Memorial University of Newfoundland

About: Memorial University of Newfoundland is a education organization based out in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Gadus. The organization has 13818 authors who have published 27785 publications receiving 743594 citations. The organization is also known as: Memorial University & Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Ionic Conductivity of PEMFC Electrodes Effect of Nafion Loading

Abstract: The effect of Nafion loading in the cathode catalyst layer of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) electrodes was studied by impedance spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and polarization experiments. Catalyst utilization. determined by cyclic voltammetry, peaked at 76% for a Nafion loading of ca. 30 mass %, and this coincides with the optimum performance obtained in H 2 /O 2 fuel cells. However, the small range of utilizations observed (55-76%) cannot explain the wide range of performances. The impedance results show that the ionic conductivity of the cathode increased greatly with increasing Nafion content, and this is the main factor responsible for the increase in performance up to 30% Nafion. The loss of performance at higher Nafion loadings must have been due to an increasing oxygen transport resistance, because the electronic resistance did not increase significantly. In fact, the highest electronic resistances were observed at low Nafion loadings, indicating that Nafion played a significant role as a binder.

Optimal algorithms for comparing trees with labeled leaves

Abstract: LetR n denote the set of rooted trees withn leaves in which: the leaves are labeled by the integers in {1, ...,n}; and among interior vertices only the root may have degree two. Associated with each interior vertexv in such a tree is the subset, orcluster, of leaf labels in the subtree rooted atv. Cluster {1, ...,n} is calledtrivial. Clusters are used in quantitative measures of similarity, dissimilarity and consensus among trees. For anyk trees inR n , thestrict consensus tree C(T 1, ...,T k ) is that tree inR n containing exactly those clusters common to every one of thek trees. Similarity between treesT 1 andT 2 inR n is measured by the numberS(T 1,T 2) of nontrivial clusters in bothT 1 andT 2; dissimilarity, by the numberD(T 1,T 2) of clusters inT 1 orT 2 but not in both. Algorithms are known to computeC(T 1, ...,T k ) inO(kn 2) time, andS(T 1,T 2) andD(T 1,T 2) inO(n 2) time. I propose a special representation of the clusters of any treeT R n , one that permits testing in constant time whether a given cluster exists inT. I describe algorithms that exploit this representation to computeC(T 1, ...,T k ) inO(kn) time, andS(T 1,T 2) andD(T 1,T 2) inO(n) time. These algorithms are optimal in a technical sense. They enable well-known indices of consensus between two trees to be computed inO(n) time. All these results apply as well to comparable problems involving unrooted trees with labeled leaves.

Parallel adaptive evolution of Atlantic cod on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean in response to temperature

Abstract: Despite the enormous economic and ecological importance of marine organisms, the spatial scales of adaptation and biocomplexity remain largely unknown. Yet, the preservation of local stocks that possess adaptive diversity is critical to the long-term maintenance of productive stable fisheries and ecosystems. Here, we document genomic evidence of range-wide adaptive differentiation in a broadcast spawning marine fish, Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), using a genome survey of single nucleotide polymorphisms. Of 1641 gene-associated polymorphisms examined, 70 (4.2%) tested positive for signatures of selection using a Bayesian approach. We identify a subset of these loci (n = 40) for which allele frequencies show parallel temperature-associated clines (p < 0.001, r2 = 0.89) in the eastern and western north Atlantic. Temperature associations were robust to the statistical removal of geographic distance or latitude effects, and contrasted ‘neutral’ loci, which displayed no temperature association. Allele frequencies at temperature-associated loci were significantly correlated, spanned three linkage groups and several were successfully annotated supporting the involvement of multiple independent genes. Our results are consistent with the evolution and/or selective sweep of multiple genes in response to ocean temperature, and support the possibility of a new conservation paradigm for non-model marine organisms based on genomic approaches to resolving functional and adaptive diversity.