Prairie flora on the Missouri River bluffs of western Iowa

In western Iowa, from Sioux City south to Hamburg, the Missouri River flood plain is bordered by a series of abrupt loess bluffs. Because of the wide variability in exposure, because of the characteristic wind-deposited loess and because of the accessability to river migration routes, the bluffs possess a diverse, albeit characteristic flora. Investigations of localized or specialized ecological niches frequently yield not only floristic data but insight into historical development and migration movements of both individual species and floristic units. For instance, McLaughlin (1932) in his study of the sand barren flora of northwest Wisconsin was able to show possible migrational routes of the Atlantic coastal plain flora into Wisconsin. Although certain aspects of the bluff flora have previously been described (Pammel, 1902; Shimek, 1909; Conard, 1952), no inclusive botanical survey of the area has been made. The present study, undertaken to fill such a need, is designed not only to provide a reasonably complete floristic survey of the bluff flora, but also to consider the components of the flora from an ecological and geographical standpoint

Preliminary Report on the Distribution of Bottom Organisms in West Lake Okoboji, Iowa

Little is known of the bottom fauna of the locality. This passage is taken from an Extension Bulletin of the State University of Iowa which describes the Iowa Lakeside Laboratory on West Lake Okoboji and its facilities for biological investigations. It should be stressed at the outse.t that there are few lakes which do not share with Okoboji this relatively unexplored state of their bottom biota. A study was begun in July 1950 with a view to eventually answering the following questions: 1. What is the distribution of macroscopic bottom dwelling animals in the lake? 2. Does this distribution follow a pattern that can be correlated with environmental factors such as the nature of bottom deposits, slope of the bottom in various regions, temperature, dissolved gases in the water, currents in the lake and others

THE EFFECTS OF ALTERNATE COW FRESHENING DISTRIBUTIONS ON MILK PRODUCTION AND IMPORTS IN FLORIDA

Seasonal swings in milk production in Florida result in a need to import milk on a seasonal basis. A linear programming analysis is used to analyze alternate freshening-date distributions and project the cost savings to Florida dairy farmers from reduced milk imports.Farm Management,

Charles I, Cromwell and Cicero (A Response to Dale B. J. Randall)

This response to Dale B. J. Randall's essay "The Head and the Hands on the Rostra: Marcus Tullius Cicero as a Sign of Its Times" focuses on the question of possible authorship

Classroom enrichment through children's specialties.

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

Teredinibacter turnerae gen. nov., sp. nov., a dinitrogen-fixing, cellulolytic, endosymbiotic c-proteobacterium isolated from the gills of wood-boring molluscs (Bivalvia: Teredinidae)

Author Posting. © Society for General Mircobiology, 2002. This article is posted here by permission of Society for General Mircobiology for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in International Journal of Systematic Bacteriology 52 (2002): 2261-2269, doi:10.1099/ijs.0.02184-0.A cellulolytic, dinitrogen-fixing bacterium isolated from the gill tissue of a wood-boring mollusc (shipworm) Lyrodus pedicellatus of the bivalve family Teredinidae and 58 additional strains with similar properties, isolated from gills of 24 bivalve species representing 9 of 14 genera of Teredinidae, are described. The cells are Gram-negative, rigid, rods (0<4–0<6x3–6 lm) that bear a single polar flagellum. All isolates are capable of chemoheterotrophic growth in a simple mineral medium supplemented with cellulose as a sole source of carbon and energy. Xylan, pectin, carboxymethylcellulose, cellobiose and a variety of sugars and organic acids also support growth. Growth requires addition of combined nitrogen when cultures are vigorously aerated, but all isolates fix dinitrogen under microaerobic conditions. The pH, temperature and salinity optima for growth were determined for six isolates and are approximately 8<5, 30–35 °C and 0<3 M NaCl respectively. The isolates are marine. In addition to NaCl, growth requires elevated concentrations of Ca2M and Mg2M that reflect the chemistry of seawater. The DNA GMC content ranged from 49 to 51 mol%. Four isolates were identical with respect to small-subunit rRNA sequence over 891 positions compared and fall within a unique clade in the c-subclass of the Proteobacteria. Based on morphological, physiological and phylogenetic characteristics and specific symbiotic association with teredinid bivalves, a new genus and species, Teredinibacter turnerae gen. nov., sp. nov., is proposed. The type strain is T7902T (vATCC 39867TvDSM 15152T).This work was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation no. NSF DEB-9420051 and IBN- 9982982, the Maine Science and Technology Foundation's Center for Innovation in Biotechnology, and the University of Maine's Faculty Research program

Seeing Crime and Punishment Through a Sociological Lens: Contributions, Practices, and the Future

There is a rich intellectual history to the sociological study of crime and punishment that encompasses multiple and interrelated traditions. Some of these traditions trace their roots to the European social theorists of the nineteenth century, particularly Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, and Karl Marx. Although only Durkheim and Weber systematically studied law (and only Durkheim actually studied punishment), all three social theorists facilitated the development of sociological research and theory on crime and punishment. Durkheim\u27s Suicide: A Study in Sociology, for example, investigated the relationship between social integration and suicide rates, which, in turn, provided a model of inquiry for multiple generations of sociologists investigating the social causes of crime, delinquency, and social deviance. Similarly, Durkheim\u27s The Division of Labor in Society inspired sociologists to examine the relationship between social structure and the organization of law and punishment. Weber\u27s ideas concerning the rationalization of society and the legitimate bases of legal authority compelled sociologists to think comparatively and brought a historical dimension to sociological inquiry on law and punishment. Marxist sensibilities begat a small, but vibrant, industry of radical criminologists and sociologists of law and punishment who located both the causes and control of crime in the exploitation, injustice, and class conflict inherent in capitalist society

Correlative Gene Expression to Protective Seroconversion in Rift Valley Fever Vaccinates

Rift Valley fever Virus (RVFV), a negative-stranded RNA virus, is the etiological agent of the vector-borne zoonotic disease, Rift Valley fever (RVF). In both humans and livestock, protective immunity can be achieved through vaccination. Earlier and more recent vaccine trials in cattle and sheep demonstrated a strong neutralizing antibody and total IgG response induced by the RVF vaccine, authentic recombinant MP-12 (arMP-12). From previous work, protective immunity in sheep and cattle vaccinates normally occurs from 7 to 21 days after inoculation with arMP-12. While the serology and protective response induced by arMP-12 has been studied, little attention has been paid to the underlying molecular and genetic events occurring prior to the serologic immune response. To address this, we isolated RNA from whole blood of vaccinated calves over a time course of 21 days before and after vaccination with arMP-12. The time course RNAs were sequenced by RNASeq and bioinformatically analyzed. Our results revealed time-dependent activation or repression of numerous gene ontologies and pathways related to the vaccine induced immune response and its regulation. Additional bioinformatic analyses identified a correlative relationship between specific host immune response genes and protective immunity prior to the detection of protective serum neutralizing antibody responses. These results contribute an important proof of concept for identifying molecular and genetic components underlying the immune response to RVF vaccination and protection prior to serologic detection.The open access fee for this work was funded through the Texas A&M University Open Access to Knowledge (OAK) Fund

Bostonia: The Boston University Alumni Magazine. Volume 32

Founded in 1900, Bostonia magazine is Boston University's main alumni publication, which covers alumni and student life, as well as university activities, events, and programs