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This study experimentally characterizes mixed convection around calandria tubes (CTs) in a ¼ scale CANDU-6 moderator circulation tank (MCT) that uses air as the working fluid. In a full scale CANDU-6 reactor that undergoes a postulated dual failure with a loss-of-coolant accident without the emergency core cooling system available, mixed convection heat transfer occurs around the CTs. The cooling effectiveness of the moderator is diminished as an emergency heat sink if overheating eventually leads to film boiling. To prevent the onset of film boiling, local sub-cooling margins of the moderator needs to be maintained or else the critical heat flux should be increased. Circulating the moderator which interacts with the overheated CTs increases the heat transfer into the moderator which may suppress film boiling. The present experimental results demonstrate that the cooling effectiveness of the circulating moderator, in particular the secondary jet, is attenuated substantially as it is convected away from the inner wall towards the center of the MCT. The momentum of the secondary jet is diffused through the CTs. At a low jet Reynolds number, the secondary jet becomes ineffective so that some overheated CTs positioned in the other half of the MCT are cooled only by natural convection.

This study examined religiosity, resilience, and age across generation as predictors of moral reasoning and judgments about certain ending of life situations: suicide, physician-assisted suicide (PAS), active euthanasia (AE), and mercy killing (MK). Data was collected from undergraduate students attending a conservative Christian university in the Midwest as well as from an online community forum (N= 153). This study is a replication and expansion of a previous study.1 Measures included the questionnaire developed for Anstee's study, as well as the Christian Religious Internalization Scale, Response to Stressful Experiences Scale, and a demographic questionnaire. Linear regression analysis found identified (autonomous) religiosity as a predictor of moral reasoning and judgments, to the extent that ending of life scenarios are morally wrong. Resilience was found to be a predictor of moral judgments to the extent that MK is morally right. These findings suggest that the internalization of beliefs plays a considerable role in moral reasoning and judgments about ending of life issues. Understanding the role of mechanisms behind moral reasoning on ending of life issues is increasingly relevant as legislation is currently changing.

Severe reactor core damage may occur from fuel channel failure as a consequence of excessive heat emitted from calandria tubes (CTs) in a pressurised heavy water (D 2 O) reactor (CANDU). The heating of the CTs is caused by creep deformation of the pressure tubes (PTs), which may be ballooning or sagging depending on the internal pressure of the PTs. The deformation of the pressure tube is due to overheating as a result of a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) and emergency core cooling system (ECCS) failure. To prevent the exacerbation of the LOCA, circulating D 2 O in the moderator tank may be utilized by forming a secondary jet that externally cools the individual CTs. The buoyant plume develops around the CTs and interacts with the secondary jet at a certain oblique angle with respect to the gravitational axis, depending on the spatial location of the hot calandria tubes (or the hot reactor core region). This study reports on how the local and overall heat transfer characteristics on a calandria tube where the buoyant plume develops, are altered by the obliqueness of the external secondary jet (from a co-current jet to a counter-current jet) in a simplified configuration at the jet Reynolds number of Re j = 1500 for the Archimedes number of Ar D = 0.11 and Rayleigh number of Ra D = 1.6 × 10 6 (modified Rayleigh number of 3.0 × 10 7 ).

The time-averaged behavior of gap flow between two stationary side-by-side circular cylinders immersed in the subcritical Reynolds number regime and its variation with gap spacing are presented. A series of experiments and numerical simulations are performed. Results reveal that gap flow, which is the flow passing between the cylinders, can be classified broadly into pressure- and momentum-driven regimes, depending on the spacing ratio (T/D), where T is the transverse center-to-center spacing between the cylinders and D is the cylinder diameter. The pressure-driven regime occurs for roughly T/D 1.25. Within the pressure-driven regime, subtransitions of the gap flow are further classified, based on distinct changes in the circumferential static pressure distribution, as well as the velocity profile, ...

This study examined the relationship between having training in key disaster behavioral health (DBH) interventions and trauma health (compassion fatigue, burnout and compassion satisfaction), resilience, the number of crisis responses participated in within the last year, and the frequency of assembling to practice crisis interventions skills. Data was collected from a convenience sample of disaster behavioral health responders (N = 139) attending a training conference in Michigan. Measures included the Professional Quality of Life Scale, the 14-item Resilience Scale, and a demographic questionnaire. Point biserial correlations revealed that having training in large and small group crisis interventions and individual and peer crisis interventions was significantly correlated with higher resilience and lower levels of burnout. Psychological First Aid was not significantly associated with any of the trauma health variables or with resilience. Compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction were not significantly associated with DBH training. Chi-square tests for independence found no significant association between key DBH training strategies and the number of crisis responses participated in within the past year and the frequency of assembling to practice crisis interventions skills. These findings suggest that completing training in both, large and small group and individual and peer crisis intervention techniques may help to increase resiliency and reduce burnout among disaster behavioral health providers.

