605 research outputs found

    Addendum to G. B. Bryan\u27s “The Proverbial Sherlock Holmes”: Expanding the Paremiological Catalog in the Holmesian Canon

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    The purpose of this paper is to reassess the use of proverbs in the adventures of Sherlock Holmes, taking as a starting point the article previously published by G. B. Bryan on this same topic in Proverbium in 1996. In it, Bryan came to the conclusion that proverbs did not abound in the series. For this reason, the collection of stories and the four novels published have been surveyed for their use of paremias in order to establish their frequency of appearance and how they are used by the author. Once a rather extensive catalog of sentences susceptible to being considered as proverbs had been gathered, they were individually checked against dictionaries to establish whether they could be labeled as such. After a detailed examination of the materials obtained, this paper contradicts the thesis presented by Bryan and demonstrates that Conan Doyle uses proverbs in his detective stories quite often, most frequently through the character of Holmes

    Risk Assessment in Economic Feasibility Analysis: The Case of Ethanol Production in Texas

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    The objective of this study is to demonstrate the benefits of quantifying the economic viability of a proposed agribusiness under risk relative to a feasibility study which ignores risk. To achieve this objective, the economic viability of a 50 MMGPY ethanol facility in Texas is analyzed over a 10-year period in two ways: with no risk and with historical risk for prices and costs.Risk and Uncertainty,

    Some synthetical experiments on organic bases

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    SOME SYNTHETICAL EXPERIMENTS ON ORGANIC BASES: The Thesis now presented is an account of some work undertaken by the Author with the primary object of preparing bases suitable for test as anti-malarials but deals in some detail with some important observations which have resulted from difficulties encountered in the course of the work.THE REDUCTION OF NITRO-COMPOUNDS BY AROMATIC KETOLS. PART I. SOME p-AZOXY-COMPOUNDS. Reprinted from the Journal of the Chemical Society, September, 1927.THE REDUCTION OF NITRO-COMPOUNDS BY AROMATIC KETOLS. PART II. SOME o-, m-, AND p-AZOXY-COMPOUNDS. BY HUGH BRYAN NISBET. Reprinted from the Journal ofhe Chemical Society, December 1928CCXLVIII.—Some Reactions of mm'-Dinitrobenzil. By Alfred Archibald Boon and Hugh Bryan Nisbet. Reprinted from the Journal of the Chemical Society, 1929.319. The Reactivity of Groups in Substituted Acridones. Part II. Gationoid Activity at Position 4 in Acridones. By Hugh B. Nisbet. Reprinted from the Journal of the Chemical Society, 1933.206. Heterocyclic Ketones. Part I. ft-Amino-ketones and Related Pyrazolines derived from Benzylidene- and Furfurylidene-acetone. By Hugh B. Nisbet and Cecil G. Gray. Reprinted from the Journal of the Chemical Society, 1933

    EXCITED SINGLET STATE STRUCTURE AND DYNAMICS OF ISOLATED DIPHENYLPOLYENES

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    1^{1} Lou Ann Heimbrook, Bryan E. Kohler, and Thomas A. Spiglanin, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 80, 4580 (1983) 2^{2} Bryan E. Kohler and Thomas A. Spiglanin, accepted, J. Chem. Phys. (1984).Author Institution: Department of Chemistry, Wesleyan UniversityOne photon fluorescence excitation spectra, fluorescence spectra, and single vibrational level decay kinetics have been measured for diphenylbutadiene1diphenylbutadiene^{1} (DPB) and diphenylhexatriene2diphenylhexatriene^{2} (DPH) seeded in supersonic helium expansions. In each case a long lived (52.8 nsec for DPB and 90.7 nsec for DPH) doubly excited 1Ag^{1}A^{\ast}_{g} state is located well below the lowest singly excited state (11Bu)(1 ^{1}B^{\ast}_{u}). The 1Ag^{1}A^{\ast}_{g} to 11Bu1 ^{1}B^{\ast}_{u} energy gap is 1150cm11150 cm^{-1} for DPB and 3400cm13400 cm^{-1} for DPH. All of the observed vibrational states have odd inversion symmetry and are coupled to the 11Bu1 ^{1}B^{\ast}_{u} state. Emission produced by excitation of this 11Bu1 ^{1}B^{\ast}_{u} state emanates not from this state but from vibrationally excited levels of the 1Ag^{1}A_{g} state which are isoenergetic with the initially prepared state. Comparisons of the gas phase data obtained here with that obtained in low temperature matrices provides a clearer picture of the photodynamics and electronic structure of diphenylpolyenes than was previously available

