bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Experimental effects of sediment deposition on the structure and function of macroinvertebrate assemblages in temperate streams
Authors: Larsen S. , Pace G. , Ormerod S. J.
Published: February 2010

Fine sediment in streams and rivers is one of the most globally widespread of all freshwater pollutants. However, the ecological implications are still poorly quantified, and field experiments to assess likely functional and structural effects are scarce.

We assessed the response of stream invertebrates to fine sediment (i.e. inert sand) added to trays (n = 65) containing otherwise natural substrata over a three‐week period in three replicate streams in the Usk catchment, Wales.

Sediment addition to 0.6–18 kg m−2 affected both the structure and functional composition of invertebrate assemblages while also reducing overall abundance and in some common species (Baetis rhodani, Ecdyonurus sp. and Leuctra geniculata).

Sediment also reduced richness and overall trait diversity (TD), while different life‐history traits were either favoured (polivoltinism, tegumental respiration and burrowing behaviour) or disfavoured (swimmers, attached taxa, gill respiration). Moreover, sediments appeared to promote a nested subset pattern in species composition, with generalists favoured at the expense of specialists either through exclusion or impaired colonization. Effects were due largely to the loss of five taxa that contributed to the significant nestedness across the sand gradient: B. rhodani, Ecdyonurus sp., Leuctra geniculata, Simuliidae and Ephemerella ignita.

This short‐term experiment supports recent surveys in indicating how sedimentation can change the structural and functional composition of stream invertebrate assemblages even at low to moderate rates of deposition. In revealing direct effects on trait adversity, trait representation and nestedness, the data are also consistent with survey data in indicating that sediments have potentially important ramifications for conservation by removing organisms systematically according to life‐history features. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Intra‐ and interobserver repeatability of fetal cardiac examination using four‐dimensional spatiotemporal image correlation in each trimester of pregnancy
Authors: Bennasar M. , Martínez J. M. , Gómez O. , Figueras F. , Olivella A. , Puerto B. , Gratacós E.
Published: February 2010

Objective

To assess the intra‐ and interobserver repeatability of the evaluation of fetal cardiac structures and measurements using spatiotemporal image correlation (STIC) technology in each trimester of pregnancy.

Methods

Four‐dimensional (4D)‐STIC volumes from 150 low‐risk pregnancies were acquired at first‐, second‐ or third‐trimester scan for later analysis by two different reviewers. A total of 19 items, including the evaluation of 14 structures as well as five measurements of the fetal heart, were evaluated. The reliability of qualitative variables was evaluated using Cohen's kappa and absolute agreement analysis while that of quantitative parameters was assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC).

Results

Forty‐five, 47 and 47 STIC volumes were included in the final analysis from the first, second and third trimesters, respectively. For the evaluation of cardiac structures, good or excellent intra‐ and interobserver agreement (kappa > 0.6) was obtained in 12/14 and 9/14, respectively, while absolute agreement was > 90% for most structures evaluated. Regarding the quantitative cardiac measurements, ICC values were above 0.90 for all but cardiac axis (intraobserver ICC, 0.81 and interobserver ICC, 0.61). There were no significant differences in the repeatability values observed for qualitative or quantitative parameters among the trimesters of pregnancy.

Conclusion

Cardiac examination from 4D‐STIC volumes showed a high repeatability between and within observers in each trimester of pregnancy. Copyright © 2010 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Sleep and cognition
Authors: Deak Maryann C. , Stickgold Robert
Published: February 2010

Sleep is a complex physiologic state, the importance of which has long been recognized. Lack of sleep is detrimental to humans and animals. Over the past decade, an important link between sleep and cognitive processing has been established. Sleep plays an important role in consolidation of different types of memory and contributes to insightful, inferential thinking. While the mechanism by which memories are processed in sleep remains unknown, several experimental models have been proposed. This article explores the link between sleep and cognition by reviewing (1) the effects of sleep deprivation on cognition, (2) the influence of sleep on consolidation of declarative and non‐declarative memory, and (3) some proposed models of how sleep facilitates memory consolidation in sleep. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This article is categorized under:

Psychology > Memory

Neuroscience > Behavior
Language and brain
Authors: Friederici Angela D. , Wartenburger Isabell
Published: February 2010

The human faculty of language has been the focus of researchers from different disciplines such as linguistics, psychology, neurology, biology, anthropology, and more recently genetics. However, the mystery of how the human brain acquires and represents language to ensure its fast and effortless use has still not been entirely solved, although our knowledge base has enlarged dramatically over the past decades. Based on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies, we are today able to define separate frontotemporal neural networks for the processing of syntactic and semantic information in the left hemisphere and for prosodic processes in the right. Data from electro‐ and magnetencephalographic (EEG/MEG) studies allow us to describe the interaction of these processes in time. Patients with lesions in language‐relevant brain structures provide crucial information for the validation of neurocognitive models. These models of adult language systems are used as a template against which the neural basis of first language acquisition and second language processing are investigated. The adult language system is characterized by fast processes supported by Broca's area in the prefrontal cortex and Wernicke's area in the temporal cortex. During language learning in adulthood, these processing routines slowly develop initially recruiting brain regions beyond those of the neural language network involved in adult native language processing. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This article is categorized under:

Linguistics > Language in Mind and Brain
A potential role for muscle in glucose homeostasis: in vivo kinetic studies in glycogen storage disease type 1a and fructose‐1,6‐bisphosphatase deficiency
Authors: Huidekoper Hidde H. , Visser Gepke , Ackermans Mariëtte T. , Sauerwein Hans P. , Wijburg Frits A.
Published: February 2010

Background

A potential role for muscle in glucose homeostasis was recently suggested based on characterization of extrahepatic and extrarenal glucose‐6‐phosphatase (glucose‐6‐phosphatase‐β). To study the role of extrahepatic tissue in glucose homeostasis during fasting glucose kinetics were studied in two patients with a deficient hepatic and renal glycogenolysis and/or gluconeogenesis.

