Serial discontinuities in a Rocky mountain river. I. Distribution and abundance of plecoptera

Samples were taken year-round at eleven sites along the altitudinal profile (2900-1400 m a.s.l.) of the Gunnison River, a 329 km tributary of the Colorado River, to document the distribution of the Plecoptera and to evaluate responses to hypolimnial-release dams in the headwaters and middle reaches. Twenty-two species were present, with the greatest species richness occurring in an unregulated segment upstream of the middle reach dams; average nymphal biomass over the study period (175 organisms, 395 mg dry mass m^?2) was also greatest in this segment. Only four species (58 organisms, 48 mg m^?2) were present in the tailwaters of the headwater dam and values were greatly reduced (nine species; 35 organisms, 180 mg m^?2) below the middle reach dams. The stonefly community recovered ca. 80 km downstream from the last dam (15 species; 244 organisms, 250 mg m^?2), apparently in response to natural resetting of environmental conditions corresponding to those above the middle reach dams. At the most downstream site (11) only four species (four organisms, 16 mg m^?2) were present. The observed distributional pattern is a classic serial discontinuity in response to hypolimnial stream regulation in a temperate latitude river.     

Laser-Induced Silicon Oxide for Anode-Free Lithium Metal Batteries

The development of a rechargeable Li metal anode (LMA) is an important milestone for improved battery technology. Practical issues hindering LMAs are the formation of Li dendrites and inactive Li during plating and stripping processes, which can cause short circuits, thermal runaway, and low coulombic efficiency (CE). Here, the use of a laser-induced silicon oxide (LI-SiO_x) layer derived from a commercial adhesive tape to improve the reversibility of Li metal batteries (LMBs) is studied. The silicone-based adhesive of the tape is converted by a commercial infrared laser into a homogeneous porous SiO_x layer deposited directly over the current collector. The coating results in superior performance by suppressing the formation of Li dendrites and inactive Li and presenting higher average CE of 99.3% (2.0 mAh cm⁻² at 2.0 mA cm⁻²) compared to bare electrodes. The thickness and morphology of the deposited Li is investigated, revealing a different mechanism of Li deposition on coated electrodes. The laser coating affords a method that is fast and avoids the use of toxic organic solvents and extensive drying times. The improved performance with the SiO_x coating is demonstrated in LMB with a zero-excess (“anode-free”) configuration where a 100% improved performance is verified.     

RECRUITMENT AND SUCCESSIONAL DYNAMICS DIVERSIFY THE SHIFTING HABITAT MOSAIC OF AN ALASKAN FLOODPLAIN

We measured plant recruitment patterns, successional dynamics, and biophysical processes on laterally expansive floodplains of the Kwethluk River, Alaska. The main channel of this gravel‐bed river frequently avulses and possesses an anabranching plan form. Fluvial processes were interactive with life history processes of riparian plants in determining initial stages of primary succession. Reproductive strategies and herbivory became important factors later in succession. We conducted plant age and compositional surveys to assess patterns of propagule deposition. We found that dispersal strategies of species were an important factor influencing recruitment patterns. Flood‐dispersed seeds resulted in even‐aged cohorts of species persistently segregated in space, based on age data. Sediment characteristics and inundation potential had little influence on seedling distributions. Recruitment was also segregated on the basis of dispersal strategy. At the heads of bars, where vegetative propagules (live drift wood) were entombed during floods, the distributions of species were random. This size‐selective nature of recruitment persisted through time. Vegetation age and distribution patterns were further diversified by the river's legacy of gravel deposition that diversified the primary successional pathway: one associated with ridges and another with swales. Interactions between these pathways and beaver herbivory initiated secondary succession. We used satellite imagery to quantify the extent of floodplain influenced by herbivory and to assess the importance of this driver of secondary succession. We also used high‐resolution aerial imagery and randomly selected sites to provide an unbiased analysis. We classified this imagery to quantify the spatial extent of herbivory and its influence on the initiation of secondary succession. The results showed, in addition to recruitment and successional dynamics, the flood‐plain habitat mosaic was diversified by the initiation of secondary succession. Patch and species composition within the vegetation mosaics were significantly different than those portions of the floodplain engaged in primary succession. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Structure-property relationships in novel polydiacetylene-containing oligoester: Polyolefin blends

Summary The paper describes thermal and mechanical properties of a series of novel blends prepared using a two-stage process which invloved solution blending a specially-synthesised diacteylene-containing oligoester (DOE) with a semi-crystalline poly[ethylene-co-(vinyl acetate)] (EVA), followed by conversion of the DOE to a polydiacteylene-containing oligoester (cp-DOE) by in situ thermal cross-polymerisation during moulding. Moulded blends range from ductile to brittle materials and give intense Raman spectra in which the CC stretching band at 2100 cm^-1 is well-defined and shifts to lower wavenumber when the blends are subjected to tensile stress. For each blend composition, shifts in wavenumber were used to determine local stress in the cp-DOE component independently of the overall stress applied to blend.     

