Book Reviews

Reviews of the following books: Fragile Structures: A Story of Oil Refineries, National Security and the Coast of Maine by Peter Amory Bradford; Maine Catalog: Historic American Buildings Survey, National Park Service, Department of the Interior - A List of Measured Drawings, Photographs and Written Documentation in the Survey compiled and introductory essay by Denys Peter Myers; Journals of the Gloucester Experiment by Gloucester Community Development Corporatio

Degenerative Disease Evidence of Oxidative Injury of the Spinal Cord in 2 Horses With Equine Degenerative Myeloencephalopathy

Abstract The cervical spinal cords of 2 horses with equine degenerative myeloencephalopathy (EDM) were evaluated for evidence of oxidative damage to the central nervous system (CNS) using immunohistochemical staining for 3-nitrotyrosine (3-NT) and 4-hydroxynonenol (4-HNE). Neurons of the CNS from horses with EDM had positive immunohistochemical staining, whereas control samples did not, thus supporting the theory that oxidative damage is a potential underlying factor in horses with EDM. In addition, serum vitamin E concentration was low in both EDM-affected horses, and vitamin E concentration was also deficient in the cerebrospinal fluid in 1 EDM horse, further supporting the association between low vitamin E concentrations and oxidative damage to the CNS. Continued research is necessary to further define the pathophysiologic mechanisms of EDM

Plasmonics-enhanced and optically modulated delivery of gold nanostars into brain tumor

Plasmonics-active gold nanostars exhibiting strong imaging contrast and efficient photothermal transduction were synthesized for a novel pulsed laser-modulated plasmonics-enhanced brain tumor microvascular permeabilization. We demonstrate a selective, optically modulated delivery of nanoprobes into the tumor parenchyma with minimal off-target distribution

Modelling the Effects of Population Structure on Childhood Disease: The Case of Varicella

Realistic, individual-based models based on detailed census data are increasingly used to study disease transmission. Whether the rich structure of such models improves predictions is debated. This is studied here for the spread of varicella, a childhood disease, in a realistic population of children where infection occurs in the household, at school, or in the community at large. A methodology is first presented for simulating households with births and aging. Transmission probabilities were fitted for schools and community, which reproduced the overall cumulative incidence of varicella over the age range of 0–11 years old

Plasmonics-enhanced and optically modulated delivery of gold nanostars into brain tumor

Plasmonics-active gold nanostars exhibiting strong imaging contrast and efficient photothermal transduction were synthesized for a novel pulsed laser-modulated plasmonics-enhanced brain tumor microvascular permeabilization. We demonstrate a selective, optically modulated delivery of nanoprobes into the tumor parenchyma with minimal off-target distribution

Task-Specific Effects of tDCS-Induced Cortical Excitability Changes on Cognitive and Motor Sequence Set Shifting Performance

In this study, we tested the effects of transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) on two set shifting tasks. Set shifting ability is defined as the capacity to switch between mental sets or actions and requires the activation of a distributed neural network. Thirty healthy subjects (fifteen per site) received anodal, cathodal and sham stimulation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) or the primary motor cortex (M1). We measured set shifting in both cognitive and motor tasks. The results show that both anodal and cathodal single session tDCS can modulate cognitive and motor tasks. However, an interaction was found between task and type of stimulation as anodal tDCS of DLPFC and M1 was found to increase performance in the cognitive task, while cathodal tDCS of DLPFC and M1 had the opposite effect on the motor task. Additionally, tDCS effects seem to be most evident on the speed of changing sets, rather than on reducing the number of errors or increasing the efficacy of irrelevant set filtering

The response of Plantago major ssp pleiosperma to elevated CO2 is modulated by the formation of secondary shoots

The effect of elevated CO2 on the relative growth rate (RGR) of Plantago major ssp. pleiosperma was studied during the vegetative stage, in relation to plant development, by growing plants at 350 mu l l(-1) or at 700 mu l l(-1) CO2 in non-limiting nutrient solution with nitrate. To minimize interference by the accumulation of non-structural carbohydrates in the interpretation of results, RGR was expressed on a f. wt basis (RGR(FW)), as were all plant weight ratios. Stimulation of the RGR(FW) Of the whole plant by elevated CO2 was transient, and did not last longer than 8 d. At the same time a transient increase in root weight ratio (RWR) was observed. In order to investigate whether the transient effect of elevated CO2 on RGR(FW) was size-dependent, the data were plotted versus total f. wt (log(e) transformed). The transient period of stimulation of RGR(FW) and of RWR by elevated CO2 was still found, but in both CO2 treatments RGR(FW) decreased after a certain plant size had been reached. This size coincided with the stage at which secondary shoots started to develop, and was reached earlier in plants grown at elevated CO2. The RGR of these secondary shoots (RGR(see)) was Still increased when the period of whole plant stimulation of RGR(FW) had ended, indicating that the development of these new sinks took priority over a continuation of the stimulation of RWR. It is hypothesized that in this Plantago subspecies the response of the RGR(FW) of the whole plants to elevated CO2 is modulated by the formation of secondary shoots. Apparently, partitioning of the extra soluble carbohydrates at elevated CO2 to this tissue takes precedence over partitioning to the roots. resulting in a cessation of stimulation of plant RGR(FW) by elevated CO2.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Global Analysis of Gene Expression Profiles in Developing Physic Nut (Jatropha curcas L.) Seeds

Background: Physic nut (Jatropha curcas L.) is an oilseed plant species with high potential utility as a biofuel. Furthermore, following recent sequencing of its genome and the availability of expressed sequence tag (EST) libraries, it is a valuable model plant for studying carbon assimilation in endosperms of oilseed plants. There have been several transcriptomic analyses of developing physic nut seeds using ESTs, but they have provided limited information on the accumulation of stored resources in the seeds. Methodology/Principal Findings: We applied next-generation Illumina sequencing technology to analyze global gen