Digital elevation models (DEM) are widely used to determine characteristics of mass movement processes such as accumulation and deposition of material, volume estimates or the orientation of ...discontinuities. To create such DEMs point cloud data is provided by terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) and recently used for analysis of mass movements. Therefore the reliability of TLS data was investigated in a comparative study with tachymetry. The main focus was on the possibility of determining movement patterns of landslides <100 mm. Therefore, several post processing steps are needed and the reliability of those were analyzed. The post processing steps that were investigated include: (1) The registration process is a crucial step considering long term TLS monitoring of an object and can be significantly improved using an iterative closest point (ICP) algorithm; (2) Filtering methods are necessary to create DEMs in order to separate favored laser points on the terrain surface (ground points) from topographically irrelevant points (non-ground-points). Therefore GIS tools were applied. Surfaces with and without vegetation cover were differentiated; (3) Displacement vectors are used to determine slope movement rates. They were created from TLS data after the computation of true orthophotos. Using the methodology presented it was not possible to determine movement rates <50 mm per period. However, if the quality of the point density is described and areas with very low point density are detected, reliable conclusions can be made regarding slope movement patterns and erosion and deposition of material for changes <100 mm for the investigated slope.
Addition of the Lewis acid Zn2+ to (TBP8Cz)MnV(O) induces valence tautomerization, resulting in the formation of (TBP8Cz+•)MnIV(O)–Zn2+. This new species was characterized by UV–vis, EPR, the Evans ...method, and 1H NMR and supported by DFT calculations. Removal of Zn2+ quantitatively restores the starting material. Electron-transfer and hydrogen-atom-transfer reactions are strongly influenced by the presence of Zn2+.
Abernethy malformation is a rare disorder defined by congenital portosystemic shunt. Advances in clinical imaging have led to increased identification of this anomaly, which has proven to be more ...common and more clinically diverse than previously assumed. Late presentations are not uncommon. We present a 35-year-old patient with type Ia Abernethy malformation and biopsy-confirmed mesangiocapillary glomerulonephritis who was referred for deceased donor kidney transplantation. After the diagnosis was confirmed, the patient remained stable and asymptomatic on a supervised low-protein, high-carbohydrate diet. The patient received the kidney transplant from a brain-dead donor with standard characteristics. The procedure was uneventful; no vascular or vesical abnormalities could be identified at the surgical site. Recovery was uneventful with excellent graft function. Unique issues with immunosuppression were identified. Pharmacologic adjustments accounting for congenital complete portosystemic shunting affecting liver first pass effect as well as multiple drug interactions were necessary and sufficient. Abernethy malformation may follow indolent course into adulthood and may be an unrelated finding in a patient with chronic kidney disease. Kidney transplantation proved to be feasible and safe in this young male with apparently efficient compensatory mechanisms.
Animals use olfactory cues for navigating complex environments. Food odors in particular provide crucial information regarding potential foraging sites. Many behaviors occur at food sites, yet how ...food odors regulate such behaviors at these sites is unclear. Using Drosophila melanogaster as an animal model, we found that males deposit the pheromone 9-tricosene upon stimulation with the food-odor apple cider vinegar. This pheromone acts as a potent aggregation pheromone and as an oviposition guidance cue for females. We use genetic, molecular, electrophysiological, and behavioral approaches to show that 9-tricosene activates antennal basiconic Or7a receptors, a receptor activated by many alcohols and aldehydes such as the green leaf volatile E2-hexenal. We demonstrate that loss of Or7a positive neurons or the Or7a receptor abolishes aggregation behavior and oviposition site-selection towards 9-tricosene and E2-hexenal. 9-Tricosene thus functions via Or7a to link food-odor perception with aggregation and egg-laying decisions.
Runaway reactivity: A manganese(V)–oxo porphyrinoid complex displays an unprecedented increase in reaction rate for a hydrogen‐atom ion upon addition of anionic axial ligands (X=F− and CN−; see ...scheme). Density functional theory calculations are in excellent agreement with experiment, and provide insight into the origins of these remarkable axial ligand effects.