The flow behavior through the vented channel of a brake disk determines its thermal performance, viz. its resistance to brake fade, brake wear, thermal distortion, and thermal cracking. We present experimental results of the flow characteristics inside the vented channel of a radial vane brake rotor with a selected number of vanes (i.e., 18, 36, and 72) but constant porosity (ε ∼ 0.8) at low rotational speeds (i.e., 25 rpm ≤ N ≤ 400 rpm). Using bulk flow and velocity field mapping measurement techniques, we observed that increasing the number of vanes for a given rotational speed results in (i) the increase in the mass flow rate of the air pumped by the rotor, (ii) the reduction of inflow angle (β) becoming more closely aligned with the vanes, (iii) more uniformly distributed passage velocity profiles, and (iv) increased Rossby number. In addition, for a certain range of rotational speeds (i.e., 100 rpm ≤ N ≤ 400 rpm), we identified the biased development of streamwise secondary flow structures in the vented passages that only form on the inboard side of the rotor. This is due to the entry conditions where the incoming flow must transition sharply from the axial to the radial direction as air is drawn into the rotating channel. The biased secondary flow is likely to cause uneven cooling of the brake rotor, leading to thermal distortion. At lower rotational speeds (i.e., N

This paper presents a reconfigurable slot antenna that uses a close-coupled biasing technique to facilitate the reconfiguring between two frequency bands. The technique uses a very thin double layered flexible copper clad Mylar substrate with the slot antenna on the front side and the biasing circuits at the backside of the design. The biasing circuit uses a conventional PIN diode to switch between ON and OFF states. Each state corresponds to a separate operating band. The reconfiguring from one sub-band to another is done electronically by means of a BAR64 diode. In this first example, the two bands are located close to each other to increase the bandwidth of the antenna. The resulting -10dB bandwidth increases by 20% as compared with the OFF-state. The antenna has mostly omnidirectional radiation patterns at the two frequency bands. Simulation and measurement results are compared and discussed which are to be in good agreement with one another.

This report includes a summary of the 2016 foliar fungicide programs for control of early and late leaf spot and white mold (southern stem rot) in peanut at Jay, Florida. It shows the effectiveness of 13 fungicide programs for disease control. All programs contained active ingredients for the control of white mold (Sclerotium rolfsii) except the Bravo treatment (program #2), which was considered a control. These data represent only one year at one location, and readers are cautioned that test results should be considered over several locations and years before final conclusions are considered valid. These data are meant to serve as a guide in the selection of effective fungicide programs for peanut.

School nurses address mental health issues of youth on a daily basis. These mental health issues include substance abuse, anxiety, depression, and even suicidal ideation. Mental health first aid is a process that seeks to help medical professionals and laypeople recognize and address someone that is having a mental health or substance abuse crisis. This article will describe an experience with a student having suicidal ideations and how the mental health action plan was used.

Generation Z, with a birth year between 1995 and 2010, is the most diverse generational cohort in U.S. history and is the largest segment of our population. Gen Zers hold progressive views on social issues and expect diversity and minority representation where they live, work, and learn. American law schools, however, are not known for their diversity, or for being inclusive environments representative of the world around us. This culture of exclusion has led to an unequal legal profession and academy, where less than 10 percent of the population is non-white. As Gen Zers bring their demands for inclusion, and for a legal education that will prepare them to tackle social justice issues head on, they will encounter an entirely different culture—one that is completely at odds with their expectations. This paper adds depth and perspective to the existing literature on Generation Z in legal education by focusing on their social needs and expectations, recognizing them as critical drivers of legal education and reform. To provide Gen Z students with a legal education that will enable them to make a difference for others—a need deeply connected to their motivators and beliefs—law school culture must shift. Reimagining, reconstituting, and reconfiguring legal education to create a culture of inclusion and activism will be essential and necessary. Engaging in this work “for the culture” means getting serious about diversifying our profession by abandoning exclusionary hiring metrics, embedding social justice throughout the law school curriculum, and adopting institutional accountability measures to ensure that these goals are met. Gen Zers are accustomed to opposing institutions that are rooted in inequality; law schools can neither afford, nor ignore the opposition any longer. We must begin reimagining legal education now—and do it, for the culture.

Because heart rate affects ventricular filling, the aim of the present study was to assess the effects of increasing heart rate and tidal volume on stroke volume variability to determine whether this dynamic index is heart-rate dependent.Prospective, randomized study.Single university hospital.Eighteen vascular surgery patients having general anesthesia and endotracheal intubation with an arterial catheter connected to the Vigileo FloTrac system (Edwards Lifesciences, Irvine, CA) and a transesophageal atrial pacemaker (CardioComman Inc, Tampa, FL).A 2 × 2 factorial study of changes in heart rate (80 bpm and 110 bpm) and tidal volume (6 mL/kg and 10 mL/kg).With tidal volume at 6 mL/kg, increasing heart rate from 80 mL/kg to 110 bpm caused stroke volume variability to increase from 12.2% ± 5.7% to 13.2% ± 5.3% (p0.05), and with tidal volume at 10 mL/kg, increasing heart rate from 80 mL/kg to 110 bpm caused stroke volume variability to increase from 19.7% ± 7.9% to 22.0% ± 8.6% (p0.05). In comparison, increasing tidal volume from 6 mL/kg to 10 mL/kg produced a significantly greater effect on stroke volume variability than increasing heart rate.Stroke volume variability is sensitive to increases in heart rate in addition to tidal volume. Increasing heart rate caused stroke volume variability to increase significantly, although not to the same magnitude as increasing tidal volume. When using dynamic volume indices, clinicians should be aware of increases in heart rate, although its clinical impact may be relatively minor compared with changes in tidal volume.

