Opposite Coasts Research Articles

Growing interest in nerve repair

Researchers working on opposite coasts of the US have made important progress towards one of the ‘holy grails’ in medicine - the repair of nerve tissue following spinal injury. This week Inpharma takes a look at 2 recent studies that used different approaches and which indicate a potential for treating spinal cord injuries in humans. The first study investigates the experimental use of nerve growth factors in animal models, while in the second study transplantation of embryonic spinal cord cells was carried out in a paralysed man.

伊勢湾内３離島と対岸側における港・海岸整備と環境変化に対する住民意識

The Law for Development of Isolated Islands in Japan is enacted in 1948 to promote the improvement of infrastructure such as fishing port, pier, coast, breakwater, and seawall in Isolated Islands. The fishing port and coast have been constructing with the subsidy due to the law for developing of isolated islands. In the three Isolated island and their opposite coasts (Japan mainland) in Aichi prefecture, we took a questionnaire to examine the response of residence for items such as convenience of part-coast, land/sea-scape, sea bathing, anchorage facility for yacht as a recreation, and so on. The questionnaire was analyzed as the satisfactory degrees in the past and present, and the desirable degree for future with regards to each of items. The analyzed data is discussed from the stand points of the satisfactory degrees in the past and present and the desirable degree for future.

Thermal Environments of Arctic Soil Organisms during Winter

This paper compares winter soil temperatures at five high arctic sites (Ny Alesund, West Spitsbergen) and one subarctic site (Slattatjakka, Abisko) during 1992/93 and 1993/94. At the high arctic sites snow cover afforded slight insulation where minimum air temperatures were as low as -32 degrees C (March 1993). However, snow did not accumulate significantly until late winter, by which time the ground had cooled to approximately -20 degrees C. The polar night aided soil cooling by minimizing solar heat gain. Soil temperatures at 3 cm depth during the autumn freeze were initially higher than surface temperatures, but once frozen, the zone inhabited by soil microarthropods (approximately 10 cm depth) remained isothermal and closely tracked air temperature. By contrast, throughout the spring thaw, the soil at 3 cm depth was cooler than the surface. Hence, snow cover reduced absolute minimum temperatures in late winter but prolonged the effective winter period. Hence soil organisms may be inactive for up to 79% (289 d) of the year, owing to the extended period that the ground is frozen. The incidence of daily ground freeze/thaw events was reduced at high arctic sites compared with a subarctic location. Similarly, there were differences in temperature means and minima at the adjacent high arctic sites dependent on location and topography; for example, on opposite coasts of the Broggerhaloya, West Spitsbergen the minimum temperatures in 1993/94 were -15.7 degrees C (Stuphallet) and -8.2 degrees C (Kjaerstranda). Terrestrial microarthropods inhabiting sites with late snow accumulation and cold air temperatures experience extreme low soil temperatures and hence require effective cold-hardiness strategies.

Population genetics of Cordia alliodora (Boraginaceae), a neotropical tree. 1. Genetic variation in natural populations

We provide an estimate of genetic differentiation within and among 11 populations of Cordia alliodora, an economically important timber tree Cordia alliodora is a widespread species that is distributed throughout Central and South America. Our survey of isozyme variation was conducted on material gathered for international provenance trials over approximately 1,000 km in Central America. Results from provenance trials indicate that there are significant differences between Atlantic and Pacific coast provenances for quantitative characters. Genetic data support some of these findings. Populations of C. alliodora show significant differences in allele frequency at various loci. Significant differences in multilocus allele frequencies occur at 13 of the 55 possible combinations. Eight of these 13 populations are situated on opposite coasts. This physical separation corresponds well with the results of provenance trials that indicate differentiation among the Atlantic and Pacific populations in quantitative morphological traits. We also found a significant negative correlation between levels of heterozygosity and the amount of rainfall, indicating that populations from the drier zone are genetically more heterogenous than populations from the wet zone. Our study indicates that in situ and ex situ conservation should accord high priority to the dry zone populations; furthermore, conservation of this widespread species would require preservation of multiple populations.

