Demonstration and Characterization of an Epidermal Angiogenic Factor

In this study the vasoproliferative effects of adult hamster epidermis and epidermal homogenates on the microvasculature of the hamster cheek pouch were observed. Implants of epidermis stimulated a rapid growth of new vessels both upon direct implantation and when separated from the vascular bed by a microporous filter. No significant vasoproliferation was seen with dermis, polythene, dialysis membrane, Millipore filter, with epidermis placed on or within sheets of dialysis membrane, or when the epidermis had been inactivated by heat treatment. Epidermal homogenates, Millipore filtrates, and dialysis tenates induced new vessel growth whereas similar preparations from dermis did not. Activity was found to be present in the aqueous but not the organic phase following ethyl acetate extraction and was deactivated by heating or removed by precipitation with trichloroacetic acid. Vasoproliferative activity was not affected by maintenance at 4° C for up to 7 days. These observations are interpreted as evidence for a specific, heat-labile, diffusible but nondialyzable protein “epidermal angiogenic factor.

Ares I First Stage Booster Deceleration System: An Overview

In 2005, the Congressional NASA Authorization Act enacted a new space exploration program, the "Vision for Space Exploratien". The Constellation Program was formed to oversee the implementation of this new mission. With an intent not simply to support the International Space Station, but to build a permanent outpost on the Moon and then travel on to explore ever more distant terrains, the Constellation Program is supervising the development of a brand new fleet of launch vehicles, the Ares. The Ares lineup will include two new launch vehicles: the Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle and the Ares V Cargo Launch Vehicle. A crew exploration vehicle, Orion, will be launched on the Ares I. It will be capable of docking with the Space Station, the lunar lander, Altair, and the Earth Departure Stage of Ares V. The Ares V will be capable of lifting both large-scale hardware and the Altair into space. The Ares First Stage Team is tasked with developing the propulsion system necessary to liftoff from the Earth and loft the entire Ares vehicle stack toward low Earth orbit. The Ares I First Stage booster is a 12-foot diameter, five-segment, reusable solid rocket booster derived from the Space Shuttle's four segment reusable solid rocket booster (SRB). It is separated from the Upper Stage through the use of a Deceleration Subsystem (DSS). Booster Tumble Motors are used to induce the pitch tumble following separation from the Upper Stage. The spent Ares I booster must be recoverable using a parachute deceleration system similar to that of the Shuttle SRB heritage system. Since Ares I is much heavier and reenters the Earth's atmosphere from a higher altitude at a much higher velocity than the SRB, all of the parachutes must be redesigned to reliably meet the operational requisites of the new launch vehicles. This paper presents an overview of this new booster deceleration system. It includes comprehensive detail of the parachute deceleration system, its design and deployment sequences, including how and why it is being developed, the requirements it must meet, and the testing involved in its implementation

Cloning of terminal transferase cDNA by antibody screening

A cDNA library was prepared from a terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase-containing thymoma in the phage vector λgt11. By screening plaques with anti-terminal transferase antibody, positive clones were identified of which some had β-galactosidase-cDNA fusion proteins identifiable after electrophoretic fractionation by immunoblotting with anti-terminal transferase antibody. The predominant class of cross-hybridizing clones was determined to represent cDNA for terminal transferase by showing that one representative clone hybridized to a 2200-nucleotide mRNA in close-matched enzyme-positive but not to enzyme-negative cells and that the cDNA selected a mRNA that translated to give a protein of the size and antigenic characteristics of terminal transferase. Only a small amount of genomic DNA hybridized to the longest available clone, indicating that the sequence is virtually unique in the mouse genome

Conservation Status Assessment of the Egg-mimic Darter (Percidae: \u3ci\u3eEtheostoma pseudovulatum\u3c/i\u3e) Using a Multi-faceted Approach

