Taking Students to the Museum: Interview with Warren D. Allmon, Judy Diamond, and Martin Weiss

Three museum professionals with extensive expertise in informal science education about evolution— Warren D. Allmon, Judy Diamond, and Martin Weiss—are interviewed about the interaction of teachers and natural history museums and science centers in improving the effectiveness of evolution education

The Morphology of Steve

This report is part of Project Steve. Project Steve is, among other things, the first scientific analysis of the sex, geographic location, and body size of scientists named Steve. We performed this research for the best of all reasons: we discovered that we had lots of data. No scientist can resist the opportunity to analyze data, regardless of where that data came from or why it was gathered

Geology and Ground-Water Resources of Wichita and Greeley Counties, Kansas

This report describes the geography, geology, and ground-water resources of Wichita and Greeley counties in western Kansas. The area consists of a flat to gently rolling plain, which slopes eastward [at] about 15 feet per mile. A short reach of Ladder Creek (Beaver) is the only perennially flowing stream in the two counties. Ephemeral streams, which flow only during and after heavy rains, are White Woman and Sand Creeks and the western reach of Ladder Creek. The climate is semiarid, the normal annual precipitation being about 17 inches in Wichita County and 16 inches in Greeley County. Agriculture is the principal occupation in the area, and wheat is the most important crop. A considerable area is irrigated; sugar beets and sorghums are the principal irrigated crops. The outcropping rocks range in age from late Cretaceous to Recent; the Smoky Hill chalk member of the Niobrara formation, which is exposed along White Woman Creek in western Greeley County, is the oldest. The Niobrara is almost everywhere overlain by the Ogallala formation of Pliocene age. Generally the Ogallala is overlain by windblown silt of the Pleistocene Sanborn formation, but in places it is exposed along streams. The most recent deposits are dune sand and the alluvium along the streams. The Dakota formation, which is an important aquifer in parts of Kansas, is 300 to 450 feet beneath the Niobrara formation. The ground water that is available to wells in Wichita and Greeley counties is derived entirely from precipitation in the area or in areas immediately west and north. Ground water moves in a generally easterly direction with a gradient that varies inversely with the permeability of the water-bearing beds. The ground-water reservoir is recharged principally by precipitation within the area or within adjacent areas, Ground-water discharge takes place principally by pumping from wells, subsurface outflow, and evaporation and transpiration. Most of the domestic, stock, public, and irrigation supplies are obtained from wells. It is estimated that probably more than 2 billion gallons of water is pumped annually from wells in the area. Since 1947, ground-water recharge has been about equal to ground-water discharge. The use of ground water for irrigation has increased greatly since 1946 and indications are that many more wells may be drilled and pumped without dangerously lowering the water table. Approximately 11,000 to 12,000 acres were irrigated in 1951. A map showing the thickness of water-bearing materials indicates that although much of the area has enough water-bearing material to support irrigation wells, parts of Wichita and Greeley counties have little or none. The Ogallala is the principal water-bearing formation in the area. Small amounts of water may also be obtained locally from alluvial deposits and from cracks in the Niobrara formation. Two deep test wells to the Dakota formation have been drilled but, because of the poor quality of the water, have never been used. The ground water in Wichita and Greeley counties, though hard, is suitable for most purposes. Water from the Ogallala is generally high in fluoride and in some cases may be injurious to the teeth of children. Water from the Dakota, though soft, is unfit for irrigation because of a high content of sodium. The field data upon which most of this report is based are given in tables; they include records of 417 wells, chemical analyses of 31 samples of water, and logs of 57 test holes and wells

Hepatitis Delta Virus RNA Replication

Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) is a distant relative of plant viroids in the animal world. Similar to plant viroids, HDV replicates its circular RNA genome using a double rolling-circle mechanism. Nevertheless, the production of hepatitis delta antigen (HDAg), which is indispensible for HDV replication, is a unique feature distinct from plant viroids, which do not encode any protein. Here the HDV RNA replication cycle is reviewed, with emphasis on the function of HDAg in modulating RNA replication and the nature of the enzyme involved

Interaction of Host Cellular Proteins with Components of the Hepatitis Delta Virus

The hepatitis delta virus (HDV) is the smallest known RNA pathogen capable of propagation in the human host and causes substantial global morbidity and mortality. Due to its small size and limited protein coding capacity, HDV is exquisitely reliant upon host cellular proteins to facilitate its transcription and replication. Remarkably, HDV does not encode an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase which is traditionally required to catalyze RNA-templated RNA synthesis. Furthermore, HDV lacks enzymes responsible for post-transcriptional and -translational modification, processes which are integral to the HDV life cycle. This review summarizes the known HDV-interacting proteins and discusses their significance in HDV biology

A Comparison of Amphotericin B Alone and Combined with Flucytosine in the Treatment of Cryptoccal Meningitis

Abstract We compared amphotericin B therapy for cryptococcal meningitis with a newer regimen containing both amphotericin B and flucytosine. In 50 patients with 51 courses of therapy adherent to the protocol, 27 courses were with amphotericin B and 24 with the combination. Even though the combination regimen was given for only six weeks and amphotericin B for 10 weeks, the combination cured or improved more patients (16 vs. 11), produced fewer failures or relapses (three vs. 11), more rapid sterilization of the cerebrospinal fluid (P\u3c0.001) and less nephrotoxicity (P\u3c0.05) than did amphotericin B alone. The number of deaths was the same (five) with each regimen. Adverse reactions to flucytosine occurred in 11 of 34 patients but were not life threatening. We conclude that combined flucytosine-amphoericin B therapy is the regimen of choice in cryptococcal meningitis. (N Engl J Med 301:126–131, 1979

Genomic investigations of unexplained acute hepatitis in children

Since its first identification in Scotland, over 1,000 cases of unexplained paediatric hepatitis in children have been reported worldwide, including 278 cases in the UK1. Here we report an investigation of 38 cases, 66 age-matched immunocompetent controls and 21 immunocompromised comparator participants, using a combination of genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic and immunohistochemical methods. We detected high levels of adeno-associated virus 2 (AAV2) DNA in the liver, blood, plasma or stool from 27 of 28 cases. We found low levels of adenovirus (HAdV) and human herpesvirus 6B (HHV-6B) in 23 of 31 and 16 of 23, respectively, of the cases tested. By contrast, AAV2 was infrequently detected and at low titre in the blood or the liver from control children with HAdV, even when profoundly immunosuppressed. AAV2, HAdV and HHV-6 phylogeny excluded the emergence of novel strains in cases. Histological analyses of explanted livers showed enrichment for T cells and B lineage cells. Proteomic comparison of liver tissue from cases and healthy controls identified increased expression of HLA class 2, immunoglobulin variable regions and complement proteins. HAdV and AAV2 proteins were not detected in the livers. Instead, we identified AAV2 DNA complexes reflecting both HAdV-mediated and HHV-6B-mediated replication. We hypothesize that high levels of abnormal AAV2 replication products aided by HAdV and, in severe cases, HHV-6B may have triggered immune-mediated hepatic disease in genetically and immunologically predisposed children

Taking Students to the Museum: Interview with Warren D. Allmon, Judy Diamond, and Martin Weiss

Three museum professionals with extensive expertise in informal science education about evolution— Warren D. Allmon, Judy Diamond, and Martin Weiss—are interviewed about the interaction of teachers and natural history museums and science centers in improving the effectiveness of evolution education