Biofortification with selenium and lithium improves nutraceutical properties of major winery grapes in the Midwestern United States

Enriching the micronutrients, selenium (Se) and lithium (Li), in grapes to improve their nutraceutical properties were implemented by foliar application of organic fertiliser rich in Se and Li onto five grape cultivars. The effects of this biofortification on vine vigour, fruit quality, overall micronutrients and phenolic compounds also were investigated. Agronomic biofortification was found greatly increased the Se and Li content in the whole grape by multiple times, meanwhile it did not significantly affect the vine vigour and fruit quality of grapes. However, the biofortification did impact the Ionome (including all the mineral nutrients and trace elements) and phenolic compounds in grapes and this varied among cultivars. This study demonstrated foliar spray of organic Se/Li fertiliser was a very effective strategy to biofortify these micronutrients in grape berries, particularly in the skin, and therefore might be a promising strategy to increase the consumption and awareness of these grapes.     

Learning from evolving data streams through ensembles of random patches

Knowledge and Information Systems - Ensemble methods represent an effective way to solve supervised learning problems. Such methods are prevalent for learning from evolving data streams. One of the...     

The multi-element content of the lichen Parmelia sulcata, soil, and oak bark in relation to acidification and climate

Understanding how biodiversity is influenced by changing atmospheric conditions is important for conservation, public policy and environmental health. In a recent study, an impact on two of the most abundant lichens in Europe (Parmelia sulcata and Hypogymnia physodes) was recorded at Burnham Beeches lying 40 km west of London (UK) during unusual atmospheric conditions whilst other species remained unaffected. Bark and soil chemistry also influence lichen vitality and community composition. Correlations between element concentrations and element ratios in different samples help understand element cycling. To study this further, the multi-element content of the lichen P. sulcata and bark sampled in 2000 from 16 oak (Quercus robur) trees at Burnham Beeches was compared with the same elements determined in 24 surface soils sampled in 2005 from beneath the same trees. Soil pH ranged from 4.1 to 6.7. Highly significant correlations (p<0.001) for Mn/Ca ratios in lichen versus bark, soil versus bark and soil versus lichen samples confirmed cycling via the soil-tree-lichen system. Similar Mn/Ca ratios were reported in coniferous forests where high Mn concentrations were shown to limit epiphytic lichen abundance. Soil acidification influences element bioavailability and bark chemistry in Burnham Beeches with implications for lichen diversity and health. Recovery was recorded in P. sulcata, including regeneration within monitoring quadrats. Biological systems are well known to be influenced by pollution episodes.     

Strengthening molecular replacement with maximum likelihood in Beast

In molecular replacement we test a series of hypotheses about the position and/or orientation of molecules in the crystal. Likelihood is the natural score for hypothesis testing, and applications to experimental phasing and structure refinement have already demonstrated the value of likelihood in crystallography. A new likelihood function is required for rotation searches, because hypotheses about orientations leave the relative phases of structure factor contributions from symmetry-related molecules undefined. This function can also make good use of information from partial molecular replacement solutions. When multiple choices of model are available, multivariate statistics can be used to generate an ensemble average model, which is particularly powerful in solving structures with NMR models. The likelihood-based approach to molecular replacement will become even more powerful when the targets become more sophisticated, taking account of factors such as anisotropy of diffraction or the presence of non-crystallographic symmetry.     

Educating the Public about Housing Issues

Educating housing and planning professionals and workers about housing issues is only a partial solution to the more efficient, equitable and environmentally-sensitive delivery of housing. Policy and planning reforms must carry with them the support of the wider public, of the residents who have to live in and pay for housing. This means educating the public about housing and related urban reform.     

The Prevention of Oil and Chemical Pollution: Proactive Approaches in the UK and Canada

In the UK, various initiatives have been launched in an attempt to provide guidance on the occurrence and avoidance of oil and chemical pollution. Despite these efforts, oil and chemicals remain a major cause of pollution. In Canada, similar initiatives have been more successful due to a participative approach to campaign development and implementation. This paper compares UK and Canadian initiatives and identifies factors which led to the success of the Canadian campaigns.     

Using a modified CINDER90 routine in MCNPX 2.6.0 for the prediction of helium production in minor actinide targets

Fast reactors containing heterogeneous minor actinide (MA) target rods are now being modeled. When studying transmutation in these rods, helium production from α-decay must be considered since it is produced in substantial quantities. This research utilized an innovative method to calculate gas production by modifying the CINDER90 depletion code used by MCNPX 2.6.0 to include helium production from α-decay. The modified CINDER90 code was verified using the ORIGEN-ARP module of SCALE6. It was tested using the Sodium-Cooled Heterogeneous Innovative Burner Reactor model created at the University of South Carolina. It is recommended that the modified version of the cinder.dat file be distributed in subsequent MCNPX 2.6.0 releases for use in fast reactor calculations using heterogeneous MA target rods since it includes helium production otherwise not available from the current version.     

Carbothermal treatment for the improved discharge performance of primary Li/CFx battery

Carbothermal treatment was used to improve the discharge rate performance of primary lithium/carbon monofluoride (Li/CF_x with x = 1) batteries. The treatment was carried out by heating a mixture of CF_x and carbon black (CB) just below the decomposition temperature of CF_x under nitrogen for 2 h. In the treatment, poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (Kynar) was used as a fluorinated polymer binder to press the CF_x/CB mixture into pellets. It was shown that the content of Kynar significantly affected the discharge performance of the resulting treated-CF_x (T-CF_x). This can be attributed to the catalytic effect of HF formed by the pyrolysis of Kynar on the decomposition of CF_x and on the reaction of CB with the volatile fluorocarbons formed by the decomposition of CF_x. The discharge performance of T-CF_x cathode was also affected by the temperature of carbothermal treatment and by the ratio of CF_x to CB. In this work the best result was obtained from a treatment conducted at 470 °C on a 87CF_x/10CB/3Kynar (by weight) mixture. In the discharge condition of C/5 and 20 °C, the Li/CF_x cell with such-obtained T-CF_x cathode showed about 95 mV higher voltage than the control cell while retaining nearly the same specific capacity. Impedance analyses indicate that the improved discharge performance is mainly attributed to a reduction in the cell reaction resistance (R_cr) that includes an ohmic resistance related to the ionic conductivity of the discharge product shell and a Faradic resistance related to the processes of charge-transfer and Li⁺ ion diffusion in the CF_x reaction zone.     

Application of multi-criteria decision-making to risk prioritisation in tidal energy developments

This paper presents an analytical multi-criterion analysis for the prioritisation of risks for the development of tidal energy projects. After a basic identification of risks throughout the project and relevant stakeholders in the UK, classified through a political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental analysis, relevant questionnaires provided scores to each risk and corresponding weights for each of the different sectors. Employing an extended technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution as well as the weighted sum method based on the data obtained, the risks identified are ranked based on their criticality, drawing attention of the industry in mitigating the ones scoring higher. Both methods were modified to take averages at different stages of the analysis in order to observe the effects on the final risk ranking. A sensitivity analysis of the results was also carried out with regard to the weighting factors given to the perceived expertise of participants, with different results being obtained whether a linear, squared or square root regression is used. Results of the study show that academics and industry have conflicting opinions with regard to the perception of the most critical risks.