Measurements of Primary and Atmospheric Cosmic-Ray Spectra with the BESS-TeV Spectrometer

Primary and atmospheric cosmic-ray spectra were precisely measured with the BESS-TeV spectrometer. The spectrometer was upgraded from BESS-98 to achieve seven times higher resolution in momentum measurement. We report absolute fluxes of primary protons and helium nuclei in the energy ranges, 1-540 GeV and 1-250 GeV/n, respectively, and absolute flux of atmospheric muons in the momentum range 0.6-400 GeV/c.Comment: 26 pages, 9 figures, 3 tables, Submitted to Phys. Lett.

Identification of a novel Drosophila gene, beltless, using injectable embryonic and adult RNA interference (RNAi)

BACKGROUND: RNA interference (RNAi) is a process triggered by a double-stranded RNA that leads to targeted down-regulation/silencing of gene expression and can be used for functional genomics; i.e. loss-of-function studies. Here we report on the use of RNAi in the identification of a developmentally important novel Drosophila (fruit fly) gene (corresponding to a putative gene CG5652/GM06434), that we named beltless based on an embryonic loss-of-function phenotype. RESULTS: Beltless mRNA is expressed in all developmental stages except in 0–6 h embryos. In situ RT-PCR localized beltless mRNA in the ventral cord and brain of late stage embryos and in the nervous system, ovaries, and the accessory glands of adult flies. RNAi was induced by injection of short (22 bp) beltless double-stranded RNAs into embryos or into adult flies. Embryonic RNAi altered cuticular phenotypes ranging from partially-formed to missing denticle belts (thus beltless) of the abdominal segments A2–A4. Embryonic beltless RNAi was lethal. Adult RNAi resulted in the shrinkage of the ovaries by half and reduced the number of eggs laid. We also examined Df(1)RK4 flies in which deletion removes 16 genes, including beltless. In some embryos, we observed cuticular abnormalities similar to our findings with beltless RNAi. After differentiating Df(1)RK4 embryos into those with visible denticle belts and those missing denticle belts, we assayed the presence of beltless mRNA; no beltless mRNA was detectable in embryos with missing denticle belts. CONCLUSIONS: We have identified a developmentally important novel Drosophila gene, beltless, which has been characterized in loss-of-function studies using RNA interference. The putative beltless protein shares homologies with the C. elegans nose resistant to fluoxetine (NRF) NRF-6 gene, as well as with several uncharacterized C. elegans and Drosophila melanogaster genes, some with prominent acyltransferase domains. Future studies should elucidate the role and mechanism of action of beltless during Drosophila development and in adults, including in the adult nervous system

Elza Sullivan stoneware charger

The charger is stoneware decorated with flowers on a green background crafted and painted by Elza Sullivan. The Charger was originally bought for the office of the Dean of Students.Ceramic 10

Byzance et l’Égypte durant la Première Guerre mondiale

Internal troubles afflicted the Islamic State for the first time in the late 650s and early 660s. Known in Islamic tradition as the firstfitnah, the troubles were described by early Western historians of Islam as what may be termed the 'standard account' of the first Arab civil war. Their account is founded upon the Islamic historical- biographical written tradition, whose corpus ofrecords on the firstfitnah is preserved in the early comprehensive collections of al-Tabari (d.923) and al-Mas'üdi (d.956). But these writers depended on earlier written compilations of oral accounts of the civil war (akhbär), whose authors are listed in al-Nadim's Fihrist, compiled about 987. They include Abü Mikhnaf (d.774), Sayf ibn 'Umar (d. 796), ibn al-Muthannä (d.823-6), al-Wäqidi (d. 823), al-Minqäri (d.827), al-Madä'ini (d.839), ibn Abi Shayba (d.849), and ibn Shabba (d.877). The compilations ofall these authors were grouped around the selected themes of 'Uthmän's murder, the battle of the Camel, and the battle of Siffin with the subsequent arbitration process. Four of the compilations survive

Work function of (8,0) single-walled boron nitride nanotube at the open tube end

10.1063/1.2195888Journal of Applied Physics9910-JAPI

Magnetic molybdenum disulfide nanosheet films

10.1021/nl071016rNano Letters782370-237