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Local- Vs. Landscape-Scale Indirect Effects Of An Invasive Weed On Native Plants, Tatyana A. Rand, F. Leland Russell, Svata M. Louda

Svata M. Louda Publications

Insect-mediated indirect interactions between native plant species recently have been shown to be important determinants of plant performance in a number of ecological communities. However, the potential indirect effects of exotic plant invasion on native plant species are not well understood. We examined whether the presence or proximity of the targeted exotic weed, musk thistle, influences the magnitude of attack on native thistles by the introduced biological control, flowerhead weevil. At the local scale, we quantified weevil egg densities on heads of the native wavyleaf thistle growing at different distances (0 to 100 m) from patches of the exotic thistle. …

Weeds [From Encyclopedia Of The Great Plains], Svata M. Louda

Svata M. Louda Publications

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, countless hours and millions of dollars are spent each year to control weeds, and millions more--hours and dollars--are lost in yield reductions. However, what exactly is a weed? And what makes a plant a weed? Many people are surprised to learn that a weed is technically "a plant out of place." So one person's weed can be someone else's salad green, pharmaceutical, transgenic crop, or wildflower! What are the characteristics of plants that often grow out of place? One characteristic is a tendency to reach high numbers rapidly and to replace or slow …

High Phosphate (Up To 600 Mm) Induces Pseudohyphal Development In Five Wild Type Candida Albicans, Jacob M. Hornby, Raluca Dumitru, Kenneth Nickerson

Kenneth Nickerson Papers

A method is described for the formation of nearly 100% pseudohyphae populations of wild-type Candida albicans A72. The method employs fungal growth at 37 °C (ca. 5×10⁶ cells/ml) in a glucose–proline–N-acetyl-glucosamine medium supplemented with up to 600 mM phosphate (KH₂PO₄/K₂HPO₄ 1:1) at pH 6.5. Four other strains of C. albicans (MEN, 10261, SG5314 and CAI-4) also formed pseudohyphae under these conditions, although the phosphate response profiles differed in the concentration required for each strain to form pseudohyphae.

The Geometry Of Foraging Patterns: Components Of Thoroughness In Random Searching, Alan B. Bond

Papers in Behavior in Biological Sciences

A Monte Carlo simulation of the movements of a randomly-searching predator was used to develop a novel geometrical measure, the "thoroughness" of the search, and to investigate the effects of meander, turn asymmetry, and path length. Thoroughness varied directly with the meander and the square of the asymmetry measure and remained relatively invariant with path length. The regularity of its relationship to the generating parameters of the search and the ease with which it may be estimated from field data recommend thoroughness for use in characterizing empirical search patterns and in testing for the occurrence of systematic searching.

Ferroelectricity At Molecular Level, L. M. Blinov, A. V. Bune, Peter A. Dowben, Stephen Ducharme, Vladimir M. Fridkin, S. P. Palto, K. A. Verkhovskaya, G. V. Vizdrik, S. G. Yudin

Stephen Ducharme Publications

he synthesis of ultrathin ferroelectric nanostructures by the Langmuir-Blodgett method and their properties are reviewed. It is shown that ferroelectricity exists in one monolayer of the ferroelectric P(VDF-TrFE) copolymer, i.e., at the molecular level. The specific characteristics of switching of ultrathin ferroelectric films are established.

Electron Irradiation Effects On Ferroelectric Copolymer Langmuir-Blodgett Films, Christina M. Othon, Stephen Ducharme

Stephen Ducharme Publications

The effect of irradiation on the ferroelectric properties of Langmuir-Blodgett films of the copolymer poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluorethelene) is investigating using 1.26 MeV electrons with dosages from 16 to 110 Mrad. Irradiation causes a systematic decrease in the phase transition temperature, coercive field and polarization of these thin films.

