Molecular effects in the ionization of N-2, O-2, and F-2 by intense laser fields

In this paper we study the response in time of N2, O2, and F2 to laser pulses having a wavelength of 390 nm. We find single-ionization suppression in O2 and its absence in F2, in accordance with experimental results at lambda= 800 nm. Within our framework of time-dependent density functional theory we are able to explain deviations from the predictions of intense-field many-body S-matrix theory (IMST). We confirm the connection of ionization suppression with destructive interference of outgoing electron waves from the ionized electron orbital. However, the prediction of ionization suppression, justified within the IMST approach through the symmetry of the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO), is not reliable since it turns out that—e.g., in the case of F2—the electronic response to the laser pulse is rather complicated and does not lead to dominant depletion of the HOMO. Therefore, the symmetry of the HOMO is not sufficient to predict ionization suppression. However, at least for F2, the symmetry of the dominantly ionized orbital is consistent with the nonsuppression of ionization.

Towards a person-centred ‘culture’: the use of community development approaches in the Independent Youth Counselling Service in West Belfast

This paper is drawn from a qualitative study of clients, counsellors and the supervisors views of the value and impact of the Independent Youth Counselling Service (IYCS) in West Belfast. Data collection combined semi-structured interviews, focus groups and an open-ended questionnaire. The findings indicate the significance of factors above and beyond the person-centred counselling experience, in maximising the potential for growth and development for clients and counsellors. This holistic approach to counselling service provision employs a body of community development processes, which collectively combine to embed the counselling service in a complementary principled approach. This paper explores how these community development features bolster the counselling experience to promote a culture of person-centeredness, thereby increasing the empowerment of the client.

Differences In Metabolic Profile In the Testes of Streptozotocin Induced Diabetes Mellitus Mice As Detected By 1H NMR

Contrary to the traditional view, recent studies suggest that diabetes mellitus has an adverse influence on male reproductive function. Our aim was to determine the affect of diabetes on the testicular environment by identifying and then assessing perturbations in small molecule metabolites. Testes were obtained from control and streptozotocin induced diabetic C57BL/6 mice, two, four and eight weeks post treatment. Diabetic status was confirmed by HbA1c, non fasting blood glucose, physiological condition and body weight. Protein free, low molecular weight, water soluble extracts were assessed using 1H NMR spectroscopy. Principal Component Analysis of the derived profiles was used to classify any variations and specific metabolites were identified based on their spectral pattern. Characteristic metabolite profiles were identified for control and diabetic animals with the most distinctive being from mice with the greatest physical deterioration and loss of bodyweight. Eight streptozotocin treated animals did not develop diabetes and displayed profiles similar to controls. Diabetic mice had decreases in creatine, choline and carnitine and increases in lactate, alanine and myo-inositol. Betaine levels were found to be increased in the majority of diabetic mice but decreased in two animals with severe loss of body weight and physical condition. The association between perturbations in a number of small molecule metabolites known to be influential in sperm function, with diabetic status and physiological condition, adds further impetus to the proposal that diabetes influences important spermatogenic pathways and mechanisms in a subtle and previously unrecognised manner.

Solar forcing of climate change during the mid-Holocene: indications from raised bogs in the Netherlands.

Two cores of mid-Holocene raised-bog deposits from the Netherlands were 14C wiggle-match dated at high precision. Changes in local moisture conditions were inferred from the changing species composition of consecutive series of macrofossil samples. Several wet-shifts were inferred, and these were often coeval with major rises in the D14C archive (probably caused by major declines in solar activity). The use of D14C as a proxy for changes in solar activity is validated. This paper adds to the increasing body of evidence that solar variability forced climatic changes during the Holocene.

BRCA1, a potential biomarker in the treatment of breast cancer

To date, estrogen receptor, progestogen receptor, and HER2/neu represent molecular biomarkers currently used in routine clinical practice to aid treatment decisions. Over the last few years, a large body of preclinical and retrospective clinical data has accumulated that suggests that BRCA1 mutation functions as a novel predictive marker of response to chemotherapy. This article reviews the role of BRCA1 as a predictive marker of chemotherapy response in breast cancer and examines the link between BRCA1 deficiency and the basal-like phenotype. Search strategy. Data for this article were identified through MEDLINE and PubMed searches for published reports using the terms BRCA1, breast cancer, basal-like, chemotherapy, prognosis, and predictive markers. In some cases, due to the restriction of space, readers are referred to review articles to allow further reading. Only articles published in English were included.