    At limits of life: multidisciplinary insights reveal environmental constraints on biotic diversity in continental Antarctica

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    Data source: Supporting information, http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0044578#s5Multitrophic communities that maintain the functionality of the extreme Antarctic terrestrial ecosystems, while the simplest of any natural community, are still challenging our knowledge about the limits to life on earth. In this study, we describe and interpret the linkage between the diversity of different trophic level communities to the geological morphology and soil geochemistry in the remote Transantarctic Mountains (Darwin Mountains, 80uS). We examined the distribution and diversity of biota (bacteria, cyanobacteria, lichens, algae, invertebrates) with respect to elevation, age of glacial drift sheets, and soil physicochemistry. Results showed an abiotic spatial gradient with respect to the diversity of the organisms across different trophic levels. More complex communities, in terms of trophic level diversity, were related to the weakly developed younger drifts (Hatherton and Britannia) with higher soil C/N ratio and lower total soluble salts content (thus lower conductivity). Our results indicate that an increase of ion concentration from younger to older drift regions drives a succession of complex to more simple communities, in terms of number of trophic levels and diversity within each group of organisms analysed. This study revealed that integrating diversity across multi-trophic levels of biotic communities with abiotic spatial heterogeneity and geological history is fundamental to understand environmental constraints influencing biological distribution in Antarctic soil ecosystems.Catarina Magalhães, Mark I. Stevens, S. Craig Cary, Becky A. Ball, Bryan C. Storey, Diana H. Wall, Roman Tűrk and Ulrike Ruprech

    Contributions to the Science of Environmental Impact Assessment: Three Papers on the Arctic Cisco (Coregonus autumnalis) of Northern Alaska

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    Editor's Introduction -- D. W. Norton; An Assessment of the Colville River Delta Stock of Arctic Cisco--Migrants from Canada? -- B. J. Gallaway, W. B. Griffiths, P. C. Craig, W. J. Gazey, and J. W. Helmericks; Temperature Preference of Juvenile Arctic Cisco (Coregonus autumnalis) From the Alaskan Beaufort Sea -- R. G. Fechhelm, W. H. Neill, and B. J. Gallaway; Modeling Movements and Distribution of Arctic Cisco (Coregonus autumnalis) Relative to Temperature-Salinity Regimes of the Beaufort Sea Near the Waterflood Causeway, Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. -- W. H. Neill, R. G. Fechhelm, B. J. Gallaway, J. D. Bryan, and S. W. Anderson; Notice to Author

