. Geophys. Res., 103(D7), 8389-8400, doi:10.1029/97JD03650, 1998a. Staehelin, J., Renaud, A., Bader, J., McPeters, R., Viatte, P., Hoegger, B., Bugnion, V., Giroud, M., and Schill, H.: Total ozone series at Arosa (Switzerland): Homogenization and data comparison, J. Geophys. Res., 103(D5), 5827-5842, doi:10.1029/97JD02402, 1998b.

What Would Have Happened to the Ozone Layer if Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) had not been Regulated?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Newman, Paul A.; Oman, L. D.; Douglass, A. R.; Fleming, E. L.; Frith, S. M.; Hurwitz, M. M.; Kawa, S. R.; Jackman, C. H.; Krotkov, N. A.; Nash, E. R.;

Cyclic AMP Regulates Bacterial Persistence through Repression of the Oxidative Stress Response and SOS-Dependent DNA Repair in Uropathogenic Escherichia coli.

PubMed

Molina-Quiroz, Roberto C; Silva-Valenzuela, Cecilia; Brewster, Jennifer; Castro-Nallar, Eduardo; Levy, Stuart B; Camilli, Andrew

2018-01-09

Bacterial persistence is a transient, nonheritable physiological state that provides tolerance to bactericidal antibiotics. The stringent response, toxin-antitoxin modules, and stochastic processes, among other mechanisms, play roles in this phenomenon. How persistence is regulated is relatively ill defined. Here we show that cyclic AMP, a global regulator of carbon catabolism and other core processes, is a negative regulator of bacterial persistence in uropathogenic Escherichia coli , as measured by survival after exposure to a β-lactam antibiotic. This phenotype is regulated by a set of genes leading to an oxidative stress response and SOS-dependent DNA repair. Thus, persister cells tolerant to cell wall-acting antibiotics must cope with oxidative stress and DNA damage and these processes are regulated by cyclic AMP in uropathogenic E. coli IMPORTANCE Bacterial persister cells are important in relapsing infections in patients treated with antibiotics and also in the emergence of antibiotic resistance. Our results show that in uropathogenic E. coli , the second messenger cyclic AMP negatively regulates persister cell formation, since in its absence much more persister cells form that are tolerant to β-lactams antibiotics. We reveal the mechanism to be decreased levels of reactive oxygen species, specifically hydroxyl radicals, and SOS-dependent DNA repair. Our findings suggest that the oxidative stress response and DNA repair are relevant pathways to target in the design of persister-specific antibiotic compounds. Copyright © 2018 Molina-Quiroz et al.

Diversity of Quill Mites of the Family Syringophilidae (Acari: Prostigmata) Parasitizing Owls (Aves: Strigiformes) With Remarks on the Host-Parasite Relationships.

PubMed

Skoracki, Maciej; Unsoeld, Markus; Marciniak, Natalia; Sikora, Bozena

2016-07-01

The quill mite fauna of the family Syringophilidae (Acari: Prostigmata: Cheyletoidea) associated with owls (Aves: Strigiformes) is reviewed. A new genus is proposed, Neobubophilus Skoracki & Unsoeld gen. nov. It differs from closely related Bubophilus (Bubophilus Philips and Norton, 1978) by the absence of leg setae vsII in the both sexes. In addition, four new species are described: (1) Neobubophilus cunicularius Skoracki & Unsoeld sp. nov. from Athene cunicularia (Molina, 1782) (Strigidae) from Paraguay; (2) Neobubophilus atheneus Skoracki & Unsoeld sp. nov. from Athene noctua (Scopoli, 1769) and Athene brama (Temminck, 1821) (Strigidae), both from India; (3) Bubophilus tytonus Skoracki & Unsoeld sp. nov. from Tyto alba affinis (Blyth, 1862) (Tytonidae) from Cameroon, and (4) Megasyringophilus dalmas Skoracki & Unsoeld sp. nov. from Megascops choliba (Vieillot, 1817) (Strigidae) from Venezuela. The following new host species are given: Bubo bubo (Linnaeus, 1758) (Strigidae) from Nepal for Bubophilus ascalaphus (Philips and Norton 1978) and Strix woodfordii (Smith, 1834) (Strigidae) from Tanzania for Bubophilus aluconis (aluconis Nattress and Skoracki 2009). A key for syringophilid genera and species associated with owls is constructed. The host-parasite relationships of syringophilid mites and owls are discussed. © The Authors 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com Version of Record, first published online May 24, 2016 with fixed content and layout in compliance with Art. 8.1.3.2 ICZN.

What would have happened to the ozone layer if chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) had not been regulated?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Newman, P. A.; Oman, L. D.; Douglass, A. R.; Fleming, E. L.; Frith, S. M.; Hurwitz, M. M.; Kawa, S. R.; Jackman, C. H.; Krotkov, N. A.; Nash, E. R.; Nielsen, J. E.; Pawson, S.; Stolarski, R. S.; Velders, G. J.

2008-12-01

Ozone depletion by chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) was first proposed by Molina and Rowland in their 1974 Nature paper. Since that time, the scientific connection between ozone losses and CFCs and other ozone depleting substances (ODSs) has been firmly established with laboratory measurements, atmospheric observations, and modeling research. The nations of the world implemented the Montreal Protocol (and amendments) which stopped ODS production in 1992. In this presentation we use a fully coupled radiation- chemical-dynamical model to simulate a future world where ODSs were never regulated and ODS production grew at an annual rate of 3%. In this "world avoided" simulation, 17% of the globally average column ozone is destroyed by 2020, and 67% is destroyed by 2065 in comparison to 1980. Large ozone depletions in the polar region become year-round rather than just seasonal as is currently observed in the Antarctic ozone hole. Very large temperature decreases are observed in response to circulation changes and decreased shortwave radiation absorption by ozone. Ozone levels in the tropical lower stratosphere remain constant until about 2053 and then collapse to near zero by 2058 as a result of heterogeneous chemical processes (as currently observed in the Antarctic ozone hole). The tropical cooling that triggers the ozone collapse is caused by an increase of the tropical upwelling. In response to ozone changes, ultraviolet (UV) radiation increases, tripling the erythemal (sunburn) radiation in the northern summer mid-latitudes by 2065.

Characterization of in vivo anti-rotavirus activities of saponin extracts from Quillaja Saponaria Molina

PubMed Central

Tam, Ka Ian; Roner, Michael R.

2011-01-01

Rotavirus is the leading cause of severe diarrhea disease in newborns and young children worldwide with approximately 300,000 pre-adolescent deaths each year. Quillaja saponins are a natural aqueous extract obtained from the Chilean soapbark tree. The extract is approved for use in humans by the FDA for use in beverages as a food addictive. We have demonstrated that Quillaja extracts have strong antiviral activities in vitro against six different viruses. In this study, we evaluated the in vivo antiviral activity of these extracts against rhesus rotavirus (RRV) using a mouse model. We established that at a dosage of 0.015 mg/mouse of saponin extract, RRV induced diarrhea can be significantly reduced from 79% to 11% when mice are exposed to 500 plaque-forming-units (PFU) for each of five consecutive days. Additionally, while a reduction of RRV induced diarrhea depended both on the concentration of virus introduced and on the amount of Quillaja extract given to each mouse, the severity and interval of diarrhea under a variety of conditions tested, in all the treated mice were greatly reduced when compared to those that did not receive the Quillaja extracts. Mechanistically, there is strong evidence that the Quillaja extracts are able to “block” rotavirus infection by inhibiting virus-host attachment through disruption of cellular membrane proteins and/or virus receptors. We believe that Quillaja extracts have promise as antivirals to reduce rotavirus infection and the severity of the disease in humans. PMID:21549151

Chilean clinic serves more than medical needs.

PubMed

Blaney, C L

1993-10-01

The experience of staff in treating adolescent pregnancy and the formidable problems (medical, educational, nutritional, and emotional) these girls face are discussed. The implementing agency was the Centro de Medicina Reproductiva del Adolescente (CEMERA) in Santiago, Chile. One 15-year old girl is reported to have felt comfortable at CEMERA because of friendships with other similarly pregnant girls. The director, Dr. Ramiro Molina, established CEMERA with a comprehensive approach to adolescent reproductive health; there was also sex education, medical student training, and research. The program began in 1981 as a research project and included a center of 1990. Presently, CEMERA treats about 1800 low-income adolescents/year, of whom 80% are female. The problem of teenage sexuality and pregnancy was identified in a 1988 survey, which revealed that 70% of first births in the 15-24 year old age group were out of wedlock, and 20% or fewer used contraceptives at first premarital intercourse. The program currently not only provides care for adolescents, but also gives workshops and assistance to partners and parents, and contraceptive counseling to young men and women. Most services are free. There has been an increase in clinics addressing adolescent reproductive health from 2 in 1981 to more than 95 presently; most of the health personnel in the current settings have been trained by CEMERA CEMERA is located in converted row houses in central Santiago, and provides an informal setting less threatening to adolescents. The traditional white medical clothes are not used very often.

What Roles Can Scientists Play in Public Discourse?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oppenheimer, Michael

2011-04-01

What is a useful and proper role for scientists in the public arena? How can we best discriminate where the boundary lies between expert knowledge and values or political opinion, and how can we properly honor that line? What can we expect in the way of reception for our interventions, and how can we increase their efficacy? Involvement in public policy debates is a common and accepted role for scientists in many disciplines. In the sciences related to public health, it is taken for granted that experts will talk about the implications of their research for public policy, whether in regard to smoking, diet, or disease spread. There is also a remarkable track record of geoscientists taking a lead role in the public arena and actually affecting public policy—F. Sherwood Rowland and Mario Molina collaborated on ozone depletion research at the Department of Chemistry at University of California, Irvine and then went on to make outstanding public contributions, as have James Hansen (at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies); Robert Watson (first at NASA, then at the University of East Anglia); and, of course, the late Stephen Schneider (first at the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research, then Stanford) on climate. Some “public” geoscientists have restricted their activities to interpreting science for the wider public, while others have endorsed specific policy initiatives (see Figure 1). I firmly believe that the quality of public discourse and the information reaching policy makers were better for their interventions.

Characteristics of the larval Echinococcus vogeli Rausch and Bernstein, 1972 in the natural intermediate host, the paca, Cuniculus paca L. (Rodentia: Dasyproctidae).

PubMed

Rausch, R L; D'Alessandro, A; Rausch, V R

1981-09-01

In Colombia, the natural intermediate host of Echinococcus vogeli Rausch and Bernstein, 1972 is the paca, Cuniculus paca L. (Rodentia: Dasyproctidae). The larval cestode develops in the liver of the host, where it usually is situated superficially, partly exposed beneath Glisson's capsule. The infective larva consists of a subspherical to asymmetrical, fluid-filled vesicle, up to 30 mm in diameter, enclosed by a thick laminated membrane. It typically contains numerous chambers, often interconnected, produced by endogenous proliferation of germinal and laminated tissue, within which brood capsules arise in an irregular pattern from the germinal layer. Invasive growth by means of exogenous proliferation, typical of infections in man, was not observed in the natural intermediate host. The development of the larval cestode is described on the basis of material from pacas, supplemented by observations on early-stage lesions in experimentally infected nutrias, Myocastor coypus (Molina) (Rodentia: Capromyidae). The tissue response is characterized for early-stage, mature (infective), and degenerating larvae in the comparatively long-lived intermediate host. In addition to previously reported differences in size and form of rostellar hooks, other morphologic characteristics are defined by which the larval stage of E. vogeli is distinguished from that of E. oligarthrus (Diesing, 1863). Pathogenesis by the larval E. vogeli in man, like that by the larval E. multilocularis Leuckart, 1863, is the consequence of atypical proliferation of vesicles attributable to parasite-host incompatibility.

The occurrence of domoic acid linked to a toxic diatom bloom in a new potential vector: the tunicate Pyura chilensis (piure).

PubMed

López-Rivera, Américo; Pinto, Maricela; Insinilla, Andrea; Suárez Isla, Benjamín; Uribe, Eduardo; Alvarez, Gonzalo; Lehane, Mary; Furey, Ambrose; James, Kevin J

2009-11-01

The tunicate Pyura chilensis (Molina, 1782); Phylum Chordata; Subphylum Urochordata; Class Ascidiacea, common local name "piure" or sea squirt; a filter-feeder (plankton and suspended particles) sessile species; may play an important role in monitoring domoic acid (DA) the principal toxic component of Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning (ASP). Significant DA concentrations have been determined in tunicate samples, collected during a recent ASP outbreak in Bahía Inglesa, an important scallop (Argopecten purpuratus) farming area. Several infaunal species were tested for the presence of DA, in addition to the usual scallop monitoring programme. DA was found at sub-toxic levels in filtering bivalves such as mussels (Mytilus chilensis), large mussels (Aulacomya ater) and clams (Protothaca thaca) (6.4, 5.4 and 4.7 microg DA/g tissue respectively). Of particular interest was the observation of significant accumulations of toxic Pseudo-nitzschia sp. diatoms in the internal siphon and atrium spaces of the tunicate. Toxin distribution within major tunicate organs was heterogeneous with 8.7-15.5 microg DA/g in edible tissues, 14.9-17.9 microg DA/g in the fecal material and 13.6-32.7 microg DA/g in the gut content. DA was determined by HPLC-UV and confirmed by diode-array detection and LC-MS/MS analysis. This is the first report of the presence of DA in a tunicate that is regularly consumed by coastal populations. These results confirm the need to include these organisms in sanitation programs for marine toxins.

Evaluation of the control ability of five essential oils against Aspergillus section Nigri growth and ochratoxin A accumulation in peanut meal extract agar conditioned at different water activities levels.

PubMed

Passone, María A; Girardi, Natalia S; Etcheverry, Miriam

2012-10-15

Essential oils (EOs) from boldo [Pëumus boldus Mol.], poleo [Lippia turbinata var. integrifolia (Griseb.)], clove [Syzygium aromaticum L.], anise [Pimpinella anisum] and thyme [Thymus vulgaris]) obtained by hydrodistillation were evaluated for their effectiveness against the growth of Aspergillus niger aggregate and A. carbonarius and accumulation of ochratoxin A (OTA). The evaluation was performed by compound dissolution at the doses of 0, 500, 1500 and 2500μL/L in peanut meal extract agar (PMEA) and exposure to volatiles of boldo, poleo (0, 1000, 2000 and 3000μL/L) and clove oils (0, 1000, 3000 and 5000μL/L), taking into account the levels of the water activity of the medium (a(W) 0.98, 0.95, 0.93). Statistical analyses on growth of Aspergillus strains indicated that the major effect was produced by oil concentrations followed by substrate a(W), and that reductions in antifungal efficiency of the oils tested were observed in vapor exposure assay. At all a(W) levels, complete fungal growth inhibition was achieved with boldo EO at doses of 1500 and 2000μL/L by contact and volatile assays, respectively. Contact exposure by poleo and clove EOs showed total fungal inhibition at the middle level tested of 1500μL/L, regardless of a(W), while their antifungal effects in headspace volatile assay were closely dependent on medium a(W). The fumigant activity of poleo (2000μL/L) and clove oils (3000μL/L) inhibited growth rate by 66.0% and 80.6% at a(W) 0.98 and 0.93, respectively. OTA accumulation was closely dependent on a(W) conditions. The antiochratoxigenic property of the volatile fractions of boldo, poleo and clove EOs (1000μL/L) was more significant at low a(W) levels, inhibition percentages were estimated at 14.7, 41.7 and 78.5% at a(W) 0.98, 0.95 and 0.93, respectively. Our results suggest that boldo, poleo and clove oils affect the OTA biosynthesis pathway of both Aspergillus species. This finding leaves open the possibility of their use by vapor exposure as effective non-toxic biopreservatives against OTA contamination in stored peanuts. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Society of Pediatric Psychology Diversity Award: Training Underrepresented Minority Students in Psychology

PubMed Central

Mitchell, Monica J.; Crosby, Lori E.

2016-01-01

Improving diversity, particularly among trainees and professionals from underrepresented ethnic minority backgrounds, has been a long-stated goal for the field of Psychology. Research has provided strategies and best practices, such as ensuring cultural sensitivity and relevance in coursework, clinical and research training, promoting a supportive and inclusive climate, providing access to cultural and community opportunities, and increasing insight and cultural competence among professionals (Rogers & Molina, 2006). Despite this, the rates of psychologists from ethnically diverse and underrepresented minority (URM) backgrounds remain low and few published studies have described programmatic efforts to increase diversity within the field. This paper describes the INNOVATIONS training model, which provides community and culturally related research experiences, graduate-school related advising, and mentoring to high school and college students. The paper also examines how the model may support enrollment of URM students in doctoral programs in psychology. Findings indicate that INNOVATIONS supported students’ transition from high school and college to graduate programs (with approximately 75% of students enrolling in Master’s and Doctoral programs). INNOVATIONS also supported students, including those from URM backgrounds, enrolling in doctoral programs (41.7%). Students who were trained in the research assistant track were most likely to enroll in psychology doctoral programs, perhaps as a result of the intensive time and training committed to research and clinical experiences. Data support the importance of research training for URM students pursuing psychology graduate study and the need to ensure cultural relevance of the training. Implications for clinical and pediatric psychology are discussed. PMID:28603680

Learning and Recall of Medical Treatment-Related Information in Older Adults Using the Differential Outcomes Procedure

PubMed Central

Plaza, Victoria; Molina, Michael; Fuentes, Luis J.; Estévez, Angeles F.

2018-01-01

It has recently been reported that the differential outcomes procedure (DOP) might be one of the therapeutical techniques focused at promoting autonomy in the elderly to deal with their medical issues. Molina et al. (2015) found that a group of healthy young adults improved their learning and long-term retention of six disorder/pill associations when each relationship to be learned was associated with a particular reinforcer (the differential outcomes condition) compared to when they were randomly administered (the non-differential outcomes condition). In the present study, we extend these findings to older adults who usually show difficulties to remember to take their medications as prescribed. Participants were asked to learn the association between three pills and the specific time at the day when they had to take each medication. Two memory tests were also performed 1 h and 1 week after completing the training phase. Results showed a faster learning of the task and long-term retention of the previously learned associations (pill/time of day) when differential outcomes were used. Furthermore, the older adults’ performance in the learning and memory phases did not differ from that of the younger adults in the DOP condition. These findings demonstrate that this procedure can help elderly people to ameliorate not only their learning, but also their long-term memory difficulties, suggesting the potential for the DOP to promote adherence to treatment in this population. PMID:29491846

UV-B Measurements in Mexico City: Comparison with Modeled UVB and Black Carbon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marley, N. A.; Gaffney, J. S.; Frederick, J. E.

2004-12-01

Ultraviolet-B radiation (UV-B) represents a chemically important region of the sun's spectrum. At the earth's surface, UV-B can initiate a number of important photochemical reactions (e.g., ozone photolysis) that lead to the formation of OH radicals. Where levels of nitrogen oxides are high and reactive hydrocarbons are found, as in Mexico City and other megacities, UV-B can initiate photochemical smog formation. We used a broadband instrument to obtain UV-B measurements in Mexico City during the Mexico City Metropolitan Area 2003/Mexico City Megacity 2003 field study. We then used a simple radiation model for the Mexico City latitude, altitude, and time of year to construct UV-B contours for comparison with our results. Early morning discrepancies involve reductions in UV-B that are consistent with the presence of significant levels of BC in the Mexico City environment. During most afternoons, UV-B reductions were dominated by clouds. The results are discussed in terms of the potential impacts of BC on UV-B and downwind photochemical processes. The authors wish to thank the researchers at Centro Nacional de Investigación en Calidad Ambiental (CENICA), Mexico City. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Atmospheric Science Program (Marley and Gaffney), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Frederick). We also wish to acknowledge Drs. Mario and Luisa Molina for their help in organizing and directing the Mexico City Metropolitan Area 2003 field study, during which these data were collected.

Evolutionary transformations of chorioallantoic placental characters in rodentia with special reference to hystricognath species.

PubMed

Mess, Andrea

2003-09-01

The aim of this paper is to reconstruct the evolution of chorioallantoic placental characters in Rodentia. The analysis is based on pre-existing hypotheses of rodent relationships and the tracing of character evolution. Data on 64 rodent species of 49 genera are derived from the literature. New results refer to the hystricognath species Petromus typicus A. Smith, 1831 and Octodon degus (Molina, 1782). This comprehensive analysis confirms that the stem species pattern of Rodentia is characterised by a haemochorial placenta which is divided horizontally. Inside the placental labyrinth, fetal vessels and their trophoblastic external border build up a network through which the maternal blood flows. The trophoblastic tissue is one-layered, syncytial and possess a considerable surface extension. Within Rodentia, evolutionary transformations occurred on the macroscopic as well as the fine structural level. The results suggest that the stem species of Hystricognathi underwent transformations only on the macroscopic level, i.e., forming a ring-shaped arrangement of placental regions with centrally situated maternal arteries and the acquisition of a subplacenta. By contrast, in Muridae the chorioallantoic placenta shows derived features only in regard to the fine structure of the labyrinth, i.e. the interhaemal membrane is modified in composition, and the fetal capillary endothelium is fenestrated. Geomyoidea underwent transformations on both levels. Macroscopically, their placenta is modified into a hillock shape. Microscopically, the interhaemal membrane is formed by the cytotrophoblast. In addition to the mentioned transformations, some aspects of other fetal membrane differentiation in Rodentia are briefly discussed. Copyright 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Recovery of black-necked swans, macrophytes and water quality in a Ramsar wetland of southern Chile: Assessing resilience following sudden anthropogenic disturbances.

PubMed

Jaramillo, Eduardo; Lagos, Nelson A; Labra, Fabio A; Paredes, Enrique; Acuña, Emilio; Melnick, Daniel; Manzano, Mario; Velásquez, Carlos; Duarte, Cristian

2018-07-01

In 2004 migration and mortality for unknown reasons of the herbivorous Black necked swan (Cygnus melancorhyphus (Molina, 1782)) occurred within the Río Cruces wetland (southern Chile), a Ramsar Site and nature sanctuary. Before 2004, this wetland hosted the largest breeding population of this water bird in the Neotropic Realm. The concurrent decrease in the spatial occurrence of the aquatic plant Egeria densa Planch. 1849 - the main food source of swans - was proposed as a cause for swan migration and mortality. Additionally, post-mortem analyses carried out on swans during 2004 showed diminished body weight, high iron loads and histopathological abnormalities in their livers, suggesting iron storage disease. Various hypotheses were postulated to describe those changes; the most plausible related to variations in water quality after a pulp mill located upstream the wetland started to operate in February 2004. Those changes cascaded throughout the stands of E. densa whose remnants had high iron contents in their tissues. Here we present results of a long-term monitoring program of the wetland components, which show that swan population abundance, body weights and histological liver conditions recovered to pre-disturbance levels in 2012. The recovery of E. densa and iron content in plants throughout the wetland, also returned to pre-disturbance levels in the same 8-year time period. These results show the temporal scale over which resilience and natural restoring processes occur in wetland ecosystems of temperate regions such as southern Chile. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Funerary artifacts, social status, and atherosclerosis in ancient peruvian mummy bundles.

PubMed

Sutherland, M Linda; Cox, Samantha L; Lombardi, Guido P; Watson, Lucia; Valladolid, Clide M; Finch, Caleb E; Zink, Albert; Frohlich, Bruno; Kaplan, Hillard S; Michalik, David E; Miyamoto, Michael I; Allam, Adel H; Thompson, Randall C; Wann, L Samuel; Narula, Jagat; Thomas, Gregory S; Sutherland, James D

2014-06-01

Evidence of atherosclerotic plaques in ancient populations has led to the reconsideration of risk factors for heart disease and of the common belief that it is a disease of modern times. Fifty-one wrapped mummy bundles excavated from the sites of Huallamarca, Pedreros, and Rinconada La Molina from the Puruchuco Museum collection in Lima, Peru, were scanned using computed tomography to investigate the presence of atherosclerosis. Funerary artifacts contained within the undisturbed mummy bundles were analyzed as an attempt to infer the social status of the individuals to correlate social status with evidence of heart disease in this ancient Peruvian group. This work also provides an inventory of the museum mummy collection to guide and facilitate future research. Statistical analysis concluded that there is little association between the types of grave goods contained within the bundles when the groups are pooled together. However, some patterns of artifact type, material, atherosclerosis, and sex emerge when the 3 excavation sites are analyzed separately. From the current sample, it would seem that social class is difficult to discern, but those from Huallamarca have the most markers of elite status. We had hypothesized that higher-status individuals may have had lifestyles that would place them at a higher risk for atherogenesis. There seems to be some indication of this within the site of Huallamarca, but it is inconclusive in the other 2 archeological sites. It is possible that a larger sample size in the future could reveal more statistically significant results. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Changes in the nesting populations of colonial waterbirds in Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, New York, 1974-1998

USGS Publications Warehouse

Brown, K.M.; Tims, J.L.; Erwin, R.M.; Richmond, M.E.

2001-01-01

The Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge (JBWR) represents the largest protected area for over 300 species of migratory and resident birds on Long Island (LI), New York, and occupies a key position along the Atlantic flyway. We identified changes in nesting populations for 18 species of colonial waterbirds in JBWR and on LI, during 1974 - 1998, to provide a basis for future wildlife management decisions in JBWR and also at nearby John F. Kennedy International Airport. None of the populations was stable over the past 25 years in JBWR or on LI. Some populations in JBWR increased (Laughing Gull L. atricilla Linnaeus, Great Black-backed Gull L. marinus Linnaeus, Forster's Tern Sterna forsteri Nuttall) while others decreased (Herring Gull Larus argentatus Coues, Snowy Egret Egretta thula Molina), but only Cattle Egrets (Bubulcus ibis Linnaeus) have disappeared from the refuge. Common Tern (S. hitundo Linnaeus), Least Tern (S. antillarum Lesson), Roseate Tern (S. dougallii Montagu), Black Skimmer (Rynchops niger Linnaeus), Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax Linnaeus) and Great Egret (Ardea alba Linnaeus) populations all increased on LI over the sampling period although the Common Tern colonies in JBWR have been declining since 1986. The continued protection of the colony sites, particularly saltmarsh islands, in JBWR will be important to the conservation efforts of many colonial waterbird populations on Long Island. The JBWR colonies may serve as a source of emigrants to other Long Island colonies, and in some cases, act as a 'sink' for birds immigrating from New Jersey and elsewhere.

Implementing Climate Services in Peru: CLIMANDES Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lavado-Casimiro, Waldo; Mauchle, Fabian; Diaz, Amelia; Seiz, Gabriela; Rubli, Alex; Rossa, Andrea; Rosas, Gabriela; Ita, Niceforo; Calle, Victoria; Villegas, Esequiel; Ambrosetti, Paolo; Brönnimann, Stefan; Hunziker, Stefan; Jacques, Martin; Croci-Maspoli, Mischa; Konzelmann, Thomas; Gubler, Stefanie; Rohrer, Mario

2014-05-01

The climate variability and change will have increasing influence on the economic and social development of all countries and regions, such as the Andes in Latin America. The CLIMANDES project (Climate services to support decision-making in the Andean Region) will address these issues in Peru. CLIMANDES supports the WMO Regional Training Centre (RTC) in Lima, which is responsible for the training of specialized human resources in meteorology and climatology in the South American Andes (Module 1). Furthermore, CLIMANDES will provide high-quality climate services to inform policy makers in the Andean region (Module 2). It is coordinated by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and constitutes a pilot project under the umbrella of the WMO-led Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS). The project is funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and runs from August 2012 - July 2015. Module 1 focuses on restructuring the curricula of Meteorology at the La Molina Agraria University (UNALM) and applied training of meteorologists of the Peruvian National Service of Meteorology and Hydrology (SENAMHI). In Module 2, the skills will be shared and developed in the production and delivery of high-quality climate products and services tailored to the needs of the decision makers in the pilot regions Cusco and Junín. Such services will benefit numerous sectors including agriculture, education, health, tourism, energy, transport and others. The goals of the modules 1 and 2 will be achieved through the collaboration of the UNALM, SENAMHI and the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss, with the support of the University of Bern (UNIBE), Meteodat and WMO.

Comparison of PAN and Black Carbon Levels in Mexico City: 1997 and 2003

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaffney, J. S.; Marley, N. A.

2004-12-01

Peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) is a secondary oxidant formed by the oxidation of hydrocarbons in the presence of nitrogen dioxide. PAN is a good indicator compound for hydrocarbon reactivity that leads to ozone formation. Black carbon (BC) is formed by incomplete combustion processes such as diesel soot formation and is a good indicator of primary carbonaceous aerosols in urban areas. We used a fast-response luminol method to measure PAN and BC during the Mexico City Metropolitan Area 2003/Mexico City Megacity 2003 field study in April 2003. We compare these results with our previous PAN measurements in Mexico City during February 1997, made with a gas chromatograph-electron capture detector system. The decreased PAN levels observed in 2003 are consistent with the application of emissions controls on spark ignition gasoline-fueled vehicles, leading to lower levels of the nitrogen oxides and reactive volatile hydrocarbons needed to form PAN. Black carbon data for Mexico City in 2003, taken with a seven-channel aethalometer, are compared with data from 1997, estimated from thermal analyses as elemental carbon (EC). The comparison indicates little change in the levels of BC/EC over the six-year period. This observation is consistent with the application of minimal controls to diesel engines, the likely major source of BC in the Mexico City megacity complex during this period. The authors wish to thank the researchers at Centro Nacional de Investigación en Calidad Ambiental (CENICA), Mexico City. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Atmospheric Science Program. We also wish to acknowledge Drs. Mario and Luisa Molina for their help in organizing and directing the Mexico City Metropolitan Area 2003 field study, during which these data were collected.

The Manú Gradient as a study system for bird pollination.

PubMed

Boehm, Mannfred Ma; Scholer, Micah N; Kennedy, Jeremiah Jc; Heavyside, Julian M; Daza, Aniceto; Guevara-Apaza, David; Jankowski, Jill E

2018-01-01

This study establishes an altiudinal gradient, spanning from the highland Andes (2400 m) to lowland Amazon, as a productive region for the study of bird pollination in Southeastern Peru. The 'Manú Gradient' has a rich history of ornithological research, the published data and resources from which lay the groundwork for analyses of plant-bird interactions. In this preliminary expedition we documented 44 plants exhibting aspects of the bird pollination syndrome, and made field observations of hummingbird visits at three sites spanning the Manú Gradient: 2800 m (Wayqecha), 1400 m (San Pedro), and 400 m (Pantiacolla). Some of the documented plant taxa are underrepresented in the bird pollination literature and could be promising avenues for future analyses of their pollination biology. The Manú Gradient is currently the focus of a concerted, international effort to describe and study the birds in the region; we propose that this region of Southeastern Peru is a productive and perhaps underestimated system to gain insight into the ecology and evolution of bird pollination. Observations were made on 11, 19, and 14 putatively bird pollinated plant species found at the high-, mid- and low-elevation sites along the gradient, respectively. Hummingbirds visited 18 of these plant species, with some plant species being visited by multiple hummingbird species or the same hummingbird species on differing occasions. Morphometric data is presented for putatively bird-pollinated plants, along with bill measurements from hummingbirds captured at each of three sites. Voucher specimens from this study are deposited in the herbaria of the Universidad Nacional de Agraria de La Molina (MOL), Peru and the University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada. The specimens collected represent a 'snapshot' of the diversity of bird-pollinated flora as observed over 10 day sampling windows (per site) during the breeding season for hummingbirds of Manú .

Compound I formation in artichoke (Cynara scolymus L.) peroxidase is modulated by the equilibrium between pentacoordinated and 6-aquo hexacoordinated forms of the heme and by calcium ions.

PubMed

Hiner, Alexander N P; Sidrach, Lara; Chazarra, Soledad; Varón, Ramón; Tudela, José; García-Cánovas, Francisco; Rodríguez-López, José Neptuno

2003-07-29

Basic artichoke (Cynara scolymus L.) peroxidase (AKP-C), when purified from the plant, has an unusually intense and sharp Soret absorption peak. The resonance Raman spectrum [López-Molina, D., et al. (2003) J. Inorg. Biochem. 94, 243-254] suggested a mixture of pentacoordinate high-spin (5cHS) and 6-aquo hexacoordinate high-spin (6cHS) ferric heme species. The rate constant (k(1)) of compound I formation with hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) was also lower than expected. Further stopped-flow studies have shown this reaction to be biphasic: a nonsaturating fast phase and a slow phase with complex H(2)O(2) concentration dependence. Addition of calcium ions (Ca(2+)) changed the absorption spectrum, suggesting the formation of a fully 5cHS species with a k(1) more than 5 orders of magnitude greater than that in the absence of Ca(2+) using the chelator ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid. Ca(2+) titrations gave a dissociation constant for a single Ca(2+) of approximately 20 microM. The circular dichroism spectrum of AKP-C was not significantly altered by Ca(2+), indicating that any structural changes will be minor, but removal of Ca(2+) did suppress the alkaline transition between pH 10 and 11. A kinetic analysis of the reaction of Ca(2+)-free AKP-C with H(2)O(2) supports an equilibrium between a slow-reacting 6cHS form and a more rapidly reacting 5cHS species, the presence of which was confirmed in nonaqueous solution. AKP-C, as purified, is a mixture of Ca(2+)-bound 5cHS, 6-aquo 6cHS, and Ca(2+)-free 5cHS species. The possibility that Ca(2+) concentration could control peroxidase activity in the plant is discussed.

The structure of unliganded reverse transcriptase from the human immunodeficiency virus type 1.

PubMed Central

Rodgers, D W; Gamblin, S J; Harris, B A; Ray, S; Culp, J S; Hellmig, B; Woolf, D J; Debouck, C; Harrison, S C

1995-01-01

The crystal structure of the reverse transcriptase (RT) from the type 1 human immunodeficiency virus has been determined at 3.2-A resolution. Comparison with complexes between RT and the polymerase inhibitor Nevirapine [Kohlstaedt, L.A., Wang, J., Friedman, J.M., Rice, P.A. & Steitz, T.A. (1992) Science 256, 1783-1790] and between RT and an oligonucleotide [Jacobo-Molina, A., Ding, J., Nanni, R., Clark, A. D., Lu, X., Tantillo, C., Williams, R. L., Kamer, G., Ferris, A. L., Clark, P., Hizi, A., Hughes, S. H. & Arnold, E. (1993) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90, 6320-6324] reveals changes associated with ligand binding. The enzyme is a heterodimer (p66/p51), with domains labeled "fingers," "thumb," "palm," and "connection" in both subunits, and a ribonuclease H domain in the larger subunit only. The most striking difference between RT and both complex structures is the change in orientation of the p66 thumb (approximately 33 degrees rotation). Smaller shifts relative to the core of the molecule were also found in other domains, including the p66 fingers and palm, which contain the polymerase active site. Within the polymerase catalytic region itself, there are no rearrangements between RT and the RT/DNA complex. In RT/Nevirapine, the drug binds in the p66 palm near the polymerase active site, a region that is well-packed hydrophobic core in the unliganded enzyme. Room for the drug is provided by movement of a small beta-sheet within the palm domain of the Nevirapine complex. The rearrangement within the palm and thumb, as well as domain shifts relative to the enzyme core, may prevent correct placement of the oligonucleotide substrate when the drug is bound. Images Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Fig. 4 PMID:7532306

Did poor eyesight influence Goya's late works? Medicine and art history in search for an interpretation of Goya's late paintings.

PubMed

Pérez-Trullén, José M; Ascaso, Francisco J; Auría, María J

2018-04-15

The aim of this article is to 'determine' the scope of Goya's eyesight difficulties and assess the extent to which those difficulties might explain his style of painting in the last years of his life. We analyse the correspondence and late works of the Aragonese painter Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828), who has been admired for his use of colour, his energetic loose brushstrokes, his disregard for details and his bold compositions, as well as for his different artistic styles throughout his life. The evolution of Goya's style of painting in his later works seems to have been the consequence of an eyesight condition, probably age-related cataracts at an advanced stage. The faded dark backgrounds, which become blurred with the silhouette of the person portrayed, could indicate a certain degree of eye strain. This can be traced in all these works, but is especially evident in the unfinished portrait of Pío de Molina (1827-1828), as well as in the portraits of Mariano Goya, the artist's grandson (1827), and Jacques Galos (1826). It has been considered that the late and isolated Goya's sight problems were a belated consequence of his severe illness of 1792. Nevertheless, in our opinion, this is a simplistic explanation and, given the painter's age, it is logical to presume that their cause could be age-related lens opacities. This article argues that medicine may become a subsidiary science to art history, as it can provide empirical evidence of the way painters' illnesses may have a strong impact on their artworks. © 2018 Acta Ophthalmologica Scandinavica Foundation. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Evaluating simplistic methods to understand current distributions and forecast distribution changes under climate change scenarios: An example with coypu (Myocastor coypus)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jarnevich, Catherine S.; Young, Nicholas E; Sheffels, Trevor R.; Carter, Jacoby; Systma, Mark D.; Talbert, Colin

2017-01-01

Invasive species provide a unique opportunity to evaluate factors controlling biogeographic distributions; we can consider introduction success as an experiment testing suitability of environmental conditions. Predicting potential distributions of spreading species is not easy, and forecasting potential distributions with changing climate is even more difficult. Using the globally invasive coypu (Myocastor coypus [Molina, 1782]), we evaluate and compare the utility of a simplistic ecophysiological based model and a correlative model to predict current and future distribution. The ecophysiological model was based on winter temperature relationships with nutria survival. We developed correlative statistical models using the Software for Assisted Habitat Modeling and biologically relevant climate data with a global extent. We applied the ecophysiological based model to several global circulation model (GCM) predictions for mid-century. We used global coypu introduction data to evaluate these models and to explore a hypothesized physiological limitation, finding general agreement with known coypu distribution locally and globally and support for an upper thermal tolerance threshold. Global circulation model based model results showed variability in coypu predicted distribution among GCMs, but had general agreement of increasing suitable area in the USA. Our methods highlighted the dynamic nature of the edges of the coypu distribution due to climate non-equilibrium, and uncertainty associated with forecasting future distributions. Areas deemed suitable habitat, especially those on the edge of the current known range, could be used for early detection of the spread of coypu populations for management purposes. Combining approaches can be beneficial to predicting potential distributions of invasive species now and in the future and in exploring hypotheses of factors controlling distributions.

Proteins QSAR with Markov average electrostatic potentials.

