Using bald eagles to indicate the health of the Great Lakes' environment

The bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) is one of the most studied birds of North America, and a great amount of natural life‐history information, including the response of various stressors on the eagles' ability to reproduce, are well known. In Michigan, the eagle has been chosen to track the trends of bioaccumulative compounds of concern across watersheds in the state. The state has been divided into major watersheds, and 20% of these are surveyed each year. A control area in northern Minnesota, Voyageurs National Park, is also sampled annually. We report here on the methods used, the preliminary results of the 1999 field season, and how differences in mercury concentrations varied over a 10‐year period. Mercury in feathers of nestling eagles declined over time only in Lakes Michigan and Huron, but have not decreased among other subpopulations in Michigan. Concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and 4,4′‐DDE in blood plasma from nestling eagles have declined over time for most subpopulations; however, they remain greater for breeding areas associated with the Great Lakes' food web. Sea eagles of the genus Haliaeetus are a good sentinel species to track trends in bioaccumulative compounds in aquatic systems.     

Deposition of thin film silicon using the pulsed PECVD and HWCVD techniques

We report on the use of pulsed plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (P-PECVD) technique and show that “state-of-the-art” amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) materials and solar cells can be produced at a deposition rate of up to 15 Å/s using a modulation frequency in the range 1–100 kHz. The approach has also been developed to deposit materials and devices onto large area, 30 cm×40 cm, substrates with thickness uniformity (<5%), and gas utilization rate (>25%). We have developed a new “hot wire” chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD) method and report that our new filament material, graphite, has so far shown no appreciable degradation even after deposition of 500 μm of amorphous silicon. We report that this technique can produce “state-of-the-art” a-Si:H and that a solar cell of p/i/n configuration exhibited an initial efficiency approaching 9%. The use of microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si) materials to produce low-cost stable solar cells is gaining considerable attention. We show that both of these techniques can produce thin film μc-Si, dependent on process conditions, with 1 1 1 and/or 2 2 0 orientations and with a grain size of approx. 500 A. Inclusion of these types of materials into a solar cell configuration will be discussed.     

The Kitty Genovese murder and the social psychology of helping: The parable of the 38 witnesses.

This article argues that an iconic event in the history of helping research--the story of the 38 witnesses who remained inactive during the murder of Kitty Genovese--is not supported by the available evidence. Using archive material, the authors show that there is no evidence for the presence of 38 witnesses, or that witnesses observed the murder, or that witnesses remained inactive. Drawing a distinction between the robust bystander research tradition and the story of the 38 witnesses, the authors explore the consequences of the story for the discipline of psychology. They argue that the story itself plays a key role in psychology textbooks. They also suggest that the story marks a new way of conceptualizing the dangers of immersion in social groups. Finally, they suggest that the story itself has become a modern parable, the telling of which has served to limit the scope of inquiry into emergency helping. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Antibody-IL-2 fusion proteins: a novel strategy for immune protection

Advances in genetic engineering and expression systems have led to a rapid progress in the development of immunoglobulins fused to other proteins. These 'antibody fusion proteins' have novel properties and include antibodies fused to the cytokine interleukin-2. In the present review we describe strategies for construction of these antibody-interleukin-2 fusion proteins and discuss their in vitro and in vivo properties. Antibody-interleukin-2 fusion proteins retain both antibody associated functions such as antigen binding, complement activation and Fc gamma receptor binding as well as interleukin-2 associated functions such as the stimulation of proliferation of CTLL2 cells. In vivo, they produce strong potentiation of the host immune response against any associated antigen. In addition, these novel molecules are able to target tumor cells and produce a specific and effective T cell response capable of eliminating the tumor. These properties suggest that antibody-interleukin-2 fusion proteins will be useful in the diagnosis and/or treatment of human cancer as well as in the potentiation of human response against any associated antigen.     