Design

Endogenous glucose production (EGP), glycogenolysis (GGL), and gluconeogenesis (GNG) were quantified with stable isotopes in a patient with glycogen storage disease type 1a (GSD‐1a) and a patient with fructose‐1,6‐bisphosphatase (FBPase) deficiency. The [6,6‐2H2]glucose dilution method in combination with the deuterated water method was used during individualized fasting tests.

Results

Both patients became hypoglycemic after 2.5 and 14.5 h fasting, respectively. At that time, the patient with GSD‐1a had EGP 3.84 μmol/kg per min (30% of normal EGP after an overnight fast), GGL 3.09 μmol/kg per min, and GNG 0.75 μmol/kg per min. The patient with FBPase deficiency had EGP 8.53 μmol/kg per min (62% of normal EGP after an overnight fast), GGL 6.89 μmol/kg per min GGL, and GNG 1.64 μmol/kg per min.

Conclusion

EGP was severely hampered in both patients, resulting in hypoglycemia. However, despite defective hepatic and renal GNG in both disorders and defective hepatic GGL in GSD‐1a, both patients were still able to produce glucose via both pathways. As all necessary enzymes of these pathways have now been functionally detected in muscle, a contribution of muscle to EGP during fasting via both GGL as well as GNG is suggested.
Regulation of pro‐inflammatory and pro‐fibrotic factors by CCN2/CTGF in H9c2 cardiomyocytes
Authors: Wang Xiaoyu , McLennan Susan V. , Allen Terri J. , Twigg Stephen M.
Published: January 2010

Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), also known as CCN2, is implicated in fibrosis through both extracellular matrix (ECM) induction and inhibition of ECM degradation. The role of CTGF in inflammation in cardiomyocytes is unknown. In some mesenchymal cell systems, CTGF mediates effects through TGF‐β or tyrosine kinase cell surface receptor, TrkA, signalling. In this study, cellular mechanisms by which CTGF regulates pathways involved in fibrosis and inflammation were explored. Murine H9c2 cardiomyocytes were treated with recombinant human (rh)CTGF and ECM formation gene expression: fibronectin, collagen type ‐I and ‐III and ECM degradation genes: TIMP‐1, TIMP‐2 and PAI‐1 were found to be induced. CTGF treatment also increased pro‐inflammatory cytokines TNF‐α, IL‐6, MCP‐1 and IL‐8. CTGF upregulated TGF‐β1 mRNA and rapidly induced phosphorylation of TrkA. The CTGF‐induced pro‐fibrotic and pro‐inflammatory effects were blocked by anti‐TGF‐β neutralizing antibody and Alk 5 inhibitor (SB431542). A specific blocker of TrkA activation, k252a, also abrogated CTGF‐induced effects on fibrosis and gene expresison of MCP‐1 and IL‐8, but not TNF‐α or IL‐6. Collectively, this data implicates CTGF in effects on pro‐fibrotic genes and pro‐inflammatory genes via TGF‐β pathway signalling and partly through TrkA.
Cognitive vulnerability to depression in young people in secure accommodation: The influence of ethnicity and current suicidal ideation
Authors: Woolgar Matthew , Tranah Troy
Published: January 2010

Young people in secure accommodation are at high risk of depression and self‐harm. This study investigates the relationship between depressive symptoms, negative self‐schemas and the cognitive vulnerability to depression in 38 young people in secure accommodation. The impact of a) current suicidal ideation and b) a previous history of self‐harm behaviour on latent negative self‐schemas was examined using a mood induction task. The low mood condition indicated these young people had a latent cognitive vulnerability to depression. However, this vulnerability was exacerbated in the context of current suicidal ideation but not by a history of self‐harm behaviours. An unexpected finding was the negative self‐schemas of young people from ethnic minority backgrounds were particularly susceptible to the mood induction. The findings are discussed both in terms of the cognitive vulnerabilities of adolescents detained in secure accommodation and the role of participant characteristics on the validity of mood induction studies in adolescence.
Parental support and adolescents' health in the context of parental employment status
Authors: Bacikova‐Sleskova Maria , Madarasova Geckova Andrea , van Dijk Jitse P. , Groothoff Johan W. , Reijneveld Sijmen A.
Published: January 2010

