Analysis of wind data for airport runway design

Purpose: To provide a methodology, and examples of application, for analyzing wind data for the correct orientation of airport runways. Design/methodology: More than 90000 observed wind data have been analyzed for each one of the three airports used as case studies. Both observed and estimated gusts have been considered. Findings: If only observed data are considered, each single runway of the three airports used as case studies is correctly oriented. When estimated gusts are considered, the FAA requirements are not satisfied by a single runway in some airports (which anyway satisfy such requirements by using more runways). Practical implications: The correct orientation of runways minimizes the crosswind components, then increases the safety of the airports. Originality/value: The paper provides a methodology to evaluate the orientation of existing runways and to design new runways. Such methodology is based on the analysis wind data, considering both observed values and estimated gusts.Peer Reviewe

The operation of two decarboxylases, transamination, and partitioning of C4 metabolic processes between mesophyll and bundle sheath cells allows light capture to be balanced for the maize C4 pathway.

The C4 photosynthesis carbon-concentrating mechanism in maize (Zea mays) has two CO2 delivery pathways to the bundle sheath (BS; via malate or aspartate), and rates of phosphoglyceric acid reduction, starch synthesis, and phosphoenolpyruvate regeneration also vary between BS and mesophyll (M) cells. The theoretical partitioning of ATP supply between M and BS cells was derived for these metabolic activities from simulated profiles of light penetration across a leaf, with a potential 3-fold difference in the fraction of ATP produced in the BS relative to M (from 0.29 to 0.96). A steady-state metabolic model was tested using varying light quality to differentially stimulate M or BS photosystems. CO2 uptake, ATP production rate (JATP; derived with a low oxygen/chlorophyll fluorescence method), and carbon isotope discrimination were measured on plants under a low light intensity, which is considered to affect C4 operating efficiency. The light quality treatments did not change the empirical ATP cost of gross CO2 assimilation (JATP/GA). Using the metabolic model, measured JATP/GA was compared with the predicted ATP demand as metabolic functions were varied between M and BS. Transamination and the two decarboxylase systems (NADP-malic enzyme and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase) were critical for matching ATP and reduced NADP demand in BS and M when light capture was varied under contrasting light qualities

Deriving C4 photosynthetic parameters from combined gas exchange and chlorophyll fluorescence using an Excel tool: theory and practice

The higher photosynthetic potential of C4 plants has led to extensive research over the past 50 years, including C4-dominated natural biomes, crops such as maize, or for evaluating the transfer of C4 traits into C3 lineages. Photosynthetic gas exchange can be measured in air or in a 2% Oxygen mixture using readily available commercial gas exchange and modulated PSII fluorescence systems. Interpretation of these data, however, requires an understanding (or the development) of various modelling approaches, which limit the use by non-specialists. In this paper we present an accessible summary of the theory behind the analysis and derivation of C4 photosynthetic parameters, and provide a freely available Excel Fitting Tool (EFT), making rigorous C4 data analysis accessible to a broader audience. Outputs include those defining C4 photochemical and biochemical efficiency, the rate of photorespiration, bundle sheath conductance to CO2 diffusion and the in vivo biochemical constants for PEP carboxylase. The EFT compares several methodological variants proposed by different investigators, allowing users to choose the level of complexity required to interpret data. We provide a complete analysis of gas exchange data on maize (as a model C4 organism and key global crop) to illustrate the approaches, their analysis and interpretation

A generalized stoichiometric model of C3, C2, C2+C4, and C4 photosynthetic metabolism.

The goal of suppressing photorespiration in crops to maximize assimilation and yield is stimulating considerable interest among researchers looking to bioengineer carbon-concentrating mechanisms into C3 plants. However, detailed quantification of the biochemical activities in the bundle sheath is lacking. This work presents a general stoichiometric model for C3, C2, C2+C4, and C4 assimilation (SMA) in which energetics, metabolite traffic, and the different decarboxylating enzymes (NAD-dependent malic enzyme, NADP-dependent malic enzyme, or phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase) are explicitly included. The SMA can be used to refine experimental data analysis or formulate hypothetical scenarios, and is coded in a freely available Microsoft Excel workbook. The theoretical underpinnings and general model behaviour are analysed with a range of simulations, including (i) an analysis of C3, C2, C2+C4, and C4 in operational conditions; (ii) manipulating photorespiration in a C3 plant; (iii) progressively upregulating a C2 shuttle in C3 photosynthesis; (iv) progressively upregulating a C4 cycle in C2 photosynthesis; and (v) manipulating processes that are hypothesized to respond to transient environmental inputs. Results quantify the functional trade-offs, such as the electron transport needed to meet ATP/NADPH demand, as well as metabolite traffic, inherent to different subtypes. The SMA refines our understanding of the stoichiometry of photosynthesis, which is of paramount importance for basic and applied research

A dynamic hydro-mechanical and biochemical model of stomatal conductance for C4 photosynthesis

