National Estimates of Missing Children: An Overview.

Presents an overview of the second National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children (NISMART-2). First in a series summarizing NISMART-2 findings, this Bulletin describes NISMART component surveys and estimating methodology and defines the types of missing child episodes studied: nonfamily abduction (including stereotypical kidnapping); family abduction; runaway/thrownaway; missing involuntary, lost, or injured; and missing benign explanation. The Bulletin also presents national estimates for children classified as caretaker missing and those reported missing to law enforcement or other agencies, by type of episode and by child\u27s age, gender, and race/ethnicity. The authors note that only a small proportion of all missing children are victims of stereotypical kidnappings

The Emerging Role of the Sales Technologist

David J. Good, Ph.D., is professor of marketing, Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids; MI 49504. Roberta J. Schultz, Ph.D., is associate professor of marketing, Western Michigan University, Grand Rapids, MI 49503

The Sales Entrepreneur: A New Generation of Challenges and Opportunities

Roberta J. Schultz, Ph.D., is associate professor of marketing, Western Michigan University, Grand Rapids, MI 49503. David J. Good, Ph.D., is professor of marketing, Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids, MI 49504-6495

Using GLM Flash Density, Flash Area, and Flash Energy to Diagnose Tropical Cyclone Structure and Intensification

Increased lightning in tropical cyclones (TCs) is typically associated with intensification, but significant lightning outbreaks are also observed in weakening storms. The total number of lightning flashes in a TC is not always a reliable indicator of TC intensity evolution. Issues with the range and detection efficiency of ground-based networks, particularly for intracloud lightning. Physical processes such as vertical wind shear can intensify asymmetric convection while also weakening the TC. The commissioning of the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) aboard GOES-16 and GOES-17 marked, for the first time, the presence of an operational lightning detector in geostationary orbit. In addition to flash density (the number of flashes per unit area per unit time), GLM also provides continuous observations of flash area and total optical energy

Carbon allocation, belowground transfers, and lipid turnover in a plant–microbial association

Includes bibliographical references (pages 1622-1623).Radioactive tracers were used to study the C allocation to coarse and fine roots, aboveground plant tissues, mycorrhizal lipids, belowground respiration, and soil in a mycorrhizal association. Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench was grown in soil with a nonmycorrhizal microbial inoculum with and without Glomus clarum, a mycorrhizal inoculant. Fifty-one-day-old mycorrhizal (M) and nonmycorrhizal (NM) plants were subjected to a 3-h exposure to 14CO2 and sequentially harvested after 52, 54, 57, 64, and 76 d. Mycorrhizal plants assimilated 21% more 14C than NM plants, even though they were slightly smaller in size. They also had a higher percentage and absolute allocation of 14C to root tissue, belowground respiration, and soil. Mycorrhizal roots had a higher content of total lipids and total fatty acids. The fungal fatty acid 16:1ω5, usually associated with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, comprised up to 29.5% of the total fatty acid content of M roots, while NM roots had only trace levels of this molecule. Thin-layer chromatography was used to separate the fatty acids extracted from the roots. The 14C of the various components was determined by radiography. The 14C mean residence time (MRT) of the mycorrhizal fatty acid 16:1ω5 was calculated at 7.1 d. The monoenoic, saturated, and total fatty acids had MRTs ranging from 11.1 to 14.3 d. The lipids of NM roots incorporated less 14C label. This underscores the difference in the lipid C cycle between the M and NM roots. Translocation of the 14C to soil was 6.3% of the photosynthesized C in the M plants relative to only 2.4% in the NM plants, giving an indication of its movement into the mycorrhizal hyphae as well as to the soil

Two Phosphodiesterases from Ustilago Maydis Share Structural and Biochemical Properties with Non-Fungal Phosphodiesterases

The dependence of Protein Kinase A (PKA) activity on cAMP levels is an important facet of the dimorphic switch between budding and filamentous growth as well as for pathogenicity in some fungi. To better understand these processes in the pathogenic fungus Ustilago maydis, we characterized the structure and biochemical functions of two phosphodiesterase (PDE) genes. Phosphodiesterases are enzymes involved in cAMP turnover and thus, contribute to the regulation of the cAMP-PKA signaling pathway. Two predicted homologs of PDEs were identified in the genome of U. maydis and hypothesized to be involved in cAMP turnover, thus regulating activity of the PKA catalytic subunit. Both umpde1 and umpde2 genes contain domains associated with phosphodiesterase activity predicted by InterPro analysis. Biochemical characterization of recombinantly produced UmPde1 (U. maydis Phosphodiesterase I) and UmPde2 demonstrated that both enzymes have phosphodiesterase activity in vitro, yet neither was inhibited by the phosphodiesterase inhibitor IBMX. Moreover, UmPde1 is specific for cAMP, while UmPde2 has broader substrate specificity, utilizing cAMP and cGMP as substrates. In addition, UmPde2 was also found to have nucleotide phosphatase activity that was higher with GMP compared to AMP. These results demonstrate that UmPde1 is a bona fide phosphodiesterase, while UmPde2 has more general activity as a cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase and/or GMP/AMP phosphatase. Thus, UmPde1 and UmPde2 likely have important roles in cell morphology and development and share some characteristics with a variety of non-fungal phosphodiesterases

Re-examining the U.K.'s greatest tornado outbreak: forecasting the limited extent of tornadoes along a cold front

On 23 November 1981, a strong cold front swept across the U.K., producing tornadoes from the west to the east coasts. An extensive campaign to collect tornado reports by the Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (TORRO) resulted in 104 reports, the largest U.K. outbreak. The front was simulated with a convection-permitting numerical model down to 200-m horizontal grid spacing to better understand its evolution and meteorological environment. The event was typical of tornadoes in the U.K., with convective available potential energy (CAPE) less than 150 J kg-1, 0-1-km wind shear of 10-20 m s-1, and a narrow cold-frontal rainband forming precipitation cores and gaps. A line of cyclonic absolute vorticity existed along the front, with maxima as large as 0.04 s-1. Some hook-shaped misovortices bore kinematic similarity to supercells. The narrow swath along which the line was tornadic was bounded on the equatorward side by weak vorticity along the line and on the poleward side by zero CAPE, enclosing a region where the environment was otherwise favorable for tornadogenesis. To determine if the 104 tornado reports were plausible, first possible duplicate reports were eliminated, resulting in as few as 58 tornadoes to as many as 90. Second, the number of possible parent misovortices that may have spawned tornadoes is estimated from model output. The number of plausible tornado reports in the 200-m grid-spacing domain was 22 and as many as 44, whereas the model simulation was used to estimate 30 possible parent misovortices within this domain. These results suggest that 90 reports was plausible

Proudman resonance with tides, bathymetry and variable atmospheric forcings

Proudman resonance is a primary amplification mechanism for meteotsunamis, which are shallow-water waves generated by atmospheric forcings. The effect of tides, sloping bathymetry and the speed, amplitude and aspect ratio of the atmospheric forcing on Proudman resonant wave growth are investigated using analytical approximations and numerical models. With tides included, maximum wave growth through Proudman resonance occurred when the atmospheric-forcing speed matched the tidal-wave speed. Growth greater than Proudman resonance occurred with a positive tidal elevation together with a tidal current in the opposite direction to wave propagation, due to linear growth combined with further amplification from wave-flux conservation. Near-Proudman resonant growth occurred when the forced-wave speed or free-wave speed varied by either a small amount, or varied rapidly, around a speed appropriate for Proudman resonance. For a forcing moving at Proudman resonant speed, resultant wave growth was proportional to the total, time-integrated forcing amplitude. Finally, Proudman resonant wave growth was lower for forcings with lower aspect ratios (AP), partly because forced-wave heights are proportional to 1 + A 2P , but also because free waves could spread in two dimensions. Whilst the assumptions of strict Proudman resonance are never met, near-Proudman resonant growth may occur over hundreds of kilometres if the effective Froude number is near 1 and the resultant wave propagates predominantly in one dimension

An Examination of the Relationship Between Strategy and Human Resource Management Practices among Small Businesses

Although   it has been asserted  that an organization's  strategy  is, or should  be, a major determinant  of its human resource  management practices,  little empirical research has addressed this linkage in small businesses.  Therefore, we do not know whether managers of small firms have devoted resources to design, implement, and support  human resource management practices that are aligned with firm strategy. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to examine the nature and extent of the relationship, if any, between strategy and human resource management practices among small  businesses.   The results offer little evidence of a consistent relationship. This suggests that an opportunity to build future competitive advantage may be realized through strategically managing human resources