Development of a new indicator of pollutant loads and its application to the Chesapeake Bay watershed

Pollutant load reductions are often required to restore aquatic ecosystems experiencing eutrophication. Loads can be estimated using watershed models or data from monitoring stations, however data availability can limit the timeliness or comprehensiveness of the load estimates. We developed an approach to address this challenge that used watershed model results to estimate the proportion of annual nonpoint source nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and sediment (Sed) loads derived from unmonitored catchments. This proportion was multiplied by the nonpoint portion of United States Geological Survey (USGS) estimated annual river loads to account for annual variation in hydrologic conditions. Total loads were calculated as the sum of measured river loads, reported point sources from unmonitored areas and the estimated nonpoint source loads from unmonitored catchments. We applied this approach to the Chesapeake Bay because of its socio‐economic and ecological importance. Median watershed loads for N, P and Sed were 140, 6.4 and 3030 Mg year^?1, respectively (1990–2004). Nonpoint source loads from the monitored areas constituted the greatest source of N, P and Sed (55, 47 and 74% respectively) to the Bay. The high N, P and Sed yield rates (7.3, 0.38 and 99 kg ha^?1 year^?1, respectively) from nonpoint loads originating from unmonitored areas near the Bay resulted in 25, 32 and 26% (N, P and Sed, respectively) of the Bay's total loads (excluding direct atmospheric deposition, shoreline erosion and oceanic inputs). Disproportionately high loads of P and Seds were associated with years that experienced elevated discharge whereas N loads were directly related to discharge. Error estimates indicated that our methods were most reliable for N (±6%) but reasonable for P (±22%) and provide an effective technique for the timely estimation of pollutant loads from watersheds with unmonitored catchments. Management strategies that decrease N deposition and reduce runoff to control P and Sed transport will effectively reduce pollutant loads. Published in 2010 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于WebGIS的城市供水管网系统的设计与实现

介绍了基于WebGIS的城市供水管网信息系统的体系结构、功能组成以及供水管网建模技术.城市供水管网系统主要包括管网建模、查询统计、爆管事故分析、运行状态监控、漏损分析、系统维护等六个方面.城市供水管网建模是进行城市供水系统规划、设计、分析与优化调度的重要支撑技术,充分发挥WebGIS的分布式与可视化地理空间信息分析的优势,结合城市供水管网的管理需求,将WebGIS技术应用到城市供水管网的建模中.该系统可为城市供水部门的高效管理提供决策依据.     

Finding the number of clusters in ordered dissimilarities

As humans, we have innate faculties that allow us to efficiently segment groups of objects. Computers, to some degree, can be programmed with similar categorical capabilities, which stem from exploratory data analysis. Out of the various subsets of data reasoning, clustering provides insight into the structure and relationships of input samples situated in a number of distributions. To determine these relationships, many clustering methods rely on one or more human inputs; the most important being the number of distributions, c, to seek. This work investigates a technique for estimating the number of clusters from a general type of data called relational data. Several numerical examples are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

Real-time simulation of time-of-flight sensors

Today’s time-of-flight (TOF) sensors measure full-range distance information by estimating the elapsed time between emission and receiving of active light in real-time. Such sensors are inexpensive, compact, and they have a high performance, which especially fits real-time applications, e.g. in the fields of automotive, robotics, 3D imaging, and visualization. The simulation of such sensors is an essential building block for hardware design and application development. Therefore, the simulation data must capture the major sensor characteristics.This paper introduces a simulation approach, which is motivated by physics, for the Photonic Mixing Device (PMD) sensor which is a specific type of time-of-flight sensor. Dynamic motion blurring and resolution artifacts such as flying pixels as well as the typical deviation error are prominent effects of real world systems. Flying pixels arise when an area of inhomogeneous depth is covered by a single PMD-pixel whereas the deviation error is based on the anharmonic properties of the optical signal. The modeling of these artifacts is essential for an authentic simulation approach. We present a detailed comparison between a real PMD-device and the simulation data regarding the sensor characteristics.The proposed algorithms are implemented in a hardware accelerated solution which makes use of the programmability of modern Graphics Processing Units (GPUs). This way, an interactive simulation feedback is provided for applications and further data processing. The simulation takes place in real-time and thus all required control mechanisms are accessible in real-time, too.     