Optimizing routing in packet-switched networks with non-Poisson offered traffic

Routing models for packet-switched networks have traditionally been based on the assumption that the offered traffic is Poisson. This is unrealistic since for many applications, real life data streams tend to be extremely bursty, contradicting the Poisson assumption. This paper introduces a centralized bifurcated routing optimization model for networks with significantly non-Poisson offered traffic. The central purpose of the work is to assess the impact of non-Poisson traffic on routing algorithm developed for Poisson flows. A systematic testing plan for networks with a simple topology and variable levels of capacity, demand and packet length was designed. The results confirmed that Poisson delay formulas together with classical Poisson routing are not appropriate when significant demand is highly variable. The results also show that non-Poisson delay formulas are crucial to the assessment of average delay in these cases.     

Structure-property relations in non-linear,segmented copolyureas formed by reaction injection moulding,RIM

Summary Segmented copolyureas have been formed by RIM using a MDI-based polyisocyanate (RMA400) and mixtures of a polyether triamine (Jeffamine T5000) and diethyltoluene diamine (DETDA) chain extender. Hard segment (HS) content was varied between 35 and 65% w/w at a constant overall stoichiometric ratio of -NCO to -NH₂ groups of 1.03. All the copolyureas were translucent and DSC confirmed their totally amorphous structure.The copolyureas were shown by dynamic mechanical-thermal analysis to possess a two-phase morphology comprising polyether soft segments of constant Tg^s of –40°C and aromatic polyurea hard segments with Tg^H increasing from 215 to 236°C as HS content increased. The ratio of flexural moduli at –35 and 65°C, decreased from 4.9 to 2.2 at 65% HS, and mechanical integrity was retained at temperatures in excess of 250°C, with flexural moduli of 10MPa at 270°C.Tensile stress-strain studies showed the polyureas to range from semi-rigid elastomers to stiff plastics with moduli greater than IGPa. Postcuring significantly improves materials toughness at high HS contents.     

Finding curvilinear features in spatial point patterns: principalcurve clustering with noise

Clustering about principal curves combines parametric modeling of noise with nonparametric modeling of feature shape. This is useful for detecting curvilinear features in spatial point patterns, with or without background noise. Applications include the detection of curvilinear minefields from reconnaissance images, some of the points in which represent false detections, and the detection of seismic faults from earthquake catalogs. Our algorithm for principal curve clustering is in two steps: The first is hierarchical and agglomerative (HPCC) and the second consists of iterative relocation based on the classification EM algorithm (CEM-PCC). HPCC is used to combine potential feature clusters, while CEM-PCC refines the results and deals with background noise. It is important to have a good starting point for the algorithm: This can be found manually or automatically using, for example, nearest neighbor clutter removal or model-based clustering. We choose the number of features and the amount of smoothing simultaneously, using approximate Bayes factors     

Polymer encapsulation of surface-modified carbon blacks using surfactant-free emulsion polymerisation

Polymer encapsulations of two different grades of water-dispersible, surface-sulfonated carbon black, Sterling-4620 with an aggregate size of 260 nm and Black Pearls-800 (BP-800) with an aggregate size of 45.7 nm, were carried out using surfactant-free emulsion polymerisation of butyl acrylate, methyl methacrylate and allyl methacrylate. High levels of initiator were required because carbon black acts as an efficient radical trap. Although polymerisation in the presence of Sterling-4620 proceeded satisfactorily using ammonium persulfate (APS), the much larger specific surface area of BP-800 inhibited polymerisation with APS and the sodium salt of 4,4′-azobis(4-cyanopentanoic acid), a non-oxidising initiator, was necessary for effective polymerisation in the presence of BP-800. Several polymer-encapsulated Sterling-4620 and BP-800 products were prepared successfully using different amounts and compositions of polymer, and have been characterised using solvent extraction, pyrolysis, thermogravimetry, infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and dynamic mechanical thermal analysis.     

Effects of feedback on insight and problem solving efficiency in training groups.

"An experiment was conducted in a field setting to investigate two of the learning principles utilized in human relations courses. The Ss were 103 first line supervisors, in groups of about 12, in a one week, highly participative management course… . The data indicated that personalized feedback markedly, and consistently, improved group problem solving efficiency. Under some conditions, feedback improved self-insight." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)