Laser action from 1,3,5,7-tetramethyl-2,6-diethyl-8-n-propyl pyrromethene-BF2

We measured spectroscopic and laser action properties of a novel 8-position substituted pyrromethene-BF2, namely 1,3,5,7-tetramethyl-2,6-diethyl-8-n-propyl pyrromethene-BF2 complex. The laser action was performed with the corresponding dye solution in ethanol, which was placed in a Littman-type laser cavity pumped by the second harmonic of a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser. The spectroscopic measurements clearly indicated that the corresponding dye solution in ethanol exhibited intense absorption in the visible spectral region with large fluorescence quantum yield. It possesses rather low triplet-triplet absorption in the spectral region 460-550 nm and almost negligible triplet-triplet absorption in the lasing spectral region. As a consequence, it lases nearly as efficiently as commercially available benchmark laser dyes such as Rhodamine-6G and outperformed them in wavelength tunability in our laser cavity and pump geometry. (C) 2002 Optical Society of America.

Stormsmart coasts in action: Two case studies of local level climate change adaptation

Coastal communities throughout the United States have dealt with the devastating effects of storms for centuries, however today’s threats are greater due to three factors. First, the population along the coastline has grown, and is projected to increase.i Additionally, past land use management decisions in the coastal zone have rarely led to the greatest protection from threats. Finally, climate change is predicted to affect coastal areas by accelerating current sea level rise rates and possibly increasing storm intensity.ii These factors compounded together mean that coastal communities are facing a very dangerous situation that threatens economies and human life. (PDF contains 4 pages)

Molecular mechanisms of interleukin-2 gene inducibility: developmental control and combinatorial action of transcription factors

Interleukin-2 is one of the lymphokines secreted by T helper type 1 cells upon activation mediated by T-cell receptor (TCR) and accessory molecules. The ability to express IL-2 is correlated with T-lineage commitment and is regulated during T cell development and differentiation. Understanding the molecular mechanism of how IL-2 gene inducibility is controlled at each transition and each differentiation process of T-cell development is to understand one aspect of T-cell development. In the present study, we first attempted to elucidate the molecular basis for the developmental changes of IL-2 gene inducibility. We showed that IL-2 gene inducibility is acquired early in immature CD4- CD8-TCR- thymocytes prior to TCR gene rearrangement. Similar to mature T cells, a complete set of transcription factors can be induced at this early stage to activate IL-2 gene expression. The progression of these cells to cortical CD4^+CD8^+TCR^(1o) cells is accompanied by the loss of IL-2 gene inducibility. We demonstrated that DNA binding activities of two transcription factors AP-1 and NF-AT are reduced in cells at this stage. Further, the loss of factor binding, especially AP-1, is attributable to the reduced ability to activate expression of three potential components of AP-1 and NF-AT, including c-Fos, FosB, and Fra-2. We next examined the interaction of transcription factors and the IL-2 promoter in vivo by using the EL4 T cell line and two non-T cell lines. We showed an all-or-none phenomenon regarding the factor-DNA interaction, i.e., in activated T cells, the IL-2 promoter is occupied by sequence-specific transcription factors when all the transcription factors are available; in resting T cells or non-T cells, no specific protein-DNA interaction is observed when only a subset of factors are present in the nuclei. Purposefully reducing a particular set of factor binding activities in stimulated T cells using pharmacological agents cyclosporin A or forskolin also abolished all interactions. The results suggest that a combinatorial and coordinated protein-DNA interaction is required for IL-2 gene activation. The thymocyte experiments clearly illustrated that multiple transcription factors are regulated during intrathymic T-cell development, and this regulation in tum controls the inducibility of the lineage-specific IL-2 gene. The in vivo study of protein-DNA interaction stressed the combinatorial action of transcription factors to stably occupy the IL-2 promoter and to initiate its transcription, and provided a molecular mechanism for changes in IL-2 gene inducibility in T cells undergoing integration of multiple environmental signals.

Dirac spectra, summation formulae, and the spectral action

Noncommutative geometry is a source of particle physics models with matter Lagrangians coupled to gravity. One may associate to any noncommutative space (A, H, D) its spectral action, which is defined in terms of the Dirac spectrum of its Dirac operator D. When viewing a spin manifold as a noncommutative space, D is the usual Dirac operator. In this paper, we give nonperturbative computations of the spectral action for quotients of SU(2), Bieberbach manifolds, and SU(3) equipped with a variety of geometries. Along the way we will compute several Dirac spectra and refer to applications of this computation.

Concerted action for successful coastal communities in Tanzania: Lessons from the Tanzania Coastal Management Partnership (TCMP) 2006-2009

The Tanzania Coastal Management Partnership (TCMP) works to implement the National Integrated Coastal Environmental Management Strategy (ICEMS) in Tanzania’s coastal landscapes and seascapes, funded in large measure by the U.S. Agency for International Development. The overarching goal of the Sustainable Coastal Communities and Ecosystems in Tanzania (SUCCESS Tanzania) initiative is to conserve coastal and marine biodiversity while improving the well being of coastal residents through implementation of the Tanzania ICEMS and related ICM policies and strategies. It does this by focusing on three key results: -Policies and Laws that Integrate Conservation and Development Applied -Participatory Landscape Scale Conservation Practiced -Conservation Enterprises Generate Increased and Equitable Benefits from Sustainable Use An additional result sought in the program is gender equity and HIV/AIDS preventive behaviors promoted through communicating HIV/AIDS, environment, and equity messages. (PDF contains 3 pages)

Implications of governance structures on urban climate action: evidence from Italy and Spain

47 p.

