bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Invader disruption of belowground plant mutualisms reduces carbon acquisition and alters allocation patterns in a native forest herb
Authors: Hale Alison N. , Lapointe Line , Kalisz Susan 
Published: October 2015

SummaryInvasive plants impose novel selection pressures on naïve mutualistic interactions between native plants and their partners. As most plants critically rely on root fungal symbionts (RFSs) for soil resources, invaders that disrupt plant–RFSmutualisms can significantly depress native plant fitness. Here, we investigate the consequences ofRFSmutualism disruption on native plant fitness in a glasshouse experiment with a forest invader that produces known anti‐fungal allelochemicals.Over 5 months, we regularly applied either green leaves of the allelopathic invaderAlliaria petiolata, a nonsystemic fungicide to simulateA. petiolata's effects, or green leaves of nonallelopathicHesperis matronalis(control) to pots containing the nativeMaianthemum racemosumand itsRFSs. We repeatedly measuredM. racemosumphysiology and harvested plants periodically to assess carbon allocation.Alliaria petiolataand fungicide treatment effects were indistinguishable: we observed inhibition of theRFSsoil hyphal network and significant reductions inM. racemosumphysiology (photosynthesis, transpiration and conductance) and allocation (carbon storage, root biomass and asexual reproduction) in both treatments relative to the control.Our findings suggest a general mechanistic hypothesis for local extinction of native species in ecosystems challenged by allelopathic invaders:RFSmutualism disruption drives carbon stress, subsequent declines in native plant vigor, and, if chronic, declines inRFS‐dependent species abundance.
Homology of the genital sclerites ofMegaloptera (Insecta:Neuropterida) and their phylogenetic relevance
Authors: LIU XINGYUE , LÜ YANAN , ASPÖCK HORST , YANG DING , ASPÖCK ULRIKE 
Published: October 2015

AbstractThe genitalia ofMegaloptera are crucial for taxonomic identification and represent a significant component of characters for phylogenetic interpretation of this order. However, several complex genital structures, especially those related to segments 9 and 11 inMegaloptera, have yet to be subjected to a comprehensive survey of homology. The terminology for genital sclerites has been variously and even incorrectly used by different authors, a fact which could lead to much confusion about character evolution. In this paper, we first present a comprehensive morphological comparison of the sclerites of male and female genital segments in 23 megalopteran genera representing all major lineages ofCorydalinae,Chauliodinae andSialidae. Accordingly, we then provide new interpretations on the homology of the genital sclerites which often appear to be considerably different amongMegaloptera. Based on our new and revised homology assessments, we conclude that: (i) the small to medium‐sized sclerite beneath the ectoprocts in males ofSialidae represents the fused gonocoxites 11; (ii) the male gonocoxites 11 inCorydalidae are largely reduced and are sometimes retained as a small sclerite beneath the anus; (iii) the predominant sternite‐like sclerite of the female abdominal segment 8 represents the fused gonocoxites 8; and (iv) a pair of sclerites amalgamated with the lateral arms of male gonocoxites 10 inChauliodinae is the gonocoxites 9. Furthermore, based on our genital homology assessments, we reconstruct an intergeneric phylogeny including all genera ofMegaloptera using genital characters in a parsimonious analysis to test their phylogenetic relevance. The phylogeny herein recovered is largely congruent with the results from several previous studies, thus underlying the significant phylogenetic relevance of the megalopteran genital sclerites. The present work provides new insights into the evolution of insect genitalia.
Arabidopsis thaliana isoprenyl diphosphate synthases produce the C25 intermediate geranylfarnesyl diphosphate
Authors: Nagel Raimund , Bernholz Carolin , Vranová Eva , Košuth Ján , Bergau Nick , Ludwig Steve , Wessjohann Ludger , Gershenzon Jonathan , Tissier Alain , Schmidt Axel 
Published: October 2015

