Seeing clearly – the redevelopment of the Central Library, Imperial College London: a review of the extension and refurbishment of the Central Library, South Kensington campus, from concept to completion and beyond

A review of the redevelopment of Level one of the Central Library, Imperial College LondonPublished versio

Compatible actions and non-abelian tensor products

For a pair of groups $G, H$ we study pairs of actions $G$ on $H$ and $H$ on $G$ such that these pairs are compatible and non-abelian tensor products $G \otimes H$ are defined.Comment: 9 page

Apical endosomes isolated from kidney collecting duct principal cells lack subunits of the proton pumping ATPase.

Endocytic vesicles that are involved in the vasopressin-stimulated recycling of water channels to and from the apical membrane of kidney collecting duct principal cells were isolated from rat renal papilla by differential and Percoll density gradient centrifugation. Fluorescence quenching measurements showed that the isolated vesicles maintained a high, HgCl2-sensitive water permeability, consistent with the presence of vasopressin-sensitive water channels. They did not, however, exhibit ATP-dependent luminal acidification, nor any N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive ATPase activity, properties that are characteristic of most acidic endosomal compartments. Western blotting with specific antibodies showed that the 31- and 70-kD cytoplasmically oriented subunits of the vacuolar proton pump were not detectable in these apical endosomes from the papilla, whereas they were present in endosomes prepared in parallel from the cortex. In contrast, the 56-kD subunit of the proton pump was abundant in papillary endosomes, and was localized at the apical pole of principal cells by immunocytochemistry. Finally, an antibody that recognizes the 16-kD transmembrane subunit of oat tonoplast ATPase cross-reacted with a distinct 16-kD band in cortical endosomes, but no 16-kD band was detectable in endosomes from the papilla. This antibody also recognized a 16-kD band in affinity-purified H+ ATPase preparations from bovine kidney medulla. Therefore, early endosomes derived from the apical plasma membrane of collecting duct principal cells fail to acidify because they lack functionally important subunits of a vacuolar-type proton pumping ATPase, including the 16-kD transmembrane domain that serves as the proton-conducting channel, and the 70-kD cytoplasmic subunit that contains the ATPase catalytic site. This specialized, non-acidic early endosomal compartment appears to be involved primarily in the hormonally induced recycling of water channels to and from the apical plasma membrane of vasopressin-sensitive cells in the kidney collecting duct

Recognition without identification, erroneous familiarity, and déjà vu

Déjà vu is characterized by the recognition of a situation concurrent with the awareness that this recognition is inappropriate. Although forms of déjà vu resolve in favor of the inappropriate recognition and therefore have behavioral consequences, typical déjà vu experiences resolve in favor of the awareness that the sensation of recognition is inappropriate. The resultant lack of behavioral modification associated with typical déjà vu means that clinicians and experimenters rely heavily on self-report when observing the experience. In this review, we focus on recent déjà vu research. We consider issues facing neuropsychological, neuroscientific, and cognitive experimental frameworks attempting to explore and experimentally generate the experience. In doing this, we suggest the need for more experimentation and amore cautious interpretation of research findings, particularly as many techniques being used to explore déjà vu are in the early stages of development.PostprintPeer reviewe

Coping with metastatic melanoma: the last year of life.

BackgroundFew longitudinal studies have concurrently investigated cognitive appraisal, coping and psychological adjustment in patients with terminal cancer. This study aimed to (i) consider patterns of change in these variables during the last year of life and (ii) consider covariates associated with patients' psychological adjustment.Methods and patientsQuestionnaires were sent to a cohort of stage IV melanoma patients seen at the Sydney Melanoma Unit between 1991 and 1996, approximately every 3 months, for up to 2 years. A sub-sample of 110 patients completed at least one questionnaire in the last year of life. Repeated measures linear regression was used to model cognitive appraisal, coping and psychological adjustment.ResultsIn the last year of life, patients' cognitive appraisal of their disease remained relatively stable, whereas their use of active coping strategies increased (p=0. 04). There was some deterioration in psychological adjustment, particularly in patients' ability to minimize the impact of cancer on daily life (p=0.03), but this effect did not remain significant when patients' level of tiredness was included in the model. Cognitive appraisal, coping style and quality of life indicators were all associated with psychological adjustment.ConclusionThese findings suggest that while patients work hard to actively cope with their disease, they experience increasing levels of tiredness, and deterioration in their mood and ability to function in their daily lives

UBE2QL1 is Disrupted by a Constitutional Translocation Associated with Renal Tumor Predisposition and is a Novel Candidate Renal Tumor Suppressor Gene

Investigation of rare familial forms of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) has led to the identification of genes such as VHL and MET that are also implicated in the pathogenesis of sporadic RCC. In order to identify a novel candidate renal tumor suppressor gene, we characterized the breakpoints of a constitutional balanced translocation, t(5;19)(p15.3;q12), associated with familial RCC and found that a previously uncharacterized gene UBE2QL1 was disrupted by the chromosome 5 breakpoint. UBE2QL1 mRNA expression was downregulated in 78.6% of sporadic RCC and, although no intragenic mutations were detected, gene deletions and promoter region hypermethylation were detected in 17.3% and 20.3%, respectively, of sporadic RCC. Reexpression of UBE2QL1 in a deficient RCC cell line suppressed anchorage-independent growth. UBE2QL1 shows homology to the E2 class of ubiquitin conjugating enzymes and we found that (1) UBE2QL1 possesses an active-site cysteine (C88) that is monoubiquitinated in vivo, and (2) UBE2QL1 interacts with FBXW7 (an F box protein providing substrate recognition to the SCF E3 ubiquitin ligase) and facilitates the degradation of the known FBXW7 targets, CCNE1 and mTOR. These findings suggest UBE2QL1 as a novel candidate renal tumor suppressor gen

User Identification Using Games

There is a significant shift towards a digital identity and yet the most common means of user authentication, username and password pairs, is an imperfect system. In this paper we present the notion of using videogames, specifically Tetris, to supplement traditional authentication methods and provide an additional layer of identity validation. Two experiments were undertaken that required participants to play a modified version of Tetris; the first experiment with a randomly ordered set of pieces and the second with the pieces appearing in a fixed order. The results showed that even simple games like Tetris demonstrate significant complexity in the available game states and that while some users displayed repeatable strategic behaviour, others were effectively random in their behaviours exhibiting no discernible strategy or repeatable behaviour. However, some pieces and gameboard scenarios encouraged users to exhibit behaviours that are more unique than others

Influenza- and respiratory syncytial virus-associated adult mortality in Soweto

Background. Influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)infections cause seasonal excess mortality and hospitalisationin adults (particularly the elderly) in high-income countries. Little information exists on the impact of these infections on adults in Africa.Objectives. To estimate influenza- and RSV-related adult mortality, stratified by age and hospitalisation in Soweto.Study design. A retrospective hospital-based study in Sowetofrom 1997 to 1999 to estimate influenza- and RSV-related excess all-cause deaths and hospitalisation using a ratedifferencemethod. The study was based on influenza seasons of varying severity, provided by surveillance data.Results. Influenza seasons were significantly associated with excess mortality in adults across all 3 years, except for 18 - 64-year-olds in 1998. Excess mortality was highest in those .65 years of age: 82.8/100 000 population in the mild 1997 season and 220.9/100 000 in the severe 1998 season. Influenza significantly increased adult medical hospitalisation in the severe 1998 season alone. RSV did not significantly affect mortality or hospitalisation.Conclusion. Influenza-related mortality was substantial and disproportionately affected the elderly. Influenza vaccination for the elderly warrants consideration. The RSV-related burden was not significantly increased but merits observation over a longer period