Effects of DDT on the Density and Diversity of Tardigrades

Twenty lichen-bearing tree bark samples were collected from DDT sprayed American elm trees (Ulmus Americana L.) in central Iowa. Twenty comparable samples were collected from an adjacent nontreated habitat. A tardigrade density of 4 individuals collected from the treated habitat was found to differ significantly (P \u3c .01) from a density of 97 individuals collected from the non-treated area. Margalef\u27s diversity index (D=S-1/1n N) determinations were found to be 0.00 and 0.44 for the treated and non-treated habitats, respectively. Tardigrade species organization within the nontreated habitat did not differ significantly from that as predicted by MacArthur\u27s broken-stick model, suggesting that tardigrade species occupy contiguous, non-overlapping niches within a lichen-bearing tree bark ecosystem. It is suggested that measurements depicting microfauna-lichen-tree bark relationships might serve as useful criteria in evaluating pesticide stress effects on total forest ecosystems

Radio Astronomy

Contains reports on three research project.National Science Foundation (Grant GP-21348A#2)California Institute of Technology (Contract 952568)National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Grant NGR 22-009-421)U. S. Air Force - Electronic Systems Division (Contract F19628-73-C-0196

Synthetic Compound Libraries Displayed on the Surface of Encoded Bacteriophage

AbstractWe describe a technology for attaching libraries of synthetic compounds to coat proteins of bacteriophage particles such that the identity of the chemical structure is encoded in the genome of the phage, analogous to peptides displayed on phage surfaces by conventional phage-display techniques. This format allows a library of synthetic compounds to be screened very efficiently as a single pool. Encoded phage serve as extremely robust reporters of the presence of each compound, providing exquisite sensitivity for identification of active compounds engaged in complex biological processes such as receptor-mediated endocytosis and transcytosis. To evaluate this approach, we constructed a library of 980 analogs of folic acid displayed on T7 phage, and demonstrated rapid identification of compounds that bind to folate receptor and direct endocytosis of associated phage particles into cells that express the targeted receptor

Remote Sensing and Estimation

Contains table of contents for Section 4, and reports on six research projects.MIT Lincoln Laboratory Agreement CX-19383MIT Lincoln Laboratory Agreement BX-6178MIT Lincoln Laboratory Agreement BX-6433National Aeronautics and Space Administration/Goddard Space Flight Center Grant NAS5-31376National Aeronautics and Space Administration/Goddard Space Flight Center Grant NAG5-10MIT Leaders for Manufacturing Progra

A Preliminary Investigation of the Effect of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Neural Activation in Clinical Perfectionism

Clinical perfectionism is associated with various cognitive processes including performance monitoring and emotion regulation. This exploratory study analyzed neurological data from a randomized controlled trial for clinical perfectionism that compared acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) to a waitlist control. The objective was to assess the effect of ACT on neural activation. Twenty-nine participants underwent a functional near-infrared spectroscopy assessment during which they completed behavioral tasks designed to elicit error detection and error generation at pre- and posttreatment. The hemodynamic response function (HRF) in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, and right inferior parietal lobe was analyzed using mixed effects models. In all areas, we found reductions or smaller increases in the total HRF for experimental tasks from pre- to posttreatment in the ACT condition compared to the waitlist condition. Decreases in total oxygenated hemoglobin are consistent with diminished recruitment of neurons in response to previously emotionally salient stimuli, possibly representing greater cognitive processing efficiency. Our preliminary findings tentatively support the processes of change posited by the theory underlying ACT and highlight the need for more precise methodology in neurological assessment to adequately evaluate how treatment affects neurological function. Limitations include lack of an active comparison condition and behavioral data

Monoclonal antibodies provided protection against ocular Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection

A panel of well characterized monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) directed against outer membrane proteins H2, or F (porin) of Pseudomonas aeruginosa were examined to determine whether they exhibited any protective effect against subsequent ocular challenge with the bacteria topically applied to the scarified corneal surface. Mice were observed macroscopically following bacterial challenge and the degree of ocular disease graded on a scale of 0 to 4 (0, normal, fully protected cornea; 4, corneal perforation or phthisis, not protected). Mice treated intravenously with either MAb MAI-6 (anti-H2) or MA2-10 (anti-F), or a combination of these two MAbs and MAb MA4-4 (anti-F), two hours before corneal challenge with the viable bacteria, exhibited significantly less corneal disease than mice either not treated with the MAbs, treated with MA4-4 alone or treated with MAb MAI-3 (anti-I). The latter MAb is directed against an outer membrane epitope that is not surface exposed. Light and transmission electron microscopic histopathology also was employed and provided confirmatory evidence to support the macroscopic analyses. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 29: [1277][1278][1279][1280][1281][1282][1283][1284]1988 Ocular disease produced by the opportunistic bacterial pathogen P. aeruginosa often leads to a fulminating and highly destructive infection resulting in rapid liquefaction of the cornea and blindness

Radio Astronomy

Contains reports on four research projects.Joint Services Electronics Program (Contract DAAB07-71-C-0300)California Institute of Technology (Contract 952568)National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Contract NAS1-10693)National Science Foundation (Grant GP-21348A#2

Short-Term Trends in Bastardy in Taiwan

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68002/2/10.1177_036319908000500303.pd

The Portals 4.0 network programming interface.

This report presents a specification for the Portals 4.0 network programming interface. Portals 4.0 is intended to allow scalable, high-performance network communication between nodes of a parallel computing system. Portals 4.0 is well suited to massively parallel processing and embedded systems. Portals 4.0 represents an adaption of the data movement layer developed for massively parallel processing platforms, such as the 4500-node Intel TeraFLOPS machine. Sandia's Cplant cluster project motivated the development of Version 3.0, which was later extended to Version 3.3 as part of the Cray Red Storm machine and XT line. Version 4.0 is targeted to the next generation of machines employing advanced network interface architectures that support enhanced offload capabilities

Radio Astronomy

Contains table of contents for Section 4 and reports on six research projects.MIT Lincoln Laboratory Agreement BX-6178MIT Lincoln Laboratory Agreement BX-6433National Aeronautics and Space Administration/Goddard Space Flight Center Grant NAS5-31376MIT Lincoln Laboratory Agreement CX-19383National Aeronautics and Space Administration/Goddard Space Flight Center Grant NAG5-10MIT Leaders for Manufacturing Progra