The Fund for New England: A New Environmental Philanthropy

New England has a new, regional philanthropy, the Fund for New England, which is concerned with the advancement of natural resources and environment in the six-state region. The fund is one of a class of new regional environmental funds/trusts that are emerging across the country. The history of New England\u27s own effort is described at the outset of the article, which also explores the experience and potential of the fund and its national counterparts with regard to advancing the novel concept of contributions in lieu of environmental fines. Finally, the process followed in establishing and operating the fund is examined in the context of other New England institutions. The article ends on the promising note that the Fund for New England and other such experiments across the country offer considerable potential for enhancing the environment and encouraging new forms of philanthropy

Interventions outside the workplace for reducing sedentary behaviour in adults under 60

This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (Intervention). The objectives are as follows: To assess the effects of non-occupational interventions for reducing sedentary behaviour in adults under 60 years of age on sedentary time. Secondary objectives are: to describe other health effects, and adverse events or unintended consequences of the interventions; to determine whether specific components of interventions are associated with changes in sedentary behaviour; to examine if there are any differential effects of interventions based on health inequalities (e.g. age, sex, income, employment)

Analysis of inhibitor of apoptosis protein family expression during mammary gland development

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Inhibitors-of-Apoptosis-Proteins (IAPs) are an evolutionarily conserved family of proteins capable of regulating several facets of apoptosis. IAPs are frequently dysregulated in cancer, but their role in the regulation of apoptosis during developmental processes is not fully understood. Here we examined the expression of IAPs during the post-natal development of the mouse mammary gland, which is a tissue that exhibits a profound induction of apoptosis during involution.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Six out of eight mammalian IAP family members are expressed in the mammary gland. Notably, quantitative PCR and immunoblotting revealed that XIAP, c-IAP1 and c-IAP2 are down-regulated in pregnancy and lactation, and prior to the onset of involution. In cultured mammary epithelial cells (MECs), XIAP levels decreased in response to inhibition of growth factor signalling. Maintaining XIAP levels in MECs by expressing exogenous XIAP protected them from all apoptotic stimuli tested.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These data suggest that the developmental regulation of IAP expression <it>in vivo </it>contributes to naturally occurring programmes of cell death.</p

Comparative genomic analyses reveal broad diversity in botulinum-toxin-producing Clostridia

Background: Clostridium botulinum is a diverse group of bacteria characterized by the production of botulinum neurotoxin. Botulinum neurotoxins are classified into serotypes (BoNT/A-G), which are produced by six species/Groups of Clostridia, but the genetic background of the bacteria remains poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to use comparative genomics to provide insights into the genetic diversity and evolutionary history of bacteria that produce the potent botulinum neurotoxin. Results: Comparative genomic analyses of over 170 Clostridia genomes, including our draft genome assemblies for 59 newly sequenced Clostridia strains from six continents and publicly available genomic data, provided in-depth insights into the diversity and distribution of BoNT-producing bacteria. These newly sequenced strains included Group I and II strains that express BoNT/A,/B,/E, or/F as well as bivalent strains. BoNT-producing Clostridia and closely related Clostridia species were delineated with a variety of methods including 16S rRNA gene, concatenated marker genes, core genome and concatenated multi-locus sequencing typing (MLST) gene phylogenies that related whole genome sequenced strains to publicly available strains and sequence types. These analyses illustrated the phylogenetic diversity in each Group and the diversity of genomic backgrounds that express the same toxin type or subtype. Comparisons of the botulinum neurotoxin genes did not identify novel toxin types or variants. Conclusions: This study represents one of the most comprehensive analyses of whole genome sequence data for Group I and II BoNT-producing strains. Read data and draft genome assemblies generated for 59 isolates will be a resource to the research community. Core genome phylogenies proved to be a powerful tool for differentiating BoNT-producing strains and can provide a framework for the study of these bacteria. Comparative genomic analyses of Clostridia species illustrate the diversity of botulinum-neurotoxin-producing strains and the plasticity of the genomic backgrounds in which bont genes are found.Peer reviewe

Pyrolysis of medium-density fiberboard: optimized search for kinetics scheme and parameters via a genetic algorithm driven by Kissinger's method

The pyrolysis kinetics of charring materials plays an important role in understanding material combustions especially for construction materials with complex degradation chemistry. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) is frequently used to study the heterogeneous kinetics of solid fuels; however, there is no agreed method to determine the pyrolysis scheme and kinetic parameters for charring polymers with multiple components and competing reaction pathways. This study develops a new technique to estimate the possible numbers of species and sub-reactions in pyrolysis by analyzing the second derivatives of thermogravimetry (DDTG) curves. The pyrolysis of a medium-density fiberboard (MDF) in nitrogen is studied in detail, and the DDTG curves are used to locate the temperature of the peak mass-loss rate for each sub-reaction. Then, on the basis of the TG data under multiple heating rates, Kissinger’s method is used to quickly find the possible range of values of the kinetic parameters (<i>A</i> and <i>E</i>). These ranges are used to accelerate the optimization of the inverse problem using a genetic algorithm (GA) for the kinetic and stoichiometric parameters. The proposed method and kinetic scheme found are shown to match the experimental data and are able to predict accurately results at different heating rates better than Kissinger’s method. Moreover, the search method (K–K method) is highly efficient, faster than the regular GA search alone. Modeling results show that, as the TG data available increase, the interdependence among kinetic parameters becomes weak and the accuracy of the first-order model declines. Furthermore, conducting TG experiment under multiple heating rates is found to be crucial in obtaining good kinetic parameters

A Study of Time-Dependent CP-Violating Asymmetries and Flavor Oscillations in Neutral B Decays at the Upsilon(4S)

We present a measurement of time-dependent CP-violating asymmetries in neutral B meson decays collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy B Factory at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. The data sample consists of 29.7 ${\rm fb}^{-1}$ recorded at the $\Upsilon(4S)$ resonance and 3.9 ${\rm fb}^{-1}$ off-resonance. One of the neutral B mesons, which are produced in pairs at the $\Upsilon(4S)$, is fully reconstructed in the CP decay modes $J/\psi K^0_S$, $\psi(2S) K^0_S$, $\chi_{c1} K^0_S$, $J/\psi K^{*0}$ ($K^{*0}\to K^0_S\pi^0$) and $J/\psi K^0_L$, or in flavor-eigenstate modes involving $D^{(*)}\pi/\rho/a_1$ and $J/\psi K^{*0}$ ($K^{*0}\to K^+\pi^-$). The flavor of the other neutral B meson is tagged at the time of its decay, mainly with the charge of identified leptons and kaons. The proper time elapsed between the decays is determined by measuring the distance between the decay vertices. A maximum-likelihood fit to this flavor eigenstate sample finds $\Delta m_d = 0.516\pm 0.016 {\rm (stat)} \pm 0.010 {\rm (syst)} {\rm ps}^{-1}$. The value of the asymmetry amplitude $\sin2\beta$ is determined from a simultaneous maximum-likelihood fit to the time-difference distribution of the flavor-eigenstate sample and about 642 tagged $B^0$ decays in the CP-eigenstate modes. We find $\sin2\beta=0.59\pm 0.14 {\rm (stat)} \pm 0.05 {\rm (syst)}$, demonstrating that CP violation exists in the neutral B meson system. (abridged)Comment: 58 pages, 35 figures, submitted to Physical Review