Metabolic rate of the red panda, Ailurus fulgens, a dietary bamboo specialist.

The red panda (Ailurus fulgens) has a similar diet, primarily bamboo, and shares the same habitat as the giant panda, Ailuropoda melanoleuca. There are considerable efforts underway to understand the ecology of the red panda and to increase its populations in natural reserves. Yet it is difficult to design an effective strategy for red panda reintroduction if we do not understand its basic biology.

Metabolic rates of giant pandas inform conservation strategies.

The giant panda is an icon of conservation and survived a large-scale bamboo die off in the 1980s in China. Captive breeding programs have produced a large population in zoos and efforts continue to reintroduce those animals into the wild. However, we lack sufficient knowledge of their physiological ecology to determine requirements for survival now and in the face of climate change.

Bis-1,3-dipolar Cycloadditions on Endohedral Fullerenes M3N@Ih-C80 (M = Sc, Lu): Remarkable Endohedral-Cluster Regiochemical Control.

In this work, we briefly report some attempts to control regioisomeric bisadditions on Sc3N@Ih-C80 and Lu3N@Ih-C80 using the tether-controlled multifunctionalization method. We then describe the use of independent (nontethered) bis-1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions and the characterization of 5 new bisadducts, 3 for Sc3N@C80 and 2 for Lu3N@C80, which have never been reported before. Unexpectedly and remarkably, 4 of these compounds exhibit relatively high symmetry and 2 of these bisadducts are the first examples of intrinsically chiral endohedral compounds, due to the addition pattern, not to the presence of chiral centers on the addends.

Tuning the selectivity of Gd3N cluster endohedral metallofullerene reactions with Lewis acids.

We demonstrate the manipulation of the Lewis acid strength to selectively fractionate different types of Gd3N metallofullerenes that are present in complex mixtures. Carbon disulfide is used for all Lewis acid studies. CaCl2 exhibits the lowest reactivity but the highest selectivity by precipitating only those gadolinium metallofullerenes with the lowest first oxidation potentials.

Fractionation of rare-earth metallofullerenes via reversible uptake and release from reactive silica.

Minimal research exists for non-chromatographic separations of rare-earth metallofullerenes containing di-metallic (M2), di-metallic carbide (M2C2), and tri-metallic nitride (M3N) clusters trapped inside fullerene cages. Herein, we demonstrate a non-HPLC method (i.e.

CuCl2 for the isolation of a broad array of endohedral fullerenes containing metallic, metallic carbide, metallic nitride, and metallic oxide clusters, and separation of their structural isomers.

A typical arc-synthesis generates many types of fullerenes and endohedrals. Resulting soot extracts contain a complex mixture of >50 types of fullerenes, metallofullerenes, and their structural isomers. Prior to application development, novel separation methods are required to fractionate this rich array of metallic, metallic carbide, metallic nitride, and metallic oxide endohedrals, all of which can be present in a single, soot extract.

Selective synthesis, isolation, and crystallographic characterization of LaSc2N@I(h)-C80.

The successful preparation and isolation of the mixed-metal endohedral fullerene, LaSc(2)N@I(h)-C(80), and its structural characterization by single-crystal X-ray diffraction are reported. Results from chemically adjusting plasma temperature, energy, and reactivity (CAPTEAR) experiments indicate that a 10 wt % addition of Cu(NO(3))(2)·2.5H(2)O to a mixture of La(2)O(3) and Sc(2)O(3) decreases the amount of C(60) and C(70) found in soot extracts by an order of magnitude.

Respiration in neonate sea turtles.

The pattern and control of respiration is virtually unknown in hatchling sea turtles. Using incubator-raised turtles, we measured oxygen consumption, frequency, tidal volume, and minute volume for leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) and olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) turtle hatchlings for the first six days after pipping. In addition, we tested the hatchlings' response to hypercapnic, hyperoxic, and hypoxic challenges over this time period.

Third world medicine in first world cities: capital accumulation, uneven development and public health.

This paper addresses issues of public health and access to care for the urban poor in the context of current U.S. urban, economic and industrial policy.

Unhealthy cities: corporate medicine, community economic underdevelopment, and public health.

The growing corporate dominance in U.S. medical care has been a major factor in the increasingly inequitable distribution of health care resources and the declining public health conditions in poor and minority urban communities.

Predation and the distribution and abundance of a pulmonate pond snail.

The abundances of a freshwater pulmonate snail, Lymnaea elodes were studied in a temporary pond and a permanent, more productive pond in northeastern Indiana, USA. When snails from both populations were reared in each of the ponds in containers excluding predators, snails grew to be 1.3 to 2 times as large in the more productive pond, and laid 9 times as many eggs.