Gold Dust Research Articles

Effects of marking methods and fluorescent dusts on Aedes aegypti survival

BackgroundTracking the movement of mosquitoes and understanding dispersal dynamics is essential for the control and prevention of vector-borne diseases. A variety of marking techniques have been used, including dusts and dyes.MethodsIn this study, Aedes aegypti were marked using fluorescent dusts (‘DayGlo’: A-19 Horizon Blue & A-13-N Rocket Red; ‘Brian Clegg’: pink, blue & red), fluorescent paints (‘Brian Clegg’: blue, red & yellow) and metallic gold dust (‘Brian Clegg’). Dusting methods were those previously used in mark-release-recapture experiments, including application with a bulb duster, creation of a dust storm or shaking in a bag.ResultsResults showed marking mosquitoes using a dust storm allowed relatively high survival, compared to unmarked controls (Males: χ2 = 3.24, df = 4, p = 0.07; Females: χ2 = 3.24, df = 4, p = 0.04), and high marking efficiency. Using a bulb duster showed high survival in male mosquitoes (χ2 = 12.59, df = 4, p < 0.000), but low survival in female mosquitoes during the first 15 days of the study (χ2 = 5.17, df = 4, p < 0.05). The bulb duster also had the lowest marking efficiency compared to other dry marking techniques. The bag method showed low survival in males during the first 15 days of the study (χ2 = 5.77, df = 4, p < 0.05). Applying paints had an overall negative impact on survival for males (χ2 = 5.03, df = 3, p < 0.05), but not for females (χ2 = 0.19, df = 3, p = 0.661). Males dusted with DayGlo Horizon Blue dust, and females dusted with DayGlo Rocket Red dust, had the most significant reduction in survivorship in comparison to the control (Males: χ2 = 15.70, df = 6, p < 0.000; Females: χ2 = 24.47, df = 6, p < 0.000). Mosquitoes marked with Brian Clegg gold dust showed mortality rates similar to controls within male mosquitoes (χ2 = 0.18, df = 6, p = 0.674), but significantly lower in females (χ2 = 16.59, df = 6, p < 0.000).ConclusionsThis study showed that marking technique and colour can have a significant impact on the survival and marking coverage of a mosquito.

British colonialism in East-Africa during nineteenth century

British colonialism in East-Africa during nineteenth century

Greek Literature

In Cosmology and the Polis Richard Seaford carries forward the trajectory of Reciprocity and Ritual (1994) and Money and the Early Greek Mind (2004), extending his analytical resources with (not exactly Bakhtinian) chronotopes – socially constructed cognitive models, in which space and time are congruently conceived (i.e. as ‘the same’ in certain respects: 22, 39). He distinguishes three chronotopes: reciprocal, as found in Homer; aetiological, related to ritual and the emergent polis (and containing an ‘antideterminate’ sub-chronotope, which expresses the space–time from which the aetiological transition is made); and monetized (4–5). ‘In the genesis of drama at the City Dionysia the reciprocal chronotope has been replaced by the aetiological’ (75). Monetization then contributes to tragedy's content by isolating powerful individuals from the collective: ‘tragedy frequently ends with the demise of the powerful individual(s)’ (113), and ‘tragic isolation derives in part from the self-sufficiency imposed on the individual by the new phenomenon of monetisation’ (169). Monetization ‘contributes also to its form’, since ‘the establishment of the second actor…may have arisen out of tension – between Dionysos and autocrat at Athens’ (111). The slide from indicative (‘contributes’) to hypothetical (‘may have’), with its long train of speculative attendants (‘it is tempting…hypothesise…seems likely…it is possible…may well have…’, 111) is, despite the desperately optimistic adverb, an index of the fragility of the construction. What is the exegetical pay-off? Seaford is capable, it must be said, of pure fantasy. He detects an allusion to incest in Aristotle's use of the phrase ‘currency from currency’ in Pol. 1258b1–8 (333). Aristotle objects to profit from purely financial transactions, not because it resembles incest (which would be silly), but because it has become disconnected from the real economy. In any case, ‘X from X’ has nothing to do with incest. The formula sums up an obvious feature of the natural course of reproduction (horses come from horses, and so on: Ph. 191b20–21, 193b8, 12; Gen. Corr. 333b7–8; Metaph. 1034b2, 1049b25–6; Pol. 1255b1–2; Pr. 878a27), and is applied to currency in a parenthetic explanation of the metaphorical use of tokos for interest. Aristotle is not the only victim of exegetical extravagance. The gold-changer to whom Aeschylus compares Ares (Ag. 438–9) exchanges gold dust for goods; Seaford knows this (200 n. 43, 247) but still assimilates the passage to currency exchange and monetized commercial transactions (200). Though his claims for the unique powers of monetization ought to make the importance of the distinction salient to him, mentions of silver are treated indiscriminately as references to money (201, on Aesch. Ag. 949, 959). Similarly, it is Seaford who associates insatiable prosperity with monetization (201), not Aeschylus’ text (Ag. 1331–42); and when Antigone speaks of death as kerdos (Soph. Ant. 461–4), it is Seaford who insists that Creon's single mention of coined silver (296) makes ‘the association of kerdos with monetary gain…inevitable’ (328). Why should our understanding of Antigone's patently non-monetized gain be determined by Creon's ‘obsession’? If it is an obsession, what marks it as such is its irrelevance: his grounds for complaint would be just as strong if a guard were suborned by non-monetary incentives. No other character has reason to share Creon's irrationality; nor has the audience; nor have we. This is a dazzlingly clever book; but its foundations are unstable, and its superstructure fragile.

Women on Italian Bank Boards: Are They 'Gold Dust'?

Italy ranks among EU countries with the fewest women on bank boards. Using a rich dataset on Italian banks that combines individual data on bank governance with different measures of performance and risk, this paper analyses the determinants of the gender gap in top positions. Econometric results suggest that there is a “second glass ceiling” as they confirm a significantly lower probability of women holding top decision-making positions (Chairman, CEO, General Manager), other individual characteristics and bank features being equal. Moreover, results show that the number of women at the top is greater a) in banks belonging to the major banking groups, with larger and younger boards; and b) in banks that are more cost efficient or in those with a larger share of risky loans in the past (in need of restructuring). Preliminary evidence from performance equations suggests that the presence of women is negatively correlated with indicators of ex post riskiness, implying that credit policies are more stringent when women are on the board, possibly due to their higher risk aversion.

The lessons of failure

The lessons of failure

Men's college athletics and the politics of racial equality: five pioneer stories of black manliness, white citizenship, and American democracy

Introduction - College Sports, Fair Play, and Black Masculinity 1 - Our Own 'Roby' and The Dark Cloud: Paul Robeson at Rutgers, 1915-1919 2 - Harbingers of Progress and The Gold Dust Trio: Washington, Strode, Robinson and the 1939 UCLA Football Team 3 - A First-Class Gentleman and That Big N----r: Wilt Chamberlain at the University of Kansas, 1955-1958 4 - Our Colored Boy and Fine Black Athletes: Charlie Scott at the University of North Carolina, 1965-1970 5 - Those Nigras and Men Again: Bear Bryant, John Mitchell, and Wilbur Jackson at the University of Alabama, 1969-1973 Conclusion - What We Talk About When We Talk About Sports Bibliography.

Anthology of Anther/Pollen-Specific Promoters and Transcription Factors

Pollen, regarded as the gold dust carrying the male germ line of flowering plants, is generated in the male reproductive organ called stamen. During the last few years, molecular biology and genetics have been integrated to enhance our knowledge regarding the structural and functional aspects of anther and pollen development. The promoters of several anther-/pollen-specific genes have been characterized to help understand the development of anther that involves the expression of a large number of genes temporally as well as spatially. The cis-acting regulatory elements of promoters necessary for interaction with transcription factors and their activity have been delineated. Many transcription factor genes having distinct anther-specific expression pattern have been identified with the help of transcriptome studies in Oryza sativa as well as Arabidopsis thaliana. The nature of complex interactions between genes and regulatory hierarchy involving developmental signal cascades have been investigated to design a working model for anther development. The immediate challenge ahead is to isolate and functionally characterize missing links and terminal ends of regulatory components for enhancing our knowledge about the male gametophyte development. The information generated on this aspect would help design suitable strategies to develop traits such as male sterility in crop plants.

La Economía de Santafé de Bogotá En 1810

AbstractThis essay shows that the growth of the economy of New Granada during the Eighteenth Century made an important impact on its political center, Santafé de Bogota, at least until 1808. Such prosperity was the result of a process of specialization and division of labor between different regions of the new kingdom, derived from the dynamics of gold mining that gave a strong impulse to Santafé's economy as a trade center for the handicraft production of Eastern Colombia and the fertile savanna surrounding it, which was a net food exporter. The Mint established in Santafé, which was a de facto monopoly, attracted merchants and miners who established there a center for the exchange of gold dust for coin.

