Brain scans help predict response to antipsychotics - ScienceBlog.com

Brain scans help predict response to antipsychotics - ScienceBlog.com

Disease of the Temporomandibular Joint, Surgical Reconstruction, Clinical & Experimental Studies

Authors:
Professor Raja Kummoona, Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (FDSRCS),Emeritus professor of Maxillofacial Surgery of Iraqi Board for Medical Specializations, Fellow Royal Society of Medicine, Research Fellow Royal college of Surgeons of England for the years (1975-1977),President of Iraqi Dental Society for the years (1977-1985),Registrar Primary FDSRCS (Royal College of Surgeons of England) in Iraq for the years(1985-1990),the most distinguish professor of University of Baghdad for the years 1991-1992,one of 40 top scientist in Iraq awarded gold medal for 3 years 2000-2002 by presidential celebration ,he had many publication and contribution to science by advocating many surgical procedures and research in cancer surgery and flap reconstruction, TMJ surgery and Maxillofacial injuries, Orbit tumors& injuries ,missile war injuries of the face with advancing surgery of war injuries of the face worldwide. With contribution in research in cancer, The finder of post graduate studies in maxillofacial surgery in Iraq. Editor of book, Neck Dissection, Clinical Application and Recent Advances, Feb 2012, In Tech, Editor monograph of ,Surgical Reconstruction of the Temporo-mandibulr Joint,2013 ,Germany. Member of editorial Board of Annals of Oral&Mxillofacial Surgery, Journal of Pediatric Oncology(Open Access) and Journal of Surgery(Open Access).
Description:
Reconstruction of the Temporo-mandibular joint (TMJ) represent a challenge for all craniofacial and maxillofacial surgeons for the last 4 decades, many disease of the TMJ were not fully understood in the west (like TMJ ankylosis), since they do not see much of these cases as in the Middle east because the standard of health education to understand the basic roles for managements of traumatic injuries of the TMJ is absent.

In the south of Arab land as in Yemen, Somalia and Sudan, people daily habit of chewing Qat which is the main cause for destruction of the TMJ structures featuring, recurrent dislocation and subluxation of the TMJ.

Great advances carried out by pioneers in TMJ surgery to understand the pathogenesis of these destructive disease of the TMJ by advocating many surgical procedures and techniques for reconstruction of the TMJ by using either autogenously tissue or metals such as 2 part prosthesis or sialastic (Rubber Silicon) or temporalis muscle flap for treatment of ankylosis or by using different techniques for managements of subluxation and dislocation including seclerosing materials like STD or by reinforcement by placation of the capsule or by reconstruction of the capsule by finger like temporal fascia flap or making an obstacle by augmentation of the zygomatic root of temporal bone by bone graft from iliac crest. Using Botox A injection to the upper part of lateral petrygoid muscle to delay the action of the muscle connected to the disc, to stabilize the disc and to prevent further movement of the condyle forward behind the articular eminence to prevent clicking of the disc and to prevent unpleasant noises.

Other diseases of the TMJ that required reconstruction such as hemi facial microsomia or first arch dysplasia syndrome and hypoplasia of the condyle, these cases either the TMJ reconstructed by autogenous tissue like costo-chondral graft or by chondro-ossous graft, these two procedures were used for managements of ankylosis of the TMJ in children and for reconstruction of the TMJ in other congenital or inquired disease.

In cases of hemi facial microsomia which required a series of operations for correction of cleft of the angle of the mouth, reconstruction the atrophied masseter muscle by platysma muscle flap, removal or excision of tags in front of the ear as remnants of Meckels cartilage fallowed by reconstruction of the TMJ by Chondro-Ossous graft from iliac crest after reconstruction of the glenoid fossa by cartilage from the ear and reconstruction of zygomatic arch by bone graft from iliac crest.

Experimental studies on Iris Monkeys or Rabbit were of great value for application of these new surgical procedures on humans.

All these procedures and techniques did great progress to surgery of the TMJ and also we got the ability to understand the pathology of these diseases.

