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Weather warfare " The Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques (Geneva: May 18, 1977, Entered into force: October 5, 1978) prohibits "widespread, long-lasting or severe effects as the means of destruction, damage or injury". However, it has been argued that this permits "local, non-permanent changes". In contrast, the "Consultative Committee of Experts" established in Article VIII of the Convention has stated in their "Understanding relating to Article II" that any use of environmental modification where this is done "as a means of destruction, damage or injury to another State Party, would be prohibited.". Furthermore, they conclude in the same paragraph that "military or any other hostile use of environmental modification techniques, would result, or could reasonably be expected to result, in widespread, long-lasting or severe destruction, damage or injury.", meaning that all signatories are expected to abstain from using weather modification to cause harm at any scale. Importantly, the language of the treaty does not overtly condemn military use of weather modification when it does not directly cause harm, such as the United States' use of weather modification in the siege of Khe Sanh, discussed above. Because of the limitations of the treaty, and the fact that it applies only to signatory states, weather warfare is not a thing of the past, and may continue to play a role in warfare throughout the twenty-first century. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=3955475 |
Ionic potential is the ratio of electric charge to the radius of an ion. As such, the proportion measures the charge density at the surface of the ion; usually the denser the charge, the stronger will be the bond that the ion forms. The ionic potential gives the sense of how strongly or weakly the ion will be attracted, electrostatically, to ions of opposite charge; and to what extent the ion will repel other ions of like charge. It measures the polarising power of a cation. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=3964732 |
Royal Botanic Society The was a learned society founded in 1839 by James de Carle Sowerby under a royal charter to the Duke of Norfolk and others. Its purpose was to promote "botany in all its branches, and its applications." Soon after it was established, it leased the grounds within the Inner Circle in Regent's Park, London, about , for use as an experimental garden. Sowerby remained as secretary for some 30 years, and J. B. Sowerby and W. Sowerby later also served as secretaries. The garden was open to members and their guests and also to the general public for a fee on certain days of the week. It included large palm-houses and a water-lily house. In the summer, flowershows, fetes, and other entertainments were held there. In 1932 it failed to secure a renewal of the lease, and the Society was dissolved. Its surviving record were deposited in the St. Marylebone Public Library. The site became Queen Mary's Gardens, which is run by the Royal Parks Agency, and is fully open to the general public without charge as part of Regent's Park. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=3966666 |
Schmidt hammer A Schmidt hammer, also known as a Swiss hammer or a rebound hammer or concrete hammer test, is a device to measure the elastic properties or strength of concrete or rock, mainly surface hardness and penetration resistance. It was invented by Ernst Schmidt, a Swiss engineer. The hammer measures the rebound of a spring-loaded mass impacting against the surface of a sample. The test hammer hits the concrete at a defined energy. Its rebound is dependent on the hardness of the concrete and is measured by the test equipment. By reference to a conversion chart, the rebound value can be used to determine the concrete's compressive strength. When conducting the test, the hammer should be held at right angles to the surface, which in turn should be flat and smooth. The rebound reading will be affected by the orientation of the hammer: when used oriented upward (for example, on the underside of a suspended slab), gravity will increase the rebound distance of the mass, and vice versa for a test conducted on a floor slab. measurements are on an arbitrary scale ranging from 10 to 100. Schmidt hammers are available from manufacturers in several different energy ranges, including (i) Type L-0.735 Nm impact energy, (ii) Type N-2.207 Nm impact energy, and (iii) Type M-29.43 Nm impact energy. The test is also sensitive to other factors: Prior to testing, the should be calibrated using a calibration test anvil supplied by the manufacturer | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=3968794 |
Schmidt hammer Twelve readings should be taken, dropping the highest and lowest, and then taking the average of the ten remaining. This method of testing is classed as indirect as it does not give a direct measurement of the strength of the material. It simply gives an indication based on surface properties, and as such is suitable only for making comparisons between samples. This method for testing concrete is governed by ASTM C805. ASTM D5873 describes the procedure for testing of rock. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=3968794 |
Isopotential map Isopotential maps are a measure of electrostatic potential in space. The spatial derivatives of an electrostatic field indicate the contours of the electrostatic field, so isopotential maps show where another charged molecule might interact, using equipotential lines (isopotentials). | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=3971228 |
Günther Maul Günther Edmund Maul (May 7, 1909 in Frankfurt am Main – September 28, 1997 in Funchal) was a German ichthyologist and taxidermist in Portugal. Maul came to Madeira in December 1930 to work as taxidermist at Museu Municipal do Funchal, which opened to the public in 1933. He was appointed director for the museum in 1940, a post that he held to his retirement in 1979. He, however, continued his research until shortly before his death. He started two journals ("Boletim do Museu Municipal do Funchal" in 1945 and "Bocagiana" in 1959) and opened the museum's aquarium to the public in 1959. He also participated in several expeditions including with the French bathyscaphe "Archimède" in 1966 and organised the first multidisciplinary expedition to the Salvage Islands in 1963. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Madeira in 1995. He described several species of fish (like "Himantolophus albinares", "Coryphaenoides thelestomus", "Macruronus maderensis", "Rouleina maderensis" and "Argyripnus atlanticus") and has at least three species and one genus of fish ("Himantolophus mauli" Bertelsen & Krefft, 1988, "Pollichthys mauli" (Poll, 1953) and "Maulisia mauli" Parr, 1960), one fossil owl ("Otus mauli") and one moth ("Acrolepiopsis mauli") named in his honour. Biographical facts are taken from: Manuel José Biscoito, GÜNTHER EDMUND MAUL (Frankfurt, 1909 – Funchal, 1997) | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=3972578 |
Chen Fenghuai Chen Feng Huai (, 1900–1993), also spelled Chen Feng Hwai, was a Chinese botanist. Chen was born in 1900. He was the great grandson of Chen Baozhen, governor of Hunan. He once studied at Royal Botanical Garden of Edinburgh in the 1930s. After he returned to China, he held a position at Nanchang University. He contribution greatly to the construction of botanical gardens in China. He was the director and one of the founders of the following gardens: Chen died in 1993 and was buried at Lushan in his beloved place, both of his career and of his family residence, along with two colleagues, Hu Xian Xiao and Qin Ren Chang. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=3977590 |
Exogenote An exogenote is a piece of donor DNA that is involved in the mating of prokaryotic organisms. Transferred DNA of Hfr is called exogenote and homologous part of F genophore is called endogenote. An exogenote is genetic material that is released into the environment by prokaryotic cells, usually upon their lysis. This exogenous genetic material is then free to be taken up by other competent bacteria, and used as a template for protein synthesis or broken down for its molecules to be used elsewhere in the cell. Taking up genetic material into the cell from the surrounding environment is a form of bacterial transformation. Exogenotes can also be transferred directly from donor to recipient bacteria as an F'-plasmid in a process known as bacterial conjugation. F'-plasmids only form if the F+ factor is incorrectly translated, and results in a small amount of donor DNA erroneously transferring to the recipient with very high efficiency. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=3979064 |
Meitner (Venusian crater) Meitner is a multiring impact crater on Venus. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=3980636 |
Vesiculovirus is a genus of Negative-sense single-stranded RNA viruses in the family "Rhabdoviridae", within the order "Mononegavirales". Table legend: "*" denotes type species. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=3981043 |
Teng Huo-tu (; 1911–1978) was an ichthyologist with the Taiwan Fisheries Research Institute (). Much of his work involved classification of chondricthyes, especially sharks. In 1959, Teng officially described the smalleye pygmy shark. While at the Fisheries Research Institute, Teng directed the construction of the "Hai Kung", the first Taiwanese ship to complete an Antarctic expedition, in 1977. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=3981913 |
Convergence zone A convergence zone in meteorology is a region in the atmosphere where two prevailing flows meet and interact, usually resulting in distinctive weather conditions. This causes a mass accumulation that eventually leads to a vertical movement and to the formation of clouds and precipitation. Large-scale convergence, called synoptic-scale convergence, is associated with weather systems such as baroclinic troughs, low-pressure areas, and cyclones. The large-scale convergence zone formed over the equator, Hadley Cell, has condensed and intensified as a result of the global increase in temperature. Small-scale convergence will give phenomena from isolated cumulus clouds to large areas of thunderstorms. The inverse of a convergence is a divergence. An example of a convergence zone is the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), a low pressure area which girdles the Earth at the Equator. Another example is the South Pacific convergence zone that extends from the western Pacific Ocean toward French Polynesia. The Intertropical Convergence Zone is the result of the Northeasterly trade winds and Southwesterly trade winds converging in an area of high latent heat and low pressure. As the two trade winds converge, the cool, dry air collects moisture from the warm ocean and rises, contributing to cloud formation and precipitation | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=3984015 |
Convergence zone The low pressure area that is created by the movement of the trade winds, acts as a vacuum, drawing in the cooler, dry air from high pressure areas (divergence zones), creating a convection cell commonly known as the Hadley Cell. Sea surface temperature is directly related to the position of the Sun or the location of the "energy flux equator," thus the ITCZ shifts corresponding to the seasons. Due to the position of the Sun, the sea surface temperature near the equator (30°S to 30°N), during an equinox, is higher than any other latitudes. During the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere (June 21), the ITCZ is shifted north, following the position of the Sun. The ITCZ is shifted farther south during the winter solstice (in the Northern Hemisphere), when the solar radiation is focused at 23.5°S. Convergence zones also occur at a smaller scale. Some examples are the Puget Sound Convergence Zone which occurs in the Puget Sound region in the U.S. state of Washington; Mohawk–Hudson convergence in the U.S. state of New York; the Elsinore Convergence Zone in the U.S. state of California; the Brown Willy effect which can be generated when south-westerly winds blow over Bodmin Moor in Cornwall; and the Pembrokeshire Dangler which can form when northerly winds blow down the Irish Sea. They can also be associated with sea breeze fronts. As a result of climate change, the ITCZ has condensed to cover a smaller area surrounding the equator | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=3984015 |
