Measurements of the light-absorbing material inside cloud droplets and its effect on cloud albedo

Most of the measurements of light-absorbing aerosol particles made previously have been in non-cloudy air and therefore provide no insight into aerosol effects on cloud properties. Here, researchers describe an experiment designed to measure light absorption exclusively due to substances inside cloud droplets, compare the results to related light absorption measurements, and evaluate possible effects on the albedo of clouds. The results of this study validate those of Twomey and Cocks and show that the measured levels of light-absorbing material are negligible for the radiative properties of realistic clouds. For the measured clouds, which appear to have been moderately polluted, the amount of elemental carbon (EC) present was insufficient to affect albedo. Much higher contaminant levels or much larger droplets than those measured would be necessary to significantly alter the radiative properties. The effect of the concentrations of EC actually measured on the albedo of snow, however, would be much more pronounced since, in contrast to clouds, snowpacks are usually optically semi-infinite and have large particle sizes

Sugarcane transgenics expressing MYB transcription factors show improved glucose release

Additional file 1: Figure S1. Nucleotide and amino acid alignments of MYB31 and MYB42. Alignments of published (Fornalé et al. 2006) and cloned nucleotide and amino acid sequences (ORF and UTR) for ZmMYB31 (NM_001112479) and ZmMYB42 (NM_001112539). Alignments were made using the Kyoto University Bioinformatics Center website ( http://www.genome.jp/tools-bin/clustalw ) and amino acid translations were made using the ORF region of each MYB nucleotide sequences and Vector NTI software. The start and stop codons are underlined in nucleotide sequence alignments with the 5′ and 3′ UTR regions being upstream and downstream of the start and stop codons respectively. The R2 and R3 motifs in each sequence are underlined with light gray and dark grey shading respectively

The Impact of Trauma Experience, Adverse Early Circumstances and Unit Cohesion on Posttraumatic Growth in Active Duty Service Members

Active duty service members are regularly exposed to highly traumatic events. Commonly, individuals exposed to trauma experience positive changes as a result of the trauma they experienced. The likelihood of these changes occurring can be positively or negatively influenced by characteristics of the event itself, the biopsychosocial history of the service member, and the availability of internal and external coping resources. The present study aimed to evaluate how threat to life during a traumatic event influences posttraumatic growth using a sample of active duty service members (N = 818). Participant’s ranged in age from 19 to 54 (M = 26.5) and were predominantly male (97.7%) and Caucasian (66.8%). The military rank of participants ranged from E-1 to O-6 with the average rank falling between E-5 and E-6, and participants reported being deployed an average of 1.89 times. This sample consisted of archival data collected by the United States Army as part of the Post Deployment Health Reassessment. In addition to examining the effect of threat to life on posttraumatic growth, the present study also evaluated the moderating effects of adverse childhood experiences and unit cohesion. These moderators were included in order to provide better understanding of mechanisms which facilitate or hinder posttraumatic growth, and to identify targets for intervention. Results indicated that threat to life (b = 1.72, t [804] = 1.98, p = .048), and unit cohesion (b = .415, t [804] = 5.26, p \u3c.001) both significantly predict posttraumatic growth, and that adverse childhood experiences may decrease the strength of the relationship between threat to life and posttraumatic growth. This moderation effect approached, but fell short, of significance (b = -.65, t [804] = -1.62, p = .095). The moderating effect of unit cohesion was not significant (b = .012, t [804] = .342, p = .732). These results emphasize the importance of assessing for pre-military factors which may increase service member vulnerability, intervening to increase adaptive coping skills of service members, assessing and taking steps to strengthen unit relationships, and developing policy and strategy which allow units to stay together pre and post deployment

Examining the Northern Shrimp Fishery in a Changing Gulf of Maine

Northern Shrimp (Pandalus borealis) once supported a key commercial fishery in the State of Maine. Since its closure in 2013, the stock has remained in a particularly vulnerable state following recruitment failure, overfishing, and rising water temperatures. Furthermore, without this source of supplemental income, local fishermen have also experienced financial stress following unstable fishing conditions in other fisheries. The collective goal of this research project was to assess factors impacting the feasibility of reopening and maintaining this vulnerable winter fishery. These goals are addressed over 4 chapters. Chapter two offers insight regarding what is most often omitted from the regulatory process in fisheries management, including fisher acumen and cooperative opportunities to broaden the coalition for stewardship among resource users. By examining qualitative data collected through survey efforts, fishermen provide a first-hand account of fundamental and broadly applicable circumstances that impact fisher behavior, often resulting in inefficient outcomes in fisheries management. Collectively, qualitative data collected through industry based surveys highlight relevant environmental, biological, socioeconomic, and fishery-specific factors hindering the development and implementation of more efficient management practices. Assessment of the response of shrimp to changing environmental conditions and anthropogenic activity is critical to accurately determine appropriate fishing levels, especially given the lowered ability of the stock to build resilience. In Chapter three, I explore the relationship between size-at-transition and potential environmental and anthropogenic sources of influence impacting this biological process. Results showed that size-at-transition is more strongly influenced by environmental conditions experienced by northern shrimp as juveniles. Specifically, surface temperatures observed throughout the summer and fall seasons inshore were most significant, with decreases in size-at-transition observed at higher temperatures. Size at which shrimp transition from male to female is a critical stage in the life history strategy of northern shrimp. Given the vulnerable state of the fishery, managers will need to account more strongly for decreases in reproductive potential associated with smaller female body size. Such information is important to incorporate into future regulatory strategies in support of the stock’s restoration. It is hypothesized that decreases in size-at-transition will continue to occur considering rising water temperatures; additional studies show that warm water accelerates metabolic growth rates in juvenile shrimp, facilitating increased molting frequency with lower overall growth observed. Consistent with past trends, it is likely that shifting environmental conditions will continue to have adverse impacts on the northern shrimp fishery in the Gulf of Maine (GOM). If the fishery is to reopen, managers will likely be forced to make tough decisions regarding effort and participation if they intend to establish an ecologically and economically sustainable fishery. In the fourth and final chapter, I utilize a fishery-level production function to understand what suite of factors most strongly influence output (i.e. landings) within the fishery, highlighting key differences in strategy between both trap and trawl gear types. Furthermore, results of this analysis provide insight into the relationship between effort and shifts in harvestable biomass. A deeper understanding of sources of vulnerability and factors impacting a fisherman’s adaptive capacity is crucial for the development of more effective management strategies. Used as a proxy for shifting environmental conditions, monthly remaining biomass exhibited a positive relationship with northern shrimp landings for both gear types, as did landings and certain input effort factors such as sea time, number of traps used (trappers), and number of tows (trawlers). Results suggest that certain gear types are likely to experience increased vulnerability than others, and increased control on effort will likely be necessary to better control landings within the fishery. Shortcomings within each chapter are observed, namely due to inconsistent data collection efforts and a shortened times series regarding the data utilized within each study. Despite relatively short time series of data included, this study provides important information to help determine fleet size and effort levels should the fishery reopen in the future. Collectively, the information obtained through these studies provide valuable insight regarding 1) the impact shifting environmental conditions may continue to have on the fishery, and 2) ways in which fishers and managers may account for these shifts while facilitating cooperative efforts in the interest of biological and socioeconomic stability within the fishery