Pond action: Promoting the conservation of ponds in Britain

Pond Action is an independent freshwater conservation project which was started in 1987. It is based in the School of Biological and Molecular Sciences in Oxford Polytechnic and has five full-time staff with two senior advisors. The main aim of Pond Action's work has been to promote the conservation of ponds by creating a sound, scientific basis for pond conservation. An essential aspect of this work is the need to make the results of scientific work available and understandable to everybody concerned with pond conservation.

The Voting Rights Act, Shelby County, and Redistricting: Improving Estimates of Racially Polarized Voting in a Multiple-Election Context

The Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby County has severely limited the power of the Voting Rights Act. I argue that Congressional attempts to pass a new coverage formula are unlikely to gain the necessary Republican support. Instead, I propose a new strategy that takes a “carrot and stick” approach. As the stick, I suggest amending Section 3 to eliminate the need to prove that discrimination was intentional. For the carrot, I envision a competitive grant program similar to the highly successful Race to the Top education grants. I argue that this plan could pass the currently divided Congress.

Without Congressional action, Section 2 is more important than ever before. A successful Section 2 suit requires evidence that voting in the jurisdiction is racially polarized. Accurately and objectively assessing the level of polarization has been and continues to be a challenge for experts. Existing ecological inference methods require estimating polarization levels in individual elections. This is a problem because the Courts want to see a history of polarization across elections.

I propose a new 2-step method to estimate racially polarized voting in a multi-election context. The procedure builds upon the Rosen, Jiang, King, and Tanner (2001) multinomial-Dirichlet model. After obtaining election-specific estimates, I suggest regressing those results on election-specific variables, namely candidate quality, incumbency, and ethnicity of the minority candidate of choice. This allows researchers to estimate the baseline level of support for candidates of choice and test whether the ethnicity of the candidates affected how voters cast their ballots.

Enfermagem cuidando do recém-nascido na Unidade de Terapia Intensiva Neonatal: um olhar ético da ação profissional

Trata-se de um estudo do tipo qualitativo, sobre as ações experienciadas pela equipe de enfermagem no cotidiano da Unidade de Terapia Intensiva Neonatal (UTI Neonatal), tendo como objetivo apreender os aspectos éticos implícitos nas ações experienciadas pelos profissionais de enfermagem ao cuidar do recém-nascido (RN). Foram utilizados como referencial teórico-filosófico alguns autores renomados como: Mehry, Pegoraro, Pessini, entre outros. A abordagem metodológica aplicada no estudo foi a fenomenologia sociológica de Alfred Schutz, buscando, na intencionalidade das ações de enfermagem, a motivação que sustenta este cuidar. A aproximação face a face aos sujeitos do estudo deu-se solicitando o seguinte: Fale-me sobre a sua experiência ao cuidar de um RN no cotidiano da UTI. Para alcançar o objetivo proposto, utilizei as questões orientadoras da entrevista fenomenológica: O que você tem em vista ao cuidar do RN na UTI? Em relação à ética, o que você pensa ao cuidar do RN? As entrevistas foram realizadas com 16 profissionais da equipe de enfermagem da UTI de uma Maternidade Pública do Município do Rio de Janeiro, escolhidos de forma aleatória. Foram respeitados os critérios estabelecidos pela Resolução n 196/96, garantindo a privacidade e o anonimato dos entrevistados, bem como aprovação do estudo pelo comitê de ética em pesquisa. A partir da análise das falas emergiram três categorias, que possibilitaram a apreensão dos aspectos éticos das ações de enfermagem na UTI como um típico. Esses profissionais têm em vista realizar o melhor cuidado desejando a cura e a alta do RN, apoiando-se na tecnologia para valorizar a perspectiva humana do cuidado na UTI e na possibilidade de agir com ética. Na realidade pesquisada, a tecnologia manifestou-se de maneira positiva no projeto intencional dos profissionais, mostrando uma enfermagem que acredita estar fazendo o seu melhor, envolvida com as questões éticas e humanas. A apreensão do típico da ação e compreensão do cotidiano da equipe de enfermagem permitirá uma avaliação crítica e reflexiva sobre a adequação da tecnologia no cuidado neonatal, bem como a adoção de medidas e estratégias que valorizem e respeitem a vida humana em toda a sua dimensão. Ratifica a sensibilidade, intuição e percepção do cuidador, propiciando um cuidado individualizado e personalizado ao RN e sua família. Além disso, contribui para se repensar novas maneiras de cuidar, utilizando a arte e a criatividade na adequação e humanização das tecnologias.