Population Genetics of Cordia alliodora (Boraginaceae), a Neotropical Tree. 1. Genetic Variation in Natural Populations

We provide an estimate of genetic differentiation within and among 11 populations of Cordia alliodora, an economically important timber tree Cordia alliodora is a widespread species that is distributed throughout Central and South America. Our survey of isozyme variation was conducted on material gathered for international provenance trials over approximately 1,000 km in Central America. Results from provenance trials indicate that there are significant differences between Atlantic and Pacific coast provenances for quantitative characters. Genetic data support some of these findings. Populations of C. alliodora show significant differences in allele frequency at various loci. Significant differences in multilocus allele frequencies occur at 13 of the 55 possible combinations. Eight of these 13 populations are situated on opposite coasts. This physical separation corresponds well with the results of provenance trials that indicate differentiation among the Atlantic and Pacific populations in quantitative morphological traits. We also found a significant negative correlation between levels of heterozygosity and the amount of rainfall, indicating that populations from the drier zone are genetically more heterogenous than populations from the wet zone. Our study indicates that in situ and ex situ conservation should accord high priority to the dry zone populations; furthermore, conservation of this widespread species would require preservation of multiple populations.

Status and zoogeography of the herpetofauna of Cyprus, with taxonomic and natural history notes on selected species (generaRana, Coluber, Natrix, Vipera)

Abstract 13 of the 23 amphibian and reptile species inhabiting Cyprus occur at the opposite mainland in taxonomically identical populations, 9 are, though partly under debate, subspecifically differentiated at best, and only one represents an endemic species. We discuss this pattern of weak insular endemism including the obvious lack of many forms in Cyprus that occur on the opposite coasts, and correlate it with palaeogeographic data. Anthropogenic dispersal may have been an important factor. Rana levantina is added to the Cypriot species list and replaces R. ridibunda. Natrix natrix ssp.? has been rediscovered from a second extant locality; it is certainly not identical with populations on the opposite Turkish coast. Natural history notes are given for Coluber cypriensis, the taxonomic and zoogeographic status of which is discussed. A remarkable scalation anomaly is reported in Vipera lebetina.

Contribution to study of Asmat genetic variability

During an anthropological survey in the South-West of Irian Jaya (Indonesian New Guinea), 145 blood samples were collected from the coastal Asmat population. ABO, MNSs, Rh, Kell, Duffy and Kidd red cell antigen systems were investigated and the results are presented here. ABO, MNSs, Rh gene frequencies of the Asmat, together with those of 21 other New Guinea populations, were examined by principal component analysis. The topological representation of the distribution of the selected New Guinea populations confirms high variability in the interior of the island, and possible causes are discussed. A hypothesis is advanced, concordant with language evidence which would explain the resemblance among populations from opposite coasts of New Guinea and between some mountain and coastal groups. When the comparison includes 32 other world populations, the New Guinea groups constitute one assemblage distinct from the others.

Long-term measurements of light alkanes and acetylene in the Antarctic troposphere

Between 1982 and 1989, biweekly whole air samples were collected at the German Antarctic station “Georg von Neumayer”. In addition, a smaller number of samples were taken in 1988 and 1989 at Scott Base, the New Zealand Antarctic station. These samples were analyzed for several light hydrocarbons and halocarbons. For the light alkanes and acetylene, the average results from the two stations which are located at opposite coasts of Antarctica agree. The annual mean values for ethane, propane, n-butane, i-pentane and acetylene are 380 ± 8 ppt, 84 ± 4 ppt, 50 ± 4 ppt, 15 ± 2 ppt, and 17 ± 1 ppt, respectively. The mixing ratios of ethane, propane, and i-pentane show a seasonal cycle with a peak in August, a minimum in February and an average maximum to minimum variation of 40%-50%. Acetylene also shows a maximum around August, but its seasonal variation is higher by a factor of three. For ethane, propane and acetylene, the measurements indicate that during the last few years, the average mixing ratios in austral winter have slightly increased. A possible explanation of this secular trend is the increase of biomass burning in the Southern Hemisphere. This is also consistent with the assumption that part of the seasonal variation found for ethane, propane and acetylene reflects the seasonal dependence of biomass burning. DOI: 10.1034/j.1600-0889.1992.t01-3-00003.x

