Ground Support Software for Spaceborne Instrumentation

ION is a system of ground support software for the ion and neutral mass spectrometer (INMS) instrument aboard the Cassini spacecraft. By incorporating commercial off-the-shelf database, Web server, and Java application components, ION offers considerably more ground-support-service capability than was available previously. A member of the team that operates the INMS or a scientist who uses the data collected by the INMS can gain access to most of the services provided by ION via a standard pointand click hyperlink interface generated by almost any Web-browser program running in almost any operating system on almost any computer. Data are stored in one central location in a relational database in a non-proprietary format, are accessible in many combinations and formats, and can be combined with data from other instruments and spacecraft. The use of the Java programming language as a system-interface language offers numerous capabilities for object-oriented programming and for making the database accessible to participants using a variety of computer hardware and software

Wetlands and future change—Implications and opportunities with the Ramsar Convention

In the face of global-scale decline in the extent and state of the world’s wetlands, the Ramsar Convention has mobilised most of the world’s nations to support the conservation and wise use of wetlands. Whilst wetlands continue to be lost and their condition overall continues to decline, the Convention has played a significant part in assisting nations to mitigate pressures and preserve values and ecological assets. The pressures on wetlands will continue, and the Convention could continue its valuable contribution by increasing the awareness of the value of, and risks to wetlands, assisting Contracting Parties to plan for and accommodate change in wetland state, including that driven by climate change, recognising wetlands as socio-ecological systems, and refining the practice of wetland restoration. There remains much opportunity to extend the technical and management capacity that can be catalysed by the Convention to all nations to address the conservation and wise use of wetlands across the globe. © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Introduction to Guitar Ethnographies: Performance, Technology and Material Culture.

Entangled in global cultural flows, but also held in place locally, empowered and agential, musical instruments resonate with social significance. The guitar is, perhaps, the example par excellence, yet it has received little attention within ethnomusicology. This Introduction sets out the theoretical and methodological framework informing the four case studies of the guitar that follow, and provides a relevant literature review. Based largely on deep immersive ethnography and prolonged study in the field, we have been especially influenced by publications in the areas of the ethnography of musical performance, material culture studies, organology, the anthropology of globalisation, and studies of the role of audio technologies in the production of music cultures. Each one of the articles represents a first for the study of the guitar. In two cases, local professional guitarists have a hand in writing the articles. Therefore, this Introduction and the articles that follow include semi-autobiographical detail as we take our guitars with us into ‘the field’ and further into the ever-broadening terrain covered by ethnomusicological studies. The case studies demonstrate the value of the authors' performance skills and knowledge of the instrument and its manufacture in providing an entrée into often-challenging and close-knit guitar worlds (e.g., workshops, retail outlets, backstage meet and greets, and recording studios). Yet local questions about the guitar often demand a larger context of study; for instance, in relation to processes of globalisation, nationalism and ethnicity, the location of the instrument within a wider web of sound technologies, the international trade in musical instruments and natural resources, and hybrid designs and performance techniques

The Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, and Physiology of Human Steroidogenesis and Its Disorders

Steroidogenesis, the processes by which cholesterol is converted to steroid hormones, involves transport proteins, enzymes, redox partners and cofactors. Most steroidogenic enzymes are either forms of cytochrome P450 or are hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases. The P450s may be either Type 1, in mitochondria, or Type 2, in the endoplasmic reticulum; these two types differ in their electron-transfer redox partners as well as in their cellular locations. Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases may be either shortchain dehydrogenases or aldo-keto reductases, which differ in their structures and catalytic mechanisms. Recent work has identified new enzymes, co-factors and protein modifications, and has described new pathways of steroidogenesis and new sites of steroid synthesis. Thus steroidogenesis is not confined to the adrenals and gonads, and involves more than the production of aldosterone, cortisol and sex steroids. We review the enzymes, factors and pathways of human steroidogenesis and the diseases resulting from their mutations