Reconfiguring Older Bodies in the Prison Time Machine

It is by mapping an area that the geographer comes to understand the contours and formations of a place. The “place” in this case is the prison world. This article serves to map moments in prison demonstrating how “old” female bodies are performed under the prison gaze. In this article I will illustrate how older women subvert, negotiate, or invoke discourse as a means of reinscribing the normalizing discourses that serve to confine and define older women's experiences in prison. Female elders in prison become defined and confined by regimes of femininity and ageism. They have to endure symbolic and actual intrusions of physical privacy, which serve to remind them of what they were, where they are, and what they have become. This article will critically explore the complexity and contradictions of time use in prison and how they impact on embodied identities. By incorporating the voices of elders, I hope to draw out the contradictions and dilemmas which they experience, thereby illustrating the relationship between time, their involvement in doing time, and the performance of time in a total institution (see Goffman, 1961), and the relationship between temporality and existence. The stories of the women show how their identities are caught within the movement and motion of time and space, both in terms of the time of “the real” on the outside and within prison time. This is the in-between space of carceral time within which women live and which they negotiate. It is by being caught in this network of carceral time that they are constantly being “remade” as their body/performance of identities alters within it. While only a small percentage of the female prison population in the United Kingdom are in later life, one has to question why criminological and gerontological literature fail to address the needs of a growing significant minority.

The spatial turn: geographical approaches in the history of science

Over the past decade or so a number of historians of science and historical geographers, alert to the situated nature of scientific knowledge production and reception and to the migratory patterns of science on the move, have called for more explicit treatment of the geographies of past scientific knowledge. Closely linked to work in the sociology of scientific knowledge and science studies and connected with a heightened interest in spatiality evident across the humanities and social sciences this ‹spatial turn’ has informed a wide-ranging body of work on the history of science. This discussion essay revisits some of the theoretical props supporting this turn to space and provides a number of worked examples from the history of the life sciences that demonstrate the different ways in which the spaces of science have been comprehended.

A gain-of-function mutation in the HIF2A gene in familial erythrocytosis

Hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) a, which has three isoforms, is central to the continuous balancing of the supply and demand of oxygen throughout the body. HIF-a is a transcription factor that modulates a wide range of processes, including erythropoiesis, angiogenesis, and cellular metabolism. We describe a family with erythrocytosis and a mutation in the HIF2A gene, which encodes the HIF-2a protein. Our functional studies indicate that this mutation leads to stabilization of the HIF-2a protein and suggest that wild-type HIF-2a regulates erythropoietin production in adults.

Physiological stress responses in the edible crab, Cancer pagurus, to the fishery practice of de-clawing

We examined physiological stress responses in the edible crab, Cancer pagurus, subjected to the commercial fishery practice of manual de-clawing. We measured haemolymph glucose and lactate, plus muscular glycogen and glycogen mobilisation, in three experiments where the crabs had one claw removed. In the first, crabs showed physiological stress responses when 'de-clawed' as compared to 'handled only over the short term of 1-10 min. In the second, de-clawing and the presence of a conspecific both increased the physiological stress responses over the longer term of 24 h. In the third, de-clawing was shown to be more stressful than 'induced autotomy' of claws. Further, the former practice caused larger wounds to the body and significantly higher mortality than the latter. Since the fishery practice is to remove both claws, the stress response observed and mortality data reported are conservative.

Energetic costs of parasitism in the Cape ground squirrel Xerus inauris

Parasites have been suggested to influence many aspects of host behaviour. Some of these effects may be mediated via their impact on host energy budgets. This impact may include effects on both energy intake and absorption as well as components of expenditure, including resting metabolic rate (RMR) and activity (e.g. grooming). Despite their potential importance, the energy costs of parasitism have seldom been directly quantified in a field setting. Here we pharmacologically treated female Cape ground squirrels (Xerus inauris) with anti-parasite drugs and measured the change in body composition, the daily energy expenditure (DEE) using doubly labelled water, the RMR by respirometry and the proportions of time spent looking for food, feeding, moving and grooming. Post-treatment animals gained an average 19 g of fat or approximately 25 kJ d(-1). DEE averaged 382 kJ d-1 prior to and 375 kJ d-1 post treatment (p> 0.05). RMR averaged 174 kJ d-1 prior to and 217 kJ d-1 post treatment (p

An Antennas and Propagation Approach to Improving Physical Layer Performance in Wireless Body Area Networks

A combined antennas and propagation study has been undertaken with a view to directly improving link conditions for wireless body area networks. Using tissue-equivalent numerical and experimental phantoms representative of muscle tissue at 2.45 GHz, we show that the node to node [S-21] path gain performance of a new wearable integrated antenna (WIA) is up to 9 dB better than a conventional compact Printed-F antenna, both of which are suitable for integration with wireless node circuitry. Overall, the WIA performed extremely well with a measured radiation efficiency of 38% and an impedance bandwidth of 24%. Further benefits were also obtained using spatial diversity, with the WIA providing up to 7.7 dB of diversity gain for maximal ratio combining. The results also show that correlation was lower for a multipath environment leading to higher diversity gain. Furthermore, a diversity implementation with the new antenna gave up to 18 dB better performance in terms of mean power level and there was a significant improvement in level crossing rates and average fade durations when moving from a single-branch to a two-branch diversity system.