A decrease in Cdc42 activation during mitotic exit is necessary to allow localization of key cytokinesis regulators and proper septum formation., The role of Cdc42 and its regulation during cytokinesis is not well understood. Using biochemical and imaging approaches in budding yeast, we demonstrate that Cdc42 activation peaks during the G1/S transition and during anaphase but drops during mitotic exit and cytokinesis. Cdc5/Polo kinase is an important upstream cell cycle regulator that suppresses Cdc42 activity. Failure to down-regulate Cdc42 during mitotic exit impairs the normal localization of key cytokinesis regulators—Iqg1 and Inn1—at the division site, and results in an abnormal septum. The effects of Cdc42 hyperactivation are largely mediated by the Cdc42 effector p21-activated kinase Ste20. Inhibition of Cdc42 and related Rho guanosine triphosphatases may be a general feature of cytokinesis in eukaryotes.

School health is a specialty practice of nursing positioned at the intersection of public health and population health. This article discusses the redesign of a program’s curriculum with the hope of advancing and elevating the practice of school nursing. The redesign is based on NASN’s Framework for 21st Century School Nursing Practice and is the result of a New Jersey Nursing Initiative grant awarded to a trio of adjunct faculty from Rutgers University Camden in July 2016.

Open fracture networks flow paths in low permeability rocks, are highly sensitive to changes in aperture. Even high resolution X-ray tomography-derived aperture distributions and connectivities cannot accurately predict bulk or local flow characteristics, especially if matrix pore systems contribute. Here XRT reconstructions of experimentally-fractured low-permeability laminites are accompanied by neutron beam radiography and tomography, where first dense then normal water are injected into the sample base. To our knowledge this is the first identification of fluid front movement through fracture arrays using neutron tomography.Samples of a very fine-grained laminite, a lacustrine layered carbonate rock “grain size” 5µm, were deformed experimentally to represent 1 to 2 km burial depth, creating a partially interconnected series of shear- and extension-fractures (Fig. 1) that the XRT indicated were partly open under atmospheric conditions. Continuous radiography and periodic (3D) tomography (Figs 2 & 3) are used to record movement of dense (deuterated) water, injected at the base under pressure control, until this water reaches the sample top. Distilled water is then injected and progression of normal water through the (mostly) deuterated water saturated sample is monitored.

The prophet like Moses in Deut 18:15–18 and the test of the false prophet in Deut 18:21–22 are often judged to be exilic (or postexilic) insertions that retrospectively redefine prophecy in response to a crisis in prophecy that arose during the final years of the Judean monarchy. Against this standard critical reconstruction, this article argues that the ideas recorded in Deut 18:15–22 are rooted in earlier traditions about Moses and prophecy, and therefore, that the passage is better characterized as a compilation and formalization of early traditions than as a late innovation or redefinition of prophecy. Arguments for a preexilic date of composition are also proposed.

Background The purpose of this study was to analyze the long-term outcomes associated with interruption of incompetent perforator veins (IPV) using minimally invasive techniques as adjunctive therapies in the management of patients with chronic venous insufficiency (CVI). Methods This is a retrospective review of a prospectively maintained venous database collected over 6 years (2005–2011). The study cohort included 64 patients with CVI stage C5 or C6 who underwent minimally invasive perforator interruption with subfascial endoscopic perforator surgery (SEPS) or radiofrequency ablation of IPV (RFA-IPV) as part of the management of their CVI. All patients were referred for evaluation after having failed conservative treatment with compression dressings. Relevant patient characteristics and comorbidities were recorded along with symptom resolution, venous ulcer healing, recurrence, and surgical complications. In addition to clinic follow-up examination by a surgical provider, chart notes from other subspecialties were also reviewed. We also conducted telephone assessments in patients who had been lost to clinic follow-up in order to provide complete outcome data. Results In this subset ( n = 64) of patients with CVI who had adjunctive IPV treatment, 41 (64%) underwent SEPS and 23 (36%) patients underwent RFA-IPV along with ablation of the greater saphenous vein for C5 or C6 disease. The mean patient follow-up was 37 months. There were no differences in patient demographics or risk factors. Twenty-three (88%) SEPS and 12 (100%) RFA-IPV patients ( P = NS) with C6 disease went on to completely heal their venous ulcers after the procedure with an average healing time of 5.2 (SEPS) and 4.4 (RFA-IPV) months ( P = NS). Overall, 7 (17%) SEPS and 6 (23%) RFA-IPV patients ( P = NS) developed a recurrent ulcer after surgical treatment. Procedural complications were seen in 14 (34%) SEPS and 2 (9%) RFA-IPV patients ( P = NS), mostly minor. Major complications only occurred in the SEPS group consisting of 2 major amputations caused by pain from nonhealing ulcers and 1 deep venous thrombosis. Conclusions This study supports the premise that in patients with advanced venous disease, there may be a demonstrable benefit directly attributable to perforator interruption. Our recurrent ulceration rates are acceptable, with low complication rates in patients undergoing RFA-IPV, thereby making this procedure more attractive in patients with multiple comorbidities. We support an aggressive approach to patients with C5/C6 disease that includes perforator elimination when appropriate.

