| life depends on an essentially continuous exchange of mass and energy between living organisms and their environment. human impact on this vital exchange has occurred on a global or macroclimate scale. understanding the physical principles involved in heat transfer and absorption in the atmosphere is critical to understanding how these physical factors affect living organisms. the specific objectives of this section are to explain the properties of heat transfer, and to describe laboratory activities that can be used at a variety of academic levels with only slight described below are three series of experiments performed in the laboratory to address questions that emphasize the underlying principles of heat transfer. these hands - on experiments focused on principles that relate to conduction and convection. the object was to identify the method of heat transfer through solids, liquids, gases, and between boundaries. understanding these concepts gave us a better understanding of how heat is transferred between our environment and living organisms. these experiments were used as an integral part of the workshop, which consisted of reflections on redesigning or modifying lab exercises to fit personal needs of workshop teachers. these exercises could be adapted for middle school, high school, and college level courses. the methods utilized for the three experiments involved increasing or decreasing the temperature of a solid or liquid, and where applicable, observing the motion of a dye caused by the changes in temperature and density of the medium. | modes of heat transfer : - conduction : heat transfer resulting from direct contact between substances of different temperatures ; heat is transferred from the high - temperature substance to the low by direct molecular - convection : heat transport by a moving fluid ( gas of liquid ). the heat is first transferred to the fluid by conduction, but the fluid motion carries the heat away. - radiative exchange : heat transfer via electromagnetic waves, the amount of radiant energy emitted, transmitted, or ( figure from microsoft encarta ) return to top laboratory apparatus for labs 1 - 3 | lab 1 : heating from below : convection in this experiment, water was heated from below to produce convection. although the atmosphere is composed of air, this experiment was relevant to atmospheric motion as well. the lower atmosphere ( troposphere ) is mostly heated from below because the oceans and continents absorb radiation from the sun and then transfer some of the resulting heat energy to the lower atmosphere. in lab 1, a beaker was heated ( see figure below ). thermometers were placed in 1 / 2 cm below water surface and 1 / 2 cm above the bottom of the beaker. the temperature was recorded at 30 second intervals. drops of dye were added to the bottom


( see figure below ). thermometers were placed in 1 / 2 cm below water surface and 1 / 2 cm above the bottom of the beaker. the temperature was recorded at 30 second intervals. drops of dye were added to the bottom of the beaker between intervals. after three minutes the beaker was removed from the hot plate and temperature reading recorded for another five minutes. convection was visualized by observing the motion of the the motion of the dye was circular from bottom to top and returning to the bottom of the beaker. the energy from heating created a less dense liquid at the bottom, thus causing the upward motion of the dye. upon reaching the surface, the dye was now in the denser medium and therefore returned to the bottom. this motion is an example of convection. this phenomenon is evident in the motion of wind. the difference in densities and kinetic movement of the water molecules driven by temperature change resulted in the movement of air molecules. this lab can be used at lower levels to demonstrate simple properties of heat transfer and convection. at higher levels, this lab illustrates these basic principles, and could be extended to address more complex applications related to convection such as the coriolis 1. explain the process by which the water is heated. 2. describe the motion of the water as made visible by the 3. why does convection occur? 4. did convection cease? when? why? environmental applications of principles of radiative exchange, conduction and convection ( figure from e. zerba, princeton university ; email @ example. com ) return to top | lab 2 : conduction comparison of this experiment with the first illustrated the difference between the rate of heat transfer by conduction and that of convection. it also illustrated the difference in heat capacities between water and the solid materials of the lab 2 was configured similarly to lab 1, but looked at the effect of heating and cooling temperature difference using sand of equal weight as water used in experiment 1. no dye was used in this experiment, as convection was not a the temperature difference between the top and bottom layers of sand indicated that sand heats and cools at a faster rate compared to water. when the beaker was removed from the heat, the temperature continued to increase via conduction from the bottom of the beaker. this lab exercise is useful for demonstrating the concept of conduction to lower level students. upper level students can use this lab to make the connections between conduction and heat capacity of various substances related to heat transfer that occurs between the earth ' s surfaces and the surface


exercise is useful for demonstrating the concept of conduction to lower level students. upper level students can use this lab to make the connections between conduction and heat capacity of various substances related to heat transfer that occurs between the earth ' s surfaces and the surface of living organisms. 1. is there any convection in the sand? explain. 2. why did the temperature recorded by the lower thermometer continue to rise dramatically after the heating ceased? 3. on the basis of heat capacity, explain why the temperature changes for the sand and water were different. 4. using what you have observed in the two experiments, predict whether a cold front will lower temperatures more at inland locations or on the coast. explain your answer. return to top | lab 3 : cooling from above in lakes and oceans, convection is generally the result of cooling from above rather than heating from below. this was demonstrated by adding ice to the water. using an experimental setup that allowed measurement of temperature at the top and the bottom of a beaker of water, ice was added to the top of the beaker. this experiment illustrated the concept that at 4 °c, water has higher density and sinks. convection was visualized by the movement of dye added to the bottom of the beaker which was displaced by the cooler more dense water. this lab demonstrates several physical principles associated with heat transfer, including density, kinetic molecular theory, and convection. on a larger scale, this laboratory exercise demonstrates the process by which seasonal turnovers occur in ponds and lakes. at lower levels, teachers may choose to discuss physical principles of heat transfer only, while at upper levels, teachers may choose to integrate this small - scale investigation with the study of climate processes and lake nutrient stratification and mixing. 1. why does ice float? 2. is there any evidence of convection? why does or does it not occur? 3. draw a diagram to explain how seasonal turnover occurs in a return to top to the passerine birds home


american heritage® dictionary of the english language, fourth edition - v. to affect with great wonder ; astonish. see synonyms at surprise. - v. obsolete to bewilder ; perplex. - v. to cause great wonder or astonishment : a sight that amazes. - n. amazement ; wonder. century dictionary and cyclopedia - to confound with fear, sudden surprise, or wonder ; confuse ; perplex. - to strike with astonishment, surprise, or wonder ; astonish ; surprise : as, you amaze me ; i was amazed to find him there. - synonyms surprise, astonish, etc. ( see surprise ) ; to confound, stagger, stupefy, dumfound. - to wonder ; he amazed. - n. astonishment ; confusion ; perplexity arising from fear, surprise, or wonder ; amazement : used chiefly in poetry. gnu webster ' s 1913 - v. obsolete to bewilder ; to stupefy ; to bring into a maze. - v. to confound, as by fear, wonder, extreme surprise ; to overwhelm with wonder ; to astound ; to astonish greatly. - v. archaic to be astounded. - v. chiefly poetic bewilderment, arising from fear, surprise, or wonder ; amazement. - v. be a mystery or bewildering to - v. affect with wonder - from middle english amasen ( " to bewilder, perplex " ), from old english amasian ( " to confuse, astonish " ), from a - ( perfective prefix ) + * masian ( " to confound " ) from * mæs ( " delusion, bewilderment " ), from proto - germanic * mas -, * masonan ( “ to confound, be weary, dream ” ), from proto - indo - european * ma - ( “ to stupefy ” ). akin to old norse masa ( " to struggle, be confused " ), ancient greek ματη ( mate, " folly " ), μεμαα ( memaa, " i was eager " ). more at automatic. ( wiktionary ) - from middle english masen, to bewilder, and from amased, bewildered ( from old english amasod ), both from old english amasian, to bewilder : a -, intensive pref. + *


this from eurekalert : you may think that with faster internet connectivity, internet phone calls and ipods, that we ' re living in a technological nirvana. but according to a new analysis we are fast approaching a new dark age. the results show that the number of technological breakthroughs and patents peaked a century ago and have been falling steadily ever since. but this is a controversial view not held by most futurologists. the reason why an observation like this is controversial is that futurologists take a determinedly optimistic view of the future. i suspect this is a survey of american patent applications. there is a subjective increase in the wealth and comfort of americans that leads them to think that they must be in a golden age. but wasn ' t rome similar prior to its collapse? the romans had become decadent, they suffered from an internal rot and cultural decline. they embarked on fruitless foreign adventures as a means of distracting an overlarge, and underused military. the recent resource wars in the middle east seem aimed at distracting the world with a sleight of hand allowing america to parasitize iraq without feeling morally inferior. if we truly are in a worldwide decline in creativity, what does that mean? victorian scientists used to predict that all of the major discoveries had been made and the future was going to be a period of filling the gaps and creating a prosperous age of automation. were they right? our explanations of the fine detail of what goes on is a little more precise, but really we have just been adding decimal points to the accuracy of our picture. the whole of twentieth century physics has involved creating pictures of the world that even their inventors didn ' t understand or trust! einstein made significant advances in quantum physics in an attempt to falsify it on aesthetic grounds! maybe the lull is exemplified by the history of artificial intelligence? artificial intelligence grew out of the availability of computing hardware in postwar america ( called giant brains at the time ) and the theoretical advances that had been made prewar by the likes of turing, and von neumann et al. von neumann and turing both took a mechanistic view of the brain, that it was to all intents and purposes a " computer made of meat ". there was great optimism that the algorithms of the brain would be quickly understood, and a means to emulate the brain would be found in " 10 or 20 years ". minsky and others were finding ways to simulate neurons in hardware. all in all it seemed that ai would flourish in the 70s providing added impetus to the


