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This essay presents various reflections on living systems, what they are and how they evolve, prompted by editing Teleonomy in Living Systems (a special issue of the Biological Journal of the Linnean Society). Conclusions include the suggestion that the linked notions of teleonomy and agency represent fundamental properties of matter that become apparent only when organized in the way that we consider to be that of a living system. As such, they are factors that form part of the intrinsic ‘a priori’ of living systems, as they evolve in form through space and time. Biology, the science of life and living systems, needs to be ‘biological’ if it is to be anything at all. Understanding the role of teleonomy (internal, inherent goal-seeking) will always play a necessary part in this endeavour: teleonomy represents one of the fundamental properties of living systems.

The nominal taxon Euploea tulliolus goodenoughi Carpenter, 1942, based on a unique crow butterfly collected on Goodenough Island in 1913, is shown to represent a small, aberrant female of the locally common Euploea leucostictos eustachius (Kirby, 1889). This new synonymy invalidates the only previous record of the Purple Crow, Euploea tulliolus (Fabricius, 1793), from the islands of Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea. However, two female Euploea tulliolus collected from islands in the Louisiade Archipelago during 2010 are reported here, constituting the first valid records of the Purple Crow from the Milne Bay islands.

Gaining access to real-time production and injection data is critical for any upstream oil and gas production operation, as it greatly improves and optimizes production efficiency, while reducing costs. This paper highlights how a well-known oil and gas producer with over 800+ onshore and offshore wells used a digital flow assurance solution to improve real time injection and production knowledge by leveraging digital technologies, expertise, and an open, connected data environment (CDE) to deliver business outcomes and a competitive advantage. The solution interfaces with other software systems to avoid unnecessary replication of data retrieval. Additionally, direct hardware interfacing to multiple systems for data retrieval and systems control were previously located in separate silos. The oil and gas producer used the flow assurance solution as a central source for managing and monitoring data from all such interfaces across a CDE. The web-enabled, real-time system is used for performance monitoring of well stimulation, treatment design, scale inhibitor squeeze performance, scale monitoring and prediction, water chemistry, monitoring chemical and corrosion, and more. The organization's goal of using the solution was to ensure that production flowrate targets are achieved and that flow was continuous. The solution provided the user with the tools and information it needed within one central source. For example, the input data was converted into actionable information by a calculation/logic engine, enabling them to identify potential problems more efficiently and provide a faster resolution without affecting production. Summary dashboards provided real-time stimulation information as well as overall performance, which can be viewed from a regional perspective or right down at the well asset level. Scorpion charts allowed users to ascertain which stimulation jobs were the best performers and most cost efficient. Stimulation was performed on a well using varying mixtures of acid solutions to increase or restore production by improving the flow of hydrocarbons. When a well initially exhibits low permeability, stimulation is used to start production from the reservoir. On operational wells, stimulation is used to further encourage permeability and flow from a well that has slowed down or become under productive. The reporting package within the solution is able to show which jobs are performing badly, and incurring more costs, and identify patterns or relationships that might affect similar assets, job types, geology, and regions within the project more easily for action to be taken. The solution adopted by the user highlights the importance of flow assurance anywhere in the entire cycle as any breakdown in the process would lead to costly monetary losses to the organization due to the unscheduled downtime and loss of production that could incur. Their digital solution takes the unpredictability out of flow assurance and presents it as an effective and cost-efficient process across the company, with the focus on analysis and proactivity as opposed to data mining and reacting.

We present the case of a 66-year-old man under surveillance for oropharyngeal malignancy. The presentation was that of recent onset recurrent syncopal attacks associated with neck pain. Both bradycardia and hypotension were seen during the syncopal events. Although recurrence of malignancy had not been proven at the time of presentation, this was subsequently confirmed. In this case syncope was successfully managed with Midodrine, and permanent pacemaker implantation was avoided. A review of the literature identified similar cases, where the presumptive mechanism for syncope is mediated via the glossopharyngeal nerve. Such cases follow a similar clinical course, with an unpredictable response to standard therapies, including pacemaker implantation. Clinicians should be aware that syncope associated with head and neck cancer may herald recurrence of malignancy.

Sound therapy is widely used as an ingredient in the treatment of people with tinnitus. This paper examines the evidence concerning sound therapy. A literature search was carried out in order to identify papers that distinguish the effects of sound therapy from the effects of other elements in tinnitus therapy. Few papers allow this distinction. The evidence from those papers that do identify sound therapy as a separate component of treatment indicates that sound therapy without counselling offers no benefit to patients with tinnitus but that counselling alone is of benefit. The evidence concerning whether sound therapy results in additional benefit to that offered by the psychological component of tinnitus therapy is mixed but overall it suggests that sound therapy results in little or no extra benefit. It is likely that when sound therapy does benefit people with tinnitus this effect is mediated by psychological factors.

