Ecovar Development on the Northern Great Plains of North America

The objective of this study was to develop sources of seed of native plant species to facilitate commercial seed production of ecovars suitable for revegetation and reclamation of disturbed land. An ecovar or ecological variety is native plant material derived from a composite of germplasm collected throughout the area of adaptation and that contains the natural genetic diversity of the species. Ecovars are currently being developed or proposed for 24 species of grass, legume and shrub species from the northern great plains. The research is conducted by scientists at nine research centres from six agencies in two countries. Seed from the first ecovar, developed from 250 accessions of Needle-and-Thread grass received pedigree status in 1996. Associated research studies will determine the degree of genetic variability existing among the accessions and any shifts in genetic diversity resulting from selection

Segregation by thermal diffusion in granular shear flows

Segregation by thermal diffusion of an intruder immersed in a sheared granular gas is analyzed from the (inelastic) Boltzmann equation. Segregation is induced by the presence of a temperature gradient orthogonal to the shear flow plane and parallel to gravity. We show that, like in analogous systems without shear, the segregation criterion yields a transition between upwards segregation and downwards segregation. The form of the phase diagrams is illustrated in detail showing that they depend sensitively on the value of gravity relative to the thermal gradient. Two specific situations are considered: i) absence of gravity, and ii) homogeneous temperature. We find that both mechanisms (upwards and downwards segregation) are stronger and more clearly separated when compared with segregation criteria in systems without shear.Comment: 8 figures. To appear in J. Stat. Mec

Classification of lower extremity movement patterns based on visual assessment: reliability and correlation with 2-dimensional video analysis

CONTEXT: Abnormal movement patterns have been implicated in lower extremity injury. Reliable, valid, and easily implemented assessment methods are needed to examine existing musculoskeletal disorders and investigate predictive factors for lower extremity injury. OBJECTIVE: To determine the reliability of experienced and novice testers in making visual assessments of lower extremity movement patterns and to characterize the construct validity of the visual assessments. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: University athletic department and research laboratory. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS: Convenience sample of 30 undergraduate and graduate students who regularly participate in athletics (age = 19.3 ± 4.5 years). Testers were 2 experienced physical therapists and 1 novice postdoctoral fellow (nonclinician). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): We took videos of 30 athletes performing the single-legged squat. Three testers observed the videos on 2 occasions and classified the lower extremity movement as dynamic valgus, no change, or dynamic varus. The classification was based on the estimated change in frontal-plane projection angle (FPPA) of the knee from single-legged stance to maximum single-legged squat depth. The actual FPPA change was measured quantitatively. We used percentage agreement and weighted κ to examine tester reliability and to determine construct validity of the visual assessment. RESULTS: The κ values for intratester and intertester reliability ranged from 0.75 to 0.90, indicating substantial to excellent reliability. Percentage agreement between the visual assessment and the quantitative FPPA change category was 90%, with a κ value of 0.85. CONCLUSIONS: Visual assessments were made reliably by experienced and novice testers. Additionally, movement-pattern categories based on visual assessments were in excellent agreement with objective methods to measure FPPA change. Therefore, visual assessments can be used in the clinic to assess movement patterns associated with musculoskeletal disorders and in large epidemiologic studies to assess the association between lower extremity movement patterns and musculoskeletal injury

Subband Engineering Even-Denominator Quantum Hall States

Proposed even-denominator fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE) states suggest the possibility of excitations with non-Abelian braid statistics. Recent experiments on wide square quantum wells observe even-denominator FQHE even under electrostatic tilt. We theoretically analyze these structures and develop a procedure to accurately test proposed quantum Hall wavefunctions. We find that tilted wells favor partial subband polarization to yield Abelian even-denominator states. Our results show that tilting quantum wells effectively engineers different interaction potentials allowing exploration of a wide variety of even-denominator states

The Adelaide VHF radar: Capabilities and future plans

The VHF radar at Buckland Park, South Australia commenced operation in January, 1984. The radar is located adjacent to the 2-MHz ionospheric radar. The routine method for measuring horizontal wind velocity is the space antenna technique (SA) while the Doppler technique is used to measure vertical velocities. It is possible to swing the transmitting beam in the east-west plane, allowing Doppler measurements of the EW wind component

Rethinking the patient: using Burden of Treatment Theory to understand the changing dynamics of illness

<b>Background</b> In this article we outline Burden of Treatment Theory, a new model of the relationship between sick people, their social networks, and healthcare services. Health services face the challenge of growing populations with long-term and life-limiting conditions, they have responded to this by delegating to sick people and their networks routine work aimed at managing symptoms, and at retarding - and sometimes preventing - disease progression. This is the new proactive work of patient-hood for which patients are increasingly accountable: founded on ideas about self-care, self-empowerment, and self-actualization, and on new technologies and treatment modalities which can be shifted from the clinic into the community. These place new demands on sick people, which they may experience as burdens of treatment.<p></p> <b>Discussion</b> As the burdens accumulate some patients are overwhelmed, and the consequences are likely to be poor healthcare outcomes for individual patients, increasing strain on caregivers, and rising demand and costs of healthcare services. In the face of these challenges we need to better understand the resources that patients draw upon as they respond to the demands of both burdens of illness and burdens of treatment, and the ways that resources interact with healthcare utilization.<p></p> <b>Summary</b> Burden of Treatment Theory is oriented to understanding how capacity for action interacts with the work that stems from healthcare. Burden of Treatment Theory is a structural model that focuses on the work that patients and their networks do. It thus helps us understand variations in healthcare utilization and adherence in different healthcare settings and clinical contexts