The imperiled Egg-mimic Darter (Etheostoma pseudovulatum) is a headwater-adapted fish restricted to an area less than 1000 km2 in Tennessee. It is found in only six tributaries of the Duck River and the large, mainstem of this system may act as a barrier to dispersal, restricting population connectivity. The only status assessment of this species was over two decades ago; genetic diversity and the degree of population connectivity have never been evaluated. We conducted a conservation status assessment using a multi-faceted approach to better inform conservation management plans, including examining its current distribution, assessing habitat quality, estimating abundance, population size and haplotype diversity, and evaluating historical population connectivity. Surveys were conducted in spring and fall (2014) and population size was estimated using the Petersen mark-recapture method at a subset of localities, which were then regressed to obtain population estimates at all localities. Haplotype diversity and population connectivity were examined using the mitochondrial ND2 gene. The Egg-mimic Darter was present at all localities and was relatively abundant, comparable to historical observations. Habitat quality did not appear to be substantially degraded. Overall haplotype and nucleotide diversity were low compared to widespread darters and comparable to other imperiled darters; however, demographic analyses indicated the species has remained stable over contemporary and historical timeframes. The Egg-mimic Darter has likely maintained gene flow historically at five of the six tributary systems, suggesting the mainstem Duck has not been a long-standing barrier to dispersal. One haplotype was shared across all tributary systems except Beaverdam Creek, which had a largely unique assemblage of haplotypes. Overall, the conservation status of the Egg-mimic Darter appears to be stable. However, we recommend regular monitoring with special consideration given to smaller tributary systems and the genetically distinct Beaverdam Creek population. Even though there was evidence of historical population connectivity, the risk of local extirpation remains, considering the small population sizes in several tributary systems. We also recommend assessments of contemporary genetic structure and population connectivity

Coherent Umklapp Scattering of Light from Disordered Photonic Crystals

A theoretical study of the coherent light scattering from disordered photonic crystal is presented. In addition to the conventional enhancement of the reflected light intensity into the backscattering direction, the so called coherent backscattering (CBS), the periodic modulation of the dielectric function in photonic crystals gives rise to a qualitatively new effect: enhancement of the reflected light intensity in directions different from the backscattering direction. These additional coherent scattering processes, dubbed here {\em umklapp scattering} (CUS), result in peaks, which are most pronounced when the incident light beam enters the sample at an angle close to the the Bragg angle. Assuming that the dielectric function modulation is weak, we study the shape of the CUS peaks for different relative lengths of the modulation-induced Bragg attenuation compared to disorder-induced mean free path. We show that when the Bragg length increases, then the CBS peak assumes its conventional shape, whereas the CUS peak rapidly diminishes in amplitude. We also study the suppression of the CUS peak upon the departure of the incident beam from Bragg resonance: we found that the diminishing of the CUS intensity is accompanied by substantial broadening. In addition, the peak becomes asymmetric.Comment: LaTeX, 8 two-column pages, 6 figures include

Resilience and adaptive mechanisms of Arctic phytoplankton under heatwaves: Acclimation, microevolution and community resilience

Trait adjustments of phytoplankton communities to changing environmental conditions can take place through responses on several fundamental ecological levels. These include physiological acclimation of single genotypes, evolution through sorting among genotypes of the same species, and selection within the entire multi-species community. Which of these different levels responds to environmental change can have large ecological and biogeochemical implications, but especially in protists, these levels are extremely difficult to disentangle. Arctic phytoplankton at base of the foodweb in one of the most rapidly warming regions on the planet, are faced with especially large changes, but often show high resilience. Among these changes are more frequent and intense heatwaves, which expose organisms to vast temperature fluctuations. In dedicated experimental setups of different ecological complexity, we investigated how phytoplankton responds and adjusts to heatwaves, and on which of the mentioned levels shifts can be observed. We resolved not only physiological features and productivity, but also composition on the species as well as the intraspecific level, using a novel molecular approach to efficiently examine the composition of protist populations in diverse contexts. This setup provides a comprehensive approach to investigate how phytoplankton communities respond to stable and fluctuating temperature scenarios, physiologically and ecologically