The Dodecanese and W. Anatolia in Prehistory: Interrelationships, Ethnicity and Political Geography

The islands of the Dodecanese enjoy a favourable geographical position. They lie at one of the busiest and most important cross-roads of the eastern Mediterranean, and are readily accessible from all directions, including Asia Minor. In considering contacts with the latter, one has to take into account geographical factors such as distance, the nature of the terrain, and prevailing winds and surface currents. Geologically the Dodecanese form an extension of S.W. Asia Minor, known as Caria in historical times. This region is more or less cut off by mountains from the interior of the mainland, and land routes are either non-existent or very poor. The only direct route is provided by the port of call of Miletus which lies at the mouth of the Maeander (Grant 1969, 93). It is thus only natural for Caria to look towards the Aegean and the Dodecanese rather than elsewhere. Similarly, one should expect the Dodecanese to be in constant intercourse with the opposite coast. Indeed, the archaeological evidence seems to agree. The two areas appear to have shared a more or less common culture in prehistory (DodecaneseIII, 178; Mee 1975).

Gramophone, Film, Typewriter

Optical fiber networks. Soon people will be connected to a communication channel which can be used for any kind of media for the first time in history or for the end of history. When films, music, phone calls, and texts are able to reach the individual household via optical fiber cables, the previously separate media of television, radio, telephone, and mail will become a single medium, standardized according to transmission frequency and bit format. Above all, the optoelectronic channel will be immunized against disturbances that might randomize the beautiful patterns of bits behind the images and sounds. Immunized, that is, against the bomb. For it is well known that nuclear explosions may send a high intensity electromagnetic pulse through traditional copper cables and cripple the connected computer network. The Pentagon is capable of truly far-sighted planning. Only the substitution of optical fibers for conducting cables can accommodate the enormous rates and volume of bits that are presupposed, produced, and celebrated by electronic warfare. Then all early warning systems, radars, missile bases, and army headquarters on the opposite coast, in Europe,' will finally be connected to computers, safe from an electromagnetic pulse and able to function when needed. And for the intervening period there is even the by-product of pleasure: people can switch to any medium for their entertainment. After all, optical fibers can transmit any imaginable message but the one that counts-the one about the bomb.

Working Class Culture, Occupational Recruitment, and Union Politics

Variations in working class political consciousness and behavior are normally ascribed to structural differences between industries. This study, focusing on a single industry, employs a more historical and culturally sensitive approach to explain the emergence of radical and conservative longshore unions on opposite coasts of the United States. Drawing on original oral histories, government and union documents, archival sources and secondary materials, we locate the source of these distinctive political cultures in the differing ideological communities out of which longshoremen on both coasts were recruited prior to World War L. The implications of this finding are briefly discussed.

Interim Measures Pending Maritime Delimitation Agreements

Since President Truman claimed zones of extended coastal jurisdiction for the United States in September 1945, the delimitation of zones of national jurisdiction between states with opposite or adjacent coasts has become a major legal and political issue in international relations. The development of the concept of the continental shelf during the 1950s and 1960s, as well as the claim to extended fisheries zones or exclusive economic zones by nearly all coastal states under the sway of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea since the mid-1970s, gave rise to delimitation problems all over the world. Similar problems may arise if more states extend their territorial seas to 12 nautical miles, which they may do under the new United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOS Convention) of 1982. By now, a considerable number of delimitation agreements have been concluded on the continental shelf and/or the territorial sea, and even agreements on the delimitation of fisheries zones have been reported.

Do these primates have AIDS?