Convergence zone The rate of convergence varies daily with the intensity of solar radiation and the temperature of the water, with the most rapid convection taking place during solar noon. With the steadily rising global temperature, convection rates have increased, strengthening the Hadley Cell. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=3984015 |
NGC 2207 and IC 2163 are a pair of colliding spiral galaxies about 80 million light-years away in the constellation Canis Major. Both galaxies were discovered by John Herschel in 1835. The larger spiral, NGC 2207, is classified as an intermediate spiral galaxy exhibiting a weak inner ring structure around the central bar. The smaller companion spiral, IC 2163, is classified as a barred spiral galaxy that also exhibits a weak inner ring and an elongated spiral arm that is likely being stretched by tidal forces with the larger companion. Both galaxies contain a vast amount of dust and gas, and are beginning to exhibit enhanced rates of star formation, as seen in infrared images. The collision is of interest because it reflects the probable fate of the Milky Way and Andromeda merger. So far, four supernovae have been observed in NGC 2207: NGC 2207 is in the process of tidally stripping IC 2163. NGC 2207 is in the process of colliding and merging with IC 2163. But unlike the Antennae or the Mice Galaxies, they are still two separate spiral galaxies. They are only in the first step of colliding and merging. Soon they will collide, probably looking a bit more like the Mice Galaxies. In about a billion years time they are expected to merge and become an elliptical galaxy or perhaps a disk galaxy. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=3996146 |
CMBFAST In physical cosmology, is a computer code, written by Uros Seljak and Matias Zaldarriaga, for computing the anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background. It was the first efficient program to do so, reducing the time taken to compute the anisotropy from several days to a few minutes by using a novel semi-analytic line-of-sight approach. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=3997493 |
Newtonian gauge In general relativity, the is a perturbed form of the Friedmann–Lemaître–Robertson–Walker line element. The gauge freedom of general relativity is used to eliminate two scalar degrees of freedom of the metric, so that it can be written as: where the Latin indices "a" and "b" are summed over the "spatial" directions and formula_2 is the Kronecker delta. The conformal is the closely related gauge in which: which is related by the simple transformation formula_4. They are called Newtonian gauges because formula_5 is the Newtonian gravitational potential of classical Newtonian gravity, which satisfies the Poisson equation formula_6 for non-relativistic matter and on scales where the expansion of the universe may be neglected. It includes only scalar perturbations of the metric: by the scalar-vector-tensor decomposition these evolve independently of the vector and tensor perturbations and are the predominant ones affecting the growth of structure in the universe in cosmological perturbation theory. The vector perturbations vanish in cosmic inflation and the tensor perturbations are gravitational waves, which have a negligible effect on physics except for the so-called B-modes of the cosmic microwave background polarization. The tensor perturbation is truly gauge independent, since it is the same in all gauges. In a universe without anisotropic stress (that is, where the stress–energy tensor is invariant under spatial rotations, or the three principal pressures are identical) the Einstein equation sets formula_7. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=3997813 |
Lithogenic silica (LSi) is silica that originates from terrestrial sources of rock and soil, i.e. from silicate minerals and crystals. In the marine silicon cycle, LSi in the ocean is derived from rivers (5.6 Tmol Si/yr), eolian dust (0.5 Tmol Si/yr), hydrothermal vents (0.2 Tmol Si/yr), basalt weathering (0.4 Tmol Si/yr), and from benthic fluxes (23 Tmol Si/yr) from the sediment into the ocean's interior ( et al., 1995). LSi can either be accumulated "directly" in marine sediments or be transferred into dissolved silica (DSi) in the water column. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4001324 |
Electrometallurgy is a method that uses electrical energy to produce metals by electrolysis. is usually the last stage in metal production and is therefore preceded by pyrometallurgical or hydrometallurgical operations. The electrolysis can be done on a molten metal oxide (smelt electrolysis) which is used for example to produce aluminium from aluminium oxide via the Hall-Hérault process. Electrolysis can be used as a final refining stage in pyrometallurgical metal production (electrorefining) and it is also used for reduction of a metal from an aqueous metal salt solution produced by hydrometallurgy (electrowinning). is the field concerned with the processes of metal electrodeposition There are four categories of these processes: | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4001513 |
Huang Kun (; September 2, 1919 – July 6, 2005) was a Chinese physicist and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He was awarded the State Preeminent Science and Technology Award (the highest science award in China) by President Jiang Zemin in 2001. Born in Beijing, China, in 1919, Huang graduated from Yenching University with a degree in physics. In 1948, he earned his PhD from the H. H. Wills Physics Lab of Bristol University in England and continued his postdoctoral studies at Liverpool University, where he coauthored the book "Dynamical Theory of Crystal Lattices" with Max Born between 1949 and 1951. In 1951, Huang returned to China to teach, and became a professor of physics at Peking University. In 1955, he became a founding member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). After his retirement in 1983, Huang remained active in the research of semiconductors and was selected as the chairman of the Chinese Society of Physics between 1987 and 1991. He served as Director of the Institute of Semiconductors of the CAS. Huang made many founding contributions to the field of solid-state physics. His "Dynamical Theory of Crystal Lattices", which was a result of his collaboration with German Nobel laureate Max Born, has become a classic work of modern physics. The Born–Huang approximation is named after them. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4003918 |
Raymond Jeanloz is a professor of earth and planetary science and of astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley. Educated at the California Institute of Technology, Amherst College and at Deep Springs College, he has contributed research fundamental to understanding of the composition of the Earth and the behavior of materials under high temperatures and pressures. He is working with colleagues to investigate the conditions inside supergiant exoplanets. Jeanloz is also a prominent figure in nuclear weapons policy, chairing the Committee on International Security and Arms Control at the National Academy of Sciences. He was an Annenberg Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution from 2012 to 2013. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4004351 |
DeLong Star Ruby The DeLong Star Ruby, a oval cabochon star ruby, was discovered in Burma in the 1930s. It was sold by Martin Ehrmann to Edith Haggin DeLong for , who then donated it to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City in 1937. On October 29, 1964, the DeLong star ruby was one of a number of precious gems stolen in a notorious jewelry heist by Jack Roland Murphy and two accomplices. In January 1965, nine of the stolen gems, including the Star of India and the Midnight Star, were recovered in a bus depot locker; however, the DeLong ruby was not among them. After months of negotiation, the unknown holder of the ruby agreed, through third parties including Dick Pearson, to ransom it for $25,000. The ransom was paid by wealthy Florida businessman John D. MacArthur and he was present on September 2, 1965, when the ruby was recovered at the designated drop off site: a phone booth at a service plaza on the Sunshine State Parkway near Palm Beach, Florida. Months later Dick Pearson was arrested burglarizing a jewelry store in Georgia and was found in possession of $100 bills with serial numbers matching the ransom money. He was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison for his involvement in the DeLong Star ruby case. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4006709 |
Oppenheimer Diamond The Oppenheimer Diamond, a nearly perfectly formed yellow diamond crystal, is one of the largest uncut diamonds in the world, and measures approximately 20 × 20 millimeters. It was discovered in the Dutoitspan Mine, Kimberley, South Africa, in 1964. Harry Winston acquired the stone and presented it to the Smithsonian Institution in memory of Sir Ernest Oppenheimer. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4011776 |
Proteomyxa is a name given by E. Ray Lankester to a group of Sarcodina. This is an obsolete group. Many of the species are endoparasites in living cells, mostly of algae or fungi, but not exclusively. At least two species of Pseudospora have been taken for reproductive stages in the life history of their hosts—whence indeed the generic name. Plasmodiophora brassicae gives rise to the disease known as Hanburies or fingers and toes in Cruciferae; Lymphosporidium causes a virulent epidemic among the American brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis). Archerina boltoni is remarkable for containing a pair of chlorophyll corpuscles in each cell; no nucleus has been made out, but the chlorophyll bodies divide previous to fission. It is a fresh-water form. The cells of this species form loose aggregates or filoplasmodia, like those of Mikrogromia or Leydenia. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4012709 |
Flying and gliding animals A number of animals have evolved aerial locomotion, either by powered flight or by gliding. ("volant" animals) have evolved separately many times, without any single ancestor. Flight has evolved at least four times, in the insects, pterosaurs, birds, and bats. Gliding has evolved on many more occasions. Usually the development is to aid canopy animals in getting from tree to tree, although there are other possibilities. Gliding, in particular, has evolved among rainforest animals, especially in the rainforests in Asia (most especially Borneo) where the trees are tall and widely spaced. Several species of aquatic animals, and a few amphibians and reptiles have also evolved to acquire this gliding flight ability, typically as a means of evading predators. Animal aerial locomotion can be divided into two categories—powered and unpowered. In unpowered modes of locomotion, the animal uses aerodynamics forces exerted on the body due to wind or falling through the air. In powered flight, the animal uses muscular power to generate aerodynamic forces to climb or to maintain steady, level flight. Those who can find air that is rising faster than they are falling can gain altitude by soaring. These modes of locomotion typically require an animal start from a raised location, converting that potential energy into kinetic energy and using aerodynamic forces to control trajectory and angle of descent. Energy is continually lost to drag without being replaced, thus these methods of locomotion have limited range and duration | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4014603 |