The fact of power: freedom and determinism in the works of Allan Massie

This thesis will provide an assessment of the novels of Allan Massie in the light of his critical writing and the demonstration of his engagement with the works of Jean-Paul Sartre and Sir Walter Scott. Massie's political opinions and the much-noted influence of Evelyn Waugh on his work have led to the assumption that Massie's novels sit uncomfortably alongside the main currents of modem Scottish fiction. This thesis contends that the comparisons with Waugh have tended to obscure Massie's metafictional technique and his employment of overt and implicit intertextual discourses with the works of both Sartre and Scott. This facet of Massie' s fictional oeuvre represents an engagement with European philosophy, political thought and literature from within a tradition of Scottish fiction which is part of an expansive post-modem European literary discourse.The engagement with French existentialism places Massie within a strong contemporary field of Scottish fiction alongside such authors as Spark, Kelman and McTivanney. This thesis reveals Massie's conviction that the cultural inheritance of Calvinist theology predisposes Scottish writers towards the discourse between free will and determinism which features so prominently within French existentialism. Massie's novels infer the shared philosophical and cultural ground between Sartre and Scott. Massie's engagement with Walter Scott elucidates his critical engagement with Sartre by revealing the role of the unconscious mind in the extent of freedom which the individual may possess, and exposing the propensity of Sartre's thought to solipsism.The analysis of Massie's novels reveals an interrogation of Sartrean existentialism as it is presented in Sartre's philosophical, critical, dramatic and fictional works. Massie's early novels contain an overt discourse with Sartrean philosophical ideas which is enhanced by an implied intertextual discourse with Sartre's dramatic works. Massie's trilogy of novels which examines the milieu of the Second World War and its consequences further engages with Sartre's own narrative technique on the ground of both Sartrean existential philosophy and the traditional fictive historiography of Scott. Massie questions the possible responses to the end of Empire and global conflict which are present within Sartre's works. This thesis observes that Massie clearly admires Sartre's call for the writer to engage with the world in which he or she is situated but acknowledges his implication that the danger of solipsism within Sartrean existentialism may betray that intent by inadvertently advocating a flight into the abstract. For Massie, the fact of external reality demands an acknowledgement of the limits of action. This undermines the Sartrean aim of radical freedom

Study of pulmonary edema in hypothermic rats.

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston UniversityThe terminal condition of acute pulmonary edema in hypothermic rabbits, dogs, rats, and humans has been reported by a number of authors, but on no occasion has any effort been made to relate this finding to the cause of death. The following study was carried out in an attempt to determine whether such a causal relationship does exist in rats. Because both ventricular arrhythmias and various degrees of heart block have been described in the electrocardiograms of hypothermic animals, electrocardiographic studies were made in these experiments to establish whether there was any correlation between the pattern seen and the presence or absence of pulmonary edema. [TRUNCATED

Frog Ponds and Baby Beanies: How One School Fosters Student and Teacher Wellbeing Through Connecting with their Community

The Context It is Tuesday afternoon at Prescott College, a Seventh-day Adventist high school in an inner suburb of Adelaide. Students and teachers are packing up their books, pens, computers and folders. But next, some are gathering garden tools, others are setting up a puppet theatre and still others are tuning up musical instruments. Students and teachers are all engaged in purposeful activity. It is service learning time, a program that fosters wellbeing for both students and staff

A review of collaborative biopsychosocial healthcare worldwide

This review calls attention to the importance of collaborative care in international settings and highlight advances in models of care that are emerging globally. As our understanding of physical and mental health increases, healthcare continues to move towards a systemic approach to the mind-body dichotomy. This shift has resulted in increased provider collaboration and formation of multidisciplinary healthcare organizations. We propose that collaborative care is an effective way for providers to meet the physical and mental healthcare needs of patients across cultures. We further propose categorizing collaborative care models on a continuum of the degree of physical and functional integration