    The basis of variation in the size and composition of grape berries

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    The objective of this study was to explore the basis of variation in the size and composition of grape berries. The investigation focussed on selected aspects of berry development and ripening that were subject to variation. Shiraz and Chardonnay were chosen as experimental varieties because these cultivars presented a large range of variability in the field – Shiraz is susceptible to variation in colour development at veraison, whereas Chardonnay often displays variation in berry size at harvest. The extent of variation within each of the recorded berry parameters was assessed using the coefficient of variation (CV), a unitless measure of sample variability relative to the sample mean, ideally suited to comparative studies. Chapter 1 is a literature review that documents research on selected aspects of grape berry development and ripening which are subject to variation. Berry development is explained in terms of berry set, berry growth and ovule/seed development. Berry composition is described by the relative concentration of sugars, acids, phenolics and flavour compounds in the berry tissues. Variation is discussed with respect to the Australian wine industry and the problem of supply and demand. Techniques for identifying and measuring components of variation are recommended. Experimental hypotheses are developed. Chapter 2 describes an experiment designed to identify when variation in berry size and composition was initiated. The hypothesis was that relative levels of variation in size and composition would remain constant throughout the postflowering period of berry development. The physical properties of individual Shiraz berries were described in terms of their deformability, mass, volume, surface area and seed mass. The phenolic composition of these same individual berries was assessed. A comparison of CVs between sequential developmental stages indicated when variation in a particular physicochemical parameter was initiated. The CV in berry deformability reached a maximum at softening. The CV for berry mass was above 50% at berry set, but declined as the berries approached harvest maturity. The CVs for berry volume and berry surface area followed a similar trend. Interactions among these parameters were described by linear regressions, multiple regressions and correlation matrices. Seed mass and berry phenolics were analysed for individual berries during the growing, softening and preharvest stages. Both of these parameters were significantly correlated with berry mass, but the relationships were peculiar to each developmental stage. The CV for seed mass increased with maturity. The CV for berry phenolics was lowest during the softening stage. For most parameters, CVs had already attained high levels during the earliest growth stage (setting). The implication is that variation must have arisen at an even earlier time. This places considerable importance on the impact that preflowering events may have on cell division in the floral primordia at budburst. Chapter 3 describes an experiment that sought to identify the extent of variation present during the early developmental stages of berry growth. The hypothesis was that variation in berry size was already significant in the early postflowering period of berry development. Individual Chardonnay berries on two bunches from both ungirdled and girdled vines were assessed on four occasions throughout the flowering period. Individual flowers that had opened during the intervening time period were tagged. One bunch from each vine was sampled at 15 days and another at 43 days after the first flower had opened, giving a range of berry ages: bunch at 15 days comprised berry ages of 1-4, 5-7, 8-11 and 12-15 days; bunch at 43 days comprised berry ages of 29-32, 33-35, 36-39 and 40-43 days. Frequency distributions of berry mass were plotted for each age class for ungirdled and girdled vines. Distributions were negatively skewed for ungirdled vines and positively skewed for girdled vines. No “shot” berries were observed among bunches sampled from girdled vines at 43 days after flowering. Absolute and relative growth rates were typically higher for berries from girdled vines. The relationship between berry mass and seed mass was unaffected by trunk girdling. CVs for berry mass at all ages in the early bunch sample (15 days) were below 44%, and were generally lower for the girdled vines. In the later bunch sample (43 days), CVs in berry mass were all higher than those associated with the early bunch sample, and two- to three-fold lower for the girdled vines. This reduction is most likely the result of increased organic nutrition to the bunch counteracting the variation that arises from differences in hormonal stimulus to growth by the developing seed. Chapter 4 describes a novel technique that was developed for the in situ measurement of cell shape and cell size using confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). The technique encompassed the preparation, clearing, staining and whole mounting of large sections of berry tissue. Optical slices were collected at 1 μm intervals to a depth of 150 μm. The digital images were empirically corrected for attenuation of fluorescence intensity and axial distortion due to refractive index mismatch. Cell size and shape were determined from digital 3D reconstructions of the collected image stack. Cell volumes exhibited a 15-fold range with polysigmoidal distribution and groupings around specific size classes. The volume of individual, whole parenchyma cells within a block of grape berry mesocarp tissue could be measured in situ to a precision of 2 μm³. Chapter 5 describes an experiment that sought to resolve the relationship between fruit size and cell size in a developing grape berry. The hypothesis was that variation in cell size occurs early in the postflowering period of berry development and that this variation was responsible for the subsequent macroscopic size differences observed between berries. Chardonnay berries belonging to the eight age classes derived in Chapter 3 were sampled from ungirdled and girdled vines. Three berries from each age class were analysed under the CLSM-one “shot”, one “chick” and one “hen”. Volumes were calculated for ten cells from the inner mesocarp tissue of each berry. Differences in cell volume were observed between berry types. Larger berries often had a larger range of cell sizes, indicating they had undergone more cell expansion during the course of their development, but the distribution of cell sizes in “shot” and “chick” berries was similar. Girdling did not affect the berry cell size distribution, but the CVs of girdled vines were ~50% higher. Cell volume for “chicks and “hens” increased between day 15 and day 43, although the increase was proportionally greater for “hens”. Variation in cell size remains relatively constant during the early postflowering development, but variation in berry mass increase regardless. This indicates the operation of different metabolic controls over these two facets of berry growth. Chapter 6 is a general discussion and an attempt to synthesise the salient points from the preceding experimental chapters. In light of the experimental results, it addresses the validity of each of the original hypotheses on variation in berry size and composition. Concepts of developmental synchronisation among berries are viewed from the perspective of changing levels of variation between developmental stages. Increases in CVs signify a loss of synchronisation (asynchronisation) among berries. Reductions in CVs signify a gain in synchronisation (resynchronisation) among berries. The general conclusion is that averages of measurements of the population reveal nothing about the variation within that population. Calculation of variance permits this, but requires that all individuals be measured. Cell size is only one component of the berry size equation. Cell number is the other. While cell size is determined by cell expansion, cell number is linked to cell division. Future applications of techniques developed in this thesis could resolve the interplay between cell division versus cell expansion. A better understanding of these processes might ultimately minimise the impact of variability on the quantity and quality of the Australian winegrape crop.Thesis (Ph.D) -- University of Adelaide, Dept. of Horticulture, Viticulture and Oenology, 200

    WATER RELATIONS OF GRAPEVINES

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