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In situ, laboratory, and geophysical tests are currently used in site characterization. These tests explore different parts of a site measuring different engineering properties at different resolutions or scales. The test results are then used to derive a design profile. In traditional approaches, the positions of boundaries between geological units are identified first, and the soil profile is divided into several layers. Constant engineering properties are assigned to each geological unit and the variabilities within each layer are ignored. To take the uncertainties into account, characteristic design values are assigned. There are no commonly accepted guidelines for choosing design values, however, which introduces additional subjective uncertainties. This paper proposes a probabilistic site characterization approach, based on Bayesian statistical methods, that allows a design profile involving uncertainty to be determined automatically. The derived soil profile is not modelled by uniform layers, but by random fields, which can be used directly in probabilistic analysis. The proposed approach is verified by a synthetic example, and further applied to a soft soil test site in Ballina, New South Wales, Australia, and compared with traditional approaches. The results show that by gradually incorporating more data into the Bayesian inversion, the uncertainty in the soil profile is greatly reduced. Key words: integrated site investigation, geophysical tests, geotechnical tests, Bayesian statistics, spatial variability. Des tests in situ, de laboratoire et geophysiques sont couramment utilises pour la caracterisation des sites. Ces tests explorent differentes parties d'un site, mesurant differentes proprietes d'ingenierie a differentes resolutions ou echelles. Les resultats des tests sont ensuite utilises pour deriver un profil de conception. Dans les approches traditionnelles, les positions des limites entre les unites geologiques sont identifiees en premier et le profil du sol est divise en plusieurs couches. Des proprietes d'ingenierie constantes sont attribuees a chaque unite geologique et les variabilites dans chaque couche sont ignorees. Pour tenir compte des incertitudes, des valeurs de calcul caracteristiques sont attribuees. Cependant, il n'y a pas de lignes directrices generalement acceptees pour choisir les valeurs de conception, ce qui introduit des incertitudes subjectives supplementaires. Cet article propose une approche de caracterisation de site probabiliste, basee sur des methodes statistiques bayesiennes, ce qui permet de determiner automatiquement un profil de conception impliquant une incertitude. Le profil de sol derive n'est pas modelise par des couches uniformes, mais par des champs aleatoires, qui peuvent etre utilisees directement dans l'analyse probabiliste. L'approche proposee est verifiee par un exemple synthetique, puis appliquee a un site d'essai de sol meuble a Ballina, Nouvelle-Galles du Sud, Australie, et comparee aux approches traditionnelles. Les resultats montrent qu'en incorporant progressivement plus de donnees dans l'inversion bayesienne, l'incertitude dans le profil du sol est fortement reduite. [Traduit par la Redaction] Mots-cles: enquete de site integree, tests geophysiques, essais geotechniques, statistiques bayesiennes, variabilite spatiale., Introduction Geotechnical site investigation is traditionally based on drilling and sampling. In the past decades, the electric cone penetration test (CPT) has been increasingly used because it is fast, repeatable, [...]

