Article on nip, a symbiotic Medicago truncatula mutant that forms root nodules with aberrant infection threads and plant defense-like response.

Article discussing a study on how fat stereotypes influence beliefs about physical education.

Article discussing how WD40 repeat protein from Medicago truncatula is necessary for tissue-specific anthocyanin and proanthocyanidin biosynthesis but not for trichome development.

Article on LIN, a Medicago truncatula gene required for nodule differentiation and persistence of rhizobial infections.

The relationship between charge transport and mechanical properties of alkanethiol self-assembled monolayers (SAM) on Au(111) films has been investigated using an atomic force microscope with a conductive tip. Molecular tilts induced by the pressure applied by the tip cause stepwise increases in film conductivity. A decay constant {beta} = 0.57 {+-} 0.03 {angstrom}{sup -1} was found for the current passing through the film as a function of tip-substrate separation due to this molecular tilt. This is significantly smaller than the value of {approx} 1 {angstrom}{sup -1} found when the separation is changed by changing the length of the alkanethiol molecules. Calculations indicate that for isolated dithiol molecules S-bonded to hollow sites, the junction conductance does not vary significantly as a function of molecular tilt. The impact of S-Au bonding on SAM conductance is discussed.

Hydrologic analyses are commonly based on a single conceptual-mathematical model. Yet hydrologic environments are open and complex, rendering them prone to multiple interpretations and mathematical descriptions. Considering conceptual model uncertainty is a critical process in hydrologic uncertainty assessment. This study assesses recharge and geologic model uncertainty for the Climax mine area of the Nevada Test Site, Nevada. Five alternative recharge models have been independently developed for Nevada and the Death Valley area of California. These models are (1) the Maxey-Eakin model, (2 and 3) a distributed parameter watershed model with and without a runon-runoff component, and (4 and 5) a chloride mass-balance model with two zero-recharge masks, one for alluvium and one for both alluvium and elevation. Similarly, five geological models have been developed based on different interpretations of available geologic information. One of them was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey for the Death Valley Regional Flow System (DVRFS) model; the other four were developed by Bechtel Nevada for the Yucca Flat Corrective Action Unit (CAU). The Climax mine area is in the northern part of the Yucca Flat CAU, which is within the DVRFS. A total of 25 conceptual models are thus formulated based on the five recharge …

The market for photovoltaics in the United States remains small relative to the nation's solar resource potential. Nonetheless, annual grid-connected PV installations have grown from just 4 MW in 2000 to over 100 MW in 2006, fast enough to the catch the attention of the global solar industry. The state of California deserves much of the credit for this growth. The State's historical rebate programs resulted in roughly 75% of the nation's grid-connected PV additions from 2000 through 2006 being located in California, and the $3 billion California Solar Initiative will ensure that the State remains a mainstay of the US solar industry for years to come. But California is not the only market for solar in the US; other states have recently developed policies that may rival those of the western state in terms of future growth potential. In particular, 25 states, as well as Washington, D.C., have established renewables portfolio standards (RPS), sometimes called quota systems in Europe, requiring electricity suppliers in those states to source a minimum portion of their need from renewable electricity. (Because a national RPS is not yet in place, my focus here is on state policies). Under many of these state policies, solar …

A process model of syngas production using high temperature electrolysis and biomass gasification is presented. Process heat from the biomass gasifier is used to improve the hydrogen production efficiency of the steam electrolysis process. Hydrogen from electrolysis allows a high utilization of the biomass carbon for syngas production. Based on the gasifier temperature, 94% to 95% of the carbon in the biomass becomes carbon monoxide in the syngas (carbon dioxide and hydrogen). Assuming the thermal efficiency of the power cycle for electricity generation is 50%, (as expected from GEN IV nuclear reactors), the syngas production efficiency ranges from 70% to 73% as the gasifier temperature decreases from 1900 K to 1500 K.

A detailed chemical kinetic modeling approach is used to examine the phenomenon of suppression of sooting in diesel engines by addition of oxygenated hydrocarbon species to the fuel. This suppression, which has been observed experimentally for a few years, is explained kinetically as a reduction in concentrations of soot precursors present in the hot products of a fuel-rich diesel ignition zone when oxygenates are included. Oxygenates decrease the overall equivalence ratio of the igniting mixture, producing higher ignition temperatures and more radical species to consume more soot precursor species, leading to lower soot production. The kinetic model is also used to show how different oxygenates, ester structures in particular, can have different soot-suppression efficiencies due to differences in molecular structure of the oxygenated species.

We explore multi-component dark matter models where the dark sector consists of multiple stable states with different mass scales, and dark forces coupling these states further enrich the dynamics. The multi-component nature of the dark matter naturally arises in supersymmetric models, where both R parity and an additional symmetry, such as a Z{sub 2}, is preserved. We focus on a particular model where the heavier component of dark matter carries lepton number and annihilates mostly to leptons. The heavier component, which is essentially a sterile neutrino, naturally explains the PAMELA, ATIC and synchrotron signals, without an excess in antiprotons which typically mars other models of weak scale dark matter. The lighter component, which may have a mass from a GeV to a TeV, may explain the DAMA signal, and may be visible in low threshold runs of CDMS and XENON, which search for light dark matter.

Long-range as well as head-on beam-beam effects are expected to limit the LHC performance with design parameters. They are also important consideration for the LHC upgrades. To mitigate long-range effects current carrying wires parallel to the beam were proposed. Two such wires are installed in RHIC where they allow studying the effect of strong long-range beam-beam effects, as well as the compensation of a single long-range interaction. The tests provide benchmark data for simulations and analytical treatments. To reduce the head-on beam-beam effect electron lenses were proposed for both RIDC and the LHC. We present the experimental long-range beam-beam program at RHIC and report on head-on compensations studies based on simulations.

The Pierre Auger Observatory is designed to study cosmic rays with energies greater than 10{sup 19} eV. Two sites are envisaged for the observatory, one in each hemisphere, for complete sky coverage. The southern site of the Auger Observatory, now approaching completion in Mendoza, Argentina, features an array of 1600 water-Cherenkov surface detector stations covering 3000 km{sup 2}, together with 24 fluorescence telescopes to record the air shower cascades produced by these particles. The two complementary detector techniques together with the large collecting area form a powerful instrument for these studies. Although construction is not yet complete, the Auger Observatory has been taking data stably since January 2004 and the first physics results are being published. In this paper we describe the design features and technical characteristics of the surface detector stations of the Pierre Auger Observatory.

BackgroundIncreasing energy costs and environmental concerns have motivated engineering microbes for the production of ?second generation? biofuels that have better properties than ethanol.Results& ConclusionsSaccharomyces cerevisiae was engineered with an n-butanol biosynthetic pathway, in which isozymes from a number of different organisms (S. cerevisiae, Escherichia coli, Clostridium beijerinckii, and Ralstonia eutropha) were substituted for the Clostridial enzymes and their effect on n-butanol production was compared. By choosing the appropriate isozymes, we were able to improve production of n-butanol ten-fold to 2.5 mg/L. The most productive strains harbored the C. beijerinckii 3-hydroxybutyryl-CoA dehydrogenase, which uses NADH as a co-factor, rather than the R. eutropha isozyme, which uses NADPH, and the acetoacetyl-CoA transferase from S. cerevisiae or E. coli rather than that from R. eutropha. Surprisingly, expression of the genes encoding the butyryl-CoA dehydrogenase from C. beijerinckii (bcd and etfAB) did not improve butanol production significantly as previously reported in E. coli. Using metabolite analysis, we were able to determine which steps in the n-butanol biosynthetic pathway were the most problematic and ripe for future improvement.

Dynamic mechanical analysis has been used to characterize the effects of tritium gas (initially 1 atm. pressure, ambient temperature) exposure over times up to 2.3 years on several thermoplastics-ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMW-PE), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), and Vespel{reg_sign} polyimide, and on several formulations of elastomers based on ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM). Tritium exposure stiffened the elastic modulus of UHMW-PE up to about 1 year and then softened it, and reduced the viscous response monotonically with time. PTFE initially stiffened, however the samples became too weak to handle after nine months exposure. The dynamic properties of Vespel{reg_sign} were not affected. The glass transition temperature of the EPDM formulations increased approximately 4 C. following three months tritium exposure.

The {tau}{sup -} {yields} {pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -}{nu}{sub {tau}} and {tau}{sup -} {yields} {pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup +}{eta}{nu}{sub {tau}} decays have been studied with the BABAR detector. Preliminary branching fractions on the two modes are presented. The {tau}{sup -} {yields} {pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup +}{eta}{nu}{sub {tau}} mode is found to have a large contribution from the {tau}{sup -} {yields} {omega}{pi}{sup -}{nu}{sub {tau}} decay. The {tau}{sup -} {yields} {pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup +}{eta}{nu}{sub {tau}} decay is studied using the {eta} {yields} {gamma}{gamma} mode and the {tau}{sup -} f{sub 1}(1285){pi}{sup -}{nu}{sub {tau}} decay is seen to be the primary source of these decays. A 90% confidence level upper limit is placed on the {tau}{sup -} {yields} {eta}{prime}(958){pi}{sup -}{nu}{sub {tau}} decay which proceeds through a second-class current and is expected to be forbidden in the limit of perfect isospin symmetry.

Chemical and thermal performance of crystalline silicotitanate (CST) and resorcinol-formaldehyde (RF) ion exchange media were predicted for column configurations designed for installation in high level waste tanks and intended for cesium removal from radioactive waste supernates. Modeling predictions for the processing of a known Savannah River Site tank waste composition were generated. In a two column configuration under presumed nominal operating conditions (432 gallon packed bed, 10 gpm liquid flow, 25 C, 45 nCi/g average breakthrough limit) with lead/lag column rotation between processing cycles, approximately two cycles were predicted to treat 1,000,000 gallons of radioactive waste with CST as compared to three cycles predicted for RF. However, this processing mode was shown to be highly unfavorable for RF due to the fact that the lead column is unnecessarily exposed to large radiation doses during movement of the cesium mass transfer zone into the lag column. Thermal modeling calculations indicated that maximum temperatures within stagnant, packed CST and RF columns containing the highest anticipated cesium loading and no active cooling will reach 128 and 78 C, respectively, within 6 days. Active cooling maintains the cesium-saturated CST and RF columns below 88 and 41 C, respectively, under stagnant flow conditions.

We present a measurement of the correlated b{bar b} production cross section. The data used in this analysis were taken with the upgraded CDF detector (CDF II) at the Fermilab Tevatron collider, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 742 pb{sup -1}. We utilize muon pairs with invariant mass 5 {le} m{sub {mu}{mu}} {le} 80 GeV/c{sup 2} produced by b{bar b} double semileptonic decays. For muons with p{sub T} {ge} 3 GeV/c and |{eta}| {le} 0.7, that are produced by b and {bar b} quarks with p{sub T} {ge} 2 GeV/c and |y| {le} 1.3, we measure {sigma}{sub b{yields}{mu},{bar b}{yields}{mu}} = 1549 {+-} 133 pb. We compare this result with theoretical predictions and previous measurements. We also report the measurement of {sigma}{sub c{yields}{mu},{bar c}{yields}{mu}}, a by-product of the study of the background to b{bar b} production.

Preliminary analysis of test beam data from strip scintillator planes read-out with multi-anode PMTs (MAPMTs) is presented along with a description of the independent systematic measurements of relative response for all channels of several MAPMTs used in the tests. Test beam measurements for the response of a scintillator strip, read out with Si photo-sensors, is also described.