PubMed

González-Díaz, Humberto; Uriarte, Eugenio

2005-11-15

Classic physicochemical and topological indices have been largely used in small molecules QSAR but less in proteins QSAR. In this study, a Markov model is used to calculate, for the first time, average electrostatic potentials xik for an indirect interaction between aminoacids placed at topologic distances k within a given protein backbone. The short-term average stochastic potential xi1 for 53 Arc repressor mutants was used to model the effect of Alanine scanning on thermal stability. The Arc repressor is a model protein of relevance for biochemical studies on bioorganics and medicinal chemistry. A linear discriminant analysis model developed correctly classified 43 out of 53, 81.1% of proteins according to their thermal stability. More specifically, the model classified 20/28, 71.4% of proteins with near wild-type stability and 23/25, 92.0% of proteins with reduced stability. Moreover, predictability in cross-validation procedures was of 81.0%. Expansion of the electrostatic potential in the series xi0, xi1, xi2, and xi3, justified the use of the abrupt truncation approach, being the overall accuracy >70.0% for xi0 but equal for xi1, xi2, and xi3. The xi1 model compared favorably with respect to others based on D-Fire potential, surface area, volume, partition coefficient, and molar refractivity, with less than 77.0% of accuracy [Ramos de Armas, R.; González-Díaz, H.; Molina, R.; Uriarte, E. Protein Struct. Func. Bioinf.2004, 56, 715]. The xi1 model also has more tractable interpretation than others based on Markovian negentropies and stochastic moments. Finally, the model is notably simpler than the two models based on quadratic and linear indices. Both models, reported by Marrero-Ponce et al., use four-to-five time more descriptors. Introduction of average stochastic potentials may be useful for QSAR applications; having xik amenable physical interpretation and being very effective.

Electrophysiological evidence of the time course of attentional bias in non-patients reporting symptoms of depression with and without co-occurring anxiety

PubMed Central

Sass, Sarah M.; Heller, Wendy; Fisher, Joscelyn E.; Silton, Rebecca L.; Stewart, Jennifer L.; Crocker, Laura D.; Edgar, J. Christopher; Mimnaugh, Katherine J.; Miller, Gregory A.

2014-01-01

Anxiety is characterized by attentional biases to threat, but findings are inconsistent for depression. To address this inconsistency, the present study systematically assessed the role of co-occurring anxiety in attentional bias in depression. In addition, the role of emotional valence, arousal, and gender was explored. Ninety-two non-patients completed the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (Meyer et al., 1990; Molina and Borkovec, 1994) and portions of the Mood and Anxiety Symptom Questionnaire (Watson et al., 1995a,1995b). Individuals reporting high levels of depression and low levels of anxiety (depression only), high levels of depression and anxiety (combined), or low levels of both (control) completed an emotion-word Stroop task during event-related brain potential recording. Pleasant and unpleasant words were matched on emotional arousal level. An attentional bias was not evident in the depression-only group. Women in the combined group had larger N200 amplitude for pleasant than unpleasant stimuli, and the combined group as a whole had larger right-lateralized P300 amplitude for pleasant than unpleasant stimuli, consistent with an early and later attentional bias that is specific to unpleasant valence in the combined group. Men in the control group had larger N200 amplitude for pleasant than unpleasant stimuli, consistent with an early attentional bias that is specific to pleasant valence. The present study indicates that the nature and time course of attention prompted by emotional valence and not arousal differentiates depression with and without anxiety, with some evidence of gender moderating early effects. Overall, results suggest that co-occurring anxiety is more important than previously acknowledged in demonstrating evidence of attentional biases in depression. PMID:24782804

Effects of convergent diffusion and charge transfer kinetics on the diffusion layer thickness of spherical micro- and nanoelectrodes.

PubMed

Molina, A; Laborda, E; González, J; Compton, R G

2013-05-21

Nuances of the linear diffusion layer approximation are examined for slow charge transfer reactions at (hemi)spherical micro- and nanoelectrodes. This approximation is widely employed in Electrochemistry to evaluate the extent of electrolyte solution perturbed by the electrode process, which is essential to the understanding of the effects arising from thin-layer diffusion, convergent diffusion, convection, coupled chemical reactions and the double layer. The concept was well established for fast charge transfer processes at macroelectrodes, but remains unclear under other conditions such that a thorough assessment of its meaning was necessary. In a previous publication [A. Molina, J. González, E. Laborda and R. G. Compton, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2013, 15, 2381-2388] we shed some light on the influence of the reversibility degree. In the present work, the meaning of the diffusion layer thickness is investigated when very small electrodes are employed and so the contribution of convergent diffusion to the mass transport is very important. An analytical expression is given to calculate the linear diffusion layer thickness at (hemi)spherical electrodes and its behaviour is studied for a wide range of conditions of reversibility (from reversible to fully-irreversible processes) and electrode size (from macro- to nano-electrodes). Rigorous analytical solutions are deduced for true concentration profiles, surface concentrations, linear diffusion layer thickness and current densities when a potential pulse is applied at (hemi)spherical electrodes. The expressions for the magnitudes mentioned above are valid for electrodes of any size (including (hemi)spherical nanoelectrodes) and for any degree of reversibility, provided that mass transport occurs exclusively via diffusion. The variation of the above with the electrode size, applied potential and charge transfer kinetics is studied.

The Austrian UVB monitoring network: 12 years of observations and 25 years of reconstructed data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rieder, H. E.; Weihs, P.; Blumthaler, M.; Simic, S.; Schmalwieser, A. W.; Wagner, J. E.; Schallhart, B.; Schauberger, G.; Fitzka, M.; Holawe, F.; Laube, W.

2009-04-01

Since the discovery of anthropogenic ozone depletion in the early 1970s (e.g. Molina and Rowland, 1974; Farman et al., 1985) the interest in stratospheric ozone trends and solar UV-B increased within the scientific community and the general public because of the link between reduced total column ozone and increased UV-radiation doses. In 1996, the setup of an Austrian UVB monitoring network was initiated by the Federal Department of Environment (Blumthaler and Schauberger, 2001). Now it consists of 12 broadband detectors for measuring erythemally weighted solar UV irradiance at locations between 153 m and 3106 m above sea level. The locations of the stations were selected by objective criteria as spatial coverage and cover the whole altitude range of Austria. With that inter-stational correlation is close to 0.9 (Schmalwieser and Schauberger, 2001). All detectors are calibrated each year in the laboratory of the Division for Biomedical Physics, Innsbruck Medical University. First the relative spectral response of each detector is determined. Then by comparison with a double monochromator spectroradiometer the absolute calibration function is derived in dependence on solar zenith angle and on total atmospheric ozone (Blumthaler, 2004). The uncertainty of the calibration is about ±7% (at 95% confidence level) for solar zenith angles <75°, which is dominated by the uncertainty of the calibration lamp for the spectroradiometer (±4%). During routine operation, the measurements of all detectors are transmitted in near real time to the laboratory and then converted to UV-Indices, the internationally agreed unit for erythemally weighted solar irradiance. The results are then published on the internet (www.uv-index.at) every 15 minutes, together with a regional map showing the distribution of the UV-Index over Austria by combining the information from the measurement detectors with cloud information from Meteosat Second Generation. Recently reconstructed UV-data became available for two stations from the Austrian UVB monitoring network (Hoher Sonnblick and Vienna) (Rieder et al., 2008). An overview about the UVB monitoring network as well as studies on short and long-term trends and the influence of total ozone, surface albedo and cloudiness on erythemal UV (Weihs et al., 1999; Rieder et al., 2008; Simic et al., 2008) are presented. Results from a recent field campaign (Weihs et al., 2008) showed that maintenance of ground based measurements is very important as satellites so far do not satisfactorily represent ground UV. References: Blumthaler, M., and Ambach, W.: Solar UVB-albedo of various surfaces, Photochem. Photobiol., 48, 85-88, 1988. Blumthaler, M.: Quality assurance and quality control methodologies within the Austrian UV monitoring network, Rad. Prot. Dos., 111, 359-362, 2004. Farman, J. C., Gardiner, B. G., and Shanklin, J. D.: Large losses of total ozone in Antarctica reveal seasonal ClOx/NOx interaction, Nature, 315, 207-210, 1985. Molina, M. J., and Rowland, F. S.: Stratospheric sink for chlorofluoromethans: Chlorine atom-catalysed destruction of ozone, Nature, 249, 810-812, 1974. Rieder, H.E., Holawe, F., Simic, S., Blumthaler, M., Krzyscin, J.W., Wagner J.E., Schmalwieser A.W., and Weihs, P.: Reconstruction of erythemal UV-doses for two stations in Austria: A comparison between alpine and urban regions, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 8, 6309-6323, 2008. Simic, S., Weihs, P., Vacek, A., Kromp-Kolb, H., and Fitzka, M.: Spectral UV measurements in Austria from 1994 to 2006: investigations of short- and long-term changes, Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., 8, 2403-2428, 2008. Schmalwieser, A.W., and Schauberger, G.: A monitoring network for erythemally-effective solar ultraviolet radiation in Austria: determination of the measuring sites and visualisation of the spatial distribution, Theor. Appl. Climatol., 69, 221-229, 2001. Weihs, P., Simic, S., Laube, W., Mikielewicz, W., Rengarajan, G., Mandl, G.: Albedo influences on surface UV irradiance at the Sonnblick high mountain Observatory (3106 m altitude), J. Appl. Meteorol., 38, 1599-1610, 1999. Weihs, P., Blumthaler, M., Rieder, H. E., Kreuter, A., Simic, S., Laube, W., Schmalwieser, A. W., Wagner, J. E., and Tanskanen, A.: Measurements of UV irradiance within the area of one satellite pixel, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 8, 5615-5626, 2008.

Evaluation of groundwater quality and selected hydrologic conditions in the South Coast aquifer, Santa Isabel area, Puerto Rico, 2008–09

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rodríguez, José M.

2013-01-01

The source of drinking water in the Santa Isabel and Coamo areas of Puerto Rico (Molina and Gómez-Gómez, 2008) is the South Coast aquifer (hereafter referred to as the aquifer), which supplies about 30,700 cubic meters per day (m³/d) to Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA) public-supply wells. In addition, approximately 45 wells provide an estimated 33,700 m³/d of groundwater to irrigate crops in the area. In 1967, baseline nitrate concentrations in groundwater throughout most of the aquifer were generally less than 6 milligrams per liter (mg/L) as nitrogen in collected water samples (U.S. Geological Survey, 2012). In 2007, elevated nitrate concentrations were detected in the aquifer, near Santa Isabel and the foothills north of the coastal plain at Santa Isabel as part of a regional groundwater-quality assessment conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) during 2007 (Rodríguez and Gómez-Gómez, 2008). The increase in nitrate concentrations has been of concern to local government agencies because of its potential effect on public supply. To address public-supply concerns, the USGS, in cooperation with the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (PRDNER), evaluated groundwater quality in the aquifer near the Santa Isabel area between January 2008 and May 2009. The objectives of the study were to (1) define the groundwater-quality conditions of the aquifer, with emphasis on the distribution of nitrate concentrations; (2) identify potential sources leading to elevated nitrate concentrations; (3) estimate the nitrate loads from major sources identified; and (4) estimate the groundwater withdrawals by principal-use categories in the area. Results of this study will be used by Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and Federal agencies in developing strategies that can result in containment of high nitrate groundwater to minimize degradation of fresh groundwater in the aquifer.

Overview Of Cal-Mex 2010: US-Mexico Collaborative Project On Air Quality And Climate Change In The California-Mexico Border Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Molina, L. T.; Cal-Mex Science Team

2010-12-01

The composition of the atmosphere over the US-Mexico border region is affected by cross-border transport of emissions in both directions. Air quality issues in the California-Mexico (Cal-Mex) border are associated with air masses originating in the portion of the border region adjacent to California, which includes two of the sister city pairs (Tijuana-San Diego and Mexicali-Calexico) that have the most severe air pollution problems, posing a serious health threat to their inhabitants as well as affecting ecosystem viability and regional climate for large downwind distances. During May-June 2010, an intensive field study was undertaken by US-Mexico collaborative teams to characterize the major sources of primary and secondary particulate matter and precursor gases in the California-Mexico (Cal-Mex) border region, their transport and transformation, and the impact of these emissions on regional air quality and climate. The ground-based measurements included a central fixed site located in Tijuana that housed state-of-the-science instruments to measure gases, aerosols, radiation and meteorological parameters; a mobile eddy covariance laboratory that measured surface-atmosphere exchange fluxes of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particle number; several mobile units for criteria pollutants and meteorological parameters; and measurements of fine particles and trace gases at the border crossing areas. Preliminary results from the field study will be presented. Cal-Mex Science Team includes: Molina Center for Energy and the Environment, Texas A & M University, Scripps Institution of Oceanography/University of California at San Diego, Virginia Tech, San Diego State University, National University of Mexico, National Institute of Ecology/Mexican Ministry of the Environment, University of the State of Morelos, LT Consulting Group, University of Baja California (Mexicali, Tijuana, Ensenada, Valle de Las Palmas campuses), Secretary of the Environment of Baja California, Tijuana Technological University, and University of Ciudad Juarez.

Human-induced changes on wetlands: a study case from NW Iberia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

López-Merino, Lourdes; Cortizas, Antonio Martínez; López-Sáez, José Antonio

2011-09-01

Wetlands are exceptional ecosystems that contribute to biodiversity and play a key role in the hydrological and carbon cycles. Knowledge of their long-term ecology is essential for a proper understanding of these valuable ecosystems. We present the application of multi-proxy analyses to a 115 cm-thick core from La Molina mire (Alto de la Espina) located in NW Iberia, with a chronology spanning since ˜500 BC. The mire is located in an area intensively mined for gold during the Roman period, and close to a water-canalization system used for mining operations at that time. Our aim was to get insights into the development of the wetland by combining palynological records of hydro-hygrophytes, non-pollen palynomorphs and geochemical analyses, supported by 14C datings and multivariate statistics. The results indicate a complex pattern of ecological succession. During the local Iron Age the wetland was minerotrophic. Since ˜20 AD it was subjected to dramatic hydrological changes due to a rise of the water-table, fluctuating between the presence of open water and phases of drawdown. Finally, by ˜745 AD, the wetland experienced a rapid evolution towards ombrotrophic conditions. High grazing pressure was detected for the last decades. The significant change occurred during Early Roman Empire seems to have been the consequence of the direct use of the wetland as a water-reservoir of the canalisation system used for gold-mining. Thus, the current nature of the mire may be the result of human impact, although multiple human- and climate-induced causes were potentially linked to the detected shifts. However, the system seems to have been resilient, successfully buffering the changes without substantial alterations of its functioning. Our investigation shows that palaeoecological research is necessary to understand modifications in the structure of wetland ecosystems, their long-term ecology and the role of human-induced changes.

Sedimentation survey of Lago La Plata, Toa Alta, Puerto Rico, March–April 2015

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gómez-Fragoso, Julieta

2016-10-31

IntroductionLago La Plata is operated by the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA) and is part of the San Juan Metropolitan Water District. The reservoir serves a population of about 425,000 people. During 2013 the reservoir provided 0.307 million cubic meters (Mm3 ) of water per day (about 81 million gallons per day), which is equivalent to 31 percent of the total water demand for the metropolitan area (Wanda L. Molina, U.S. Geological Survey, written commun., 2015). The dam was constructed in 1974 and is located about 5 kilometers (km) south of the town of Toa Alta and 5 km north of the town of Naranjito (fig. 1). The drainage area upstream from the Lago La Plata dam is about 469 square kilometers (km2 ). The storage capacity at construction in 1974 was 26.84 Mm3 with a spillway elevation of 47.12 meters (m) above mean sea level (msl). Storage capacity was increased to 40.21 Mm3 in 1989 after the installation of bascule gates to provide a normal dam pool elevation at 52 m above msl (Puerto Rico Electric and Power Authority, 1979). The maximum height of the dam is about 40 m above the river bottom near the dam, and the intake structure consists of six 1.82-m-diameter ports facing upstream, with 6-m vertical spacing that begins at an elevation of 19 m above msl. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the PRASA, conducted a bathymetric survey of the Lago La Plata reservoir during March and April 2015. The hydrographic survey was designed to provide an update of the reservoir storage capacity and sedimentation rate. Areas with substantial sediment accumulation are also discussed in this report. The results of the survey were used to prepare a bathymetric map showing the reservoir bottom (fig. 2) referenced with respect to the spillway elevation. This report also includes a summary of a previous bathymetric survey conducted in 2006 (Soler-López, 2008).

Estimation of erosion and sedimentation yield in the Ucayali river basin, a Peruvian tributary of the Amazon River, using ground and satellite methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santini, William; Martinez, Jean-Michel; Guyot, Jean-Loup; Espinoza, Raul; Vauchel, Philippe; Lavado, Waldo

2014-05-01

Since 2003, the works of HYBAM observatory (www.ore-hybam.org) has allowed to quantify with accuracy, precision and over a long period Amazon's main rivers discharges and sediments loads. In Peru, a network of 8 stations is regularly gauged and managed in association with the national meteorological and Hydrological service (SENAMHI), the UNALM (National Agrological University of La Molina) and the National Water Agency (ANA). Nevertheless, some current processes of erosion and sedimentation in the foreland basins are still little known, both in volumes and in localization. The sedimentary contributions of Andean tributaries could be there considerable, masking a very strong sedimentation in subsidence zones localized between the control points of the HYBAM's network. The development of spatial techniques such as the Altimetry and reflectance measurement allows us today to complete the ground's network: HYBAM's works have allowed establishing a relation between surface concentration and reflectance in Amazonian rivers (Martinez et al., 2009, Espinoza et al., 2012) and reconstituting water levels series (Calmant et al., 2006, 2008). If the difficulty of calibration of these techniques increases towards the upstream, their use can allow a first characterization of the tributaries contributions and sedimentation zones. At world level, erosion and sedimentation yields in the upper Ucayali are exceptional, favored by a marked seasonality in this region (Espinoza et al., 2009, Lavado, 2010, Pépin et al., 2010) and the presence of cells of extreme precipitation ("Hotspots") (Johnson et al., 1976, Espinoza et al, 2009a). The upper Ucayali drainage basin is a Piggyback where the River run with a low slope, parallel to the Andean range, deposing by gravity hundred millions a year of sands, silts and clays. In this work, we thus propose an estimation of sedimentation and erosion yield in the Ucayali river basin using ground and satellite methods.

Alcohol consumption and the risk of renal cancers in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). Wozniak MB, Brennan P, Brenner DR, Overvad K, Olsen A, Tjønneland A, Boutron-Ruault MC, Clavel-Chapelon F, Fagherazzi G, Katzke V, Kühn T, Boeing H, Bergmann MM, Steffen A, Naska A, Trichopoulou A, Trichopoulos D, Saieva C, Grioni S, Panico S, Tumino R, Vineis P, Bueno-de-Mesquita HB, Peeters PH, Hjartåker A, Weiderpass E, Arriola L, Molina-Montes E, Duell EJ, Santiuste C, Alonso de la Torre R, Barricarte Gurrea A, Stocks T, Johansson M, Ljungberg B, Wareham N, Khaw KT, Travis RC, Cross AJ, Murphy N, Riboli E, Scelo G.Int J Cancer. 2015 Oct 15;137(8):1953-66. [Epub 2015 Apr 28]. doi: 10.1002/ijc.29559.

PubMed

Jay, Raman; Brennan, P; Brenner; Overvad, K; Olsen, A; Tjønneland, A; Boutron-Ruault, M C; Clavel-Chapelon, F; Fagherazzi; Katzke, V; Kühn, T; Boeing, H; Bergmann, M M; Steffen, A; Naska, A; Trichopoulou, A; Trichopoulos, D; Saieva, C; Grioni, S; Panico, S; Tumino, R; Vineis, P; Bueno-de-Mesquita, H B; Peeters, P H; Hjartåker, A; Weiderpass, E; Arriola, L; Molina-Montes, E; Duell, E J; Santiuste, C; Alonso de la Torre, R; Barricarte Gurrea, A; Stocks, T; Johansson, M; Ljungberg, B; Wareham, N; Khaw, K T; Travis, R C; Cross, A J; Murphy, N; Riboli, E; Scelo, G

2017-03-01

Epidemiologic studies have reported that moderate alcohol consumption is inversely associated with the risk of renal cancer. However, there is no information available on the associations in renal cancer subsites. From 1992 to 2010, 477,325 men and women in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort were followed for incident renal cancers (n = 931). Baseline and lifetime alcohol consumption was assessed by country-specific, validated dietary questionnaires. Information on past alcohol consumption was collected by lifestyle questionnaires. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated from Cox proportional hazard models. In multivariate analysis, total alcohol consumption at baseline was inversely associated with renal cancer; the HR and 95% CI for the increasing categories of total alcohol consumption at recruitment vs. the light drinkers category were 0.78 (0.62-0.99), 0.82 (0.64-1.04), 0.70 (0.55-0.90), and 0.91 (0.63-1.30), respectively, (ptrend = 0.001). A similar relationship was observed for average lifetime alcohol consumption and for all renal cancer subsites combined or for renal parenchyma subsite. The trend was not observed in hypertensive individuals and not significant in smokers. In conclusion, moderate alcohol consumption was associated with a decreased risk of renal cancer. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

[The examination of men's wits by Juan Huarte de San Juan, and the dawn of the neurobiology of intelligence in the Spanish renaissance].

PubMed

Martín-Araguz, A; Bustamante-Martínez, C

The Spanish renaissance doctor Juan Huarte de San Juan (1529-1588) was the author of a unique and immortal work, The Examination of Men's Wits, the edition princeps of which was printed in Baeza in 1575. Since then it has been reprinted at least 80 times and translated into seven languages, which makes it the most influential Spanish contribution to medicine ever published. In this paper we review the unjustly little-known figure of Huarte as the founder of Neuropsychology, and we also analyse his works from a historical and neuroscientific point of view. Huarte's writings deal with the problem of the organic relations between the brain and understanding, and accept the possible influences exerted by temper on the will within the field of the Neurobiology of Intelligence. Thus, over four centuries ago Huarte became the founder of Differential or Physiological Psychology, Neuropsychology, Eugenics and Career Guidance. Huarte's work not only played a fundamental role in the history and development of the body of neuroscientific knowledge, but has also been a clear (although not always cited) influence on scientists, philosophers and men of letters such as Alarcón, Bacon, Cabanis, Cervantes (whose Don Quixote was inspired by him), Charron, Chomsky, Gall, Goethe, Hume, Kant, Kretchmer, Lessing, Lope de Vega, Montaigne, Montesquieu, Nietzsche, Quevedo, Rousseau, Schopenhauer, Thomasius, Tirso de Molina and Ziegler. In the middle of the 16th century, Huarte and his Examination of Men's Wits, together with the works of the naturalist philosophers Gómez Pereira (Antoniana Margarita, 1554) and Miguel Sabuco (New Philosophy, 1587), constituted the prestigious triumvirate of Spanish Renaissance scholars who, for the first time in history, contemplated the workings of the brain from a point of view that had more to do with science than the supernatural.

Deployment of broadband seismic and infrasonic networks on Tungurahua and Cotopaxi Volcanoes, Ecuador

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumagai, H.; Yepes, H.; Vaca, M.; Caceres, V.; Nagai, T.; Yokoe, K.; Imai, T.; Miyakawa, K.; Yamashina, T.; Arrais, S.; Vasconez, F.; Pinajota, E.; Cisneros, C.; Ramos, C.; Paredes, M.; Gomezjurado, L.; Garcia-Aristizabal, A.; Molina, I.; Ramon, P.; Segovia, M.; Palacios, P.; Enriquez, W.; Inoue, I.; Nakano, M.; Inoue, H.

2006-12-01

Tungurahua and Cotopaxi are andesitic active volcanoes in Ecuadorian Andes. Tungurahua continues its eruptive activity since 1999, in which explosive eruptions accompanying pyroclastic flows occurred in July- August, 2006. Cotopaxi is one of the world's highest glacier-clad active volcanoes, and its seismic activity remains high since 2001. To enhance the monitoring capability of these volcanoes, we have installed broadband seismometers (Guralp CMG-40T: 60 s-50 Hz) and infrasonic sensors (ACO TYPE7144/4144: 10 s- 100 Hz) on these volcanoes through the technical cooperation program of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Three and five stations are currently installed at Tungurahua and Cotopaxi, respectively, and additional two stations will be installed at Tungurahua. Both seismic and infrasonic waveform data at each station are digitized by a Geotech Smart24D datalogger with a sampling frequency of 50 Hz, and transmitted by a digital telemetry system using 2.4 GHz Wireless LAN to the central office in Quito. The Tungurahua's eruptive activity accompanying pyroclastic flows in July-August 2006 was monitored in real-time by the network. The observed waveforms show a wide variety of signatures in response to various eruption styles: intermittent tremor during Strombolian eruptions, five-hour-long continuous strong tremor during heightened eruptions, very-long-period (VLP) seismic signals (10-50 s) associated with pyroclastic flows, and impulsive seismic and infrasonic events of explosions. At Cotopaxi Volcano, VLP signals (2 s) accompanying long- period signals (1-2 Hz) were detected by our network. Similar events occurred in 2002, and are interpreted as gas-release process from magma in an intruded dike beneath Cotopaxi (Molina et al, submitted to JGR). The present observation of the same type of events suggests that the intruded dike is still active beneath Cotopaxi. These signals detected by our networks are highly useful to understand volcanic processes beneath Tungurahua and Cotopaxi, which contribute to improve the monitoring capability of these volcanoes.

Stratospheric ozone, global warming, and the principle of unintended consequences-An ongoing science and policy success story.

PubMed

Andersen, Stephen O; Halberstadt, Marcel L; Borgford-Parnell, Nathan

2013-06-01

In 1974, Mario Molina and F. Sherwood Rowland warned that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) could destroy the stratospheric ozone layer that protects Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation. In the decade after, scientists documented the buildup and long lifetime of CFCs in the atmosphere; found the proof that CFCs chemically decomposed in the stratosphere and catalyzed the depletion of ozone; quantified the adverse effects; and motivated the public and policymakers to take action. In 1987, 24 nations plus the European Community signed the Montreal Protocol. Today, 25 years after the Montreal Protocol was agreed, every United Nations state is a party (universal ratification of 196 governments); all parties are in compliance with the stringent controls; 98% of almost 100 ozone-depleting chemicals have been phased out worldwide; and the stratospheric ozone layer is on its way to recovery by 2065. A growing coalition of nations supports using the Montreal Protocol to phase down hydrofluorocarbons, which are ozone safe but potent greenhouse gases. Without rigorous science and international consensus, emissions of CFCs and related ozone-depleting substances (ODSs) could have destroyed up to two-thirds of the ozone layer by 2065, increasing the risk of causing millions of cancer cases and the potential loss of half of global agricultural production. Furthermore, because most ODSs are also greenhouse gases, CFCs and related ODSs could have had the effect of the equivalent of 24-76 gigatons per year of carbon dioxide. This critical review describes the history of the science of stratospheric ozone depletion, summarizes the evolution of control measures and compliance under the Montreal Protocol and national legislation, presents a review of six separate transformations over the last 100 years in refrigeration and air conditioning (A/C) technology, and illustrates government-industry cooperation in continually improving the environmental performance of motor vehicle A/C. [Box: see text].

Drought tolerance of selected bottle gourd [Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standl.] landraces assessed by leaf gas exchange and photosynthetic efficiency.

PubMed

Mashilo, Jacob; Odindo, Alfred O; Shimelis, Hussein A; Musenge, Pearl; Tesfay, Samson Z; Magwaza, Lembe S

2017-11-01

Successful cultivation of bottle gourd in arid and semi-arid areas of sub-Saharan Africa and globally requires the identification of drought tolerant parents for developing superior genotypes with increased drought resistance. The objective of this study was to determine the level of drought tolerance among genetically diverse South African bottle gourd landraces based on leaf gas exchange and photosynthetic efficiency and identify promising genotypes for breeding. The responses of 12 bottle gourd landraces grown in glasshouse under non-stressed (NS) and drought-stressed (DS) conditions were studied. A significant genotype x water regime interaction was observed for gs, T, A, A/C i , IWUE, WUE ins , F m ', F v '/F m ', Ф PSII , qP, qN, ETR, ETR/A and AES indicating variability in response among the studied bottle gourd landraces under NS and DS conditions. Principal component analysis identified three principal components (PC's) under drought stress condition contributing to 82.9% of total variation among leaf gas exchange and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters measured. PC1 explained 36% of total variation contributed by gs, T, F 0 ', F m ', F v '/F m ' and qN, while PC2 explained 28% of the variation and highly correlated with A, A/C i , IWUE, WUE ins ETR/A and AES. PC3 explained 14% of total variation contributed by Ф PSII , qP and ETR. Principal biplot analysis allowed the identification of drought tolerant genotypes such as BG-27, BG-48, BG-58, BG-79, BG-70 and BG-78 which were grouped based on high gs, A, F m 'F v '/F m ', qN, ETR/A and AES under DS condition. The study suggests that the identified physiological traits could be useful indicators in the selection of bottle gourd genotypes for increased drought tolerance. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Stratospheric ozone, global warming, and the principle of unintended consequences--an ongoing science and policy success story.

PubMed

Andersen, Stephen O; Halberstadt, Marcel L; Borgford-Parnell, Nathan

2013-06-01

In 1974, Mario Molina and F. Sherwood Rowland warned that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) could destroy the stratospheric ozone layer that protects Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation. In the decade after scientists documented the buildup and long lifetime of CFCs in the atmosphere; found the proof that CFCs chemically decomposed in the stratosphere and catalyzed the depletion of ozone; quantified the adverse effects; and motivated the public and policymakers to take action. In 1987, 24 nations plus the European Community signed the Montreal Protocol. Today, 25 years after the Montreal Protocol was agreed, every United Nations state is a party (universal ratification of 196 governments); all parties are in compliance with the stringent controls; 98% of almost 100 ozone-depleting chemicals have been phased out worldwide; and the stratospheric ozone layer is on its way to recovery by 2065. A growing coalition of nations supports using the Montreal Protocol to phase down hydrofluorocarbons, which are ozone safe but potent greenhouse gases. Without rigorous science and international consensus, emissions of CFCs and related ozone-depleting substances (ODSs) could have destroyed up to two-thirds of the ozone layer by 2065, increasing the risk of causing millions of cancer cases and the potential loss of half of global agricultural production. Furthermore, because most, ODSs are also greenhouse gases, CFCs and related ODSs could have had the effect of the equivalent of 24-76 gigatons per year of carbon dioxide. This critical review describes the history of the science of stratospheric ozone depletion, summarizes the evolution of control measures and compliance under the Montreal Protocol and national legislation, presents a review of six separate transformations over the last 100 years in refrigeration and air conditioning (A/C) technology, and illustrates government-industry cooperation in continually improving the environmental performance of motor vehicle A/C.

Effects of Combining Running and Practical Duration Stretching on Proprioceptive Skills of National Sprinters.

PubMed

Romero-Franco, Natalia; Párraga-Montilla, Juan Antonio; Molina-Flores, Enrique M; Jiménez-Reyes, Pedro

2018-06-01

Romero-Franco, N, Párraga-Montilla, JA, Molina-Flores, EM, and Jiménez-Reyes, P. Effects of combining running and practical duration stretching on proprioceptive skills of national sprinters. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000-000, 2018-Practical duration stretching after aerobic activities is a recommended component of the first part of warm-up because of its effects on performance. However, its effects on proprioceptive skills are unknown. This study aimed to analyze the effects of running and practical duration static stretching (SS) and dynamic stretching (DS) on postural balance and the joint position sense (JPS) of national sprinters. Thirty-two national sprinters were randomly classified into a SS group (n = 11), DS group (n = 11), or control group (n = 10). Static stretching performed 5 minutes of running and short-duration (20 seconds) static stretches; DS performed 5 minutes of running and short-duration dynamic (20 seconds) stretches; and the control group performed 5 minutes of running. Before and after the intervention, unipedal static postural balance and knee JPS were evaluated. Static stretching exhibited a more centralized center of pressure in the medial-lateral plane for unipedal static postural balance in right-leg support after stretching (p = 0.005, d = 1.24), whereas DS showed values further from the center after stretching for the same unipedal support compared with baseline (p = 0.042, d = 0.49), and the control group remained stable (p > 0.05). Joint position sense did not show significant differences in any group (p > 0.05). In conclusion, combining running and practical duration SS may be beneficial for right-leg postural stabilization, whereas DS may be partly and slightly deleterious. Both SS and DS combined with running and running alone have neutral effects on knee JPS. Sports professionals should consider running and practical duration SS as part of the warm-up of sprinters to partly improve unipedal static postural balance.

Special Judo Fitness Test Level and Anthropometric Profile of Elite Spanish Judo Athletes.

PubMed

Casals, Cristina; Huertas, Jesús R; Franchini, Emerson; Sterkowicz-Przybycień, Katarzyna; Sterkowicz, Stanislaw; Gutiérrez-García, Carlos; Escobar-Molina, Raquel

2017-05-01

Casals, C, Huertas, JR, Franchini, E, Sterkowicz-Przybycień, K, Sterkowicz, S, Gutiérrez-García, C, and Escobar-Molina, R. Special judo fitness test level and anthropometric profile of elite spanish judo athletes. J Strength Cond Res 31(5): 1229-1235, 2017-The aim of this study was to determine the anthropometric variables that best predict Special Judo Fitness Test (SJFT) performance. In addition, anthropometric profiles of elite Spanish judo athletes were compared by sex and age category (seniors and juniors). In this cross-sectional study, a total of 51 (29 females) athletes from the Spanish National Judo Team were evaluated during a competitive period. All athletes performed the SJFT and underwent an anthropometric assessment through skinfold thickness measurements. Mann-Whitney comparisons by sex and age category showed that males had significantly higher muscle mass and lower fat mass than females (p < 0.001), whereas juniors and seniors exhibited few differences in body composition. Linear regression analyses (stepwise method) were performed to explore the relationships between anthropometric characteristics and SJFT variables. Model 1 included sex, age category, and body mass as predictors. Body mass and sex significantly predicted the SJFT index (R = 0.27, p < 0.001); thus, both criteria should be considered before interpreting the test. The predictors of model 2 were quick-assessment variables, including skinfolds, breadths, girths, and height. This regression model showed that the biceps skinfold significantly predicted the SJFT index in elite athletes (R = 0.31, p < 0.001). Model 3 included body compositions and somatotypes as predictors. Higher muscle and bone masses and lower ectomorphy were associated with better SJFT performance (R = 0.44, p < 0.001). Hence, training programs should attempt to increase the muscle mass percentage and reduce the upper arm fat, whereas the bone percentage could be considered in the selection of talented athletes in conjunction with other factors.

First year growth in the lithodids Lithodes santolla and Paralomis granulosa reared at different temperatures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Calcagno, J. A.; Lovrich, G. A.; Thatje, S.; Nettelmann, U.; Anger, K.

2005-10-01

The southern king crab, Lithodes santolla Molina, and stone crab, Paralomis granulosa Jacquinot, inhabit the cold-temperate waters of southernmost South America (southern Chile and Argentina), where stocks of both species are endangered by overfishing. Recent investigations have shown that these crabs show life-cycle adaptations to scarcity of food and low temperatures prevailing in subantarctic regions, including complete lecithotrophy of all larval stages and prolonged periods of brooding and longevity. However, growth and development to maturity are slow under conditions of low temperatures, which may explain the particular vulnerability of subpolar lithodids to fisheries. In the present study, juvenile L. santolla and P. granulosa were individually reared in the laboratory at constant temperatures ranging from 3-15 °C, and rates of survival and development through successive instars were monitored throughout a period of about nine months from hatching. When the experiments were terminated, L. santolla had maximally reached juvenile instar IV (at 6 °C), V (9 °C), or VII (15 °C). In P. granulosa the maximum crab instar reached was II (at 3 °C), V (6 °C), V (9 °C), or VII (15 °C). The intermoult period decreased with increasing temperature, while it increased in successively later instars. In consequence, growth rate showed highly significant differences among temperatures (P<0.001). Growth-at-moult was highest at 9 °C. Rates of survival decreased significantly in juvenile P. granulosa with increasing temperature. Only at 15 °C in L. santolla, was a significantly enhanced mortality found compared with lower temperatures. Our results indicate that juvenile stages of L. santolla and P. granulosa are well adapted to 5-10°C, the range of temperatures typically prevailing in subantarctic marine environments. In spite of causing higher mortality rates, higher rearing temperatures (12-15 °C) should accelerate the rates of growth and maturation, which may be favourable for projects aiming at aquaculture or repopulation of overexploited king crab stocks.

Early atmospheric metal pollution provides evidence for Chalcolithic/Bronze Age mining and metallurgy in Southwestern Europe.

PubMed

Martínez Cortizas, Antonio; López-Merino, Lourdes; Bindler, Richard; Mighall, Tim; Kylander, Malin E

2016-03-01

Although archaeological research suggests that mining/metallurgy already started in the Chalcolithic (3rd millennium BC), the earliest atmospheric metal pollution in SW Europe has thus far been dated to ~3500-3200 cal.yr. BP in paleo-environmental archives. A low intensity, non-extensive mining/metallurgy and the lack of appropriately located archives may be responsible for this mismatch. We have analysed the older section (>2100 cal.yr. BP) of a peat record from La Molina (Asturias, Spain), a mire located in the proximity (35-100 km) of mines which were exploited in the Chalcolithic/Bronze Age, with the aim of assessing evidence of this early mining/metallurgy. Analyses included the determination of C as a proxy for organic matter content, lithogenic elements (Si, Al, Ti) as markers of mineral matter, and trace metals (Cr, Cu, Zn, Pb) and stable Pb isotopes as tracers of atmospheric metal pollution. From ~8000 to ~4980 cal.yr. BP the Pb composition is similar to that of the underlying sediments (Pb 15 ± 4 μg g(-1); (206)Pb/(207)Pb 1.204 ± 0.002). A sustained period of low (206)Pb/(207)Pb ratios occurred from ~4980 to ~2470 cal.yr. BP, which can be divided into four phases: Chalcolithic (~4980-3700 cal.yr. BP), (206)Pb/(207)Pb ratios decline to 1.175 and Pb/Al ratios increase; Early Bronze Age (~3700-3500 cal.yr. BP), (206)Pb/(207)Pb increase to 1.192 and metal/Al ratios remain stable; Late Bronze Age (~3500-2800 cal.yr. BP), (206)Pb/(207)Pb decline to their lowest values (1.167) while Pb/Al and Zn/Al increase; and Early Iron Age (~2800-2470 cal.yr. BP), (206)Pb/(207)Pb increase to 1.186, most metal/Al ratios decrease but Zn/Al shows a peak. At the beginning of the Late Iron Age, (206)Pb/(207)Pb ratios and metal enrichments show a rapid return to pre-anthropogenic values. These results provide evidence of regional/local atmospheric metal pollution triggered by the earliest phases of mining/metallurgy in the area, and reconcile paleo-environmental and archaeological records. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

"On the Possibilities of Climate Control" in 1962: Harry Wexler on Geoengineering and Ozone Destruction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fleming, J. R.

