Iron is an essential limiting factor for primary production in many marine systems. The present study investigated differential regulation of protein expression in marine phytoplankton Prymnesium parvum under low Fe concentration. The phytoplankton was grown in f/2 culture medium in artificial seawater with low (0.0025 μM) and high (0.05 μM) Fe concentrations. Two-dimensional differential gel electrophoresis and matrix-assisted laser desorption-ionization-time of flight-mass spectrometer analysis were performed for protein identification and characterization. The growth of the alga declined substantially under the low Fe compared to the high Fe concentration. Under low Fe conditions, P. parvum upregulated 10 proteins including chloroplastic ATP synthase subunit b, D2 protein of PSII, D1 protein of PSII reaction centre, and light harvesting complex II protein, most of which are associated with photosynthetic activities in PSII. The results suggest that the marine alga P. parvum altered the biosynthesis of several photosynthetic proteins in order to cope with low Fe conditions., M. M. Rahman, M. A. Rahman, T. Maki, T. Nishiuchi, T. Asano, H. Hasegawa., and Obsahuje bibliografii
A simple method of a bicolor (multicolor), fast-Fourier, PAM chlorophyll fluorometry has been developed to obtain fluorescence induction curves. Quantum yields of PSII photochemistry were determined with blue and red simultaneously applied pulsed measuring lights for three subsequent 20-min periods of dark-, light-adaptation under actinic light and dark recovery. Measuring lights were cross-combined with blue and red actinic lights and saturation pulses. Coefficients of chromatic divergence were calculated as a ratio of the quantum yields obtained by red measuring light to that obtained by blue measuring light. Adaptation of Ficus benjamina and Hordeum vulgare leaves under blue (but not red) actinic light resulted in the sufficient increase of chromatic divergence. In addition, fraction of active, non(photo)inhibited, PSII centers was shown to be dependent on the color of measuring light. Thus, color of the light sources should be considered when reporting results of parameters evaluated from fluorescence induction curves., V. Lysenko, D. Lazár, T. Varduny., and Obsahuje bibliografii
This article reports a method for forecasting an earthquake by synchronous anomalies of optical astronomic time-latitude residuals. The so-called optical astronomic time-latitude residuals for a certain astrometric instrument are the rest after deducting the effects of Earth whole motion from the astronomical time and latitude observations determined by the instrument. Forecasting practice for four earthquakes around the Yunnan Observatory occurring after 2010 shows that it does not generate false forecasts, and also does not miss forecasts of major earthquakes. This forecasting practice proves that the synchronous anomalies of astronomical time-latitude residuals can provide effective warning sign for earthquake occurrence around observatory station, thus deserves attention and further study. and Su Youjin, Gao Yuping, Hu Hui.
In Czech and Polish underground hard coal mines of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin high-energy seismic phenomena are periodically recorded, the sources of which are located ahead of the longwall. Generally, these types of tremors are rooted in very strong, thick layers of sandstone, which are subject to the deformation border. The consequences are discontinuities and cracks with a range depending on the mechanical properties of destroyed rocks: the mechanical parameters of layers. Forecasting methods, developed in the Central Mining Institute, for stress concentration, seismic energy, fault zone and range, together with methods of rock fracturing using liquid or explosives, ,allow precise identification of suitable locations for controlled fracturing of rock mass with a pre-established direction. The size and range of discontinuities have an impact on mining parameters, dependent on basic exploitation intensity and expressed by the average daily progress of the longwall face. The rockmass is locally weakened because of exploitation or technical measures of discontinuities in the roof-rock on the longwall face. To prevent rockburst, measures are needed to reduce the amount of energy accumulating in the rockmass in the area of the longwall face. Knowledge of where stress is concentrated is extremely important for the development and implementation of effective preventative methods. For many years several research centres have been working on defining the range of these areas. In this paper, basic information is presented on methods developed by Central Mining Institute and used in Polish hard coal mines for forecasting energy concentration and assessing how it can be reduced., Jan Drzewiecki and Janusz Makówka., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Chlorophyll index and leaf nitrogen status (SPAD value) was incorporated into the nonrectangular hyperbola (NRH) equation for photosynthetic light-response (PLR) curve to establish a modified NRH equation to overcome the parameter variation. Ten PLR curves measured on rice leaves with different SPAD values were collected from pot experiments with different nitrogen (N) dosages. The coefficients of initial slope of the PLR curve and the maximum net photosynthetic rate in NRH equation increased