moisture and nutrients. the depth and spread of the roots is dependent on the inherent growth characteristics of the plant and the texture and structure of the soil. roots will penetrate much deeper in a loose, well - drained soil than in a heavy, poorly - drained soil. a dense, compacted layer in the soil will restrict or stop root growth. during early development, a seedling plant nutrients and moisture from the few inches of soil surrounding it. therefore, the early growth of most horticultural crops which are seeded in rows benefits from band applications of fertilizer, placed several inches to each side and slightly below the seeds. as plants become well - established, the root system develops laterally and usually extends far beyond the spread of the branches. for most cultivated crops roots meet and overlap between the rows. the greatest concentration of fibrous roots occurs in the top foot of soil but significant numbers of laterals may grow downward from these roots to provide an effective absorption system a couple of feet deep. parts of a root internally, there are three major parts of a root. the meristem is at the tip and manufactures new cells. it is an area of cell division and growth. behind it is the zone of elongation, in which cells increase in size through food and water absorption. these cells by increasing in size, push the root through the soil. the third major root part is the maturation zone, in which cells undergo changes in order to become specific tissues such as epidermis, cortex, or vascular tissue. the epidermis is the outermost layer of cells surrounding the root. these cells are responsible for the absorption of water and minerals dissolved in water. cortex cells are involved in the movement of water from the epidermis and in food storage. a layer of suberized ( a fatty material in some cells ), known as the casparian strips, has regulatory effect on the types of minerals absorbed and transported by the roots to stems and leaves. vascular tissues conduct food and water and are located in the center of the root. however, some monocots have the vascular system of their roots distributed around the root center. externally there are two areas of importance. root hairs are found along the main root and perform much of the actual work of water and nutrient absorption. the root cap is the outermost tip of the root, and consists of cells that are sloughed off as the root grows through the soil. the root cap covers and protects the meristem and also senses gravity and directs in what direction the


19 october 2004. inhibiting acat, a cholesterol - modifying enzyme, may prove a viable therapy for preventing or slowing the progression of alzheimer disease, according to a report in the october 14 neuron. a multi - institution collaboration led by dora kovacs at massachusetts general hospital, boston, shows that inhibiting the enzyme limits production of amyloid - β ( aβ ), reduces plaque load, and prevents learning and memory losses in a mouse model of the disease. acat ( acyl coenzyme a : cholesterol transferase ) catalyzes the esterification of cholesterol, redistributing the lipid from the plasma membrane into cytoplasmic droplets. kovacs and colleagues have previously reported that blocking the enzyme attenuates production of aβ in primary neurons ( see arf related news story ). now, joint first authors birgit hutter - paier at jsw - research forschungslabor gmbh, graz, austria, and henri huttunen at mgh, along with other researchers from these institutions and the mayo clinic, jacksonville, florida, extend those observations to transgenic animals. they tested cp 113, 818, an acat inhibitor developed by pfizer, in mice expressing human amyloid precursor protein harboring two different kinds of mutation — the london mutation, which results in an isoleucine instead of a valine at amino acid number 717, and the swedish double mutation, methionine and leucine for lysine and asparagine at positions 670 and 671, respectively. these animals develop amyloid plaques in the brain, and by six months old show signs of cognitive decline. because cp 113, 818 is so poorly absorbed, the authors administered it in slow - release capsules, surgically implanting a two - month supply into four and a half - month - old mice. when the authors checked brain pathology at six and a half months, they found a considerable reduction in plaque load, as judged by both thioflavin s and antibody ( 6e10 antibody ) staining. treated animals had only about 26 plaques per square micrometer of cortex, while placebo - treated animals had over 200. the benefit was greatest in the hippocampuses of female animals, where the plaque load was only one percent of that found in sham - treated animals. in addition, when the authors measured soluble aβ by elisa, they found that levels of soluble aβ1


karst diagram courtesy of vancouver island university. although the cowling arboretum does not exhibit any karst topography, much of southern minnesota does. karst is a geological feature formed by the dissolution of soluble bedrock such as carbonates like limestone and dolostone. karst formations lead to the formations of caves, disappearing streams, underground streams, sinkholes and other landforms in southern minnesota. the longest cave system in the world, the mammoth - flint ridge cave system in kentucky was formed through the dissolution of carbonate rocks in its karst area. karst country in southern minnesota coincides with the driftless area that covers southeastern minnesota, northwestern iowa and western wisconsin. glacial drift no younger than 500, 000 years old has been discovered in southern minnesota driftless area, meaning it has not been glaciated in that time. other geologists believe that the driftless area has not been glaciated in at least 2 million years. however, the driftless area has been subject to glacial lake outburst floods when titanic lakes like proglacial lake duluth began to cataclysmically drain about 9, 500 years ago. karst forms when slightly acidic water meets a weakly soluble carbonate rock. rainwater acidifies ever so slightly as it passes through the atmosphere and takes up co2. as rainwater travels through the soil it picks up more co2 and forms a weak carbonic acid solution, which readily dissolves carbonate rocks over time. limestone is removed from the site in the form of calcium and bicarbonate. a good way to spot a karst sinkhole in southern minnesota is to look for a tree covered area in the middle of a farmer ’ s field that she is wise not to plow. - callum mcculloch ' 15, for the cole student naturalists


hydrology of the bow river there ’ s a word beneath the water, and the bow river belongs to god. have you been listening? a scientific commentary on genesis 7 : 11 although committed to the principle of sola scriptura, calvin recognized that the bible would have been written in terms its original recipients would have understood. calvin inherited the medieval cosmology of his time, a way of viewing the world heavily influenced by greek thought and one which was about to receive shocks from astronomers such as copernicus and galileo. but not just yet. off with their heads the queen had only one way of settling all difficulties, great or small. “ off with his head! ” she said, without even looking round surprised by jack, part 3 : mere depravity “ man is now a horror to god and to himself and a creature ill - adapted to the universe not because god made him so but because he has made himself so by the abuse of his free will. to my mind this is the sole function of the doctrine [ of the fall ]. ” — c. s. lewis scientists tell their stories : george murphy during his seminary education, dr. murphy also gained a deeper understanding of luther ’ s theology of the cross, and he realized that it ’ s really the best way to approach the science and theology dialogue. series : it ' s an old world after all in our sixth biologos videocast, we take a look at the age of the earth. we explain four methods scientists have used to determine that age : tree ring, lake varve, radiometric, and seafloor spread dating, and also offer some theological insight on how an old earth can fit with the first chapters of genesis. series : from the dust in this series, ryan pettey offers several clips from his powerful documentary " from the dust ". this feature - length film is divided up into various sections, each of which wrestles with the difficult problems that arise when reconciling scripture with the theory of evolution. a light of hope dawns on the science - faith conversation, however, as scientists and theologians engage in honest dialogue about tough issues such as the interpretation of genesis, the nature of the fall, and the idea of random design. their profound insights are sure to enlighten all minds, raise deeper questions, and provoke new thought. shaping the human soul, part 5 we need to have an account of sin in terms of habit. a lot of christians today think of “ sins ” and discreet choices, but historically christians


suggest that this argument is in significant ways misplaced. the lyrics begin by painting a picture of the fall as something in which each person has participated : “ the fruit ( of the fall of man ) is seen in every eye and every hand. ” mystery and faith in today ’ s video, michael ramsden discusses the importance and meaning of mystery in the bible. saturday sermon : the failure of religion in the last verses of romans 2, the apostle paul relates the “ failure of religion because of the terrible beauty of the law ” to the need for a regenerate heart. " centered " : the language of science and faith in a recent interview with the sirius xm radio show centered, karl giberson sat down with host don belanus to discuss the book the language of science and faith. life and death if you go back into the genesis account, it says “ now do not eat this or you will surely die ”. there is a whole chain of events that happens when adam and eve decide they want to walk away from god. confidence and slippery slopes in today ’ s video, pastor brian mcclaren notes that the metaphor " slippery slopes " is problematic, because we often assume that we are on the top of the slope to begin with, when in fact changing our views may help us ascend the slope, or to reach a new peak of understanding on the other side.


in journey into the cell, we looked at the structure of the two major types of cells : prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. now we turn our attention to the " power houses " of a eukaryotic cell, the mitochondria. mitochondria are the cell ' s power producers. they convert energy into forms that are usable by the cell. located in the cytoplasm, they are the sites of cellular respiration which ultimately generates fuel for the cell ' s activities. mitochondria are also involved in other cell processes such as cell division and growth, as well as cell death. mitochondria : distinguishing characteristics mitochondria are bounded by a double membrane. each of these membranes is a phospholipid bilayer with embedded proteins. the outermost membrane is smooth while the inner membrane has many folds. these folds are called cristae. the folds enhance the " productivity " of cellular respiration by increasing the available surface area. the double membranes divide the mitochondrion into two distinct parts : the intermembrane space and the mitochondrial matrix. the intermembrane space is the narrow part between the two membranes while the mitochondrial matrix is the part enclosed by the innermost membrane. several of the steps in cellular respiration occur in the matrix due to its high concentration of enzymes. mitochondria are semi - autonomous in that they are only partially dependent on the cell to replicate and grow. they have their own dna, ribosomes and can make their own proteins. similar to bacteria, mitochondria have circular dna and replicate by a reproductive process called fission. journey into the cell : to learn more about cells, visit :


the portrait of a fly ( part 1 ) : come fly with me for more than a hundred years, scientists have used the fruit fly ( drosophila melanogaster ) to study the fundamentals of developmental biology and genetics. but as biological understanding and techniques have improved, we are now able to do sophisticated genetic experiments in animals further along the evolutionary scale, such as mice. what role, then, for the fly today? at the entrance to the fly facility at the university of manchester, there is a poster on the wall. it proudly proclaims that drosophila ( a genus of fruit flies ) has won six nobel prizes. all were won in conjunction with human collaborators, of course, who took the glory ( not to mention the cash ). the fly facility, which is funded by the university and the wellcome trust, brings together the university ’ s collective expertise in fly husbandry and research techniques. it supports a community of 13 research groups who consider the potential of the fly stronger than ever for informing us not just about basic biology but about human diseases as well. i suspect they dream of one day adding a seventh nobel to drosophila ‘ s trophy cabinet. dr andreas prokop, the head of a laboratory in the faculty of life sciences and an unashamed proselytiser for fruit flies in research, is keen to show them off. he takes me around the fly facility ’ s specialist microscopes and the breeding rooms where the flies are grown. one room is kept at the scientific standard temperature of 25°c, while the other is at 18°c for experiments in which researchers want to slow down drosophila ‘ s usual development cycle ( this works both ways : some experiments are done at 29°c to speed up development ). inside each breeding room, the shelves are full of trays and incubators with different fly stocks. the flies live in plastic vials – one genetic stock per vial – with food and a cotton wool plug to stop them flying away. these are no house flies : each adult fly is only a couple of millimetres long, their bodies are pale with black markings and they have bright red eyes. fertilised female flies can lay hundreds of eggs over several days. embryonic development takes 21 hours ( at 25°c ), at which point each egg hatches to release a drosophila larva. after a few heady days of continuous feeding at the bottom of its vial, the larva wanders up the side of the vial, away


