Mixed function oxidases in marine organisms in relation to petroleum hydrocarbon metabolism and detection

Several phyla from the coastal Northwest Atlantic were investigated for mixed function oxidases. Enzyme activity was related to petroleum hydrocarbon metabolism and detection in the marine environment.     

Potential implications of differential preservation of testate amoeba shells for paleoenvironmental reconstruction in peatlands

Testate amoebae are now commonly used in paleoenvironmental studies but little is known of their taphonomy. There is some experimental evidence for differential preservation of some testate amoeba shell types over others, but it is unclear what, if any impact this has on palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. To investigate this issue we looked at palaeoecological evidence for the preservation of different shell types. We then investigated the possible impact of selective preservation on quantitative palaeoenvironmental inference. We first used existing palaeoecological data sets to assess the vertical patterns of relative abundance in four testate amoeba shell types: (1) shells made of secreted biosilica plates (idiosomes, e.g. Euglypha), (2) idiosomes with thick organic coating (Assulina), (3) proteinaceous shells (e.g. Hyalosphenia), (4) shells built from recycled organic or mineral particles (xenosomes) (e.g. Difflugia, Centropyxis). In three diagrams a clear pattern of decay was only observed for the idiosome type. In order to assess the implications of differential preservation of testate amoeba taxa for paleoenvironmental reconstruction we then carried out simulations using three existing transfer functions and a wide range of scenarios, downweighting different test categories to represent the impact of selective test decomposition. Simulation results showed that downweighting generally reduced overall model performance. However downweighting a shell type only produced a consistent directional bias in inferred water table depth where that shell type is both dominant and shows a clear preference along the ecological gradient. Applying a scenario derived from previous experimental work did not lead to significant difference in inferred water table. Our results show that differential shell preservation has little impact on paleohydrological reconstruction from Sphagnum-dominated peatlands. By contrast, for the minerotrophic peatlands data-set loss of idiosome tests leads to consistent underestimation of water table depth. However there are few studies from fens and it is possible that idiosome tests are not always dominant, and/or that differential decomposition is less marked than in Sphagnum peatlands. Further work is clearly needed to assess the potential of testate amoebae for paleoecological studies of minerotrophic peatlands.     

Recent developments in “added-mass” planing theory

The results of several recent isolated investigations in planing theory are consolidated in this paper, together with new insights generated by a recent numerical solution of the vertically impacting wedge problem by Zhao and Faltinsen [(1992), Water entry of two-dimensional bodies. J. Fluid Mech. 246, 593–612]. As a result, in contrast to some earlier studies, it is found that the “wetted width” associated with the added mass is not that of the intersection of the wedge with the undisturbed water surface, but the wetted width of the splashed-up water, as originally proposed by Wagner [(1932), Uber Stoss-und Gleitvorgange an der Oberflache von Flussig-Keiten, Zeitschrift für Angewandte Mathematik und Mechanik, Band 12, Heft 4 (August)]. However, the splash-up ratio is not the value of (π/2–1) which he proposed, but a value which decreases with increasing deadrise, originally proposed in the late-1940s by Pierson (“Pierson's hypothesis” in the paper). For 30° deadrise, for example, Pierson's splash-up ratio is two-thirds that of Wagner's.The new equations are employed to determine the increase in the “added mass” of prismatic hull sections due to chine immersion, using experimental data. If m_o^′ is the added amss of the hull section whose chines are just wetted, Payne [(1988), Design of High-speed Boats. Volume 1: Planing. Fishergate, Inc., Annapolis, Maryland, U.S.A.] postulated that the increase in added mass due to a chine submergence (z_c) would be

where b is the chine beam and k is a constant which Payne [(1988), Design of High-speed Boats. Volume 1: Planing. Fishergate, Inc., Annapolis, Maryland, U.S.A.] gave as .The present analysis includes the “one-sided flow” correction introduced in Payne [(1990), Planing and impacting forces at large trim angels. Ocean Engng 17, 201–234]. Partly for that reason and partly because of the more precise analysis of the experimental data, the present paper revises the value to k = 2 for wetted length to beam ratios normally employed. For deadrise angles in excess of 40° and wetted keel to beam ratios in excess of 2.0, there is some evidence that k < 2.0.The revised theoretical formulation is compared with eight different sets of experimental data for flat plate and prismatic hull forms and is found to be in excellent agreement when the speed is high enough for “dynamic suction” (a loss of buoyancy at low speeds and low wetted lenghts) to be unimportant. This is true for “chines-dry” operation with deadrise angles up to 50° and chines-wet operation at length to beam ratios far in excess of the most extreme conventional practice.The research involved in performing this analysis led to the realization that different towing tanks measure different wetted chine lengths for the same hulls and test conditions. Some consistently measure more splash-up than “theory” (based on Pierson's splash-up hypothesis) predicts and others measure somewhat less than the theory. Some examples are given in Appendix B. The reason for this is not understood.     