User: Reflections on the narrativization of self within social networking sites: A presentation and discussion of the processes involved in the development of a creative work-in-progress

This article explores the subject of narrative and self within social media contexts through a presentation and discussion of the project and processes involved in the development of creative writing work-in-progress. The activity has taken place over an eighteen-month period from February 2009–September 2010 with support from the National Lottery Fund through Arts Council East, Arc Digital, CODE and the new writing development scheme Gold Dust. The work undertaken so far consists of the completion of a novel manuscript entitled User and preliminary investigations into how elements of the novel could be extended online. The work aims to be a dual platform in both subject and form; offering a traditionally authored text about where our online and offline worlds intersect as well as a meaningful intertextual digital experience that invites readers to respond to the work in critical and creative ways.

New light on the early Islamic West African gold trade: coin moulds from Tadmekka, Mali

Tadmekka, a town at the southern edge of the Sahara desert, has produced good evidence for making gold coins in the ninth–tenth century AD, the first concrete proof of coinage in pre-colonial West Africa. These were produced by melting gold dust or nuggets in ceramic moulds, similar to those used for the first pellet-like coinage of the European Iron Age. The authors suggest these coins were not political statements, but were probably blank and intended to facilitate the busy early Islamic caravan trade to destinations north, south or east. On arrival at the Mediterranean coast, these blank pieces would have been melted down or converted into inscribed coins by the local authorities.

Neuroendocrine tumors of unknown primary site: Gold dust or misdiagnosed neoplasms?

Neuroendocrine tumors of an unknown primary site are rarer than other neuroendocrine tumors (0.6-2% of all neuroendocrine tumors) and have a poor prognosis. The aim of the study was to review the cases of unknown primary site neuroendocrine tumors encountered at the Istituto Nazionale Tumori of Milan between 1984 and 2008 in order to verify their incidence and evaluate their characteristics and prognosis. During the study period, 750 neuroendocrine tumor patients attended our Institute, 82 of whom (10.9%) were diagnosed as having neuroendocrine tumors of an unknown primary site. The data from their medical records were analyzed descriptively, and survival probabilities were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method and the logrank test, considering patient, tumor and treatment-related characteristics. The 82 patients with neuroendocrine tumors of an unknown primary site (34 males) had a median age of 60 years; 57 (69.5%) had histologically well-differentiated tumors, 3 (3.7%) poorly differentiated tumors, and 22 (26.8%) had tumors that could not be classified. Of the 52 patients (62.2%) who underwent Octreoscan® (Bykgulden Italia SpA), 40 (78.4%) showed a pathological uptake and 11 (21.6%) were negative. Thirty-one patients (37.8%) underwent metastatic site surgery, which was radical in 11 cases (35.4%). Forty-eight patients (58.5%) received somatostatin analogues, and 41 (50.0%) underwent chemotherapy. At the end of the study period, 59 patients (72.0%) had died, 31 (53.0%) because of disease progression, and 23 (28.0%) were still alive. Neuroendocrine tumors of an unknown primary site are difficult to identify but their incidence is higher than previously reported, and the prognosis remains unfavorable.

A rich and blessed professional illness - organizing pneumonia due to gold dust

A 47-year-old man, restorer of religious art, presents a three week history of asthenia, myalgia, dry cough and fever, coinciding with recent, unprotected exposure, to golden dust. He had fever, crackles in lung bases, hypoxemia and elevation of inflammatory markers. Imaging studies showed areas of parenchymal consolidation with air bronchograms in posterior-basal regions of both lungs, suggesting a pneumonic process. Lung function tests: mild restrictive pattern.Bronchoalveolar lavage: lymphocytosis with low CD4/CD8 ratio. Lung biopsy: intraalveolar pneumonia with exsudative process and organization. Treatment with Prednisolone 40mg id was started with excellent response. First month follow-up CT scan showed areas of ground glass suggesting residual pneumonitis, and he resumed normal activities with excellent exercise tolerance, under appropriate protection measures.

Mining gold dust under the genome wide significance level: a two‐stage approach to analysis of GWAS

We propose a two-stage approach to analyze genome-wide association data in order to identify a set of promising single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). In stage one, we select a list of top signals from single SNP analyses by controlling false discovery rate. In stage two, we use the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression to reduce false positives. The proposed approach was evaluated using simulated quantitative traits based on genome-wide SNP data on 8,861 Caucasian individuals from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study. Our first stage, targeted at controlling false negatives, yields better power than using Bonferroni-corrected significance level. The LASSO regression reduces the number of significant SNPs in stage two: it reduces false-positive SNPs and it reduces true-positive SNPs also at simulated causal loci due to linkage disequilibrium. Interestingly, the LASSO regression preserves the power from stage one, i.e., the number of causal loci detected from the LASSO regression in stage two is almost the same as in stage one, while reducing false positives further. Real data on systolic blood pressure in the ARIC study was analyzed using our two-stage approach which identified two significant SNPs, one of which was reported to be genome-significant in a meta-analysis containing a much larger sample size. On the other hand, a single SNP association scan did not yield any significant results.

