Ecology and Behavior of the Asian Elephant

The Asian elephant was studied in Sri Lanka from 1967 until 1978. Under the sponsorship of the Smithsonian Institution, six zoologists have addressed themselves to an analysis of the behavior and ecology of the Asian elephant over a period of eleven years (Figure 1). Although elephants were studied in all three national parks found in Sri Lanka, the major effort during the last seven years has been concentrated on Gal Oya National Park. Although the Asian elephant shares numerous behavioral traits with those of the African, differences may be noted. It is proposed that the major differences between the two species in terms of population structure, social groupings, and habitat utilization reflect the longer history of the Asian elephant\u27s adaptation to a forest-grassland ecotone. An analysis of feeding rates and competition among the various large herbivores in Gal Oya National Park indicates that at certain seasons of the year, buffalo and elephants may become strong competitors. Interspecific competition among herbivores varies greatly when patterns of resource exploitation are compared among three national parks. The Asian elephant has declined significantly in recent years and may properly be considered a threatened, if not an endangered, species. Conflicts between man and elephant in Asia have a far longer history than elephant-agricultural conflicts which are developing in Africa. The elephant\u27s survival in peninsular India is a tribute to the adaptability of human culture to accommodate another species

Single-channel measurements of an N-acetylneuraminic acid-inducible outer membrane channel in Escherichia coli

NanC is an Escherichia coli outer membrane protein involved in sialic acid (Neu5Ac, i.e., N-acetylneuraminic acid) uptake. Expression of the NanC gene is induced and controlled by Neu5Ac. The transport mechanism of Neu5Ac is not known. The structure of NanC was recently solved (PDB code: 2WJQ) and includes a unique arrangement of positively charged (basic) side chains consistent with a role in acidic sugar transport. However, initial functional measurements of NanC failed to find its role in the transport of sialic acids, perhaps because of the ionic conditions used in the experiments. We show here that the ionic conditions generally preferred for measuring the function of outer-membrane porins are not appropriate for NanC. Single channels of NanC at pH 7.0 have: (1) conductance 100 pS to 800 pS in 100 mM: KCl to 3 M: KCl), (2) anion over cation selectivity (V (reversal) = +16 mV in 250 mM: KCl || 1 M: KCl), and (3) two forms of voltage-dependent gating (channel closures above ±200 mV). Single-channel conductance decreases by 50% when HEPES concentration is increased from 100 ?M: to 100 mM: in 250 mM: KCl at pH 7.4, consistent with the two HEPES binding sites observed in the crystal structure. Studying alternative buffers, we find that phosphate interferes with the channel conductance. Single-channel conductance decreases by 19% when phosphate concentration is increased from 0 mM: to 5 mM: in 250 mM: KCl at pH 8.0. Surprisingly, TRIS in the baths reacts with Ag|AgCl electrodes, producing artifacts even when the electrodes are on the far side of agar-KCl bridges. A suitable baseline solution for NanC is 250 mM: KCl adjusted to pH 7.0 without buffer

Regular expressions as violin bowing patterns

String players spend a significant amount of practice time creating and learning bowings. These may be indicated in the music using up-bow and down-bow symbols, but those traditional notations do not capture the complex bowing patterns that are latent within the music. Regular expressions, a mathematical notation for a simple class of formal languages, can describe precisely the bowing patterns that commonly arise in string music. A software tool based on regular expressions enables performers to search for passages that can be handled with similar bowings, and to edit them consistently. A computer-based music editor incorporating bowing patterns has been implemented, using Lilypond to typeset the music. Our approach has been evaluated by using the editor to study ten movements from six violin sonatas by W. A. Mozart. Our experience shows that the editor is successful at finding passages and inserting bowings; that relatively complex patterns occur a number of times; and that the bowings can be inserted automatically and consistently