2007-12-01

In 1962, in the early days of GCMs and satellites, Harry Wexler, Chief of the Scientific Services Division of the U.S. Weather Bureau and one of the most influential meteorologists of the 20th century, turned his attention to techniques that could raise or lower the overall temperature of the planet or rearrange its thermal structure. He also investigated possible inadvertent and purposeful damage to the ozone layer involving catalytic reactions of chorine and bromine. This work pre-dated the Nobel Prize-winning work on ozone depletion of P. Crutzen, M. Molina, and S. Rowland by about a decade. Wexler revealed his concerns about geoengineering and ozone destruction in a series of lectures "On the Possibilities of Climate Control" presented to technical audiences in Boston, Hartford, and Los Angeles in 1962. Using newly available results from GCMs and satellite heat budget experiments, Wexler pointed out that strategic manipulations of the Earth's shortwave and longwave radiation budgets could result in rather large-scale effects on general circulation patterns in short or longer periods, even approaching that of climatic change. These techniques, included increasing world temperature by several degrees by detonating up to ten H-bombs in the Arctic Ocean; decreasing world temperature by launching powder into an equatorial orbit to shade the Earth and make it look somewhat like Saturn and its rings; warming the lower atmosphere and cooling the stratosphere by artificial injections of water vapor or other substances; and notably, destroying all stratospheric ozone above the Arctic circle or near the equator using a relatively small amount of a catalytic agent such as chlorine or bromine. Wexler was preparing a new lecture in the summer of 1962 on "The Climate of Earth and Its Modifications," and might, under normal circumstances, have prepared his ideas for publication, as he had done earlier. However, he was cut down in his prime by a sudden heart attack on August 11, 1962. His previously unexamined notes and papers on climate control and ozone destruction are located in the Library of Congress.

Magnetotelluric investigation across the Agri Valley: preliminary results.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balasco, Marianna; Romano, Gerardo; Siniscalchi, Agata; Alfredo Stabile, Tony

2017-04-01

The Agri Valley is an axial zone of the Southern Apennines thrust belt chain with a strong seismogenic potential where two important energy technologies responsible for inducing/triggering seismicity are active: (1) the disposal at the Costa Molina 2 injection well of the wastewater produced during the exploitation of the biggest onshore oil field in west Europe (27 wells producing more than 80,000 barrels of crude oil per day), managed by the Eni S.p.A., and (2) the water loading and unloading operations in the Pertusillo artificial reservoir. It is recognized the possibility that the fluctuation of the water level inside the reservoir, due to the hydrological cycle for example, produces pressure perturbations at the bottom of reservoir, causing induced seismicity. Furthermore it is even more known the role of fluids in the rupture processes which could cause an increase of pore pressure specially at high rate of injection fluids and/or for the presence of weakening of preexisting faults. With the aim to better characterize and understand the physical processes involved in the observed induced/triggered seismicity, in 2016 a broadband seismic network, covering an area of about 20 km x 20 km nearby the Pertusillo Dam and Costa Molina2 well has been installed in the framework of SIR-MIUR project INSIEME (INduced Seismicity in Italy: Estimation, Monitoring, and sEismic risk mitigation) and a MagnetoTelluric (MT) survey has been performed. The MT investigation consists of 25 soundings aligned along 30 km profile oriented at about N40 direction, orthogonal with the strike of the major and noticeable geological structures and crossing both of the source that may induce/trigger seismicity. In this work, we present the preliminary 2D resistivity model which provides useful deep geophysical information for understanding the geological and structural setting of the Agri Valley. Moreover, the comparison of the resistivity model with the earthquake location as inferred from the analysis of the data collected by the INSIEME network may provide new insight on the possible presence of active faults and on the causative origin of the earthquakes.

Commentary on "Abiraterone in metastatic prostate cancer without previous chemotherapy." Ryan CJ, Smith MR, de Bono JS, Molina A, Logothetis CJ, de Souza P, Fizazi K, Mainwaring P, Piulats JM, Ng S, Carles J, Mulders PF, Basch E, Small EJ, Saad F, Schrijvers D, Van Poppel H, Mukherjee SD, Suttmann H, Gerritsen WR, Flaig TW, George DJ, Yu EY, Efstathiou E, Pantuck A, Winquist E, Higano CS, Taplin ME, Park Y, Kheoh T, Griffin T, Scher HI, Rathkopf DE; COU-AA-302 Investigators, Genitourinary Medical Oncology Program, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA. N Engl J Med 2013;368(2):138-48 [Epub 2012 Dec 10]; N Engl J Med 2013;368(6):584.

PubMed

Trump, Donald L

2013-11-01

Abiraterone acetate, an androgen biosynthesis inhibitor, improves overall survival in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer after chemotherapy. We evaluated this agent in patients who had not received previous chemotherapy. In this double-blind study, we randomly assigned 1088 patients to receive abiraterone acetate (1000 mg) plus prednisone (5mg twice daily) or placebo plus prednisone. The coprimary end points were radiographic progression-free survival and overall survival. The study was unblinded after a planned interim analysis that was performed after 43% of the expected deaths had occurred. The median radiographic progression-free survival was 16.5 months with abiraterone-prednisone and 8.3 months with prednisone alone (hazard ratio for abiraterone-prednisone vs. prednisone alone, 0.53; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.45 to 0.62; P<0.001). Over a median follow-up period of 22.2 months, overall survival was improved with abiraterone-prednisone (median not reached, vs. 27.2 months for prednisone alone; hazard ratio, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.61 to 0.93; P = 0.01) but did not cross the efficacy boundary. Abiraterone-prednisone showed superiority over prednisone alone with respect to time to initiation of cytotoxic chemotherapy, opiate use for cancer-related pain, prostate-specific antigen progression, and decline in performance status. Grade 3 or 4 mineralocorticoid-related adverse events and abnormalities on liver-function testing were more common with abiraterone-prednisone. Abiraterone improved radiographic progression-free survival, showed a trend toward improved overall survival, and significantly delayed clinical decline and initiation of chemotherapy in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Solid-State Chemistry as a Formation Mechanism for C 4N 2 Ice and Possibly the Haystack (220 cm -1 ice emission feature) in Titan's Stratosphere as Observed by Cassini CIRS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderson, Carrie; Samuelson, Robert E.; McLain, Jason L.; Nna Mvondo, Delphine; Romani, Paul; Flasar, F. Michael

2016-10-01

A profusion of organic ices containing hydrocarbons, nitriles, and combinations of their mixtures comprise Titan's complex stratospheric cloud systems, and are typically formed via vapor condensation. These ice particles are then distributed throughout the mid-to-lower stratosphere, with an increased abundance near the winter poles (see Anderson et al., 2016). The cold temperatures and the associated strong circumpolar winds that isolate polar air act in much the same way as on Earth, giving rise to compositional anomalies and stratospheric clouds that provide heterogeneous chemistry sites.Titan's C4N2 ice emission feature at 478 cm-1 and "the Haystack," a strong unidentified stratospheric ice emission feature centered at 220 cm-1, share a common characteristic. Even though both are distinctive ice emission features evident in Cassini Composite InfraRed (CIRS) far-IR spectra, no associated vapor emission features can be found in Titan's atmosphere. Without a vapor phase, solid-state chemistry provides an alternate mechanism beside vapor condensation for producing these observed stratospheric ices.Anderson et al., (2016) postulated that C4N2 ice formed in Titan's stratosphere via the solid-state photochemical reaction HCN + HC3N → C4N2 + H2 can occur within extant HCN-HC3N composite ice particles. Such a reaction, and potentially similar reactions that may produce the Haystack ice, are specific examples of solid-state chemistry in solar system atmospheres. This is in addition to the reaction HCl + ClONO2 → HNO3 + Cl2, which is known to produce HNO3 coatings on terrestrial water ice particles, a byproduct of the catalytic chlorine chemistry that produces ozone holes in Earth's polar stratosphere (see for example, Molina et al., 1987 Soloman, 1999).A combination of radiative transfer modeling of CIRS far-IR spectra, coupled with optical constants derived from thin film transmittance spectra of organic ice mixtures obtained in our Spectroscopy for Planetary ICes Environments (SPICE) laboratory, will be used to: 1) derive the vertical column abundance of C4N2 ice in Titan's early spring polar stratosphere, and 2) narrow the range of possible chemical compositions for the material comprising the Haystack.

Seismic microzoning projects and their implementation in Venezuela

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schmitz, M.; Cano, V.; Olbrich, F.; Vallee, M.; Morales, C.; Arreaza, A.; Mendes, K.; Klarica, S.; Alvarez Gomez, J.; Aray, J.; Vielma, J.; Pombo, A.; Diaz, J.; Grupo de trabajo

2013-05-01

Site effects have been recognized to play an important role in damage distribution of destructive earthquakes. These effects have been observed in Venezuela especially during the 1967 Caracas earthquake, when 4 buildings with 10 and more storeys during the Caracas 1967 earthquake collapsed, and a big number of them in the same deep sediment area have been seriously damaged. This motivated the development of studies regarding the subsurface configuration of Caracas and Barquisimeto during the last decade, with a seismic microzoning project realized in both cities from 2005 to 2009. The main results of this project were the development of design response spectra for the different microzones within the sedimentary basin, as well as estimates of landslide hazard. Implementation of the results in municipality ordinances is actually discussed with local authorities. They are aimed to address mitigation for new constructions by the application of the specific design spectra, for existing buildings via evaluation and retrofitting strategies, and for slope areas (informal, as well as formal developments) due to the identification of areas that may not be developed or require detailed studies of slope stabilities. Since then, seismic microzoning studies were started in Cumaná, Guarenas/Guatire and Lara state, and within a broader context of integrated risk management, which includes flooding, landslide and technological risks, in Mérida, Valencia, Maracay, Barcelona/Puerto La Cruz and Valle de la Pascua. The projects are coordinated by the Venezuelan Foundation for Seismological Research (FUNVISIS) in cooperation with local universities. Efforts are done to unable local researchers to apply the methodologies in other cities as Valera, Trujillo, Boconó, San Cristóbal and Tucacas. A unified seismic hazard map as input motion to these studies is actually in development. Depending on the local characteristics, building inventory and vulnerability analysis are done for risk analysis. Further members of the "Grupo de trabajo: Investigaciones aplicadas a la gestion integral del riesgo en espacios urbanos" are: Oscar Andrés López, Milgreya Cerrada, Rafael Torres, Oscar Ramírez, Elieser Sanzonetti, José Heredia, Jaime Avendaño, Fernando Mazuera, Luis Molina, Alexi Suárez, Víctor Rocabado, Mónica Paolini, Luis Yegres, Leonardo Alvarado, Herbert Rendón, Luz Rodríguez, Jorge González.

ELER software - a new tool for urban earthquake loss assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hancilar, U.; Tuzun, C.; Yenidogan, C.; Erdik, M.

2010-12-01

Rapid loss estimation after potentially damaging earthquakes is critical for effective emergency response and public information. A methodology and software package, ELER-Earthquake Loss Estimation Routine, for rapid estimation of earthquake shaking and losses throughout the Euro-Mediterranean region was developed under the Joint Research Activity-3 (JRA3) of the EC FP6 Project entitled "Network of Research Infrastructures for European Seismology-NERIES". Recently, a new version (v2.0) of ELER software has been released. The multi-level methodology developed is capable of incorporating regional variability and uncertainty originating from ground motion predictions, fault finiteness, site modifications, inventory of physical and social elements subjected to earthquake hazard and the associated vulnerability relationships. Although primarily intended for quasi real-time estimation of earthquake shaking and losses, the routine is also equally capable of incorporating scenario-based earthquake loss assessments. This paper introduces the urban earthquake loss assessment module (Level 2) of the ELER software which makes use of the most detailed inventory databases of physical and social elements at risk in combination with the analytical vulnerability relationships and building damage-related casualty vulnerability models for the estimation of building damage and casualty distributions, respectively. Spectral capacity-based loss assessment methodology and its vital components are presented. The analysis methods of the Level 2 module, i.e. Capacity Spectrum Method (ATC-40, 1996), Modified Acceleration-Displacement Response Spectrum Method (FEMA 440, 2005), Reduction Factor Method (Fajfar, 2000) and Coefficient Method (ASCE 41-06, 2006), are applied to the selected building types for validation and verification purposes. The damage estimates are compared to the results obtained from the other studies available in the literature, i.e. SELENA v4.0 (Molina et al., 2008) and ATC-55 (Yang, 2005). An urban loss assessment exercise for a scenario earthquake for the city of Istanbul is conducted and physical and social losses are presented. Damage to the urban environment is compared to the results obtained from similar software, i.e. KOERILoss (KOERI, 2002) and DBELA (Crowley et al., 2004). The European rapid loss estimation tool is expected to help enable effective emergency response, on both local and global level, as well as public information.

Water infiltration and hydraulic conductivity in a natural Mediterranean oak forest: impacts of hydrology-oriented silviculture on soil hydraulic properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Di Prima, Simone; Bagarello, Vincenzo; Bautista, Inmaculada; Cerdà, Artemi; Cullotta, Sebastiano; del Campo, Antonio; González-Sanchis, María; Iovino, Massimo; Maetzke, Federico

2016-04-01

In the last years researchers reported an increasing need to have more awareness on the intimate link between land use and soil hydrological properties (soil organic matter storage, water infiltration, hydraulic conductivity) and their possible effects on water retention (e.g., Bens et al., 2006; del Campo et al., 2014; González-Sanchis et al., 2015; Molina and del Campo, 2012). In the Mediterranean ecosystems, special attention needs to be paid to the forest-water relationships due to the natural scarcity of water. Adaptive forest management (AFM) aims to adapt the forest to water availability by means of an artificial regulation of the forest structure and density in order to promote tree and stand resilience through enhancing soil water availability (del Campo et al., 2014). The opening of the canopy, due to the removal of a certain number of trees, is an important practice for the management of forests. It results in important modifications to the microclimatic conditions that influence the ecophysiological functioning of trees (Aussenac and Granier, 1988). However, the effect of thinning may vary depending on the specific conditions of the forest (Andréassian, 2004; Brooks et al., 2003; Cosandey et al., 2005; Lewis et al., 2000; Molina and del Campo, 2012). Different authors reported that a reduction in forest cover increases water yield due to the subsequent reduction in evapotranspiration (Brooks et al., 2003; González-Sanchis et al., 2015; Hibbert, 1983; Zhang et al., 2001). On the other hand, the water increase may be easily evaporated from the soil surface (Andréassian, 2004). In this context, determining soil hydraulic properties in forests is essential for understanding and simulating the hydrological processes (Alagna et al., 2015; Assouline and Mualem, 2002), in order to adapt a water-saving management to a specific case, or to study the effects of a particular management practice. However, it must be borne in mind that changes brought about by the practice of forest management persist for almost one century. It is therefore important to monitor managed sites over longer periods, since short-term investigations are insufficient to detect changes that may influence e.g. larger parts of watersheds (Bens et al., 2006). In addition, soil hydraulic properties exhibit strong spatial and temporal variations and a large number of determinations are required to assess the magnitude of the variation within the selected area (Logsdon and Jaynes, 1996). The use of simple and rapid field techniques is therefore important to obtain reliable data with a sustainable effort (Bagarello et al., 2014; Di Prima et al., 2016). The Beerkan Estimation of Soil Transfer (BEST) parameters procedure by Lassabatere et al. (2006) is very attractive for practical use since it allows an estimation of both the soil water retention and the hydraulic conductivity functions from cumulative infiltration collected during a ponded field experiment and a few routinely laboratory determinations. Lassabatere et al. (2006) suggested to measure the infiltration time of small volumes of water repeatedly poured on the soil surface confined by a ring inserted to a depth of about 1 cm into the soil. BEST considers a zero ponded infiltration model which was assumed to be appropriate for an infiltration run performed with small, but positive, pressure heads. This assumption was supported by numerical tests carried out by Touma et al. (2007). Recently, Di Prima (2015) developed a method to automate data collection with a compact infiltrometer under constant head conditions. The device, maintaining a small quasi-constant head of water (i.e., 2-3 mm) on the infiltration surface, is equipped with a differential pressure transducer to measure the stepwise drop of water level in the reservoir, and, in turn, to quantify cumulative infiltration into the soil. The data acquisition system has been designed with low cost components and it is based on the open source microcontroller platform, Arduino. The very limited cost of the system could represent a step towards a cheaper and more widespread application of accurate and automated infiltration rate measurement. However, automatic data collection increases measurement speed, permits measurement at short time intervals, improves measurement precision, allows for more efficient data handling and analysis, and reduces the amount of effort involved and the potential for errors that may occur when manual procedures are applied (Di Prima et al., 2016). The main objective of this study was to determine soil hydraulic properties by using the combination of the automated infiltrometer and the BEST algorithm in a natural Mediterranean oak forest. The forest is located in a typical Mediterranean area, within the public forest La Hunde, Valencia (NE Spain). Two contiguous plots established in previous studies conducted by González-Sanchis et al. (2015) were selected, one of them was thinned reducing the forest density from 861 to 414 tree per ha. Control plot was not thinned. These authors studied the water cycle during the period 2012-2013. In particular, they characterized and compared the plots in term of throughfall, stemflow, soil moisture and transpiration, concluding that the AFM results in an increasing water availability, and at the same time in a substantial maintenance of overland and surface flow, precluding therefore enhancement of erosion rate. In this paper, the focus was put on the impacts of thinning on soil hydraulic properties, such as infiltration capacity, hydraulic conductivity and soil water retention, determined by simplified and low-cost methods in connection with a hydrology-oriented silviculture. Acknowledgements This study is a part of research projects: "Indagini sperimentali per la simulazione dei processi di formazione del deflusso superficiale nei suoli boscati, Progetto FIRB 2012 - MIMOSE", and "CGL2011-28776-C02-02, HYDROSIL" References Alagna, V., Bagarello, V., Di Prima, S., Iovino, M., 2015. Determining hydraulic properties of a loam soil by alternative infiltrometer techniques. Hydrol. Process. doi:10.1002/hyp.10607 Andréassian, V., 2004. Waters and forests: from historical controversy to scientific debate. Journal of Hydrology 291, 1-27. doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2003.12.015 Assouline, S., Mualem, Y., 2002. Infiltration during soil sealing: The effect of areal heterogeneity of soil hydraulic properties. Water Resour. Res. 38, 1286. doi:10.1029/2001WR001168 Aussenac, G., Granier, A., 1988. Effects of thinning on water stress and growth in Douglas-fir. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 18, 100-105. doi:10.1139/x88-015 Bagarello, V., Di Prima, S., Iovino, M., Provenzano, G., 2014. Estimating field-saturated soil hydraulic conductivity by a simplified Beerkan infiltration experiment. Hydrological Processes 28, 1095-1103. doi:10.1002/hyp.9649 Bens, O., Wahl, N.A., Fischer, H., Hüttl, R.F., 2006. Water infiltration and hydraulic conductivity in sandy cambisols: impacts of forest transformation on soil hydrological properties. Eur J Forest Res 126, 101-109. doi:10.1007/s10342-006-0133-7 Brooks, K.N., Folliott, P.F., Gregersen, H.M., DeBano, L.F., 2003. Hydrology and the Management of Watersheds. Hydrology and the Management of Watersheds 575. Cosandey, C., Andréassian, V., Martin, C., Didon-Lescot, J.F., Lavabre, J., Folton, N., Mathys, N., Richard, D., 2005. The hydrological impact of the mediterranean forest: a review of French research. Journal of Hydrology 301, 235-249. doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2004.06.040 del Campo, A.D., Fernandes, T.J.G., Molina, A.J., 2014. Hydrology-oriented (adaptive) silviculture in a semiarid pine plantation: How much can be modified the water cycle through forest management? European Journal of Forest Research 133, 879-894. doi:10.1007/s10342-014-0805-7 Di Prima, S., 2015. Automated single ring infiltrometer with a low-cost microcontroller circuit. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 118, 390-395. doi:10.1016/j.compag.2015.09.022 Di Prima, S., Lassabatere, L., Bagarello, V., Iovino, M., Angulo-Jaramillo, R., 2016. Testing a new automated single ring infiltrometer for Beerkan infiltration experiments. Geoderma 262, 20-34. doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2015.08.006 González-Sanchis, M., del Campo, A., Lidón, A., Lull, C., Bautista, I., García-Prats, A., Francés, F., others, 2015. Incorporación de criterios eco-hidrológicos en la gestión forestal: adaptación a la escasez de agua de una masa marginal de encina. Cuadernos de la Sociedad Española de Ciencias Forestales. Hibbert, A.R., 1983. Water Yield Improvement Potential by Vegetation Management on Western Rangelands1. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association 19, 375-381. doi:10.1111/j.1752-1688.1983.tb04594.x Lassabatère, L., Angulo-Jaramillo, R., Soria Ugalde, J.M., Cuenca, R., Braud, I., Haverkamp, R., 2006. Beerkan Estimation of Soil Transfer Parameters through Infiltration Experiments - BEST. Soil Science Society of America Journal 70, 521. doi:10.2136/sssaj2005.0026 Lewis, D., Singer, M.J., Dahlgren, R.A., Tate, K.W., 2000. Hydrology in a California oak woodland watershed: a 17-year study. Journal of Hydrology 240, 106-117. doi:10.1016/S0022-1694(00)00337-1 Logsdon, S.D., Jaynes, D.B., 1996. Spatial Variability of Hydraulic Conductivity in a Cultivated Field at Different Times. Soil Science Society of America Journal 60, 703. doi:10.2136/sssaj1996.03615995006000030003x Molina, A.J., del Campo, A.D., 2012. The effects of experimental thinning on throughfall and stemflow: A contribution towards hydrology-oriented silviculture in Aleppo pine plantations. Forest Ecology and Management 269, 206-213. doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2011.12.037 Touma, J., Voltz, M., Albergel, J., 2007. Determining soil saturated hydraulic conductivity and sorptivity from single ring infiltration tests. European Journal of Soil Science 58, 229-238. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2389.2006.00830.x Zhang, L., Dawes, W.R., Walker, G.R., 2001. Response of mean annual evapotranspiration to vegetation changes at catchment scale. Water Resour. Res. 37, 701-708. doi:10.1029/2000WR900325

Ingested Nitrate and Breast Cancer in the Spanish Multicase-Control Study on Cancer (MCC-Spain).

PubMed

Espejo-Herrera, Nadia; Gracia-Lavedan, Esther; Pollan, Marina; Aragonés, Nuria; Boldo, Elena; Perez-Gomez, Beatriz; Altzibar, Jone M; Amiano, Pilar; Zabala, Ana Jiménez; Ardanaz, Eva; Guevara, Marcela; Molina, Antonio J; Barrio, Juan Pablo; Gómez-Acebo, Ines; Tardón, Adonina; Peiró, Rosana; Chirlaque, Maria Dolores; Palau, Margarita; Muñoz, Montse; Font-Ribera, Laia; Castaño-Vinyals, Gemma; Kogevinas, Manolis; Villanueva, Cristina M

2016-07-01

Ingested nitrate leads to endogenous formation of N-nitroso compounds that are breast carcinogens in animals, but human evidence is limited. We evaluated ingested nitrate as a risk factor for breast cancer (BC) in a multicase-control study. Hospital-based incident BC cases and population-based controls were recruited in eight Spanish regions in 2008-2013; participants provided residential and water consumption from 18 years of age and information on known BC risk factors. Long-term nitrate levels (1940-2010) were estimated and linked with residential histories and water consumption to calculate waterborne ingested nitrate (milligrams/day). Dietary ingested nitrate (milligrams/day) was calculated using food frequency questionnaires and published dietary nitrate contents. Interactions with endogenous nitrosation factors and other variables were evaluated. A total of 1,245 cases and 1,520 controls were included in the statistical analysis. Among the study regions, average ± SD waterborne ingested nitrate ranged from 2.9 ± 1.9 to 13.5 ± 7.5 mg/day, and dietary ingested nitrate ranged from 88.5 ± 48.7 to 154 ± 87.8 mg/day. Waterborne ingested nitrate was not associated with BC overall, but among postmenopausal women, those with both high nitrate (> 6 vs. < 2.6 mg/day) and high red meat intake (≥ 20 vs. < 20 g/day) were more likely to be cases than women with low nitrate and low red meat intake (adjusted odds ratio = 1.64; 95% confidence interval: 1.08, 2.49; overall interaction p-value = 0.17). No association was found with dietary nitrate. Waterborne ingested nitrate was associated with BC only among postmenopausal women with high red meat consumption. Dietary nitrate was not associated with BC regardless of the animal or vegetable source or of menopausal status. Espejo-Herrera N, Gracia-Lavedan E, Pollan M, Aragonés N, Boldo E, Perez-Gomez B, Altzibar JM, Amiano P, Zabala AJ, Ardanaz E, Guevara M, Molina AJ, Barrio JP, Gómez-Acebo I, Tardón A, Peiró R, Chirlaque MD, Palau M, Muñoz M, Font-Ribera L, Castaño-Vinyals G, Kogevinas M, Villanueva CM. 2016. Ingested nitrate and breast cancer in the Spanish Multicase-Control Study on Cancer (MCC-Spain). Environ Health Perspect 124:1042-1049; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1510334.

German Foreign Minister Visits Paranal Observatory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2002-03-01

During his current tour of countries in South America, the Honourable Foreign Minister of Germany, Mr. Joschka Fischer, stopped over at the ESO Paranal Observatory Wednesday night (March 6 - 7, 2002). Arriving in Antofagasta, capital of the II Chilean region, the Foreign Minister and his suite was met by local Chilean officials, headed by Mr. Jorge Molina, Intendente of the Region, as well as His Excellency, the German Ambassador to Chile, Mr. Georg CS Dick and others. In the afternoon of March 6, the Foreign Minister, accompanied by a distinguished delegation from the German Federal Parliament as well as by businessmen from Germany, travelled to Paranal, site of the world's largest optical/infrared astronomical facility, the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT). The delegation was welcomed by the Observatory Director, Dr. Roberto Gilmozzi, the VLT Programme Manager, Professor Massimo Tarenghi, the ESO Representative in Chile, Mr. Daniel Hofstadt and ESO staff members, and also by Mr. Reinhard Junker, Deputy Director General (European Co-operation) at the German Ministry for Education and Research. The visitors were shown the various high-tech installations at this remote desert site, some of which have been constructed by German firms. Moreover, most of the large, front-line VLT astronomical instruments have been built in collaboration between ESO and European research institutes, several of these in Germany. One of the latest arrivals to Paranal, the CONICA camera (cf. ESO PR 25/01 ), was built under an ESO contract by the Max-Planck-Institutes for Astronomy (MPIA, in Heidelberg) and Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE, in Garching). The guests had the opportunity to enjoy the spectacular sunset over the Pacific Ocean from the terrace of the new Residencia building ( Photos 05/02 ). At the beginning of the night, the Minister was invited to the Control Room for the VLT Interferometer (VLTI) from where this unique new facility ( ESO PR 23/01 ) is now being thoroughly tested before it enters into service later this year. In his expression of thanks, Minister Fischer enthusiastically referred to his visit at Paranal. He said he was truly impressed by the technology of the telescopes and considered the VLT project a model of European technological and scientific cooperation. Later in the evening, the Minister was invited to perform an observing sequence at the console of the MELIPAL telescope.

Intensity-distance attenuation law in the continental Portugal using intensity data points

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Le Goff, Boris; Bezzeghoud, Mourad; Borges, José Fernando

2013-04-01

Several attempts have been done to evaluate the intensity attenuation with the epicentral distance in the Iberian Peninsula [1, 2]. So far, the results are not satisfying or not using the intensity data points of the available events. We developed a new intensity law for the continental Portugal, using the macroseismic reports that provide intensity data points, instrumental magnitudes and instrumental locations. We collected 31 events from the Instituto Portugues do Mar e da Atmosfera (IPMA, Portugal; ex-IM), covering the period between 1909 and 1997, with a largest magnitude of 8.2, closed to the African-Eurasian plate boundary. For each event, the intensity data points are plotted versus the distance and different trend lines are achieved (linear, exponential and logarithmic). The better fits are obtained with the logarithmic trend lines. We evaluate a form of the attenuation equation as follow: I = c0(M) + c1(M).ln(R) (1) where I, M and R are, respectively, the intensity, the magnitude and the epicentral distance. To solve this equation, we investigate two methods. The first one consists in plotting the slope of the different logarithmic trends versus the magnitude, to estimate the parameter c1(M), and to evaluate how the intensity behaves in function of the magnitude. Another plot, representing the intercepts versus the magnitude, allows to determine the second parameter, c0(M). The second method consists in using the inverse theory. From the data, we recover the parameters of the model, using a linear inverse matrix. Both parameters, c0(M) and c1(M), are provided with their associated errors. A sensibility test will be achieved, using the macroseismic data, to estimate the resolution power of both methods. This new attenuation law will be used with the Bakun and Wentworth method [3] in order to reestimate the epicentral region and the magnitude estimation of the 1909 Benavente event. This attenuation law may also be adapted to be used in Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis. [1] Lopez Casado, C., Molina Palacios, S., Delgado, J., and Pelaez, J.A., 2000, BSSA, 90, 1, pp. 34-47 [2] Sousa, M. L., and Oliveira, C. S., 1997, Natural Hazard, 14: 207-225 [3] Bakun, W. H., and Wentworth, C. M., 1997, BSSA, vol.87, No. 6, pp. 1502-1521

Ingested Nitrate and Breast Cancer in the Spanish Multicase-Control Study on Cancer (MCC-Spain)

PubMed Central

Espejo-Herrera, Nadia; Gracia-Lavedan, Esther; Pollan, Marina; Aragonés, Nuria; Boldo, Elena; Perez-Gomez, Beatriz; Altzibar, Jone M.; Amiano, Pilar; Zabala, Ana Jiménez; Ardanaz, Eva; Guevara, Marcela; Molina, Antonio J.; Barrio, Juan Pablo; Gómez-Acebo, Ines; Tardón, Adonina; Peiró, Rosana; Chirlaque, Maria Dolores; Palau, Margarita; Muñoz, Montse; Font-Ribera, Laia; Castaño-Vinyals, Gemma; Kogevinas, Manolis; Villanueva, Cristina M.

2016-01-01

Background: Ingested nitrate leads to endogenous formation of N-nitroso compounds that are breast carcinogens in animals, but human evidence is limited. Objective: We evaluated ingested nitrate as a risk factor for breast cancer (BC) in a multicase–control study. Methods: Hospital-based incident BC cases and population-based controls were recruited in eight Spanish regions in 2008–2013; participants provided residential and water consumption from 18 years of age and information on known BC risk factors. Long-term nitrate levels (1940–2010) were estimated and linked with residential histories and water consumption to calculate waterborne ingested nitrate (milligrams/day). Dietary ingested nitrate (milligrams/day) was calculated using food frequency questionnaires and published dietary nitrate contents. Interactions with endogenous nitrosation factors and other variables were evaluated. A total of 1,245 cases and 1,520 controls were included in the statistical analysis. Results: Among the study regions, average ± SD waterborne ingested nitrate ranged from 2.9 ± 1.9 to 13.5 ± 7.5 mg/day, and dietary ingested nitrate ranged from 88.5 ± 48.7 to 154 ± 87.8 mg/day. Waterborne ingested nitrate was not associated with BC overall, but among postmenopausal women, those with both high nitrate (> 6 vs. < 2.6 mg/day) and high red meat intake (≥ 20 vs. < 20 g/day) were more likely to be cases than women with low nitrate and low red meat intake (adjusted odds ratio = 1.64; 95% confidence interval: 1.08, 2.49; overall interaction p-value = 0.17). No association was found with dietary nitrate. Conclusions: Waterborne ingested nitrate was associated with BC only among postmenopausal women with high red meat consumption. Dietary nitrate was not associated with BC regardless of the animal or vegetable source or of menopausal status. Citation: Espejo-Herrera N, Gracia-Lavedan E, Pollan M, Aragonés N, Boldo E, Perez-Gomez B, Altzibar JM, Amiano P, Zabala AJ, Ardanaz E, Guevara M, Molina AJ, Barrio JP, Gómez-Acebo I, Tardón A, Peiró R, Chirlaque MD, Palau M, Muñoz M, Font-Ribera L, Castaño-Vinyals G, Kogevinas M, Villanueva CM. 2016. Ingested nitrate and breast cancer in the Spanish Multicase-Control Study on Cancer (MCC-Spain). Environ Health Perspect 124:1042–1049; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1510334 PMID:26942716

Redesign 3 R Machine as a Refrigerant Waste Treatment Alternative in Environmental Rescue

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Negara, I. P. S.; Arsawan, I. M.

2018-01-01

Cooling machine technologies really affect nowadays’ modern life, not only limited in enhancement of life quality and comfort, but it has also reached the essential things of humans’ life supporter (Arora, 2001). Cooling machine technologies have direct contribution toward environmental damage such as depletion of ozone layer and global warming through synthetic refrigerant waste and leakage (CFC and HFC) to environment. The refrigerant release to the environment is 60% of the service sector. Destructive characteristics of ozone possessed by CFC were first proposed by Rowland and Molina which were then supported by yard measurement. It is estimated that ozone layer damage occurs for about 3% every decade. The ozone layer located in the stratosphere is functioned to prevent ultraviolet-B ray from entering into earth surface. This Ultraviolet-B is suspected to be the cause of health problem for humans and disorder for plants on earth. As for the purpose of this research is to obtain a product design of refrigerant waste processing system (recovery and recycle refrigerant) as well as to acknowledge the work method (COP) of cooling machines that use CFC refrigerant (R-12) as the result of recovery and recycle compared to CFC refrigerant (R-12)/pure R134a. One method that can be used is by redesigning existing equipment namely 3R machine that cannot be used anymore thus it can be reused. This research will be conducted through modifying the existing 3R machine therefore it can be reused and be easily operated as well as doing the maintenance, after that the refrigerant as the result of recovery will be tried on a refrigeration system and a test of refrigeration system work method will be conducted by using the refrigerant recycle product which is obtained and compared with the work method of the one with pure refrigeration.The result has been achieved that the redesign product of refrigerant waste processing equipment can be reused and able to perform the recovery, recycle and richarging process, although using semi-automatic control system. So the use of car air conditioning refrigerant can be more efficient. With the functioning of 3R mesi is expected wastes refrigerant is not wasted which is one of the efforts to save the environment.

Cavity Ringdown Spectroscopy and Kinetics of HO_2+HCHO: Detection of the ν_1 and {A}- {X} Bands of HOCH_2OOCAVITY Ringdown Spectroscopy and Kinetics of HO_2+HCHO: Detection of the ν_1 and {A}- {X} Bands of HOCH_2OO

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sprague, Matthew K.; Okumura, Mitchio; Sander, Stanley P.

2011-06-01

The reactions of HO_2 with carbonyl compounds are believed to be a sink for carbonyl compounds in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. These reactions proceed through a hydrogen bound intermediate before isomerizing. The reaction of HO_2 + formaldehyde (HCHO) serves as a prototype for this class of reactions, forming the isomerization product hydroxymethylperoxy (HOCH_2OO, HMP). Previous studies measured the spectrum and kinetics of HMP using either FTIR detection of the end products or direct detection of HMP by the unstructured tilde{B}-tilde{X} transition. Despite these studies, considerable uncertainty exists in the rate constant of HMP formation (±80%, 2σ). In this talk, we report the first detection of the ν_1 (OH stretch) and tilde{A}-tilde{X} electronic spectra of the HMP radical. The OH stretch spectrum is broad and featureless, while the tilde{A}(0)-tilde{X}(0) origin and combination band with the OOCO torsion tilde{A}(NOOCO=1)-tilde{X}(0) are rotationally resolved. Quantum chemistry calculations have been performed on both the tilde{A} and tilde{X} states as a function of the OOCO and HOCO dihedral angles to estimate the tilde{A}-tilde{X} transition frequency and to assess the coupling between the two torsional modes. We also present kinetics data showing the rates of production and destruction of HMP. I. Hermans, J. F. Muller, T. L. Nguyen, P. A. Jacobs, and J. Peeters. J. Phys. Chem. A 2005, 109, 4303. F. Su, J. G. Calvert, and J. H. Shaw J. Phys. Chem. 1979, 83, 3185. B. Veyret, R. Lesclaux, M. T. Rayez, J. C. Rayez, R. A. Cox, and G. K. Moortgat J. Phys. Chem. 1989, 93, 2368. J. P. Burrows, G. K. Moortgat, G. S. Tyndall, R. A. Cox, M. E. Jenkin, G. D. Hayman, and B. Veyret J. Phys. Chem. 1989, 93, 2375 S. P. Sander, B. J. Finlayson-Pitts, D. M. Golden, R. E. Huie, C. E. Kolb, M. J. Kurylo, M. J. Molina, et al. Chemical Kinetics and Photochemical Data for Use in Atmospheric Studies, Evaluation Number 16, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 2009 I. Hermans, J. F. Muller, T. L. Nguyen, P. A. Jacobs, and J. Peeters. J. Phys. Chem. A 2005, 109, 4303.

Geologic map of the Silt Quadrangle, Garfield County, Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Shroba, R.R.; Scott, R.B.

2001-01-01

New 1:24,000-scale geologic mapping in the Silt 7.5' quadrangle, in support of the USGS Western Colorado I-70 Corridor Cooperative Geologic Mapping Project, provides new interpretations of the stratigraphy, structure, and geologic hazards in the area of the southwest flank of the White River uplift, the Grand Hogback, and the eastern Piceance Basin. The Wasatch Formation was subdivided into three formal members, the Shire, Molina, and Atwell Gulch Members. Also a sandstone unit within the Shire Member was broken out. The Mesaverde Group consists of the upper Williams Fork Formation and the lower Iles Formation. Members for the Iles Formation consist of the Rollins Sandstone, the Cozzette Sandstone, and the Corcoran Sandstone Members. The Cozzette and Corcoran Sandstone Members were mapped as a combined unit. Only the upper part of the Upper Member of the Mancos Shale is exposed in the quadrangle. From the southwestern corner of the map area toward the northwest, the unfaulted early Eocene to Paleocene Wasatch Formation and underlying Mesaverde Group gradually increase in dip to form the Grand Hogback monocline that reaches 45-75 degree dips to the southwest (section A-A'). The shallow west-northwest-trending Rifle syncline separates the northern part of the quadrangle from the southern part along the Colorado River. Geologic hazards in the map area include erosion, expansive soils, and flooding. Erosion includes mass wasting, gullying, and piping. Mass wasting involves any rock or surficial material that moves downslope under the influence of gravity, such as landslides, debris flows, or rock falls, and is generally more prevalent on steeper slopes. Locally, where the Grand Hogback is dipping greater than 60 degrees and the Wasatch Formation has been eroded, leaving sandstone slabs of the Mesa Verde Group unsupported over vertical distances as great as 500 m, the upper part of the unit has collapsed in landslides, probably by a process of beam-buckle failure. In the source area of these landslides strata are overturned and dip shallowly to the northeast. Landslide deposits now armor Pleistocene pediment surfaces and extend at least 1 km into Cactus Valley. Gullying and piping generally occur on more gentle slopes. Expansive soils and expansive bedrock are those unconsolidated materials or rocks that swell when wet and shrink when dry. Most floods are restricted to low-lying areas. Several gas-producing wells extract methane from coals from the upper part of the Iles Formation.

Kinetic and thermochemical studies of the ClO + ClO + M ↔ Cl2O2 + M reaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferracci, V.; Rowley, D. M.