Management and development of river basins in north bengal using remote sensing techniques

River basin management and development are most important for utilising and conserving the water resources in any region where the average annual rainfall is highly fluctuating, the North Bengal is one of such region. Though there are a large number of rivers having a large catchment area in the hills and carry a huge amount of water during rainy season but they are completely dry in winter and summer. The upper part of majority of river basins arc highly sensitive to water erosion and land slides due to deforestation, intensive cultivation, increased settlements in sloping and erosion prone areas. So, floods in the rainy season and droughts in summer months are frequent features in North Bengal. In view of this proper management and effective conservation of land and water resources is necessary to develop the region. An integrated river basin management consisting soil conservation, afforestation, flood control, and adoption of suitable cropping pattern is essential for economic development of North Bengal.     

Mitigating the Effects of Climate Change on the Water Resources of the Columbia River Basin

The potential effects of climate change on the hydrology and water resources of the Columbia River Basin (CRB) were evaluated using simulations from the U.S. Department of Energy and National Center for Atmospheric Research Parallel Climate Model (DOE/NCAR PCM). This study focuses on three climate projections for the 21st century based on a `business as usual' (BAU) global emissions scenario, evaluated with respect to a control climate scenario based on static 1995 emissions. Time-varying monthly PCM temperature and precipitation changes were statistically downscaled and temporally disaggregated to produce daily forcings that drove a macro-scale hydrologic simulation model of the Columbia River basin at 1/4-degree spatial resolution. For comparison with the direct statistical downscaling approach, a dynamical downscaling approach using a regional climate model (RCM) was also used to derive hydrologic model forcings for 20-year subsets from the PCM control climate (1995–2015) scenario and from the three BAU climate(2040–2060) projections. The statistically downscaled PCM scenario results were assessed for three analysis periods (denoted Periods 1–3: 2010–2039,2040–2069, 2070–2098) in which changes in annual average temperature were +0.5,+1.3 and +2.1 °C, respectively, while critical winter season precipitation changes were –3, +5 and +1 percent. For RCM, the predicted temperature change for the 2040–2060 period was +1.2 °C and the average winter precipitation change was –3 percent, relative to the RCM controlclimate. Due to the modest changes in winter precipitation, temperature changes dominated the simulated hydrologic effects by reducing winter snow accumulation, thus shifting summer streamflow to the winter. The hydrologic changes caused increased competition for reservoir storage between firm hydropower and instream flow targets developed pursuant to the Endangered Species Act listing of Columbia River salmonids. We examined several alternative reservoir operating policies designed to mitigate reservoir system performance losses. In general, the combination of earlier reservoir refill with greater storage allocations for instream flow targets mitigated some of the negative impacts to flow, but only with significant losses in firm hydropower production (ranging from –9 percent in Period1 to –35 percent for RCM). Simulated hydropower revenue changes were lessthan 5 percent for all scenarios, however, primarily due to small changes inannual runoff.     

Anomalous induction across Europe

Summary Using real induction vector data, collected at 958 European observation sites, together with our data from the Bohemian Massif and the West Carpathians, we have generated a contour map of the transfer function TF1 (corresponding to transfer function A in Wiese's relation). Only the zero contour is retained and shown on the map. It clearly marks the main anomalous induction zones, related to internal structural inhomogeneities, across Europe.     

Mixed-function oxygenases as biological monitors around petroleum hydrocarbon development sites: Potential for induction by diesel and other drilling mud base oils containing reduced levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

The use of oil-based drilling muds has been discouraged in hydrocarbon exploration and production in the marine environment but these muds are presently being used to a considerable degree in the United Kingdom and Norwegian sectors of the North Sea. Field studies in the North Sea have demonstrated only localized impacts around individual drilling sites,^1,2 even including those sites where ‘toxic’ diesel oils were employed as base fluids in drilling muds. Yet the question of disposal of cuttings contaminated with oil from drilling muds remains somewhat controversial. The induction of mixed-function oxygenases (MFO) has been validated on a number of occasions in the field as a sensitive index of low level hydrocarbon exposure (reviewed by Payne),³ including sites in the North Sea where diesel-based muds were used.⁴ The present study demonstrates that any potential for induction by hydrocarbon contaminated cuttings will probably be reduced by substitution of low-aromatic base oils for diesel in drilling mud formulations.     

Radio-continuum study of the Nearby sculptor group galaxies. Part 1: NGC 300 at λ=20 cm

A series of new radio-continuum (λ=20 cm) mosaic images focused on the NGC?300 galactic system were produced using archived observational data from the VLA and/or ATCA. These new images are both very sensitive (rms?=60 μJy) and feature high angular resolution (<10?″). The most prominent new feature is the galaxy’s extended radio-continuum emission, which does not match its optical appearance. Using these newly created images a number of previously unidentified discrete sources have been discovered. Furthermore, we demonstrate that a joint deconvolution approach to imaging this complete data-set is inferior when compared to an immerge approach.