Parental employment status is an important and often overlooked contextual factor that may influence parent–adolescent relationships. The aim of this study is to examine the effect of parental support on adolescents’ health within the context of parental employment status. Data on perceived mother's and father's support, mother's and father's employment status and adolescents' perceived health were collected among 1992 adolescents (mean age 16.9) and analysed using chi‐square and logistic regression. Father's support was significantly more often perceived as low when the father was unemployed, while the perception of mother's support did not differ in regards to the mother's employment. Among those with an unemployed father, mother's support appeared protective for adolescents' health, while when a mother was unemployed, father's support was more strongly associated with good health. Our results suggest that in the case of unemployment of one parent, support from the other parent may be more important for children.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Cruciate Ligament Injuries of the Knee
Authors: Kam C.K. , Chee Daniel W.Y. , Peh Wilfred C.G.
Published: January 2010

The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) are important stabilizers of the knee. These ligaments are commonly injured in sports and motor vehicle accidents. An accurate diagnosis of cruciate ligament injuries is vital in patient care. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can diagnose cruciate ligament injuries with high accuracy. The imaging diagnosis should be based on primary signs, although the secondary signs are sometimes useful, particularly in chronic cases. The detection of associated injuries of other structures of the knee, including menisci, collateral ligaments, cartilage, and bone, are also important. Accurate interpretation of the MRI examination requires a meticulous MRI technique, knowledge of the imaging anatomy, and understanding of the lesion appearance. This pictorial essay reviews the MRI appearance of normal and injured cruciate ligaments. Mechanisms of injury, primary and secondary MRI signs, and associated abnormalities are discussed.
CBFA2T3–ZNF651, like CBFA2T3–ZNF652, functions as a transcriptional corepressor complex
Authors: Kumar Raman , Cheney Kelly M. , Neilsen Paul M. , Schulz Renèe B. , Callen David F.
Published: January 2010

MINT‐7555667: CBFA2T3 (uniprotkb:O75081) physically interacts (MI:0915) with ZNF651 (uniprotkb:Q9UFB7) by anti tag co‐immunoprecipitation (MI:0007)
JNK‐ATF‐2 inhibits thrombomodulin (TM) expression by recruiting histone deacetylase4 (HDAC4) and forming a transcriptional repression complex in the TM promoter
Authors: Rong Yuanyuan , Zhang Mei , Zhang Lin , Wang Xing Li , Shen Ying H.
Published: January 2010

MINT‐7555703, MINT‐7555712: HDAC4 (uniprotkb:P56524) physically interacts (MI:0915) with ATF‐2 (uniprotkb:P15336) by anti bait coimmunoprecipitation (MI:0006)
Tumor suppressor activity of KLF6 mediated by downregulation of the PTTG1 oncogene
Authors: Lee Ursula E. , Ghiassi-Nejad Zahra , Paris Andrew J. , Yea Steven , Narla Goutham , Walsh Martin , Friedman Scott L.
Published: January 2010

The tumor suppressor Kruppel‐like factor 6 (KLF6) is frequently inactivated in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). To unearth downstream transcriptional targets of KLF6, cDNA microarray analysis of whole liver was compared between KLF6+/+ and KLF6+/− mice. Pituitary tumor transforming gene 1 (PTTG1), an oncogene, was the most up‐regulated transcript in KLF6+/− liver. In human HCCs, KLF6 mRNA was significantly decreased, associated with increased PTTG1. In HepG2, KLF6 transcriptionally repressed PTTG1 by direct promoter interaction. Whereas KLF6 downregulation by siRNA increased HepG2 proliferation, siRNA to PTTG1 was anti‐proliferative. PTTG1 downregulation represents a novel tumor suppressor pathway of KLF6.
Immunohistological evaluation of feline herpesvirus-1 infection in feline eosinophilic dermatoses or stomatitis
Authors: Lee Meichet , Bosward Katrina L , Norris Jacqueline M.
Published: January 2010

This study used immunohistochemistry (IHC) and histopathology to evaluate the presence of feline herpesvirus-1 (FHV-1) in feline cases of ‘eosinophilic granuloma complex’ (EGC) or other eosinophilic dermatoses or stomatitis, diagnosed at the Veterinary Pathology Diagnostic Service, University of Sydney between January 1996 and June 2008. Two of the 30 cases (6.6%) examined showed positive immunoreactivity to FHV-1 using IHC. Intranuclear inclusion bodies were also detected on histopathological examination of haematoxylin and eosin stained sections of both cases but were very difficult to find. Therefore, FHV-1 is uncommonly associated with EGC or other eosinophilic dermatoses or stomatitis in Sydney. However, misdiagnosis as an EGC lesion or other eosinophilic dermatoses may occur if inclusion bodies are overlooked or absent on histopathology and this may significantly decrease the chance of a favourable treatment outcome. FHV-1 should be considered in cats with severe ulcerative cutaneous or oral lesions, unresponsive to corticosteroid treatment, with or without concurrent or historical signs of upper respiratory tract or ocular disease more typical of FHV-1. IHC may be helpful in differentiating FHV-1 dermatitis or stomatitis from other eosinophilic lesions, which is of vital clinical and therapeutic importance.
The environmental management system in the Republic of Macedonia – problems, issues and challenges
Authors: Hristovski Kiril D. , Hild Nicholas R. , Young-Hristovski Jennifer E.
Published: January 2010

