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Sample records for cyprinodon dearborni meek

  1. Copper, Cadmium and Lead in superficial sediment, water and the fish Cyprinodon Dearborni, in two Lagoons of Venezuela

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Toledo, J.; Lemus, M.; Chung, K. S

    2000-01-01

    The concentration of copper, cadmium and lead in superficial sediment, water and the fish Cyprenodon dearborni was determined in two coastal lagoons of Sucre State, Venezuela. Chacopata lagoon is hyper saline while Los Patos Lagoon is hypo saline and receives significant waste water from Cumana city. Water, sediment and fish samples were collected in Frebruary 1998. In the laboratory, samples underwent acid digestion and were analysed by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The mean values of the metals in C dearborni from the Chacopata lagoon were: 159.26± 210.68 μg/g for Cu, 44.71±45.58 μg/g for Cd, and 9.31±23.34 μg/g for Pb, while for Los Patos lagoon the mean values were: 64.88±16.30, 19.48± 5.81 and 22.85±20.00, respectively. In the water column, the metal concentration ranges were: 2.3-11.6, 3.9-5.4 and 21-32 mg/l for cooper, cadmium and lead, respectively. These results suggest that metal levels in sediment, water column and organisms in both lagoons do not differ, except for lead, even though only Los Patos receives waste water. (Author) [es

  2. Postzygotic incompatibilities between the pupfishes, Cyprinodon elegans and Cyprinodon variegatus: hybrid male sterility and sex ratio bias.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tech, C

    2006-11-01

    I examined the intrinsic postzygotic incompatibilities between two pupfishes, Cyprinodon elegans and Cyprinodon variegatus. Laboratory hybridization experiments revealed evidence of strong postzygotic isolation. Male hybrids have very low fertility, and the survival of backcrosses into C. elegans was substantially reduced. In addition, several crosses produced female-biased sex ratios. Crosses involving C. elegans females and C. variegatus males produced only females, and in backcrosses involving hybrid females and C. elegans males, males made up approximately 25% of the offspring. All other crosses produced approximately 50% males. These sex ratios could be explained by genetic incompatibilities that occur, at least in part, on sex chromosomes. Thus, these results provide strong albeit indirect evidence that pupfish have XY chromosomal sex determination. The results of this study provide insight on the evolution of reproductive isolating mechanisms, particularly the role of Haldane's rule and the 'faster-male' theory in taxa lacking well-differentiated sex chromosomes.

  3. Five years' experience of the modified Meek technique in the management of extensive burns.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsieh, Chun-Sheng; Schuong, Jen-Yu; Huang, W S; Huang, Ted T

    2008-05-01

    The Meek technique of skin expansion is useful for covering a large open wound with a small piece of skin graft, but requires a carefully followed protocol. Over the past 5 years, a skin graft expansion technique following the Meek principle was used to treat 37 individuals who had sustained third degree burns involving more than 40% of the body surface. A scheme was devised whereby the body was divided into six areas, in order to clarify the optimal order of wound debridements and skin grafting procedures as well as the regimen of aftercare. The mean body surface involvement was 72.9% and the mean area of third degree burns was 41%. The average number of operations required was 1.84. There were four deaths among in this group of patients. The Meek technique of skin expansion and the suggested protocol are together efficient and effective in covering an open wound, particularly where there is a paucity of skin graft donor sites.

  4. "Polite People" and Military Meekness: the Attributes of Military Ethics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pavel V. Didov

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The article analyzes the phenomenon of "polite people" from the point of view of the history and theory of ethical thought. Identify and specify ethical principles that form the basis of military courtesy. On the basis of the revealed regularities, the study proves that ethics is impossible without a certain power attributes, which constitute its core. In relation to the traditions of Russian warriors revealed the key role to their formation of the Orthodox ethics and the military of meekness. The obtained results can serve as material for educational activities for the formation of fighting spirit.

  5. Adaptabilidad ecofisiológica de organismos acuáticos tropicales a cambios de salinidad

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    Kyung S. Chung

    2001-03-01

    Full Text Available Physiological response of tropical organisms to salinity changes was studied for some marine, estuarine and freshwater fishes (Astyanax bimaculatus, Petenia karussii, Cyprinodon dearborni, and Oreochromis mossambicus, marine and freshwater crustaceans (Penaeus brasiliensis, Penaeus schmitti and Macrobrachium carcinus, and marine bivalves (Perna perna, Crassostrea rhizophorae, and Arca zebra collected from Northeast Venezuela. They were acclimated for four weeks at various salinities, and (1 placed at high salinities to determine mean lethal salinity, (2 tested by increasing salinity 5 ‰ per day to define upper lethal salinity tolerance limit, or (3 observed in a saline gradient tank to determine salinity preference. Acclimation level was the most significant factor. This phenomenon is important for tropical aquatic organisms in shallow waters, where they can adapt to high salinity during the dry season and cannot lose their acclimation level at low salinity during abrupt rain. For saline adaptation of tropical organisms, this behavior will contribute to their proliferation and distribution in fluctuating salinity environments.

  6. [Effects of Meek skin grafting on patients with extensive deep burn at different age groups].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Di, H P; Niu, X H; Li, Q; Li, X L; Xue, J D; Cao, D Y; Han, D W; Xia, C D

    2017-03-20

    Objective: To investigate the effect of Meek skin grafting on patients with extensive deep burn at different age groups. Methods: Eighty-four patients with extensive deep burns conforming to the study criteria were hospitalized in our unit from April 2011 to April 2015. Patients were divided into children group (C, with age less than 12 years old), young and middle-aged group (YM, with age more than 18 years and less than 50 years old), and old age group (O, with age more than 55 years old) according to age, with 28 patients in each group. All patients received Meek skin grafting treatment. The use of autologous skin area, operation time, wound healing time, and hospitalization time were recorded. The survival rate of skin graft on post operation day 7, complete wound healing rate in post treatment week 2, and the mortality were calculated. Data were processed with one-way analysis of variance, t test, and χ (2) test. Results: The use of autologous skin area of patients in group C was (5.1±1.0)% total body surface area (TBSA), significantly less than (8.3±1.0)%TBSA and (8.3±1.4)%TBSA in groups YM and O, respectively (with t values 32.900 and 52.624, respectively, P values below 0.05). The operation time, wound healing time, and hospitalization time of patients in group C were (1.368±0.562) h, (9.6±0.6) and (32±11) d, significantly shorter than those in group YM [(3.235±0.011) h, (16.9±2.6) and (48±12) d, respectively] and group O [(3.692±0.481) h, (17.3±2.6) and (46±13) d, respectively, with t values from 4.350 to 21.160, P values below 0.05]. The survival rate of skin graft of patients on post operation day 7 in group C was (92±15)%, significantly higher than (81±10)% and (72±12)% in groups YM and O, respectively (with t values 5.509 and 3.229, respectively, P values below 0.05). The above indexes in groups YM and O were similar (with t values from 0.576 to 22.958, P values above 0.05). Complete wound healing rate in post treatment week 2 and the

  7. Unusual dominance by desert pupfish (Cyprinodon macularius) in experimental ponds within the Salton Sea Basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saiki, Michael K.; Martin, Barbara A.; Anderson, Thomas W.

    2011-01-01

    In October 2006, months after shallow experimental ponds in the Salton Sea Basin were filled with water from the Alamo River and Salton Sea, fish were observed in several ponds, although inlets had been screened to exclude fish. During October 2007November 2009, nine surveys were conducted using baited minnow traps to document species and relative abundance of fish. Surveys yielded 3,620 fish representing five species. Desert pupfish (Cyprinodon macularius), the only native species encountered, was the most numerous and comprised >93% of the catch. Nonnative species included western mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis, 4.1%), sailfin molly (Poecilia latipinna, 2.8%), and tilapia (a mixture of hybrid Mozambique tilapia Oreochromis mossambicus ?? O. urolepis and redbelly tilapia Tilapia zillii, <0.1%). Dominance by desert pupfish, which persisted over our 2 years of study, was unusual because surveys conducted in nearby agricultural drains yielded relatively few desert pupfish.

  8. Toxicological effects of irregularly shaped and spherical microplastics in a marine teleost, the sheepshead minnow (Cyprinodon variegatus).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choi, Jin Soo; Jung, Youn-Joo; Hong, Nam-Hui; Hong, Sang Hee; Park, June-Woo

    2018-04-01

    The increasing global contamination of plastics in marine environments is raising public concerns about the potential hazards of microplastics to environmental and human health. Microplastics formed by the breakdown of larger plastics are typically irregular in shape. The objective of this study was to compare the effects of spherical or irregular shapes of microplastics on changes in organ distribution, swimming behaviors, gene expression, and enzyme activities in sheepshead minnow (Cyprinodon variegatus). Both types of microplastics accumulated in the digestive system, causing intestinal distention. However, when compared to spherical microplastics, irregular microplastics decreased swimming behavior (i.e., total distance travelled and maximum velocity) of sheepshead minnow. Both microplastics generated cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), while ROS-related molecular changes (i.e., transcriptional and enzymatic characteristics) differed. This study provides toxicological insights into the impacts of environmentally relevant (fragmented) microplastics on fish and improves our understanding of the environmental effects of microplastics in the ecosystem. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Genotoxic Assessment of Some Inorganic Compounds in Desert Pupfish (Cyprinodon macularius) in the Evaporation Pond from a Geothermal Plant.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flores-Galván, Miguel; Arellano-García, Evarista; Ruiz-Campos, Gorgonio; Daesslé, Luis Walter

    2017-08-01

    The frequency of micro nucleated erythrocytes in peripheral blood of the desert pupfish (Cyprinodon macularius) from a geothermal effluent pond is determined and compared to organisms kept in an aquarium. The frequency of micronucleated erythrocytes found in pupfish from the geothermal pond is 2.75 (±2.09) and only 0.44 (±0.52) in captivity organisms. Dissolved As in the ponds doubles the 340 µg L -1 US-EPA acute quality criteria for aquatic life and Hg equals the 1.77 µg L -1 chronic criteria. The organisms with high MNE also have significantly high Se, As and Hg concentrations in muscle and liver. Compared to international maximum allowable limits for fish consumption, there is 81× enrichment for Se, 6× for As and 5× for Hg. Although Se is not significantly enriched in water, it is likely that its bioaccumulation occurs via feeding of detritus. The desert pupfish has a significant resistance to extreme metal accumulations and to recover under unpolluted conditions.

  10. Life-cycle toxicity of bis(tributyltin) oxide to the sheepshead minnow (Cyprinodon variegatus).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manning, C S; Lytle, T F; Walker, W W; Lytle, J S

    1999-08-01

    The effects of tributyltin (TBT) to the life cycle of the estuarine fish Cyprinodon variegatus were examined in a 180-day flow-through exposure. The study was initiated with embryos less than 24 h postfertilization and monitored through hatch, maturation, growth, and reproduction under continuous exposure to mean measured TBT concentrations of 5.4, 3.2, 1.3, 0.66, and 0.41 microg TBT/L. Progeny isolated at the onset of reproduction by the parental generation (F0) were monitored for survival as embryos, survival as fry/juveniles, and growth 30 days postisolation. TBT, at a concentration of 5.4 microg/L, significantly reduced embryo survival of the F0 generation sheepshead minnows. By day 145 of the exposure, significant effects to the survival of this generation increased and included all test concentrations >/=0.66 microg/L. Survival of 0.66 microg/L was reduced 59% relative to control survival by termination of the F0 generation. Growth of F0 generation organisms as measured by standard length was significantly reduced only on day 90 at 3.2 microg/L, however no significant reductions of wet or dry weight related to treatment concentration were detected. Due to complete mortality of organisms exposed to 5.4 microg/L by study day 7, effects to fecundity and progeny were monitored at measured concentrations of 3.2, 1.3, 0.66, and 0.41 microg TBT/L. Fecundity, as measured by the production of viable eggs produced per female per day, was unaffected by any of the test treatments. All F1 generation embryos isolated from treatment chambers into 3.2 microg/L died. Survival, standard length, wet and dry weight of the F1 generation at the remaining treatment concentrations were unaffected. The results of this study indicate that exposure to TBT reduced survival of the F0 generation sheepshead minnow and establishes the lowest observed effect concentration (LOEC) as 0.66 microg TBT/L, and the no observed effect concentration (NOEC) as 0.41 microg TBT/L for this species

  11. Development of a methodology for successful multigeneration life-cycle testing of the estuarine sheepshead minnow, Cyprinodon variegatus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cripe, G M; Hemmer, B L; Goodman, L R; Vennari, J C

    2009-04-01

    Evaluation of effects on fish reproduction and development during chemical exposures lasting for multiple generations is sometimes limited by variable reproductive responses and the time required for the exposure. Established testing methods and the short life cycle of the sheepshead minnow, Cyprinodon variegatus, make this species particularly suitable for use in identifying potential impacts of contaminants in estuarine and marine environments. This study describes the refinement of life-cycle exposure methods that increased the reliability of reproduction in sheepshead minnows and reduced the time to maturation for larvae and juvenile fishes. A test of three spawning chamber designs, three sex ratios, and two photoperiods identified conditions that reduced the coefficient of variation in egg production from >100% to as little as 32%. The most reliable results were produced with groups of three female and two male fishes (all of similar size) when they were placed in a rectangular chamber and acclimated for 12 days. A test water temperature of 26.5 +/- 2 degrees C and a 14L:10D photoperiod resulted in fish producing a mean of 74 embryos per female per day, with a coefficient of variation of 31.8%. Egg fertility exceeded 90%, with a hatch rate of 95% for normal embryos (>or=80% yolk) and a hatch rate of size (>or=2.7 cm standard length) was critical for spawning readiness. Adult fish were prepared for the spawning assessment by adding frozen brine shrimp to their diet. Results of these experiments provide methods that are of particular interest in assessment of endocrine-disrupting chemicals that are known to affect reproduction.

  12. The comparative phylogeography of east coast estuarine fishes in formerly glaciated sites: Persistence versus recolonization in Cyprinodon variegatus ovinus and Fundulus heteroclitus macrolepidotus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haney, Robert A; Dionne, Michelle; Puritz, Jon; Rand, David M

    2009-01-01

    Species distributions may be dramatically affected by climatic variability, such as occurred during Pleistocene glaciation. Populations of coastal organisms could have been affected directly by ice movement or through sea level change. Response could involve shifts in distribution southwards or persistence through the full range or in limited high-latitude refugia. Comparative studies of the response of ecologically similar species can provide a useful complement to those examining response across disparate species in defining what parameters influence persistence. Patterns of mitochondrial genetic variation in 2 estuarine fish subspecies from the Northwest Atlantic, Fundulus heteroclitus macrolepidotus and Cyprinodon variegatus ovinus, indicate that ecological similarity does not necessarily predict propensity for glacial persistence. Fundulus heteroclitus macrolepidotus is highly diverse in glaciated regions, with isolated populations whose origins predate the last glacial maximum and may have recently expanded it's range to the south from New England. However, within glaciated regions, signals of population growth and distributional shifts indicate a dynamic Pleistocene history for F. h. macrolepidotus, in contrast with recent studies involving microsatellites. A different pattern is found in C. v. ovinus, which is depauperate in formerly glaciated sites, with a clear signal of recent recolonization of glaciated regions from the south. Genetic differentiation in glaciated areas is consistent with isolation after glacial withdrawal. In C. v. ovinus, rapidly evolving microsatellite loci show a similar pattern to mitochondrial DNA but may be reaching equilibrium on small spatial scales. These contrasting patterns of variation illustrate how ecologically similar species can respond to large-scale environmental change in distinct ways.

  13. Effects of cadmium on hypoxia-induced expression of hemoglobin and erythropoietin in larval sheepshead minnow, Cyprinodon variegatus

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dangre, A.J.; Manning, S. [Department of Coastal Sciences, University of Southern Mississippi, 703 East Beach Drive, Ocean Springs, MS 39564 (United States); Brouwer, M., E-mail: marius.brouwer@usm.edu [Department of Coastal Sciences, University of Southern Mississippi, 703 East Beach Drive, Ocean Springs, MS 39564 (United States)

    2010-08-15

    Hypoxia and toxic metals are two common stressors found in the estuarine environment. To date little information is available on the combined effects of these stressors on early larval development in fish. We investigated the effect of cadmium and hypoxia exposure alone as well in combination on larval Cyprinodon variegatus. The LC{sub 10} for cadmium was determined to be 0.3 ppm in a 96 h acute exposure. This concentration was used in all studies. Cadmium in larvae increased significantly with exposure time (1, 3, 5 and 7 days post-hatch). The increase was proportional to body weight and not affected by hypoxia. Cadmium responsive genes were identified by suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) in Cyprinodonvariegatus larvae after exposure to cadmium for 1, 3, 5 and 7 days. We obtained over 700 sequences from the cadmium cDNA library. Blast search of ESTs suggested that cadmium modulates multiple physiological processes. Pertinent to this study, cadmium was found to down-regulate both embryonic {alpha} and {beta} globin, which are expressed in erythrocytes generated during the first, or primitive, wave of erythropoiesis in teleosts. Hemoglobin (Hb) and erythropoietin (Epo) (the hormone that promotes red blood cell production) are known hypoxia-inducible genes. To explore the possibility that cadmium might offset the hypoxia-induced expression of Hb and Epo, we investigated the expression of both genes following hypoxia, cadmium and combined exposures for 1, 3, 5 and 7 days post-hatch. Since Epo had not yet been identified in C. variegatus we first successfully cloned a partial coding sequence of the C. variegatus hormone. Subsequent studies revealed that expression levels of Hb and Epo remained unchanged in the normoxic controls during the time course of the study. Hypoxia increased Epo expression relative to normoxic controls, on days 3, 5 and 7, while cadmium in hypoxia inhibited the increase. Only the changes on days 5 and 7 were statistically significant

  14. Tagging effects of passive integrated transponder and visual implant elastomer on the small-bodied white sands pupfish (Cyprinodon tularosa)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peterson, Damon; Trantham, Randi B.; Trantham, Tulley G.; Caldwell, Colleen A.

    2018-01-01

    One of the greatest limiting factors of studies designed to obtain growth, movement, and survival in small-bodied fishes is the selection of a viable tag. The tag must be relatively small with respect to body size as to impart minimal sub-lethal effects on growth and mobility, as well as be retained throughout the life of the fish or duration of the study. Thus, body size of the model species becomes a major limiting factor; yet few studies have obtained empirical evidence of the minimum fish size and related tagging effects. The probability of surviving a tagging event was quantified in White Sands pupfish (Cyprinodon tularosa) across a range of sizes (19–60 mm) to address the hypothesis that body size predicts tagging survival. We compared tagging related mortality, individual taggers, growth, and tag retention in White Sands pupfish implanted with 8-mm passive integrated transponder (PIT), visual implant elastomer (VIE), and control (handled similarly, but no tag implantation) over a 75 d period. Initial body weight was a good predictor of the probability of survival in PIT- and VIE-tagged fish. As weight increased by 1 g, the fish were 4.73 times more likely to survive PIT-tag implantation compared to the control fish with an estimated suitable tagging size at 1.1 g (TL: 39.29 ± 0.41 mm). Likewise, VIE-tagged animals were 2.27 times more likely to survive a tagging event compared to the control group for every additional 1 g with an estimated size suitable for tagging of 0.9 g (TL: 36.9 ± 0.36 mm) fish. Growth rates of PIT- and VIE-tagged White Sands pupfish were similar to the control groups. This research validated two popular tagging methodologies in the White Sands pupfish, thus providing a valuable tool for characterizing vital rates in other small-bodied fishes.

