Captured streams and springs in combined sewers: a review of the evidence, consequences and opportunities.

Captured streams and springs may be flowing in combined sewers, increasing clean baseflow in pipes and wastewater treatment works (WwTWs), reducing pipe capacity and increasing treatment costs. The UK water industry is aware of this in principle, but there has been no explicit discussion of this in the published literature, nor have there been any known attempts to manage it. Instead, the current focus is on the similar intrusion of groundwater infiltration through pipe cracks and joints.

PpeTAC1 promotes the horizontal growth of branches in peach trees and is a member of a functionally conserved gene family found in diverse plants species.

Trees are capable of tremendous architectural plasticity, allowing them to maximize their light exposure under highly competitive environments. One key component of tree architecture is the branch angle, yet little is known about the molecular basis for the spatial patterning of branches in trees. Here, we report the identification of a candidate gene for the br mutation in Prunus persica (peach) associated with vertically oriented growth of branches, referred to as 'pillar' or 'broomy'.

The Communities Advancing Resilience Toolkit (CART): an intervention to build community resilience to disasters.

Community resilience has emerged as a construct to support and foster healthy individual, family, and community adaptation to mass casualty incidents. The Communities Advancing Resilience Toolkit (CART) is a publicly available theory-based and evidence-informed community intervention designed to enhance community resilience by bringing stakeholders together to address community issues in a process that includes assessment, feedback, planning, and action. Tools include a field-tested community resilience survey and other assessment and analytical instruments.

Influence of non-invasive X-ray computed tomography (XRCT) on the microbial community structure and function in soil.

In this study the influence of X-ray computed tomography (XRCT) on the microbial community structure and function in soils has been investigated. Our results clearly indicate that XRCT of soil samples has a strong impact on microbial communities and changes structure and function significantly due to the death of selected microbial groups as a result of the treatment.

Simultaneous treatment with tebuconazole and abscisic acid induces drought and salinity stress tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana by maintaining key plastid protein levels.

Arabidopsis thaliana plants were treated simultaneously with the fungicide tebuconazole and the phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA). We carried out comparative proteomic and transcriptomic analysis against untreated controls under different stress regimes. The chemicals were applied 24 h before the onset of drought stress (removal of the nutrient medium) or salinity stress (hydroponic culture using 150 mM NaCl), and samples were taken during the stress treatments and after a 24 h recovery period.

Long-term functional outcomes after treatment for localized prostate cancer.

Background: The purpose of this analysis was to compare long-term urinary, bowel, and sexual function after radical prostatectomy or external-beam radiation therapy.

Methods: The Prostate Cancer Outcomes Study (PCOS) enrolled 3533 men in whom prostate cancer had been diagnosed in 1994 or 1995. The current cohort comprised 1655 men in whom localized prostate cancer had been diagnosed between the ages of 55 and 74 years and who had undergone either surgery (1164 men) or radiotherapy (491 men).

(Bio-)remediation of VCHC contaminants in a Technosol under unsaturated conditions.

The remediation of dense non-aqueous phase liquids has always been a concern of both public and scientific interest groups. In this research work a modified physical concept of (bio)remediation of a volatile chlorinated hydrocarbon (VCHC) contamination was elaborated under laboratory conditions and modeled with HYDRUS-2D. In field dechlorination is influenced by both physicochemical and hydraulic properties of the substrate, e.

RNA editing in eag potassium channels: biophysical consequences of editing a conserved S6 residue.

RNA editing at four sites in eag, a Drosophila voltage-gated potassium channel, results in the substitution of amino acids into the final protein product that are not encoded by the genome. These sites and the editing alterations introduced are K467R (Site 1, top of the S6 segment), Y548C, N567D and K699R (sites 2-4, within the cytoplasmic C-terminal domain). We mutated these residues individually and expressed the channels in Xenopus oocytes.

Quiet eye duration is responsive to variability of practice and to the axis of target changes.

We tested the hypothesis that quiet eye the final fixation before the initiation of a movement in aiming tasks, is used to scale the movement's parameters. Two groups of 12 participants (N=24) threw darts to targets in the horizontal and vertical axes under conditions of higher (random) or lower (blocked) target variability. Supporting our predictions, random practice and target changes in the vertical axis led to longer quiet eye duration than did blocked practice and target changes in the horizontal axis.

Monolithic source of photon pairs.

The creation of monolithically integratable sources of single and entangled photons is a top research priority with formidable challenges: The production, manipulation, and measurement of the photons should all occur in the same material platform, thereby fostering stability and scalability. Here we demonstrate efficient photon pair production in a semiconductor platform, gallium arsenide. Our results show type-I spontaneous parametric down-conversion of laser light from a 2.

Advance directives in english and French law: different concepts, different values, different societies.

In Western societies advance directives are widely recognised as important means to extend patient self-determination under circumstances of incapacity. Following other countries, England and France have adopted legislation aiming to clarify the legal status of advance directives. In this paper, I will explore similarities and differences in both sets of legislation, the arguments employed in the respective debates and the socio-political structures on which these differences are based.

Soil microbes and soil respiration of Mongolian Steppe soils under grazing stress.

Soils of Northern China were analysed for their microbiological and soil physical properties with respect to different grazing stress. An important factor for this is soil compaction and related aeration due to pore size shifts. Bulk density increases significantly with increasing grazing intensity and soil carbon contents show decreasing values from top to depth.

