Documentation of the data analysis system for the gamma ray monitor aboard OSO-H

The programming system is presented which was developed to prepare the data from the gamma ray monitor on OSO-7 for scientific analysis. The detector, data, and objectives are described in detail. Programs presented include; FEEDER, PASS-1, CAL1, CAL2, PASS-3, Van Allen Belt Predict Program, Computation Center Plot Routine, and Response Function Programs

Tracking the reflexivity of the (dis)engaged citizen: some methodological reflections

The relationship between governments and citizens in many contemporary democracies is haunted by uncertainty and sociologists face the task of listening effectively to citizens’ own reflections on this uncertain relationship. This article reflects on the qualitative methodology of a recently completed UK project which used a combination of diary and multiple interviews/ focus groups to track over a fieldwork period of up to a year citizens’ reflections on their relationship to a public world and the contribution to this of their media consumption. In particular, the article considers how the project’s multiple methods enabled multiple angles on the inevitable artificiality and performative dimension of the diary process, resulting in rich data on people’s complex reflections on the uncertain position of the contemporary citizen

Cardiac-Specific Elevations in Thyroid Hormone Enhance Contractility and Prevent Pressure Overload-Induced Cardiac Dysfunction

Thyroid hormone (TH) is critical for cardiac development and heart function. In heart disease, TH metabolism is abnormal, and many biochemical and functional alterations mirror hypothyroidism. Although TH therapy has been advocated for treating heart disease, a clear benefit of TH has yet to be established, possibly because of peripheral actions of TH. To assess the potential efficacy of TH in treating heart disease, type 2 deiodinase (D2), which converts the prohormone thyroxine to active triiodothyronine (T3), was expressed transiently in mouse hearts by using the tetracycline transactivator system. Increased cardiac D2 activity led to elevated cardiac T3 levels and to enhanced myocardial contractility, accompanied by increased Ca(2+) transients and sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca(2+) uptake. These phenotypic changes were associated with up-regulation of sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum calcium ATPase (SERCA) 2a expression as well as decreased Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchanger, beta-myosin heavy chain, and sarcolipin (SLN) expression. In pressure overload, targeted increases in D2 activity could not block hypertrophy but could completely prevent impaired contractility and SR Ca(2+) cycling as well as altered expression patterns of SERCA2a, SLN, and other markers of pathological hypertrophy. Our results establish that elevated D2 activity in the heart increases T3 levels and enhances cardiac contractile function while preventing deterioration of cardiac function and altered gene expression after pressure overload

Wage losses in the year after breast cancer: Extent and determinants among Canadian women

This article is available open access through the publisher’s website at the link below. © The Author 2008.Background - Wage losses after breast cancer may result in considerable financial burden. Their assessment is made more urgent because more women now participate in the workforce and because breast cancer is managed using multiple treatment modalities that could lead to long work absences. We evaluated wage losses, their determinants, and the associations between wage losses and changes for the worse in the family's financial situation among Canadian women over the first 12 months after diagnosis of early breast cancer. Methods - We conducted a prospective cohort study among women with breast cancer from eight hospitals throughout the province of Quebec. Information that permitted the calculation of wage losses and information on potential determinants of wage losses were collected by three pretested telephone interviews conducted over the year following the start of treatment. Information on medical characteristics was obtained from medical records. The main outcome was the proportion of annual wages lost because of breast cancer. Multivariable analysis of variance using the general linear model was used to identify personal, medical, and employment characteristics associated with the proportion of wages lost. All statistical tests were two-sided. Results - Among 962 eligible breast cancer patients, 800 completed all three interviews. Of these, 459 had a paying job during the month before diagnosis. On average, these working women lost 27% of their projected usual annual wages (median = 19%) after compensation received had been taken into account. Multivariable analysis showed that a higher percentage of lost wages was statistically significantly associated with a lower level of education (Ptrend = .0018), living 50 km or more from the hospital where surgery was performed (P = .070), lower social support (P = .012), having invasive disease (P = .086), receipt of chemotherapy (P < .001), self-employment (P < .001), shorter tenure in the job (Ptrend < .001), and part-time work (P < .001). Conclusion - Wage losses and their effects on financial situation constitute an important adverse consequence of breast cancer in Canada.The Canadian Breast Cancer Research Alliance, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and Fondation de l’Université Laval

Temporal and spatial expression of bone morphogenetic protein-2, -4, and -7 during distraction osteogenesis in rabbits

The Ilizarov method of limb lengthening makes use of the fact that osteogenesis is induced at an osteotomy site when distraction is applied. It is unknown at present how the mechanical forces created by distraction are translated into biological signals. Because bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are potent inducers of osteogenesis in many experimental systems, they are obvious candidates for playing a role in this process. In this study, we investigated the temporal and spatial expression of BMP-2, -4, and -7 proteins during distraction osteogenesis using immunohistochemistry. An osteotomy was performed on the right tibiae of white New Zealand rabbits. After a delay of 7 days, distraction was started at a rate of 0.25 mm/12 h for 3 weeks, followed by a 3 week consolidation phase. Each week after osteotomy one rabbit was killed for immunohistochemical studies. Staining for BMP-2, -4, and -7 was evident before distraction was applied and was mainly localized to mesenchymal cells and osteoblastic cells in the periosteal region. After distraction was started, the typical fibrous interzone developed between the osteotomy fragments, where both intramembranous and endochondral ossification were noted. In this area, cells resembling fibroblasts and chondrocytes, but not mature osteoblasts, showed intense staining for all three BMPs. This high level of expression was maintained during the entire distraction phase and then gradually disappeared during the consolidation phase. These results are compatible with the hypothesis that BMPs play an important role in the signaling pathways that link the mechanical forces created by distraction to biological responses. (Bone 27:453-459; 2000

Effect of strain rate on tensile mechanical properties of high-purity niobium single crystals for SRF applications

An investigation of the mechanical properties of high-purity niobium single crystals is presented. Specimens were cut with different crystallographic orientations from a large grain niobium disk and uniaxial tensile tests were conducted at strain rates between 10-4 and 103 s-1. The logarithmic strain rate sensitivity for crystals oriented close to the center of a tensile axis inverse pole figure (IPF) is ~0.14 for all strain rates. The strain at failure (ranging from 0.4 to 0.9) is very sensitive to crystal orientation and maximal at ~10-2 s-1 for crystals oriented close to the center of an IPF. The high anisotropy observed at quasi-static strain rates decreased with increasing strain rate. The activation of multiple slip systems in the dynamic tests could account for this reduction in anisotropy. A transition from strain hardening to softening in the plastic domain was observed at strain rates greater than approximately 6 × 10-2 s-1 for crystals oriented close to the center of a tensile axis IPF. Shear bands were observed in specimens with orientations having similarly high Schmid factors on both {110} and {112} slip families, and they are correlated with reduced ductility. Crystal rotations at fracture are compared for the different orientations using scanning electron microscopy images and EBSD orientation maps. A rotation toward the terminal stable [101] orientation was measured for the majority of specimens (with tensile axes more than ~17° from the [001] direction) at strain rates between 1.28 × 10-2 and 1000 s-1.The authors would like to acknowledge the work of CERN's Materials, Metrology and Non-Destructive Testing (EN-MME-MM) section for granting access to their equipment for specimen preparation and scanning electron microscope (SEM) analyses. The authors would also like to thank Mr. Larry Vladic of Elite Motion LLC for lending us the high-speed camera during the high strain rate tests performed ASU. This Marie Sklodowska-Curie Action (MSCA) Innovative Training Network (ITN) receives funding from the European Union's H2020 Framework Programme under grant agreement no. 764879. T.R. Bieler, D. Kang, E. Pai Kulyadi, P. Eisenlohr, C. Kale, and K.N. Solanki acknowledge support from DOE/OHEP grant DE-SC0009962

The politics of playing along: radio and regulation in democratic Europe

The loss of localism has been a common trend in most radio markets in Europe and the United States. Deregulation of ownership led to a concentration phenomenon that has affected local radios in several western democracies. New forms of regulation have been considered as possible ways to stop the erosion of localism by applying rules to markets in the defense of diversity, pluralism, and the local dimension. This article analyses the local radio market in Portugal, by assessing the changes in the legislation and by examining the regulatory action that can, according to its remit, act preventively to avoid market forces to harm these principles.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Real-time single-molecule imaging reveals a direct interaction between UvrC and UvrB on DNA tightropes

Nucleotide excision DNA repair is mechanistically conserved across all kingdoms of life. In prokaryotes, this multi-enzyme process requires six proteins: UvrA?D, DNA polymerase I and DNA ligase. To examine how UvrC locates the UvrB? DNA pre-incision complex at a site of damage, we have labeled UvrB and UvrC with different colored quantum dots and quantitatively observed their interactions with DNA tightropes under a variety of solution conditions using oblique angle fluorescence imaging. Alone, UvrC predominantly interacts statically with DNA at low salt. Surprisingly, however, UvrC and UvrB together in solution bind to form the previously unseen UvrBC complex on duplex DNA. This UvrBC complex is highly motile and engages in unbiased one-dimensional diffusion. To test whether UvrB makes direct contact with the DNA in the UvrBC?DNA complex, we investigated three UvrB mutants: Y96A, a b-hairpin deletion and D338N. These mutants affected the motile properties of the UvrBC complex, indicating that UvrB is in intimate contact with the DNA when bound to UvrC. Given the in vivo excess of UvrB and the abundance of UvrBC in our experiments, this newly identified complex is likely to be the predominant form of UvrC in the cell. © 2013 The Author(s)