An innovative compaction-grouted soil nail was designed by injecting grout into a special latex balloon (grouting bag) to avoid bleeding and penetration of grout into the surrounding soil. A series of large-scale model tests was performed to study the surrounding soil responses due to grouting and the subsequent pull-out resistance of the soil nail. The experimental results show that grouting pressure plays an important role in the enhancement of the density and (or) strength of the surrounding soil. In addition, during the pull-out process, the compaction-grouted soil nail exhibits a strain-hardening behaviour without a yield point. This is a significant advantage of this new soil nail, indicating that it can enable soil masses to remain stable against a relatively large deformation before ultimate failure. The main factors behind the improvement of the pull-out resistance of the new soil nail are, first, the compaction-densification of the soil near the grouting bag due to grouting, resulting in the enhancement of the shear strength of the soil, and, second, the enlargement of the grouting bag, causing the increase of the interface shear and end resistance to the pull-out of the soil nail. Key words: compaction grouting, earth pressure, densification, void ratio, pull-out capacity. Un clou de sol a coulis compacte innovant a ete concu par l'injection de coulis dans un ballon en latex special (sac de coulis) pour eviter les bavures et la penetration de coulis dans le sol environnant. Une serie d'essais sur modele a grande echelle a ete effectuee pour etudier les reponses du sol dues au coulis et la resistance a l'arrachement du clou de sol. Les resultats experimentaux montrent que la pression d'injection joue un role important dans l'amelioration de la densite-resistance du sol environnant. En outre, pendant le processus, le clou de sol a coulis compacte presente un comportement d'ecrouissage sans un point d'elasticite. C'est un avantage important de ce nouveau clou de sol, indiquant qu'il peut permettre aux masses de sols a rester stable contre une deformation relativement importante avant l'echec final. Les principaux facteurs a l'origine de l'amelioration de la resistance a l'arrachement du nouveau clou de sol sont, premierement, le compactage et (ou) la densification du sol pres du sac de coulis en raison du coulis, ce qui se traduit par l'amelioration de la resistance au cisaillement du sol, et, deuxiemement, l'elargissement du sac de coulis, provoquant l'augmentation de la resistance au cisaillement de l'interface et la resistance de fin a l'arrachement du clou de sol. [Traduit par la Redaction] Mots-cles: coulis de compactage, pression de sol, densification, rapport de vides, capacite a l'arrachement., Introduction Soil nailing is an effective technique often used to construct excavations and retaining walls, stabilize slopes, and reinforce the ground in situ with a large number of inclusions (Watkins [...]

New Zealand has incorporated ideas of vulnerability within its law of negligence for some years. It has not, however, clarified what is meant by vulnerability or the role the concept plays within the broader duty of care framework. Several obiter comments in Body Corporate No 207624 v North Shore City Council (Spencer on Byron) suggest the concept ought not to be part of the law due to its uncertain and confusing nature. Subsequent cases have, however, continued to use the concept, and continue to use it despite both its historically ill-defined nature and the additional uncertainty added by Spencer on Byron. This article argues that vulnerability can and ought to be a part of New Zealand negligence law. With a consistent application of a single test for vulnerability--that established in the High Court of Australia in Woolcock Street Investments Pty Ltd v CDG Pty Ltd--vulnerability can be conceptually certain and provide useful insight into the issues posed by the law of negligence., I INTRODUCTION '[V]ulnerability is a poorly understood concept'. (1) It can refer to a wide range of ideas and play a part in a wide variety of legal arenas. In [...]

Polymorphisms in the fat mass and obesity-associated gene (FTO) are associated with human obesity and obesity-prone behaviors, including increased food intake and a preference for energy-dense foods. FTO demethylates [N.sup.6]-methyladenosine, [...]

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-5871.2009.00626.x Byline: ANA MARIA DE SOUZA MELLO BICALHO (1), SCOTT WILLIAM HOEFLE (1) Keywords: Amazon; economic development; social identity; community empowerment; multi-scalar politics Abstract: Abstract A multi-dimensional and multi-scalar perspective is used to contrast different experiences with community development involving new settlers, the historic riverine peasantry and Amerindians on and beyond the advancing frontier in the Brazilian Amazon. Local development is shown to occur only when a compromise is reached between the economic development of individual farmers, common social background and community political empowerment. However, the local development of communities does not necessarily result in regional development because contradictions present between political actors can cancel out gains in one dimension or scale vis-a-vis others and so frustrate wider processes. Author Affiliation: (1)Laboratorio de Gestao do Territorio, Departamento de Geografia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro - RJ, 21941-590, Brazil. Article History: Received 20 June 2008; Revised 12 March 2009; Accepted 20 April 2009 Article note: (*) Email: scotthoefle@acd.ufrj.br

We describe a method for automated detection of radiographic osteoarthritis (OA) in knee X-ray images. The detection is based on the Kellgren--Lawrence (KL) classification grades, which correspond to the different stages of OA severity. The classifier was built using manually classified X-rays, representing the first four KL grades (normal, doubtful, minimal, and moderate). Image analysis is performed by first identifying a set of image content descriptors and image transforms that are informative for the detection of OA in the X-rays and assigning weights to these image features using Fisher scores. Then, a simple weighted nearest neighbor rule is used in order to predict the KL grade to which a given test X-ray sample belongs. The dataset used in the experiment contained 350 X-ray images classified manually by their KL grades. Experimental results show that moderate OA (KL grade 3) and minimal OA (KL grade 2) can be differentiated from normal cases with accuracy of 91.5% and 80.4%, respectively. Doubtful OA (KL grade 1) was detected automatically with a much lower accuracy of 57 %. The source code developed and used in this study is available for free download at www.openmicroscopy.org. Index Terms--Automated detection, image classification, Kellgren--Lawrence (KL) classification, osteoarthritis (OA), X-ray.