2009-12-01

Chlorine monoxide (ClO) radicals play a crucial role in polar ozone destruction events and the ClO dimer cycle has been identified as one of the most effective ozone-depleting catalytic cycles operating in the polar winter. A recent paper by von Hobe et al.1 highlighted significant inconsistencies between laboratory results, theoretical calculations and field observations concerning the ClO dimer ozone destruction cycle. This work has investigated the temperature dependence of the equilibrium constant of one of the key reactions in this cycle, ClO + ClO + M ↔ Cl2O2 + M (1, -1), by means of laser flash photolysis coupled with time-resolved UV absorption spectroscopy. ClO radicals were generated via laser flash photolysis of Cl2/Cl2O mixtures in synthetic air. The concentration of radicals was monitored via UV absorption spectroscopy: the use of a Charge Coupled Device (CCD) detector allowed time resolution over a broad range of wavelengths. The equilibrium constant Keq was determined as the ratio of the rate constants of the forward and reverse reaction (1, -1) over the T range 256 - 312 K. Second Law and Third Law analytical methods were employed to determine the standard enthalpy and entropy changes of reaction 1, ΔrH° and ΔrS°, from the measured equilibrium constants. The values obtained from the Second Law analysis (ΔrH° = - 80.8 ± 2.2 kJ mol-1; ΔrS° = - 168.4 ± 7.9 J K-1 mol-1) are in good agreement with previous work 2 but greater in magnitude than current NASA recommendations 3. It was also found that, under typical laboratory conditions employed in this work, [ClO] decay exhibits pure second order kinetics at T ≤ 250 K. A higher rate constant for the ClO recombination reaction (1) was also observed in this work (compared to the NASA evaluation 3), implying a higher Keq and a different partitioning between ClO and Cl2O2, shifting towards the dimer. 1. M. Von Hobe, R. J. Salawitch, T. Canty, H. Keller-Rudek, G. K. Moortgat, J.-U. Grooss, R. Müller, F. Stroh, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 2007, 7, 3055 2. S. L. Nickolaisen, R. R. Friedl, S. P. Sander, Journal of Physical Chemistry, 1994, 98, 155 3. S. P. Sander, R. R. Friedl, D. M. Golden, M. J. Kurylo, R. E. Huie, V. L. Orkin, G. K. Moortgat, A. R. Ravishankara, C. E. Kolb, M. J. Molina, B. J. Finlayson-Pitts, Chemical Kinetics and Photochemical Data for use in Atmospheric Studies, Evaluation No. 14, JPL Publication 02-25, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena CA, 2003

Status Report on the 40Ar/39Ar and U/Pb Dating of Tuffs in the Dewey Lake Formation of West Texas Towards Constraining the Permo-Triassic Magnetostratigraphic Time Scale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang, S.; Renne, P. R.; Mundil, R.

2007-12-01

A detailed magnetic polarity time scale for the Permo-Triassic Boundary interval, critical for correlating events in marine and terrestrial paleoenvironments, is not yet well-established. Recently, late Permian magnetostratigraphic studies have been reported for non-marine sections in Europe and South Africa (Szurlies et al., 2003; Nawrocki, 2004; Ward et al., 2005). However, these sections are devoid of index fossil suitable for correlation with marine successions and also lack age constraints from radioisotopic dating methods. In other words, it is dubious to correlate these magnetostratigraphic data with the GSSP Permo-Triassic boundary and mass extinction. The Dewey Lake red beds formation of West Texas, believed to be the youngest Permian formation in North America, has yielded high-quality paleomagnetic data (Molina-Garza et al., 1989; Steiner, 2001) and contains several silicic tuffs potentially enabling high-resolution calibration of the magnetic polarity time scale in this critical age range. The tuffs have yet to be placed into a regional stratigraphic or magnetostratigraphic framework, and it is unclear exactly how many distinct eruptive units are represented by the 7 distinct samples collected to date from widely separated (>160 km) localities. 40Ar/39Ar (sanidine and biotite) and U/Pb (zircon) studies reveal that all 7 sampled tuffs were probably erupted within several hundred ka of the Permo-Triassic boundary as dated at the Meishan GSSP section (Renne et al., 1995; Mundil et al., 2004) but results thus far are inadequate to convincingly resolve age differences between the various samples. U/Pb dating of some samples is severely challenged by Pb-loss from the zircons despite application of the Mattinson (2005) annealing/chemical abrasion technique. 40Ar/39Ar data have been obtained from as many as four different irradiations in order to reduce neutron fluence related error. We observe the familiar ~1% bias between U/Pb and 40Ar/39Ar ages. Biotite microprobe data, zircon U/Th TIMS data, and the absence of sanidine from some samples serve to help correlate or distinguish some samples despite irresolvable age differences; existing data suggest that 4 distinct tuffs are present in the Dewey Lake Formation. Resolving their ages convincingly will require further work, but it is clear from our results combined with previous magnetostratigraphic data that magnetic polarity reversals were relatively frequent in the latest Permian. Thus the uniqueness of correlations elsewhere with the Permo-Triassic boundary based on magnetostratigraphy alone are not well-founded.

Colorectal Cancer and Long-Term Exposure to Trihalomethanes in Drinking Water: A Multicenter Case-Control Study in Spain and Italy.

PubMed

Villanueva, Cristina M; Gracia-Lavedan, Esther; Bosetti, Cristina; Righi, Elena; Molina, Antonio José; Martín, Vicente; Boldo, Elena; Aragonés, Nuria; Perez-Gomez, Beatriz; Pollan, Marina; Acebo, Ines Gomez; Altzibar, Jone M; Zabala, Ana Jiménez; Ardanaz, Eva; Peiró, Rosana; Tardón, Adonina; Chirlaque, Maria Dolores; Tavani, Alessandra; Polesel, Jerry; Serraino, Diego; Pisa, Federica; Castaño-Vinyals, Gemma; Espinosa, Ana; Espejo-Herrera, Nadia; Palau, Margarita; Moreno, Victor; La Vecchia, Carlo; Aggazzotti, Gabriella; Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark J; Kogevinas, Manolis

2017-01-01

Evidence on the association between colorectal cancer and exposure to disinfection by-products in drinking water is inconsistent. We assessed long-term exposure to trihalomethanes (THMs), the most prevalent group of chlorination by-products, to evaluate the association with colorectal cancer. A multicenter case-control study was conducted in Spain and Italy in 2008-2013. Hospital-based incident cases and population-based (Spain) and hospital-based (Italy) controls were interviewed to ascertain residential histories, type of water consumed in each residence, frequency and duration of showering/bathing, and major recognized risk factors for colorectal cancer. We estimated adjusted odds ratios (OR) for colorectal cancer in association with quartiles of estimated average lifetime THM concentrations in each participant's residential tap water (micrograms/liter; from age 18 to 2 years before the interview) and estimated average lifetime THM ingestion from drinking residential tap water (micrograms/day). We analyzed 2,047 cases and 3,718 controls. Median values (ranges) for average lifetime residential tap water concentrations of total THMs, chloroform, and brominated THMs were 30 (0-174), 17 (0-63), and 9 (0-145) μg/L, respectively. Total THM concentration in residential tap water was not associated with colorectal cancer (OR = 0.92, 95% CI: 0.66, 1.28 for highest vs. lowest quartile), but chloroform concentrations were inversely associated (OR = 0.31, 95% CI: 0.24, 0.41 for highest vs. lowest quartile). Brominated THM concentrations showed a positive association among men in the highest versus the lowest quartile (OR = 1.43, 95% CI: 0.83, 2.46). Patterns of association were similar for estimated average THM ingestion through residential water consumption. We did not find clear evidence of an association between detailed estimates of lifetime total THM exposure and colorectal cancer in our large case-control study population. Negative associations with chloroform concentrations and ingestion suggest differences among specific THMs, but these findings should be confirmed in other study populations. Citation: Villanueva CM, Gracia-Lavedan E, Bosetti C, Righi E, Molina AJ, Martín V, Boldo E, Aragonés N, Perez-Gomez B, Pollan M, Gomez Acebo I, Altzibar JM, Jiménez Zabala A, Ardanaz E, Peiró R, Tardón A, Chirlaque MD, Tavani A, Polesel J, Serraino D, Pisa F, Castaño-Vinyals G, Espinosa A, Espejo-Herrera N, Palau M, Moreno V, La Vecchia C, Aggazzotti G, Nieuwenhuijsen MJ, Kogevinas M. 2017. Colorectal cancer and long-term exposure to trihalomethanes in drinking water: a multicenter case---control study in Spain and Italy. Environ Health Perspect 125:56-65; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/EHP155.

Revised preliminary geologic map of the Rifle Quadrangle, Garfield County, Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Shroba, R.R.; Scott, R.B.

1997-01-01

The Rifle quadrangle extends from the Grand Hogback monocline into the southeastern part of the Piceance basin. In the northeastern part of the map area, the Wasatch Formation is nearly vertical, and over a distance of about 1 km, the dip decreases sharply from about 70-85o to about 15-30o toward the southwest. No evidence of a fault in this zone of sharp change in dip is observed but exposures in the Shire Member of the Wasatch Formation are poor, and few marker horizons that might demonstrate offset are distinct. In the central part of the map area, the Shire Member is essentially flat lying. In the south and southwest part of the map area, the dominant dip is slightly to the north, forming an open syncline that plunges gently to the northwest. Evidence for this fold also exists in the subsurface from drill-hole data. According to Tweto (1975), folding of the early Eocene to Paleocene Wasatch Formation along the Grand Hogback reqired an early Eocene age for the last phase of Laramide compression. We find the attitude of the Wasatch Formation to be nearly horizontal, essentially parallel to the overlying Anvil Points Member of the Eocene Green River Formation; therefore, we have no information that either confirms or disputes that early Eocene was the time of the last Laramide event. Near Rifle Gap in the northeast part of the map area, the Mesaverde Group locally dips about 10o less steeply than the overlying Wasatch Formation, indicating that not only had the formation of the Hogback monocline not begun by the time the Wasatch was deposited at this locality, but the underlying Mesaverde Group was locally tilted slightly toward the present White River uplift. Also the basal part of the Atwell Gulch Member of the Wasatch Formation consists of fine-grained mudstones and siltstones containing sparse sandstone and rare conglomerates, indicating that the source of sediment was not from erosion of the adjacent Upper Cretaceous Mesaverde Group. The most likely source of andesitic conglomerate clasts abundant in the upper part of the Atwell Gulch Member was Late Cretaceous-Early Tertiary andesitic igneous rocks, remnants of which are present southeast of the Piceance Basin (Tweto, 1979). Thinning of the Atwell Gulch and Molina Members to the northwest also suggests a southeastern source of sediments, ruling out a northeastern source related to earlier deformation of the Upper Cretaceous Mesa Verde Group.

Use of Damage Data for Calibration of GMPE's in Haiti

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Torres, Y.; Molina, S.; Navarro, M.; Benito, B.

2013-05-01

After the 12 January 2010 earthquake that occurred in the south of Haiti, the Earthquake Engineering Researching Group (GIIS) of the Technical University of Madrid (UPM, Spain) set up a cooperative line with the National Observatory of the Environment and Vulnerability of Haiti (ONEV), under the Ministry of the Environment. Within the frame of that working line, the project SISMO-HAITI was launched to estimate the seismic hazard in the country and the seismic risk in Port-au-Prince, the capital city. It was financed by the UPM. In the frame of the seismic risk study, an approach aimed at calibrating the Ground Motion Prediction Equations (GMPE`s) using damage data, was proposed and applied. This approach is presented here and may be useful in absence of strong motion data. The seismic risk estimation was carried out by following the capacity spectrum method as implemented in the software SELENA (Molina et al., 2010). The method requires two main inputs: classification of the building stock into predominant building typologies and a ground motion prediction equation (GMPE) to estimate the seismic demand. We found six building typologies in the city, and were assigned capacity and fragility curves (damage functions) taken from HAZUS and RISK-UE, which account for their vulnerability. Regarding the GMPE, as there are not relationships developed specifically for Haiti, we decided to use the next four: Boore & Atkinson (2008-2011), Abrahamson & Silva, (2008), Campbell & Bozorgnia (2008), Chiou & Youngs (2008). All of them belong to the Next Generation Attenuation (NGA) models and allow including several parameters to define the seismic scenario, the source and the soil geotechnical characteristics. In this paper we present the results of the GMPE's calibration, a step aimed at figure out which is the most suitable relationship for the study area. We could not use acceleration records, since there were no accelerometers at the moment of the earthquake occurrence. Instead, we used data on the damage caused by the earthquake provided by the Haitian Ministry of Public Works. To achieve that, we simulated the earthquake in SELENA and compared our results with the observed damage. Through an iterative process based on minimizing the residuals, we calibrated both, the GMPE and the damage functions associated with the building typologies. We found that Boore & Atkinson and Campbell & Bozorgnia are the models that yield the lowest root mean square (RMS) error; hence, these GMPS's could be considered as the models that better predict the damage, together with the calibrated set of damage functions. Accordingly, we propose them to be used in future seismic risk assessments in the city.

Middle Jurassic Topawa group, Baboquivari Mountains, south-central Arizona: Volcanic and sedimentary record of deep basins within the Jurassic magmatic arc

USGS Publications Warehouse

Haxel, G.B.; Wright, J.E.; Riggs, N.R.; Tosdal, R.M.; May, D.J.

2005-01-01

Among supracrustal sequences of the Jurassic magmatic arc of the southwestern Cordillera, the Middle Jurassic Topawa Group, Baboquivari Mountains, south-central Arizona, is remarkable for its lithologic diversity and substantial stratigraphic thickness, ???8 km. The Topawa Group comprises four units (in order of decreasing age): (1) Ali Molina Formation-largely pyroclastic rhyolite with interlayered eolian and fluvial arenite, and overlying conglomerate and sandstone; (2) Pitoikam Formation-conglomerate, sedimentary breccia, and sandstone overlain by interbedded silt- stone and sandstone; (3) Mulberry Wash Formation-rhyolite lava flows, flow breccias, and mass-flow breccias, with intercalated intraformational conglomerate, sedimentary breccia, and sandstone, plus sparse within-plate alkali basalt and comendite in the upper part; and (4) Tinaja Spring Porphyry-intrusive rhyolite. The Mulberry Wash alkali basalt and comendite are genetically unrelated to the dominant calcalkaline rhyolite. U-Pb isotopic analyses of zircon from volcanic and intrusive rocks indicate the Topawa Group, despite its considerable thickness, represents only several million years of Middle Jurassic time, between approximately 170 and 165 Ma. Sedimentary rocks of the Topawa Group record mixing of detritus from a minimum of three sources: a dominant local source of porphyritic silicic volcanic and subvolcanic rocks, identical or similar to those of the Topawa Group itself; Meso- proterozoic or Cambrian conglomerates in central or southeast Arizona, which contributed well-rounded, highly durable, polycyclic quartzite pebbles; and eolian sand fields, related to Middle Jurassic ergs that lay to the north of the magmatic arc and are now preserved on the Colorado Plateau. As the Topawa Group evidently represents only a relatively short interval of time, it does not record long-term evolution of the Jurassic magmatic arc, but rather represents a Middle Jurassic "stratigraphic snapshot" of the arc. This particular view of the arc has been preserved primarily because the Topawa Group accumulated in deep intra-arc basins. These nonmarine basins were fundamentally tectonic and extensional, rather than volcano-tectonic, in origin. Evidence from the Topawa Group supports two previous paleogeographic inferences: the Middle Jurassic magmatic arc in southern Arizona was relatively low standing, and externally derived sediment was introduced into the arc from the continent (northeast) side, without appreciable travel along the arc. We speculate that because the Topawa Group intra-arc basins were deep and rapidly subsiding, they became the locus of a major (though probably intermittent) fluvial system, which flowed into the low-standing magmatic arc from its northeast flank. ?? 2005 Geological Society of America.

Colorectal Cancer and Long-Term Exposure to Trihalomethanes in Drinking Water: A Multicenter Case–Control Study in Spain and Italy

PubMed Central

Villanueva, Cristina M.; Gracia-Lavedan, Esther; Bosetti, Cristina; Righi, Elena; Molina, Antonio José; Martín, Vicente; Boldo, Elena; Aragonés, Nuria; Perez-Gomez, Beatriz; Pollan, Marina; Acebo, Ines Gomez; Altzibar, Jone M.; Zabala, Ana Jiménez; Ardanaz, Eva; Peiró, Rosana; Tardón, Adonina; Chirlaque, Maria Dolores; Tavani, Alessandra; Polesel, Jerry; Serraino, Diego; Pisa, Federica; Castaño-Vinyals, Gemma; Espinosa, Ana; Espejo-Herrera, Nadia; Palau, Margarita; Moreno, Victor; La Vecchia, Carlo; Aggazzotti, Gabriella; Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark J; Kogevinas, Manolis

2016-01-01

Background: Evidence on the association between colorectal cancer and exposure to disinfection by-products in drinking water is inconsistent. Objectives: We assessed long-term exposure to trihalomethanes (THMs), the most prevalent group of chlorination by-products, to evaluate the association with colorectal cancer. Methods: A multicenter case–control study was conducted in Spain and Italy in 2008–2013. Hospital-based incident cases and population-based (Spain) and hospital-based (Italy) controls were interviewed to ascertain residential histories, type of water consumed in each residence, frequency and duration of showering/bathing, and major recognized risk factors for colorectal cancer. We estimated adjusted odds ratios (OR) for colorectal cancer in association with quartiles of estimated average lifetime THM concentrations in each participant’s residential tap water (micrograms/liter; from age 18 to 2 years before the interview) and estimated average lifetime THM ingestion from drinking residential tap water (micrograms/day). Results: We analyzed 2,047 cases and 3,718 controls. Median values (ranges) for average lifetime residential tap water concentrations of total THMs, chloroform, and brominated THMs were 30 (0–174), 17 (0–63), and 9 (0–145) μg/L, respectively. Total THM concentration in residential tap water was not associated with colorectal cancer (OR = 0.92, 95% CI: 0.66, 1.28 for highest vs. lowest quartile), but chloroform concentrations were inversely associated (OR = 0.31, 95% CI: 0.24, 0.41 for highest vs. lowest quartile). Brominated THM concentrations showed a positive association among men in the highest versus the lowest quartile (OR = 1.43, 95% CI: 0.83, 2.46). Patterns of association were similar for estimated average THM ingestion through residential water consumption. Conclusions: We did not find clear evidence of an association between detailed estimates of lifetime total THM exposure and colorectal cancer in our large case–control study population. Negative associations with chloroform concentrations and ingestion suggest differences among specific THMs, but these findings should be confirmed in other study populations. Citation: Villanueva CM, Gracia-Lavedan E, Bosetti C, Righi E, Molina AJ, Martín V, Boldo E, Aragonés N, Perez-Gomez B, Pollan M, Gomez Acebo I, Altzibar JM, Jiménez Zabala A, Ardanaz E, Peiró R, Tardón A, Chirlaque MD, Tavani A, Polesel J, Serraino D, Pisa F, Castaño-Vinyals G, Espinosa A, Espejo-Herrera N, Palau M, Moreno V, La Vecchia C, Aggazzotti G, Nieuwenhuijsen MJ, Kogevinas M. 2017. Colorectal cancer and long-term exposure to trihalomethanes in drinking water: a multicenter case–––control study in Spain and Italy. Environ Health Perspect 125:56–65; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/EHP155 PMID:27383820

PASCOS 2012 - 18th International Symposium on Particles Strings and Cosmology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2014-03-01

The XVII International Conference on Strings, Particles and Cosmology, PASCOS 2012, was held in the City of Mérida, Mexico, from June 3-8, 2012. The conference series is aimed at exploring the interface and interplay between particle physics, string theory and cosmology. With the advent of new data, the emphasis of the XVIII edition of PASCOS was on phenomenology and the interpretation of recent observational and experimental results. The conference followed the format of previous conferences in this series, with plenary reviews and contributed presentations in parallel sessions. The lectures covered a wide range of subjects which included: Dark matter and dark energy, flavor physics and CP violation, neutrino physics, supersymmetry, Higgs physics, baryogenesis and EDMs, supergravity, high energy cosmic rays, string and F-theory GUTs, and string phenomenology. This is the first time that PASCOS was held in Latin America. The aim to do it in Mexico was to engage the Latin American community and thus to bring the conference to a wider and different audience, a goal which was thoroughly achieved. The venue was held at the Hotel Fiesta Americana in the beautiful city of Mérida. The social events included a reception with typical local food at the Katun restaurant, conference dinner at the historical Quinta Montes Molina, and an excursion to the archeological site of Dzibilchaltún including a swim at the famous cenote. PASCOS 2012 was possible thanks to the generous support of the following sponsors: CONACyT (Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología), UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México: Consejo Técnico de la Investigación Científica, Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, Instituto de Física), Cinvestav, (Centro de Estudios Avanzados del IPN: U. Zacatanco, U. Mérida and Secretaría General), ICyTDF (Instituto Científico y Tecnológico del D.F.), PIFI (Programa Integral de Fortalecimiento Institucional, Universidad de Guanajuato, Campus León), SMF (Sociedad Mexicana de Física), ICTP (International Centre for Theoretical Physics), BUAP (Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla), the Government of the State of Yucatán, the University of Hamburg, and Telmex. We also want to acknowledge the invaluable help of the staff of the Mexican Physical Society, in particular Lic. Santos Zúñniga Sánchez and Ms. Claudia Velasco Marín, and of the conference secretaries, Ms. Lizette Ramírez Bermúdez (UNAM) and Ms. Mariana del Castillo Sánchez (Cinvestav), for their support before, during and after the organization of PASCOS 2012. Last but not least, we would like to thank all the PASCOS 2012 participants for their attendance and for contributing to make the conference an engaging and stimulating event. The organizers, Myriam Mondragón, Adnan Bashir, David Delepine, Francisco Larios, Oscar Loaiza, Axel de la Macorra, Lukas Nellen, Sarira Sahu, Humberto Salazar and Liliana Velasco-Sevilla.

Oxidation and cyclization of organics in Mars-like soils during evolved gas analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Navarro-Gonzalez, Rafael; Iñiguez, Enrique; de La Rosa, Jose; McKay, Chris

Thermal volatilization (TV) of soils has been used as the method of choice in space because of its simplicity and reproducibility. TV was first used by the Viking Landers, which failed to detect organics at ppb levels and subsequently by the Phoenix Lander that did not find organics but instead detected the release of carbon dioxide from 400 to 680° C which was attributed to magnesium or iron carbonate, adsorbed carbon dioxide, or organics present in the soil. Future missions such as the Mars Science Laboratory from NASA and ExoMars from ESA will also use this method to release soil organics to the analytical instruments. The presence of inorganic salts or minerals can strongly modify the release of soil organics leading to their degradation and/or oxidation resulting in loss of sensitivity by several orders of magnitude. The purpose of this work is to study the matrix effects of some minerals and Martian soil analogues in the analysis of organics by TV. Samples were analyzed by TV-MS and/or TV-GC-MS in neutral (He) and reducing (H2 ) atmospheres following the methods reported by Navarro-González eta al., 2006, 2009 and Iñiguez et al., 2009. Our results show that oxidation of organic matter is n promoted by several soil minerals (iron oxides) and inorganic salts (perchlorates, persulphates, sulfates, nitrates) in a neutral atmosphere; however, in a reducing atmosphere the oxidation of organics by the mineral matrix is reduced. Furthermore it was found that the stable organics that were thermally evolved were aromatic in nature (benzene and methyl benzene). Therefore, depending on the mineral matrix there is completion between formation of aromatic compounds versus oxidation. Iñiguez, E., Navarro-González, R., de la Rosa, J., Ureña-Núnez, F., Coll, P., Raulin, F., and McKay, C.P.: 2009, On the oxidation ability of the NASA Mars-1 soil simulant during the thermal volatilization step. Implications for the search of organics on Mars. Geophys Res Lett 36, L21205, doi:10.1029/2009GL040454. Navarro-González, R., Navarro, K.F., de la Rosa, J., Molina, P., Iñiguez, E., Miranda, L.D., a n Morales, P., Cienfuegos, E., Coll, P., Raulin, F., Amils, R. and McKay, C.P.: 2006. The limitations on organic detection in Mars-like soils by thermal volatilization-gas chromatography-MS and their implications for the Viking results. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 103, 16089-16094. Navarro-González, R., Iñiguez, E., de la Rosa, J. and McKay, C.P.: 2009, Characterization of a n organics, microorganisms, desert soils and Mars-like soils by thermal volatilization coupled to mass spectrometry and their implications for the search of organics on Mars by Phoenix and future space missions. Astrobiology 9, 703-715, doi: 10.1089/ast.2008.0284.

The SunCloud project: An initiative for a development of a worldwide sunshine duration and cloudiness observations dataset

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanchez-Lorenzo, A.

2010-09-01

One problem encountered when establishing the causes of global dimming and brightening is the limited number of long-term solar radiation series with accurate and calibrated measurements. For this reason, the analysis is often supported and extended with the use of other climatic variables such as sunshine duration and cloud cover. Specifically, sunshine duration is defined as the amount of time usually expressed in hours that direct solar radiation exceeds a certain threshold (usually taken at 120 W m-2). Consequently, this variable can be considered as an excellent proxy measure of solar radiation at interannual and decadal time scales, with the advantage that measurements of this variable were initiated in the late 19th century in different, worldwide, main meteorological stations. Nevertheless, detailed and up-to-date analysis of sunshine duration behavior on global or hemispheric scales are still missing. Thus, starting on September 2010 in the framework of different research projects, we will engage a worldwide compilation of the longest daily or monthly sunshine duration series from the late 19th century until present. Several quality control checks and homogenization methods will be applied to the generated sunshine dataset. The relationship between the more precise downward solar radiation series from the Global Energy Balance Archive (GEBA) and the homogenized sunshine series will be studied in order to reconstruct global and regional solar irradiance at the Earth's surface since the late 19th century. Since clouds are the main cause of interannual and decadal variability of radiation reaching the Earth's surface, as a complement to the long-term sunshine series we will also compile worldwide surface cloudiness observations. With this presentation we seek to encourage the climate community to contribute with their own local datasets to the SunCloud project. The SunCloud Team: M. Wild, Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, ETH Zurich, Switzerland (martin.wild@env.ethz.ch) E. Pallé, Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands, Spain (epalle@iac.es) J. Calbó, Group of Environmental Physics, University of Girona, Spain (josep.calbo@udg.edu) M. Brunetti, Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, Italian National Research Council, Italy (m.brunetti@isac.cnr.it) G. Stanhill, Department of Environmental Physics and Irrigation, The Volcani Center, Israel (gerald@volcani.agri.gov.il) R. Brázdil, Institute of Geography, Masaryk University, Czech Republic (brazdil@sci.muni.cz) M. Barriendos, Department of Modern History, University of Barcelona, Spain (mbarriendos@ub.edu) C. Deser, National Center for Atmospheric Research, USA (cdeser@ucar.edu) P. Pereira, Department of Environmental Protection, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Lithuania (pereiraub@gmail.com) C. Azorin-Molina, The CEAM Foundation (Fundación Centro de Estudios Ambientales del Mediterráneo), Spain (cazorin@ceam.es) Q. You, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China (yqingl@126.com)

"Piedra Dorada": a natural stone as an intrinsic part of two World Heritage Cities in Andalusia (Spain)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Navarro, Rafael; Sánchez-Valverde, Josefina; Baltuille, José Manuel

2013-04-01

"Piedra Dorada" was used to construct some of the most important heritage buildings in the cities of Úbeda and Baeza, in Jaén (Spain). UNESCO declared these cities World Heritage Cities in 2003. Although there are some Iberian or Roman ruins in which is already possible to see the use of this stone, it is from the XVI century when "Piedra Dorada" is extensively used in the construction of the main historical buildings. Some of well-known monuments are Vázquez de Molina Palace or chain Palace (XVI), San Salvador Church (Sacred Chapel of El Salvador) (XVI) o the Royal Colegiata of Santa María la Mayor de los Reales Alcázares (XVI) in Úbeda or the Justice House-The House of the Corregidor (XVI), the Saint Cathedral of the Natividad de Nuestra Señora (XVI) or Jabalquinto Palace (XV), in Baeza, among many others. "Piedra Dorada" includes several varieties with similar mineralogical and chemical characteristics, called "Piedra Viva" or "Jabaluna", more cemented and used mainly with structural purposes (ashlars, columns, etc) and "Piedra Franca", less cemented and used mainly with decorative purposes (façades, statues, etc). From a geological point of view, "Piedra Dorada" is a medium to fine grain size bioclastic calcarenite, part of the upper Miocene-Pliocene deposits of the Guadalquivir Basin (Post Orogenic Neogene Basins of the Betic Chains). It is made up of quartz (8% to 29%), calcite and/or dolomite (34% to 80%), and some feldspar. The intergranular calcite cement proportion varies between 7% and 33%. Physical and mechanical properties are highly variable depending on the variety. "Piedra Viva" has an open porosity of 5,2%, bulk density of 2,63 g/cm3, water absorption at atmospheric pressure between 1,5-2,7 %, compressive strength (dry) between 20,1-18,0 MPa, flexural resistance (dry) between 87,3-77,0 MPa and salt crystallization loss of mass of 2,5%. "Piedra Franca" has an open porosity of 24,3%, bulk density of 2,00 g/cm3, water absorption at atmospheric pressure between 12,15-14,02 %, compressive strength (dry) between 1,4-1,6 MPa, flexural resistance (dry) between 8,5-9,8 MPa and salt crystallization loss of mass of 30,4%. The main observed deterioration in the buildings made up of this natural stone is salt crystallization due to the combined action between water infiltration from rain and the application of different mortars due to the overlapping of different phases of construction. Black crust and biological colonization are important decay agents too. "Piedra Dorada", because of its relevance in the main buildings in the World Heritage Cities of Ubeda and Baeza and its optimal aesthetic characteristics and behaviour, can be considered as one of the most important natural stone in Andalusia. Its nomination as Global Heritage Stone Resource will help to preserve the material, both in quarries and in historical buildings, avoiding the extreme deterioration and the application of proper restoration when needed. This is a contribution of the Spanish network CONSTRUROCK.

Deep-water Circulation: Processes & Products (16-18 June 2010, Baiona): introduction and future challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hernández-Molina, Francisco Javier; Stow, Dorrik A. V.; Llave, Estefanía; Rebesco, Michele; Ercilla, Gemma; van Rooij, David; Mena, Anxo; Vázquez, Juan-Tomás; Voelker, Antje H. L.

2011-12-01

Deep-water circulation is a critical part of the global conveyor belt that regulates Earth's climate. The bottom (contour)-current component of this circulation is of key significance in shaping the deep seafloor through erosion, transport, and deposition. As a result, there exists a high variety of large-scale erosional and depositional features (drifts) that together form more complex contourite depositional systems on continental slopes and rises as well as in ocean basins, generated by different water masses flowing at different depths and at different speeds either in the same or in opposite directions. Yet, the nature of these deep-water processes and the deposited contourites is still poorly understood in detail. Their ultimate decoding will undoubtedly yield information of fundamental importance to the earth and ocean sciences. The international congress Deep-water Circulation: Processes & Products was held from 16-18 June 2010 in Baiona, Spain, hosted by the University of Vigo. Volume 31(5/6) of Geo-Marine Letters is a special double issue containing 17 selected contributions from the congress, guest edited by F.J. Hernández-Molina, D.A.V. Stow, E. Llave, M. Rebesco, G. Ercilla, D. Van Rooij, A. Mena, J.-T. Vázquez and A.H.L. Voelker. The papers and discussions at the congress and the articles in this special issue provide a truly multidisciplinary perspective of interest to both academic and industrial participants, contributing to the advancement of knowledge on deep-water bottom circulation and related processes, as well as contourite sedimentation. The multidisciplinary contributions (including geomorphology, tectonics, stratigraphy, sedimentology, paleoceanography, physical oceanography, and deep-water ecology) have demonstrated that advances in paleoceanographic reconstructions and our understanding of the ocean's role in the global climate system depend largely on the feedbacks among disciplines. New insights into the link between the biota of deep-water ecosystems and bottom currents confirm the need for this field to be investigated and mapped in detail. Likewise, it is confirmed that deep-water contourites are not only of academic interest but also potential resources of economic value. Cumulatively, both the congress and the present volume serve to demonstrate that the role of bottom currents in shaping the seafloor has to date been generally underestimated, and that our understanding of such systems is still in its infancy. Future research on contourites, using new and more advanced techniques, should focus on a more detailed visualization of water-mass circulation and its variability, in order to decipher the physical processes involved and the associations between drifts and other common bedforms. Moreover, contourite facies models should be better established, including their associations with other deep-water sedimentary environments both in modern and ancient submarine domains. The rapid increase in deep-water exploration and the new deep-water technologies available to the oil industry and academic institutions will undoubtedly lead to spectacular advances in contourite research in terms of processes, morphology, sediment stacking patterns, facies, and their relationships with other deep-marine depositional systems.

Drought impacts on vegetation dynamics in the Mediterranean based on remote sensing and multi-scale drought indices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trigo, Ricardo; Gouveia, Celia M.; Beguería, Santiago; Vicente-Serrano, Sergio

2015-04-01

A number of recent studies have identified a significant increase in the frequency of drought events in the Mediterranean basin (e.g. Trigo et al., 2013, Vicente-Serrano et al., 2014). In the Mediterranean region, large drought episodes are responsible for the most negative impacts on the vegetation including significant losses of crop yield, increasing risk of forest fires (e.g. Gouveia et al., 2012) and even forest decline. The aim of the present work is to analyze in detail the impacts of drought episodes on vegetation in the Mediterranean basin behavior using NDVI data from (from GIMMS) for entire Mediterranean basin (1982-2006) and the multi-scale drought index (the Standardised Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI). Correlation maps between fields of monthly NDVI and SPEI for at different time scales (1-24 months) were computed in order to identify the regions and seasons most affected by droughts. Affected vegetation presents high spatial and seasonal variability, with a maximum in summer and a minimum in winter. During February 50% of the affected pixels corresponded to a time scale of 6 months, while in November the most frequent time scale corresponded to 3 months, representing more than 40% of the affected region. Around 20% of grid points corresponded to the longer time scales (18 and 24 months), persisting fairly constant along the year. In all seasons the wetter clusters present higher NDVI values which indicates that aridity holds a key role to explain the spatial differences in the NDVI values along the year. Despite the localization of these clusters in areas with higher values of monthly water balance, the strongest control of drought on vegetation activity are observed for the drier classes located over regions with smaller absolute values of water balance. Gouveia C.M., Bastos A., Trigo R.M., DaCamara C.C. (2012) "Drought impacts on vegetation in the pre and post-fire events over Iberian Peninsula". Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 12, 3123-3137, 2012. Trigo R.M., Añel J., Barriopedro D., García-Herrera R., Gimeno L., Nieto R., Castillo R., Allen M.R., Massey N. (2013), The record Winter drought of 2011-12 in the Iberian Peninsula [in "Explaining Extreme Events of 2012 from a Climate Perspective". [Peterson, T. C., M. P. Hoerling, P.A. Stott and S. Herring, Eds.] Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 94 (9), S41-S45. Vicente-Serrano S.M., López-Moreno J.I., Beguería S., Lorenzo-Lacruz J., Sanchez-Lorenzo A., García-Ruiz J.M., Azorin-Molina C., Móran-Tejeda E., Revuelto J., Trigo R., Coelho F., Espejo F.: Evidence of increasing drought severity caused by temperature rise in southern Europe. Environmental Research Letters, 9, 044001, 2014. Acknowledgements: This work was partially supported by national funds through FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal) under project QSECA (PTDC/AAGGLO/4155/2012).

In depth analysis of the role of the mountain gap south of the Valley of Mexico on the air quality in Mexico City.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gerardo Ruiz Suarez, Luis

2010-05-01

38 days of air quality observations in Tenango del Aire (TENAI), south of Mexico City during MILAGRO were analyzed. That site was managed by FQA-CCA-UNAM's team with a mobile laboratory equipped with standard air quality monitors: O3, NOx, NOy, CO, SO2 and surface meteorological parameters. Hosted additional instruments were: CH2O, column NO2 (DOAS), backscatter (Lidar) and pilot balloons. Also, an ultra light plane from IMK-IFU, equipped with O3, PM10, CN, Dew Point monitors flew around the Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl volcanoes and above of TENAI some days during MILAGRO. Atop of TENAI, the ultra light descended in spiral until near ground and ascended to resume its path. In addition to these measurements, UNAM team ran air quality numerical simulations using the Mesoscale Climate and Chemistry Model (MCCM) and an online coupled Wind Erosion Processor to MCCM we call WEPS-MCCM. The combined observations on the ground, the ultra light plane and the models results enabled us to carry out an in depth analysis of air quality in such important region south of Mexico City. Comparison were made with the episodes classification proposed by De Foy; Ozone North and South, Convection North and South, Cold Surge and South Venting to characterize dynamics in the Valley of Mexico. The aim was to define how well connected is TENAI with the air quality network in the MCMA. The influence of the mountain gap on ozone and PM10 levels in Mexico City is analyzed by episode type. Also, the impact of the mega city of Mexico on the nearby region to the south can be understood by observations in TENAI. More polluted episode types in TENAI are those called: Cold Surge, Ozone South and South Venting due to a wind shift occurring in early afternoon that brings back polluted air that was drained south during the morning and returns back to TENAI rich in aged air parcels. March 17 was chosen to show the integrated analysis of all variables observed and modeled (MCCM) in TENAI. In that day, evidence of emissions from Tula point sources (refinery and or thermoelectric power plant) was observed very early in the day. Later in the day, plumes coming from biomass burning activities were detected by instruments at TENAI. The role of the crop lands in the mountain gap as a source of PM10 by wind erosion is highlighted both, by the ultra light plane and the coupled models WEPS-MCCM. Note: The Tenango Team members are; L. G. Ruiz-Suárez (1) , R. Torres-Jardón (1), Henry Woehrnschimmel (2), R. Steinbrecher (3), W. Junkerman (3), E. Ningenda (1), A. García-Reynoso (1), M. Melamed (1), A. Jazcilevich (1), B. E. Mar-Morales (1), M. Grutter (1) and L. Molina (4,5)

Drought trends in the Iberian Peninsula over the last 112 years

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gouveia, Célia M.; Ramos, Patrícia; Russo, Ana; Trigo, Ricardo M.

