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Inspired by recent work describing surfactant-like peptides, we have carried out a systematic study on peptides with the underlying composition of V6D2, altering the absolute sequence to determine the importance of the surfactant-like structure. All of the peptides examined here formed self-assembled structures in water. However, in contrast to other reports, we have found a surprising diversity of structures including fibers, tapes, and twisted ribbons but an absence of the vesicles and nanotubes described previously. Further investigations demonstrated that peptide purity plays a significant role in the outcome of the self-assembly. Different batches behave very differently, which can be linked to the compositions of these batches. This work shows that there is a need for not only rational design but also ease of synthesis of the building blocks for self-assembled structures.

Objectives: This study describes the development of a systematic approach to the analysis of Internet chatter as a means of monitoring potentially abusable opioid analgesics. Methods: Message boards dedicated to drug abuse were selected using specific inclusion criteria. Threaded discussions containing 48,293 posts were captured. A coding system was created to compare content of posts related to 3 opioid analgesics: Kadian, Vicodin, and OxyContin. Results: The number of posts containing mentions of the target drugs were significantly different [OxyContin (1813) > Vicodin (940)>Kadian (27), P

The predictive value of acute gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT) CD4+ T cell depletion in lentiviral infections was assessed by comparing three animal models illustrative of the outcomes of SIV infection: pathogenic infection (SIVsmm infection of rhesus macaques (Rh)), persistent nonprogressive infection (SIVagm infection of African green monkeys (AGM)), and transient, controlled infection (SIVagm infection of Rh). Massive acute depletion of GALT CD4+ T cells was a common feature of acute SIV infection in all three models. The outcome of this mucosal CD4+ T cell depletion, however, differed substantially between the three models: in SIVsmm-infected Rh, the acute GALT CD4+ T cell depletion was persistent and continued with disease progression; in SIVagm, intestinal CD4+ T cells were partially restored during chronic infection in the context of normal levels of apoptosis and immune activation and absence of damage to the mucosal immunologic barrier; in SIVagm-infected Rh, complete control of viral replication resulted in restoration of the mucosal barrier and immune restoration. Therefore, our data support a revised paradigm wherein severe GALT CD4+ T cell depletion during acute pathogenic HIV and SIV infections of humans and Rh is necessary but neither sufficient nor predictive of disease progression, with levels of immune activation, proliferation and apoptosis being key factors involved in determining progression to AIDS.

Clinicians recognize the importance of monitoring aberrant medication-related behaviors of chronic pain patients while being prescribed opioid therapy. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate the Current Opioid Misuse Measure (COMM) for those pain patients already on long-term opioid therapy. An initial pool of 177 items was developed with input from 26 pain management and addiction specialists. Concept mapping identified six primary concepts underlying medication misuse, which were used to develop an initial item pool. Twenty-two pain and addiction specialists rated the items on importance and relevance, resulting in selection of a 40-item alpha COMM. Final item selection was based on empirical evaluation of items with patients taking opioids for chronic, noncancer pain (N=227). One-week test-retest reliability was examined with 55 participants. All participants were administered the alpha version of the COMM, the Prescription Drug Use Questionnaire (PDUQ) interview, and submitted a urine sample for toxicology screening. Physician ratings of patient aberrant behaviors were also obtained. Of the 40 items, 17 items appeared to adequately measure aberrant behavior, demonstrating excellent internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Cutoff scores were examined using ROC curve analysis and reasonable sensitivity and specificity were established. To evaluate the COMM’s ability to capture change in patient status, it was tested on a subset of patients (N = 86) that were followed and reassessed three months later. The COMM was found to have promise as a brief, self-report measure of current aberrant drug-related behavior. Further cross-validation and replication of these preliminary results is pending.

Crystallization of two-dimensional spherulitic calcium carbonate films was performed on planar films of chitosan in the presence of poly(acrylic acid) (PAA). PAA, electrostatically bound to the chitosan substrate, increased the local concentration of calcium at the surface, thereby promoting CaCO3 crystallization there. Simultaneously, interaction between PAA and calcium ions in the surrounding solution suppressed bulk crystallization. Increasing the PAA concentration at fixed pH increased the surface supersaturation of calcium ions leading to larger spherulites. Saturation of the surface with PAA at 0.004% led to a maximum in the nucleation rate at this concentration. Above a certain PAA concentration, a regime existed at which the surface was completely covered. Above even higher PAA concentrations no crystallization occurred, since the bulk PAA sequestered all of the calcium ions in solution previously available for surface crystallization. As the pH increased, PAA became more charged and therefore int...