Flying and gliding animals Powered flight has evolved only four times: first in the insects, then in pterosaurs, next in birds, and last in bats. Powered flight uses muscles to generate aerodynamic force, which allows the animal to produce lift and thrust. The animal may ascend without the aid of rising air. Ballooning and soaring are not powered by muscle, but rather by external aerodynamic sources of energy: the wind and rising thermals, respectively. Both can continue as long as the source of external power is present. Soaring is typically only seen in species capable of powered flight, as it requires extremely large wings. Many species will use multiple of these modes at various times; a hawk will use powered flight to rise, then soar on thermals, then descend via free-fall to catch its prey. While gliding occurs independently from powered flight, it has some ecological advantages of its own. Gliding is a very energy-efficient way of travelling from tree to tree. An argument made is that many gliding animals eat low energy foods such as leaves and are restricted to gliding because of this, whereas flying animals eat more high energy foods such as fruits, nectar, and insects. In contrast to flight, gliding has evolved independently many times (more than a dozen times among extant vertebrates); however these groups have not radiated nearly as much as have groups of flying animals. Worldwide, the distribution of gliding animals is uneven as most inhabit rain forests in Southeast Asia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4014603 |
Flying and gliding animals (Despite seemingly suitable rain forest habitats, few gliders are found in India or New Guinea and none in Madagascar.) Additionally, a variety of gliding vertebrates are found in Africa, a family of hylids (flying frogs) lives in South America and several species of gliding squirrels are found in the forests of northern Asia and North America. Various factors produce these disparities. In the forests of Southeast Asia, the dominant canopy trees (usually dipterocarps) are taller than the canopy trees of the other forests. A higher start provides a competitive advantage of further glides and farther travel. Gliding predators may more efficiently search for prey. The lower abundance of insect and small vertebrate prey for carnivorous animals (such as lizards) in Asian forests may be a factor. In Australia, many mammals (and all mammalian gliders) possess, to some extent, prehensile tails. Powered flight has evolved unambiguously only four times—birds, bats, pterosaurs, and insects. In contrast to gliding, which has evolved more frequently but typically gives rise to only a handful of species, all three extant groups of powered flyers have a huge number of species, suggesting that flight is a very successful strategy once evolved. Bats, after rodents, have the most species of any mammalian order, about 20% of all mammalian species. Birds have the most species of any class of terrestrial vertebrates | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4014603 |
Flying and gliding animals Finally, insects (most of which fly at some point in their life cycle) have more species than all other animal groups combined. The evolution of flight is one of the most striking and demanding in animal evolution, and has attracted the attention of many prominent scientists and generated many theories. Additionally, because flying animals tend to be small and have a low mass (both of which increase the surface-area-to-mass ratio), they tend to fossilize infrequently and poorly compared to the larger, heavier-boned terrestrial species they share habitat with. Fossils of flying animals tend to be confined to exceptional fossil deposits formed under highly specific circumstances, resulting in a generally poor fossil record, and a particular lack of transitional forms. Furthermore, as fossils do not preserve behavior or muscle, it can be difficult to discriminate between a poor flyer and a good glider. Insects were the first to evolve flight, approximately 350 million years ago. The developmental origin of the insect wing remains in dispute, as does the purpose prior to true flight. One suggestion is that wings initially were used to catch the wind for small insects that live on the surface of the water, while another is that they functioned in parachuting, then gliding, then flight for originally arboreal insects. Pterosaurs were the next to evolve flight, approximately 228 million years ago | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4014603 |
Flying and gliding animals These reptiles were close relatives of the dinosaurs (and sometimes mistakenly considered dinosaurs by laymen), and reached enormous sizes, with some of the last forms being the largest flying animals ever to inhabit the Earth, having wingspans of over 9.1 m (30 ft). However, they spanned a large range of sizes, down to a 250 mm (10 in) wingspan in "Nemicolopterus". Birds have an extensive fossil record, along with many forms documenting both their evolution from small theropod dinosaurs and the numerous bird-like forms of theropod which did not survive the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous. Indeed, "Archaeopteryx" is arguably the most famous transitional fossil in the world, both due to its mix of reptilian and avian anatomy and the luck of being discovered only two years after Darwin's publication of "On the Origin of Species". However, the ecology of this transition is considerably more contentious, with various scientists supporting either a "trees down" origin (in which an arboreal ancestor evolved gliding, then flight) or a "ground up" origin (in which a fast-running terrestrial ancestor used wings for a speed boost and to help catch prey). Bats are the most recent to evolve (about 60 million years ago), most likely from a fluttering ancestor, though their poor fossil record has hindered more detailed study. Only a few animals are known to have specialised in soaring: the larger of the extinct pterosaurs, and some large birds | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4014603 |
Flying and gliding animals Powered flight is very energetically expensive for large animals, but for soaring their size is an advantage, as it allows them a low wing loading, that is a large wing areas relative to their weight, which maximizes lift. Soaring is very energetically efficient. During a free-fall with no aerodynamic forces, the object accelerates due to gravity, resulting in increasing velocity as the object descends. During parachuting, animals use the aerodynamic forces on their body to counteract the force or gravity. Any object moving through air experiences a drag force that is proportion to surface area and to velocity squared, and this force will partially counter the force of gravity, slowing the animal's descent to a safer speed. If this drag is oriented at an angle to the vertical, the animal's trajectory will gradually become more horizontal, and it will cover horizontal as well as vertical distance. Smaller adjustments can allow turning or other maneuvers. This can allow a parachuting animal to move from a high location on one tree to a lower location on another tree nearby. During gliding, lift plays an increased role. Like drag, lift is proportional to velocity squared. Gliding animals will typically leap or drop from high locations such as trees, just as in parachuting, and as gravitational acceleration increases their speed, the aerodynamic forces also increase | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4014603 |
Flying and gliding animals Because the animal can utilize lift and drag to generate greater aerodynamic force, it can glide at a shallower angle than parachuting animals, allowing it to cover greater horizontal distance in the same loss of altitude, and reach trees further away. Unlike most air vehicles, in which the objects that generate lift (wings) and thrust (engine/propeller) are separate and the wings remain fixed, flying animals use their wings to generate both lift and thrust by moving them relative to the body. This has made the flight of organisms considerably harder to understand than that of vehicles, as it involves varying speeds, angles, orientations, areas, and flow patterns over the wings. A bird or bat flying through the air at a constant speed moves its wings up and down (usually with some fore-aft movement as well). Because the animal is in motion, there is some airflow relative to its body which, combined with the velocity of its wings, generates a faster airflow moving over the wing. This will generate lift force vector pointing forwards and upwards, and a drag force vector pointing rearwards and upwards. The upwards components of these counteract gravity, keeping the body in the air, while the forward component provides thrust to counteract both the drag from the wing and from the body as a whole. Pterosaur flight likely worked in a similar manner, though no living pterosaurs remain for study. Insect flight is considerably different, due to their small size, rigid wings, and other anatomical differences | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4014603 |
Flying and gliding animals Turbulence and vortices play a much larger role in insect flight, making it even more complex and difficult to study than the flight of vertebrates. There are two basic aerodynamic models of insect flight. Most insects use a method that creates a spiralling leading edge vortex. Some very small insects use the fling-and-clap or Weis-Fogh mechanism in which the wings clap together above the insect's body and then fling apart. As they fling open, the air gets sucked in and creates a vortex over each wing. This bound vortex then moves across the wing and, in the clap, acts as the starting vortex for the other wing. Circulation and lift are increased, at the price of wear and tear on the wings. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4014603 |
Winter Star Party The Winter Star Party, aka WSP, is an annual convention of amateur astronomers where the primary activity is nighttime astronomical observation. This February event is run at Camp Wesumkee located on Scout Key in the Lower Florida Keys. It is hosted by the Southern Cross Astronomical Society of Miami, Florida. Most attendees camp on site. BBC Sky at Night magazine rated WSP as one of the top 10 star parties in the world. WSP was first established in 1984 by Tippy D'Auria. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4021175 |
Sequential walking is a technique that can be used to solve various 2D NMR spectra. In a 2D experiment, cross peaks must be correlated to the correct nuclei. Using sequential walking, the correct nuclei can be assigned to their crosspeaks. The assigned crosspeaks can give valuable information such as spatial interactions between nuclei. In a NOESY of DNA, for example, each nucleotide has a different chemical shift associated with it. In general, A's are more downstream, T's are more upstream, and C's and G's are intermediate. Each nucleotide has protons on the deoxyribose sugar, which can be assigned using sequential walking. To do this, the first nucleotide in the sequence must be detected. Knowing the DNA sequence helps, but in general the first nucleotide can be determined using the following rules. 1. 2' and 2" protons of a nucleotide will show up in its column, as well as in the column of the next nucleotide in the sequence. For example, in the sequence CATG, in the column for C, its own 2' and 2" protons will be seen, but none of the other nucleotides. For A, its own 2' and 2" protons will be seen, as well as those from C. 2. Methyl groups on the nucleotide are seen in the column for the nucleotide containing a methyl group, as well as for the nucleotide preceding it. For example, in CATG, the A and T will contain the methyl peak corresponding to the methyl group on T, but G will not | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4023113 |
Sequential walking Once the first nucleotide has been found, you determine which nucleotide is next to it because it should contain the 2' and 2" protons from the previous nucleotide. This is done by "walking" across the spectrum. This process is then repeated sequentially until all nucleotides have been assigned. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4023113 |
Emagram An emagram is one of four thermodynamic diagrams used to display temperature lapse rate and moisture content profiles in the atmosphere. The emagram has axes of temperature (T) and pressure (p). In the emagram, the dry adiabats make an angle of about 45 degrees with the isobars, isotherms are vertical and isopleths of saturation mixing ratio are almost straight and vertical. Usually, temperature and dew point data from radiosondes are plotted on these diagrams to allow calculations of convective stability or Convective Available Potential Energy. Wind barbs are often plotted at the side of a tephigram to indicate the winds at different heights. First devised in 1884 by Heinrich Hertz, the emagram is used primarily in European countries. Other countries use similar thermodynamic diagrams for the same purpose. However, the details of their construction vary. is the first atmospheric thermodynamic diagram. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4024968 |
Substomatal cavity In plants, the substomatal cavity is the cavity located immediately proximal to the stoma. It acts as a diffusion chamber connected with intercellular air spaces and allows rapid diffusion of carbon dioxide and other gases (such as plant pheromones) in and out of plant cells. Graham LE, Graham JM, Wilcox LW (2006) Plant Biology (Second Edition). Pearsons Education, USA. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4025145 |
Stüve diagram A is one of four thermodynamic diagrams commonly used in weather analysis and forecasting. It was developed circa 1927 by the German meteorologist Georg Stüve (1888–1935) and quickly gained widespread acceptance in the United States to plot temperature and dew point data from radiosondes. This diagram has a simplicity in that it uses straight lines for the three primary variables: pressure, temperature and potential temperature. The isotherms are straight and vertical, isobars are straight and horizontal and dry adiabats are also straight and have a 45 degree inclination to the left while moist adiabats are curved. Wind barbs are often plotted at the side of the diagram to indicate the winds at different heights they are used to save space with symbols to help in charts. However, using this configuration sacrifices the equal-area property of the original Clausius–Clapeyron relation requirements between the temperature of the environment and the temperature of a parcel of air lifted/lowered. Although it permits to analyze the cloud cover and the stability of the airmass, it thus does not permit to calculate the Convective Available Potential Energy (CAPE). This is why the three other thermodynamic diagrams (emagrams, tephigrams, and skew-T log-P diagrams) are most often preferred, the latter in the USA nowadays. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4025793 |
Tornado outbreak sequence A tornado outbreak sequence, or tornado outbreak day sequence, sometimes referred to as an extended tornado outbreak, is a period of continuous or nearly continuous high tornado activity consisting of a series of tornado outbreaks over multiple days with no or very few days lacking tornado outbreaks. Major tornado outbreak sequences occurred in the United States in May 1917, 1930, 1949, 1965, 1974, 2003, and 2011. Another exceptional outbreak sequence apparently occurred during mid to late May 1896. Although some days lacked tornado outbreaks, the period from mid to late April 2011 and late May 2019 also were periods of especially high tornado activity. Tornado outbreak sequences tend to dominate the tornado statistics for a year and often cause a spike in tornado numbers for the entire year. Not all periods of active tornado occurrences are outbreak sequences, there must be no break in the activity to satisfy the definition. Active periods occur ranging from every year to every several years whereas continuously active periods are less common and can be rare depending on the parameters applied to define a sequence. By the late 2010s, medium to long range forecasting advanced sufficiently that some periods of high tornado activity can be somewhat reliably predicted several days to several weeks in advance. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4038182 |
Kristina Curry Rogers Kristina A. Curry Rogers is a vertebrate paleontologist and a Professor in geology and biology at Macalester College. She holds a B.Sc. in Biology from Montana State University, and a M.Sc. Ph.D. in Anatomical Science from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Her work focuses on questions of dinosaur biology, bone histology, growth, and evolution, especially the Titanosauria, on which she wrote her doctoral dissertation. Together with Catherine Forster, Associate Professor and her teacher at Stony Brook, she discovered and described "Rapetosaurus", the most complete Cretaceous sauropod and titanosaur found to date. Through cladistic analysis of "Rapetosaurus" and other titanosaurs, Curry Rogers was able to revise the phylogeny of the titanosaurs (see Curry Rogers 2005). | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4045043 |
Charles Frédéric Dubois (28 May 1804 – 12 November 1867) was a Belgian naturalist. He was the author of "Planches colorées des oiseaux de l’Europe" ("Color plates of the birds of Europe") and "Catalogue systématique des Lépidoptères de la Belgique" ("Systematic catalog of the Lepidoptera of Belgium"), which was completed by his son, Alphonse Joseph Charles Dubois (1839–1921), after his death. The following quote has been widely attributed to Charles Dubois, as on the Favorite Quotes blog: "The important thing is this: to be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become." However, its correct attribution appears to be to Charles Du Bos (1882-1939), the French critic of French and English literature. The quote comes from his book "Approximations" (1922): ""...premier tressaillement vital; surtout il s'agit à tout moment de sacrifier ce que nous sommes à ce que nous pouvons devenir."" Dubois is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of venomous sea snake, "Aipysurus duboisii". | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4049092 |
Influenza A virus subtype H6N2 H6N2 is an avian influenza virus with two forms: one has a low and the other a high pathogenicity. Avian derived from the Latin word "avis" for "bird." It can cause a serious problem for poultry, and also infects ducks as well. H6N2 subtype is considered to be a non-pathogenic chicken virus, the host still unknown, but could strain from feral animals, and/or aquatic bird reservoirs. H6N2 along with H6N6 are viruses that are found to replicate in mice without preadaptation, and some have acquired the ability to bind to human-like receptors. Genetic markers for H6N2 include 22-amino acid stalk deletion in neuraminidase (NA) protein gene, increased N-glycosylation, and a D144 mutation of the Haemagglutinin (HA) protein gene. Transmission of avian influenza viruses from wild aquatic birds to domestic birds usually cause subclinical infections, and occasionally, respiratory disease and drops in egg production. Some histological features presented in chicken infected with H6N2 are fibrinous yolk peritonitis, salpingitis, oophoritis, nephritis, along with swollen kidneys as well. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4051863 |
Kadowaki–Woods ratio The is the ratio of "A", the quadratic term of the resistivity and "γ", the linear term of the specific heat. This ratio is found to be a constant for transition metals, and for heavy-fermion compounds, although at different values. In 1968 M. J. Rice pointed out that the coefficient "A" should vary predominantly as the square of the linear electronic specific heat coefficient γ; in particular he showed that the ratio "A/γ" is material independent for the pure 3d, 4d and 5d transition metals. Heavy-fermion compounds are characterized by very large values of A and γ. Kadowaki and Woods showed that "A/γ" is material-independent within the heavy-fermion compounds, and that it is about 25 times larger than in aforementioned transition metals. According to the theory of electron-electron scattering the ratio "A/γ" contains indeed several non-universal factors, including the square of the strength of the effective electron-electron interaction. Since in general the interactions differ in nature from one group of materials to another, the same values of "A/γ" are only expected within a particular group. In 2005 Hussey proposed a re-scaling of "A/γ" to account for unit cell volume, dimensionality, carrier density and multi-band effects | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4059082 |
Kadowaki–Woods ratio In 2009 Jacko, Fjaerestad, and Powell demonstrated "f""(n)A/γ" to have the same value in transition metals, heavy fermions, organics and oxides with "A" varying over 10 orders of magnitude, where "f""(n)" may be written in terms of the dimensionality of the system, the electron density and, in layered systems, the interlayer spacing or the interlayer hopping integral. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4059082 |
Phenomics is the systematic study of phenotypes . As such, it is a transdisciplinary area of research that involves biology, data sciences, engineering and other fields. is concerned with the measurement of phenomes where a phenome is the set of phenotypes (physical and biochemical traits) that can be produced by a given organism over the course of development and in response to genetic mutation and environmental influences. concepts are used in functional genomics, pharmaceutical research, metabolic engineering, agricultural research, and increasingly in phylogenetics. One major area of effort involves improving, both qualitatively and quantitatively, the capacity to measure phenomes. In plant sciences, phenomics research occurs in both field and controlled environments. Field phenomics encompasses the measurement of phenotypes that occur in both cultivated and natural conditions, whereas controlled environment phenomics research involves the use of glass houses, growth chambers, and other systems where growth conditions can be manipulated. The TERRA-REF Gantry in Maricopa, Arizona is a platform developed to measure field phenotypes, and the Maize Genomes to Fields Initiative is an example of a large-scale, distributed field phenomics project across many environments and years | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4062934 |
Phenomics Controlled environment systems include the Enviratron at Iowa State University, the Plant Cultivation Hall under construction at IPK, and the various LemnaTec platforms at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, the University of Nebraska - Lincoln, and elsewhere. A Minimal Information About a Plant Phenotyping Experiment (MIAPPE) standard is available and in use among many researchers collecting and organizing plant phenomics data. Emerging analysis methods exist, including a diverse set of software packages in computer vision available via PlantCV. Many research groups are focused on developing systems using the Breeding API, a Standardized RESTful Web Service API Specification for communicating Plant Breeding Data. The Australian Plant Facility (APPF), an initiative of the Australian government, has developed a number of new instruments for comprehensive and fast measurements of phenotypes in both the lab and the field. The NAPPN maintains a list of plant phenomics facilities in North America. The International Plant Phenotyping Network (IPPN) is an organization that seeks to enable exchange of knowledge, information, and expertise across many disciplines involved in plant phenomics by providing a network linking members, platform operators, users, research groups, developers, and policy makers. Regional partners include, the European Plant Phenotyping Network (EPPN), the North American Plant Phenotyping Network (NAPPN), and others | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4062934 |
Phenomics The European research infrastructure for plant phenotyping, EMPHASIS, enables researchers to use facilities, services and resources for multi-scale plant phenotyping across Europe. EMPHASIS aims to promote future food security and agricultural business in a changing climate by enabling scientists to better understand plant performance and translate this knowledge into application. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4062934 |
