scholarly journals Novel Protocol for Acute In Situ Ecotoxicity Test Using Native Crustaceans Applied to Groundwater Ecosystems

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 1132
Author(s):  
Andrea Castaño-Sánchez ◽  
Florian Malard ◽  
Gabriela Kalčíková ◽  
Ana Sofia P. S. Reboleira

Current standardized laboratory test protocols use model species that have limitations to accurately assess native species responses to stressors. We developed and tested a novel acute in situ protocol for testing field-collected organisms. We used Asellus aquaticus and NaCl as a reference toxicant to test for the effects of location (laboratory vs. in situ), medium (synthetic vs. field water), substrate (presence vs. absence), and protocol replicability. We further tested the protocol using groundwater-adapted isopods: Proasellus assaforensis for the effect of location, P. cavaticus of medium and P.lusitanicus of substrate. Our results showed that A.aquaticus’ lethality obtained with the novel acute in situ protocol did not significantly differ from those from laboratory testing. However, laboratory tested P.assaforensis showed a higher sensitivity, suggesting that its acclimation to laboratory conditions might have pernicious effects. A. aquaticus and P. cavaticus showed a higher mortality using synthetic medium in situ and under laboratory conditions, which overestimated the stressor’s effect. Besides, substrate use had no significant effect. The novel acute in situ protocol allows the use of native species under realistic scenarios. It is particularly well adapted for assessing the risk of groundwater ecosystems but it can be applied to a wide range of ecosystems.

2015 ◽  
Vol 82 (2) ◽  
pp. 659-670 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Hess ◽  
Andreas Suthaus ◽  
Michael Melkonian

ABSTRACTTheRickettsiales(Alphaproteobacteria) are obligate intracellular bacteria that colonize a wide range of eukaryotic hosts, including diverse metazoa and protists. Here, we characterize rickettsial endosymbionts discovered in the cytoplasm of the algivorous amoeboflagellatesViridiraptor invadensandOrciraptor agilis(Viridiraptoridae, Cercozoa, Rhizaria), supplying evidence of free-living, phagotrophic members of the Cercozoa serving as hosts forRickettsiales. According to 16S rRNA gene phylogenies, the bacteria represent two closely related but distinct genotypes within a deep-branching rickettsial clade, which contains the genera “CandidatusOdyssella,” “CandidatusParacaedibacter,” and “CandidatusCaptivus.” Using the full-cycle rRNA approach, we detected the novel bacteria in four of nine viridiraptorid strains tested. Furthermore, two specific oligonucleotide probes with a single-nucleotide-difference discriminated both bacterial genotypes by fluorescencein situhybridization (FISH). We establish the candidate species “CandidatusFinniella inopinata” (found inViridiraptor invadens) and “CandidatusFinniella lucida” (found inOrciraptor agilis) for the novel bacteria and propose a new, provisional family ofRickettsiales, “CandidatusParacaedibacteraceae.”


Author(s):  
Arijit Sen ◽  
Amin Al-Habaibeh

AbstractEstimating the U-value of walls of buildings is a key process to evaluate the overall thermal performance. Low U-value in buildings is desired in order to keep heat within the envelop and consume less energy in heating. Addressing the limitations in the currently used U-value estimation techniques, this paper proposes a novel approach for estimating the U-value of the envelop of buildings using infrared thermography and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) with the application of a point heat source. The novel system is calibrated by training the ANN in a lab environment using a wide range of samples with multi-layers to be able to estimate the in situ U-value of walls in real buildings during field work with relatively high accuracy.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 477-489
Author(s):  
A. N. Fomin ◽  
◽  
M. N. Suvernev ◽  
N. A. Bitiutskii ◽  
A. V. Pesliak ◽  
...  