Wheat starch–water dispersions at excess water conditions were heated under mixing to different temperatures by either microwave energy at 2000 W or by conduction heating in order to compare both heating methods. The effects of microwaves and conduction heating on starch gelatinization were evaluated using different techniques; It was possible to obtain the same viscosity for both heating methods but the required time was much shorter for microwaves heated starch dispersions. No unique structures due to the heating method were observed under the microscope. At the beginning of the heating process an increase in the mobility of the starch protons occurred, slightly higher for microwaves heated samples. Likewise, DSC experiments revealed an increase in the enthalpy for short times microwave heated samples. The heating method caused no differences in the mechanism of gelatinization; nevertheless the crystallinity disappeared at a higher rate when heated with microwaves.

A 9-month-old boy presented with multiple hemorrhagic subcutaneous nodules after treatment with oral antibiotics for an upper respiratory tract infection. Excessive bleeding after an incisional biopsy led to a diagnosis of hemophilia A. While this was an unexpected presentation of hemophilia, screening laboratory coagulation studies prior to biopsy would have revealed the etiology. Similar presentations should alert dermatologists to suspect an underlying coagulation defect prior to biopsy, thus averting bleeding complications.

����� ��� One of the topics that Milton discusses in Areopagitica (1644) is the inadequacy of cloistered virtue. The focus of his discussion is The Faerie Queene (1590, 1596, 1609), in which Spenser relates Mammon’s temptation of Guyon in the underworld (FQ, 2.7). Milton writes as follows: He that can apprehend and consider vice with all her baits and seeming pleasures, and yet abstain, and yet distinguish, and yet prefer that which is truly better, he is the true warfaring Christian. I cannot praise a fugitive and cloister’d vertue, unexercis’d & unbreath’d, that never sallies out and sees her adversary, but slinks out of the race, where that immortall garland is to be run for, not without dust and heat. Assuredly we bring not innocence into the world, we bring impurity much rather: that which purifies us is triall, and triall is by what is contrary. That vertue therefore which is but a youngling in the contemplation of evill, and knows not the utmost that vice promises to her followers, and rejects it, is but a blank vertue, not a pure; her whitenesse is but an excrementall whitenesse; Which was the reason why our sage and serious Poet Spencer, whom I dare be known to think a better teacher then Scotus or Aquinas, describing true temperance under the person of Guion, brings him in with his palmer through the cave of Mammon, and the bowr of earthly blisse that he might see and know, and yet abstain. Since therefore the knowledge and survay of vice is in this world so necessary to the constituting of human vertue, and the scanning of error to the confirmation of truth, how can we more safely, and with lesse danger scout into the regions of sin and falsity then by reading all manner of tractats, and hearing all manner of reason? (CPW, 2:514–17).

The devastating consequences of AIDS pandemic will probably only be controlled when a vaccine is developed that is safe, effective, affordable, and simple enough to permit implementation in developing countries where the impact of AIDS is most severe. However, the major obstacle for the control of the spread of AIDS lies in the diversity of HIV and its enormous evolutionary potential. Numerous HIV forms contribute to the AIDS pandemic. Two viral types (HIV-1 and HIV-2), numerous groups (M, N and O for HIV-1 and A through H for HIV-2) and numerous subtypes, sub-subtypes and circulating recombinant forms (CRF) have emerged during the last 50 years. At least nine different genetic HIV-1 subtypes and over 20 CRFs were defined within group M, which accounts for the majority of cases in the AIDS pandemic. Even though HIV-1 subtype C and A predominate globally, the other viral forms co-circulate all over the world and may have a major impact for the strategies of pandemic control. Here we discuss the distribution of these divergent viral forms worldwide and the potential consequences of such a tremendous viral diversity for diagnostic, monitoring, treatment and the development of an effective vaccine.

The historical abundance of salmon along the west coast of North America has been significantly reduced during the last two centuries of industrial harvest. Commercial fisheries from California to Alaska and points in between have faced clearly documented restrictions on fishing effort and collapse of specific salmon runs.' Even while salmon runs on some large river systems remain (i.e., the Fraser and Skeena rivers), many smaller runs have all but disappeared. The life histories of many twentieth-century fisheries have been depressingly similar: initial coexistence with indigenous fisheries; emergence of large-scale industrial expansion followed by resource collapse; introduction of limited restrictions on fishing effort, which become increasingly severe, making it hard for fishing communities to survive and to reproduce themselves. Yet for nearly two millennia prior to the industrial extraction of salmon, indigenous peoples maintained active harvests of salmon, which are estimated to have been at or near median industrial harvests during the twentieth century.' Part of the explanation for salmon stock collapses in the twentieth century resides in the different methodologies used by the indigenous and industrial fisheries. As Joseph E. Taylor comments, "aboriginal and industrial harvests appear statistically similar, but the fishery had changed radically. Indians had harvested various runs and species from March to November, but Euro-American consumers preferred the deep orange meat of chinook [spring] and sockeye. Canners quickly learned to concentrate on the runs of favored species between April and July."' While our research substantiates Taylor's contention that "what distinguished the two fisheries was their raison d'etre,'' our results directly contradict