Particle aggregation Particle agglomeration refers to formation of assemblages in a suspension and represents a mechanism leading to the functional destabilization of colloidal systems. During this process, particles dispersed in the liquid phase stick to each other, and spontaneously form irregular particle assemblates, flocs, or agglomerates. This phenomenon is also referred to as coagulation or flocculation and such a suspension is also called "unstable". Particle agglomeration can be induced by adding salts or other chemicals referred to as coagulant or flocculant.. Particle agglomeration can be a reversible or irreversible process. Particle agglomerates defined as "hard agglomerates" are more difficult to redisperse to the initial single particles. In the course of agglomeration, the agglomerates will grow in size, and as a consequence they may settle to the bottom of the container, which is referred to as sedimentation. Alternatively, a colloidal gel may form in concentrated suspensions which changes its rheological properties. The reverse process whereby particle agglomerates are re-dispersed as individual particles, referred to as peptization, hardly occurs spontaneously, but may occur under stirring or shear. Colloidal particles may also remain dispersed in liquids for long periods of time (days to years). This phenomenon is referred to as "colloidal stability" and such a suspension is said to be functionally "stable" | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4062960 |
Particle aggregation Stable suspensions are often obtained at low salt concentrations or by addition of chemicals referred to as "stabilizers" or "stabilizing agents". The stability of particles, colloidal or otherwise, is most commonly evaluated in terms of zeta potential. This parameter provides a readily quantifiable measure of interparticle repulsion, which is the key inhibitor of particle aggregation. Similar agglomeration processes occur in other dispersed systems too. In emulsions, they may also be coupled to droplet coalescence, and not only lead to sedimentation but also to creaming. In aerosols, airborne particles may equally aggregate and form larger clusters (e.g., soot). A well dispersed colloidal suspension consists of individual, separated particles and is stabilized by repulsive inter-particle forces. When the repulsive forces weaken or become attractive through the addition of a coagulant, particles start to aggregate. Initially, particle doublets A will form from singlets A according to the scheme In the early stage of the agglomeration process, the suspension mainly contains individual particle. The rate of this phenomenon is characterized by the aggregation rate coefficient "k". Since doublet formation is a second order rate process, the units of this coefficients are ms since particle concentrations are expressed as particle number per unit volume (m) | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4062960 |
Particle aggregation Since absolute aggregation rates are difficult to measure, one often refers to the dimensionless stability ratio "W" = "k"/"k" where "k" is the aggregation rate coefficient in the fast regime, and "k" the coefficient at the conditions of interest. The stability ratio is close to unity in the fast regime, increases in the slow regime, and becomes very large when the suspension is stable. Often, colloidal particles are suspended in water. In this case, they accumulate a surface charge and an electrical double layer forms around each particle. The overlap between the diffuse layers of two approaching particles results in a repulsive double layer interaction potential, which leads to particle stabilization. When salt is added to the suspension, the electrical double layer repulsion is screened, and van der Waals attraction become dominant and induce fast aggregation. The figure on the right shows the typical dependence of the stability ratio "W" versus the electrolyte concentration, whereby the regimes of slow and fast aggregation are indicated. The table below summarizes CCC ranges for different net charge of the counter ion. The charge is expressed in units of elementary charge. This dependence reflects the Schulze–Hardy rule, which states that the CCC varies as the inverse sixth power of the counter ion charge. The CCC also depends on the type of ion somewhat, even if they carry the same charge. This dependence may reflect different particle properties or different ion affinities to the particle surface | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4062960 |
Particle aggregation Since particles are frequently negatively charged, multivalent metal cations thus represent highly effective coagulants. Adsorption of oppositely charged species (e.g., protons, specifically adsorbing ions, surfactants, or polyelectrolytes) may destabilize a particle suspension by charge neutralization or stabilize it by buildup of charge, leading to a fast aggregation near the charge neutralization point, and slow aggregation away from it. Quantitative interpretation of colloidal stability was first formulated within the DLVO theory. This theory confirms the existence slow and fast aggregation regimes, even though in the slow regime the dependence on the salt concentration is often predicted to be much stronger than observed experimentally. The Schulze–Hardy rule can be derived from DLVO theory as well. Other mechanisms of colloid stabilization are equally possible, particularly, involving polymers. Adsorbed or grafted polymers may form a protective layer around the particles, induce steric repulsive forces, and lead to steric stabilization at it is the case with polycarboxylate ether (PCE), the last generation of chemically tailored superplasticizer specifically designed to increase the workability of concrete while reducing its water content to improve its properties and durability. When polymers chains adsorb to particles loosely, a polymer chain may bridge two particles, and induce bridging forces. This situation is referred to as bridging flocculation | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4062960 |
Particle aggregation When particle aggregation is solely driven by diffusion, one refers to "perikinetic" aggregation. Aggregation can be enhanced through shear stress (e.g., stirring). The latter case is called "orthokinetic" aggregation. As the aggregation process continues, larger clusters form. The growth occurs mainly through encounters between different clusters, and therefore one refers to cluster-cluster aggregation process. The resulting clusters are irregular, but statistically self-similar. They are examples of mass fractals, whereby their mass "M" grows with their typical size characterized by the radius of gyration "R" as a power-law where "d" is the mass fractal dimension. Depending whether the aggregation is fast or slow, one refers to diffusion limited cluster aggregation (DLCA) or reaction limited cluster aggregation (RLCA). The clusters have different characteristics in each regime. DLCA clusters are loose and ramified ("d" ≈ 1.8), while the RLCA clusters are more compact ("d" ≈ 2.1). The cluster size distribution is also different in these two regimes. DLCA clusters are relatively monodisperse, while the size distribution of RLCA clusters is very broad. The larger the cluster size, the faster their settling velocity. Therefore, aggregating particles sediment and this mechanism provides a way for separating them from suspension. At higher particle concentrations, the growing clusters may interlink, and form a particle gel | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4062960 |
Particle aggregation Such a gel is an elastic solid body, but differs from ordinary solids by having a very low elastic modulus. When aggregation occurs in a suspension composed of similar monodisperse colloidal particles, the process is called "homoaggregation" (or "homocoagulation"). When aggregation occurs in a suspension composed of dissimilar colloidal particles, one refers to "heteroaggregation" (or "heterocoagulation"). The simplest heteroaggregation process occurs when two types of monodisperse colloidal particles are mixed. In the early stages, three types of doublets may form While the first two processes correspond to homoaggregation in pure suspensions containing particles A or B, the last reaction represents the actual heteroaggregation process. Each of these reactions is characterized by the respective aggregation coefficients "k", "k", and "k". For example, when particles A and B bear positive and negative charge, respectively, the homoaggregation rates may be slow, while the heteroaggregation rate is fast. In contrast to homoaggregation, the heteroaggregation rate accelerates with decreasing salt concentration. Clusters formed at later stages of such heteroaggregation processes are even more ramified that those obtained during DLCA ("d" ≈ 1.4). An important special case of a heteroaggregation process is the deposition of particles on a substrate. Early stages of the process correspond to the attachment of individual particles to the substrate, which can be pictures as another, much larger particle | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4062960 |
Particle aggregation Later stages may reflect blocking of the substrate through repulsive interactions between the particles, while attractive interactions may lead to multilayer growth, and is also referred to as ripening. These phenomena are relevant in membrane or filter fouling. Numerous experimental techniques have been developed to study particle aggregation. Most frequently used are time-resolved optical techniques that are based on transmittance or scattering of light. Light transmission. The variation of transmitted light through an aggregating suspension can be studied with a regular spectrophotometer in the visible region. As aggregation proceeds, the medium becomes more turbid, and its absorbance increases. The increase of the absorbance can be related to the aggregation rate constant "k" and the stability ratio can be estimated from such measurements. The advantage of this technique is its simplicity. Light scattering. These techniques are based on probing the scattered light from an aggregating suspension in a time-resolved fashion. Static light scattering yields the change in the scattering intensity, while dynamic light scattering the variation in the apparent hydrodynamic radius. At early-stages of aggregation, the variation of each of these quantities is directly proportional to the aggregation rate constant "k". At later stages, one can obtain information on the clusters formed (e.g., fractal dimension). Light scattering works well for a wide range of particle sizes | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4062960 |
Particle aggregation Multiple scattering effects may have to be considered, since scattering becomes increasingly important for larger particles or larger aggregates. Such effects can be neglected in weakly turbid suspensions. Aggregation processes in strongly scattering systems have been studied with transmittance, backscattering techniques or diffusing-wave spectroscopy. Single particle counting. This technique offers excellent resolution, whereby clusters made out of tenths of particles can be resolved individually. The aggregating suspension is forced through a narrow capillary particle counter and the size of each aggregate is being analyzed by light scattering. From the scattering intensity, one can deduce the size of each aggregate, and construct a detailed aggregate size distribution. If the suspensions contain high amounts of salt, one could equally use a Coulter counter. As time proceeds, the size distribution shifts towards larger aggregates, and from this variation aggregation and breakup rates involving different clusters can be deduced. The disadvantage of the technique is that the aggregates are forced through a narrow capillary under high shear, and the aggregates may disrupt under these conditions. Indirect techniques. As many properties of colloidal suspensions depend on the state of aggregation of the suspended particles, various indirect techniques have been used to monitor particle aggregation too | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4062960 |
