Evaluation of carabid beetles as indicators of forest change in Canada

2008 ◽  
Vol 140 (4) ◽  
pp. 393-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy T. Work ◽  
Matti Koivula ◽  
Jan Klimaszewski ◽  
David Langor ◽  
John Spence ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Management ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Woody Debris ◽  
Initial Response ◽  
Carabid Beetles ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Forest Change ◽  
Dispersal Capacity ◽  
National Monitoring

AbstractOur objective was to assess the potential of carabid beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) as effective bioindicators of the effects of forest management at a Canadian national scale. We present a comparison of carabid beetle assemblages reported from large-scale studies across Canada. Based on the initial response following disturbance treatment, we found that carabid assemblages consistently responded to disturbance, but responses of individual species and changes in species composition were nested within the context of regional geography and finer scale differences among forest ecosystems. We also explored the relationship between rare and dominant taxa and species characteristics as they relate to dispersal capacity and use of within-stand habitat features such as coarse woody debris. We found no relationship between life-history characteristics (such as body size, wing morphology, or reported associations with downed wood) and the relative abundance or frequency of occurrence of species. Our results suggest that carabids are better suited to finer scale evaluations of the effects of forest management than to regional or national monitoring programs. We also discuss several knowledge gaps that currently limit the full potential of using carabids as bioindicators.

scholarly journals Graphene-Based Artificial Synapses with Tunable Plasticity

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
He Wang ◽  
Nicoleta Cucu Laurenciu ◽  
Yande Jiang ◽  
Sorin Cotofana
Keyword(s):  
Synaptic Plasticity ◽  
Weight Change ◽  
Time Scale ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Synaptic Weight ◽  
Low Voltage ◽  
Logic Gates ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Back Gate ◽  
Input Spike

Design and implementation of artificial neuromorphic systems able to provide brain akin computation and/or bio-compatible interfacing ability are crucial for understanding the human brain’s complex functionality and unleashing brain-inspired computation’s full potential. To this end, the realization of energy-efficient, low-area, and bio-compatible artificial synapses, which sustain the signal transmission between neurons, is of particular interest for any large-scale neuromorphic system. Graphene is a prime candidate material with excellent electronic properties, atomic dimensions, and low-energy envelope perspectives, which was already proven effective for logic gates implementations. Furthermore, distinct from any other materials used in current artificial synapse implementations, graphene is biocompatible, which offers perspectives for neural interfaces. In view of this, we investigate the feasibility of graphene-based synapses to emulate various synaptic plasticity behaviors and look into their potential area and energy consumption for large-scale implementations. In this article, we propose a generic graphene-based synapse structure, which can emulate the fundamental synaptic functionalities, i.e., Spike-Timing-Dependent Plasticity (STDP) and Long-Term Plasticity . Additionally, the graphene synapse is programable by means of back-gate bias voltage and can exhibit both excitatory or inhibitory behavior. We investigate its capability to obtain different potentiation/depression time scale for STDP with identical synaptic weight change amplitude when the input spike duration varies. Our simulation results, for various synaptic plasticities, indicate that a maximum 30% synaptic weight change and potentiation/depression time scale range from [-1.5 ms, 1.1 ms to [-32.2 ms, 24.1 ms] are achievable. We further explore the effect of our proposal at the Spiking Neural Network (SNN) level by performing NEST-based simulations of a small SNN implemented with 5 leaky-integrate-and-fire neurons connected via graphene-based synapses. Our experiments indicate that the number of SNN firing events exhibits a strong connection with the synaptic plasticity type, and monotonously varies with respect to the input spike frequency. Moreover, for graphene-based Hebbian STDP and spike duration of 20ms we obtain an SNN behavior relatively similar with the one provided by the same SNN with biological STDP. The proposed graphene-based synapse requires a small area (max. 30 nm 2 ), operates at low voltage (200 mV), and can emulate various plasticity types, which makes it an outstanding candidate for implementing large-scale brain-inspired computation systems.