Spin-Dependent Tunneling From Clean And Oxidized Co Surfaces, Kirill D. Belashchenko, Evgeny Y. Tsymbal, Mark Van Schilfgaarde, Derek A. Stewart, I. I. Oleynik, Sitaram S. Jaswal

Kirill Belashchenko Publications

Transmission through a sufficiently thick vacuum barrier is factorized in the product of two ‘‘surface transmission functions’’ and a vacuum decay factor. Based on this factorization, we study the spin polarization of the tunneling current from clean and oxidized (1 1 1) FCC Co surfaces through vacuum into Al. The conductance is calculated using the principal-layer Green’s function approach within the tight-binding LMTO scheme. We find that for typical vacuum barrier thicknesses the tunneling current from the clean surface is dominated by minority-spin electrons. A monolayer of oxygen on top of the surface completely changes the shape of k_{ll …}

A Defense Of The Causal Efficacy Of Dispositions, Jennifer Mckitrick

Department of Philosophy: Faculty Publications

Disposition terms, such as 'cowardice,' 'fragility' and 'reactivity,' often appear in explanations. Sometimes we explain why a man ran away by saying that he was cowardly, or we explain why something broke by saying it was fragile. Scientific explanations of certain phenomena feature dispositional properties like instability, reactivity, and conductivity. And these look like causal explanations - they seem to provide information about the causal history of various events.

Philosophers such as Ned Block, Jaegwon Kim, Elizabeth Prior, Robert Pargetter, and Frank Jacksonl have suggested reasons for thinking that dispositions are causally inert. I call this the "Inert Dispositions View." …

The Southwestern Association Of Parasitologists: The First 35 Years: 1967–2002, Donald W. Duszynski

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

First two paragraphs:

It is likely that the idea to organize southwestern parasitologists into a regional group originated over cocktails one night in the late 1950s during a regional or national meeting. What is clear is that two men—Drs. Robert E. Kuntz and Donald V. Moore— were instrumental in turning the idea into what has become, in reality, the Southwestern Association of Parasitologists (SWAP). Dr. J. Teague Self (personal communication, 1981) stated, “The beginning of SWAP was an idea of Robert Kuntz who felt that something could be gained if several of us here in the southwest could get together …

Some Aspects Of The Biology And Life History Of Bothitrema Bothi (Monogenea: Bothitrematidae) From The Flounder Scophthalmus Aquosus (Bothidae) From New Jersey, Usa, Sherman S. Hendrix

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Bothitrema bothi (MacCallum, 1913), a monopisthocotylean monogenean (Bothitrematidae) found on gills and occasionally on the olfactory rosette within the nares of the bothid flounder, Scophthalmus aquosus (Mitchill, 1815), is distributed along the Atlantic coast of the USA from Woods Hole, Massachusetts to Delaware Bay. This study details aspects of the morphology, microecology and biology of the oncomiracidium, juvenile and adult. Adult worms occur almost exclusively between rakers on the first and second gill arches while juveniles occupy secondary gill filaments. Analysis of variance revealed significant arch, side and position effects. Worm attachment and position is maintained largely by suction generated …

Configuration Of Traffic-Responsive Plan Selection System Parameters And Thresholds: Robust Bayesian Approach, Montasir M. Abbas, Anuj Sharma

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

Traffic-responsive plan selection (TRPS) is one of the two major closed-loop system modes of operation. The TRPS mode is more beneficial than its competitor (time-of-day mode) because of its ability to accommodate abnormal traffic conditions such as incidents, special events, and holiday traffic. However, no guidelines are available for optimal setup of TRPS systems. Improper configuration of a TRPS system can result in inefficient system performance or unstable operation in which the closed-loop system operates in a perpetual transitioning state. The TRPS mechanism implemented in current traffic signal controllers is described, and a Bayesian-based methodology for selecting an optimal set …

Midwest Guardrail System For Standard And Special Applications, Ronald K. Faller, Karla A. Polivka, Beau D. Kuipers, Robert W. Bielenberg, John D. Reid, John R. Rohde, Dean L. Sicking Ph.D.

