A Molecular Probe Finds Evidence of NIX Pathogen in Pacific Razor Clams (\u3cem\u3eSiliqua patula\u3c/em\u3e) in Oregon

The Pacific razor clam, Siliqua patula, is an important recreational fishery species that lives in the intertidal zone of sandy beaches from Alaska to central California. Populations have had periodic, but significant, declines over the past 30-40 years. These declines have correlated with an increase in the presences of an unidentified, intranuclear bacterial parasite known as Nuclear Inclusion X (NIX). NIX, which was first identified in 1986, has generally been screened using a histological approach. We developed a PCR-based screen to reduce both the time and cost of identifying infected clams. Use of this screen resulted in amplified sequences with a 97% match to the previously published 16S rDNA sequence for NIX. The sequence data supports placement of NIX into the gamma-proteobacteria, and suggests that it is related to isolates from diseased corals. Clams collected from the northern coast of Oregon showed ~50% infection rate using the PCR screen. This is the first report of NIX present in clams from Oregon, as all previous work had been in the state of Washington. Future work will identify the incidence rate and geographical spread of the NIX parasite throughout Oregon and Washington

Circumbinary Chaos: Using Pluto's Newest Moon to Constrain the Masses of Nix & Hydra

The Pluto system provides a unique local laboratory for the study of binaries with multiple low mass companions. In this paper, we study the orbital stability of P4, the most recently discovered moon in the Pluto system. This newfound companion orbits near the plane of the Pluto-Charon binary, roughly halfway between the two minor moons Nix and Hydra. We use a suite of few body integrations to constrain the masses of Nix and Hydra, and the orbital parameters of P4. For the system to remain stable over the age of the Solar System, the masses of Nix and Hydra likely do not exceed 5e16 kg and 9e16 kg, respectively. These upper limits assume a fixed mass ratio between Nix and Hydra at the value implied by their median optical brightness. Our study finds that stability is more sensitive to their total mass and that a downward revision of Charon's eccentricity (from our adopted value of 0.0035) is unlikely to significantly affect our conclusions. Our upper limits are an order of magnitude below existing astrometric limits on the masses of Nix and Hydra. For a density at least that of ice, the albedos of Nix and Hydra would exceed 0.3. This constraint implies they are icy, as predicted by giant impact models. Even with these low masses, P4 only remains stable if its eccentricity e < 0.02. The 5:1 commensurability with Charon is particularly unstable, Combining stability constraints with the observed mean motion places the preferred orbit for P4 just exterior to the 5:1 resonance. These predictions will be tested when the New Horizons satellite visits Pluto. Based on the results for the Pluto-Charon system, we expect that circumbinary, multi-planet systems will be more widely spaced than their singleton counterparts. Further, circumbinary exoplanets close to the three-body stability boundary, such as those found by Kepler, are less likely to have other companions nearby.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure

Film Altered, Eyewitness Ignored - The Best 2014 Book on the JFK Assassination

This book review takes a look at Gayle Nix Jackson’s, Orville Nix: The Missing JFK Assassination Film (Semper Ad Meliora Publishing)

NASA Image eXchange (NIX)

This paper discusses the technical aspects of and the project background for the NASA Image exchange (NIX). NIX, which provides a single entry point to search selected image databases at the NASA Centers, is a meta-search engine (i.e., a search engine that communicates with other search engines). It uses these distributed digital image databases to access photographs, animations, and their associated descriptive information (meta-data). NIX is available for use at the following URL: http://nix.nasa.gov./NIX, which was sponsored by NASAs Scientific and Technical Information (STI) Program, currently serves images from seven NASA Centers. Plans are under way to link image databases from three additional NASA Centers. images and their associated meta-data, which are accessible by NIX, reside at the originating Centers, and NIX utilizes a virtual central site that communicates with each of these sites. Incorporated into the virtual central site are several protocols to support searches from a diverse collection of database engines. The searches are performed in parallel to ensure optimization of response times. To augment the search capability, browse functionality with pre-defined categories has been built into NIX, thereby ensuring dissemination of 'best-of-breed' imagery. As a final recourse, NIX offers access to a help desk via an on-line form to help locate images and information either within the scope of NIX or from available external sources

Involvement of the opioid system in the development and expression of sensitization to the locomotor-activating effect of ethanol

Previous studies have shown that pretreatment with naloxone (Nlx), an opiate antagonist, attenuates the stimulating effect of ethanol. the purpose of the present study was to determine the influence of Nix on the development and expression of the sensitization to ethanol. Initially, effects of different doses of Nix on the response to a low dose of ethanol (2.0 g/kg) were assessed. Nix (1.0 and 3.0 mg/kg i.p.) decreased the stimulating effect of ethanol. Groups of mice were treated with saline or Nix (1.0 mg/kg i.p.) plus saline or ethanol (2.0 g/kg if) during 21 d. On day 25 of treatment all animals received an ethanol challenge (2.0 g/kg i.p.). It significantly increased the locomotor activity of mice that had received chronic ethanol (2.0 g/kg) once daily as compared to those that had received saline. Chronic administration of Nlx (1.0 mg/kg i.p.), during the same period of time, did not change the locomotor activity of the mice. However, the group concomitantly treated with Nix + ethanol did not develop sensitization to the locomotor-activating effect of ethanol. Another experiment was carried out to determine the effects of Nix on the expression of sensitization to ethanol. Acute pretreatment with Nix did not change the response of the mice that had developed sensitization to ethanol. These data show Nix's prevention of the development of ethanol-induced sensitization but not of its expression, suggesting an important role of the opioid neurotransmitter systems modulating the development of sensitization to the locomotor-activating effect of ethanol.Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Escola Paulista Med, Dept Psychobiol, BR-04023062 São Paulo, BrazilUniv Calif San Francisco, Dept Neurol, San Francisco, CA 94143 USAUniv Calif San Francisco, Gallo Ctr, San Francisco, CA 94143 USAOregon Hlth Sci Univ, Portland, OR 97201 USAUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Escola Paulista Med, Dept Psychobiol, BR-04023062 São Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc