704 research outputs found
Patterns of Silurian deformation and magmatism during sinistral oblique convergence, northern Scottish Caledonides
Funding Information: Acknowledgments Fieldwork by RAS, REH and GIA was carried out in part during the remapping of BGS Scotland sheets 114E (Tongue), 108E (Loch Naver), 109E (Kildonan) and 109W (Badenloch) and funded under the NERC-BGS Academic Collaboration Programme. IMB acknowledges a PhD studentship funded by Oxford Brookes University (1990-93). Mark Witton is thanked for drafting. Rick Law, Fernando Corfu, Calvin Mako and Kathryn Goodenough contributed detailed comments that resulted in significant improvements to the paper. John Waldron and Rick Law are thanked for supplying editable versions of figures 1 and 3, respectively. Stephen Daly is thanked for efficient editorial handling.Peer reviewedPostprin
Buried treasureâmarine turtles do not âdisguiseâ or âcamouflageâ their nests but avoid them and create a decoy trail
After laying their eggs and refilling the egg chamber, sea turtles scatter sand extensively around the nest site. This is presumed to camouflage the nest, or optimize local conditions for egg development, but a consensus on its function is lacking. We quantified activity and mapped the movements of hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) and leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) turtles during sand-scattering. For leatherbacks, we also recorded activity at each sand-scattering position. For hawksbills, we recorded breathing rates during nesting as an indicator of metabolic investment and compared with published values for leatherbacks. Temporal and inferred metabolic investment in sand-scattering was substantial for both species. Neither species remained near the nest while sand-scattering, instead moving to several other positions to scatter sand, changing direction each time, progressively displacing themselves from the nest site. Movement patterns were highly diverse between individuals, but activity at each sand-scattering position changed little between completion of egg chamber refilling and return to the sea. Our findings are inconsistent with sand-scattering being to directly camouflage the nest, or primarily for modifying the nest-proximal environment. Instead, they are consistent with the construction of a series of dispersed decoy nests that may reduce the discovery of nests by predators
The Debye-Waller Factor in solid 3He and 4He
The Debye-Waller factor and the mean-squared displacement from lattice sites
for solid 3He and 4He were calculated with Path Integral Monte Carlo at
temperatures between 5 K and 35 K, and densities between 38 nm^(-3) and 67
nm^(-3). It was found that the mean-squared displacement exhibits finite-size
scaling consistent with a crossover between the quantum and classical limits of
N^(-2/3) and N^(-1/3), respectively. The temperature dependence appears to be
T^3, different than expected from harmonic theory. An anisotropic k^4 term was
also observed in the Debye-Waller factor, indicating the presence of
non-Gaussian corrections to the density distribution around lattice sites. Our
results, extrapolated to the thermodynamic limit, agree well with recent values
from scattering experiments.Comment: 5 figure
The molecular basis of dapsone activation of CYP2C9-catalyzed non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) oxidation
OnlinePublPositive heterotropic cooperativity, or âactivationâ, results in an instantaneous increase in enzyme activity in the absence of an increase in protein expression. Thus, cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzyme activation presents as a potential drug-drug interaction mechanism. It has been demonstrated previously that dapsone activates the CYP2C9-catalyzed oxidation of a number of NSAIDs in vitro. Here, we conducted molecular dynamics simulations (MDS) together with enzyme kinetic investigations and site-directed mutagenesis to elucidate the molecular basis of the activation of CYP2C9-catalyzed S-flurbiprofen 4â-hydroxylation and S-naproxen Odemethylation by dapsone. Supplementation of incubations of recombinant CYP2C9 with dapsone increased the catalytic efficiency of flurbiprofen and naproxen oxidation by 2.3- and 16.5-fold, respectively. MDS demonstrated that activation arises predominantly from aromatic interactions between the substrate, dapsone, and the phenyl rings of Phe114 and Phe476 within a common binding domain of the CYP2C9 active site, rather than involvement of a distinct effector site. Mutagenesis of Phe114 and Phe476 abrogated flurbiprofen and naproxen oxidation, and MDS and kinetic studies with the CYP2C9 mutants further identified a pivotal role of Phe476 in dapsone activation. MD simulations additionally showed that aromatic stacking interactions between two molecules of naproxen are necessary for binding in a catalytically favorable orientation. In contrast to flurbiprofen and naproxen, dapsone did not activate the 4â-hydroxylation of diclofenac, suggesting that the CYP2C9 active site favors cooperative binding of NSAIDs with a planar or near planar geometry. More generally, the work confirms the utility of MDS for investigating ligand binding in CYP enzymes.Pramod C. Nair, Kushari Burns, Nuy Chau, Ross A. McKinnon, John O. Miner
Forage volatiles as cues for ruminants
Forage volatiles may provide cues that affect animal food choices. Collecting and
identifying these compounds is challenging. The authors briefly describe the methodology
and report several volatile compounds that relate to animal preference
Dangerous work: The gendered nature of bullying in the context of higher education
This paper discusses results from a research project which set out to investigate gender differences in the nature and experience of bullying within the higher education sector. Gender differences emerged in the form and perception of bullying as well as in target response. Results also indicate that, irrespective of gender, bullies can capture and subvert organizational structures and procedures (official hierarchies, mentoring systems, probationary reviews) to further their abuse of the target and to conceal aggressive intent. These outcomes are discussed in relation to gendered assumptions behind management practices and in relation to the masculinist ethic that underpins many higher education management initiatives. Overall, results indicate that bullying cannot be divorced from gender and that such behaviour needs to be seen in a gendered context
Disorder and relaxation mode in the lattice dynamics of PbMgNbO relaxor ferroelectric
The low-energy part of vibration spectrum in PbMgNbO
relaxor ferroelectric was studied by inelastic neutron scattering. We observed
the coexistence of a resolution-limited central peak with strong quasielastic
scattering. The line-width of the quasielastic component follows a
dependence. We find that is temperature-dependent.