We report the crystal structure of a translation termination complex formed by the Thermus thermophilus 70S ribosome bound with release factor RF2, in response to a UAA stop codon, solved at 3 [Angstrom] resolution. The backbone of helix [alpha]5 and the side chain of serine of the conserved SPF motif of RF2 recognize U1 and A2 of the stop codon, respectively. A3 is unstacked from the first 2 bases, contacting Thr-216 and Val-203 of RF2 and stacking on G530 of 16S rRNA. The structure of the RF2 complex supports our previous proposal that conformational changes in the ribosome in response to recognition of the stop codon stabilize rearrangement of the switch loop of the release factor, resulting in docking of the universally conserved GGQ motif in the PTC of the 50S subunit. As seen for the RF1 complex, the main-chain amide nitrogen of glutamine in the GGQ motif is positioned to contribute directly to catalysis of peptidyl-tRNA hydrolysis, consistent with mutational studies, which show that most side-chain substitutions of the conserved glutamine have little effect. We show that when the H-bonding capability of the main-chain N-H of the conserved glutamine is eliminated by substitution with proline, peptidyl-tRNA esterase activity is abolished, consistent with its proposed role in catalysis. 70S ribosome structure | stop codon recognition | polypeptide release

Structured RNAs embedded in the untranslated regions (UTRs) of messenger RNAs can regulate gene expression. In bacteria, control of a metabolite gene is mediated by the self-cleaving activity of a [...]

Several genome analyses are conducted to explain the artifactual apparent splicing observed in the sequenced transcripts due to the template switching by reverse transcriptase. The various intron gains observed in humans are also studied.

The article discusses the various factors, including the fibroblast growth factor 20 (FGF20) that are responsible for the Parkinson disease (PD) in humans. The results show that the variations in microRNA binding sites of FGF20 often increase the risk of the disorder due to the overexpression of [alpha]-synuclein.

The teachers struggle to name the non-normatively sexual, sexualized bodies, and historically minoritized in a variety of educational contexts are discussed. An attempt is made to communicate the sexual identities by naming the sexualized teachers' bodies in theory.

Background Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) is used to diagnose type 2 diabetes (T2D) and assess glycemic control in patients with diabetes. Previous genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified 18 HbA1c-associated genetic variants. These variants proved to be classifiable by their likely biological action as erythrocytic (also associated with erythrocyte traits) or glycemic (associated with other glucose-related traits). In this study, we tested the hypotheses that, in a very large scale GWAS, we would identify more genetic variants associated with HbA1c and that HbA1c variants implicated in erythrocytic biology would affect the diagnostic accuracy of HbA1c. We therefore expanded the number of HbA1c-associated loci and tested the effect of genetic risk-scores comprised of erythrocytic or glycemic variants on incident diabetes prediction and on prevalent diabetes screening performance. Throughout this multiancestry study, we kept a focus on interancestry differences in HbA1c genetics performance that might influence race-ancestry differences in health outcomes. Methods & findings Using genome-wide association meta-analyses in up to 159,940 individuals from 82 cohorts of European, African, East Asian, and South Asian ancestry, we identified 60 common genetic variants associated with HbA1c. We classified variants as implicated in glycemic, erythrocytic, or unclassified biology and tested whether additive genetic scores of erythrocytic variants (GS-E) or glycemic variants (GS-G) were associated with higher T2D incidence in multiethnic longitudinal cohorts (N = 33,241). Nineteen glycemic and 22 erythrocytic variants were associated with HbA1c at genome-wide significance. GS-G was associated with higher T2D risk (incidence OR = 1.05, 95% CI 1.04-1.06, per HbA1c-raising allele, p = 3 x 10.sup.-29 ); whereas GS-E was not (OR = 1.00, 95% CI 0.99-1.01, p = 0.60). In Europeans and Asians, erythrocytic variants in aggregate had only modest effects on the diagnostic accuracy of HbA1c. Yet, in African Americans, the X-linked G6PD G202A variant (T-allele frequency 11%) was associated with an absolute decrease in HbA1c of 0.81%-units (95% CI 0.66-0.96) per allele in hemizygous men, and 0.68%-units (95% CI 0.38-0.97) in homozygous women. The G6PD variant may cause approximately 2% (N = 0.65 million, 95% CI 0.55-0.74) of African American adults with T2D to remain undiagnosed when screened with HbA1c. Limitations include the smaller sample sizes for non-European ancestries and the inability to classify approximately one-third of the variants. Further studies in large multiethnic cohorts with HbA1c, glycemic, and erythrocytic traits are required to better determine the biological action of the unclassified variants. Conclusions As G6PD deficiency can be clinically silent until illness strikes, we recommend investigation of the possible benefits of screening for the G6PD genotype along with using HbA1c to diagnose T2D in populations of African ancestry or groups where G6PD deficiency is common. Screening with direct glucose measurements, or genetically-informed HbA1c diagnostic thresholds in people with G6PD deficiency, may be required to avoid missed or delayed diagnoses., Author(s): Eleanor Wheeler 1, Aaron Leong 2,3, Ching-Ti Liu 4, Marie-France Hivert 5,6, Rona J. Strawbridge 7,8, Clara Podmore 9,10, Man Li 11,12,13, Jie Yao 14, Xueling Sim 15, Jaeyoung [...]

