Structure and succession dynamics of a Neotropical freshwater periphyton community, with emphasis on ciliates and their association with bacterial taxa

Periphyton communities in freshwater systems play an essential role in biogeochemical processes, but knowledge of their structure and dynamics lags far behind other environments. We used eDNA metabarcoding of 16S and 18S rRNA markers to investigate the formation and establishment of a periphytic community, in addition to morphology-based analyses of its most abundant group (peritrich ciliates). We sampled two nearby sites within a large Neotropical lake at four time points, aiming to assess whether periphyton establishment can be replicated on this local scale. Producers and denitrifiers were abundant in the community, illustrating the relevant role of biofilms in freshwater nutrient recycling. Among microeukaryotes, peritrich ciliates dominated the community, with genera Epistylis and Vorticella being the most abundant and showing a clear succession at both sites. Other ciliates were identified and, in some cases, their occurrence was strongly related to bacterial abundance. The structure and succession dynamics of both prokaryotic and eukaryotic components of periphyton differed between the two sites, in spite of their adjacent locations and similar abiotic properties, indicating that the establishment of these communities can vary even on a local scale within a lake ecosystem.

Unfolding #Anonymous on Twitter

This paper presents a comprehensive empirical investigation of the range of actors, issues and sub-groups related to the hashtag Anonymous on Twitter between 2012 and 2015. Complementing existing studies that have provided in-depth accounts of Anonymous from a specific point of view, this research provides an overview of the network related to the discursive construction of Anonymous on Twitter from a synoptic standpoint. In particular, the analysis covers three dimensions: the structure and dynamics of the #Anonymous interaction network; the range of issues that Anonymous has been associated with; and the relation between Anonymous and its offshoots. This research provides a descriptive characterization of the topological and semantic complexity of Anonymous and invites to reflect on the simplifications that our vocabulary and methods entail vis a vis the complexity of digital entities delimited by and individuated through hashtags.

Evolution of microscopic heterogeneity and dynamics in choline chloride-based deep eutectic solvents

Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) are an emerging class of non-aqueous solvents that are potentially scalable, easy to prepare and functionalize for many applications ranging from biomass processing to energy storage technologies. Predictive understanding of the fundamental correlations between local structure and macroscopic properties is needed to exploit the large design space and tunability of DESs for specific applications. Here, we employ a range of computational and experimental techniques that span length-scales from molecular to macroscopic and timescales from picoseconds to seconds to study the evolution of structure and dynamics in model DESs, namely Glyceline and Ethaline, starting from the parent compounds. We show that systematic addition of choline chloride leads to microscopic heterogeneities that alter the primary structural relaxation in glycerol and ethylene glycol and result in new dynamic modes that are strongly correlated to the macroscopic properties of the DES formed.

Mechanisms of dispersal and colonisation in a wind-borne cereal pest, the haplodiploid wheat curl mite

Dispersal and colonisation determine the survival and success of organisms, and influence the structure and dynamics of communities and ecosystems in space and time. Both affect the gene flow between populations, ensuring sufficient level of genetic variation and improving adaptation abilities. In haplodiploids, such as Aceria tosichella (wheat curl mite, WCM), a population may be founded even by a single unfertilised female, so there is a risk of heterozygosity loss (i.e. founder effect). It may lead to adverse outcomes, such as inbreeding depression. Yet, the strength of the founder effect partly depends on the genetic variation of the parental population. WCM is an economically important pest with a great invasive potential, but its dispersal and colonisation mechanisms were poorly studied before. Therefore, here we assessed WCM dispersal and colonisation potential in relation to the genetic variation of the parental population. We checked whether this potential may be linked to specific pre-dispersal actions (e.g. mating before dispersal and collective behaviour). Our study confirms that dispersal strategies of WCM are not dependent on heterozygosity in the parental population, and the efficient dispersal of this species depends on collective movement of fertilised females.

Assessment of Effect of Hydropower Plant Projects on Socio-Environmental Sustenance and Development in Rwanda: A Review Done At Rubagabaga Hydropower Ltd.

The study investigated the socio-economic and environmental impact of hydropower projects in Rwanda with a case study of Rubagabaga hydropower Ltd operating from Nyabihu District. It examines the impact of a socio-economic and environmental hydropower plant in Rwanda, identifies the challenge hydropower plants face in Rwanda, and finally investigates the relationship between hydro powers and their socio-economic impact in Rwanda? In this research, the quantitative research design is based on statistical data of the research that was used with quantitative and qualitative methods. Questionnaires were used to collect data. The target population of this study was made up of 252 participants including 154 respondents all from ten different villages surrounding the Rubagabaga plant in Nyabihu District. Data were analyzed using descriptive and correlation analysis and tables that were interpreted to confirm or deny the relevance of the main and specific objectives. Based on results from table no.16 demonstrates that the beta= 0.397 with the t value of 2.333 and the p-value of 0. 021. Since the p-value is less than 0.05, the researcher rejected the null hypothesis and considered it an alternate. There is a strong positive relationship between environmental assessment of hydropower plant projects and socio-environmental sustenance and development. In a nutshell, the researcher has rejected the null hypothesis and considered its alternate. Community structure and dynamics have a positive influence on socio-environmental sustenance and development. Table no.16 shows that beta= 0.341 with the t value of 2.668 as the p-value was 0.009. Since the p-value is less than 0.05. Therefore, the researcher rejected the null hypothesis and considered it an alternate. According to table no.21, the changes in community structure and dynamics of the hydropower plant project cause the increase of 0.341 (34.1%) of the socio-environment sustenance and development. The ratio of beta modal results for the t value expressed t=2.66 hence the probability value is significant on socio-environment sustenance and development noting that sig. =0.009. Carefully, the researcher has rejected the null hypothesis and considered its alternate. With this in mind, community structure and dynamics has a positive influence on socio-environmental sustenance and development. Table no.16 has shown beta= 0.478 with the t value of 4.543 as the p-value was 0.000 which is less than 0.05. According to the findings, the changes in government policies, stability, and support of hydropower plant project causes the increase of 0.478 (47.80%) of the socio-environment sustenance and development. The ratio of beta modal results for the t value expressed t= 4.54 hence the probability value is significant on socio-environment sustenance and development noting that sig. =0.000.