Both a condition resembling acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in humans and an unusual number of certain malignant neoplasms have occurred spontaneously in two primate colonies on opposite coasts of the United States. While the relationship between what some are calling simian AIDS and the human disease is unknown, it's possible that a primate model for human AIDS soon may be available. The outbreaks occurred in several macaque monkey species at both the New England Primate Research Center in Southborough, Mass, and the California Primate Research Center at the University of California, Davis. The primary species affected were cyclopis monkeys (<i>Macaca cyclopis</i>) at the New England center and rhesus monkeys (<i>Macaca mulatta</i>) at the California center. Most of the monkeys were being raised for future research purposes. The investigators discounted any effects of treatments on those currently being used in research protocols. "In recent years it became apparent that there were

Do these primates have AIDS?

Both a condition resembling acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in humans and an unusual number of certain malignant neoplasms have occurred spontaneously in two primate colonies on opposite coasts of the United States. While the relationship between what some are calling simian AIDS and the human disease is unknown, it's possible that a primate model for human AIDS soon may be available. The outbreaks occurred in several macaque monkey species at both the New England Primate Research Center in Southborough, Mass, and the California Primate Research Center at the University of California, Davis. The primary species affected were cyclopis monkeys (Macaca cyclopis) at the New England center and rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) at the California center. Most of the monkeys were being raised for future research purposes. The investigators discounted any effects of treatments on those currently being used in research protocols. In recent years it became apparent that there were

The Early Permian Thysanophyllum coral belt: Another clue to Permian plate-tectonic reconstructions

Early Permian species of the related massive coral genera Thysanophyllum , Stylastraea , and Protowentzelella are restricted geographically to a narrow belt stretching discontinuously from the southern Ural Mountains to Texas by way of Vestspitsbergen, Canadian Arctic Islands, and the western Cordillera (British Columbia and the Basin and Range of Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and California). In addition, limited data suggest that this belt may have extended as far south as Peru. This coral belt developed at low and intermediate latitudes during Early Permian time along the northwestern and western margins of the Pangaean supercontinent. Land, a very wide Paleopacific Ocean, and temperature barriers prevented these tropical to subtropical, shallow-water corals from invading similar warm-water environments in the Tethys Ocean on the opposite coast of Pangaea, where faunas including different types of massive corals developed. Today, the Thysanophyllum association is represented in several geosynclinal belts which in the past have been difficult to relate to one another. This coral belt, therefore, may constitute an important key for understanding the relationships between several of these great belts of sediment accumulation and in locating the position of Permian continental margins and interpreting some subsequent plate-margin tectonic events.

Quantitative Analyse der Korallenbesiedlung eines Vorriffareals bei Aqaba (Rotes Meer)

Previous descriptions of the ecology and zonation of Aqaba reefs (Mergner & Schuhmacher, 1974) are supplemented by this quantitative study of a test quadrat (5×5 m in size), randomly chosen in some 10 m depth in the middle fore reef of a coastal fringing reef. Of the total surface of 25 m2 Cnidaria represent 42.31%, sponges 0.17%, calcareous algae 0.20%, dead coral rock and pebble 30.27% and sand and coral debris 26.15%. The cnidarian cover is roughly equally contributed by 50.86% Scleractinia and 48.61% Alcyonaria, mainly Xeniidae (35.81%). For each species the percentage of the total cover (measured as vertical projection), colony number, average and maximal colony size are given. A total number of 104 cnidarian species was recorded, among which the 78 scleractinian species represent 34 of the 55 coral genera known from the Red Sea. The well balanced regime of moderate light and current conditions which are tolerated both by shallow and deep water species may account for the high species number. Disturbances such as occasional sedimentation, grazing of sea urchins(Diadema setosum) and overgrowth of stony corals by xeniids result in continuous fluctuations of the coral community, in small colony size and in high colony number. Abiotic factors and biotic interactions maintain a diversity (H=3.67) which ranks among the greatest ever found in reef communities. The data obtained from the fore reef square are compared with those of a similar test square in the lagoon of the same reef and with results from transect zonations on the opposite coast of the Gulf of Aqaba. These comparisons indicate that the fore reef harbours the richest coral fauna in the reef. The inventory of coral species at the northern end of the Gulf of Aqaba, one of the northernmost outposts of the coral reef belt, is only little reduced when compared with that of the central Red Sea; this great species diversity is in contrast to the worldwide decrease of species number towards the periphery of the reef belt.