Author(s): Simone Wahl [1, 2, 3]; Alexander Drong [4]; Benjamin Lehne [5]; Marie Loh [5, 6, 7]; William R. Scott [5, 8]; Sonja Kunze [1, 2]; Pei-Chien Tsai [9]; Janina [...]

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2006.06.036 Byline: Monika Martick (1)(2), William G. Scott (2)(3) Abstract: Minimal hammerhead ribozymes have been characterized extensively by static and time-resolved crystallography as well as numerous biochemical analyses, leading to mutually contradictory mechanistic explanations for catalysis. We present the 2.2 A resolution crystal structure of a full-length Schistosoma mansoni hammerhead ribozyme that permits us to explain the structural basis for its 1000-fold catalytic enhancement. The full-length hammerhead structure reveals how tertiary interactions occurring remotely from the active site prime this ribozyme for catalysis. G-12 and G-8 are positioned consistent with their previously suggested roles in acid-base catalysis, the nucleophile is aligned with a scissile phosphate positioned proximal to the A-9 phosphate, and previously unexplained roles of other conserved nucleotides become apparent within the context of a distinctly new fold that nonetheless accommodates the previous structural studies. These interactions permit us to explain the previously irreconcilable sets of experimental results in a unified, consistent, and unambiguous manner. Author Affiliation: (1) Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Robert L. Sinsheimer Laboratories, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA (2) The Center for the Molecular Biology of RNA, Robert L. Sinsheimer Laboratories, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA (3) Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Robert L. Sinsheimer Laboratories, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA Article History: Received 21 March 2006; Revised 22 May 2006; Accepted 16 June 2006 Article Note: (miscellaneous) Published online: July 20, 2006

The valuation of executive stock options for expensing purposes is of both practical and academic interest. There is widespread agreement that stock options should be recognized as an expense and [...]

A study to identify statistically the most likely age-related macular degeneration (AMD) -susceptibility allele by using the Genotype-IBD sharing test and conditional haplotype analysis is presented. Genetic susceptibility coupled with a modifiable lifestyle factor such as cigarette smoking confers a significantly higher risk of AMD than either factor alone.

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ahj.2005.06.015 Byline: Matthew S. Lemler (a), Claudio Ramaciotti (a), Daniel Stromberg (a), William A. Scott (a), Steven R. Leonard (b) Abstract: The Fontan procedure performed with an extracardiac conduit (ECC) has gained wide acceptance as an alternative to the intracardiac lateral tunnel because it avoids placement of extensive atrial suture lines and use of prosthetic material in the systemic circulation. The extracardiac lateral tunnel (ELT) is a modification of the Fontan procedure which uses pericardium and the external surface of the atrium to create a conduit from the inferior vena cava to the pulmonary artery. This surgery theoretically avoids disruption of intra-atrial conduction by eschewing endocardial suturing while maintaining conduit growth potential and the ability to easily create a fenestration to the systemic circulation. Author Affiliation: (a) Department of Pediatrics, The Children's Medical Center of Dallas, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX (b) Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, The Children's Medical Center of Dallas, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX Article History: Received 6 April 2005; Accepted 8 June 2005

Homer's use of similes in 'Iliad, Book 11' reflects peacetime images, such as nature or the realm of home. Homer used similes that allowed him to tell his story most effectively for an audience who could associate what they were hearing with what they knew, thus, Homer often manipulated the elements that were commonly repeated in each simile family.