Starting with the premise that the environmental management system is an integral part of the multidimensional socio-economic, cultural and political system of a country, a critical overview of the existing environmental management system in Macedonia was conducted as a case study in an attempt to identify and evaluate the key problems, challenges, and issues that hinder the transition of post-communist countries. The analysis revealed that the same barriers were present in the different systems of many post-communist counties. These barriers may be overcome only by creating indigenous well educated personnel who understand the specifics of their country.
A Quantum Groups Primer
Authors: Majid Shahn
Published: February 2010

This book provides a self-contained introduction to quantum groups as algebraic objects. Based on the author's lecture notes from a Part III pure mathematics course at Cambridge University, it is suitable for use as a textbook for graduate courses in quantum groups or as a supplement to modern courses in advanced algebra. The book assumes a background knowledge of basic algebra and linear algebra. Some familiarity with semisimple Lie algebras would also be helpful. The book is aimed as a primer for mathematicians and takes a modern approach leading into knot theory, braided categories and noncommutative differential geometry. It should also be useful for mathematical physicists.
Durham Priory 1400–1450
Authors: Dobson R. B.
Published: February 2010

In the course of this work, Dr Dobson is able to throw new light on the universal aspirations and pre occupations of medieval monasticism. He reconstructs life in Durham in the century before its final dissolution and concludes that it was an example of 'comparatively successful conservatism' during a period in English history characterized by institutional resistance to social and intellectual change.
The Place of Fiction in the Time of Science
Authors: Limon John
Published: February 2010

In this 1990 book John Limon examines the various ways American authors have approached the writing of fiction (and justified that writing) in an age increasingly dominated by science. He focuses in particular on Charles Brockden Brown, Edgar Allen Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne - three highly articulate and highly alarmed witnesses to the professionalisation of science, the great crisis in modern intellectual history. It was, he argues, especially specially difficult for American writers to face this crisis since they could make no appeal to traditional values: America, after all, had never really been a pre-scientific society.
The Union Makes Us Strong
Authors: Wellman David
Published: February 2010

American labour history is typically interpreted by scholars as a history of defeat. Hidden by this conventional wisdom are a handful of militant unions that did not follow the putative Congress of Industrial Organizations trajectory. Based on three years of ethnographic research, this book examines a union that organised itself to systematically challenge management's rule on the shopfloor: San Francisco's longshore union. American unionism looks quite different than conventional wisdom suggests when everyday union practices are observed. American labour's trajectory, this book argues, is neither inevitable nor determined; militant, democratic forms of unionism are possible in the United States; and collective bargaining does not automatically eliminate contests for workplace control. The contract is a bargain that reflects and reproduces fundamental disagreement; it states how production and conflict will proceed.
The Nationalist Era in China, 1927–1949
Authors: Eastman Lloyd E. , Ch'en Jerome , Pepper Suzanne , Slyke Lyman P. Van
Published: February 2010

In recent years historians of China have focused increased attention on the critical decades of National rule on the mainland. This recent scholarship has substantially modified our understanding of the political events of this momentous period, shedding light on the character of Nationalist rule and on the sources of the Communist victory in 1949. Yet no existing textbook on modern China presents the events of the period according to these new findings. The five essays in this volume were written by leading authorities on the period, and they synthesize the new research. Drawn from Volume 13 of The Cambridge History of China, they represent the most complete and stimulating political history of the period available in the literature. The essays selected deal with Nationalist rule during the Nanking decade, the Communist movement from 1927 to 1937, Nationalist rule during the Sino-Japanese War, the Communist movement during the Sino-Japanese war, and the Kuomintang-Communist struggle from 1945 to 1949.
Skeletal Function and Form
Authors: Carter Dennis R. , Beaupré Gary S.
Published: February 2010

The intimate relationship between form and function inherent in the design of animals is perhaps nowhere more evident than in the musculoskeletal system. In the bones, cartilage, tendons, ligaments, and muscles of all vertebrates there is a graceful and efficient physical order. This book is about how function determines form. It addresses the role of mechanical factors in the development, adaptation, maintenance, ageing and repair of skeletal tissues. The authors refer to this process as mechanobiology and develop their theme within an evolutionary framework. They show how the normal development of skeletal tissues is influenced by mechanical stimulation beginning in the embryo and continuing throughout life into old age. They also show how degenerative disorders such as arthritis and osteoporosis are regulated by the same mechanical processes that influence development and growth. Skeletal Function and Form bridges important gaps among disciplines, providing a common ground for understanding, and will appeal to a wide audience of bioengineers, zoologists, anthropologists, palaeontologists and orthopaedists.
Mastering ENVY/Developer
Authors: Pelrine Joseph , Knight Alan , Cho Adrian
Published: February 2010

This book is an in-depth exploration of ENVY/Developer, IBM's team programming environment for Smalltalk and Java. Written by well-known experts in the area, it presents both introductory and advanced topics with detailed examples. The first two parts of the book introduce the basics that a developer or development manager must know in order to use ENVY in a project setting, including the development process and the organization of applications. The third part covers advanced programming and customization, including detailed information on administering, troubleshooting, and extending the tools. This book covers VisualAge for Smalltalk, VisualWorks, and VisualAge Generator in detail. In addition, the concepts and management presented within the book apply to VisualAge for Java. Code examples, tools, and add-ons, are available on the supporting Web site.
Economic Analysis of Property Rights
Authors: Barzel Yoram
Published: February 2010