Objective: Characterise the methods for optimisation of tank wagon fl eet. Determine the advantages obtained by the proprietor from wagon modernization. Establish the opportunity for increasing universality of rolling stock on the example of modernisation of tank wagons designed to transport petrochemical cargoes. Methods: Parameters of tank wagons for petrochemical cargo transportation in operation were compared to those of a modernised wagon. Structural elements of a wagon that require modernisation to be consistent with current regulatory requirements were identifi ed. Results of calculations and tests were analysed, and wagon certifi cation was carried out. Results: Ways of modernisation of tank wagons are shown. Primary wagon structural elements that require modernisation are described. Strength, fatigue strength and stability calculations were carried out. Safety valve throughput capacity is calculated, and requirements for this index during transportation of petrochemical cargoes. Optimum design for a drain device is established. A series of engineering prototype verifi cation tests in situ was run, including durability tests which confi rmed the possibility of safe operation of a modernised wagon throughout its service life. The wagon was certifi ed for compliance with railway rolling stock safety requirements. Practical importance: The studies conducted confi rm possibility of modernisation of petroleum and oil tank wagons for transportation of a wide range of cargoes. This would allow create a project for tank wagon modernisation. The novel wagon type is included in the Cargo Wagon Design Reference Guide. Proprietor can implement modernisation of wagons in accordance with the developed modernisation project


Author(s):  
W. E. King

A side-entry type, helium-temperature specimen stage that has the capability of in-situ electrical-resistivity measurements has been designed and developed for use in the AEI-EM7 1200-kV electron microscope at Argonne National Laboratory. The electrical-resistivity measurements complement the high-voltage electron microscope (HVEM) to yield a unique opportunity to investigate defect production in metals by electron irradiation over a wide range of defect concentrations.A flow cryostat that uses helium gas as a coolant is employed to attain and maintain any specified temperature between 10 and 300 K. The helium gas coolant eliminates the vibrations that arise from boiling liquid helium and the temperature instabilities due to alternating heat-transfer mechanisms in the two-phase temperature regime (4.215 K). Figure 1 shows a schematic view of the liquid/gaseous helium transfer system. A liquid-gas mixture can be used for fast cooldown. The cold tip of the transfer tube is inserted coincident with the tilt axis of the specimen stage, and the end of the coolant flow tube is positioned without contact within the heat exchanger of the copper specimen block (Fig. 2).


2013 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-67

<p>The Soil Science Institute of Thessaloniki produces new digitized Soil Maps that provide a useful electronic database for the spatial representation of the soil variation within a region, based on in situ soil sampling, laboratory analyses, GIS techniques and plant nutrition mathematical models, coupled with the local land cadastre. The novelty of these studies is that local agronomists have immediate access to a wide range of soil information by clicking on a field parcel shown in this digital interface and, therefore, can suggest an appropriate treatment (e.g. liming, manure incorporation, desalination, application of proper type and quantity of fertilizer) depending on the field conditions and cultivated crops. A specific case study is presented in the current work with regards to the construction of the digitized Soil Map of the regional unit of Kastoria. The potential of this map can easily be realized by the fact that the mapping of the physicochemical properties of the soils in this region provided delineation zones for differential fertilization management. An experiment was also conducted using remote sensing techniques for the enhancement of the fertilization advisory software database, which is a component of the digitized map, and the optimization of nitrogen management in agricultural areas.</p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (8) ◽  
pp. 900-908
Author(s):  
Ram Naresh Yadav ◽  
Amrendra K Singh ◽  
Bimal Banik

Numerous O (oxa)- and S (thia)-glycosyl esters and their analogous glycosyl acids have been accomplished through stereoselective glycosylation of various peracetylated bromo sugar with benzyl glycolate using InBr3 as a glycosyl promotor followed by in situ hydrogenolysis of resulting glycosyl ester. A tandem glycosylating and hydrogenolytic activity of InBr3 has been successfully investigated in a one-pot procedure. The resulting synthetically valuable and virtually unexplored class of β-CMGL (glycosyl acids) could serve as an excellent potential chiral auxiliary in the asymmetric synthesis of a wide range of enantiomerically pure medicinally prevalent β-lactams and other bioactive molecules of diverse medicinal interest.


This book explores the value for literary studies of relevance theory, an inferential approach to communication in which the expression and recognition of intentions plays a major role. Drawing on a wide range of examples from lyric poetry and the novel, nine of the ten chapters are written by literary specialists and use relevance theory both as an overall framework and as a resource for detailed analysis. The final chapter, written by the co-founder of relevance theory, reviews the issues addressed by the volume and explores their implications for cognitive theories of how communicative acts are interpreted in context. Originally designed to explain how people understand each other in everyday face-to-face exchanges, relevance theory—described in an early review by a literary scholar as ‘the makings of a radically new theory of communication, the first since Aristotle’s’—sheds light on the whole spectrum of human modes of communication, including literature in the broadest sense. Reading Beyond the Code is unique in using relevance theory as a prime resource for literary study, and is also the first to apply the model to a range of phenomena widely seen as supporting an ‘embodied’ conception of cognition and language where sensorimotor processes play a key role. This broadened perspective serves to enhance the value for literary studies of the central claim of relevance theory: that the ‘code model’ is fundamentally inadequate to account for human communication, and in particular for the modes of communication that are proper to literature.