Occupational Airborne Allergic Contact Dermatitis Caused by Gold

Airborne allergic contact dermatitis caused by gold is rare, often not even suspected and hence not investigated. Our purpose was to elucidate the clinical relevance of gold-induced airborne contact dermatitis. We analyzed and discussed the occupational dermatitis of two women working as restorers. Both patients' test results showed positive reactions to gold sodium thiosulfate only. The stop-and-relapse test confirmed the diagnostic hypothesis of airborne contact allergy. Our patients turned out to be gold sensitized because of occupational exposure to gold dust and gold leaf.

EFFECT OF CARBOHYDRATE SUPPLEMENTATION ON LEUCOSPERMUM CHILLING INJURY

Chilling injury (CI) was recorded in cut flower shoots of Leucospermum 'Gold Dust', 'High Gold', 'Succession II', 'Tango' and 'Vlam' after 24 days storage at 1°C. Cultivars were pulsed with 2% w/v sugar solutions (5 ml/stem) of fructose, glucose, lactulose, mannose or sucrose prior to storage. All sugars significantly reduced CI in 'Gold Dust' and 'High Gold'. Sugar pulsing solutions had no significant effect on reducing CI in either 'Succession II' or 'Vlam' shoots.

Relation of Charging History to Field Ion Emission From Gold and Carbon Dust

<para xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> A study of dust-grain charging plays a very important role in the understanding of complex (dusty) plasma. The dust grains are charged by several different processes (e.g., electron and ion attachments, secondary electron emission, photoemission, and field electron and ion emissions), and their charge significantly influences the surrounding plasma. Our laboratory experiment based on an electrodynamic quadrupole trap allows us to investigate some of these processes on a single isolated dust grain which can be trapped and influenced with different agents for a very long time (days). In this paper, we focused on the determination of the relation between charging conditions and the field-emission mechanism because this emission limits positive charges that dust grains can acquire due to photoemission, secondary emission, or ion attachment. The field-ion-emission process is based on the field ionization of the atoms that crosses a critical distance from the grain surface. We have found that the sources of these atoms are either the surrounding gas or the ions implanted into the grain and leaving it due to diffusion. The diffusion can be described by two time constants differing by an order of magnitude. We used two sets of dust grains: gold and amorphous carbon. The experimental results are confirmed by a simple model. </para>

Gold Dust on his Shirt: The True Story of an Immigrant Mining Family by Irene Howard (review)

Gold Dust on his Shirt: The True Story of an Immigrant Mining Family by Irene Howard (review)

Gold dust for molecular medicine

Gold nanoparticles could turn out to be the ideal delivery device for siRNAs, one of the hottest prospects in molecular medicine

