G3-homogeneous gravitational instantons

We provide an exhaustive classification of self-dual four-dimensional gravitational instantons foliated with three-dimensional homogeneous spaces, i.e. homogeneous self-dual metrics on four-dimensional Euclidean spaces admitting a Bianchi simply transitive isometry group. The classification pattern is based on the algebra homomorphisms relating the Bianchi group and the duality group SO(3). New and general solutions are found for Bianchi III.Comment: 24 pages, few correction

Monitoring global vegetation

An attempt is made to identify the need for, and the current capability of, a technology which could aid in monitoring the Earth's vegetation resource on a global scale. Vegetation is one of our most critical natural resources, and accurate timely information on its current status and temporal dynamics is essential to understand many basic and applied environmental interrelationships which exist on the small but complex planet Earth

Exposure to human and bovine noroviruses in a birth cohort in southern India from 2002 to 2006

Human and bovine norovirus virus-like particles were used to evaluate antibodies in Indian children at ages 6 and 36 months and their mothers. Antibodies to genogroup II viruses were acquired early and were more prevalent than antibodies to genogroup I. Low levels of IgG antibodies against bovine noroviruses indicate possible zoonotic transmission

AdS spacetimes from wrapped D3-branes

We derive a geometrical characterisation of a large class of AdS_3 and AdS_2 supersymmetric spacetimes in IIB supergravity with non-vanishing five-form flux using G-structures. These are obtained as special cases of a class of supersymmetric spacetimes with an $\mathbb{R}^{1,1}$ or $\mathbb{R}$ (time) factor that are associated with D3-branes wrapping calibrated 2- or 3- cycles, respectively, in manifolds with SU(2), SU(3), SU(4) and G_2 holonomy. We show how two explicit AdS solutions, previously constructed in gauged supergravity, satisfy our more general G-structure conditions. For each explicit solution we also derive a special holonomy metric which, although singular, has an appropriate calibrated cycle. After analytic continuation, some of the classes of AdS spacetimes give rise to known classes of BPS bubble solutions with $\mathbb{R}\times SO(4)\times SO(4)$, $\mathbb{R}\times SO(4)\times U(1)$, and $\mathbb{R}\times SO(4)$ symmetry. These have 1/2, 1/4 and 1/8 supersymmetry, respectively. We present a new class of 1/8 BPS geometries with $\mathbb{R}\times SU(2)$ symmetry, obtained by analytic continuation of the class of AdS spacetimes associated with D3-branes wrapped on associative three-cycles.Comment: 1+30 pages; v2, references added; v3, typos corrected, reference adde

In vivo Bioluminescence Imaging of Burkholderia mallei Respiratory Infection and Treatment in the Mouse Model

Bioluminescent imaging (BLI) technology is a powerful tool for monitoring infectious disease progression and treatment approaches. BLI is particularly useful for tracking fastidious intracellular pathogens that might be difficult to recover from certain organs. Burkholderia mallei, the causative agent of glanders, is a facultative intracellular pathogen and has been classified by the CDC as a Category B select agent due to its highly infectious nature and potential use as a biological weapon. Very little is known regarding pathogenesis or treatment of glanders. We investigated the use of bioluminescent reporter constructs to monitor the dynamics of infection as well as the efficacy of therapeutics for B. mallei in real-time. A stable luminescent reporter B. mallei strain was created using the pUTmini-Tn5::luxKm2 plasmid and used to monitor glanders in the BALB/c murine model. Mice were infected via the intranasal route with 5 × 103 bacteria and monitored by BLI at 24, 48, and 72 h. We verified that our reporter construct maintained similar virulence and growth kinetics compared to wild-type B. mallei and confirmed that it maintains luminescent stability in the presence or absence of antibiotic selection. The luminescent signal was initially seen in the lungs, and progressed to the liver and spleen over the course of infection. We demonstrated that antibiotic treatment 24 h post-infection resulted in reduction of bioluminescence that can be attributed to decreased bacterial burden in target organs. These findings suggest that BLI can be used to monitor disease progression and efficacy of therapeutics during glanders infections. Finally, we report an alternative method to mini-Tn5::luxKm2 transposon using mini-Tn7-lux elements that insert site-specifically at known genomic attachment sites and that can also be used to tag bacteria