Evaluation of reference genes for real-time RT-PCR expression studies in the plant pathogen Pectobacterium atrosepticum

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Real-time RT-PCR has become a powerful technique to monitor low-abundance mRNA expression and is a useful tool when examining bacterial gene expression inside infected host tissues. However, correct evaluation of data requires accurate and reliable normalisation against internal standards. Thus, the identification of reference genes whose expression does not change during the course of the experiment is of paramount importance. Here, we present a study where manipulation of cultural growth conditions and <it>in planta </it>experiments have been used to validate the expression stability of reference gene candidates for the plant pathogen <it>Pectobacterium atrosepticum</it>, belonging to the family <it>Enterobacteriaceae</it>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of twelve reference gene candidates tested, four proved to be stably expressed both in six different cultural growth conditions and <it>in planta</it>. Two of these genes (<it>recA </it>and <it>ffh</it>), encoding recombinase A and signal recognition particle protein, respectively, proved to be the most stable set of reference genes under the experimental conditions used. In addition, genes <it>proC </it>and <it>gyrA</it>, encoding pyrroline-5-carboxylate reductase and DNA gyrase, respectively, also displayed relatively stable mRNA expression levels.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Based on these results, we suggest <it>recA </it>and <it>ffh </it>as suitable candidates for accurate normalisation of real-time RT-PCR data for experiments investigating the plant pathogen <it>P. atrosepticum </it>and potentially other related pathogens.</p

Measurement of transparency ratios for protons from short-range correlated pairs

Nuclear transparency, Tp(A), is a measure of the average probability for a struck proton to escape the nucleus without significant re-interaction. Previously, nuclear transparencies were extructed for quasi-elastic A(e,e'p) knockout of protons with momentum below the Fermi momentum, where the spectral functions are well known. In this paper we extract a novel observable, the transparency ratio, Tp(A)/T_p(12C), for knockout of high-missing-momentum protons from the breakup of short range correlated pairs (2N-SRC) in Al, Fe and Pb nuclei relative to C. The ratios were measured at momentum transfer Q^2 > 1.5 (GeV/c)^2 and x_B > 1.2 where the reaction is expected to be dominated by electron scattering from 2N-SRC. The transparency ratios of the knocked-out protons coming from 2N-SRC breakup are 20 - 30% lower than those of previous results for low missing momentum. They agree with Glauber calculations and agree with renormalization of the previously published transparencies as proposed by recent theoretical investigations. The new transparencies scale as A^-1/3, which is consistent with dominance of scattering from nucleons at the nuclear surface.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Universal behaviour of ideal and interacting quantum gases in two dimensions

I discuss ideal and interacting quantum gases obeying general fractional exclusion statistics. For systems with constant density of single-particle states, described in the mean field approximation, the entropy depends neither on the microscopic exclusion statistics, nor on the interaction. Such systems are called {\em thermodynamically equivalent} and I show that the microscopic reason for this equivalence is a one-to-one correspondence between the excited states of these systems. This provides a method, different from the bosonisation technique, to transform between systems of different exclusion statistics. In the last section the macroscopic aspects of this method are discussed. In Appendix A I calculate the fluctuation of the ground state population of a condensed Bose gas in grandcanonical ensemble and mean field approximation, while in Appendix B I show a situation where although the system exhibits fractional exclusion properties on microscopic energy intervals, a rigorous calculation of the population of single particle states reveals a condensation phenomenon. This also implies a malfunction of the usual and simplified calculation technique of the most probable statistical distributions.Comment: About 14 journal pages, with 1 figure. Changes: Body of paper: same content, with slight rephrasing. Apendices are new. In the original submission I just mentioned the condensation, which is now detailed in Appendix B. They were intended for a separate paper. Reason for changes: rejection from Phys. Rev. Lett., resubmission to J. Phys. A: Math. Ge

Genotoxicity of Silver Nanoparticles in Vicia faba: A Pilot Study on the Environmental Monitoring of Nanoparticles

The use of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in commercial products has increased significantly in recent years. Although there have been some attempts to determine the toxic effects of AgNPs in mammalian and human cell-lines, there is little information on plants which play a vital role in ecosystems. The study reports the use of Vicia faba root-tip meristem to investigate the genotoxicity of AgNPs under modified GENE-TOX test conditions. The root tip cells of V. faba were treated with four different concentrations of engineered AgNPs dispersion to study toxicological endpoints such as mitotic index (MI), chromosomal aberrations (CA) and micronucleus induction (MN). For each concentration, five sets of microscopy observations were carried out. The results demonstrated that AgNPs exposure significantly increased (p < 0.05) the number of chromosomal aberrations, micronuclei, and decreased the MI in exposed groups compared to control. From this study we infer that AgNPs might have penetrated the plant system and may have impaired mitosis causing CA and MN. The results of this study demonstrate that AgNPs are genotoxic to plant cells. Since plant assays have been integrated as a genotoxicity component in risk assessment for detection of environmental mutagens, they should be given full consideration when evaluating the overall toxicological impact of the nanoparticles in the environment