25°c ), at which point each egg hatches to release a drosophila larva. after a few heady days of continuous feeding at the bottom of its vial, the larva wanders up the side of the vial, away from its food source, and forms a hard shell called a pupa. at this stage, all of its organs are broken down and restructured in their adult forms. eventually, a mere ten days after the egg was laid, an adult fly emerges from the pupal case. pretty fly with a white eye the first of the drosophila nobels was awarded in 1933 to thomas hunt morgan, whose ‘ fly room ’ at columbia university laid the groundwork for pretty much all drosophila research that has followed. morgan was interested in problems of development and how heredity might help him understand them. he spent two years searching for drosophila with clear, heritable variations in characteristics so that he could start to unpick how the differences had been inherited. at last, in 1909, he found white - eyed male flies among his normally red - eyed stock. crucially, eye colour was a sex - linked variation, which meant the gene responsible had to be on the drosophila sex chromosome ( drosophila have four pairs of chromosomes, whereas humans have 23 ; in both species, the sex chromosomes are either xx for females or xy for males ). it was the first unambiguous link between a chromosome and a characteristic. morgan ’ s style in the lab was democratic. it spawned a school of pupils and collaborators who spread the techniques he developed around the world, training the next generation to do the experiments that would connect characteristics to chromosomes and, in time, to specific genes. one of morgan ’ s proteges was hermann muller. in the 1920s, muller began looking for ways to change genes artificially rather than relying on spontaneous mutations. his research showed that x - rays caused widespread genetic mutation and chromosomal damage. it won him drosophila ‘ s second nobel, in 1946. it was some time before drosophila ‘ s next nobel, but then it won three in the same year. innovations in the 1970s and 1980s meant that dna could now be manipulated directly. using such techniques, ed lewis discovered genes that controlled the fly ’ s ‘ body plan ’, whereas christiane nusslein - volhard and eric wieschaus identified and classified genes that were crucial for early development. at around the same time, studies in other species showed that


done in as highly evolved a species as possible. however, prokop thinks there is more to be gained by combining these new molecular and cell biology techniques with genetics in the fly. mice, and indeed humans, tend to have multiple genes with overlapping functions, so when you ‘ knock out ’ a gene to see the effect on the organism of not having it, the results can be ambiguous. drosophila has little or no such redundancy in its genes, plus the added advantages of having a rapid reproduction cycle and being relatively cheap to maintain. return of the fly prokop ’ s own research focuses on the cytoskeleton : the architecture of actin filaments and microtubules woven into structural networks inside all our cells. far from being static scaffolding, however, these networks are dynamic, constantly rearranging and interacting with other proteins. “ the cytoskeleton is involved in every aspect of every single cellular function you can think of, ” he says. many of its components have been studied for decades but many fundamental questions remain. “ we know what these components do biochemically, but in the cellular context, we are not sure why those interactions are necessary. for example, the protein tau was discovered in 1975. today, we know it has a role in alzheimer ’ s disease, but we still don ’ t really know what tau is doing in the cell in the first place. “ one thing that blocks a lot of this type of research is that we do not have a proper understanding of the cell biology. ” numerous proteins are known to bind to actin and microtubules, which implies some degree of regulation. but how do all these different functions and regulators combine in one coordinated system of cytoskeletal function? prokop ’ s approach to finding an answer is to narrow down the question. he is studying the cytoskeleton in one specific context and, from that, aims to work up a general conceptual understanding that can be tested in other contexts and other species. “ i made three decisions, ” he explains. “ first, study axonal growth. this is the best context for understanding what the cytoskeleton does because we know the principal roles of actin and microtubules, and there are drugs we can use to manipulate axonal growth – there aren ’ t many other places where we can get such meaningful results. ” axons are the wires and cables of the nervous system. they connect neurons, the most important cells in the


there are drugs we can use to manipulate axonal growth – there aren ’ t many other places where we can get such meaningful results. ” axons are the wires and cables of the nervous system. they connect neurons, the most important cells in the nervous system, and carry electrical signals between cells. problems with axonal development lead to impaired cognition ; damage later in life, from strokes or dementia for example, can cause sustained paralysis, permanent loss of basic brain functions such as coordination, or changes in personality. axons grow out of neuron cell bodies, led from the front by specialist structures called growth cones. chemical gradients – varying concentrations of substances that attract or repel the growth cone – determine the direction of growth and help each axon find its target. how these external cues are translated into changes in the behaviour of the growth cone remains unclear. what we do know is that the actin and microtubule structures of the cytoskeleton are constantly rearranging at the axon tip and that they must be regulated in response to certain signals. “ there are probably hundreds of genes that regulate the cytoskeleton, ” prokop says. “ but the really essential ones are relatively few. those genes, and the targets they regulate, present us with a common mechanism dependent on a limited number of factors. focusing our research on these genes and proteins within the context of axon growth is a good strategy for learning about their function in general. it is simpler than trying to tackle the entire cellular machinery. ” laud of the flies his second decision was to work on drosophila, for the usual reasons : “ efficient genetics, low redundancy. if you knock out one gene, there is less opportunity for compensation than there would be in higher species. plus you can take out combinations of classes of genes simultaneously and it would be extremely challenging, even impossible, to do that in the mouse. in flies, it takes between a couple of weeks and a few months, so you can create and generate possibilities, test hypotheses. ” prokop stresses that this is no longer the simple fly genetics of years gone by, when a gene would be knocked out and the gross effects observed. moreover, combined with modern drosophila genetics are other sophisticated techniques, developed and well established in mice, for studying what is going on inside cells. many of these techniques, which have now been adapted for use in fly neurons, visually label specific proteins within cells so that researchers can watch the dynamics of microtub


techniques, developed and well established in mice, for studying what is going on inside cells. many of these techniques, which have now been adapted for use in fly neurons, visually label specific proteins within cells so that researchers can watch the dynamics of microtubules, actin and other proteins as they operate. i see this for myself when dr natalia sanchez - soriano, a postdoctoral researcher in the prokop laboratory, shows me around. as well as looking at neurons in developing fly embryos, they grow drosophila neurons in culture. “ it takes around 30 fly brains to make four cultures, ” she explains, holding out one of many round agar plates, a few centimetres in diameter. “ within six hours, the neurons have grown enough to start analysing them. ” cultured neurons lack the external signals that would normally direct their growth in the fly but their cell machinery is intact and axons grow, although in a less organised way. sanchez - soriano puts a plate under a microscope and focuses on a small area in the middle. at 10x magnification, i can see clusters of neurons on the screen. “ these are young cultures, ” she says, showing me the cell body of a neuron and the axon growing from it. we zoom in. the neurons have been marked with fluorescent markers. “ looking in green light, you see the microtubules. if we look in red, you can see the actin. “ i always find it amazing to look at one of these cultures where they have formed a network, a mature network. it looks very messy because they are cultures but you can see how they connect. now you have this complex neural network with lots of synapses, which are the contacts between the neurons. ” microtubules are found in abundance at synapses, so the fluorescence also reveals the neurons ’ connections. i can see synapses all the way along the axons, not just at the tip, which is how i remember having seen them portrayed in simplified textbook diagrams. we are supposed to be going to lunch with other scientists from the lab. they hover at the doorway, but sanchez - soriano waves them away – she wants to show me one more slide. “ this is a drosophila embryo. it ’ s completely different to the cultured cells – the axons of the neurons are all organised. these axons connect to the muscles ; their cell bodies are in the spinal cord. we can see where these ax