Particle aggregation While it can be difficult to obtain quantitative information on aggregation rates or cluster properties from such experiments, they can be most valuable for practical applications. Among these techniques settling tests are most relevant. When one inspects a series of test tubes with suspensions prepared at different concentration of the flocculant, stable suspensions often remain dispersed, while the unstable ones settle. Automated instruments based on light scattering/transmittance to monitor suspension settling have been developed, and they can be used to probe particle aggregation. One must realize, however, that these techniques may not always reflect the actual aggregation state of a suspension correctly. For example, larger primary particles may settle even in the absence of aggregation, or aggregates that have formed a colloidal gel will remain in suspension. Other indirect techniques capable to monitor the state of aggregation include, for example, filtration, rheology, absorption of ultrasonic waves, or dielectric properties. is a widespread phenomenon, which spontaneously occurs in nature but is also widely explored in manufacturing. Some examples include. Formation of river delta. When river water carrying suspended sediment particles reaches salty water, particle aggregation may be one of the factors responsible for river delta formation. Charged particles are stable in river's fresh water containing low levels of salt, but they become unstable in sea water containing high levels of salt | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4062960 |
Particle aggregation In the latter medium, the particles aggregate, the larger aggregates sediment, and thus create the river delta. Papermaking. Retention aids are added to the pulp to accelerate paper formation. These aids are coagulating aids, which accelerate the aggregation between the cellulose fibers and filler particles. Frequently, cationic polyelectrolytes are being used for that purpose. Water treatment. Treatment of municipal waste water normally includes a phase where fine solid particles are removed. This separation is achieved by addition of a flocculating or coagulating agent, which induce the aggregation of the suspended solids. The aggregates are normally separated by sedimentation, leading to sewage sludge. Commonly used flocculating agents in water treatment include multivalent metal ions (e.g., Fe or Al), polyelectrolytes, or both. Cheese making. The key step in cheese production is the separation of the milk into solid curds and liquid whey. This separation is achieved by inducing the aggregation processes between casein micelles by acidifying the milk or adding rennet. The acidification neutralizes the carboxylate groups on the micelles and induces the aggregation. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4062960 |
Mark Norman (marine biologist) Mark Douglas Norman is a marine biologist living in southern Australia, where he works through the University of Melbourne and Museum Victoria. For over a decade, Norman has been working exclusively with cephalopods and he is one of the leading scientists in the field, having discovered over 150 new species of octopuses. The best known of these is probably the mimic octopus. Mark Norman is the author of "Cephalopods: A World Guide", a book published in 2000 containing over 800 colour photographs of cephalopods in their natural habitat. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4064464 |
Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences The (until 1962 titled "Journal of Meteorology") is a scientific journal published by the American Meteorological Society. It covers basic research related to the physics, dynamics, and chemistry of the atmosphere of Earth and other planets, with emphasis on the quantitative and deductive aspects of the subject. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4072130 |
Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology The (formerly "Journal of Applied Meteorology") is a scientific journal published by the American Meteorological Society. Applied research related to the physical meteorology, cloud physics, hydrology, weather modification, satellite meteorology, boundary layer processes, air pollution meteorology (including dispersion and chemical processes), agricultural and forest meteorology, and applied meteorological numerical models of all types. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4072145 |
Weather and Forecasting is a scientific journal published by the American Meteorological Society. Articles on forecasting and analysis techniques, forecast verification studies, and case studies useful to forecasters. In addition, submissions that report on changes to the suite of operational numerical models and statistical post-processing techniques, and articles that demonstrate the transfer of research results to the forecasting community. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4072161 |
Monthly Weather Review The is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the American Meteorological Society. It covers research related to analysis and prediction of observed and modeled circulations of the atmosphere, including technique development, data assimilation, model validation, and relevant case studies. This includes papers on numerical techniques and data assimilation techniques that apply to the atmosphere and/or ocean environment. The editor-in-chief is David M. Schultz (University of Manchester). The journal was established in July 1872 by the United States Army Signal Corps. It was issued by the Office of the Chief Signal Officer from 1872 until 1891. In 1891, the Signal Office's meteorological responsibilities were transferred to the Weather Bureau under the United States Department of Agriculture. The Weather Bureau published the journal until 1970 when the Bureau became part of the newly formed National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which published it until the end of 1973. Since 1974, it has been published by the American Meteorological Society. The journal is abstracted and indexed in Current Contents/Physical, Chemical & Earth Sciences and the Science Citation Index. According to the "Journal Citation Reports", the journal has a 2012 impact factor of 2.758. In 2016, the impact factor was 3.043. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4072234 |
Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology The is a scientific publication by the American Meteorological Society. The journal includes papers describing the instrumentation and methodology used in atmospheric and oceanic research including computational techniques, methods for data acquisition, processing, and interpretation, and information systems and algorithms. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4072240 |
Journal of Climate The is a biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal published semi-monthly by the American Meteorological Society. It covers research that advances basic understanding of the dynamics and physics of the climate system on large spatial scales, including variability of the atmosphere, oceans, land surface, and cryosphere; past, present, and projected future changes in the climate system; and climate simulation and prediction. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4072241 |
Meteorological Monographs is a peer-reviewed monograph series published by the American Meteorological Society. The series has two parts, historical and meteorological. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4072252 |
Journal of Hydrometeorology The is a scientific journal published by the American Meteorological Society. It covers the modeling, observing, and forecasting of processes related to water and energy fluxes and storage terms, including interactions with the boundary layer and lower atmosphere, and including processes related to precipitation, radiation, and other meteorological inputs. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4072268 |
NGC 4656 and NGC 4657 NGC 4656/57 is a highly warped barred spiral galaxy located in the constellation Canes Venatici and is sometimes informally called the Hockey Stick Galaxies or the Crowbar Galaxy. The galaxy is a member of the NGC 4631 Group. A Luminous Blue Variable in "super-outburst" was discovered in NGC 4656/57 on March 21, 2005. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4074964 |
Legrandite is a rare zinc arsenate mineral, Zn(AsO)(OH)·(HO). It is an uncommon secondary mineral in the oxidized zone of arsenic bearing zinc deposits and occurs rarely in granite pegmatite. Associated minerals include: adamite, paradamite, köttigite, scorodite, smithsonite, leiteite, renierite, pharmacosiderite, aurichalcite, siderite, goethite and pyrite. It has been reported from Tsumeb, Namibia; the Ojuela mine in Durango, Mexico and at Sterling Hill, New Jersey, US. It was first described in 1934 for an occurrence in the Flor de Peña Mine, Nuevo León, Mexico and named after M. Legrand, a Belgian mining engineer . | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4077670 |
Sassolite is a borate mineral, and is the mineral form of boric acid. It occurs in volcanic fumaroles and hot springs, as well as in bedded sedimentary evaporite deposits. Its mineral form was first described in 1800, and was named after Sasso Pisano, Castelnuovo Val di Cecina, Pisa Province, Tuscany, Italy where it was found. The mineral may be found in lagoons throughout Tuscany and Sasso. Usually coloured white to gray, it is colourless in transmitted light, and can also take on a yellow colour from sulfur impurities, or brown from iron oxides. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4079234 |
NGC 5921 is a barred spiral galaxy located approximately 65 million light-years from the Solar System in the constellation Serpens Caput. It was discovered by William Herschel on 1 May 1786. In February 2001 a type II supernova (SN 2001X) was discovered in NGC 5921. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4086644 |
NGC 7217 is an unbarred spiral galaxy in the constellation Pegasus. is a gas-poor system whose main features are the presence of several rings of stars concentric to its nucleus: three main ones –the outermost one being of the most prominent and the one that features most of the gas and star formation of this galaxy – plus several others inside the innermost one discovered with the help of the Hubble Space Telescope; a feature that suggests NGC 7217's central regions have suffered several starbursts. There is also a very large and massive spheroid that extends beyond its disk. Other noteworthy features this galaxy has are the presence of a number of stars rotating in the opposite direction around the galaxy's center to most of them and two distinct stellar populations: one of intermediate age on its innermost regions and a younger, metal-poor version on its outermost ones. It has been suggested these features were caused by a merger with another galaxy and, in fact, computer simulations show that could have been a large lenticular galaxy that merged with one or two smaller gas-rich ones of late Hubble type becoming the spiral galaxy we see today.; however right now this galaxy is isolated in space, with no nearby major companions | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4086759 |
NGC 7217 More recent research, however, presents a somewhat different scenario in which NGC 7217's massive bulge and halo would have been formed in a merger and the disk formed later (and is still growing) either accreting gas from the intergalactic medium or smaller gas-rich galaxies, or most likely from a previously existing reserve. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4086759 |
NGC 4567 and NGC 4568 (nicknamed the Siamese Twins or the Butterfly Galaxies) are a set of unbarred spiral galaxies about 60 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. They were both discovered by William Herschel in 1784. They are part of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies. Only one supernova (SN 2004cc) was observed in the Siamese Twins until March 31 2020 when the Zwicky Transient Facility detected the rapidly-rising supernova 2020fqv . These galaxies are in the process of colliding and merging with each other, as studies of their distributions of neutral and molecular hydrogen show, with the highest star-formation activity in the part where they overlap. However, the system is still in an early phase of interaction. They were named "Siamese Twins" because they appear to be connected. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4086864 |