Chrysomya megacephala (F.) and Chrysomya rufifacies (Macquart) were colonized so that larval growth rates could be compared. Colonies were also established to provide insight into the protein needs of adult C. rufifacies and developmental rates of the ensuing larvae. The C. megacephala and C. rufifacies laboratory colonies were reared for five and six generations, respectively, at 28°C. C. megacephala developmental mean rate from egg to adult was 20.4 ± 0.38 d. First-instar larvae emerge in 1.4 ± 0.24 d, second-instar larvae develop in 2.6 ± 0.38 d and third instars occur at 6.3 ± 0.72 d. Development from egg to pupation occurred in 12 ± 1.10 d. C. rufifacies developed at a mean rate of 16.2 ± 0.78 d from egg to adult emergence. Each stage occurred in succession from first-instar larvae 1.1 ± 0.25 d, second-instar larvae developed 2.3 ± 0.25 d later, and the third-instar larvae developed 5.7 ± 0.41 d later. The larvae pupated 10.0 ± 0.57 d after oviposition. Both of these flies can be collected in the wild and easily colonized using conditioned chicken as an oviposition and larval medium. C. megacephala apparently prefers a lower development and maintenance temperature than C. rufifacies, as evidenced by the high pupal mortality. Laboratory-reared C. rufifacies benefited from bloodmeal as a protein supplement to enhance egg production. C. rufifacies larvae were not observed preying on each other and additional larval species were not provided to serve as prey.

This report reviews the use of the Cool-Cap device to apply selective therapeutic hypothermia to the brain of preterm infants, without causing systemic hypothermia. Four infants, 32-35 weeks gestation, with suspected Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE) received treatment aimed at providing selective brain cooling. It was not possible to apply cold circulat- ing water to the scalp of the preterm infant without systemic hypothermia unless a warming blanket was also used. All infants had severe HIE and all had either death, or neurologic disability despite cooling attempts. Therapeutic hypothermia cannot be recommended at this time for preterm infants outside clinical trials.

Lichen planus is an inflammatory process that can affect the skin, mucosa, and hair follicles. An increased risk of squamous cell carcinoma has been noted in lichen planus of the mucosa. Rarely, in chronic, hypertrophic lichen planus of the skin, squamous cell neoplasms have been reported. We report a case of new onset lichen planopilaris with multiple squamous cell neoplasms.

This was a case-control study of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation cases spanning 5 years. Bloodstream infection (BSI) occurred in 12/207 subjects, with Candida spp.-4, Pseudomonas spp.-2 and Staphylococcal spp.-2 being predominant. No risk factors for BSI were identified. Exposure to broad spectrum antibiotics was common in both BSI and control patients. Prophylactic antimicrobials did not decrease the risk of BSI.

We use an ensemble of surface (EPA CSN, IMPROVE, SEARCH, AERONET), aircraft (SEAC4RS), and satellite (MODIS, MISR) observations over the southeast US during the summer–fall of 2013 to better understand aerosol sources in the region and the relationship between surface particulate matter (PM) and aerosol optical depth (AOD). The GEOS-Chem global chemical transport model (CTM) with 25 × 25 km2 resolution over North America is used as a common platform to interpret measurements of different aerosol variables made at different times and locations. Sulfate and organic aerosol (OA) are the main contributors to surface PM2.5 (mass concentration of PM finer than 2.5 μm aerodynamic diameter) and AOD over the southeast US. OA is simulated successfully with a simple parameterization, assuming irreversible uptake of low-volatility products of hydrocarbon oxidation. Biogenic isoprene and monoterpenes account for 60 % of OA, anthropogenic sources for 30 %, and open fires for 10 %. 60 % of total aerosol mass is in the mixed layer below 1.5 km, 25 % in the cloud convective layer at 1.5–3 km, and 15 % in the free troposphere above 3 km. This vertical profile is well captured by GEOS-Chem, arguing against a high-altitude source of OA. The extent of sulfate neutralization (f = [NH4+]/(2[SO42−] + [NO3−]) is only 0.5–0.7 mol mol−1 in the observations, despite an excess of ammonia present, which could reflect suppression of ammonia uptake by OA. This would explain the long-term decline of ammonium aerosol in the southeast US, paralleling that of sulfate. The vertical profile of aerosol extinction over the southeast US follows closely that of aerosol mass. GEOS-Chem reproduces observed total column aerosol mass over the southeast US within 6 %, column aerosol extinction within 16 %, and space-based AOD within 8–28 % (consistently biased low). The large AOD decline observed from summer to winter is driven by sharp declines in both sulfate and OA from August to October. These declines are due to shutdowns in both biogenic emissions and UV-driven photochemistry. Surface PM2.5 shows far less summer-to-winter decrease than AOD and we attribute this in part to the offsetting effect of weaker boundary layer ventilation. The SEAC4RS aircraft data demonstrate that AODs measured from space are consistent with surface PM2.5. This implies that satellites can be used reliably to infer surface PM2.5 over monthly timescales if a good CTM representation of the aerosol vertical profile is available., Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 15 (18), ISSN:1680-7375, ISSN:1680-7367

