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Net Decrease (net + decrease)
Selected AbstractsDigestive bioavailability to a deposit feeder (Arenicola marina) of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons associated with anthropogenic particles,ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY & CHEMISTRY, Issue 11 2004Ian M. Voparil Abstract Marine sediments around urban areas serve as catch basins for anthropogenic particles containing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Using incubations with gut fluids extracted from a deposit-feeding polychaete (Arenicola marina), we determined the digestive bioavailability of PAHs from fly ashes, coal dusts, diesel soots, tire tread materials, and urban particulates. We found that gut fluids solubilize significant concentrations of PAHs from two tire treads, two diesel soots, and the urban particulates. However, PAHs in fly ashes and coal dusts were not available to the digestive agents in gut fluid. Potential digestive exposure to PAHs is much greater than that predicted to be available from these materials using equilibrium partitioning theory (EqP). Amending an already-contaminated sediment with fly ash decreased phenanthrene solubilization by gut fluid. In contrast, addition of tire tread to the sediment resulted in increased solubilization of four PAHs by gut fluid. Therefore, addition of certain types of anthropogenic particles to sediments may result in an increase in bioavailable PAHs rather than a net decrease, as predicted by EqP. Difficulty in predicting the amount of change due to amendment may be due to interactions occurring among the mixture of compounds solubilized by gut fluid. [source] Energy metabolism and lipid peroxidation of human erythrocytes as a function of increased oxidative stressFEBS JOURNAL, Issue 3 2000Barbara Tavazzi To study the influence of oxidative stress on energy metabolism and lipid peroxidation in erythrocytes, cells were incubated with increasing concentrations (0.5,10 mm) of hydrogen peroxide for 1 h at 37 °C and the main substances of energy metabolism (ATP, AMP, GTP and IMP) and one index of lipid peroxidation (malondialdehyde) were determined by HPLC on cell extracts. Using the same incubation conditions, the activity of AMP-deaminase was also determined. Under nonhaemolysing conditions (at up to 4 mm H2O2), oxidative stress produced, starting from 1 mm H2O2, progressive ATP depletion and a net decrease in the intracellular sum of adenine nucleotides (ATP + ADP + AMP), which were not paralleled by AMP formation. Concomitantly, the IMP level increased by up to 20-fold with respect to the value determined in control erythrocytes, when cells were challenged with the highest nonhaemolysing H2O2 concentration (4 mm). Efflux of inosine, hypoxanthine, xanthine and uric acid towards the extracellular medium was observed. The metabolic imbalance of erythrocytes following oxidative stress was due to a dramatic and unexpected activation of AMP-deaminase (a twofold increase of activity with respect to controls) that was already evident at the lowest dose of H2O2 used; this enzymatic activity increased with increasing H2O2 in the medium, and reached its maximum at 4 mm H2O2 -treated erythrocytes (10-fold higher activity than controls). Generation of malondialdehyde was strictly related to the dose of H2O2, being detectable at the lowest H2O2 concentration and increasing without appreciable haemolysis up to 4 mm H2O2. Besides demonstrating a close relationship between lipid peroxidation and haemolysis, these data suggest that glycolytic enzymes are moderately affected by oxygen radical action and strongly indicate, in the change of AMP-deaminase activity, a highly sensitive enzymatic site responsible for a profound modification of erythrocyte energy metabolism during oxidative stress. [source] Energy Efficiency and Structural Change in the Netherlands, 1980,1995JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY, Issue 1 2000Dematerialization, Economic Structure on National Energy Consumption, Influence of Energy Efficiency Summary International agreement has been reached to reduce greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. One important way of decoupling CO2 emissions from economic growth is by introducing technical measures to improve energy efficiency. In this article, we assess the influence of developments in energy efficiency and economic structure on the total primary energy consumption in the Netherlands over the period 1980, 1995. We find a distinct decoupling of the economic growth and energy consumption of 1.5% per year in the 15-year analysis period. We measure (technical) changes in energy efficiency by changes in the energy consumption per physical unit of production or activity. The aggregate rate of (technical) energy-efficiency improvement was 1.4% per year over the period 1980,1995. The use of physical production indicators makes it possible to measure energy-efficiency developments without detailed surveys at a very low level of aggregation. When we look at economic structural changes over this period, we find that (i) no substantial shift took place at the level of the economic sectors that we distinguish; (ii) the most energy intensive subsectors grew much faster than the total economy; and (iii) at the subsector level, on average, a sizable decoupling of physical production and value added occurred. We conclude that structural changes, that is, changes in the composition of the economy, did not lead to a net decrease in the energy intensity of the Netherlands over the period 1980,1995. [source] Unusual glitch activity in the RRAT J1819,1458: an exhausted magnetar?MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 3 2009A. G. Lyne ABSTRACT We present an analysis of regular timing observations of the high magnetic field Rotating Radio Transient (RRAT) J1819,1458 obtained using the 64-m Parkes and 76-m Lovell radio telescopes over the past 5 years. During this time, the RRAT has suffered two significant glitches with fractional frequency changes of 0.6 × 10,6 and 0.1 × 10,6. Glitches of this magnitude are a phenomenon displayed by both radio pulsars and magnetars. However, the behaviour of J1819,1458 following these glitches is quite different to that which follows glitches in other neutron stars, since the glitch