Karl Moriz Diesing Karl (Carl) Moriz (Moritz) Diesing (16 June 1800 in Krakow – 10 January 1867 in Vienna) was an Austrian naturalist and zoologist, specializing in the study of helminthology. He studied medicine at the University of Vienna, earning his doctorate in 1826. Afterwards, he served as an assistant to botanist Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin, later working as an intern at the "Hof-Naturalien-Cabinet" (from 1829). In 1836 he became a curator of the zoological collections. In the late 1840s, he began to suffer from serious eye problems, and shortly afterwards experienced permanent blindness. His principal works include "Systema Helminthum" (2 vols., 1850–1851), and "Revision der Nematoden" (1861). In his paper ""Versuch einer monographie der Gattung Pentastoma"" (Ann. Wien Mus. Naturges. 1836, 1–32), he was the first to establish the distinct nature of the Pentastomida, placing them in a new group which he called Acanthotheca. The genera "Diesingia" and "Diesingiella" are named after him. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4106077 |
Donald MacRae (astronomer) Donald Alexander MacRae ( – ) was a Canadian astronomer. Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia he was the Chair of the Department of Astronomy (now Astronomy and Astrophysics) at the University of Toronto and Director of the David Dunlap Observatory from 1965 to 1978. He was one of a few Canadians who were early Ph.D. graduates in Astronomy from Harvard (1943), where he enrolled after graduating from the University of Toronto in 1937. He appeared in the Academy Award-nominated NFB documentary "Universe" (1960) as the astronomer. He died December 6, 2006. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4106763 |
Colin Stanley Gum (4 June 1924 – 29 April 1960) was an Australian astronomer who catalogued emission nebulae in the southern sky at the Mount Stromlo Observatory using wide field photography. Gum published his findings in 1955 in a study entitled "A study of diffuse southern H-alpha nebulae" which presented a catalog, now known as the Gum catalog, of 85 nebulae or nebular complexes. Gum 12, a huge area of nebulosity in the direction of the constellations Puppis and Vela, was later named the Gum Nebula in his honour. Gum was part of the team, whose number included Frank John Kerr and Gart Westerhout, that determined the precise position of the neutral hydrogen plane in space. Gum was appointed Head of the Observational Optical Astronomy programme at the University of Sydney in 1959. He died in a skiing accident at Zermatt, Switzerland the following year. The crater Gum on the Moon is named after him. An obituary article on Gum appears in the "Australian Journal of Science" (Vol. 23, no. 4, 1960). Gum was the brother-in-law of prominent academic Fay Gale, and was uncle to businessman Michael Gale. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4107459 |
Head shadow A head shadow or acoustic shadow is a region of reduced amplitude of a sound because it is obstructed by the head (diffracted). Sound may have to travel through and around the head in order to reach an ear. The obstruction caused by the head can account for a significant attenuation (reduced amplitude) of overall intensity as well as cause a filtering effect. The filtering effects of head shadowing are an essential element of sound localisation—the brain weighs the relative amplitude, timbre, and phase of a sound heard by the two ears and uses the difference to interpret directional information. The shadowed ear, the ear further from the sound source, receives sound slightly later (up to approximately 0.7 ms later) than the unshadowed ear, and the timbre, or frequency spectrum, of the shadowed sound wave is different because of the obstruction of the head. The head shadow causes particular difficulty in sound localisation in people suffering from unilateral hearing loss. It is a factor to consider when correcting hearing loss with directional hearing aids. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4112457 |
Hugh Auchincloss Brown (23 December 1879 – 19 November 1975) was an electrical engineer best known for advancing a theory of catastrophic pole shift. Brown claimed that massive accumulation of ice at the poles caused recurring tipping of the axis in cycles of approximately 4000–7500 years. Brown argued that because the earth wobbles on the axis and the crust slides on the mantle, a shift was demonstrably imminent, and suggested the use of nuclear explosions to break up the ice to forestall catastrophe. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4121526 |
Nikolay Demyanov Nikolay Yakovlevich Demyanov (; , Tver – March 19, 1938, Moscow), also known as Demjanov and Demjanow, was a Russian organic chemist and a member of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1929). He is internationally known for the Demjanov rearrangement organic reaction and other discoveries. He was a recipient of the Lenin Prize in 1930. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4125128 |
NGC 2915 is a blue dwarf galaxy located 12 million light-years away in the southern constellation Chamaeleon, right on the edge of the Local Group. The optical galaxy corresponds to the core of a much larger spiral galaxy traced by radio observation of neutral hydrogen. The galaxy has a short central bar, much like the Milky Way and very extended spiral arms. The reason for the spiral arms and majority of the galaxy's disk to be still neutral hydrogen (as opposed to have formed stars) is not well understood but is thought to be related to the galaxy's isolation, in that it has no nearby satellite galaxies and no nearby major galaxies to force star formation. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4126653 |
GHP formalism The (or Geroch–Held–Penrose formalism) is a technique used in the mathematics of general relativity that involves singling out a pair of null directions at each point of spacetime. It is a rewriting of the Newman–Penrose formalism which respects the covariance of Lorentz transformations preserving two null directions. This is desirable for Petrov Type D spacetimes, where the pair is made up of degenerate principal null directions, and spatial surfaces, where the null vectors are the natural null orthogonal vectors to the surface. The notices that given a spin-frame formula_1 with formula_2 the complex rescaling formula_3 does not change normalization. The magnitude of this transformation is a boost, and the phase tells one how much to rotate. A quantity of weight formula_4 is one that transforms like formula_5 One then defines derivative operators which take tensors under these transformations to tensors. This simplifies many NP equations, and allows one to define scalars on 2-surfaces in a natural way. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4127125 |
Dasymeter A dasymeter was meant initially as a device to demonstrate the buoyant effect of gases like air; as shown in the adjacent pictures. A dasymeter which allows weighing acts as a densimeter used to measure the density of gases. The Principle of Archimedes permits to derive a formula which does not rely on any information of volume: A sample, the big sphere in the adjacent images, of known mass-density is weighed in vacuum and then immersed into the gas and weighed again. From the known mass density of the sample (sphere) and its two weight-values can be calculated the mass-density of the gas: It consists of a thin sphere made of glass, ideally with an average density close to that of the gas to be investigated. This sphere is immersed in the gas and weighed. The dasymeter was invented in 1650 by Otto von Guericke. Archimedes used a pair of scales which he immersed into water to demonstrate the buoyant effect of water. A dasymeter can be seen as a variant of that pair of scales, only immersed into gas. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4129530 |
NGC 4027 (also known as "Arp 22") is a barred spiral galaxy approximately 83 million light-years away in the constellation Corvus. It is also a peculiar galaxy because one of its spiral arms goes out more than the other. This is probably due to a galactic collision in NGC 4027's past. is part of the NGC 4038 Group, a group of galaxies that also contains the Antennae Galaxies (NGC 4038/NGC 4039). | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4129776 |
International Society of Biometeorology The (ISB) is a professional society for scientists interested in biometeorology, specifically environmental and ecological aspects of the interaction of the atmosphere and biosphere. The organization's stated purpose is: "to provide one international organization for the promotion of interdisciplinary collaboration of meteorologists, physicians, physicists, biologists, climatologists, ecologists and other scientists and to promote the development of Biometeorology". The was founded in 1956 at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France by S. W. Tromp, a Dutch geologist, H. Ungeheuer, a German meteorologist, and several human physiologists of which F. Sargent II of the United States became the first President of the society. ISB affiliated organizations include: the International Association for Urban Climate, the International Society for Agricultural Meteorology, the International Union of Biological Sciences, the World Health Organization, and the World Meteorological Organization. ISB affiliate members include: the American Meteorological Society, the Centre for Renewable Energy Sources, the German Meteorological Society, the Society for the Promotion of Medicine-Meteorological Research e.V., International Society of Medical Hydrology and Climatology, and the UK Met Office. ISB publishes the following journals: | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4132583 |
Toshio Murashige is a professor emeritus of University of California Riverside in plant biology. He is most widely known for his efforts in creating the plant tissue culture medium known as Murashige and Skoog medium. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4134055 |
Orbital tuning refers to the process of adjusting the time scale of a geologic or climate record so that the observed fluctuations correspond to the Milankovitch cycles in the Earth's orbital motion. Because changes in the Earth's orbit affect the amount and distribution of sunlight the Earth receives, such changes are expected to introduce periodic climate changes on time scales of 20-100 kyr. Long records of sedimentation or climate should record such variations; however, such records often have poorly constrained age scales. As a result, scientists will sometimes adjust the timing of the features in their records to match the predictions of orbital theory in the hopes of improving the dating accuracy. However, "overtuning" can result in apparent features that have no basis in the real data, such as occurred with the original SPECMAP record (Muller & MacDonald 2000). | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4135363 |
BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. is an American biotechnology company headquartered in San Rafael, California. It has offices and facilities in the United States, South America, Asia, and Europe. BioMarin's core business and research is in enzyme replacement therapies (ERTs). BioMarin was the first company to provide therapeutics for mucopolysaccharidosis type I (MPS I), by manufacturing laronidase (Aldurazyme, commercialized by Genzyme Corporation). BioMarin was also the first company to provide therapeutics for phenylketonuria (PKU). Over the years, BioMarin has been criticised for drug pricing and for specific instances of denying access to drugs in clinical trials. BioMarin was founded in 1997 by Christopher Starr Ph.D. and Grant W. Denison Jr. with an investment of a $1.5 million from Glyko Biomedical and went public in 1999. Seed investors were amongst others MPM Bioventures, Grosvenor Fund and Florian Schönharting. In 2002, BioMarin acquired Glyko Biomedical. In 2009, BioMarin acquired Huxley Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Huxley), which had rights to a proprietary form of 3,4-diaminopyridine (3,4-DAP), amifampridine phosphate. In 2010, BioMarin was granted marketing approval by the European Commission for 3,4-diaminopyridine (3,4-DAP), amifampridine phosphate for the treatment of the rare autoimmune disease Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS). BioMarin launched the product under the name Firdapse. In 2010, BioMarin acquired LEAD Therapeutics, Inc | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4136144 |