With the emergence of outbound sales philosophies taking hold in sport organizations, sales managers are seeking talent to fill sales positions with candidates launching their careers in the sport industry. However, observers have noted that the infusion of sport ticket sales personnel has not been accompanied by an appropriate professional development and evaluation protocol, which has contributed to high turnover rates. As sport management education programs modernize their curriculum to meet industry needs and sales managers attempt to reduce turnover, a better understanding of the competencies required of entry-level sport ticket sales professionals is required. The purpose of this research was to identify the competencies required for success in an entry-level sport ticket sales position and the extent to which sales managers find it difficult to train salespeople on those competencies. Nineteen sport sales managers served as expert panelists on a study that employed the Delphi method. The result of the study is a 40-item competency model comprised of the following eight global competency areas: knowledge and skill development, relationship building, communication skills, opening the sale, consultative or adaptive sales, closing, maximizing each call, and service and education. Implications for sales managers, human resource managers, sport sales educators, and academic scholarship in sport sales are discussed.

Disease resistance gene candidates (RGCs) belonging to the nucleotide-binding site (NBS) superfamily have been cloned from numerous crop plants using highly conserved DNA sequence motifs. The aims of this research were to (i) isolate genomic DNA clones for RGCs in cultivated sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) and (ii) map RGC markers and Pl1, a gene for resistance to downy mildew (Plasmopara halstedii (Farl.) Berl. & de Toni) race 1. Degenerate oligonucleotide primers targeted to conserved NBS DNA sequence motifs were used to amplify RGC fragments from sunflower genomic DNA. PCR products were cloned, sequenced, and assigned to 11 groups. RFLP analyses mapped six RGC loci to three linkage groups. One of the RGCs (Ha-4W2) was linked to Pl1, a downy mildew resistance gene. A cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence (CAPS) marker was developed for Ha-4W2 using gene-specific oligonucleotide primers. Downy mildew susceptible lines (HA89 and HA372) lacked a 276-bp Tsp509I restriction fragment that was present in downy mildew resistant lines (HA370, 335, 336, 337, 338, and 339). HA370 × HA372 F2progeny were genotyped for the Ha-4W2 CAPS marker and phenotyped for resistance to downy mildew race 1. The CAPS marker was linked to but did not completely cosegregate with Pl1 on linkage group 8. Ha-4W2 was found to comprise a gene family with at least five members. Although genetic markers for Ha-4W2 have utility for marker-assisted selection, the RGC detected by the CAPS marker has been ruled out as a candidate gene for Pl1. Three of the RGC probes were monomorphic between HA370 and HA372 and still need to be mapped and screened for linkage to disease resistance loci.Key words: Helianthus, sunflower, downy mildew, Plasmopara, nucleotide-binding site.

Professional sports organizations in the United States have notable celebrity status, and several teams have used this "star power" to collaborate with local schools toward the goal of affecting childhood obesity (e.g., NFL Play 60). Program effectiveness is unknown owing to the absence of comprehensive evaluations for any of these initiatives. In 2006, the Memphis Grizzlies, the city's National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise, launched "Get Fit with the Grizzlies," a 6-week, curricular addition focusing on nutrition and physical activity for the 4th and 5th grades in Memphis City Schools. The health-infused mini-unit was delivered by the physical education teachers during their classes. National and local sponsors whose business objectives matched the "Get Fit" objectives were solicited to fund the program. Here we highlight the program evaluation results from the first year of "Get Fit" and the Journal of School Health article. However, the "Get Fit" program has now taken place in Memphis area schools for 5 years. During the 2010-11 school-year, "Get Fit" evolved into a new program called "Healthy Home Court" with Kellogg's as the primary sponsor. "Healthy Home Court" included the original fitness part of the program and added a breakfast component at high schools where data indicated great need. Kellogg's sponsored special "carts" with healthy breakfast options (i.e., fruit, protein bars) for students to grab and eat. This program matched their existing program "Food Away from Home." Research supports the objectives of these programs and has shown that breakfast consumption can have a positive impact on academic achievement, behavior in school, and overall health status.Survey research employed over the first 4 years measured health knowledge acquisition and health behavior change using a matched pre/post test design (n=2210) in randomly chosen schools (n=18) from all elementary schools in the Memphis area. McNemar's test for significance (05) was applied to measure correct answers pre and post. Also, breakfast attendance numbers were observed for intervention high schools and compared with breakfast attendance numbers from control high schools.Analyses confirmed that, from the first year through this past one (2010-11), there was significant health knowledge acquisition and health behavior improvement at post-intervention. Breakfast numbers matched these findings. Also, exit polling that took place at one intervention high school indicated the students attending the breakfast assembly gained knowledge and positively changed attitudes regarding the academic and health benefits of eating a healthy breakfast.This community-school-home initiative using a professional team's celebrity platform is largely overlooked by school districts and should be considered as an effective way to confront childhood obesity.

