Father Joseph Timothy O\u27Callahan

This reflection provides a biological sketch of Rev. Joseph T. O\u27Callahan, S.J., a Jesuit priest who taught mathematics and physics at the College of the Holy Cross. During World War II, Fr. O\u27Callahan was commissioned as a chaplain in the United States Navy and was serving aboard the USS Franklin when the ship was attacked. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroic efforts following the attack, distinguishing him as the first military chaplain to receive such recognition. Dowling\u27s thoughtful essay briefly recounts the vocational and military career, as well as the character of this devout and highly admired priest. The text of the official citation, issued by the President of the United States when he bestowed on Father O\u27Callahan the Medal of Honor, is included at the end of the article

Quantum Clock Synchronization Based on Shared Prior Entanglement

We demonstrate that two spatially separated parties (Alice and Bob) can utilize shared prior quantum entanglement, and classical communications, to establish a synchronized pair of atomic clocks. In contrast to classical synchronization schemes, the accuracy of our protocol is independent of Alice or Bob's knowledge of their relative locations or of the properties of the intervening medium.Comment: 4 page

Influence of Introgression and Geological Processes on Phylogenetic Relationships of Western North American Mountain Suckers (Pantosteus, Catostomidae)

Intense geological activity caused major topographic changes in Western North America over the past 15 million years. Major rivers here are composites of different ancient rivers, resulting in isolation and mixing episodes between river basins over time. This history influenced the diversification of most of the aquatic fauna. The genus Pantosteus is one of several clades centered in this tectonically active region. The eight recognized Pantosteus species are widespread and common across southwestern Canada, western USA and into northern Mexico. They are typically found in medium gradient, middle-elevation reaches of rivers over rocky substrates. This study (1) compares molecular data with morphological and paleontological data for proposed species of Pantosteus, (2) tests hypotheses of their monophyly, (3) uses these data for phylogenetic inferences of sister-group relationships, and (4) estimates timing of divergence events of identified lineages. Using 8055 base pairs from mitochondrial DNA protein coding genes, Pantosteus and Catostomus are reciprocally monophyletic, in contrast with morphological data. The only exception to a monophyleticPantosteus is P. columbianus whose mtDNA is closely aligned with C. tahoensis because of introgression. Within Pantosteus, several species have deep genetic divergences among allopatric sister lineages, several of which are diagnosed and elevated to species, bringing the total diversity in the group to 11 species. Conflicting molecular and morphological data may be resolved when patterns of divergence are shown to be correlated with sympatry and evidence of introgression

Progressive Structural Defects in Canine Centronuclear Myopathy Indicate a Role for HACD1 in Maintaining Skeletal Muscle Membrane Systems

Mutations in HACD1/PTPLA cause recessive congenital myopathies in humans and dogs. Hydroxyacyl-coA dehydratases are required for elongation of very long chain fatty acids, and HACD1 has a role in early myogenesis, but the functions of this striated muscle-specific enzyme in more differentiated skeletal muscle remain unknown. Canine HACD1 deficiency is histopathologically classified as a centronuclear myopathy (CNM). We investigated the hypothesis that muscle from HACD1-deficient dogs has membrane abnormalities in common with CNMs with different genetic causes. We found progressive changes in tubuloreticular and sarcolemmal membranes and mislocalized triads and mitochondria in skeletal muscle from animals deficient in HACD1. Furthermore, comparable membranous abnormalities in cultured HACD1-deficient myotubes provide additional evidence that these defects are a primary consequence of altered HACD1 expression. Our novel findings, including T-tubule dilatation and disorganization, associated with defects in this additional CNM-associated gene provide a definitive pathophysiologic link with these disorders, confirm that dogs deficient in HACD1 are relevant models, and strengthen the evidence for a unifying pathogenesis in CNMs via defective membrane trafficking and excitation-contraction coupling in muscle. These results build on previous work by determining further functional roles of HACD1 in muscle and provide new insight into the pathology and pathogenetic mechanisms of HACD1 CNM. Consequently, alterations in membrane properties associated with HACD1 mutations should be investigated in humans with related phenotypes