An approach to the formation and growth of new phases with application to polymer crystallization: effect of finite size,metastability, and Ostwald's rule of stages

This article aims to link the mainstream subject of chain-folded polymer crystallization with the rather speciality field of extended-chain crystallization, the latter typified by the crystallization of polyethylene (PE) under pressure. Issues of wider generality are also raised for crystal growth, and beyond for phase transformations. The underlying new experimental material comprises the prominent role of metastable phases, specifically the mobile hexagonal phase in polyethylene which can arise in preference to the orthorhombic phase in the phase regime where the latter is the stable regime, and the recognition of thickening growth as a primary growth process, as opposed to the traditionally considered secondary process of thickening. The scheme relies on considerations of crystal size as a thermodynamic variable, namely on melting-point depression, which is, in general, different for different polymorphs. It is shown that under specifiable conditions phase stabilities can invert with size; that is a phase which is metastable for infinite size can become the stable phase when the crystal is sufficiently small. As applied to crystal growth, it follows that a crystal can appear and grow in a phase that is different from that in its state of ultimate stability, maintaining this in a metastable form when it may or may not transform into the ultimate stable state in the course of growth according to circumstances. For polymers this intermediate initial state is one with high-chain mobility capable of thickening growth which in turn ceases (or slows down) upon transformation, when and if such occurs, thus locking in a finite lamellar thickness. The complete situation can be represented by a P, T, 1/l (l crystal thickness) phase-stability diagram which, coupled with kinetic considerations, embodies all recognized modes of crystallization including chain-folded and extended-chain type ones. The task that remains is to assess which applies under given conditions of P and T. A numerical assessment of the most widely explored case of crystallization of PE under atmospheric pressure indicates that there is a strong likelihood (critically dependent on the choice of input parameters) that crystallization may proceed via a metastable, mobile, hexagonal phase, which is transiently stable at the smallest size where the crystal first appears, with potentially profound consequences for the current picture of such crystallization. Crystallization of PE from solution, however, would, by such computations, proceed directly into the final stage of stability, upholding the validity of the existing treatments of chain-folded crystallization. The above treatment, in its wider applicability, provides a previously unsuspected thermodynamic foundation of Ostwald's rule of stages by stating that phase transformation will always start with the phase (polymorph) which is stable down to the smallest size, irrespective of whether this is stable or metastable when fully grown. In the case where the phase transformation is nucleation controlled, a ready connection between the kinetic and thermodynamic considerations presents itself, including previously invoked kinetic explanations of the stage rule. To justify the statement that the crystal size can control the transformation between two polymorphs, a recent result on 1 -4-poly-trans-butadiene is invoked. Furthermore, phase-stability conditions for wedge-shaped geometries are considered, as raised by current experimental material on PE. It is found that inversion of phase stabilities (as compared to the conditions pertaining for parallel-sided systems) can arise, with consequences for our scheme of polymer crystallization and with wider implications for phase transformations in tapering spaces in general. In addition, in two of the Appendices two themes of overall generality (arising from present considerations for polymers) are developed analytically; namely, the competition of nucleation-controlled phase growth of polymorphs as a function of input parameters, and the effect of phase size on the triple point in phase diagrams. The latter case leads, inter alia to the recognition of previously unsuspected singularities, with consequences which are yet to be assessed.     

A comparison of symptoms used by mothers and nurses to identify an infant with colic

In this survey research a comparison was made between symptoms used by mothers and nurses which led them to think the baby might be "colicky." Two questionnaires, one for mothers and one for nurses, were used to collect the data. The mothers most frequently selected passes gas rectally, clenches fists, draws-up legs, cries late afternoon and evening, holds body straight, and wants to be held. The nurses selected mother states baby is inconsolable, cries more than 4 hours in 24, draws up legs and wants to feed but won't. Parents believed the colic to be related to a variety of factors; these included baby's eating behaviour, maternal anxiety, baby's and mother's diets, and baby's stress. Ten parents reported pain and screaming as symptoms of colic.     

