Soil Salinity and Stomatal Conductance on Chaparral Plants

In our experiment we evaluated the soil salinity and corresponding stomatal conductance rates of Malosma laurina and Rhus integrifolia located near the coast and farther inland. Our prediction was that stomatal conductance would vary with the change in location of each species. Stomatal conductance was measured using a simple diffusion porometer and soil salinity was measured using a refractometer. We concluded that soil salinity caused a decline in stomatal conductance in both chaparral species. M. laurina was also found to be more sensitive to an increase in soil salinity, as its stomatal conductance rates declined more than that of R. integrifolia

Vaccinia virus protein C16 acts intracellularly to modulate the host response and promote virulence

The vaccinia virus (VACV) strain Western Reserve C16 protein has been characterized and its effects on virus replication and virulence have been determined. The C16L gene is present in the inverted terminal repeat and so is one of the few VACV genes that are diploid. The C16 protein is highly conserved between different VACV strains, and also in the orthopoxviruses variola virus, ectromelia virus, horsepox virus and cowpox virus. C16 is a 37.5 kDa protein, which is expressed early during infection and localizes to the cell nucleus and cytoplasm of infected and transfected cells. The loss of the C16L gene had no effect on virus growth kinetics but did reduce plaque size slightly. Furthermore, the virulence of a virus lacking C16L (vΔC16) was reduced in a murine intranasal model compared with control viruses and there were reduced virus titres from 4 days post-infection. In the absence of C16, the recruitment of inflammatory cells in the lung and bronchoalveolar lavage was increased early after infection (day 3) and more CD4+ and CD8+ T cells expressed the CD69 activation marker. Conversely, late after infection with vΔC16 (day 10) there were fewer T cells remaining, indicating more rapid clearance of infection. Collectively, these data indicate that C16 diminishes the immune response and is an intracellular immunomodulator

Arterial inflammation in mice lacking the interleukin 1 receptor antagonist gene

Branch points and flexures in the high pressure arterial system have long been recognized as sites of unusually high turbulence and consequent stress in humans are foci for atherosclerotic lesions. We show that mice that are homozygous for a null mutation in the gene encoding an endogenous antiinflammatory cytokine, interleukin 1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra), develop lethal arterial inflammation involving branch points and flexures of the aorta and its primary and secondary branches. We observe massive transmural infiltration of neutrophils, macrophages, and CD4(+) T cells. Animals appear to die from vessel wall collapse, stenosis, and organ infarction or from hemorrhage from ruptured aneurysms. Heterozygotes do not die from arteritis within a year of birth but do develop small lesions, which suggests that a reduced level of IL-1ra is insufficient to fully control inflammation in arteries. Our results demonstrate a surprisingly specific role for IL-1ra in the control of spontaneous inflammation in constitutively stressed artery walls, suggesting that expression of IL-1 is likely to have a significant role in signaling artery wall damage

Theory Studies: Archetypical Retail Practices In Contemporary Interior Design

This thesis is written in contribution to the ongoing Intypes (Interior Archetypes) Research and Teaching Project, established at Cornell University in 1997. Intypes are derived from historical interior design practices that are reiterative and represent design ideals that span time, style and culture. This study identifies, classifies, and names archetypical interior design practices in professionally designed contemporary retail interiors. Intypes offer an interior design-specific vocabulary for the analysis and criticism of the creative dimension of design. Prior to the Intypes Project, established archetypes had not formally been identified in interior design as in the architecture discipline. Associating names with interior archetypes provides a tool for the study and practice of interior design. Generating a body of knowledge and placing contemporary interior design practice within a historical context affords credibility to the profession. The methodology is one of typology, or classification. Images of retail interiors were gathered and sorted based on common design traits and potential archetypes were proposed to the greater research group. The strongest and most far-reaching traits were deemed intypes, given intuitive names, and put forth for further examination. Retail is an important practice type to study through the lens of design typologies because of its societal and cultural impact. Shopping is a popular leisure activity, and stores, as semi-public spaces, contribute significantly to the urban fabric and sense of place. Retail interiors also experience a high turnover rate due to the nature of selling and therefore generate a quick pulse on current design practice. Nine retail intypes in total were identified and researched. Five existing intypes that were previously found in other interior practice types were also found to occur in retail environments: Salon, Showcase Stair, Marching Order, Light Seam and White Out. Four intypes were newly identified and named: Vitrine, Split Column, Bilateral and Then Now. The retail intypes are diverse in strategy and application, ranging from overall spatial treatments or qualities to individual design elements, such as light or a stair. Most, however, ultimately serve the greater purpose of product display as a fundamental component of retail design. The majority of the archetypical practices have been in use for at least fifty years, many of them even longer. Retail also presents several intypes clusters, or archetypical practices that frequently appear together. Each of the intypes is supported by a visual argument constituted by a chronological sequence of the intype's use through time. The images are supplemented with discussion of effect where the design practices are placed within historical context. The research behind the retail intypes presented here will also be made available on the Intypes Project's website-intypes.cornell.edu. The free website provides students, academics and professionals with access to a wealth of knowledge and research that gives name to archetypical interior design practices and illuminates how contemporary interior design practice is informed by historical precedent

Particle displacement and velocity measurement using holography

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Rochester. College of Engineering and Applied Science. Institute of Optics, 1985. This thesis was digitized by the Institute of Optics in 2014 and was determined to have lapsed into the public domain. If you are the author and have questions about the digitization of your work, please contact Kari Brick, Graduate Program Coordinator for the Institute of Optics, at [email protected]. Other contact information for the Institute is available at http://www.optics.rochester.eduA method of measuring particle displacements and velocities in the transform plane of a double-exposure hologram is examined both theoretically and experimentally. The analysis begins with a study of the transform patterns obtained from single-exposure holograms (both in-line holograms and off-axis holograms are considered). Although the transform of an in-line hologram and an off-axis hologram are similar, the on-axis images of an in-line hologram are shown to produce a zone lens which is not observed in the transform plane of an off-axis hologram. The Fourier transform patterns of double-exposure holograms are then examined, and it is shown that each pair of particle images related by translation contributes a set of cosine fringes to the total diffraction pattern. The frequency and orientation of the fringes are related to the magnitude and direction, respectively, of a given particle's displacement or velocity. The transform patterns corresponding to 1- and 2-dimensional distributions of displacement are examined in detail. For the 1-dimensional case, a theoretical analysis indicates that the probability density function that characterizes the distribution of displacements may be determined by properly processing intensity data measured in the transform plane of a doubly exposed hologram. For the 2-dimensional case it is shown that the marginal density functions may be obtained if the orthogonal components of particle displacement are statistically independent. Experimental results are presented, and good agreement between theory and experiment is observed