Ultrasonic Tracking of Migratory Fishes with an Internal Tag

First paragraph: A small ultrasonic tag, 9 mm by 40 mm in size, has been developed by members of the fish orientation group at the University of Wisconsin. The tag emits a continuous signal at approximately 65 kc/sec. The signal is received via a directional hydrophone and a high quality communications receiver. Tracking ranges of up to 1 km have been obtained. The placement of the tag is internal: either into the stomach or into the body cavity of the fish. The tags and tracking equipment have been successfully employed in studies on the open water movements and orientation of white bass during their spawning migration

Ultrasonic Tracking of Migratory Fishes with an Internal Tag

First paragraph: A small ultrasonic tag, 9 mm by 40 mm in size, has been developed by members of the fish orientation group at the University of Wisconsin. The tag emits a continuous signal at approximately 65 kc/sec. The signal is received via a directional hydrophone and a high quality communications receiver. Tracking ranges of up to 1 km have been obtained. The placement of the tag is internal: either into the stomach or into the body cavity of the fish. The tags and tracking equipment have been successfully employed in studies on the open water movements and orientation of white bass during their spawning migration

Vasectomy, cigarette smoking, and age at first sexual intercourse as risk factors for prostate cancer in middle-aged men.

A population-based case-control study was conducted in men aged 60 or less to assess the risk of prostate cancer associated with vasectomy and other factors. Data were obtained from 216 case-control pairs by telephone interviews; this number represented 55% of all eligible cases. The matched pairs relative risk (RR) for vasectomy in ever married men was 1.4 with a 95% confidence interval (CI) of 0.9-2.3. There was a positive association between the number of years since vasectomy and prostate cancer risk (1-sided P = 0.01). Early age at first sexual intercourse was associated with increased prostate cancer risk (age less than 17 vs. 21+, RR = 2.3, 95% CI = 1.3, 4.0) but there were no consistent associations with number of sexual partners or frequency of sexual intercourse. Cigarette smoking was also associated with increased risk of prostate cancer (RR = 1.9, 95% CI = 1.2, 3.0) and there was a positive dose-response relationship with years of smoking (1-sided P = 0.001). We discuss the possible implication of the low response rate on each of these findings. To determine whether the association with vasectomy might have a hormonal basis, we compared levels of testosterone (T) and testosterone binding globulin-binding capacity (TeBG-bc) in 33 of the vasectomized control men with levels in 33 non-vasectomized controls of the same age, weight and height. T levels were higher in vasectomized than in non-vasectomized controls (1-sided P = 0.06). The ratio of T to TeBG-bc (an index of bioavailable T) was 13.5% higher in vasectomized men (1-sided P = 0.03)

Statistical Mechanics of Membrane Protein Conformation: A Homopolymer Model

The conformation and the phase diagram of a membrane protein are investigated via grand canonical ensemble approach using a homopolymer model. We discuss the nature and pathway of $\alpha$-helix integration into the membrane that results depending upon membrane permeability and polymer adsorptivity. For a membrane with the permeability larger than a critical value, the integration becomes the second order transition that occurs at the same temperature as that of the adsorption transition. For a nonadsorbing membrane, the integration is of the first order due to the aggregation of $\alpha$-helices.Comment: RevTeX with 5 postscript figure

Observation of the Dynamic Beta Effect at CESR with CLEO

Using the silicon strip detector of the CLEO experiment operating at the Cornell Electron-positron Storage Ring (CESR), we have observed that the horizontal size of the luminous region decreases in the presence of the beam-beam interaction from what is expected without the beam-beam interaction. The dependence on the bunch current agrees with the prediction of the dynamic beta effect. This is the first direct observation of the effect.Comment: 9 page uuencoded postscript file, postscritp file also available through http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLNS, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Anthropometric measures in relation to Basal Cell Carcinoma: a longitudinal study

BACKGROUND: The relationship between anthropometric indices and risk of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is largely unknown. We aimed to examine the association between anthropometric measures and development of BCC and to demonstrate whether adherence to World Health Organisation guidelines for body mass index, waist circumference, and waist/hip ratio was associated with risk of BCC, independent of sun exposure. METHODS: Study participants were participants in a community-based skin cancer prevention trial in Nambour, a town in southeast Queensland (latitude 26°S). In 1992, height, weight, and waist and hip circumferences were measured for all 1621 participants and weight was remeasured at the end of the trial in 1996. Prevalence proportion ratios were calculated using a log-binomial model to estimate the risk of BCC prior to or prevalent in 1992, while Poisson regression with robust error variances was used to estimate the relative risk of BCC during the follow-up period. RESULTS: At baseline, 94 participants had a current BCC, and 202 had a history of BCC. During the 5-year follow-up period, 179 participants developed one or more new BCCs. We found no significant association between any of the anthropometric measures or indices and risk of BCC after controlling for potential confounding factors including sun exposure. There was a suggestion that short-term weight gain may increase the risk of developing BCC for women only. CONCLUSION: Adherence to World Health Organisation guidelines for body mass index, waist circumference and waist/hip ratio is not significantly associated with occurrence of basal cell carcinomas of the skin

Semileptonic Branching Fraction of Charged and Neutral B Mesons

An examination of leptons in ${\Upsilon (4S)}$ events tagged by reconstructed $B$ decays yields semileptonic branching fractions of $b_-=(10.1 \pm 1.8\pm 1.4)\%$ for charged and $b_0=(10.9 \pm 0.7\pm 1.1)\%$ for neutral $B$ mesons. This is the first measurement for charged $B$. Assuming equality of the charged and neutral semileptonic widths, the ratio $b_-/b_0=0.93 \pm 0.18 \pm 0.12$ is equivalent to the ratio of lifetimes. A postscript version is available through World-Wide-Web in http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLNS/1994Comment: 9 pages (in REVTEX format) Preprint CLNS94-1286, CLEO 94-1