1. Gummosis on Acacia decurrens, an invasive tree species, that got established in Merapi Volcano National Park (MVNP) after the eruption of Mount Merapi in 2010 was studied to i) identify the causal organism of the disease, ii) analyze disease symptoms, iii) understand the spatio-temporal distribution of gummosis in the tree population and iv) examine how the disease affects the anatomy of tree wood. 2. Pathological, morphological and molecular studies were used in this studies. 3. Ceratocystis fimbriata was proved to be the causal organism of the disease. The disease spread was probably aided by the ambrosia beetle (Euwallacea sp.) which bores holes on the stem. 4. The disease is noted to spread from the base of the trees, where the ambrosia beetle bores holes first, to the upper part. 5. The number of parenchyma cells in the infected stem was significantly more than in the healthy stem which apparently facilitated water and nutrition transport within the tree helping it to grow normally despite serious gummosis. 6. The management of invasion by A. decurrens in the MVNP area poses a serious challenge due its success as an invader in the volcano impacted area and the threat of the gummosis pathogen spreading to other species both of which will affect the regeneration and establishment of native species and recuperation of the ecosystem.

Obtaining the hydraulic conductivity characteristics of widely distributed fault zones is the key to evaluating potential underground nuclear waste repositories. However, there are currently certain limitations on the methods for such data collection. In this study, electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) was combined with pumping test data to obtain the distribution of hydraulic conductivity in fault zones. The hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer was obtained through 30 pumping tests in seven pumping wells, and the results were then fitted with the aquifer resistivity obtained by the ERT at the corresponding positions to establish the relationship between the resistivity and the hydraulic conductivity, according to which the hydraulic conductivity characteristics of the fault zone can be obtained using the resistivity value. The results show that for the sandstone area with a small hydraulic conductivity, the result of exponential fitting is more accurate (R2 = 0.97) than that of linear fitting and power fitting. The hydraulic conductivity calculated based on the established R-K relationship has an error of less than 10.50% compared with that measured by the pumping tests, and the Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency coefficient is 0.96. Furthermore, the spatial distribution of the hydraulic conductivity of the fault zone in the study area was calculated based on this relationship, providing a basis for more accurate and low-cost descriptions of groundwater and solutions transport in the fault zone.

Water temperature is an important habitat factor in river ecosystems that exhibits the characteristics of continuous change. Dam construction disrupts the continuity of the water temperature and reset it, thus exerting range reduction and hysteresis effects on the characteristics of water temperature change. The effect of a dam on river continuity is directly related to the dam size. To explain this relationship quantitatively, two rivers in China were selected: one river without reservoirs and one river with cascade reservoirs. Through the analysis of the longitudinal change of water temperature in free-flowing rivers, we found that water temperature changes continuously and uniformly in the longitudinal direction. Based on this, a temperature trend hypothesis in river was proposed, and the discontinuity of the water temperature in the reservoir section was evaluated. The result is as follows: (1) In mixed reservoirs, river water temperature remains as continuous as free-flowing rivers. However, the river water temperature has a large discontinuity in the stratified reservoir; (2) Selective withdrawal of stratified reservoirs in January could not remove the discontinuity caused by itself, but it worked in June.

Phosphorus (P) is an essential mineral nutrient for plants. Nevertheless, excessive P accumulation in leaf mesophyll cells causes necrotic symptoms in land plants; this phenomenon is termed P toxicity. However, the detailed mechanisms underlying P toxicity in plants have not yet been elucidated. This study aimed to investigate the molecular mechanism of P toxicity in rice. We found that under excessive inorganic P (Pi) application, Rubisco activation decreased and photosynthesis was inhibited, leading to lipid peroxidation. Although the defence systems against reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation were activated under excessive Pi application conditions, the Cu/Zn-type superoxide dismutase activities were inhibited. A metabolic analysis revealed that excessive Pi application led to an increase in the cytosolic sugar phosphate concentration and the activation of phytic acid synthesis. These conditions induced mRNA expression of genes that are activated under metal-deficient conditions, although metals did accumulate. These results suggest that P toxicity is triggered by the attenuation of both photosynthesis and metal availability within cells mediated by phytic acid accumulation. Here, we discuss the whole phenomenon of P toxicity, beginning from the accumulation of Pi within cells to death in land plants.