SummaryIsoprenyl diphosphate synthases (IDSs) catalyze some of the most basic steps in terpene biosynthesis by producing the prenyl diphosphate precursors of each of the various terpenoid classes. Most plants investigated have distinct enzymes that produce the short‐chain all‐trans (E) prenyl diphosphates geranyl diphosphate (GDP, C10), farnesyl diphosphate (FDP, C15) or geranylgeranyl diphosphate (GGDP, C20). In the genome of Arabidopsis thaliana, 15 trans‐product‐forming IDSs are present. Ten of these have recently been shown to produce GGDP by genetic complementation of a carotenoid pathway engineered into Escherichia coli. When verifying the product pattern of IDSs producing GGDP by a new LC‐MS/MS procedure, we found that five of these IDSs produce geranylfarnesyl diphosphate (GFDP, C25) instead of GGDP as their major product in enzyme assays performed in vitro. Over‐expression of one of the GFDP synthases in A. thaliana confirmed the production of GFDP in vivo. Enzyme assays with A. thaliana protein extracts from roots but not other organs showed formation of GFDP. Furthermore, GFDP itself was detected in root extracts. Subcellular localization studies in leaves indicated that four of the GFDP synthases were targeted to the plastoglobules of the chloroplast and one was targeted to the mitochondria. Sequence comparison and mutational studies showed that the size of the R group of the 5th amino acid residue N‐terminal to the first aspartate‐rich motif is responsible for C25 versus C20 product formation, with smaller R groups (Ala and Ser) resulting in GGDP (C20) as a product and a larger R group (Met) resulting in GFDP (C25).
The invariant tag isn't it in Asian Englishes
Authors: PARVIAINEN HANNA 
Published: October 2015

ABSTRACTThe aim of this paper is to conduct a quantitative corpus‐based analysis in order to detect how frequently the invariant tag isn't it is used in the English varieties of India, Singapore, Hong Kong and the Philippines. American and British English were added to the study for point of reference. The data were obtained from the International Corpus of English for all other varieties except for spoken American English, for which the Santa Barbara Corpus of Spoken American English was used. The results indicate that the use of isn't it as an invariant tag appears almost solely in spoken language and the highest frequencies can be found in Indian English, followed by Singaporean English, Hong Kong English and Philippine English.
A description of the Yunnan English accent
Authors: AO RAN , LOW EE LING 
Published: October 2015

ABSTRACTThis paper presents findings of an acoustic investigation of monophthong vowels produced by learners of English from Yunnan, China. Speech data for the present study were collected from 15 participants comprising five Han Chinese English majors, five Han Chinese non‐English majors and five Yi minority ethnic English majors. The findings show that the three groups share more differences than similarities in terms of vowel duration but not in terms of vowel quality though the results of Euclidean distance show that the Han Chinese English majors and the Han Chinese non‐English majors are different from the Yi minority ethnic English majors. Results of standard deviation reveal that the Yi minority ethnic English majors have the lowest inter‐speaker variability, followed by the Han Chinese English majors and the Han Chinese non‐English majors.
Each‐step activation of oxidative phosphorylation is necessary to explain muscle metabolic kinetic responses to exercise and recovery in humans
Authors: Korzeniewski Bernard , Rossiter Harry B. 
Published: October 2015

