Mesoscale observations of lightning from Space Shuttle

Motion pictures have been taken at night by astronauts on the space shuttle showing lightning discharge that spread horizontally at speeds of 100,000/msec for distances over 60 km. Tape recordings have been made of the accompanying optical pulses detected with a photocell optical system. The observations show that lightning is often a mesoscale phenomena that can convey large amounts of electric charge to Earth from an extensive cloud system via a cloud to ground discharge

Herbivorous dietary selection shown by hawfinch (Coccothraustes coccothraustes) within mixed woodland habitats

Knowledge of diet and dietary selectivity is vital, especially for the conservation of declining species. Accurately obtaining this information, however, is difficult, especially if the study species feeds on a wide range of food items within heterogeneous and inaccessible environments, such as the tree canopy. Hawfinches (Coccothraustes coccothraustes), like many woodland birds, are declining for reasons that are unclear. We investigated the possible role that dietary selection may have in these declines in the UK. Here, we used a combination of high-throughput sequencing of 261 hawfinch faecal samples assessed against tree occurrence data from quadrats sampled in three hawfinch population strongholds in the UK to test for evidence of selective foraging. This revealed that hawfinches show selective feeding and consume certain tree genera disproportionally to availability. Positive selection was shown for beech (Fagus), cherry (Prunus), hornbeam (Carpinus), maples (Acer) and oak (Quercus), while Hawfinch avoided ash (Fraxinus), birch (Betula), chestnut (Castanea), fir (Abies), hazel (Corylus), rowan (Sorbus) and lime (Tilia). This approach provided detailed information on hawfinch dietary choice and may be used to predict the effects of changing food resources on other declining passerines populations in the future

Risk of cancers of the lung, head and neck in patients hospitalized for alcoholism in Sweden

Alcoholic patients are at increased risk of cancers of the head and neck but little information is available on the magnitude of the risk for specific sites and for different histological types. We followed 182 667 patients with a hospital discharge diagnosis of alcoholism during 1965–1994, for an average of 10.2 years. We compared their incidence of site- and histological type-specific cancers of the oral cavity, pharynx, larynx and lung with that of the national population. The standardized incidence ratio (SIR) of cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx was 5.33 (95% confidence interval [CI] 5.04–5.64, based on 1207 cases). The SIRs of laryngeal and lung cancer were 4.21 (95% Cl 3.78–4.68, 347 cases) and 2.40 (2.29–2.51, 1880 cases), respectively. The SIR was highest for cancers of the hypopharynx, floor of the mouth, mesopharynx and base of the tongue. The relative excess of lung cancer was similar for squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma. Low age at first hospitalization was associated with higher SIRs for all sites under study. 25 years after first hospitalization for alcoholism, the cumulative probability of developing a lung cancer was in the order of 5%, for oral and pharyngeal cancer it was 2.5%, and for oesophageal or laryngeal cancer 1% each. Our study shows that the risk of head and neck cancer among heavy drinkers is highest for sites in direct contact with alcohol. The high risk of head and neck neoplasms may justify specific medical attention. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer.co

Vaughan-Jackson-like syndrome as an unusual presentation of Kienböck's disease: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Kienböck's disease is a condition of osteonecrosis of the lunate bone in the hand, and most patients present with a painful and sometimes swollen wrist with a limited range of motion in the affected wrist. Vaughan-Jackson syndrome is characterized by the disruption of the digital extensor tendons, beginning on the ulnar side with the extensor digiti minimi and extensor digitorum communis tendon of the small finger. It is most commonly associated with rheumatoid arthritis. We describe a case of a patient with an unusual presentation of Kienböck's disease with symptoms similar to those of Vaughan-Jackson syndrome.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 40-year-old man of Indian ethnic origin with no known history of trauma presented to our clinic with a ten-day history of an inability to extend his right little and ring fingers with associated pain in his right wrist. He was being treated with long-term steroids but had no other significant medical history. His examination revealed an inability to extend the metacarpal and phalangeal joints of the right ring and little fingers with localized tenderness over the lunate bone. Spontaneous disruption of the extensor tendons was diagnosed clinically and, after radiological investigation, was confirmed to be secondary to dorsal extrusion of the fragmented lunate bone. The patient underwent surgical repair of the tendons and had a full recovery afterward.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Kienböck's disease, though rare, is an important cause of spontaneous extensor tendon rupture. The original description of Vaughan-Jackson syndrome was of rupture of the extensor tendons of the little and ring fingers caused by attrition at an arthritic inferior radioulnar joint. We describe a case of a patient with Kienböck's disease that first appeared to be a Vaughan-Jackson-like syndrome.</p

Rms-flux relation of Cyg X-1 with RXTE: dipping and nondipping cases

The rms (root mean square) variability is the parameter for understanding the emission temporal properties of X-ray binaries (XRBs) and active galactic nuclei (AGN). The rms-flux relation with Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) data for the dips and nondip of black hole Cyg X-1 has been investigated in this paper. Our results show that there exist the linear rms-flux relations in the frequency range 0.1-10 Hz for the dipping light curve. Moreover, this linear relation still remains during the nondip regime, but with the steeper slope than that of the dipping case in the low energy band. For the high energy band, the slopes of the dipping and nondipping cases are hardly constant within errors. The explanations of the results have been made by means of the ``Propagating Perturbation'' model of Lyubarskii (1997).Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures, Accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space Scienc

