The survivorship and water loss of Liometopum luctuosum (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and Liometopum occidentale (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) exposed to different temperatures and relative humidity.

Two species of velvety tree ants, Liometopum luctuosum Wheeler, and Liometopum occidentale Emery (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), are commonly found in the western Unites States from Washington to southern California. L. luctuosum is restricted to coniferous forests in the mountains in the southern range, whereas L. occidentale is found in the lowlands. The survivorship of workers of both species exposed to several temperatures and relative humidity (RH) was determined. As temperature increased, survival of both species decreased. As the RH increased, survival of both species increased. However, L. luctuosum had higher overall survival in all treatment groups. The cuticular permeability (CP) and the rates of body water loss for each species were determined. Both species had similar CPs. Increased physiological tolerances of L. luctuosum may be an explanation for its broader distribution

The Effects of Aerobic Recreation on the Well-being of Members of the Adventist Church

Problem: That physical and mental health are indispensably related is evidenced by the scriptures, the writings of Ellen White, and modern scientific research. Most Australians, including many Seventh-day Adventists, continue to neglect this relationship and its effects on well-being. Once of the major keys, aerobic physical fitness, significantly improves positive mental outlook and effectiveness

The Changing Role of Ellen White in Seventh-day Adventism with Reference to Sociocultural Standards at Avondale College

The core tenet of this thesis is that sociocultural standards at Avondale College have changed dramatically since the Ellen White period, to the extent that a general paradigm shift may have evidenced, although her writings appear to remain the official standard for the Church at senior administration level up til 2001. The administration has steadfastly maintained through the Church creed of Twenty-seven fundamentals - last updated in 1980 - that Ellen White is a prophetess of God. She is the authoritative and inspired commentator on scripture and in effect has been used as the arbiter for decisions on Church doctrine and sociocultural lifestyle

Arbitrage, Factor Structure, and Mean-Variance Analysis on Large Asset Markets

We examine the implications of arbitrage in a market with many assets. The absence of arbitrage opportunities implies that the linear functionals that give the mean and cost of a portfolio are continuous; hence there exist unique portfolios that represent these functionals. These portfolios span the mean-variance efficient set. We resolve the question of when a market with many assets permits so much diversification that risk-free investment opportunities are available. Ross 112, 141 showed that if there is a factor structure, then the mean returns are approximately linear functions of factor loadings. We define an approximate factor structure and show that this weaker restriction is sufficient for Ross' result. If the covariance matrix of the asset returns has only K unbounded eigenvalues, then there is an approximate factor structure and it is unique. The corresponding K eigenvectors converge and play the role of factor loadings. Hence only a principal component analysis is needed in empirical work.Economic

The interaction of the p85 subunit of PI3K with rab proteins

The p85 subunit of phosphatidylinositol 3’-kinase (PI3K) has long been thought of as a regulatory subunit that has no other function than the regulation of the p110 catalytic subunit. Our laboratory is studying other roles of the p85 subunit, in particular determining the role of the p85 BH domain. The BH domain has homology to GTPase activating protein (GAP) domains that are involved in the stimulation of monomeric G proteins to hydrolyze their bound GTP to GDP. This converts the G protein from its active conformation to its inactive conformation. We have determined that p85 interacts with Rab proteins, monomeric G proteins that regulate vesicle fusion during the endocytosis of receptors. We have shown that p85 binds to Rab5 regardless of nucleotide-bound state of Rab5. The p85 subunit of PI3K has in vitro GAP activity towards Rab5. It was determined that p85 also has in vitro GAP activity towards Rab4, Rab7, Rab6 as well as the Rho-family G proteins, Rac1 and Cdc42. This GAP activity was localized to the BH domain of p85 and mutation of Arg 274 to Ala abolishes the GAP activity of p85. When this p85R274A mutant was expressed in cells, PDGFR degradation was severely inhibited and there was a corresponding increase in the duration of MAPK and Akt signalling. This increase in cell signalling caused a transformed phenotype in cells expressing the p85 protein with the Arg 274 mutation. These cells have lost contact inhibition for growth, are able to grow independent of attachment as well as in the presence of limited growth factors. They also form tumours in nude mice. These cellular effects seem to be due to an increase in receptor recycling because of the loss of the GAP activity of p85. This increase in receptor recycling may interfere with receptor targeting to the late endosome, which would cause the decrease in receptor degradation that is seen in the p85R274A cells

The physiology of protein S-acylation

Protein S-acylation, the only fully reversible posttranslational lipid modification of proteins, is emerging as a ubiquitous mechanism to control the properties and function of a diverse array of proteins and consequently physiological processes. S-acylation results from the enzymatic addition of long-chain lipids, most typically palmitate, onto intracellular cysteine residues of soluble and transmembrane proteins via a labile thioester linkage. Addition of lipid results in increases in protein hydrophobicity that can impact on protein structure, assembly, maturation, trafficking, and function. The recent explosion in global S-acylation (palmitoyl) proteomic profiling as a result of improved biochemical tools to assay S-acylation, in conjunction with the recent identification of enzymes that control protein S-acylation and de-acylation, has opened a new vista into the physiological function of S-acylation. This review introduces key features of S-acylation and tools to interrogate this process, and highlights the eclectic array of proteins regulated including membrane receptors, ion channels and transporters, enzymes and kinases, signaling adapters and chaperones, cell adhesion, and structural proteins. We highlight recent findings correlating disruption of S-acylation to pathophysiology and disease and discuss some of the major challenges and opportunities in this rapidly expanding field

Viscous vortex flows

Several computational studies are currently being pursued that focus on various aspects of representing the entire lifetime of the viscous trailing vortex wakes generated by an aircraft. The formulation and subsequent near-wing development of the leading-edge vortices formed by a delta wing are being calculated at modest Reynolds numbers using a three-dimensional, time-dependent Navier-Stokes code. Another computational code was developed to focus on the roll-up, trajectory, and mutual interaction of trailing vortices further downstream from the wing using a two-dimensional, time-dependent, Navier-Stokes algorithm. To investigate the effect of a cross-wind ground shear flow on the drift and decay of the far-field trailing vortices, a code was developed that employs Euler equations along with matched asymptotic solutions for the decaying vortex filaments. And finally, to simulate the conditions far down stream after the onset of the Crow instability in the vortex wake, a full three-dimensional, time-dependent Navier-Stokes code was developed to study the behavior of interacting vortex rings

Performance Modeling of Virtualized Custom Logic Computations

Virtualization of custom logic computations (i.e., by sharing a fixed function across distinct data streams) provides a means of reusing hardware resources, particularly when resources are limited. This is common practice in traditional processors where more than one user can share processor resources. In this paper, we virtualize a custom logic block using C-slow techniques to support fine-grain context-switching. We then develop and present an analytic model for several performance measures (throughput, latency, input queue occupancy) for both fine-grained and coarse-grained context switching (to a secondary memory). Next, we calibrate the analytic performance model with empirical measurements. We then validate the model via discrete-event simulation and use the model to predict the performance and develop optimal schedules for virtualized logic computations. We present results for a Taylor series expansion of a cosine function with added feedback and an AES encryption cipher