linearly with the increase of leaf SPAD. The modified NRH equation was established by multiplying a linear SPAD-based adjustment factor with the NRH equation. It was sufficient in describing the PLR curves with unified coefficients for rice leaf with different SPAD values. SPAD value, as the indicator of leaf N status, could be used for modification of NRH equation to overcome the shortcoming of large coefficient variations between individual leaves with different N status. The performance of the SPAD-modified NRH equation should be further validated by data collected from different kinds of plants growing under different environments., J. Z. Xu, Y. M. Yu, S. Z. Peng, S. H. Yang, L. X. Liao., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Uric acid is the final product of human purine metabolism. It was pointed out that this compound acts as an antioxidant and is able to react with reactive oxygen species forming allantoin. Therefore, the measurement of allantoin levels may be used for the determination of oxidative stress in humans. The aim of the study was to clarify the antioxidant effect of uric acid during intense exercise. Whole blood samples were obtained from a group of healthy subjects. Allantoin, uric acid, and malondialdehyde levels in plasma and erythrocytes were measured using a HPLC with UV/Vis detection. Statistical significant differences in allantoin and uric acid levels during short-term intense exercise were found. Immediately after intense exercise, the plasma allantoin levels increased on the average of 200 % in comparison to baseline. Plasma uric acid levels increased slowly, at an average of 20 %. On the other hand, there were no significant changes in plasma malondialdehyde. The results suggest that uric acid, important antioxidant, is probably oxidized by reactive oxygen species to allantoin. Therefore allantoin may be suitable candidate for a marker of acute oxidative stress., R. Kanďár, X. Štramová, P. Drábková, J. Křenková., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The least concave majorant, $\hat F$, of a continuous function $F$ on a closed interval, $I$, is defined by $ \hat F (x) = \inf\{ G(x) G \geq F, G \text{ concave}\},\quad x \in I. $ We present an algorithm, in the spirit of the Jarvis March, to approximate the least concave majorant of a differentiable piecewise polynomial function of degree at most three on $I$. Given any function $F \in\mathcal{C}^4(I)$, it can be well-approximated on $I$ by a clamped cubic spline $S$. We show that $\hat S$ is then a good approximation to $\hat F$. We give two examples, one to illustrate, the other to apply our algorithm., Martin Franců, Ron Kerman, Gord Sinnamon., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Estimating the pre- failure points for rocks during laboratory testing is not a trivial task. In this study, a new approach is introduced that utilizes change in the slope of the load-deformation curves of rock in the loading cycle for marking the onset of failure point during uniaxial test of a given rock. At each step, load-deformation data footprints of the rock under test are inspected and a decision is made whether the failure has started or not. The load-deformation data obtained from different tests of different rocks are examined including; Norite, Granite, Limestone, Sandstone, Siltstone and Marble. The computational results over 154 cored rock samples show that the proposed approach locates the onset of failure point for a given rock with an acceptable degree of accuracy., Deniz Mamurekli., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Rock brittleness is one of the most important issues in rock mechanics. There is not yet an available method for defining or measuring directly the rock brittleness. The aim of this study is to suggest a new chemical index parameter for the prediction of basaltic rocks’ brittleness. In the order of that abovementioned purpose, a total of 23 basaltic rock samples were collected from different region of Turkey. Samples were initially tested to determine their chemical properties. Then, mechanical tests were carried out to define the brittleness indices (B1, B2, and B3) for each corresponding sample. Finally, relations between parameters obtained from test results and brittleness indices were examined with regression analysis. According to the results obtained, a new chemical parameter (CP) was proposed for predicting brittleness via major oxide element components of basaltic rocks. It was found out that, B1 and B2 are not reliable parameters for predicting the different properties, however; B3 and CP can be employed as good criteria for predicting the different properties of basaltic rocks (especially in terms of chemical and mechanical properties)., Candan Bilen, Selman Er, Atiye Tuğrul and Murat Yilmaz., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Let G be a group and !(G) be the set of element orders of G. Let k 2 !(G) and mk(G) be the number of elements of order k in G. Let nse(G) = {mk(G) : k 2 !(G)}. Assume r is a prime number and let G be a group such that nse(G) = nse(Sr), where Sr is the symmetric group of degree r. In this paper we prove that G = Sr, if r divides the order of G and r2 does not divide it. To get the conclusion we make use of some well-known results on the prime graphs of finite simple groups and their components., Azam Babai, Zeinab Akhlaghi., and Seznam literatury