Eastern Range Extension of \u3ci\u3eLeptoglossus Occidentalis\u3c/i\u3e With a Key to Leptoglossus Species of America North of Mexico (Heteroptera: Coreidae)

Leptoglossus occidentalis is reported for the first time from Illinois and Michigan, and confirmed for Indiana. A key to the species of Leptoglossus occurring in America north of Mexico is presented

Seriation, Superposition, and Interdigitation: a History of Americanist Graphic Depictions of Culture Change

Histories of Americanist archaeology regularly confuse frequency seriation with a technique for measuring the passage of time based on superposition - percentage stratigraphy - and fail to mention interdigitation as an important component of some percentage-stratigraphic studies. Frequency seriation involves the arrangement of collections so that each artifact type displays a unimodal frequency distribution, but the direction of time\u27s flow must be determined from independent evidence. Percentage stratigraphy plots the fluctuating frequencies of types, but the order of collections is based on their superposition, which in turn illustrates the direction of time\u27s flow. Interdigitation involves the integration of sets of percentage-stratigraphy data from different horizontal proveniences under the rules that (1) the order of superposed collections cannot be reversed and (2) each type must display a unimodal frequency distribution. Ceramic stratigraphy is similar to occurrence seriation, as both focus on the presence-absence of types with limited temporal distributions - index fossils - but the former uses the superposed positions of types to indicate the direction of time\u27s flow, whereas occurrence seriation does not

Hair Bundle Morphology on Surviving Hair Cells of the Chick Basilar Papilla Exposed to Intense Sound

Exposure to intense sound produces a well-defined patch lesion on the chick basilar papilla in which 30-35% of the short hair cells are lost. The present study compares various aspects of sensory hair bundle morphology on surviving hair cells in the patch lesion with hair bundles from matched locations on nonexposed control papilla immediately after removal from the exposure and 12-days post exposure. The height and thickness of the hairs, the total number of hairs in the bundle, the width of the bundle, and the area and perimeter of the apical surface of the hair cell were quantified from scanning electron microscope photomicrographs. An attempt was also made to determine if there was a consistent microstructure to the pattern of hair cell loss within the lesion area. Similar observations in 12-day recovered ears are also presented. The results indicated that stereocilia height increased and width decreased on surviving hair cells in the exposed ear. The width of the hair bundle, the hair cell surface area, and perimeter also decreased. However, the number of hairs per cell remained unchanged, and there was no evidence of any consistent organization to the hair cell loss within the patch across a number of specimens. These observations indicated that the hair bundles on short hair cells underwent changes as a consequence of intense sound exposure.The results after 12 days of recovery were complicated by developmental changes on the papilla and incomplete maturation of the newly regenerated hair cells. It remains to be seen whether these changes were the result of cell sampling in the sound-damaged ear or were due to true structural alterations within the sensory hairs themselves

Virginia\u27s Jury Exemptions: Ripe for Reform

Jury exemptions are frequent targets of derisory comment. Who among us has not heard of the proverbial litigant who, upon hearing his lawyer describe juries and jury exemptions, remarked that only a fool would place his fate in the hands of seven or twelve people who were not smart enough to get excused through an exemption. Indeed, the number and scope of jury exemptions have grown so substantially over the years that it is not unreasonable to suppose that jury non-service is now the norm and jury service the exception

An empirically observed pitch-angle diffusion eigenmode in the Earth\u27s electron belt near L* = 5.0

Abstract Using data from NASA\u27s Van Allen Probes, we have identified a synchronized exponential decay of electron flux in the outer zone, near L* = 5.0. Exponential decays strongly indicate the presence of a pure eigenmode of a diffusion operator acting in the synchronized dimension(s). The decay has a time scale of about 4 days with no dependence on pitch angle. While flux at nearby energies and L* is also decaying exponentially, the decay time varies in those dimensions. This suggests the primary decay mechanism is elastic pitch angle scattering, which itself depends on energy and L *. We invert the shape of the observed eigenmode to obtain an approximate shape of the pitch angle diffusion coefficient and show excellent agreement with diffusion by plasmaspheric hiss. Our results suggest that empirically derived eigenmodes provide a powerful diagnostic of the dynamic processes behind exponential decays