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

Development, testing, and evaluation of the Midwest Guardrail System were continued from the original research started in 2000. This new strong-post W-beam guardrail system provides increased safety for impacts with higher-center-of-mass vehicles. Additional design variations of the new system included stiffened versions using reduced (half and quarter) post spacings as well as a standard guardrail design configured with a concrete curb 152 mm (6 in.) high. All full-scale vehicle crash tests were successfully performed in accordance with the Test Level 3 requirements specified in NCHRP Report 350: Recommended Procedures for the Safety Performance Evaluation of Highway Features. The research …

Metallic Single-Walled Silicon Nanotubes, Jaeil Bai, Xiao Cheng Zeng, Hideki Tanaka, J. Y. Zeng

Xiao Cheng Zeng Publications

Atomistic computer-simulation evidences are presented for the
possible existence of one-dimensional silicon nanostructures: the
square, pentagonal, and hexagonal single-walled silicon nanotubes
(SWSNTs). The local geometric structure of the SWSNTs
differs from the local tetrahedral structure of cubic diamond
silicon, although the coordination number of atoms of the SWSNTs
is still fourfold. Ab initio calculations show that the SWSNTs
are locally stable in vacuum and have zero band gap, suggesting
that the SWSNTs are possibly metals rather than wide-gap
semiconductors.

Review Of Consumer Behavior And Culture: Consequences For Global Marketing And Advertising By Marieke De Mooij, Frauke Hachtmann

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

A book review by Frauke Hachtmann of Consumer Behavior and Culture: Consequences for Global Marketing and Advertising by Marieke de Mooij.

Private And Public Contributions To Financing College Education, Nabeel Alsalam, Seth H. Giertz, Dennis Zimmerman

Department of Economics: Faculty Publications

Introduction and Summary The cost of four years of undergraduate education, including living expenses, now averages nearly $80,000 at public colleges and over $100,000 at many private institutions. Tuition and fees have risen steadily since 1980, fueling concern that college is becoming prohibitively expensive for many families. In two decades, tuition and fees at public universities more than doubled, from $1,883 (in 2001 dollars) in 1980 to $4,281 in 2001.
,br> A major component of higher education represents an investment, with the returns accruing in the form of greater productivity (and income) for future workers. As such, education is a …

Recent Literature On Taxable-Income Elasticities, Seth H. Giertz

Department of Economics: Faculty Publications

This paper reviews the literature on taxable-income elasticities, focusing primarily on empirical studies examining the U.S. tax changes of 1981, 1986, 1990, and 1993 and the bracket creep of the late 1970s and early 1980s. The paper first provides background on the importance of the elasticity of taxable income both for forecasting income tax revenue and for assessing the efficiency implications of tax rate changes. It then discusses the major methodological issues and obstacles before delving into the literature. The paper emphasizes the different methodologies employed and the sensitivity of estimates to an array of factors, including sample selection, the …

Catabolite Repression And Virulence Gene Expression In Listeria Monocytogenes, Stefanie Evans Gilbreth, Andrew K. Benson, Robert W. Hutkins

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Previous studies have suggested that carbohydrates may affect expression of virulence genes in Listeria monocytogenes. Which carbohydrates influence virulence gene expression and how carbohydrates mediate expression, however, is not clear. The goal of this work was to examine how carbohydrates affect virulence gene expression in L. monocytogenes 10403S. Growth studies were conducted in medium containing glucose and various sugars. Metabolism of arbutin, arabitol, cellobiose, mannose, maltose, trehalose, and salicin were repressed in the presence of glucose. Only when glucose was consumed were these sugars fermented, indicating that catabolite repression by glucose had occurred. To determine whether virulence gene expression …

The Cultural Geographer's Interest In Regions, Robert Stoddard

Geography Program: Faculty Publications

Regions are important to cultural geographers. This is because regions help in understanding the spatial distributions of social phenomena. Like any classification scheme, a set of regions provides organisation to a large body of data. Although occasionally phenomena being studied may already be grouped into regions, this is not usually the case. Consequently, cultural geographers, whether engaged in research or teaching are frequently faced with the task of defining and delineating a set of meaningful regions. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to discuss some of the methodological issues that confront geographers when they organize their data into regions.

Hinduism [In The Great Plains], Robert Stoddard

Geography Program: Faculty Publications

Hinduism is the Western name given to a religious tradition developed over thousands of years in India. Because it has no creed or major institutional structure, it is intricately intertwined with societal systems, and some scholars declare that it is impossible to separate Hinduism as a religion from other aspects of Indian society. This means it is virtually impossible to define precisely what constitutes the Hindu religion, especially when transferred into a different cultural setting such as the Great Plains.

