Freeze-Dried Human Leukocytes Stabilized with Uranyl Acetate During Low Temperature Embedding or with OsO4 Vapor After Embedding

Two new simple stabilization procedures for freeze-dried biological material are introduced which are compatible with low temperature embedding (LTE) in Lowicryl. The first method uses a Lowicryl K11M/HM20 mixture supplemented with 0.3% uranyl acetate for LTE. For the second method polymerized Lowicryl blocks containing the freeze-dried material are exposed to OsO4 vapor which penetrates into the Lowicryl block and stabilizes the embedded specimen. The quality of structural preservation is demonstrated with human leukocytes

MODELLING AND PROGNOSIS OF COMPETITIVE PERFORMANCES IN ELITE SWIMMING

The study demonstrates that the performance of an elite female swimmer in the finals of the 200 m backstroke at the Olympic Games 2000 in Sydney can be predicted by means of the nonlinear mathematical method of a neural back-propagation network. The analysis included the performance output data of 19 competitions prior to the Olympics within a time period of 95 successive weeks and the training input data of the last four weeks prior to each competition. The training data were divided into two phases: (1) a two-week taper cycle, and (2) an earlier two-week high load cycle. The trained neural network was not only able to model the 19 competitive performances, but also to predict the performance in the semi final of the Olympic Games in Sydney on the basis of the two sets of training data during the preparation before that specific competition

MOTION OF THE BOW DURING AIMING AND RELEASING THE SHOT

The range of motion of a recurve bow during aiming and releasing the shot is very small. Thus on-target-trajectories are used. To measure the on-target-trajectories of bows a system originally designed for gun shooting was modified. The system can be fitted onto the archer’s personal bow. 15 highly skilled archers of the German National Teams of women and men participated in the study. Two intraindividual typical strategies of aiming were found: 11 archers try to hold the aim on sight for at least 2 seconds whereas 4 archers tend to “slide” on the target and release the shot at once when the target is on sight. For 14 of 15 archers the “hold boxes” disclose an asymmetry in aiming: The horizontal magnitude of the hold box is larger than the vertical dimension. From release to when the arrow leaves the string, the right handed archers tend to move to the left and the left handed archers tend to move right

A New Versatile System for Freeze-Substitution, Freeze-Drying and Low Temperature Embedding of Biological Specimens

A universal system for freeze-substitution (FS), freeze-drying (FD) and low temperature embedding (LTE) has been developed, suited to perform standardized procedures of cryoprocessing biological and medical specimens as well as systematic studies of dehydration and embedding at various low and high temperatures. In a 35 I Dewar vessel with 110 mm neck diameter an aluminum tube is mounted to the bottom of the liquid nitrogen (LN2x) reservoir and extends to the lower part of the cylindrical neck. At its top an aluminum plate serves as a contact surface for either the FS chamber or the FD chamber. FS and subsequent LTE are carried out in an environment of dry cold nitrogen gas provided by evaporating nitrogen from the dewar. Different capsules and moulds may be used for cryodehydration and LTE. FD of bulk specimens or cryosections takes place in an absolutely clean vacuum provided by a cryosorption pump integrated in the FD apparatus. Most of the Hp molecules from the frozen specimen are trapped by large cold surfaces inside the drying chamber. Due to the low LN2 consumption during FS or FD (3-4 l LN2/day) both procedures may be carried out for 8-10 days without refilling the dewar. A few representative results show that well frozen biological material is stabilized by prolonged FS or FD at temperatures of about -80°C without use of chemical fixatives like OsO4 in the substitution medium during FS or by OsO4 vapor fixation after FD

APPLICABILITY OF A FULL BODY INERTIAL MEASUREMENT SYSTEM FOR KINEMATIC ANALYSIS OF THE DISCUS THROW

The aim of the study was the application of a full body inertial measurement system (IMS) for a kinematic analysis of the discus throw and the evaluation of its applicability. For this purpose, one male sports student performed three discus throws equipped with the IMS. All trials were additionally filmed by high-speed video. The results indicate that perfor-mance-relevant information can be obtained regarding the temporal coordination of the body segments and body joint angles. Limitations exist for the accurate detection of the last foot contact related instant and the discus release instant by solely using the IMS data

Cdk5 regulates the phosphorylation of tyrosine 1472 NR2B and the surface expression of NMDA receptors

NMDA receptors (NMDARs) are a major class of ionotropic glutamate receptors that can undergo activity-dependent changes in surface expression. Clathrin-mediated endocytosis is a mechanism by which the surface expression of NR2B-containing NMDA receptors is regulated. The C terminus of the NMDA receptor subunit NR2B contains the internalization motif YEKL, which is the binding site for the clathrin adaptor AP-2. The tyrosine (Y1472) within the YEKL motif is phosphorylated by the Src family of kinases and this phosphorylation inhibits the binding of AP-2 and promotes surface expression of NMDA receptors. Cdk5 is a serine/threonine kinase that has been implicated in synaptic plasticity, learning, and memory. Here we demonstrate that inhibition of Cdk5 results in increased phosphorylation of Y1472 NR2B at synapses and decreased binding of NR2B to beta2-adaptin, a subunit of AP-2, thus blocking the activity-dependent endocytosis of NMDA receptors. Furthermore, we show that inhibition of Cdk5 increases the binding of Src to postsynaptic density-95 (PSD-95), and that expression of PSD-95 facilitates the phosphorylation of Y1472 NR2B by Src. Together, these results suggest a model in which inhibition of Cdk5 increases the binding of Src to PSD-95 and the phosphorylation of Y1472 NR2B by Src, which results in decreased binding of NR2B to AP-2, and NR2B/NMDAR endocytosis. This study provides a novel molecular mechanism for the regulation of the surface expression of NR2B-containing NMDA receptors and gives insight into the Cdk5-dependent regulation of synaptic plasticity

Effect of Rotation on Wave Mixing in Intermediate-mass Stars

\ua9 2024. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.Internal gravity waves are likely to cause mixing in stellar interiors. Studies show that the mixing by these waves changes drastically across age and mass. Here, we study the effect of rotation on this wave mixing by considering a 7 M ⊙ model at zero-age main sequence and mid-main sequence. We compare the mixing profiles at a range of rotation rates (1 7 10−5, 2 7 10−5, 3 7 10−5, 4 7 10−5, and 1 7 10−4 rad s−1) and observe that the mixing decreases with decreasing Rossby number. This can be attributed to the effect of rotation on convection, which influences the amplitude with which the waves are excited near the convective-radiative interface

Modeling Evolutionary Dynamics of Lurking in Social Networks

Lurking is a complex user-behavioral phenomenon that occurs in all large-scale online communities and social networks. It generally refers to the behavior characterizing users that benefit from the information produced by others in the community without actively contributing back to the production of social content. The amount and evolution of lurkers may strongly affect an online social environment, therefore understanding the lurking dynamics and identifying strategies to curb this trend are relevant problems. In this regard, we introduce the Lurker Game, i.e., a model for analyzing the transitions from a lurking to a non-lurking (i.e., active) user role, and vice versa, in terms of evolutionary game theory. We evaluate the proposed Lurker Game by arranging agents on complex networks and analyzing the system evolution, seeking relations between the network topology and the final equilibrium of the game. Results suggest that the Lurker Game is suitable to model the lurking dynamics, showing how the adoption of rewarding mechanisms combined with the modeling of hypothetical heterogeneity of users' interests may lead users in an online community towards a cooperative behavior.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures. Accepted at CompleNet 201