a drosophila embryo. it ’ s completely different to the cultured cells – the axons of the neurons are all organised. these axons connect to the muscles ; their cell bodies are in the spinal cord. we can see where these axons are growing, and we can be very specific about developmental time. we can look at embryos after 21 hours of development and the axons are always in these positions, so we can detect tiny changes in axonal growth. “ the beauty of this system is that we can go back and forward all the time between neurons in the organism and in culture, and that ’ s what makes it very attractive for me. and it ’ s easy to have expertise in both. that makes it a really nice model. ” prokop ’ s third decision was which component of cytoskeleton regulation to focus on. he chose a protein called shot, which, he explains, “ sits at the heart of the machine ”. shot is one of a family of proteins called spectraplakins, which have so many different functions that they are sometimes also called ‘ the swiss army knives of the cell ’. in this context, shot regulates microtubules during axonal growth. in a normal growing axon, microtubules are constantly joining together, elongating and pushing against the cell membrane in the direction of growth. actin networks provide some control over microtubules by blocking microtubule extension in the wrong direction. proteins like shot that bind actin and microtubules are therefore likely to be involved in regulating that interaction and, indeed, without shot, microtubules become disorganised and axons are severely shortened ( and when they do grow, it is often in the wrong direction ). the very model of a research model organism having shown that axon growth cone behaviour, cytoskeletal dynamics and the underlying functions of actin and microtubule regulators in drosophila are well conserved with higher animals, prokop ’ s group is using the shot system to discover the mechanisms by which it all hangs together. they work mostly in the fly but regularly do analogous experiments in mice to confirm the general relevance of their findings. they have already begun to show how shot performs its role in cytoskeletal regulation during axon growth. in research published this summer, prokop and his team showed that shot links the tips of microtubules to actin networks, providing a physical connection that points the microtubules in the right direction. it


s intellectual descendants, eager to celebrate the fruit fly ’ s contribution to science and persuade you that it is the pre - eminent model organism. prokop sums up the philosophy : “ the task of drosophila is to produce ideas that can then stimulate research in mammalian systems. that ’ s what it has been doing for a hundred years, and that ’ s what our system can do too. ” in part 2, ‘ fly on the wall ’, i visit a second drosophila lab at the university of manchester to see how the fly is actually used in experiments, and how relevant they can be for understanding human diseases. alves - silva j et al. spectraplakins promote microtubule - mediated axonal growth by functioning as structural microtubule - associated proteins and eb1 - dependent + tips ( tip interacting proteins ). j neurosci 2012 ; 32 ( 27 ) : 9143. bier e. drosophila, the golden bug, emerges as a tool for human genetics. nat rev genet 2005 ; 6 : 9. green m. a century of drosophila genetics through the prism of the white gene. genetics 2010 ; 184 : 3 - 7. “ the nobel prize in physiology or medicine 1933 “. nobelprize. org. 13 nov 2012 “ the nobel prize in physiology or medicine 1946 “. nobelprize. org. 13 nov 2012 “ the nobel prize in physiology or medicine 1995 “. nobelprize. org. 13 nov 2012 “ jules a. hoffmann – biographical “. nobelprize. org. 13 nov 2012


for all who make decisions that affect the mathematics education of students in pre - kindergarten through grade 12 ” ( p. ix ). nctm is an organization of over 110, 000 mathematics educators concerned with pre - k – 12 mathematics education. this update of the nctm ' s three previously developed sets of standards for curriculum, teaching, and assessment is intended to establish a curriculum framework to bring focus and coherence to k – 12 mathematics. the document was developed through an extensive and inclusive process that engaged a wide spectrum of experts on issues concerning mathematics education. as such, principles and standards represents a negotiated position about appropriate content for school mathematics to which educators should give careful consideration. the developers offer the standards as a guide for ensuring quality, developing goals, and promoting change by suggesting common language, examples, and recommendations to engage people at state, provincial and local levels in conversations about mathematics education. the document is intended to ( p. 6 ) : set forth a comprehensive and coherent set of goals for mathematics for all students that will orient curricular, teaching, and assessment efforts. serve as a resource for teachers, education leaders, and policymakers to use in examining and improving the quality of mathematics instructional programs. guide the development of curricular frameworks, assessments, and instructional materials. stimulate ideas and ongoing conversations about how best to help students gain a deep understanding of important mathematics. principles and standards is built on the following vision ( p. 5 ) : in this changing world, those who understand and can do mathematics will have significantly enhanced opportunities and options for shaping their futures. mathematical competence opens doors to productive futures. a lack of mathematical competence keeps those doors closed. nctm challenges the assumption that mathematics is only for the select few. on the contrary, everyone needs to understand mathematics. all students should have the opportunity and the support necessary to learn significant mathematics with depth and understanding. there is no conflict between equity and excellence. to fulfill this vision, the document describes what mathematics in pre - k – 12 school programs should look like including how mathematical ideas should be developed across five content areas and five process domains. the standards present a deeper look at the mathematics within each of four grade - level bands, pre - k – 2, 3 – 5, 6 – 8, and 9 – 12 ; they also suggest how mathematics should grow


is also a vast number of books and journal articles on different aspects of sustainable agriculture and the relationships between agriculture and rural areas. here only a few examples can be mentioned. oecd has paid increasing attention to agricultural policy reform during the last two decades. ministers of agriculture of the oecd member countries adopted a set of policy principles in march 1998 including the need of governments " to take actions to ensure the protection of the environment and sustainable management of natural resources in agriculture ” ( oecd, 2001 ). this most recent report concludes that agricultural policies have not changed enough and calls for integrating the different, sometimes contradictory policies ( i. e. agricultural, environmental and other policies ). the situation is similar in the european union, however the need for policy integration and for a radical reform of the cap is well recognized. the often cited cork declaration in point 2 calls for an integrated approach to rural development. it would be too long to overview the great number of statements and declarations of eu leaders and politicians which all call for more reform of the cap in order to move agriculture towards sustainability and to ensure a greater contribution of it to rural development. franz fischler ( 2001 ), the commissioner responsible for agriculture and rural development, declared : “ common agricultural policy has also changed, but not enough ”, and : “ we must ensure that the much - touted sustainability is translated into practice ”. molterer ( 1998 ) for example emphasizes that the european modell of agriculture is a sustainable and multifunctional agriculture in which the different functions must not be separated but have to form a whole ( i. e. should be integrated ). the committee on agriculture and rural development of the parliamentary assembly of the council of europe has also been intensively working on the problems of sustainable agricultural and rural development and has produced a major document, the “ european charter for rural areas ” ( council of europe, ( 1996 ) ). in spite of all these works and declarations no real progress has been achieved yet. the carpe ( common agricultural and rural policy for europe ) concept presented by a group of experts during the discussions on the agenda 2000 document ( european commission, 1997 ) in which the removal of all the subsidies coupled with production was finally rejected by the european council ( berlin, march 1998 ). willis and bryden ( 1999 ) in their analysis of agenda 2000 drew the same conclusion : “ when compared to the vision expressed in the cork declaration on living countryside, what is called rural development in agenda 2000 seems better described as agricultural policy paying lip


among the other branches of industrial activities, and farms have to be organised and operated as business enterprises. as a result of this so called “ development ” or “ modernisation ”, agriculture and rural areas have become just mere receptacles or absorbing markets for industries located in towns. the only function of agriculture and rural areas is to take up the maximal possible amount of industrial products for consumption or to transform them into agricultural products even if there is an overproduction of these products and the natural environment and rural areas are deteriorated or destroyed. we call this concept of agriculture “ industrial input transformer agriculture ”. this kind of agriculture and the rural areas housing it are just auxiliary to towns and industries and they are clearly not sustainable. the eu is still following this “ modernisation ” concept and try to help and force the candidate countries to follow the same direction in spite of the nice talks about rural development and agricultural environmental programs. the internal relations among the element of this “ non - sustainable ” concept of agriculture and rural areas can be summarized as it is show by figure 1. this system is not sustainable because sooner or later it would completely exhaust its rural base. this is very vaguely recognised in the concern about the maintenance and development of rural areas. but still there is not strong enough political will to break up this system in which subsidies intended to help farmers are in fact supporting the industries located in towns and causing further decline of rural areas. agricultural policies which keep up this mechanism including the cap of eu are deemed as typical cases of “ government failure ” by some authors in environmental economics. ( see for example : turner et al., 1994. ) 3. the concept of sustainable resource utilising agriculture to achieve any real progress towards sustainability we have to depart from the above described concept of agriculture and modernisation. an integrated and multifunctional agriculture has to be developed. the main function of this type of agriculture is to utilise the human, natural and other local resources available in rural areas to produce a diverse mix of products and services in order to supply the highest amount of added value for the maintenance of rural areas. this means that the disintegrated parts of agriculture have to be reintegrated, agriculture has to be reintegrated with its rural and environmental base, and its dependency on external input and output markets has to be decreased. farming has to be based on the creation, modernisation and efficient utilisation of local resources. industrial means of production and inputs are to be used only as auxiliary factor to such extent


its dependency on external input and output markets has to be decreased. farming has to be based on the creation, modernisation and efficient utilisation of local resources. industrial means of production and inputs are to be used only as auxiliary factor to such extent necessary to increase the productivity of local resources, but not for the sake of substituting them. in short, the traditional exogenous way of “ modernisation ” which is forced on agriculture from outside has to be changed into endogenous type of development. this concept of agriculture can be termed as “ resources utilising agriculture ” which is sustainable because it is built on the maintenance and development of its own local resource base. the system of this resource utilising agriculture is summarized in figure 2. this “ new concept ” of agriculture is really very old and the one which had existed before “ industrialised ” agriculture became dominant. it can be realised only if radical changes in agricultural policies can be achieved. first of all, farmers have to understand that present agricultural policies ( including the cap ) in fact are not supporting them but subsidies finally go to industries. secondly, the politicians forming agricultural policies have to be persuaded that agricultural policy supporting “ resource utilising agriculture ” is much cheaper than the present system in which first industrial input intensive agricultural production is subsidized, then a great amount of money is spent on repairing environmental damage caused and on rural development. subsidizing agriculture to produce more value added from its local resource base simultaneously help to maintain viable farms, to protect the environment and to develop rural areas in one coherent supporting system. in this way, integration of different policies called for in agenda 21 can be realized. besides, taxpayers ’ money could be saved and the agricultural policy would be more efficient. we can just regret that the basic problem of the concept or the definition of agriculture and rural areas is given very little attention in discussion on sustainable agriculture and on agricultural policy reforms. still, it has been encouraging to find a similar approach in a recent presentation of van der plough and rooij ( 2001 ). they use the term “ capitalist commodity production ” for the type of non - sustainable agriculture in which even labour is used as a commodity, and “ petty commodity production ” for the “ resource utilizing agriculture ” outlined here. they contrast industrialization with repeasantization as alternatives of agricultural development. but “ repeasantization ” might easily be rejected as being old fashioned and regress. while the concept of integrated, multifunctional and resource utilisating agriculture is a