2015-04-01

The Iberian Peninsula is often affected by drought events with strong influences in ecosystems and the related social and economic impacts (Gouveia et al. 2012, Trigo et al., 2013). In the last decades the severity of droughts in Iberia have increased due to the higher atmospheric evaporative demand (Vicente-Serrano et al., 2014). The need for a deeper knowledge of drought frequency, duration and intensity over the Iberian Peninsula during the last 112 years is reinforced by the findings showing that the period of 1970-2010 over the Mediterranean region was considered drier when compared with 1901-1970. Together with the increasing dryness, the projections point for an increase of drought conditions during the twenty-first century (Hoerling et al., 2012) will tend to exacerbate these problems. The evolution of drought in the Iberian Peninsula was analyzed, using the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) and the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), for the period 1901-2012, and the sub-periods 1901-1937, 1938-1974 and 1975-2012. We have used SPI and SPEI for the time scale of 12 months, as obtained from CRU TS3.21 database between 1901 and 2012, using a spatial resolution of 0.5°. The drought indices were analyzed in order to identify significant trends during the entire period and sub-periods. Trends in annual precipitation and PET were also performed. Drought's duration, magnitude and time spanned between drought events were computed. SPI and SPEI significant trends show areas with opposite signals in the period 1901-2012, following precipitation patterns. Precipitation trends are significant and positive in the Northwestern region of the IP, and significant and negative in the Southern areas. SPEI identified dryer conditions and an increase in the area affected by droughts, which is in agreement with the increase in PET on the majority of the territory. The same spatial differences were identified in the drought duration, magnitude and time between drought events, although no clear pattern has emerged. Gouveia C.M., Bastos A., Trigo R.M., DaCamara C.C. (2012) "Drought impacts on vegetation in the pre and post-fire events over Iberian Peninsula". Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 12, 3123-3137, 2012. Hoerling, M., Eischeid, J., Perlwitz, J., Quan, X., Zhang, T., and Pegion, P. (2012). On the increased frequency of Mediterranean drought. J. Clim., 25, 2146-2161. Trigo R.M., Añel J., Barriopedro D., García-Herrera R., Gimeno L., Nieto R., Castillo R., Allen M.R., Massey N. (2013), The record Winter drought of 2011-12 in the Iberian Peninsula [in "Explaining Extreme Events of 2012 from a Climate Perspective". [Peterson, T. C., M. P. Hoerling, P.A. Stott and S. Herring, Eds.] Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 94 (9), S41-S45. Vicente-Serrano S.M., López-Moreno J.I., Beguería S., Lorenzo-Lacruz J., Sanchez-Lorenzo A., García-Ruiz J.M., Azorin-Molina C., Móran-Tejeda E., Revuelto J., Trigo R., Coelho F., Espejo F.: Evidence of increasing drought severity caused by temperature rise in southern Europe. Environmental Research Letters, 9, 044001, 2014. Acknowledgements: This work was partially supported by national funds through FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal) under project QSECA (PTDC/AAGGLO/4155/2012).

Impact of HLA selection pressure on HIV fitness at a population level in Mexico and Barbados.

PubMed

Juarez-Molina, Claudia I; Payne, Rebecca; Soto-Nava, Maribel; Avila-Rios, Santiago; Valenzuela-Ponce, Humberto; Adland, Emily; Leitman, Ellen; Brener, Jacqui; Muenchhoff, Maximilian; Branch, Songee; Landis, Clive; Reyes-Teran, Gustavo; Goulder, Philip

2014-09-01

Previous studies have demonstrated that effective cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses drive the selection of escape mutations that reduce viral replication capacity (VRC). Escape mutations, including those with reduced VRC, can be transmitted and accumulate in a population. Here we compared two antiretroviral therapy (ART)-naive HIV clade B-infected cohorts, in Mexico and Barbados, in which the most protective HLA alleles (HLA-B*27/57/58:01/81:01) are differentially expressed, at 8% and 34%, respectively. Viral loads were significantly higher in Mexico than in Barbados (median, 40,774 versus 14,200; P < 0.0001), and absolute CD4(+) T-cell counts were somewhat lower (median, 380/mm(3) versus 403/mm(3); P = 0.007). We tested the hypothesis that the disparate frequencies of these protective HLA alleles would be associated with a higher VRC at the population level in Mexico. Analysis of VRC in subjects in each cohort, matched for CD4(+) T-cell count, revealed that the VRC was indeed higher in the Mexican cohort (mean, 1.13 versus 1.03; P = 0.0025). Although CD4 counts were matched, viral loads remained significantly higher in the Mexican subjects (P = 0.04). This VRC difference was reflected by a significantly higher frequency in the Barbados cohort of HLA-B*27/57/58:01/81:01-associated Gag escape mutations previously shown to incur a fitness cost on the virus (P = 0.004), a difference between the two cohorts that remained statistically significant even in subjects not expressing these protective alleles (P = 0.01). These data suggest that viral set points and disease progression rates at the population level may be significantly influenced by the prevalence of protective HLA alleles such as HLA-B*27/57/58:01/81:01 and that CD4 count-based guidelines to initiate antiretroviral therapy may need to be modified accordingly, to optimize the effectiveness of treatment-for-prevention strategies and reduce HIV transmission rates to the absolute minimum. Immune control of HIV at an individual level is strongly influenced by the HLA class I genotype. HLA class I molecules mediating effective immune control, such as HLA-B*27 and HLA-B*57, are associated with the selection of escape mutants that reduce viral replicative capacity. The escape mutants selected in infected patients can be transmitted and affect the viral load and CD4 count in the recipient. These findings prompt the hypothesis that the frequency of protective alleles in a population may affect viral set points and rates of disease progression in that population. These studies in Mexico and Barbados, where the prevalence rates of protective HLA alleles are 8% and 34%, respectively, support this hypothesis. These data suggest that antiretroviral therapy (ART) treatment-for-prevention strategies will be less successful in populations such as those in Mexico, where viral loads are higher for a given CD4 count. Consideration may therefore usefully be given to ART initiation at higher absolute CD4 counts in such populations to optimize the impact of ART for prevention. Copyright © 2014 Juarez-Molina et al.

Estimation of slip scenarios of mega-thrust earthquakes and strong motion simulations for Central Andes, Peru

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pulido, N.; Tavera, H.; Aguilar, Z.; Chlieh, M.; Calderon, D.; Sekiguchi, T.; Nakai, S.; Yamazaki, F.

2012-12-01

We have developed a methodology for the estimation of slip scenarios for megathrust earthquakes based on a model of interseismic coupling (ISC) distribution in subduction margins obtained from geodetic data, as well as information of recurrence of historical earthquakes. This geodetic slip model (GSM) delineates the long wavelength asperities within the megathrust. For the simulation of strong ground motion it becomes necessary to introduce short wavelength heterogeneities to the source slip to be able to efficiently simulate high frequency ground motions. To achieve this purpose we elaborate "broadband" source models constructed by combining the GSM with several short wavelength slip distributions obtained from a Von Karman PSD function with random phases. Our application of the method to Central Andes in Peru, show that this region has presently the potential of generating an earthquake with moment magnitude of 8.9, with a peak slip of 17 m and a source area of approximately 500 km along strike and 165 km along dip. For the strong motion simulations we constructed 12 broadband slip models, and consider 9 possible hypocenter locations for each model. We performed strong motion simulations for the whole central Andes region (Peru), spanning an area from the Nazca ridge (16^o S) to the Mendana fracture (9^o S). For this purpose we use the hybrid strong motion simulation method of Pulido et al. (2004), improved to handle a general slip distribution. Our simulated PGA and PGV distributions indicate that a region of at least 500 km along the coast of central Andes is subjected to a MMI intensity of approximately 8, for the slip model that yielded the largest ground motions among the 12 slip models considered, averaged for all assumed hypocenter locations. This result is in agreement with the macroseismic intensity distribution estimated for the great 1746 earthquake (M~9) in central Andes (Dorbath et al. 1990). Our results indicate that the simulated PGA and PGV for all scenario slips for central Andes, and for an average soil condition, exhibit similar amplitudes and attenuation characteristics with distance as the PGA and PGV values observed during the 2010 Maule (Mw 8.8), and 2011 Tohoku-oki (Mw 9.0) earthquakes. Our results clearly indicate that the simulated ground motions for scenarios with deep rupture nucleations (~40 km) are consistently smaller than the ground motions obtained for shallower rupture nucleations. We also performed strong ground motion simulations in metropolitan Lima by using the aforementioned slip scenarios, and incorporating site amplifications obtained from several microtremors array surveys conducted at representative geotechnical zones in this city. Our simulated PGA and PGV in Lima reach values of 1000 cm/s^2 and 80 cm/s. Our results show that the largest values of PGA (at Puente Piedra district, Northern Lima) are related with short period site effects, whereas the largest values of PGV are related with large site amplifications for periods from 1s to 1.5s (at Callao, Villa el Salvador and La Molina districts). Our results also indicate that the simulated PGA and PGV in central Lima (Parque de la Reserva) are in average 2~3 times larger than the values recorded by a strong motion instrument installed at this location, during the 1974 (Mw8.0) and 1966 (Mw8.0) earthquakes off-shore Lima.

Carbonate mounds from the Gulf of Cadiz in relation to methane seepage: unrelated phenomena or coupling?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stadnitskaia, Alina; Baas, Marianne; de Haas, Henk; van Weering, Tjeerd C. E.; Kreulen, Rob R.; Sinninghe Damsté, Jaap S.

2010-05-01

For more than decade, the formation of carbonate mounds, related ecosystem development and organization/functioning of the entire mound habitats are subjects for a growing amount of studies and discussions. Carbonate mounds from the Gulf of Cadiz are of special interest due to their association with active mud volcanoes within the El Arraiche mud volcano field. Such co-occurrence of ecologically contrasting phenomena anticipates complex biogeochemical interactions between a carbonate mound interior and seeping through hydrocarbon-rich fluids. To get closer in understanding of how methane affects a carbonate mound development in the gulf, a combination of inorganic and organic geochemical techniques was applied to two sedimentary cores collected from summits of Alfa and Beta mounds. These mounds were found at the NW slope of the Gimini MV at the Pen Duick Mound Province. We analyzed vertical distribution profiles of sulfate, sulfide, chlorinity, DIC in combination with hydrocarbon gas measurements and lipid biomarker study. To have estimates of Sea Surface Temperature (SST) during the carbonate mound formation, we applied the TEX86 (TetraEther indeX of tetraethers with 86 carbon atoms; Schouten et al., 2002) and the alkenone-based UK37 index (Müller et al., 1998). The pore-water data revealed the presence of brine inflow, which is consistent with the data of Hensen et al., (2007). The behavior of sulfide distribution profiles and δ13C values from dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) indicated that most of the sulfide and DIC are resulted from the microbial anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) processes. In contrast, the analysis of archaeal membrane lipids from distinct clades of AOM-mediating anaerobic methanotrophs showed exceedingly low concentrations of specific biomarkers, which is in contradiction with pore-water and gas chemistry data. Besides, AOM is the main cause for the increase of sedimentary alkalinity that leads to carbonate precipitation. Instead, some sedimentary intervals associated with pore-water-detected AOM zone showed the presence of semi-dissolved coral branches, indicating thus rather acidic intra-environments. In this paper we discuss a potential "consecutive order" of biogeochemical processes in the close subsurface of Alfa and Beta carbonate mounds and outline the importance of careful interpretation of biogeochemical signatures related to past, modern and post seepage episodes. References: Hensen, C, Nuzzo, M, Hornibrook, E, Pinheiro, L M, Bock, B, Magalhães, V, W Bruckmann (2007). Sources of mud volcano fluids in the Gulf of Cadiz: indications for hydrothermal imprint. Geochim. Cosmochimica Acta, 71, 1232-1248. Schouten, S., Hopmans, E.C., Schefub, E., and Sinninghe Damsté, J.S., 2002, Distributional variations in marine crenarchaeotal membrane lipids: a new tool for reconstructing ancient sea water temperatures?: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, v. 204, p. 265-274. Somoza, L., Gardner, J.M., Diaz-del-Rio, V., Vazquez, J.T., Pinheiro, L.M.,Herna‘ndez-Molina, F.J.the TASYO/Anastasya shipboard parties, 2002. Numerous methane gas-related sea floor structures identified in the Gulf of Cadis. EOS, p. 541. Müller, P.J., Kirst, G., Ruhland, G., von Storch I. and A. Rosell-Melé (1998). Calibration of the alkenone paleotemperature index UK'37 based on core-tops from the eastern South Atlantic and the global ocean (60°N-60°S). Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 62, pp. 1757-1772. Van Rensbergen, P., Depreiter, D., Pannemans, B. and Henriet, J.-P. (2005) Seafloor expression of sediment extrusion and intrusion at the El Arraiche mud volcano field,Gulf of Cadiz. J. Geophys. Res.110, No. F2, F02010.

Runoff experiment and adapted SfM photogrammetry to assess rill erosion in Mediterranean agricultural fields from a holistic point of view

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gronz, Oliver; Rodrigo-Comino, Jesús; Seeger, Manuel

2017-04-01

In Mediterranean agricultural fields, more research is needed to quantify soil loss and to assess runoff generation caused by unsuitable land management strategies (García-Díaz et al., 2017; Keesstra et al., 2016). Nowadays, farmers are increasing the generation of rills and, consequently, enhancing several sub-processes related to soil erosion by water such as headcut retreats, piping or cracks joint to mass movements (Marzolff and Poesen, 2009; Poesen et al., 2003; Rodrigo Comino et al., 2015). This complex problem under different spatiotemporal scales hinders a reliable forecasting of its final consequences (Prasuhn, 2011; Salome et al., 2014). Several researchers pay more attention to point observations, but no to general and connected overviews of processes related to forms and the quantitative functioning of all elements. Therefore, the main goal of this study is to characterize and quantify the rill erosion generated by these degradation processes. To achieve this goal, two runoff experiments were carried out with two repetitions (dry and wet conditions) under extreme conditions (Wirtz et al., 2013, 2012, 2010): a motor driven pump discharged a water inflow up to ˜4.2 l s-1 maintained during between 4 and 6 minutes (≈1000 litres). Additionally, a 3D-captation of the rill by an adapted SfM photogrammetry was performed to assess: i) clear visible zonation of geomorphological (structural) connectivity features; ii) runoff and sediment productions close to the catchment outlet under actual conditions; iii) topsoil-subsoil interaction and crusting crucial for runoff generation; and, iv) the area with evidence of (former) high erosion intensity now stable, but with remnant. García-Díaz, A., Bienes, R., Sastre, B., Novara, A., Gristina, L., Cerdà, A., 2017. Nitrogen losses in vineyards under different types of soil groundcover. A field runoff simulator approach in central Spain. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 236, 256-267. doi:10.1016/j.agee.2016.12.013 Keesstra, S., Pereira, P., Novara, A., Brevik, E.C., Azorin-Molina, C., Parras-Alcántara, L., Jordán, A., Cerdà, A., 2016. Effects of soil management techniques on soil water erosion in apricot orchards. Sci. Total Environ. 551-552, 357-366. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.01.182 Marzolff, I., Poesen, J., 2009. The potential of 3D gully monitoring with GIS using high-resolution aerial photography and a digital photogrammetry system. Geomorphology, GIS and SDA applications in geomorphology 111, 48-60. doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2008.05.047 Poesen, J., Nachtergaele, J., Verstraeten, G., Valentin, C., 2003. Gully erosion and environmental change: importance and research needs. Catena, Gully Erosion and Global Change 50, 91-133. doi:10.1016/S0341-8162(02)00143-1 Rodrigo Comino, J., Brings, C., Lassu, T., Iserloh, T., Senciales, J., Martínez Murillo, J., Ruiz Sinoga, J., Seeger, M., Ries, J., 2015. Rainfall and human activity impacts on soil losses and rill erosion in vineyards (Ruwer Valley, Germany). Solid Earth 6, 823-837. doi:10.5194/se-6-823-2015 Wirtz, S., Seeger, M., Ries, J.B., 2012. Field experiments for understanding and quantification of rill erosion processes. Catena 91, 21-34. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2010.12.002 Wirtz, S., Seeger, M., Ries, J.B., 2010. The rill experiment as a method to approach a quantification of rill erosion process activity. Z. Für Geomorphol. NF 54, 47-64. Wirtz, S., Seeger, M., Zell, A., Wagner, C., Wagner, J.-F., Ries, J.B., 2013. Applicability of Different Hydraulic Parameters to Describe Soil Detachment in Eroding Rills. PLoS ONE 8, 1-11. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0064861

Geologic map of the Horse Mountain Quadrangle, Garfield County, Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Perry, W.J.; Shroba, R.R.; Scott, R.B.; Maldonado, Florian

2003-01-01

New 1:24,000-scale geologic map of the Horse Mountain 7.5' quadrangle, in support of the USGS Western Colorado I-70 Corridor Cooperative Geologic Mapping Project, summarizes available geologic information for the quadrangle. It provides new interpretations of the stratigraphy, structure, and geologic hazards in the area of the southwest flank of the White River uplift. Bedrock strata include the Paleocene and early Eocene Wasatch Formation down through Ordovician and Cambrian units into Precambrian hornblende tonalite. The Wasatch Formation includes the Shire, Molina and Atwell Gulch Members which are mapped separately. The underlying Upper Cretaceous Mesaverde Group is subdivided into the Willams Fork and Iles Formations. The Cameo-Fairfield clinker zone within the Williams Fork Formation is mapped separately. The Iles Formation includes the Rollins Sandstone Member at the top, mapped separately, and the Cozzette Sandstone and Corcoran Sandstone Members, which are undivided. The Mancos Shale consists of four members, an upper member, the Niobrara Member, the Juana Lopez Member, and a lower member, undivided. The Lower Cretaceous Dakota Sandstone, the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation, and Jurassic Entrada Sandstone are mapped separately. The Lower Jurassic and Upper Triassic Glen Canyon Sandstone is mapped with the Entrada in the Horse Mountain Quadrangle. The upper Triassic Chinle Formation and the Lower Permian and Triassic(?) State Bridge Formation are present. The Pennsylvanian and Permian Maroon Formation is undivided. All the exposures of the Middle Pennsylvanian Eagle Valley Evaporite are diapiric, intruded into the Middle Pennsylvanian Eagle Valley Formation, which includes locally mappable limestone beds. The Lower and Middle Pennsylvanian Belden Formation and the Lower Mississippian Leadville Limestone are present. The Upper Devonian Chaffee Group consists of the Dyer Dolomite and the underlying Parting Quartzite, undivided. Locally, the Lower Ordovician Manitou Formation is mapped separately beneath the Chaffee. Elsewhere, Ordovician through Cambrian units, the Manitou and Dotsero Formations, underlain by the Sawatch Quartzite, are undivided. The southwest flank of the White River uplift is a late Laramide structure that is represented by the steeply southwest-dipping Grand Hogback, which is only present in the southwestern corner of the map area, and less steeply southwest-dipping older strata that flatten to nearly horizontal attitudes in the northern part of the map area. Between these two are a complex of normal faults, the largest of which dips southward placing Chafee dolostone and Leadville Limestone adjacent to Eagle Valley and Maroon Formations. Diapiric Eagle Valley Evaporite intruded close to the fault on the down-thrown side. Removal of evaporite by either flow or dissolution from under younger parts of the strata create structural benches, folds, and sink holes on either side of the normal fault. A prominent dipslope of the Morrison-Dakota-Mancos part of the section forms large slide blocks and mass movement deposits consisting of a chaos of admixed Morrison and Dakota lithologies. The major geologic hazard in the area consists of large landslides both associated with dip-slope slide blocks and the steep slopes of the Eagle Valley Formation and Belden Formation in the northern part of the map. Abandoned coal mines are present along the north face of the Grand Hogback in the lower part of the Mesaverde Group

Splash erosion. A bibliometric Review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fernández Raga, M. B.

2012-04-01

Ellison (1944) developed the splash board as a system for measuring splash erosion that was both cheap and reliable. Bollinne (1975), Morgan (1978, 1981). Mutchler (1967) described another different type of splash detectors according to whether they were passive or could register data. In the study mentioned above these authors included bottles, funnels, glasses, photography, markers. After that several devices has been made up like the splash sampler (Leguedois et al., 2005), soil tray (Van Dijk et al., 2002), splash funnel (Terry, 1989) and several rain cups (Fernandez-Raga et al., 2010; Molina and Llinares, 1996; Torri et al., 1987). Splash erosion research has materialized in the form of a number of papers published in international journals. The database of bibliographic references employed has been one of the most prestigious ones: theWeb of Science (ISI). The search was carried out on January 27th 2012. Among the 3x10^8 scholarly documents included in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED) 1899 to present , the searching engine located 439 containing the word "splash erosion*", where the asterisk acts as a wildcard for any letter or group of letters. Of these, 383 were classified as articles, 87 as proceeding papers, 5 as editorial material, 2 as notes and 1 as correction. These documents have been published in 163 different journals, although four are particularly recurrent: Earth surface processes and Landforms, Catena, Soil Science Society of America Journal and Hydrological processes, with 41, 35, 35 and 26 published documents respectively. A geographic analysis of these articles has been carried out in an attempt to determine in what parts of the world research projects were making use of splash erosion. The results are that anglo-saxon countries, as USA, England and Australia dominate, particularly USA, with 130 articles. China and Japan are large communities of researches too, and some Central European countries as Belgium, France Germany and Netherlands. It is interesting to analyze the evolution of research by means of splash erosion publications. Figure 6 shows the number of documents published every decade from 1961 (the first publication appears in 1967) . Various aspects need to be commented: • The decades show an exponential increase in the number of publications. • The line in the figure represents the rise in the number of publications, which have been larger in the last two decades (900s and 20000s). • The last decade included began in 2001 leads us to predict a strong boost in research in this particular field. It is also worthwhile to consider briefly the main concepts dealt with in the documents published: • There are only 3 publications with disdrometer + splash erosion as topic words. • After 1991 and 2000 we find that there are several lines of measurement of two main research lines today are already defined: the study of the splash produces with rain simulation processes or splash produces with natural rain (relationship with atmospheric variables and accuracy of the measurements). • The current decade is characterized by an increase in research using disdrometers for studying splash erosion. Summing up, the research that is being carried out using splash erosion is evolving towards an increasing number of projects, countries, and especially, papers published in prestigious scientific journals.

Aqueous aerosol may build up large upper tropospheric ice supersaturation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bogdan, Anatoli; Molina, Mario J.

2010-05-01

Keywords: ice supersaturation, upper tropospheric cirrus clouds, freezing of aqueous aerosol. Observations often reveal enhanced and persistent upper tropospheric (UT) ice supersaturation, Si up to 100%, independently of whether cirrus ice clouds are present or not (Krämer et al., 2009; Lawson et al., 2008). However, a water activity criterion (WAC) (Koop et al., 2000) does not allow the formation of Si > ~67% by the homogeneous freezing of aqueous droplets even at the lowest atmospheric temperature of ~185 K. For aqueous aerosol the WAC predicts the existence of a so called homogeneous ice nucleation threshold which, being expressed as Si, is between ~52 and 67% in the temperature range of ~220 - 185 K. The nature of the formation of large Si remains unclear. Since water vapor is the dominant greenhouse gas it is important to know the nature of the accumulation and persistence of water vapor in the UT. We studied the freezing behavior of micrometer-scaled 3-, 4-, and 5-component droplets, which contain different weight fractions of H2O, H2SO4, HNO3, (NH4)2SO4, (NH4)HSO4, NH4NO3, and (NH4)3H(SO4)2. The study was performed between 133 and 278 K at cooling rates of 3, 0.1, and 0.05 K/min using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) (Bogdan and Molina, 2010). The cooling rates of 0.1 and 0.05 K/min (6 and 3 K/h) are similar to the smallest reported synoptic temperature change of ~2 K/h (Carslaw et al., 1998). Using the measured freezing temperature of ice, Ti, and the thermodynamic E-AIM model of the system of H+ - NH4+ - SO42-- NO3-- H2O (Clegg et al., 1998), we calculated the corresponding clear-sky Si which would be built up immediately prior to the formation of ice cirrus clouds by the homogeneous freezing of aqueous aerosol of similar composition. We found that our calculated values of Si are both larger and smaller than the homogeneous ice nucleation threshold. For example, for the droplets of compositions of 15/10 and 20/10 wt % (NH4)3H(SO4)2/H2SO4, which freeze at 194 and 186 K, respectively, the calculated clear-sky Si can exceed 80%. Although our Si values are smaller than the largest observed value of Si ≈ 100%, they are nevertheless larger than the Si ≈ 67% predicted by the WAC at 185 K. Our results can give an impetus for the study of whether multi-component aqueous aerosol, which besides inorganic components also contains organics, may produce the observed Si ≈ 100%. Krämer, M., Schiller, C., Afchine, A., Bauer, R., Gensch, I., Mangold, A.., Schlicht, S., Spelten, N., Sitnikov, N., Borrmann, S., de Reus, M., Spichtinger, P. (2009), Atmos. Chem. Phys. 9, 3505. Lawson, R. P., Pilson, B., Baker, B., Mo, Q., Jensen, E., Pfister, L., Bui, P. (2008), Atmos. Chem. Phys. 8, 1609. Koop, T., Luo, B., Tsias, A., Peter, T. (2000), Nature, 406, 611. Bogdan, A. and Moilna, M. J. (2010), J. Phys. Chem. A (Published online: 5 February). Carslaw, K. S., Wirth, M., Tsias, A., Luo, B. P., Dörnbrack, A., Leutbecher, M., Volkert, H., Renger, W., Bacmeister, J. T., Peter, T. (1998), J. Geophys. Res. 103, 5785. Clegg, S. L., Brimblecombe, P., Wexler, A. S. (1998), J. Phys. Chem. A 102, 2137.

PREFACE: 17th International Conference on Microscopy of Semiconducting Materials 2011

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walther, T.; Midgley, P. A.

2011-11-01

This volume contains invited and contributed papers from the 17th international conference on 'Microscopy of Semiconducting Materials' held at Churchill College, University of Cambridge, on 4-7 April 2011. The meeting was organised under the auspices of the Institute of Physics and supported by the Royal Microscopical Society as well as the Materials Research Society of the USA. This conference series deals with recent advances in semiconductor studies carried out by all forms of microscopy, with an emphasis on electron microscopy and related techniques with high spatial resolution. This time the meeting was attended by 131 delegates from 25 countries world-wide, a record in terms of internationality. As semiconductor devices shrink further new routes of device processing and characterisation need to be developed, and, for the latter, methods that offer sub-nanometre spatial resolution are particularly valuable. The various forms of imaging, diffraction and spectroscopy available in modern microscopes are powerful tools for studying the microstructure, the electronic structure, the chemistry and also electric fields in semiconducting materials. Recent advances in instrumentation, from lens aberration correction in both TEM and STEM instruments, to the development of a wide range of scanning probe techniques, as well as new methods of signal quantification have been presented at this conference. Two examples of topics at this meeting that have attracted a number of interesting studies were: the correlation of microstructural, optical and chemical information at atomic resolution with nanometre-scale resolved maps of the local electrical fields in (In,Al)GaN based semiconductors and tomographic approaches to characterise ensembles of nanowires and stacks of processed layers in devices Figure 1 Figure 1. Opening lecture by Professor Sir Colin J Humphreys. Each manuscript submitted for publication in this proceedings volume has been independently reviewed and revised where necessary. In the end, 61 manuscripts were accepted for publication. The Editors are very grateful to the following colleagues for their rapid and careful reviewing of manuscripts: M Albrecht, J S Barnard, R Beanland, G A Botton, D Cooper, L Clement, A J Craven, A G Cullis, N Daneu, V Grillo, E Grünbaum, A Gustafsson, P-H Jouneau, O L Krivanek, D Larson, M Luysberg, S I Molina, F A Ponce, A Rosenauer, F M Ross, I M Ross, J-L Rouviere, and Z L Wang. Prizes for student presentations at the conference were awarded to Mr Alberto Eljarrat, Universitat de Barcelona, and Mr Thibaud Denneulin, CEA-LETI Grenoble, both of whom are presenting their results also as contributions to this proceedings volume. Entertainment during the conference dinner was provided by the college's string quartet, and after the meal we held the now traditional friendly competition between teams of microscopists; this year teams were asked to construct models of scientific instruments using only cardboard, paper, sticky tape and glue. By unanimous vote, the team who presented the 'Atomic Food Microscope (AFM)' prototype won first prize - the deft 'dipping mode' of the cardboard cantilever (see photo) was a highlight! Figure 2 Figure 2. The prize winning 'Atomic Food Microscope (AFM)' in action! The organisers are very grateful to the following companies who contributed to the success of the meeting by presenting trade stands during an exhibition on the evening of 5 April: Agar Scientific, Bruker, CamScan, FEI, Gatan, Hitachi High Technologies, HREM Research, IOP Publishing, JEOL, Leica Microsystems and MICOS. Finally, we would like to thank the staff of the Institute of Physics for their expert assistance in planning and organising this conference and in particular Claire Garland for her dedicated professional support and her always joyful approach to any issues that arose. October 2011 T Walther P A Midgley

Quantification of methane and nitrous oxide emissions from various waste treatment facilities by tracer dilution method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mønster, Jacob; Rella, Chris; Jacobson, Gloria; Kjeldsen, Peter; Scheutz, Charlotte

2013-04-01

Urban activities generate solid and liquid waste, and the handling and aftercare of the waste results in the emission of various compounds into the surrounding environment. Some of these compounds are emitted as gasses into the atmosphere, including methane and nitrous oxide. Methane and nitrous oxide are strong greenhouse gases and are considered to have 25 and 298 times the greenhouse gas potential of carbon dioxide on a hundred years term (Solomon et al. 2007). Global observations of both gasses have shown increasing concentrations that significantly contribute to the greenhouse gas effect. Methane and nitrous oxide are emitted from both natural and anthropogenic sources and inventories of source specific fugitive emissions from the anthropogenic sources of methane and nitrous oxide of are often estimated on the basis of modeling and mass balance. Though these methods are well-developed, actual measurements for quantification of the emissions is a very useful tool for verifying the modeling and mass balance as well as for validation initiatives done for lowering the emissions of methane and nitrous oxide. One approach to performing such measurements is the tracer dilution method (Galle et al. 2001, Scheutz et al. 2011), where the exact location of the source is located and a tracer gas is released at this source location at a known flow. The ratio of downwind concentrations of the tracer gas and the methane and nitrous oxide gives the emissions rates of the greenhouse gases. This tracer dilution method can be performed using both stationary and mobile measurements and in both cases, real-time measurements of both tracer and quantified gas are required, placing high demands on the analytical detection method. To perform the methane and nitrous oxide measurements, two robust instruments capable of real-time measurements were used, based on cavity ring-down spectroscopy and operating in the near-infrared spectral region. One instrument measured the methane and tracer gas concentrations while another measured the nitrous oxide concentration. We present the performance of these instruments at different waste treatment facilities (waste water treatment plants, composting facilities, sludge mineralization beds, anaerobic digesters and landfills) in Denmark, and discuss the strengths and limitations of the method of the method for quantifying methane and nitrous oxide emissions from the different sources. Furthermore, we have measured the methane emissions from 10 landfills with emission rates ranging from 5 to 135 kg/h depending on the age, state, content and aftercare of the landfill. In addition, we have studied 3 waste water treatment plants, and found nitrous oxide emission of 200 to 700 g/h from the aeration tanks and a total methane emission ranging from 2 to 15 kg/h, with the primary emission coming from the sludge treatment. References Galle, B., Samuelsson, J., Svensson, B.H., and Börjesson, G. (2001). Measurements of methane emissions from landfills using a time correlation tracer method based on FTIR absorption spectroscopy. Environmental Science & Technology 35 (1), 21-25 Scheutz, C., Samuelsson, J., Fredenslund, A. M., and Kjeldsen, P. (2011). Quantification of multiple methane emission sources at landfills using a double tracer technique. Waste Management, 31(5), 1009-17 Solomon, S., D. Qin, M. Manning, R.B. Alley, T. Berntsen, N.L. Bindoff, Z. Chen, A. Chidthaisong, J.M. Gregory, G.C. Hegerl, M. Heimann, B. Hewitson, B.J. Hoskins, F. Joos, J. Jouzel, V. Kattsov, U. Lohmann, T.Matsuno, M. Molina, N. Nicholls, J.Overpeck, G. Raga, V. Ramaswamy, J. Ren, M. Rusticucci, R. Somerville, T.F. Stocker, P. Whetton, R.A.Wood and D. Wratt, 2007: Technical Summary. In: Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.

Use of local pastoral species to increase fodder production of the saline rangelands in southern Tunisia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tlili, Abderrazak; Tarhouni, Mohamed; Cardà, Artemi; Neffati, Mohamed

2017-04-01

Climate changes associated with multiple destructive human activities accelerate the degradation process of the natural rangelands around the world and especially the vulnerable areas such as the dryland ecosystems (Anaya-Romero et al., 2015; Eskandari et al., 2016; Muños Rojas et al., 2016; Vicente-Serrano et al., 2016). The vegetation cover and the biomass production of these ecosystems are decreasing and this is resulting in land degradation due to the soil erosion and changes in soil quality due to the abuse and misuse of the soil resources (Cerdà et al., 2016; Prosdocimi et al., 2016; Keesstra et al., 2016). To cope with such threats, it is necessary to develop some management techniques (restoration, plantation…) to enhance the biomass production and the carbon sequestration of the degraded rangelands (Muñoz-Rojas et al., 2016; Tarhouni et al., 2016). The valorization of saline water by planting pastoral halophyte species in salt-affected soils as well as the marginal areas are considered among the valuable tools to increase the rangeland production in dry areas. In this work, the ability of four plants (Atriplex halimus L. (Amaranthaceae), Atriplex mollis Desf. (Amaranthaceae), Lotus creticus L. (Fabaceae) and Cenchrus ciliaris L. (Poaceae)) to grow and to produce are tested under a field saline conditions (water and soil). Non-destructive method (Vegmeasure) is used to estimate the biomass production of these species. Chemical (crude protein, moisture and ash contents) and biochemical analyses (sugars, tannins and polyphenols contents) are also undertaken. Two years after plantation, the obtained results showed the ability of the four species to survive and to grow under high salinity degree. A strong positive correlation was obtained between the canopy cover and the dry biomass of the four studied species. Hence, the restoration of saline soils can be ensured by planting local halophytes. Acknowledgements. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 603498 (RECARE project) References Anaya-Romero, M., S. K. Abd-Elmabod, M. Muñoz-Rojas, G. Castellano, C. J. Ceacero, S. Alvarez, M. Méndez, and D. De la Rosa. 2015. Evaluating Soil Threats Under Climate Change Scenarios in the Andalusia Region, Southern Spain. Land Degradation and Development 26 (5): 441-449. doi:10.1002/ldr.2363. Cerdà, A., González-Pelayo, O., Giménez-Morera, A., Jordán, A., Pereira, P., Novara, A., Brevik, E.C., Prosdocimi, M., Mahmoodabadi, M., Keesstra, S., García Orenes, F., Ritsema, C., 2016. The use of barley straw residues to avoid high erosion and runoff rates on persimmon plantations in Eastern Spain under low frequency - high magnitude simulated rainfall events. Soil Res, 54, 2, 154-165 DOI: 10.1071/SR15092 Eskandari, H., Borji, M., Khosravi, H., Mesbahzadeh, T. Desertification of forest, range and desert in Tehran province, affected by climate change. (2016) Solid Earth, 7 (3), pp. 905-915. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/se-7-905-2016 Keesstra, S., P. Pereira, A. Novara, E. C. Brevik, C. Azorin-Molina, L. Parras-Alcántara, A. Jordán, and A. Cerdà. 2016. Effects of Soil Management Techniques on Soil Water Erosion in Apricot Orchards. Science of the Total Environment 551-552: 357-366. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.01.182. Mengistu, D., W. Bewket, and R. Lal. 2016. Conservation Effects on Soil Quality and Climate Change Adaptability of Ethiopian Watersheds. Land Degradation and Development 27 (6): 1603-1621. doi:10.1002/ldr.2376. Muñoz-Rojas, M., Erickson, T.E., Martini, D., Dixon, K.D., Merritt, D.J (2016) Climate and soil factors influencing seedling recruitment of plant species used for dryland restoration. SOIL 2:1-11, DOI: 10.5194/soil-2016-25 Prosdocimi, M., A. Jordán, P. Tarolli, S. Keesstra, A. Novara, and A. Cerdà. 2016. The Immediate Effectiveness of Barley Straw Mulch in Reducing Soil Erodibility and Surface Runoff Generation in Mediterranean Vineyards. Science of the Total Environment 547: 323-330. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.12.076. Tarhouni, M., W. Ben Hmida, and M. Neffati. 2015. Long-Term Changes in Plant Life Forms as a Consequence of Grazing Exclusion Under Arid Climatic Conditions. Land Degradation and Development. doi:10.1002/ldr.2407. Vicente-Serrano, S. M. 2016. Foreword: Drought Complexity and Assessment Under Climate Change Conditions. Cuadernos De Investigacion Geografica 42 (1): 7-11. doi:10.18172/cig.2961.

Tropospheric Halogen Chemistry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

von Glasow, R.; Crutzen, P. J.