Changes in the Local Conformational States Caused by Simple Na+ and K+ Ions in Polyelectrolyte Simulations: Comparison of Seven Force Fields with and without NBFIX and ECC Corrections

Electrostatic interactions have a determining role in the conformational and dynamic behavior of polyelectrolyte molecules. In this study, anionic polyelectrolyte molecules, poly(glutamic acid) (PGA) and poly(aspartic acid) (PASA), in a water solution with the most commonly used K+ or Na+ counterions, were investigated using atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. We performed a comparison of seven popular force fields, namely AMBER99SB-ILDN, AMBER14SB, AMBER-FB15, CHARMM22*, CHARMM27, CHARMM36m and OPLS-AA/L, both with their native parameters and using two common corrections for overbinding of ions, the non-bonded fix (NBFIX), and electronic continuum corrections (ECC). These corrections were originally introduced to correct for the often-reported problem concerning the overbinding of ions to the charged groups of polyelectrolytes. In this work, a comparison of the simulation results with existing experimental data revealed several differences between the investigated force fields. The data from these simulations and comparisons with previous experimental data were then used to determine the limitations and strengths of these force fields in the context of the structural and dynamic properties of anionic polyamino acids. Physical properties, such as molecular sizes, local structure, and dynamics, were studied using two types of common counterions, namely potassium and sodium. The results show that, in some cases, both the macroion size and dynamics depend strongly on the models (parameters) for the counterions due to strong overbinding of the ions and charged side chain groups. The local structures and dynamics are more sensitive to dihedral angle parameterization, resulting in a preference for defined monomer conformations and the type of correction used. We also provide recommendations based on the results.

The Structure and Dynamics of Modern United States Federal Case Law

The structure and dynamics of modern United States Federal Case Law are examined here. The analyses utilize large-scale network analysis tools, natural language processing techniques, and information theory to examine all the federal opinions in the Court Listener database, containing approximately 1.3 million judicial opinions and 11.4 million citations. The analyses are focused on modern United States Federal Case Law, as cases in the Court Listener database range from approximately 1926–2020 and include most Federal jurisdictions. We examine the data set from a structural perspective using the citation network, overall and by time and space (jurisdiction). In addition to citation structure, we examine the dataset from a topical and information theoretic perspective, again, overall and by time and space.

Development and Validation of Fluorinated Amino Acid Parameters for use with the AMBER ff15ipq Protein Force Field

We developed force field parameters for fluorinated aromatic amino acids enabling molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of fluorinated proteins. These parameters are tailored to the AMBER ff15ipq protein force field and enable the modeling of 4, 5, 6, and 7F-tryptophan, 3F- and 3,5F-tyrosine, and 4F- or 4-CF3-phenylalanine. The parameters include 181 unique atomic charges derived using the Implicitly Polarized Charge (IPolQ) scheme in the presence of SPC/Eb explicit water molecules and 9 unique bond, angle, or torsion terms. Our simulations of benchmark peptides and proteins maintain expected conformational propensities on the μs-timescale. In addition, we have developed an open-source Python program to calculate fluorine relaxation rates from MD simulations. The extracted relaxation rates from protein simulations are in good agreement with experimental values determined by 19F NMR. Collectively, our results illustrate the power and robustness of the IPolQ lineage of force fields for modeling structure and dynamics of fluorine containing proteins at the atomic level.

Microrheology to Understand the Viscosity Behavior of a Sophorolipid Biosurfactant

The microstructure of the aqueous solutions of purified acidic Sophorolipid (SL) has previously been studied using highly sophisticated methods such as SANS and Cryo-TEM. We were interested in whether (a) the main findings also apply to commercially available SL (which is a mixture of acidic and lactonic SL) and (b) more readily available methods such as DLS can be used to gain insight into the molecular aggregation of SL. Our work was motivated by the increasing interest in biosurfactants for applications in personal and household care. Moreover, the origin behind the more or less lack of rheological response to changes in pH is of practical relevance, as it is somewhat unusual for a carboxylate-group containing surfactant. By using DLS microrheology, we could elucidate the aggregation structure and dynamics of the surfactant on a microscopic scale. Surprisingly, the different degrees of protonation only impacted the microscopic properties such as exchange kinetics and the plateau values of the storage moduli.