Difficult iliac artery access remains one of the limiting factors in the successful application of endovascular management of abdominal and thoracic aortic pathologies. An understanding of the scope of the problem, as well as the recognition of patient characteristics that increase the likelihood of difficult access are paramount in preoperative planning. Herein we discuss the specific challenges of aorto-iliac access as well as provide a treatment algorithm for avoiding aorto-iliac complications. Alternative access strategies and emergency bail-out procedures are discussed. A thorough understanding of the preoperative anatomy and imaging is key to successful endovascular aortic surgery.

Acute ischemic stroke triggers complex neurovascular, neuroinflammatory and synaptic alterations. Aspirin and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an omega-3 essential fatty acid family member, have beneficial effects on cerebrovascular diseases. DHA is the precursor of neuroprotectin D1 (NPD1), which downregulates apoptosis and, in turn, promotes cell survival. Here we have tested the effect of aspirin plus DHA administration and discovered the synthesis of aspirin-triggered NPD1 (AT-NPD1) in the brain. Then we performed the total chemical synthesis of this molecule and tested in the setting of 2h middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo) in Sprague-Dawley rats. Neurological status was evaluated at 24h, 48 h, 72 h, and 7 days. At 3h post-stroke onset, an intravenous administration of 333 μg/kg of AT-NPD1 sodium salt (AT-NPD1-SS) or methyl-ester (AT-NPD1-ME) or vehicle (saline) as treatment was given. On day 7, ex vivo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brains was conducted on 11.7 T MRI. T2WI, 3D volumes, and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps were generated. In addition, infarct volumes and number of GFAP (reactive astrocytes), ED-1 (activated microglia/macrophages) and SMI-71-positive vessels were counted in the cortex and striatum at the level of the central lesion. All animals showed similar values for rectal and cranial temperatures, arterial blood gases, and plasma glucose during and after MCAo. Treatment with both AT-NPD1-SS and AT-NPD1-ME significantly improved neurological scores compared to saline treatment at 24h, 48 h, 72 h and 7 days. Total lesion volumes computed from T2WI images were significantly reduced by both AT-NPD1-SS and AT-NPD1-ME treatment in the cortex (by 44% and 81%), striatum (by 61% and 77%) and total infarct (by 48% and 78%, respectively). Brain edema, computed from T2WI in the cortex (penumbra) and striatum (core), was elevated in the saline group. In contrast, both AT-NPD1 decreased water content in the striatum on day 7. 3D volumes, computed from T2WI, were dramatically reduced with both AT-NPD1 and the lesion was mostly localized in the subcortical areas. Treatment with both AT-NPD1-SS and AT-NPD1-ME significantly reduced cortical (by 76% and 96%), subcortical (by 61% and 70%) and total (69% and 84%, respectively) infarct volumes as defined by histopathology. In conclusion, a novel biosynthetic pathway that leads to the formation of AT-NPD1 mediator in the brain was discovered. In addition, administration of synthetic AT-NPD1, in either its sodium salt or as the methyl ester, was able to attenuate cerebral ischemic injury which leads to a novel approach for pharmaceutical intervention and clinical translation.

Portal vein aneurysms (PVA) are a rare vascular anomaly of the portal system, representing fewer than 3% of all venous aneurysms, with only 150 known cases since first reported in l956 by Barzilai and Kleckner. PVA can be divided into 2 categories: extrahepatic and intrahepatic with acquired and congenital etiologies. Bimodal treatment includes medical and surgical approaches. With increased use of noninvasive radiological imaging, PVA will be increasingly recognized in the practice of vascular surgery.