Comparison of the Anticoagulant Response of a Novel Fluorogenic Anti-FXa Assay wth Two Commercial Anti-FXa Chromogenic Assays

Introduction: Fast and accurate monitoring is crucial in the successful regulation of coagulation therapy. For the treatment of venous thromboembolism, both unfractionated heparin (UFH) and low molecular weight heparins (LMWH) are commonly administered. The chromogenic anti-factor Xa (FXa) assay is currently considered the ‘gold standard’ assay for monitoring LMWH. However different commercial chromogenic methods often differ when tested with the same samples. Fluorogenic anti-FXa assays have the potential to offer greater benefits over chromogenic assays in terms of greater specificity, sensitivity and they are not so influenced by sample opacity or turbidity. Materials and Methods: Commercial plasmas were spiked with pharmacologically relevant concentrations (0–1 U/ml) of UFH, enoxaparin, and tinzaparin. The fluorogenic assay was carried out using previously optimized concentrations of 4 nM FXa and 0.9 μM fluorogenic substrate, in addition to 6.25 μl of 100 mM CaCl2 and 43.75 μl of plasma. The Biophen® and Coamatic chromogenic assays were carried out according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Reaction rates and endpoint values were analyzed and statistical analysis by means of one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed. Results: The fluorogenic anti-FXa assay was found to have the broadest therapeutic range of 0-1 U/ml with CVs of \u3c 5% for UFH and tinzaparin and CVs \u3c 9% for enoxaparin. Despite their limited measuring range, excellent reproducibility was observed with both chromogenic assays Conclusions: This study indicated that the fluorogenic assay is the most sensitive assay with the broadest dynamic range for monitoring LMWH therapy when compared with standard chromogenic assays

Canine and Feline Parvoviruses Can Use Human or Feline Transferrin Receptors to Bind, Enter, and Infect Cells

Canine parvovirus (CPV) enters and infects cells by a dynamin-dependent, clathrin-mediated endocytic pathway, and viral capsids colocalize with transferrin in perinuclear vesicles of cells shortly after entry (J. S. L. Parker and C. R. Parrish, J. Virol. 74:1919–1930, 2000). Here we report that CPV and feline panleukopenia virus (FPV), a closely related parvovirus, bind to the human and feline transferrin receptors (TfRs) and use these receptors to enter and infect cells. Capsids did not detectably bind or enter quail QT35 cells or a Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell-derived cell line that lacks any TfR (TRVb cells). However, capsids bound and were endocytosed into QT35 cells and CHO-derived TRVb-1 cells that expressed the human TfR. TRVb-1 cells or TRVb cells transiently expressing the feline TfR were susceptible to infection by CPV and FPV, but the parental TRVb cells were not. We screened a panel of feline-mouse hybrid cells for susceptibility to FPV infection and found that only those cells that possessed feline chromosome C2 were susceptible. The feline TfR gene (TRFC) also mapped to feline chromosome C2. These data indicate that cell susceptibility for these viruses is determined by the TfR

A New Moderately Repetitive DNA Sequence Family of Novel Organization

In cloning adenovirus homologous sequences, from a human cosmid library, we identified a moderately repetitive DNA sequence family consisting of tandem arrays of 2.5 kb members. A member was sequenced and several non-adjacent, 15–20 bp G-C rich segments with homology to the left side of adenovirus were discovered. The copy number of 400 members is highly conserved among humans. Southern blots of partial digests of human DNA have verified the tandem array of the sequence family. The chromosomal location was defined by somatic cell genetics and in situ hybridization. Tandem arrays are found only on chromosomes 4 (4q31) and 19 (ql3.l-ql3.3). Homologous repetitive sequences are found in DNA of other primates but not in cat or mouse. Thus we have identified a new family of moderately repetitive DNA sequences, unique because of its organization in clustered tandem arrays, its length, its chromosomal location, and its lack of homology to other moderately repetitive sequence families