The benefits of specific immunoglobulin E testing in the primary care setting.

A common link among allergic diseases remains the many allergens that can provoke symptoms. The National Institutes of Health Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Asthma and Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Food Allergy support the use of in vivo (skin prick) or in vitro (blood) specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) testing, along with a detailed clinical history and physical examination, to document an allergy diagnosis. The initial responsibility of diagnosing allergic diseases falls principally on primary care providers, for whom skin prick testing is impractical.

Euthanasia and end-of-life practices in France and Germany. A comparative study.

The objective of this paper is to understand from a sociological perspective how the moral question of euthanasia, framed as the "right to die", emerges and is dealt with in society. It takes France and Germany as case studies, two countries in which euthanasia is prohibited and which have similar legislation on the issue. I presuppose that, and explore how, each society has its own specificities in terms of practical, social and political norms that affect the ways in which they deal with these issues.

Effects of omeprazole and genetic polymorphism of CYP2C19 on the clopidogrel active metabolite.

Clopidogrel is an antiplatelet agent widely used in cardiovascular diseases and an inactive prodrug that needs to be converted to an active metabolite in two sequential metabolic steps. Several CYP450 isoforms involved in these two steps have been described, although the relative contribution in vivo of each enzyme is still under debate. CYP2C19 is considered to be the major contributor to active metabolite formation.

Effect of disjoining pressure on terminal velocity of a bubble sliding along an inclined wall.

The influence of salt concentration on the terminal velocities of gravity-driven single bubbles sliding along an inclined glass wall has been investigated, in an effort to establish whether surface forces acting between the wall and the bubble influence the latter's mobility. A simple sliding bubble apparatus was employed to measure the terminal velocities of air bubbles with radii ranging from 0.3 to 1.

Tasisulam sodium, an antitumor agent that inhibits mitotic progression and induces vascular normalization.

LY573636-sodium (tasisulam) is a small molecule antitumor agent with a novel mechanism of action currently being investigated in a variety of human cancers. In vitro, tasisulam induced apoptosis via the intrinsic pathway, resulting in cytochrome c release and caspase-dependent cell death. Using high content cellular imaging and subpopulation analysis of a wide range of in vitro and in vivo cancer models, tasisulam increased the proportion of cells with 4N DNA content and phospho-histone H3 expression, leading to G(2)-M accumulation and subsequent apoptosis.

Society, demography and genetic structure in the spotted hyena.

Spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) are large mammalian carnivores, but their societies, called 'clans', resemble those of such cercopithecine primates as baboons and macaques with respect to their size, hierarchical structure, and frequency of social interaction among both kin and unrelated group-mates. However, in contrast to cercopithecine primates, spotted hyenas regularly hunt antelope and compete with group-mates for access to kills, which are extremely rich food sources, but also rare and ephemeral. This unique occurrence of baboon-like sociality among top-level predators has favoured the evolution of many unusual traits in this species.

Chicago neoliberalism versus Cowles planning: perspectives on patents and public goods in Cold War economic thought.

In post-Sputnik America, when many policymakers and social scientists feared the Soviet Union had a technological advantage over the United States, assessing the relative importance of patents for inventive activity and examining whether scientific research constituted a public good were paramount concerns. The neoliberals of the University of Chicago and the planners of the Cowles Commission both spoke to these issues. This paper sheds light on their views on patents and public goods in the late 1950s and early 1960s by examining representatives of Cowles and Chicago, Kenneth Arrow and Ronald Coase, respectively.

Physiology and proteomics of drought stress acclimation in sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.).

An easy and manageable in vitro screening system for drought tolerance of sunflower seedlings based on MS media supplemented with polyethylene glycol 6000 was evaluated. Morphological and physiological parameters were compared between control (-0.05 MPa) and drought-stressed (-0.

Coalescence map for bubbles in surfactant-free aqueous electrolyte solutions.

Factors influencing bubble coalescence in surfactant-free aqueous electrolyte solutions are considered in this compilation of literature results. These factors include viscous and inertial thin film drainage, surface deformation, surface elasticity, mobility or otherwise of the air-water interface, and disjoining pressure. Several models from the literature are discussed, with particular attention paid to predictions of transitions between regions where behaviour is qualitatively different.

The predictive validity of the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth in secondary educational settings.

Current developments in violence risk assessment warrant consideration for use within educational settings. Using a structured professional judgment (SPJ) model, the present study investigated the predictive validity of the Structured Assessment of Violence in Youth (SAVRY) within educational settings. The predictive accuracy of the SAVRY scales was assessed using a retrospective file review to gather data on 87 adolescents ranging in age from 12 to 18 years.

Inhibition of bubble coalescence: effects of salt concentration and speed of approach.

Bubble coalescence experiments have been performed using a sliding bubble apparatus, in which mm-sized bubbles in an aqueous electrolyte solution without added surfactant rose toward an air meniscus at different speeds obtained by varying the inclination of a closed glass cylinder containing the liquid. The coalescence times of single bubbles contacting the meniscus were monitored using a high speed camera. Results clearly show that stability against coalescence of colliding air bubbles is influenced by both the salt concentration and the approach speed of the bubbles.