Judicial Politics, Death Penalty Appeals, and Case Selection: An Empirical Study

Several studies try to explain case outcomes based on the politics of judicial selection methods. Scholars usually hypothesize that judges selected by partisan popular elections are subject to greater political pressure in deciding cases than are other judges. No class of cases seems more amenable to such analysis than death penalty cases. No study, however, accounts both for judicial politics and case selection, the process through which cases are selected for death penalty litigation. Yet, the case selection process cannot be ignored because it yields a set of cases for adjudication that is far from a random selection of cases. Effects based on judicial selection politics can only reliably be detected if one accounts for this filtering of cases judges adjudicate. In death penalty litigation, the case filtering process begins with the prosecutor\u27s decision to seek the death penalty. The case filtering process affecting reviewing courts\u27 case mix continues at the adjudicatory stage. The trial adjudicator, either the judge or the jury, may cushion the effect of extreme prosecutorial death-seeking behavior. Variation in the rates at which prosecutors seek death penalties and adjudicators impose them thus ought to influence the rate at which reviewing courts overturn capital sentences. In theory, case selection could frustrate efforts to detect political effects. Two aspects of the impact of judicial selection politics are worth separating. The first focuses on interstate differences in death penalty case processing. A second aspect of judicial selection politics relates to possible differences between state and federal judges. This Article uses two databases to explore factors affecting grants of relief from death penalties. The first consists of approximately 800 appeals of death sentences decided from 1995 to 1997. It consists solely of direct appeals in capital cases and is limited to state courts. The second database is the Bureau of Justice Statistics\u27 ( BJS ) database of all persons sentenced to death from 1973 to 1995. It includes information about whether a defendant obtained relief from a death sentence and includes post-conviction relief. The source of relief could be federal or state court but the database does not reveal which court system acted to grant relief. Although we find no system-wide evidence of the effect of state judicial election methods on case outcomes, developments in individual states do confirm the death penalty\u27s politically charged character. We find indirect evidence that the federal judiciary processes death penalty cases differently than state courts. Part II of this Article documents recent campaigns to oust judges based on their decisions in death penalty cases. These campaigns suggest that judges subject to partisan elections will be reluctant to question death sentences. Part III explains our methodology for exploring the relationship among judicial elections, states\u27 death-obtaining rates, and judicial review of capital cases. Finally, Part IV reports our empirical results

Judicial Politics, Death Penalty Appeals, and Case Selection: An Empirical Study

Several studies try to explain case outcomes based on the politics of judicial selection methods. Scholars usually hypothesize that judges selected by partisan popular elections are subject to greater political pressure in deciding cases than are other judges. No class of cases seems more amenable to such analysis than death penalty cases. No study, however, accounts both for judicial politics and case selection, the process through which cases are selected for death penalty litigation. Yet, the case selection process cannot be ignored because it yields a set of cases for adjudication that is far from a random selection of cases. Effects based on judicial selection politics can only reliably be detected if one accounts for this filtering of cases judges adjudicate. In death penalty litigation, the case filtering process begins with the prosecutor\u27s decision to seek the death penalty. The case filtering process affecting reviewing courts\u27 case mix continues at the adjudicatory stage. The trial adjudicator, either the judge or the jury, may cushion the effect of extreme prosecutorial death-seeking behavior. Variation in the rates at which prosecutors seek death penalties and adjudicators impose them thus ought to influence the rate at which reviewing courts overturn capital sentences. In theory, case selection could frustrate efforts to detect political effects. Two aspects of the impact of judicial selection politics are worth separating. The first focuses on interstate differences in death penalty case processing. A second aspect of judicial selection politics relates to possible differences between state and federal judges. This Article uses two databases to explore factors affecting grants of relief from death penalties. The first consists of approximately 800 appeals of death sentences decided from 1995 to 1997. It consists solely of direct appeals in capital cases and is limited to state courts. The second database is the Bureau of Justice Statistics\u27 ( BJS ) database of all persons sentenced to death from 1973 to 1995. It includes information about whether a defendant obtained relief from a death sentence and includes post-conviction relief. The source of relief could be federal or state court but the database does not reveal which court system acted to grant relief. Although we find no system-wide evidence of the effect of state judicial election methods on case outcomes, developments in individual states do confirm the death penalty\u27s politically charged character. We find indirect evidence that the federal judiciary processes death penalty cases differently than state courts. Part II of this Article documents recent campaigns to oust judges based on their decisions in death penalty cases. These campaigns suggest that judges subject to partisan elections will be reluctant to question death sentences. Part III explains our methodology for exploring the relationship among judicial elections, states\u27 death-obtaining rates, and judicial review of capital cases. Finally, Part IV reports our empirical results

