Effects of corn oil and benzyl acetate on number and size of azaserine-induced foci in the pancreas of LEW and F344 rats.

The response of LEW and F344 strain rats to the pancreatic carcinogen azaserine was compared using the size and number of azaserine-induced acidophilic acinar cell foci and nodules as parameters in a 4-month experiment. A second experiment compared the effect of corn oil intake by gavage and dietary routes on the growth of azaserine-induced pancreatic lesions in LEW rats. A third experiment tested the activity of benzyl acetate in regard to its ability to induce acinar cell foci or to promote the growth of such foci in azaserine-treated rats. The results showed that equivalent doses of azaserine induce two to seven times more foci in LEW than in F344 rats, and that LEW rats have a higher incidence of "spontaneous" foci than F344 rats. Azaserine-treated LEW rats that were given 5 mL corn oil/kg body weight 5 days per week by gavage developed more acinar cell foci than rats fed a basal diet (chow). Addition of an equivalent amount of corn oil to chow had a similar effect of enhancing the development of foci. Rats of neither strain developed acinar cell foci when benzyl acetate was given by gavage or in the diet nor was there evidence that benzyl acetate has a significant effect on the development of foci in azaserine-treated rats. These studies also demonstrate that the azaserine/rat model of pancreatic carcinogenesis which was developed in LEW rats can be adapted for use with F344 rats

The Glass Transition Temperature of Water: A Simulation Study

We report a computer simulation study of the glass transition for water. To mimic the difference between standard and hyperquenched glass, we generate glassy configurations with different cooling rates and calculate the $T$ dependence of the specific heat on heating. The absence of crystallization phenomena allows us, for properly annealed samples, to detect in the specific heat the simultaneous presence of a weak pre-peak (``shadow transition''), and an intense glass transition peak at higher temperature. We discuss the implications for the currently debated value of the glass transition temperature of water. We also compare our simulation results with the Tool-Narayanaswamy-Moynihan phenomenological model.Comment: submitted to Phys. Re

Spatio-temporal variability in drifting Fish Aggregating Device (dFAD) beaching events in the Seychelles Archipelago

Purse-seine fisheries use drifting Fish Aggregating Devices (dFADs), human-made floating objects, to facilitate the capture of tropical tunas. Currently, the majority of dFADs are constructed primarily of highly durable non-biodegradable materials and there is no legal obligation to recover dFADs after deployment, leading to beaching events and potentially negative environmental impacts. We assessed beachings as a function of intra- and inter-annual trends, water depth, distance from land, seasonality, and benthic habitat within the local context of the Seychelles Archipelago using trajectories of dFADs deployed by French purse seiners over 2008-2020. Overall, 3842 beaching events associated with 2371 distinct dFAD tracking buoys were identified. Beachings occurred most frequently during the winter monsoon (December-March). Due to the shallow Mahe Plateau, beachings occurred in both nearshore (≤ 5 km from land) and offshore (> 5 km) regions, predominantly in estimated depths less than 60 m. Despite representing < 20% of overall mapped habitat, the benthic habitat "Coral/Algae"had the highest beaching rate (35.3% of beachings), and therefore, beachings pose a significant concern for conservation. Our results provide a detailed view of the spatio-temporal pattern of beachings in the Seychelles, supporting the development of mitigation and prevention methods to reduce marine debris and perturbations to the marine environment

Provinciality and the Art World: The Midland Group 1961- 1977

This paper takes as its focus the Midland Group Gallery in order to first, make a case for the consideration of the geographies of art galleries. Second, highlight the importance of galleries in the context of cultural geographies of the sixties. Third, discuss the role of provinciality in the operation of art worlds. In so doing it explicates one set of geographies surrounding the gallery – those of the local, regional and international networks that connected to produce art works and art space. It reveals how the interactions between places and practices outside of metropolitan and regional hierarchies provides a more nuanced insight into how art worlds operated during the sixties, a period of growing internationalism of art, and how contested definitions of the provincial played an integral role in this. The paper charts the operations of the Midland Group Gallery and the spaces that it occupied to demonstrate how it was representative of a post-war discourse of provincialism and a corresponding re-evaluation of regional cultural activity

The Performance of Private Equity Funds: Does Diversification Matter?