  15. Induction of gene expression in sheepshead minnows (Cyprinodon variegatus) treated with 17beta-estradiol, diethylstilbestrol, or ethinylestradiol: the use of mRNA fingerprints as an indicator of gene regulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Denslow, N D; Bowman, C J; Ferguson, R J; Lee, H S; Hemmer, M J; Folmar, L C

    2001-03-01

    The recent interest in hormonally active environmental contaminants has sparked a drive to find sensitive methods to measure their effects on wildlife. A molecular-based assay has been developed to measure the induction of gene expression in sheepshead minnows (Cyprinodon variegatus) exposed in vivo to the natural and pharmaceutical estrogens 17beta-estradiol, ethinylestradiol, and diethylstilbestrol. This method used differential display reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction assays to compare the expression of individual mRNAs from control and estrogen-exposed fish. Forty-eight differentially expressed cDNAs were isolated by this method, including cDNAs for vitelline envelope proteins and vitellogenin. The mRNA expression patterns for fish injected with a pharmacological dose of estradiol (5 mg/kg) were identical to those obtained in fish receiving constant aqueous exposure to 212 ng estradiol/liter. Further, the cDNA "fingerprint" pattern observed in the estradiol-treated fish also matched that obtained in fish receiving continuous-flow aqueous exposures to 192 ng ethinyl estradiol/liter and a nominal concentration of 200 ng diethylstilbestrol/liter. The results demonstrate a characteristic expression pattern for genes upregulated by exposure to a variety of natural and anthropogenic estrogens and suggest this approach may be valuable to examine the potential effects of environmental contaminants on other endocrine-mediated pathways of reproduction, growth, and development. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.

  16. Impacts of Oreochromis mossambicus (Perciformes: Cichlidae upon habitat segregation among cyprinodontids (Cyprinodontiformes of a species flock in Mexico

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Linda Fuselier

    2001-06-01

    Full Text Available Five species of Cyprinodon in Laguna Chichancanab, Yucatan, Mexico comprise a young species flock whose ecology and evolution has not been thoroughly studied, but whose existence is threatened with extinction. Species flocks evolve in isolated areas where predators and competitors are absent. Since the description of the Chichancanab flock, Oreochromis mossambicus, a species introduced into the lake for which I examined habitat in the 1980’s, has become common throughout the basin. I assessed relative abundance of flock species in the lake. examined habitat use and segregation among the three most common flock species and examined the affects of O. mossambicus upon flock species habitat use. Cyprinodon beltrani was the most abundant flock species in 1997, followed by C. maya and C. labiosus; C. verecundus and C. simus were rare. Cyprinodon beltrani was found in shallow water, nearshore, over thick beds of submerged Chara, and little emergent vegetation Cyprinodon beltrani exhibited diurnal variation in nearshore habitat use. In the field, the habitat use of C. beltrani and O. mossambicus broadly overlapped. In aquarium experiments, three flock species exhibited habitat use segregation and C. beltrani and C. labiosus showed agonistic behaviors that strengthened segregation. Cyprinodon maya differed from C. beltrani and C. labiosus by its greater dispersion of individuals and use of areas higher in the water column. The presence of O. mossambicus caused a shift in habitat use by C. maya and C. labiosus that put these species into habitat occupied by C. beltrani. The presence of introduced species has caused a significant perturbation of the conditions that fomented speciation of the Chichancanab flock 8000 years ago.Cinco especies de Cyprinodon en la Laguna Chichancanab, Yucatán, México comprenden un cardumen jóven de especies cuya ecología y evolución no ha sido estudiada a fondo, pero cuya existencia está siendo amenazada con la extinci

  17. Bioaccumulation and toxicity of selenium during a life-cycle exposure with desert pupfish (Cyprinodon macularius)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Besser, John M.; Brumbaugh, William G.; Papoulias, Diana M.; Ivey, Chris D.; Kunz, James L.; Annis, Mandy; Ingersoll, Christopher G.

    2012-01-01

    Populations of desert pupfish (Cyprinodon macularius; pupfish), a federally-listed endangered species, inhabit irrigation drains in the Imperial Valley agricultural area of southern California. These drains have varying degrees of selenium (Se) contamination of water, sediment, and aquatic biota. Published Se toxicity studies suggest that these levels of Se contamination may pose risk of chronic toxicity to Se-sensitive fish, but until recently there have been no studies of the chronic toxicity of Se to desert pupfish.A life-cycle Se exposure with pupfish was conducted to estimate dietary and tissue thresholds for toxic effects of Se on all life stages. The dietary exposure was based on live oligochaete worms (Lumbriculus variegatus) dosed with Se by a laboratory food chain based on selenized yeast. Oligochaetes readily accumulated Se from mixtures of selenized and control yeasts. The protocol for dosing oligochaetes for pupfish feeding studies included long-term (at least 28 days) feeding of a low-ration of yeast mixtures to large batches of oligochaetes. Oligochaetes were dosed at five Se levels in a 50-percent dilution series. Pupfish were simultaneously fed Se-dosed oligochaetes and exposed to a series of Se concentrations in water (consisting of 85 percent selenate and 15 percent selenite) to produce exposures that were consistent with Se concentrations and speciation in pupfish habitats. The nutritional characteristics of oligochaete diets were consistent across the range of oligochaete Se concentrations tested.The life-cycle exposure started with laboratory-cultured juvenile pupfish that were exposed to Se through sexual maturation and reproduction (150 days; F0 exposure). The Se exposure continued with eggs, larvae, and juveniles produced by Se-exposed parents (79 days; F1 exposure). Selenium exposure (water and diets), Se bioaccumulation (whole-body and eggs), and toxicity endpoints (juvenile and adult survival and growth; egg production and hatching

  18. Exploring the diversity of Arctic eelpouts

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ghigliotti, L.; Møller, Peter Rask; Cheng, C.-H. C.

    2012-01-01

    Zoarcidae (eelpouts), including 298 recognized valid species, is the most diverse family in the suborder Zoarcoidei (order Perciformes). Many of the species exhibit a great degree of phenotypic plasticity. In the present work, we analyze the genome of six Arctic species from the most diversified...... zoarcid genus Lycodes (L. eudipleurostictus, L. paamiuti, L. pallidus, L. seminudus, L. squamiventer, and L. reticulatus) providing the first information on the species-specific karyotype and pattern of major ribosomal genes chromosomal localization. The study revealed an unexpected consistency...... of the chromosomal features across species that apparently contrasts with the high level of inter-specific and intra-specific plasticity of morphological characters. The comparison between the chromosomal features of these Arctic eelpouts with those of the Antarctic species Lycodichthys dearborni (same subfamily...

  19. Chitinase, beta-1,3-glucanase, osmotin, and extensin are expressed in tobacco explants during flower formation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Neale, A D; Wahleithner, J A; Lund, Marianne

    1990-01-01

    be considered a pathogenesis-related protein. These genes, which were highly expressed in explants during de novo flower formation but not in explants forming vegetative shoots [Meeks-Wagner et al. (1989). Plant Cell 1, 25-35], were also regulated developmentally in day-neutral and photoresponsive tobacco......Sequence analysis of five gene families that were isolated from tobacco thin cell layer explants initiating floral development [Meeks-Wagner et al. (1989). Plant Cell 1, 25-35] showed that two encode the pathogenesis-related proteins basic chitinase and basic beta-1,3-glucanase, while a third...... encodes the cell wall protein extensin, which also accumulates during pathogen attack. Another sequence family encodes the water stress-induced protein osmotin [Singh et al. (1989). Plant Physiol. 90, 1096-1101]. We found that osmotin was also induced by viral infection and wounding and, hence, could...

  20. Childhood obesity policies - mighty concerns, meek reactions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vallgårda, Signild

    2018-01-01

    Background: The increasing number of children defined as overweight or obeseis causing concern among politicians and health advocates; several countries havelaunched policies addressing the issue.Method: The paper presents an analysis of how the childhood obesity is defined,explained and suggested...... policies to address the problem from the WHO, the EU,Canada, England and New Zealand.Results: Considering the dramatic language used when describing childhood obe-sity, the proposed interventions are modest. Either the politicians do not considerthe problem that great after all, or other concerns...... by evidence, and the evidence cited is sometimesmisinterpreted or disregarded.Conclusion: There is a discrepancy between how the problem of childhood obe-sity is presented as alarming and the modest measures suggested....

  1. FEU Technology Digest No. 2.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Further Education Unit, London (England).

    This publication contains a glossary of acronyms; an editorial (Ingram); "Integrative Assignments and Design" (Biles, Palmer); "Computer-Based Education: A Student's Response" (Landau); "Taking the RISC [Reduced Instruction Set Computer] in FHE [Further and Higher Education]" (Meeke); "Engineering Education in…

  2. Proceedings of the Undersea Medical Society Workshop (7th) on Medical Aspects of Small Submersible Operations Held at Submarine Development Group 1, San Diego, California on 19-20 November 1974

    Science.gov (United States)

    1975-01-01

    with approximately 3000 lb pull. Menzie, and Meek were assisted from the forward compartment and given pre- 11-21 cautionary recompression therapy . The...UG-36 floatation foam inside a polyethelene tube. This helps avoid entanglement of the FISH and aids maneuverability. Although the multiplex cable

  3. MAXIMIZING GROWTH AND SEXUAL MATURATION OF SHEEPSHEAD MINNOWS IN SUPPORT OF MULTI-GENERATION TEST DEVELOPMENT

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hemmer, R.L., G.M. Cripe and L.R. Goodman. In press. Maximizing Growth and Sexual Maturation of Sheepshead Minnows (Cyprinodon variegatus) in Support of Multi-Generation Test Development (Abstract). To be presented at the SETAC Fourth World Congress, 14-18 November 2004, Portland...

  4. Browse Title Index

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Items 351 - 400 of 629 ... FP Viljoen. 2016: SUPPLEMENTUM 23, Meek or oppressed? Reading Matthew 5:5 in context, Abstract PDF. W Domeris. 2014: SUPPLEMENTUM 20, Memory culture in the making: the Heidelberg Catechism in the memory of the Dutch Reformed Church (1862-1937), Abstract PDF. H van Tonder.

  5. Vertical Electrical Sounding to delineate the potential Aquifer zones ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    48

    CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute, Groundwater Building, Uppal Road, ... techniques for groundwater prospecting was used in the Capital City, Niamey of Niger. ... Analysis of the result showed a good correlation between the ..... Fitterman D V, Meekes J A C, and Ritsema I L, 1988, Equivalence behavior of three ...

  6. The distribution of Bufo poweri in southern Africa

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    1990-03-13

    Mar 13, 1990 ... regularis (Frost 1985). ,. Bufo garmani was described from Somalia (Meek 1897), while the morphologically similar B. poweri was described from Kimberley (Hewitt 1935). A long-standing problem has been to determine the status of B. poweri, based on preserved material. These two species are so similar ...

  7. Transitory Connections: The Reception and Rejection of Jean Piaget's Psychology in the Nursery School Movement in the 1920s and 1930s

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beatty, Barbara

    2009-01-01

    In 1927, nursery school educator Lucy Sprague Mitchell heralded Jean Piaget's psychology as of "outstanding interest" and wrote in "Progressive Education" that it should be of "immense service" to psychologists, teachers, and parents. In 1929, psychologist Lois Meek praised Piaget's research in the National Society for the Study of Education's…

  8. A Time of Quiet Activism: Research, Practice, and Policy in American Women's Higher Education, 1945-1965

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eisenmann, Linda

    2005-01-01

    This article reflects on three narratives that affected American women's participation in higher education during the first twenty years after World War II. In hindsight, the educators of the 1950s and early 1960s may seem gratuitously meek and self-effacing. In comparison to later efforts, their activism can appear unnecessarily limited and too…

  9. Chemical smoke marker emissions during flaming and smoldering phases of laboratory open burning of wildland fuels

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taehyoung Lee; Amy P. Sullivan; Laura Mack; Jose L. Jimenez; Sonia M. Kreidenweis; Timothy B. Onasch; Douglas R. Worsnop; William Malm; Cyle E. Wold; Wei Min Hao; Jeffrey L. Collett

    2010-01-01

    Smoke emitted by prescribed and wild fires can make a substantial contribution to ambient aerosol (McMeeking et al. 2006; Park et al. 2007; Spracklen et al. 2007). Approaches to investigate these contributions have used a variety of different chemical smoke markers, including levoglucosan, produced by thermal degradation of cellulose, and water-soluble potassium (...

  10. Under the Sign of Saint Francis: Catholics, Ethics of Responsibility, and Environmental Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salomone, Mario

    2006-01-01

    Catholics increasingly appear to agree with the most passionate defenders of the environment. The ecological problem for Catholics is essentially moral: it comes down to respecting the value of life and the beauty of the cosmos, practicing meekness, and controlling one's desire for dominion. This point was stressed a great deal by John Paul II,…

  11. Experience and outcomes of micrografting for major paediatric burns.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rode, H; Martinez, R; Potgieter, D; Adams, S; Rogers, A D

    2017-08-01

    The deficit of donor sites in major burns over 50% of the total body surface area has necessitated the application of methods besides traditional meshed autografting to achieve definitive skin cover. The Meek micrografting technique was introduced at this hospital in 2011, especially in the absence of a reliable source of deceased donor allograft skin. The purpose of this study was to evaluate this strategy with reference to its technical execution, efficacy and indications in the context of major paediatric burn surgery. A cohort study was performed of all paediatric patients with major burn who underwent Meek micrografting at a dedicated paediatric burn centre in a developing country over a five year period. Demographics, details of their burns, operative management and clinical course and outcomes were collected from patient records and operative notes and analysed. Thirty-five patients were managed using the micrografting technique during the study period. The mean patient age was 4.1 years (range 3 months-11 years) and their mean total body surface area (TBSA) burn was 49.7% (range 15-86%). Eleven patients sustained inhalation injuries and five developed a re-feeding syndrome on account of delayed referral. The mean abbreviated burn severity index (ABSI) was 8.5 (range 2-13). The hospital length of stay in the 27 survivors was a mean of 75.5 days, equating to 1.4 days per percentage burn. Eight patients died during the course of treatment, with a mean TBSA burn of 67.75% (range 38-86%). Graft take one month after surgery was documented to be more than 90% in 24 patients, of whom 3 subsequently died. Eleven patients had less than 90% graft take at this time, of whom 5 died. There is a considerable 'learning curve' associated with this technique. In order to achieve success one must ensure a completely viable, non-infected bed, obtained by tangential or fascial excision, followed by allografting as temporary coverage and to 'test the wound bed' for definitive

  12. Evaluating effectiveness and cost of time-lapse triggered camera trapping techniques to detect terrestrial squamate diversity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Connor S. Adams; Wade A. Ryberg; Toby J. Hibbitts; Brian L. Pierce; Josh B. Pierce; D. Craig Rudolph

    2017-01-01

    Recent advancements in camera trap technology have allowed researchers to explore methodologies that are minimally invasive, and both time and cost efficient (Long et al. 2008; O’Connell et al. 2010; Gregory et al. 2014; Meek et al. 2014; Swinnen et al. 2014; Newey et al. 2015). The use of cameras for understanding the distribution and ecology of mammals is advanced;...

  13. MEEK OR OPPRESSED? READING MATTHEW 5:5 IN CONTEXT

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    According to the Gospel of Matthew 5:5, Jesus pronounces a blessing on “the meek” ...... of one's land to the poor (J.T. Pe'ah, I, 15 b, 39). .... including the Sermon on the Plain (Matt 5:3-7:27 and Luke 6:20-49). ... New York: Harper Collins.

  14. Bullying the Meek: A Conceptualisation of Vietnamese School Bullying

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horton, Paul; Kvist Lindholm, Sofia; Nguyen, Thu Hang

    2015-01-01

    Drawing on ethnographic research conducted at three lower secondary schools in the northern Vietnamese cities of Hanoi and Haiphong, this article provides a contextually nuanced conceptualisation of Vietnamese school bullying. In doing so, the article not only addresses the lack of knowledge about Vietnamese school bullying, but also poses a…

  15. 500,000-year temperature record challenges ice age theory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Snow, K. Mitchell

    1994-01-01

    Just outside the searing heat of Death Valley lies Devils Hole (fig. 1), a fault-created cave that harbors two remnants of the Earth's great ice ages. The endangered desert pupfish (Cyprinodon diabolis) has long made its home in the cave. A 500,000-year record of the planet's climate that challenges a widely accepted theory explaining the ice ages also has been preserved in Devils Hole.

  16. The meek cry or the importance of resisting multiple forms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Diego Alejandro Muñoz Gaviria

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available First step, seeks to broadly down some of the known theories of resistance. The idea in this item will be the statement configured stress field around the idea of resistance as a political option. In a second step, seeks to identify the key ideas of Paulo Freire around the resistor, as a Latin American perspective able to shed light on the "other" ways to act politically in our territories, from a critical or resistance. Finally, some conclusions are proposed that will synthesize the above and leave open questions for further reflection exercises and thematic depth.

  17. Meek or oppressed? Reading Matthew 5:5 in context | Domeris ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    ... I consider the implications of Jesus addressing a peasant audience in a conversation about taking possession of farming land and then extend this discussion into the emerging peasant realities of the post-revolutionary context in Galilee and Judaea. In the light of the present archaeological data, and the rabbinic sources, ...

  18. La auto-Imagen del puertorriqueño

    OpenAIRE

    Alba Nydia Rivera

    1982-01-01

    Puerto Ricans have been considered docile and submissive people. In order 10 test this hypothesis, 26 scales were designed and applied to 297 subjects, students and workers. male and female. Assertiveneu and docility were especially studied, Results were analyzed in relation to sex andoccupation. Collective perception, self-perception, and assertiveness were different in each group. Although a number of 8ubjects were docile and meek, not all the Puerto Ricans studied were io...

  19. KMCThinFilm: A C++ Framework for the Rapid Development of Lattice Kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) Simulations of Thin Film Growth

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-09-01

    direction, so if the simulation domain is set to be a certain size, then that presents a hard ceiling on the thickness of a film that may be grown in...FFA, Los J, Cuppen HM, Bennema P, Meekes H. MONTY:  Monte Carlo crystal growth on any crystal structure in any crystallographic orientation...mhoffman.github.io/kmos/. 23. Kiravittaya S, Schmidt OG. Quantum-dot crystal defects. Applied Physics Letters. 2008;93:173109. 24. Leetmaa M

  20. Ceramic Transactions. Volume 21. Proceedings of the Symposium on Microwave Theory and Application in Materials Processing Annual Meeting of the American Ceramic Society (23rd) Held in Cincinnati, Ohio on April 29-May 3 1991

    Science.gov (United States)

    1992-04-27

    organic vehicles , and porosity present in the green ceramic body. In this case we must be aware that electic fields are also "inhomogeneous (Meek, 1987...from the earth and use them as heat sources for thermolectric devices in space vehicles . ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The information contained in this article...Microwaves SI / MICROWAVE ( HIBRID ) HEATING OF ALUMINA AT 2.45 GHZ- 12. EFFECT OF PROCESSING VARIABLES. HEATING RATES AND PARTICLE SIZE Arindam D6

  1. A Disney Romance for the Ages: Idealistic Beliefs of Romantic Relationships Held By Youth

    OpenAIRE

    Griffin, Raven Nichole

    2014-01-01

    The Disney Princess Brand includes 11 Disney Princess films from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) to Brave (2012). The goal of this campaign is for audiences to be entertained by the narratives while encouraging identification with the princesses in the films (Do Rozario, 2004; Orenstein, 2006). Scholars have suggested possible media effects of representations and messages depicted related to gender roles (England, Descartes, and Collier-Meek, 2011) and romantic relationships (Segrin an...

  2. Marine Mammals and Low-Frequency Sound: Progress Since 1994

    Science.gov (United States)

    2000-03-03

    Band (dB re 1 uPa (%lm) 5-m Zodiac inflatable boat0 6,300 152 Bell 212 helicopter6 16 159 Large tanker 100+125 177 Icebreaker 100 183 ATOC 75 195...coastline during two days (May 12 and 13, 1996) in the Kyparissiakos Gulf in Greece. There was no external sign of injury or disease in any of these...in two fish species, sheepshead minnows (Cyprinodon variegatus) and killifish (Fundulus similis), were significantly lower in aquariums exposed to

  3. What preschool children do and do not do with ungrammatical word orders

    OpenAIRE

    Abbot-Smith, Kirsten; Lieven, Elena; Tomasello, Michael

    2001-01-01

    Akhtar [J. Child Lang. 26 (1999) 339.] found that when 4-year-old English-speaking children hear novel verbs in transitive utterances with ungrammatical word orders (e.g., Elmo the tree meeked), they correct them to canonical SVO order almost all of the time. However, when 3-year-olds and older 2-year-olds hear these same utterances, they waver between correcting and using the ungrammatical ordering. In the current study, we adapted this task for children at 2;4, using an intransitive constru...