2003-12-01

Halogens are very reactive chemicals that are known to play an important role in anthropogenic stratospheric ozone depletion chemistry, first recognized by Molina and Rowland (1974). However, they also affect the chemistry of the troposphere. They are of special interest because they are involved in many reaction cycles that can affect the oxidation power of the atmosphere indirectly by influencing the main oxidants O3 and its photolysis product OH and directly, e.g., by reactions of the Cl radical with hydrocarbons (e.g., CH4).Already by the middle of the nineteenth century, Marchand (1852) reported the presence of bromine and iodine in rain and other natural waters. He also mentions the benefits of iodine in drinking water through the prevention of goitres and cretinism. In a prophetic monograph "Air and Rain: The Beginnings of a Chemical Climatology," Smith (1872) describes measurements of chloride in rain water, which he states to originate partly from the oceans by a process that he compares with the bursting of "soap bubbles" which produces "small vehicles" that transfer small spray droplets of seawater to the air. From deviations of the sulfate-to-chloride ratio in coastal rain compared to seawater, Smith concluded that chemical processes occur once the particles are airborne.For almost a century thereafter, however, atmospheric halogens received little attention. One exception was the work by Cauer (1939), who reported that iodine pollution has been significant in Western and Central Europe due to the inefficient burning of seaweed, causing mean gas phase atmospheric concentrations as high as or greater than 0.5 μg m-3. In his classical textbook Air Chemistry and Radioactivity, Junge (1963) devoted less than three pages to halogen gas phase chemistry, discussing chlorine and iodine. As reviewed by Eriksson (1959a, b), the main atmospheric source of halogens is sea salt, derived from the bursting of bubbles of air which are produced by ocean waves and other processes. Early work by Cauer (1951) had shown that Cl/Na and Cl/Mg ratios were lower in air than in seawater, indicating loss of chlorine by "acid displacement" from sea salt by the strong acids, H2SO4 (Eriksson (1959a, b) and HNO3 (Robbins et al., 1959). Already the first measurements of bromine in aerosols by Duce et al. (1963) showed that bromine, like chlorine, was lost from the sea salt particles, whereas iodine was strongly enriched ( Duce et al., 1965). Research since the early 1980s has shown that photochemical processes are actively involved.Interest in the chemistry of atmospheric halogens took a steep upward surge after it was postulated that the release of industrially produced halocarbons, in particular the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), CFCl3, and CF2Cl2, could cause severe depletions in stratospheric ozone (Molina and Rowland, 1974) by the reactions involving the CFC photolytic product radicals, Cl and ClO, as catalysts. The first stratospheric measurements of ClO did indeed show its presence in significant quantities in the stratosphere so that by the end of the 1970s USA, Canada, and the Scandinavian countries issued laws against the use of CFC gases as propellants in spray cans. In the mid-1980s the springtime stratospheric ozone hole over Antarctica was discovered by Farman et al. (1985), involving heterogeneous reactions on polar stratospheric clouds that lead to chlorine activation ( Solomon et al., 1986). Ten years later, in 1996, a complete phaseout ofthe production of the CFCs and a number of other chlorine- or bromine-containing chemicals came into effect for all nations in the developed world. In this contribution we will, however, concentrate on the impact of reactive chlorine, bromine, and iodine on tropospheric ozone chemistry.Halogens have the potential to be important in many facets of tropospheric chemistry. A multitude of gas phase reactions and gas-particle interactions occur that include coupling with the sulfur cycle and reactions with hydrocarbons. Loss of ozone by catalytic reactions involving halogen radicals lowers the concentrations of the hydroxyl radical OH and thus the oxidation power of the atmosphere. Figure 1 shows these and other relevant halogen-related processes schematically. The sum of particulate and gaseous halogen concentrations maximize in the marine troposphere. Important for our climate - via feedback with cloud microphysics mainly in the large regions of marine stratocumulus - are links between halogen chemistry and the sulfur cycle. HOBraq and HOClaq can increase the liquid phase oxidation of S(IV) to S(VI), while BrO can decrease the most important in situ source for SO2 in the marine troposphere, namely, the oxidation of DMS to SO2 by reaction with OH by providing an alternate pathway (BrO+DMS) that reduces the yield of SO2 from DMS oxidation. Thus, the presence of bromine and chlorine in the troposphere lowers gas phase SO2 concentrations and thus the formation of new sulfate particles via the reaction sequence SO2+OH→H2SO4. (17K)Figure 1. Schematic depiction of the most important halogen-related processes in the troposphere. High mixing ratios of iodine oxide at a coastal site indicate a potentially significant role of iodine for the destruction of O3 and new particle embryo formation (Alicke et al., 1999; O'Dowd et al., 1998). Almost 20 years earlier, Chameides and Davis (1980) suggested that open ocean iodine chemistry would be initiated by the photolysis of CH3I. This was based on the measurements of Lovelock et al. (1973) and Singh et al. (1979), who found volume mixing ratios of CH3I of 1-5 pmol mol-1 over the ocean.The potentially strong involvement of halogens in tropospheric chemistry was first observed in the Arctic, where strong ozone depletion events were found to coincide with high levels of bromine (Barrie et al., 1988).The first mid-latitude demonstration of reactive halogen chemistry in the troposphere was made downwind of salt pans in the Dead Sea area, where the so far highest atmospheric mixing ratios of BrO were measured (Hebestreit et al., 1999). Volcanoes are sources of halogens as well, mainly in the form of HCl. Biomass burning releases halogens as do industrial processes.So far we have only mentioned chlorine, bromine, and iodine. This is justified because chemistry of fluorine is of no consequence, as very unreactive HF is efficiently formed in the atmosphere, e.g., via the reaction F+H2O→HF+OH. However, several fluorine-containing gases of anthropogenic origin are potentially powerful greenhouse gases, because they absorb strongly in the infrared atmospheric window region near 10 μm. Fully fluorinated gases - such as SF6, CF4, and C2F6 - have atmospheric lifetimes of the order of thousands of years and thus possess very high global warming potential (GWP). Although their abundance in the atmosphere has not yet grown large enough to be of concern for Earth's climate, their production must ultimately be curtailed in the future. The most abundant fully fluorinated gas, CF4, had an atmospheric volume mixing ratio of ˜75 pmol mol-1 in 1995 (Warneck, 1999). Because of their higher concentrations in the atmosphere, about 270 pmol mol-1 and 530 pmol mol-1, respectively, the CFC gases, CFCl3 and CF2Cl2, already exert a significant radiative greenhouse forcing (Ramanathan, 1975) on Earth's climate. For further discussion about atmospheric fluorine, the reader is referred to a thorough review article by Harnisch (1999).Several overview articles have been published on tropospheric halogen chemistry since the early 1980s, starting with Cicerone (1981). Wayne et al. (1995) list in great detail reaction paths, laboratory data, and atmospheric implications of halogen oxides. A good overview on laboratory measurements was also given by de Haan et al. (1999). Reaction cycles involved in tropospheric halogen chemistry and measurements are also thoroughly discussed by Platt (2000) and Platt and Hönninger (2003). Important compilations of laboratory studies that were made to elucidate chemical reaction paths are given by, e.g., DeMore et al. (1997), Sander et al. (2000), and Atkinson et al. (1999, 2000). Emission inventories for chlorine were compiled by Graedel and Keene (1995) and Keene et al. (1999).In Section 4.02.2 of this overview we will first describe the main halogen reaction mechanisms and then discuss, in Section 4.02.3, the springtime surface ozone depletion events in high latitudes that were first observed in the Arctic. Another main part of this chapter is concerned with halogens in the marine boundary layer ( Section 4.02.4). In Section 4.02.5 we describe interactions of halogens with some other elements of atmospheric importance. A very recently discovered environment where halogen chemistry plays a large role are salt lakes ( Section 4.02.6). There the chemistry bears similarity to that of the high-latitude ozone depletion events. This is followed in Section 4.02.7 by a discussion of halogen chemistry in the free troposphere and in Section 4.02.8 by other sources of halogens such as industry and biomass burning.

Characterization of Fine Particulate Matter (PM) and Secondary PM Precursor Gases in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Molina, Luisa T.; Molina, Mario J.; Volkamer, Rainer

2008-10-31

This project was one of three collaborating grants funded by DOE/ASP to characterize the fine particulate matter (PM) and secondary PM precursors in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA) during the MILAGRO Campaign. The overall effort of MCMA-2006, one of the four components, focused on i) examination of the primary emissions of fine particles and precursor gases leading to photochemical production of atmospheric oxidants and secondary aerosol particles; ii) measurement and analysis of secondary oxidants and secondary fine PM production, with particular emphasis on secondary organic aerosol (SOA), and iii) evaluation of the photochemical and meteorological processes characteristic of themore » Mexico City Basin. The collaborative teams pursued the goals through three main tasks: i) analyses of fine PM and secondary PM precursor gaseous species data taken during the MCMA-2002/2003 campaigns and preparation of publications; ii) planning of the MILAGRO Campaign and deployment of the instrument around the MCMA; and iii) analysis of MCMA-2006 data and publication preparation. The measurement phase of the MILAGRO Campaign was successfully completed in March 2006 with excellent participation from the international scientific community and outstanding cooperation from the Mexican government agencies and institutions. The project reported here was led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Molina Center for Energy and the Environment (MIT/MCE2) team and coordinated with DOE/ASP-funded collaborators at Aerodyne Research Inc., University of Colorado at Boulder and Montana State University. Currently 24 papers documenting the findings from this project have been published. The results from the project have improved significantly our understanding of the meteorological and photochemical processes contributing to the formation of ozone, secondary aerosols and other pollutants. Key findings from the MCMA-2003 include a vastly improved speciated emissions inventory from on-road vehicles: the MCMA motor vehicles produce abundant amounts of primary PM, elemental carbon, particle-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and a wide range of air toxics; the feasibility of using eddy covariance techniques to measure fluxes of volatile organic compounds in an urban core and a valuable tool for validating local emissions inventory; a much better understanding of the sources and atmospheric loadings of volatile organic compounds; the first spectroscopic detection of glyoxal in the atmosphere; a unique analysis of the high fraction of ambient formaldehyde from primary emission sources; characterization of ozone formation and its sensitivity to VOCs and NO x; a much more extensive knowledge of the composition, size distribution and atmospheric mass loadings of both primary and secondary fine PM, including the fact that the rate of MCMA SOA production greatly exceeded that predicted by current atmospheric models; evaluations of significant errors that can arise from standard air quality monitors for O 3 and NO 2; and the implementation of an innovative Markov Chain Monte Carlo method for inorganic aerosol modeling as a powerful tool to analyze aerosol data and predict gas phase concentrations where these are unavailable. During the MILAGRO Campaign the collaborative team utilized a combination of central fixed sites and a mobile laboratory deployed throughout the MCMA to representative urban and boundary sites to measure trace gases and fine particles. Analysis of the extensive 2006 data sets has confirmed the key findings from MCMA-2002/2003; additionally MCMA-2006 provided more detailed gas and aerosol chemistry and wider regional scale coverage. Key results include an updated 2006 emissions inventory; extension of the flux system to measure fluxes of fine particles; better understanding of the sources and apportionment of aerosols, including contribution from biomass burning and industrial sources; a comprehensive evaluation of metal containing particles in a complex urban environment; identification of a close correlation between the rate of production of SOA and “Odd Oxygen” (O 3 + NO 3) and primary organic PM with CO in the urban plume; a more sophisticated understanding of the relationship between ozone formation and ozone precursors: while ozone production in the urban area is VOC-limited, the response is mostly NOx-limited in the surrounding mountain. Comparison of the findings from 2003 and 2006 also confirm that the VOC levels have decreased during the three-year period, while NO x levels remain the same. The results from the 2002/2003 and 2006 have been presented at international conferences and communicated to Mexican government officials. In addition, a large number of graduate students and post-doctoral associates were involved in the project. All data sets and publications are available to the scientific community.« less

Liquid Chromatography Applied to Space System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Poinot, Pauline; Chazalnoel, Pascale; Geffroy, Claude; Sternberg, Robert; Carbonnier, Benjamin

Searching for signs of past or present life in our Solar System is a real challenge that stirs up the curiosity of scientists. Until now, in situ instrumentation was designed to detect and determine concentrations of a wide number of organic biomarkers. The relevant method which was and still is employed in missions dedicated to the quest of life (from Viking to ExoMars) corresponds to the pyrolysis-GC-MS. Along the missions, this approach has been significantly improved in terms of extraction efficiency and detection with the use of chemical derivative agents (e.g. MTBSTFA, DMF-DMA, TMAH…), and in terms of analysis sensitivity and resolution with the development of in situ high-resolution mass spectrometer (e.g. TOF-MS). Thanks to such an approach, organic compounds such as amino acids, sugars, tholins or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were expected to be found. However, while there’s a consensus that the GC-MS of Viking, Huygens, MSL and MOMA space missions worked the way they had been designed to, pyrolysis is much more in debate (Glavin et al. 2001; Navarro-González et al. 2006). Indeed, (1) it is thought to remove low levels of organics, (2) water and CO2 could interfere with the detection of likely organic pyrolysis products, and (3) only low to mid-molecular weight organic molecules can be detected by this technique. As a result, researchers are now focusing on other in situ techniques which are no longer based on the volatility of the organic matter, but on the liquid phase extraction and analysis. In this line, micro-fluidic systems involving sandwich and/or competitive immunoassays (e.g. LMC, SOLID; Parro et al. 2005; Sims et al. 2012), micro-chip capillary electrophoreses (e.g. MOA; Bada et al. 2008), or nanopore-based analysis (e.g. BOLD; Schulze-Makuch et al. 2012) have been conceived for in situ analysis. Thanks to such approaches, molecular biological polymers (polysaccharides, polypeptides, polynucleotides, phospholipids, glycolipids, etc.) which are good examples for one of the two intrinsic features of life (i.e. complexity) would then be searched for. Although these methods are very promising as they have already demonstrated real benefits in terms of sensitivity towards specific compounds of middle/high molecular weight, they cannot be used to detect in one pot a wide range of biopolymer targets with very diverse nature, such as peptides or oligonucleotides. In this context, it would be interesting to develop a “micro-lab” equipped with a miniaturized HPLC-MS as the ones currently developed in the field of biological and medicinal sciences. The objective is to demonstrate unequivocally the presence or absence in space of a wide range of biopolymers thanks to a “one step one pot” instrumentation. We propose to demonstrate the feasibility and the validity of such a concept. For that, we optimize the chromatographic conditions and the mass spectrometer parameters to detect in the range of ppb, proteins and polypeptides biomarkers, while taking into account the space constraints. On a UPLC-HRMS (Q-Exactive and Qq-TOF), different stationary phases (laboratory-made or commercially available), different eluents, gradient flows, temperatures, pressures, and the use of a pre-concentration stage are tested. Dual detection (MS and diode array) is also considered. First experiments have highlighted the ability of such a technique to find ultra-traces level of organic matters under definite space constraints (elution flow, solvents, temperature...). This work is funded by the French Space Agency (CNES) References Glavin DP, Schubert Ml, Botta O, Kminek G, Bada JL (2001) Detecting pyrolysis products from bacteria on Mars. Earth Planet Sc Lett 185:1-2. doi:10.1016/S0012-821X(00)00370-8 Navarro-González R, Navarro KF, de la Rosa J, Iñliguez E, Molina P, Mira LD (2006) The limitations on organic detection in Mars-like soils by thermal volatilization-gas chromatography-MS and their implications for the Viking results. Proc Natl Acad Sci U.S.A 103:89-94 Bada JL, Ehrenfreund P, Grunthaner F et al (2008) Urey: Mars Organic and Oxidant Detector. Space Sci Rev 135: 269-279. doi: 10.1007/s11214-007-9213-3 doi_10.1073_pnas.0604210103 Schulze-Makuch D, Head JN, Houtkooper JM et al (2012) The Biological Oxidant and Life Detection (BOLD) mission: A proposal for a mission to Mars. Planet Space Sci 67:57-69. doi: 10.1016/j.pss.2012.03.008 Parro V, Rodríguez-Manfredi JA, Briones C et al (2005) Instrument development to search for biomarkers on mars: Terrestrial acidophile, iron-powered chemolithoautotrophic communities as model systems. Planet Space Sci 53:729-737. doi:10.1016/j.pss.2005.02.003 Sims MR, Cullen DC, Rix CS et al (2012) Development status of the life marker chip instrument for ExoMars. Planet Space Sci 72:129-137. doi:10.1016/j.pss.2012.04.007

Risk assessment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in water.

PubMed

Mena, Kristina D; Gerba, Charles P

2009-01-01

P. aeruginosa is part of a large group of free-living bacteria that are ubiquitous in the environment. This organism is often found in natural waters such as lakes and rivers in concentrations of 10/100 mL to >1,000/100 mL. However, it is not often found in drinking water. Usually it is found in 2% of samples, or less, and at concentrations up to 2,300 mL(-1) (Allen and Geldreich 1975) or more often at 3-4 CFU/mL. Its occurrence in drinking water is probably related more to its ability to colonize biofilms in plumbing fixtures (i.e., faucets, showerheads, etc.) than its presence in the distribution system or treated drinking water. P. aeruginosa can survive in deionized or distilled water (van der Jooij et al. 1982; Warburton et al. 1994). Hence, it may be found in low nutrient or oligotrophic environments, as well as in high nutrient environments such as in sewage and in the human body. P. aeruginosa can cause a wide range of infections, and is a leading cause of illness in immunocompromised individuals. In particular, it can be a serious pathogen in hospitals (Dembry et al. 1998). It can cause endocarditis, osteomyelitis, pneumonia, urinary tract infections, gastrointestinal infections, and meningitis, and is a leading cause of septicemia. P. aeruginosa is also a major cause of folliculitis and ear infections acquired by exposure to recreational waters containing the bacterium. In addition, it has been recognized as a serious cause of keratitis, especially in patients wearing contact lenses. P. aeruginosa is also a major pathogen in burn and cystic fibrosis (CF) patients and causes a high mortality rate in both populations (MOlina et al. 1991; Pollack 1995). P. aeruginosa is frequently found in whirlpools and hot tubs, sometimes in 94-100% of those tested at concenrations of <1 to 2,400 CFU/mL. The high concentrations found probably result from the relatively high temperatures of whirlpools, which favor the growth of P. aeruginosa, and the aeration which also enhances its growth. The organism is usually found in whirlpools when the chlorine concentrations are low, but it has been isolated even in the presence of 3.00 ppm residual free chlorine (Price and Ahearn 1988). Many outbreaks of folliculitis and ear infections have been reportedly associated with the use of whirlpools and hot tubs that contain P. aeruginosa (Ratnam et al. 1986). Outbreaks have also been reported from exposure to P. aeruginosa in swimming pools and water slides. Although P. aeruginosa has a reputation for being resistant to disinfection, most studies show that it does not exhibit any marked resistance to the disinfectants used to treat drinking water such as chlorine, chloramines, ozone, or iodine. One author, however, did find it to be slightly more resistant to UV disinfection than most other bacteria (Wolfe 1990). Although much has been written about biofilms in the drinking water industry, very little has been reported regarding the role of P. aeruginosa in biofilms. Tap water appears to be a significant route of transmission in hospitals, from colonization of plumbing fixtures. It is still not clear if the colonization results from the water in the distribution system, or personnel use within the hospital. Infections and colonization can be significantly reduced by placement of filters on the water taps. The oral dose of P. aeruginosa required to establish colonization in a healthy subject is high (George et al. 1989a). During dose-response studies, even when subjects (mice or humans) were colonized via ingestion, there was no evidence of disease. P. aeruginosa administered by the aerosol route at levels of 10(7) cells did cause disease symptoms in mice, and was lethal in aerosolized doses of 10(9) cells. Aerosol dose-response studies have not been undertaken with human subjects. Human health risks associated with exposure to P. aeruginosa via drinking water ingestion were estimated using a four-step risk assessment approach. The risk of colonization from ingesting P. aeruginosa in drinking water is low. The risk is slightly higher if the subject is taking an antibiotic resisted by P. aeruginosa. The fact that individuals on ampicillin are more susceptible to Pseudomonas gastrointestinal infection probably results from suppression of normal intestinal flora, which would allow Pseudomonas to colonize. The process of estimating risk was significantly constrained because of the absence of specific (quantitative) occurrence data for Pseudomonas. Sensitivity analysis shows that the greatest source of variability/uncertainty in the risk assessment is from the density distribution in the exposure rather than the dose-response or water consumption distributions. In summary, two routes appear to carry the greatest health risks from contacting water contaminated with P. aeruginosa (1) skin exposure in hot tubs and (2) lung exposure from inhaling aerosols.

Time since plantation is the most important determining factor for soil erosion rates in vineyards. A case study in the valley of Les Alcusses valley, Eastern Spain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodrígo Comino, Jesús; Keesstra, Saskia; Novara, Agata; García Díaz, Andrés; Jordán, Antonio; Brevik, Eric C.; Cerdà, Artemi

2017-04-01

Vineyards are known to suffer from soil erosion around the world (Novara et al., 2011; 2013; 2015; Rodrigo Comino et al., 2015; Prosdocimi et al., 2016; Rodrigo-Comino et al., 2016a; 2016b, 2016b). As in other crops in the Mediterranean such as citrus (Cerdà et al., 2009), olives (Taguas et al., 2015), persimmon (Cerdà et al., 2016) or apricot (Keesstra et al., 2016) plantations, there is a need to survey the spatial and temporal changes in soil erosion in vineyards. Soil redistribution in agricultural land is determined by human management due to the control it exerts on the vegetation cover and soil properties. This is why the time since plantation is important in soil erosion spatial and temporal distribution. Especially because during the plantation of the saplings, the soil is compacted and all other vegetation is removed. In our experiment we selected four paired plot research sites in the Les Alcusses valley, in Eastern Spain. We selected recently planted vineyards (1-year old) and 40-years old plantations. In total 80 rainfall simulations were performed with an intensity of 55 mm h-1 on small 0.25 m2 circular plots to determine the soil detachment by rainfall. The results show that soil erosion rates in the 40-year old vineyards were high (### a rate??), and in the recently planted ones were extremely high, on average six times higher. Acknowledgements The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n 603498 (RECARE project) and the CGL2013- 47862-C2-1-R and CGL2016-75178-C2-2-R national research projects. References Cerdà, A., González-Pelayo, O., Giménez-Morera, A., Jordán, A., Pereira, P., Novara, A., Brevik, E.C., Prosdocimi, M., Mahmoodabadi, M., Keesstra, S., García Orenes, F., Ritsema, C., 2016. The use of barley straw residues to avoid high erosion and runoff rates on persimmon plantations in Eastern Spain under low frequency - high magnitude simulated rainfall events. Soil Res, 54, 2, 154-165 DOI: 10.1071/SR15092 Keesstra S, Pereira P, Novara A, Brevik EC, Azorin-Molina C, Parras-Alcántara L, Jordán A, Cerdà A. 2016. Effects of soil management techniques on soil water erosion in apricot orchards. Science of the Total Environment 551-552: 357-366. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.01.182 Novara, A., A. Cerdà, D. Carmelo, L. P. Giuseppe, S. Antonino, and G. Luciano. 2015. Effectiveness of Carbon Isotopic Signature for Estimating Soil Erosion and Deposition Rates in Sicilian Vineyards. Soil and Tillage Research 152: 1-7. doi:10.1016/j.still.2015.03.010. Novara, A., L. Gristina, F. Guaitoli, A. Santoro, and A. Cerdà. 2013. Managing Soil Nitrate with Cover Crops and Buffer Strips in Sicilian Vineyards. Solid Earth 4 (2): 255-262. doi:10.5194/se-4-255-2013. Novara, A., L. Gristina, S. S. Saladino, A. Santoro, and A. Cerdà. 2011. Soil Erosion Assessment on Tillage and Alternative Soil Managements in a Sicilian Vineyard. Soil and Tillage Research 117: 140-147. doi:10.1016/j.still.2011.09.007. Prosdocimi, M., A. Cerdà, and P. Tarolli. 2016a. Soil Water Erosion on Mediterranean Vineyards: A Review. Catena 141: 1-21. doi:10.1016/j.catena.2016.02.010. Prosdocimi, M., A. Jordán, P. Tarolli, S. Keesstra, A. Novara, and A. Cerdà. 2016b. The Immediate Effectiveness of Barley Straw Mulch in Reducing Soil Erodibility and Surface Runoff Generation in Mediterranean Vineyards. Science of the Total Environment 547: 323-330. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.12.076. Rodrigo Comino J, Iserloh T, Morvan X, Malam Issa O, Naisse C, Keesstra SD, Cerdà A, Prosdocimi M, Arnáez J, Lasanta T, Ramos MC, Marqués MJ, Ruiz Colmenero M, Bienes R, Ruiz Sinoga JD, Seeger M, Ries JB 2016a. Soil Erosion Processes in European Vineyards: A Qualitative Comparison of Rainfall Simulation Measurements in Germany, Spain and France. Hydrology, 3 (1), 6; doi:10.3390/hydrology3010006 Rodrigo Comino, J., Iserloh, T., Lassu, T., Cerdà, A., Keesstra, S.D., Prosdocimi, M., Brings, C., Marzen, M., Ramos, M.C., Senciales, J.M., Ruiz Sinoga, J.D., Seeger, M., Ries, J.B., 2016b. Quantitative comparison of initial soil erosion processes and runoff generation in Spanish and German vineyards. Sci. Total Environ. 565, 1165-1174. DOI:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.05.163 Rodrigo-Comino, J., Brings, C., Lassu, T., Iserloh, T., Senciales, J.M., Martínez Murillo, J.F., Ruiz Sinoga, J.D., Seeger, M., Ries, J.B. Rainfall and human activity impacts on soil losses and rill erosion in vineyards (Ruwer Valley, Germany). 2015. Solid Earth, 6 (3), pp. 823-837. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/se-6-823-2015 Rodrigo-Comino, J., M. Seeger, J. M. Senciales, J. D. Ruiz-Sinoga, and J. B. Ries. 2016c. Spatial and Temporal Variation of Soil Hydrological Processes on Steep Slope Vineyards (Ruwel-Mosel Valley, Gemany). Cuadernos De Investigacion Geografica 42 (1): 281-306. doi:10.18172/cig.2934.

Seasonal changes of the infiltration rates in urban parks of Valencia City, Eastern Spain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cerdà, Artemi; Keesstra, Saskia; Burguet, María; Pereira, Paulo; Esteban Lucas-Borja, Manuel; Martinez-Murillo, Juan F.

2016-04-01

Infiltration is a key process of the hydrological cycle. Infiltration also controls the soil water resources, and the development of the vegetation, and moreover, in the Mediterranean, determines the runoff generation (Cerdà, 1996; 1997; 2001). In the Mediterranean, the infiltration in forest soils shows high spatial variability and seasonal and temporal changes (Cerdà, 1999; Bodí and Cerdà, 2009) and is being affected by forest fires (Cerdà, 1998), which introduce a new temporal change in the seasonality of the infiltration rates. Although the forest soils are well assessed, there is no information about the infiltration in urban areas in Mediterranean cities. The Mediterranean dense urban systems use to be treated as impermeable areas. However, the cities show areas covered by vegetation and with soils that allow the rainfall to infiltrate. Those areas are mainly the parks. In order to shed some light on the infiltration capacity of the soils of the urban area of Valencia city 30 rainfall simulations experiments (Cerdà, 1996) and 90 ring infiltrometer (10 cm diameter) measurements were carried out in January 2011, and they were repeated in July 2011, to compare wet (19.4 % of soil moisture) and dry (5.98 % of soil moisture) soils. The infiltration curves where fitted to the Horton (1933) equation and they lasted for 1 hour. The results show that the infiltration is 11 times higher when measured with ring infiltrometer than with the simulated rainfall at 55 mmh-1, and that the infiltration rates where higher in summer than in winter: 2.01 higher for the ring infiltrometer, and 1.45 higher when measured with the rainfall simulator. In comparison to the soils from the forest areas, the infiltration rate in the gardens were lower, with values of 10.23 and 21.65 mm h-1 in average for winter and summer when measured with the rainfall simulator. Similar results were found with the ring infiltrometer. It was also found a clear relationship between the vegetation cover and the infiltration, with high infiltration rates with the grass covers. This is due to the higher infiltration rates of the soils with roots and due to the impact of plant stems on the runoff generation (Wang et al., 2015; Zhao et al., 2015). The importance of the vegetation on the soil infiltration capacity in the gardens of Valencia is a key factor to reduce the runoff sediment concentration such as was found at different scales (Keesstra et al., 2007; Nanko et al., 2015; Pereira et al, 2015; Prosdocimi et al., 2016) Acknowledgements The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 603498 (RECARE project). References Cerdà, A. 1996. Seasonal variability of infiltration rates under contrasting slope conditions in southeast Spain. Geoderma, 69 (3-4), 217-232. Cerdà, A. 1997. Seasonal changes of the infiltration rates in a mediterranean scrubland on limestone. Journal of Hydrology, 198 (1-4), 209-225. DOI: 10.1016/S0022-1694(96)03295-7 Cerdà, A. 1998. Changes in overland flow and infiltration after a rangeland fire in a Mediterranean scrubland, Hydrological Processes, 12 (7), 1031-1042. Cerdà, A. 1999. Seasonal and spatial variations in infiltration rates in badland surfaces under Mediterranean climatic conditions. Water Resources Research, 35 (1), 319-328. DOI: 10.1029/98WR01659 Cerdà, A. 2001.Effects of rock fragment cover on soil infiltration, interrill runoff and erosion. European Journal of Soil Science, 52 (1), 59-68. DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2389.2001.00354.x Cerdà, A., Bodì, M.B. 2009. Infiltration process in the badlands of the East in the Iberian Peninsula. Progress and challenges. Cuadernos de Investigación Geográfica, 35 (1), 7-42. Keesstra, S.D. 2007. Impact of natural reforestation on floodplain sedimentation in the Dragonja basin, SW Slovenia. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 32(1): 49-65. DOI: 10.1002/esp.1360 Nanko, K., Giambelluca, T.W., Sutherland, R.A., Mudd, R.G., Nullet, M.A., Ziegler, A.D. 2015.Erosion potential under miconia calvescens stands on the island of hawai'i. Land Degradation and Development, 26 (3), pp. 218-226. DOI: 10.1002/ldr.2200 Pereira, P., Giménez-Morera, A., Novara, A., Keesstra, S., Jordán, A., Masto, R. E., Brevik, E., Azorin-Molina, C. Cerdà, A. 2015. The impact of road and railway embankments on runoff and soil erosion in eastern Spain. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions, 12, 12947-12985. Prosdocimi,M., Jordán, A., Tarolli, P., Keesstra, S., Novara, A., Cerdà, A. 2016. The immediate effectiveness of barley straw mulch in reducing soil erodibility and surface runoff generation in Mediterranean vineyards. Science of The Total Environment, 547, 15 ,323-330, doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.12.076 Wang Y., Fan J., Cao L., Liang Y. 2015. Infiltration and Runoff Generation Under Various Cropping Patterns in the Red Soil Region of China. Land Degradation and Development. DOI: 10. 1002/ldr. 2460 Zhao, C., Gao, J., Huang, Y., Wang, G., Zhang, M. 2015. Effects of Vegetation Stems on Hydraulics of Overland Flow Under Varying Water Discharges. Land Degradation and Development, DOI: 10.1002/ldr.2423

The use of straw in vineyards and orchards to reduce soil and water losses in Eastern Spain.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cerdà, Artemi; García-Díaz, Andrés; Rodrigo Comino, Jesús; Pereira, Paulo; Novara, Agata; Jordán, Antonio; Brevik, Eric

2017-04-01

Straw has been demonstrated to be a very efficient mulch to reduce soil losses. This has been found by different authors and in different regions such as the Mediterranean Region, where there is a need to reduce the non-sustainable soil and water losses caused by the compaction of soil, lack of vegetation and intense thunderstorms. The Soil Erosion and Degradation Research Team from the University of Valencia with the collaboration of other research areas is developing a holistic research program to understand how straw mulch can be introduced and applied with success in traditional rainfed and modern irrigated orchards and vineyards. The research is based on three approaches: i) the perception of the farmers; ii) the economic cost; iii) and the biophysical impact of the straw mulch on soils, runoff generation and soil erosion. Farmer perception has been researched by means of interviews and the results shows that farmers prefer a tidy and clean soil (if possible ploughed in the vineyards) rather than vegetation or straw cover. There is a need to inform the farmers about how important it is to protect the soil and to find the right covers. It is also important to find adequate subsidies to encourage this management. Without financial support most farmers will be not convinced to use catch-crops, mulches or chipped branches. The cost of the straw is about 0.05 € Kg-1, the transport is 0.02 € Kg-1 and the application 0.04 € Kg-1. The cost is affordable for farms that have high incomes and mechanization. The results of rainfall simulation experiments and measurements under plot conditions demonstrate a reduction of one order of magnitude in soil erosion rates and 30 % in runoff discharge when straw mulch is used. The straw reduces soil erodibility due to the protective cover, which reduces raindrop impact energy on the soil surface and slows runoff, encouraging infiltration. Acknowledgements This research was funded by the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant no. 603498 (RECARE Project). J. Rodrigo-Comino, was awarded with a scholar grant (FPU) by Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte de España (Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport, Spain). References Cerdà, A., González-Pelayo, Ó., Giménez-Morera, A., Jordán, A., Pereira, P., Novara, A., Brevik, E.C., Prosdocimi, M., Mahmoodabadi, M., Keesstra, S., Orenes, F.G., Ritsema, C.J. 2016. Use of barley straw residues to avoid high erosion and runoff rates on persimmon plantations in Eastern Spain under low frequency-high magnitude simulated rainfall events. Soil Research 54, 154-165. Keesstra, S., Pereira, P., Novara, A., Brevik, E.C., Azorin-Molina, C., Parras-Alcántara, L., Jordán, A., Cerdà, A. 2016. Effects of soil management techniques on soil water erosion in apricot orchards. Science of the Total Environment 551-552, 357-366. Mwango, S.B., B.M. Msanya, P. . Mtakwa, D.N. Kimaro, J. Deckers, and J. Poesen. 2016. Effectiveness of Mulching Under Miraba in Controlling Soil Erosion, Fertility Restoration and Crop Yield in the Usambara Mountains, Tanzania. Land Degradation and Development 27 (4): 1266-1275. doi:10.1002/ldr.2332. Novara, A., Gristina, l., Saladino, S.S., Santoto, S., Cerdà, A. 2011. Soil erosion assessment on tillage and alternative soil managements in a Sicilian vineyard. Soil and Tillage Research 117, 140-147. García-Díaz, A., Allas, R.B., Gristina, L., Cerdà, A., Pereira, P., Novara, A. 2016. Carbon input threshold for soil carbon budget optimization in eroding vineyards. Geoderma 271, 144-149. Prosdocimi M., Burguet M., Di Prima S., Sofia G., Terol E., Rodrigo Comino, J., Cerdà A., Tarolli P. 2017. Rainfall simulation and Structure-from-Motion photogrammetry for the analysis of soil water erosion in Mediterranean vineyards. Science of the Total Environment 574, 204-215. Prosdocimi, M., Cerdà, A., Tarolli, P. 2016a. Soil water erosion on Mediterranean vineyards: A review. Catena 141, 1-21. Prosdocimi, M., Tarolli, P., Cerdà, A. 2016b. Mulching practices for reducing soil water erosion: A review, Earth-Science Reviews, 161: 191-203. DOI: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2016.08.006 Rodrigo Comino, J., Iserloh, T., Lassu, T., Cerdà, A., Keestra, S.D., Prosdocimi, M., Brings, C., Marzen, M., Ramos, M.C., Senciales, J.M., Ruiz Sinoga, J.D., Seeger, M., Ries, J.B., 2016a. Quantitative comparison of initial soil erosion processes and runoff generation in Spanish and German vineyards. Science of the Total Environment 565, 1165-1174. Rodrigo Comino, J., Iserloh, T., Morvan, X., Malam Issa, O., Naisse, C., Keesstra, S.D., Cerdà, A., Prosdocimi, M., Arnáez, J., Lasanta, T., Ramos, M.C., Marqués, M.J., Ruiz Colmenero, M., Bienes, R., Ruiz Sinoga, J.D., Seeger, M., Ries, J.B. 2016b. Soil erosion processes in European vineyards: a qualitative comparison of rainfall simulation measurements in Germany, Spain and France. Hydrology 3, 6. Rodrigo Comino, J., Quiquerez, A., Follain, S., Raclot, D., Le Bissonnais, Y., Casalí, J., Giménez, R., Cerdà, A., Keesstra, S.D., Brevik, E.C., Pereira, P., Senciales, J.M., Seeger, M., Ruiz Sinoga, J.D., Ries, J.B., 2016c. Soil erosion in sloping vineyards assessed by using botanical indicators and sediment collectors in the Ruwer-Mosel valley. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 233, 158-170. Rodrigo Comino, J., Ruiz Sinoga, J.D., Senciales González, J.M., Guerra-Merchán, A., Seeger, M., Ries, J.B. 2016d. High variability of soil erosion and hydrological processes in Mediterranean hillslope vineyards (Montes de Málaga, Spain). Catena 145, 274-284.

