War and deforestation in Sierra Leone

The impact of armed conflict on the environment is of major public policy importance. We use a geographically disaggregated dataset of civil war violence together with satellite imagery of land cover to test whether war facilitated or prevented forest loss in Sierra Leone. The conflict data set allows us to establish where rebel groups were stationed and where battles and attacks occurred. The satellite data enables to us to monitor the change in forest cover (total, primary, and secondary) in all of Sierra Leone's 151 chiefdoms, between 1990 (prior to the war) and 2000 (just prior to its end). The results suggest that conflict in Sierra Leone acted as a brake on local deforestation: conflict-ridden areas experienced significantly less forest loss relative to their more conflict-free counterparts

The value of bosses

How and by how much do supervisors enhance worker productivity? Using a company-based data set on the productivity of technology-based services workers, supervisor effects are estimated and found to be large. Replacing a boss who is in the lower 10% of boss quality with one who is in the upper 10% of boss quality increases a team’s total output by more than would adding one worker to a nine member team. Workers assigned to better bosses are less likely to leave the firm. A separate normalization implies that the average boss is about 1.75 times as productive as the average worker

Morphological Diversity and Relationships in the A-Genome Cottons, Gossypium arboreum and G. herbaceum

The Asiatic or A-genome cottons, Gossypium arboreum L. and G. herbaceum L., are potentially important genetic resources for cotton breeding programs. The National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS) contains approximately 400 accessions of these species, but little information is available on the diversity within the collection or on characteristics of individual accessions. This investigation was initiated to provide a morphological description of each accession. These data were used to evaluate the range of diversity represented within the collection and to address the questions of species and race distinctions. Multivariate techniques were used to assess similarities among accessions and to evaluate morphological parameters contributing to the variation in each species. Means for 41 of 53 characters were significantly different between species, although high intraspecific variability resulted in range overlap for all characters. Principal component analysis separated the two species. Accessions from southern Africa and racial designations of africanum and wightianum formed clusters within G. herbaceum based on the first two principal components; no clusters were noted within G. arboreum. Accordingly, the validity of intraspecific or racial classifications for most of the accessions of this latter species in the current NPGS collection is questionable. Additional germplasm acquisitions from under- or non-represented areas could expand genetic diversity in the collection

Lunar lander conceptual design

A conceptual design is presented of a Lunar Lander, which can be the primary vehicle to transport the equipment necessary to establish a surface lunar base, the crew that will man the base, and the raw materials which the Lunar Station will process. A Lunar Lander will be needed to operate in the regime between the lunar surface and low lunar orbit (LLO), up to 200 km. This lander is intended for the establishment and operation of a manned surface base on the moon and for the support of the Lunar Space Station. The lander will be able to fulfill the requirements of 3 basic missions: A mission dedicated to delivering maximum payload for setting up the initial lunar base; Multiple missions between LLO and lunar surface dedicated to crew rotation; and Multiple missions dedicated to cargo shipments within the regime of lunar surface and LLO. A complete set of structural specifications is given

HCMV-encoded NK modulators: Lessons from in vitro and in vivo genetic variation

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is under constant selective pressure from the immune system in vivo. Study of HCMV genes that have been lost in the absence of, or genetically altered by, such selection can focus research toward findings of in vivo significance. We have been particularly interested in the most pronounced change in the highly passaged laboratory strains AD169 and Towne—the deletion of 13–15 kb of sequence (designated the UL/b′ region) that encodes up to 22 canonical genes, UL133-UL150. At least 5 genes have been identified in UL/b′ that inhibit NK cell function. UL135 suppresses formation of the immunological synapse (IS) by remodeling the actin cytoskeleton, thereby illustrating target cell cooperation in IS formation. UL141 inhibits expression of two activating ligands (CD155, CD112) for the activating receptor CD226 (DNAM-1), and two receptors (TRAIL-R1, R2) for the apoptosis-inducing TRAIL. UL142, ectopically expressed in isolation, and UL148A, target specific MICA allotypes that are ligands for NKG2D. UL148 impairs expression of CD58 (LFA-3), the co-stimulatory cell adhesion molecule for CD2 found on T and NK cells. Outside UL/b′, studies on natural variants have shown UL18 mutants change affinity for their inhibitory ligand LIR-1, while mutations in UL40's HLA-E binding peptide differentially drive NKG2C+ NK expansions. Research into HCMV genomic stability and its effect on NK function has provided important insights into virus:host interactions, but future studies will require consideration of genetic variability and the effect of genes expressed in the context of infection to fully understand their in vivo impact