Hydrologic Variation During The Last 170,000 Years In The Southern Hemisphere Tropics Of South America, Sherilyn C. Fritz, Paul A. Baker, Tim K. Lowenstein, Geoffrey O. Seltzer, Catherine A. Rigsby, Gary S. Dwyer, Pedro M. Tapia, Kimberly K. Arnold, Teh-Lung Ku, Shangde Luo

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Despite the hypothesized importance of the tropics in the global climate system, few tropical paleoclimatic records extend to periods earlier than the last glacial maximum (LGM), about 20,000 years before present. We present a well-dated 170,000-year time series of hydrologic variation from the southern hemisphere tropics of South America that extends from modern times through most of the penultimate glacial period. Alternating mud and salt units in a core from Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia reflect alternations between wet and dry periods. The most striking feature of the sequence is that the duration of paleolakes increased in the late Quaternary. This …

A Major Pitfall In The Search Strategy On Pubmed, Ghazi O. Tadmouri, Nisrine Bissar-Tadmouri

Saudi Medical Journal

No abstract provided.

Cancer-Related Anemia, Hikmat N. Abdel-Razeq

Saudi Medical Journal

Anemia is the most common hematological abnormality in cancer patients, unfortunately, it is often under-recognized and under-treated. The pathogenesis of cancer anemia is complex and most of the time multifactorial; involving factors related to the tumor itself or its therapy. While anemia can present in a wide range of symptoms, involving almost every organ, it is believed that it contributes much to cancer-related fatigue, one of the most common symptoms in cancer patients. In addition, there is increasing evidence to suggest that anemia is an independent factor adversely affecting tumor response and patient survival. While blood transfusion was the only …

Enterococcal Bacteremia In A Teaching Hospital, Fawzia E. Al-Otaibi, Abdelmageed M. Kambal, Rubana A. Baabbad

Saudi Medical Journal

OBJECTIVE: To study enterococcal blood stream infection including the different species isolated, their antibiotic resistance associated risk factors and outcome of treatment. METHODS: A retrospective and prospective study was carried out over a 12 month period between June 2001 and May 2002 in King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Sixty episodes of enterococcal bacteremia with clinical significance detected in adults and neonates were included. Statistical analysis of the epidemiological characteristic, etiologic risk factors and mortality were determined. RESULTS: Fifty-four (90%) of the episodes were hospital acquired. Fifty-five percent of patients were elderly males and 20% were neonates. …

Prevalence Of Hbv, Hcv, Hiv-1, 2 And Htlv-I/Ii Infections Among Blood Donors In A Teaching Hospital In The Central Region Of Saudi Arabia, Malak M. El-Hazmi

Saudi Medical Journal

OBJECTIVE: Several infectious diseases are transmissible by blood transfusion, especially viral infections. The most common blood-transmitted viruses are hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). These viruses cause fatal, chronic and life-threatening disorders. The prevalence of these viruses varies by nationality and geography. The purpose of this study was to establish the current prevalence of hepatitis viruses (B and C) and human retroviruses (HIV-1, 2 and human T-lymphotropic virus type I and II, HTLV-I /II) among blood donors at King Khalid University Hospital (KKUH), Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). METHODS: Serological markers of …

Prophylactic Ciprofloxacin Drops After Tympanostomy Tube Insertion, Omer Nawasreh, Ibrahim A. Al-Wedyan

Saudi Medical Journal

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of prophylactic ciprofloxacin drops in decreasing the incidence of post-tympanostomy otorrhea, and the relation between middle ear content and post-tympanostomy otorrhea. METHODS: One hundred and fifty patients aged 3-14 years underwent tympanostomy and tube insertion at the Prince Rashid Ben Al-Hasan Hospital, Al-Husn, Jordan during the interval between February 2000 to January 2003. The patients were randomized into 3 groups: group 1 (control group) received no antibiotic drops, group 2 received a single dose of ciprofloxacin drops intraoperatively and group 3 received an intraoperative dose followed by 5-day postoperative course. RESULTS: Application of topical ciprofloxacin …