Key points
The basic control mechanisms of oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) and glycolysis during work transitions in human skeletal muscle are still a matter of debate.
We used simulations of skeletal muscle bioenergetics to identify key system features that contribute to this debate, by comparing kinetic model outputs with experimental human data, including phosphocreatine, pH, pulmonary oxygen uptake and fluxes of ATP production by OXPHOS (vOX), anaerobic glycolysis and creatine kinase in moderate and severe intensity exercise transitions.
We found that each‐step activation of particular OXPHOS complexes, NADH supply and glycolysis, and strong (third‐order) glycolytic inhibition by protons was required to reproduce observed phosphocreatine, pH and vOX kinetics during exercise.
A slow decay of each‐step activation during recovery, which was slowed further following severe exercise, was necessary to reproduce the experimental findings.
Well‐tested computer models offer new insight in the control of the human skeletal muscle bioenergetic system during physical exercise.
AbstractTo better understand muscle bioenergetic regulation, a previously‐developed model of the skeletal muscle cell bioenergetic system was used to simulate the influence of: (1) each‐step activation (ESA) of NADH supply (including glycolysis) and oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) complexes and (2) glycolytic inhibition by protons on the kinetics of ATP synthesis from OXPHOS, anaerobic glycolysis and creatine kinase. Simulations were fitted to previously published experimental data of ATP production fluxes and metabolite concentrations during moderate and severe intensity exercise transitions in bilateral knee extension in humans. Overall, the computer simulations agreed well with experimental results. Specifically, a large (>5‐fold) direct activation of all OXPHOS complexes was required to simulate measured phosphocreatine and OXPHOS responses to both moderate and severe intensity exercise. In addition, slow decay of ESA was required to fit phosphocreatine recovery kinetics, and the time constant of ESA decay was slower following severe (180 s) than moderate (90 s) exercise. Additionally, a strong inhibition of (anaerobic) glycolysis by protons (glycolytic rate inversely proportional to the cube of proton concentration) provided the best fit to the experimental pH kinetics, and may contribute to the progressive increase in oxidative ATP supply during acidifying contractions. During severe‐intensity exercise, an ‘additional’ ATP usage (a 27% increase at 8 min, above the initial ATP supply) was necessary to explain the observed slow component. Thus, parallel activation of ATP usage and ATP supply (ESA), and a strong inhibition of ATP supply by anaerobic glycolysis, were necessary to simulate the kinetics of muscle bioenergetics observed in humans.
Multi-Physics Energy Approach and Demonstration Facility
Authors: Pollman Anthony G. , Gannon Anthony J. 
Published: October 2015

A methodology to investigate the generation, transport and storage of energy based on a multi-physics approach, tied to the end use application, is presented. Often little or no consideration is given to the end use or desired product of the energy used. Current energy generation, transport and storage are dominated heavily by a few large sectors, notably electricity and hydrocarbons. These are very effective and practical systems that facilitate the delivery of vast amounts of energy. It is then not surprising that most strategies for renewable energy generation and storage revolve around this centralized model in some way. In larger scale generation, power is usually fed onto the electrical grid with a current challenge being grid stabilization with increasing penetration of intermittent renewable resources. In small grid-independent system a mix of battery and hydrocarbon storage are often used to keep a micro-grid available for various end use applications.
A paradigm shift in the thinking and design of energy systems based on the required end use or product is needed. The philosophy and motivation that lead to the consideration of this new approach are outlined in this article. Following this a summary of a methodical approach to developing the most energy and cost-effective solution to general processes by considering their end-use physics is presented. Examples of innovative energy generation, storage, and transport solutions based on the multi-physics approach are then outlined. Finally, a brief description of the Multi-physics Renewable Energy Lab (MPREL), a demonstration facility based on the approach and currently under construction at the Naval Postgraduate School, is given.
24 Hour Step Ahead Wind Speed / Wind Power Prediction Using a Novel Kalman Filter Bank Prediction Estimator
Authors: Lynch Conor , O’Mahony Michael J. , Guinee Richard A. 
Published: October 2015