Effects of intrahippocampal NAC(61-95) injections on memory in the rat and attenuation with vitamin E

Parkinson's disease (PD)-related dementia affects approximately 40% of PD patients and the severity of this dementia correlates significantly with the density of Lewy body (LB) deposition in the PD brain. Aggregated alpha-synuclein protein is the major component of LB's and the non-amyloid component (NAC) region of alpha-synuclein, residues 61-95, is essential for the aggregation and toxicity of this protein. The current study evaluated the effect of pre-aggregated NAC(61-95) injected into the CA3 area of the dorsal hippocampus of the brain on memory in the rat. Previous research has suggested that oxidative stress processes may play a role in the neuropathology of PD, therefore the effect of treatment with vitamin E, an antioxidant, was also evaluated. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were trained in two-lever operant chambers under an alternating-lever cyclic-ratio (ALCR) schedule of food reinforcement. When responding showed no trends, subjects were divided into four groups. Two groups were injected bilaterally into the dorsal hippocampus with aggregated NAC(61-95) (5 mu l suspension), and two groups were injected bilaterally into the dorsal hippocampus with sterile water (5 mu l). Subgroups were treated with either vitamin E (150 mg/kg in Soya oil) or vehicle (Soya oil) daily. Injection of NAC(61-95) induced memory deficits and vitamin E treatment alleviated these. In addition, NAC(61-95) injections induced activated astrocytes and chronic treatment with vitamin E reduced the numbers of activated astrocytes. These results suggest that aggregated NAC(61-95) and associated oxidative stress, may play a role in the pathogenesis of cognitive deficits seen in PD-induced dementia. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Lanthanide(III) nitrobenzenesulfonates as new nitration catalysts: The role of the metal and of the counterion in the catalytic efficiency

Lanthanide(III) complexes of p-nitrobenzenesulfonic acid, Ln(p-NBSA)(3), m-nitrobenzenesulfonic acid, Ln(m-NBSA)(3), and 2,4-nitrobenzenesulfonic acid, Ln(2,4-NBSA)(3), were prepared, characterized and examined as catalyst for the nitration of benzene, toluene, xylenes, naphthalene, bromobenzene and chlorobenzene. The initial screening of the catalysts showed that lanthanum(III) complexes were more effective than the corresponding ytterbium(III) complexes, and that catalysts containing the bulky 2,4-NBSA ligand were less effective than the catalyst containing p-NBSA (nosylate) or m-NBSA ligands. Examination of a series of Ln(p-NBSA)(3) and Ln(m-NBSA)(3) catalysts revealed that there is a clear correlation between the ionic radii of the lanthanide(III) ions and the yields of nitration, with the lighter lanthanides being more effective. The X-ray single crystal structure of Yb(m-NBSA)(3).6H(2)O shows that two m-NBSA ligands are directly bound to the metal centre while the third ligand is not located in the first coordination sphere, but it is hydrogen bonded to one of the water molecules which is coordinated to ytterbium(III). NMR studies suggest that this structure is preserved under the conditions used in the nitration reaction. The structure of Yb(m-NBSA)(3) is markedly different from the structure of the well-known ytterbium(III) triflate catalyst. The coordination of the nitrobenzenesulfonate counterion to the lanthanide(III) ion suggests that steric effects might play an important role in determining the efficiency of these novel nitration catalysts. ((C) Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2004).

Avoidance of filial cannibalism in the amphipod Gammarus pulex.

Adult animals that cannibalise juvenile conspecifics may gain energy but also risk filial cannibalism, that is, consumption of their own offspring. However, individuals vary in the magnitude of the costs and benefits of cannibalism depending on factors such as their current energy reserves or the probability that they have offspring in the vicinity. They may therefore also vary in the extent to which they participate in cannibalism. This study investigated whether the sex or brooding status of adult amphipods (Gammarus pulex) influenced whether they participated in cannibalism of juveniles. For females carrying embryos within their brood pouch, we also investigated two hypotheses to explain the presence or absence of cannibalistic behaviour by determining whether cannibalism was correlated with factors that might reflect energy demands (body length, brood size), or that might reflect a temporal change in cannibalistic behaviour (corresponding to stage of brood development). All reproductive classes of adults participated in some level of juvenile cannibalism, but females carrying offspring at an advanced stage of development (close to emergence from the brood pouch) consumed significantly fewer juveniles than other groups. Females thus appear to significantly reduce cannibalism of juveniles concurrent with the time when their own eggs are hatching within the brood pouch, prior to the release of their offspring. Because the experiment tested female responses to unfamiliar juveniles, this reflects a temporal change in behaviour rather than a response to phenotypic recognition cues, although additional direct recognition cannot be ruled out. Brooding females with large brood sizes or large body lengths, which might have disproportionately greater energetic demands, were not more likely to cannibalise juveniles. We also noted that juveniles that survived in trials where cannibalism occurred were significantly more likely to be found at the water surface, suggesting a possible adaptation to escape cannibalistic adults. Overall, our results provide evidence that amphipods use indirect temporal cues to avoid filial cannibalism.