Quantifying hydrologic exchange fluxes (HEF) and subsurface water residence times (RT) are important for managing the water quality and ecosystem health in dynamic river corridor systems. Because of limited field accessibility, numerical models typically have been used to quantify HEFs and RTs. These models, however, usually are limited to local-scale bedforms and are based on the assumption that hydrostatic pressure drives surface and subsurface water exchanges. Previous laboratory-scale experiments and models have shown that hydrodynamic pressure variations on the riverbed induced by dynamic river flows can strongly impact HEFs and RTs. In this study, the impacts of hydrodynamic pressure on HEFs and RT for a 30 km section of the Columbia River in Washington State over a three-year period were quantitatively evaluated using a coupled transient three-dimensional (3D) multi-phase surface and subsurface water flow transport approach. Based on comparisons of the model simulations with a reference case that considered only hydrostatic pressure, we found that hydrodynamic pressure significantly enhances upwelling and downwelling HEFs by 2 and 1.7 times, respectively, in the investigated river section and also leads to a reduction of the most likely RT by one order of magnitude (i.e., from hundreds of days to tens of days).

Soil microbial diversity distribution patterns and their ecological linkage with aboveground plant diversity are essential for both theoretical and applied ecology. However, a number of studies have shown soil microbial distribution patterns along different environmental gradients are inconsistent and their ecological linkages with plant diversity haven’t been well clarified. In this study, the plant and soil microbial diversity was simultaneously surveyed in 30 natural broadleaved forest sites along a 2500 km latitudinal gradient (18°–40°N) in China. The soil bacterial and fungal diversity was detected using the Illumina sequencing technique. The results showed soil bacterial and fungal community structure differed significantly among different sites and their alpha -diversity significantly increased as latitudinal increased (P < 0.001), and the plant and soil microbial beta-diversity was significantly linkages (P < 0.001). Based on the partial Mantel test, boosted regression tree and structural equation model analysis, we found plant alpha-diversity had no positive correlation with soil microbial alpha-diversity, and soil pH and climate condition (including mean annual precipitation and mean annual temperature) were the most important factors affecting soil microbial community structure. However, soil microbial heterogeneity might significantly affect aboveground plant community structure. Our analysis indicated that the plant beta-diversity could predict soil microbial beta-diversity at regional forest system, and soil pH plays higher roles than plant diversity in affecting soil microbial community at regional scale. This study provides new insights into the soil microbial diversity distribution patterns and ecological linkage between plant diversity and soil microbial diversity in natural forest ecosystem at the regional scale.

Anthropogenic disturbances greatly alter community composition and diversity. However, it remains largely unknown which underlying processes - colonizations, local extinctions or abundance changes - drive compositional changes in response to disturbance, and whether these processes are constrained by environmental gradients. Here, we investigated the processes underlying temporal turnover of vascular plant communities in boreal forests in response to silvicultural practices along a soil fertility gradient. Our analyses were based on long-term data from 1985 to 2006 covering up to 1700 sites across Finland. While average richness remained static, we found that silvicultural practices induced greatest turnover in the most fertile habitats. In recently disturbed sites, colonizations and species losses altered dominance structure of the communities, while the undisturbed old forests were characterized by stable dominant species even when the majority of species shifted their identity. We conclude that disturbance history and fertility constrain temporal turnover in boreal forest communities.

Morphology is expected to represent species' ecological niches, based on microhabitat and ecological selection pressures dictating morphological adaptations for efficient performance. However, the presence of competitor species is predicted to cause niches to contract. Therefore, an increase in species richness is expected to lead to narrower niches, and reduced overlap and distances between niches of different species. We tested these predictions on the skink fauna of New Guinea, the world's largest tropical island. We show that, while some morphospace metrics change predictably with species richness, elevation is a stronger predictor of morphospace occupancy. As elevation increases niches become narrower and closer to each other, and overall morphospace occupancy decreases. Highland skinks are, on average, smaller, thinner, and with shorter limbs than lowland species. We hypothesize that harsh climates in highland habitats impose strong selection on skinks to occupy specific areas of morphospace that facilitate efficient thermoregulation in sub-optimal thermal conditions.

