University of Georgia

About: University of Georgia is a education organization based out in Athens, Georgia, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Gene. The organization has 41934 authors who have published 93622 publications receiving 3713212 citations. The organization is also known as: UGA & Franklin College.

First light of the Gemini Planet Imager

Abstract: The Gemini Planet Imager is a dedicated facility for directly imaging and spectroscopically characterizing extrasolar planets. It combines a very high-order adaptive optics system, a diffraction-suppressing coronagraph, and an integral field spectrograph with low spectral resolution but high spatial resolution. Every aspect of the Gemini Planet Imager has been tuned for maximum sensitivity to faint planets near bright stars. During first-light observations, we achieved an estimated H band Strehl ratio of 0.89 and a 5-σ contrast of 10(6) at 0.75 arcseconds and 10(5) at 0.35 arcseconds. Observations of Beta Pictoris clearly detect the planet, Beta Pictoris b, in a single 60-s exposure with minimal postprocessing. Beta Pictoris b is observed at a separation of 434 ± 6 milliarcseconds (mas) and position angle 211.8 ± 0.5°. Fitting the Keplerian orbit of Beta Pic b using the new position together with previous astrometry gives a factor of 3 improvement in most parameters over previous solutions. The planet orbits at a semimajor axis of [Formula: see text] near the 3:2 resonance with the previously known 6-AU asteroidal belt and is aligned with the inner warped disk. The observations give a 4% probability of a transit of the planet in late 2017.

The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement

Abstract: Narcissism -- a very positive and inflated view of the self -- is everywhere. It's what you have if you're a politician and you've strayed from your wife, and it's whyEfive times as many Americans undergo plastic surgery and cosmetic procedures today than did just ten years ago. It's the value that parents teach their children with song lyrics like "I am special. Look at me," the skill teenagers and young adults obsessively hone on Facebook and MySpace, and the reason high school students physically beat classmates and then broadcast their violence on YouTube for all to see. It's the message preached by prosperity gospel and the vacuous ethos spread by celebrity newsmakers. And it's what's making people depressed, lonely, and buried under piles of debt. Jean M. Twenge's influential and controversial first book, "Generation Me," generated a national debate with its trenchant depiction of the challenges twenty- and thirtysomethings face emotionally and professionally in today's world -- and the fallout these issues create for older generations as well as employers. Now, Dr. Twenge is on to a new incendiary topic that has repercussions for every age-group and class: the pernicious spread of narcissism in today's culture and its catastrophic effects. Dr. Twenge joins forces with W. Keith Campbell, Ph.D., a nationally recognized expert on narcissism, for "The Narcissism Epidemic," their eye-opening exposition of the alarming rise of narcissism -- and they show how to stop it. Every day, you encounter the real costs of narcissism: in your relationships and family, in the workplace and the economy at large, in schools that fail to teach necessary skills, in culture, and in politics. Even the world economy has been damaged by risky, unrealistic overconfidence. Filled with arresting anecdotes that illustrate the hold narcissism has on us today -- from people hiring fake paparazzi in order to experience feeling famous to college students who won't leave a professor's office until their B+ becomes an A -- "The Narcissism Epidemic" is at once a riveting window into the consequences of narcissism, a probing analysis of the culture at large, and a prescription to combat the widespread problems caused by narcissism. As a society, we have a chance to slow the epidemic of narcissism once we learn to identify it, minimize the forces that sustain and transmit it, and treat it where we find it. Drawing on their own extensive research as well as decades of other experts' studies, Drs. Twenge and Campbell show us how.

Genetic Data Analysis II. Methods for Discrete Population Genentic Data

Abstract: ‘‘Gentlemen don’t need mistletoe’’ said the Christmas whiskey billboard I saw recently in Florida, a garish reminder of how much mistletoe lore is embedded in western society. Mistletoe The Genus Viscum, one in the series of medicinal and aromatic plants for industry and academic researchers, centers on the mistletoe in this advertisement, the common European mistletoe,Viscum album. There are helpful discussions on African, Asian, and Argentine mistletoes and their uses but the corpus of the book deals with V. album. Viscum album, considered sacred by the Druids, is no doubt the most widely used parasitic angiosperm for various health concoctions. As a result, much has been learned about its biochemistry and pharmaceutical potential. A great deal of the work on the culture and utilization ofV. album has been done by investigators at Institute Hiscia Center for Cancer Research in Switzerland where votaries of Rudolf Steiner’s distinct form of homeopathy have used mistletoe extracts (‘‘Iscador’’) for many years in cancer treatment. Mistletoe collected from less common hosts are considered to have greater efficacy in preparation of Iscador. As a result, there is a helpful chapter on culturing V. album which is not as difficult as might be imagined for an obligate parasite. Most of the chapters deal with the medicinal aspects of mistletoe including toxicology, clinical aspects, chemistry, and biochemistry emphasizing the lectins which are one of the more desirable compounds produced by the parasite. I found the treatment by Bu ̈ssing (Biological and pharmacological properties of Viscum album L.) helpful because it reviews the link between folk and modern medicine. However, several relevant papers were omitted which are included in a recent excellent review of mistletoes (Watson 2001). Like many books with a diversity of authors, the quality of chapters varies. Obviously produced as a reference volume, Mistletoe lacks an extensive index. Especially aggravating is the lack of an author’s index, limiting the value of the book for anyone looking for specific papers. These days, $70 for a hardbound monograph is reasonable. Color images are well-produced but some of the black and white figures are blurry in my copy. This volume will be of value to ethnobotanists, anyone interested in alternative medicines, and students of mistletoes and parasitic plants. LITERATURE CITED

The Selaginella genome identifies genetic changes associated with the evolution of vascular plants.

Abstract: Vascular plants appeared ~410 million years ago, then diverged into several lineages of which only two survive: the euphyllophytes (ferns and seed plants) and the lycophytes. We report here the genome sequence of the lycophyte Selaginella moellendorffii (Selaginella), the first nonseed vascular plant genome reported. By comparing gene content in evolutionarily diverse taxa, we found that the transition from a gametophyte- to a sporophyte-dominated life cycle required far fewer new genes than the transition from a nonseed vascular to a flowering plant, whereas secondary metabolic genes expanded extensively and in parallel in the lycophyte and angiosperm lineages. Selaginella differs in posttranscriptional gene regulation, including small RNA regulation of repetitive elements, an absence of the trans-acting small interfering RNA pathway, and extensive RNA editing of organellar genes.