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Assessing the long-term consequences of sub-lethal anthropogenic disturbance on wildlife populations requires integrating data on fine-scale individual behavior and physiology into spatially and temporally broader, population-level inference. A typical behavioral response to disturbance is the cessation of foraging, which can be translated into a common metric of energetic cost. However, this necessitates detailed empirical information on baseline movements, activity budgets, feeding rates and energy intake, as well as the probability of an individual responding to the disturbance-inducing stressor within different exposure contexts. Here, we integrated data from blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) experimentally exposed to military active sonar signals with fine-scale measurements of baseline behavior over multiple days or weeks obtained from accelerometry loggers, telemetry tracking and prey sampling. Specifically, we developed daily simulations of movement, feeding behavior and exposure to localized sonar events of increasing duration and intensity and predicted the effects of this disturbance source on the daily energy intake of an individual. Activity budgets and movements were highly variable in space and time and among individuals, resulting in large variability in predicted energetic intake and costs. In half of our simulations, an individual's energy intake was unaffected by the simulated source. However, some individuals lost their entire daily energy intake under brief or weak exposure scenarios. Given this large variation, population-level models will have to assess the consequences of the entire distribution of energetic costs, rather than only consider single summary statistics. The shape of the exposure-response functions also strongly influenced predictions, reinforcing the need for contextually explicit experiments and improved mechanistic understanding of the processes driving behavioral and physiological responses to disturbance. This study presents a robust approach for integrating different types of empirical information to assess the effects of disturbance at spatio-temporal and ecological scales that are relevant to management and conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acyl-CoA-binding proteins (ACBPs) are involved in binding and trafficking acyl-CoA esters in eukaryotic cells. ACBPs contain a well-conserved acyl-CoA-binding domain. Their various functions have been characterized in the model plant Arabidopsis and, to a lesser extent, in rice. In this study, genome-wide detection and expression analysis of ACBPs were performed on Elaeis guineensis (oil palm), the most important oil crop in the world. Seven E. guineensis ACBPs were identified and classified into four groups according to their deduced amino acid domain organization. Phylogenetic analysis showed conservation of this family with other higher plants. All seven EgACBPs were expressed in most tissues while their differential expression suggests various functions in specific tissues. For example, EgACBP3 had high expression in inflorescences and stalks while EgACBP1 showed strong expression in leaves. Because of the importance of E. guineensis as an oil crop, expression of EgACBPs was specifically examined during fruit development. EgACBP3 showed high expression throughout mesocarp development, while EgACBP1 had enhanced expression during rapid oil synthesis. In endosperm, both EgACBP1 and EgACBP3 exhibited increased expression during seed development. These results provide important information for further investigations on the biological functions of EgACBPs in various tissues and, in particular, their roles in oil synthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reported are the results of a survey conducted to identify which analytical methods are most commonly used in nonacademic analytical laboratories. Laboratory supervisors' ratings of various aspects of chemical education are included. (CW)

Argues that the United States system of education mirrors, creates, and legitimates inequalities of the larger society that supports it. (JT)

High-resolution solid-state NMR (SSNMR) of paramagnetic systems has been largely unexplored because of various technical difficulties due to large hyperfine shifts, which have limited the success of previous studies through depressed sensitivity/resolution and lack of suitable assignment methods. Our group recently introduced an approach using “very fast” magic angle spinning (VFMAS) for SSNMR of paramagnetic systems, which opened an avenue toward routine analyses of small paramagnetic systems by 13C and 1H SSNMR [Y. Ishii et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 125, 3438 (2003); N. P. Wickramasinghe et al., ibid. 127, 5796 (2005)]. In this review, we discuss our recent progress in establishing this approach, which offers solutions to a series of problems associated with large hyperfine shifts. First, we demonstrate that MAS at a spinning speed of 20 kHz or higher greatly improves sensitivity and resolution in both 1H and 13C SSNMR for paramagnetic systems such as Cu(II)(DL-alanine)2·H2O (Cu(DL-Ala)2) and Mn(acac)3, for which the spectral dispersions due to 1H hyperfine shifts reach 200 and 700 ppm, respectively. Then, we introduce polarization transfer methods from 1H spins to 13C spins with high-power cross polarization and dipolar insensitive nuclei enhanced by polarization transfer (INEPT) in order to attain further sensitivity enhancement and to correlate 1H and 13C spins in two-dimensional (2D) SSNMR for the paramagnetic systems. Comparison of 13C VFMAS SSNMR spectra with 13C solution NMR spectra revealed superior sensitivity in SSNMR for Cu(DL-Ala)2, Cu(Gly)2, and V(acac)3. We discuss signal assignment methods using one-dimensional (1D) 13C SSNMR 13C–1H rotational echo double resonance (REDOR) and dipolar INEPT methods and 2D 13C/1H correlation SSNMR under VFMAS, which yield reliable assignments of 1H and 13C resonances for Cu(Ala-Thr). Based on the excellent sensitivity/resolution and signal assignments attained in the VFMAS approach, we discuss methods of elucidating multiple distance constraints in unlabeled paramagnetic systems by combing simple measurements of 13C T1 values and anisotropic hyperfine shifts. Comparison of experimental 13C hyperfine shifts and ab initio calculated shifts for α- and β-forms of Cu(8-quinolinol)2 demonstrates that 13C hyperfine shifts are parameters exceptionally sensitive to small structural difference between the two polymorphs. Finally, we discuss sensitivity enhancement with paramagnetic ion doping in 13C SSNMR of nonparamagnetic proteins in microcrystals. Fast recycling with exceptionally short recycle delays matched to short 1H T1 of ∼60 ms in the presence of Cu(II) doping accelerated 1D 13C SSNMR for ubiquitin and lysozyme by a factor of 7.3–8.4 under fast MAS at a spinning speed of 40 kHz. It is likely that the VFMAS approach and use of paramagnetic interactions are applicable to a variety of paramagnetic systems and nonparamagnetic biomolecules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There's plenty I don't remember about my first presidential campaign. I was in the sixth grade, after all, joining my dad, Richard Harwood, a 1956 Nieman Fellow, as he covered [...]