Objective: To assess the impact of implementation of GAP in a multi-ethnic population with high obesity and high deprivation. Design/Methods: Retrospective before (2012) and after (2017) study (pre-and post-GAP). Outcomes were compared between epochs with adjustment for New Zealand Deprivation Index, maternal body mass index, ethnicity, cigarette smoking and age. Setting: Counties Manukau tertiary maternity facility, Auckland, New Zealand Population: Singleton, non-anomalous pregnancies, booked with a hospital midwife by 20 weeks’ gestation, with birth after 24 weeks’ gestation. Main Outcome Measures: Antenatal detection of SGA babies (<10th customised centile), labour induction, caesarean section and composite adverse neonatal outcome (neonatal unit admission >48 hrs, 5-minute Apgar Score <7, any ventilation). Results: Antenatal detection of SGA increased after introduction of GAP from 22.9% to 57.9% (aOR=4.81, 95% CI 2.82, 8.18) with similar SGA rates across epochs (13.8% vs 12.9%; p=0.68). Induction of labour and caesarean birth increased between epochs, but this increase was similar in SGA and non-SGA. Amongst SGA, increased antenatal identification post-GAP appeared to be associated with lower composite adverse neonatal outcome (identified SGA: pre-GAP 32.4% vs post-GAP 17.5%, aOR=0.44, 95% CI 0.17, 1.15; non-identified SGA: pre-GAP 12.3% vs post-GAP 19.3%, aOR=1.81, 95% CI 0.73, 4.48; interaction p=0.03). Conclusions: GAP was associated with an almost 5-fold increased likelihood for SGA detection, without significant increase in maternal intervention and some evidence of a reduction in composite adverse neonatal outcome in identified SGA pregnancies. GAP is a safe, effective tool for SGA detection in an ethnically diverse population with high obesity levels.

Objective: Define the prevalence of OSA in a population of obese pregnant women. Secondary objectives were to assess its obstetric consequences and define its risk factors in this population. Design – Setting – Population – Methods: This single-center prospective study took place at the Lille University Hospital from 2010 to 2016 and included pregnant women with a body mass index (BMI) > 35 kg/m2. They underwent polysomnography (type 1 sleep testing) between 24 and 32 weeks of gestation to diagnose OSA. Clinical, obstetric, and fetal data were collected monthly and at delivery. We compared the groups with and without OSA and calculated its prevalence. Main outcome measures - Results: This study included 67 women with a mean BMI of 42.4 ± 6.2 kg/m2. Among them, 29 had OSA, for a prevalence of 43.3% (95% confidence interval, 31.4–55.2); it was mild or moderate in 25 women and severe in 4. Comparison of the two groups showed that women in the OSA group were older (31.9 ± 4.7 years vs 29.5 ± 4.8 years, P=.045), had chronic hypertension more frequently (37.9% vs 7.9%, P=.0027), and had a higher mean BMI (43.8 ± 6.2 kg/m2 vs 41.2 ± 6 kg/m2, P=.045). During pregnancy, they developed gestational diabetes more often (48.3% vs 23.7%, P=.04). No significant differences were observed for any of the other criteria studied. Conclusions: The prevalence of OSA was high in our study, and women with it developed gestational diabetes during pregnancy more often. No other obstetric complications were obser