  4. Climate Change: Issues in the Science and Its Use

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-07-01

    Thomas Lovejoy , Mr. Stuart Eizenstat, and Ms. Stephanie Meeks. Hearing...I N S T I T U T E F O R D E F E N S E A N A LY S E S IDA Document D-3904 Log: H 09-000863 July 2009 Climate Change: Issues in the Science and...challenges. I N S T I T U T E F O R D E F E N S E A N A LY S E S IDA Document D-3904 Climate Change: Issues in the Science and Its Use

  5. Lectures given at the 2nd Session of the Centro Internazionale Matematico Estivo (C.I.M.E.)

    CERN Document Server

    III, William H Meeks; Rosenberg, Harold

    2002-01-01

    In the second half of the twentieth century the global theory of minimal surface in flat space had an unexpected and rapid blossoming. Some of the classical problems were solved and new classes of minimal surfaces found. Minimal surfaces are now studied from several different viewpoints using methods and techniques from analysis (real and complex), topology and geometry. In this lecture course, Meeks, Ros and Rosenberg, three of the main architects of the modern edifice, present some of the more recent methods and developments of the theory. The topics include moduli, asymptotic geometry and surfaces of constant mean curvature in the hyperbolic space.

  6. Dialogue on the threshold and diatribe: construction mechanisms of the individual's self-consciousness

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aurora Gedra Ruiz Alvarez

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available This paper is about the dialogue on the threshold whose origins are in the Socratic dialogue and the diatribe (a dialogued internal gender, both understood as privileged mechanisms in the construction of the main character of Dostoevski´s novel Uma criatura dócil [The Meek One]. Its aim is to discuss the materiality of the text – mainly the dialogue on the threshold when the main character is in its existential crisis – and the mechanism of the diatribe which provokethe philosophical dialogue experience that the individual assumes while constituting his voice.

  7. Thermal cycling influence on microstructural characterization of alloys with high nickel content

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abrudeanu, M.; Gradin, O.; Vulpe, S. C.; Ohai, D.

    2013-01-01

    The IV nuclear energy generation systems are aimed at making revolutionary improvements in economics, safety and reliability, and sustainability. To achieve these goals, Generation IV systems will operate at higher temperatures and in higher radiation fields. This paper shows the thermal cycling influences on microstructure and hardness of nickel based alloys: Incoloy 800 HT and Inconel 617. These alloys were meekly at a thermal cycling of 25, 50, 75 and 100 cycles. The temperature range of a cycle was between 400 O C and 700 O C. Nickel base alloys develop their properties by solid solution and/or precipitation strengthening. (authors)

  8. G2 cubic transition between two circles with shape control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Habib, Zulfiqar; Sakai, Manabu

    2009-01-01

    This paper describes a method for joining two circles with an S-shaped or with a broken back C-shaped transition curve, composed of at most two spiral segments. In highway and railway route design or car-like robot path planning, it is often desirable to have such a transition. It is shown that a single cubic curve can be used for blending or for a transition curve preserving G2 continuity with local shape control parameter and more flexible constraints. Provision of the shape parameter and flexibility provide freedom to modify the shape in a stable manner which is an advantage over previous work by Meek, Walton, Sakai and Habib.

  9. Space charge effect in SQS transition in a gas counter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ohgaki, Hideaki; Kametani, Hitoshi; Fujita, Yasuyuki; Uozumi, Yuusuke; Ijiri, Hidenobu; Matoba, Masaru; Sakae, Takeji; Koori, Norihiko

    1990-01-01

    Systematic investigation of the gas multiplication characteristics in the transition region from proportional to SQS mode in a cylindrical proportional counter has been performed. The property of saturation of the gas multiplication factor can be reproduced using the effective electric field which is corrected for the space charge related to the positive ion density in the avalanche. Photon-mediated gas multiplication can explain the large jump phenomenon of the SQS transition. It is shown that the effective electric field in the avalanche becomes almost zero near the anode surface (Meek's streamer condition) at the 50% transition voltage and the region of its maximum moves slightly away from the anode surface. (orig.)

  10. Kalman filter-based gap conductance modeling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tylee, J.L.

    1983-01-01

    Geometric and thermal property uncertainties contribute greatly to the problem of determining conductance within the fuel-clad gas gap of a nuclear fuel pin. Accurate conductance values are needed for power plant licensing transient analysis and for test analyses at research facilities. Recent work by Meek, Doerner, and Adams has shown that use of Kalman filters to estimate gap conductance is a promising approach. A Kalman filter is simply a mathematical algorithm that employs available system measurements and assumed dynamic models to generate optimal system state vector estimates. This summary addresses another Kalman filter approach to gap conductance estimation and subsequent identification of an empirical conductance model

  11. Pragmatism attacking Christianity as weakness – Methodologies of targeting

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J.J. (Ponti Venter

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available The central argument is that methods are designed with aims in mind, and are determined by one’s worldview and/or ontology and/or philosophical anthropology and/or views of scholarship. It is possible, and here shown by analysis of the methodology of William James, that obsession with a cause, driven by the elitist belief that my cause is for everybody’s advantage, can take an ideological format (a formalistic ideology, in which case it would show tendencies to polarise. In the case of James the scientistic methodology takes as primary target Christianity’s meekness and kindness as humanitarianly ineffective. But James suffers from the problem of intellectual solipsism: reading Christianity via abstract rationalist theology.

  12. Controlling branching in streamer discharge by laser background ionization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takahashi, E; Kato, S; Furutani, H; Sasaki, A; Kishimoto, Y

    2011-01-01

    Irradiation with a KrF laser controlled the positive streamer branching in atmospheric argon gas. This laser irradiation changed the amount of background ionization before the streamer discharge. Measuring the ionization current allowed us to evaluate the initial electron density formed by the KrF laser. We observed characteristic feather-like branching structure and found that it was only suppressed in the irradiated region. The threshold of ionization density which can influence the branching was evaluated to be 5 x 10 5 cm -3 . The relationship between the size of avalanche head and mean distance between initial electrons explained this suppression behaviour. These experimental results support that the feather-like structure originates from the branching model of Loeb-Meek, a probabilistic merging of individual avalanches.

  13. Meek and Mild: American Children's Bibles' Stories of Jesus as a Boy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dalton, Russell W.

    2014-01-01

    The four canonical gospels provide readers with few details of the life of Jesus as a boy. Many authors of children's bibles in America, however, have been happy to fill in some of the details. This article suggests that these retellings regularly create or adapt stories of Jesus' childhood to teach children virtues that serve to affirm…

  14. POST OPERATIVE RECOVERY RESTLESSNESS FOLLOWING ENT SURGERIES IN THE PEDIATRIC AGE GROUP - A CLINICAL STUDY OF 246 CHILDREN

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nagula

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: Post - operative restlessness is observed commonly among children following Ear Nose Throat surgeries. This post anesthetic problem is also termed as Emergence Agitation (EA which interferes with patient’s recovery, presenting a challenging task to the ane sthetist in terms of assessment and convincing the parents. Many factors play a role singly or in combination in producing EA. EA consist of restlessness, excessive crying and spells of breath holding, head banging and incoherent speech. In this prospectiv e clinical study the incidence of post - operative recovery restlessness EA in children aged between 3 to 12 years, enumeration of the causes, and prediction of EA in Indian population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 246 Children undergoing elective surgeries of Ear Nose and throat are selected and their demographic data, socio - economic back ground and emotional attachment with parents were elicited. Parents of the children were interviewed prior to surgery using a questionnaire enquiring of their children’s personal ity, and emotional attachment and meekness. Their preoperative clinical data are documented. Their post - operative general condition, behavior, time taken for awakening, period of total recovery and treatment factors are recorded and analyzed. RESULTS: The incidence of EA was found in 23.6% of the children. EA lasted between 21 minutes to 52 minutes with a mean period of 28.4±9.5 minutes. 67% of the children required medication with sedatives, analgesics and anti - emetics. Post - operative stay in the Surgical ICU ranged between Hrs . 3.12±0.36mts to Hrs . 8.39±2.10mts in the children showing restlessness, compared to those not showing agitation. CONCLUSIONS: The factors associated with EA were, age, emotional attachment, meekness, adaptability, previous surgery, analgesics, sedatives, dose of pentothal sodium for induction, time taken for awakening and duration of surgery. Shorter was the time of awakening

  15. LIFE-CYCLE TOXICITY OF BIS(TRIBUTYLTIN) OXIDE TO THE SHEEPSHEAD MINNOW (CYPRINODON VARIEGATUS)

    Science.gov (United States)

    The effects of tributyltin (TBT) to the life cycle of the estuarine fish C yprinodon variegatus were examined in a 180-day flow-through exposure. The study was initiated with embryos less than 24 h postfertilization and monitored through hatch, maturation, growth, and reproductio...

  16. Raether-Meek criterion for prediction of electrodeless discharge inception on a dielectric surface in different gases

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chvyreva, A.; Pancheshnyi, S.; Christen, T.; Pemen, A. J. M.

    2018-03-01

    Electrodeless streamer inception on an epoxy surface under AC voltage stress was investigated for different gas compositions and pressures, with a focus on the pressure region below 1 bar. For this purpose, we used a set-up with cylindrical electrodes embedded out-of-axis in a cylindrical epoxy rod. Experiments were performed in N2, SF6, ambient air, Ar and CO2. The discharge inception voltage was measured, from which the critical value K of the ionization integral was reconstructed assuming a non-disturbed Laplacian field distribution. We have validated that for electropositive gases Ar an N2 the generally assumed value of K  =  10 is in good agreement with our measurements. For electronegative gases, however, the experimentally obtained values turned out to be considerably higher. We attribute this discrepancy mainly to the statistical time delay of the first electron; to increase the probability of discharge inception in a critical region, it was necessary to extend the critical area by means of applying an overvoltage to the system.

  17. Profiling Sustainability Curriculum in AACSB Schools

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mukesh Srivastava

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available This article describes the landscape of Sustainability Curriculum being used across the Association of Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB–accredited schools in the United States on the basis of a non-probabilistic sample (n = 119. Using hierarchical cluster analysis, four clusters were obtained based on sustainability-related courses in management, marketing, entrepreneurship, finance, accounting, information systems/information technology, strategy, globalization, communication, and miscellaneous. Cluster 1 had uniform dispersion on sustainability courses in all business courses except marketing. Clusters 2 and 4 were the largest ones with most sustainability courses in the management area, whereas, Cluster 3 had weak, but uniform, dispersion of sustainability courses in most business disciplines. Based on their characteristics and strength of dispersion among 10 business subject areas, these were labeled as Sustainability Prominent, Sustainability Moderate, Sustainability Meek, and Sustainability Quiescent.

  18. Measuring titratable alkalinity by single versus double endpoint titration: An evaluation in two cyprinodont species and implications for characterizing net H+ flux in aquatic organisms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brix, Kevin V; Wood, Chris M; Grosell, Martin

    2013-01-01

    In this study, Na(+) uptake and acid-base balance in the euryhaline pupfish Cyprinodon variegatus variegatus were characterized when fish were exposed to pH 4.5 freshwater (7mM Na(+)). Similar to the related cyprinodont, Fundulus heteroclitus, Na(+) uptake was significantly inhibited when exposed to low pH water. However, it initially appeared that C. v. variegatus increased apparent net acid excretion at low pH relative to circumneutral pH. This result is opposite to previous observations for F. heteroclitus under similar conditions where fish were observed to switch from apparent net H(+) excretion at circumneutral pH to apparent net H(+) uptake at low pH. Further investigation revealed disparate observations between these studies were the result of using double endpoint titrations to measure titratable alkalinity fluxes in the current study, while the earlier study utilized single endpoint titrations to measure these fluxes (i.e.,. Cyprinodon acid-base transport is qualitatively similar to Fundulus when characterized using single endpoint titrations). This led to a comparative investigation of these two methods. We hypothesized that either the single endpoint methodology was being influenced by a change in the buffer capacity of the water (e.g., mucus being released by the fish) at low pH, or the double endpoint methodology was not properly accounting for ammonia flux by the fish. A series of follow-up experiments indicated that buffer capacity of the water did not change significantly, that excretion of protein (a surrogate for mucus) was actually reduced at low pH, and that the double endpoint methodology does not properly account for NH(3) excretion by fish under low pH conditions. As a result, it overestimates net H(+) excretion during low pH exposure. After applying the maximum possible correction for this error (i.e., assuming that all ammonia is excreted as NH(3)), the double endpoint methodology indicates that net H(+) transport was reduced to

  19. A study of stresses in powder compacted components during and after ejection

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Redanz, Pia

    2001-01-01

    A finite strain finite element method is used to examine the residual stresses in a cup-shaped powder compact. Two rate-independent strain hardening porous material models are used: the combined material model (Fleck, N.A., Kuhn, L.T., McMeeking, R.M., 1992a. J. Mech. Phys. Solids 40 (5), 1139......-1162) and a material model which includes the dependency of inter-particle cohesive strength (Fleck, N.A., 1995. J. Mech. Phys. Solids 43, 1409-1431). The residual stress state in the unloaded cup is highly dependent on the compaction process and less dependent on the ejection route. The maximum principal stress...... plotted during ejection shows that higher stresses are found during the ejection process than those found in the completely unloaded specimen. The degree of inter-particle cohesive strength has hardly any effect on the porosity distributions in the compacts but it has a strong influence on the stress...

  20. Numerical modelling of cold compaction of metal powder

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Redanz, Pia

    1998-01-01

    A finite element programme has been developed for the analysis of porosity and stress distributions in a powder compact, based on rate-independent finite strain plasticity theory. The strain hardening versions of the Gurson model (J. Engng. Mater. Technol., 1977, 99, 2-15), the more recent FKM...... friction is not realistic at high normal pressures. The finite element programme has been used to study the effects of friction, compaction method, and material parameters. Analyses for powder compacts of various geometries are presented to illustrate the method. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights...... model (J. Mech. Phys. Solids, 1992, 40(5), 1139-1162), developed by Fleck, Kuhr. and McMeeking, and a combination of the two models are used. The friction between the mould wall and the metal powder is modelled by a combination of Coulomb friction and a constant friction shear stress, since Coulomb...

  1. A survey on classical minimal surface theory

    CERN Document Server

    Meeks, William H

    2012-01-01

    Meeks and Pérez present a survey of recent spectacular successes in classical minimal surface theory. The classification of minimal planar domains in three-dimensional Euclidean space provides the focus of the account. The proof of the classification depends on the work of many currently active leading mathematicians, thus making contact with much of the most important results in the field. Through the telling of the story of the classification of minimal planar domains, the general mathematician may catch a glimpse of the intrinsic beauty of this theory and the authors' perspective of what is happening at this historical moment in a very classical subject. This book includes an updated tour through some of the recent advances in the theory, such as Colding-Minicozzi theory, minimal laminations, the ordering theorem for the space of ends, conformal structure of minimal surfaces, minimal annular ends with infinite total curvature, the embedded Calabi-Yau problem, local pictures on the scale of curvature and t...

  2. The Coach-Athlete Relationship Questionnaire (CART-Q): development and initial validation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jowett, Sophia; Ntoumanis, Nikos

    2004-08-01

    The purpose of the present study was to develop and validate a self-report instrument that measures the nature of the coach-athlete relationship. Jowett et al.'s (Jowett & Meek, 2000; Jowett, in press) qualitative case studies and relevant literature were used to generate items for an instrument that measures affective, cognitive, and behavioral aspects of the coach-athlete relationship. Two studies were carried out in an attempt to assess content, predictive, and construct validity, as well as internal consistency, of the Coach-Athlete Relationship Questionnaire (CART-Q), using two independent British samples. Principal component analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were used to reduce the number of items, identify principal components, and confirm the latent structure of the CART-Q. Results supported the multidimensional nature of the coach-athlete relationship. The latent structure of the CART-Q was underlined by the latent variables of coaches' and athletes' Closeness (emotions), Commitment (cognitions), and Complementarity (behaviors).

  3. Deceleration and Trapping of Heavy Diatomic Molecules for Precision Measurements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berg, J. E. Van Den; Turkesteen, S. N. Hoekman; Prinsen, E. B.; Hoekstra, S.

    2011-06-01

    We are setting up a novel type of Stark-decelerator optimized for the deceleration and trapping of heavy diatomic molecules. Aim of these experiments is to prepare a trapped sample of ultracold molecules for precision studies of fundamental symmetries. The decelerator uses ring-shaped electrodes to create a moving trapping potential, a prototype of which has been shown to work for CO molecules. Molecules can be decelerated and trapped in the weak-field seeking part of excited rotational states. The alkaline-earth monohalide molecules (currently we focus on the SrF molecule) are prime candidates for next generation parity violation and electron-EDM studies. We plan to combine the Stark deceleration with molecular laser cooling to create a trapped sample of molecules at a final temperature of ˜ 200 μK. A. Osterwalder, S. A. Meek, G. Hammer, H. Haak and G. Meijer Phys. Rev. A 81 (51401), 2010. T. A. Isaev, S. Hoekstra, R. Berger Phys. Rev. A 82 (52521), 2010

  4. Central leptin action on euglycemia restoration in type 1 diabetes: Restraining responses normally induced by fasting?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Yuanzhong; Tong, Qingchun

    2017-07-01

    Leptin monotherapy is sufficient to restore euglycemia in insulinopenic type 1 diabetes (T1D), yet the underlying mechanism remains poorly understood. Accumulating evidence demonstrates that the brain mediates the leptin action on euglycemia restoration. Here, we first review evidence supporting that symptoms in T1D resemble an uncontrolled response to fasting. Then, we discuss recent research progress on brain neurons and their neurotransmitters that potentially mediate the leptin action. Finally, peripheral effective pathways, which are normally involved in fasting responses and associated with leptin action on euglycemia restoration in T1D, will also be discussed. This summary complements several previous excellent reviews on this topic (Meek and Morton, 2016; Perry et al., 2016; Fujikawa and Coppari, 2015). A deep understanding of neurocircuitry and the peripheral effective pathways that mediate the leptin action on euglycemia restoration will likely lead to novel targets for an insulin-independent therapeutics against T1D. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Genomic organization and tissue-specific expression of hepcidin in the pacific mutton hamlet, Alphestes immaculatus (Breder, 1936).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Masso-Silva, Jorge; Diamond, Gill; Macias-Rodriguez, Maria; Ascencio, Felipe

    2011-12-01

    Hepcidin is a cysteine-rich peptide involved in iron metabolism, inflammatory response and as antimicrobial peptide. Despite the fact that hepcidins have been identified in several fish species, only few have been completely characterized. This study, described the identification and complete molecular characterization of the hepcidin antimicrobial peptide 1 (HAMP1) gene of Alphestes immaculatus. Moreover, its specific expression level at both basal and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced conditions in different tissues was also determined by real-time PCR. Results showed that the HAMP1gene consists of three exons and two introns encoding a preprohepcidin composed of 90 aa (24 aa for signal peptide, 40 aa for prodomain and 26 aa for mature peptide). The promoter region analysis revealed a TATA box sequence and several putative transcription factor binding sites. A comparative analysis showed CEBPα, CEBPβ, NF-kB, HNF3, GATA-1 and c-Rel as the most common found in fishes. The mature peptide possesses a pI of 8.34, which is the average among fish hepcidin. In addition, the structural modeling showed a hairpin structure with four putative disulfide bonds. A phylogenetic analysis revealed that this hepcidin gene is a HAMP1 class, and is clustered into the same group with the Serranid fish Epinephelus moara and the Antarctic fish Lycodichthys dearborni. Finally, the relative expression levels showed high basal values in liver and muscle, whereas in LPS-induced fish the relative expression tendency changed, with the highest values in spleen and head kidney tissues. This study describes the completely characterized HAMP1 gene of A. immaculatus and their patterns of expression level at different conditions and in different tissues, showing by first time muscle hepcidin expression could be relevant in the immune response in fish. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Competitive/co-operative interactions in acid base sandwich: role of cation vs. substituents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kalpana, Ayyavoo; Akilandeswari, Lakshminarayanan

    2017-11-15

    The cation-π interaction can be envisaged as a lewis acid base interaction, and it is in line with Pearson's acid base concept. The critical examination of interactions between the π-acids (alkali metal cations - Li + , Na + and alkaline earth metal cations Mg 2+ , Ca 2+ ) on one face and tripodal Cr(CO) 3 moiety on the other π face of substituted arenes demonstrates the role of cation and substitutents in manipulating the interactions between them. The interaction of the two π acids on both faces of arene is not expectedly additive, rather it shows either depreciation of interaction energy revealing the competition of acids toward the base or enhancement of interaction energy denoting a cooperative effect. Among the metal cations under study, Mg 2+ shows a cooperative gesture. Although the substituents play a meek role, they unfailingly exert their electronic effects and are amply documented by excellent correlation of various parameters with the Hammett constant σ m . The elusive switching of λ max from the UV to IR region on binding Mg 2+ with substituted arene-Cr(CO) 3 complex is a characteristic clue that TDDFT can help design the ionic sensors for Mg 2+ cations.

