Desiccation and recolonization of phytobenthos in a regulated desert river: Colorado River at Lees Ferry,Arizona, USA

We tested the recolonization of the phytobenthic community in the tailwaters of Glen Canyon Dam following long- and short-term experimentally induced desiccation. The response of Cladophora glomerata, Oscillatoria spp., miscellaneous phytobenthos species and periphyton was studied over 18 weeks using three treatments: (1) undisturbed control cobbles from the submerged zone; (2) cobbles desiccated and replaced into the submerged zone; and (3) cobbles desiccated and replaced into the varial zone. Periphyton density and compositional response resulting from these treatments were also examined. Desiccation treatments were significantly different in biomass from controls throughout the study. The biomass of desiccated and replaced river cobbles averaged <30% of the controls for C. glomerata and periphyton during the 18-week recolonization period. In contrast, the biomass of the control Oscillatoria and miscellaneous phytobenthos species averaged only 3 and 50% of that in the desiccation treatments, respectively. Cladophora, the dominant alga, comprised 77% of the phytobenthic biomass. A significant positive relationship between discharge, Cladophora and periphyton biomass was present in all treatments, while there was a negative relationship with discharge for Oscillatoria and miscellaneous phytobenthos species. There was a significant inverse correlation, as well as a pattern of separate biomass dominance, between C. glomerata and Oscillatoria. Cladophora was the dominant phytobenthos species on cobbles below the baseflow and Oscillatoria was dominant on cobbles in the varial zone. In general, the Cladophora biomass decreased under intermittent drying conditions, while Oscillatoria declined under permanently wet conditions. Diatom composition was not significantly different between treatments; however, their density was lower on desiccated cobbles. Diatom density on desiccated cobbles in the submerged and varial zones averaged 69 and 42% of that of the controls, respectively. Recovery and maintenance of benthic resources are hindered by fluctuating flow regimes driven by electricity and irrigation requirements. Repeated desiccation of the phytobenthos has major effects on the bottom-up interactions in the Colorado River ecosystem. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Amorphous chromium silicide formation in hydrogenated amorphous silicon

The interaction between thin films of hydrogenated amorphous silicon and sputter-deposited chromium has been studied. Following deposition of the chromium films at room temperature, the films were annealed over a range of times and temperatures below 350°C. It was found that an amorphous silicide was formed only a few nanometers thick with the square of thickness proportional to the annealing time. The activation energy for the process was 0.55±0.05 eV. The formation process of the silicide was very reproducible with the value of density derived from the thickness and Cr surface density being close to the value for crystalline CrSi₂ for all films formed at temperatures ≤300°C. The specific resistivity of the amorphous CrSi₂ was ≈600 μΩ·cm and independent of annealing temperature.     

Noncentrosymmetric Tetrel Pnictides RuSi4P4 and IrSi3P3: Nonlinear Optical Materials with Outstanding Laser Damage Threshold

Noncentrosymmetric (NCS) tetrel pnictides have recently generated interest as nonlinear optical (NLO) materials due to their second harmonic generation (SHG) activity and large laser damage threshold (LDT). Herein nonmetal-rich silicon phosphides RuSi₄P₄ and IrSi₃P₃ are synthesized and characterized. Their crystal structures are reinvestigated using single crystal X-ray diffraction and ²⁹Si and ³¹P magic angle spinning NMR. In agreement with previous report RuSi₄P₄ crystallizes in NCS space group P1, while IrSi₃P₃ is found to crystallize in NCS space group Cm, in contrast with the previously reported space group C2. A combination of DFT calculations and diffuse reflectance measurements reveals RuSi₄P₄ and IrSi₃P₃ to be wide bandgap (E_g) semiconductors, E_g = 1.9 and 1.8 eV, respectively. RuSi₄P₄ and IrSi₃P₃ outperform the current state-of-the-art infrared SHG material, AgGaS₂, both in SHG activity and laser inducer damage threshold. Due to the combination of high thermal stabilities (up to 1373 K), wide bandgaps (≈2 eV), NCS crystal structures, strong SHG responses, and large LDT values, RuSi₄P₄ and IrSi₃P₃ are promising candidates for longer wavelength NLO materials.     

The inverse problem utilizing the boundary element method for a nonstandard female torso

This paper proposes a new method of rapidly deriving the transfer matrix for the boundary element method (BEM) forward problem from a tailored female torso geometry in the clinical setting. The method allows rapid calculation of epicardial potentials (EP) from body surface potentials (BSP). The use of EPs in previous studies has been shown to improve the successful detection of the life-threatening cardiac condition--acute myocardial infarction. The MRI scanning of a cardiac patient in the clinical setting is not practical and other methods are required to accurately deduce torso geometries for calculation of the transfer matrix. The new method allows the noninvasive calculation of tailored torso geometries from a standard female torso and five measurements taken from the body surface of a patient. This scaling of the torso has been successfully validated by carrying out EP calculations on 40 scaled torsos and ten female subjects. It utilizes the BEM in the calculation of the transfer matrix as the BEM depends only upon the topology of the surfaces of the torso and the heart, the former can now be accurately deduced, leaving only the latter geometry as an unknown.     

Characterization of Starch from Maize Endosperm Mutants

Some maize endosperm mutants have branched-chain starch components with long exterior chains which make the blue-value procedure for estimating amylose content questionable. Gel filtration was used to estimate starch composition of normal, high-amylose, waxy and other maize endosperm mutants. Loosely-branched polymers appeared responsible for the apparent amylose content. In some mutants high and intermediate loosely branched polysaccharides were found in addition to amylose. The sweet corn background of some endosperm genotypes influenced the types of polymers produced compared to the dent backgrounds used by previous researchers.     