Developing an indicator of productive potential to assess land use suitability in New Zealand

The Land Use Suitability (LUS) concept informs decision-making by stakeholders with information about the economic and environmental consequences of land use choices. LUS is composed of three indicators describing the inherent productive and economic potential of land parcels (productive potential), the contribution of a land parcel to lose contaminants relative to other land parcels (relative contribution), and the load of contaminants lost compared to the load that ensures that environmental objectives are met (pressure). This paper outlines an improved indicator of productive potential (PP). We outline the four layers of information that comprise PP for a land parcel: (1) Feasibility, which defines whether the productivity and quality of a crop is enough to allow the land use to be undertaken; (2) Yield, which is the amount of a product or crop that can be grown; (3) Economic returns, given the yield and other requirements for the land parcel; and (4) Economic Importance, which combines information about the economic returns and the probability of a land use being undertaken. These layers can be combined into a single PP indicator of the value of the land for economic use. The PP indicator can be expressed continuously or categorically and mapped at a national scale. When combined with the Relative Contribution and Pressure indicators in the LUS system, it allows for identification of areas which are most suitable for intensification by providing for a direct comparison of the economic and environmental outcomes

Coherent matter wave inertial sensors for precision measurements in space

We analyze the advantages of using ultra-cold coherent sources of atoms for matter-wave interferometry in space. We present a proof-of-principle experiment that is based on an analysis of the results previously published in [Richard et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., 91, 010405 (2003)] from which we extract the ratio h/m for 87Rb. This measurement shows that a limitation in accuracy arises due to atomic interactions within the Bose-Einstein condensate

Inter-Rater Reliability of the CASCADE Criteria: Challenges in Classifying Arteriopathies.

Background and purposeThere are limited data about the reliability of subtype classification in childhood arterial ischemic stroke, an issue that prompted the IPSS (International Pediatric Stroke Study) to develop the CASCADE criteria (Childhood AIS Standardized Classification and Diagnostic Evaluation). Our purpose was to determine the CASCADE criteria's reliability in a population of children with stroke.MethodsEight raters from the IPSS reviewed neuroimaging and clinical records of 64 cases (16 cases each) randomly selected from a prospectively collected cohort of 113 children with arterial ischemic stroke and classified them using the CASCADE criteria. Clinical data abstracted included history of present illness, risk factors, and acute imaging. Agreement among raters was measured by unweighted κ statistic.ResultsThe CASCADE criteria demonstrated a moderate inter-rater reliability, with an overall κ statistic of 0.53 (95% confidence interval [CI]=0.39-0.67). Cardioembolic and bilateral cerebral arteriopathy subtypes had much higher agreement (κ=0.84; 95% CI=0.70-0.99; and κ=0.90; 95% CI=0.71-1.00, respectively) than cases of aortic/cervical arteriopathy (κ=0.36; 95% CI=0.01-0.71), unilateral focal cerebral arteriopathy of childhood (FCA; κ=0.49; 95% CI=0.23-0.76), and small vessel arteriopathy of childhood (κ=-0.012; 95% CI=-0.04 to 0.01).ConclusionsThe CASCADE criteria have moderate reliability when used by trained and experienced raters, which suggests that it can be used for classification in multicenter pediatric stroke studies. However, the moderate reliability of the arteriopathic subtypes suggests that further refinement is needed for defining subtypes. Such revisions may reduce the variability in the literature describing risk factors, recurrence, and outcomes associated with childhood arteriopathy

Stabilisation of metastable polymorphs: the case of paracetamol form III

YesThe design of a melt synthesis of the first air-stable formulation of the metastable form III of paracetamol is derived from thermo-spectroscopic and thermo-diffraction experiments. Melt crystallisation in the presence of β-1,4-saccharides produces form III selectively and the excipients appear to act as stabilising ‘active’ templates of the metastable polymorph.This article is part of themed collection: Pharmaceutical Solids

