3,212 research outputs found
Representing Complexity in Part-Whole Relationships within the Foundational Model of Anatomy
The Foundational Model of Anatomy (FMA) is a frame-based ontology that represents declarative knowledge about the structural organization of the human body. Part-whole relationships play a particularly important role in this representation. In order to assure that knowledge-based applications relying on the FMA as a resource can reason about anatomy, we have modified and enhanced currently available schemes of meronymic relationships. We have introduced and defined distinct partitions for decomposing anatomical structures and attributed the part relationships in order to eliminate ambiguity and enhance specificity in the richness of meronymic relationships within the FMA
Landing Preference and Reproduction of Rhopalosiphum padi (Hemiptera: Aphididae) in the Laboratory on Three Maize, Potato, and Wheat Cultivars
The bird cherry-oat aphid Rhopalosiphum padi (L.) transmits the nonpersistent Potato virus Y (PVY) to seed potatoes. Planting a nonvirus host plant around the main crop can reduce PVY incidence, because aphids tend to land in high numbers at the edge of a field and the crop border acts as a virus sink. This study determined R. padi landing and settling preferences and reproductive rates on three cultivars each of maize and wheat compared with potato in the laboratory as a basis for identifying an attractive crop border plant. Aphids were reared on maize and wheat to control for bias due to previous experience. Irrespective of origin, alates preferred to land almost exclusively on maize and wheat rather than on potato cultivars in choice experiments. Aphid settling on the maize and wheat cultivars depended on aphid origin. In no-choice experiments, R. padi produced the highest number of offspring on the wheat cultivars, irrespective of origin. Plant nitrogen content and trichome density did not influence R. padi reproduction. The study demonstrates that host plant preference of aphids may vary between plant cultivars and can therefore influence the effectiveness of a crop border. The high landing rate but low reproduction suggest that maize cultivars '6Q-121' and '78-15B' could be suitable crop border plants in regions where R. padi is abundant. Before testing potential crop border plants in the field, cultivars should be screened using aphid landing, settling and reproduction as selection criteria
Problems and Solutions with Integrating Terminologies into Evolving Knowledge Bases
We have merged two established anatomical terminologies with an evolving ontology of biological structure: the Foundational Model of Anatomy. We describe the problems we have encountered and the solutions we have developed. We believe that both the problems and solutions generalize to the integration of any legacy terminology with a disciplined ontology within the same domain
Starting a 150-cow intensive rotational grazing dairy (2011)
This guide examines the financial feasibility of starting a 150-cow intensive rotational grazing dairy in Missouri. The model dairy described is designed to be a pasture-based dairy to use labor and capital as efficiently as possible. This dairy is designed to be located in an area where winter weather conditions and soil types allow cattle to be housed outside all year
Starting a 75-cow intensive rotational grazing dairy (2011)
This guide examines the financial feasibility of starting a 75-cow intensive rotational grazing dairy in Missouri. The model dairy described is designed to be a pasture-based dairy to use labor and capital as efficiently as possible. This dairy is designed to be located in an area where winter weather conditions and soil types allow cattle to be housed outside all year
Atomic Scale Depth Profile of Space Weathering in an Itokawa Olivine Grain
No abstract available
The atmospheric impacts of monoterpene ozonolysis on global stabilised Criegee intermediate budgets and SO2 oxidation : experiment, theory and modelling
The gas-phase reaction of alkenes with ozone is known to produce stabilised
Criegee intermediates (SCIs). These biradical/zwitterionic species have the
potential to act as atmospheric oxidants for trace pollutants such as
SO<sub>2</sub>, enhancing the formation of sulfate aerosol with impacts on air
quality and health, radiative transfer and climate. However, the importance
of this chemistry is uncertain as a consequence of limited understanding of
the abundance and atmospheric fate of SCIs. In this work we apply
experimental, theoretical and numerical modelling methods to quantify the
atmospheric impacts, abundance and fate of the structurally diverse SCIs
derived from the ozonolysis of monoterpenes, the second most abundant group
of unsaturated hydrocarbons in the atmosphere. We have investigated the
removal of SO<sub>2</sub> by SCIs formed from the ozonolysis of three
atmospherically important monoterpenes (<i>α</i>-pinene, <i>β</i>-pinene and
limonene) in the presence of varying amounts of water vapour in large-scale
simulation chamber experiments that are representative of boundary layer conditions.