Structure Controlled Synthesis of Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanotubes Using Thermal Chemical Vapor Deposition Process

2010 ◽  
Vol 133 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Myung Gwan Hahm ◽  
Young-Kyun Kwon ◽  
Ahmed Busnaina ◽  
Yung Joon Jung
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Nanotubes ◽  
Chemical Vapor Deposition ◽  
Vapor Deposition ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Chemical Vapor ◽  
Controlled Synthesis ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Thermal Chemical Vapor Deposition ◽  
Vertically Aligned ◽  
Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Due to their unique one-dimensional nanostructure along with excellent mechanical, electrical, and optical properties, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) become a promising material for diverse nanotechnology applications. However, large-scale and structure controlled synthesis of CNTs still have many difficulties due to the lack of understanding of the fundamental growth mechanism of CNTs, as well as the difficulty of controlling atomic-scale physical and chemical reactions during the nanotube growth process. Especially, controlling the number of graphene wall, diameter, and chirality of CNTs are the most important issues that need to be solved to harness the full potential of CNTs. Here we report the large-scale selective synthesis of vertically aligned single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and double walled carbon nanotubes (DWNTs) by controlling the size of catalyst nanoparticles in the highly effective oxygen assisted thermal chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. We also demonstrate a simple but powerful strategy for synthesizing ultrahigh density and diameter selected vertically aligned SWNTs through the precise control of carbon flow during a thermal CVD process.

Fuelwood depletion at wilderness campsites: extent and potential ecological significance

2001 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 241-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Troy E. Hall ◽  
Tracy A. Farrell
Keyword(s):  
Forest Management ◽  
Woody Debris ◽  
Ecological Effects ◽  
Outer Ring ◽  
Ecological Significance ◽  
Relative Loss ◽  
Debris Removal ◽  
Recreational Impacts ◽  
Wilderness Areas ◽  
Fuelwood Consumption

Recreational camping in wilderness areas causes a number of biophysical impacts, including loss of woody debris through campfires. Although extensive research has documented trampling impacts to vegetation, few studies have explored the extent of woody material depletion. This study adapted planar transect methods to measure the relative loss of fine (<0.6 cm), small (0.6 to 2.5 cm), medium (2.6 to 7.6 cm) and large (>7.6 cm) diameter materials in three concentric rings extending 0–5 m, 5–10 m and 10–15 m from the centre of 58 campsites in different environments ranging in elevation from 1250 to 2225 m in the Cascades Mountains in Oregon, USA. Compared to matched controls, losses were greatest for small (40%) and medium-sized (63%) materials, but were evident for fine (25%) and large (30%) materials as well. Surprisingly, depletion (across all sizes) was no greater in the centre of sites than in the outer measurement ring, even though the outer ring was often in intact vegetation. This suggests that impacts on woody debris extend beyond those impacts to vegetation typically monitored at campsites. Such recreational impacts to woody debris have rarely been systematically described. However, research on woody debris removal related to forest management indicates possible ecological effects of fuelwood consumption.

scholarly journals Technology Acceptance in Healthcare: A Systematic Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (22) ◽  
pp. 10537
Author(s):  
Adi A. AlQudah ◽  
Mostafa Al-Emran ◽  
Khaled Shaalan
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Technology Acceptance ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Influential Factors ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Eligibility Criteria ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Healthcare Technologies

Understanding the factors affecting the use of healthcare technologies is a crucial topic that has been extensively studied, specifically during the last decade. These factors were studied using different technology acceptance models and theories. However, a systematic review that offers extensive understanding into what affects healthcare technologies and services and covers distinctive trends in large-scale research remains lacking. Therefore, this review aims to systematically review the articles published on technology acceptance in healthcare. From a yield of 1768 studies collected, 142 empirical studies have met the eligibility criteria and were extensively analyzed. The key findings confirmed that TAM and UTAUT are the most prevailing models in explaining what affects the acceptance of various healthcare technologies through different user groups, settings, and countries. Apart from the core constructs of TAM and UTAUT, the results showed that anxiety, computer self-efficacy, innovativeness, and trust are the most influential factors affecting various healthcare technologies. The results also revealed that Taiwan and the USA are leading the research of technology acceptance in healthcare, with a remarkable increase in studies focusing on telemedicine and electronic medical records solutions. This review is believed to enhance our understanding through a number of theoretical contributions and practical implications by unveiling the full potential of technology acceptance in healthcare and opening the door for further research opportunities.

scholarly journals The Co-Construction of Energy Provision and Everyday Practice: Integrating Heat Pumps in Social Housing in England

2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 26-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellis P Judson ◽  
Sandra Bell ◽  
Harriet Bulkeley ◽  
Gareth Powells ◽  
Stephen Lyon
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Heat Pumps ◽  
Consumer Information ◽  
Hot Water ◽  
Everyday Practice ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Energy Services ◽  
The North

