Dust Devils on Titan

Conditions on Saturn\u27s moon Titan suggest that dust devils, which are convective, dust‐laden plumes, may be active. Although the exact nature of dust on Titan is unclear, previous observations confirm an active aeolian cycle, and dust devils may play an important role in Titan\u27s aeolian cycle, possibly contributing to regional transport of dust and even production of sand grains. The Dragonfly mission to Titan will document dust devil and convective vortex activity and thereby provide a new window into these features, and our analysis shows that associated winds are likely to be modest and pose no hazard to the mission

Panel. Community Engagement and Interpreting Slavery in North Mississippi

The “Behind the Big House” Project / Jodi Skipper, University of Mississippi and Suzanne DavidsonBehind the Big House is a slave dwelling interpretation program in Holly Springs, Mississippi. The program offers a counter-narrative to the Holly Springs Annual Pilgrimage Tour of Historic Homes and Churches, the city’s main tourist attraction which has historically neglected the contributions of enslaved persons. Behind the Big House was initiated by several private property owners who understood that interpreting the structures which housed enslaved persons could help to remedy such omissions. In addition to discussing how historical memory impacts the functions of these sites in the present, Skipper will discuss her role as a Behind the Big House tour guide, and how she incorporates the tour as an applied component in her courses. Slavery and Its Descendants / W. Ralph Eubanks, University of MississippiThe legacy of slavery and its impact across generations of African Americans is often ignored or overlooked, particularly by institutions that benefited from enslaved labor. The University of Mississippi is no exception. Payment records from the 1840s in the archives of the University of Mississippi indicate that Robert Sheegog—who once owned Faulkner’s home Rowan Oak—along with other local slave owners, loaned slaves to the University. This connection between the slaves of Rowan Oak and the building of the University of Mississippi holds the potential to redefine the idea of legacy connections to the University, since inevitably the descendants of several of those slaves are among the university’s alumni. This paper will discuss the on-going work of the University of Mississippi’s slavery research group and the possible outcomes of planned genealogical research to find the descendants of the slaves from Faulkner’s Rowan Oak who built the university.The University of Mississippi Slavery Research Group / Jeffrey Jackson and Charles K. Ross, University of MississippiIn this presentation, we present the story of the University of Mississippi Slavery Research Group focusing on its origins and the various factors that led to its formation. We highlight some of the groups’ most significant recent efforts to better understand how antebellum slavery shaped the formation of the University of Mississippi and life in North Mississippi generally and we discuss some of our initial projects and initiatives that seek to remember, memorialize and interpret the lives of enslaved people for our students, our local community, and our nation.Interpreting Slavery at Burns Belfry and Rowan Oak / George McDaniel, Burns-Belfry African American History MuseumCaroline Barr was a foundational figure in the life of William Faulkner. As he called her, “Mammy Callie,” she had worked for the Falkner family since he was a young boy. Her house and her story demand a further interpretation beyond the gates of Rowan Oak. Using her as a point of departure, this talk will explore African American history within the larger context of the town of Oxford. It will also look at the ways in which that history is being interpreted today and how that interpretation can be improved through building connections between different historical sites. This connectivity allows for a deeper understanding of African American history in Oxford and the world in which Faulkner lived and wrote

Plasma Total Glutathione in Humans and its Association with Demographic and Health-Related Factors

The tripeptide glutathione is proposed to be protective against a number of chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease and cancer. However, there have been few studies of plasma glutathione levels in humans and in those studies the numbers of participants have been very small. In an exploratory analysis the determinants of plasma total glutathione (GSHt) were investigated in a group of 100 volunteers aged 18–61 years in Atlanta, Georgia, USA during June and July 1989. Data on demographic and health-related factors were collected by interview and plasma GSHt was measured using a recently modified laboratory method. The mean concentration of plasma GSHt for all 100 participants was 761 pg/1, with a standard deviation of 451 pg/1, a range of 86–2889 pg/1 and a median of 649 pg/1. Men had significantly higher levels of plasma GSHt than women (924 v. 692 pg/1; P = 0.006). Seventh-day Adventists participating in the present study had higher plasma GSHt levels than other subgroups defined by race and/or religion. Among Seventh-day Adventists consumption of a vegetarian diet was associated with increased plasma GSHt concentration (P = 0.002). Plasma GSHt levels also appeared to vary by race, but relationships with race could not be clearly disassociated from relationships with religion. Among white participants plasma GSHt concentration decreased with age in women but increased with age in men (P = 0.05). Few other factors were associated with plasma GSHt concentration, although use of oral contraceptives (P=0.10) was somewhat associated with decreased plasma GSHt levels. These findings suggest that plasma GSHt levels may vary with several demographic and health-related attributes and support the need for further research on this potentially important disease-preventive compound. © 1993, The Nutrition Society. All rights reserved

