Terrestrial Isopods of Minnesota

Eight species of terrestrial isopods (sub-order Oniscoidea) were collected in Minnesota. Six of them had not been recorded previously. Observations on habitat, distribution, size and coloration were noted. An analytical key to the species within the state is included

Introduction

The Denning Law Journal Team is very pleased to bring you the 2020 edition. In a year of unprecedent challenges and changes, we would especially like to extend our thanks to our contributors who have provided an outstanding collection of articles, comments and book reviews. We also note the passing of a distinguished jurist, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was an Associate Justice on the United States Supreme Court. She was the second woman to serve on the United States Supreme Court and is noted as a proponent of civil liberties. This edition of the Denning Law Journal is dedicated to Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the legacy of her work in safeguarding and promoting civil liberties

Sequence homology between RNAs encoding rat α-fetoprotein and rat serum albumin

We have determined the sequences of the recombinant DNA inserts of three bacterial plasmid cDNA clones containing most of the rat α-fetoprotein mRNA. The resultant nucleotide sequence of α-fetoprotein was exhaustively compared to the nucleotide sequence of the mRNA encoding rat serum albumin. These two mRNAs have extensive homology (50%) throughout and the same intron locations. The amino acid sequence of rat α-fetoprotein has been deduced from the nucleotide sequence, and its comparison to rat serum albumin's amino acid sequence reveals a 34% homology. The regularly spaced positions of the cysteines found in serum albumin are conserved in rat α-fetoprotein, indicating that these two proteins may have a similar secondary folding structure. These homologies indicate that α-fetoprotein and serum albumin were derived by duplication of a common ancestral gene and constitute a gene family

The ratio of carbon dioxide consumption to oxygen evolution in sea water in the light

The production of organic matter in sea water by the phytoplankton community has frequently been computed (Nielsen, 1937; Riley 1941) by measuring the oxygen evolution in bottled sea water samples and calculating the organic matter on the assumption that the phytoplankton organisms produced glucose by photosynthesis according to the equation:..

A first direct measurement of the intergalactic medium temperature around a quasar at z=6

The thermal state of the intergalactic medium (IGM) provides an indirect probe of both the HI and HeII reionisation epochs. Current constraints on the IGM temperature from the Lya forest are restricted to the redshift range 2<z<4.5, limiting the ability to probe the thermal memory of HI reionisation toward higher redshift. In this work, we present the first direct measurement of the IGM temperature around a z=6 quasar by analysing the Doppler widths of Lya absorption lines in the proximity zone of SDSS J0818+1722. We use a high resolution (R= 40000) Keck/HIRES spectrum in combination with detailed numerical modelling to obtain the temperature at mean density, T_0=23600\pm^5000_6900K (\pm^9200_9300K) at 68 (95) per cent confidence assuming a prior probability 13500K<T_0<38500 K following HI and HeII reionisation. This enables us to place an upper limit on the redshift of HI reionisation, z_H, within 33 comoving Mpc of SDSS J0818+1722. If the quasar reionises the HeII in its vicinity, then in the limit of instantaneous reionisation we infer z_H<9.0 (11.0) at 68 (95) per cent confidence assuming photoheating is the dominant heat source and that HI reionisation is driven by ionising sources with soft spectra, typical of population II stars. If the HI and HeII in the IGM around SDSS J0818+1722 are instead reionised simultaneously by a population of massive metal-free stars, characterised by very hard ionising spectra, we obtain a tighter upper limit of z_H<8.4 (9.4). Initiating reionisation at higher redshifts produces temperatures which are too low with respect to our constraint unless the HI ionising sources or the quasar itself have spectra significantly harder than typically assumed.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, accepted to MNRA

Exposure to Smoking Imagery in Popular Films and Adolescent Smoking in Mexico

Background: Exposure to smoking imagery in films in consistently associated with smoking behavior and its psychological antecedents among adolescents in high-income countries, but its association with adolescent smoking in middle-income countries is unknown. Methods: In 2006, a cross-sectional sample of 3876 Mexican adolescents in secondary school was surveyed on smoking behavior, smoking risk factors, and exposure to 42 popular films that contained smoking. Participants were classified into quartiles of exposure to smoking imagery across all films they reported having seen. Models were estimated to determine associations among quartiles of film-smoking exposure, smoking behavior, and the psychological antecedents of smoking, adjusting for age, gender, sensation seeking, self-esteem, parental smoking, sibling smoking, best-friend smoking, having a bedroom TV, and private versus public school attendance. Analyses were conducted in 2007. Results: Adolescents were exposed to an average of 51.7 (SE=1.3) minutes of smoking in the films they viewed. Crude and adjusting ORs indicated positive associations between quartiles of film-smoking exposure and both current smoking (AOR4v1=3.13; p\u3c0.0001) and having ever smoked (AOR4v1=2.42;p\u3c0.0001). Data from never-smokers (n=2098) were analyzed to determine associations between film-smoking exposure and psychological antecedents of smoking uptake. Crude and adjusted coefficients indicated significant, positive associations between exposure and susceptibility to smoking (AOR4v1=1.66; p\u3c0.05); favorable attitudes toward smoking (Adjusted B4v1=0.44;p\u3c0.0001); and perceived peer prevalence of smoking (Adjusted B4v1=0.26; p\u3c0.0001). Conclusions: Exposure to smoking in films appears associated with smoking among Mexican adolescents. Policies could aim to decrease youth exposure to smoking in nationally and internationally distributed