Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.
Source: http://www.facebook.com/DownsizingGovernment/posts/10151584323719040
tagged Heptathlon London 2012 shot put London 2012 Track And Field Jordyn Wieber michael phelps Kerri Strug
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Love at first sniff: Male moths go by first impressions
Apr. 16, 2013 ? An international team of researchers, including an entomologist at the University of California, Riverside, has an explanation for why we see so many hybrid moths in nature. The team closely examined the behavior and the olfactory circuitry of male moths and found an answer in female-produced pheromones -- chemicals generally consisting of a blend of two to several derivatives of fatty acids.
Male moths use pheromones to find females. To avoid mating with the wrong moth species, the pheromone blends are specific for each moth species, with only males of the same species "understanding" these volatile messages -- a result shown many times during the last 40 years of research on moth pheromones. The researchers focused on the European corn borer, a moth species in which males often mate with females from a different strain.
Strains are variants, forms of the same species. While two different species cannot mate with each other, strains, being from the same species, can.
To understand the mating behavior of the European corn borer, first, the researchers followed the flights of males to female pheromones in a wind tunnel. Each strain of the European corn borer uses a blend of pheromone components in a very specific ratio. But to their surprise, the researchers found that as the male moth flies upwind along the pheromone plume, its olfactory circuitry loses the ability to measure this ratio.
"This happens because receptors in the moth brain for each pheromone component have differential rates of sensory adaptation and each type of receptor begins to fire at a different rate, causing the input into the moth's brain to change as the moth flies along the plume," explained Teun Dekker, a former UCR graduate student and now an associate professor at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, and a coauthor on the study. "To overcome this mismatch, moths rely on the ratio they detected in their first encounter with the plume."
According to the researchers, this "mental short cut" is needed for male moths to continue their orientation along the plumes which, from a sensory input viewpoint, seem to be changing in pheromone component ratio.
"Once male moths lock onto a pheromone plume, they are much less attuned to blend quality," Dekker said. "In other words, males fly even to blends that were initially unattractive, and so can mate with females of different strains that they would not have approached otherwise, explaining why we find hybrid moths in nature."
Study results appeared online April 15 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Experimental details
The researchers conducted a series of behavioral experiments with overlapping pheromone plumes as well as plumes that sharply transitioned from one blend to another in a wind tunnel at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. They chose the European corn borer moth to study for its narrow tuning to a binary blend of female-produced 14-carbon-chainlength acetates, called here Z11 and E11 for simplicity. Two strains exist, the Z and E strains, which produce and prefer blends of differing ratios of the Z11 to E11 pheromone components.
The researchers installed pheromone lures of each strain in the wind tunnel, as well as an intermediate, hybrid lure. Next they exposed males to the partially overlapping pheromone plumes released by these lures, thus mimicking plumes occurring in nature when a large number of moths are present.
They found that males were initially attracted to lures releasing pheromones produced by females of their own strain. But after taking flight, the males "relax their specificity," that is, they are less particular about which lures they fly to. For example, in a choice between three partially overlapping pheromone sources in one experiment, 58 percent, 38 percent and 4 percent of Z-strain males landed on Z, H and E lures, respectively.
"What we generally recognize as a distinctive smell -- the scent of a flower or the aroma of coffee -- typically consists of a mixture of many different chemicals," said study coauthor Ring Card?, a distinguished professor of entomology who holds the Alfred M. Boyce Chair in the UCR Department of Entomology. "This is the signature of a particular bouquet -- the presence of a blend of many chemicals often in specific ratios. Our work suggests that it could be the first impression -- the first whiff of odor -- that determines the ability of an insect to recognize that odor mixture."
Next, the researchers will examine if a response specific to odor blends is altered in other moth species and organisms such as mosquitoes after their first encounter with an odor mixture.
Zsolt K?rp?ti at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and Marco Tasin at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences also contributed to the study. Dekker worked in Card?'s lab, graduating from UCR with a doctoral degree in 2002.
Card?, who spent three months in 2011 in Sweden to conduct the research, was supported by a grant from the Swedish Royal Academy of Natural Sciences, Medicine and Technology.
Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of California - Riverside. The original article was written by Iqbal Pittalwala.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Z. Karpati, M. Tasin, R. T. Carde, T. Dekker. Early quality assessment lessens pheromone specificity in a moth. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2013; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1216145110
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
superbowl halftime madonna madonna guacamole recipe ufc 143 results kickoff time super bowl 2012 superbowl national anthem
Support for Gun Checks Stays High; Two-Thirds Back a Path for Immigrants
Support for a process providing legal status to undocumented immigrants reached a new high in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll, while vast public backing for expanded background checks on gun sales held strong - two prominent issues coming to the fore in Congress.
With a vote on gun control measures pending, 86 percent support extending background checks to gun sales at gun shows and online. Much smaller majorities support banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, 56 percent in each case, with the latter down from its peak, 65 percent in January, a month after the elementary school shootings in Newtown, Conn.
See PDF with full results and charts here.
A broad 72 percent back another proposal, prohibiting lawsuits against legal gun sellers if the weapon later is used in a crime.
More generally, the public by 55-38 percent rejects the concept that any new gun control laws by definition limit gun rights, and by 52-40 percent says a higher priority now should be enacting new laws to try to reduce gun violence, rather than protecting the right to own guns.
Still, another result reflects a gain across the past decade in positive attitudes toward guns: By 51-29 percent, Americans in this poll, produced for ABC by Langer Research Associates, think having a gun in the home makes it a safer place to be, not more dangerous. (Sixteen percent say it depends.) When Gallup first asked this question in September 2000, the reverse held: Fifty-one percent said guns made homes more dangerous, 35 percent safer.
At the same time, in an eye-opening result, 30 percent say they, a close friend or a family member have been a victim of a crime involving a gun. That, however, does not appear to strongly impact other gun-related attitudes, while views on whether guns make a home safer do.
IMMIGRATION - On immigration, Americans by nearly 2-1, 63-33 percent, support a program giving undocumented immigrants a path to legal status. That reflects a sharp change in the past five years, from essentially an even split on the issue, 49-46 percent, in late 2007. (Another question, posing a "path to citizenship," found 57 percent support late last month.)
The results reflect continued challenges for Republican leaders seeking compromise on the issue. Current support for a process to achieve legal status falls to 47 percent among Republicans, vs. 64 percent of independents and 75 percent of Democrats. And it's gained an insignificant 5 percentage points among Republicans since 2007, compared with advances of 19 and 16 points among independents and Democrats, respectively.
Other elements of immigration reform also hold majority support - 60 percent for more visas for highly skilled workers and 56 percent for a low-skilled guest worker program. On the enforcement side, 67 percent are for more federal spending on border control and a vast 83 percent favor requiring that all businesses check potential employees' immigration status.
Two other possible elements of an immigration law are less popular. Fifty-three percent oppose cutting back on visas for family members of legal immigrants. And among supporters of a path to legal status, 69 percent say its taking 13 years, as has been suggested, would be too long.
Further on the subject, among those who support a legal-status program, there's a division on whether it should take effect only after border control has been improved - favored by 50 percent - vs. its taking effect without being linked to border control, preferred by 44 percent.
Support for several measures - a path to legal status and more visas for low- and high-skilled workers - peaks among Hispanics, generally by about 20-point margins vs. whites. At the same time, Hispanics are less supportive of enforcement measures - 54 percent back more border control spending and 64 percent favor expanded employer verification, vs. 72 and 88 percent, respectively, of whites.
POLITICS - Potential compromise in Washington on guns and immigration hasn't warmed the public to the president or either political party. Barack Obama has just a 50 percent job approval rating, unchanged from last month and down from his brief post-election advance.
Only the barest majority, 51 percent, says Obama is in touch with the concerns of most Americans. That perception drops for the Democratic Party, to 43 percent, and plummets, to 23 percent, for the beleaguered Republican Party. Seventy percent of Americans see the GOP as "out of touch," including, remarkably, 49 percent of Republicans themselves. Just 21 percent of Democrats, by contrast, see their party as out of touch with most people's concerns.
The still-struggling economy overall, and growing discomfort from the federal budget sequester, remain key elements of the public's mood. A third of Americans now say they personally have been hurt by the sequester, up 8 points from last month; and more, 42 percent, have close friends or relatives who've been impacted negatively. Fifty-seven percent disapprove of these across-the-board cuts having taken effect, and more, 63 percent, say they're hurting the economy, with no significant difference by political partisanship.
Progress on the jobs front, while apparent, has been insufficient to lift economic gloom. Two-thirds of Americans say jobs in their area are difficult to find - down from the peak, 84 percent, in 2009, and the fewest since late 2008, but still up sharply from 48 percent in late 2007, shortly before the economy tanked.
Just 15 percent now say the jobs situation is getting worse, down from 37 percent two years ago. But after the deep downturn, "less worse" clearly is not enough to break the public's long-running economic - and by extension political - discontent.
APPROVALS - Indeed, more Americans disapprove than approve of Obama's handling of the economy, 53-44 percent, similar to its August and September levels when the presidential election still was up for grabs. More "strongly" disapprove than strongly approve, by nearly 2-1.
The public divides roughly evenly, moreover, in assessing Obama's handling of two other main issues of the moment, gun control (45-49 percent, approve-disapprove) and immigration reform (44-43 percent). Despite his backing popular elements of both packages, neither has boosted him.
Nor does Obama look to have done himself favors with his budget proposal last week. Americans by 51-37 percent oppose perhaps its most controversial element, cutting the rate of cost-of-living increases in Social Security payments. (There are no partisan differences, but among seniors, opposition jumps to 64 percent.) More also disapprove than approve of his budget plan overall, 38-30 percent, though with many - 32 percent - not knowing enough to say.
MORE ON GUNS - Other results may help flesh out the state of gun ownership in this country. Forty-three percent of Americans say someone in their house owns a gun, essentially unchanged in more than a dozen ABC/Post surveys since 1999. Personal ownership, though, is lower: Thirty percent say they themselves own a gun.
The type of gun is another factor. Among the 43 percent who say someone in their house owns a gun, some include BB guns, starter's pistols and guns that don't fire, such as antique or ornamental guns. Asked to exclude those, 37 percent overall say there's a gun in their house.
Separately, as noted, 30 percent of Americans say they, a close friend or a family member have been a victim of a crime involving a gun, with a division by race - 26 percent among whites, 38 percent among nonwhites. (The overall result compares with 20 percent in a question that was similar, but limited to the past three years, in a Kaiser Family Foundation survey in February.)
In terms of political action, 14 percent of American say they've contacted a public official to express their views on gun control, and 10 percent have given money to an organization involved in the issue - small percentages, but vast numbers, representing about 33 and 24 million adults, respectively. While still low on a percentage basis, activism is somewhat higher on the part of critics of gun control, e.g. those who say such laws always interfere with the right to own guns, and opponents of an assault weapons ban - as well as among gun owners overall.
On possible election impacts, 60 percent of Americans say they could still vote for a candidate who disagrees with them on the issue of gun control; 29 percent could not. As with other activism, critics of gun control are more likely to vote on the basis of this issue.
Overall, it appears that two of the key factors in attitudes on guns are gun ownership and the sense of whether guns increase or decrease home safety. Notably, though, even among gun owners and those who think guns make a home safer, 86 and 82 percent, respectively, support expanded background checks.
One other result on gun policy is that current proposals continue to attract much stronger support than strong opposition. Strong support for background checks exceeds strong opposition by a huge 67 points; on assault weapons it's a narrower but still significant 15 point-difference; and on banning high-capacity magazines, 13 points.
POLITICS/GROUPS - Gaps among political groups remain wide. Obama's approval rating is 80 percent among nonwhites but just 37 percent among whites, 79 percent among liberals but 25 percent among conservatives and 83 percent in his own party vs. 11 percent among Republicans.
But views of the president are fueled by economic sentiment, as well. Among those who see plenty of jobs in their area, 65 percent approve of Obama's job performance; that slips to 56 percent of those who say jobs are somewhat difficult to find, and drops to just 35 percent among those who say the job market is very difficult.
Similarly, there's a vast gap in the president's approval rating between those who say the job situation is improving (75 percent approval) vs. those who say it's staying the same or getting worse, groups in which just 41 and 30 percent, respectively, approve of his work.
Still, whatever Obama's straits, the Republican Party has it tougher. Among residents of the red states, those Obama lost by 6 or more points in 2012, 68 percent say the GOP is out of touch with the concerns of most Americans; in the blue states far fewer, 46 percent, say the Democratic Party is out of touch.
The GOP is seen as out of touch by majorities in some of its key support groups, including 59 percent of conservatives overall, 55 percent of "very" conservatives and 64 percent of evangelical white Protestants. Even among people in gun-owning households, 68 percent see the Republican Party as out of touch - as many as say the same about the Democratic Party.
METHODOLOGY - This ABC News/Washington Post poll was conducted by telephone April 11-14, 2013, in English and Spanish, among a random national sample of 1,003 adults, including landline and cell-phone-only respondents. Results have a margin of sampling error of 3.5 points, including design effect. Partisan divisions are 33-23-36 percent, Democrats-Republicans-independents.
The question on a path to legal status in this poll included a test in which a random half of respondents were asked about "illegal" immigrants, the phrase used in previous ABC/Post polls, and half about "undocumented" immigrants. There was essentially no difference in results: 64-32 percent support vs. oppose in the former version, 62-34 percent in the latter.
The survey was produced for ABC News by Langer Research Associates of New York, N.Y., with sampling, data collection and tabulation by Abt-SRBI of New York, N.Y.
Also ReadChristoph Waltz Quvenzhané Wallis dancing with the stars cast kristen stewart Shirley Bassey adele Oscars 2013
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
System patented for building inflatable hydraulic dams, easy to assemble and disassemble
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vDuztMpXW4z5w0RcI1b_XYbHmcHmwCAXOOTRFW_xHfMqgt7LLrHKAWJvMp5_r7aQg7igUFhXCwtFXU1mKuS_O9c9pJKM6wHXsJPlHqSGo=s0-d){kind=small}
Public release date: 16-Apr-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Fernando Delgado Ramos
fdelgado@ugr.es
34-958-248-954
University of Granada
This dam, which is reusable, can be installed in sections of river that are difficult to reach and it can be easily transported to emergency zones or developing countries
Researchers from the University of Granada have patented a new system, based on placing modules as the foundations for building cheaper, inflatable hydraulic dams, which can be assembled and dismantled very easily.
This technique, which is the first of its kind in the world, enables a hydraulic dam to be assembled and dismantled in a question of hours, with no specialized machinery required and minimizing environmental damage, since it does away with the awkward job of installing a solid cement floor. Furthermore, it is reusable.
The invention, patented through the University of Granada Office for the Transfer of Research Results (OTRI), can be installed in sections of river that are difficult to reach and be easily transported to emergency zones or developing countries.
Concrete blocks
The system is one of modular foundations, made up of cuboid blocks, manufactured using a material that is both resistant and heavier than water, preferably concrete, placed on a base on which, using elements that run through the aforementioned blocks, the inflatable part of the dam that holds the water back.
"With this set-up, we manage to create a horizontal support for the pneumatic element, as well as obtaining an anchorage that is more resistant to the force of the water flow", explains the university lecturer from the University of Granada Department of Structures Mechanics and Hydraulic Engineering, Fernando Delgado Ramos, one of the authors of this patent.
The prefabricated elements the dam is built from "are of a lower weight and size, and can be transported in 4x4s, small trucks, or even in containers that can be carried by helicopters", which means that they can be put in place quickly and easily. In addition to this, the installation process has practically no effect on the environment of the place of location.
The University of Granada researchers point out that, currently, "there is no other foundation system that has the same technical, structural or overall characteristics similar to those of this invention".
As well as Delgado Ramos, this patent has also been developed by the University of Granada lecturers, Jose Antonio Moreno Perez and Manuel Nuez de Castro Martin.
###
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 16-Apr-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Fernando Delgado Ramos
fdelgado@ugr.es
34-958-248-954
University of Granada
This dam, which is reusable, can be installed in sections of river that are difficult to reach and it can be easily transported to emergency zones or developing countries
Researchers from the University of Granada have patented a new system, based on placing modules as the foundations for building cheaper, inflatable hydraulic dams, which can be assembled and dismantled very easily.
This technique, which is the first of its kind in the world, enables a hydraulic dam to be assembled and dismantled in a question of hours, with no specialized machinery required and minimizing environmental damage, since it does away with the awkward job of installing a solid cement floor. Furthermore, it is reusable.
The invention, patented through the University of Granada Office for the Transfer of Research Results (OTRI), can be installed in sections of river that are difficult to reach and be easily transported to emergency zones or developing countries.
Concrete blocks
The system is one of modular foundations, made up of cuboid blocks, manufactured using a material that is both resistant and heavier than water, preferably concrete, placed on a base on which, using elements that run through the aforementioned blocks, the inflatable part of the dam that holds the water back.
"With this set-up, we manage to create a horizontal support for the pneumatic element, as well as obtaining an anchorage that is more resistant to the force of the water flow", explains the university lecturer from the University of Granada Department of Structures Mechanics and Hydraulic Engineering, Fernando Delgado Ramos, one of the authors of this patent.
The prefabricated elements the dam is built from "are of a lower weight and size, and can be transported in 4x4s, small trucks, or even in containers that can be carried by helicopters", which means that they can be put in place quickly and easily. In addition to this, the installation process has practically no effect on the environment of the place of location.
The University of Granada researchers point out that, currently, "there is no other foundation system that has the same technical, structural or overall characteristics similar to those of this invention".
As well as Delgado Ramos, this patent has also been developed by the University of Granada lecturers, Jose Antonio Moreno Perez and Manuel Nuez de Castro Martin.
###
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-04/uog-spf041613.php
lyme disease temple university palm sunday Kids Choice Awards 2013 Joe Weider Florida Gulf Coast Golf Channel
High glucose levels could impair ferroelectricity in body's connective tissues
Apr. 15, 2013 ? High sugar levels in the body come at a cost to health. New research suggests that more sugar in the body could damage the elastic proteins that help us breathe and pump blood. The findings could have health implications for diabetics, who have high blood-glucose levels.
Researchers at the University of Washington and Boston University have discovered that a certain type of protein found in organs that repeatedly stretch and retract -- such as the heart and lungs -- is the source for a favorable electrical property that could help build and support healthy connective tissues. But when exposed to sugar, some of the proteins no longer could perform their function, according to findings published April 15 in the journal Physical Review Letters.
The property, called ferroelectricity, is a response to an electric field in which a molecule switches from having a positive to a negative charge. Only recently discovered in animal tissues, researchers have traced this property to elastin and found that when exposed to sugar, the elastin protein sometimes slows or stops its ferroelectric switching. This could lead to the hardening of those tissues and, ultimately, degrade an artery or ligament.
"This finding is important because it tells us the origin of the ferroelectric switching phenomenon and also suggests it's not an isolated occurrence in one type of tissue as we thought," said co-corresponding author Jiangyu Li, a UW associate professor of mechanical engineering. "This could be associated with aging and diabetes, which I think gives more importance to the phenomenon."
About a year ago, Li and collaborators discovered ferroelectric switching in mammalian tissues, a surprising first for the field. Ferroelectricity is common in synthetic materials and is used for displays, memory storage and sensors. Li's research team found that the wall of a pig's aorta, the largest blood vessel carrying blood to the heart, exhibits ferroelectric switching properties.
Li said that discovery left researchers with a lot of questions, including whether this property is found in other soft tissues and the health implications of its presence. Observing differences in ferroelectric behavior at the protein level has helped to answer some of those questions.
The research team separated the aortic tissue into two types of proteins, collagen and elastin. Fibrous collagen is widespread in biological tissues, while elastin has only been found in animals with a backbone. Elastin, as its name suggests, is springy and helps the heart and lungs stretch and contract. Ferroelectric switching gives elastin the flexibility needed to perform repeated pulses as with an artery.
When researchers treated the elastin with sugar, they found that glucose suppressed ferroelectric switching by up to 50 percent. This interaction between sugar and protein mimics a natural process called glycation, in which sugar molecules attach to proteins, degrading their structure and function. Glycation happens naturally when we age and is associated with a number of diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and arteriosclerosis, a thickening and hardening of the arteries.
The research team has focused solely on the aortic tissues, but this finding likely applies to other biological tissues that have the protein elastin, such as the lungs and skin.
"I would expect the same phenomena will be observed in those tissues and organs as well," Li said. "It will be more common than what we originally thought."
Researchers next will drill down even more to look at the molecular mechanics of ferroelectric switching and further try to connect the process with disease onset.
Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Washington, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Yuanming Liu, Yunjie Wang, Ming-Jay Chow, Nataly Q. Chen, Feiyue Ma, Yanhang Zhang, and Jiangyu Li. Glucose suppresses biological ferroelectricity in aortic elastin. Physical Review Letters, 2013 [link]
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Cam Cameron Ada Lovelace 12/12/12 manny pacquiao Chopper Live jerry brown michael buble
Monday, April 15, 2013
Now That We Have All These Devices, It's Time For Them To Truly Work Together
Cross-platform is the buzzword of all the big tech companies now. Every Google earnings call, like clockwork, CEO Larry Page lately dedicates considerable time upfront to talking about how the search giant is focusing on making sure users have a seamless experience and equal access to services as they switch between devices. In general, that's already a reality if you know where to look. But there's so much more potential.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/tFT_gAQCAug/
farrah abraham Accidental Racist joel osteen Fallon Fox Chris Webber linda perry Champions League
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)