Two thin elastic plates, which may have different physical parameters, occupy the parallel regions 0 < x < a, 0 < y < b, z = -d and 0 < x < a, 0 < y < b, z = 0, in a Cartesian coordinate system, where the separation distance d is much less than the dimensions a and b. The plates are simply connected to a structure that occupies the rest of the region -d < z < 0. The side walls (x = 0 or a, 0 < y < b, -d < z < 0 and y = 0 or b, 0 < x < a, -d < z < 0) are taken to be acoustically soft; the surfaces z = -d and z = 0, outside the rectangular regions occupied by the plates, are taken to be acoustically hard. Light compressible fluid (air) is in each of the half-spaces outside the plates and in the rectangular region between them. A sound field is induced by a high-frequency plane wave. Allowance is made for a small element of damping in the fluid trapped between the plates, as well as damping in the plates. Estimates are derived for the transmitted power, averaged over a frequency band and with respect to all incidence directions, in the asymptotic limits of small fluid loading and high frequency. For the case where the two plates have identical physical properties, detailed asymptotic estimates are given for the form of the peaks in the transmitted power, at a discrete set of operating frequencies, both above and below the plates' coincidence frequency.

Full-field digital mammography (FFDM) is gaining widespread clinical acceptance in the United States and has the potential to ultimately replace screen-film mammography (SFM). Since the introduction of the MQSA in 1992 by the US Congress, studies have demonstrated that, with increased attention to quality control, SFM has improved in quality across the United States. For FFDM to phase out and ultimately replace SFM, similar stringent quality control processes will be required of FFDM. The purpose of this article is to outline operational considerations during the implementation of FFDM quality control in a breast imaging facility.

A series of poly(ethylene oxide)-block-poly(N,N-diethylaminoethyl methacrylate) (PEO−PDEAMA) block copolymers with relatively high polydispersity (1.36 < PDI < 1.96) have been prepared to determine the effect that polydispersity has on the self-assembly of amphiphilic block copolymers in dilute solution. Because monodisperse macroinitiators were used for the ATRP reactions, the polydispersity resides within the hydrophobic block. By adjusting the relative block lengths, spherical micelles, wormlike micelles, vesicles, or a precipitate is formed. Here, we show that relatively high polydispersity in the block copolymer does not preclude efficient self-assembly. We also discuss the effect of increasing the concentration of NaCl in the systems and show that this can result in a shift from one morphology to another. These shifts are reversible in some cases, but for PEO12−PDEAMA39, this method allows access to giant vesicles of between 500 nm and 1 μm in diameter.

Attack rates, progeny production, sex ratios, and host use efficiency of Muscidufurax raptor Girualt and Sanders, Spalangia cameroni Perkins, S. endius (Walker), S. nigroaenea Curtis, S. gemina Boucek (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae), and Dirhinus himalayanus (Hymenoptera: Chalcididae) were evaluated in laboratory bioassays with five dipteran hosts: house fly (Musca domestica L.), stable fly (Stomoxys calcitrans L.), horn fly (Hematobia irritans L.), black dump fly [Hydrotaea aenescens (Weidemann)] (Diptera: Muscidae), and a flesh fly (Sarcophaga bullata Parker) (Diptera: Sarcophagidae). M. raptor, S.cameroni, and S. endius readily attacked and produced progeny on all five host species, with substantially lower production from S. bullata than from the muscid hosts. Rates of host attacks by S. nigroaenea and S. gemina were similar on house fly, stable fly, and black dump fly hosts, with lower rates on horn fly; almost no progeny were produced by S. nigroaenea on S. bullata hosts. D. himalayanus, a larg...

In an investigative 16 hour L band observation using the MERLIN radio interferometric array, we have resolved both the pulsar PSR B1951+32 and structure within the flat spectral radio continuum region, believed to be the synchrotron nebula associated with the interaction of the pulsar and its `host' supernova remnant CTB 80. The extended structure we see, significant at $\sim$ 4.5 $\sigma$, is of dimensions 2.5" $\times$ 0.75", and suggests a sharp bow shaped arc of shocked emission, which is correlated with similar structure observed in lower resolution radio maps and X-ray images. Using this MERLIN data as a new astrometric reference for other multiwavelength data we can place the pulsar at one edge of the HST reported optical synchrotron knot, ruling out previous suggested optical counterparts, and allowing an elementary analysis of the optical synchrotron emission which appears to trail the pulsar. The latter is possibly a consequence of pulsar wind replenishment, and we suggest that the knot is a result of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities. These being so, it suggests a dynamical nature to the optical knot, which will require high resolution optical observations to confirm., Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJL

This article describes the development and reliability and validity testing of the Addiction Severity Assessment Tool (ASAT), a brief, 27-item multidimensional self-report measure of problem severity in daily functioning, relational functioning, dysphoric states, dependence severity, recovery skill/self-efficacy, and existential factors for adult substance abuse clients. Items generated for an Alpha version were conceptually and empirically evaluated. A Beta version underwent further empirical evaluation and item selection. Cross validation of the final version examined internal consistency, test-retest reliability, factor structure, and convergent/discriminant and known groups validity. Sensitivity to change was evaluated in a 3-month outcome study. Clients were recruited from inpatient, outpatient and residential substance abuse treatment centers, and a sample of 238 nonpatients were also recruited from community groups. The Beta version was tested with 201 clients, and cross validation involved 242 clients. Well-known standardized, self-report and interview-based comparison measures were used to test convergent/discriminant validity of the ASAT. Reliability coefficients for the six ASAT domains were acceptable. Reasonable convergent/discriminant and known groups, construct validity were demonstrated, along with sensitivity to change of the domain scale scores. The ASAT appears to comprise a useful new tool for assessing clinical outcomes of adult clients in substance abuse treatment.

Mosquito feeding activity was monitored in an electronic apparatus (visualometer), having ten ports, illuminated from below with narrow bandwidths of light (700, 650, 600, 550, 500, 450, 400, or 350 nm). Responses of adult female Aedes albopictus Skuse, Ae. aegypti (L.), Anopheles quadrimaculatus, Say and Culex nigripalpus Theobald to feeding stations (blood containers) over each light port. No-light and broad spectrum white light were used as controls. Color preferences were based on electronic detection of feeding times. Aedes aegypti showed no significant feeding preferences over any of the colors. Conversely, Ae. albopictus, An. quadrimaculatus, and Cx. nigripalpus showed preferences for several of the wavelengths of light. In decreasing order, Aedes albopictus fed significantly longer at 600 nm, 500 nm, white, 450 nm, 400 nm, and black. For An. quadrimaculatus, significantly longer feeding durations were found over the black or white controls and all other individual wavelengths had significantly longer feeding durations than 350 nm. Finally, in decreasing order, significantly greater feeding times were recorded for Cx. nigripalpus over 500 nm, 600 nm, 450 nm, white, 650 nm, and 550 nm compared to the other wavelengths tested.

The ACR's Mammography Accreditation Program has been helping facilities improve the quality of mammography through peer review and professional feedback since 1987. Initially conceived as a voluntary program, accreditation became mandatory when the Mammography Quality Standards Act (MQSA) of 1992 required all U.S. mammography facilities to become accredited and certified by October 1, 1994. Currently, the ACR is the largest of four accrediting bodies approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, accrediting 12,729 units at 8325 facilities by October 1, 2004. Between 1987 and 1991, 70% of the mammography units applying for accreditation with the ACR passed on their first attempts. In 2003, 88.3% of the units passed on their first attempts, indicating a marked improvement in the quality of mammography in the United States since MQSA went into effect 10 years ago.

Near the beginning of Inferno 31, Dante's pilgrim mistakes the giants of Cocytus for a wall of towers surrounding a city. While Dante's account does not have a clear parallel in the Aeneid or Metamorphoses, it summons the Thebaid. In the underworld of Statius' poem, soldiers who are the offspring of Mars encircle a blood-red lake. Statius calls them earth-born, and his phrase links them with the rebellious giants of classical myth. Statius also stresses their love of war. So too, Dante emphasizes the ferocity of his giants and associates them with Mars; and Cocytus is fed by Phlegethon, which is red with blood. Dante finds in Statius a precedent for commenting on the moral qualities of his giants, and he evokes the Thebaid to underscore their violence and stupidity. In doing so he reinforces the authority of Statius, who will guide the pilgrim through purgatory; underscores Thebes as a model for the city of Dis; and points to the Thebaid as a poem that is possibly more significant than Virgil's Aeneid.

Hepatozoon polytopis, described from Coluber constrictor priapus from Palm Beach County, Florida, has short, usually broad gamonts 12.8 x 4.6 microm (10.0-15.0 x 3.5-6.0), with LW 58.5 microm2 (42-84) and L/W 2.84 (1.8-3.7). Nuclei commonly extend into first quarter of gamont (45%), are always present in second quarter, and seldom in third quarter (11%), with dimensions 4.5 x 3.4 (3.0-6.0 x 2.5-4.5) and LW 15.1 (10.0-24.0). Spherical to ovoid oocysts, 122.1 x 104.9 (62-240 x 57-190), with L/W 1.17 (1.0-1.9), contain 31.3 (3-103) sporocysts. Spherical to ovoid sporocysts, 38.0 x 33.9 (28-73 x 25-58), with LW 1,325.1 (756-4,168) and L/W 1.12 (1.0-1.4), contain 42.9 (22-64) sporozoites. Thamnophis sauritus sackenii from Palm Beach County is infected also by H. polytopis, as indicated from similar gamont dimensions and verified by isolation of an identical haplotype of the 18S ribosomal RNA gene from both host species.

