Tropical Forest Conservation Legislation and Policy: A Global Perspective

This article reviews tropical rainforest legislation and policy of countries around the world. It documents the alarming erosion of rainforest resources and preserves, and evaluates the effectiveness of law and policies promulgated to arrest that erosion. The problems associated with rainforest depletion are treated in the context of the world\u27s exploding population, as well as the economic needs of the developing countries. The need for population control policies, and family planning, are considered along with effective controls and regulation of rainforest exploitation

Decreased Vision and Junctional Scotoma from Pituicytoma

Pituicytomas are rare neoplasms of the sellar region. We report a case of vision loss and a junctional scotoma in a 43-year-old woman caused by compression of the optic chiasm by a pituitary tumor. The morphological and immunohistochemical characteristics of the tumor were consistent with the diagnosis of pituicytoma. The tumor was debulked surgically, and the patient's vision improved

Low-dimensional dynamics embedded in a plane Poiseuille flow turbulence : Traveling-wave solution is a saddle point ?

The instability of a streak and its nonlinear evolution are investigated by direct numerical simulation (DNS) for plane Poiseuille flow at Re=3000. It is suggested that there exists a traveling-wave solution (TWS). The TWS is localized around one of the two walls and notably resemble to the coherent structures observed in experiments and DNS so far. The phase space structure around this TWS is similar to a saddle point. Since the stable manifold of this TWS is extended close to the quasi two dimensional (Q2D) energy axis, the approaching process toward the TWS along the stable manifold is approximately described as the instability of the streak (Q2D flow) and the succeeding nonlinear evolution. Bursting corresponds to the escape from the TWS along the unstable manifold. These manifolds constitute part of basin boundary of the turbulent state.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figure

Panchromatic Imaging of a Transitional Disk: The Disk of GM Aur in Optical and FUV Scattered Light

We have imaged GM Aur with HST, detected its disk in scattered light at 1400A and 1650A, and compared these with observations at 3300A, 5550A, 1.1 microns, and 1.6 microns. The scattered light increases at shorter wavelengths. The radial surface brightness profile at 3300A shows no evidence of the 24AU radius cavity that has been previously observed in sub-mm observations. Comparison with dust grain opacity models indicates the surface of the entire disk is populated with sub-micron grains. We have compiled an SED from 0.1 microns to 1 mm, and used it to constrain a model of the star+disk system that includes the sub-mm cavity using the Monte Carlo Radiative Transfer code by Barbara Whitney. The best-fit model image indicates that the cavity should be detectable in the F330W bandpass if the cavity has been cleared of both large and small dust grains, but we do not detect it. The lack of an observed cavity can be explained by the presence of sub-microns grains interior to the sub-mm cavity wall. We suggest one explanation for this which could be due to a planet of mass <9 Jupiter masses interior to 24 AU. A unique cylindrical structure is detected in the FUV data from the Advanced Camera for Surveys/Solar Blind Channel. It is aligned along the system semi-minor axis, but does not resemble an accretion-driven jet. The structure is limb-brightened and extends 190 +/- 35 AU above the disk midplane. The inner radius of the limb-brightening is 40 +/- 10 AU, just beyond the sub-millimeter cavity wall.Comment: 40 pages, 11 figures, 4 tables, accepted to Ap

E. coli K-12 and EHEC Genes Regulated by SdiA

Background: Escherichia and Salmonella encode SdiA, a transcription factor of the LuxR family that regulates genes in response to N-acyl homoserine lactones (AHLs) produced by other species of bacteria. E. coli genes that change expression in the presence of plasmid-encoded sdiA have been identified by several labs. However, many of these genes were identified by overexpressing sdiA on a plasmid and have not been tested for a response to sdiA produced from its natural position in the chromosome or for a response to AHL. Methodology/Principal Findings: We determined that two important loci reported to respond to plasmid-based sdiA, ftsQAZ and acrAB, do not respond to sdiA expressed from its natural position in the chromosome or to AHLs. To identify genes that are regulated by chromosomal sdiA and/or AHLs, we screened 10,000 random transposon-based luciferase fusions in E. coli K-12 and a further 10,000 in E. coli O157:H7 for a response to AHL and then tested these genes for sdiAdependence. We found that genes encoding the glutamate-dependent acid resistance system are up-regulated, and fliE is down-regulated, by sdiA. Gene regulation by sdiA of E. coli is only partially dependent upon AHL. Conclusions/Significance: The genes of E. coli that respond to plasmid-based expression of sdiA are largely different than those that respond to chromosomal sdiA and/or AHL. This has significant implications for determining the true function o