  7. Evolution of skin grafting for treatment of burns: Reverdin pinch grafting to Tanner mesh grafting and beyond.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Mansher; Nuutila, Kristo; Collins, K C; Huang, Anne

    2017-09-01

    Skin grafting is the current standard care in the treatment of full thickness burns. It was first described around 1500 BC but the vast majority of advancements have been achieved over the past 200 years. An extensive literature review was conducted on Pubmed, Medline and Google Scholar researching the evolution of skin grafting techniques. The authors concentrated on the major landmarks of skin grafting and also provide an overview of ongoing research efforts in this field. The major innovations of skin grafting include Reverdin pinch grafting, Ollier grafting, Thiersch grafting, Wolfe grafting, Padgett dermatome and modifications, Meek-wall microdermatome and Tanner mesh grafting. A brief description of the usage, advantages and limitations of each technique is included in the manuscript. Skin grafting technique have evolved significantly over past 200 years from Reverdin pinch grafting to modern day meshed skin grafts using powered dermatome. Increasing the expansion ratio and improving the cosmetic and functional outcome are the main focus of ongoing skin grafting research and emerging techniques (such as Integra ® , Recell ® , Xpansion ® ) are showing promise. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.

  8. [Some ecological aspects of larvivorous fish existing in Cayo Santa María, Cuba].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Menéndez Díaz, Zulema; Manso Valdés, Eulises; Castex Rodríguez, Mayda; Fuentes González, Omar; Hernández Contreras, Natividad; García Avila, Israel

    2007-01-01

    One thousand and three hundred twenty one fish from Cyprinodon variegatus, Gambusia punticulata, Fundulus grandis saguanus. Cubanichthys cubensis y Girardinus metallicus were collected for the purpose of locating and identifying fish of interest in the control of mosquito larvae in Cayo Santa Maria, Villa Clara province. Ecological indexes such as diversity (H') and equity (J') were estimated through a program named BIODIVERSITY Pro v2 and also the contents in the stomach of 341 specimens (25,81%) of the total was analyzed. The most abundant and distributed species in all the sampled sites was C. variegatus followed by G puncticulata. The number of fish of these species showed a differential gradient going from West to East: upward for C. variegatus and downward for G. puncticulata (X2 = 150,60, p< 0,001), being the latter the species that most equitably used the food resources (J' = 0,92) since it consumed 6 of them for food. These indigenous fish that are abundant in natural reservoirs should be taken into account for integrated control plans aimed at mosquito, gnat and horsefly breeding sites found in these locations.

  9. Assessing toxicity of varying major ion concentrations to marine organisms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mount, D.R.; Quast, W.

    1993-01-01

    Recent regulatory developments have required that produced waters discharged in the Gulf of Mexico be monitored for toxicity to marine organisms. While produced water may contain a variety of indigenous and introduced chemicals, virtually all have moderate to high concentrations of major ions. Although seawater is also rich in these ions, excessive salinity can cause toxicity to marine organisms. Perhaps more importantly, toxicity to marine organisms can be caused by deviations from normal ion ratios even if the total salinity is within organism tolerances. To provide a better understanding of marine organism responses to variations in major ion concentrations, the authors conducted a series of laboratory experiments to quantify the responses of mysid shrimp (Mysidopsis bahia) and sheepshead minnows (Cyprinodon variegatus) to modifications of normal seawater chemistry. Acute testing included both increasing and decreasing the concentrations of individual ions relative to seawater, as well as altering total salinity. Results show these organisms can be adversely affected by this altered chemistry and their sensitivity is dependent upon the individual ions that are manipulated. Results from these studies are being incorporated into an overall strategy for evaluating the influence of major ion chemistry on produced water toxicity tests

  10. An annotated distributional checklist of exotic freshwater fishes from the Baja California Peninsula, Mexico Lista comentada sobre la distribución de peces dulceacuícolas exóticos de la península de Baja California, México

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gorgonio Ruiz-Campos

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available We documented the distributional status of 27 exotic fish species in the inland waters of the Baja California Peninsula, Mexico, based on voucher specimens collected from 122 sites between 1977 and 2010, and on published records. The species reported here are representatives of genera from the Atlantic drainages of North America (Ictalurus, Ameiurus, Pylodictis, Morone, Lepomis, Pomoxis, Dorosoma, Cyprinella, and Micropterus, Middle America (Poecilia, Gambusia, and Xiphophorus, Eurasia (Cyprinus and Carassius, and Africa (Tilapia and Oreochromis. The family containing the highest number of species is Centrarchidae (7 species followed by Ictaluridae and Poeciliidae (6 species each. Four species were determined to be invasive due to their wide distribution and fast dispersal through the Peninsula (Gambusia affinis, Poecilia reticulata, Lepomis cyanellus, and Tilapia sp. cf. zillii. We analyze the impacts of exotic species on the native populations of 3 species with problems of conservation: Cyprinodon macularius (endangered, Fundulus lima (endangered, and Gasterosteus aculeatus (vulnerable. Alien fishes have been introduced for a variety of reasons in Mexico: ornament, sport, aquaculture, biological control, and by accident. In some cases fish introductions were carried out for more than one reason.El estatus de la distribución de peces exóticos es documentado para 27 especies en las aguas continentales de la península de Baja California, México, basado en registros de ejemplares recolectados en 122 localidades durante el período de 1977 a 2010, así como registros referidos en la literatura. Las especies aquí reportadas son representativas de géneros que proceden de la vertiente Atlántica de Norteamérica (Ictalurus, Ameiurus, Pylodictis, Morone, Lepomis, Pomoxis, Dorosoma, Cyprinella y Micropterus, Mesoamérica (Poecilia, Gambusia y Xiphophorus, Eurasia (Cyprinus y Carassius y África (Tilapia y Oreochromis. La familia con mayor n

  11. Streptococcus agalactiae infection in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and its transmission potential to cohabitated sheepshead minnows (Cyprinodon variegatus)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Streptococcus agalactiae has emerged as an economically important bacterial pathogen affecting global aquaculture. Worldwide aquaculture losses due to S. agalactiae are estimated around U.S. $1 billion, annually. Streptococcus agalactiae also known as a Lancefield Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a Gr...

  12. Evolution of social behaviour in the primitively eusocial wasp Ropalidia marginata: do we need to look beyond kin selection?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gadagkar, Raghavendra

    2016-02-05

    Ropalidia marginata is a primitively eusocial wasp widely distributed in peninsular India. Although solitary females found a small proportion of nests, the vast majority of new nests are founded by small groups of females. In such multiple foundress nests, a single dominant female functions as the queen and lays eggs, while the rest function as sterile workers and care for the queen's brood. Previous attempts to understand the evolution of social behaviour and altruism in this species have employed inclusive fitness theory (kin selection) as a guiding framework. Although inclusive fitness theory is quite successful in explaining the high propensity of the wasps to found nests in groups, several features of their social organization suggest that forces other than kin selection may also have played a significant role in the evolution of this species. These features include lowering of genetic relatedness owing to polyandry and serial polygyny, nest foundation by unrelated individuals, acceptance of young non-nest-mates, a combination of well-developed nest-mate recognition and lack of intra-colony kin recognition, a combination of meek and docile queens and a decentralized self-organized work force, long reproductive queues with cryptic heir designates and conflict-free queen succession, all resulting in extreme intra-colony cooperation and inter-colony conflict. © 2016 The Author(s).

  13. Evolution of social behaviour in the primitively eusocial wasp Ropalidia marginata: do we need to look beyond kin selection?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gadagkar, Raghavendra

    2016-01-01

    Ropalidia marginata is a primitively eusocial wasp widely distributed in peninsular India. Although solitary females found a small proportion of nests, the vast majority of new nests are founded by small groups of females. In such multiple foundress nests, a single dominant female functions as the queen and lays eggs, while the rest function as sterile workers and care for the queen's brood. Previous attempts to understand the evolution of social behaviour and altruism in this species have employed inclusive fitness theory (kin selection) as a guiding framework. Although inclusive fitness theory is quite successful in explaining the high propensity of the wasps to found nests in groups, several features of their social organization suggest that forces other than kin selection may also have played a significant role in the evolution of this species. These features include lowering of genetic relatedness owing to polyandry and serial polygyny, nest foundation by unrelated individuals, acceptance of young non-nest-mates, a combination of well-developed nest-mate recognition and lack of intra-colony kin recognition, a combination of meek and docile queens and a decentralized self-organized work force, long reproductive queues with cryptic heir designates and conflict-free queen succession, all resulting in extreme intra-colony cooperation and inter-colony conflict. PMID:26729933

  14. Claves para seleccionar un itinerario constructor de identidades en el proceso de acogida y aprendizaje del español como segunda lengua

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Virginia Calvo Valios

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available A partir del análisis de las respuestas lectoras de los jóvenes inmigrantes objeto del estudio, y asumiendo el supuesto que la lectura literaria forja nuestras identidades (Barthes, 1979; Bruner, 2002; Larrosa, 2003; -entre otros-; en esta investigación nos centramos en analizar y reflexionar sobre las posibilidades que ofrece el discurso literario como un medio para la (re construcción de las identidades de los adolescentes inmigrantes. Para ello, nos nutrimos de las teorías sociológicas de la educación literaria y de la vertiente emocional de la literatura (Petit, 1999, 2001, 2008, 2009; la teoría transaccional de Rosenblatt (2002 y la corriente teórica de las respuestas lectoras (Sipe, 2000, 2010. Por otra parte, seguimos la noción de distancia de Lewis (2000 y las ideas de Meek en relación a la literatura como un andamiaje de acceso a la cultura escrita. A este respecto, las investigaciones de Emilia Ferreiro (1999, 2001, 2008 sobre la escritura como marca de identidad, y desde las teorías de Freinet (1973 en relación al texto libre, nos llevan a analizar las posibilidades del blog como herramienta dinamizadora para la lectura y la escritura.

  15. A rop net and removable walkway used to quantitatively sample fishes over wetland surfaces in the dwarf mangrove of the Southern Everglades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lorenz, J.J.; McIvor, C.C.; Powell, G.V.N.; Frederick, P.C.

    1997-01-01

    We describe a 9 m2 drop net and removable walkways designed to quantify densities of small fishes in wetland habitats with low to moderate vegetation density. The method permits the collection of small, quantitative, discrete samples in ecologically sensitive areas by combining rapid net deployment from fixed sites with the carefully contained use of the fish toxicant rotenone. This method requires very little contact with the substrate, causes minimal alteration to the habitat being sampled, samples small fishes in an unbiased manner, and allows for differential sampling of microhabitats within a wetland. When used in dwarf red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) habitat in southern Everglades National Park and adjacent areas (September 1990 to March 1993), we achieved high recovery efficiencies (78–90%) for five common species <110 mm in length. We captured 20,193 individuals of 26 species. The most abundant fishes were sheepshead minnowCyprinodon variegatus, goldspotted killifishFloridichthys carpio, rainwater killifishLucania parva, sailfin mollyPoecilia latipinna, and the exotic Mayan cichlidCichlasoma urophthalmus. The 9 m2 drop net and associated removable walkways are versatile and can be used in a variety of wetland types, including both interior and coastal wetlands with either herbaceous or woody vegetation.

  16. Quick, portable toxicity testing of marine or terrigenous fluids, sediments, or chemicals with bioluminescent organism

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sabate, R.W.; Stiffey, A.V.; Dewailly, E.L.

    1995-01-01

    A hand-held, battery-operated instrument, which measures bioluminescence inhibition of the microscopic marine dinoflagellate Pyrocystis lunula, is capable of field-testing substances for toxicity. The organism is sensitive to ppb of strong toxicants. It tolerates some solvents in concentrations necessary for testing lipophylic samples. A test consumes only micrograms of sample. This method requires no adjustments for salinity, pH, color, or turbidity. It has been used successfully to test oil-well drilling fluids, brines produced with oil, waters and sediments from streams and lakes and petroleum-plant effluents containing contaminants such as benzene. The test is non-specific; however, if the substance is known, the end-point effects a direct measurement of its concentration. One-hour toxicity screening tests in the field produce results comparable to the standard four-hour laboratory test. Keeping the sample in the dark during incubation and testing, together with shortness of the overall procedure, eliminates anomalies from light-sensitive substances. Day-to-day variation, as well as among test replicates, is less than 10%. This quick method yields results comparable with a quick test that uses Photobacterium phosphoria, and with 96-hour tests that use Mysidopsis bahia, Artemia salina, Gonyaulax polyedra, Pimephales promelas, Ceriodaphnia dubia, and Cyprinodon variegatus

  17. Chemical and toxicological evaluation of water quality following the exxon Valdez oil spill

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Neff, J.M.; Stubblefield, W.A.

    1995-01-01

    As part of a comprehensive water-quality assessment program performed in Prince William Sound and the western Gulf of Alaska following the Exxon Valdez oil spill of March 24, 1989, water samples were collected from 417 locations, most of them in areas through which the oil drifted, to assess the distribution and concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbons in the water column. Over 5,000 water samples were analyzed for individual and total petroleum alkanes and for aromatic hydrocarbons by very sensitive gas chromatographic techniques. A total of 2,461 of these samples were analyzed for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Concurrent with some of these samples, an additional 123 water samples were collected in April 1989 (a week to a month after the spill) at 32 offshore locations and in June 1989 at 7 nearshore sites in Prince William Sound to determine the toxicity of the water to representative species of marine organisms. The toxicity of Prince William Sound water was assessed with standard Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and American Society for Testing and materials (ASTM) marine toxicity tests with representative species of three taxonomic groups: (1) Skeletonema costatum (a marine diatom), (2) Mysidopsis bahia (a crustacean), and (3) larval/juvenile Cyprinodon variegatus (a fish, the sheepshead minnow). 58 refs., 11 figs., 3 tabs

  18. Design and testing of a mesocosm-scale habitat for culturing the endangered Devils Hole Pupfish

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feuerbacher, Olin; Bonar, Scott A.; Barrett, Paul J.

    2016-01-01

    aptive propagation of desert spring fishes, whether for conservation or research, is often difficult, given the unique and often challenging environments these fish utilize in nature. High temperatures, low dissolved oxygen, minimal water flow, and highly variable lighting are some conditions a researcher might need to recreate to simulate their natural environments. Here we describe a mesocosm-scale habitat created to maintain hybrid Devils Hole × Ash Meadows Amargosa Pupfish (Cyprinodon diabolis × C. nevadensis mionectes) under conditions similar to those found in Devils Hole, Nevada. This 13,000-L system utilized flow control and natural processes to maintain these conditions rather than utilizing complex and expensive automation. We designed a rotating solar collector to control natural sunlight, a biological reactor to consume oxygen while buffering water quality, and a reverse-daylight photosynthesis sump system to stabilize nighttime pH and swings in dissolved oxygen levels. This system successfully controlled many desired parameters and helped inform development of a larger, more permanent desert fish conservation facility at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, Nevada. For others who need to raise fish from unique habitats, many components of the scalable and modular design of this system can be adapted at reasonable cost.

  19. Trophic relationships of small nonnative fishes in a natural creek and several agricultural drains flowing into the Salton Sea, and their potential, effects on the endangered desert pupfish

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, Barbara A.; Saiki, Michael K.

    2009-01-01

    This study was conducted to characterize trophic relationships of small nonnative fishes and to determine if predation by these fishes contributes to the decline of desert pupfish (Cyprinodon macularius), an endangered cyprinodont on the verge of extinction. We sampled 403 hybrid Mozambique tilapias (Oreochromis mossambica by O. urolepis), 107 redbelly tilapias (Tilapia zillii), 32 longjaw mudsuckers (Gillkhthys mirabilis), 182 western mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis), 222 sailfin mollies (Poecilia latipinna), 63 shortfin mollies (Poecilia mexicana), and 235 porthole livebearers (Poecilurpsis gracilis) from a natural creek and four agricultural drains during September 1999- December 2001. Evidence of piscivory was in gastrointestinal contents of 14 hybrid Mozambique tilapias, 3 redbelly tilapias, 10 longjaw mudsuckers, 8 western mosquitofish, 2 sailfin mollies, and 8 porthole livebearers. Although digestion often was too advanced for identification of fishes consumed by nonnative fishes, remains of desert pupfish were in gastrointestinal contents of a longjaw mudsucker. Our findings, along with Field evidence from other studies that inverse relationships exist between abundances of desert pupfish and nonnative species, are consistent with the hypothesis that predation by nonnative species is contributing to decline of desert pupfish. We suspect that competitive interactions with nonnative fishes might also adversely affect abundance of desert pupfish.

  20. Vascular Plant and Vertebrate Inventory of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schmidt, Cecilia A.; Powell, Brian F.; Halvorson, William L.

    2007-01-01

    Executive Summary We summarized inventory and monitoring efforts for plants and vertebrates at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument (NM) in Arizona. We used data from previous research to compile complete species lists for the monument and to assess inventory completeness. There have been 1,031 species of plants and vertebrates observed at the monument. Most of the species on the list are documented by voucher specimens. There are 59 non-native species established in the monument: one mammal, three birds, and 55 non-native plants. Most non-native plant species were first recorded along roads. In each taxon-specific chapter, we highlight areas that contribute disproportionately to species richness or that have unique species for the monument. Of particular importance are Quitobaquito Springs and Pond, which are responsible for the monument having one of the highest number of bird species in the Sonoran Desert Network of parks. Quitobaquito also contains the only fish in the monument, the endangered Quitobaquito pupfish (Cyprinodon eremus). Other important resources for the plants and vertebrates include the xeroriparian washes (e.g., Alamo Canyon) and the Ajo Mountains. Based on the review of past studies, we believe the inventories of vascular plants and vertebrates are nearly complete and that the monument has one of the most complete inventories of any unit in the Sonoran Desert Network.

  1. Relation of desert pupfish abundance to selected environmental variables in natural and manmade habitats in the Salton Sea basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, B.A.; Saiki, M.K.

    2005-01-01

    We assessed the relation between abundance of desert pupfish, Cyprinodon macularius, and selected biological and physicochemical variables in natural and manmade habitats within the Salton Sea Basin. Field sampling in a natural tributary, Salt Creek, and three agricultural drains captured eight species including pupfish (1.1% of the total catch), the only native species encountered. According to Bray-Curtis resemblance functions, fish species assemblages differed mostly between Salt Creek and the drains (i.e., the three drains had relatively similar species assemblages). Pupfish numbers and environmental variables varied among sites and sample periods. Canonical correlation showed that pupfish abundance was positively correlated with abundance of western mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis, and negatively correlated with abundance of porthole livebearers, Poeciliopsis gracilis, tilapias (Sarotherodon mossambica and Tilapia zillii), longjaw mudsuckers, Gillichthys mirabilis, and mollies (Poecilia latipinnaandPoecilia mexicana). In addition, pupfish abundance was positively correlated with cover, pH, and salinity, and negatively correlated with sediment factor (a measure of sediment grain size) and dissolved oxygen. Pupfish abundance was generally highest in habitats where water quality extremes (especially high pH and salinity, and low dissolved oxygen) seemingly limited the occurrence of nonnative fishes. This study also documented evidence of predation by mudsuckers on pupfish. These findings support the contention of many resource managers that pupfish populations are adversely influenced by ecological interactions with nonnative fishes. ?? Springer 2005.

  2. Toxicity of common ions to marine organisms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pillard, D.A.; DuFresne, D.L.; Evans, J.