Homer's use of similes in 'Iliad, Book 11' reflects peacetime images, such as nature or the realm of home. Homer used similes that allowed him to tell his story most effectively for an audience who could associate what they were hearing with what they knew, thus, Homer often manipulated the elements that were commonly repeated in each simile family.

Author(s): Anastasia J. Callaghan [1]; Maria Jose Marcaida [1]; Jonathan A. Stead [2]; Kenneth J. McDowall [2]; William G. Scott [3]; Ben F. Luisi (corresponding author) [1] The coordinated regulation [...]

This study examined whether an EEG biofeedback protocol could improve outcome measures for a mixed substance abusing inpatient population. Method. One hundred twenty-one volunteers undergoing an inpatient substance abuse program were randomly assigned to the EEG biofeedback or control group. EEG biofeedback included training in Beta and SMR to address attentional variables, followed by an alpha-theta protocol. Subjects received a total of 40 to 50 biofeedback sessions. The control group received additional time in treatment equivalent to experimental procedure time. The Test of Variables of Attention (TOVA), and MMPI, were administered with both tester and subject blind as to group placement to obtain unbiased baseline data. Treatment retention and abstinence rates as well as psychometric and cognitive measures were compared. Results. Experimental subjects remained in treatment significantly longer than the control group (p Keywords: EEG, biofeedback, EEG biofeedback, addiction treatment, chemical dependency, alpha-theta, TOVA, MMPI, INTRODUCTION Alcohol and drug abuse is an ongoing societal and treatment problem (1, 2). While major resources have been employed to study and treat addiction, there has been little significant [...]

We study the intron-exon structures of 684 groups of orthologs from seven diverse eukaryotic genomes and provide maximum likelihood estimates for rates and numbers of intron losses and gains in these same genes for a variety of lineages. Rates of intron loss vary from [approximately equal to] 2 x [10.sup.-9] to 2 x [10.sup.-10] per year. Rates of gain vary from 6 x [10.sup.-13] to 4 x [10.sup.-12] per possible intron insertion site per year. There is an inverse correspondence between rates of intron loss and gain, leading to a 20-fold variation among lineages in the ratio of the rates of the two processes. The observed rates of intron gain are insufficient to explain the large number of introns estimated to have been present in the plant-animal ancestor, suggesting that introns present in early eukaryotes may have been created by a fundamentally different process than more recently gained introns. genome evolution

The relationship between three biologically important groups, arthropods, nematodes, and deuterostomes, remains unresolved. It is unknown whether arthropods are more closely related to nematodes (consistent with the 'ecdysozoa' hypothesis) or to deuterostomes (consistent with 'coelomata'). We present a method in which we use the pattern of spliceosomal intron conservation to develop a series of inequalities that characterize each possible relationship. We find that only the ecdysozoa grouping satisfies these predictions, with P < [10.sup.-6]. Simulations show that our method, unlike some previous methods, is largely insensitive to rate variation between branches. coelomata | ecdyosozoa | intron evolution | phylogenetics

Bud Billiken Day began as a mid-summer diversion, a frolic. But within a decade Bud Billiken Day and Parade had become Chicago's African American New Year, Decoration Day, Fourth of [...]