We hope to present to our colloquies worldwide the fruit of our long and valuable experience and to share with them this knowledge and experience and we hope we did contributions to science.
Now if you want to read this scientific book, you can find it here:http://bit.ly/1HAarzO

European Journal of Biophysics

European Journal of Biophysics (EJB) publishes papers in the field of biophysics, defining biophysics as the study of biological phenomena using physical methods and concepts. The journal presents original papers, reviews and letters. The primary goal of this journal is to advance the understanding of biological structure and function by application of the principles of physical science, and by presenting the work in a biophysical context.The journal is addressed to biophysicists and other specialists interested in biophysical research, teaching and techniques.

http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/j/ejb

ISSN:2329-1745 (Print)

ISSN:2329-1737 (Online)

About This Journal

European Journal of Biophysics is a peer-reviewed, international, open access journal that publishes original research articles as well as review articles dealing with all aspects of research on biophysics. Subject areas may include, but are not limited to the following fields:

• • Macromolecular assemblies
• • Energy transformation and transfer
• • Thermodynamics
• • Biological motility
• • Population dynamics
• • Cell differentiation modeling
• • Biomechanics and tissue rheology
• • Non-linear phenomena
• • Computational biology
• • Membrane biophysics
• • Ion channels
• • Cell biophysics and organisation
• • Biophysical methods
• • Biophysical instrumentation
• • Advanced microscopy
• • System dynamics
• • Structure of molecules
• • Structure of cells and tissues
• Read this journal online for free:http://bit.ly/1gBJvXb

Can't put your phone down? Are You a Nomophobe?

Date:

August 26, 2015

Source:

Iowa State University

Summary:

Rsearchers have developed a questionnaire to help you determine if you suffer from nomophobia or a fear of being without your mobile phone.

Are you a nomophobe? If you're wondering how to respond to that question, an Iowa State University study can help you find the answer. ISU researchers have developed a questionnaire to help you determine if you suffer from nomophobia or a fear of being without your mobile phone.

Caglar Yildirim, lead author of the study and a Ph.D. student in human computer interaction, and Ana-Paula Correia, an associate professor in ISU's School of Education, identified four dimensions of this modern-day phobia. The study was published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior. Watch this video to learn more about nomophobia and then answer the questions below to see if you are nomophobic.

Nomophobia Questionnaire

Study participants were asked to respond to the following statements on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). Total scores were calculated by adding the responses to each item. The higher scores corresponded to greater nomophobia severity.

1. I would feel uncomfortable without constant access to information through my smartphone.
2. I would be annoyed if I could not look information up on my smartphone when I wanted to do so.
3. Being unable to get the news (e.g., happenings, weather, etc.) on my smartphone would make me nervous.
4. I would be annoyed if I could not use my smartphone and/or its capabilities when I wanted to do so.
5. Running out of battery in my smartphone would scare me.
6. If I were to run out of credits or hit my monthly data limit, I would panic.
7. If I did not have a data signal or could not connect to Wi-Fi, then I would constantly check to see if I had a signal or could find a Wi-Fi network.
8. If I could not use my smartphone, I would be afraid of getting stranded somewhere.
9. If I could not check my smartphone for a while, I would feel a desire to check it.

If I did not have my smartphone with me:

1. I would feel anxious because I could not instantly communicate with my family and/or friends.
2. I would be worried because my family and/or friends could not reach me.
3. I would feel nervous because I would not be able to receive text messages and calls.
4. I would be anxious because I could not keep in touch with my family and/or friends.
5. I would be nervous because I could not know if someone had tried to get a hold of me.
6. I would feel anxious because my constant connection to my family and friends would be broken.
7. I would be nervous because I would be disconnected from my online identity.
8. I would be uncomfortable because I could not stay up-to-date with social media and online networks.
9. I would feel awkward because I could not check my notifications for updates from my connections and online networks.
10. I would feel anxious because I could not check my email messages.
11. I would feel weird because I would not know what to do.

---

Story Source:

The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Iowa State University. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Source:http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/08/150826204309.htm

Science Publishing Group:Free Publication in 12 Journals and 70% Discount in 5 Journals

Science Publishing Group carries out one more special offer to the authors in order to appreciate the support of the authors and boost the development of SciencePG's journals.

You can enjoy all the benefits if you submit your papers to SciencePG:

1. Free publication in the following 12 journals:

Advances in Biochemistry
Optics
International Journal of Sensors and Sensor Networks
Advances in Networks
Science Innovation
History Research
American Journal of Bioscience and Bioengineering
American Journal of Electromagnetics and Applications
Software Engineering
Advances in Surgical Sciences
Hydrology
American Journal of Aerospace Engineering

2. 70% discount in the following 5 journals:

Science Discovery
International Journal of Philosophy
Advances in Bioscience and Bioengineering
International Journal of Biomedical Materials Research
Science Journal of Energy Engineering

SciencePG welcomes both scholars and practitioners to submit valuable papers to SciencePG's journals through:
http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/login.aspx

Kind Notes: the Special Offer is valid from August 22 to September 6, 2015.

Good news for you all want to publish your paper, don't miss it!