    1995-01-01

    Produced waters from oil and gas drilling operations are typically very saline, and these may cause acute toxicity to marine organisms due to osmotic imbalances as well as to an excess or deficiency of specific common ions. In order to better understand the relationship between toxicity and ion concentration, laboratory toxicity tests were conducted using mysid shrimp (Mysidopsis bahia), sheepshead minnow (Cyprinodon variegatus), and inland silverside (Menidia beryllina). For each species the ionic concentration of standard laboratory water was proportionally increased or decreased to produce test solutions with a range of salinities. Organisms were exposed for 48 hours. Individual ions (sodium, potassium, calcium, magnetsium, strontium, chloride, bromide, sulfate, bicarbonate, and borate) were also manipulated to examine individual ion toxicity. The three test species differ in their tolerance of salinity. Mysid shrimp show a marked decrease in survival at salinities less than approximately 5 ppt. Both fish species tolerated low salinity water, however, silversides were less tolerant of saline waters (salinity greater than 40 ppt). There were also significant differences in the responses of the organisms to different ions. The results show that the salinity of the test solution may play an important role in the responses of the organisms to the produced water effluent. Predictable toxicity/ion relationships developed in this study can be used to estimate whether toxicity in a produced water is a result of common ions, salinity, or some other unknown toxicant

  3. Fish community structure and dynamics in a coastal hypersaline lagoon: Rio Lagartos, Yucatan, Mexico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vega-Cendejas, Ma. Eugenia; Hernández de Santillana, Mireya

    2004-06-01

    Rio Lagartos, a tropical coastal lagoon in northern Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, is characterized by high salinity during most of the year (55 psu annual average). Even though the area has been designated as a wetland of international importance because of its great biodiversity, fish species composition and distribution are unknown. To determine whether the salinity gradient was influencing fish assemblages or not, fish populations were sampled seasonally by seine and trawl from 1992 to 1993 and bimonthly during 1997. We identified 81 fish species, eight of which accounted for 53.1% considering the Importance Value Index ( Floridichthys polyommus, Sphoeroides testudineus, Eucinostomus argenteus, Eucinostomus gula, Fundulus majalis, Strongylura notata, Cyprinodon artifrons and Elops saurus). Species richness and density declined from the mouth to the inner zone where extreme salinity conditions are prominent (>80) and competitive interactions decreased. However, in Coloradas basin (53 average sanity) and in the inlet of the lagoon, the highest fish density and number of species were observed. Greater habitat heterogeneity and fish immigration were considered as the best explanation. Multivariate analysis found three zones distinguished by fish occurrence, abundance and distribution. Ichthyofaunal spatial differences were attributed to selective recruitment from the Gulf of Mexico due to salinity gradient and to changing climatic periods. Estuarine and euryhaline marine species are abundant, with estuarine dependent ones entering the system according to environmental preferences. This knowledge will contribute to the management of the Special Biosphere Reserve through baseline data to evaluate environmental and anthropogenic changes.

  4. Spatial and temporal structure of fish assemblages in a hyperhaline coastal system: Ría Lagartos, Mexico

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Miguel Angel Peralta-Meixueiro

    Full Text Available The spatial and temporal fish species assemblages were analyzed throughout two annual cycles (2004-2005 and 2007-2008 in the Ría Lagartos Lagoon system, Mexico, via non-parametric multivariate analyses. We compared density and biomass of fish species among five habitat types defined by combinations of structure and environmental characteristics (hyperhaline, rocky, seagrass, channel, and marine, and three climatic seasons (dry, rainy, and northerlies. A total of 11,187 individuals distributed in 32 families and 63 species were collected. The most numerically abundant species were Floridichthys polyommus and Cyprinodon artifrons, while Sphoeroides testudineus contributed to the greatest biomass. Species composition consisted mainly of estuarine and euryhaline marine species. Spatially, a saline gradient was observed with marine conditions in the mouth, and increasing to over 100 in the inner zone of the system. Species richness, diversity and biomass declined from the mouth to the inner zone, while density showed an inverse tendency, with the highest values in the inner zone. Thus the salinity was the variable that best explained the spatial fish assemblages" structure. The ichthyofauna composition did not change over time, but the dominant species varied with the years. The abundance of juvenile specimens, suggest that the different habitats are used as feeding and breeding zones; hence it is proposed that protection strategies be pursued not only for the lagoon system but also for the northern zone of the Yucatan Peninsula.

  5. That tough guy from Nazareth: A psychological assessment of Jesus

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. Harold Ellens

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Christmas gives us that ’sweet little Jesus Boy’ and Lent follows that with the ‘gentle Jesus, meek and mild.’ He was neither of those. In point of fact, he was the ‘tough guy from Nazareth.’ He was consistently abrasive, if not abusive, to his mother (Lk 2:49; Jn 2:4; Mt 12:48 and aggressively hard on males, particularly those in authority. In Mark 8 he cursed and damned Peter for failing to get Jesus’ esoteric definition of Messiah correct. Nobody else understood it either. Jesus had made it up himself and not adequately explained it to anybody until then. He called the religious authorities snakes, corrupt tombs, filthy chinaware, fakes, and Mosaic legalists who had forgotten God’s real revelation of universal grace and salvation in the Abraham Covenant. He tore up the temple in the middle of a worship service and cursed those present for turning God’s house of prayer into a den of thieves, when actually they were kind, helping out-of-town tourists obtain the proper sacrifices for the liturgical rituals. Jesus was persistently aggressive, often angry and not infrequently irrational, killing an innocent fig tree with his curse, for example. He constantly attacked the Pharisees and their proposals for renewing the spiritual vitality of the Jewish Community. He abused numerous people by healing them on the Sabbath just to make his political point against the religious leaders. He could just as well have healed them on Tuesday, if he really wanted to heal them. By healing the blind man in John 9 on the Sabbath, for example, he caused the man to be driven out of his synagogue, his family, and his community of faith; isolated and abandoned as if he were a leper. Even when he said surprising things about children, his focus was not on the children but on his disciples, using the children as tools for making an assertive teaching point. Jesus’ life was one of perpetually aggressive claims for his vision of God’s reign. He

  6. That tough guy from Nazareth: A psychological assessment of Jesus

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. Harold Ellens

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Christmas gives us that ’sweet little Jesus Boy’ and Lent follows that with the ‘gentle Jesus, meek and mild.’ He was neither of those. In point of fact, he was the ‘tough guy from Nazareth.’ He was consistently abrasive, if not abusive, to his mother (Lk 2:49; Jn 2:4; Mt 12:48 and aggressively hard on males, particularly those in authority. In Mark 8 he cursed and damned Peter for failing to get Jesus’ esoteric definition of Messiah correct. Nobody else understood it either. Jesus had made it up himself and not adequately explained it to anybody until then. He called the religious authorities snakes, corrupt tombs, filthy chinaware, fakes, and Mosaic legalists who had forgotten God’s real revelation of universal grace and salvation in the Abraham Covenant. He tore up the temple in the middle of a worship service and cursed those present for turning God’s house of prayer into a den of thieves, when actually they were kind, helping out-of-town tourists obtain the proper sacrifices for the liturgical rituals. Jesus was persistently aggressive, often angry and not infrequently irrational, killing an innocent fig tree with his curse, for example. He constantly attacked the Pharisees and their proposals for renewing the spiritual vitality of the Jewish Community. He abused numerous people by healing them on the Sabbath just to make his political point against the religious leaders. He could just as well have healed them on Tuesday, if he really wanted to heal them. By healing the blind man in John 9 on the Sabbath, for example, he caused the man to be driven out of his synagogue, his family, and his community of faith; isolated and abandoned as if he were a leper. Even when he said surprising things about children, his focus was not on the children but on his disciples, using the children as tools for making an assertive teaching point. Jesus’ life was one of perpetually aggressive claims for his vision of God’s reign. He

  7. Information to support to monitoring and habitat restoration on Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scoppettone, G. Gary

    2013-01-01

    The Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge staff focuses on improving habitat for the highest incidence of endemic species for an area of its size in the continental United States. Attempts are being made to restore habitat to some semblance of its pre-anthropogenic undisturbed condition, and to provide habitat conditions to which native plant and animal species have evolved. Unfortunately, restoring the Ash Meadows’ Oases to its pre-anthropogenic undisturbed condition is almost impossible. First, there are constraints on water manipulation because there are private holdings within the refuge boundary; second, there has been at least one species extinction—the Ash Meadows pool fish (Empetrichthys merriami). It is also quite possible that thermal endemic invertebrate species were lost before ever being described. Perhaps the primary obstacle to restoring Ash Meadows to its pre-anthropogenic undisturbed conditions is the presence of invasive species. However, invasive species, such as red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarki) and western mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis), are a primary driving force in restoring Ash Meadows’ spring systems, because under certain habitat conditions they can all but replace native species. Returning Ash Meadows’ physical landscape to some semblance of its pre-anthropogenic undisturbed condition through natural processes may take decades. Meanwhile, the natural dissolution of concrete and earthen irrigation channels threatens to allow cattail marshes to flourish instead of spring-brooks immediately downstream of spring discharge. This successional stage favors non-native crayfish and mosquitofish over the native Amargosa pupfish (Cyprinodon nevadensis). Thus, restoration is needed to control non-natives and to promote native species, and without such intervention the probability of native fish reduction or loss, is anticipated. The four studies in this report are intended to provide information for restoring native fish habitat and

  8. Spatial and temporal structure of fish assemblages in a hyperhaline coastal system: Ría Lagartos, Mexico

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Miguel Angel Peralta-Meixueiro

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available The spatial and temporal fish species assemblages were analyzed throughout two annual cycles (2004-2005 and 2007-2008 in the Ría Lagartos Lagoon system, Mexico, via non-parametric multivariate analyses. We compared density and biomass of fish species among five habitat types defined by combinations of structure and environmental characteristics (hyperhaline, rocky, seagrass, channel, and marine, and three climatic seasons (dry, rainy, and northerlies. A total of 11,187 individuals distributed in 32 families and 63 species were collected. The most numerically abundant species were Floridichthys polyommus and Cyprinodon artifrons, while Sphoeroides testudineus contributed to the greatest biomass. Species composition consisted mainly of estuarine and euryhaline marine species. Spatially, a saline gradient was observed with marine conditions in the mouth, and increasing to over 100 in the inner zone of the system. Species richness, diversity and biomass declined from the mouth to the inner zone, while density showed an inverse tendency, with the highest values in the inner zone. Thus the salinity was the variable that best explained the spatial fish assemblages" structure. The ichthyofauna composition did not change over time, but the dominant species varied with the years. The abundance of juvenile specimens, suggest that the different habitats are used as feeding and breeding zones; hence it is proposed that protection strategies be pursued not only for the lagoon system but also for the northern zone of the Yucatan Peninsula.Los ensamblajes espacio temporales de peces fueron analizados a través de dos ciclos anuales (2004-2005 y 2007-2008 en el sistema lagunar Ría Lagartos, México, vía análisis multivariados no paramétricos. Se comparó la densidad y biomasa de peces entre los cinco tipos de hábitats definidos por la combinación de características estructurales y ambientales (hiperhalino, rocoso, pastos, canal y marino y tres temporadas

  9. Motivational Determinants of Exergame Participation for Older People in Assisted Living Facilities: Mixed-Methods Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meekes, Wytske; Stanmore, Emma Kate

    2017-07-06

    Exergames (exercise-based videogames) for delivering strength and balance exercise for older people are growing in popularity with the emergence of new Kinect-based technologies; however, little is known about the factors affecting their uptake and usage by older people. The aim of this study was to determine the factors that may influence the motivation of older people to use exergames to improve their physical function and reduce fall risk. Mixed methods were employed in which 14 semistructured interviews were conducted with older people (n=12, aged 59-91 years) from 2 assisted living facilities in the North West of the United Kingdom. The older people participated in a 6-week trial of exergames along with one manager and one physiotherapist; 81 h of observation and Technology Acceptance Model questionnaires were conducted. The findings suggest that the participants were intrinsically motivated to participate in the exergames because of the enjoyment experienced when playing the exergames and perceived improvements in their physical and mental health and social confidence. The social interaction provided in this study was an important extrinsic motivator that increased the intrinsic motivation to adhere to the exergame program. The findings of this study suggest that exergames may be a promising tool for delivering falls prevention exercises and increasing adherence to exercise in older people. Understanding the motivation of older people to use exergames may assist in the process of implementation. ©Wytske Meekes, Emma Kate Stanmore. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 06.07.2017.

  10. Reconsidering the Grenada revolution

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jay R. Mandle

    1995-01-01

    Full Text Available [First paragraph] Caribbean Revolutions and Revolutionary Theory: An Assessment of Cuba, Nicaragua and Grenada. BRIAN MEEKS. London: Macmillan Caribbean, 1993. ix + 210 pp. (Paper n.p. The Grenada Invasion: Politics, Law, and Foreign Policy Decisionmaking. ROBERT J. BECK. Boulder: Westview, 1993. xiv + 263 pp. (Cloth US$ 49.95 The Gorrión Tree: Cuba and the Grenada Revolution. JOHN WALTON COTMAN. New York: Peter Lang, 1993. xvi + 272 pp. (Cloth US$ 48.95 These three books might be thought of as a second generation of studies concerned with the rise, rule, and destruction of the People's Revolutionary Government (PRG in Grenada. The circumstances surrounding the accession to power in 1979 of the government led by Maurice Bishop, the nature of its rule, and its violent demise in 1983 resulted in the appearance during the mid-1980s of an extensive literature on the Grenada Revolution. Some of these works were scholarly, others polemical. But what they all had in common was the desire to examine, either critically or otherwise, something which was unique in the historical experience of the English-speaking Caribbean. Never, before the rule of the New JEWEL Movement (NJM in Grenada, had a Leninist party come to power; never had a violent coup initiated a new political regime; never had a Caribbean government so explicitly rejected U.S. hegemony in the area; and never, before October 1983, had a government experienced quite so dramatic a crisis as that in Grenada, one which resulted in the killing of the Prime Minister and numerous others of his supporters.

  11. A humble task: restoring virtue in an age of conflicted interests.

    Science.gov (United States)

    DuBois, James M; Kraus, Elena M; Mikulec, Anthony A; Cruz-Flores, Salvador; Bakanas, Erin

    2013-07-01

    Virtues define how we behave when no one else is watching; accordingly, they serve as a bedrock for professional self-regulation, particularly at the level of the individual physician. From the time of William Osler through the end of the 20th century, physician virtue was viewed as an important safeguard for patients and research participants. However, the Institute of Medicine, Association of American Medical Colleges, and other policy groups-relying on social science data indicating that ethical decisions often result from unconscious and biased processes, particularly in the face of financial conflicts of interest-have increasingly rejected physician virtue as an important safeguard for patients.The authors argue that virtue is still needed in medicine-at least as a supplement to regulatory solutions (such as mandatory disclosures). For example, although rarely treated as a reportable conflict of interest, standard fee-for-service medicine can present motives to prioritize self-interest or institutional interests over patient interests. Because conflicts of interest broadly construed are ubiquitous, physician self-regulation (or professional virtue) is still needed. Therefore, the authors explore three strategies that physicians can adopt to minimize the influence of self-serving biases when making medical business ethics decisions. They further argue that humility must serve as a crowning virtue-not a meek humility but, rather, a courageous willingness to recognize one's own limitations and one's need to use "compensating strategies," such as time-outs and consultation with more objective others, when making decisions in the face of conflicting interests.

  12. Selenium in aquatic biota inhabiting agricultural drains in the Salton Sea Basin, California

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saiki, Michael K.; Martin, Barbara A.; May, Thomas W.

    2012-01-01

    Resource managers are concerned that water conservation practices in irrigated farmlands along the southern border of the Salton Sea, Imperial County, California, could increase selenium concentrations in agricultural drainwater and harm the desert pupfish (Cyprinodon macularius), a federally protected endangered species. As part of a broader attempt to address this concern, we conducted a 3-year investigation to collect baseline information on selenium concentrations in seven agricultural drains inhabited by pupfish. We collected water, sediment, selected aquatic food-chain taxa (particulate organic detritus, filamentous algae, net plankton, and midge [Chironomidae] larvae), and two poeciliid fishes (western mosquitofish Gambusia affinis and sailfin molly Poecilia latipinna) for selenium determinations. The two fish species served as ecological surrogates for pupfish, which we were not permitted to sacrifice. Dissolved selenium ranged from 0.70 to 32.8 μg/L, with selenate as the major constituent. Total selenium concentrations in other environmental matrices varied widely among drains, with one drain (Trifolium 18) exhibiting especially high concentrations in detritus, 5.98–58.0 μg Se/g; midge larvae, 12.7–50.6 μg Se/g; mosquitofish, 13.2–20.2 μg Se/g; and mollies, 12.8–30.4 μg Se/g (all tissue concentrations are based on dry weights). Although toxic thresholds for selenium in fishes from the Salton Sea are still poorly understood, available evidence suggests that ambient concentrations of this element may not be sufficiently elevated to adversely affect reproductive success and survival in selenium-tolerant poeciliids and pupfish.

  13. Phototoxic potential of undispersed and dispersed fresh and weathered Macondo crude oils to Gulf of Mexico Marine Organisms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Finch, Bryson E; Marzooghi, Solmaz; Di Toro, Dominic M; Stubblefield, William A

    2017-10-01

    Crude oils contain a mixture of hydrocarbons, including phototoxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) that have the ability to absorb ultraviolet (UV) light. Absorption of UV light by PAHs can substantially increase their toxicity to marine organisms. The objective of the present study was to examine the potential for phototoxicity of fresh and naturally weathered Macondo crude oils alone and in combination with the dispersant Corexit 9500 to mysid shrimp (Americamysis bahia), inland silverside (Menidia beryllina), sheepshead minnow (Cyprinodon variegatus), and Gulf killifish (Fundulus grandis). Acute toxicity tests were conducted using combinations of natural or artificial sunlight and low-energy water-accommodated fractions (WAFs) of fresh and weathered Macondo crude oils collected from the Gulf of Mexico. Studies were also conducted to compare the phototoxicity resulting from natural and artificial sunlight. Fresh Macondo crude oil was more phototoxic than weathered crude oils, both in the presence and in the absence of UV light. Differences in toxicity between fresh and weathered crude oils were likely attributed to lighter-ringed PAHs in fresh crude oils. Phototoxic PAHs were relatively resistant to weathering compared with lighter-ringed PAHs. The addition of Corexit 9500 to crude oil increased toxicity compared with tests with crude oil alone, by increasing phototoxic PAH concentrations in WAFs. Macondo crude oils had the potential to be phototoxic to Gulf of Mexico marine organisms if specific light conditions and PAH concentrations were present during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:2640-2650. © 2017 SETAC. © 2017 SETAC.

  14. Selenium in aquatic biota inhabiting agricultural drains in the Salton Sea Basin, California.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saiki, Michael K; Martin, Barbara A; May, Thomas W

    2012-09-01

    Resource managers are concerned that water conservation practices in irrigated farmlands along the southern border of the Salton Sea, Imperial County, California, could increase selenium concentrations in agricultural drainwater and harm the desert pupfish (Cyprinodon macularius), a federally protected endangered species. As part of a broader attempt to address this concern, we conducted a 3-year investigation to collect baseline information on selenium concentrations in seven agricultural drains inhabited by pupfish. We collected water, sediment, selected aquatic food-chain taxa (particulate organic detritus, filamentous algae, net plankton, and midge [Chironomidae] larvae), and two poeciliid fishes (western mosquitofish Gambusia affinis and sailfin molly Poecilia latipinna) for selenium determinations. The two fish species served as ecological surrogates for pupfish, which we were not permitted to sacrifice. Dissolved selenium ranged from 0.70 to 32.8 μg/L, with selenate as the major constituent. Total selenium concentrations in other environmental matrices varied widely among drains, with one drain (Trifolium 18) exhibiting especially high concentrations in detritus, 5.98-58.0 μg Se/g; midge larvae, 12.7-50.6 μg Se/g; mosquitofish, 13.2-20.2 μg Se/g; and mollies, 12.8-30.4 μg Se/g (all tissue concentrations are based on dry weights). Although toxic thresholds for selenium in fishes from the Salton Sea are still poorly understood, available evidence suggests that ambient concentrations of this element may not be sufficiently elevated to adversely affect reproductive success and survival in selenium-tolerant poeciliids and pupfish.

  15. Spin orbit coupling for molecular ab initio density matrix renormalization group calculations: Application to g-tensors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Roemelt, Michael, E-mail: michael.roemelt@theochem.rub.de [Lehrstuhl für Theoretische Chemie, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, D-44780 Bochum, Germany and Max-Planck Institut für Kohlenforschung, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz 1, 45470 Mülheim an der Ruhr (Germany)

    2015-07-28

    Spin Orbit Coupling (SOC) is introduced to molecular ab initio density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) calculations. In the presented scheme, one first approximates the electronic ground state and a number of excited states of the Born-Oppenheimer (BO) Hamiltonian with the aid of the DMRG algorithm. Owing to the spin-adaptation of the algorithm, the total spin S is a good quantum number for these states. After the non-relativistic DMRG calculation is finished, all magnetic sublevels of the calculated states are constructed explicitly, and the SOC operator is expanded in the resulting basis. To this end, spin orbit coupled energies and wavefunctions are obtained as eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the full Hamiltonian matrix which is composed of the SOC operator matrix and the BO Hamiltonian matrix. This treatment corresponds to a quasi-degenerate perturbation theory approach and can be regarded as the molecular equivalent to atomic Russell-Saunders coupling. For the evaluation of SOC matrix elements, the full Breit-Pauli SOC Hamiltonian is approximated by the widely used spin-orbit mean field operator. This operator allows for an efficient use of the second quantized triplet replacement operators that are readily generated during the non-relativistic DMRG algorithm, together with the Wigner-Eckart theorem. With a set of spin-orbit coupled wavefunctions at hand, the molecular g-tensors are calculated following the scheme proposed by Gerloch and McMeeking. It interprets the effective molecular g-values as the slope of the energy difference between the lowest Kramers pair with respect to the strength of the applied magnetic field. Test calculations on a chemically relevant Mo complex demonstrate the capabilities of the presented method.

  16. Statistics on the parameters of nonisothermal ionospheric plasma in large mesospheric electric fields

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martynenko, S.; Rozumenko, V.; Tyrnov, O.; Manson, A.; Meek, C.

    The large V/m electric fields inherent in the mesosphere play an essential role in lower ionospheric electrodynamics. They must be the cause of large variations in the electron temperature and the electron collision frequency at D region altitudes, and consequently the ionospheric plasma in the lower part of the D region undergoes a transition into a nonisothermal state. This study is based on the databases on large mesospheric electric fields collected with the 2.2-MHz radar of the Institute of Space and Atmospheric Studies, University of Saskatchewan, Canada (52°N geographic latitude, 60.4°N geomagnetic latitude) and with the 2.3-MHz radar of the Kharkiv V. Karazin National University (49.6°N geographic latitude, 45.6°N geomagnetic latitude). The statistical analysis of these data is presented in Meek, C. E., A. H. Manson, S. I. Martynenko, V. T. Rozumenko, O. F. Tyrnov, Remote sensing of mesospheric electric fields using MF radars, Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics, in press. The large mesospheric electric fields is experimentally established to follow a Rayleigh distribution in the interval 0

  17. Statistical parameters of nonisothermal lower ionospheric plasma in the electrically active mesosphere

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martynenko, S. I.; Rozumenko, V. T.; Tyrnov, O. F.; Manson, A. H.; Meek, C. E.

    The large V/m electric fields inherent in the lower mesosphere play an essential role in lower ionospheric electrodynamics. They must be the cause of large variations in the electron temperature and the electron collision frequency and consequently of the transition of the ionospheric plasma in the lower part of the D region into a nonisothermal state. This study is based on the datasets on large mesospheric electric fields collected with the 2.2-MHz radar of the Institute of Space and Atmospheric Studies, University of Saskatchewan, Canada (52°N geographic latitude, 60.4°N geomagnetic latitude), and with the 2.3-MHz radar of the Kharkiv V. Karazin National University, Ukraine (49.6°N geographic latitude, 45.6°N geomagnetic latitude). The statistical analysis of these data is presented by [Meek, C.E., Manson, A.H., Martynenko, S.I., Rozumenko, V.T., Tyrnov, O.F. Remote sensing of mesospheric electric fields using MF radars. J. Atmos. Solar-Terr. Phys. 66, 881-890, 2004. 10.1016/j.jastp.2004.02.002]. The large mesospheric electric fields in the 60-67-km altitude range are experimentally established to follow a Rayleigh distribution in the 0 < E < 2.5 V/m interval. These data have permitted the resulting differential distributions of relative disturbances in the electron temperature, θ, and the effective electron collision frequency, η, to be determined. The most probable θ and η values are found to be in the 1.4-2.2 interval, and hence the nonstationary state of the lower part of the D region needs to be accounted for in studying processes coupling the electrically active mesosphere and the lower ionospheric plasma.

  18. Hormones and phenotypic plasticity in an ecological context: linking physiological mechanisms to evolutionary processes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lema, Sean C

    2014-11-01

    Hormones are chemical signaling molecules that regulate patterns of cellular physiology and gene expression underlying phenotypic traits. Hormone-signaling pathways respond to an organism's external environment to mediate developmental stage-specific malleability in phenotypes, so that environmental variation experienced at different stages of development has distinct effects on an organism's phenotype. Studies of hormone-signaling are therefore playing a central role in efforts to understand how plastic phenotypic responses to environmental variation are generated during development. But, how do adaptive, hormonally mediated phenotypes evolve if the individual signaling components (hormones, conversion enzymes, membrane transporters, and receptors) that comprise any hormone-signaling pathway show expressional flexibility in response to environmental variation? What relevance do these components hold as molecular targets for selection to couple or decouple correlated hormonally mediated traits? This article explores how studying the endocrine underpinnings of phenotypic plasticity in an ecologically relevant context can provide insights into these, and other, crucial questions into the role of phenotypic plasticity in evolution, including how plasticity itself evolves. These issues are discussed in the light of investigations into how thyroid hormones mediate morphological plasticity in Death Valley's clade of pupfishes (Cyprinodon spp.). Findings from this work with pupfish illustrate that the study of hormone-signaling from an ecological perspective can reveal how phenotypic plasticity contributes to the generation of phenotypic novelty, as well as how physiological mechanisms developmentally link an organism's phenotype to its environmental experiences. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. All rights reserved. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  19. Environmental assessment of an alkyl dimethyl benyzl ammonium chloride (ADBAC) based mollusicide using laboratory tests

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dobbs, M.G.; Cherry, D.S.; Scott, J.C. [Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA (United States); Petrille, J.C. [Betz Water Management Center, Trevose, PA (United States)

    1995-06-01

    A series of acute and chronic toxicity tests were conducted to estimate the potential environmental impact of n-alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride (ADBAC) when used to control zebra mussels and other types of macrofouling organism in industrial cooling systems. The ADBAC-based molluscicide was tested as pure product and often detoxification with bentonite clay. Six flow-through acute tests were conducted to estimate the toxicity of ADBAC. In addition three chronic toxicity tests using Pimephales promelas, Daphnia magna and Selenastrum capricornutum were carried out to evaluate the efficacy of complexing the ADBAC-based molluscicide with a bentonite clay as a detoxification strategy. A 29-day CO{sub 2} Production test was also conducted to evaluate the biodegradability of the molluscicide. Of the six species tested in acute flow-through experiments, D. magna (LC{sub 50} = 0.02 mg ADBAC/L) was the most sensitive species followed by Mysidopsis bahia (LC{sub 50} = 0.08 mg ADBAC/L), Menidia beryllina (LC{sub 50} = 0.88 mg ADBAC/L), P. promelas (LC{sub 50} = 0.36 mg ADBAC/L), Cyprinodon variegatus (LC{sub 50} = 0.88 mg ADBAC/L), and Oncorhynchus mykiss (LC{sub 50} = 1.01 mg ADBAC/L). In the detoxification studies the three test species were exposed to treatment levels of: 0:0, 2.5:0, 2.5:25, 2.5:37.5, 2.5:50, 2.5:75, and 0:75 as mg/L ADBAC:clay. Bentonite clay was found to be an effective detoxification agent for this molluscicide at all treatment levels, except for the 2.5:25 treatment. In addition, a biodegradation study showed that the ADBAC-based molluscicide was readily biodegradable by unacclimated activated sludge microorganisms releasing 65.9% of the theoretical possible CO{sub 2} after 29 days.

  20. Toxicity of binary chemical munition destruction products: methylphosphonic acid, methylphosphinic acid, 2-diisopropylaminoethanol, DF neutralent, and QL neutralent.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watson, Rebecca E; Hafez, Ahmed M; Kremsky, Jonathan N; Bizzigotti, George O

    2007-01-01

    This paper reports the toxicity and environmental impact of neutralents produced from the hydrolysis of binary chemical agent precursor chemicals DF (methylphosphonic difluoride) and QL (2-[bis(1-methylethyl)amino]ethyl ethyl methylphosphonite). Following a literature review of the neutralent mixtures and constituents, basic toxicity tests were conducted to fill data gaps, including acute oral and dermal median lethal dose assays, the Ames mutagenicity test, and ecotoxicity tests. For methylphosphonic acid (MPA), a major constituent of DF neutralent, the acute oral LD(50) in the Sprague-Dawley rat was measured at 1888 mg/kg, and the Ames test using typical tester strains of Salmonella typhimurium and Escherichia coli was negative. The 48-h LC(50) values for pH-adjusted DF neutralent with Daphnia magna and Cyprinodon variegatus were > 2500 mg/L and 1593 mg/L, respectively. The acute oral LD(50) values in the rat for QL neutralent constituents methylphosphinic acid (MP) and 2-diisopropylaminoethanol (KB) were both determined to be 940 mg/kg, and the Ames test was negative for both. Good Laboratory Practice (GLP)-compliant ecotoxicity tests for MP and KB gave 48-h D. magna EC(50) values of 6.8 mg/L and 83 mg/L, respectively. GLP-compliant 96-h C. variegatus assays on MP and KB gave LC(50) values of 73 and 252 mg/L, respectively, and NOEC values of 22 and 108 mg/L. QL neutralent LD(50) values for acute oral and dermal toxicity tests were both > 5000 mg/kg, and the 48-h LD(50) values for D. magna and C. variegatus were 249 and 2500 mg/L, respectively. Using these data, the overall toxicity of the neutralents was assessed.

  1. Data used for Raimondo et al. 2016 "Effects of Louisiana Crude Oil on the Sheepshead Minnow (Cyprinodon variegatus) During a Life-Cycle Exposure to Laboratory Oiled Sediment"

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — Data are provided describing reproduction, length, weight, liver weight, and ovary weight in fish exposed to sediment spiked with weathered oil. Data are also...

  2. Overview of aerosol properties associated with air masses sampled by the ATR-42 during the EUCAARI campaign (2008

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Crumeyrolle

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available Within the frame of the European Aerosol Cloud Climate and Air Quality Interactions (EUCAARI project, the Météo-France aircraft ATR-42 performed 22 research flights over central Europe and the North Sea during the intensive observation period in May 2008. For the campaign, the ATR-42 was equipped to study the aerosol physical, chemical, hygroscopic and optical properties, as well as cloud microphysics. For the 22 research flights, retroplume analyses along the flight tracks were performed with FLEXPART in order to classify air masses into five sectors of origin, allowing for a qualitative evaluation of emission influence on the respective air parcel. This study shows that the extensive aerosol parameters (aerosol mass and number concentrations show vertical decreasing gradients and in some air masses maximum mass concentrations (mainly organics in an intermediate layer (1–3 km. The observed mass concentrations (in the boundary layer (BL: between 10 and 30 μg m−3; lower free troposphere (LFT: 0.8 and 14 μg m−3 are high especially in comparison with the 2015 European norms for PM2.5 (25 μg m−3 and with previous airborne studies performed over England (Morgan et al., 2009; McMeeking et al., 2012. Particle number size distributions show a larger fraction of particles in the accumulation size range in the LFT compared to BL. The chemical composition of submicron aerosol particles is dominated by organics in the BL, while ammonium sulphate dominates the submicron aerosols in the LFT, especially in the aerosol particles originated from north-eastern Europe (~ 80%, also experiencing nucleation events along the transport. As a consequence, first the particle CCN acting ability, shown by the CCN/CN ratio, and second the average values of the scattering cross sections of optically active particles (i.e. scattering coefficient divided by the optical active particle concentration are increased in the LFT compared to BL.

  3. End of life and life after death - issues to be addressed

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Poojar Sridhar

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Being an Oncologist, I have seen many patients suffering from cancer. It pains a lot looking at them fighting the battle of life, though knowing that they would lose miserably and surrender meekly as majority of the patients report to the hospital at an advanced stage of disease and only palliative care may be the option. There is an urgent need to create - Cancer Awareness in the villages and also about the end of life care in all terminally ill patients. 20 patients in the terminal phase were questioned regarding end of life care. The common questions they asked are, why has God punished me like this? Why me on earth? Should I die so early? Why should I leave my near and dear ones and go far away, from the point of no return? Do I ever see them again? With deep sorrow and sigh, they suffer till the last breath, having the feeling of insecurity as what would happen to their dear ones. In the terminal phase, the patients wishes must be respected and their needs must be fulfilled. The health care professionals should plan an appropriate care for each patient. Most of them feel that the best place to be in end of life is the home. Research has shown that Hospice care may improve the quality of life of a patient who is dying and of the patient′s family. Communication about end of life care and decision making during the final moments of a person′s life are very important. The patients suffering are mainly due to the physical, psychological, social and spiritual issues. Death of a terminally ill patient should never be a sudden loss. All healthcare professionals, Social workers and Non-Governmental Organisations must install the life after death of the person, who has struggled for every breath and assure that he/she shall rest in peace and shall smile seeing their near and dear ones living with dignity and pride in the society. Ultimately, the patient must have dignity in dying.

  4. The chronic toxicity of molybdate to marine organisms. I. Generating reliable effects data

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heijerick, D.G.; Regoli, L.; Stubblefield, W.

    2012-01-01

    A scientific research program was initiated by the International Molybdenum Association (IMOA) which addressed identified gaps in the environmental toxicity data for the molybdate ion (MoO 4 2− ). These gaps were previously identified during the preparation of EU-REACH-dossiers for different molybdenum compounds (European Union regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemical substances; EC, 2006). Evaluation of the open literature identified few reliable marine ecotoxicological data that could be used for deriving a Predicted No-Effect Concentration (PNEC) for the marine environment. Rather than calculating a PNEC marine using the assessment factor methodology on a combined freshwater/marine dataset, IMOA decided to generate sufficient reliable marine chronic data to permit derivation of a PNEC by means of the more scientifically robust species sensitivity distribution (SSD) approach (also called the statistical extrapolation approach). Nine test species were chronically exposed to molybdate (added as sodium molybdate dihydrate, Na 2 MoO 4 ·2H 2 O) according to published standard testing guidelines that are acceptable for a broad range of regulatory purposes. The selected test organisms were representative for typical marine trophic levels: micro-algae/diatom (Phaeodactylum tricornutum, Dunaliella tertiolecta), macro-alga (Ceramium tenuicorne), mysids (Americamysis bahia), copepod (Acartia tonsa), fish (Cyprinodon variegatus), echinoderms (Dendraster exentricus, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) and molluscs (Mytilus edulis, Crassostrea gigas). Available NOEC/EC 10 levels ranged between 4.4 mg Mo/L (blue mussel M. edulis) and 1174 mg Mo/L (oyster C. gigas). Using all available reliable marine chronic effects data that are currently available, a HC 5,50% (median hazardous concentration affecting 5% of the species) of 5.74 (mg Mo)/L was derived with the statistical extrapolation approach, a value that can be used for national and

  5. Relative distribution and abundance of fishes and crayfish in 2010 and 2014 prior to saltcedar (Tamarix ssp.) removal in the Amargosa River Canyon, southeastern California

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hereford, Mark E.

    2016-07-22

    The Amargosa River Canyon, located in the Mojave Desert of southeastern California, contains the longest perennial reach of the Amargosa River. Because of its diverse flora and fauna, it has been designated as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern and a Wild and Scenic River by the Bureau of Land Management. A survey of fishes conducted in summer 2010 indicated that endemic Amargosa River pupfish (Cyprinodon nevadensis amargosae) and speckled dace (Rhinichthys osculus spp.) were abundant and occurred throughout the Amargosa River Canyon. The 2010 survey reported non-native red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) and western mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) captures were significantly higher, whereas pupfish captures were lower, in areas dominated by non-native saltcedar (Tamarix ssp.). Based on the 2010 survey, it was hypothesized that the invasion of saltcedar could result in a decrease in native species. In an effort to maintain and enhance native fish populations, the Bureau of Land Management removed saltcedar from a 1,550 meter reach of stream on the Amargosa River in autumn 2014 and autumn 2015. Prior to the removal of saltcedar, a survey of fishes and crayfish using baited minnow traps was conducted in the treatment reach to serve as a baseline for future comparisons with post-saltcedar removal surveys. During the 2014 survey, 1,073 pupfish and 960 speckled dace were captured within the treatment reach. Catch per unit effort of pupfish and speckled dace in the treatment reach was less in 2014 than in 2010, although differences could be owing to seasonal variation in capture probability. Non-native mosquitofish catch per unit effort decreased from 2010 to 2014; however, the catch per unit effort of crayfish increased from 2010 to 2014. Future monitoring efforts of this reach should be conducted at the same time period to account for potential seasonal fluctuations of abundance and distribution of fishes and crayfish. A more robust study design that

  6. Hepatozoon species (Adeleorina: Hepatozoidae) of African bufonids, with morphological description and molecular diagnosis of Hepatozoon ixoxo sp. nov. parasitising three Amietophrynus species (Anura: Bufonidae).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Netherlands, Edward C; Cook, Courtney A; Smit, Nico J

    2014-12-20

    Haemogregarines comprise a large group of apicomplexan blood parasites. In 1996 all anuran haemogregarines still in the genus Haemogregarina Danilewsky, 1885 were reassigned to the genus Hepatozoon Miller, 1908. Most (11/15, 73%) African anuran Hepatozoon species have been recorded from the family Bufonidae, however, all these are recorded from only two host species, Amietophrynus mauritanicus (Schlegel, 1841) and Amietophrynus regularis (Reuss, 1833) from Northern and central Africa. To the authors' knowledge the only description of an anuran haemogregarine from South Africa is Hepatozoon theileri (Laveran, 1905), parasitising Amietia quecketti (Boulenger, 1895). Thin blood smears for morphometrics and whole blood for molecular work, were collected from 32 Amietophrynus garmani (Meek, 1897), 12 Amietophrynus gutturalis (Power, 1927), and nine Amietophrynus maculatus (Hallowell, 1854), in Ndumo Game Reserve and Kwa Nyamazane Conservancy, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Smears were Giemsa-stained, screened for haemogregarines, parasite stages measured, compared to each other and to other described African bufonid haemogregarines. Parasite 18S rDNA was amplified using two apicomplexan-specific primer sets, HepF300/HepR900 and 4558/2733. Resulting sequences of the haemogregarine isolates from the three Amietophrynus species were compared with each other and to comparative haemogregarine sequences selected from GenBank. Morphological characteristics of parasite stages, in particular characteristically capped mature gamont stages, and molecular findings, supported all three haemogregarine isolates from all three Amietophrynus species to be the same, a species of Hepatozoon, and furthermore different morphologically from other previously recorded bufonid Hepatozoon species. The haemogregarine fell within a clade comprising other anuran Hepatozoon species and furthermore, within a monophyletic sub-clade along with H. theileri and are described as Hepatozoon ixoxo sp. nov

  7. The splendor of control.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maguire, D C

    1994-01-01

    Public reaction to the Roman Catholic Pope's encyclical, Veritatis Splendor, has been meek and has missed identifying the major flaw in the work. The encyclical is a study of how humans recognize truth. The Pope acknowledges our universal search for and desire for truth, but cautions that the devil and original sin weaken our capacity to recognize truth when we see it. This alarming assertion is followed by the Catholic Church's claim that it is capable of teaching the truth through the will of Jesus Christ. The Catholic Church claims its authority extends to even the most controversial and complex matters and includes the entire moral order. To defend this fantastic idea, the Pope refers to the notion given voice at the First Vatican Council in 1869-70 that if he makes a statement, it is true. If it were not true, something would happen to prevent its being made. This quaint argument has allowed a series of Popes to rise above "mere" theology. We see this type of thinking in cult leaders and Ayatollahs who claim special pipelines to the mind of God. It is this embarrassing claim, which is not only ridiculous but sacrilegious, that is the most alarming element in the encyclical. Traditional Catholic theology has always insisted on a balance provided by the discerning power of the faithful, theological authors, and Church hierarchy. The Pope simply ignores this and states that he can provide solutions to everything all on his on. He also wants his views presented throughout the world and in the United Nations decision-making processes through the nationhood of the Vatican. Individuals who follow his teachings and are hurt (or even die) in the process are deemed "martyrs" by the Church when, in fact, they are only martyrs to ignorance. Veritas Splendor is a dangerous document. It may cause Catholic hospitals to lose either their tax-exempt status or their designation as "Catholic." This encyclical reverts to the "one true church" thinking abandoned by Vatican II. It

  8. The chronic toxicity of molybdate to marine organisms. I. Generating reliable effects data

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Heijerick, D.G., E-mail: Dagobert.heijerick@arche-consulting.be [ARCHE - Assessing Risks of Chemicals, Stapelplein 70 Bus 104, Gent (Belgium); Regoli, L. [International Molybdenum Association, 4 Heathfield Terrace, London, W4 4JE (United Kingdom); Stubblefield, W. [Oregon State University, Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology, 421 Weniger Hall, Corvallis, OR 97331 (United States)

    2012-07-15

    A scientific research program was initiated by the International Molybdenum Association (IMOA) which addressed identified gaps in the environmental toxicity data for the molybdate ion (MoO{sub 4}{sup 2-}). These gaps were previously identified during the preparation of EU-REACH-dossiers for different molybdenum compounds (European Union regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemical substances; EC, 2006). Evaluation of the open literature identified few reliable marine ecotoxicological data that could be used for deriving a Predicted No-Effect Concentration (PNEC) for the marine environment. Rather than calculating a PNEC{sub marine} using the assessment factor methodology on a combined freshwater/marine dataset, IMOA decided to generate sufficient reliable marine chronic data to permit derivation of a PNEC by means of the more scientifically robust species sensitivity distribution (SSD) approach (also called the statistical extrapolation approach). Nine test species were chronically exposed to molybdate (added as sodium molybdate dihydrate, Na{sub 2}MoO{sub 4}{center_dot}2H{sub 2}O) according to published standard testing guidelines that are acceptable for a broad range of regulatory purposes. The selected test organisms were representative for typical marine trophic levels: micro-algae/diatom (Phaeodactylum tricornutum, Dunaliella tertiolecta), macro-alga (Ceramium tenuicorne), mysids (Americamysis bahia), copepod (Acartia tonsa), fish (Cyprinodon variegatus), echinoderms (Dendraster exentricus, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) and molluscs (Mytilus edulis, Crassostrea gigas). Available NOEC/EC{sub 10} levels ranged between 4.4 mg Mo/L (blue mussel M. edulis) and 1174 mg Mo/L (oyster C. gigas). Using all available reliable marine chronic effects data that are currently available, a HC{sub 5,50%} (median hazardous concentration affecting 5% of the species) of 5.74 (mg Mo)/L was derived with the statistical extrapolation approach, a

  9. EDITORIAL: Special issue in honour of J E Allen's 75th birthday

    Science.gov (United States)

    Franklin, R. N.