In this work, a three-dimensional microstructure-scale model of a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell’s Positive-Electrolyte-Negative assembly is applied for the purpose of investigating the impact of decreasing ...the electrolyte thickness on the magnitude, and the composition of electrochemical losses generated within the cell. Focused-Ion-Beam Scanning Electron Microscopy reconstructions are used to construct a computational domain, in which charge transport equations are solved. Butler–Volmer model is used to compute local reaction rates, and empirical relationships are used to obtain local conductivities. The results point towards three-dimensional nature of transport phenomena in thin electrolytes, and electrode-electrolyte interfaces.
Isomorphous crystals of MnV(O) and CrV(O) corrolazines were characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction. Reactivity studies with H atom donors and separated PCET reagents show a dramatic ...difference in H atom abstracting abilities for these two complexes. The implied large difference in driving force is opposite the trend in redox potentials, indicating that basicity is a key factor in determining the striking difference in reactivity for two metal-oxo species in identical ligand environments.
Previous findings from our laboratory highlighted marked ethnic differences in volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from cerumen among individuals of Caucasian, East Asian, and African-American descent, ...based, in part, on genetic differences in a gene that codes for a transport protein, which is a member of the ATP-binding cassette transporter, sub-family C, member 11 (ABCC11). In the current work, we hypothesized that axillary odorants produced by East Asians would differ markedly from those obtained from individuals of European or African descent based on the pattern of ethnic diversity that exists in ABCC11. Using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) we examined differences in axillary odorant VOCs among 30 individuals of African-American, Caucasian, and East Asian descent with respect to their ABCC11 genotype. While no qualitative differences in the type of axillary odorants were observed across ethnic groups, we found that characteristic axillary odorants varied quantitatively with respect to ethnic origin. We propose that ABCC11 is not solely responsible for predicting the relative amounts of volatiles found in axillary secretions and that other biochemical pathways must be involved.
•A transition based, unified representation of biosystem networks is suggested.•Two general model prototypes for these biosystem networks are developed.•A new generation method for a graphically ...editable model is developed.•All above is implemented in an improved methodology of Direct Computer Mapping.•It is tested for the improved implementation of a signalling biosystem model.
In this work we have further developed the Direct Computer Mapping (DCM) based modelling and simulation methodology. A unified, transition-based representation of complex rule, reaction and influence networks has been introduced and two prototypes (one general state- and another general transition-prototype) have been developed for the unified functional modelling of the state and transition nodes. Starting from the network and from the functional prototypes, an automatic generation method of the graphically editable and extensible GraphML description of biosystem models has been elaborated. The new developments have been implemented in the improved kernel of DCM models. The applied knowledge representation makes possible the unified generation and execution of the balance-based quantitative and influence- or rule-based qualitative, as well as optionally time-driven, multiscale biosystem models. Application of the developed methodology has been illustrated by the improved implementation of the formerly studied and upgraded example biosystem model for combining the detailed, quantitative p53/miR34a signalling system with the pathological model through an extended rule-based coupling model.
The correct outgrowth of axons is essential for the development and regeneration of nervous systems. Axon growth is primarily driven by microtubules. Key regulators of microtubules in this context ...are the spectraplakins, a family of evolutionarily conserved actin-microtubule linkers. Loss of function of the mouse spectraplakin ACF7 or of its close Drosophila homolog Short stop/Shot similarly cause severe axon shortening and microtubule disorganization. How spectraplakins perform these functions is not known. Here we show that axonal growth-promoting roles of Shot require interaction with EB1 (End binding protein) at polymerizing plus ends of microtubules. We show that binding of Shot to EB1 requires SxIP motifs in Shot's C-terminal tail (Ctail), mutations of these motifs abolish Shot functions in axonal growth, loss of EB1 function phenocopies Shot loss, and genetic interaction studies reveal strong functional links between Shot and EB1 in axonal growth and microtubule organization. In addition, we report that Shot localizes along microtubule shafts and stabilizes them against pharmacologically induced depolymerization. This function is EB1-independent but requires net positive charges within Ctail which essentially contribute to the microtubule shaft association of Shot. Therefore, spectraplakins are true members of two important classes of neuronal microtubule regulating proteins: +TIPs (tip interacting proteins; plus end regulators) and structural MAPs (microtubule-associated proteins). From our data we deduce a model that relates the different features of the spectraplakin C terminus to the two functions of Shot during axonal growth.
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