Molecular cloning of CYP1A from the estuarine fish Fundulus heteroclitus and phylogenetic analysis of CYP1 genes: update with new sequences

Since we published a phylogenetic analysis of the CYP1A subfamily in 1995, several additional full-length sequences have been reported, including three members of an entirely new subfamily, CYP1B. Two avian sequences were recently published, so that CYP1A sequence data are now available from three of the five major vertebrate lineages. The two new branches that have been added to the CYP1 family tree significantly add to our understanding of P450 evolution. The inclusion of the CYP1Bs to the phylogenetic analysis allows us to root inferred trees. Addition of the avian CYP1As indicates that the CYP1A1/CYP1A2 duplication present in the mammalian lineage may have occurred after the divergence of birds and mammals. The number of fish species from which full-length coding regions of CYP1A genes have been sequenced has increased from four (trout, plaice, toadfish, and scup) to nine. These include CYP1A sequences from tomcod, butterflyfish, sea bream, sea bass, and the full-length sequence of CYP1A from the killifish Fundulus heteroclitus that is reported here. Phylogenetic analyses incorporating the new fish CYP1A sequences support our original conclusion that the fish CYP1As are monophyletic and indicate that the genes are evolving at very different rates in different species.     

Postoperative radiation for squamous cell carcinoma metastatic to cervical lymph nodes from an unknown primary site: outcomes and patterns of failure

BACKGROUND: This retrospective study assesses the outcomes and patterns of failure in patients with squamous cell carcinoma metastatic to cervical lymph nodes from an unknown primary site treated with combined surgery and postoperative radiotherapy. METHODS: One hundred thirty-six patients with squamous cell carcinoma metastatic to cervical lymph nodes from an unknown primary source were treated postoperatively with radiotherapy at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center between the years 1968 and 1992. Stage distribution was: N1, 31 patients; N2a, 49; N2b, 25; N2c, 3; N3, 18; and Nx, 10. Thirty-nine patients had excisional biopsies only, 64 patients underwent modified neck dissections, and 33 had radical neck dissections. Extracapsular extension was present in 87 cases. Fifty-nine patients had multiple nodes involved. The median duration of follow-up for surviving patients was 8.7 years. RESULTS: Twelve patients, all with extracapsular nodal disease, developed regional relapse. The 5-year actuarial rates of regional relapse in patients with and without extracapsular nodal disease were 16% and 0%, respectively (p = .004). Nine patients (22%) with extracapsular disease and multiple nodes relapsed compared with three patients (7%) with extracapsular disease and a solitary node (p = .02). None of the patients treated with excisional biopsy and radiotherapy relapsed regionally. No statistically significant relationship between dose, treatment duration, time interval between surgery, and the start of radiotherapy and relapse was detected. The 2-, 5-, and 10-year actuarial disease-specific survival rates were 82%, 74%, and 68%, respectively. Fourteen patients developed cancers in head and neck mucosal sites; six of these cancers were located in unirradiated tissues. CONCLUSIONS: Relapse occurred infrequently in patients treated with excisional biopsies and postoperative radiotherapy. Extracapsular extension and multiple nodes were associated with worse regional control and disease-specific survival. These results appear consistent with those expected for patients with advanced neck disease and a known primary site, and the absence of a primary site should not exclude patients from studies aiming to improve outcomes in patients with extensive neck disease from a head and neck squamous cell cancer. We continue to recommend radiation to the necks and pharyngeal axis for patients suspected of having residual microscopic disease following surgery for squamous cell carcinoma metastatic to the neck from an unknown primary site.     

Planning prompts and indexed terms in textbook search tasks.

Text search is a type of strategic reading that involves locating specific goal-relevant information. Previous research has indicated that college and high school students often exhibit inefficient or unsuccessful text-search performance. Consequently, the effects of 2 manipulations on text-search performance were investigated: (1) the presence of indexed terms in a text-search task and (2) the use of a planning prompt before beginning a task. 34 college students engaged in 6 text-search tasks. Half of these tasks contained terms that could be used in an index; half required that a search term be generated. Half of the subjects were randomly assigned to a prompt condition in which they were prompted to plan their search before beginning each task. The results indicated that a planning prompt raised the success level of search performance, as did the presence of terms that were searchable in the textbook's index. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)