The Effect Of Ramadan Fasting On Amniotic Fluid Volume, Zahra Kamyabi, Tayebeh Naderi

Saudi Medical Journal

OBJECTIVE: This cross-sectional study was carried out to assess the influence of Ramadan fasting on amniotic fluid volume. METHODS: For this purpose 2 groups of fasting (n=28) and non-fasting (n=25) pregnant women were investigated for amniotic fluid index (AFI) and deepest vertical pocket of amniotic fluid in November (Ramadan month) of 2001-2002 in Kerman Prenatal Clinics in Kerman, Iran. Mean of gestational age based on the last menstrual period and ultrasound reports were 29.6 +/- 5.8 week and 29.5 +/- 4.2 week in fasting and non-fasting groups. RESULTS: There was no significant difference between the 2 groups in age, gestational …

The Effect Of Fasting In Ramadan On Patients With Heart Disease, Hassan Chamsi-Pasha, Waqar H. Ahmed

Saudi Medical Journal

OBJECTIVE: To determine the clinical and biochemical effects of fasting during Ramadan on patients with cardiac disease. METHODS: Eighty-six outpatients with heart disease with intention to fast were studied in the month of Ramadan 1996 (1416 H) at the King Fahd Armed Forces Hospital, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Detailed clinical and biochemical assessments were performed within 3 days before the start of Ramadan and then on the last day of Ramadan. RESULTS: There were 54 (62.8%) males and 32 (37.2%) females with a mean age of 56.3 years (range, 17-84 ). Forty-six patients (53%) had coronary artery disease, 23 …

Prevalence Of Renal Artery Stenosis In Patients Undergoing Routine Cardiac Catheterization, Akram A. Saleh, Basem B. Bustami

Saudi Medical Journal

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of renal artery stenosis (RAS) and associated risk factors in patients undergoing cardiac catheterization for suspected coronary artery disease. METHODS: Three hundred and fifty-four consecutive patients (71 female) were studied at the Cardiology Unit of King Abdullah University Teaching Hospital, Irbid, Jordan, between May 2002 and May 2003. Left-sided cardiac catheterization and abdominal aortography were performed to screen for coronary and renal artery disease. RESULTS: Of the 354 patients, 285 had coronary artery disease and 27 had RAS. Significant RAS was present in 11 patients. Patients with RAS were older (66 +/- 8 versus 59 …

Thyroid Cancer In Yemen, Yasser A. Abdulmughni, Mohammed A. Al-Hureibi, Khalid A. Al-Hureibi, Mohammed A. Ghafoor, Ali H. Al-Wadan, Yahia A. Al-Hureibi

Saudi Medical Journal

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the characteristics of thyroid cancer (TC) patients in regard to demographic distribution, histological variants, mode of presentation and modalities of diagnosis and treatment. METHODS: We retrospectively audited the records of 97 consecutive cases with histologically proved thyroid cancer between 1997 and 2001 presenting to the Kuwait University Hospital, Sana9a, Yemen. RESULTS: Patients with TC in this study comprise 17.7% of goiter patients who were admitted at the same period. Females constituted 89.7% (n=87), and males 10.3% (n=10). The average age of diagnosis was 38.4 years. More than two thirds were at the age of <40. Among patients with goiter, the percentage of carcinoma was higher in the following groups, males (37.9% versus 16.6%, p=0.028), patients aged >47 (25.8% versus …

Mutation Analysis Of The Breast Cancer Gene Brca1 Among Breast Cancer Jordanian Females, Manar F. Atoum, Sameer A. Al-Kayed

Saudi Medical Journal

OBJECTIVE: To screen mutations of the tumor suppressor breast cancer susceptibility gene 1 (BRCA1) within 3 exons among Jordanian breast cancer females. METHODS: A total of 135 Jordanian breast cancer females were genetically analyzed by denaturing gradient electrophoresis (DGGE) for mutation detection in 3 BRCA1 exons (2, 11 and 20) between 2000-2002 in Al-Basheer Hospital, Amman, Jordan. RESULTS: Of the studied patients 50 had a family history of breast cancer, 28 had a family history of cancer other than breast cancer, and 57 had no family history of any cancer. Five germline mutations were detected among breast cancer females with …