C4 plants are major grain (maize, sorghum), sugar (sugarcane) and biofuel (Miscanthus) producers, and contribute ~20% to global productivity. Plants lose water through stomatal pores in order to acquire CO2 (assimilation, A), and control their carbon-for-water balance by regulating stomatal conductance (gS). The ability to mechanistically predict gS and A in response to atmospheric CO2, water availability and time is critical for simulating stomatal control of plant-atmospheric carbon and water exchange under current, past or future environmental conditions. Yet, dynamic mechanistic models for gS are lacking, especially for C4 photosynthesis. We developed and coupled a hydro-mechanical model of stomatal behaviour with a biochemical model of C4 photosynthesis, calibrated using gas exchange measurements in maize, and extended the coupled model with time- explicit functions to predict dynamic responses. We demonstrated the wider applicability of the model with three additional C4 grass species in which interspecific differences in stomatal behaviour could be accounted for by fitting a single parameter. The model accurately predicted steady-state responses of gS to light, atmospheric CO2 and O2, soil drying and evaporative demand, as well as dynamic responses to light intensity. Further analyses suggest the effect of variable leaf hydraulic conductance is negligible. Based on the model, we derived a set of equations suitable for incorporation in land surface models. Our model illuminates the processes underpinning stomatal control in C4 plants and suggests the hydraulic benefits associated with fast stomatal responses of C4 grasses may have supported the evolution of C4 photosynthesis

A model-based approach to recovering the structure of a plant from images

We present a method for recovering the structure of a plant directly from a small set of widely-spaced images. Structure recovery is more complex than shape estimation, but the resulting structure estimate is more closely related to phenotype than is a 3D geometric model. The method we propose is applicable to a wide variety of plants, but is demonstrated on wheat. Wheat is made up of thin elements with few identifiable features, making it difficult to analyse using standard feature matching techniques. Our method instead analyses the structure of plants using only their silhouettes. We employ a generate-and-test method, using a database of manually modelled leaves and a model for their composition to synthesise plausible plant structures which are evaluated against the images. The method is capable of efficiently recovering accurate estimates of plant structure in a wide variety of imaging scenarios, with no manual intervention

Anatomical constraints to C4 evolution: light harvesting capacity in the bundle sheath.

In C4 photosynthesis CO2 assimilation and reduction are typically coordinated across mesophyll (M) and bundle sheath (BS) cells, respectively. This system consequently requires sufficient light to reach BS to generate enough ATP to allow ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP) regeneration in BS. Leaf anatomy influences BS light penetration and therefore constrains C4 cycle functionality. Using an absorption scattering model (coded in Excel, and freely downloadable) we simulate light penetration profiles and rates of ATP production in BS across the C3 , C3 -C4 and C4 anatomical continua. We present a trade-off for light absorption between BS pigment concentration and space allocation. C3 BS anatomy limits light absorption and benefits little from high pigment concentrations. Unpigmented BS extensions increase BS light penetration. C4 and C3 -C4 anatomies have the potential to generate sufficient ATP in the BS, whereas typical C3 anatomy does not, except some C3 taxa closely related to C4 groups. Insufficient volume of BS, relative to M, will hamper a C4 cycle via insufficient BS light absorption. Thus, BS ATP production and RuBP regeneration, coupled with increased BS investments, allow greater operational plasticity. We propose that larger BS in C3 lineages may be co-opted for C3 -C4 and C4 biochemistry requirements

Cell density and airspace patterning in the leaf can be manipulated to increase leaf photosynthetic capacity

The pattern of cell division, growth and separation during leaf development determines the pattern and volume of airspace in a leaf. The resulting balance of cellular material and airspace is expected to significantly influence the primary function of the leaf, photosynthesis, and yet the manner and degree to which cell division patterns affect airspace networks and photosynthesis remains largely unexplored. In this paper we investigate the relationship of cell size and patterning, airspace and photosynthesis by promoting and repressing the expression of cell cycle genes in the leaf mesophyll. Using microCT imaging to quantify leaf cellular architecture and fluorescence/gas exchange analysis to measure leaf function, we show that increased cell density in the mesophyll of Arabidopsis can be used to increase leaf photosynthetic capacity. Our analysis suggests that this occurs both by increasing tissue density (decreasing the relative volume of airspace) and by altering the pattern of airspace distribution within the leaf. Our results indicate that cell division patterns influence the photosynthetic performance of a leaf, and that it is possible to engineer improved photosynthesis via this approach

Antropologia della levitazione. Un percorso nel pensiero di Peter Sloterdijk

Nello scritto seguente vogliamo confrontarci con il pensiero maturo di uno tra i più appassionanti e innovativi filosofi contemporanei, il tedesco Peter Sloterdijk. La nostra ricognizione si soffermerà sull’originale ritratto dell’uomo che emerge dal confronto tra la prospettiva del nostro autore con quelle, rispettivamente, di Martin Heidegger e di Arnold Gehlen. In particolare, desideriamo rinvenire ed esplorare i diversi aspetti del rapporto tra il concetto di sfera e quell’essere vivente che noi stessi siamo.In the following writing we desire to converse with the mature thought of one of the most absorbing and creative living philosopher, the German Peter Sloterdijk. Our expedition will investigate his original portrait of the man, as it emerges by a confrontation among the perspective of the author himself with those of Martin Heidegger and Arnold Gehlen, respectively. In particular, our intent is to explore the different aspects of the relationship between the concept of sphere and this living being that we are