Operation of a three-frequency riometer system on the NASA 711 aircraft during the 1968 auroral expedition

Operation of three-frequency riometer system on NASA 711 aircraft during 1968 auroral expeditio

Conserving nature out of fear or knowledge? Using threatening versus connecting messages to generate support for environmental causes

Threatening and connecting messages are two types of appeals commonly used to encourage conservation behaviors, yet little research has examined their psychological impacts and behavioral outcomes. This paper describes two studies contrasting these approaches with a neutral comparison and testing their effects on state levels of negative affect, caring, and openness, psychological states which we expected in turn would encourage conservation behavior. Participants viewed visually identical nature videos with no text, connecting text or negative text. They then reported on their state experiences, and were asked to engage in conservation behaviors, including supporting conservation organizations. Findings showed that connecting messages increased caring and openness, and decreased negative affect, and by doing so elicited more conservation behaviors. On the other hand, threatening messages showed no beneficial effects above a neutral comparison without an appeal. Our findings, which we contextualize in motivational theory, can be used to inform the use of messages to promote conservation.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2015.04.00

Control of konzo in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Konzo is an upper motor neuron disease that causes irreversible paralysis of the legs mainly in children and young women^1,2^, due to consumption of large amounts of cyanogens from poorly processed cassava, the staple food of tropical Africa^3^. Konzo occurs in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),Mozambique, Tanzania, Cameroon, Central African Republic and Angola. In March 2010 the wetting method, which removes cyanogens from cassava flour^4,5,6^, was taught to and used by the mothers of Kay Kalenge village. This reduced the total cyanide content of cassava flour to the FAO/WHO limit of 10ppm^7^. Cyanogen intake of school children, monitored by urinary thiocyanate analyses, decreased from mean values of 332 to 130 μmole/L. The percentage of urine samples that exceeded the danger level of about 350 μmole/L decreased from 26 in March 2010 to zero by May 2011. In 2009 there were many new cases of konzo, but none in 2010-2011. Konzo was first identified in1938 in Popokabaka area^8^ and it has now been prevented for the first time in the same area. This methodology is being used in three villages in Boko area and we believe it is the way to control konzo in tropical Africa

Interstitial dislocation loop nucleation and growth and swelling produced by high-energy cascades

Structural materials for advanced energy sources such as magnetically-and inertially-confined thermonuclear reactors are subjected to a radiation enviornment that produces high-energy displacement cascades and transmutation products that include helium. We address these characteristics and formulate their effect on the microstructural evolution of a material. We consider that, immediately after a high energy cascade event, a vacancy-rich region exists near the primary event site and that an interstitial-rich zone, formed by collision chains, exists some distance from the primary event site. Transmutation-product helium can diffuse into the vacancy-rich zone and stabilize bubble nuclei that will later grow if sufficient vacancies and helium atoms diffuse to the nucleus. These bubbles are the sinks for excess radiation-produced vacancies. The excess radiation-produced interstitials migrate and bond; if the binding energy is high eneough, a di-interstitial is considered to be a stable dislocation-loop nucleus. The loop nuclei grow if they receive more interstitials than vacancies; this represents material swelling since the bubbles do not cause a lattice contraction to offset the dilation caused by the growing dislocation loops

Multiwavelength Observations of a Flare from Markarian 501

We present multiwavelength observations of the BL Lacertae object Markarian 501 (Mrk 501) in 1997 between April 8 and April 19. Evidence of correlated variability is seen in very high energy (VHE, E > 350 GeV) gamma-ray observations taken with the Whipple Observatory gamma-ray telescope, data from the Oriented Scintillation Spectrometer Experiment of the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory, and quicklook results from the All-Sky Monitor of the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer while the Energetic Gamma-Ray Experiment Telescope did not detect Mrk 501. Short term optical correlations are not conclusive but the U-band flux observed with the 1.2m telescope of the Whipple Observatory was 10% higher than in March. The average energy output of Mrk 501 appears to peak in the 2 keV to 100 keV range suggesting an extension of the synchrotron emission to at least 100 keV, the highest observed in a blazar and ~100 times higher than that seen in the other TeV-emitting BL Lac object, Mrk 421. The VHE gamma-ray flux observed during this period is the highest ever detected from this object. The VHE gamma-ray energy output is somewhat lower than the 2-100 keV range but the variability amplitude is larger. The correlations seen here do not require relativistic beaming of the emission unless the VHE spectrum extends to >5 TeV.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