In the United States and around the world, scientists and practitioners have debated the definition and merits of ecosystem management as a new approach to natural resource management. While these debates continue, a growing number of organizations formally have adopted ecosystem management. However, adoption does not necessarily lead to successful implementation, and theories are not always put into practice. In this article, we examine how a leading natural resource agency, the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service, has translated ecosystem management theory into concrete policy objectives and how successfully these objectives are perceived to be implemented throughout the national forest system. Through document analysis, interviews, and survey responses from 345 Forest Service managers (district rangers, forest supervisors, and regional foresters), we find that the agency has incorporated numerous ecosystem management components into its objectives. Agency managers perceive that the greatest attainment of such objectives is related to collaborative stewardship and integration of scientific information, areas in which the organization has considerable prior experience. The objectives perceived to be least attained are adaptive management and integration of social and economic information, areas requiring substantial new resources and a knowledge base not traditionally emphasized by natural resource managers. Overall, success in implementing ecosystem management objectives is linked to committed forest managers.

The discovery of 4.5-million-year-old fossils of the hominid Ardipithecus ramidus increases our knowledge of a fascinating stage of human evolution, before hominids left the forests for the open savanna. Fossil finds of this age are rare, but deposits in Gona, Ethiopia, have yielded material from at least nine individuals. Their context shows that they lived in an environment of moderate rainfall woodland, and grasslands. Comparative biomolecular studies suggest that the last common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees, our closest living relatives, lived during the Late Miocene–Early Pliocene1,2. Fossil evidence of Late Miocene–Early Pliocene hominid evolution is rare and limited to a few sites in Ethiopia3,4,5, Kenya6 and Chad7. Here we report new Early Pliocene hominid discoveries and their palaeoenvironmental context from the fossiliferous deposits of As Duma, Gona Western Margin (GWM), Afar, Ethiopia. The hominid dental anatomy (occlusal enamel thickness, absolute and relative size of the first and second lower molar crowns, and premolar crown and radicular anatomy) indicates attribution to Ardipithecus ramidus. The combined radioisotopic and palaeomagnetic data suggest an age of between 4.51 and 4.32 million years for the hominid finds at As Duma. Diverse sources of data (sedimentology, faunal composition, ecomorphological variables and stable carbon isotopic evidence from the palaeosols and fossil tooth enamel) indicate that the Early Pliocene As Duma sediments sample a moderate rainfall woodland and woodland/grassland.

Microfluidic-based devices have allowed miniaturization and increased parallelism of many common functions in biological assays; however, development of a practical technology for microfluidic-based fluorescence-activated cell sorting has proved challenging. Although a variety of different physical on-chip switch mechanisms have been proposed, none has satisfied simultaneously the requirements of high throughput, purity, and recovery of live, unstressed mammalian cells. Here we show that optical forces can be used for the rapid (2-4 ms), active control of cell routing on a microfluidic chip. Optical switch controls reduce the complexity of the chip and simplify connectivity. Using all-optical switching, we have implemented a fluorescence-activated microfluidic cell sorter and evaluated its performance on live, stably transfected HeLa cells expressing a fused histone-green fluorescent protein. Recovered populations were verified to be both viable and unstressed by evaluation of the transcriptional expression of two genes, HSPA6 and FOS, known indicators of cellular stress.

Beads containing a chitosan core and a polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) shell were formed by the dropwise addition of chitosan to solutions containing sodium alginate, gellan, pectin, κ-carrageenan, or poly(acrylic acid). Hydrogel cores were formed by crosslinking chitosan with genipin, a natural bifunctional crosslinker. The shell thickness was generally only a few molecules thick and was impermeable to the transport of macromolecules but not low molecular weight molecules. Increasing the number of anionic groups and the strength of the chitosan–polyanion interaction through selection of different anionic species increased the mechanical strength of the PEC shell by increasing the number of interaction points in the shell. Because the core and shell swelled differentially, with the shell able to swell much less than the core, increasing the shell strength increasingly constrained the degree of swelling that could be attained for the entire bead. The degree of swelling could therefore be controlled via the mechanical properties of the shell, which could in turn be explained by the molecular structure of the PEC shell. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 98: 1581–1593, 2005

Food, Mood, and Attitude (FMA) is a CD-ROM prevention program developed to decrease risk for eating disorders in college women. Female 1st-year students (N = 240) were randomly assigned to the intervention (FMA) or control group. Equal numbers of students at risk and of low risk for developing an eating disorder were assigned to each condition. Participants in the FMA condition improved on all measures relative to controls. Significant 3-way interactions (Time x Condition x Risk Status) were found on measures of internalization of sociocultural attitudes about thinness, shape concerns, and weight concerns, indicating that at-risk participants in the intervention group improved to a greater extent than did low-risk participants. At follow-up, significantly fewer women in the FMA group reported overeating and excessive exercise relative to controls.