Soil erosion measurements by means of experimental plots to determine best land management strategies in vineyards and olive orchards

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cerdà, Artemi; Keesstra, Saskia; Jordan, Antonio; Brevik, Erik; Nova, Agata; Prosdocimi, Massimo; Azorín-Molina, César; Yazdanpanah, Najme; Mahmoodabadi, Majid; Pereira, Paulo; Burguet, María

2016-04-01

In order to design sustainable land management there is a need to have accurate information on the impact this land management strategies have on water and sediment dynamics. This is especially important when a proper management is designed to reduce the soil losses due to the complex interaction of mechanisms that interact within the soil erosion process. Soil erosion is an non-linear process, both spatially and temporally, and as a consequence of that only well-monitored and accurate measurements can give insights in the processes and how these processes can be influenced by management to reduce soil losses (Cerdà, 2007; Ligonja and Shrestha, 2015; Nanko et al., 2015; Seutloali and Beckedahl, 2015). This is necessary at different scales: pedon, slope, and watershed because the governing processes differ at different scale (Keesstra, 2007; Jordán and Martínez Zavala, 2008; Borrelli et al., 2015). Soil erosion plots can give information about the temporal and spatial variability of soil losses. We present here a strategy developed by the Soil Erosion and Degradation Research Group from the University of Valencia to assess the soil erosion rates in Eastern Spain. In 2002 the Soil Erosion Experimental Station in El Teularet-Sierra de Enguera was installed, to assess soil losses in rainfed agriculture orchards, and 73 plots of 1, 2, 4, 16 and 48 m2 were installed. In 2005 6 plots of 300 m2 were installed in the nearby Montesa soil erosion station to assess soil losses in citrus orchards. In 2011 16 plots of 2 m2 where installed in Les Alcusses to determine soil losses in olive orchards, and in 2015 8 plots in Celler del Roure vineyard to assess the impact of land management in vineyards and 8 plots in the El Teularet to study the impact of straw mulch on soil erosion rates. All erosion stations are located in several kilometres distance from each other. This research which we developed since 2002 is complementary to previous research where we used rainfall simulation experiments to assess soil properties under different management (Cerdà, 1997; Cerdà, 1998a; Cerdà 1998b; Cerdà, 2001). The results from the soil erosion plots monitoring demonstrate the positive impact of vegetation to reduce soil loss. In addition, we proved that the use of straw, chipped pruned branches and rock fragments as surface cover reduces soil losses (Cerdà et al., 2015, Pereira et al., 2015; Prosdocimi et al., 2016). Acknowledgements The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 603498 (RECARE project) and by the Spanish Government with the research Project CGL2013- 47862-C2-1-R. References Borrelli, P., Märker, M., Schütt, B. 2015. Modelling Post-Tree-Harvesting soil erosion and sediment deposition potential in the turano river basin (Italian central apennine. Land Degradation and Development, 26, 356-366. DOI: 10.1002/ldr.2214 Cerdà, A. 1997.The effect of patchy distribution of Stipa tenacissima L. on runoff and erosion. Journal of Arid Environments, 36 (1), pp. 37-51.DOI: 10.1006/jare.1995.0198 Cerdà, A. 1998a. Changes in overland flow and infiltration after a rangeland fire in a Mediterranean scrubland. Hydrological Processes, 12 (7), pp. 1031-1042. Cerdà, A. 1998b Soil aggregate stability under different Mediterranean vegetation types. Catena, 32 (2), pp. 73-86. DOI: 10.1016/S0341-8162(98)00041-1 Cerdà, A. 2001. Effects of rock fragment cover on soil infiltration, interrill runoff and erosion. European Journal of Soil Science, 52 (1), pp. 59-68. DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2389.2001.00354.x Cerdà, A. 2007. Soil water erosion on road embankments in eastern Spain. Science of the Total Environment, 378 (1-2), 151-155. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2007.01.041 Cerdà, A., González-Pelayo, O., Giménez-Morera, A., Jordán, A., Pereira, P., Novara, A., Brevik, E.C., Prosdocimi, M., Mahmoodabadi, M., Keesstra, S., García Orenes, F., Ritsema, C., 2015. The use of barley straw residues to avoid high erosion and runoff rates on persimmon plantations in Eastern Spain under low frequency - high magnitude simulated rainfall events. Soil Res. (In press) Jordán, A., & Martínez-Zavala, L. 2008. Soil loss and runoff rates on unpaved forest roads in southern Spain after simulated rainfall. Forest Ecology and Management, 255(3), 913-919. Keesstra, S.D. 2007. Impact of natural reforestation on floodplain sedimentation in the Dragonja basin, SW Slovenia. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 32(1): 49-65. DOI: 10.1002/esp.1360 Ligonja, P.J., Shrestha, R.P. 2015. Soil erosion assessment in kondoa eroded area in Tanzania using universal soil loss equation, geographic information systems and socioeconomic approach (2015) Land Degradation and Development, 26 (4), pp. 367-379. DOI: 10.1002/ldr.2215 Nanko, K., Giambelluca, T.W., Sutherland, R.A., Mudd, R.G., Nullet, M.A., Ziegler, A.D. 2015.Erosion potential under miconia calvescens stands on the island of hawai'i. Land Degradation and Development, 26 (3), pp. 218-226. DOI: 10.1002/ldr.2200 Pereira, P., Giménez-Morera, A., Novara, A., Keesstra, S., Jordán, A., Masto, R. E., Brevik, E., Azorin-Molina, C. Cerdà, A. 2015. The impact of road and railway embankments on runoff and soil erosion in eastern Spain. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions, 12, 12947-12985. Prosdocimi,M., Jordán, A., Tarolli, P., Keesstra, S., Novara, A., Cerdà, A. 2016. The immediate effectiveness of barley straw mulch in reducing soil erodibility and surface runoff generation in Mediterranean vineyards. Science of The Total Environment, 547, 15 ,323-330, doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.12.076 Seutloali, K.E., Beckedahl, H.R. 2015. Understanding the factors influencing rill erosion on roadcuts in the south eastern region of South Africa. Solid Earth, 6 (2) 633-641. DOI: 10.5194/se-6-633-2015

The impact of agriculture terraces on soil organic matter, aggregate stability, water repellency and bulk density. A study in abandoned and active farms in the Sierra de Enguera, Eastern Spain.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cerdà, Artemi; Burguet, Maria; Keesstra, Saskia; Prosdocimi, Massimo; Di Prima, Simone; Brevik, Erik; Novara, Agata; Jordan, Antonio; Tarolli, Paolo

2016-04-01

Soil erosion, land degradation, lack of organic matter, erodible soils, rock outcrops… are a consequence of the human abuse and misuse of the soil resources. And this is a worldwide environmental issue (Novara et al., 2011; Vanlauwe et al., 2015; Musinguzi et al., 2015; Pereira et al., 2015; Mwagno et al., 2016). Agriculture terraces are a strategy to reduce the soil erosion, improve the soil fertility and allow the ploughing (Cerdà et al., 2010; Li et al., 2014). Although this idea is well accepted there are few scientific evidences that demonstrate that soils in the terraced areas are more stable, fertile and sustainable that the soil in non terraced areas. In fact, the ploughing in comparison to the abandoned or not ploughed land results in the soil degradation (Lieskovský and Kenderessy, 2014; Gao et al., 2015; Parras-Alcántara et al., 2014). This is mainly due to the lack of vegetation that increase the surface runoff (Cerdà et al., 1998; Keesstra et al., 2007). And why is necessary to develop also in terraced landscapes soil erosion control strategies (Mekonnen et al., 2015a; Mekonnen et al., 2015b; Prosdocimi et al., 2016). Our objective was to assess the soil organic matter content (Walkley and Black, 1934), the soil bulk density (ring method), the aggregate stabilility (drop impact) and the water repellency (Water Drop Penetration Time test) in four study sites in the Sierra de Enguera. Two sites were terraced: one abandoned 40 years before the measurements and the other still active with olive crops. And two control sites non-terraced. We used the paired plot strategy to compare the impact of terracing and abandonment. At each site we collected randomly 50 soil samples at 0-2 cm, 4-6 and 8-10 cm depth. At each sampling point 100 WDPT measurements where carried out, and one sample for the bulk density, and one for the organic matter, and one for the soil aggregate stability were collected. The soil surface samples shown the largest differences. The results shows that the abandoned terrace is developing soils with more organic matter (7.34 % in average) than the control plot (5.37 %), with lower soil bulk density (1.01 g/cm3 against 1.05 g/cm3), higher WDPT (54 seconds against 42 seconds) and more stable aggregates (87 against 76 %). On the contrary, the active terrace shown soils with low more organic matter (2.05% in average) than the control plot non-terraced (5.39 %), with higher soil bulk density (1.12 g/cm3 against 1.06 g/cm3), lower WDPT (2.54 seconds against 43 seconds) and unstable aggregates (39 % surviving aggregates against 74 %). This results shown that terraces when abandoned are developing soils rich in organic matter, high aggregate stability, water repellent and low bulk density, but when active, the ploughing results in soils more degraded than the ones developed nearby. Acknowledgements The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 603498 (RECARE project). Cerdà, A. The influence of aspect and vegetation on seasonal changes in erosion under rainfall simulation on a clay soil in Spain (1998) Canadian Journal of Soil Science, 78 (2), pp. 321-330. Cerdà, A., Lavee, H., Romero-Díaz, A., Hooke, J., Montanarella, L. 2010. Soil erosion and degradation in mediterranean type ecosystems. Land Degradation and Development, 21 (2), pp. 71-74..DOI: 10.1002/ldr.968 Gao Y., Dang X., Yu Y., Li Y., Liu Y., Wang J. Effects of Tillage Methods on Soil Carbon and Wind Erosion. (2015) Land Degradation and Development, . Article in Press. DOI: 10. 1002/ldr. 2404 Keesstra, S.D., 2007. Impact of natural reforestation on floodplain sedimentation in the Dragonja basin, SW Slovenia. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 32(1): 49-65. DOI: 10.1002/esp.1360 Li X. H., Yang J., Zhao C. Y., Wang B. Runoff and sediment from orchard terraces in southeastern China. (2014) Land Degradation and Development, 25 (2), pp. 184-192. Cited 3 times. DOI: 10. 1002/ldr. 1160 Lieskovský, J., Kenderessy, P. 2014. Modelling the effect of vegetation cover and different tillage practices on soil erosion in vineyards: A case study in vráble (Slovakia) using WATEM/SEDEM Land Degradation and Development, 25 (3), 288-296. DOI: 10.1002/ldr.2162 Mekonnen, M., Keesstra, S. D., Baartman, J. E., Ritsema, C. J., & Melesse, A. M. (2015). Evaluating sediment storage dams: structural off-site sediment trapping measures in northwest Ethiopia. Cuadernos de Investigación Geográfica, 41(1), 7-22. DOI: 10.18172/cig.2643 Mekonnen, M., Keesstra, S.D., Stroosnijder, L., Baartman, J.E.M., Maroulis, J., 2015. Soil conservation through sediment trapping: a review. Land Degradation and Development, 26, 544-556. DOI: 10.1002/ldr.2308 Musinguzi, P., Ebanyat, P., Tenywa, J.S., Basamba, T.A., Tenywa, M.M., Mubiru, D. 2015. Precision of farmer-based fertility ratings and soil organic carbon for crop production on a Ferralsol. Solid Earth, 6 (3), pp. 1063-1073. DOI: 10.5194/se-6-1063-2015 Mwango, S.B., Msanya, B.M., Mtakwa, P.W., Kimaro, D.N., Deckers, J., Poesen, J. 2016.Effectiveness of mulching under miraba in controlling soil erosion, fertility restoration and crop yield in the usambara mountains, Tanzania. Land Degradation and Development, DOI: 10.1002/ldr.2332 Novara, A., Gristina, L., Saladino, S.S., Santoro, A., Cerdà, A. 2011. Soil erosion assessment on tillage and alternative soil managements in a Sicilian vineyard. Soil and Tillage Research, 117, pp. 140-147. DOI: 10.1016/j.still.2011.09.007 Parras-Alcántara L., Lozano-García B. Conventional tillage versus organic farming in relation to soil organic carbon stock in olive groves in Mediterranean rangelands (southern Spain). (2014) Solid Earth, 5 (1), pp. 299-311. Cited 6 times. DOI: 10. 5194/se-5-299-2014 Pereira, P., Giménez-Morera, A., Novara, A., Keesstra, S., Jordán, A., Masto, R. E., Brevik, E., Azorin-Molina, C. Cerdà, A. 2015. The impact of road and railway embankments on runoff and soil erosion in eastern Spain. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions, 12, 12947-12985. Prosdocimi,M., Jordán, A., Tarolli, P., , S., Novara, A., Cerdà, A. 2016. The immediate effectiveness of barley straw mulch in reducing soil erodibility and surface runoff generation in Mediterranean vineyards. Science of The Total Environment, 547,15,323-330, doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.12.076 Prosdocimi,M., Jordán, A., Tarolli, P., , S., Novara, A., Cerdà, A. 2016. The immediate effectiveness of barley straw mulch in reducing soil erodibility and surface runoff generation in Mediterranean vineyards. Science of The Total Environment, 547,15,323-330, doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.12.076 Vanlauwe, B., Descheemaeker, K., Giller, K.E., Huising, J., Merckx, R., Nziguheba, G., Wendt, J., Zingore, S., 2015. Integrated soil fertility management in sub-Saharan Africa: unravelling local adaptation. SOIL 1, 491-508. doi:10.5194/soil-1-491-2015 Walkley AJ, Black IA. 1934. An examination of the Degtjareff method for determining soil organic matter and a proposed modification of the chromic acid titration method. Soil Science 37: 29-38

The positive impact of European subsidies on soil erosion rates in orange plantations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keesstra, Saskia; Jordán, Antonio; Novara, Agata; Taguas, Tani; Pereira, Paulo; Brevik, Eric C.; Cerdà, Artemi

2017-04-01

Soil erosion in orchards and vineyards has been found non-sustainable due to bare soils due to the use of herbicides and tillage (Novara et al., 2011; Taguas et al., 2015; Ochoa et al., 2016; Rodrigo Comino et al., 2016a; 2016b; 2016c). Citrus plantations in sloping terrains are also non-sustainable from the soil erosion point of view due high erosion rates and the damage caused on infra-structures (Cerdà et al., 2009; 2009b; Cerdà et al., 2011; Pereira et al., 2015). This is not uncommon in Mediterranean type Ecosystems (Cerdà et al., 2010) but there is a need to reduce the soil and water losses to achieve sustainability (Brevik et al., 2015; Keesstra et al., 2016). The use of mulches, geotextiles, catch crops, and vegetation was found to be very successful as a sustainable strategy to reduce the soil losses (Giménez Morera et al., 2010; Mwango et al., 2016; Nawaz et al., 2016; Nishigaki et al., 2016; Prosdocimi et al., 2016). Nowadays, chipped branches are applied in orchards and vineyards because of European subsidies; however little scientific data is available on the impact of the chipped branches mulch on soil erosion. In an orange plantation in Eastern Valencia, at the L'Alcoleja experimental station the impact of these chipped branches was tested under 45 mm h-1 rainfall simulations on laboratory plots of 0.5 m2 under with different covers of chipped branches. The results show that with a cover of 20 % with chipped branches soil erosion reduces by 78 %. Acknowledgements The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement 603498 (RECARE project) and the CGL2013- 47862-C2-1-R and CGL2016-75178-C2-2-R national research projects. References Brevik, E. C., Cerdà, A., Mataix-Solera, J., Pereg, L., Quinton, J. N., Six, J., and Van Oost, K. 2015. The interdisciplinary nature of SOIL, SOIL, 1, 117-129, doi:10.5194/soil-1-117-2015, Cerdà, A. and M. F. Jurgensen. 2011. Ant Mounds as a Source of Sediment on Citrus Orchard Plantations in Eastern Spain. A Three-Scale Rainfall Simulation Approach. Catena 85 (3): 231-236. doi:10.1016/j.catena.2011.01.008. Cerdà, A., A. G. Morera, and M. B. Bodí. 2009a. Soil and Water Losses from New Citrus Orchards Growing on Sloped Soils in the Western Mediterranean Basin. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 34 (13): 1822-1830. doi:10.1002/esp.1889. Cerdà, A., H. Lavee, A. Romero-Díaz, J. Hooke, and L. Montanarella. 2010. Preface: Soil Erosion and Degradation in Mediterranean Type Ecosystems. Land Degradation and Development 21 (2): 71-74. doi:10.1002/ldr.968. Cerdà, A., M. F. Jurgensen, and M. B. Bodi. 2009b. Effects of Ants on Water and Soil Losses from Organically-Managed Orchards in Eastern Spain. Biologia 64 (3): 527-531. doi:10.2478/s11756-009-0114-7. Giménez-Morera, A., J. D. Ruiz Sinoga, and A. Cerdà. 2010. The Impact of Cotton Geotextiles on Soil and Water Losses from Mediterranean Rainfed Agricultural Land. Land Degradation and Development 21 (2): 210-217. doi:10.1002/ldr.971. Keesstra, S. D., Bouma, J., Wallinga, J., Tittonell, P., Smith, P., Cerdà, A., Montanarella, L., Quinton, J. N., Pachepsky, Y., van der Putten, W. H., Bardgett, R. D., Moolenaar, S., Mol, G., Jansen, B., and Fresco, L. O.: The significance of soils and soil science towards realization of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, SOIL, 2, 111-128, doi:10.5194/soil-2-111-2016, 2016. Mwango, S. B., B. M. Msanya, P. W. Mtakwa, D. N. Kimaro, J. Deckers, and J. Poesen. 2016. Effectiveness OF Mulching Under Miraba in Controlling Soil Erosion, Fertility Restoration and Crop Yield in the Usambara Mountains, Tanzania. Land Degradation and Development 27 (4): 1266-1275. doi:10.1002/ldr.2332. Nawaz, A., R. Lal, R. K. Shrestha, and M. Farooq. 2016. Mulching Affects Soil Properties and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Under Long-Term no-Till and Plough-Till Systems in Alfisol of Central Ohio. Land Degradation and Development. doi:10.1002/ldr.2553. Nishigaki, T., M. Shibata, S. Sugihara, A. D. Mvondo-Ze, S. Araki, and S. Funakawa. 2016. Effect of Mulching with Vegetative Residues on Soil Water Erosion and Water Balance in an Oxisol Cropped by Cassava in East Cameroon. Land Degradation and Development. doi:10.1002/ldr.2568. Novara, A., L. Gristina, S. S. Saladino, A. Santoro, and A. Cerdà. 2011. Soil Erosion Assessment on Tillage and Alternative Soil Managements in a Sicilian Vineyard. Soil and Tillage Research 117: 140-147. doi:10.1016/j.still.2011.09.007. Ochoa, P. A., A. Fries, D. Mejía, J. I. Burneo, J. D. Ruíz-Sinoga, and A. Cerdà. 2016. Effects of Climate, Land Cover and Topography on Soil Erosion Risk in a Semiarid Basin of the Andes. Catena 140: 31-42. doi:10.1016/j.catena.2016.01.011. Pereira, P., Giménez-Morera, A., Novara, A., Keesstra, S., Jordán, A., Masto, R.E., Brevik, E., Azorin-Molina, C., Cerdà A., 2015. The impact of road and railway embankments on runoff and soil erosion in eastern Spain. Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., 12, 12947-12985, doi:10.5194/hessd-12-12947-2015, 2015 Prosdocimi, M., A. Jordán, P. Tarolli, S. Keesstra, A. Novara, and A. Cerdà. 2016. The Immediate Effectiveness of Barley Straw Mulch in Reducing Soil Erodibility and Surface Runoff Generation in Mediterranean Vineyards. Science of the Total Environment 547: 323-330. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.12.076. Rodrigo Comino J, Iserloh T, Morvan X, Malam Issa O, Naisse C, Keesstra SD, Cerdà A, Prosdocimi M, Arnáez J, Lasanta T, Ramos MC, Marqués MJ, Ruiz Colmenero M, Bienes R, Ruiz Sinoga JD, Seeger M, Ries JB (2016). Soil Erosion Processes in European Vineyards: A Qualitative Comparison of Rainfall Simulation Measurements in Germany, Spain and France. Hydrology, 3 (1), 6; doi:10.3390/hydrology3010006 Rodrigo Comino, J., Iserloh, T., Lassu, T., Cerdà, A., Keesstra, S.D., Prosdocimi, M., Brings, C., Marzen, M., Ramos, M.C., Senciales, J.M., Ruiz Sinoga, J.D., Seeger, M., Ries, J.B., 2016. Quantitative comparison of initial soil erosion processes and runoff generation in Spanish and German vineyards. Sci. Total Environ. 565, 1165-1174. DOI:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.05.163 Rodrigo-Comino, J., M. Seeger, J. M. Senciales, J. D. Ruiz-Sinoga, and J. B. Ries. 2016. Spatial and Temporal Variation of Soil Hydrological Processes on Steep Slope Vineyards (Ruwel-Mosel Valley, Gemany). Cuadernos De Investigacion Geografica 42 (1): 281-306. doi:10.18172/cig.2934. Taguas, E. V., E. Guzmán, G. Guzmán, T. Vanwalleghem, and J. A. Gómez. 2015. Characteristics and Importance of Rill and Gully Erosion: A Case Study in a Small Catchment of a Marginal Olive Grove. Cuadernos De Investigacion Geografica 41 (1): 107-126. doi:10.18172/cig.2644.

Chemical signatures of life in modern stromatolites from Lake Alchichica, Mexico. Applications for the search of life on Mars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Navarro, Karina F.; Navarro-Gonzalez, Rafael; Alcocer, Javier; Escobar, Elva; Morales, Pedro; Cienfuegos, Edith; Coll, Patrice; Raulin, Francois; Stalport, Fabien; Cabane, Michel; Person, Alain; McKay, Chris

Stromatolites are one of the most important forms of fossil evidence for microbial life on early Earth (Schopf et al., 1971). They are formed when layers of microbial organisms at the shallow bottom of a lake or tide pool are periodically covered with sediment or precipitating salts (e.g. carbonate). The photosynthetic organisms that form the basis of the community must migrate through sediment toward the light in order to survive. If life emerged on Mars, it is possible that stromatolites were formed in lakes and marine lagoons. Recently the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mapping found a regional rock layer with near-infrared spectral characteristics that are consistent with the presence of magnesium carbonate in the Nili Fossae region (Ehlmann et al., 2008). The Nili Fossae is a fracture in the surface of Mars that has been eroded and partly filled in by sediments and clay-rich ejecta from a nearby crater. It is located at 22° N, 75° E and has an elevation of 0.6 km. The carbonate-bearing rocks outcrops in the Nili Fossae region could have formed in (1) the subsurface by groundwater percolating through fractures in the ultramafic rock and altering olivine or (2) in shallow lakes from waters enriched in Mg2+ relative to other cations by percolation through ultramafic olivine-bearing rocks. In the latter scenario, it is possible that these carbonate outcrops could have been deposited in association with microbial activity. The purpose of this work is to chemically characterize a modern stromatolite by thermal volatization (TV), a method that has been widely used in past missions (Viking and Phoenix) and will also be used in future missions (Mars Science Laboratory and ExoMars) in the search for life on Mars. Alchichica is a volcanic crater lake situated in an enclosed basin within the El Seco Valley at 19° 24' 13" N, 97° 24' 0" W, and 2.345 km above sea level in Mexico. It has an area of 1.81 km2 , a mean depth of 38.5 m and a maximum depth of 64 m. The lake is hyposaline (8.5-10 g l-1 ) and alkaline (pH 8.9-9.1 and alkalinity of 37 meq l-1 ) with sodium and chloride being the dominant ions but also with bicarbonate and carbonate ions. These conditions are favorable for active carbonate deposition that results in the formation of distinctive stromatolite structures in the littoral region of the lake. These structures generate extended submerged carbonaceous platforms down to a depth of 15 m that slope steeply to the bottom of the lake where soft sediments prevail (Escobar-Briones et al., 1998). The lake is populated by 18 species of cyanobacteria (Tavera and Komárek, 1996) which are the primary producers in the food web a of the lake fixing not only carbon (Escobar-Briones et al., 1998) but also nitrogen (Falcón eto al, 2002). The stromatolite samples were freeze-dried and then were finely grounded with an agate mor-tar mill for analyses. The mineral composition of the sample is essentially hydromagnesite (Mg5 (CO3 )4 (OH)2 , 4 H2 O)) with traces of quartz (SiO2 ) as determined by X-rays diffraction. This is also consistent with differential thermal analysis and thermal gravimetry of the sample. Analysis of the sample by TV-mass spectrometry (MS) using the Phoenix Lander Protocol (Navarro-González et al., 2009) indicates that the major volatile released is carbon dioxide a from 350 C to 1000° C with broad peaks centered at 400° C and 600° C. Organics are also re-° leased from 380° C to 750° C as monitored by a characteristic organic fragment with m/z=41 and that is attributed to the allyl cation: [CH2 CHCH2 ]+ . Analysis of the sample by TV-gas chromatography (GC)-MS using the Viking Lander Protocol but at 750° C (Navarro-González a et al., 2009) demonstrates that a complex suite of organics are released such as 1,3-butadiene, furan, propanal, 2-propenenitrile, 1,3 cyclopentadiene, 2-methyl-1,3-butadiene, propanenitrile, methylfuran, butanal, benzene, 1-methyl-cyclohexene, 1-H-pyrrole, pyridine, methylbenzene, 2,5-dimethylfuran, 4-methylpyridine, ethylbenzene, dimethylbenzene, styrene, methylbenze-neamine, 2,4-hexadienal, phenol, 3-methyl-2-cyclopenten-1-one, benzonitrile, cyclopropyliden-emethylbenzene, 2,3-dihydro-1-H-indene, 1-methylethenylbenzene, 3-methylphenol, and 1-propenyl-benzene. The carbon isotopic composition of the organic fraction of the stromatolites is deter-mined by a δ 13 C=-24.28 whereas the inorganic fraction, hydromagnesite, is determined by a δ 13 C=5.86. Our data shows two interesting chemical signatures that can used to detect extant life in Martian carbonates: (1) organics are not oxidized by mineral matrix during TV-MS and TV-GC-MS analysis; and (2) distinctive carbon isotopic fractionation occurs in the or-ganic and inorganic fraction of stromatolites. Future work should center on studying fossilized stromatolites to determine if these chemical signatures are lost with time. References: Ehlmann, B.L., Mustard, J.F., Murchie, S.L. Poulet, F., Bishop, J.L., Brown, A.J., Calvin, W.M., Clark, R.N., Des Marais, D.J., Milliken, R.E., Roach, L.H., Roush, T.L., Swayze, G.A., and Wray, J.J.: 2008, Orbital identification of carbonate-bearing rocks on Mars. Science 322, 1828-1832. Escobar-Briones, E., Alcocer, J., Cienfuegos, E., and Morales P.: 1998, Carbon stable isotopes ratios of pelagic and litoral communities in Alchichica crater-lake, Mexico, Internat J Salt Lake Res 7, 345-355. Falcón, L.I., Escobar-Briones, E., and Romero, D.: 2002, Nitrogen fixation patterns displayed by cyanobacterial consortia in Alchichica crater-lake, Mexico, Hydrobiol 467, 71-78. Navarro-González, R., Navarro, K.F., de la Rosa, J., Molina, P., Iñiguez, E., Miranda, L.D., a n Morales, P., Cienfuegos, E., Coll, P., Raulin, F., Amils, R. and McKay, C.P.: 2006. The limitations on organic detection in Mars-like soils by thermal volatilization-gas chromatography-MS and their implications for the Viking results. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 103, 16089-16094. Navarro-González, R., Iñiguez, E., de la Rosa, J. and McKay, C.P.: 2009, Characterization of a n organics, microorganisms, desert soils and Mars-like soils by thermal volatilization coupled to mass spectrometry and their implications for the search of organics on Mars by Phoenix and future space missions. Astrobiology 9, 703-715, doi: 10.1089/ast.2008.0284. Schopf, J.W., Oehler, D.Z. Horodyski, R.J. and Kvenvolden K.A.:1971, Biogenicity and signif-icance of the oldest known stromatolites. J Paleontol 45, 477-485. Tavera, R., and Komárek J.: 1996, Cyanoprokaryotes in the volcanic lake of alchichica, Puebla a State, Mexico, Algological Studies 83, 511-538.

Soil erosion and degradation in Mediterranean Type Ecosystems. The Soil Erosion and Degradation Research Group (SEDER) approach and findings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cerdà, Artemi; Keesstra, Saskia; Pulido, Manuel; Jordán, Antonio; Novara, Agata; Giménez-Morera, Antonio; Borja, Manuel Esteban Lucas; Francisco Martínez-Murillo, Juan; Rodrigo-Comino, Jesús; Pereira, Paulo; Nadal-Romero, Estela; Taguas, Tani; Úbeda, Xavier; Brevik, Eric C.; Tarolli, Paolo; Bagarello, Vicenzo; Parras Alcantara, Luis; Muñoz-Rojas, Miriam; Oliva, Marc; di Prima, Simone

2017-04-01

The Soil Erosion and Degradation Reseach Group (SEDER) is developing a research program since 2002 to assess the soil erosion and degradation processes at the Canyoles River watershed in Eastern Spain. The research study site was selected as representative of the environmental changes that take place in the Mediterranean: abandonment of the agriculture land in the mountains, forest fire expansion, intensification of the agriculture, impact of the infraesturctures such as rail and road embankments, and soil sealing due to the urban expansion. The research is based on the continuous measurements in the Montesa and El Teularet research stations and the sampling of the soils, topographical measurements and the use of rainfall simulators, minidisk infiltrometers, ring infiltrometers and Water Drop Penetration Time tests. The research is moving from a pure scientific approach to a more socio-economic view, and the stakeholders are being researched from a perception point of view. SEDER is also moving from pure to applied science, with the objective to design new managements that will satisfy the stakeholders and will achieve the sustainability. The research is being carried out in vineyards and orchards as they show extremely high erosion rates. But also we are interested in the impact of forest fires and the road embankments. In all three research topics, SEDER wish to find the sustainable managements. Acknowledgements The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 603498 (RECARE project) and the CGL2013- 47862-C2-1-R and CGL2016-75178-C2-2-R national research projects. References Bodí, M. B., Martin, D. A., Balfour, V. N., Santín, C., Doerr, S. H., Pereira, P., . . . Mataix-Solera, J. (2014). Corrigendum to "wildland fire ash: Production, composition and eco-hydro-geomorphic effects", earth sci. rev. 130 (2014) [103-127]. Earth-Science Reviews, 138, 503. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2014.07.005 Bodí, M. B., Martin, D. A., Balfour, V. N., Santín, C., Doerr, S. H., Pereira, P., . . . Mataix-Solera, J. (2014). Wildland fire ash: Production, composition and eco-hydro-geomorphic effects. Earth-Science Reviews, 130, 103-127. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2013.12.007 Cerdà, A., González-Pelayo, O., Giménez-Morera, A., Jordán, A., Pereira, P., Novara, A., . . . Ritsema, C. J. (2016). Use of barley straw residues to avoid high erosion and runoff rates on persimmon plantations in eastern spain under low frequency-high magnitude simulated rainfall events. Soil Research, 54(2), 154-165. doi:10.1071/SR15092 Cerdà, A., Lavee, H., Romero-Díaz, A., Hooke, J., & Montanarella, L. (2010). Preface: Soil erosion and degradation in mediterranean type ecosystems. Land Degradation and Development, 21(2), 71-74. doi:10.1002/ldr.968 Dlapa, P., Bodí, M. B., Mataix-Solera, J., Cerdà, A., & Doerr, S. H. (2015). Organic matter and wettability characteristics of wildfire ash from mediterranean conifer forests. Catena, 135, 369-376. doi:10.1016/j.catena.2014.06.018 Keesstra, S., Pereira, P., Novara, A., Brevik, E. C., Azorin-Molina, C., Parras-Alcántara, L., . . . Cerdà, A. (2016). Effects of soil management techniques on soil water erosion in apricot orchards. Science of the Total Environment, 551-552, 357-366. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.01.182 Lucas-Borja, M. E., Hedo, J., Cerdá, A., Candel-Pérez, D., & Viñegla, B. (2016). Unravelling the importance of forest age stand and forest structure driving microbiological soil properties, enzymatic activities and soil nutrients content in mediterranean spanish black pine(pinus nigra ar. ssp. salzmannii) forest. Science of the Total Environment, 562, 145-154. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.03.160 Novara, A., Cerdà, A., Carmelo, D., Giuseppe, L. P., Antonino, S., & Luciano, G. (2015). Effectiveness of carbon isotopic signature for estimating soil erosion and deposition rates in sicilian vineyards. Soil and Tillage Research, 152, 1-7. doi:10.1016/j.still.2015.03.010 Novara, A., Gristina, L., Sala, G., Galati, A., Crescimanno, M., Cerdà, A., . . . La Mantia, T. (2017). Agricultural land abandonment in mediterranean environment provides ecosystem services via soil carbon sequestration. Science of the Total Environment, 576, 420-429. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.10.123 Novara, A., Gristina, L., Saladino, S. S., Santoro, A., & Cerdà, A. (2011). Soil erosion assessment on tillage and alternative soil managements in a sicilian vineyard. Soil and Tillage Research, 117, 140-147. doi:10.1016/j.still.2011.09.007 Novara, A., Keesstra, S., Cerdà, A., Pereira, P., & Gristina, L. (2016). Understanding the role of soil erosion on co2-c loss using 13c isotopic signatures in abandoned mediterranean agricultural land. Science of the Total Environment, 550, 330-336. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.01.095 Parras-Alcántara, L., Lozano-García, B., Brevik, E. C., & Cerdá, A. (2015). Soil organic carbon stocks assessment in mediterranean natural areas: A comparison of entire soil profiles and soil control sections. Journal of Environmental Management, 155, 219-228. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2015.03.039 Parras-Alcántara, L., Lozano-García, B., Keesstra, S., Cerdà , A., & Brevik, E. C. (2016). Long-term effects of soil management on ecosystem services and soil loss estimation in olive grove top soils. Science of the Total Environment, 571, 498-506. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.07.016 Pereira, P., Cerdà, A., Úbeda, X., Mataix-Solera, J., Arcenegui, V., & Zavala, L. M. (2015). Modelling the impacts of wildfire on ash thickness in a short-term period. Land Degradation and Development, 26(2), 180-192. doi:10.1002/ldr.2195 Prosdocimi, M., Burguet, M., Di Prima, S., Sofia, G., Terol, E., Rodrigo Comino, J., . . . Tarolli, P. (2017). Rainfall simulation and structure-from-motion photogrammetry for the analysis of soil water erosion in mediterranean vineyards. Science of the Total Environment, 574, 204-215. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.09.036 Prosdocimi, M., Cerdà, A., & Tarolli, P. (2016). Soil water erosion on mediterranean vineyards: A review. Catena, 141, 1-21. doi:10.1016/j.catena.2016.02.010 Prosdocimi, M., Jordán, A., Tarolli, P., Keesstra, S., Novara, A., & Cerdà, A. (2016). The immediate effectiveness of barley straw mulch in reducing soil erodibility and surface runoff generation in mediterranean vineyards. Science of the Total Environment, 547, 323-330. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.12.076 Prosdocimi, M., Tarolli, P., & Cerdà, A. (2016). Mulching practices for reducing soil water erosion: A review. Earth-Science Reviews, 161, 191-203. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2016.08.006 Romero-Díaz, A., Ruiz-Sinoga, J. D., Robledano-Aymerich, F., Brevik, E. C., & Cerdà, A. (2017). Ecosystem responses to land abandonment in western mediterranean mountains. Catena, 149, 824-835. doi:10.1016/j.catena.2016.08.013

PREFACE: XXXIII Symposium on Nuclear Physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barrón-Palos, Libertad; Bijker, Roelof; Fossion, Ruben; Lizcano, David

2010-04-01

The attached PDF gives a full listing of contributors and organisation members. In the present volume of Journal of Physics: Conference Series we publish the proceedings of the "XXXIII Symposium on Nuclear Physics", that was held from January 5-8, 2010 at the Hacienda Cocoyoc, Morelos, Mexico. The proceedings contain the plenary talks that were presented during the conference. The abstracts of all contributions, plenary talks and posters, were published in the Conference Handbook. The Symposium on Nuclear Physics has a long and distinguished history. From the beginning it was intended to be a relatively small meeting designed to bring together some of the leading nuclear scientists in the field. Its most distinctive feature is to provide a forum for specialists in different areas of nuclear physics, both theorists and experimentalists, students, postdocs and senior scientists, in a relaxed and informal environment providing them with a unique opportunity to exchange ideas. After the first meeting in Oaxtepec in 1978, the Symposium was organized every year without interruption which makes the present one the 33rd in a row. This year's meeting was dedicated to the memory of Marcos Moshinsky, who passed away on April 1, 2009. Dr. Moshinsky was the most distinguished pioneer and promoter of nuclear physics in Mexico and Latin America and holds the record of 31 (out of 32) participations at the Symposium. In the inaugural session, Alejandro Frank (ICN-UNAM), Peter Hess (ICN-UNAM) and Jorge Flores (IF-UNAM) spoke in his honor and recalled the virtues that characterized him as a teacher, scientist, founder of schools and academic institutions, colleague and friend. His generosity, excellence and honesty were emphasized as the personal qualities that characterized both his personal and academic life. moshinksky_photo "Marcos Moshinsky (1921-2009)" The scientific program consisted of 26 invited talks and 20 posters on a wide variety of hot topics in contemporary nuclear physics, ranging from the traditional fields of nuclear structure and reactions to radioactive beams, nuclear astrophysics, hadronic physics, fundamental symmetries, ultrarelativistic heavy ions, cosmic rays and quantum chaos. The high quality of the talks, the prestige of the speakers and the broad spectrum of subjects covered in the meeting, shows that nuclear physics is a very active area at the frontier of scientific research which establishes bridges between many different disciplines. One of the exciting new areas in nuclear physics is that of radioactive beams. It provides a powerful tool not only to study exotic nuclei close to the proton and neutron drip lines to obtain important information about the nature of the nucleon-nucleon interaction in stable and unstable nuclei, but also to address questions of fundamental importance in nuclear astrophysics as well as in various applications like mass spectroscopy, the production of radioactive isotopes and medical applications (Galindo-Uribarri). There was a presentation on the FRIB project which is currently under construction in the USA and its relevance for nuclear astrophysics and the limits of stability (Sherrill and Schatz) In the session on nuclear structure, there were several talks on the nucleon-nucleon interaction in nuclei close to the proton and neutron drip lines, like neutron-proton pairing in nuclei with an equal number of protons and neutrons (Pittel), and studies of stable and unstable neutron-rich nuclei near the closed shells N = 82 and N = 50 using (d, p) transfer reactions and Coulomb excitation by means of radioactive beams (Cizewski and Padilla-Rodal). There were several talks on the importance of reaction rates for the excitation of spin-isospin resonances (Sakai), massive star evolution (Klapp) and nuclear synthesis and stellar evolution (Rolfs). In another presentation, the importance of rare isotopes for astrophysical processes was highlighted (Schatz). In addition, there were discussions about the importance of the Pauli exclusion principle and phase transitions in nuclear cluster models (Cseh and Hess) and an analysis of elastic scattering close to the Coulomb barrier in the framework of the optical model (Gómez-Camacho). Another important area is that of hadronic physics, the study of nucleons as composite systems of strongly interacting quarks and gluons. This field is situated on the borderline between nuclear and particle physics and presents a formidable challenge since the scale of the energies involved prohibits the use of the methods of perturbative QCD. In the session on hadronic physics, there were talks on chiral symmetry in non-perturbative QCD (Bietenholz), the structure of the nucleon in an unquenched quark model (Bijker), quark and meson degrees of freedom in Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering (Szczepaniak) and studies of hadronic structure by means of neutrino-induced pion production (Mariano). At ultrarelativistic energies, one can study the phase transition between hadronic matter and a new state of nuclear matter, the quark-gluon plasma. The Organizing Committee is proud to mention that the Cocoyoc 2010 meeting was one of first international conferences where the first scientific resuls from LHC were presented by the ALICE collaboration on proton-proton collisions at an energy of 900 GeV (Paic). In the session on cosmic rays, there was a talk on the origin of ultra high-energy cosmic rays (100 EeV = 1020 eV) as observed by the Pierre Auger Observatory (Medina-Tanco). Furthermore, there was a presentation of the project NuMoon which proposes to use the Moon's surface to detect cosmic rays that are out of the range of the Auger Observatory (Scholten). In addition, there was a review of the advances of the Mexican project HAWC, an observatory under construction in the Sierra Negra of Puebla (Sandoval) to study some of the most violentphenomena in the Universe through the detection of gamma rays with energies between hundreds of GeV and hundreds of TeV. At the other extreme of the energy scale is the field of the study of fundamental symmetries with novel experiments with ultra-cold neutrons. In this session, there were proposals by the NPDGamma collaboration (Gillis) and the abBA collaboration (Barr´on-Palos) to use polarized neutrons to study the weak hadronic interaction and neutron beta-decay, respectively. In another talk, there was a discussion on the measurement of the electric dipole moment of the neutron which is of fundamental importance to the standard model (Crawford). Finally, there was a session dedicated to quantum chaos where various proposals were discussed to identify chaotic behaviour in quantum systems, such as spectral fluctuations, time series and 1/f noise (Molina). Applications were presented to many-body systems in nuclear physics (Stránský) and the dripping-laser system as a quantum realization of the dripping faucet, one of the paradigms of classical chaos (Fossion). Many of the participants spent the free afternoon in the "magic village" of Tepoztlán to visit the arts and crafts market, the church, the convent or just to enjoy the good food. The most daring persons climbed the nearby cliff Tepozteco and the pyramid built on top of it to contemplate the spectacular view over the valley. As always, some of the participants of the conference prolonged their stay in Mexico to establish, to develop or to consolidate their collaborations with the local nuclear physics community. At the annual reunion of the Nuclear Physics Division which was held during the meeting, there was a long discussion on the future of the Symposium and, more generally, of the field of nuclear physics in Mexico and Latin America. Libertad Barr´on Palos, Roelof Bijker, Ruben Fossion and David Lizcano were re-elected as members of the Local Organizing Committee of the next Symposium which will be held at the Hacienda Cocoyoc from January 4-7, 2011, but now with Libertad as Chair. Libertad Barrón-Palos Roelof Bijker Ruben Fossion David Lizcano conference photo_photo

Human-induced environmental degradation during Anthropocene in Turkey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Efe, Recep; Curebal, Isa; Soykan, Abdullah; Sönmez, Suleyman