In this report we describe the developmental expression and function of Sp8, a member of the Sp family of zinc finger transcription factors, and provide evidence that the legless transgene insertional mutant is a hypomorphic allele of the Sp8 gene. Sp8 is expressed during embryogenesis in the forming apical ectodermal ridge (AER), restricted regions of the central nervous system, and tail bud. Targeted deletion of the Sp8 gene gives a striking phenotype, with severe truncation of both forelimbs and hindlimbs, absent tail, as well as defects in anterior and posterior neuropore closure leading to exencephaly and spina bifida. Outgrowth of the limb depends on formation of the AER, a signaling center that forms at the limb bud apex. In Sp8 mutants, the AER precursor cells are induced and initially express multiple appropriate marker genes, but expression of these genes is not maintained and progression to a mature AER is blocked. These observations indicate that Sp8 functions downstream of Wnt3, Fgfl0, and Bmpr1a in the signaling cascade that mediates AER formation. apical ectodermal ridge | exencephaly | spina bifida | zinc finger | legless

Magnetic tapes, which may be modeled as three-ply laminates, exhibit transverse curvature, or cupping, as manufactured and when mechanical and hygrothermal loads are applied. Among other things, this cupping affects debris generation since it influences the contact between the flawed tape edge and head, the point where much of the debris generation occurs. This influence on debris generation is demonstrated experimentally in this study. Much more debris accumulates near the tape edge-head contact than at other contact locations. No difference in debris generation was found for two tapes with slightly different residual cupping (which is controlled during manufacturing). The target residual cupping is usually negative, which means that the tape bows out towards the tape so that the edges are farther away from the head than the center of contact is, so as to reduce contact pressure with the tape edges. However, cupping generally changes upon application of a tension and generally reduces the importance of residual cupping, which accounts for the failure to find a difference in debris generation for tapes with slightly different residual cupping. A finite element method model that uses laminate shell elements and accounts for in-plane stress stiffening, thus making it suitable for thin laminate modeling, was created. This modeling demonstrates that application of tensile and normal (used to simulate head contact) loads leads to cupping movement in the positive direction, which indicates a more severe edge contact, for an increase in front coat Young's modulus and/or an increase in front coat thickness. The same trends hold for an increase in back coat Young's modulus and/or an increase in back coat thickness. Modeling also demonstrates that cupping moves in the positive direction for an increase in the substrate Young's modulus in the transverse direction for MP and ME tapes. An analytical model demonstrates that increases in temperature and front coat thermal expansion coefficient leads to cupping movement in the negative direction. The same trends hold for changes in relative humidity.

Laser scanning range sensors are widely used for high-precision, high-density three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction and inspection of the surface of physical objects. The process typically involves planning a set of views, physically altering the relative object-sensor pose, taking scans, registering the acquired geometric data in a common coordinate frame of reference, and finally integrating range images into a nonredundant model. Efficiencies could be achieved by automating or semiautomating this process. While challenges remain, there are adequate solutions to semiautomate the scan-register-integrate tasks. On the other hand, view planning remains an open problem--that is, the task of finding a suitably small set of sensor poses and configurations for specified reconstruction or inspection goals. This paper surveys and compares view planning techniques for automated 3D object reconstruction and inspection by means of active, triangulation-based range sensors. Categories and Subject Descriptors: 1.2.9 [Artificial Intelligence]: Robotics--sensors; I.2.10 [Artificial Intelligence]: Vision and Scene Understanding--Modeling and recovery of physical attributes; I.4.1 [Image Processing and Computer Vision]: Digitization and Image Capture--Scanning; 1.5.4 [Pattern Recognition]: Applications--Computer vision General Terms: Algorithms, Design, Measurement, Performance Additional Key Words and Phrases: View planning, range images, object reconstruction, object inspection

In ancient genes whose products have known 3-dimensional structures, an excess of phase zero introns (those that lie between the codons) appear in the boundaries of modules, compact regions of the polypeptide chain. These excesses are highly significant and could support the hypothesis that ancient genes were assembled by exon shuffling involving compact modules. (Phase one and two introns, and many phase zero introns, appear to arise later.) However, as more genes, with larger numbers of homologs and intron positions, were examined, the effects became smaller, dropping from a 40% excess to an 8% excess as the number of intron positions increased from 570 to 3,328, even though the statistical significance remained strong. An interpretation of this behavior is that novel inserted positions appearing in homologs washed out the signal from a finite number of ancient positions. Here we show that this is likely to be the case. Analyses of intron positions restricted to those in genes for which relatively few intron positions from homologs are known, or to those in genes with a small number of known homologous gene structures, show a significant correlation of phase zero intron positions with the module structure, which weakens as the density of attributed intron positions or the number of homologs increases. These effects do not appear for phase one and phase two introns. This finding matches the expectation of the mixed model of intron origin, in which a fraction of phase zero introns are left from the assembly of the first genes, while other introns have been added in the course of evolution.