Glutathione (GSH) plays a central role in the redox balance maintenance in mammalian cells. The study of industrial CHO cell lines have demonstrated a close link between GSH metabolism and clone productivity. However, a deep investigation is still required to understand this correlation and highlights new potential targets for cell engineering. In this study, we have modulated the GSH intracellular content of an industrial cell line under bioprocess conditions in order to further elucidate the role of the GSH synthesis pathway. Two strategies were used : the variation of cystine supply and the direct inhibition of the GSH synthesis using buthionine sulfoximine (BSO). Cysteine supply modulation have revealed a correlation between intracellular GSH and product titer over time. Analysis of metabolites uptake/secretion rates and proteome comparison between BSO-treated cells and non-treated cells has highlighted a slow down of the TCA cycle leading to a secretion of lactate and alanine in the extracellular environment. Moreover, an adaptation of the glutathione related proteome has been observed with a up-regulation of the regulatory subunit of glutamate cysteine ligase and a down-regulation of a specific glutathione transferase subgroup, the Mu family. Surprisingly, the main impact of BSO treatment was observed on a global down-regulation of the cholesterol synthesis pathways. As cholesterol is required for protein secretion, it can be the missing part of the jigsaw to finally elucidate the link between GSH synthesis and productivity.

A document by Russell Kirby, written on Authorea.

The present study was conducted in areas of large-scale soybean cultivation under long-term no-till (NT). Soil samples from depths of 0.0-0.10 (L1), 0.10-0.20 (L2) and 0.20-0.40 m (L3) were obtained from 65 commercial farms characterized by a high soybean yield in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. Oxisols were the predominant soils in these farms, which were located within the Cerrado Biome, and the main textural classes were loamy sand, sandy loam, sandy clay loam, sandy clay and clay. The following physical properties of soil were measured: penetration resistance, bulk density, particle density, total porosity, field moisture capacity, saturation and residual moisture contents, soil water retention curve (SWRC), inflection point, plant available water, n and α parameters of the Van Genuchten equation, S index, and clay and sand contents. In addition, the soil organic matter (SOM) and its densimetric fractions were also determined. The average soybean yield of the studied areas in the last three years was 4.13 Mg ha-1; however, 26 farms had yielded above 4.20 Mg ha-1. Only some of the physical properties at L1 layer, including the penetration resistance, bulk density and the porosity-related parameters, were significantly related with the soybean yield. The SOM and its fractions were directly influenced by the clay or sand contents. In conclusion, the areas with higher productivity under long-term NT showed an adequate S index at three studied layers with values of 0.11, 0.67 and 0.84 at L1, L2 and L3 layers, respectively.

Purpose: This document provides guidelines for authors of CiSE department articles, and outlines the workflow that department editors follow for submitting articles for publication. Scope: The information in this document applies to department articles that are reviewed by department editors. It does not apply to regular articles that are submitted to the journal to be put through the standard peer review; these use ScholarOne for submission management as described in the CiSE Author Information page.

We have recently developed a computational methodology to separate the effects of size, composition, symmetry and fluxionality in explaining the experimental photoelectron spectra of mixed-metal clusters. This methodology was successfully applied first in explaining the observed differences between the spectra of Al13- and Al12Ni- and more recently to explain the measured spectra of AlnMo-, n=3-5,7 clusters. The combination of our approach and new synthesis techniques can be used to prepare cluster based materials with tunable properties. In this work we use the methodology to predict the spectrum of Al6Mo-. This system was chosen because its neutral counterpart is a perfect octahedron and it is distorted to a D3d symmetry and was not observed in the recent experiments. This high symmetry cluster bridges the less symmetric Al5Mo- and Al7Mo-structures. The measured spectra of Al5Mo- has well defined peaks, while that of Al7Mo-does not. This can be explained by the fluxionality of Al7Mo-, as at least 6 different structures lie within the range that can be reached by thermal effects. We predict that Al6Mo- has well defined peaks, but some broadening is expected as there are two low-lying isomers, one of D3d and the second of D3h symmetry that are only 0.052 eV apart.