The thick red mudstone unit that crops out at Laguna Umayo (Puno department, southern Peru), here referred as LURMU, has yielded in different levels a fossil assemblage with plants and vertebrates (including mammals). On the basis of charophytes, the unit was initially assigned to the Vilquechico Formation (Maastrichtian-Danian), of regional extension, and the dinosaurian structure of egg fragments was interpreted as consistent with that age. Revision of the regional stratigraphy leads to reassignment of this unit to the Lower Munani Formation (Early Tertiary). Mammals from the LU-3 and Chulpas levels present affinities with forms from the Upper Paleocene of South America (Patagonia, Brazil). A bunodont marsupial, Chulpasia, is evidence for chronologic proximity to a transantarctic interchange with Australia at the end of the Paleocene. Furthermore, magnetostratigraphy of the LURMU reveals a single reverse polarity zone of 300 m thickness. Because of the new stratigraphic and paleomammalogic data, this long reverse polarity zone is likely correlative to Chron 26r (early Late Paleocene) or Chron 24r (latest Paleocene–earliest Eocene), or, less likely, to Chron 29r (latest Cretaceous–earliest Paleocene). The arguments previously invoked in favor of a Cretaceous age (charophytes, dinosaurian eggs) are critically evaluated, and correlation to Chron 24r is favored.

To facilitate quantitation of cellular apoptotic responses to various antineoplastic agents, a laser-based technology, Optophoresis, has been developed to provide analysis of cells without any need for labeling or cell processing. Optophoresis is defined as the analysis of the motion of cells, where the motion is either induced or modified by a moving optical gradient field, which produces radiation pressure forces on the cells in an aqueous suspension. Quantitation of the induced motion provides a basis for distinguishing one population of cells from another. One Optophoretic technique, Fast Scan, measures the distribution of distances traversed by a population of cells when exposed to a fast-moving optical gradient. Fast Scan was validated using a cell-based model of chronic myeloid leukemia treated with Gleevec, a specific inhibitor of aberrant Bcr-Abl protein kinase. The Optophoretic measurements were quantitatively comparable to reference assays with regard to drug selectivity and potency and to target specificity, demonstrating the suitability of this technology for pharmaceutical and clinical applications.

Hemogregarines from Thamnophis s. sirtalis, Coluber constrictor priapus, Elaphe obsoleta quadrivittata, and E. g. guttara in northern Florida appeared to be conspecific on the basis of similar gamonts from all the hosts and sporogonic stages obtained from 3 hosts. The resemblance of gamonts to those of Hepatozoon sauritus, described from T. sauritus sackenii in southern Florida, justified comparison of DNA isolates from the type infection of H. sauritus with samples from each of the northern Florida hosts and with a morphologically distinct species, H. sirtalis, from northern Florida. A nucleotide sequence (530 bp) alignment of the 18S ribosomal RNA gene revealed 2 hemogregarine haplotypes that varied at 15 sites (p distance = 2.8%), which included 10 transitions and 5 transversions. Two well-supported clusters (100% bootstrap support) were revealed by a neighbor-joining tree topology. One cluster included the type infection of H. sauritus and all 4 of the other samples from the northern Florida hosts, with samples of H. sirtalis comprising a second cluster. Hepatozoon sauritus, therefore, is a polytopic species in contrast to the 8 other Hepatozoon species thus far described from snakes in Florida, each of which appears to parasitize a single host species.

A self-administered, CD-ROM-based, interactive multimedia psychoeducational intervention, called Working It Out, was developed to improve employment functioning for clients in substance dependency treatment. The computer-based, program's effectiveness was tested in comparison with printed material. During 2000--2001 194 clients with employment concerns in six treatment programs were randomly assigned to a CD-ROM or print material condition and evaluated at baseline and 6 months later. A main effect for improvement was observed on employment indices, but there was no condition-by-time interaction. Results suggest that clients are willing and able to use vocational rehabilitation information presented in any format, although the CD-ROM-based program received significantly better satisfaction ratings than did the print material.