Guidelines for genetic data analysis

The IWC Scientific Committee recently adopted guidelines for quality control of DNA data. Once data have been collected, the next step is to analyse the data and make inferences that are useful for addressing practical problems in conservation and management of cetaceans. This is a complex exercise, as numerous analyses are possible and users have a wide range of choices of software programs for implementing the analyses. This paper reviews the underlying issues, illustrates application of different types of genetic data analysis to two complex management problems (involving common minke whales and humpback whales), and concludes with a number of recommendations for best practices in the analysis of population genetic data. An extensive Appendix provides a detailed review and critique of most types of analyses that are used with population genetic data for cetaceans.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Animal models and vaccines for SARS-CoV infection

We summarize findings of SARS-CoV infections in several animal models each of which support viral replication in lungs accompanied by histopathological changes and/or clinical signs of illness to varying degrees. New findings are reported on SARS-CoV replication and associated pathology in two additional strains (C57BL/6 and 129S6) of aged mice. We also provide new comparative data on viral replication and associated pathology following infection of golden Syrian hamsters with various SARS-CoV strains and report the levels of neutralizing antibody titers following these infections and the cross-protective efficacy of infection with these strains in protecting against heterologous challenge. Finally, we summarize findings of a variety of vaccine approaches and discuss the available in vitro and in vivo data addressing the potential for disease enhancement following re-infection in animals previously vaccinated against or infected with SARS-CoV

What makes you not a Sikh? : a preliminary mapping of values

This study sets out to establish which Sikh values contrasted with or were shared by non-Sikh adolescents. A survey of attitude toward a variety of Sikh values was fielded in a sample of 364 non-Sikh schoolchildren aged between 13 and 15 in London. Values where attitudes were least positive concerned Sikh duties/code of conduct, festivals, rituals, prayer Gurdwara attendance, listening to scripture recitation, the amrit initiation. Sikh values empathized with by non-Sikhs concerned family pride, charity, easy access to ordination and Gurdwaras, maintaining the five Ks, seeing God in all things, abstaining from meat and alcohol and belief in the stories of Guru Nanak. Further significant differences of attitude toward Sikhism were found in comparisons by sex, age and religious affiliation. Findings are applied to teaching Sikhism to pupils of no faith adherence. The study recommends the extension of values mapping to specifically Sikh populations

A live attenuated severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus is immunogenic and efficacious in Golden Syrian hamsters

The immunogenicity and protective efficacy of a live attenuated vaccine consisting of a recombinant severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus lacking the E gene (rSARS-CoV-ΔE) were studied using hamsters. Hamsters immunized with rSARS-CoV-ΔE developed high serum-neutralizing antibody titers and were protected from replication of homologous (SARS-CoV Urbani) and heterologous (GD03) SARS-CoV in the upper and lower respiratory tract. rSARS-CoV-ΔE-immunized hamsters remained active following wild-type virus challenge, while mock-immunized hamsters displayed decreased activity. Despite being attenuated in replication in the respiratory tract, rSARS-CoV-ΔE is an immunogenic and efficacious vaccine in hamsters.This research was supported in part by the Intramural Research Program of the NIH, NIAID; by NIH AID AI059136; and by the European Community (projects DISSECT SP22-CT-2004-511060 and Rivigene SSPE-CT-2005-022639)

The nonlinear anomalous lattice elasticity associated with the high-pressure phase transition in spodumene: A high precission static compression study

The high-pressure behavior of the lattice elasticity of spodumene, LiAlSi2O6, was studied by static compression in a diamond-anvil cell up to 9.3 GPa. Investigations by means of single-crystal XRD and Raman spectroscopy within the hydrostatic limits of the pressure medium focus on the pressure ranges around similar to 3.2 and similar to 7.7 GPa, which have been reported previously to comprise two independent structural phase transitions. While our measurements confirm the well-established first-order C2/c-P2(1)/c transformation at 3.19 GPa (with 1.2% volume discontinuity and a hysteresis between 0.02 and 0.06 GPa), both unit-cell dimensions and the spectral changes observed in high-pressure Raman spectra give no evidence for structural changes related to a second phase transition. Monoclinic lattice parameters and unit-cell volumes at in total 59 different pressure points have been used to re-calculate the lattice-related properties of spontaneous strain, volume strain, and the bulk moduli as a function of pressure across the transition. A modified Landau free energy expansion in terms of a one component order parameter has been developed and tested against these experimentally determined data. The Landau solution provides a much better reproduction of the observed anomalies than any equation-of-state fit to data sets truncated below and above P (tr), thus giving Landau parameters of K (0) = 138.3(2) GPa, K' = 7.46(5), lambda (V) = 33.6(2) GPa, a = 0.486(3), b = -29.4(6) GPa and c = 551(11) GPa