Due to low working temperature, high energy density and low pollution, proton exchange fuel cells have been investigated under different operating conditions in different applications. Using platinum catalysts in methanol fuel cells leads to increasing the cost of this kind of fuel cell which is considered as a barrier to the commercialism of this technology. For this reason, a lot of efforts have been made to reduce the loading of the catalyst required on different supports. In this study, carbon black (CB) and carbon nanotubes (CNT) have been used as catalyst supports of the fuel cell as well as using the double-metal combination of platinum-ruthenium (PtRu) as anode electrode catalyst and platinum (Pt) as cathode electrode catalyst. The performance of these two types of electro-catalyst in the oxidation reaction of methanol has been compared based on electrochemical tests. Results showed that the carbon nanotubes increase the performance of the micro-fuel cell by 37% at maximum power density, compared to the carbon black.Based on thee-electrode tests of chronoamperometry and voltammetry, it was found that the oxidation onset potential of methanol for CNT has been around 20% less than CB, leading to the kinetic improvement of the oxidation reaction.The current density of methanol oxidation reaction increased up to 62% in CNT sample compared to CB supported one, therefore the active electrochemical surface area of the catalyst has been increased up to 90% by using CNT compared to CB which shows the significant rise of the electrocatalytic activity in CNT supported catalyst.

Accurately predicting distributions of concentration and temperature field in fixed-bed column is essential for designing adsorption processes. In this study, a two-dimensional (2D), axisymmetric, nonisothermal, dynamic adsorption model was established by coupling equations of mass, momentum and energy balance, and solved by finite element analysis. The simulation breakthrough curves fit well with the low-concentration CO2 adsorption experimental data, indicating the reliability of the established model. The distributions of concentration and temperature field in the column for CO2 adsorption and separation from CO2/N2 were obtained. The sensitivity analysis of the adsorption conditions shows that the operation parameters such as feed flow rate, feed concentration, pellet size, and column height-to-diameter ratio produce a significant effect on the dynamic adsorption performance. The multi-physics coupled 2D axisymmetric model could provide a theoretical foundation and guidance for designing CO2 fixed-bed adsorption and separation processes, which could be extended to other mixed gases as well.

Mobile robots are robots that can move around in the physical environment. The mobile robot must know where it is, where it should go and how to reach the goal position without any collisions. Navigation is very essential in many robotic applications such as autonomous cars, agricultural robots, and space exploration missions. The main constraints facing by researchers in mobile robot navigation are execution time, finding shortest path, and obstacle avoidance. This paper presents a comparison of algorithms like A*, Bidirectional Rapidly Exploring Random Tree, Artificial Potential field, Probabilistic Road Map (PRM) and Rapidly Exploring Random Tree (RRT) used for path planning. The shortest path and the processing time for each algorithm is determined in a MATLAB environment. Among the sampling-based algorithms, the A* algorithm gives the shortest path and PRM takes the least processing time when compared to other algorithms.

Herein, we demonstrate successful fabrication of cellulose acetate (CA)/(PdOAc)2 blend membranes for the gas-permeation performance of H2, CO2, and CH4 gases. Pristine CA and CA/(PdOAc)2 blend membranes with various concentrations (0.5, 0.75 and 1 wt %) of (PdOAc)2 were prepared via vapor induced phase separation (VIPS) method. The membranes were investigated through various techniques such as ATR-IR spectroscopy to study the interaction between the CA and (PdOAc)2. Followed by morphological study by FESEM which showcased homogeneous blending between CA and (PdOAc)2. XRD patterns revealed the characteristic peaks denoting (PdOAc)2 and the change in crystallinity of the membranes upon blending. The alteration in mechanical strength of the blends due to incorporation of (PdOAc)2 into CA matrix was deliberated by tensile strength analysis. Gas experiments showcased permeability in the descending order of H2>CO2>CH4, with a selectivity of 2.02, 68.5 and 34 for H2/CO2, H2/CH4 and CO2/CH4 separation respectively for the optimum membrane.

Machine learning techniques have been successfully used to simulate and optimise bioprocesses. This study explores the feasibility to apply Gradient Boosting, an emerging Ensemble Learning algorithm, which combines weak learners to generate better predictions for bioprocess dynamic modelling and prediction. A thorough procedure was presented for Gradient Boosting based data-driven model construction. Different case studies were employed including fermentation and algal photo-production processes. Given that generating a large size of experimental data for model training is time consuming and challenging to many bioprocesses, this work launched a first investigation on the data efficiency of Gradient Boosting by comparing its predictive capability against the predominantly used artificial neural networks. By carrying out a series of experimental verifications over a broad spectrum of process operating conditions, this study concluded that Gradient Boosting may have several advantages in small experimental datasets and can outperform artificial neural networks for bioprocess predictive modelling, indicating its potential for future bioprocess digitalisation and optimisation.