Sheep Updates 2005 - Part 7

This session covers eight papers from different authors: POSTERS 1. Sulpher in wool and its implications for fleece weight and sheep health, SM Liu, AC Schlink, JR Williams, CSIRO Livestock Industries Wembley WA, ME Dowling,JCGreef, Department of Agriculture Western Australia. 2. Stubbles for sheep: a reality check, Roy Butler, Keith Croker, Department of Agriculture Western Australia. 3. Genetic benchmarking using artificial insemination, LC Butler, JC Greeff, Department of Agriculture Western Australia. 4. The potential lambing performances of ewes in mixed age flocks, Kieth Croker, Department of Agriculture Western Australia, Rob Davidson, WAMMCO International, formally University of Western Australia, Ken Hart, Department of Agriculture Western Australia,Doug Harrington Cowcher Farms Narrogin, Mario D\u27Antuono, Department of Agriculture Western Australia. 5. National Livestock Identification System (Sheep) in Western Australia, Julian Gardner, Department of Agriculture Western Australia. DISPLAYS - TOOLS 6. To Feed or Not to Feed - I Only Hamlet had the Calculator!, Geoff Duddy, Livestock Officer(Sheep & Wool) Yanco. 7. WormBoss - a national Australian computer-based sheep worm control tool, RG Woodgate, Department of Agriculture Western Australia, A LeFeuvre, Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, and Genie Pty Ltd, Warwick Qld, A Bailey, Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment, Kings Meadow Tas, RB Besier, Department of Agriculture Western Australia, N. Campbell, Department of Primary Industries Victoria, Attwood Vic, I Carmichael, South Australian Research and Development Institute, Glenside SA, S. Love, NSW Department of Primary Industries, Armidale NSW. 8. \u27Eye in the sky\u27 takes guesswork out of farmers pasture decisions, Richard Stovold, Department of Land Informatio

Investigating the generalisation of an atlas-based synthetic-CT algorithm to another centre and MR scanner for prostate MR-only radiotherapy

There is increasing interest in MR-only radiotherapy planning since it provides superb soft-tissue contrast without the registration uncertainties inherent in a CT–MR registration. However, MR images cannot readily provide the electron density information necessary for radiotherapy dose calculation. An algorithm which generates synthetic CTs for dose calculations from MR images of the prostate using an atlas of 3 T MR images has been previously reported by two of the authors. This paper aimed to evaluate this algorithm using MR data acquired at a different field strength and a different centre to the algorithm atlas. Twenty-one prostate patients received planning 1.5 T MR and CT scans with routine immobilisation devices on a flat-top couch set-up using external lasers. The MR receive coils were supported by a coil bridge. Synthetic CTs were generated from the planning MR images with (sCT₁v) and without (sCT) a one voxel body contour expansion included in the algorithm. This was to test whether this expansion was required for 1.5 T images. Both synthetic CTs were rigidly registered to the planning CT (pCT). A 6 MV volumetric modulated arc therapy plan was created on the pCT and recalculated on the sCT and sCT₁v. The synthetic CTs' dose distributions were compared to the dose distribution calculated on the pCT. The percentage dose difference at isocentre without the body contour expansion (sCT–pCT) was ΔDsCT = (0.9 \pm 0.8)% and with sCT₁v–pCT was ΔDsCT₁v = (-0.7 \pm 0.7)% (mean  ±  one standard deviation). The sCT₁v result was within one standard deviation of zero and agreed with the result reported previously using 3 T MR data. The sCT dose difference only agreed within two standard deviations. The mean  ±  one standard deviation gamma pass rate was ΓsCT = 96.1 \pm 2.9% for the sCT and ΓsCT₁v = 98.8 \pm 0.5% for the sCT₁v (with 2% global dose difference and 2mm distance to agreement gamma criteria). The one voxel body contour expansion improves the synthetic CT accuracy for MR images acquired at 1.5 T but requires the MR voxel size to be similar to the atlas MR voxel size. This study suggests that the atlas-based algorithm can be generalised to MR data acquired using a different field strength at a different centre