Glycosylation patterns of membrane proteins of the jellyfish Cyanea capillata

Integral and membrane-associated proteins extracted from neuron-enriched perirhopalial tissue of the jellyfish Cyanea capillata were probed with a panel of lectins that recognize sugar epitopes of varying complexity. Of the 13 lectins tested, only concanavalin A, jacalin lectin and tomato lectin stained distinct bands on Western blots, indicating the presence of repeating alpha-1,6-mannoses, terminal Gal-alpha-1,6-GalNAc and repeating beta-1,4-linked GlcNAc, respectively. In whole-mounted perirhopalial tissue, jacalin lectin stained several cell types, including neurons, muscle, cilia and mucus strands. Tomato lectin stained secretory cells intensely, and neurons in a punctate fashion. Concanavalin A stained cytoplasmic epitopes in both ecto- and endodermal cells, and ectodermal secretory cells and the mucus strands emanating from them. With the exception of tomato lectin's sugar epitope, the other sugar epitopes identified in this study are "non-complex". This study suggests that while glycosylation of integral and membrane-associated proteins occurs in Cyanea, the sugars post-translationally linked to these proteins tend to be simple.     

Arginine 206 of the C5a receptor is critical for ligand recognition and receptor activation by C-terminal hexapeptide analogs

C5a is a 74-amino-acid glycoprotein whose receptor is a member of the rhodopsin superfamily. While antagonists have been generated to many of these receptors, similar efforts directed at family members whose natural ligands are proteins have met with little success. The recent development of hexapeptide analogs of C5a has allowed us to begin elucidation of the molecular events that lead to activation by combining a structure/activity study of the ligand with receptor mutagenesis. Removal of the hexapeptide's C-terminal arginine reduces affinity by 100-fold and eliminates the ability of the ligand to activate the receptor. Both the guanidino side chain and the free carboxyl of the arginine participate in the interaction. The guanidino group makes the energy-yielding contact with the receptor, while the free carboxylate negates "electrostatic" interference with Arg-206 of the receptor. It is the apparent movement Arg-206 induced by this set of interactions that is responsible for activation, since conversion of Arg-206 to alanine eliminates the agonist activity of the hexapeptides. Surprisingly, activation is a nearly energy-neutral event and may reflect the binding process rather than the final resting site of the ligand.     

Fracture mechanics‐based progressive damage modelling of adhesively bonded fibre‐reinforced polymer joints

A quasi‐static progressive damage model for prediction of the fracture behaviour and strength of adhesively bonded fibre‐reinforced polymer joints is introduced in this paper. The model is based on the development of a mixed‐mode failure criterion as a function of a master R‐curve derived from the experimental results obtained from standard fracture mechanics joints. Consequently, the developed failure criterion is crack‐length and mode‐mixity dependent, and it takes into account the contribution of the fibre‐bridging effect. Energy release rate values for adhesively bonded double‐lap joints are obtained by using the virtual crack closure technique method in a finite element model, and the numerically obtained strain energy release rate is compared to the critical strain energy release rate given by the mixed‐mode failure criterion. The entire procedure is implemented in a numerical algorithm, which was successfully used for predicting the strength and R‐curve response of adhesively bonded double‐lap structural joints made of pultruded glass fibre‐reinforced polymers and epoxy adhesives.     

Structural characterization and immunochemical detection of a fluorophore derived from 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal and lysine

Aging and the progression of certain degenerative diseases are accompanied by increases in intracellular fluorescent material, termed "lipofuscin" and ceroid, respectively. These pigments are observed within granules composed, in part, of damaged protein and lipid. Modification of various biomolecules by aldehyde products of lipid peroxidation is believed to contribute to lipofuscin and ceroid formation. However, little direct evidence currently exists because the structures responsible for the fluorescent, cross-linked nature of this material are not well characterized. In this study, we have identified a fluorescent product formed in the reaction of Nalpha-acetyllysine and 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (HNE), a major product of lipid peroxidation and the most reactive of these compounds under physiological conditions [Esterbauer, H., Shaur, R. J. & Zollner, H. (1991) Free Radical Biol. Med. 11, 81-128]. This fluorescent compound, characterized as a 2-hydroxy-3-imino-1,2-dihydropyrrol derivative, appears to form upon oxidative cyclization of the nonfluorescent 2:1 lysine-HNE Michael adduct-Schiff base cross-link. Polyclonal antibody was raised to the Nalpha-acetyllysine-HNE fluorophore and found to be highly specific to the chromophore structure of the compound. This antibody has been used to conclusively demonstrate that the lysine-HNE derivative of this fluorophore forms on protein upon exposure to HNE. The results of this study therefore provide the basis for future investigations on the contribution(s) of HNE-derived fluorophore formation to lipofuscin and ceroid accumulation.