Endoluminal treatment of symptomatic varicose veins (VV) reduces or eliminates inpatient hospital stays, lowers complication rates, and increases revenue for vein care centers adopting the technique. This study compares the outcomes and economics of two treatments for VV.Since May 2007, endovenous radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of symptomatic VV has been performed at our institution. For outcome measurements, a cohort of 100 RFA procedures (26% CEAP class C5 and C6) was compared with 100 open greater or lesser saphenous stripping and ligation procedures (SL, 18% C5 and C6). Procedures were performed between August 2002 and October 2007. The time frame was chosen to allow for a 6-mo follow-up. Patients who had adjunctive removal of secondary varicosities were included in both cohorts. Cost estimates are based on the actual total direct costs derived from the hospital's charge sheets for 20 of the 100 patients in each of the cohorts (n = 40). The actual direct costs are based on 2009-dollar values and do not include the surgeons' professional fees.Seventy-nine percent of the RFA therapies were performed in an outpatient clinic treatment room with the remaining 21% performed in an operating room (OR). For the SL group, all procedures were performed in the OR with 68% of patients requiring at least one night of hospital stay (average length of stay 1.2 d). The estimated direct cost of performing RFA in the treatment room was $906. This was considerably less than the estimated $4241 total direct cost for open SL followed by in-hospital observation. Outpatient open SL cost $2622, which is only slightly more than the $2533 cost for outpatient RFA performed in the OR. The use of RFA was associated with an earlier return to normal leisure activities (3.3 d versus 26 d, P0.05), fewer total hospital nights (3 d versus 82 d, P0.05), and less use of general anesthesia (16% versus 95%, P0.05). There were no major complications in the RFA group compared with three major complications in the SL group.With the introduction of endovenous techniques at our institution, there has been a significant increase in the volume of patients seeking this less invasive treatment modality. This is due largely to the ease and comfort with which patients can now be treated as well as the reduced length of stay, reduction of general anesthetic use, and the speed at which they can return to normal activities. We recommend endovenous ablation techniques as both cost-saving and patient-preferred.

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has revolutionized the treatment of patients with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis considered to have prohibitive surgical risk. However, there is significant variability in methods used to size the aortic valve annulus for TAVI device selection.

Scald disease of barley, caused by the fungal pathogen Rhynchosporium secalis, is one of the most serious diseases of this crop worldwide. Disease control is achieved in part by deployment of major resistance (Rrs) genes in barley. However, in both susceptible and resistant barley plants, R. secalis is able to complete a symptomless infection cycle. To examine the R. secalis infection cycle, Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation was used to generate R. secalis isolates expressing the green fluorescent protein or DsRed fluorescent protein, and that were virulent on an Rrs2 plant (cv. Atlas), but avirulent on an Rrs1 plant (cv. Atlas 46). Confocal laser scanning microscopy revealed that R. secalis infected the susceptible cultivar and formed an extensive hyphal network that followed the anticlinal cell walls of epidermal cells. In the resistant cultivar, hyphal development was more restricted and random in direction of growth. In contrast to earlier models of R. secalis infection, epidermal collapse was not observed until approximately 10 days post-inoculation in both cultivars. Sporulation of R. secalis was observed in both susceptible and resistant interactions. Observations made using the GFP-expressing isolate were complemented and confirmed using a combination of the fluorescent probes 5-chloromethylfluorescein diacetate and propidium iodide, in the non-transformed wild-type isolate. The findings will enable the different Rrs genes to be better characterized in the effect they exert on pathogen growth and may aid in identification of the most effective resistance.

Direct and maternal components of variance for lamb survival to birth, 7 d, and weaning (110 d) were estimated by REML procedures in a flock of Australian Merino sheep. A total of 14,142 lambs, the progeny of 421 sires and 3,666 dams, born between 1975 and 1983 were available for analysis. The study has produced some of the most precise estimates of genetic parameters for lamb survival in the Australian Merino. Very low heritabilities for lamb viability (0.03) and the performance of the dam or ewe rearing ability (0.07) suggest that genetic solutions to lamb survival are unlikely to be significant. But, despite the low heritabilities, there is still potential for improvement through selective breeding. The estimated repeatability of at least 0.10 shows that multiple records on the rearing ability of a ewe over its lifetime can increase selection accuracy. More importantly, such repeatabilities indicate that current generation improvement can be achieved by culling ewes from the breeding flock with poor rearing ability. Despite maternal bond score and lamb birth weight being highly repeatable and moderately heritable traits, correlations with lamb survival were essentially zero. These traits therefore have no value as indirect selection criteria for Merino lamb survival.

Phoma stem canker (blackleg disease) of Brassica napus (oilseed rape, canola) is caused by the fungus Leptosphaeria maculans. Frequencies of avirulent alleles for loci where virulence can be associated with gene deletion (AvrLm1 and AvrLm6) were determined in samples of L. maculans airborne ascospore inoculum using quantitative PCR. The accuracy, reproducibility and limitations of detection were determined. Changes in the frequency of avirulent alleles were determined for the 2006/2007, 2007/2008 and 2008/2009 growing seasons for winter oilseed rape in the UK. The frequency of AvrLm1 remained small (between 9% and 16%), whilst the frequency of AvrLm6 fluctuated between 35% and 66%. Estimation of frequencies of avirulent alleles in airborne pathogen inoculum gives an efficient and unbiased method to assess the potential of crop cultivars with corresponding resistance genes being at risk of disease.

Microbe-host interactions can be categorised as pathogenic, parasitic or mutualistic, but in practice few examples exactly fit these descriptions. New molecular methods are providing insights into the dynamics of microbe-host interactions, with most microbes changing their relationship with their host at different life-cycle stages or in response to changing environmental conditions. Microbes can transition between the trophic states of pathogenesis and symbiosis and/or between mutualism and parasitism. In plant-based systems, an understanding of the true ecological niche of organisms and the dynamic state of their trophic interactions with their hosts has important implications for agriculture, including crop rotation, disease control and risk management.

A novel experiment is described in which solvated electrons in liquid ammonia reduce a benzyl alcohol carbon without affecting the aromatic ring. The reductive activity of solvated electrons can be partially or completely quenched through the addition of electron scavengers to the reaction mixture. The effectiveness of these scavengers was found to qualitatively correlate with their electron affinities obtained from first-principles electronic-structure calculations. The reaction completion is monitored using 13C NMR spectroscopic analysis of the whole reaction mixture, without separation and purification. This interesting, dynamic, and diverse experiment combines a classical synthetic procedure, NMR spectroscopy, and molecular modeling and is suitable for second-year through fourth-year chemistry and biochemistry majors.

eorge T. Wright notes that "The fairies in A Midsummer Night's Dream, the witches in Macbeth, the caskets in The Merchant of Venice, and several speakers of Epilogues and Prologues sig nal their peculiar status (at least part of the time) through tetrameter couplets."1 Missing from this catalog is the Duke's final speech in act 3 of Measure for Measure. Wfhether one considers it a "sententious" speech as Edward Capell would have it, a "chorus summarising the drama's import" as Alfred Thiselton writes, or a "finale to an act full of sur prises" according to J. W. Lever,2 it is in keeping with the marking of the Duke's special status in the play. In addition to the rhyming tetrameters, Brindsley Nicholson notes "the close connection of each thought with that which precedes it"; he also notes "the shortness of each clause? each, with one exception, ending with the couplet."3 This adds to the sententiousness of verse, as if we are being treated to a stream of adages by the Duke. The exception that Nicholson refers to occurs at the same point as a celebrated crux. Nicholson believes this is no accident and posits a missing couplet, which ushers in two clauses of three lines each in contrast to the preceding two-line clauses. I agree with Nicholson that the change in clause length and the crux are related, but I believe there is an easier explanation. Let us examine the speech as it reads in the First Folio (3.2.243-64, by Carl D. Atkins

Background and Purpose— Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; 22:6n-3), an ω-3 essential fatty acid family member, is the precursor of neuroprotectin D1, which downregulates apoptosis and, in turn, promotes cell survival. This study was conducted to assess whether DHA would show neuroprotective efficacy when systemically administered in different doses after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo) in rats. Methods— Sprague-Dawley rats were anesthetized with isoflurane and subjected to 2 hour of MCAo. Animals were treated with either DHA (low doses=3.5 or 7 mg/kg; medium doses=16 or 35 mg/kg; and high dose=70 mg/kg) or an equivalent volume of saline intravenously 3 hours after MCAo onset. Neurologic status was evaluated during occlusion (60 minutes) and on days 1, 2, 3, and 7 after MCAo. Seven days after MCAo, brains were perfusion-fixed, and infarct areas and volumes were determined. Results— Only the low and medium doses of DHA significantly improved the neurologic score compared with vehicle-treated rats at 24 hours, 48 hours, 72 hours, and 7 days. DHA markedly reduced total corrected infarct volume in all treated groups compared with vehicle-treated rats (3.5 mg/kg, 26±9 mm 3 ; 7 mg/kg, 46±12 mm 3 ; 16 mg/kg, 37±5 mm 3 ; and 35 mg/kg, 34±15 mm 3 vs vehicle, 94±12 mm 3 ). Cortical and striatal infarct volumes were also significantly reduced by treatment with DHA. No neuroprotective effects were observed with 70 mg/kg DHA. Conclusions— We conclude that DHA experimental therapy at low and medium doses improves neurologic and histologic outcomes after focal cerebral ischemia and might provide benefits in patients after ischemic stroke.

Lamb survival in Australian Merino sheep was investigated using survival records from 14,142 lambs born between 1975 and 1983. This data set included roll calls of live lambs at birth, 7 d, mark- ing (30 d), and weaning (110 d), which allowed 4 bino- mial traits (alive or dead) to be recorded for each lamb at each time interval. The average survival to weaning was 72.4% with 23% of singles, 32% of twins, and 45% of multiple-born lambs not surviving to weaning. The timing of lamb loss was consistent across birth types; 6% died within 24 h of birth, a further 14% by 7 d, 3% between 7 and 30 d, and 8% between 30 and 110 d. Partitioning of phenotypic variation revealed that after the first postpartum week, mothering ability of Aus- tralian Merino ewes is not an important factor in lamb survival. Some ewes repeatedly lose lambs at birth and in the early postnatal period, but the intraclass cor- relation decreased by a factor of 10 for survival after 7 d of age (0.096 at birth and 0.100 at 7 d, falling to 0.009 at marking and 0.018 at weaning). This study examined the relationships of lamb survival with lamb birth weight and found varying relationships at each time period. Whereas birth weight had a highly signifi- cant curvilinear relationship with survival to weaning, the relationship was flatter for survival to 24 h with only small differences between average birth weights and the birth weight at which survival was optimized (−0.04, 0.28, and 0.54 kg for single-, twin-, and mul- tiple-born lambs, respectively). This suggests that any management interventions to increase birth weight may increase the risk of death to both lamb and ewe during the lambing process due to dystocia. Among twin-born lambs there was a carryover effect of losses at birth on subsequent loss in the first week of life. Survival to 7 d of age was highly dependent on the survival of the littermate, favoring those whose littermate survived, but after the first week, this trend was reversed. Lamb birthcoat score had a small positive impact on survival only at birth.

In this paper, we present the critical experiment performed in March 2008 in the high-flux reactor (HFR) to reproduce physical conditions similar to the core light water introduction accident. We present the HFR, the context of the study and two Monte Carlo models: TRIPOLI4 – JEFF3.1 and MCNP – ENDF/BVII. All comparisons between calculations and experimental results show, within both models, that the safety rods efficiencies, in AIC alloy, are always underestimated in normal as well as in accidental configuration of the reactor.

High attack density resulted in lower dry weight and fat content of most developmental stages of the Douglas-fir beetle Dendroctonus pseudotsugae Hopk., but did not seem to significantly affect the weight and fat content of young adults during their period of subcortical feeding; probably because they normally form feeding aggregations. Lower temperature increased the effect of competition on size and fat content by causing longer larval mines and greater interaction between members of adjacent broods. The temperature regime during brood development of the Douglas-fir beetle affected the accumulation and retention of lipids. Fat content declined during early adult life at all temperatures tested, but the greatest decrease occurred at a constant temperature. The decline in fat content during early adult life and the previously established correlation between fat content and behavior is discussed in relation to different scolytid life histories. Zusammenfassung Uber einige Faktoren, welche die Grose, den Fettgehalt und das Verhalten einer Borkenkafer-Art beeinflussen Eine hohe Befallsdichte fuhrte zum Absinken des Trockengewichts und Fettgehalts der meisten Entwicklungsstadien des Borkenkafers Dendroctonus pseudotsugae Hopk. Das Gewicht und der Fettgehalt junger Imagines wahrend der Zeit ihres Frases unter der Rinde schien davon jedoch nicht beeinflust, vielleicht weil die Borkenkafer normalerweise Frasgesellschaften bilden. Niedere Temperaturen steigerten den Affekt der Konkurrenz auf Korpergrose und Fettgehalt, indem sie zur Anlage langerer Larvengange und zu verstarkten Interaktionen zwischen den Larven benachbarter Bruten fuhrte. Wahrend der Larvenentwicklung werden die Fette akkumuliert und zuruckgehalten. Der Fettgehalt der jungen Borkenkafer-Imagines sank bei allen Untersuchungen, insbesondere bei konstanten Temperaturen. Der Fettabbau wahrend der ersten Zeit des Imagmallebens und die Korrelationen zwischen Fettgehalt und Verhaltensweise werden im Hinblick auf die verschiedenartige Lebensweise von Borkenkafern erortert.

The relationship between high fat content and dispersive behavior reported for the Douglas-fir beetle, Dendroctonus pseudotsugae Hopkins, holds true for Ips paraconfusus Lanier. Laboratory investigation revealed that the overwintered generation contained a significantly smaller proportion of responsive individuals than the spring generation. The nonresponsive individuals of both the overwintered and subsequent spring generation were found to have a markedly higher fat content than responsive individuals. It was also determined that the overwintered non-responders contained significantly more fat than their spring generation counterparts. Examination of adults for nemic-infection revealed considerable variation in the level of infection, but the non-responders were generally less heavily parasitized than the responders. Zusammenfassung Zur interzyklischen Variabilitat des Fettgehalts und des Verhaltens bei Ips paraconfusus Lanier Die von Dendroctonus pseudotsugae beschriebenen Bezeichnungen zwischen dem Fettgehalt und dem Ausbreitungsverhalten treffen auch fur Ips paraconfusus zu. Laboruntersuchungen zeigten, das die uberwinternde Generation einen signifikant kleineren Anteil an (im Olfaktometer auf mannliche Pheromone) reagierenden Individuen enthalt als die Fruhjahrs-generation. Die nicht reagierenden Individuen beider Generationen besasen einen hoheren Fettgehalt als die reagierenden, wobei wieder unter den nicht reagierenden die Uberwinterer mehr Fett besasen als die Angehorigen der Fruhjahrsgeneration. Eine Untersuchung auf Nematoden-Befall ergab, das die nicht reagierenden allgemein weniger parasitiert waren als die reagierenden.