Secretive fusion company makes reactor breakthrough

By 

Daniel Clery 

24 August 2015 8:15 pm

 1 Comment

FOOTHILL RANCH, CALIFORNIA—In a suburban industrial park south of Los Angeles, researchers have taken a significant step toward mastering nuclear fusion—a process that could provide abundant, cheap, and clean energy. A privately funded company called Tri Alpha Energy has built a machine that forms a ball of superheated gas—at about 10 million °C—and holds it steady for 5 milliseconds without decaying away. That may seem a mere blink of an eye, but it is far longer than other efforts with the technique and shows for the first time that it is possible to hold the gas in a steady state—the researchers stopped only when their machine ran out of juice.

“They’ve succeeded finally in achieving a lifetime limited only by the power available to the system,” says particle physicist Burton Richter of Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, who sits on a board of advisers to Tri Alpha. If the company’s scientists can scale the technique up to longer times and higher temperatures, they will reach a stage at which atomic nuclei in the gas collide forcefully enough to fuse together, releasing energy.

Although other startup companies are also trying to achieve fusion using similar methods, the main efforts in this field are huge government-funded projects such as the $20 billion International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), under construction in France by an international collaboration, and the U.S. Department of Energy’s $4 billion National Ignition Facility (NIF) in Livermore, California. But the burgeoning cost and complexity of such projects are causing many to doubt they will ever produce plants that can generate energy at an affordable cost.

Tri Alpha’s and similar efforts take a different approach, which promises simpler, cheaper machines that can be developed more quickly. Importantly, the Tri Alpha machine may be able to operate with a different fuel from most other fusion reactors. This fuel—a mix of hydrogen and boron—is harder to react, but Tri Alpha researchers say it avoids many of the problems likely to confront conventional fusion power plants. “They are where they are because people are able to believe they can get a [hydrogen-boron] reactor to work,” says plasma physicist David Hammer of Cornell University, also a Tri Alpha adviser.

Like other fusion techniques, Tri Alpha’s device aims to confine a gas so hot that its atoms are stripped of electrons, producing a roiling mixture of electrons and ions known as plasma. If the ions collide with enough force, they fuse, converting some of their mass into energy, but this requires temperatures of at least 100 million °C, hot enough to melt any container. So the first challenge for reactor designers is how to confine the plasma without touching it. Facilities like the NIF rapidly implode the plasma, relying on its inward inertia to hold it long enough for a burst of fusion reactions. The ITER, in contrast, holds the plasma steady with powerful magnetic fields inside a doughnut-shaped chamber known as a tokamak. Some of the field is provided by a complex network of superconducting magnets, the rest by the plasma itself flowing around the ring like an electric current.

Tri Alpha’s machine also produces a doughnut of plasma, but in it the flow of particles in the plasma produces all of the magnetic field holding the plasma together. This approach, known as a field-reversed configuration (FRC), has been known since the 1960s. But despite decades of work, researchers could get the blobs of plasma to last only about 0.3 milliseconds before they broke up or melted away. In 1997, the Canadian-born physicist Norman Rostoker of the University of California, Irvine, and colleagues proposed a new approach. The following year, they set up Tri Alpha, now based in an unremarkable—and unlabeled—industrial unit here. Building up from tabletop devices, by last year the company was employing 150 people and was working with C-2, a 23-meter-long tube ringed by magnets and bristling with control devices, diagnostic instruments, and particle beam generators. The machine forms two smoke rings of plasma, one near each end, by a proprietary process and fires them toward the middle at nearly a million kilometers per hour. At the center they merge into a bigger FRC, transforming their kinetic energy into heat...

If you like, you can read the full article through the story source:http://bit.ly/1EgsBIW

The Relative Expansion of the Universe

Authors:Lee Qing Jong

Free-lancer, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Abstract: This is an alternate explanation to the redshift effect and increasing distance between galaxies. Everything in the universe excluding empty space is shrinking, including elementary particles. In contrast to everything else, the empty space would appear to be expanding. This idea is compatible with most of established science, such as the theory of relativity, the doppler effect, the big rip idea. And, it also helps explain dark energy. An idea that is not very well understood yet.

Keywords: Universe, Expansion, Cosmology, Physics, Relativity

Introduction

The expansion of the universe has been widely accepted by the scientific community, but there is a paradoxical problem with the expanding universe idea. When we look into a telescope, we can see that the distance between galaxies is increasing and we can tell by the redshift effect that everything is receding away from us.

The problem lies in the idea that the universe is increasing in volume, which is simply unsatisfying. Since the universe is the sum of everything within reality, the idea of it expanding is nonsensical. An alternative explanation would be to assume that everything in the universe excluding empty space is decreasing in volume, and the rate at which it is shrinking is increasing. This includes elementary particles. If we assume this is the case, we would be able to explain the redshift and increasing distance between galaxies without the paradox of the universe increasing in volume.