Efficient Topology discovery and maintenance are the most critical requirements of Software Defined Wireless Sensor Networks (SDWSN). Existing SDWSN protocols for discovering the underlying network topology put more constraints on the already limited wireless sensor node resources. Previously, an extensive literature survey was conducted and this fact was established. In this paper, a novel minimal control overhead topology discovery and data forwarding protocol is proposed and detailed. The proposed protocol requires some changes to the topology discovery protocol implemented in SDN WISE to improve its performance. The proposed protocol has been implemented in the IT-SDN framework for evaluation. The results show reduced control packet overhead and improved energy consumption compared to the existing protocol. Besides, the implementation shows an increase of 20% data packet delivery rate over the protocol in SDN WISE.

Manufacturers have been promoting multi-material designs. So, the dissimilar material welding methods are being developed. We focused on heat welding technologies for friction stir spot welding of aluminum alloy and carbon fiber-reinforced plastic. This study investigated the effect of changes to jig constraint of joined members on the fatigue properties of joints. Also the fatigue life estimation was carried out by considering the singular stress at the welding joint interface. As a result, the fatigue strength of joint in a less constrained state is higher than that in a more constrained state. The singular stress intensity at the slit tip was uniformly predicted by the differences in welding parameters of joints.

The development of water-saving irrigation strategies is crucial because of the increasing demand on water resources. There is a need to improve our understanding of water use strategies that save water and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions without causing yield losses in paddy soil. The current study was carried out to examine the net global warming potential (NGWP) and net greenhouse gas intensity (NGHGI) based on net GHG emissions calculations, including soil organic carbon (SOC) change and indirect emissions (IE). The experiment was carried out under flood irrigation (FI), shallow irrigation (SI), and intermittent irrigation (II) conditions. The results showed that average double rice yields under SI and II were significantly higher than those under FI by 4.5% and 12.2%, respectively, but without significantly difference at annual mean SOC sequestration rate (0-30 cm) over 2 years among the three irrigation regimes. Compared to FI, the annual methane (CH4) emissions decreased by 34% and 45% under SI and II irrigation regimes, respectively. In contrast, nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions under the SI and II increased by 27% and 50%, respectively. IE were nearly the same among the three irrigation regimes, with fertilizer use as the top contributor, and followed the order FI > SI > II. The NGWP and NGHGI respectively decreased by 40% and 45% under II compared to those under FI. In conclusion, water-saving irrigation strategies, especially the II practice, are an effective choice that can simultaneously achieve great success in saving water, increasing rice production, and reducing GHG emissions.

Efforts to tackle land degradation worldwide have spurred the adoption of soil and water conservation (SWC) practices intended to reduce surface runoff and erosion. Despite their widespread implementation, missing or incomplete monitoring remains a pervasive problem preventing evaluation of how well SWC practices meet these aims. Key metrics to evaluate SWC efficacy are the production of flow per unit rainfall (runoff ratio), and exported sediment (sediment concentration). We develop a method to assess changes in these metrics in the absence of a flow rating curve, using more complete and reliable measurements of stage (flow depth). We apply these methods to incomplete monitoring datasets collected from five watersheds included in the Tana and Beles Integrated Water Resource Development Project (TBIWRDP) in the Abay (Blue Nile) basin, Ethiopia. Changes in runoff ratio and sediment concentration relative to the first year of treatment varied by season. In the long wet season (Kiremt) that generates most runoff and erosion, reductions in runoff ratio occurred in three watersheds, and reductions in sediment concentration in four watersheds. Reductions in the runoff ratio were directly proportional to the areal density of SWC treatments in the watersheds, suggesting that SWC treatments were effective in controlling runoff and erosion. We suggest that stage and sediment concentration information can be used to assess watershed responses to SWC treatments. Focusing on these relatively robust measurements, may facilitate the design of reliable and affordable monitoring programs, and ultimately facilitate improved financing approaches based on reasonable estimates of likely SWC practice performance.