This is a study of the way individuals organise the use of resources in order to maximise the value of their economic rights over these resources. Property rights and all forms of organisation result from people's deliberate actions. In the tradition of Coase, this study offers a unified theoretical structure to deal with exchange, rights formation and organisation which traditional economic theory assumes away. A person's economic property rights over an asset are defined here as the person's ability to gain from the asset by direct consumption or by exchange. It is prohibitively costly to measure accurately all assets' attributes; therefore, rights to them are never fully delineated. Property is consequently in danger of appropriation by others. Individuals enhance their rights by such actions as the protection and better delineation of their assets. In this new edition, Professor Barzel introduces the central role of equity capital as a guarantor of the activities of the firm and elaborates on the distinction between economic rights and legal rights.
Francis Bacon and the Transformation of Early-Modern Philosophy
Authors: Gaukroger Stephen
Published: February 2010

This ambitious and important book, first published in 2001, provides a truly general account of Francis Bacon as a philosopher. It describes how Bacon transformed the values that had underpinned philosophical culture since antiquity by rejecting the traditional idea of a philosopher as someone engaged in contemplation of the cosmos. The book explores in detail how and why Bacon attempted to transform the largely esoteric discipline of natural philosophy into a public practice through a program in which practical science provided a model that inspired many from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries. Stephen Gaukroger shows that this reform of natural philosophy was dependent on the creation of a new philosophical persona: a natural philosopher shaped through submission to the dictates of Baconian method. This book will be recognized as a major contribution to Baconian scholarship, of special interest to historians of early-modern philosophy, science, and ideas.
Thomas Aquinas on Human Nature
Authors: Pasnau Robert
Published: February 2010

This is a major new study of Thomas Aquinas, the most influential philosopher of the Middle Ages. The book offers a clear and accessible guide to the central project of Aquinas' philosophy: the understanding of human nature. Robert Pasnau sets the philosophy in the context of ancient and modern thought, and argues for some groundbreaking proposals for understanding some of the most difficult areas of Aquinas' thought: the relationship of soul to body, the workings of sense and intellect, the will and the passions, and personal identity. Structured around a close reading of the treatise on human nature from the Summa theologiae and deeply informed by a wide knowledge of the history of philosophy and contemporary philosophy, this study will offer specialists a series of novel and provocative interpretations, while providing students with a reference commentary on one of Aquinas' core texts.
Language and Social Relations
Authors: Agha Asif
Published: February 2010

Language is closely linked to our social relationships and is the medium through which we participate in a variety of social activities. This fascinating study explores the important role of language in various aspects of our social life, such as identity, gender relations, class, kinship, status, and hierarchies. Drawing on data from over thirty different languages and societies, it shows how language is more than simply a form of social action; it is also an effective tool with which we formulate models of social life and conduct. These models - or particular forms of social behaviour - are linked to the classification of 'types' of action or actor, and are passed 'reflexively' from person to person, and from generation to generation. Providing a unified way of accounting for a variety of social phenomena, this book will be welcomed by all those interested in the interaction between language, culture, and society.
Māori
Authors: Harlow Ray
Published: February 2010

Mäori, the indigenous language of New Zealand, is an endangered, minority language, with an important role in the culture and identity of the Mäori community. This comprehensive overview, first published in 2007, looks at all aspects of the Mäori language: its history, its dialects, its sounds and grammar, its current status and the efforts being made by the Mäori community and the state to ensure its survival. Central chapters provide an overall sketch of the structure of Mäori while highlighting those aspects which have been the subject of detailed linguistic analysis - particularly phonology (sound structure) and morphology (word structure). Though addressed primarily to those with some knowledge of linguistics, this book describes a language with a wealth of interesting features. It will interest anyone wishing to study the structure of a minority language, in fields as diverse as typology, sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropology, as well as all those interested in endangered languages and their preservation.
General Techniques of Cell Culture
Authors: Harrison Maureen A. , Rae Ian F.
Published: February 2010

Cell culture techniques are invaluable to the modern researcher but difficult to carry out successfully. As part of the series of Handbooks in Practical Animal Cell Biology, this volume offers a concise practical guide to the basic essentials of the technique. Researchers new to cell culture will find a clear explanation of the essential equipment of a tissue culture facility, including tissue culture media and sera. It describes methods for growing suspension and adhesion cultures, including how to store cells and prepare primary cultures from cells. For those already culturing cells, the handbook will act as a handy reference to the basic techniques. The essence of the book is to deal with the generalities of cell culture to give a grasp of the basic concepts before involvement in more specialized work in the field. Ideal for anyone moving into tissue cell culture techniques or looking for a concise reference book.
The Cult of the Avant-Garde Artist
Authors: Kuspit Donald
Published: February 2010