Figure 1. Relationship between rate of shrinking and size of object.

x= rate of shrinking y=size of object

Figure 2. Relationship between rate of shrinking and size of object.

x= rate of shrinking y= size of object

Read full scientific article here:http://bit.ly/1LgP8FZ

International Journal of Science, Technology and Society

International Journal of Science, Technology and Society (IJSTS) provides a forum for sharing timely and up-to-date publication of scientific research and review articles. The journal publishes original full-length research papers in all areas related to Science, Technology and Society.

http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/j/ijsts

ISSN:2330-7412 (Print)

ISSN:2330-7420 (Online)

International Journal of Science, Technology and Society is a peer-reviewed, open access, online journal, publishing original research, reports, reviews and commentaries on all areas of science, technology and society. Subject areas may include, but are not limited to the following fields:

• • Economics
• • Education
• • History
• • Mathematics
• • Physics
• • Chemistry
• • Astronomy
• • Geography
• • Atmosphere
• • Marine
• • Biology
• • Mechanics
• • Agriculture
• • Medicine
• • Geology
• • Materials
• • Power
• • Technology
• • Life sciences
• • Social sciences
• • Applied sciences
• If you like, you can read this journal in SciencePG for free.
• 
  

Glaciers in Asia’s celestial mountains in trouble

Since the early 1960s, glaciers in central Asia’s Tien Shan mountain range have lost roughly 27% of their mass as a result of hotter summer temperatures. By 2050, half of what now remains could be gone, researchers say in a new study published today in Nature Geoscience. Also known as the celestial mountains, the peaks straddle the border between China and Kyrgyzstan and provide most of the region with fresh water. The findings could have important implications for farmers and villagers that rely on snow and glacier melt for irrigation and drinking, the scientists say. And New Scientist reports that the regional study could be helpful in validating estimates from another recent study on global glacier melt. That research—published in the Journal of Glaciology—found that from 2000 to 2010, the world experienced the greatest decadal loss of glacier ice ever measured.

Source:http://bit.ly/1hnDpdX

Psychopedagogy of Play

Authors:Gabriela Kelemen Aurel Vlaicu University of Arad, Romania

Psychopedagogy of play brings forward a topic of constant interest: the game.

The volume Psychopedagogy of play, approaches the importance of playing in a child’s life but also throughout the entire human existence, as mentioned by the author herself: Playing is a fundamental human activity that pervades the entire life and all cultures. Playing is the main and fundamental childhood activity. It is the engine that activates and determines the development of one’s personality, gives meaning to one’s life, develops cognitive abilities, social relations and favours harmonious physical development. The game is the main way of child’ intellectual development and training during early childhood and preschool age.

The author of the book highlights how prestigious pedagogues and psychologists have approached playing. They were interested in the role games have in the child’s harmonious development, stating the fundamental role of games in shaping the child’s personality in preschool age.

The book is divided into chapters and subchapters which comprise fundamental concepts on the development of child’s personality through playing, explanatory theories on the nature and function of games, the taxonomy of games, integrating play activities in the curricular content of preschool education, games as method, means and form of unfolding didactic activities in kindergarten, games and toys, etc. More specifically, we can say that this book has the structure of a course book addressed both to students, future teachers, and to preschool teachers facing a tenure exam, first and second degree exam.

This book highlights the importance of game, the history of games, and the role they play in human development. The book is has an innovated character which complies with current tendencies of modern psychopedagogy by approaching to inter- and multidisciplinary. Besides handling game as permanently human reality, the book shows its importance in a child’s life as universal and specific activity in all stages of its evolution.

This volume captures the causality relationship between game and development, relationship that stresses out the importance of games in the development of personality from birth to school age. Emphasis is laid especially on the role of games as fundamental activity in kindergartens, on its importance in the development of all facets of a child’s personality, in socializing and school preparation. The pedagogic argumentation is convincing and offers practical and methodological suggestions according to tendencies of modern didactics.

From the book ”Psychopedagogy of play”, we find out which is the specific of childhood age, behavioural tendencies, predominant activities at this level of ontogenetic development and which are the less desirable attitudes of adults towards children.

The book addresses to students, educators (preschool teachers, primary school teachers, teachers, parents, etc.), to all those interested in the education of children.