Earlier this year, as part of preparations for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) Rio +10, the House of Commons' Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) invited comments relating to what bad been achieved within the UK. This article derives from a contribution we made to the Council for Environmental Education's (CEE) submission to the EAC. It reviews educational activities in response to Agenda 21, Chapter 36, initiated by central government, local authorities, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and others. Exemplars relating to policy, programmes and strategy are illustrated, alongside a commentary on their effectiveness and strategic value, across a range of sectors. We suggest that there is now a priority need for integrated and integrative leadership, both within and across sectors, which synthesises existing knowledge and best practice, and makes them available to ongoing initiatives. Geography's role in this, as a subject discipline and via geographical education at school level, is explored.

Distinct patterns of apoptosis in the lung during liquid ventilation compared with gas ventilation. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol 283: L31-IA1, 2002. First published February 8, 2002; 10.1152/ajplung.00037.2001.--To determine whether liquid ventilation (LV) causes less cell injury and improves lung function compared with conventional gas ventilation (GV), we analyzed pulmonary physiological profiles, lung histology, and cell death in 110- and 120-day preterm lambs, which were randomized to receive either ventilation modality on F[I.sub.o.sub.2] = 1. LV lungs were well expanded with adequate pulmonary function, whereas GV animals exhibited marked atelectasis, poor pulmonary function, and increased mortality. Both ventilatory strategies induced marked lung cell apoptosis, but with distinct patterns of distribution. Although GV induced apoptosis of epithelium primarily in the lining and within the lumina of bronchioles, LV induced significant apoptosis much more homogeneously throughout lung parenchyma including alveoli and interstitial spaces. These studies suggest that although both forms of ventilation cause regional apoptosis, LV more effectively delivers oxygen and recruits the lung more homogeneously than GV. hyperoxia; epithelial cells; preterm; cell injury; cell death

To describe an inquiry-based learning activity and discuss the advantages of using such activities to demonstrate research design to undergraduate psychology students the authors presented students with the research problem of eyewitness memory recall and asked students to solve the problem, using the information provided by the course. Working in small groups, students reviewed eyewitness studies and designed their own research materials, including a videotaped theft and a CD-ROM version of the eyewitness survey and potential suspect line-up. Poststudy interviews showed that the students enjoyed the activity and felt that they had a better understanding of experimental research design than they had before the exercise. It is proposed that this activity may be a useful hands-on tool for instructors who have difficulty teaching students fundamental topics such as literature reviews, hypothesis testing, reliability and validity of research measures, and experimental design.

Research has been conducted on the alpha,omega-dihaloalkenes. The evaluation of these dihaloalkenes as alkylating agents yielding resin-bound racemic intermediates has been carried out and the results are reported.

31 college age men and women who consume less than three caffeinated beverages per week agreed to participate as subjects in research on the effects of acute caffeine intake on low intensity task performance. All subjects performed two randomly administered test conditions: (1) caffeine (5 mg/kg) and (2) placebo on separate visits following an initial 1-hr. orientation visit. Subjects were administered the beverage 30 min. prior to performing 12 separate tests assessing basic mathematics, simple response, logical reasoning, hand-eye coordination, and spatial and assembly skills. The Spielberger State Anxiety test was administered immediately after consuming the test beverage and once again at posttest. Analysis showed that caffeine did not significantly affect performance on all tests with the exception of the peripheral awareness (hand-eye coordination) test on which performance was higher after ingesting caffeine. The placebo treatment produced no effect on state anxiety, which contrasted with a significant rise in anxiety after caffeine consumption. State anxiety values were significantly greater after caffeine treatment relative to the placebo at pretest, and this difference persisted at posttest. These results demonstrated that the dose of caffeine increased scores on state anxiety for individuals who consumed less than three caffeinated beverages weekly but had very little effect on performance of low intensity tasks, except for a hand-eye coordination test involving peripheral awareness. Perhaps longer continuous performance of more demanding tasks would be more sensitive.