Climate change may have profound effects on phosphorus (P) transport in streams and on lake eutrophication. Phosphorus loading from land to streams is expected to increase in northern temperate coastal regions due to higher winter rainfall and to a decline in warm temperate and arid climates. Model results suggest a 3.3 to 16.5% increase within the next 100 yr in the P loading of Danish streams depending on soil type and region. In lakes, higher eutrophication can be expected, reinforced by temperature-mediated higher P release from the sediment. Furthermore, a shift in fish community structure toward small and abundant plankti-benthivorous fish enhances predator control of zooplankton, resulting in higher phytoplankton biomass. Data from Danish lakes indicate increased chlorophyll a and phytoplankton biomass, higher dominance of dinophytes and cyanobacteria (most notably of nitrogen fixing forms), but lower abundance of diatoms and chrysophytes, reduced size of copepods and cladocerans, and a tendency to reduced zooplankton biomass and zooplankton:phytoplankton biomass ratio when lakes warm. Higher P concentrations are also seen in warm arid lakes despite reduced external loading due to increased evapotranspiration and reduced inflow. Therefore, the critical loading for good ecological state in lakes has to be lowered in a future warmer climate. This calls for adaptation measures, which in the northern temperate zone should include improved P cycling in agriculture, reduced loading from point sources, and (re)-establishment of wetlands and riparian buffer zones. In the arid Southern Europe, restrictions on human use of water are also needed, not least on irrigation.

We have investigated the structure and morphology of nanosized palladium clusters supported by a thin Al 2 O 3 film on NiAl(110) using scanning tunneling microscopy. Well-ordered clusters with a diameter above ഠ40 Å were imaged with atomic resolution, allowing a crystallographic identification of the cluster facets. A new method to obtain quantitative information on the work of adhesion (adhesion energy) of metal clusters deposited on oxides is introduced. For Pd on Al 2 O 3 we obtain a value of W adh 2.8 6 0.2 J͞m 2. This result is at variance with values recently derived on the basis of ab initio density-functional theory.

Deriving a parameterisation of ammonia emissions for use in chemistry-transport models (CTMs) is a complex problem as the emission varies locally as a result of local climate and local agricultural management. In current CTMs such factors are generally not taken into account. This paper demonstrates how local climate and local management can be accounted for in CTMs by applying a modular approach for deriving data as input to a dynamic ammonia emission model for Europe. Default data are obtained from information in the RAINS system, and it is demonstrated how this dynamic emission model based on these input data improves the NH₃ calculations in a CTM model when the results are compared with calculations obtained by traditional methods in emission handling. It is also shown how input data can be modified over a specific target region resulting in even further improvement in performance over this domain. The model code and the obtained default values for the modelling experiments are available as supplementary information to this article for use by the modelling community on similar terms as the EMEP CTM model: the GPL licencse v3

See Kreisl (doi:10.1093/awx151) for a scientific commentary on this article.Subjects with mild cognitive impairment associated with cortical amyloid-β have a greatly increased risk of progressing to Alzheimer's disease. We hypothesized that neuroinflammation occurs early in Alzheimer's disease and would be present in most amyloid-positive mild cognitive impairment cases. 11C-Pittsburgh compound B and 11C-(R)-PK11195 positron emission tomography was used to determine the amyloid load and detect the extent of neuroinflammation (microglial activation) in 42 mild cognitive impairment cases. Twelve age-matched healthy control subjects had 11C-Pittsburgh compound B and 10 healthy control subjects had 11C-(R)-PK11195 positron emission tomography for comparison. Amyloid-positivity was defined as 11C-Pittsburgh compound B target-to-cerebellar ratio above 1.5 within a composite cortical volume of interest. Supervised cluster analysis was used to generate parametric maps of 11C-(R)-PK11195 binding potential. Levels of 11C-(R)-PK11195 binding potential were measured in a selection of cortical volumes of interest and at a voxel level. Twenty-six (62%) of 42 mild cognitive impairment cases showed a raised cortical amyloid load compared to healthy controls. Twenty-two (85%) of the 26 amyloid-positive mild cognitive impairment cases showed clusters of increased cortical microglial activation accompanying the amyloid. There was a positive correlation between levels of amyloid load and 11C-(R)-PK11195 binding potentials at a voxel level within subregions of frontal, parietal and temporal cortices. 11C-(R)-PK11195 positron emission tomography reveals increased inflammation in a majority of amyloid positive mild cognitive impairment cases, its cortical distribution overlapping that of amyloid deposition.

