The chorioamnionitis associated with preterm delivery is often polymicrobial with ureaplasma being the most common isolate. To evaluate interactions between the different pro-inflammatory mediators, we hypothesized that ureaplasma exposure would increase fetal responsiveness to LPS. Fetal sheep were given intra-amniotic injections of media (control) or Ureaplasma parvum serovar 3 either 7d or 70d before preterm delivery. Another group received an intraamniotic injection of E.coli lipo-polysaccharide (LPS) 2d prior to delivery. To test for interactions, intraamniotic U. parvum exposed animals were challenged with intraamniotic LPS and delivered 2d later. All animals were delivered at 124±1d gestation (Term=150d). Compared to the 2d LPS exposure group, the U. parvum 70d+LPS group had: 1) decreased lung pro and anti-inflammatory cytokine expression 2) fewer CD3+ T-lymphocytes, CCL2+, myeloperoxidase+, and PU.1+ cells in the lung. Interestingly, exposure to U. parvum for 7d did not change responses to a subsequent intraamniotic LPS challenge, and exposure to intraamniotic U. parvum alone induced mild lung inflammation. Exposure to U. parvum increased pulmonary TGFβ1 expression but did not change mRNA expression of either the receptor TLR4 or some of the downstream mediators in the lung. Monocytes from fetal blood and lung isolated from U. parvum 70d+LPS but not U. parvum 7d+LPS animals had decreased in vitro responsiveness to LPS. These results are consistent with the novel finding of down-regulation of LPS responses by chronic but not acute fetal exposures to U. parvum. The findings increase our understanding of how chorioamnionitis exposed preterm infants may respond to lung injury and postnatal nosocomial infections.

Ultraviolet radiation is one of the principal forms of energy which is dissipated from an electrical discharge in water. For a stored capacitor energy of 1500 J, up to 28% or 420 J has been converted to uv radiation with a peak radiant power of 200 MW. Of the energy transferred to the plasma, 36% was converted to radiation. The efficiency of radiation was maximum for a length of the discharge channel of approximately 3.8 cm. Scaling rules are given.

We report measurements of optical transitions in single III/V ͑InGaN͒ quantum dots as a function of time. Temporal fluctuations in microphotoluminescence peak position and linewidth are demonstrated and attributed to spectral diffusion processes. The origin of this temporal variation is ascribed to randomly generated local electric fields inducing a Stark shift in the optical emission peaks of the InGaN quantum dots.

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Poverty cause attribution research has sporadically explored social stratification beliefs for over three decades with mixed results. Explanations given for why there are poor people in America may reveal much about underlying structured inequality legitimating mechanisms. Using multiple regression, one-way ANOVA, and frequency distribution analyses, I uncover a conservative-liberal continuum underlying American poverty cause attributions. Past explanations for the mostly mixed nature of American attributions toward poverty are questioned. I suggest a more simple and straightforward explanation: mixed attribution styles, situated on a conservative-liberal continuum, may arise from American's distinguishing between at least two groups of poor people-''deserving'' and ''undeserving''-suggesting policy and future research agendas.What do the explanations Americans give for poverty causes tell us about the belief system legitimating the existing socioeconomic order? Researchers posing this question over three decades have gotten mixed results. While many assert the influence of a dominant ideology aligned with individualistic beliefs upon American attributions, they have repeatedly had to accommodate evidence that many Americans This is a revised and significantly expanded version of portions of the author's doctoral dissertation: Robinson, James W. 2004. ''Habitat's Hammer: Cultural Tools and Volunteer Cognitions at Work in Habitat for Humanity.'' Ph.D. dissertation,hold a somewhat balanced mix of attributions-incredibly few harbor exclusively individualistic poverty cause beliefs. Here, I try to understand this circumstance and craft a fitting narrative about American poverty cause attributions-connecting them to a conservative-liberal continuum and data supporting the conclusion that Americans attribute differently towards different kinds of poor people.First, I review American explorations of these beliefs and associated institutional logics (legitimating ideologies), posit a poverty cause attribution continuum, and build a simplified index to reflect this continuum. I then model the relationship between socioeconomic group memberships and poverty cause beliefs using 1990 General Social Survey data (Davis et al. 2001) to discern the probable nature of the continuum lying beneath these attributions. Following that, I use data collected from volunteers at two metropolitan area ecumenical nonprofit organizations in [2003][2004] to investigate this continuum's nature from a different angle. Next, I revisit the distribution of attributions on this individualistic-structuralistic continuum at national and local levels and comment on how it relates to the dominance of one institutional logic (ideology) over others. Then, I discuss how the distribution of attributions on a conservative-liberal continuum connects with basic conceptions of the poor and related institutional logics (ideologies). I conclude with the implications my findings have for policy decision making and future research. BACKGROUND