This paper presents a new approach allowing Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) grid model forecasting to be applied to a desired “sub-grid” location. It permits observations from a NWP model using a novel bank of 24 Kalman Filters (KFs) operating simultaneously to accurately predict the wind speed (Zt) 24 hours ahead for a campus based wind turbine at Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) at 20m above sea level (asl) at sub grid location. The NWP model outputs wind speed predictions (mt) for Cork Airport at 152m asl (2.5km distant from CIT) at grid level. The Kalman Filter (KF), acting as a post processing tool with a moving time averaging window, derives a 24 hour ahead predicted wind speed schedule for CIT by applying a wind speed bias model polynomial to map and filter the wind speed bias offset between the two locations. To ensure a robust model, with good modelling and error noise disturbance rejection capabilities inclusive of model offsets [1], the accuracy of the model has been investigated using a particularly turbulent wind data set for December 2013 [2].
It is shown that a 4th order polynomial adaptive wind speed model bias remover is the optimum choice to employ in conjunction with the KF which uses a 3 point a priori moving window averager to adequately eliminate systematic error. The application of a KF to wind speed prediction is implemented in MATLAB software and results are provided in this paper to demonstrate the accuracy and fidelity of the procedure. Hypothesis testing along with statistical analysis has returned wind velocity prediction estimates that demonstrate the accuracy of the KF estimator. This also provides confidence enhancement of the polynomial model choice as a suitable wind velocity bias eliminator. The accuracy of the hourly wind velocity estimate are of strategic importance in wind power prediction where installed wind turbine scheduling is an issue for cost effective electrical network operation with a consequent beneficial economic return on wind generator capital investment.
Tri-Sol (Building-Integrated, Three-in-One Solar) Technology Development
Authors: Gorthala Ravi 
Published: October 2015

A unique solar technology that can be building-integrated, which harnesses both visible and infrared spectrums of solar radiation, utilizes direct and diffuse radiation to produce electricity and hot water, and delivers daylight, has been conceptualized. This technology is a three-in-one (named Tri-Sol), low/medium-concentration, building-integrated, skylight system for commercial buildings. However, this technology can be utilized for building facades and other building envelope components. A key component of the technology is linear Fresnel lenses. These lenses can be designed to be thin and light-weight. Sunlight, concentrated by the linear Fresnel lenses with a low-cost single axis tracker, focuses on a high-efficiency, thin Photo Voltaic (PV) strip that is in contact with a thermal absorber. Electricity produced by PV strips can be processed and distributed from an electric power management system. The thermal absorber houses a sealed heat pipe for cooling the PV strip and producing hot water. The water-cooled condenser section of the heat pipe is external to the skylight so that there is no issue of water leakage through the skylight. Hot water produced can be used for end-use, space heating, or absorption cooling. All diffuse light that cannot be concentrated by Fresnel lenses is delivered into the building interior space.
A pre-prototype of Tri-Sol technology was designed and built at University of New Haven (UNH). Solar Testing and Training Laboratory (STTL) at UNH houses solar thermal collector equipment with a capability to perform Solar Rating and Certification Corporation (SRCC) tests. The Tri-Sol module was mounted on the SRCC test equipment at UNH and was tested outdoors to identify any issues or design enhancements.
Achieving Sustainable Urban Energy Planning: With Specific Focus on Transportation
Authors: El-Sherif Doaa M. 
Published: October 2015

The global population is expected to reach over 9 billion by 2050. The ‘second wave of urbanization’ indicates that developing world cities are growing much faster than their developed world counterparts, and most of these people will live in African and Asian cities where city growth rates are the highest.
This, ‘second wave of urbanization’ is a core driver of change in the 21st century and follows the first wave of urbanization that took place in developed countries from 1750, lasted 200 years and resulted in the urbanization of 400 million people. By contrast, the second wave of urbanization is projected to see over 3 billion additional people living in cities in a time-span of just 80 years, bringing unprecedented challenges to city doorsteps.
In the current era of development, urban sustainability is threatened by heightened global uncertainty and change. In broad terms, these changes consist of the following global factors: economic change, scarcity of resources, rapid technological and social change, environmental and climate change effects. These drivers of change have broad reach, and threaten multiple sectors — such as food, water, energy, transport and waste — that are critical for urban sustainability.
In response, this paper discusses cities’ transition to urban energy sustainability and the role of infrastructures, with focus on transportation planning. The paper highlights the case of Egypt as an example of developing countries.
The objectives of the paper are; firstly to identify the different factors affecting Egyptian cities’ transition to sustainability, and secondly to analyze the strategic urban planning process in Egypt which is a bottom-up participatory approach leading to urban sustainability.
The paper presents a case study from Egypt, illustrating the preparation of a future urban strategic plan for a small Egyptian city. The case study shows how participatory approach can result in innovative solutions leading to sustainable urban energy planning with focus on transportation.
Solar Concentrator Shape Characterisation Using Composite Light-Field Imaging
Authors: Garbrecht Oliver , Zapata José , Kneer Reinhold 
Published: October 2015