The hidden flows within species: Phytoplankton population dynamics in Arctic assemblages

Progressing climate change and concurrent alterations of environmental conditions pose challenges of adaptation on organisms and ecosystems, especially in rapidly changing places like the Arctic. While more diverse systems are usually considered to be more resilient, biodiversity does not only describe the number of species, but can also consist of diverse individuals within a species. Especially in protists, with large census sizes and fast proliferation, intraspecific lineage sorting can be an important mechanism of plasticity and trait adjustment. For phytoplankton communities at the base of the foodweb, physiological acclimation and species shifts are frequently described, but intraspecific composition and diversity are methodologically still difficult to resolve, especially in diverse natural contexts and at temporal resolution. Therefore, our knowledge on the functioning and importance of intraspecific selection dynamics in phytoplankton is still limited. In recent years, we have developed and applied a new, high throughput methodology for phytoplankton population composition, which can make temporal and spatial population dynamics visible that were before extremely difficult to resolve. Next to experiments with natural phytoplankton communities and artificial populations under controlled settings, a time-series of Arctic spring blooms has been investigated towards the year-to year composition of species but also of intraspecific populations of a dominant diatom. Datasets emerging now thanks to such novel technologies can offer new, more comprehensive perspectives on our understanding of the mechanisms and results of microevolution and local adaptation, and can reveal formerly hidden patterns of species’ strategies of persistence and development

New methods of testing Lorentz violation in electrodynamics

We investigate experiments that are sensitive to the scalar and parity-odd coefficients for Lorentz violation in the photon sector of the Standard Model Extension (SME). We show that of the classic tests of special relativity, Ives-Stilwell (IS) experiments are sensitive to the scalar coefficient, but at only parts in 10^5 for the state-of-the-art experiment. We then propose asymmetric Mach-Zehnder interferometers with different electromagnetic properties in the two arms, including recycling techniques based on travelling wave resonators to improve the sensitivity. With present technology we estimate that the scalar and parity odd coefficients may be measured at sensitivity better than parts in 10^11 and 10^15 respectively.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Theology, News and Notes - Vol. 39, No. 03

Theology News & Notes was a theological journal published by Fuller Theological Seminary from 1954 through 2014.https://digitalcommons.fuller.edu/tnn/1114/thumbnail.jp

Identifying Older People at Risk of Abuse During Routine Screening Practices

To examine the association between various characteristics of community-based older people and a constructed measure of potential elder abuse. DESIGN: Cross-sectional design. SETTING: Public community-based long-term care programs in Michigan. PARTICIPANTS: Individuals aged 60 and older seeking home and community-based services in Michigan between November 1996 and October 1997 (N = 701). MEASUREMENTS: Data were collected using the Minimum Data Set for Home Care (MDS-HC) assessment. The dependent variable is a constructed measure of potential elder abuse reflecting physical and emotional abuse and neglect. Independent variables include demographic characteristics; diagnoses; behavioral measures; and cognitive, physical, and social functioning. RESULTS: Several measures of social support and social function were strongly associated with the signs of a potentially abusive environment: brittle support (odds ratio (OR) = 3.5, 90% confidence interval (CI) = 1.5–8.1), older person feels lonely (OR = 2.4, 90% CI = 1.3–4.5), and older person expresses conflict with family/friends (OR = 2.3, 90% CI = 1.2–4.3). Home care participants' alcohol abuse, psychiatric illness, lack of ease interacting with others, and short-term memory problems were also significantly associated with the signs of potential elder abuse. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that the signs of potential elder abuse are associated with a diminishing social network and poor social functioning, although some characteristics of the older person's health are contributing factors. Improved understanding of the link between those characteristics and potential abuse will help healthcare providers, case managers, and others identify older people at high risk of abuse.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/65922/1/j.1601-5215.2002.51005.x.pd