We present measurements of the electrical conductance through breaking point contacts in commercial and home-built electromechanical relays under ambient conditions. Inspired by an experiment published by CostaKrämer et al. ͓Surf. Sci. 342, L1144 ͑1995͔͒, we constructed an automated setup, which makes it possible to record the conductance in a breaking contact 25 000 times during 24 h. Quantization of the conductance in units of G 0 ϭ2e 2 /h is shown to be intimately correlated with the choice of contact material and experimental conditions. This and previous studies clearly demonstrate that Au is a benchmark system, which exhibits quantized conductance independent of the conditions. Peaks in the Au histogram are shown to be asymmetric, which is interpreted as another indicator of conductance quantization. For the more reactive metals Ag and Cu, quantization is also observed, but not as clearly as in Au. In contrast, we find no evidence of quantization in a number of transition metals. It is tentatively suggested that the presence and/or absence of quantization is correlated with impurities in the nanowires. Other deviations from perfect quantization are discussed. It is revealed how differential nonlinearity of analog-to-digital converters introduces significant noise in the corresponding conductance histograms unless a proper compensation is made. ͓S0163-1829͑97͒08428-2͔

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Background: The aim of this longitudinal study was to assess with positron emission tomography (PET) the relationship between levels of inflammation and the loads of aggregated β-amyloid and tau at baseline and again after 2 years in prodromal Alzheimer's disease. Methods: Forty-three subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) had serial 11 C-PK11195 PET over 2 years to measure inflammation changes, and 11 C-PiB PET to determine β-amyloid fibril load; 22 also had serial 18 F-Flortaucipir PET to determine tau tangle load. Cortical surface statistical mapping was used to localise areas showing significant changes in tracer binding over time and to interrogate correlations between tracer binding of the tracers at baseline and after 2 years. Results: Those MCI subjects with high 11 C-PiB uptake at baseline (classified as prodromal Alzheimer's disease) had raised inflammation levels which significantly declined across cortical regions over 2 years although their β-amyloid levels continued to rise. Those MCI cases who had low/normal 11 C-PiB uptake at baseline but their levels then rose over 2 years were classified as prodromal AD with low Thal phase 1-2 amyloid deposition at baseline. They showed levels of cortical inflammation which correlated with their rising β-amyloid load. Those MCI cases with baseline low 11 C-PiB uptake that remained stable were classified as non-AD, and they showed no correlated inflammation levels. Finally, MCI cases which showed both high 11 C-PiB and 18 F-Flortaucipir uptake at baseline (MCI due to AD) showed a further rise in their tau tangle load over 2 years with a correlated rise in levels of inflammation. Conclusions: Our baseline and 2-year imaging findings are compatible with a biphasic trajectory of inflammation in Alzheimer's disease: MCI cases with low baseline but subsequently rising β-amyloid load show correlated levels of microglial activation which then later decline when the β-amyloid load approaches AD levels. Later, as tau tangles form in β-amyloid positive MCI cases with prodromal AD, the rising tau load is associated with higher levels of inflammation.

We present measurements of current–voltage (I–V) curves on gold quantum point contacts (QPCs) with a conductance up to 4 G0 (G0=2e2/h is the conductance quantum) and voltages up to 2 V. The QPCs are formed between the gold tip of a scanning tunneling microscope and a Au(110) surface under clean ultra-high-vacuum conditions at room temperature. The I–V curves are found to be almost linear in contrast to previous reports. Tight-binding calculations of I–V curves for one- and two-atom contacts are in excellent agreement with our measurements. On the other hand, clearly nonlinear I–V curves are only observed when the sample has been cleaned in air.