The shape of an installed solar concentrator (e.g. a heliostat) may differ from its original design due to manufacturing defects, structural/wind loads and thermal expansion. By measuring the shape of a solar concentrator, it is possible to account for the deviation in optical performance from its original design point. A method to measure concentrator shape needs to be fast, accurate, and not involve contact or interference with the reflective surface of the concentrator. State-of-the-art techniques include flux mapping, photogrammetry, and deflectometry using conventional cameras.
This paper presents a study to characterise solar concentrator shapes using light-field imaging. Conventional cameras capture the light intensity of a point in a scene at a single point in the sensor, creating a two-dimensional image. A light field camera features multiple micro-lenses placed between the main lens and the sensor, providing many small images from slightly different angles in a single shot. This information is used to reconstruct the position of a light source in space. The advantage of this new technique to the ones mentioned above is that the light field camera is robust and self-contained, which allows easy-to-use application in heliostat fields.
In this study, light-field camera measurements were performed with flat mirrors and a curved mirror under laboratory conditions. In order to resolve the surface of the mirror surfaces, several methods to impose contours of the mirror surface have been studied, including dirt, small water droplets, scattering of low-power laser light, and paper-marks. A wide range of camera-to-mirror distances between 43 cm and 5 m have been studied. Greater distances allow the capture of the entire surface, but decrease the precision of depth measurements. In order to obtain high precision measurements while being able to capture the entire surface, a compositing strategy has been developed, combining several light-field image measurements. The overall accuracy of the system was improved further by averaging measurements over several image frames. Subsequently, the reconstructed surface points have been fed to a ray-tracing algorithm realized in Matlab/Python.
Results in this study are able to resolve the shape of small concentrators to sub-millimetre precision when taking pictures at a distance of 0.4 m.
Response Surface Based Optimization of Solar Collector Integrated With an Ammonia-Water Combined Power/Cooling Cycle Supported by Exergy Analysis
Authors: García Jesús M. , Sanjuan M. Marco E. , Padilla Ricardo Vasquez 
Published: October 2015

Finding optimal operating conditions of solar-based power and cooling systems is always a challenge. Performance of these systems is highly dependent on several important parameters, which not only impact the long-term efficiency but also its technical and economic feasibility. This paper studies the operation/configuration problem of an ammonia-water power and cooling cycle using an exergetic analysis. Thermodynamic performance of the combined cycle was addressed by using analysis of variance and multiple linear regression analysis. Modeling was done in Matlab®, using Refprop 9.0 to calculate the thermodynamic properties of the ammonia-water mixture. Convergence issues were observed on the thermodynamic properties estimation carried out by Refprop when the stream had high ammonia mass fraction. To solve this issue an averaging algorithm was implemented online to estimate such properties using pure ammonia data and high, but stable, ammonia concentration data. After this implementation, small differences between current and reference model were seen.
Optimum operating conditions were obtained using response surface technique. The response variable used was the ratio between exergetic efficiency and exergy destruction. Results showed that the response variable is mainly influenced by the ammonia concentration, pressure ratio, turbine efficiency and temperature gradient in the heat exchanger. Finally integration of the power/cooling cycle with a solar field was performed using two types of concentrated solar collectors: Linear Fresnel Collector (LFC) and Parabolic Trough Collector (PTC). The analysis showed that LFC technology can be a viable alternative for small scale applications combined with power/cooling systems.