Challenges of energy security, low carbon transitions, and electricity network constraints have led to a shift to new, efficient technologies for household energy services. Studies of such technological innovations usually focus on consumer information and changes in behaviour to realise their full potential. We suggest that regarding such technologies in existing energy provision systems opens up questions concerning how and why such interventions are delivered. We argue that we must understand the ways by which energy systems are co-constituted through the habits and expectations of households, their technologies and appliances, alongside arrangements associated with large-scale socio-technical infrastructures. Drawing on research with air-source-to-water heat pumps (ASWHP), installed as part of a large trans-disciplinary, utility-led research and demonstration project in the north of England, we investigate how energy services provision and everyday practice shapes new technologies uptake, and how such technologies mediate and reconfigure relations between users, providers and infrastructure networks. While the installation of ASWHP has led to role differentiation through which energy services are provided, the space for new forms of co-provision to emerge is limited by existing commitments to delivering energy services. Simultaneously, new forms of interdependency emerge between users, providers and intermediaries through sites of installation, instruction, repair and feedback. We find that although new technologies do lead to the rearrangement of practices, this is often disrupted by obduracy in the conventions and habits around domestic heating and hot water practices that have been established in relation to existing systems of provision. Rather being simply a matter of increasing levels of knowledge in order to ensure that such technologies are adopted effi ciently and effectively, our paper demonstrates how systemic arrangements of energy provision and everyday practice are co-implicated in socio-technical innovation by changing the nature of energy supply and use.

scholarly journals Cellular effects of gliotoxin: Evaluation of a proteomic, isotope-based method to detect reactive cysteines

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Sven Sondhauss
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Thiol Group ◽  
Disulfide Bridge ◽  
Reversed Phase ◽  
Cellular Damage ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Label Free ◽  
Cysteine Modification ◽  
Affinity Tag ◽  
Cell Vitality

<p>Cysteinyl residues in proteins are important for many cellular processes and unregulated modification of the cysteine thiol group can have negative effects on cell vitality and viability. In this thesis, the potential for use of the isotope coded affinity tag (ICAT) method for detection of cysteine modification has been investigated. ICAT reagents label free cysteine thiols. The aim of this study was to use HL-60 cells treated with gliotoxin, a fungal metabolite with a reactive disulfide bridge, as a system to evaluate the performance of ICAT for identification of cysteine modification in a whole cell proteome. Gliotoxin has antimicrobial, antitumor, immunosuppressive and cytotoxic properties that have been related to cysteine modification in proteins. Cellular assays including viability using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide, cell cycle analysis, and measurement of reactive oxygen species using dichlorofluorescin diacetate were used to establish conditions for measuring the effects of gliotoxin on HL-60 cells prior to large-scale cellular damage. Cells exposed to gliotoxin and control cells were then labeled with ICAT reagents and analysed by offline reversed phase liquid chromatography followed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization tandem mass spectrometry. The pilot results identified tubulin, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase and peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase as putative targets of gliotoxin. Additionally, this study showed that ICAT can be used to detect modified cysteines from a highly complex sample, but further optimization is needed to unlock the full potential for detection of cysteine modification in complex samples.</p>

scholarly journals Proteomics and metabolomics in cow fertility: a systematic review

Reproduction ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 160 (5) ◽  
pp. 639-658
Author(s):  
Nicolas Aranciaga ◽  
James D Morton ◽  
Debra K Berg ◽  
Jessica L Gathercole
Keyword(s):  
Oxidative Stress ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Reproductive Tract ◽  
Early Embryo ◽  
Female Reproductive Tract ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Technical Standards ◽  
The Impact

Cow subfertility is a multi-factorial problem in many countries which is only starting to be unravelled. Molecular biology can provide a substantial source of insight into its causes and potential solutions, particularly through large scale, untargeted omics approaches. In this systematic review, we set out to compile, assess and integrate the latest proteomic and metabolomic research on cow reproduction, specifically that on the female reproductive tract and early embryo. We herein report a general improvement in technical standards throughout the temporal span examined; however, significant methodological limitations are also identified. We propose easily actionable avenues for ameliorating these shortcomings and enhancing the reach of this field. Text mining and pathway analysis corroborate the relevance of proteins and metabolites related to the triad oxidative stress-inflammation-disease on reproductive function. We envisage a breakthrough in cattle reproductive molecular research within the next few years as in vivo sample techniques are improved, omics analysis equipment becomes more affordable and widespread, and software tools for single- and multi-omics data processing are further developed. Additional investigation of the impact of local oxidative stress and inflammation on fertility, both at the local and systemic levels, is key towards realising the full potential of this field.