Oxandrolone in trauma patients

Study Objective To determine the effect of oxandrolone administration on nutritional and clinical outcomes after multiple trauma. Design Prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Setting. Level 1 trauma center in a university teaching hospital. Patients Sixty-two patients requiring enteral nutrition, 60 of whom completed the study. Intervention Patients were randomized to receive either oxandrolone 10 mg or placebo twice/day for a maximum of 28 days. Measurements and Main Results Total urinary nitrogen, prealbumin, nitrogen balance, total body water, and body cell mass were measured on day 1 of enteral nutrition and then at day 7, day 10, and study exit. Patients were assessed daily for metabolic and infectious complications. The two groups were similar for demographics and dosage of enteral nutrition. Measurement of total urinary nitrogen at study entry showed both groups to be highly catabolic (oxandrolone 17.2 ± 4.9, placebo 19.1 ± 10.8 g/day, NS). On days 7 and 10, total urinary nitrogen increased in both groups; however, there was no significant difference between groups. Nitrogen balance was negative throughout the study in each group. Body cell mass decreased slightly in both groups over the study period. Prealbumin serum concentrations increased significantly in both groups at day 10 and study exit compared with study entry. The groups did not differ significantly for length of hospital stay (oxandrolone 30.8 ± 17.9, placebo 27.0 ± 25.7 days), length of intensive care unit stay (oxandrolone 17.1 ± 7.8, placebo 15.5 ± 9.7 days), and frequency of pneumonia or sepsis (oxandrolone 48, placebo 43 episodes). Conclusion Oxandrolone 20 mg/day does not have obvious benefit in nutritional and clinical outcomes during the first month after multiple trauma

Resolving the gap and AU-scale asymmetries in pre-transitional disks of V1247 ORIONIS

adsurl: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2013prpl.conf2B051K adsnote: Provided by the SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data SystemPre-transitional disks are protoplanetary disks with a gapped disk structure, potentially indicating the presence of young planets in these systems. In order to explore the structure of these objects and their gap-opening mechanism, we observed the pre-transitional disk V1247 Orionis using the Very Large Telescope Interferometer, the Keck Interferometer, Keck-II, Gemini South, and IRTF. This allows us to spatially resolve the AU-scale disk structure from near- to mid-infrared wavelengths (1.5–13µm), tracing material at different temperatures and over a wide range of stellocentric radii. Our observations reveal a narrow, optically thick inner-disk component (located at 0.18 AU from the star) that is separated from the optically thick outer disk (radii !46 AU), providing unambiguous evidence for the existence of a gap in this pre-transitional disk. Surprisingly, we find that the gap region is filled with significant amounts of optically thin material with a carbon-dominated dust mineralogy. The presence of this optically thin gap material cannot be deduced solely from the spectral energy distribution, yet it is the dominant contributor at mid-infrared wavelengths. Furthermore, using Keck/NIRC2 aperture masking observations in the H, K′ , and L′ bands, we detect asymmetries in the brightness distribution on scales of ∼15–40 AU, i.e., within the gap region. The detected asymmetries are highly significant, yet their amplitude and direction changes with wavelength, which is not consistent with a companion interpretation but indicates an inhomogeneous distribution of the gap material. We interpret this as strong evidence for the presence of complex density structures, possibly reflecting the dynamical interaction of the disk material with sub-stellar mass bodies that are responsible for the gap clearing.NASA through the Sagan Fellowship ProgramW. M. Keck FoundationAerospace Corporation’s Independent Research and Development (IR&D) programNASA AD