2015-04-01

The Anthropocene is a new term in the literature meaning "a new geological age." (Crutzen and Stoermer, 2000). It was created with the purpose of making it clear that human impact on the habitat increased and that humans became the main agent shaping the environment (Web-1). Despite opposing views, the Industrial Revolution has been considered the beginning of this age (Crutzen 2002; Crutzen &Steffen, 2003; Crossland, 2005; Andersson et al., 2005, Foley et al., 2013). Human beings have to avail themselves of the nature in order to maintain their lives. The style and extent of the use of nature, however, depends on time and place. Hunting and gathering were common practices in ancient times. Later on, a shift to the agricultural society took place with the domestication of animals following the settlement of people. Thus, people started producing a number of much-needed products by themselves. The next phase saw the shift to industrialization process during which people began to create most of the items they needed to live at factories. Industrialization led to significant changes in land use and human-nature relationships. In the first place, there was limited and relatively slow production from raw materials. Then, the Industrial Revolution sparked a faster production process. As the need for energy soared, the exploitation of natural resources became greater and faster. Human-nature relationships underwent a change about 200 years ago. Human imprint on the environment was indiscernible until the end of the 17th century. The anthropogenic factors accelerated and had a stronger impact on the environment due primarily to industrialization (Zalasiewicz et al. 2008), and resulting rise in population and human needs. Since the beginning of the 19th century, humans have had a greater impact on the nature, literally ruling it to a substantial extent. Human activities impact much of the world today and, therefore, 85% of the total area of the world has already been affected by humans (Sanderson et al., 2002; Braje&Erlandson, 2014). The area left in its natural state corresponds to only 15%. Due to population increase, agricultural areas shrinked, forests were destroyed, and pastures declined in size. More chemical fertilizers and agricultural pesticides were used in order to obtain more products. A greater number of machines were employed in agriculture, which led to a rise in the number of products. The human pressure on the environment in Anatolia dates back to thousands of years. Nomadic peoples on these lands have settled in the last 200 years due to settlement policies (Cürebal et al., 2015). This process saw the establishment of villages in higher and inclined areas as a result of the effects of the nomadic culture of Turkomans and other people in Anatolia. Forests in the inclined areas around these villages were destroyed and turned into agricultural areas. Machines, fertilizers, and pesticides were utilized in agricultural activities in order to produce more crops. This transformation led to an increased erosion effect, deterioration of soil, agricultural and environmental pollution (Chin et al., 2013; Hoang et al., 2014; Matteo et al., 2014). The change caused by industrialization gained ground in the 1950s in Turkey. In particular, migration from rural areas to cities gaining pace after the World War II brought about an increased human pressure in and around big cities. Areas around the cities became centers of attraction for many people. Plains around settlement areas were opened to settlement, and most industrial facilities were established there. As a consequence, first class agricultural areas were lost. Settlements and industrial areas generated large amounts of solid and liquid waste. Uncontrolled discharge of liquid waste and intensely stored solid waste caused the physical and chemical pollution of rivers, lakes, and seas to increase in Turkey and other parts of the world (Andersson et al., 2006; Steffen et al., 2011; Dalton et al., 2014). Domestic tourism boomed after 1970, which led the Sea of Marmara, Aegean, and Mediterranean coasts to become secondary settlement areas for city-dwellers. This, in turn, sparked the construction of concrete buildings along the coastlines, making them less natural. The shift from the agricultural society to the industrial society made it possible for the service sector to grow and develop. Land transportation among large cities gained importance, and road construction gained pace. Development of industry, rapid rise in population, migration from rural areas to cities, unplanned settlement, and wrong agricultural practices are main factors for the environmental degradation in Turkey. Key Words: Human, habitat, anthropocene, industrialization, Turkey. References Andersson, A.J.; Mackenzie, F.T.; Lerman, A. (2006), Coastal ocean CO 2 carbonic acid carbonate sediment system of the Anthropocene, Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 20: 1-13 Braje, T.J.; Erlandson, J.M. (2014), Looking forward, looking back: Humans, anthropogenic change and the Anthropocene, Anthropocene, 4: 116-121 Crossland, C.J. ed (2005), Coastal fluxes in the Anthropocene. Berlin: Springer. 231-pp. Crutzen, P. J. and Stoermer, E.F. (2000), The Anthropocene. Global Change Newsletter (41): 17-18. Crutzen, P.J. (2002), Geology of Mankind: The Anthropocene. Nature, 415: 23 Crutzen P.J.; Steffen, W. (2003), How long have we been in the Anthropocene Era? Climatic Change, Vol. 61, No. 3. Cürebal, I.; Efe, R.; Soykan, A.; Sonmez, S. (2015), Impacts of anthropogenic factors on land degradation during the anthropocene in Turkey, Journal of Environmental Biology, Volume 36, Special Issue, 51-58 Dalton, C.; ODwyer, B.; Taylor, D.; de Eyto, E.; Jennings, E.; Chen, G.; Poole, R.; Dillane, M.; McGinnity, P. (2014), Anthropocene environmental change in an internationally important oligotrophic catchment on the Atlantic seaboard of western Europe, Anthropocene, 5: 9-21 Foley, S.F.; Gronenborn, D.; Andreae, M.O.; Kadereit, J.W.; Esper, J.; Scholz, D.; Pöschl, U.; Jacob, D.E.; Schöne, B.R.; Schreg, R.; Vött, A.; Jordan, D.; Lelievld, J.: Weller, C.G.; Alt, K.W.; Gaudzinski-Windheuser, S.; Bruhn, K.C.; Tost, H.; Sirocko, F.; Crutzen, P.J. (2013), The Paleoanthropocene - The beginnings of anthropogenic environmental change, Anthropocene, 3: 83-88. Hoang, H.T.T.; Vanacker, V.; Van Rompaey, A.; Vu, K.C.; Nguyen, A.T. (2014), Changing human-landscape interactions after development of tourism in the nothern Vietnamese Highlands, Anthropocene, 5: 42-51 Matteo, G.; Lingua, E.; Marzano, R.; Urbinati, C.; Bhuju, D.; Carrer, M. (2014), Human interactions with forest landscape in the Khumbu valley, Nepal, Anthropocene, 6: 39-47 Sanderson, E.W.; Jaiteh, M.; Levy, M.A.; Redford, K.H.; Wannebo, A.V.; Woolmer, G. (2002), The Human Footprint and the Last of the Wild. Bioscience 52: (10).891-904 Steffen, W.; Persson, A.; Deutsch, L.; Zalasiewicz, J.; Williams, M.; Richardson, K.; Crumley, C.; Crutzen, P.; Folke, C.; Gordon, L.; Molina, M.; Ramanathan, V., Rockström, J.; Scheffer, M.; Schellnhuber, H.J.; Svedin, U. (2011), The Anthropocene: From Global Change to Planetary Stewardship, AMBIO, 40: 739-761 Web-1 http://www.anthropocene.info/en/home Zalasiewicz, J.; Williams, M.; Smith, A.; L. Barry, T.; L. Coe, A.; R. Bown, P.; Brenchley, P.; Cantrill, D.; Gale, A.; Gibbard, P.; Gregory, F.J.; Hounslow, M.W.; Kerr, A.C.; Pearson, P.; Knox, R.; Powell, J.; Waters, C.; Marshall, J.; Oates, M.; Rawson, P.; Stone, P. (2008), Are we now living in the Anthropocene? GSA Today 18 (2): 4-8.

The impact of olive leaves, mosses and the burrowing of wild boars on soil erosion in olive orchards

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cerdà, Artemi; Nadal-Romero, Estela; Brevik, Eric C.; Pulido, Manuel; Maestre, Fermando T.; Taguas, Tani; Novara, Agata; Keesstra, Saskia; Cammeraat, Erik; Parras-Alcantara, Luis

2017-04-01

The main factor controlling soil erosion is vegetation cover (Cerdà and Doerr, 2005; Van Eck et al., 2016; van Hall et al., 2017). However, due to the removal of the vegetation in agricultural fields and the increase in soil erosion rates other factors arise as keys to control soil erosion rates and mechanisms (Ochoa-Cueva et al., 2016; Rodrigo Comino et al., 2016). Soil erosion rates in olive plantations are high due to the lack of vegetation cover as a consequence of intensive tillage and herbicides abuse (Taguas et al., 2015; Parras-Alcantara et al., 2016; Zema et al., 2016). This is also found in vineyards and other orchards around the world (Prosdocimi et al., 2016; Rodrígo Comino et al., 2016), and the reason to look for sustainable management techniques such as geotextiles, mulches or catch crops that will stop the accelerated soil erosion (Giménez Morera et al., 2010; Mwango et al., 2016; Nawaz et al., 2016a; 2016b; Nishigaki et al., 2016). All these management techniques are difficult to apply and have high costs. Natural solutions such as weeds to provide cover are very efficient and have no cost (Cerdà et al., 2016; Keesstra et al., 2016) and they can be adapted to the management of the farmers. In olive orchards under herbicide treatment there is a natural growth of mosses and the development of a litter layer composed of olive leaves. There is also burrowing by wild boars that "ploughs" the soil. This research evaluates the impact of the three items above on soil erosion. The measurements were carried out using simulated rainfall experiments over an area of 0.25 m2 at a rainfall rate of 55 mm h-1 during one hour (Cerdà, 1996; Prosdocimi et al., 2017) on 15 plots of mosses, 15 wild boar burrowed surfaces and 15 leaf covered surfaces during the winter of 2015. The soil erosion rates were 34 times greater in the wild boar burrowed soils, meanwhile the litter and mosses covered soils showed similar erosional responses and the soil erosion rates were negligible. Acknowledgements The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Program (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n_ 603498 (RECARE project) and the CGL2013- 47862-C2-1-R and CGL2016-75178-C2-2-R national research projects. References Cerdà, A. (1996). Seasonal variability of infiltration rates under contrasting slope conditions in southeast spain. Geoderma, 69(3-4), 217-232. Cerdà, A., & Doerr, S. H. (2005). Influence of vegetation recovery on soil hydrology and erodibility following fire: An 11-year investigation. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 14(4), 423-437. doi:10.1071/WF05044 Cerdà, A., González-Pelayo, O., Giménez-Morera, A., Jordán, A., Pereira, P., Novara, A., . . . Ritsema, C. J. (2016). Use of barley straw residues to avoid high erosion and runoff rates on persimmon plantations in eastern spain under low frequency-high magnitude simulated rainfall events. Soil Research, 54(2), 154-165. doi:10.1071/SR15092 Giménez-Morera, A., Ruiz Sinoga, J. D., & Cerdà, A. (2010). The impact of cotton geotextiles on soil and water losses from mediterranean rainfed agricultural land. Land Degradation and Development, 21(2), 210-217. doi:10.1002/ldr.971 Keesstra, S., Pereira, P., Novara, A., Brevik, E. C., Azorin-Molina, C., Parras-Alcántara, L., . . . Cerdà, A. (2016). Effects of soil management techniques on soil water erosion in apricot orchards. Science of the Total Environment, 551-552, 357-366. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.01.182 Mwango, S. B., Msanya, B. M., Mtakwa, P. W., Kimaro, D. N., Deckers, J., & Poesen, J. (2016). Effectiveness OF mulching under miraba in controlling soil erosion, fertility restoration and crop yield in the usambara mountains, tanzania. Land Degradation and Development, 27(4), 1266-1275. doi:10.1002/ldr.2332 Nawaz, A., Farooq, M., Lal, R., Rehman, A., Hussain, T., & Nadeem, A. (2016). Influence of sesbania brown manuring and rice residue mulch on soil health, weeds and system productivity of conservation rice-wheat systems. Land Degradation and Development, doi:10.1002/ldr.2578 Nawaz, A., Lal, R., Shrestha, R. K., & Farooq, M. (2016). Mulching affects soil properties and greenhouse gas emissions under long-term no-till and plough-till systems in alfisol of central ohio. Land Degradation and Development, doi:10.1002/ldr.2553 Nishigaki, T., Shibata, M., Sugihara, S., Mvondo-Ze, A. D., Araki, S., & Funakawa, S. (2016). Effect of mulching with vegetative residues on soil water erosion and water balance in an oxisol cropped by cassava in east cameroon. Land Degradation and Development, doi:10.1002/ldr.2568 Ochoa-Cueva, P., Fries, A., Montesinos, P., Rodríguez-Díaz, J. A., & Boll, J. (2015). Spatial estimation of soil erosion risk by land-cover change in the andes OF southern ecuador. Land Degradation and Development, 26(6), 565-573. doi:10.1002/ldr.2219 Parras-Alcántara, L., Lozano-García, B., Keesstra, S., Cerdà, A., & Brevik, E. C. (2016). Long-term effects of soil management on ecosystem services and soil loss estimation in olive grove top soils. Science of the Total Environment, 571, 498-506. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.07.016 Prosdocimi, M., Burguet, M., Di Prima, S., Sofia, G., Terol, E., Rodrigo Comino, J., . . . Tarolli, P. (2017). Rainfall simulation and structure-from-motion photogrammetry for the analysis of soil water erosion in mediterranean vineyards. Science of the Total Environment, 574, 204-215. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.09.036 Prosdocimi, M., Cerdà, A., & Tarolli, P. (2016a). Soil water erosion on mediterranean vineyards: A review. Catena, 141, 1-21. doi:10.1016/j.catena.2016.02.010 Rodrigo Comino, J., Iserloh, T., Lassu, T., Cerdà, A., Keesstra, S. D., Prosdocimi, M., . . . Ries, J. B. (2016). Quantitative comparison of initial soil erosion processes and runoff generation in spanish and german vineyards. Science of the Total Environment, 565, 1165-1174. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.05.163 Rodrigo Comino, J., Quiquerez, A., Follain, S., Raclot, D., Le Bissonnais, Y., Casalí, J., Giménez, R., Cerdà, A., Keesstra, S.D., Brevik, E.C., Pereira, P., Senciales, J.M., Seeger, M., Ruiz Sinoga, J.D., Ries, J.B., 2016. Soil erosion in sloping vineyards assessed by using botanical indicators and sediment collectors in the Ruwer-Mosel valley. Agriculture Ecosystems and Environment, 233, 158-170. DOI: 10.1016/j.agee.2016.09.009 Taguas, E. V., E. Guzmán, G. Guzmán, T. Vanwalleghem, and J. A. Gómez. 2015. Characteristics and Importance of Rill and Gully Erosion: A Case Study in a Small Catchment of a Marginal Olive Grove. Cuadernos De Investigacion Geografica 41 (1): 107-126. doi:10.18172/cig.2644. Van Eck, C. M., Nunes, J. P., Vieira, D. C. S., Keesstra, S., & Keizer, J. J. (2016). Physically-based modelling of the post-fire runoff response of a forest catchment in central portugal: Using field versus remote sensing based estimates of vegetation recovery. Land Degradation and Development, 27(5), 1535-1544. doi:10.1002/ldr.2507 van Hall, R. L., Cammeraat, L. H., Keesstra, S. D., & Zorn, M. (2017). Impact of secondary vegetation succession on soil quality in a humid mediterranean landscape. Catena, 149, 836-843. doi:10.1016/j.catena.2016.05.021 Zema, D. A., Denisi, P., Taguas Ruiz, E. V., Gómez, J. A., Bombino, G., & Fortugno, D. (2016). Evaluation of surface runoff prediction by AnnAGNPS model in a large mediterranean watershed covered by olive groves. Land Degradation and Development, 27(3), 811-822. doi:10.1002/ldr.2390

The use of straw to reduce the soil and water losses in agriculture and forest ecosystems in the Mediterranean Type-Ecosystem. The Soil Erosion and Degradation Research Group contribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cerda, Artemi; Burguet, Maria; Keesstra, Saskia; Borja, Manuel Esteban Lucas; Hedo, Javier; Brevik, Eric; Pereira, Paulo; Novara, Agata; Jordan, Antonio; Prosdocimi, Massimo; Taguas, Encarnacion

2016-04-01

Soil Erosion is a worldwide environmental issue (Keesstra et al., 2007; Dai et al., 2015; Erkossa et al., 2015; Ochoa-Cueva et al., 2015; Taguas et al., 2015). The high erosion rates are affecting mainly the non-developed countries due to the lack of vegetation cover, deforestation and the intense ploughing (Lieskovsky and Kenderessy, 2014; Biwas et al., 2015, Colazo and Buschiazzo, 2015; Ligonja and Shrestha, 2015); and the developing countries due to the herbicides abuse and heavy machinery (Cerdà et al., 2009; Novara et al., 2011). Non-sustainable erosion rates result in the loss of soil and also changes in the hydrological, erosional, biological, and geochemical cycles, which produce the lack of the services, goods and resources the soil offers to the humankind (Keesstra et al., 2012; Berendse et al., 2015; Decock et al., 2015; Brevik et al., 2015; Smith et al., 2015). This is why there is a need to reduce the soil losses, and to achieve a sustainable situation with lower and renewable soil erosion rates and to improve the infiltration rates (Cerdà et al., 2015; Nanko et al., 2015; Mwango et al., 2016). Vegetation cover is the most efficient strategy to control soil and water losses (Cerdà, 1999; Keesstra, 2007; Zhao et al., 2014), however there is the need to use other covers once the vegetation is not recovered such as after the forest fires or when the crops do not allow to have weeds and the soil should be bare. This is sometimes a cultural and aesthetic need (farmers from the Cànyoles river watershed personal comm). Under the above-mentioned circumstances, a straw cover can reduce the soil losses and increase infiltration. This is the main research topic that is being carried out by the Soil Erosion and Degradation Research Group from the University of Valencia during more than one decade: to find solutions to the non-sustainable soil erosion rates under forest and agriculture land under Mediterranean climatic conditions. The research was developed using paired plots under natural and simulated rainfall at the Soil Erosion Stations of Montesa, El Teularet and Celler del Roure. Rainfall simulation experiments with very small (0.25 m2), small (1 m2) and medium (20 m2) plots were carried out in scrublands and recently fire-affected land, and on vineyards and orchards. The plots under natural rainfall conditions ranged from 1 to 300 m2. The results show a positive influence of the straw mulch to reduce the soil and water losses, although is more efficient to control the sediment delivery due to the reduction of the raindrop impact. Reduction in one order of magnitude is usual after the immediate application of the straw on vineyards (Prosdocimi et al., 2016) and apricots (Keesstra et al., under review) and in persimmon plantations (Cerdà et al., in press). The above-mentioned results show the positive effect of the straw mulch found by other researchers with other types of mulches such as rock fragments (Cerdà, 2001; Jordán et al., 2009; Jordan and Martínez-Zavala, 2008; Martínez-Zavala and Jordán, 2008, Zavala et al., 2010). There is a need to develop new and advanced research on the effects of the straw cover and other mulches such as litter on the recently forest fire affected soils, and pruned chipped branches and other organic amendments on agriculture land (Yazdanpanah et al., 2016). This new reseach challenge should give information about the soil and water losses, but also about the organic matter recovery, the soil water retention, and the biological, chemical and physical soil properties changes. . Acknowledgements The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 603498 (RECARE project). References Berendse, F., van Ruijven, J., Jongejans, E., Keesstra, S. 2015. Loss of plant species diversity reduces soil erosion resistance. Ecosystems, 18 (5), 881-888. DOI: 10.1007/s10021-015-9869-6 Biswas H., Raizada A., Mandal D., Kumar S., Srinivas S., Mishra P. K. 2015. Identification of areas vulnerable to soil erosion risk in India using GIS methods. Solid Earth, 6 (4), pp. 1247-1257. DOI: 10. 5194/se-6-1247-2015v Brevik, E. C., Cerdà, A., Mataix-Solera, J., Pereg, L., Quinton, J. N., Six, J., and Van Oost, K.: The interdisciplinary nature of SOIL, SOIL, 1, 117-129, doi:10.5194/soil-1-117-2015, 2015. Cerdà, A., Giménez-Morera, A. and Bodí, M.B. 2009. Soil and water losses from new citrus orchards growing on sloped soils in the western Mediterranean basin. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 34, 1822-1830. DOI: 10.1002/esp.1889 Cerdà, A., González-Pelayo, O., Giménez-Morera, A., Jordán, A., Pereira, P., Novara, A., Brevik, E.C., Prosdocimi, M., Mahmoodabadi, M., Keesstra, S., García Orenes, F., Ritsema, C., 2015. The use of barley straw residues to avoid high erosion and runoff rates on persimmon plantations in Eastern Spain under low frequency - high magnitude simulated rainfall events. Soil Res. (In press) Colazo, J.C., Buschiazzo, D. 2015. The Impact of Agriculture on Soil Texture Due to Wind Erosion.Land Degradation and Development, 26 (1), 62-70 DOI: 10.1002/ldr.2297 Dai, Q., Liu, Z., Shao, H., Yang, Z. 2015. Karst bare slope soil erosion and soil quality: A simulation case study. Solid Earth, 6 (3), 985-995.DOI: 10.5194/se-6-985-2015 Decock, C.,J. Lee, M. Necpalova, E. I. P. Pereira, D. M. Tendall, J. Six. 2015 Mitigating N2O emissions from soil: from patching leaks to transformative action. SOIL, 1, 687-694, doi:10.5194/soil-1-687-2015, Erkossa T., Wudneh A., Desalegn B., Taye G. 2015. Linking soil erosion to on-site financial cost: Lessons from watersheds in the Blue Nile basin. Solid Earth, 6 (2), 765-774. DOI: 10. 5194/se-6-765-2015 Jordán-López, A., Martínez-Zavala, L., & Bellinfante, N. 2009. Impact of different parts of unpaved forest roads on runoff and sediment yield in a Mediterranean area. Science of the total environment, 407(2), 937-944. Jordán, A., & Martínez-Zavala, L. 2008. Soil loss and runoff rates on unpaved forest roads in southern Spain after simulated rainfall. Forest Ecology and Management, 255(3), 913-919. Jordán, A., Tarolli, P., Keesstra, S., Novara, A., Cerdà, A. 2016. The immediate effectiveness of barley straw mulch in reducing soil erodibility and surface runoff generation in Mediterranean vineyards. Science of The Total Environment, 547, 15 ,323-330, doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.12.076 Keesstra, S.D. 2007. Impact of natural reforestation on floodplain sedimentation in the Dragonja basin, SW Slovenia. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 32(1): 49-65. DOI: 10.1002/esp.1360 Keesstra, S.D. Pereira, P., Novara, A., Brevik, E.C., Azorin-Molina, C., Parras-Alcántara, L., Jordán, A., Cerdà, A., in press. Agricultural soil management affects soil erosion vulnerability of rainfed apricot orchards. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. Science of The Total Environment Keesstra, S.D., Geissen, V., van Schaik, L., Mosse., K., Piiranen, S., 2012. Soil as a filter for groundwater quality. Current Opinions in Environmental Sustainability 4, 507-516.doi:10.1016/j.cosust.2012.10.007 Li X. H., Yang J., Zhao C. Y., Wang B. 2014. Runoff and sediment from orchard terraces in southeastern China. Land Degradation and Development, 25 (2), pp. 184-192. Cited 3 times. DOI: 10. 1002/ldr. 1160 Lieskovský, J., Kenderessy, P. 2014. Modelling the effect of vegetation cover and different tillage practices on soil erosion in: A case study in vráble (Slovakia) using WATEM/SEDEM Land Degradation and Development, 25 (3), 288-296. DOI: 10.1002/ldr.2162 Ligonja P. J., Shrestha R. P. 2015. Soil erosion assessment in kondoa eroded area in Tanzania using universal soil loss equation, geographic information systems and socioeconomic approachLand Degradation and Development, 26 (4), 367-379. DOI: 10. 1002/ldr. 2215 Martínez-Zavala, L., Jordán, A. 2008. Effect of rock fragment cover on interrill soil erosion from bare soils in Western Andalusia, Spain. Soil Use and Management, 24(1), 108-117. Mwango S. B., Msanya B. M., Mtakwa P. W., Kimaro D. N., Deckers J., Poesen J. 2016. Effectiveness of mulching under miraba in controlling soil erosion, fertility restoration and crop yield in the usambara mountains, Tanzania. Land Degradation and Development, DOI: 10. 1002/ldr. 2332 Nanko K., Giambelluca T. W., Sutherland R. A., Mudd R. G., Nullet M. A., Ziegler A. D. 2015. Erosion potential under miconia calvescens stands on the island of hawai'i. Land Degradation and Development, 26 (3), 218-226. DOI: 10. 1002/ldr. 2200 Novara, A., Gristina, L., Saladino, S. S., Santoro, A., Cerdà, A. 2011. Soil erosion assessment on tillage and alternative soil managements in a Sicilian vineyard. Soil and Tillage Research, 117, 140-147. Ochoa-Cueva, P., Fries, A., Montesinos, P., Rodríguez-Díaz, J.A., Boll, J. 2015. Spatial Estimation of Soil Erosion Risk by Land-cover Change in the Andes OF Southern Ecuador. Land Degradation and Development, 26 (6), 565-573. DOI: 10.1002/ldr.2219 Smith, P., Cotrufo, M.F., Rumpel, C., Paustian, K., Kuikman, P.J., Elliott, J.A., McDowell, R., Griffiths, R.I., Asakawa, S., Bustamante, M., House, J.I., Sobocká, J., Harper, R., Pan, G., West, P.C., Gerber, J.S., Clark, J.M., Adhya, T., Scholes, R.J., Scholes, M.C., 2015. Biogeochemical cycles and biodiversity as key drivers of ecosystem services provided by soils. SOIL 1, 665-685. doi:10.5194/soil-1-665-2015 Taguas, E.V., Arroyo, C., Lora, A., Guzmán, G., Vanderlinden, K., Gómez, J.A., 2015. Exploring the linkage between spontaneous grass cover biodiversity and soil degradation in two olive orchard microcatchments with contrasting environmental and management conditions. SOIL, 1, 651-664. doi:10.5194/soil-1-651-2015 Yazdanpanah, N., Mahmoodabadi, M., and Cerdà, A. The impact of organic amendments on soil hydrology, structure and microbial respiration in semiarid lands. Geoderma Volume 266, 15 March 2016, Pages 58-65. doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2015.11.032 Zavala, L. M., Jordán, A., Bellinfante, N., Gil, J. 2010. Relationships between rock fragment cover and soil hydrological response in a Mediterranean environment. Soil Science & Plant Nutrition, 56 (1), 95-104. Zhao, C., Gao, J., Huang, Y., Wang, G., Zhang, M. 2015. Effects of Vegetation Stems on Hydraulics of Overland Flow Under Varying Water Discharges. Land Degradation and Development, DOI: 10.1002/ldr.2423

Book Review:

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fulling, S. A.

2006-05-01

Bryce Seligman DeWitt (1923 2004), a friend and mentor to many, was a towering figure in the development of the quantum theories of gravity and gauge fields. To appreciate his uniqueness, one must recall the history through which he lived. From DeWitt's birth date through 1965, general relativity (GR) was considered to have so few empirically testable predictions that its practitioners in English-speaking countries were largely banished to mathematics departments. When the discoveries of cosmological background radiation, quasars and pulsars made it clear that GR does model important science at astronomical scales, the theory still appeared remote from the microcosmic concerns of most research physicists. Every course on elementary-particle physics began by listing the four fundamental forces of nature; then the lecturer would cross off the line 'gravitational' and say 'we will have no more to say about that one'. As recently as 1980, high-energy theorists lecturing on phase transitions in the early universe often started their timelines with a cartoon of a dragon to represent the unknowable initial subnanosecond. The isolation of GR from the rest of theoretical physics was intensified by the special nature of its mathematical tools. Particle physicists could recognize that condensed-matter people were doing quantum field theory; nuclear and molecular physicists used the same quantum mechanics. In the early days, the heavily indexed tensors of GR betokened a kinship with continuum mechanics (similarly exiled to engineering departments), but when relativists fell under the spell of index-free differential forms and algebraic topology, their isolation became complete. But only briefly: by around 1976 non-Abelian gauge theories had become the core of the standard model even as they were increasingly explicitly expounded in terms of the geometry and topology of Lie groups and fibre bundles. By 1985 the superstring revolution was under way, and soon the professors were saying that gravity was not only an honourable member of the forces of nature, but ultimately the source of them all. It has become a cliche that the unification of relativity with quantum theory is the central problem of contemporary physics. In the 1950s, before strings, non-Abelian monopoles, or even quasars, Bryce DeWitt was applying the quantum-field-theoretical methods and conceptual framework of his mentor, Julian Schwinger, to gravity. His central insight was that the conceptual and technical problems of quantum gravity were closely analogous to those of gauge theories. He developed a unified, relentlessly abstract, and highly personal vision of the fundamentals of physical theory. It was, and is, expressed in idiosyncratic and condensed notation often different from the languages of mainstream field theorists, traditional relativists, and mathematicians alike. In short, he has never been easy reading. His ideas were systematically presented in famous lecture series at the Les Houches summer schools on Relativity, Groups and Topology in 1963 [1] and 1983 [2], the book Supermanifolds [3], and a number of (relatively) shorter expositions that have been widely read. By the middle 1970s the methods that he had developed mainly for gravity were widely recognized as very useful for Yang Mills gauge theories, and his work had become part of the mainstream. Now, another 20 years after the second Les Houches, we have this final testament of Bryce DeWitt's ideas. At over 1000 pages in two volumes in a fabric-covered slipcase, it is the sort of work usually described as 'magisterial' (meaning, perhaps, 'no one has yet succeeded in reading it all the way through'). Over the years, of course, DeWitt learned many new things and thought of ways to say the old things better. Accordingly, the new books consist of reworkings of the most important parts of the older writings together with some new material. Oxford University Press is to be thanked and congratulated for the care it has lavished on this set, which is an important monument and reference but presumably not a moneymaker. Every university library must buy it, but probably few individuals will, at least not in the near term when most of those with the seniority (i.e., cash) to make the purchase already own, or have read, the Les Houches lectures. What remains to be seen is to what extent a later generation will discover it as a valuable resource. Parts I and II develop the basic classical and quantum kinematics of fields and other dynamical systems. The presentation is conducted in the utmost generality, allowing for dynamical quantities that may be anticommuting (supernumbers) and theories subject to the most general possible gauge symmetry— in fact, such symmetries are called 'invariant flows' to emphasize that they may not form a gauge group in the conventional sense. The basic ingredients are action functionals and the Peierls bracket, a manifestly covariant replacement for the Poisson bracket and equal-time commutation relations. Nothing was more central to the DeWitt gospel than these, and the book begins with a paragraph of condemnation of Hamiltonians and canonical formulations with constraints as dysfunctional nineteenth-century baggage. For DeWitt the logical progression is Peierls bracket → Schwinger action principle → Feynman functional integral although he points out that the historical development was in the opposite order. The word 'global' in the title, presumably chosen to avoid duplicating the second Les Houches lectures, refers to this overall framework.The word is somewhat misleading, since in many respects DeWitt's work entails a concentration on local over global quantities. For example, chapter 2 states forcefully that local gauge symmetries are both more fundamental and more ubiquitous than global symmetries. It must be pointed out that the Peierls Schwinger DeWitt approach, despite some advantages over initial-value formulations, has some troubles of its own. In particular, it has never completely escaped from the arena of scattering theory, the paradigm of conventional particle physics. One is naturally led to study matrix elements between an 'in-vacuum' and an 'out-vacuum' though such concepts are murky in situations, such as big bangs and black holes, where the ambient geometry is not asymptotically static in the far past and future. The newest material in the treatise appears in two chapters in part II devoted to the interpretation of quantum theory, incorporating some unpublished work of David Deutsch on the meaning of probability in physics. Such discussions are unavoidably polemical; DeWitt takes a firm stand ('Everett's ['many worlds'] interpretation has been adopted by the author out of practical necessity: he knows of no other [acceptable one]'), but he acknowledges that 'each physicist has his own manner of understanding quantum mechanics', and the philosophical differences have little import for how theories are applied in practice. In the end DeWitt's many-world theory comes out very similar to the more recent 'decoherent histories' approach, which (in some versions, at least) attributes physical reality to quantities whose measurements can be predicted with certainty—thereby having as much kinship with hidden-variable theories as with the extreme Everett view. I recall a conversation with Bryce in which he said (in paraphrase) 'there is a deeper reality underneath the quantum reality. [In that sense Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen were right.] But it is not the classical reality. [That is, a naive hidden-variable picture does not apply at the microscopic level.]' This occurred probably in the late 1970s, long after DeWitt became a public partisan of the Everett interpretation and long before this book, so I do not believe that it represents a wavering of his faith in many worlds, just a nuance in what that meant to him. Parts III through V apply the formalism in depth to successively more difficult classes of systems: quantum mechanics, linear (free) fields, and interacting fields. DeWitt's characteristic tools of effective actions, heat kernels, and ghost fields are developed. Chapters 26 and 31 outline new approaches developed in collaboration with DeWitt's recent students C Molina-Paris and C Y Wang, respectively. The first of these is a ghost-free formulation of gauge theory built on ideas of G A Vilkovisky. The second is a systematic attempt (following J Schwinger, L V Keldysh, and others) to replace the in-out matrix elements by expectation values in a single (initial) state. Most of parts VI and VII consist of special topics, such as anomalies, particle creation by external fields, Unruh acceleration temperature, black holes, and Euclideanization. Chapter 30, on black holes and Hawking radiation, will be very familiar to readers of DeWitt's influential review article [4]. Chapter 28, on anomalies, makes a careful distinction (missing from many treatments) between 'critical' anomalies, which render equations of motion inconsistent in the (would-be) quantum theory, and harmless anomalies that merely invalidate predictions that would classically follow from certain symmetries. The trace anomalies in the stress tensor of matter and the axial-current anomaly in quantum electrodynamics are harmless. Examples of critical anomalies are the chiral anomaly of a spinor field coupled to a non-Abelian gauge field and the anomaly in the conservation law of the stress tensor of certain pathological theories [5]. DeWitt's chapter calculates the trace and chiral anomalies in detail. The axial anomaly is mentioned only in a one-line summary (and not defined or indexed—generally speaking, I found the book's long index surprisingly unhelpful), and the Alvarez Witten anomaly is not mentioned at all. The last two chapters of part VII treat the most important particular quantum field theories. Chapter 34 develops many of the textbook predictions of quantum eletrodynamics from DeWitt's starting point. Chapter 35 covers Yang Mills fields and quantum gravity. The discussion of gravity is surprisingly brief, in view of DeWitt's lifelong preoccupation with that subject. One gathers that he came to accept that quantization of ordinary GR was a nonrenormalizable dead end and he did not feel able to delve into modern alternatives such as string theory. He rejects renormalizable fourth-order modifications of four-dimensional gravity because he could not stomach unfriendly ghosts (states of negative norm or unboundedly negative energy) nor the technical difficulties of integrating such theories into the functional-integral formalism (see pp 866 7). Finally, there is part VIII, entitled 'Examples. Simple Exercises in the Use of the Global Formalism'. It consists of 25 short chapters numbered separately from those of the main text. The preface recommends reading these and the main text in parallel. Most valuable in my opinion is a string of successively more complicated fermionic models, from which one can, with effort, come to understand the book's concern with anticommuting quantities. Hidden in an appendix (p 1001) is a crucial motivational paragraph: Super Hilbert spaces are generalizations of ordinary Hilbert spaces, designed so as to enable one to consider quantum systems with supernumber-valued parameters (e.g., a-type external sources) which, themselves, are introduced in order to present, in a compact algebraic way, certain relationships between real physical amplitudes. Real physics is restricted to the ordinary Hilbert space that fits inside the super Hilbert space. That is, anticommuting classical quantities (a-numbers) serve to fit anticommuting quantum fields naturally into the formalism of actions and functional integrals. Ultimately, the quantum theory of a conventional fermion field is expressible in the same spinors and Dirac matrices as before supersymmetry was invented. On the other hand, since products of two a-numbers are commuting objects, the full algebra of supernumbers includes an infinite hierarchy of positive even degree in addition to the ordinary real or complex numbers at degree 0 and the anticommuting things of odd degree. DeWitt calls all the even supernumbers 'c-numbers'; quantities of degree 0 are 'body' and those of all positive degrees are 'soul'. For consistency this parallel spirit world must be carried along even when the theory is purely bosonic; but it can be shown that the c-number soul makes no net contribution to the integrals that arise in field-theoretic calculations, and in the end it seems that the reader is not misled by interpreting 'c-number' in the traditional way in most contexts. This seems a high price to pay for the existence of classical fermion fields. The supernumber examples continue up through spin-3/2 fields, but there is no discussion anywhere of full supergravity. As part VIII progresses, the examples become less pedagogical and more a catalogue of formulas for particular field theories. Filling in the details of these calculations will indeed be strenuous exercises for the diligent student. Is this treatise a textbook, a reference, or something else? Certainly it is not intended for a beginner. The author says that it is 'in no sense a reference book', that it is intended 'to tie up loose ends', and that 'the selection of topics is idiosyncratic'. Bibliographical citations are sparse, although scrupulous in giving credit for the ideas of others. As I've noted, often one is surprised at what topics are not treated. Nevertheless, this wide-ranging and deep picture of the fundamental structure of our universe is awe-inspiring. Bryce DeWitt was uncommonly lucky in being able to complete a comprehensive statement of his world view right at the end of his life. We, also, are lucky to have it. We and our successors should revere it, even as we sift it critically for those ideas that should survive as principles of the theoretical physics of the future. References DeWitt B 1964 Dynamical theory of groups and fields Relativity, Groups and Topology ed C DeWitt and B DeWitt (London: Gordon and Breach) pp 585 820 (Republished as DeWitt B S 1965 Dynamical Theory of Groups and Fields (London: Gordon and Breach)) DeWitt B 1984 The spacetime approach to quantum field theory Relativity, Groups and Topology II ed BS DeWitt and R Stora (Amersterdam: North-Holland) pp381 738 DeWitt B 1984 Supermanifolds (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) DeWitt B 1975 Phys. Rep. 19 295 357 Alvarez-Gaumé L and Witten E 1983 Nucl. Phys. B 234 269 330

News & Announcements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2000-02-01

News from Journal House

• Guy Anderson
• Jim Becvar
• Jerry Bell
• Jim Birk
• Diane Bunce
• Ann Cartwright
• Thomas Clark
• Jane Crosby
• Maria Dean
• Art Ellis
• Donald Elswick
• Tommy Franklin
• Babu George
• Paul Heath
• Angela Hoffman
• Lynn Hogue
• J. J. Lagowski
• Frank Lambert
• Dorothy Lehmkuhl
• George Lelevre
• Scott Luaders
• Jane McMullen
• Marci Merritt
• Carl Minnier
• Richard Narske
• Ron Perkins
• Gabriel Pinto
• Dick Potts
• Herb Retcofsky
• Jerry Sarquis
• Elke Schoffers
• Sara Selfe
• Uni Susskind
• J. Mark Tolman
• John Varine
• Dawn Wakeley
• Marla White

Awards Announced

Award Deadlines

Courses, Seminars, Meetings, Opportunities

• Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI) June 5, 2000 (anticipated)
• NSF Computer Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Scholarships Program (CSEMS) TBA
• Advanced Techological Education (ATE) Preliminary April 13, 2000 (anticipated) Formal Oct. 13, 2000 (anticipated)
• NSF Graduate Fellows in K-12 Education (GK-12) TBA (anticipated late spring 2000)
• Online DUE forms available at http://www.ehr.nsf.gov/EHR/DUE/documents/general/forms/forms.htm
• NSF Documents Online available at http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/pubsys/browser/odbrowse.pl

• Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awards Program: November 15, 2000
• Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awards Program: June 30, 2000
• New Faculty Awards Program: May 15, 2000
• Faculty Start-up Grants for Undergraduate Institutions: May 15, 2000
• Scholar/Fellow Program for Undergraduate Institutions: June 30, 2000
• Special Grant Program in the Chemical Sciences: Preliminary Proposals: June 15, 2000 Complete Proposals: September 1, 2000
• Postdoctoral Program in Environmental Chemistry: March 1, 2000
• Senior Scientist Mentor: September 1, 2000

• Cottrell College Science Awards: May 15 and November 15
• Cottrell Scholars: First regular business day in September
• Research Opportunity Awards: May 1 and October 1
• Research Innovation Awards: May 1