Cognitive inhibition and interference in dissociative indentity disorder: the effects of anxiety on specific executive functions:The effects of anxiety on specific executive functions

Using an experimentally based, computer-presented task, this study assessed cognitive inhibition and interference in individuals from the dissociative identity disorder (DID; n=12), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD; n=12) and non-clinical (n=12) populations. Participants were assessed in a neutral and emotionally negative (anxiety provoking) context, manipulated by experimental instructions and word stimuli. The DID sample displayed effective cognitive inhibition in the neutral but not the anxious context. The GAD sample displayed the opposite findings. However, the interaction between group and context failed to reach significance. There was no indication of an attentional bias to non-schema specific negative words in any sample. Results are discussed in terms of the potential benefit of weakened cognitive inhibition during anxious arousal in dissociative individuals.

The role of Mittag-Leffler functions in anomalous relaxation

The inertia-corrected Debye model of rotational Brownian motion of polar molecules was generalized by Coffey et al. [Phys. Rev. E, 65, 32 102 (2002)] to describe fractional dynamics and anomalous rotational diffusion. The linear- response theory of the normalized complex susceptibility was given in terms of a Laplace transform and as a function of frequency. The angular-velocity correlation function was parametrized via fractal Mittag-Leffler functions. Here we apply the latter method and complex-contour integral- representation methods to determine the original time-dependent amplitude as an inverse Laplace transform using both analytical and numerical approaches, as appropriate. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Modulational instability in asymmetric coupled wave functions

The evolution of the amplitude of two nonlinearly interacting waves is considered, via a set of coupled nonlinear Schrödinger-type equations. The dynamical profile is determined by the wave dispersion laws (i.e. the group velocities and the group velocity dispersion terms) and the nonlinearity and coupling coefficients, on which no assumption is made. A generalized dispersion relation is obtained, relating the frequency and wave-number of a small perturbation around a coupled monochromatic (Stokes') wave solution. Explicitly stability criteria are obtained. The analysis reveals a number of possibilities. Two (individually) stable systems may be destabilized due to coupling. Unstable systems may, when coupled, present an enhanced instability growth rate, for an extended wave number range of values. Distinct unstable wavenumber windows may arise simultaneously.

Applications of the generalized Langevin equation: Towards a realistic description of the baths

The generalized Langevin equation (GLE) method, as developed previously [L. Stella et al., Phys. Rev. B 89, 134303 (2014)], is used to calculate the dissipative dynamics of systems described at the atomic level. The GLE scheme goes beyond the commonly used bilinear coupling between the central system and the bath, and permits us to have a realistic description of both the dissipative central system and its surrounding bath. We show how to obtain the vibrational properties of a realistic bath and how to convey such properties into an extended Langevin dynamics by the use of the mapping of the bath vibrational properties onto a set of auxiliary variables. Our calculations for a model of a Lennard-Jones solid show that our GLE scheme provides a stable dynamics, with the dissipative/relaxation processes properly described. The total kinetic energy of the central system always thermalizes toward the expected bath temperature, with appropriate fluctuation around the mean value. More importantly, we obtain a velocity distribution for the individual atoms in the central system which follows the expected canonical distribution at the corresponding temperature. This confirms that both our GLE scheme and our mapping procedure onto an extended Langevin dynamics provide the correct thermostat. We also examined the velocity autocorrelation functions and compare our results with more conventional Langevin dynamics.

BRCA1 Functions as a Differential Modulator of Chemotherapy-induced Apoptosis

We have evaluated the role played by BRCA1 in mediating the phenotypic response to a range of chemotherapeutic agents commonly used in cancer treatment. Here we provide evidence that BRCA1 functions as a differential mediator of chemotherapy-induced apoptosis. Specifically, we demonstrate that BRCA1 mediates sensitivity to apoptosis induced by antimicrotubule agents but conversely induces resistance to DNA-damaging agents. These data are supported by a variety of experimental models including cells with inducible expression of BRCA1, siRNA-mediated inactivation of endogenous BRCA1, and reconstitution of BRCA1-deficient cells with wild-type BRCA1. Most notably we demonstrate that BRCA1 induces a 10–1000-fold increase in resistance to a range of DNA-damaging agents, in particular those that give rise to double-strand breaks such as etoposide or bleomycin. In contrast, BRCA1 induces a >1000-fold increase in sensitivity to the spindle poisons, paclitaxel and vinorelbine. Fluorescence-activated cell sorter analysis demonstrated that BRCA1 mediates G2/M arrest in response to both antimicrotubule and DNA-damaging agents. However, poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase and caspase-3 cleavage assays indicate that the differential effect mediated by BRCA1 in response to these agents occurs through the inhibition or induction of apoptosis. Therefore, our data suggest that BRCA1 acts as a differential modulator of apoptosis depending on the nature of the cellular insult.

Analytically continued generalized continuum distorted waves

The continuum distorted-wave eikonal-initial-state (CDW-EIS) theory of Crothers and McCann (Crothers DSF and McCann JF, 1983 J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 16 3229 ) used to describe ionization in ion-atom collisions is generalized (G) to GCDW-EIS, to incorporate the azimuthal ange dependence into the final-state wavefunction. This is accomplished by the analytic continuation of hydrogenic-like wavefunctions from below to above threshold, using parabolic coordinates and quantum numbers including magnetic quantum numbers, thus providing a more complete set of states. At impact energies lower than 25 ke V u^{-1}, the total CDW-EIS ionization cross section falls off, with decreasing energy, too quickly in comparison with experimental data by Crothers and McCann. The idea behind and motivation for the GCDW-EIS model is to improve the theory with respect to experiment, by including contributions from non-zero magnetic quantum numbers. We also therefore incidentally provide a new derivation of the theory of continuum distorted waves for zero magnetic quantum numbers while simultaneously generalizing it.