applied mathematics department secretary : tel : 01 69 33 46 01. fax : 01 69 33 46 46. scientific computing is the art of the engineer devoted to producing numerical simulations based on a scientific analysis and with computers. most of problems that can be formalised with mathematical equations lead to problems too complicated to be solved with elementary methods or with methods of formal calculus. the objective of scientific computing is to propose approximate numerical solutions for problems that can be modelised with a mathematical equation. the development of scientific computing is related to the increasing of computer power. it is an applied science in continuous evolution. the industries that use and develop scientific computing are first the main partners of state technical administrations in charge of the conception and development of complex systems : space and aeronautics, nuclear, automotive industry, petroleum industry, civil engineering. reduced to amount development and the certification of complex systems only few years ago, the numerical simulation allows the reduction of important development times on conception cycles and the production of more sophisticated products. the option " scientific computing " is devoted to students needing training in scientific computing, either for the analysis of an industrial problem, or the initiation to scientific research, whatever can be the future choice in terms of career orientation. for those who wish to enter the master program " mathematical modeling " in applied mathematics of the ecole polytechnique ( co - organised with paris 6 university ), the training period can be an important first step. examples of subjects studied in recent years - adaptive and multi - scales methods. assessment and design of optical fiber systems. inverse problem in electromagnetism. requirements : some knowledge of numerical analysis and / or optimization. evaluation mechanism : written report and oral defense last modification : monday 8 april 2013


, e. g. in senile plaques that litter the alzheimer ’ s brain around nerve cells. small clumps of abeta can gum up the connections between nerve cells known as synapses. billions of nerve cells in the brain form trillions of synapses making up our neural network. the neural network, in all its complexity, is needed for all brain function, including memory and learning. excessive abeta disrupts synaptic communication between nerve cells leading to loss of memory and learning and eventually dementia. dementia is defined as global and catastrophic cognitive failure ; alzheimer ’ s disease is the most common form of dementia in the elderly. beyond the original four alzheimer ’ s genes most drug discovery for alzheimer ’ s today is based on studies of the four original alzheimer ’ s genes. but, we know that there are many more alzheimer ’ s genes yet to be identified. since 2005, the cure alzheimer ’ s fund has supported a project called the alzheimer ’ s genome project ( agp ), carried out in my laboratory at massachusetts general hospital. the goal of this project is to study 5000 families with multiple members who are affected with the common late - onset form of alzheimer ’ s disease in an effort to identify all of the other alzheimer ’ s genes. in addition to the alzheimer ’ s genome project, the international genomics of alzheimer ' s project ( igap a consortium of dozens of research institutions in europe and the u. s., in which we are members ), uses tens of thousands of individual alzheimer ’ s cases from the general population in the u. s. and europe, to find common dna variants that influence risk for alzheimer ’ s. the family - based method of our alzheimer ’ s genome project and the population - based method of igap have identified some of the same alzheimer ’ s genes, but also find different ones with different effects on risk. in the family - based studies of the alzheimer ’ s genome project, we are able to find not only common dna variants that influence one ’ s risk for alzheimer ’ s, but also rare mutations that profoundly affect risk or for the disease or directly cause it. the alzheimer ’ s genome project places a high priority on finding these rare but very potent gene mutations because historically, amongst the four known alzheimer ’ s genes, it has been the rare early - onset familial alzheimer ’ s gene mutations that have been most effectively guiding drug discovery efforts. this is mainly because hard - hitting mutations have clear - cut adverse effects on biological systems, which can be elegant


, it has been the rare early - onset familial alzheimer ’ s gene mutations that have been most effectively guiding drug discovery efforts. this is mainly because hard - hitting mutations have clear - cut adverse effects on biological systems, which can be elegantly recapitulated in animal models. this then allows for more effective drug discovery and development. along these lines, one of the first new alzheimer ’ s genes to be identified in the alzheimer ’ s genome project was adam10. this gene was specifically chosen for testing as a potential alzheimer ’ s gene because like the four original alzheimer ’ s genes, it affects the production of abeta in the brain. we identified two rare mutations in this gene that strongly predispose carriers to alzheimer ’ s disease at around 70 years old. these two mutations were found in only 7 ( of 1000 ad families tested ). thus, they are very rare. we have recently demonstrated these two mutations dramatically impair the activity of adam10. adam10 normally blocks the production of abeta. accordingly, we have found that these two rare mutations greatly enhance alzheimer ’ s amyloid pathology in animal - based models of the disease. with the validation of these mutations to be “ pathogenic ”, or disease causing, the alzheimer ’ s genome project considers adam10 to be the fifth alzheimer ’ s gene. we published the original findings showing adam10 to carry rare mutations causing alzheimer ’ s disease in 2008 in the prestigious scientific journal, human molecular genetics. the publication of the validation data from transgenic mouse models is planned for the coming year in 2011. also beginning in 2005, with cure alzheimer ’ s fund support, as part of the alzheimer ’ s genome project, we carried out the first family - based “ genome - wide association study ” for new alzheimer ’ s genes. this entailed a screen of the entire human genome in patients and their relatives in thousands of alzheimer ’ s families. the first phase of this study was completed in 2008 and led to the identification of over 100 new alzheimer ’ s candidate genes. we reported the top four alzheimer ’ s candidate genes from this study in 2008 ; it was named by time / cnn to be one of the ten top medical research breakthroughs of 2008. the cure alzheimer ’ s fund alzheimer ’ s genome project was the first large - scale study of the human genome performed in the world on the world ’ s largest collection of families affected by alzheimer ’ s disease. it was also the first genome - wide study for alzheimer ’ s in the world to discover novel alzheimer ’ s


large - scale study of the human genome performed in the world on the world ’ s largest collection of families affected by alzheimer ’ s disease. it was also the first genome - wide study for alzheimer ’ s in the world to discover novel alzheimer ’ s gene candidates with statistically significant results and confirmation in thousands of subject from families with a high incidence of alzheimer ’ s disease. the four new alzheimer ’ s genes reported by the alzheimer ’ s genome project in 2008 in the american journal of human genetics included : atxn1, cd33, gwa14q34, and dlgap1. atxn1 is known to carry mutations that cause another neurodegenerative disease called spinal cerebellar ataxia, a movement disorder. we found that when this gene is inactive, abeta levels increase dramatically leading to cognitive decline in mouse models. another gene, cd33, is perhaps the most interesting since it controls the brain ’ s innate immune system and inflammation in the brain. in a related study funded by the cure alzheimer ’ s fund, abeta was found to play a role in the brain ’ s innate immunity system. cd33 regulates the brain ’ s immune system and concurrently, levels of abeta. we are now developing cd33 as a drug target for alzheimer ’ s based on the genetic findings of the alzheimer ’ s genome project. it should be emphasized that without the cure alzheimer ’ s fund alzheimer ’ s genome project we would probably have never guessed that genes like atxn1 and cd33 might be involved with alzheimer ’ s. as part of the current activities of the alzheimer ’ s genome project, we are now testing these as well as over one hundred other new alzheimer ’ s candidate genes, coming out of our genome screen, to identify all of the dna variants and mutations that influence risk for alzheimer ’ s in the five thousand alzheimer ’ s families under study in the alzheimer ’ s genome project. we are specifically searching for dna mutations and variants in these genes that very strongly affect risk for onset of alzheimer ’ s. as new defects are found in these genes, we will not only increase our ability to reliably predict risk for alzheimer ’ s, but more importantly, garner new clues regarding the causes of alzheimer ’ s, and in doing so, gather new ideas and biological targets for novel drug discovery aimed at preventing, stopping and reversing alzheimer ’ s disease. in the parallel screen for new alzheimer ’ s genes conducted by the igap, the dna from tens of thousands of individual alzheimer ’


new ideas and biological targets for novel drug discovery aimed at preventing, stopping and reversing alzheimer ’ s disease. in the parallel screen for new alzheimer ’ s genes conducted by the igap, the dna from tens of thousands of individual alzheimer ’ s patients was compared to the dna of elderly subjects without alzheimer ’ s to find common variants that influence risk for alzheimer ’ s. in 2009, this led to the identification of four new alzheimer ’ s gene candidates called picalm, clu, cr1, and bin1. more recently in april 2011, igap found four more alzheimer ’ s genes called cd2ap, ms4a, epha1, and abca7. in addition, they found alzheimer ’ s risk to be influenced by the gene cd33, which was first reported by our alzheimer ’ s genome project in 2008. it should be noted for the sake of clarity that the igap had stated in their reports and press releases that they had increased the number of known late - onset genes from “ five to ten ”. however, these numbers only pertained to studies of individual alzheimer ’ s patients in the general population screened in igap, and not the family - based alzheimer ’ s genes reported by the alzheimer ’ s genome project. the igap considered the original five late - onset alzheimer ’ s genes to be apoe ( discovered as mentioned earlier at duke u. in the early 1990 ’ s ), picalm, clu, cr1, and bin1. they then considered the next five to be cd2ap, ms4a, epha1, abca7, and cd33. however, as mentioned above, cd33 had been already identified earlier in our alzheimer ’ s genome project in 2008, which was reported in the major scientific journal, the american journal of human genetics. in the igap announcement, they also overlooked the other three late onset genes, which had been discovered three years earlier in our alzheimer ’ s genome project. so, in fact, with the 8 new genes reported by igap and the 5 new genes reported by the agp, there have been 13 new late onset alzheimer ’ s genes discovered in the last 5 years, which, when added to the discovery of apoe yields 14 total late onset genes now reported in the scientific literature. to that total would be added the 3 early onset genes co - discovered by dr. tanzi and colleagues to reach a total of alzheimer ’ s genes discovered of 17. in addition, dr