Source:http://bit.ly/1IlzEzA

Sniff out alien life with giant library of weird chemicals

The search for vital signs of life in the atmospheres of other planets has taken a new turn with a vast library of biosignatures that could help us detect ET

Life’s a gas on other earths (Image: Detlev Van Ravenswaay/SPL)

I’M WITNESSING the future of the search for alien life. In a dimly lit office on the 17th floor of MIT’s tallest building, with shades drawn over the Charles river below, Sara Seager and six other researchers are showing me the foundation stones of a vast library of molecules – a few of which may be the first to alert us to the presence of life on another world.

Seager and her colleagues are building a cache of biosignatures – chemicals that would suggest an alien planet is playing host to life. Seager is casting her net as wide as possible. Because we can’t predict what the biochemistry and ecology of alien planets will be like, she’s looking at all small molecules, not just the ones linked to life as we know it.

“Is there any limit to what sort of gas life can produce?” asks biochemist William Bains at the University of Cambridge. “Conceptually, the answer is no.”

Get all information here:http://bit.ly/1PgFrqE

Nickel – the Ultimate Substitute of Coal, Oil and Uranium

Nickel – the Ultimate Substitute of Coal, Oil and Uranium

Pages: 1-6   |   Pub. Date: Nov. 25, 2014DOI: 10.11648/j.ijrse.s.2015040401.11  1049 Views   317 Downloads

Authors 
[01]

U. V. S. Seshavatharam, Honorary faculty, I-SERVE, Alakapuri, Hyderabad-35, AP, India

[02]

S. Lakshminarayana, Dept. of Nuclear Physics, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam-03, AP, India 

To cite this article 
U. V. S. Seshavatharam, S. Lakshminarayana, Nickel – the Ultimate Substitute of Coal, Oil and Uranium, International Journal of Sustainable and Green Energy. Special Issue:Current Research and Future of Renewable Energy. Vol. 4, No. 4-1, 2015, pp. 1-6. doi: 10.11648/j.ijrse.s.2015040401.11

Abstract 
During E-CAT test run some hidden and unknown energy is being coming out in the form of heat energy in large quantity. Based on the principle of conservation of energy and from the well known nuclear fusion and fission reactions it is possible to guess that, the E-CAT hidden energy may be in the form of binding of protons and neutrons of the Nickel and Lithium atomic nuclei. By considering the nuclear binding energies of (58@28)Ni, (62@28)Ni and (7@3)Li an attempt is made to understand the energy liberation mechanism in E-CAT. With reference to the net energy production of (5825 ± 10%) Mega Joules liberated from one gram Ni of the E-CAT’s 32 days third party test run, it can be suggested that, for every transformation of (58@28)Ni to (62@28)Ni via(7@3)Li, liberated heat energy is 3.64 MeV and for one gram of (58@28)Ni liberated energy is 5984 Mega Joules. For each transformation of (58@28)Ni to (62@28)Ni via(7@3)Li, 3 hydrogen atoms can be expected to be emitted. Note that, energy liberated for one gram of (58@28)Ni in cold fusion is 1.66 MWh and energy liberated for one gram of (235@92)U in nuclear fission is 22.6 MWh. Clearly speaking, energy released in Nickel based E-CAT is just 13.6 times less than the energy released in Uranium fission.

KeywordsCold Fusion, Low Energy Nuclear Reactions, E-CAT ( Energy Catalyzer)

Source:http://bit.ly/1hDGpTu

How marmoset babies learn to talk

By 

Hanae Armitage 

13 August 2015 2:00 pm

Scientists used to think humans were the only primates who learned to speak, in part, by mimicking mom and dad, but marmoset monkeys have shown that we’re not all that unique in our learned communication. As the fuzzy little marmosets grow up, parents “teach” their babies mature vocalizations, called phees, by responding to their young’s cries with mature phees. Physical growth also helps the transition from baby to adult calls, but the difference in baby and adult noises is so stark that scientists don’t think it’s just physical maturation that makes a mature phee, they report online today in Science. Similar to humans, baby marmosets seem to listen to and learn from their parents, like an audio version of marmoset see, marmoset do.

Source:http://bit.ly/1WnKsDs

Are marine organisms evolving to protect their young in response to ocean acidification?

Summary:

Marine organisms living in acidified waters exhibit a tendency to nurture their offspring to a greater extent than those in more regular conditions. Scientists have found that polychaete worms located around volcanic vents in the Mediterranean grow and develop their eggs within the protection of the family unit -- in contrast to closely-related species that release them into the water column to fend for themselves.

Marine organisms living in acidified waters exhibit a tendency to nurture their offspring to a greater extent than those in more regular conditions.

Credit: Plymouth University

Marine organisms living in acidified waters exhibit a tendency to nurture their offspring to a greater extent than those in more regular conditions.