Over the past two decades, libraries have moved from being warehouses of print journals to gateways to the electronic scholarly record. ‘Gate keepers ’ is perhaps a more accurate term as universities no longer own journals. Instead we buy licences which allow only university students and staff

The reaction mechanism of chitosan, bovine serum albumin (BSA), and gelatin with genipin (a natural crosslinking reagent) was examined with infrared, ultraviolet–visible, and 13C NMR spectroscopies; protein-transfer reaction mass spectrometry; photon correlation spectroscopy; and dynamic oscillatory rheometry. Two reactions that proceeded at different rates led to the formation of crosslinks between primary amine groups. The fastest reaction to occur was a nucleophilic attack on genipin by a primary amine group that led to the formation of a heterocyclic compound of genipin linked to the glucosamine residue in chitosan and the basic residues in BSA and gelatin. The second, slower, reaction was the nucleophilic substitution of the ester group possessed by genipin to form a secondary amide link with chitosan, BSA, or gelatin. A decreased crosslinking rate in the presence of deuterium oxide rather than water suggested that acid catalysis was necessary for one or both of the reactions to proceed. The behavior of the gel time with polymer concentration was consistent with second-order gelation kinetics resulting from an irreversible crosslinking process, but was complicated by the oxygen radical-induced polymerization of genipin that caused the gels to assume a blue color in the presence of air. The lower elastic modulus attained after a given time during crosslinking of the globular protein BSA as compared to the coiled protein gelatin, despite possessing more crosslinkable basic residues, demonstrated the importance of protein secondary and tertiary structures in determining the availability of sites for crosslinking with genipin in protein systems. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 3941–3953, 2003

Phase separation mechanisms and kinetics in quiescent and shear conditions were studied using small-angle light scattering, optical polarimetry and confocal laser scanning microscopy in the gelatin/maltodextrin and gelatin/dextran systems. In the former system the temperature quench caused phase separation, which was studied in the gelled and liquid states, whereas in the latter system phase separation was triggered by the conformational ordering of the gelatin molecules and could only be studied when the system gelled. In both systems the different phase separation mechanisms of nucleation and growth and spinodal decomposition were identified from the different behaviour of structure function measured by light scattering. In the liquid state coarsening of the microstructure occurred by droplet coalescence that was accelerated by hydrodynamic effects when the droplets reached a certain size. Gelation hindered, but did not prevent coarsening. Reduced coarsening rates were measured in the gelled systems. In most cases the phase separation kinetics were faster than the gelation kinetics, and the system rapidly evolved into the late stages of phase separation that were characterised by a well-defined morphology with sharp interfaces. For sufficiently rapid ordering kinetics, corresponding to deep quenches, in the gelatin/dextran systems, however, it was possible to trap the microstructure in the early stages of phase separation while the interfaces were still diffuse. When the phase-separated liquid gelatin/maltodextrin system was sheared, coarsening was accelerated at low shear rates due to increased rates of droplet coalescence. At higher shear rates, stable elongated structures were formed. At one particular shear rate (approximately 1 s−1), the rates of break-up and coalescence were balanced and a monodisperse size distribution of elongated droplets was formed.

The state behavior of stearic acid−sodium stearate−water, which provides a model of a fatty acid structuring mechanism, was studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), optical microscopy, a...

The susceptibility of Aedes aegypti to Ascogregarina culicis and Aedes albopictus to Ascogregarina taiwanensis was examined with mosquito and parasite strains from Tampa, FL. When each host was bioassayed with its natural gregarine, the infection intensity indicated that Ae. aegypti was 59% more susceptible to A. culicis (87 gamonts/larva) than Ae. albopictus to A. taiwanensis (47 gamonts/larva). Infections in single and mixed host populations exposed to 100 oocysts/larva of one and both parasites demonstrated that Ae. aegypti harbors higher A. culicis gamont loads than Ae. albopictus of A. taiwanensis. In dual gregarine exposures of single host populations, the A. culicis infection intensity in Ae. aegypti was reduced by approximately 50%. A. taiwanensis exhibited the same capability of infecting Ae. albopictus in single and dual exposures. In mixed host populations there were no cross infections, but A. taiwanensis in Ae. albopictus produced an infection intensity of approximately 70% lower than that of A. culicis in Ae. aegypti.

CRAFT Research Center, 419 N. Indiana Avenue, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA Department of Anthropology, Southern Connecticut State University, 501 Crescent Street, New Haven, CT 06515-1355, USA Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA Berkeley Geochronology Center, 2455 Ridge Road, Berkeley, CA 94709, USA Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94709, USA Departmento de Prehistoria y Arquelogia, Facultad de Geografia, e Historia, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria 28040, Madrid, Spain Department of Anthropology and CRAFT Research Center, 419 N. Indiana Avenue, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA Sterkfontein Research Unit, University of Witwatersrand, WITS 2050, Johannesburg, South Africa Department of Anatomy, Case Western Reserve University-School of Medicine, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH, 44106-4930, USA Laboratory of Physical Anthropology, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA