David Bancroft Johnson Travel Journals - Accession 32 - M9 (32)

The David Bancroft Johnson Travel Journals Collection consists of a diary of a trip taken by David Bancroft Johnson, Founder and First President of Winthrop, to Belgium, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, France, England, and Scotland during October- December 1908. The journals contains descriptions of areas visited, social life and customs. Also included is a description of his trip to Denver, Colorado in July 1909 in which he describes the area and its people.

Book Review of Discovering North American Rock Art Edited by Lawrence L. Loendorf, Christopher Chippindale, and David S. Whitley

If readers of Great Plains Research are seeking a window on rock art research in North America, this book provides a few clear panes, a few that are hazy, and a few muddy ones. Like many edited volumes, the weaker contributions and lack of a consistent style limit the book's usefulness. Some authors target a general readership; others clearly are addressing colleagues. The book has two stated themes: the history of rock art research in North America and recent approaches to rock art analysis. Articles by Julie Francis and (jointly) David Whitley and Jean Clottes explore why rock art research has long been marginalized in North America. Unfortunately, both of these otherwise observant essays slip into advocacy of shamanism as a unifying or primary explanation for rock art, an interpretive model by no means universally accepted by today's rock art specialists.

Book Review of Laud Humphreys: Prophet of Homosexuality and Sociology by John F. Galliher, Wayne H. Brekhus, and David P. Keys

As an undergraduate sociology major, the only thing I learned about Oklahoman Laud Humphreys's classic, Tearoom Trade (1970) was how it violated standards of informed consent in social science research. As Galliher, Brekhus, and Keys recount in their biography, Laud Humphreys: Prophet of Homosexuality and Sociology, sociology graduate student Laud Humphreys needed to supplement his (quite likely, participant) observational research of men who had sex in public bathrooms (i.e., tearooms) in St. Louis in the mid-1960s with a formal questionnaire. Knowing that these men would never agree if they knew they were selected because of their participation in highly stigmatized and criminal behavior, Humphreys recorded their license plates, got their home addresses, and interviewed them as part of a "community health survey." Herein lies the deception and the major source of the controversy. What I didn't fully appreciate when I was a student, however, and what the authors so deftly illuminate is the importance of this work not only for debates around ethical issues of social science research, but more importantly, perhaps, for the study of sexuality, deviance, and urban life.

Review of Laws and Societies in the Canadian Prairie West, 1670-1940 Edited by Louis A. Knafla and Jonathan Swainger

For all intents and purposes, the settlement of the Canadian prairie was the founding of a new society using materials brought to the new land along with those close at hand. Of course, preexisting aboriginal society had to be supplanted in the course of this founding. In both the supplanting and the founding, the rule of law as we currently know it was a principal means and end of the settlement process.

Use of Natural Vegetative Barriers to Limit Expansion of Blacktailed Prairie Dog Towns

Prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) control has historically consisted of lethal methods to maintain, reduce, or eliminate populations in South Dakota and throughout the species range. Non-lethal methods of control are desired to meet changing management objectives for the black-tailed prairie dog. The use of naturally occurring buffer strips as vegetative barriers may be effective in limiting prairie dog town expansion. The objectives of this study were: 1) to evaluate effective width of vegetative barriers in limiting prairie dog towns expansion in western South Dakota; and 2) to document effect native vegetation height on expansion of prairie dog towns in western South Dakota. Five study sites were established in western South Dakota on rangelands containing prairie dog towns of adequate size. Electric fences were constructed for the purpose of excluding cattle and creating buffer strips of native grasses and shrubs. Prairie dogs were poisoned to create a prairie dog free buffer zone adjacent to active prairie dog towns. Grazing was allowed on both sides of the buffer strip. When grazing pressure was not sufficient, mowing was used to simulate grazing. Buffer strips were 100 meters long and 10, 25, and 40 meters in width. A zero meter control was included on all study sites. Quadrats (25) were randomly distributed throughout the buffer strips. Evaluation of study sites included visual obstruction, vegetation cover, vegetation frequency, vegetation height, and vegetation identification. Barrier penetration was evaluated by the presence of new active burrows behind vegetative barriers. Significant relationships were documented for both VOR and vegetation height. No significant difference was found between frequency of breakthroughs and buffer widths.

Bayesian analysis of weak gravitational lensing and Sunyaev-Zel'dovich data for six galaxy clusters

We present an analysis of observations made with the Arcminute Microkelvin Imager (AMI) and the CanadaFranceHawaii Telescope (CFHT) of six galaxy clusters in a redshift range of 0.160.41. The cluster gas is modelled using the SunyaevZeldovich (SZ) data provided by AMI, while the total mass is modelled using the lensing data from the CFHT. In this paper, we (i) find very good agreement between SZ measurements (assuming large-scale virialization and a gas-fraction prior) and lensing measurements of the total cluster masses out to r200; (ii) perform the first multiple-component weak-lensing analysis of A115; (iii) confirm the unusual separation between the gas and mass components in A1914 and (iv) jointly analyse the SZ and lensing data for the relaxed cluster A611, confirming our use of a simulation-derived masstemperature relation for parametrizing measurements of the SZ effect.

Comparative Genome Analysis of Trichophyton rubrum and Related Dermatophytes Reveals Candidate Genes Involved in Infection

The major cause of athlete's foot is Trichophyton rubrum, a dermatophyte or fungal pathogen of human skin. To facilitate molecular analyses of the dermatophytes, we sequenced T. rubrum and four related species, Trichophyton tonsurans, Trichophyton equinum, Microsporum canis, and Microsporum gypseum. These species differ in host range, mating, and disease progression. The dermatophyte genomes are highly colinear yet contain gene family expansions not found in other human-associated fungi. Dermatophyte genomes are enriched for gene families containing the LysM domain, which binds chitin and potentially related carbohydrates. These LysM domains differ in sequence from those in other species in regions of the peptide that could affect substrate binding. The dermatophytes also encode novel sets of fungus-specific kinases with unknown specificity, including nonfunctional pseudokinases, which may inhibit phosphorylation by competing for kinase sites within substrates, acting as allosteric effectors, or acting as scaffolds for signaling. The dermatophytes are also enriched for a large number of enzymes that synthesize secondary metabolites, including dermatophyte-specific genes that could synthesize novel compounds. Finally, dermatophytes are enriched in several classes of proteases that are necessary for fungal growth and nutrient acquisition on keratinized tissues. Despite differences in mating ability, genes involved in mating and meiosis are conserved across species, suggesting the possibility of cryptic mating in species where it has not been previously detected. These genome analyses identify gene families that are important to our understanding of how dermatophytes cause chronic infections, how they interact with epithelial cells, and how they respond to the host immune response. IMPORTANCE Athlete's foot, jock itch, ringworm, and nail infections are common fungal infections, all caused by fungi known as dermatophytes (fungi that infect skin). This report presents the genome sequences of Trichophyton rubrum, the most frequent cause of athlete's foot, as well as four other common dermatophytes. Dermatophyte genomes are enriched for four gene classes that may contribute to the ability of these fungi to cause disease. These include (i) proteases secreted to degrade skin; (ii) kinases, including pseudokinases, that are involved in signaling necessary for adapting to skin; (iii) secondary metabolites, compounds that act as toxins or signals in the interactions between fungus and host; and (iv) a class of proteins (LysM) that appear to bind and mask cell wall components and carbohydrates, thus avoiding the host's immune response to the fungi. These genome sequences provide a strong foundation for future work in understanding how dermatophytes cause disease.

Underlying Event measurements in pp collisions at root s=0.9 and 7 TeV with the ALICE experiment at the LHC

We present measurements of Underlying Event observables in pp collisions at root s = 0 : 9 and 7 TeV. The analysis is performed as a function of the highest charged-particle transverse momentum p(T),L-T in the event. Different regions are defined with respect to the azimuthal direction of the leading (highest transverse momentum) track: Toward, Transverse and Away. The Toward and Away regions collect the fragmentation products of the hardest partonic interaction. The Transverse region is expected to be most sensitive to the Underlying Event activity. The study is performed with charged particles above three different p(T) thresholds: 0.15, 0.5 and 1.0 GeV/c. In the Transverse region we observe an increase in the multiplicity of a factor 2-3 between the lower and higher collision energies, depending on the track p(T) threshold considered. Data are compared to PYTHIA 6.4, PYTHIA 8.1 and PHOJET. On average, all models considered underestimate the multiplicity and summed p(T) in the Transverse region by about 10-30%.

High precision astrometry mission for the detection and characterization of nearby habitable planetary systems with the Nearby Earth Astrometric Telescope (NEAT)

A complete census of planetary systems around a volume-limited sample of solar-type stars (FGK dwarfs) in the Solar neighborhood (d a parts per thousand currency signaEuro parts per thousand 15 pc) with uniform sensitivity down to Earth-mass planets within their Habitable Zones out to several AUs would be a major milestone in extrasolar planets astrophysics. This fundamental goal can be achieved with a mission concept such as NEAT-the Nearby Earth Astrometric Telescope. NEAT is designed to carry out space-borne extremely-high-precision astrometric measurements at the 0.05 mu as (1 sigma) accuracy level, sufficient to detect dynamical effects due to orbiting planets of mass even lower than Earth's around the nearest stars. Such a survey mission would provide the actual planetary masses and the full orbital geometry for all the components of the detected planetary systems down to the Earth-mass limit. The NEAT performance limits can be achieved by carrying out differential astrometry between the targets and a set of suitable reference stars in the field. The NEAT instrument design consists of an off-axis parabola single-mirror telescope (D = 1 m), a detector with a large field of view located 40 m away from the telescope and made of 8 small movable CCDs located around a fixed central CCD, and an interferometric calibration system monitoring dynamical Young's fringes originating from metrology fibers located at the primary mirror. The mission profile is driven by the fact that the two main modules of the payload, the telescope and the focal plane, must be located 40 m away leading to the choice of a formation flying option as the reference mission, and of a deployable boom option as an alternative choice. The proposed mission architecture relies on the use of two satellites, of about 700 kg each, operating at L2 for 5 years, flying in formation and offering a capability of more than 20,000 reconfigurations. The two satellites will be launched in a stacked configuration using a Soyuz ST launch vehicle. The NEAT primary science program will encompass an astrometric survey of our 200 closest F-, G- and K-type stellar neighbors, with an average of 50 visits each distributed over the nominal mission duration. The main survey operation will use approximately 70% of the mission lifetime. The remaining 30% of NEAT observing time might be allocated, for example, to improve the characterization of the architecture of selected planetary systems around nearby targets of specific interest (low-mass stars, young stars, etc.) discovered by Gaia, ground-based high-precision radial-velocity surveys, and other programs. With its exquisite, surgical astrometric precision, NEAT holds the promise to provide the first thorough census for Earth-mass planets around stars in the immediate vicinity of our Sun.

Measurement of prompt J/psi and beauty hadron production cross sections at mid-rapidity in pp collisions at root s=7 TeV

The ALICE experiment at the LHC has studied J/psi production at mid-rapidity in pp collisions at root s = 7 TeV through its electron pair decay on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity L-int = 5.6 nb(-1). The fraction of J/psi from the decay of long-lived beauty hadrons was determined for J/psi candidates with transverse momentum p(t) > 1,3 GeV/c and rapidity vertical bar y vertical bar < 0.9. The cross section for prompt J/psi mesons, i.e. directly produced J/psi and prompt decays of heavier charmonium states such as the psi(2S) and chi(c) resonances, is sigma(prompt J/psi) (p(t) > 1.3 GeV/c, vertical bar y vertical bar < 0.9) = 8.3 +/- 0.8(stat.) +/- 1.1 (syst.)(-1.4)(+1.5) (syst. pol.) mu b. The cross section for the production of b-hadrons decaying to J/psi with p(t) > 1.3 GeV/c and vertical bar y vertical bar < 0.9 is a sigma(J/psi <- hB) (p(t) > 1.3 GeV/c, vertical bar y vertical bar < 0.9) = 1.46 +/- 0.38 (stat.)(-0.32)(+0.26) (syst.) mu b. The results are compared to QCD model predictions. The shape of the p(t) and y distributions of b-quarks predicted by perturbative QCD model calculations are used to extrapolate the measured cross section to derive the b (b) over bar pair total cross section and d sigma/dy at mid-rapidity.

Mutations in CTC1, encoding conserved telomere maintenance component 1, cause Coats plus

Coats plus is a highly pleiotropic disorder particularly affecting the eye, brain, bone and gastrointestinal tract. Here, we show that Coats plus results from mutations in CTC1, encoding conserved telomere maintenance component 1, a member of the mammalian homolog of the yeast heterotrimeric CST telomeric capping complex. Consistent with the observation of shortened telomeres in an Arabidopsis CTC1 mutant and the phenotypic overlap of Coats plus with the telomeric maintenance disorders comprising dyskeratosis congenita, we observed shortened telomeres in three individuals with Coats plus and an increase in spontaneous gamma H2AX-positive cells in cell lines derived from two affected individuals. CTC1 is also a subunit of the alpha-accessory factor (AAF) complex, stimulating the activity of DNA polymerase-alpha primase, the only enzyme known to initiate DNA replication in eukaryotic cells. Thus, CTC1 may have a function in DNA metabolism that is necessary for but not specific to telomeric integrity.

Reassessment of the taxonomic status of Amblyomma cajennense (Fabricius, 1787) with the description of three new species, Amblyomma tonelliae n. sp., Amblyomma interandinum n. sp. and Amblyomma patinoi n. sp., and reinstatement of Amblyomma mixtum Koch, 1844, and Amblyomma sculptum Berlese, 1888 (Ixodida: Ixodidae)

A reassessment of the taxonomic status of Amblyomma cajennense based on the morphological analyses of ticks from the whole distribution area of the species resulted in the redescription of A. cajennense, the validation of 2 species which had been reduced to synonymy in the past, Amblyomma mixtum and Amblyomma sculptum, and the description and definition of 3 new species, Amblyomma tonelliae n. sp., Amblyomma interandinum n. sp., and Amblyomma patinoi n. sp. This study provides descriptions and redescriptions, scanning electron microscopic and stereomicroscopic images, updated synonymies, information on geographical distributions, and host associations for each of the 6 species. Amblyomma cajennense s.s. is found in the Amazonian region of South America, A. interandinum is reported from the northern part of the Inter-Andean valley of Peru, A. mixtum is present from Texas (U.S.A.) to western Ecuador, A. patinoi occurs in the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia, A. tonelliae is associated with the dry areas of the Chaco region which spans from central-northern Argentina to Bolivia and Paraguay, whereas A. sculptum is distributed from the humid areas of northern Argentina, to the contiguous regions of Bolivia and Paraguay and the coastal and central-western states of Brazil.