The relaxation time follows the Arrhenius law well. The presence of a
relaxation mode associated with quasi-elastic scattering in PMN indicates that
order-disorder behaviour plays an important r\^ole in the dynamics of diffuse
phase transitions
The primary glucose-lowering effect of metformin resides in the gut, not the circulation: Results from short-term pharmacokinetic and 12-week dose-ranging studies
Delayed-release metformin (Met DR) is formulated to deliver the drug to the lower bowel to leverage the gut-based mechanisms of metformin action with lower plasma exposure. Met DR was assessed in two studies. Study 1 compared the bioavailability of single daily doses of Met DR to currently available immediaterelease metformin (Met IR) and extended-release metformin (Met XR) in otherwise healthy volunteers. Study 2 assessed glycemic control in subjects with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) over 12 weeks. Research Design and Methods Study 1 was a phase 1, randomized, four-period crossover study in 20 subjects. Study 2 was a 12-week, phase 2, multicenter, placebo-controlled, dose-ranging study in 240 subjects with T2DM randomized to receive Met DR 600, 800, or 1,000 mg administered once daily; blinded placebo; or unblindedMet XR 1,000 or 2,000 mg (reference). Results The bioavailability of 1,000mg Met DR b.i.d. was âŒ50% that of Met IR and Met XR (study 1). In study 2, 600, 800, and 1,000 mg Met DR q.d. produced statistically significant, clinically relevant, and sustained reductions in fasting plasma glucose (FPG) levels over 12 weeks compared with placebo, with an âŒ40% increase in potency compared with Met XR. The placebo-subtracted changes from baseline in HbA1c level at 12 weeks were consistent with changes in FPG levels. All treatments were generally well tolerated, and adverse events were consistent with Glucophage/ Glucophage XR prescribing information. Conclusions Dissociation of the glycemic effect from plasma exposure with gut-restricted Met DR provides strong evidence for a predominantly lower bowel-mediated mechanism of metformin action
Performance of ALICE pixel prototypes in high energy beams
The two innermost layers of the ALICE inner tracking system are instrumented
with silicon pixel detectors. Single chip assembly prototypes of the ALICE
pixels have been tested in high energy particle beams at the CERN SPS.
Detection efficiency and spatial precision have been studied as a function of
the threshold and the track incidence angle. The experimental method, data
analysis and main results are presented.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, contribution to PIX2005 Workshop, Bonn
(Germany), 5-8 September 200
Beam Test Performance and Simulation of Prototypes for the ALICE Silicon Pixel Detector
The silicon pixel detector (SPD) of the ALICE experiment in preparation at
the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN is designed to provide the precise
vertex reconstruction needed for measuring heavy flavor production in heavy ion
collisions at very high energies and high multiplicity. The SPD forms the
innermost part of the Inner Tracking System (ITS) which also includes silicon
drift and silicon strip detectors. Single assembly prototypes of the ALICE SPD
have been tested at the CERN SPS using high energy proton/pion beams in 2002
and 2003. We report on the experimental determination of the spatial precision.
We also report on the first combined beam test with prototypes of the other ITS
silicon detector technologies at the CERN SPS in November 2004. The issue of
SPD simulation is briefly discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, prepared for proceedings of 7th International
Position Sensitive Detectors Conference, Liverpool, Sept. 200
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