In this issue: Proteomics 20/2008

AbstractIn this issue of Proteomics you will find the following highlighted articles:Comprehensively confirmed annotation of short ORFsDuring the California gold rush, prospectors did not look only for large nuggets to pave their road to riches – they also collected gold dust. The proteomic equivalent of dust is the small ORF. It does not pay to put a lower limit on dust or ORF size because almost any size may be turned into “cash” or an important peptide. Wei et al. demonstrate how a combination of conventional genomics and proteomics can find small expressed ORFs in noisy mixtures. Their test system is Shigella flexneri rRNA genes. First, cells were lysed, pre‐fractionated through 100 kDa and 10 kDa cutoff membranes and split into two aliquots, one treated with trypsin the other not. Both were analyzed by LC‐MS/MS and queried for ORFs &gt;15 amino acids. Total labeled RNA probed a DNA array, and, after BLAST classification, revealed 36 new small proteins.Wei, C. et al., Proteomics 2008, 8, 4209–4213.The end of an era: Late stage proteome of cheese bacteriumThe bacterium Streptococcus thermophilus is a common ingredient in food, serving as a starter culture for a wide variety of dairy foods, yogurt in partic­ular, in co‐culture with Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus. It is closely related to several pathogenic species but lacks critical genes for pathogenicity. Instead, it is better optimized for lactose digestion than even a teen‐aged boy. Specific genes transport lactose into the cell where it is cleaved by a β‐galactosidase. Because milk is poor in amino acids, some strains of S. thermophilius bring their own protease to digest milk peptides and proteins. This work by Herve‐Jimenez et al. finds that in the latest stage of fermentation a number of critical changes occur: carbon sources are diversified, nitrogen uptake and biosynthesis increase, and there is a dramatic up‐regulation of the entire sulfur‐containing amino acid synthetic pathways. Stimulation by L. bulgaricus is a more complex effect.Herve‐Jimenez, L. et al., Proteomics 2008, 8, 4273–4286.2000‐spot 2‐D DIGE gels yield interesting new CJD marker from CSFCreutzfeld‐Jakob disease (CJD) is a rare, fatal neurodegenerative disease, caused by prions. It is normally seen in either a sporadic (sCJD) or variant (vCJD) form. Differential diagnosis is difficult because the few tests available are weak in sensitivity or specificity, or have not been thoroughly validated. Brechlin et al. report here a much improved cerebrospinal fluid test based on 2‐D DIGE technology and improved sample preparation. Samples were concentrated 20‐fold, then depleted of serum albumin and immunoglobulins, and, finally, labeled with CyDyes. When separated on 24‐cm pH 4 – 7 IPG strips, then on 10 % PAGE‐SDS second dimension gels, &gt;2000 spots could be resolved. After spot analysis for significant differences (volume, p‐value, variance) five spots remained and 4 of the 5 were identified by MALDI‐TOF‐MS. The unidentified spot showed the highest discrimination (p &lt;0.001). Identification work for the fifth spot is continuing.Brechlin, P. et al., Proteomics 2008, 8, 4357–4366.

Cover Picture: Proteomics 20/2008

AbstractIn this issue of Proteomics you will find the following highlighted articles:Comprehensively confirmed annotation of short ORFsDuring the California gold rush, prospectors did not look only for large nuggets to pave their road to riches – they also collected gold dust. The proteomic equivalent of dust is the small ORF. It does not pay to put a lower limit on dust or ORF size because almost any size may be turned into “cash” or an important peptide. Wei et al. demonstrate how a combination of conventional genomics and proteomics can find small expressed ORFs in noisy mixtures. Their test system is Shigella flexneri rRNA genes. First, cells were lysed, pre‐fractionated through 100 kDa and 10 kDa cutoff membranes and split into two aliquots, one treated with trypsin the other not. Both were analyzed by LC‐MS/MS and queried for ORFs &gt;15 amino acids. Total labeled RNA probed a DNA array, and, after BLAST classification, revealed 36 new small proteins.Wei, C. et al., Proteomics 2008, 8, 4209–4213.The end of an era: Late stage proteome of cheese bacteriumThe bacterium Streptococcus thermophilus is a common ingredient in food, serving as a starter culture for a wide variety of dairy foods, yogurt in partic­ular, in co‐culture with Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus. It is closely related to several pathogenic species but lacks critical genes for pathogenicity. Instead, it is better optimized for lactose digestion than even a teen‐aged boy. Specific genes transport lactose into the cell where it is cleaved by a β‐galactosidase. Because milk is poor in amino acids, some strains of S. thermophilius bring their own protease to digest milk peptides and proteins. This work by Herve‐Jimenez et al. finds that in the latest stage of fermentation a number of critical changes occur: carbon sources are diversified, nitrogen uptake and biosynthesis increase, and there is a dramatic up‐regulation of the entire sulfur‐containing amino acid synthetic pathways. Stimulation by L. bulgaricus is a more complex effect.Herve‐Jimenez, L. et al., Proteomics 2008, 8, 4273–4286.2000‐spot 2‐D DIGE gels yield interesting new CJD marker from CSFCreutzfeld‐Jakob disease (CJD) is a rare, fatal neurodegenerative disease, caused by prions. It is normally seen in either a sporadic (sCJD) or variant (vCJD) form. Differential diagnosis is difficult because the few tests available are weak in sensitivity or specificity, or have not been thoroughly validated. Brechlin et al. report here a much improved cerebrospinal fluid test based on 2‐D DIGE technology and improved sample preparation. Samples were concentrated 20‐fold, then depleted of serum albumin and immunoglobulins, and, finally, labeled with CyDyes. When separated on 24‐cm pH 4 – 7 IPG strips, then on 10 % PAGE‐SDS second dimension gels, &gt;2000 spots could be resolved. After spot analysis for significant differences (volume, p‐value, variance) five spots remained and 4 of the 5 were identified by MALDI‐TOF‐MS. The unidentified spot showed the highest discrimination (p &lt;0.001). Identification work for the fifth spot is continuing.Brechlin, P. et al., Proteomics 2008, 8, 4357–4366.