The Cult of the Avant-Garde Artist examines the philosophical, psychological and aesthetic premises for avant-garde art and its subsequent evolution and corruption in the late twentieth century. Arguing that modernist art is essentially therapeutic in intention, both towards self and society, Donald Kuspit further posits that neo-avant-garde, or post-modern art, at once mocks and denies the possibility of therapeutic change. As such, it accommodates the status quo of capitalist society, in which fame and fortune are valued above anything else. Stripping avant-garde art of its missionary, therapeutic intention, neo-avant-garde art instead converts it into a cliché of creative novelty or ironical value for its fashionable look. Moreover, it destroys the precarious balance of artistic narcissism and social empathy that characterizes modern art, tilting it cynically towards the former. Incorporating psychoanalytic ideas, particularly those concerned with narcissism, The Cult of the Avant-Garde Artist offers a reinterpretation of modern art history. Donald Kuspit, one of America's foremost art critics, is a contributing editor to Artforum and the author of many books.
Cytotype regulation inDrosophila melanogaster: synergism between telomeric and non-telomericPelements
Authors: BELINCO CARINA , DIPRIMA STEPHANIE N. , WOLFF RYAN E. , THORP MICHAEL W. , BUSCHETTE JARED T. , SIMMONS MICHAEL J.
Published: February 2010

The X-linked telomericPelementsTP5andTP6interact synergistically with non-telomericPelements to repress hybrid dysgenesis. In this repression, the telomericPelements exert maternal effects, which, however, are not sufficient to establish synergism with the non-telomericPelements. Once synergism is established, the capacity to repress dysgenesis in the offspring of a cross persists for at least two generations after removing the telomericPelement from the genotype. At the molecular level, synergism between telomeric and non-telomericPelements is correlated with effective elimination ofP-element mRNA in the germ line. Maternally transmitted mutations in the genesaubergine,piwiandSuppressor of variegation 205[Su(var)205] block the establishment of synergism between telomeric and non-telomericPelements, and paternally transmitted mutations inpiwiandSu(var)205disrupt synergism that has already been established. These findings are discussed in terms of a model of cytotype regulation ofPelements based on Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) that are amplified by cycling between sense and antisense species.
Effective antiplane properties in the presence of frictional shear cracks
Authors: Caleap Mihai , Aristégui Christophe
Published: February 2010

Cracked solids are viewed as equivalent homogenous media that sustain the propagation of coherent shear horizontal waves in the presence of multiple scattering. Strip‐like cracks are filled with viscous fluid and are randomly distributed. Their faces undergo viscous friction. The effective wave number and shear stiffness are calculated for parallel cracks in terms of the far‐field response of a single crack. Attention is focused on the derivation of this single‐scattering property in the general case of oblique incidence. Effect of the crack density and fluid viscosity on the effective properties is investigated. Simple low‐ and high‐frequency analytical approximations allow a direct assessment of the crack density and fluid viscosity from seismic wave measurements. Knowledge of these parameters facilitates more precise estimation of the crack size in the Earth's crust.
Race to the top
Authors: Jacobs Howy
Published: February 2010

Howy Jacobs discusses the lack of non‐white students and researchers in molecular biology in Europe and how to ensure that a career in biology appeals to all Europeans.
Gene therapy: back on track?
Authors: Mavilio Fulvio
Published: February 2010

Fulvio Mavilio assesses the current state of affairs of gene therapy and how over‐regulation might be stifling its progress and, thus, patient access to novel therapies.
Rigorous meaning of McLennan ensembles
Authors: Maes Christian , Netočný Karel
Published: February 2010

We analyze the exact meaning of expressions for nonequilibrium stationary distributions in terms of entropy changes. They were originally introduced by McLennan [“Statistical mechanics of the steady state,” Phys. Rev. 115, 1405 (1959)] for mechanical systems close to equilibrium and more recent work by Komatsu and Nakagawa [“An expression for stationary distribution in nonequilibrium steady states,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 030601 (2008)] has shown their intimate relation to the transient fluctuation symmetry. Here we derive these distributions for jump and diffusion Markov processes and we clarify the order of the limits that take the system both to its stationary regime and to the close-to-equilibrium regime. In particular, we prove that it is exactly the (finite) transient component of the irreversible part of the entropy flux that corrects the Boltzmann distribution to first order in the driving. We add further connections with the notion of local equilibrium, with the Green–Kubo relation, and with a generalized expression for the stationary distribution in terms of a reference equilibrium process.
Microstructure, optical, and electrical properties of p-type SnO thin films
Authors: Guo W. , Fu L. , Zhang Y. , Zhang K. , Liang L. Y. , Liu Z. M. , Cao H. T. , Pan X. Q.
Published: February 2010

SnO thin films were fabricated by electron beam evaporation on (100) Si and c- and r-plane Al2O3 substrates. The films grown at 25 °C are nanocrystalline, while the films grown at 600 °C are epitaxial on r-plane Al2O3 and (001) textured on Si and c-plane Al2O3. The SnO films have an optical band gap of 2.82–2.97 eV and p-type conductivity, according to Hall measurements, with resistivities of 0.5–110 Ω cm, hole concentrations of 1017–1019 cm−3, and Hall mobilities of 0.1–2.6 cm2/Vs. The p-type conductivity, which appears to correlate with VSn, can be enhanced via Y- and Sb-doping. Defect complexes of SbSn−2VSn are suggested to be the acceptors in Sb-(or Y-) doped SnO films.
Hard-sphere fluids with chemical self-potentials
Authors: Kiessling M. K.-H. , Percus J. K.
Published: February 2010

