University of East Anglia

About: University of East Anglia is a education organization based out in Norwich, Norfolk, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Climate change. The organization has 13250 authors who have published 37504 publications receiving 1669060 citations. The organization is also known as: UEA.

Size spectra and aggregation of suspended particles in the deep ocean

Abstract: Work of the last 10 years has demonstrated that oceanic particle size distribution by volume tends to be flat at mid-water depths (equivalent to a cumulative particle number distribution with a slope of −3) and is peaked in nepheloid layers with active resuspension and in surface waters with active biological production. The observed loss of fine peaks from the suspensions to yield flat distributions requires aggregation of the material, as the fines settle slowly. Mechanisms leading to particle collision are examined; for interactions between particles of similar size, Brownian motion dominates below 1.5 to 8 μm. However, if large particles (such as ‘marine snow’) are present at realistic concentrations, they become important in the removal of fine particles by shear-controlled coagulation. The coagulation times calculated for shear are too long for steady state to be presumed while the size distributions evolve under the influence of coagulation mechanisms. Therefore suggestions that the flat size distributions are quasi-stationary results of shear-controlled coagulation are rejected, and the notion that there is sub-equal production of particles at different points in the spectrum is favoured. Such production and the subsequent scavenging of small particles by large settling ones confers great importance on components of biological origin in both providing elements of the total size spectrum and determining the distribution and sedimentation of others of lithogenic origin. In surface waters, filtration rates by zooplankton indicate that aggregation rates of particles above submicron sizes are biologically determined.

A common export pathway for proteins binding complex redox cofactors

Abstract: The precursor polypeptides of periplasmic proteins binding seven types of redox cofactor have unusually long signal sequences bearing a consensus (S/T)-R-R-x-F-L-K motif immediately before the hydrophobic region. Such "double-arginine' signal sequences are not, in general, found on the precursors of other periplasmic proteins. It is suggested that precursor proteins with double-arginine signal sequences share a common specialization in their export pathway. The nature of this specialization, the structure of the double-arginine signal sequences, and the possible relationship with the double-arginine signal peptide-dependent thylakoid import pathway are discussed.

'Little Ice Age' summer temperature variations: their nature and relevance to recent global warming trends:

Abstract: Climatic changes resulting from greenhouse gases will be superimposed on natural climatic variations. High-resolution proxy records of past climate can be used to extend our perspective on regional and hemispheric changes of climate back in time by several hundred years. Using historical, tree-ring and ice core data, we examine climatic variations during the period commonly called the 'Little Ice Age'. The coldest conditions of the last 560 years were between AD 1570 and 1730, and in the nineteenth century. Unusually warm conditions have prevailed since the 1920s, probably related to a relative absence of major explosive volcanic eruptions and higher levels of greenhouse gases.

Risks and benefits of omega 3 fats for mortality, cardiovascular disease, and cancer: systematic review

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To review systematically the evidence for an effect of long chain and shorter chain omega 3 fatty acids on total mortality, cardiovascular events, and cancer. DATA SOURCES: Electronic databases searched to February 2002; authors contacted and bibliographies of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) checked to locate studies. REVIEW METHODS: Review of RCTs of omega 3 intake for (3) 6 months in adults (with or without risk factors for cardiovascular disease) with data on a relevant outcome. Cohort studies that estimated omega 3 intake and related this to clinical outcome during at least 6 months were also included. Application of inclusion criteria, data extraction, and quality assessments were performed independently in duplicate. RESULTS: Of 15,159 titles and abstracts assessed, 48 RCTs (36,913 participants) and 41 cohort studies were analysed. The trial results were inconsistent. The pooled estimate showed no strong evidence of reduced risk of total mortality (relative risk 0.87, 95% confidence interval 0.73 to 1.03) or combined cardiovascular events (0.95, 0.82 to 1.12) in participants taking additional omega 3 fats. The few studies at low risk of bias were more consistent, but they showed no effect of omega 3 on total mortality (0.98, 0.70 to 1.36) or cardiovascular events (1.09, 0.87 to 1.37). When data from the subgroup of studies of long chain omega 3 fats were analysed separately, total mortality (0.86, 0.70 to 1.04; 138 events) and cardiovascular events (0.93, 0.79 to 1.11) were not clearly reduced. Neither RCTs nor cohort studies suggested increased risk of cancer with a higher intake of omega 3 (trials: 1.07, 0.88 to 1.30; cohort studies: 1.02, 0.87 to 1.19), but clinically important harm could not be excluded. CONCLUSION: Long chain and shorter chain omega 3 fats do not have a clear effect on total mortality, combined cardiovascular events, or cancer.