A practical review of energy saving technology for ageing populations

Fuel poverty is a critical issue for a globally ageing population. Longer heating/cooling requirements combine with declining incomes to create a problem in need of urgent attention. One solution is to deploy technology to help elderly users feel informed about their energy use, and empowered to take steps to make it more cost effective and efficient. This study subjects a broad cross section of energy monitoring and home automation products to a formal ergonomic analysis. A high level task analysis was used to guide a product walk through, and a toolkit approach was used thereafter to drive out further insights. The findings reveal a number of serious usability issues which prevent these products from successfully accessing an important target demographic and associated energy saving and fuel poverty outcomes. Design principles and examples are distilled from the research to enable practitioners to translate the underlying research into high quality design-engineering solutions

Human cytomegalovirus: taking the strain

In celebrating the 60th anniversary of the first isolation of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), we reflect on the merits and limitations of the viral strains currently being used to develop urgently needed treatments. HCMV research has been dependent for decades on the high-passage strains AD169 and Towne, heavily exploiting their capacity to replicate efficiently in fibroblasts. However, the genetic integrity of these strains is so severely compromised that great caution needs to be exercised when considering their past and future use. It is now evident that wild-type HCMV strains are not readily propagated in vitro. HCMV mutants are rapidly selected during isolation in fibroblasts, reproducibly affecting gene RL13, the UL128 locus (which includes genes UL128, UL130 and UL131A) and often the UL/b′ region. As a result, the virus becomes less cell associated, altered in tropism and less pathogenic. This problem is not restricted to high-passage strains, as even low-passage strains can harbour biologically significant mutations. Cloning and manipulation of the HCMV genome as a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) offers a means of working with stable, genetically defined strains. To this end, the low-passage strain Merlin genome was cloned as a BAC and sequentially repaired to match the viral sequence in the original clinical sample from which Merlin was derived. Restoration of UL128L to wild type was detrimental to growth in fibroblasts, whereas restoration of RL13 impaired growth in all cell types tested. Stable propagation of phenotypically wild-type virus could be achieved only by placing both regions under conditional expression. In addition to the development of these tools, the Merlin transcriptome and proteome have been characterized in unparalleled detail. Although Merlin may be representative of the clinical agent, high-throughput whole-genome deep sequencing studies have highlighted the remarkable high level of interstrain variation present in circulating virus. There is a need to develop systems capable of addressing the significance of this diversity, free from the confounding effects of genetic changes associated with in vitro adaptation. The generation of a set of BAC clones, each containing the genome of a different HCMV strain repaired to match the sequence in the clinical sample, would provide a pathway to address the biological and clinical effects of natural variation in wild-type HCMV

The Microlensing Planet Finder: Completing the Census of Extrasolar Planets in the Milky Way

The Microlensing Planet Finder (MPF) is a proposed Discovery mission that will complete the first census of extrasolar planets with sensitivity to planets like those in our own solar system. MPF will employ a 1.1m aperture telescope, which images a 1.3 sq. deg. field-of-view in the near-IR, in order to detect extrasolar planets with the gravitational microlensing effect. MPF's sensitivity extends down to planets of 0.1 Earth masses, and MPF can detect Earth-like planets at all separations from 0.7AU to infinity. MPF's extrasolar planet census will provide critical information needed to understand the formation and frequency of extra solar planetary systems similar to our own.Comment: To appear in the Proceedings of the SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation Symposium held in Glascow, Scotland, on 21-25 June, 2004. 12 PDF page