Researchers at Plymouth University have found that polychaete worms located around volcanic vents in the Mediterranean grow and develop their eggs within the protection of the family unit -- in contrast to closely-related species that release them into the water column to fend for themselves.

The scientists say the findings could provide an important insight into how organisms might adjust to increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the sea -- and the ramifications that might have for future biodiversity.

Their report -- published in Scientific Reports -- was based on field research off the island of Ischia in Italy and lab-work in which the breeding patterns of the worms were observed at closer quarters.

Noelle Lucey, a researcher within Plymouth University's Marine Institute, and of the University of Pavia, said: "One of the most interesting annelid worms here typically grows to around 3cm in length and is found on the seafloor. It was previously thought that their breeding is triggered by a full moon, when they swim up to the surface and release -- or 'broadcast' -- their eggs. But our studies at the CO2 vents off Ischia have found something very different: those species living near the volcanic vents, in waters rich in carbon dioxide, seem to have adapted to the harsher conditions by brooding their offspring."

The team found that 12 of the 13 species that had colonized the vent area exhibited brooding characteristics, most notably producing fewer and larger eggs that were usually retained within some form of protective sac. Ten of those species were in higher abundance around the vents than in the ambient areas surrounding them -- some by a ratio as high as nine-to-one.

The observation that brooding worms dominated the CO2 vent areas, and existing evidence of physiological and genetic adaptation in vent-inhabiting species, prompted the researchers to take immature adult Platynereis dumerilii specimens and attempt to cross breed them in the laboratory. A male -- taken from the ambient control area -- and a female -- from the vent zone -- almost immediately began to breed. But instead of the typical broadcast pattern, the eggs produced were five times larger than the average and were laid in a complex tube structure or brooding pouch.

When genetic analysis was conducted, it became clear that worms from inside the CO2 vents were from a sibling species of Platynereis massiliensis, one that has diverged from Platynereis dumerilii in the recent past -- confirming that all of the polychaete species are brooders of some sort.

Dr Piero Calosi, from the University of Quebec in Rimouski, Canada, said: "Our study confirms the idea that marine organisms have evolved brooding characteristics in response to environmental stresses, such as ocean acidification."

On the breadth and importance of their study Dr Chiara Lombardi, from ENEA, Italy, said: "Studies like ours can help substantially advance our predictive ability on the fate of marine biodiversity simply based on species characteristic, such as their reproductive strategy."

Ms Lucey added: "This study brings us one step closer to understanding which marine species will be more resilient to climate changes. In fact, our work helps in establishing a fundamental principle to be used to guide decisions on the conservation of marine ecosystems and to help better manage the fisheries and aquaculture industries."

---

Story Source:

The above post is reprinted from materials provided by University of Plymouth. The original item was written by Andrew Merrington. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Source:bit.ly/1KiyPVc

International Journal of Electrical Components and Energy Conversion

International Journal of Electrical Components an Energy Conversion (IJECEC) is a journal published bimonthly. It is dedicated to providing a multidisciplinary platform for the discussion of issues arising in the innovation and the development of robust methodologies dedicated to the design, control and optimization of electrical components and systems for varied electric power applications. It aims to promote rapid communication and dialogue among the researchers, scientists, engineers and policy makers working in the areas of design, optimization and control of electrical systems.

International Journal of Electrical Components and Energy Conversion (IJECEC) concern mainly the innovation and the development of robust methodologies dedicated to the design, control and optimization of electrical components and systems for various electric power applications. IJECEC covers the following topics:

• • Energy conversion
• • Power electronics
• • Electrical systems
• • AC Motors
• • Brushless DC motors
• • Asynchronous Motors
• • Electrical machines and drives
• • Optimization of electrical systems performances
• • Technology and design of electrical components
• • Control of electrical systems
• • Identification of the electric motors
• • Electro-thermal modeling of power systems
• • Electrical transportation
• • Renewable energy
• • Experimental validations of designs and controls approaches of electrical systems
• If you like, you can read this and download all scientific article in this journal for free in SciencePG.

Big data maps world's ocean floor

Summary:

The creation of the world's first digital map of the seafloor's geology is underway. It is the first time the composition of the seafloor, covering 70 percent of Earth's surface, has been mapped in 40 years; the most recent map was hand drawn in the 1970s.

This is a still shot of the world's first digital map of the seafloor's geology.

Credit: EarthByte Group, School of Geosciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia National ICT Australia (NICTA), Australian Technology Park, Eveleigh, NSW 2015, Australia

Scientists from the University of Sydney's School of Geosciences have led the creation of the world's first digital map of the seafloor's geology.