This paper is the first systematic analysis of the impact of diversification on the performance of private equity funds. A unique data set allows the exact evaluation of diversification across the dimensions financing stages, industries, and countries. Very different levels of diversification can be observed across sample funds. While some funds are highly specialized others are highly diversified. The empirical results show that the rate of return of private equity funds declines with diversification across financing stages, but increases with diversification across industries. Accordingly, the fraction of portfolio companies which have a negative return or return nothing at all, increase with diversification across financing stages. Diversification across countries has no systematic effect on the performance of private equity funds

Consonance perception beyond the traditional existence region of pitch

Some theories posit that the perception of consonance is based on neural periodicity detection, which is dependent on accurate phase locking of auditory nerve fibers to features of the stimulus waveform. In the current study, 15 listeners were asked to rate the pleasantness of complex tone dyads (2 note chords) forming various harmonic intervals and bandpass filtered in a high-frequency region (all components >5.8 kHz), where phase locking to the rapid stimulus fine structure is thought to be severely degraded or absent. The two notes were presented to opposite ears. Consonant intervals (minor third and perfect fifth) received higher ratings than dissonant intervals (minor second and tritone). The results could not be explained in terms of phase locking to the slower waveform envelope because the preference for consonant intervals was higher when the stimuli were harmonic, compared to a condition in which they were made inharmonic by shifting their component frequencies by a constant offset, so as to preserve their envelope periodicity. Overall the results indicate that, if phase locking is indeed absent at frequencies greater than ∼5 kHz, neural periodicity detection is not necessary for the perception of consonance

Toward Human-Carnivore Coexistence: Understanding Tolerance for Tigers in Bangladesh

Fostering local community tolerance for endangered carnivores, such as tigers (Panthera tigris), is a core component of many conservation strategies. Identification of antecedents of tolerance will facilitate the development of effective tolerance-building conservation action and secure local community support for, and involvement in, conservation initiatives. We use a stated preference approach for measuring tolerance, based on the ‘Wildlife Stakeholder Acceptance Capacity’ concept, to explore villagers’ tolerance levels for tigers in the Bangladesh Sundarbans, an area where, at the time of the research, human-tiger conflict was severe. We apply structural equation modeling to test an a priori defined theoretical model of tolerance and identify the experiential and psychological basis of tolerance in this community. Our results indicate that beliefs about tigers and about the perceived current tiger population trend are predictors of tolerance for tigers. Positive beliefs about tigers and a belief that the tiger population is not currently increasing are both associated with greater stated tolerance for the species. Contrary to commonly-held notions, negative experiences with tigers do not directly affect tolerance levels; instead, their effect is mediated by villagers’ beliefs about tigers and risk perceptions concerning human-tiger conflict incidents. These findings highlight a need to explore and understand the socio-psychological factors that encourage tolerance towards endangered species. Our research also demonstrates the applicability of this approach to tolerance research to a wide range of socio-economic and cultural contexts and reveals its capacity to enhance carnivore conservation efforts worldwide

Evidence for language transfer leading to a perceptual advantage for non-native listeners

Phonological transfer from the native language is a common problem for non-native speakers that has repeatedly been shown to result in perceptual deficits vis-a-vis native speakers. It was hypothesized, however, that transfer could help, rather than hurt, if it resulted in a beneficial bias. Due to differences in pronunciation norms between Korean and English, Koreans in the U.S. were predicted to be better than Americans at perceiving unreleased stops--not only in their native language (Korean) but also in their non-native language (English). In three experiments, Koreans were found to be significantly more accurate than Americans at identifying unreleased stops in Korean, at identifying unreleased stops in English, and at discriminating between the presence and absence of an unreleased stop in English. Taken together, these results suggest that cross-linguistic transfer is capable of boosting speech perception by non-natives beyond native levels