The SO<sub>2</sub> removal displays a clear dependence on water vapour
concentration, but this dependence is not linear across the range of
[H<sub>2</sub>O] explored. At low [H<sub>2</sub>O] a strong dependence of SO<sub>2</sub>
removal on [H<sub>2</sub>O] is observed, while at higher [H<sub>2</sub>O] this dependence
becomes much weaker. This is interpreted as being caused by the production of
a variety of structurally (and hence chemically) different SCIs in each of the
systems studied, which displayed different rates of reaction with water and
of unimolecular rearrangement or decomposition. The determined rate constants,
<i>k</i>(SCI+H<sub>2</sub>O), for those SCIs that react primarily with H<sub>2</sub>O range
from 4 to 310 × 10<sup>−15</sup> cm<sup>3</sup> s<sup>−1</sup>. For those SCIs that
predominantly react unimolecularly, determined rates range from
130 to 240 s<sup>−1</sup>. These values are in line with previous results for the
(analogous) stereo-specific SCI system of <i>syn</i>-/<i>anti</i>-CH<sub>3</sub>CHOO. The experimental results are
interpreted through theoretical studies of the SCI unimolecular reactions and
bimolecular reactions with H<sub>2</sub>O, characterised for <i>α</i>-pinene and
<i>β</i>-pinene at the M06-2X/aug-cc-pVTZ level of theory. The theoretically
derived rates agree with the experimental results within the uncertainties. A
global modelling study, applying the experimental results within the
GEOS-Chem chemical transport model, suggests that > 97 % of
the total monoterpene-derived global SCI burden is comprised of SCIs with a
structure that determines that they react slowly with water and that their atmospheric
fate is dominated by unimolecular reactions. Seasonally averaged boundary
layer concentrations of monoterpene-derived SCIs reach up to
1.4 × 10<sup>4</sup> cm<sup>−3</sup> in regions of elevated monoterpene
emissions in the tropics. Reactions of monoterpene-derived SCIs with SO<sub>2</sub>
account for < 1 % globally but may account for up to 60 % of
the gas-phase SO<sub>2</sub> removal over areas of tropical forests, with
significant localised impacts on the formation of sulfate aerosol and hence
the lifetime and distribution of SO<sub>2</sub>
Ozonolysis of a-phellandrene - Part 2 : Compositional analysis of secondary organic aerosol highlights the role of stabilized Criegee intermediates
The molecular composition of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) generated from the ozonolysis of α-phellandrene is investigated for the first time using high pressure liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution Quadrupole-Orbitrap tandem mass spectrometry. In total, 21 prominent products or isomeric product groups were identified using both positive and negative ionisation modes, with potential formation mechanisms discussed. The aerosol was found to be composed primarily of polyfunctional first- and second-generation species containing one or more carbonyl, acid, alcohol and hydroperoxide functionalities, with the products significantly more complex than those proposed from basic gas-phase chemistry in the companion paper (Mackenzie-Rae et al., 2017a). Mass spectra show a large number of dimeric products are also formed. Both direct scavenging evidence using formic acid, and indirect evidence from double bond equivalency factors, suggests the dominant oligomerisation mechanism is the bimolecular reaction of stabilised Criegee intermediates (SCIs) with non-radical ozonolysis products. Saturation vapour concentration estimates suggest monomeric species cannot explain the rapid nucleation burst of fresh aerosol observed in chamber experiments, hence dimeric species are believed to be responsible for new particle formation, with detected first- and second-generation products driving further particle growth in the system. Ultimately, identification of the major constituents and formation pathways of α-phellandrene SOA leads to a greater understanding of the atmospheric processes and implications of monoterpene emissions and SCIs, especially around Eucalypt forests regions where α-phellandrene is primarily emitted
Seasonal dependence of peroxy radical concentrations at a Northern hemisphere marine boundary layer site during summer and winter: evidence for radical activity in winter
Peroxy radicals (HO2+Σ RO2) were measured at the Weybourne Atmospheric Observatory (52° N, 1° E), Norfolk using a PEroxy Radical Chemical Amplifier (PERCA) during the winter and summer of 2002. The peroxy radical diurnal cycles showed a marked difference between the winter and summer campaigns with maximum concentrations of 12 pptv at midday in the summer and maximum concentrations as high as 30 pptv (10 min averages) in winter at night. The corresponding nighttime peroxy radical concentrations were not as high in summer (3 pptv). The peroxy radical concentration shows a distinct anti-correlation with increasing NOx during the daylight hours. At night, peroxy radicals increase with increasing NOx indicative of the role of NO3 chemistry. The average diurnal cycles for net ozone production, N(O3) show a large variability in ozone production, P(O3), and a large ozone loss, L(O3) in summer relative to winter. For a daylight average, net ozone production in summer was higher than winter (1.51±0.5 ppbv h−1 and 1.11±0.47 ppbv h−1, respectively). The variability in NO concentration has a much larger effect on N(O3) than the peroxy radical concentrations. Photostationary state (PSS) calculations show an NO2 lifetime of 5 min in summer and 21 minutes in the winter, implying that steady-state NO-NO2 ratios are not always attained during the winter months. The results show an active peroxy radical chemistry at night and that significant oxidant levels are sustained in winter. The net effect of this with respect to production of ozone in winter is unclear owing to the breakdown in the photostationary state
H3+ in Diffuse Interstellar Clouds: a Tracer for the Cosmic-Ray Ionization Rate
Using high resolution infrared spectroscopy we have surveyed twenty
sightlines for H3+ absorption. H3+ is detected in eight diffuse cloud
sightlines with column densities varying from 0.6x10^14 cm^-2 to 3.9x10^14
cm^-2. This brings to fourteen the total number of diffuse cloud sightlines
where H3+ has been detected. These detections are mostly along sightlines
concentrated in the Galactic plane, but well dispersed in Galactic longitude.
The results imply that abundant H3+ is common in the diffuse interstellar
medium. Because of the simple chemistry associated with H3+ production and
destruction, these column density measurements can be used in concert with
various other data to infer the primary cosmic-ray ionization rate, zeta_p.
Values range from 0.5x10^-16 s^-1 to 3x10^-16 s^-1 with an average of 2x10^-16
s^-1. Where H3+ is not detected the upper limits on the ionization rate are
consistent with this range. The average value of zeta_p is about an order of
magnitude larger than both the canonical rate and rates previously reported by
other groups using measurements of OH and HD. The discrepancy is most likely
due to inaccurate measurements of rate constants and the omission of effects
which were unknown when those studies were performed. We believe that the
observed column density of H3+ is the most direct tracer for the cosmic-ray
ionization rate due to its simple chemistry. Recent models of diffuse cloud
chemistry require cosmic-ray ionization rates on the order of 10^-16 s^-1 to
reproduce observed abundances of various atomic and molecular species, in rough
accord with our observational findings.Comment: Accepted to ApJ, 35 pages, 5 figures, 5 table
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