In an effort to develop an improved medium for optical communication, chalcogenide glasses are being investigated for waveguide and integrated optical components. These glasses are attractive for integrated optics applications due to their good infrared transmission and high nonlinear Kerr effects. The fact that these glasses can be fabricated in thin films and optical fiber forms constitute a major advantage for future high-speed optical devices applications. However, to advance these novel characteristics, it is crucial to identify the structure/property relationship in the glass, in both bulk and film materials. Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy (RBS) is an analytical tool that gives very useful information regarding compositional and structural analysis of the films, as well as a precise measurement of the film's layer thickness. Results obtained showed no apparent variation in composition and small (less than 10%) density variation in single layer As2S3 films. Multilayer films, which thickness were measured using SEM images, displayed compositional and density modifications associated with the annealing process. The same calculations were conducted after almost a year from the previous measurements to study changes induced due to film aging. Stoichiometric and thickness modifications, caused by aging, were observed in unannealed structures. No apparent changes were detected in annealed films. Waveguide Raman Spectroscopy was used as a complementary tool to identify the molecular features responsible for the changes.© (2001) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

The effects of duration and compliance of seating surfaces on reactive hyperemia within the skin overlying the ischial tuberosities was determined in four normal, one paraplegic and one cerebral palsy subject. Reactive hyperemia was demonstrated thermographically after short durations (ie, 5, 10, and 15 minutes) of seating on a hard surface. The magnitude of hyperemic response increased significantly (p < .001 for 15 v 5 minutes; p = .019 for 15 v 10 minutes; p = .001 for 10 v 5 minutes) with increased duration of seating. In all six subjects studied, the maximum postseating blood flow continued to increase with up to 15-minute seating on a hard surface, and the mean maximum response was positively correlated with duration of seating (4 = 0.918, p < 0.001). Although there was good correlations between magnitudes of interface pressures measured and vascular responses within each individual, there was no such direct correlation between individuals.

A single polypeptide of leucyl-tRNA synthetase (LRS) has been purified from budding bakers' yeast by a modification of the procedure published earlier. On denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis LRS was one band corresponding to molecular weight of 120,000 +/- 5,000 daltons. Variable amounts of LRS with a similar molecular weight but which dissociated into equal subunits of 58,000 were also isolated. The affinities (KM) for substrates for this form of the enzyme were similar to those previously reported for the dimeric form of the enzyme.

Calcium uptake by sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles from batrachotoxin- or surgically denervated muscle was measured by both isotopic and energy dispersal X-ray procedures. In the presence of inorganic phosphate, vesicles obtained from both chemically and surgically denervated muscle accumulated less calcium than control vesicles. Intravesicular calcium appeared to be present either as a crystalline or granular precipitate. Our results support the concept that batrachotoxin, by blocking both axonal transport and impulse activity, results in a chemical denervation of the muscle.

The concepts and capabilities of a database computer (DBC) are given in this paper. The proposed design overcomes many of the traditional problems of database system software and is one of the first to describe a complete data-secure computer capable of handling large databases. This paper begins by characterizing the major problems facing today's database system designers. These problems are intrinsically related to the nature of conventional hardware and can only be solved by introducing new architectural concepts. Several such concepts are brought to bear in the later sections of this paper. These architectural principles have a major impact upon the design of the system and so they are discussed in some detail. A key aspect of these principles is that they can be implemented with near-term technology. The rest of the paper is devoted to the functional characteristics and the theory of operation of the DBC. The theory of operation is based on a series of abstract models of the components and data structures employed by the DBC. These models are used to illustrate how the DBC performs access operations, manages data structures and security specifications, and enforces security requirements. Short Algol-like algorithms are used to show how these operations are carried out. This part of the paper concludes with a high-level description of the DBC organization. The actual details of the DBC hardware are quite involved and so their presentation is not the subject of this paper. A sample database is included in the Appendix to illustrate the working of the security and clustering mechanisms of the DBC.

PARKER (1943) fed graded amounts of thyroactive iodocasein to five lots of Rhode Island Red chicks during a period of 12 weeks. At the optimum level a slightly greater rate of growth was observed in comparison to the controls and a rather marked stimulation of feather growth. Irwin, Reineke and Turner (1943) confirmed these results using White Plymouth Rock chicks. The effect of thyroactive iodocasein, hereafter referred to as protamone ** on certain gland and organ weights was also reported. In this experiment it was noted that the carcass of the protamone-fed chicks at 12 weeks contained decidedly less fat than the control chicks, indicating that the growth process was being stimulated at the expense of fat deposition. Further, the feeding of protamone had caused a marked suppression of the thyroid gland weight and probably its function. It seemed of interest to determine the effects on body weight, fattening, and gland . . .