It is the first time the composition of the seafloor, covering 70 percent of Earth's surface, has been mapped in 40 years; the most recent map was hand drawn in the 1970s.

Published in the latest edition of Geology, the map will help scientists better understand how our oceans have responded, and will respond, to environmental change. It also reveals the deep ocean basins to be much more complex than previously thought.

"In order to understand environmental change in the oceans we need to better understand what is preserved in the geological record in the seabed," says lead researcher Dr Adriana Dutkiewicz from the University of Sydney.

"The deep ocean floor is a graveyard with much of it made up of the remains of microscopic sea creatures called phytoplankton, which thrive in sunlit surface waters. The composition of these remains can help decipher how oceans have responded in the past to climate change."

A special group of phytoplankton called diatoms produce about a quarter of the oxygen we breathe and make a bigger contribution to fighting global warming than most plants on land. Their dead remains sink to the bottom of the ocean, locking away their carbon.

The new seafloor geology map demonstrates that diatom accumulations on the seafloor are nearly entirely independent of diatom blooms in surface waters in the Southern Ocean.

"This disconnect demonstrates that we understand the carbon source, but not the sink," says co-author Professor Dietmar Muller from the University of Sydney. More research is needed to better understand this relationship.

Dr Dutkiewicz said, "Our research opens the door to future marine research voyages aimed at better understanding the workings and history of the marine carbon cycle. Australia's new research vessel Investigator is ideally placed to further investigate the impact of environmental change on diatom productivity. We urgently need to understand how the ocean responds to climate change."

Some of the most significant changes to the seafloor map are in the oceans surrounding Australia.

"The old map suggests much of the Southern Ocean around Australia is mainly covered by clay blown off the continent, whereas our map shows this area is actually a complex patchwork of microfossil remains," said Dr Dutkiewicz. "Life in the Southern Ocean is much richer than previously thought."

Dr Dutkiewicz and colleagues analysed and categorised around 15,000 seafloor samples -- taken over half a century on research cruise ships to generate the data for the map. She teamed with the National ICT Australia (NICTA) big data experts to find the best way to use algorithms to turn this multitude of point observations into a continuous digital map.

"Recent images of Pluto's icy plains are spectacular, but the process of unveiling the hidden geological secrets of the abyssal plains of our own planet was equally full of surprises!" co-author Dr Simon O'Callaghan from NICTA said.

---

Story Source:

The above post is reprinted from materials provided by University of Sydney. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Source:http://bit.ly/1Tntuk5

Kinetic Parameters Survey for Manufacture of Pralidoxime

Daniel Antonio Shimizu Kitagawa¹, Sabrina Teixeira Martinez^2, 3, Erick Braga Ferrao Galante², Tanos Celmar Costa Franca^2, 4

Abstract: Chemical agents represent a serious threat to the modern world. Among them, they stand out nerve agents because of its high lethality and dangerousness. They are typically organophosphate compounds, which act by inhibiting acetylcholinesterase, a key enzyme in the transmission of nerve impulses process. There are several forms of treatment for organophosphate poisoning, and pralidoxime (2-PAM) is the drug most used as reactivator of acetylcholinesterase. In this work, we developed the first three steps for the synthesis of 2-PAM, with the objective of obtaining data to calculate the kinetic parameters of these steps. These parameters may be used for the manufacture of 2-PAM in semi-pilot scale. Through the studies conducted it has been found that the preparation of the oxime has very rapid kinetics.

Keywords: Chemicals warfare agents, Organophosphates compounds, Acetylcholinesterase, Oximes, Pralidoxime

1.Introduction

Chemical agents are a major threat to the modern world. One of its features is its danger, where small amounts can cause numerous poisonings. Moreover, they are easy to obtain and does not require many resources to manufacture. Thus, the use of chemical agents can be a dangerous alternative for organizations with limited resources, as underdeveloped countries and terrorist factions [1].

Among the chemicals the nerve agents stand out due to its high lethality. The neurotoxic substances are organophosphates (OP) which, in addition to its use as weapons, can also be used as pesticides. These compounds are inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), an enzyme of great importance in controlling the transmission of nerve impulses.

A number of drugs are used in the treatment of poisoning by OP. Among these drugs are compounds containing the functional group oxime, whose function is to promote the reactivation of AChE. One of the most used oxime is pralidoxime or 2-PAM [(E) -2 - [(hydroxyimino) methyl] – pyridine] [1].

This work aimed to raise kinetic parameters of the reaction of synthesis of 2-PAM. The collection of kinetic parameters is a very important activity for the laboratorial chemical engineering, since it consists on the initial stage of semi pilot plant design for the manufacture of a chemical like 2-PAM.