For the first time, the specific activities of chitinases, esterases, lipases and a serine protease (VCP1) produced by different isolates of the nematophagous fungus Pochonia chlamydosporia were quantified and compared. The isolates were grown for different time periods in a minimal liquid medium or media supplemented with 1 % chitin, 0.2 % gelatin or 2 % olive oil. Enzyme-specific activities were quantified in filtered culture supernatants using chromogenic p-nitrophenyl substrates (for chitinases, lipases and esterases) and a p-nitroanilide substrate (to measure the activity of the proteinase VCP1). Additionally, information on parasitic growth (nematode egg parasitism) and saprotrophic growth (plant rhizosphere colonisation) was collected. Results showed that the production of extracellular enzymes was influenced by the type of medium (p < 0.05) in which P. chlamydosporia was grown. Enzyme activity differed with time (p < 0.05), and significant differences were found between isolates (p < 0.001) and the amounts of enzymes produced (p < 0.001). However, no significant relationships were found between enzyme activities and parasitic or saprotrophic growth using Kendall's coefficient of concordance or Spearman rank correlation coefficient. The results provided new information about enzyme production in P. chlamydosporia and suggested that the mechanisms which regulate the trophic switch in this fungus are complex and dependent on several factors.

This paper reports the development of a new specific diagnostic technique to accurately quantify airborne inoculum of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and discusses its potential use in disease-forecasting schemes, using examples of three contrasting epidemic seasons: 2007, when there was a severe epidemic of sclerotinia stem rot (SSR) in England and high numbers of airborne ascospores were trapped at Rothamsted, and, in contrast, 2003 and 2004, when the incidence of SSR in England was low and low numbers of airborne ascospores were trapped at Rothamsted. DNA was extracted from wax-coated plastic tapes, such as those used in Burkard (Hirst-type) spore traps and rotating-arm traps. A SYBR-green quantitative PCR (qPCR) method produced a linear relationship between ascospore numbers and S. sclerotiorum DNA (mean 0.35 pg DNA per spore) and was able to detect DNA representing as few as two ascospores. The technique was insensitive to DNA of the host plant, Brassica napus, and other plant pathogens, including Sclerotinia minor, S. trifoliorum and Botrytis cinerea, and common airborne fungal genera such as Cladosporium and Penicillium. There was no relationship between rainfall and numbers of airborne ascospores of S. sclerotiorum present at Rothamsted during the period of infection in the severe SSR season (2007).

Platelet-activating factor (PAF) is a bioactive phospholipid that accumulates during ischemia-reperfusion and is involved in the activation of platelets, neutrophils, and pro-inflammatory signaling. PAF has been suggested to enhance brain ischemia-reperfusion damage. LAU-0901, a novel PAF receptor antagonist, was examined in models of focal cerebral ischemia in rats and mice. Sprague–Dawley rats were anesthetized and received 2-hour middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo) by intraluminal suture. LAU-0901 (30, 60, 90 mg/kg; n = 9–11) or vehicle (n = 11) was administered i.p. at 2 h after onset of MCAo. The neurological status was evaluated at 60 min, and on days 1, 2, 3 and 7 after MCAo. In the dose–response study in mice, C57BL/6 mice were anesthetized and received 1 h MCAo by intraluminal suture. LAU-0901 (15, 30, 60 mg/kg; n = 7–9) or vehicle (n = 8) was given i.p. at 1 h after onset of MCAo. Local cerebral blood flow (LCBF) was measured at 1, 2, 4, and 6 h after MCAo in mice. LAU-0901 treated rats showed improved neurological score throughout the 7-day survival period. LAU-0901 treatment (30, 60 and 90 mg/kg) reduced total corrected infarct volume compared to vehicle rats by 76, 88 and 90%, respectively. Mice treated with LAU-0901 (30 and 60 mg/kg) reduced total infarction by 29% and 66%, respectively. LCBF was improved by treatment with LAU-0901 (30 mg/kg) by 77% of baseline at 6 h. In conclusion, we demonstrate for the first time that LAU-0901 improves behavioral scores, LCBF and reduces infarct volume after focal cerebral ischemia in rats and mice. Thus, this PAF receptor antagonist exhibits potent and sustained neuroprotection that may be of value for the design of stroke therapies., NIH Grant NS23002 (NGB)

Species-specific primers for Zoophthora radicans and Pandora bluckii were developed. To achieve this, partial sequences of DNA that encode for rRNA, more specifically, the ITS region (rDNA-ITS) were obtained from different isolates and analysed. Seven Z. radicans isolates (four from P. xylostella, and three from other lepidopteran hosts) and one P. blunckii isolate (from P. xylostella) were used. These isolates were selected based on PCR-RFLP patterns obtained from 22 isolates of P. blunckii and 39 isolates of Z. radicans. All P. blunckii isolates were from the same host (P. xylostella); 20 isolates were from Mexico, one from the Philippines, and one from Germany. The Z. radicans isolates were more diverse in geographical origin (Mexico, Kenya, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Taiwan, Philippines, Malaysia, Uruguay, France, USA, Poland, Indonesia, Switzerland, Israel, China, and Denmark) and host origin (Lepidoptera, Hemiptera, Hymentoptera, and Diptera). Using conventional PCR, each pair of species-specific primers successfully detected each species of fungus from DNA extracted from infected host larvae either single- or dual-inoculated with both fungal species. The PCR-RFLP analysis also showed that Z. radicans was genetically more diverse than P. blunckii, although only a limited number of P. blunckii isolates from one country were considered. There was no direct relationship between genetic diversity and host or geographical origin. The relationship between genetic variation within both fungal species and host specificity or ecological adaptation is discussed.