Sexual selection in Drosophila silvestris of Hawaii

Previous discovery that Drosophila melanogaster females tend to discriminate in mating against phenotypes of earliest courting males prompted a study of the Hawaiian species D. silvestris. Tibial bristle variation in males from opposite coasts of the island of Hawaii functions in courtship, and the possibility that females can distinguish males differing in the tibial trait is explored. Mating tests, designed to give each female and male an alternative choice between two individuals of opposite sex every 30 min, consisted of intrapopulation tests with a strain derived from an eastern (Kilauea) population and interpopulation tests between that strain and one derived from a western (Kahuku) population. Males were given initial combat tests, with "winners" then used in mating (except one test with "loser" males). Matings (52-55%) were classified into categories according to the readiness of the female to mate and sequence of courtship. Low-threshold females (accepting the first male after less than four courtship bouts) occurred at 30-35%. Among intrapopulational tests, females (with higher threshold) accepted first- and second-courting males about equally (25:36, respectively), but for male success in mating, the winning of initial intermale combats and the uniformity of courtship effort tended to be important criteria. Among interpopulation tests, homogamic matings were nearly equal (25% each), but heterogamic matings contrasted in that Kilauea females were reluctant to mate with Kahuku males (14%), while reciprocal matings occurred most frequently (34%). Females favored males second to court, particularly when a Kilauea male (with extra tibial bristles) was the second male. Thus a morphological feature likely to be influential in mating is demonstrated to be so; and sexual selection is operating via male-male combat plus discrimination in favor of particular opposite-sex individuals in this species.

MICROCERBERUS (CRUSTACEA ISOPODA MICROCERBERIDEA) FROM THE INDIAN OCEAN

SUMMARY Microcerberus anfindicus n.sp., discovered on opposite coasts of the West Indian Ocean, has a pleopod II ♂ very similar to that of other Indian Ocean forms, particularly Microcerberus sp. Enckell, 1970. We have given this species the name of M. enckelli n.sp. as, in our opinion, it does not appear to be an aberrant form of M. singhalensis Enckell, 1970.

The Battles of 490 B.C.

I wish to argue that the year 490 saw two battles of Marathon. In the first instance, the Persians marched against the Greeks shortly after the latter had taken up a strong defensive position at the Marathonian Herakleion, but were counter-attacked by the Greeks, this fight being Delbrück's Defensiv-Offensiv-Schlacht. After this unsuccessful attempt to take Athens, the Persians resolved to set sail and try again from the opposite coast. After some days, when most of the forces had gone on board the ships, the Greeks launched a night attack upon the remaining troops; this was the battle of Curtius. The Persians were then prevented from landing at Phaleron by the Athenian fleet; this is a variant of the Maas–Raubitschek battle.

Evidence from ocean islands suggesting movement in the Earth

Oceanic islands increase in age from the mid-ocean ridges towards continents and the andesite line reaching a maximum known age of Upper Jurassic. The Seychelles appear to be a continental fragment. Several pairs of lateral aseismic ridges extend from islands on the mid-ocean ridge to adjacent continents. Their continental junctions mark points on opposite coasts which would also fit if the continents were reassembled according to the criteria used by Wegener. As Holmes has shown each pair of ridges tends to have distinctive chemical characteristics. One possible explanation is that convection currents in the mantle rising along the mid-ocean ridges and sinking beneath trenches have carried the crust apart across the Atlantic, India and East Pacific Oceans. The lateral ridges may be approximately streamlines. Although Darwin showed that most volcanic islands sink, a few have been uplifted. Most of these lie a few hundred kilometres in front of deep trenches, suggesting that they may be on the crest of a standing wave in front of the trenches and that the crust is rigid. Of eleven straight chains of young islands in the Pacific ten get older away from the East Pacific Ridge. They could also be streamlines, fed by lava rising from deep within convection cells with stagnant cores. The regularity of ridges suggests non-turbulent flow.