The existence, uniqueness, and stability of solutions are studied for a set of nonlinear fixed point equations which define self-consistent hydrostatic equilibria of a classical continuum fluid that is confined inside a container Λ¯⊂R3 and in contact with either a heat and a matter reservoir, or just a heat reservoir. The local thermodynamics is furnished by the statistical mechanics of a system of hard balls, in the approximation of Carnahan–Starling. The fluid’s local chemical potential per particle at r∊Λ is the sum of the matter reservoir’s contribution and a self-contribution −(V∗ρ)(r), where ρ is the fluid density function and V a non-negative linear combination of the Newton kernel VN(|r|)=−|r|−1, the Yukawa kernel VY(|r|)=−|r|−1e−κ|r|, and a van der Waals kernel VW(|r|)=−(1+ϰ2|r|2)−3. The fixed point equations involving the Yukawa and Newton kernels are equivalent to semilinear elliptic partial differential equations (PDEs) of second order with a nonlinear, nonlocal boundary condition. We prove the existence of a grand canonical phase transition and of a petit canonical phase transition which is embedded in the former. The proofs suggest that, except for boundary layers, the grand canonical transition is of the type “all gas↔all liquid” while the petit canonical one is of the type “all vapor↔liquid drop with vapor atmosphere.” The latter proof, in particular, suggests the existence of solutions with interface structure which compromise between the all-liquid and all-gas density solutions.
Downstream heat flux profile versus midplane T profile in tokamaks
Authors: Goldston Robert J.
Published: February 2010

The relationship between the midplane scrape-off-layer (SOL) electron temperature profile and the parallel heat flux profile at the divertor in tokamaks is investigated. A model is applied that takes into account anisotropic thermal diffusion in rectilinear geometry with constant density. Eigenmode analysis is applied to the simplified problem with rectangular geometry and constant, but highly anisotropic, thermal diffusivities. A nonlinear solution is also found for the more realistic problem with anisotropically temperature-dependent thermal diffusivities. Numerical solutions are developed for both cases, with spatially dependent heat flux emerging from the plasma, and geometry that includes a model for the divertor leg. For both constant and temperature-dependent thermal diffusivities, it is found that, below about one-half of its peak, the heat flux profile shape at the divertor, compared to the midplane temperature profile shape, is robustly described by the scaling of the simplest two-point model. However, the physical processes are not those assumed in the simplest two-point model, nor is the numerical coefficient relating q∥div to Tmpχ∥mp∕L∥ as predicted in that model. For realistic parameters, the peak in the heat flux, moreover, can be reduced by a factor of 2 or more relative to the two-point model scaling that fits the remaining profile. For temperature profiles in the SOL region above the x-point set by marginal stability, the heat flux profile to the divertor can be largely decoupled from the prediction of the two-point model. These results suggest opportunities and caveats for data interpretation and possibly favorable outcomes for divertor configurations with extended field lines.
Exact results for ionization of model atomic systems
Authors: Costin O. , Lebowitz J. L. , Stucchio C. , Tanveer S.
Published: February 2010

We review recent rigorous results concerning the ionization of model quantum systems by time-periodic external fields. The systems we consider consist of a single particle (electron) with a reference Hamiltonian H0=−Δ+V0(x) (x∊Rd) having both bound and continuum states. Starting from an initially localized state ψ0(x)∊L2(Rd), the system is subjected for t≥0 to an arbitrary strength time-periodic potential V1(x,t)=V1(x,t+2π/ω). We prove that for a large class of V0(x) and V1(x,t), the wave function ψ(x,t) will delocalize as t→∞, i.e., the system will ionize. The only exceptions are cases where there are time-periodic bound states of the Floquet operator associated with H0+V1. These do occur (albeit rarely) when V1 is not small. For spatially rapidly decaying V0 and V1, ψ(x,t) is generally given, for very long times, by a power series in t−1/2 which we prove in some cases to be Borel summable. For the Coulomb potential V0(x)=−b|x|−1 in R3, we prove ionization for V1(x,t)=V1(|x|)sin(ωt−θ), V1(|x|)=0 for |x|>R and V1(x)>0 for |x|≤R. For this model, if ψ0 is compactly supported both in x and in angular momentum, L, we obtain that ψ(x,t)∼O(t−5/6) as t→∞.
Simplified procedure for interferometric determination of electro-optic properties of low-Tg photorefractive polymer
Authors: Fujihara Takashi , Sassa Takafumi , Kawada Takashi , Mamiya Jun-ichi , Muto Tsuyoshi , Umegaki Shinsuke
Published: February 2010

A simplified procedure is proposed for the interferometric determination of optical dispersions of refractive-index changes in a low-Tg photorefractive (PR) polymer. A two-level model for the optical dispersions is used in order to separately evaluate the index changes occurring due to molecular birefringence and first-order electronic electro-optic effects. This evaluation is done by estimating the contributions of the two effects in the low-frequency limit of a modulating voltage. The evaluated results are compared with those determined by a PR two-beam coupling experiment.
From operator algebras to superconformal field theory
Authors: Kawahigashi Yasuyuki
Published: February 2010