MANY investigators during the past three decades have reported on the various effects of feeding fresh or desiccated thyroid to chickens. Results have been variable, dependent upon dosage level and potency of the material. Most of the work reported has concerned adult stock, and the data relative to chicks and young growing stock appears to be meager. Crew and Huxley (1923) fed dried thyroid to 12 chicks and found no significant difference in weight between the control and experimental group. It is known that thyroid given in excessive amount will retard the rate of growth or even cause a loss of body weight. However, some investigators have reported acceleration of the growth rate in dogs, rats, and mice when thyroid was fed in optimum amounts. Recently Koger and associates (1942 (1943) reported improvement of growth and appetite in mice receiving subcutaneous injections of crystalline thyroxine and the feeding of thyroactive . . .

The technique of fluorescence polarization was used to study the rotational mobility of pyridoxyl 5-phosphate covalently bound to the e-amino group of a lysine residue. A Perrin's plot of the polarization of fluorescence data obtained by varying the viscosity of the solution shows a downward curvature at T/η values lower than 104. Two rotational relaxation times (ρs = 0.16 nsec) and (ρh = 8.7 nsec) are needed to fit the experimental curve. Both rotational relaxation times are shorter than the value (ρh = 25 nsec) obtained for lysozyme tagged with fluorescein isothiocyanate; they do not correlate with the value expected (ρh = 20 nsec) for the equivalent hydrated sphere of 14,500 molecular weight. A comparison between the rotational relaxation times of pyridoxyl 5-phosphate lysozyme, pyridoxyl-lysine, and the pyridoxyl 5-phosphate peptide reveals that the shortest rotational relaxation time (ρs = 0.16 nsec) of lysozyme reflects the motion of the pyridoxyl 5-phosphate chromophore linked the e-amino group of lysine. The effect of tri-N-acetylglucosamine on the degree of polarization of fluorescence of lysozyme was examined over a wide range of temperatures. The results of these studies indicate that the polarized fluorescence emitted by pyridoxyl 5-phosphate is influenced by events occurring at the level of the polypeptide chain.

1. 1. Pyridoxal-5- P reacts specifically with lysine residues of lysozyme in 0.1 M phosphate buffer (pH 7.4) at 30°. The activity profile of pyridoxyl-5- P -lysozyme resembles that of the native enzyme at pH values below 6, but it is only 50% as active as native lysozyme at pH values above 7.2. The lysis of cell walls of Micrococcus lysodeikticus by pyridoxyl-5- P -lysozyme is very sensitive to small changes in the ionic strength of the solution. 2. 2. The inactivation of pyridoxyl-5- P -lysozyme by increasing the pH or the ionic strength of the solution cannot be correlated with gross conformational changes of the protein. This is demonstrated by physical studies (polarization of fluorescence, fluorescence spectroscopy and light scattering) designed to detect structural changes in the modified enzyme. 3. 3. The effect of pyridoxal-5- P on the activity of lysozyme is explained in terms of a decrease in the overall positive charges of the protein. It is suggested that the positively charged lysine residues are involved in electrostatic interactions with the cell wall.

The numbers of motoneurons in the brachial lateral motor columns were determined from the 6th embryonic day through the 5th week posthatching in age-matched dystrophic and normal chickens. The overall magnitude of cell loss was not significantly different between the dystrophic and normal strains. However there was a trend toward more motoneurons in the brachial lateral motor columns of dystrophic embryos and posthatch chickens which was found to be statistically significant at the 8th and 9th days of embryonic life. These observations are taken to suggest that, in addition to strain differences unrelated to the dystrophic gene, there may exist a temporal delay in developmental neuron cell death in dystrophic chick embryos that may be secondary to the primary defect within the dystrophic muscle.

Summary form only given, as follows. The excdlent gain stability are repeatability of these analyzers pemi ts meaningful scalar error modeling; which, along with apxopriate m?asxerent techniques, can result in significant irqxovenent of both relative ard abmhte a~plitude accuracy. investigation of the stability a d repatability of the principal error sources of t3e XP 9506A ard 8568A Spctrum This paper will present the results of analyzers.

Summary form only given. A small system has been developed to automatically monitor the carriers of a satellite system. Satellite signals are zicnitored at I.F. at an earth station using the' HP Model 8568A programmable spectrum analyzer.