    2003-11-01

    This issue of Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics is dedicated to Professor John Allen who has spent most of his professional life in the Department of Engineering Science, Oxford University, working on problems in gas discharges and plasma physics. His first degrees and doctorate were taken at Liverpool University in the 1950s where at the time there was an internationally renowned group led by Meek, Craggs and Edels. He then spent some time at Frascati in Italy on secondment from Harwell, helping to build up expertise there. He returned to England in the mid-1960s, first to Cambridge, but he soon migrated to Oxford to University College and the Department of Engineering Science to strengthen a team that already included von Engel, Motz and Woods with more recent reinforcement by Howatson and myself. Thus there was built up both a post-graduate MSc course and what amounted to a graduate school producing many scientists who have since distinguished themselves in all parts of the world. The prospects for success in the quest for fusion and the proximity of Culham Laboratory produced a heady mix. But the timescales lengthened and fashions changed. However, John moved with the times and he and his research students made notable contributions to the understanding of dusty plasmas and to radio-frequency plasmas used in the processing of microchips. The structure at Oxford was such that the recognition of a professorship came late in his career, but his international reputation was well established much earlier. Being freed of tutorial duties he has travelled much in recent years and has been Chairman of the International Conference on Phenomena in Ionized Gases (ICPIG) 1999-2001 and directly involved in the international effort to carry out dusty plasma experiments in space under micro-gravity conditions. For my part, having known John as a colleague over the past forty years, he has been a valuable point of reference when one needed someone to comment on new ideas, a

  10. Book Reviews

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Book Review Editor, Christien Klaufus

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Rebel Mexico: Student Unrest and Authoritarian Political Culture During the Long Sixties, by Jaime M. Pensado, 2013, and Specters of Revolution: Peasant Guerrillas in the Cold War Mexican Countryside, by Alexander Aviña, 2014; reviewed by Wil G. PanstersWe are the face of Oaxaca: Testimony and Social Movements, by Lynn Stephen, 2013; reviewed by Jaime HoogestegerMaya Exodus: Indigenous struggle for citizenship in Chiapas, by Heidi Moksnes, 2012; reviewed by Gemma van der HaarLand and Freedom: The MST, the Zapatistas and Peasant Alternatives to Neoliberalism, by Leandro Vergara-Camus, 2014; reviewed by Jonathan DeVoreIndigenous Movements and Building the Plurinational State in Bolivia: Organisation and Identity in the Trajectory of the CSUTCB and CONAMAQ, by Radosław Powęska, 2013; reviewed by Ton SalmanMovimientos estudiantiles en la historia de América Latina IV, coordinado por Renate Marsiske, 2015; reseñado por Andrés Donoso RomoEl corazón de los libros, Alzate y Bartolache: Lectores y escritores novohispanos (S. XVIII, by Mauricio Sánchez Menchero, 2012; reviewed by Helge WendtAurality: Listening and Knowledge in Nineteenth-Century Colombia, por Ana María Ochoa Gautier, 2014; reseñado por Mercedes López RodríguezThe Vanguard of the Atlantic World: Creating Modernity, Nation, and Democracy in Nineteenth-Century Latin America, by James E. Sanders, 2014; reviewed by Michiel BaudMexico’s Once and Future Revolution: Social Upheaval and the Challenge of Rule since the Late Nineteenth Century, by Gilbert M. Joseph and Jürgen Buchenau, 2013; reviewed by Dirk KruijtThe Great Depression in Latin America, coordinado por Paulo Drinot and Alan Knight, 2014; reseñado por Juan Carlos KorolEnhancing Democracy. Public Policies and Citizen Participation in Chile, by Gonzalo Delamaza, 2014; reviewed by Camila Jara IbarraCritical Interventions in Caribbean Politics and Theory, by Brian Meeks, 2014; reviewed by Hebe VerrestBlack Power in the

  11. Year 3 Summary Report: Baseline Selenium Monitoring of Agricultural Drains Operated by the Imperial Irrigation District in the Salton Sea Basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saiki, Michael K.; Martin, Barbara A.; May, Thomas W.

    2008-01-01

    This report summarizes findings from the third year of a 4-year-long field investigation to document selected baseline environmental conditions in 29 agricultural drains and ponds operated by the Imperial Irrigation District along the southern border of the Salton Sea. Routine water quality and fish species were measured at roughly quarterly intervals from April 2007 to January 2008. The water quality measurements included total suspended solids and total (particulate plus dissolved) selenium. In addition, during April and October 2007, water samples were collected from seven intensively monitored drains for measurement of particulate and dissolved selenium, including inorganic and organic fractions. In addition, sediment, aquatic food chain matrices (particulate organic detritus, filamentous algae, net plankton, and midge [chironomid] larvae), and two fish species (western mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis; and sailfin molly, Poecilia latipinna) were sampled from the seven drains for measurement of total selenium concentrations. The mosquitofish and mollies were intended to serve as surrogates for desert pupfish (Cyprinodon macularius), an endangered species that we were not permitted to take for selenium determinations. Water quality values were typical of surface waters in a hot desert climate. A few drains exhibited brackish, near anoxic conditions especially during the summer and fall when water temperatures occasionally exceeded 30 degrees C. In general, total selenium concentrations in water varied directly with conductivity and inversely with pH. Although desert pupfish were found in several drains, sometimes in relatively high numbers, the fish faunas of most drains and ponds were dominated by nonnative species, especially red shiner (Cyprinella lutrensis), mosquitofish, and mollies. Dissolved selenium in water samples from the seven intensively monitored drains ranged from 0.700 to 24.1 ug/L, with selenate as the major constituent in all samples. Selenium

  12. Information Rx Program Requires More Promotion, More Support and Some Adjustment. A Review of: Meeks, K. (2009. Information Rx: Promotion and utilization by Georgia librarians and the Georgia American College of Physicians. Journal of Consumer Health on the Internet, 13, 129-134.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Matthew Thomas

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Objective – To determine the level of awareness of the Information Rx program by Georgia librarians and Georgia American College of Physicians (GACP members, and the use of Information Rx pads, with which physicians would “prescribe” information for their patients.Design – Descriptive (surveys and interviews.Setting – Georgia, U.S. Surveys were distributed and responded to online. The face-to-face interview locations were not specified.Subjects – One survey, which was provided to the Georgia American College of Physicians (GACP membership including internal medicine physicians and medical students interested in internal medicine, had 46 respondents. The second survey was sent to librarians who were members of the Georgia Public Library Service (GPLS and the Georgia Health Sciences Library Association (GHSLA. There were 72 public librarians, 14 hospital librarians and 13 academic medical librarians who responded (as well as 6 not specified in the article. A select group of four medical librarians was chosen for more in-depth interviews. The number of surveys sent out was not provided.Methods – Two online surveys, one for physicians and one for librarians, were administered. No information concerning response rate was provided. Face-to-face interviews with four academic medical librarians were conducted. No further information about the interviewing process was provided such as who conducted the interviews, methods used to ensure objectivity or consistency, or where the interviews were conducted.Main Results – Out of 46 GACP survey respondents, only 4 were familiar with the Information Rx program and only 2 of those had used the information Rx pads, neither of whom had referred anyone to a library for further assistance. The two who had not used the pads were either too busy or didn’t understand the program well enough. Of 105 librarian survey respondents, 46 had heard of Information Rx, 37 had received Information Rx promotional materials, and 12 reported helping patrons look for information on MedlinePlus ‘‘prescribed’’ to them by their doctors. Responses to the open-ended interview questions given to the four interviewed librarians were mixed regarding receipt of program materials, negative regarding the effectiveness of the program, and reported no awareness of any patrons having been helped with information “prescriptions.” To improve the program’s success, the author suggested steps such as providing promotional information on the MedlinePlus site, better integration between MedlinePlus and Information Rx, involving librarians somehow in the process as a whole given their ability to help users navigate and understand MedlinePlus, and marketed more to nurses given their front-line responsibilities.Conclusion – Although the program is somewhat useful, Information Rx has not been promoted or supported sufficiently. Information needs to be linked on the MedlinePlus website, clarification of the program and that it is available at no charge should be emphasized. Librarians should be involved and the target audience may need to be changed to include nurses.

  13. Final Report: Baseline Selenium Monitoring of Agricultural Drains Operated by the Imperial Irrigation District in the Salton Sea Basin, California

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saiki, Michael K.; Martin, Barbara A.; May, Thomas W.

    2010-01-01

    This report summarizes comprehensive findings from a 4-year-long field investigation to document baseline environmental conditions in 29 agricultural drains and ponds operated by the Imperial Irrigation District along the southern border of the Salton Sea. Routine water-quality collections and fish community assessments were conducted on as many as 16 sampling dates at roughly quarterly intervals from July 2005 to April 2009. The water-quality measurements included total suspended solids and total (particulate plus dissolved) selenium. With one exception, fish were surveyed with baited minnow traps at quarterly intervals during the same time period. However, in July 2007, fish surveys were not conducted because we lacked permission from the California Department of Fish and Game for incidental take of desert pupfish (Cyprinodon macularius), an endangered species. During April and October 2006-08, water samples also were collected from seven intensively monitored drains (which were selected from the 29 total drains) for measurement of particulate and dissolved selenium, including inorganic and organic fractions. In addition, sediment, aquatic food chain matrices [particulate organic detritus, filamentous algae, net plankton, and midge (chironomid) larvae], and two fish species (western mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis; and sailfin molly, Poecilia latipinna) were sampled from the seven drains for measurement of total selenium concentrations. The mosquitofish and mollies were intended to serve as surrogates for pupfish, which we were not permitted to sacrifice for selenium determinations. Water quality (temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, specific conductance, and turbidity) values were typical of surface waters in a hot, arid climate. A few drains exhibited brackish, near-anoxic conditions, especially during summer and fall when water temperatures occasionally exceeded 30 degrees Celsius. Total selenium concentrations in water were directly correlated with salinity and

  14. Compilation of hydrologic data for White Sands pupfish habitat and nonhabitat areas, northern Tularosa Basin, White Sands Missile Range and Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, 1911-2008

    Science.gov (United States)

    Naus, C.A.; Myers, R.G.; Saleh, D.K.; Myers, N.C.

    2014-01-01

    The White Sands pupfish (Cyprinodon tularosa), listed as threatened by the State of New Mexico and as a Federal species of concern, is endemic to the Tularosa Basin, New Mexico. Because water quality can affect pupfish and the environmental conditions of their habitat, a comprehensive compilation of hydrologic data for pupfish habitat and nonhabitat areas in the northern Tularosa Basin was undertaken by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with White Sands Missile Range. The four locations within the Tularosa Basin that are known pupfish habitat areas are the Salt Creek, Malpais Spring and Malpais Salt Marsh, Main Mound Spring, and Lost River habitat areas. Streamflow data from the Salt Creek near Tularosa streamflow-gaging station indicated that the average annual mean streamflow and average annual total streamflow for water years 1995–2008 were 1.35 cubic feet per second (ft3/s) and 983 acre-feet, respectively. Periods of no flow were observed in water years 2002 through 2006. Dissolved-solids concentrations in Salt Creek samples collected from 1911 through 2007 ranged from 2,290 to 66,700 milligrams per liter (mg/L). The average annual mean streamflow and average annual total streamflow at the Malpais Spring near Oscura streamflow-gaging station for water years 2003–8 were 6.81 ft3/s and 584 acre-feet, respectively. Dissolved-solids concentrations for 16 Malpais Spring samples ranged from 3,882 to 5,500 mg/L. Isotopic data for a Malpais Spring near Oscura water sample collected in 1982 indicated that the water was more than 27,900 years old. Streamflow from Main Mound Spring was estimated at 0.007 ft3/s in 1955 and 1957 and ranged from 0.02 to 0.07 ft3/s from 1996 to 2001. Dissolved-solids concentrations in samples collected between 1955 and 2007 ranged from an estimated 3,760 to 4,240 mg/L in the upper pond and 4,840 to 5,120 mg/L in the lower pond. Isotopic data for a Main Mound Spring water sample collected in 1982 indicated that the water was about

  15. Book reviews

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Redactie KITLV

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available The Atlantic World, 1450-2000, edited by Toyin Falola & Kevin D. Roberts (reviewed by Aaron Spencer Fogleman The Slave Ship: A Human History, by Marcus Rediker (reviewed by Justin Roberts Extending the Frontiers: Essays on the New Transatlantic Slave Trade Database, edited by David Eltis & David Richardson (reviewed by Joseph C. Miller "New Negroes from Africa": Slave Trade Abolition and Free African Settlement in the Nineteenth-Century Caribbean, by Rosanne Marion Adderley (reviewed by Nicolette Bethel Atlantic Diasporas: Jews, Conversos, and Crypto-Jews in the Age of Mercantilism, 1500-1800, edited by Richard L. Kagan & Philip D. Morgan (reviewed by Jonathan Schorsch Brother’s Keeper: The United States, Race, and Empire in the British Caribbean, 1937-1962, by Jason C. Parker (reviewed by Charlie Whitham Labour and the Multiracial Project in the Caribbean: Its History and Promise, by Sara Abraham (reviewed by Douglas Midgett Envisioning Caribbean Futures: Jamaican Perspectives, by Brian Meeks (reviewed by Gina Athena Ulysse Archibald Monteath: Igbo, Jamaican, Moravian, by Maureen Warner-Lewis (reviewed by Jon Sensbach Left of Karl Marx: The Political Life of Black Communist Claudia Jones, by Carole Boyce Davies (reviewed by Linden Lewis Displacements and Transformations in Caribbean Cultures, edited by Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert & Ivette Romero-Cesareo (reviewed by Bill Maurer Caribbean Migration to Western Europe and the United States: Essays on Incorporation, Identity, and Citizenship, edited by Margarita Cervantes-Rodríguez, Ramón Grosfoguel & Eric Mielants (reviewed by Gert Oostindie Home Cooking in the Global Village: Caribbean Food from Buccaneers to Ecotourists, by Richard Wilk (reviewed by William H. Fisher Dead Man in Paradise: Unraveling a Murder from a Time of Revolution, by J.B. MacKinnon (reviewed by Edward Paulino Tropical Zion: General Trujillo, FDR, and the Jews of Sos

  16. Freshwater fish’s spatial patterns in isolated water springs in North-eastern Mexico

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jorge Palacio-Núñez

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available The Media Luna lake-spring was selected as representative of all thermal or no thermal springs in the zone of Valley of Rioverde, a semi-arid vegetation in the North-eastern of Mexico. This system is inhabited by 11 fish species, of which six are native. Four of the native species are endemic to the region and threatened due to touristic pressure and to the introduction of exotic species. The objectives were to determine the characteristics that influence the spatial distribution of the fish species, to analyze their spatial distribution patterns, and to describe the relationships between the different species. The general aim was to establish some basis for the conservation of these fish communities and their habitat. Several sessions were initiated in 1992 through direct observation. Later, between 1998 and 1999 five systematically seasonal sampling sessions were conducted (54 subaquatic transects/session. Finally, the data was updated by sampling in summer 2002 and winter 2006. Through the analysis was performed only for endemics of the region, like Ataeniobius toweri Meek, Cualac tessellatus Miller, Cichlasoma bartoni Bean and C. labridens Pellegrin, in at least one life stage, showed correlation with habitat variables or with other species. For these species, patterns of spatial aggregation and association with other species were observed. These results show a certain degree of specialization of endemic species to some microhabitat characteristics, as well as a significant interaction with other native species which they coexist. In addition, some significant relations between endemic and alien species suggest an antagonist relation. Management actions focused in the touristic use of the spring represent the main threat for these species, followed by an adequate management of exotic species. This study provides basis for future responsible management of these wetlands, where tourism and conservation can be combined. Rev. Biol. Trop. 58 (1

  17. Formation of Nanophase Iron in Lunar Soil Simulant for Use in ISRU Studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Yang; Taylor, Lawrence A.; Hill, Eddy; Day, James D. M.

    2005-01-01

    discovered the presence of abundant np-Fe(sup 0) particles in the glass patinas coating most soil particles. Therefore, the correlation of glass content and magnetic susceptibility can be explained by the presence of the np-Feo particles in glass: small particles contain relatively more np-Fe(sup 0) as glass coatings because the surface area versus mass ratio of the grain size is so increased. The magnetic properties of lunar soil are important in dust mitigation on the Moon (Taylor et al. 2005). Thus material simulating this property is important for testing mitigation methods using electromagnetic field. This np- Fe(sup 0) also produces a unique energy coupling to normal microwaves, such as present in kitchen microwave ovens. Effectively, a portion of lunar soil placed in a normal 2.45 GHz oven will melt at greater than 1200 C before your tea will boil at 100 C, a startling and new discovery reported by Taylor and Meek (2004, 2005). Several methods have been investigated in attempts to make nanophase-sized Feo dispersed within silicate glass; like in the lunar glass. We have been successful in synthesizing such a product and continue to improve on our recipe. We have performed extensive experimentation on this subject to date. Ultimately it will probably be necessary to add this np-Fe(sup 0) bearing silicate glass to lunar soil stimulant, like JSC-1, to actually produce the desired magnetic and microwave coupling properties for use in appropriate ISRU experimentation.

  18. PREFACE: Alexei Zamolodchikov Alexei Zamolodchikov

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bazhanov, V.; Belavin, A.; Pugai, Y.; Tsfasman, M.; Zamolodchikov, A.

