Periodic changes in spectral scattering and spectral transmission of daylight in tidal water

Seasonal changes in the transmission of certain spectral bands of solar radiation in the inshore waters of the Pacific Northwest were reported by Williams and Utterback (1) for the year 1934 and by tterback and l\1iller (2) for the years 1935 and 1936…

The innate immune response and toll-like receptors in the human endometrium

Includes bibliographical references.The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file.Vita."December 2005"Dissertations, Academic -- University of Missouri--Columbia -- microbiology (Medicine)Thesis (Ph. D.) University of Missouri-Columbia 2005.There are two major divisions of the human immune system: the adaptive and the innate immune systems. The adaptive immune responses are directed against specific pathogens and are essential for control and elimination of pathogens following infection. However, the response requires several days to occur. The innate immune system serves to prevent establishment of infection and protect an individual prior to development of adaptive immune responses. This response is immediate, directed against broad classes of pathogens rather than a specific organism, and is usually sufficient to prevent establishment of infection. Additionally, the nature of the innate immune response will direct and shape adaptive immune responses against invading pathogens. Contact with pathogenic organisms frequently occurs in mucosal tissues lining the body cavities such as the respiratory tract, the gastrointestinal tract, or the reproductive tract. These surfaces are composed of epithelial cells that act as a barrier to pathogen entry into the body and act as sentinel cells, alerting the immune system to the presence of an invading pathogen by initiating innate immune responses to pathogen. The human reproductive tract is exposed to a variety of sexually transmitted pathogens including Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV), and Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). These viruses are the cause of vast global human health and reproductive problems. Currently, there is a need to develop vaccines and treatment strategies to prevent transmission of these viruses. This study examines a cellular protein known as Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) that is involved in detecting viral pathogens and initiating innate antiviral immune responses to these viral pathogens. We have found that TLR3 is expressed by endometrial epithelial cells in the human uterus, and that expression levels are altered with progression through the menstrual cycle. TLR3 expression peaked during the secretory phase of the menstrual cycle, when the uterus is prepared for embryo implantation, and was dramatically decreased during menstruation until ovulation, when TLR3 expression levels again begin to increase. Stimulation of TLR3 with its cognitive ligand initiates antiviral responses by endometrial epithelial cells and epithelial cell secretion of natural antimicrobial peptides. These data indicate that antiviral responses in the human uterus can be mediated by TLR3 and may be regulated across the menstrual cycle, indicating that susceptibility to viral infection may be altered at different stages of the menstrual cycle. These results suggest that TLR3 ligands may be utilized in development of treatment and vaccine strategies against viral pathogens of the reproductive tract

Host proteins used in HIV assembly and budding

Abstract only availableHuman immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus responsible for the AIDS pandemic, uses host cell machinery to assist its replication during the viral life cycle. A recent study randomly screened 21,000 host cell genes using siRNA to knock down the gene's expression and determine the effect gene disruption on HIV replication. This study indicated that many host genes are involved in viral replication. We are interested in pursuing the individual genes that were reported to be required for HIV assembly and budding, the process of how the virus forms and gets out of the cell. We are selecting genes indicated to be involved in assembly and budding by this study. We will use siRNA, short double strands of RNA used in interfering with gene expression, to knock down the host gene's expression to see whether the gene has any effect on infectivity. We are attempting to verify the effect on infectivity that these host genes have and, if we confirmed the previous results, we will attempt to look at which part of viral assembly and budding is affected. We can use a variety of techniques to determine this. Single round infectivity assays allow us to see if the virus is still infectious using flow cytometry. Scanning Electron Microscopy allows us to see if the virus is budding correctly. SDS page gels allows us to stain for viral proteins which can show us if viral proteins are being made and processed correctly to form functional viral particles. Once we have established which host proteins are required for replication, we hope to determine at which step in the viral cycle the host gene comes into play and how the virus uses the host's mechanisms to spread to other uninfected cells.Life Sciences Undergraduate Research Opportunity Progra

Scaling-up permafrost thermal measurements in western Alaska using an ecotype approach

Permafrost temperatures are increasing in Alaska due to climate change and in some cases permafrost is thawing and degrading. In areas where degradation has already occurred the effects can be dramatic, resulting in changing ecosystems, carbon release, and damage to infrastructure. However, in many areas we lack baseline data, such as subsurface temperatures, needed to assess future changes and potential risk areas. Besides climate, the physical properties of the vegetation cover and subsurface material have a major influence on the thermal state of permafrost. These properties are often directly related to the type of ecosystem overlaying permafrost. In this paper we demonstrate that classifying the landscape into general ecotypes is an effective way to scale up permafrost thermal data collected from field monitoring sites. Additionally, we find that within some ecotypes the absence of a moss layer is indicative of the absence of near-surface permafrost. As a proof of concept, we used the ground temperature data collected from the field sites to recode an ecotype land cover map into a map of mean annual ground temperature ranges at 1 m depth based on analysis and clustering of observed thermal regimes. The map should be useful for decision making with respect to land use and understanding how the landscape might change under future climate scenarios

Great Songs of the Church: A Comprehensive Collection of Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs of the First Class, Suitable For all Services of the Church, Alphabetically Arranged.

https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/crs_books/1193/thumbnail.jp