Thermalization of Squeezed States

Starting with a thermal squeezed state defined as a conventional thermal state based on an appropriate hamiltonian, we show how an important physical property, the signal-to-noise ratio, is degraded, and propose a simple model of thermalization (Kraus thermalization).Comment: 7 pages, 1 table, 1 figure. Presented at ICSSUR 2005, Besancon, Franc

Mispositioned Neurokinin-1 Receptor-Expressing Neurons Underlie Heat Hyperalgesia in Disabled-1 Mutant Mice.

Reelin (Reln) and Disabled-1 (Dab1) participate in the Reln-signaling pathway and when either is deleted, mutant mice have the same spinally mediated behavioral abnormalities, increased sensitivity to noxious heat and a profound loss in mechanical sensitivity. Both Reln and Dab1 are highly expressed in dorsal horn areas that receive and convey nociceptive information, Laminae I-II, lateral Lamina V, and the lateral spinal nucleus (LSN). Lamina I contains both projection neurons and interneurons that express Neurokinin-1 receptors (NK1Rs) and they transmit information about noxious heat both within the dorsal horn and to the brain. Here, we ask whether the increased heat nociception in Reln and dab1 mutants is due to incorrectly positioned dorsal horn neurons that express NK1Rs. We found more NK1R-expressing neurons in Reln-/- and dab1-/- Laminae I-II than in their respective wild-type mice, and some NK1R neurons co-expressed Dab1 and the transcription factor Lmx1b, confirming their excitatory phenotype. Importantly, heat stimulation in dab1-/- mice induced Fos in incorrectly positioned NK1R neurons in Laminae I-II. Next, we asked whether these ectopically placed and noxious-heat responsive NK1R neurons participated in pain behavior. Ablation of the superficial NK1Rs with an intrathecal injection of a substance P analog conjugated to the toxin saporin (SSP-SAP) eliminated the thermal hypersensitivity of dab1-/- mice, without altering their mechanical insensitivity. These results suggest that ectopically positioned NK1R-expressing neurons underlie the heat hyperalgesia of Reelin-signaling pathway mutants, but do not contribute to their profound mechanical insensitivity

Leading the evaluation of institutional online learning environments for quality enhancement in times of change

This paper reports on findings from a nationally funded project which aims to design and implement a quality management framework for online learning environments (OLEs). Evaluation is a key component of any quality management system and it is this aspect of the framework that is the focus of this paper. In developing the framework initial focus groups were conducted at the five participating institutions. These revealed that, although regarded as important, there did not appear to be a shared understanding of the nature and purpose of evaluation. A second series of focus groups revealed there were multiple perspectives arising from those with a vested interest in online learning. These perspectives will be outlined. Overall, how evaluation was undertaken was highly variable within and across the five institutions reflecting where they were at in relation to the development of their OLE

Design aspects of explosive mixtures in a vehcile interstage final report

Prevention and control of explosive mixture of hydrogen and oxygen within vehicle interstag

Are routinely collected NHS administrative records suitable for endpoint identification in clinical trials? Evidence from the West of Scotland coronary prevention study

Background: Routinely collected electronic patient records are already widely used in epidemiological research. In this work we investigated the potential for using them to identify endpoints in clinical trials.<p></p> Methods: The events recorded in the West of Scotland Coronary Prevention Study (WOSCOPS), a large clinical trial of pravastatin in middle-aged hypercholesterolaemic men in the 1990s, were compared with those in the record-linked deaths and hospitalisations records routinely collected in Scotland.<p></p> Results: We matched 99% of fatal study events by date. We showed excellent matching (97%) of the causes of fatal endpoint events and good matching (.80% for first events) of the causes of nonfatal endpoint events with a slightly lower rate of mismatching of record linkage than study events (19% of first study myocardial infarctions (MI) and 4% of first record linkage MIs not matched as MI). We also investigated the matching of non-endpoint events and showed a good level of matching, with .78% of first stroke/TIA events being matched as stroke/TIA. The primary reasons for mismatches were record linkage data recording readmissions for procedures or previous events, differences between the diagnoses in the routinely collected data and the conclusions of the clinical trial expert adjudication committee, events occurring outside Scotland and therefore being missed by record linkage data, miscoding of cardiac events in hospitalisations data as ‘unspecified chest pain’, some general miscoding in the record linkage data and some record linkage errors.<p></p> Conclusions: We conclude that routinely collected data could be used for recording cardiovascular endpoints in clinical trials and would give very similar results to rigorously collected clinical trial data, in countries with unified health systems such as Scotland. The endpoint types would need to be carefully thought through and an expert endpoint adjudication committee should be involved.<p></p&gt

Gravitomagnetism, clocks and geometry

New techniques to evaluate the clock effect using light are described. These are based on the flatness of the cylindrical surface containing the world lines of the rays constrained to move on circular trajectories about a spinning mass. The effect of the angular momentum of the source is manifested in the fact that inertial observers must be replaced by local non rotating observers. Starting from this an exact formula for circular trajectories is found. Numerical estimates for the Earth environment show that light would be a better probe than actual clocks to evidence the angular momentum influence. The advantages of light in connection with some principle experiments are shortly reviewed.Comment: TCI Latex, 12 pages, 2 figures. To appear in European Journal of Physic

Electron scattering from molecules and molecular aggregates of biological relevance

In this Topical Review we survey the current state of the art in the study of low energy electron collisions with biologically relevant molecules and molecular clusters. We briefly describe the methods and techniques used in the investigation of these processes and summarise the results obtained so far for DNA constituents and their model compounds, amino acids, peptides and other biomolecules. The applications of the data obtained is briefly described as well as future required developments

Sequestration of Muscarinic Cholinergic Receptors in Permeabilized Neuroblastoma Cells

The feasibility of using a permeabilized preparation of human SH-SY-5Y neuroblastoma cells for studies of muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR) sequestration has been evaluated. Exposure of cells permeabilized with digitonin, streptolysin-O, or the Α-toxin from Staphylococcus aureus to oxotremorine-M (Oxo-M) for 30 min resulted in a 25–30% reduction in the number of cell surface mAChRs, as monitored by the loss of N [ 3 H]methyl- scopolamine ([ 3 H]NMS) binding sites. The corresponding value for intact cells was 40%. For cells permeabilized with 20 Μ M digitonin, the Oxo-M-mediated reduction in [ 3 H]NMS binding was time ( t 1/2 ∼ 5 min) and concentration (EC 50 ∼ 10 Μ M ) dependent and was agonist specific (Oxo M > bethanechol = arecoline = pilocarpine). In contrast, no reduction in total mAChR number, as monitored by the binding of [ 3 H]quinuclidinyl benzilate, occurred following Oxo-M treatment. The loss of [ 3 H]NMS sites observed in the presence of Oxo-M was unaffected by omission of either ATP or Ca 2+ , both of which are required for stimulated phosphoinositide hydrolysis, but could be inhibited by the inclusion of guanosine 5′- O -(2-thiodiphosphate). mAChRs sequestered in response to Oxo-M addition were unmasked when the cells were permeabilized in the presence of higher concentrations of digitonin (80 Μ M ). The results indicate (a) that permeabilized SH-SY-5Y cells support an agonist-induced sequestration of mAChRs, the magnitude of which is ∼ 65–70% of that observed for intact cells, (b) that when internalized, mAChRs are located in a cellular compartment to which [ 3 H]NMS has only a limited access despite the removal of the plasma membrane barrier, and (c) that the production of phosphoinositide-derived second messengers is not a prerequisite for mAChR sequestration.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/65736/1/j.1471-4159.1994.62051795.x.pd