Winter-to-summer transition of Arctic sea ice breakup and floe size distribution in the Beaufort Sea

Breakup of the near-continuous winter sea ice into discrete summer ice floes is an important transition that dictates the evolution and fate of the marginal ice zone (MIZ) of the Arctic Ocean. During the winter of 2014, more than 50 autonomous drifting buoys were deployed in four separate clusters on the sea ice in the Beaufort Sea, as part of the Office of Naval Research MIZ program. These systems measured the ocean-ice-atmosphere properties at their location whilst the sea ice parameters in the surrounding area of these buoy clusters were continuously monitored by satellite TerraSAR-X Synthetic Aperture Radar. This approach provided a unique Lagrangian view of the winter-to-summer transition of sea ice breakup and floe size distribution at each cluster between March and August. The results show the critical timings of a) temporary breakup of winter sea ice coinciding with strong wind events and b) spring breakup (during surface melt, melt ponding and drainage) leading to distinctive summer ice floes. Importantly our results suggest that summer sea ice floe distribution is potentially affected by the state of winter sea ice, including the composition and fracturing (caused by deformation events) of winter sea ice, and that substantial mid-summer breakup of sea ice floes is likely linked to the timing of thermodynamic melt of sea ice in the area. As the rate of deformation and thermodynamic melt of sea ice has been increasing in the MIZ in the Beaufort Sea, our results suggest that these elevated factors would promote faster and more enhanced breakup of sea ice, leading to a higher melt rate of sea ice and thus a more rapid advance of the summer MIZ

Road of Stars to Santiago

In the tradition of Colin Fletcher’s The Man Who Walked Through Time and William Least Heat-Moon’s Blue Highways, Edward F. Stanton has written a quietly beautiful and engrossing account of his own pilgrimage. Road of Stars to Santiago is a personal story of his journey along what has been called “the premier cultural route of Europe.” “I undertook a five-hundred-mile walk along the ancient Camino de Santiago, from the French Pyrenees to Santiago de Compostella in northwest Spain, the supposed burial site of the apostle St. James the Elder, and beyond to Finisterre, Land’s End on the Atlantic coast. “On my journey I followed the old road whenever possible, passing through mountains, medieval forests and remote villages, as well as modern towns and cities. I slept in fields, abandoned schools or wherever I could, on a thirty-day trip that brought me into contact with a whole cross-section of Spanish society, and with pilgrims from France, Belgium, Holland, Germany and England. “Most of the book has to do with my own trials and joys on the Road: the physical struggle to walk about twenty miles a day in the heat or rain, to find a place to eat and sleep; with the psychological changes that take place when one leaves home, family and routine; with the contradictions inherent to a pilgrimage in the late twentieth century; with experiences that ranged from the spiritual to the picaresque; with the people I met on the way—from shepherds and peasants to astrologers and philosophers. There are plenty of humorous situations and unexpected turns.” —Edward F. Stanton Edward F. Stanton is a professor of Spanish at the University of Kentucky and the author of Hemingway and Spain and other books on various aspects of Hispanic life. For those who know this area of Spain, Road of Stars to Santiago is a delightful revisiting of familiar sights, sounds, smells, and tastes. At the same time, it offers an intriguing introduction to the cult of St. James and insight into many aspects of Spain and Spanish life. —Bowling Green Daily News The story of one man’s pilgrimage, taken at a crisis point in his life. . . . A journey of the spirit as well as the body. --British Bulletin of Publications on Latin America, the Caribbean, Portugal and Spain A warmhearted book that is compelling and certainly beautiful. —Daily Yomiuri The journey to Santiago de Compostela has beckoned pilgrims through the ages. Edward Stanton has joined this host of believers and recounts his adventures with stylish conviction. —James A. Michener For anyone interested in making the journey, this would be a good place to start. —Library Journal A beautifully written story that blends personal experience with folklore, legend, the wisdom of old chronicles and canny observations of life in modern Spain. —Back Home in Kentuckyhttps://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_european_history/1026/thumbnail.jp