Discovery and mapping of single feature polymorphisms in wheat using Affymetrix arrays

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Wheat (<it>Triticum aestivum </it>L.) is a staple food crop worldwide. The wheat genome has not yet been sequenced due to its huge genome size (~17,000 Mb) and high levels of repetitive sequences; the whole genome sequence may not be expected in the near future. Available linkage maps have low marker density due to limitation in available markers; therefore new technologies that detect genome-wide polymorphisms are still needed to discover a large number of new markers for construction of high-resolution maps. A high-resolution map is a critical tool for gene isolation, molecular breeding and genomic research. Single feature polymorphism (SFP) is a new microarray-based type of marker that is detected by hybridization of DNA or cRNA to oligonucleotide probes. This study was conducted to explore the feasibility of using the Affymetrix GeneChip to discover and map SFPs in the large hexaploid wheat genome.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Six wheat varieties of diverse origins (Ning 7840, Clark, Jagger, Encruzilhada, Chinese Spring, and Opata 85) were analyzed for significant probe by variety interactions and 396 probe sets with SFPs were identified. A subset of 164 unigenes was sequenced and 54% showed polymorphism within probes. Microarray analysis of 71 recombinant inbred lines from the cross Ning 7840/Clark identified 955 SFPs and 877 of them were mapped together with 269 simple sequence repeat markers. The SFPs were randomly distributed within a chromosome but were unevenly distributed among different genomes. The B genome had the most SFPs, and the D genome had the least. Map positions of a selected set of SFPs were validated by mapping single nucleotide polymorphism using SNaPshot and comparing with expressed sequence tags mapping data.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The Affymetrix array is a cost-effective platform for SFP discovery and SFP mapping in wheat. The new high-density map constructed in this study will be a useful tool for genetic and genomic research in wheat.</p

Safety of tattoos in persons undergoing MRI

In 330 persons who had one to seven tattoos, only one mild tattoo-related adverse reaction was detected during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). These results suggest a low risk among persons with tattoos when MRI is performed under these specific study conditions

Compression hosiery to avoid post-thrombotic syndrome (CHAPS) protocol for a randomised controlled trial (ISRCTN73041168).

INTRODUCTION: Up to 50% of patients develop post-thrombotic syndrome (PTS) after an above knee deep vein thrombosis (DVT). The aim of the study was to determine the effect of graduated compression stockings in preventing PTS after DVT. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Pragmatic, UK multicentre randomised trial in adults with first above knee DVT. The standard of care arm is anticoagulation. The intervention arm will receive anticoagulation plus stockings (European class II, 23-32 mm Hg compression) worn for a median of 18 months. The primary endpoint is PTS using the Villalta score. Analysis of this will be through a time to event approach and cumulative incidence at median 6, 12 and 18 months. An ongoing process evaluation will examine factors contributing to adherence to stockings to understand if and how the behavioural interventions were effective. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: UK research ethics committee approval (reference 19/LO/1585). Dissemination though the charity Thrombosis UK, the Imperial College London website, peer-reviewed publications and international conferences. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN registration number 73041168

Editors’ choice—4D neutron and X-ray tomography studies of high energy density primary batteries: Part II. multi-modal microscopy of LiSOCl2 cells

The ability to track electrode degradation, both spatially and temporally, is fundamental to understand performance loss during operation of lithium batteries. X-ray computed tomography can be used to follow structural and morphological changes in electrodes; however, the direct detection of electrochemical processes related to metallic lithium is difficult due to the low sensitivity to the element. In this work, 4-dimensional neutron computed tomography, which shows high contrast for lithium, is used to directly quantify the lithium diffusion process in spirally wound Li/SOCl$_{2}$ primary cells. The neutron dataset enables the quantification of the lithium transport from the anode and the accumulation inside the SOCl$_{2}$ cathode to be locally resolved. Complementarity between the collected neutron and X-ray computed tomographies is shown and by applying both methods in concert we have observed lithium diffusion blocking by the LiCl protection layer and identified all cell components which are difficult to distinguish using one of the methods alone