Color changes often accompany the onset of ripening, leading to brightly colored fruits that serve as attractants to seed-dispersing organisms. In many fruits, including tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and pepper (Capsicum annuum), there is a sharp decrease in chlorophyll content and a concomitant increase in the synthesis of carotenoids as a result of the conversion of chloroplasts into chromopl...

Deep I-band imaging to I approximately 26.5 of the soft gamma-ray repeater SGR 1900+14 region has revealed a compact cluster of massive stars located only a few arcseconds from the fading radio source thought to be the location of the soft gamma-ray repeater (SGR). This cluster was previously hidden in the glare of the pair of M5 supergiant stars (whose light was removed by point-spread functio...

Sagittarius A*, the ∼ 4 × 106 M⊙ black hole candidate at the Galactic Center, can be studied on Schwarzschild radius scales with (sub)millimeter wavelength Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI). We report on 1.3 mm wavelength observations of Sgr A* using a VLBI array consisting of the JCMT on Mauna Kea, the ARO/SMT on Mt. Graham in Arizona, and two telescopes of the CARMA array at Cedar Flat...

We have imaged a region of ∼ 5 ′ extent surrounding Sgr A* in the HI 21 cm-line absorption using the Very Large Array. A Gaussian decomposition of the optical depth spectra at positions within of ∼ 2 ′ (∼ 5 pc at 8.5 kpc) of Sgr A* detects a wide line underlying the many narrow absorption lines. The wide line has a mean peak optical depth of 0.32 ± 0.12 centered at a mean velocity of Vlsr = –4 ...

We present a detailed abundance analysis for 21 elements based on high dispersion, high spectral resolution Keck spectra for four members of the outer halo “young” Galactic globular cluster Pal 12. All four stars show identical abundance distributions with no credible indication of any star-to-star scatter. However, the abundance ratios of the Pal 12 stars are very peculiar. There is no detecte...

During leaf senescence, plants degrade chlorophyll to colorless linear tetrapyrroles that are stored in the vacuole of senescing cells. The early steps of chlorophyll breakdown occur in plastids. To date, five chlorophyll catabolic enzymes (CCEs), NONYELLOW COLORING1 (NYC1), NYC1-LIKE, pheophytinase, pheophorbide a oxygenase (PAO), and red chlorophyll catabolite reductase, have been identified;...

We investigate long-term X-ray behaviors from the Sgr B2 complex using archival data of the X-ray satellites Suzaku, XMM-Newton, Chandra and ASCA. The observed region of the Sgr B2 complex includes two prominent spots in the Fe I K-α line at 6.40 keV, a giant molecular cloud M0.66−0.02 known as the “Sgr B2 cloud” and an unusual X-ray source G0.570−0.018. Although these 6.40 keV spots have spati...

Federal healthcare spending has been a subject of intense concern as the US Congress continues to search for ways to reduce the budget deficit. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that, even though it is growing more slowly than previously projected, federal spending on Medicare, Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) will reach nearly $900 billion in 201...

We report the detection of Sgr A*, the radio source associated with our Galaxy’s central massive black hole, at 330 MHz with the Very Large Array. Implications for the spectrum and emission processes of Sgr A* are discussed and several hypothetical geometries of the central region are considered. Subject headings: Galaxy: center — Galaxy: nucleus

In summary, the SGR continues to hang like Damocles sword over physicians. To understand health care needs, we need to separate basic health care needs from economic mandates, and health insurance from health care coverage. The SGR flux represents another meaningful uncertainty to this health care conundrum.