BioMarin Pharmaceutical (LEAD), a small private drug discovery and early stage development company with key compound LT-673, an orally available poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor studied for the treatment of patients with rare, genetically defined cancers. This acquisition was followed by the purchase of ZyStor Therapeutics, Inc. (ZyStor), a privately held biotechnology company developing ERTs for the treatment of lysosomal storage disorders and its lead product candidate, ZC-701, a fusion of insulin-like growth factor 2 and alpha glucosidase (IGF2-GAA) in development for Pompe disease. At its R&D day in October 2010, BioMarin also announced a new program for a peptide therapeutic, vosoritide (BMN-111), for the treatment of achondroplasia. In 2012, BioMarin acquired Zacharon Pharmaceuticals, a private biotechnology company based in San Diego focused on developing small molecules targeting pathways of glycan metabolism. In 2014, BioMarin acquired a histone deacetylase inhibitor chemical library from Repligen for $2 million with the intention of advancing work toward therapies for Friedreich's ataxia and other neurological disorders. In November 2014, the company agreed to the acquisition of Prosensa for up to $840 million; however, the range of treatments for Duchenne muscular dystrophy failed to attain FDA approval, and development ceased in May 2016. In October 2019 it was revealed that the group will open an office in Dublin to support further growth through Europe, the Middle East and Asia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4136144 |
BioMarin Pharmaceutical The following is an illustration of the company's major mergers and acquisitions and historical predecessors (this is not a comprehensive list): As of 2016, BioMarin has six products on the market, each of which is an orphan drug. Biomarin is working to develop several new drugs. In 2010, BioMarin became involved in controversy surrounding 3,4-diaminopyridine (3,4-DAP). BioMarin markets a phosphate salt of 3,4-DAP under the name Firdapse. In 2010, BioMarin was granted exclusive licensing rights to Firdapse for 10 years. As a result, the price of a prescribed National Health Service treatment course has increased from $1,987 for the unlicensed drug to $69,970 for Firdapse. The company states that prior to its licensing, there was no guaranteed quality control of the product and no way of formally monitoring for uncommon side effects through the regulatory process. In 2013, BioMarin Pharmaceuticals was at the center of a high profile debate regarding expanded access of cancer patients to experimental drugs. On the advice of her doctor, Andrea Sloan, a patient with advanced ovarian cancer, requested that the company provide her with access to BMN 673, an unapproved PARP inhibitor drug candidate that had exhibited promising activity in a small Phase 1 clinical trial. The company declined, citing safety concerns. Ms. Sloan eventually received a similar drug candidate from a different company | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4136144 |
BioMarin Pharmaceutical In 2015, there was another controversy over expanded access, concerning the supply of a drug on clinical trial to a German child who was suffering from a brain disorder but who was not part of the trial. In April 2019, the BBC reported that patients who took part in a trial treatment for the drug Kuvan (sapropterin hydrochloride) were later denied access to it. The company was criticised by the NHS and Stephen Hammond MP for patient profiteering. The company commented the following in response: "BioMarin is disappointed that the NHS England has not recognised the value of treating PKU patients with Kuvan, despite more than a decade of positive patient outcomes across 26 countries in Europe, Russia and Turkey" In June 2019, a Belgian court ordered BioMarin to continue supplying Vimizim to a young girl suffering from Morquio syndrome free of charge. BioMarin stopped providing free Vimizim at the beginning of the year after negotiations with Belgian health authorities regarding reimbursement of the product repeatedly failed. This caused the parents to start legal proceedings to force the company to keep providing the medicine free of charge. BioMarin was ordered in a preliminary injunction to keep doing so until a definitive judgment would be rendered, or until the medicine would be available on the Belgian market at a reasonable price. "Use YYYY-MM-DD format for publication dates" | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4136144 |
Depensation In population dynamics, depensation is the effect on a population (such as a fish stock) whereby, due to certain causes, a decrease in the breeding population (mature individuals) leads to reduced production and survival of eggs or offspring. The causes may include predation levels rising per offspring (given the same level of overall predator pressure) and the allee effect, particularly the reduced likelihood of finding a mate. When the level of depensation is high enough that the population is no longer able to sustain itself, it is said to be a critical depensation. This occurs when the population size has a tendency to decline when the population drops below a certain level (known as the "Critical depensation level"). Ultimately this may lead to the population or fishery's collapse (resource depletion), or even local extinction. The phenomenon of critical depensation may be modelled or defined by a negative second order derivative of population growth rate with respect of population biomass, which describes a situation where a decline in population biomass is not compensated by a corresponding increase in marginal growth per unit of biomass. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4139830 |
Diversified Pharmaceutical Services entered the market in 1976 as the pharmacy benefit manager for United HealthCare, a leading managed care organization. It pioneered many cost containment strategies that are now core pharmacy benefit manager services and became a recognized leader in clinical programs. (DPS) grew out of the pharmacy department within United Healthcare. The company was sold to SmithKline Beecham for $2.3 billion in May 1994. In 1999, it was acquired by Express Scripts in 1999 for $700 million in cash to create what was then the third largest pharmacy benefit manager in the United States. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4145863 |
NlaIII "Nla"III is an endonuclease that cleaves double stranded DNA molecules into fragments: 5'- C A T G| -3' 3'-|G T A C -5' leaving 3' overhangs of four nucleotides at the ends of each fragment. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4152953 |
Cryptoregiochemistry refers to the site of initial oxidative attack in double bond formation by enzymes such as fatty acid desaturases. This is a mechanistic parameter that is usually determined through the use of kinetic isotope effect experiments, based on the premise that the initial C-H bond cleavage step should be energetically more difficult and therefore more sensitive to isotopic substitution than the second C-H bond breaking step. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4153139 |
Andromeda X (And 10) is a dwarf spheroidal galaxy about 2.9 million light-years away from the Sun in the constellation Andromeda. Discovered in 2005, And X is a satellite galaxy of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4153924 |
Frank John Kerr (8 January 191815 September 2000) was an Australian astronomer and physicist who made contributions to human understanding of the galactic structure of the Milky Way. Born in St Albans to Australian parents, Kerr returned with his family to Australia after the completion of World War I. He received degrees in physics at the University of Melbourne and an MA in astronomy from Harvard University (1951). In 1940, Frank had joined the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) radiophysics laboratory in Sydney, Australia under the mentorship of Joseph Lade Pawsey. He pioneered the use of the magnetron, and also studied superrefraction. In Australia in late 1951, Kerr used a specially built 36-foot transit telescope, the largest dish of its kind in Australia, and started mapping the Magellanic Clouds, discovering considerable amounts of neutral hydrogen and an extended envelope around both clouds. From 1954 to 1955, Kerr was a member of the team that determined the rotation of the Magellanic Clouds and their masses. Kerr coined the term "galactic warp" to refer to the distorting effect of the Magellanic Clouds' gravity on the shape of our own galaxy. Over the years he worked with various astronomers, including Colin Gum and Gart Westerhout. From 1966 to 1979, he was a visiting, then full, professor of astronomy at the University of Maryland, College Park. He died of cancer at Silver Spring, Maryland. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4161892 |
Francisco J. Blanco Francisco Jose Blanco is a structural biologist working as Group Leader at the Centro de investigación Cooperativa en biociencias CIC bioGUNE, Biscay, Spain. His research utilizes Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy to characterize protein structure and protein folding. His major contributions to the field of protein folding include the study of the formation and stability of isolated β-hairpin structures, and the analysis of the folding pathway of the SH3 domain from the α-spectrin protein. His 68 structural biology papers listed in Web of Science have been cited over 2500 times, giving him an h-index of 27. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4167333 |
Tiller (botany) A tiller is a stem produced by grass plants, and refers to all shoots that grow after the initial parent shoot grows from a seed. Tillers are segmented, each segment possessing its own two-part leaf. They are involved in vegetative propagation and, in some cases, also seed production. "Tillering" refers to the production of side shoots and is a property possessed by many species in the family Poaceae. This enables them to produce multiple stems (tillers) starting from the initial single seedling. This ensures the formation of dense tufts and multiple seed heads. Tillering rates are heavily influenced by soil water status. When soil moisture is low, grasses tend to develop more sparse and deep root systems (as opposed to dense, lateral systems). Thus, in dry soils, tillering is inhibited: the lateral nature of tillering is not supported by lateral root growth. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4173609 |
Weatherwise () is a magazine founded by David M. Ludlum and was published by Heldref Publications but now is published by Taylor & Francis Group. It covers weather and climate for weather enthusiasts as well as meteorologists and climatologists and is the only popular press publication in the United States to do so. It is richly illustrated with large color photographs that showcase the power, beauty and excitement of weather. Articles are published on the latest discoveries and topics in meteorology, usually using experts in the respective field to write the article. Articles tend to focus on the relation of weather to technology, history, culture, the arts, and society. The magazine releases an annual almanac to highlight key topics that happened internationally, in the U.S. and corresponding hurricane and tornado seasons. The magazine also features commentaries, photography contests, questions and answers, and weather maps. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4181328 |
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