    2009-07-01

    of the realization of profoundly significant scientific projects. Aliosha Zamolodchikov was not just a great scientist, but an extraordinary person. In the sweeping flow of condolences from all over the world, not only do grieving friends and colleagues write about his genius and amazing scientific intuition, but also about his kindness, openness and the absence of haughtiness; about his sense of humor, often quite keen; his simplicity and humility; his ability to support, encourage, and help; his nobleness and magnanimity. These words remind us of those from the New Testament that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, meekness...that is how we remember him. Acknowledgements This special issue of Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical presents papers based on talks given at the conference in memory of Alexei Zamolodchikov, 'Liouville Gravity and Statistical Models', held in Moscow on 21-24 June 2008. This conference was organized by the Quantum Field Theory Laboratory at the Landau Institute and by the J-V Poncelet French-Russian Mathematical Laboratory at the Moscow Center for Continuous Mathematical Education. The organisation committee of the conference would like to thank the Moscow Center for Continuous Mathematical Education, the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, the Dynasty Foundation for Non-Commercial Programs and Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical for their support.

  19. New species of ice nucleating fungi in soil and air

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fröhlich-Nowoisky, Janine; Hill, Thomas C. J.; Pummer, Bernhard G.; Franc, Gray D.; Pöschl, Ulrich

    2014-05-01

    -8°C. The IN seem not be bound to cells because they can be easily washed off the mycelium. They pass through a 0.1 µm filter and can be inactivated by 60°C treatment. Ongoing investigations of various soil and air samples indicate that diverse ice nucleation active fungi from more than one phylum are not only present in air and soil but can also be abundant components of the cultivable community. A recently discovered group of IN fungi in soil was also found to possess easily suspendable IN smaller than 300 kDa. Ice nucleating fungal mycelium may ramify topsoils and release cell-free IN into it. If some of these IN survive decomposition or are adsorbed onto mineral surfaces this contribution will accumulate over time, perhaps to be transported with soil dust and influencing its ice nucleating properties. Thanks for collaboration and support to M.O. Andreae, B. Baumgartner, I. Germann-Müller, T. Godwill, L.E. Hanson, A.T. Kunert, J. Meeks, T. Pooya, S. Lelieveld, J. Odhiambo Obuya, C. Ruzene-Nespoli, and D. Sebazungu. The Max Planck Society (MPG), Ice Nuclei research UnIT (INUIT), the German Research Foundation (PO1013/5-1), and the National Science Foundation (NSF, grant 0841542) are acknowledged for financial support. 1. Fröhlich-Nowoisky, J., et al. (2009) Proc. Natl Acad. Sci., 106, 12814-12819 2. Després, V. R., et al. (2012) Tellus B, 64, 15598 3. Georgakopoulos, D.G., et al. (2009) Biogeosciences, 6, 721-737 4. Pouleur, S., et al. (1992) Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 58, 2960-2964 5. Burrows, S.M., et al. (2009a) Atmos. Chem. Phys., 9, (23), 9281-9297 6. Burrows, S.M., et al. (2009b) Atmos. Chem. Phys., 9, (23), 9263-9280 7. Fröhlich-Nowoisky, J., et al. (2012) Biogeosciences, 9, 1125-1136 8. Huffman A. J. et al. (2013) Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 6151-6164

  20. Book Reviews

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Redactie KITLV

    2003-01-01

    Full Text Available -Philip D. Morgan, Marcus Wood, Blind memory: Visual representations of slavery in England and America 1780-1865. New York: Routledge, 2000. xxi + 341 pp. -Rosemarijn Hoefte, Ron Ramdin, Arising from bondage: A history of the Indo-Caribbean people. New York: New York University Press, 2000. x + 387 pp. -Flávio dos Santos Gomes, David Eltis, The rise of African slavery in the Americas. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. xvii + 353 pp. -Peter Redfield, D. Graham Burnett, Masters of all they surveyed: Exploration, geography, and a British El Dorado. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000. xv + 298 pp. -Bernard Moitt, Eugenia O'Neal, From the field to the legislature: A history of women in the Virgin Islands. Westport CT: Greenwood Press, 2001. xiii + 150 pp. -Allen M. Howard, Nemata Amelia Blyden, West Indians in West Africa, 1808-1880: The African Diaspora in reverse. Rochester NY: University of Rochester Press, 2000. xi + 258 pp. -Michaeline A. Crichlow, Kari Levitt, The George Beckford papers. Kingston: Canoe Press, 2000. lxxi + 468 pp. -Michaeline A. Crichlow, Audley G. Reid, Community formation; A study of the 'village' in postemancipation Jamaica. Kingston: Canoe Press, 2000. xvi + 156 pp. -Linden Lewis, Brian Meeks, Narratives of resistance: Jamaica, Trinidad, the Caribbean. Kingston: University of the West Indies Press, 2000. xviii + 240 pp. -Roderick A. McDonald, Bridget Brereton, Law, justice, and empire: The colonial career of John Gorrie, 1829-1892. Kingston: University of the West Indies Press, 1997. xx + 371 pp. -Karl Watson, Gary Lewis, White rebel: The life and times of TT Lewis. Kingston: University of the West Indies Press, 1999. xxvii + 214 pp. -Mary Turner, Armando Lampe, Mission or submission? Moravian and Catholic missionaries in the Dutch Caribbean during the nineteenth century. Göttingen, FRG: Vandenburg & Ruprecht, 2001. 244 pp. -O. Nigel Bolland, Anton L. Allahar, Caribbean charisma: Reflections on

  1. The vices of emperor Constans I in the fourth century histories

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Milivojević Uroš

    2008-01-01

    Augustus' hunting session. Although vivid and informative, the real weight of these four accounts could be estimated only through comparison with the other, real or traditional, dreadful emperors described by the four authors. For example, the youthful age was important component of the bad reigns of Otho, Domitian and Gallienus, as Victor emphasizes. Eutropius' pattern of the promising start of the Emperor's reign and his later disgrace was similarly used in his assessment of Gallienus and Constantine the Great. According to Pseudo-Victor, Valentinian I could be estimated as the perfect prince if there had not been his poor selection of advisers. Constans' homosexual leaning towards young barbarian hostages could be observed from the two points. The first would be the remark that these barbarians were dubious companions for the Roman emperors, just as some of the rulers were blacklisted for their, real or assumptive, sympathy and meekness for women, eunuchs and courtiers. Gratian and Theodosius I were specially ill-famed for their affinity for Alan mercenaries and Gothic refugees respectively. On the other hand, slandered Licinius was praised for his strength in cultivating his courtiers and eunuchs. In relation to Constans' homosexuality, it is essential to note that one of the fundamental keys to the bad emperor's character was his breach of sexual taboos. In the inaccurate 4th century tradition Caracalla was known for his marriage with his stepmother, or Gallienus for his barter with Marcomanic king, in which he allegedly traded part of Pannonia Superior for the barbarian concubine. Explicitly, homosexuality was ascribed to Domitian, Carinus and Maximian Herculius. Finally, although the remarks on Constans' unpopularity and death were taken from the earliest preserved sources, it is clear that only a decade after his demise, the tradition, framed in already existing negative pattern, was established. This version of the events, probably maintained in lost

  2. EDITORIAL: Very little is new in nanoscience Very little is new in nanoscience

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andrews, David L.

    2009-07-01

    science can only be applauded. Nanoscience affords a particularly fertile ground for cultivating student engagement with the broader societal implications of their studies. It embraces topics that invite reflection and debate—and where such debate moves into the public arena, it very much needs participation by properly informed individuals. Here is an opportunity not only to impress upon the next generation of scientists the need to be involved in public awareness, but also to equip them with a sound understanding of the scientific principles involved in nanotechnology. It is a great pleasure to have found, amongst the rapidly escalating number who work in this area, highly esteemed authors willing to produce papers especially for this special section of European Journal of Physics. My thanks are due to them for delivering almost on time, which is as much as one can reasonably ask. I trust they and many other readers will find the result of their endeavours thoroughly worthwhile. References [1] Piner R D, Zhu J, Xu F, Hong S and Mirkin C A 1999 Science 283 661-3 [2] Noy A (ed) 2008 Handbook of Molecular Spectroscopy (New York: Springer) [3] Dienerowitz M, Mazilu M and Dholakia K 2008 J. Nanophoton. 2 021875 [4] Kroto H 1988 Science 242 1139-45 [5] Freestone I, Meeks N, Sax M and Higgett C 2007 Gold Bull. 40 270-7 [6] Ball P 2009 Chem. World 6 58-62 [7] Andrews D L and Gaburro Z (ed) 2007 Frontiers in Surface Nanophotonics (New York: Springer) [8] Munshi D, Kurian P, Bartlett R V and Lakhtakia A 2007 Futures 39 432-52

  3. Post-16 update

    Science.gov (United States)

    1999-09-01

    measured and fundamental variables can be resolved along a number of different axes. Shaping data to create understanding is also possible. Plotting, re-expressing and re-plotting can all happen within a time-span that retains the connections to the original physical situation. Making sense of the data can become a more active and integral part of doing physics. Two advantages for physics teachers: Firstly, the computer is another piece of equipment - one amongst the many that we already deploy based on our considerable experience. It may be a better intellectual prosthetic than some, but it is just one amongst many: good for some things, not to be let near others. Secondly, physics necessarily describes nature. Thus the chance of losing contact with our roots in a virtual canopy is slim; nurture and insight will always come from interaction with the physical. A summative question: Which, of the information and communication technologies available to students, is the most effective in stimulating, promoting and nurturing learning? (The more astute reader will notice the discontinuity between the implications of the embracing title, ICT, and the rather narrower, what we do with computers, somewhat closer to the current obsessions, rather meekly followed by the author in this piece. This final question has only one correct answer, several ramifications, and seeks to redress the balance lacking in the rest of this brief survey.) Ian Lawrence Maps and vectors Where would we be without vectors? Vectors are vital to a proper description of a variety of phenomena in physics. They are also notoriously difficult for students to come to terms with. Many students meet vectors for the first time in their A-level physics course when they learn mechanics. And this topic is often taught first. The vectors they meet - velocity, acceleration, force - can seem rather abstract, and acceleration in particular, being a rate of change of a rate of change, is fraught with conceptual difficulties

  4. 12th WINFOCUS world congress on ultrasound in emergency and critical care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Acar, Yahya; Tezel, Onur; Salman, Necati; Cevik, Erdem; Algaba-Montes, Margarita; Oviedo-García, Alberto; Patricio-Bordomás, Mayra; Mahmoud, Mustafa Z; Sulieman, Abdelmoneim; Ali, Abbas; Mustafa, Alrayah; Abdelrahman, Ihab; Bahar, Mustafa; Ali, Osama; Lester Kirchner, H; Prosen, Gregor; Anzic, Ajda; Leeson, Paul; Bahreini, Maryam; Rasooli, Fatemeh; Hosseinnejad, Houman; Blecher, Gabriel; Meek, Robert; Egerton-Warburton, Diana; Ćuti, Edina Ćatić; Belina, Stanko; Vančina, Tihomir; Kovačević, Idriz; Rustemović, Nadan; Chang, Ikwan; Lee, Jin Hee; Kwak, Young Ho; Kim, Do Kyun; Cheng, Chi-Yung; Pan, Hsiu-Yung; Kung, Chia-Te; Ćurčić, Ela; Pritišanac, Ena; Planinc, Ivo; Medić, Marijana Grgić; Radonić, Radovan; Fasina, Abiola; Dean, Anthony J; Panebianco, Nova L; Henwood, Patricia S; Fochi, Oliviero; Favarato, Moreno; Bonanomi, Ezio; Tomić, Ivan; Ha, Youngrock; Toh, Hongchuen; Harmon, Elizabeth; Chan, Wilma; Baston, Cameron; Morrison, Gail; Shofer, Frances; Hua, Angela; Kim, Sharon; Tsung, James; Gunaydin, Isa; Kekec, Zeynep; Ay, Mehmet Oguzhan; Kim, Jinjoo; Kim, Jinhyun; Choi, Gyoosung; Shim, Dowon; Lee, Ji-Han; Ambrozic, Jana; Prokselj, Katja; Lucovnik, Miha; Simenc, Gabrijela Brzan; Mačiulienė, Asta; Maleckas, Almantas; Kriščiukaitis, Algimantas; Mačiulis, Vytautas; Macas, Andrius; Mohite, Sharad; Narancsik, Zoltan; Možina, Hugon; Nikolić, Sara; Hansel, Jan; Petrovčič, Rok; Mršić, Una; Orlob, Simon; Lerchbaumer, Markus; Schönegger, Niklas; Kaufmann, Reinhard; Pan, Chun-I; Wu, Chien-Hung; Pasquale, Sarah; Doniger, Stephanie J; Yellin, Sharon; Chiricolo, Gerardo; Potisek, Maja; Drnovšek, Borut; Leskovar, Boštjan; Robinson, Kristine; Kraft, Clara; Moser, Benjamin; Davis, Stephen; Layman, Shelley; Sayeed, Yusef; Minardi, Joseph; Pasic, Irmina Sefic; Dzananovic, Amra; Pasic, Anes; Zubovic, Sandra Vegar; Hauptman, Ana Godan; Brajkovic, Ana Vujaklija; Babel, Jaksa; Peklic, Marina; Radonic, Vedran; Bielen, Luka; Ming, Peh Wee; Yezid, Nur Hafiza; Mohammed, Fatahul Laham; Huda, Zainal Abidin; Ismail, Wan Nasarudin Wan; Isa, W Yus Haniff W; Fauzi, Hashairi; Seeva, Praveena; Mazlan, Mohd Zulfakar

    2016-09-01

    A1 Point-of-care ultrasound examination of cervical spine in emergency departmentYahya Acar, Onur Tezel, Necati SalmanA2 A new technique in verifying the placement of a nasogastric tube: obtaining the longitudinal view of nasogastric tube in addition to transverse view with ultrasoundYahya Acar, Necati Salman, Onur Tezel, Erdem CevikA3 Pseudoaneurysm of the femoral artery after cannulation of a central venous line. Should we always use ultrasound in these procedures?Margarita Algaba-Montes, Alberto Oviedo-García, Mayra Patricio-BordomásA4 Ultrasound-guided supraclavicular subclavian vein catheterization. A novel approach in emergency departmentMargarita Algaba-Montes, Alberto Oviedo-García, Mayra Patricio-BordomásA5 Clinical ultrasound in a septic and jaundice patient in the emergency departmentMargarita Algaba-Montes, Alberto Oviedo-García, Mayra Patricio-BordomásA6 Characterization of the eyes in preoperative cataract Saudi patients by using medical diagnostic ultrasoundMustafa Z. Mahmoud, Abdelmoneim SuliemanA7 High-frequency ultrasound in determining the causes of acute shoulder joint painMustafa Z. MahmoudA8 Teaching WINFOCUS Ultrasound Life Support Basic Level 1 for Providers in resource-limited countriesAbbas Ali, Alrayah Mustafa, Ihab Abdelrahman, Mustafa Bahar, Osama Ali, H. Lester Kirchner, Gregor ProsenA9 Changes of arterial stiffness and endothelial function during uncomplicated pregnancyAjda Anzic, Paul LeesonA10 Cardiovascular haemodynamic properties before, during and after pregnancyAjda Anzic, Paul LeesonA11 An old man with generalized weaknessMaryam Bahreini, Fatemeh RasooliA12 Ultrasonography for non-specific presentations of abdominal painMaryam Bahreini, Houman HosseinnejadA13 Introduction of a new imaging guideline for suspected renal colic in the emergency department: effect on CT Urogram utilisationGabriel Blecher, Robert Meek, Diana Egerton-WarburtonA14 Transabdominal ultrasound screening for pancreatic cancer in Croatian military

  5. EDITORIAL: Focus on Cold and Ultracold Molecules FOCUS ON COLD AND ULTRACOLD MOLECULES

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carr, Lincoln D.; Ye, Jun

    2009-05-01

    öhlich, A Griesmaier, T Pfau, H Saito, Y Kawaguchi and M Ueda High-energy-resolution molecular beams for cold collision studies L P Parazzoli, N Fitch, D S Lobser and H J Lewandowski Collisional effects in the formation of cold guided beams of polar molecules M Motsch, C Sommer, M Zeppenfeld, L D van Buuren, P W H Pinkse and G Rempe Towards sympathetic cooling of large molecules: cold collisions between benzene and rare gas atoms P Barletta, J Tennyson and P F Barker Efficient formation of ground-state ultracold molecules via STIRAP from the continuum at a Feshbach resonance Elena Kuznetsova, Marko Gacesa, Philippe Pellegrini, Susanne F Yelin and Robin Côté Emergent timescales in entangled quantum dynamics of ultracold molecules in optical lattices M L Wall and L D Carr Rotational state resolved photodissociation spectroscopy of translationally and vibrationally cold MgH+ ions: toward rotational cooling of molecular ions K Højbjerre, A K Hansen, P S Skyt, P F Staanum and M Drewsen Collective transverse cavity cooling of a dense molecular beam Thomas Salzburger and Helmut Ritsch A Stark decelerator on a chip Samuel A Meek, Horst Conrad and Gerard Meijer Deceleration of molecules by dipole force potential: a numerical simulation Susumu Kuma and Takamasa Momose Ultracold molecules: vehicles to scalable quantum information processing Kathy-Anne Brickman Soderberg, Nathan Gemelke and Cheng Chin Magnetic field modification of ultracold molecule-molecule collisions T V Tscherbul, Yu V Suleimanov, V Aquilanti and R V Krems Spectroscopy of 39K85Rb triplet excited states using ultracold a 3Σ+ state molecules formed by photoassociation J T Kim, D Wang, E E Eyler, P L Gould and W C Stwalley Pumping vortex into a Bose-Einstein condensate of heteronuclear molecules Z F Xu, R Q Wang and L You Intense atomic and molecular beams via neon buffer-gas cooling David Patterson, Julia Rasmussen and John M Doyle Dynamical properties of dipolar Fermi gases T Sogo, L He, T Miyakawa, S Yi, H Lu

  6. FOREWORD: Some thoughts about Jürgen Hafner's work in computational materials science Some thoughts about Jürgen Hafner's work in computational materials science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heine, Volker

    2011-10-01

    and Kresse G 1994 Structral and electronic properties of clean and hydrogenated diamond (100) surfaces Europhys. Lett. 28 659-64 [10] Krajčí and Hafner J 2008 Ab-initio studies of quasicrystalline surfaces Quasicrystals (Handbook of Metal Physics vol 2) ed T Fujiwara and Y Ishii (Amsterdam: Elsevier) chapter 9, pp 313-55 [11] Raybaud P, Hafner J, Kresse G, Kasztelan S and Toulhoat H 2000 Structure, energetics and electronic properties of the surface of a promoted MoS2 catalyst: an ab-initio local-density-functional study J. Catalysis 190 128-43 [12] Hafner J, Benco L and Bucko T 2006 Acid-based catalysis in zeolites investigated by density-functional methods Top. Catalysis 37 41-54 [13] Hafner J 1989 Formation of polyanionic clusters in liquid potassium-lead alloys: a molecular-dynamics study J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 1 1133-40 [14] Meeks P E 1976 Vibrational spectra and topological structure of tetrahedrally bonded amorphous semiconductors Phil. Mag. 33 897-908 [15] See articles by Heine V, Bullet D, Haydock R and Kelly M J 1980 Solid State Physics—Advances in Research and Applications vol 35, ed H Ehrenreich, D Turnbull and F Seitz (New York: Academic) [16] Hafner J 1980 The dynamical properties of metallic glasses Liquids and Amorphous Metals (NATO-ASI Ser. E vol 36) ed E Lüscher and H Coufal (Sijthoff and Nordhoff: Alpen van Rijn) pp 199-209 [17] Hafner J 1987 From Hamiltonians to Phase Diagrams—The Electronic and Statistical-Mechanical Theory of sp-Bonded Metals and Alloys (Solid State Sciences Series vol 70) (Berlin: Springer) p 415 [18] Hafner J and Heine V 1983 The crystal structure of the elements: pseudopotential theory revisited J. Phys. F: Met. Phys. 13 2479-501 [19] Hafner J and Kahl G 1984 The structure of the elements in the liquid state J. Phys. F: Met. Phys. 14 2259-78 [20] Denton A R and Hafner J 1997 Thermodynamically stable one-component quasicrystals: a density-functional survey of relative stabilities Phys. Rev. B 56 2469-82 [21] Hafner J