ForBioFunCtioN: Forest soil carbon and the effects of climate change and forest management

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl-Fredrik Johannesson ◽  
Klaus Steenberg Larsen ◽  
Brunon Malicki ◽  
Jenni Nordén
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Forest Management ◽  
Forest Soil ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
C Sequestration ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
High Temporal Resolution ◽  
Soil C ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Clear Cutting

&lt;p&gt;Boreal forests are among the most carbon (C) rich forest types in the world and store up to 80% of its total C in the soil. Forest soil C development under climate change has received increased scientific attention yet large uncertainties remain, not least in terms of magnitude and direction of soil C responses. As with climate change, large uncertainties remain in terms of the effects of forest management on soil C sequestration and storage. Nonetheless, it is clear that forest management measures can have far reaching effects on ecosystem functioning and soil conditions. For example, clear cutting is a widely undertaken felling method in Scandinavia which profoundly affects the forest ecosystem and its functioning, including the soil. Nitrogen (N) fertilization is another common practice in Scandinavia which, despite uncertainties regarding effects on soil C dynamics, is being promoted as a climate change mitigation tool. A more novel practice of biochar addition to soils has been shown to have positive effects on soil conditions, including soil C storage, but studies on biochar in the context of forests are few.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In the face of climate change, the ForBioFunCtioN project is dedicated to investigating the response of boreal forest soil CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; and CH&lt;sub&gt;4&lt;/sub&gt; fluxes to experimentally increased temperatures and increased precipitation &amp;#8211; climatic changes in line with projections over Norway &amp;#8211; within a forest management context. The experiment is set in a Norwegian spruce-dominated bilberry chronosequence, including a clear-cut site, a middle-aged thinned stand, a mature stand and an old unmanaged stand. Warming, simulated increased precipitation, N fertilizer and biochar additions will be applied on experimental plots in an additive manner that allows for disentangling the effects of individual parameters from interaction effects. Flux measurements will be undertaken at high temporal resolution using the state-of-the-art LI-7810 Trace Gas Analyzer (&amp;#169;LI-COR Biosciences). The presentation will show the experimental setup and first measurements from the large-scale experiment.&lt;/p&gt;

Discovering Complex Relationships of Drugs over Distributed Knowledgebases

2016 ◽  
pp. 1572-1591
Author(s):  
Juan Li ◽  
Ranjana Sharma ◽  
Yan Bai
Keyword(s):  
Drug Discovery ◽  
Semantic Web ◽  
Distributed System ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Web Data ◽  
Semantic Relationships ◽  
Complex Relationships

Drug discovery is a lengthy, expensive and difficult process. Indentifying and understanding the hidden relationships among drugs, genes, proteins, and diseases will expedite the process of drug discovery. In this paper, we propose an effective methodology to discover drug-related semantic relationships over large-scale distributed web data in medicine, pharmacology and biotechnology. By utilizing semantic web and distributed system technologies, we developed a novel hierarchical knowledge abstraction and an efficient relation discovery protocol. Our approach effectively facilitates the realization of the full potential of harnessing the collective power and utilization of the drug-related knowledge scattered over the Internet.

scholarly journals Microbial Interactions in Oral Communities Mediate Emergent Biofilm Properties

2019 ◽  
Vol 99 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.I. Diaz ◽  
A.M. Valm
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Taxonomic Composition ◽  
Cell Interactions ◽  
Microbial Interactions ◽  
Spatial Proximity ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Emergent Properties ◽  
Oral Diseases ◽  
Metabolic Cooperation ◽  
Cell Cell

Oral microbial communities are extraordinarily complex in taxonomic composition and comprise interdependent biological systems. The bacteria, archaea, fungi, and viruses that thrive within these communities engage in extensive cell-cell interactions, which are both beneficial and antagonistic. Direct physical interactions among individual cells mediate large-scale architectural biofilm arrangements and provide spatial proximity for chemical communication and metabolic cooperation. In this review, we summarize recent work in identifying specific molecular components that mediate cell-cell interactions and describe metabolic interactions, such as cross-feeding and exchange of electron acceptors and small molecules, that modify the growth and virulence of individual species. We argue, however, that although pairwise interaction models have provided useful information, complex community-like systems are needed to study the properties of oral communities. The networks of multiple synergistic and antagonistic interactions within oral biofilms give rise to the emergent properties of persistence, stability, and long-range spatial structure, with these properties mediating the dysbiotic transitions from health to oral diseases. A better understanding of the fundamental properties of interspecies networks will lead to the development of effective strategies to manipulate oral communities.

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