Hedgerow species and environmental conditions effects on soil total C and N and C and N mineralization patterns of soils amended with their prunings

An important criterium in selecting species for alley cropping is themineralization pattern of their prunings. This study determined effects of 5years of hedgerow pruning applications on soil organic C and total N at threelocations in Haiti and mineralization patterns from soil amended with theprunings during an incubation using micro-lysimeters. Soils (0–5cm) under 5 hedgerows were collected at each site and analyzed fororganic C and total N. In the laboratory, ground leaves and stems (<1cm diameter) of the hedgerow species were mixed with soil at ratesof 3 and 1.5 Mg ha^–1, respectively, andaerobically incubated in the dark at 25 °C. A non-amended soilwas used as control. Soils were leached to determine mineral N at 1, 3, 7, 14,28, 42, 84 and 120 days of incubation. Evolved CO₂ was measuredfollowing each leaching procedure. At the calcareous site, application ofprunings from Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) De Wit andDelonix regia (Boj. ex Hook. Raf.) resulted in 23 and 13%higher soil N than the control, respectively, after 5 years. There were nodifferences in total N at the other sites but soil N was highest underLeucaena hybrid and Acaciaangustissima (Mill.) Kuntze, respectively at the basaltic and highelevation sites. Soils under D. regia (calcareous) andA. angustissima and Leucaena hybrid(high elevation) had higher organic C than the respective controls. Carbon andNmineralization and C turnover were highest when soils were amended with leavesof Leucaena diversifolia (Schlecht.) Benth (calcareous andbasaltic soils) and A. angustissima (high elevation) andlowest in non-amended control soils. Stem-amended soils showed differences in Cmineralization for calcareous and high elevation soils whereas N mineralizationwas similar among treatments within sites. Carbon and N mineralization (highelevation soil) correlated positively with N concentrations of leaf prunings.Amendments with leaf prunings increased soil C and N mineralization andturnoverrates, suggesting greater nutrient availability for the crop during a shortperiod than in non-amended control soils.     

Anti-biofilm Activity of Human Milk Oligosaccharides in Clinical Strains of Streptococcus agalactiae with Diverse Capsular and Sequence Types

Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is an encapsulated Gram-positive bacterial pathogen that causes severe perinatal infections. Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are short-chain sugars that have recently been shown to possess antimicrobial and anti-biofilm activity against a variety of bacterial pathogens, including GBS. We have expanded these studies to demonstrate that HMOs can inhibit and dismantle biofilm in both invasive and colonizing strains of GBS. A cohort of 30 diverse strains of GBS were analyzed for susceptibility to HMO-dependent biofilm inhibition or destruction. HMOs were significantly effective at inhibiting biofilm in capsular-type- and sequence-type-specific fashion, with significant efficacy in CpsIb, CpsII, CpsIII, CpsV, and CpsVI strains as well as ST-1, ST-12, ST-19, and ST-23 strains. Interestingly, CpsIa as well as ST-7 and ST-17 were not susceptible to the anti-biofilm activity of HMOs, underscoring the strain-specific effects of these important antimicrobial molecules against the perinatal pathogen Streptococcus agalactiae.     

Performance characteristics of an axial-flow gas induction impeller

Power number, pressure coefficient, and induced gas flow rate of a novel axial-flow gas induction impeller with large openings for gas flow are reported. The effects of rotational speed, impeller diameter, submergence, and pumping mode are considered in turbulent operation. The pressure coefficient is measured using the reduction in pressure at speeds below the minimum induction speed as well as from the minimum induction speed. The minimum induction speed approach consistently yields lower pressure coefficient values, indicating the existence of impeller exit losses that are required to force gas from the centre of the impeller into the liquid. The induced gas flow rate is modelled using two approaches. The first approach relates the gas flow rate to the available pressure difference, and in this case, the relation is found to be strongly affected by impeller diameter. The second approach is a literature model that likens the induction process to water jet injection. While this approach appears promising, flow measurement device pressure losses make it difficult to definitively evaluate this method.     

3-D molecular assembly of function in titania-based composite material systems

Various examples of composite titania-based nanostructured materials exhibiting cooperative functionalities between different active components are presented. The fabrication of these integrated composite materials is based on one-pot supramolecular templating techniques combined with acidic sol-gel chemistry. The defined 3-D nanoscale organization and integration of various functional components results in advanced optoelectronic and photonic applications such as visible light sensitization of mesoporous titania photocatalysts with cadmium sulfide nanocrystals acting as sensitizing integral part of the mesopore wall structure, narrow bandwidth emission from rare earth ion activated nanocrystalline mesoporous titania films, and mirrorless lasing in dye-doped hybrid organic/inorganic mesostructured titania waveguides.     

Synthesis and Anticancer Properties of Oxazepines Related to Azaisoerianin and IsoCoQuines

In this article, we report the synthesis and biological properties of a series of novel oxazepines related to isoCA-4 having significant antitumor properties. Among them, three oxazepin-9-ol derivatives display a nanomolar or a sub-nanomolar cytotoxicity level against five human cancer cell lines (HCT116, U87, A549, MCF7, and K562). It was demonstrated that the lead compound in this series inhibits tubulin assembly with an IC₅₀ value of 1 μM and totally arrests the cellular cycle in the G2/M phase at the low concentration of 5 nM in HCT116 and K562 cells. Molecular modeling studies perfectly corroborates these promising results.