We survey operator algebraic approach to (super)conformal field theory. We discuss representation theory, classification results, full and boundary conformal field theories, relations to supervertex operator algebras and Moonshine, connections to subfactor theory of Jones, and certain aspects of noncommutative geometry of Connes.
A quantum central limit theorem for sums of independent identically distributed random variables
Authors: Jakšić V. , Pautrat Y. , Pillet C.-A.
Published: February 2010

We formulate and prove a general central limit theorem for sums of independent identically distributed noncommutative random variables.
Growth and saturation of the axial instability in low wire number wire array Z pinches
Authors: Knapp P. F. , Greenly J. B. , Gourdain P.-A. , Hoyt C. L. , Martin M. R. , Pikuz S. A. , Seyler C. E. , Shelkovenko T. A. , Hammer D. A.
Published: February 2010

The growth of the axial instability in low wire number wire array Z pinches using a 100 ns rise time, 1 MA pulsed power accelerator is examined. The axial instability manifests itself as a quasiperiodic variation of the radius of the coronal plasma along each wire and a consequent modulation of the rate of ablation of material from the dense wire core. The dominant wavelength of the modulation becomes constant late in time. In this work laser shadowgraphy is used to measure the growth of the wavelength and amplitude of the instability as well as the size of the coronal plasma in aluminum wire arrays from the time of plasma formation to the time the wavelength seen late in time is reached. Using magnetic probes, the distribution of current and magnetic topology are also investigated. It is found that a distinct change in magnetic field topology associated with the onset of advection of current to the array axis by the streaming wire-ablation plasma appears to be responsible for ending the growth of the axial instability and initiating the quasisteady state ablation phase of the wire array Z pinch.
A molecular mechanisms-based biophysical model for two-phase cell spreading
Authors: Li Yue , Xu Guang-Kui , Li Bo , Feng Xi-Qiao
Published: February 2010

Cell spreading on an extracellular matrix is crucial for many biological functions and processes. By accounting for the molecular mechanisms of actin polymerization and integrin binding between the cell and the extracellular matrix, we here propose a biophysical model to predict the time-dependent growth rate of cell spreading. A general power-law is derived to predict the increasing contact radius of the cell with time and it is valid for almost all types of cells. With focus on the geometrical and biological characteristics, the results of this model agree well with relevant experimental measurements.
Ultraflexible amorphous silicon transistors made with a resilient insulator
Authors: Han Lin , Song Katherine , Mandlik Prashant , Wagner Sigurd
Published: February 2010

The conventional, brittle, silicon nitride barrier layer and gate insulator in amorphous silicon thin-film transistors (a-Si:H TFTs) on 50 μm thick polyimide foil was replaced by a resilient, homogeneous, hybrid of silicon dioxide and silicone polymer. The transistor structures can be bent down to 0.5 mm radius (5% strain) in tension and down to 1 mm radius (2.5% strain) in compression. This pronounced flexibility shifts the criterion for reversible bending away from a-Si:H TFT backplanes and toward the materials for substrate and encapsulation. It qualifies a-Si:H TFTs for pull-out display screens in handheld devices.
Time resolved photoluminescence of In(N)As quantum dots embedded in GaIn(N)As/GaAs quantum well
Authors: Syperek M. , Kudrawiec R. , Baranowski M. , Sȩk G. , Misiewicz J. , Bisping D. , Marquardt B. , Forchel A. , Fischer M.
Published: February 2010

Carrier dynamics in In(N)As quantum dots embedded in GaIn(N)As quantum well has been studied by time resolved photoluminescence. We have shown that incorporation of nitrogen into InAs/InGaAs system caused a redshift of the ground state emission due to the change in the energy gap and strain distribution, and simultaneously changed the size and density of dots. This has differently affected the dynamic properties at low and room temperature. Small amount of nitrogen in the InAs/InGaAs quantum dot system has appeared to enhance the quantum confinement allowing to reach 1.3 μm emission and has not deteriorated the optical material quality.
An investigation of collisional processes in a Dicke narrowed transition of water vapor in the 7.8 μm spectral region by frequency down-chirped quantum cascade laser spectroscopy
Authors: Tasinato Nicola , Duxbury Geoffrey , Langford Nigel , Hay Kenneth G.
Published: February 2010

Information about intermolecular potentials is usually obtained through the analysis of the absorption line shapes recorded in the frequency domain. This approach is also adopted to study the effects of motional narrowing and speed dependence of the pressure broadening coefficients. On the other hand, time domain measurements are directly related to molecular collisions and are therefore frequently employed to study molecular relaxation rates, as well as the effects of velocity changing collisions and the speed dependence of the absorption cross sections. Intrapulse quantum cascade laser spectrometers are able to produce both saturation and molecular alignment of the gas sample. This is due to the rapid sweep of the radiation through the absorption features. In the present work the frequency down-chirped radiation emitted by an intrapulsed quantum cascade laser operating near 7.8 μm is employed to investigate the collisional relaxation processes, and the collisional narrowing, in the 150,15←161,16 and 151,15←160,16 doublet in the water vapor ν2 band. The effects of He, Ne, Ar, N2, and CO2 as collisional partners are investigated. The experimental results clearly indicate the dependence of the collisional cross sections upon the chirp rate. They also demonstrate that by using different chirp rates it is possible to gain information about the intermolecular processes driving the molecular collisions and the related energy transfer.