285 research outputs found

    An upper limit for the water outgassing rate of the main-belt comet 176P/LINEAR observed with Herschel/HIFI

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    176P/LINEAR is a member of the new cometary class known as main-belt comets (MBCs). It displayed cometary activity shortly during its 2005 perihelion passage that may be driven by the sublimation of sub-surface ices. We have therefore searched for emission of the H2O 110-101 ground state rotational line at 557 GHz toward 176P/LINEAR with the Heterodyne Instrument for the Far Infrared (HIFI) on board the Herschel Space Observatory on UT 8.78 August 2011, about 40 days after its most recent perihelion passage, when the object was at a heliocentric distance of 2.58 AU. No H2O line emission was detected in our observations, from which we derive sensitive 3-sigma upper limits for the water production rate and column density of < 4e25 molec/s and of < 3e10 cm^{-2}, respectively. From the peak brightness measured during the object's active period in 2005, this upper limit is lower than predicted by the relation between production rates and visual magnitudes observed for a sample of comets by Jorda et al. (2008) at this heliocentric distance. Thus, 176P/LINEAR was likely less active at the time of our observation than during its previous perihelion passage. The retrieved upper limit is lower than most values derived for the H2O production rate from the spectroscopic search for CN emission in MBCs.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. Minor changes to match published versio

    Gas morphology and energetics at the surface of PDRs: new insights with Herschel observations of NGC 7023

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    We investigate the physics and chemistry of the gas and dust in dense photon-dominated regions (PDRs), along with their dependence on the illuminating UV field. Using Herschel-HIFI observations, we study the gas energetics in NGC 7023 in relation to the morphology of this nebula. NGC 7023 is the prototype of a PDR illuminated by a B2V star and is one of the key targets of Herschel. Our approach consists in determining the energetics of the region by combining the information carried by the mid-IR spectrum (extinction by classical grains, emission from very small dust particles) with that of the main gas coolant lines. In this letter, we discuss more specifically the intensity and line profile of the 158 micron (1901 GHz) [CII] line measured by HIFI and provide information on the emitting gas. We show that both the [CII] emission and the mid-IR emission from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) arise from the regions located in the transition zone between atomic and molecular gas. Using the Meudon PDR code and a simple transfer model, we find good agreement between the calculated and observed [CII] intensities. HIFI observations of NGC 7023 provide the opportunity to constrain the energetics at the surface of PDRs. Future work will include analysis of the main coolant line [OI] and use of a new PDR model that includes PAH-related species.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics Letters (Herschel HIFI special issue), 5 pages, 5 figure

    Leading school networks, hybrid leadership in action?

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    A range of different constructs are used to describe and define the way that leadership operates in education settings. This range can be presented as binary categories of leadership, in which either one, or the other form of leadership is preferred, but not both. An example of this is the contrast made between solo and distributed leadership. A more sophisticated alternative has been proposed, which is to consider leadership as a hybrid activity, one which entails a range of approaches inspired by varying ideals. Taking this ‘hybrid’ notion of leadership this article explores the nature of leadership in networks of schools. Illustrated with data from three case studies of school networks this article highlights some of the issues and tensions in the enactment of the hybrid forms of leadership encountered in these networks. This article concludes with some reflections on the adoption of hybrid notions of leadership in researching and enacting educational leadership and specifically on the place of school networks in that consideration

    Comparison of Cellulosic Ethanol Yields from Midwestern Maize and Reconstructed Tallgrass Prairie Systems Managed for Bioenergy

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    Maize- and prairie-based systems were investigated as cellulosic feedstocks by conducting a 9 ha side-by-side comparison on fertile soils in the Midwestern United States. Maize was grown continuously with adequate fertilization over years both with and without a winter rye cover crop, and the 31-species reconstructed prairie was grown with and without spring nitrogen fertilization. Both maize stover and prairie biomass were harvested in the fall. We compared amounts of cellulosic biomass produced and harvested, carbohydrate contents as measured by both dietary and detergent methods, and estimated cellulosic ethanol yields per hectare. From 2009–2013, the cropping system with the largest non-grain biomass yield was fertilized prairie, averaging 10.4 Mg ha−1 year−1 aboveground biomass with average harvest removals of 7.8 Mg ha−1 year−1. The unfertilized prairie produced 7.4 Mg ha−1 year−1 aboveground biomass, with average harvests of 5.3 Mg ha−1 year−1. Lowest cellulosic (non-grain) biomass harvests were obtained from continuous maize systems, averaging 3.5 Mg ha−1 year−1 when grown with, and 3.7 Mg ha−1 year−1 when grown without a winter rye cover crop, respectively. Unfertilized prairie biomass and maize stover had equivalent dietary-determined potential biomass ethanol yields at 330 g ethanol kg−1 dry biomass, but fertilized prairie was lower at 315. The detergent method did not accurately capture these differences. Over the five-year period of the experiment, unfertilized and fertilized prairie systems averaged 810 and 1,790 L potential cellulosic ethanol ha−1 year−1 more than the maize systems, respectively. Differences in harvested biomass accounted for \u3e90 % of ethanol yield variation