2.Chemical Agents and Neurotoxics

There is a variety of chemical agents, each with different toxicological properties. According to the field manual C 3-40, chemical agent is any substance that through its chemical activity, produces, when used for military purposes, a toxic effect, smoke or fire. Chemical agents that produce a toxic effect may be classified as disabling, choking, vesicants, nerve and blood agents [2].

Incapacitating agents are those that cause temporary physiological and mental effects, preventing victims of combating. The most used are o-chlorobenzylmalonitrile (CS - cause eye irritation) and adamsite (DM - causes vomiting). Pulmonary toxicants, whose main agent is phosgene, act in the respiratory tract, causing lesions in capillaries and stroke in pulmonary alveoli, leading to suffocation. Vesicants are those that cause irritation and blistering of the skin and mucous membranes, and its most important agent is mustard gas. Blood agents, the most important being hydrogen cyanide, act interfering in tissue oxygenation, causing them quickly the state of necrosis and subsequent death. The neurotoxic, or nerve agents, are those that affect the nervous system, specifically the role of AChE [1].

The neurotoxics are highly toxic, both in vapor and in liquid form, because they are absorbed by the body through the skin or respiratory system. Symptoms include distress, loss of coordination and seizures leading to death. These compounds cause the collapse of the central nervous system (CNS) [3].

2.1.Neurotransmission

Neurotransmission or synaptic transmission is the transfer of nerve impulses from one neuron to another. Nerve impulses elicit responses in muscles, glands and postsynaptic neurons [4]. The neurotransmission can be divided into the four steps illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Nerve impulse transmission [5].

The first step is the release of a neurotransmitter, which is a substance stored inside the synaptic vesicles. These vesicles are located in the termination of the axon, which are the branches of neurons. Arriving at the termination of the axon, the nerve impulse causes the fusion of synaptic vesicles with the pre-synaptic membrane, releasing the neurotransmitter into the synaptic cleft.

The next step is the combination of the transmitter with the neurotransmitter receptors. The neurotransmitter diffuses across the synaptic cleft and binds to existing specialized receptors in the post-synaptic membrane.

Then it occurs the beginning of the post-junctional activity. Receptors change their conformation by binding to the transmitter and, then, the post-synaptic membrane becomes permeable to ions. Thus, increasing the concentration of sodium ions in the cytoplasm of the receiving neuron causes a potential difference, leading to a nerve impulse that will propagate in the neuron.

The last step is the dissipation of the transmitter. Because the pulses can be transmitted through the synaptic clefts, often at up to several hundred per second, there must be a mechanism to eliminate the transmitter for each pulse [4]. For this, there are enzymes in synaptic clefts which have the ability to hydrolyze the neurotransmitters, such as AChE (Figure 2), an enzyme belonging to the family of cholinesterase, whose function is to hydrolyze the neurotransmitter acetylcholine (ACh), as shown in Figure 3.

AChE and ACh are present in the CNS and peripheral nervous system (PNS). In the PNS AChE is connected to the control of heart rate, dilation of blood vessels and smooth muscle contraction, whereas in the CNS it is involved in motor control, cognition and memory.

AChE plays an important role, because the accumulation of ACh in the synaptic cleft leads to overstimulation of the innervated structures, generating a cholinergic crisis, which has various effects such as seizures, cardiac arrhythmia and death [6].

In the active site of human AChE (HssAChE) there are three amino acid residues (known as catalytic triad) directly involved in the ACh hydrolysis process, as shown in Figure 3. These amino acids are Ser203, Glu334 and His447. In the anionic active site there is a region, which serves to interact with the cationic portion of ACh by directing this substrate to the position necessary for hydrolysis [8].

The first step of the ACh hydrolysis process occurs through a nucleophilic attack by the hydroxyl group of Ser203 on the ester-carbonyl group of the substrate, promoting breakage of the ester bond [8]. During the enzymatic attack on the ester, it is formed an intermediate between the enzyme and the ester named acetylated Ser203 (acetyl-AChE complex). The acetyl-enzyme complex is easily hydrolyzed and this action, performed by water molecules, results in the formation of the fully regenerated acetate and the free enzyme.

The acetyl-AChE complex has a short life, making AChE one of the most efficient enzymes capable of hydrolyzing ACh on the order of 6 x 10⁵ Ach molecules per molecule of enzyme per minute [8].

Figure 2. Hydrolysis of acetylcholine.

Figure 3. Simplified scheme of the HssAChE active site.

Read the rest article here:http://bit.ly/1Kd7zHI