Deficit irrigation of a landscape halophyte for reuse of saline waste water in a desert city

Saline waste waters from industrial and water treatment processes are an under-utilized resource in desert urban environments. Management practices to safely use these water sources are still in development. We used a deeprooted native halophyte, Atriplex lentiformis (quailbush), to absorb mildly saline effluent (1800 mg l^?1 total dissolved solids, mainly sodium sulfate) from a water treatment plant in the desert community of Twentynine Palms, California. We developed a deficit irrigation strategy to avoid discharging water past the root zone to the aquifer. The plants were irrigated at about one-third the rate of reference evapotranspiration (ET_o) calculated from meteorological data over five years and soil moisture levels were monitored to a soil depth of 4.7 m at monthly intervals with a neutron hydroprobe. The deficit irrigation schedule maintained the soil below field capacity throughout the study. Water was presented on a more or less constant schedule, so that the application rates were less than ET_o in summer and equal to or slightly greater than ET_o in winter, but the plants were able to consume water stored in the profile in winter to support summer ET. Sodium salts gradually increased in the soil profile over the study but sulfate levels remained low, due to formation of gypsum in the calcic soil. The high salt tolerance, deep roots, and drought tolerance of desert halophytes such as A. lentiformis lend these plants to use as deficit-irrigated landscape plants for disposal of effluents in urban setting when protection of the aquifer is important.     

The occurrence of semicarbazide in the meat and shell of Bangladeshi fresh-water shrimp

There is evidence that semicarbazide (SEM), a marker for the banned nitrofuran nitrofurazone, can arise from other, unrelated sources. Recently, Belgium rejected 54 consignments of Bangladeshi freshwater shrimp (Macrobrachium rosenbergii), following a laboratory decision to test meat and exoskeleton combined. To study the possible natural occurrence of SEM in wild shrimp, samples were collected and analysed from 29 sites across Bangladesh. SEM (<1.0 μg/kg) was detected in ～65% of meat samples. However, SEM concentrations were approximately 100 times higher in the exoskeleton, and were unrelated to sampling location, strongly suggesting natural occurrence. In meat, most SEM was surface-associated. When the shrimp was shelled, some of the epidermal layer (which synthesises new exoskeleton) remained with the shell and some remained with the meat – leading to differing levels of natural SEM on the shrimp surface. This has implications for the use of SEM and the analytical strategy used to control nitrofuran use.     

Investigating illusions of agreement in group requirements determination

The success of information systems development efforts hinges largely on eliciting accurate requirements from users and other stakeholders. Requirements determination is difficult due to the complexity of the systems to be built, analysts’ and users’ cognitive and motivational challenges, and the highly politicized nature of many development efforts. The present research addresses a problem that arises from users’ motivations during the requirements determination process. Most past studies have focused on explicit conflicts that arise between systems analysts, users, and other organizational stakeholders. The present research is concerned instead with the opposite problem—illusions of agreement between participants in the systems development environment. Our study investigates a type of illusion of agreement known as the Abilene Paradox in requirements determination. The Abilene Paradox refers to situations in which each member of a group believes (incorrectly) that the other group members want to pursue a particular course of action, which leads everyone to avoid conflict by agreeing to the action publicly while disagreeing privately. We first provide theory underlying the paradox and review past literature. We then build theory to motivate our investigation and generate hypotheses. We then report results of a laboratory experiment utilizing group requirements determination efforts. Results indicated behavior consistent with the presence of the paradox and an illusion of agreement. These results have important implications for research and practice in requirements determination specifically and systems development in general. Our results contribute to both the requirements determination literature and the literature on illusions of agreement and social conformity.     

Low molecular weight fractions of BiMuno® exert immunostimulatory properties in murine macrophages

Previous in vivo murine oral challenge studies have shown that the galactooligosaccharide containing product, BiMuno®, reduced colonisation of S. Typhimurium. To gain further insights into the mechanism of reduced colonisation, we wished to test the hypothesis that the low molecular weight fractions of BiMuno® or a specific low molecular weight fraction may have direct immuno-modulatory effects on murine macrophages. Cytokine responses of murine macrophages in response to the commercially available product, BiMuno®, a basal solution BiMuno® without GOS, purified low molecular weight fractions (referred to as GOS), and the individual fractions of GOS (DP2, 3 and ?4, with each fraction representing the increasing degree of complex polymerisation) were determined in vitro and ex vivo. These studies demonstrated that BiMuno®, significantly stimulated both pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in vitro (P ? 0.0394). Furthermore, the data indicate that the low molecular weight fractions may be the primary stimulant of BiMuno® and specifically its tri (DP3) and ?tetra-saccharide (DP ? 4) fractions (P ? 0.0394).     

Variability in spectral backscatter estimated from satellites and its relation to in situ measurements in optically complex coastal waters

A large database of in situ bio-optical measurements was collected at the Long-term Ecosystem Observatory off the southern coast of New Jersey, USA. In part, the research effort focused on reconciling in situ estimates with satellite-derived estimates of the inherent optical properties (IOP). At 442?nm, in situ absorption values ranged from less than 0.2 to over 1.5 inverse metres. Satellite estimates of backscatter ranged from 0.002 to 0.03 inverse metres at 442?nm and showed significant variability in time and space during July 1999, reflecting the recurrent high frequency events that characterize the region—wind-mixing, storms and coastal upwelling. Despite this variability, there was good qualitative agreement between the satellite derived IOP estimates and in situ IOP measurements. Both absorption and backscatter values increased near-shore, reflecting enhanced concentrations of phytoplankton, sediments and dissolved organic matter.     

Novel multi-scale retinex with color restoration on graphics processing unit

Journal of Real-Time Image Processing - The multi-scale retinex with color restoration (MSRCR) was developed as a general-purpose image enhancement algorithm that provides simultaneous dynamic...