    Skp is a multivalent chaperone of outer membrane proteins

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    The trimeric chaperone Skp sequesters outer-membrane proteins (OMPs) within a hydrophobic cage, thereby preventing their aggregation during transport across the periplasm in Gram-negative bacteria. Here, we studied the interaction between Escherichia coli Skp and five OMPs of varying size. Investigations of the kinetics of OMP folding revealed that higher Skp/OMP ratios are required to prevent the folding of 16-stranded OMPs compared with their 8-stranded counterparts. Ion mobility spectrometry–mass spectrometry (IMS–MS) data, computer modeling and molecular dynamics simulations provided evidence that 10- to 16-stranded OMPs are encapsulated within an expanded Skp substrate cage. For OMPs that cannot be fully accommodated in the expanded cavity, sequestration is achieved by binding of an additional Skp trimer. The results suggest a new mechanism for Skp chaperone activity involving the coordination of multiple copies of Skp in protecting a single substrate from aggregation

    Outer membrane protein folding from an energy landscape perspective

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    The cell envelope is essential for the survival of Gram-negative bacteria. This specialised membrane is densely packed with outer membrane proteins (OMPs), which perform a variety of functions. How OMPs fold into this crowded environment remains an open question. Here, we review current knowledge about OFMP folding mechanisms in vitro and discuss how the need to fold to a stable native state has shaped their folding energy landscapes. We also highlight the role of chaperones and the β-barrel assembly machinery (BAM) in assisting OMP folding in vivo and discuss proposed mechanisms by which this fascinating machinery may catalyse OMP folding

    Remote sensing vegetation index methods to evaluate changes in greenness and evapotranspiration in riparian vegetation in response to the Minute 319 environmental pulse flow to Mexico

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    During the spring of 2014, 130 million&thinsp;m3 of water were released from the United States' Morelos Dam on the lower Colorado River to Mexico, allowing water to reach the Gulf of California for the first time in 13 years. Our study assessed the effects of water transfer or ecological environmental flows from one nation to another, using remote sensing. Spatial applications for water resource evaluation are important for binational, integrated water resources management and planning for the Colorado River, which includes seven basin states in the US plus two states in Mexico. Our study examined the effects of the historic binational experiment (the Minute 319 agreement) on vegetative response along the riparian corridor. We used 250&thinsp;m Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) and 30&thinsp;m Landsat 8 satellite imagery to track evapotranspiration (ET) and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Our analysis showed an overall increase in NDVI and evapotranspiration (ET) in the year following the 2014 pulse, which reversed a decline in those metrics since the last major flood in 2000. NDVI and ET levels decreased in 2015, but were still significantly higher (P&thinsp;&lt;&thinsp;0.001) than pre-pulse (2013) levels. Preliminary findings show that the decline in 2015 persisted into 2016 and 2017. We continue to analyse results for 2018 in comparison to short-term (2013–2018) and long-term (2000–2018) trends. Our results support the conclusion that these environmental flows from the US to Mexico via the Minute 319 “pulse” had a positive, but short-lived (1 year), impact on vegetation growth in the delta.</p