14 total late onset genes now reported in the scientific literature. to that total would be added the 3 early onset genes co - discovered by dr. tanzi and colleagues to reach a total of alzheimer ’ s genes discovered of 17. in addition, dr. tanzi and agp have also identified over 100 unpublished alzheimer ’ s candidate genes that are currently being confirmed and validated for publication over the coming year. with regard to effects on risk, all of the new alzheimer ’ s gene candidates reported by the igap carry common dna variants that confer only tiny effects on risk. specifically, according to igap, the new genes contain common dna variants that are present in a large proportion ( 30 - 70 % ) of the general population, but only increase or decrease risk for a given individual by a mere 10 - 20 %. in contrast, the epsilon 4 variant in apoe, which is present in 20 % of the population, increases risk by 400 – 1200 %! and the adam gene just discovered by the agp increases risk for the individuals who have it by about 500 % with regard to the cd33 gene, which was identified as an alzheimer ’ s gene in both our alzheimer ’ s genome project in 2008 and the igap in 2011, each project actually discovered different alzheimer ’ s - associated dna variants in this gene. in our family - based alzheimer ’ s gene study, we originally reported a relatively uncommon variant in cd33 that increases risk for alzheimer ’ s in a subset ( < 100 ) of the 5000 alzheimer ’ s families we studied. in contrast, the igap discovered a very common variant in cd33, present in about 50 % of the population that conferred only marginal protection against alzheimer ’ s ( decreasing risk by only 11 % ). the fact that we now know of two different alzheimer ’ s - associated dna variants in the cd33 gene from multiple alzheimer ’ s samples increases the odds that cd33, is a bona fide alzheimer ’ s gene. as with all of the new genes found in the genome - wide association screens of the alzheimer ’ s genome project and igap, the next critical step is to identify all of the dna variants and mutations in these genes that increase or decrease risk for late - onset alzheimer ’ s disease. the cure alzheimer ’ s fund continues to support these efforts. we are currently screening over a 100 new alzheimer ’ s candidate genes found in the alzheimer ’ s genome project along with those found in the igap, to identify the all of dna variants and mutations in


’ s fund continues to support these efforts. we are currently screening over a 100 new alzheimer ’ s candidate genes found in the alzheimer ’ s genome project along with those found in the igap, to identify the all of dna variants and mutations in these genes that influence risk for alzheimer ’ s disease. elucidating the full deck of alzheimer ’ s - associated gene variants and mutations and understanding the interrelationships among them is is necessary to fully understand all of the biological processes that are affected in alzheimer ’ s disease. this will give us the best odds of reliably predicting the disease early in life ( with appropriate counseling and legal protection ). but, most importantly, the full set of alzheimer ’ s genes and the knowledge of how they biologically influence risk for disease will continue to provide the most critical information needed to guide the development of new and effective therapies aimed at preventing, stopping or reversing alzheimer ’ s disease. finally, it should be noted that whether a dna mutation in an alzheimer ’ s gene is rare and restricted to a small subset of families or more broadly observed in the general population, most believe that new drugs or therapies for alzheimer ’ s based on what is learned from that mutation will be useful in preventing and treating all cases of alzheimer ’ s. as noted above, in the alzheimer ’ s genome project, we place a high priority on family - based gene studies of alzheimer ’ s since there we have the highest odds of finding dna mutations with very strong effects on risk for alzheimer ’ s, akin to those of the early - onset familial alzheimer ’ s disease gene mutations discussed above. these mutations are most useful for driving successful drug discovery since their biological effects on the disease process are of much greater impact and more clear - cut in terms of mechanism by which they cause disease. they also lend themselves to more useful animal models for drug testing. ultimately, the full list of alzheimer ’ s genes emerging from the family - based genetic studies of the alzheimer ’ s genome project and the population - based studies of igap getting us closer and closer to someday being able to eradicate alzheimer ’ s disease using a strategy of early prediction and early intervention. alzheimer ’ s genes identified to date ( total of 17 ) : early - onset familial alzheimer ’ s disease genes ( onset < age 60 ) : late onset genes ( onset > age 60 ) : adam 10 ( 2008 ) * * * co - discovered in tanzi laboratory * * discovered by the cure alzheimer ’ fund alzheimer


salaam and greetings of peace : “ i was a hidden treasure and wanted to be known. ” this is the beginning of probably the most famous hadith qudsi, or extra - qur ’ anic word of god, hadits - e kanz - e makf. its more correct translation might be as follows : “ i was a treasure unknown then i desired to be known so i created a creation to which i made myself known ; then they knew me. ” tradition says that it is the divine response to the prophet david ’ s query, when he asked about the purpose of creation. these are not the words of the prophet muhammad ( saw ), and no chain of transmission is known for this hadith, whether sound or weak, as ibn taymiyya and others state. but the meaning is true and is inferred from q51 : 56 : “ i created the jinn and humankind only that they may worship me! ” meaning “ that they may know me ” as the prophet ’ s ( saw ) cousin ibn abbas explained it. since human beings were created in his image ( as self - aware consciousnesses evolved in a physical body ), all human beings are also hidden treasures to each other. and all have this deep desire to be known. so, all of us create our own little worlds, each according to his or her capabilities of love, talents, and gifts. of course it is a limited and ephemeral world, not comparable with almighty allah ’ s creation, but part of our nature nonetheless : ) - edited and adapted from a post on br. fahad ’ s freelance blog.


word origin & history c. 1300, from o. fr. as " one at dice, " from l. as ( gen. assis ) " a unit, " from the name of a small roman coin, perhaps originally etruscan and related to gk. eis " one. " it meant the side of the die with only one mark before it meant the playing card. since this was the lowest roll at dice, ace was used metaphorically in m. e. for " bad luck ; " but as the ace is often the highest playing card, the extended senses based on " excellence, good quality " arose 18c. as card - playing became popular. meaning " outstanding pilot " dates from 1917 ( technically, in wwi aviators ' jargon, one who has brought down 10 enemy planes, though originally in ref. to 5 shot down ), from fr. l ' ace ( 1915 ), which, according to bruce robertson ( ed. ) " air aces of the 1914 - 1918 war " was used in prewar fr. sporting publications for " top of the deck " boxers, cyclists, etc. sports meaning of " point scored " ( 1819 ) led to that of " unreturnable serve " ( 1889 ). the verb meaning " to score " ( in sports ) is first attested 1923, and led to the extended student slang sense of " get high marks " ( 1959 ). ace in the hole " concealed advantage " is attested from 1915.


the most common biomechanical explanation for the chin is that it acts as a buttress against masticatory stress. however, recent evidence suggests that this hypothesis is unlikely [... ] more recently ichim et al. ( 2007 ) have suggested that speech production is associated with mechanical stresses acting on the mandibular symphysis due to tongue and orofacial muscle activity. thus, they argue that the chin is an adaptive response to resist stresses caused by oblique contractions of the genioglossus muscles during speech. computer simulations provide results that are consistent with the orofacial stress hypothesis ( ichim et al., 2007 ), but this hypothesis has yet to be fully tested. a less well - established adaptive hypothesis, but one worth considering, is that chin shape variation is a consequence of sexual selection ( e. g., hershkovitz, 1970 ). psychological studies of facial attractiveness suggest that a ‘ ‘ broad chin ’ ’ in males is correlated with social dominance, which some females may prefer in a potential mate our study provides the first quantitative evidence of sexual dimorphism in chin shape among a geographically diverse sample of modern humans. the presence of sexual dimorphism appears to refute mechanical explanations of the chin that preclude sexual dimorphism, such as the masticatory and orofacial stress hypotheses ( e. g. daegling, 1993 ; ichim et al., 2007 ). while the presence of sexual dimorphism is consistent with the hypothesis that sexual selection influences variation in chin shape, the degree of overlap between males and females requires further explanation. it is safe to say that the male chin pales in comparison to the more exaggerated ornaments found in other animals, such as the large and colorful tail of the peacock ( pavo cristatus ) ( petrie, 1991 ). the modest contrasts in male and female chin shape indicated by our data ( see fig. 4 ) do not seem to fit a runaway process of selection driven by female choice ( fisher, 1958 ). we suggest there are at least two possible explanations for this pattern. one hypothesis for why male chin shape is not more exaggerated is that some females may avoid mating with extremely aggressive males second, the large amount of overlap in male and female chin shape may be due to regional differences inchin shape dimorphism ( see fig. 6 ). regional differencesin the level of dimorphism would tend to inflate within - sex variance in the


of overlap in male and female chin shape may be due to regional differences inchin shape dimorphism ( see fig. 6 ). regional differencesin the level of dimorphism would tend to inflate within - sex variance in the pooled human sample, thereby reducingthe probability of finding between - sex differences. sexual dimorphism in chin shape : implications for adaptive hypotheses zaneta m. thayer, seth d. dobson the chin, or mentum osseum, is one of the most distinctive anatomical traits of modern humans. a variety of hypotheses for the adaptive value of the chin have been proposed, ranging from mechanical stress resistance to sexual selection via mate choice. while the sexual selection hypothesis predicts dimorphism in chin shape, most biomechanical hypotheses preclude it. therefore determining the presence or absence of significant sexual dimorphism in chin shape provides a useful method for differentiating between various adaptive hypotheses ; however, this has yet to be done due to a lack of quantitative data on chin shape. the goals of this study are therefore : ( 1 ) to introduce a new method for quantifying chin shape and ( 2 ) to determine the presence or absence of sexual dimorphism in chin shape in a diverse sample of modern humans. samples were drawn from recent human skeletal collections representing nine geographic regions. outlines of mentum osseum contours were quantified using elliptical fourier function analysis ( effa ). fourier coefficients were analyzed using principal components analysis ( pca ). sexual dimorphism in chin shape was assessed using pc loadings in the pooled geographic sample, and statistically significant differences were found. these findings provide the first quantitative, morphologically based evidence in support of adaptive hypotheses that predict dimorphism in chin shape, including the sexual selection hypothesis.


