A study of HII regions in spiral galaxies using multiobject spectroscopy

Multiobject spectroscopy results of HII regions in nearby late-type spiral galaxies are given. Results include excitation measurements, log ((O III)/H beta), for 81 regions in M 101, 30 regions in NGC 2403, and 13 regions in M 51. Researchers conclude that late-type spirals can be classified into two distinct populations, examine possible causes of this division, and derive metallicity gradients for these galaxies. M 51 appears to have an anomalously shallow abundance gradient

Oral History Interview: Mary M. Elston

This interview is one of series conducted concerning Oral Histories of African-American women who taught in West Virginia public schools. Mary M. Elston discusses her family in great detail throughout the interview, and this includes: relatives (some of whom were slaves), growing up in a racially mixed family, meeting her husband, her marriage and family life, working at the same school as her husband and information about his educational and employment history, her children and adopted children, taking her children to events, and the competitiveness at school and in her family. The subject of divorce also comes up in this interview. She also gives us information about her childhood, such as recreation. Apart from marriage and family, she discusses her education: she attended Genoa High School and Bluefield State College. She tells us about a bombing at Bluefield State, her daily life while she was in school and working, classmates from school, as well as her sorority (Delta Sigma Theta). She gives her employment history outside of teaching, and also in-depth information about her career as a teacher and then her retirement. Race relations is another big topic, including segregation in her life, her own non- traditional views on race and ethnicity, how she has not let race affect her life, social classes among African-Americans, the Civil Rights Movement and racial integration in the world, and she recalls the desegregation of schools. Women\u27s rights and the Women\u27s Movement are also topics in this interview. There are many other discussion points, and some of them include: church and religion; women who influenced her; her current activities at the time of the interview; her self- perceptions; regrets she has in life; organizations she belongs to; how she has changed over the years; and thoughts on her life in general.https://mds.marshall.edu/oral_history/1574/thumbnail.jp

Fluorescence of fungi in superficial and deep fungal infections

BACKGROUND: Fluorescence of many fungi is noted when H&E stained sections are examined under a fluorescent microscope. In theory, this phenomenon could aid in the diagnosis of cutaneous and disseminated fungal infections without the delay associated with special stains. Seventy-six cases of superficial and deep fungal infections and 3 cases of protothecosis were studied to determine the clinical usefulness of this technique. RESULTS: In most cases, fluorescence was noted, but was not intense. Fluorescence of fungi did not correlate with the age of the specimen. In most cases, organisms in H&E stained sections were more easily identified with routine light microscopy than with fluorescent microscopy. CONCLUSION: This report suggests that in H&E stained skin specimens, fluorescent microscopy is of little benefit in the identification of fungal organisms

Distant radio galaxies in the near IR

We are carrying out a program of near IR imaging and spectroscopy of radio galaxies with redshifts of 1.5 and greater. One of its principal goals is to constrain the ages and star formation histories of massive galaxies at early epochs. The radio galaxies are drawn from the survey of 1Jy class sources by McCarthy et al (1989) and McCarthy (1990). The sample contains 18 radio galaxies with redshifts greater than 2 and an additional 10 objects with 1.5 less than z less than 2.0. The redshifts were obtained from long slit spectra with the CTIO 4 m. While the galaxies are quite faint (r approximately = 21-24.5) all have Lyman alpha emission with rest frame equivalent widths of 100 - 1000 A. Multicolor photometry in the g,r,i and J,H,K bands has been obtained with the 2.5-m Du Pont Telescope on Las Campanas and with the Hale 5 m telescope at Palomar. We have recently obtained near IR spectra, using the 4 m telescopes at KPNO and CTIO, of a few objects with the goal of determining the Lyman alpha/H-alpha ratio and hence the reddening

Pyramidal Cells, Patches, and Cortical Columns: a Comparative Study of Infragranular Neurons in TEO, TE, and the Superior Temporal Polysensory Area of the Macaque Monkey

The basal dendritic arbors of layer III pyramidal neurons are known to vary systematically among primate visual areas. Generally, those in areas associated with "higher" level cortical processing have larger and more spinous dendritic arbors, which may be an important factor for determining function within these areas. Moreover, the tangential area of their arbors are proportional to those of the periodic supragranular patches of intrinsic connections in many different areas. The morphological parameters of both dendritic and axon arbors may be important for the sampling strategies of cells in different cortical areas. However, in visual cortex, intrinsic patches are a feature of supragranular cortex, and are weaker or nonexistent in infragranular cortex. Thus, the systematic variation in the dendritic arbors of pyramidal cells in supragranular cortex may reflect intrinsic axon projections, rather than differences in columnar organization. The present study was aimed at establishing whether cells in the infragranular layers also vary in terms of dendritic morphology among different cortical areas, and whether these variations mirror the ones demonstrated in supragranular cortex. Layer V pyramidal neurons were injected with Lucifer yellow in flat-mounted cortical slices taken from cytoarchitectonic areas TEO and TE and the superior polysensory area (STP) of the macaque monkey. The results demonstrate that cells in STP were larger, had more bifurcations, and were more spinous than those in TE, which in turn were larger, had more bifurcations and were more spinous than those in TEO. These results parallel morphological variation seen in layer III pyramidal neurons, suggesting that increasing complexity of basal dendritic arbors of cells, with progression through higher areas of the temporal lobe, is a general organizational principle. It is proposed that the differences in microcircuitry may contribute to the determination of the functional signatures of neurons in different cortical areas. Furthermore, these results provide evidence that intrinsic circuitry differs across cortical areas, which may be important for theories of columnar processing

The role of ras gene in the development of haemic neoplasia in Mytilus trossulus

Disseminated neoplasia has been reported in mussels (Mytilus spp) from numerous locations worldwide. This condition is progressive and fatal and the aetiology is unknown. In vertebrates, oncogenes such as ras, and tumour suppressor genes such as p53, play important roles in carcinogenesis. We have cloned a Mytilus trossulus homologue of the vertebrate ras gene, which shows conserved sequence in regions of functional importance. Neoplastic hemolymph samples derived from M. trossulus have been investigated for the presence of ras gene mutations and changes in expression