    Factorization of strongly (p,sigma)-continuous multilinear operators

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    We introduce the new ideal of strongly-continuous linear operators in order to study the adjoints of the -absolutely continuous linear operators. Starting from this ideal we build a new multi-ideal by using the composition method. We prove the corresponding Pietsch domination theorem and we present a representation of this multi-ideal by a tensor norm. A factorization theorem characterizing the corresponding multi-ideal - which is also new for the linear case - is given. When applied to the case of the Cohen strongly -summing operators, this result gives also a new factorization theorem.D. Achour acknowledges with thanks the support of the Ministere de l'Enseignament Superieur et de la Recherche Scientifique (Algeria) under project PNR 8-U28-181. E. Dahia acknowledges with thanks the support of the Ministere de l'Enseignament Superieur et de la Recherche Scientifique (Algeria) [grant number 10/PG-FMI/2013] and the Universite de M'Sila (2013) for short term stage. P. Rueda acknowledges with thanks the support of the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (Spain) MTM2011-22417. E. A. Sanchez Perez acknowledges with thanks the support of the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (Spain) under project MTM2012-36740-C02-02.Achour, D.; Dahia, E.; Rueda, P.; Sánchez Pérez, EA. (2014). Factorization of strongly (p,sigma)-continuous multilinear operators. Linear and Multilinear Algebra. 62(12):1649-1670. doi:10.1080/03081087.2013.839677S164916706212Matter, U. (1987). Absolutely Continuous Operators and Super-Reflexivity. Mathematische Nachrichten, 130(1), 193-216. doi:10.1002/mana.19871300118Diestel, J., Jarchow, H., & Tonge, A. (1995). Absolutely Summing Operators. doi:10.1017/cbo9780511526138Pietsch, A. (1967). Absolut p-summierende Abbildungen in normierten Räumen. Studia Mathematica, 28(3), 333-353. doi:10.4064/sm-28-3-333-353Achour, D., & Mezrag, L. (2007). On the Cohen strongly p-summing multilinear operators. Journal of Mathematical Analysis and Applications, 327(1), 550-563. doi:10.1016/j.jmaa.2006.04.065Apiola, H. (1976). Duality between spaces ofp-summable sequences, (p, q)-summing operators and characterizations of nuclearity. Mathematische Annalen, 219(1), 53-64. doi:10.1007/bf01360858Sánchez PérezEA. Ideales de operadores absolutamente continuos y normas tensoriales asociadas [PhD Thesis]. Spain: Universidad Politécnica de Valencia; 1997.López Molina, J. A., & Sánchez Pérez, E. A. (2000). On operator ideals related to (p,σ)-absolutely continuous operators. Studia Mathematica, 138(1), 25-40. doi:10.4064/sm-138-1-25-40Cohen, J. S. (1973). Absolutelyp-summing,p-nuclear operators and their conjugates. Mathematische Annalen, 201(3), 177-200. doi:10.1007/bf01427941Mezrag, L., & Saadi, K. (2012). Inclusion and coincidence properties for Cohen strongly summing multilinear operators. Collectanea Mathematica, 64(3), 395-408. doi:10.1007/s13348-012-0071-2Achour, D., & Alouani, A. (2010). On multilinear generalizations of the concept of nuclear operators. Colloquium Mathematicum, 120(1), 85-102. doi:10.4064/cm120-1-7Mujica, X. (2008). τ(p;q)-summing mappings and the domination theorem. Portugaliae Mathematica, 211-226. doi:10.4171/pm/1806Campos, J. R. (2013). Cohen and multiple Cohen strongly summing multilinear operators. Linear and Multilinear Algebra, 62(3), 322-346. doi:10.1080/03081087.2013.779270Bu, Q., & Shi, Z. (2013). On Cohen almost summing multilinear operators. Journal of Mathematical Analysis and Applications, 401(1), 174-181. doi:10.1016/j.jmaa.2012.12.005Ryan, R. A. (2002). Introduction to Tensor Products of Banach Spaces. Springer Monographs in Mathematics. doi:10.1007/978-1-4471-3903-4Achour, D., & Belaib, M. T. (2011). Tensor norms related to the space of Cohen pp-nuclear‎ ‎multilinear mappings. Annals of Functional Analysis, 2(1), 128-138. doi:10.15352/afa/1399900268Achour, D. (2011). Multilinear extensions of absolutely (p;q;r)-summing operators. Rendiconti del Circolo Matematico di Palermo, 60(3), 337-350. doi:10.1007/s12215-011-0054-2Dahia, E., Achour, D., & Sánchez Pérez, E. A. (2013). Absolutely continuous multilinear operators. Journal of Mathematical Analysis and Applications, 397(1), 205-224. doi:10.1016/j.jmaa.2012.07.034Botelho, G., Pellegrino, D., & Rueda, P. (2007). On Composition Ideals of Multilinear Mappings and Homogeneous Polynomials. Publications of the Research Institute for Mathematical Sciences, 43(4), 1139-1155. doi:10.2977/prims/1201012383Pellegrino, D., Santos, J., & Seoane-Sepúlveda, J. B. (2012). Some techniques on nonlinear analysis and applications. Advances in Mathematics, 229(2), 1235-1265. doi:10.1016/j.aim.2011.09.014Ramanujan, M. S., & Schock, E. (1985). Operator ideals and spaces of bilinear operators. Linear and Multilinear Algebra, 18(4), 307-318. doi:10.1080/03081088508817695Floret, K., & Hunfeld, S. (2002). Proceedings of the American Mathematical Society, 130(05), 1425-1436. doi:10.1090/s0002-9939-01-06228-
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