A Repeatable, Visual Survey of Three Rare \u3cem\u3ePercina\u3c/em\u3e (Osteichthyes: Percidae) Fish in Little River, Blount County, Tennessee

A recent apparent decline of the darter species in Little River, Blount County, Tennessee, suggested a deterioration on habitat quality was taking place. The objective of this study was to establish a baseline of the abundance and distribution of three large and easily recognized darter species (Percina aurantiaca, P. burtoni, and P. macrocephala) believed to be very pollution intolerant. The study area included 27 river miles with 20 accessible sites which were determined by an area reconnaissance. Each site has been described, including diagrams and photographs, and was surveyed six times between July and October 1993. A review of published accounts of the darters\u27 habitats are presented along with observations of the unique type of stream habitat utilized by each darter. This visual study was set up to be repeatable, using site and habitat descriptions, for future monitoring of the fish populations. The baseline of abundance included adults and young-of-the-year of the three species. The number of fish sightings was compiled from the 120 observations conducted during the 6 surveys at each site. Additional information included sightings of fish observed in areas adjacent to the survey sites. Finally, a comparison was made between the 1993 study and a survey following a historical flood in 1994

The Ranger VII Mission

Ranger VII launch vehicle system - lunar photographic mission systems analysi

Decoupling of a Neutron Interferometer from Temperature Gradients

Neutron interferometry enables precision measurements that are typically operated within elaborate, multi-layered facilities which provide substantial shielding from environmental noise. These facilities are necessary to maintain the coherence requirements in a perfect crystal neutron interferometer which is extremely sensitive to local environmental conditions such as temperature gradients across the interferometer, external vibrations, and acoustic waves. The ease of operation and breadth of applications of perfect crystal neutron interferometry would greatly benefit from a mode of operation which relaxes these stringent isolation requirements. Here, the INDEX Collaboration and National Institute of Standards and Technology demonstrates the functionality of a neutron interferometer in vacuum and characterize the use of a compact vacuum chamber enclosure as a means to isolate the interferometer from spatial temperature gradients and time-dependent temperature fluctuations. The vacuum chamber is found to have no depreciable effect on the performance of the interferometer (contrast) while improving system stability, thereby showing that it is feasible to replace large temperature isolation and control systems with a compact vacuum enclosure for perfect crystal neutron interferometry

Response of neural reward regions to food cues in autism spectrum disorders

BACKGROUND: One hypothesis for the social deficits that characterize autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is diminished neural reward response to social interaction and attachment. Prior research using established monetary reward paradigms as a test of non-social reward to compare with social reward may involve confounds in the ability of individuals with ASD to utilize symbolic representation of money and the abstraction required to interpret monetary gains. Thus, a useful addition to our understanding of neural reward circuitry in ASD includes a characterization of the neural response to primary rewards. METHOD: We asked 17 children with ASD and 18 children without ASD to abstain from eating for at least four hours before an MRI scan in which they viewed images of high-calorie foods. We assessed the neural reward network for increases in the blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signal in response to the food images RESULTS: We found very similar patterns of increased BOLD signal to these images in the two groups; both groups showed increased BOLD signal in the bilateral amygdala, as well as in the nucleus accumbens, orbitofrontal cortex, and insula. Direct group comparisons revealed that the ASD group showed a stronger response to food cues in bilateral insula along the anterior-posterior gradient and in the anterior cingulate cortex than the control group, whereas there were no neural reward regions that showed higher activation for controls than for ASD. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that neural response to primary rewards is not diminished but in fact shows an aberrant enhancement in children with ASD

Measurement of Receptor-Activated Phosphoinositide Turnover in Rat Brain: Nonequivalence of Inositol Phosphate and CDP-Diacylglycerol Formation

Two methods for the measurement of receptor-activated phosphoinositide turnover were evaluated for their degree of correspondence in slices of rat brain; they involved the Li + -dependent accumulations of either [ 3 H]-inositol-labeled inositol phosphates or [ 3 H]cytidine-labeled CDP-diacylglycerol. In contrast to the expectation that the ratio of these two responses would remain approximately constant, varying degrees of correspondence were obtained. The two extremes are exemplified by carbachol, which elicited large increases in both inositol phosphate and CDP-diacylglycerol labeling, and endothelin, which gave a robust inositol phosphate response with little or no accumulation of 3 H-CDP-diacylglycerol. No instance of the presence of the latter response in the absence of 3 H-inositol phosphate accumulation was observed. Measurement of 3 H-CDP-diacylglycerol accumulation thus may add additional insight into the regulation of phosphoinositide turnover and the complex actions of Li + .Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66135/1/j.1471-4159.1993.tb03258.x.pd