has long alarmed critics on two counts. its methods seem outlandish — taking genes from spiders and putting them in goats, or borrowing insect resistance from soil bacteria and transferring it into corn — and it has also seemed to benefit a handful of agribusiness giants armed with patents, at the expense of public interest. by contrast, molecular breeding is merely a much faster and more efficient way of doing what nature and farmers have always done, by natural selection and artificial selection respectively : it takes existing genes that happen to be advantageous in a given situation and increases their frequency in a population. in the past, farmers and breeders did it by walking around their fields and looking at individual plants or animals that seemed to have desirable traits, like greater productivity, or resistance to a particular disease. then they went to work cross - breeding to see if they could tease out that trait and get it to appear reliably in subsequent generations. it could take decades, and success at breeding in one trait often meant bringing along some deleterious fellow traveler, or inadvertently breeding out some other essential trait. cornell university photography photo / lindsay france. a cornell researcher bags rice plant panicles to prevent cross pollination. molecular breeding enables growers to get the improvements they want far more precisely, by zeroing in on the genes responsible for a given trait. if genetic engineering is a tool for “ bludgeoning the genome, ” as cornell university researcher susan mccouch puts it, what molecular breeding does instead is to “ open a window ” into how the genome works, enabling researchers to collaborate with it. sequencing the entire genome of a species is the first step, and this process, which cost millions of dollars a decade ago, is down now to the low thousands. next, researchers sort out which genes are responsible for a given function, the bottleneck in the process so far, though mccouch says it becomes faster and cheaper with each new species that gets sequenced, because nature tends to employ the same mechanisms from one species to another. finally, researchers map out markers — bits of genetic material that are linked to those genes, to flag whether or not the desired genes are present in a given individual. “ it ’ s not uncommon for a company to want to combine 10 or 20 traits in a variety, ” says harry klee, a specialist in tomato breeding at the university of florida in gainesville. in the past, to get the perfect combination of traits using conventional methods, “ you would have to put out millions of plants in the field. ”


laboratory in a developing country “ is on the order of $ 100, 000 instead of millions. ” thus genetic methods have the potential to make breeding more local, more democratic, and aimed at enhancing biological and agricultural diversity, instead of stripping it away. the green revolution of the 1960s largely achieved its huge leap in productivity by streamlining plants and farming methods to work across hundreds of millions of hectares, regardless of local tastes or environments. it re - designed plants for high - input industrial agriculture, so they could respond to an intensive regimen of fertilizers, water, and pesticides, regardless of the environment. but the molecular green revolution will work, says mccouch, by fine - tuning crops to perform in a particular environment, minus additional input. farmers are backing off growing rice in water, for instance, “ because they can ’ t afford the water, there isn ’ t enough water in the world. ” molecular breeding will also build crops, mccouch says, to “ respond constructively to changes in the environment that we cannot predict, ” like flooding and drought. “ a really big challenge in discovery genetics right now, ” she says, “ is to understand how plants sense environments : how do they count number of days? how do they count the number hours of daylight? how do they know when to grow and when to hold their breath if they ’ re underwater? once we make the discovery of which genes allow the more from yale e360 can ‘ climate - smart ’ agriculture help africa and the planet? an idea promoted at the recent durban talks is “ climate - smart agriculture, ” which could make crops less vulnerable to heat and drought and turn depleted soils into carbon sinks. the world bank and african leaders back this approach, fred pearce writes, but some critics are skeptical that it will benefit small - scale african farmers. read more plants to sense these things, then we can do marker - assisted selection ” and move those genes into local varieties that already have the other traits farmers want. the potential for molecular breeding to help farmers adapt to a rapidly changing world became evident last month when nature biotechnology published an article about rice breeding in japan. geneticists at the iwate biotechnology research center 130 miles north of fukushima were already using molecular breeding to improve the cold - tolerant rice variety preferred by farmers there, when last year ’ s earthquake hit. the subsequent tsunami left a huge swath of rice paddies — 58, 000 acres, representing almost a fifth of the nation ’ s rice supply — contaminated with too much salt


teachers replaced by holograms. sounds like something from a science fiction movie or t. v show. what would happen if holographic teachers could be sent into you? the reality is, the technology exists right now to bring live holograms from one location and beam it into any location in the world. thanks to teaching college math blog for sharing. musion describes it as, “ a high definition holographic video projection system allowing spectacular three - dimensional moving images to appear within a live stage setting. live or virtual stage presenters can appear alongside and interact with virtual images of humans or animated characters … ” “ the musion® eyeliner™ system utilises the current generation of high - definition technology and integrates it into a visual ecosystem that enables hd media to fully realise its potential within the blossoming digital ecosystem. eyeliner™ requires only a single camera shoot, single projector playback and does not require any special audience props, such as the use of 3d glasses. yet, the audience viewing eyeliner™ are always left awestruck by the startling realism of our 3d virtual shows. when using musion® eyeliner™, your imagination is the only limit. ” awestruck is right. so, what are the implications and applications of this technology for education? teachers can now teach from any location on the globe and beam themselves into any other location on the globe with this technology. experts on different subject matter could be made available for lectures right in the classroom, interacting live with the students. teachers would be able to enter a classroom and interact with students, teachers, and administrators from across, campus, across town, or across the globe. distance is dead! tear down these four walls! what are the applications for this technology in education? in what ways could / will this technology impact education in the future? how might we begin to prepare our schools and districts for such a change? what changes in thinking might have to occur for this technology to be utilized effectively? in what ways will the technology impact the infrastructure of the school? ( i. e. ; telepresence labs, classroom, boardrooms, etc. ) how can this technology be leveraged to provide greater learning opportunities for our students? in what ways might parents and community react to such technology being utilized in education? what sorts of systems, vendors, and educational business might arise out the use of such a technology? at what point would this technology become a “ must have ” rather than a novel idea?


energy efficiency and renewable energy projects win 12 r & d 100 awards for 2012 researchers funded by the energy department ' s office of energy efficiency and renewable energy ( eere ) have won 12 of the 100 awards given out this year by r & d magazine for the most outstanding technology developments with promising commercial potential. the energy department announced last week that it received a total of 36 awards across all of its research and development programs, including eere. the coveted awards — now in their 50th year — are presented annually in recognition of exceptional new products, processes, materials, or software that were developed throughout the world and introduced into the market the previous year. the r & d 100 awards highlight some of the successes achieved by the department ' s national laboratories in technology transfer, moving basic research results into commercial products. since 1962, when r & d magazine ' s annual competition began, the department ' s national laboratories have been the recipient of over 800 r & d 100 awards in areas such as energy, national security, and basic scientific applications. r & d 100 awards are selected by an independent panel of judges based on the technical significance, uniqueness, and usefulness of projects and technologies from across industry, government and academia. view the complete list of r & d 100 awards. a list of eere ' s winning program areas, technologies, and national laboratory partners is below : ultra - fast and large - scale boriding ( argonne national laboratory ) : this green, efficient industrial - scale boriding process can drastically reduce costs, increase productivity, and improve the performance and reliability of machine components, such as engine tappets, agricultural knife guards, pump seals, and valves. this new process increases surface hardness of these components by factors of three to ten. low - cost, lightweight robotic hand based on additive manufacturing ( oak ridge national laboratory ) : this technology costs approximately 10 times less than similar devices while commanding 10 times more power than other electric systems. composed of only 46 parts, this simplified, lightweight robotic hand can be manufactured and assembled within 40 hours. it has robotics, prosthetics, remote handling and biomedical and surgical applications. asymmetric rolling mill, co - developed with fata hunter inc. ( oak ridge national laboratory ) : the asymmetric rolling mill provides a way to efficiently process sheet and plate materials, accelerating the production and availability of low - cost magnesium a lightweight metal. commercial use of magnesium has been limited because of the high cost associated with its multistep production process. this technology is likely to reduce processing steps,