2020 ◽  
Vol 154 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel García Caballero ◽  
Donella Beckwith ◽  
Nadezhda V. Shilova ◽  
Adele Gabba ◽  
Tanja J. Kutzner ◽  
...  

Abstract The concept of biomedical significance of the functional pairing between tissue lectins and their glycoconjugate counterreceptors has reached the mainstream of research on the flow of biological information. A major challenge now is to identify the principles of structure–activity relationships that underlie specificity of recognition and the ensuing post-binding processes. Toward this end, we focus on a distinct feature on the side of the lectin, i.e. its architecture to present the carbohydrate recognition domain (CRD). Working with a multifunctional human lectin, i.e. galectin-3, as model, its CRD is used in protein engineering to build variants with different modular assembly. Hereby, it becomes possible to compare activity features of the natural design, i.e. CRD attached to an N-terminal tail, with those of homo- and heterodimers and the tail-free protein. Thermodynamics of binding disaccharides proved full activity of all proteins at very similar affinity. The following glycan array testing revealed maintained preferential contact formation with N-acetyllactosamine oligomers and histo-blood group ABH epitopes irrespective of variant design. The study of carbohydrate-inhibitable binding of the test panel disclosed up to qualitative cell-type-dependent differences in sections of fixed murine epididymis and especially jejunum. By probing topological aspects of binding, the susceptibility to inhibition by a tetravalent glycocluster was markedly different for the wild-type vs the homodimeric variant proteins. The results teach the salient lesson that protein design matters: the type of CRD presentation can have a profound bearing on whether basically suited oligosaccharides, which for example tested positively in an array, will become binding partners in situ. When lectin-glycoconjugate aggregates (lattices) are formed, their structural organization will depend on this parameter. Further testing (ga)lectin variants will thus be instrumental (i) to define the full range of impact of altering protein assembly and (ii) to explain why certain types of design have been favored during the course of evolution, besides opening biomedical perspectives for potential applications of the novel galectin forms.


Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 1031
Author(s):  
Joseba Gorospe ◽  
Rubén Mulero ◽  
Olatz Arbelaitz ◽  
Javier Muguerza ◽  
Miguel Ángel Antón

Deep learning techniques are being increasingly used in the scientific community as a consequence of the high computational capacity of current systems and the increase in the amount of data available as a result of the digitalisation of society in general and the industrial world in particular. In addition, the immersion of the field of edge computing, which focuses on integrating artificial intelligence as close as possible to the client, makes it possible to implement systems that act in real time without the need to transfer all of the data to centralised servers. The combination of these two concepts can lead to systems with the capacity to make correct decisions and act based on them immediately and in situ. Despite this, the low capacity of embedded systems greatly hinders this integration, so the possibility of being able to integrate them into a wide range of micro-controllers can be a great advantage. This paper contributes with the generation of an environment based on Mbed OS and TensorFlow Lite to be embedded in any general purpose embedded system, allowing the introduction of deep learning architectures. The experiments herein prove that the proposed system is competitive if compared to other commercial systems.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sungmin O. ◽  
Rene Orth

AbstractWhile soil moisture information is essential for a wide range of hydrologic and climate applications, spatially-continuous soil moisture data is only available from satellite observations or model simulations. Here we present a global, long-term dataset of soil moisture derived through machine learning trained with in-situ measurements, SoMo.ml. We train a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) model to extrapolate daily soil moisture dynamics in space and in time, based on in-situ data collected from more than 1,000 stations across the globe. SoMo.ml provides multi-layer soil moisture data (0–10 cm, 10–30 cm, and 30–50 cm) at 0.25° spatial and daily temporal resolution over the period 2000–2019. The performance of the resulting dataset is evaluated through cross validation and inter-comparison with existing soil moisture datasets. SoMo.ml performs especially well in terms of temporal dynamics, making it particularly useful for applications requiring time-varying soil moisture, such as anomaly detection and memory analyses. SoMo.ml complements the existing suite of modelled and satellite-based datasets given its distinct derivation, to support large-scale hydrological, meteorological, and ecological analyses.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document