Winds and Waves (4 Min - 11 Yrs) in the Upper Middle Atmosphere (60-110 Km) at Saskatoon, Canada (52 Deg N, 107 Deg W): MF Radar (2.2 Mhz) Soundings 1973 - 1983

Examples of gravity waves (GW), tides, planetary waves (PW), and circulation effects in the upper middle atmosphere are presented. Energy densities of GW, tides, and PW are compared. Fourier and spectral analyses are applied to the data

Bulk Density of a Sandy Loam: Traffic, Tillage, and Irrigation-Method Effects

Modern crop production creates a cycle between soil compaction caused by traffic and alleviation of this condition by tillage or natural processes such as freezing and thawing. The objective of this study was to evaluate important management practices as they relate to changes in bulk density of a tilled sandy loam soil. Practices evaluated were irrigation method, time between tillage and traffic, tire pressure and wheel load of applied traffic, and controlled traffic. Relationships among bulk density, penetration resistance, and infiltration rate were determined. Experiments were conducted in the San Joaquin Valley of California, on a sandy loam soil (Entisol) with an organic-matter content of <1%. After tillage, settling and trafficking of a soil resulted in rapid changes in its bulk density until a new equilibrium was reached. Tire pressure of 408 kPa and wheel weight of 2724 kg applied at moisture contents near field capacity resulted in a bulk density of 1.92 Mg m-3 , compared with a value of 1.67 for no traffic. The time interval between tillage and traffic did not affect final bulk density. Drip irrigation, which did not saturate the soil, resulted in a bulk density of ≈0.1 Mg m-3 lower than flood irrigation, which saturated the soil surface. Wheel traffic in the furrow resulted in only small changes in the bulk density within the row. When tillage did not occur between cropping seasons, traffic caused high bulk densities in the furrow but only small changes in the row. An increase in bulk density from 1.7 to 1.89 Mg m-3 decreased the infiltration rate by four times and increased resistance to penetration at the end of the season by three times. Knowledge of how management practices affect bulk density can aid growers in reducing recompaction following tillage

Immunomodulatory properties of ethanol extract of Canarium ovatum (Burseraceae) pulp

Purpose: To evaluate the immunomodulatory properties of ethanol extract of the pulp of Canarium ovatum (COPE).Methods: The immunomodulatory activity of ethanolic extract of the pulp of C. ovatum was investigated in vivo using Balb/C mice. Extract doses of 300 and 600 mg/kg were orally administered to study its effect on delayed type hypersensitivity and humoral antibody response using sheep red blood cells (SRBC). Acute oral toxicity profile and phytochemical analysis were also determined.Results: Orally -administered COPE did not exhibit any mortality or signs of toxicity at doses 300 - 2000 mg/kg. Phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of biologically-active compounds such as sterols, triterpenes, flavonoids, alkaloids, saponins, glycosides and tannins. Treatment with COPE for 7 days stimulated the early phase of DTH response through significant increase in foot pad thickness (111.87 ± 9.97 % at 300 mg/kg, and 91.27 ± 7.81 % at 600 mg/kg), when compared to distilled water and cyclophosphamide (CP) groups. Similarly, COPE significantly enhanced antibody titer, with highest titer at the dose of 300 mg/kg. Histological observations of the spleen showed follicles with active germinal centers and proliferating lymphocytes, which are consistent with the immunostimulatory effects of COPE.Conclusion: These results show that COPE has stimulatory effects on cellular and humoral responses in mice, indicating its potential as an immunostimulatory agent.Keywords: Immunomodulation, Canarium ovatum, Delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction, Antibody titer, Pili pul

Essential role for proteinase-activated receptor-2 in arthritis

Using physiological, pharmacological, and gene disruption approaches, we demonstrate that proteinase-activated receptor-2 (PAR-2) plays a pivotal role in mediating chronic inflammation. Using an adjuvant monoarthritis model of chronic inflammation, joint swelling was substantially inhibited in PAR-2-deficient mice, being reduced by more than fourfold compared with wild-type mice, with virtually no histological evidence of joint damage. Mice heterozygous for PAR-2 gene disruption showed an intermediate phenotype. PAR-2 expression, normally limited to endothelial cells in small arterioles, was substantially upregulated 2 weeks after induction of inflammation, both in synovium and in other periarticular tissues. PAR-2 agonists showed potent proinflammatory effects as intra-articular injection of ASKH95, a novel synthetic PAR-2 agonist, induced prolonged joint swelling and synovial hyperemia. Given the absence of the chronic inflammatory response in the PAR-2-deficient mice, our findings demonstrate a key role for PAR-2 in mediating chronic inflammation, thereby identifying a novel and important therapeutic target for the management of chronic inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis

Reading and re-reading Shrek

This article presents the findings of a small-scale research project which aimed to enable young people to reflect on their childhood responses to the popular films, ‘Shrek’ and ‘Shrek 2’. During the project the participants develop new readings of the films in the light of their own recent experiences both of life and of other texts. The research draws on reader response theories to describe the complex readings of the films made by two young women from Rotherham. These readings include an engagement with an element of the films’ narrative structure, the relationship dilemma between the main characters. There was also clearly recollection of enjoyment of the animation style, the humour and the fairytale intertextuality of the film. However, the strongest response was based on more recent experiences and involved considerable empathy with the characters. This has important implications for both educational research and classroom practice. This paper argues for an increased recognition of the significance of children and young people’s engagements with popular children’s films as integral to their development as readers and creators of narrative texts

Imaging shear stress distribution and evaluating the stress concentration factor of the human eye.

Healthy eyes are vital for a better quality of human life. Historically, for man-made materials, scientists and engineers use stress concentration factors to characterise the effects of structural non-homogeneities on their mechanical strength. However, such information is scarce for the human eye. Here we present the shear stress distribution profiles of a healthy human cornea surface in vivo using photo-stress analysis tomography, which is a non-intrusive and non-X-ray based method. The corneal birefringent retardation measured here is comparable to that of previous studies. Using this, we derive eye stress concentration factors and the directional alignment of major principal stress on the surface of the cornea. Similar to thermometers being used for monitoring the general health in humans, this report provides a foundation to characterise the shear stress carrying capacity of the cornea, and a potential bench mark for validating theoretical modelling of stresses in the human eye in future

Deceleration and trapping of heavy diatomic molecules using a ring-decelerator

We present an analysis of the deceleration and trapping of heavy diatomic molecules in low-field seeking states by a moving electric potential. This moving potential is created by a 'ring-decelerator', which consists of a series of ring-shaped electrodes to which oscillating high voltages are applied. Particle trajectory simulations have been used to analyze the deceleration and trapping efficiency for a group of molecules that is of special interest for precision measurements of fundamental discrete symmetries. For the typical case of the SrF molecule in the (N,M) = (2, 0) state, the ring-decelerator is shown to outperform traditional and alternate-gradient Stark decelerators by at least an order of magnitude. If further cooled by a stage of laser cooling, the decelerated molecules allow for a sensitivity gain in a parity violation measurement, compared to a cryogenic molecular beam experiment, of almost two orders of magnitude