activity resulted in a significant long-term net decrease in the slow-down rate. If such glitches occur every 30 years, the spin-down rate, and by inference the magnetic dipole moment, will drop to zero on a time-scale of a few thousand years. There are also significant increases in the rate of pulse detection and in the radio pulse energy immediately following the glitches. [source] Do mergers spin-up dark matter haloes?MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY: LETTERS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 1 2007Elena D'Onghia ABSTRACT We use a large cosmological N -body simulation to study the origin of possible correlations between the merging history and spin of cold dark matter haloes. In particular, we examine claims that remnants of major mergers tend to have higher-than-average spins, and find that the effect is driven largely by unrelaxed systems: equilibrium dark matter haloes show no significant correlation between spin and merging history. Out-of-equilibrium haloes have, on average, higher spin than relaxed systems, suggesting that the virialization process leads to a net decrease in the value of the spin parameter. We find that this decrease is due to the internal redistribution of mass and angular momentum that occurs during virialization. This process is especially efficient during major mergers, when high angular momentum material is pushed beyond the virial radius of the remnant. Because such redistribution likely affects the angular momentum of baryons and dark matter unevenly, our findings question the common practice of identifying the specific angular momentum content of a halo with that of its embedded luminous component. Further work is needed to elucidate the true relation between the angular momentum content of baryons and dark matter in galaxy systems assembled hierarchically. [source] Dual functionality of PTSA as electrolyte and dopant in the electrochemical synthesis of polyaniline, and its effect on electrical propertiesPOLYMER INTERNATIONAL, Issue 7 2007Sambhu Bhadra Abstract The electrochemical synthesis of polyaniline (PAni) powder was carried out from an aqueous solution of 0.15 mol L,1 aniline with varying concentrations of p -toluenesulphonic acid (PTSA) at room temperature. The PAni samples thus obtained were characterized using DC and AC conductivity, dielectric properties, infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray analysis, scanning electron microscopy and ultraviolet spectroscopy. Results showed that PTSA is acting both as electrolyte and doping agent. With an increase in the PTSA concentration, there is more polaron formation, and this means an increase in charge carrier concentration and mobility. This accounts for the increase in conductivity and improved dielectric properties of the resultant PAni. The polymer was subjected to a heating and cooling cycle. The change in conductivity during the heating cycle is quite different from that during the cooling cycle, indicating some kind of hysteresis phenomenon occurring in the system. Moreover there is a net decrease in room temperature conductivity of PAni when subjected to the heating,cooling cycle. This may be due to the oxidation of PAni and generation of some kind of disorder in the structure of PAni during the heating,cooling process. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry [source] The 11 August 2006 squall-line system as observed from MIT Doppler radar during the AMMA SOPTHE QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY, Issue S1 2010Michel Chong Abstract On the evening of 9 August 2006, a mesoscale convective system (MCS) having a north-south oriented squall-line organization formed over the border between Chad and Nigeria. It propagated westward, intensified over Nigeria on 10 August, and reached Niamey (Niger) at 0320 UTC on 11 August. Its passage over Niamey was accompanied by dust lifting and was well tracked by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Doppler radar. The three-dimensional structure of the airflow and precipitation pattern is investigated from regular radar volume scans performed every ten minutes between 0200 and 0321 UTC. The 3D wind components are deduced from the multiple-Doppler synthesis and continuity adjustment technique (MUSCAT) applied to a set of three volume scans obtained over a time period of one hour, which are equivalent to a three-radar observation of the squall line when considering a reference frame moving with the system and the hypothesis of a stationary field. Results of the wind synthesis reveal several features commonly observed in tropical squall lines, such as the deep convective cells in front of the system, fed by the monsoon air and extending up to 15 km altitude, and the well-marked stratiform rain region at the rear, associated with mesoscale vertical motions. Forward and trailing anvils are clearly identified as resulting from the outflow of air reaching the tropopause and transported to this level by the sloping convective updraughts occurring in a sheared environment. In the northern part, a deeper and stronger front-to-rear flow at mid-levels is found to contribute to the rearward deflection of the leading line and to promote a broader (over 300 km) stratiform cloud region. Eddy vertical transports of the cross-line momentum mainly accounts for the mid-level flow acceleration due to a momentum redistribution from low to higher levels. The height distribution of hydrometeors and their associated production terms derived from a one-dimensional microphysical retrieval model indicate the distinct roles of the convective and stratiform regions in the formation of graupel and rain, and the respective contributions of cold (riming) and warm (coalescence, melting) processes. Cooling from melting, and heating/cooling from condensation/evaporation processes yield a net decrease and increase of the potential temperature at low and mid-to-upper levels, respectively, with respect to an environmental thermodynamic profile taken three hours ahead of the analysis. Finally, the upper-level rearward flow could convey the non-negligible proportion of ice particles farther from the leading deep convection to the trailing stratiform region, thereby favouring the extent of this region. Copyright © 2009 Royal Meteorological Society [source] | |||||||||||||