process sheet and plate materials, accelerating the production and availability of low - cost magnesium a lightweight metal. commercial use of magnesium has been limited because of the high cost associated with its multistep production process. this technology is likely to reduce processing steps, thereby reducing the cost of finished magnesium components and allowing for the replacement of aluminum with magnesium in many commercial goods. the widespread use of magnesium instead of aluminum in cars would reduce vehicle weight and lead to improvements in transportation by improving fuel economy. low frequency rf plasma source ( lfrf - 501 ), co - developed with structured materials industries, inc. ( oak ridge national laboratory ) : lfrf - 501 is a low - cost plasma generator for research, development and production of nanometer scale materials at lower temperatures, faster rates and with enhanced properties. these materials are enabling new developments in many technologies, including microelectronics, renewable energy, sensors and leds. advanced manufacturing and geothermal : nanoshield coatings ( oak ridge national laboratory ) : nanoshield is a protective coating that can extend the life of costly cutting and manufacturing tools by more than 20 %, potentially saving millions of dollars over the course of a project. it is created by laser fusing a unique iron - based powder to any type of steel, which forms a strong metallurgical bond that provides wear resistance between two and 10 times greater than conventional coatings. nanoshield was designed to protect high - wear tools used for tunnel boring and construction, but its potential for navy applications and geothermal drilling tools also is being explored. desiccant - enhanced evaporative air - conditioning ( national renewable energy laboratory ) : developed with ail research and synapse product development llc : devap systems cool commercial buildings at a small fraction of the energy use of a traditional cooler, provides superior comfort in any climate, releases far less carbon dioxide, and could cut costly peak electricity demand by 80 %. the sandia cooler ( sandia national laboratories ) : also known as the " air bearing heat exchanger, " this technology will significantly reduce the energy needed to cool the processor chips in data centers and large - scale computing environments. the sandia cooler also offers benefits in other applications where thermal management and energy efficiency are important, particularly heating, ventilation and air - conditioning ( hvac ). hydrogen and fuel platinum monolayer electrocatalysts for fuel cell cathodes ( brookhaven national laboratory ) : platinum is the most efficient electrocatalyst for fuel cells, but platinum - based catalysts


air - conditioning ( hvac ). hydrogen and fuel platinum monolayer electrocatalysts for fuel cell cathodes ( brookhaven national laboratory ) : platinum is the most efficient electrocatalyst for fuel cells, but platinum - based catalysts are expensive, unstable, and have low durability. the new electrocatalysts have high activity, stability, and durability, while containing only about one - tenth the platinum of conventional catalysts used in fuel cells, significantly reducing overall costs. sj3 solar cell ( national renewable energy laboratory ) : co - developed with solar junction, the cell achieves a world - record conversion efficiency of 43. 5 % with potential to reach 50 %. like a three - blade safety razor that uses all its blades for a closer shave, the three - layered sj3 cell captures different light frequencies, ensuring the best conversion of photons to electrons. the 43. 5 % efficiency occurs under lens - focused light having 418 times the intensity of the sun. microsystems enabled photovoltaics ( sandia national laboratories ) : tiny, glitter - sized pv cells are created using microdesign and microfabrication techniques, released into a solution and " printed " onto a low - cost substrate. the technology has potential applications in buildings, houses, clothing, portable electronics, vehicles and other contoured structures. high - energy concentration - gradient cathode material for plug - in hybrids and all - electric vehicles ( argonne national laboratory ) : argonne and several partners have developed a novel high - energy and high - power cathode material for use in lithium ion ( li - ion ) batteries especially suited for plug - in hybrids and all - electric vehicles. it provides much higher energy and longer life than any other li - ion cathode material, and as such is also ideal for batteries in hybrid vehicles and a wide range of consumer electronics applications. graphene nanostructures for lithium batteries, co - developed with vorbeck materials corp. of jessup md. and princeton university ( pacific northwest national laboratory ) : small quantities of graphene — ultra - thin sheets of carbon atoms — can dramatically improve the performance and power of lithium - ion batteries. graphene nanostructures could lead to the development of batteries that last longer and recharge quickly, drastically reducing the time it takes to charge a smartphone to as little as ten minutes and charging an electric vehicle in just a few hours. the energy department ' s office of energy efficiency and


center pivot irrigation | | this article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. ( june 2012 ) | center - pivot irrigation ( sometimes called central pivot irrigation ), also called circle irrigation, is a method of crop irrigation in which equipment rotates around a pivot and crops are watered with sprinklers. a circular area centered on the pivot is irrigated, often creating a circular pattern in crops when viewed from above ( sometimes referred to as crop circles ). most center pivots were initially water - powered, and today most are propelled by electric motors. center pivot irrigation is a form of overhead sprinkler irrigation consisting of several segments of pipe ( usually galvanized steel or aluminum ) joined together and supported by trusses, mounted on wheeled towers with sprinklers positioned along its length. the machine moves in a circular pattern and is fed with water from the pivot point at the center of the circle. the outside set of wheels sets the master pace for the rotation ( typically once every three days ). the inner sets of wheels are mounted at hubs between two segments and use angle sensors to detect when the bend at the joint exceeds a certain threshold, and thus, the wheels should be rotated to keep the segments aligned. center pivots are typically less than 1600 feet ( 500 meters ) in length ( circle radius ) with the most common size being the standard 1 / 4 mile ( 400 m ) machine. to achieve uniform application, center pivots require an even emitter flow rate across the radius of the machine. since the outer - most spans ( or towers ) travel farther in a given time period than the innermost spans, nozzle sizes are smallest at the inner spans and increase with distance from the pivot point. aerial views show fields of circles created by the watery tracings of " quarter - or half - mile of the center - pivot irrigation pipe, " created by centor pivot irrigators which use " hundreds and sometimes thousands of gallons a minute. " most center pivot systems now have drops hanging from a u - shaped pipe called a gooseneck attached at the top of the pipe [ clarification needed ] with sprinkler heads that are positioned a few feet ( at most ) above the crop, thus limiting evaporative losses and wind drift. there are many different nozzle configurations available including static plate, moving plate and part circle. pressure regulators are typically installed upstream of each no


are positioned a few feet ( at most ) above the crop, thus limiting evaporative losses and wind drift. there are many different nozzle configurations available including static plate, moving plate and part circle. pressure regulators are typically installed upstream of each nozzle to ensure each is operating at the correct design pressure. drops can also be used with drag hoses or bubblers that deposit the water directly on the ground between crops. this type of system is known as lepa ( low energy precision application ) and is often associated with the construction of small dams along the furrow length ( termed furrow diking / dyking ). crops may be planted in straight rows or are sometimes planted in circles to conform to the travel of the irrigation system originally, most center pivots were water - powered. these were replaced by hydraulic systems and electric motor - driven systems. most systems today are driven by an electric motor mounted at each tower. for a center pivot to be used, the terrain needs to be reasonably flat ; but one major advantage of center pivots over alternative systems is the ability to function in undulating country. this advantage has resulted in increased irrigated acreage and water use in some areas. the system is in use, for example, in parts of the united states, australia, new zealand, brazil and also in desert areas such as the sahara and the middle east. the center - pivot irrigation system is considered to be a highly efficient system which helps conserve water. it is used by arrowhead mills, the largest natural foods wholesaler in the united states, founded by organic farmer and activist frank ford from the texas panhandle, for example. however, by 2013 it was shown that as the water consumption efficiency of the center - pivot irrigator improved over the years, farmers planted more intensively, irrigated more land, and grew thirstier crops. using treated, recycled sources of water in agriculture is one approach to safeguarding the future of the aquifer. another method of reducing the amount of water use is changing to crops that require less water, such as sunflowers. center pivot irrigation typically uses less water compared to many surface irrigation and furrow irrigation techniques, which reduces the expenditure of and conserves water. it also helps to reduce labor costs compared to some ground irrigation techniques, which are often more labor intensive. some ground irrigation techniques involve the digging of channels on the land for the water to flow, whereas the use of center - pivot irrigation can reduce the amount


system modification to provide variable water application depths. - gray, ellen ( may 3, 2012 ). " texas crop circles from space ". nasa. retrieved june 6, 2012. - morgan, robert ( 1993 ). water and the land. cathedral city, ca : adams publishing corp. pp. 35 – 36. isbn 0935030026. - alfred, randy ( july 22, 2008 ). " july 22, 1952 : genuine crop - circle maker patented ". wired magazine. retrieved june 6, 2012. - " growing rice where it has never grown before : a missouri research program may help better feed an increasingly hungry world ". college of agriculture, food and natural resources, university of missouri. july 3, 2008. retrieved june 6, 2012. - wines, michael ( 19 may 2013 ). " wells dry, fertile plains turn to dust ". new york times. - " about arrowhead mills ". arrowhead mills. - jeremy p. meyer, " farmers ' tower of power ", denver post, 2 october 2006. last accessed october 24, 2006 - " shrinking aquifer looms as big problem for farms ". nancy cole, arkansas democrat - gazette. september 24, 2006. last accessed october 24, 2006. - column - mansel phillips : " too many thirsty industries, not nearly enough water ". mansel phillips, amarillo globe news. october 4, 2006. last accessed october 24, 2006. - " another sign of long - term water worries ", lincoln star journal, october 8, 2006. last accessed november 20, 2012 - daily telegraph ( uk ) saturday magazine issue no 48, 446 ( dated 5 march 2011 ) pp 26 - 32 " high and dry " report by charles lawrence - morris, john miller ( 2003 ). sherry l. smith, ed. the future of the southern plains. norman, oklahoma : university of oklahoma press. p. 275. isbn 0806137355. - rainwater, ken ( 1 january 2004 ). " book review : the future of the southern plains ". great plains quarterly great plains studies ( lincoln, nebraska : center for great plains quarterly great plains studies, university of nebraska ). - darton, n. h. 1898. preliminary report on the geology and water resources of nebraska west of the one hundred and third meridian. in : walcott, c. d. ( ed ), nineteenth annual report of the united states geological survey, 1897 - 1898, part iv, pp. 719 - 78