Isolation, characterisation, and selection of wine yeast strains in Etyek-Buda wine district, Hungary

Initiated by the Association “Wine Route of Etyek Wine District”, the objectives of this study were to isolate and identify autochthonous yeast strains from local wines and to determine their oenologically important properties. The first aim of this work was to characterize the taxonomic and phenotypic diversity of the representative Saccharomyces yeast strains that dominate the spontaneous fermentations in this wine district. The results obtained by molecular ribotyping (ARDRA) revealed a strong dominance of S. cerevisiae, but S. bayanus var. uvarum was also present sporadically. Some of the natural isolates exhibited high volatile acid production or poor fermentation capacity, which imply a quality risk in spontaneous fermentations. Most of the isolates, however, displayed good oenological features during lab scale fermentations. As the second aim of this work, the most promising, selected strains were further tested for oenological properties in microvinification scale and, finally, in large scale fermentations. The analytical and sensory analysis proved that selected strains, including S. bayanus var. uvarum, can be used as local starter cultures, which may contribute to the typicality of the local wines in comparison with commercial starters

Accretion, ejection and reprocessing in supermassive black holes

This is a White Paper in support of the mission concept of the Large Observatory for X-ray Timing (LOFT), proposed as a medium-sized ESA mission. We discuss the potential of LOFT for the study of active galactic nuclei. For a summary, we refer to the paper.Comment: White Paper in Support of the Mission Concept of the Large Observatory for X-ray Timin

A Perspective on Economic Impact

The institutions responsible for water resources management in the United States have originated as political responses to major social issues. Each agency institutionalized a procedure for structuring and comparing alternatives in the formulation of its total program. Each agency originally sought to promote effective resolution of its social issue (flood control, development of arid lands, soil erosion, etc.), but more recent efforts have sought better coordination among agency practices through a common procedure largely derived from economic theory. Any procedure, however, varies in application with the interpretation and judgment of individual planners. Today, public pressures have brought political directives requiring consideration of the local and nationwide impacts of projects that occur through direct, indirect, and secondary means in the spheres of economic, social and environmental effects. The body of the study reviews fourteen specific impact issues with the goals of providing planners a methodology for dealing with each one and of providing the theoretically inclined a basis for improving each methodology. The issues are reservoir effects on local property values, reservoir effects on the economy of the local county, changes in income and employment patterns around large reservoirs, patterns of land use change around reservoirs, reservoir effects on revenues and expenditures of local government, reservoir recreation benefits, application of marginal economic analysis to reservoir recreation planning, economic value of natural areas for recreational hunting, for stream fishing, the personal value of real property to its owner, reservoir project caused income redistribution, achievement of more flexible procedures for reservoir operation in order to match changes in demand for project output with time, estimation of flood damages by the time pattern in which they occur, and operation of reservoir systems for flood control. Each study ls presented in detail in a referenced report, and this report discusses the significance of the findings of the studies, individually and as a group

Microtubules in Bacteria: Ancient Tubulins Build a Five-Protofilament Homolog of the Eukaryotic Cytoskeleton

Microtubules play crucial roles in cytokinesis, transport, and motility, and are therefore superb targets for anti-cancer drugs. All tubulins evolved from a common ancestor they share with the distantly related bacterial cell division protein FtsZ, but while eukaryotic tubulins evolved into highly conserved microtubule-forming heterodimers, bacterial FtsZ presumably continued to function as single homopolymeric protofilaments as it does today. Microtubules have not previously been found in bacteria, and we lack insight into their evolution from the tubulin/FtsZ ancestor. Using electron cryomicroscopy, here we show that the tubulin homologs BtubA and BtubB form microtubules in bacteria and suggest these be referred to as “bacterial microtubules” (bMTs). bMTs share important features with their eukaryotic counterparts, such as straight protofilaments and similar protofilament interactions. bMTs are composed of only five protofilaments, however, instead of the 13 typical in eukaryotes. These and other results suggest that rather than being derived from modern eukaryotic tubulin, BtubA and BtubB arose from early tubulin intermediates that formed small microtubules. Since we show that bacterial microtubules can be produced in abundance in vitro without chaperones, they should be useful tools for tubulin research and drug screening

Universal Rights and Wrongs

This paper argues for the important role of customers as a source of competitive advantage and firm growth, an issue which has been largely neglected in the resource-based view of the firm. It conceptualizes Penrose’s (1959) notion of an ‘inside track’ and illustrates how in-depth knowledge about established customers combines with joint problem-solving activities and the rapid assimilation of new and previously unexploited skills and resources. It is suggested that the inside track represents a distinct and perhaps underestimated way of generating rents and securing long-term growth. This also implies that the sources of sustainable competitive advantage in important respects can be sought in idiosyncratic interfirm relationships rather than within the firm itself