Inhibition of Histone Methyltransferase, Histone Deacetylase, and Beta-catenin Synergistically Enhance the Cardiac Potential of Bone Marrow Cells

Previously, we reported that treatment with the G9a histone methyltransferase inhibitor BIX01294 causes bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to exhibit a cardiocompetent phenotype, as indicated by the induction of the precardiac markers Mesp1 and brachyury. Here, we report that combining the histone deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin A (TSA) with BIX01294 synergistically enhances MSC cardiogenesis. Although TSA by itself had no effect on cardiac gene expression, coaddition of TSA to MSC cultures enhanced BIX01294-induced levels of Mesp1 and brachyury expression 5.6- and 7.2-fold. Moreover, MSCs exposed to the cardiogenic stimulus Wnt11 generated 2.6- to 5.6-fold higher levels of the cardiomyocyte markers GATA4, Nkx2.5, and myocardin when pretreated with TSA in addition to BIX01294. MSC cultures also showed a corresponding increase in the prevalence of sarcomeric protein-positive cells when treated with these small molecule inhibitors. These results correlated with data showing synergism between (1) TSA and BIX01294 in promoting acetylation of lysine 27 on histone H3 and (2) BIX01294 and Wnt11 in decreasing beta-catenin accumulation in MSCs. The implications of these findings are discussed in light of observations in the early embryo on the importance of beta-catenin signaling and histone modifications for cardiomyocyte differentiation and heart development

Expert Testimony in Capital Sentencing: Juror Responses

The U.S. Supreme Court, in Furman v. Georgia (1972), held that the death penalty is constitutional only when applied on an individualized basis. The resultant changes in the laws in death penalty states fostered the involvement of psychiatric and psychologic expert witnesses at the sentencing phase of the trial, to testify on two major issues: (1) the mitigating factor of a defendant’s abnormal mental state and (2) the aggravating factor of a defendant’s potential for future violence. This study was an exploration of the responses of capital jurors to psychiatric/psychologic expert testimony during capital sentencing. The Capital Jury Project is a multi-state research effort designed to improve the understanding of the dynamics of juror decision-making in capital cases. South Carolina data (n = 214) were used to investigate the impact of expert testimony on the mitigating factor of mental illness and the aggravating factor of future dangerousness. Ordered logit regression analyses revealed significant correlations (p \u3c .005) between the presence of a defense psychiatrist or psychologist expert witness during the sentencing phase and jurors’ having the impression that the defendant was mentally disturbed. Similar analyses revealed no significant relationship between the presence of state-introduced psychiatric testimony and jurors’ having the impression that the defendant, if not executed, would be violent in the future. These findings seem to contradict the view that psychiatric testimony on future dangerousness in death penalty cases has a powerful impact on jurors. The jurors in this study were significantly influenced, however, by psychiatric/psychologic testimony in the area of a defendant’s mitigating mental abnormality

Explaining Death Row\u27s Population and Racial Composition

Twenty-three years of murder and death sentence data show how murder demographics help explain death row populations. Nevada and Oklahoma are the most death-prone states; Texas\u27s death sentence rate is below the national mean. Accounting for the race of murderers establishes that black representation on death row is lower than black representation in the population of murder offenders. This disproportion results from reluctance to seek or impose death in black defendant-black victim cases, which more than offsets eagerness to seek and impose death in black defendant-white victim cases. Death sentence rates in black defendant-white victim cases far exceed those in either black defendant-black victim cases or white defendant-white victim cases. The disproportion survives because there are many more black defendant-black victim murders, which are underrepresented on death row, than there are black defendant-white victim murders, which are overrepresented on death row