Ecological study of the tidal segment of the James River encompassing Hog Point : 1975 final technical report

Volume 1: Technical Reports Section 1: River Biota and Phytoplankton Entrainment Studies at the VEPCO Surry Nuclear Power Station Section 2: Zooplankton Entrainment at the Surry Nuclear Power Plant, James River, Virginia by G. C. Grant and B. B. Bryan Section 3: a. Plant Entrainment of Ichthyoplankton at the VEPCO Nuclear Power Station by J. V. Merriner and A. D. Estes b: Thermal Plume Entrainment of Ichthyoplankton at the· VEPCO Nuclear Power Station by J. V. Merriner and A. D. Este

Project ATLANTA (ATlanta Land-use ANalysis: Temperature and Air quality): A Study of how the Urban Landscape Affects Meteorology and Air Quality Through Time

It is our intent through this investigation to help facilitate measures that can be Project ATLANTA (ATlanta Land-use ANalysis: applied to mitigate climatological or air quality Temperature and Air-quality) is a NASA Earth degradation, or to design alternate measures to sustain Observing System (EOS) Interdisciplinary Science or improve the overall urban environment in the future. investigation that seeks to observe, measure, model, and analyze how the rapid growth of the Atlanta. The primary objectives for this research effort are: 1) To In the last half of the 20th century, Atlanta, investigate and model the relationship between Atlanta Georgia has risen as the premier commercial, urban growth, land cover change, and the development industrial, and transportation urban area of the of the urban heat island phenomenon through time at southeastern United States. The rapid growth of the nested spatial scales from local to regional; 2) To Atlanta area, particularly within the last 25 years, has investigate and model the relationship between Atlanta made Atlanta one of the fastest growing metropolitan urban growth and land cover change on air quality areas in the United States. The population of the through time at nested spatial scales from local to Atlanta metropolitan area increased 27% between 1970 regional; and 3) To model the overall effects of urban and 1980, and 33% between 1980-1990 (Research development on surface energy budget characteristics Atlanta, Inc., 1993). Concomitant with this high rate of across the Atlanta urban landscape through time at population growth, has been an explosive growth in nested spatial scales from local to regional. Our key retail, industrial, commercial, and transportation goal is to derive a better scientific understanding of how services within the Atlanta region. This has resulted in land cover changes associated with urbanization in the tremendous land cover change dynamics within the Atlanta area, principally in transforming forest lands to metropolitan region, wherein urbanization has urban land covers through time, has, and will, effect consumed vast acreas of land adjacent to the city local and regional climate, surface energy flux, and air proper and has pushed the rural/urban fringe farther quality characteristics. Allied with this goal is the and farther away from the original Atlanta urban core. prospect that the results from this research can be An enormous transition of land from forest and applied by urban planners, environmental managers agriculture to urban land uses has occurred in the and other decision-makers, for determining how Atlanta area in the last 25 years, along with subsequent urbanization has impacted the climate and overal

Effects of classification context on categorization in natural categories

The patterns of classification of borderline instances of eight common taxonomic categories were examined under three different instructional conditions to test two predictions: first, that lack of a specified context contributes to vagueness in categorization, and second, that altering the purpose of classification can lead to greater or lesser dependence on similarity in classification. The instructional conditions contrasted purely pragmatic with more technical/quasi-legal contexts as purposes for classification, and these were compared with a no-context control. The measures of category vagueness were between-subjects disagreement and within-subjects consistency, and the measures of similarity based categorization were category breadth and the correlation of instance categorization probability with mean rated typicality, independently measured in a neutral context. Contrary to predictions, none of the measures of vagueness, reliability, category breadth, or correlation with typicality were generally affected by the instructional setting as a function of pragmatic versus technical purposes. Only one subcondition, in which a situational context was implied in addition to a purposive context, produced a significant change in categorization. Further experiments demonstrated that the effect of context was not increased when participants talked their way through the task, and that a technical context did not elicit more all-or-none categorization than did a pragmatic context. These findings place an important boundary condition on the effects of instructional context on conceptual categorization