The effect of an artificially-enhanced rough surface on the secondary electron emission yield (SEY) was investigated both theoretically and experimentally. Analytical studies on triangular and rectangular grooved surfaces show the connection between the characteristic parameters of a given geometry to the SEY reduction. The effect of a strong magnetic field is also discussed. SEY of grooved samples have been measured and the results agree with Monte-Carlo simulations.

Despite some notable successes cancer remains, for the most part, a seemingly intractable problem. There is, however, a growing appreciation that targeting the tumor epithelium in isolation is not sufficient as there is an intricate mutually sustaining synergy between the tumor epithelial cells and their surrounding stroma. As the details of this dialogue emerge, new therapeutic targets have been proposed. The FDA has already approved drugs targeting microenvironmental components such as VEGF and aromatase and many more agents are in the pipeline. In this article, we describe some of the 'druggable' targets and processes within the tumor microenvironment and review the approaches being taken to disrupt these interactions.

The 200-ZP-1 Groundwater Operable Unit (OU) is one of two groundwater OUs located within the 200 West groundwater aggregate area of the Hanford Site. The primary risk-driving contaminants within the 200-ZP-1 OU include carbon tetrachloride and technetium-99 (Tc-99). A pump-and-treat system for this OU was initially installed in 1995 to control the 0.002 kg/m{sup 3} (2000 {micro}g/L) contour of the carbon tetrachloride plume. Carbon tetrachloride is removed from groundwater with the assistance of an air-stripping tower. Ten extraction wells and three injection wells operate at a combined rate of approximately 0.017m{sup 3}/s (17.03 L/s). In 2005, groundwater from two of the extraction wells (299-W15-765 and 299-W15-44) began to show concentrations greater than twice the maximum contaminant level (MCL) of Tc-99 (33,309 beq/m{sup 3} or 900 pCi/L). The Tc-99 groundwater concentrations from all ten of the extraction wells when mixed were more than one-half of the MCL and were slowly increasing. If concentrations continued to rise and the water remained untreated for Tc-99, there was concern that the water re-injected into the aquifer could exceed the MCL standard. Multiple treatment technologies were reviewed for selectively removing Tc-99 from the groundwater. Of the treatment technologies, only ion exchange was determined to be …

We have searched for strangelets in a triggered sample of 61 million central (top 4percent) Au+Au collisions at sqrt sNN = 200 GeV near beam rapidities at the STAR solenoidal tracker detector at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. We have sensitivity to metastable strangelets with lifetimes of order>_0.1 ns, in contrast to limits over ten times longer in BNL Alternating Gradient Synchrotron (AGS) studies and longer still at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS). Upper limits of a few 10-6 to 10-7 per central Au+Au collision are set for strangelets with mass>~;;30 GeV/c2.

Nonlinear optics plays a central role in the advancement of optical science and laser-based technologies. We report on the confinement of the nonlinear interaction of light with matter to a single wave cycle and demonstrate its utility for time-resolved and strong-field science. The electric field of 3.3-femtosecond, 0.72-micron laser pulses with a controlled and measured waveform ionizes atoms near the crests of the central wave cycle, with ionization being virtually switched off outside this interval. Isolated sub-100-attosecond pulses of extreme ultraviolet light (photon energy {approx} 80 electron volts), containing {approx} 0.5 nanojoule of energy, emerge from the interaction with a conversion efficiency of {approx} 10{sup -6}. These tools enable the study of the precision control of electron motion with light fields and electron-electron interactions with a resolution approaching the atomic unit of time ({approx} 24 attoseconds).

The author begins with a brief review of the goals of the EMMA experiment. He then describe two stages of EMMA commissioning. The first stage is simply to get the beam to circulate a full turn in the ring, and is done only once during the course of the experiment. The second stage will be repeated several times, at least once for each lattice configuration, and involves two parts: setting the required values for the machine parameters, and determining the tunes and time of flight as a function of energy.