A rapid, chromatography-free route to substituted acridine–isoalloxazine conjugates under microwave irradiation

Microwave irradiation was applied to a sequence of condensation reactions from readily available 9-chloroacridines to provide a range of novel acridine–isoalloxazine conjugates. The combination of these two moieties, both of biological interest, was achieved by a chromatography free route

The declining representativeness of the British party system, and why it matters

In a recent article, Michael Laver has explained ‘Why Vote-Seeking Parties May Make Voters Miserable’. His model shows that, while ideological convergence may boost congruence between governments and the median voter, it can reduce congruence between the party system and the electorate as a whole. Specifically, convergence can increase the mean distance between voters and their nearest party. In this article we show that this captures the reality of today’s British party system. Policy scale placements in British Election Studies from 1987 to 2010 confirm that the pronounced convergence during the past decade has left the Conservatives and Labour closer together than would be optimal in terms of minimising the policy distance between the average voter and the nearest major party. We go on to demonstrate that this comes at a cost. Respondents who perceive themselves as further away from one of the major parties in the system tend to score lower on satisfaction with democracy. In short, vote-seeking parties have left the British party system less representative of the ideological diversity in the electorate, and thus made at least some British voters miserable

The relationship between acceptance of cancer and distress: A meta-analytic review

Acceptance of cancer has long been recognized as playing a critical role in psychological adjustment to the illness, but its associations with distress outcomes have not been quantitatively reviewed. Informed by coping theory and third wave conceptualizations of acceptance, we first propose an integrated model of acceptance of cancer. Then we examine the strength of the relationships between acceptance of cancer and general and cancer-specific distress in cancer patients and potential moderators of these relationships. CINAHL, Embase, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, and Web of Science databases were searched. Random-effects meta-analyses were conducted on 78 records (N = 15,448). Small-to-moderate, negative, and significant relationships were found between acceptance of cancer and general distress (r = −0.31; 95% CI: −0.36 to −0.26, k = 75); cancer-specific distress (r = −0.18; 95% CI: −0.21 to −0.14, k = 13); depressive symptoms (r = −0.25; 95% CI: −0.31 to −0.19, k = 41); and anxiety symptoms (r = −0.22; 95% CI: −0.30 to −0.15, k = 29). Age, marital status, and stage of cancer were identified as significant moderators. Findings suggest that acceptance of cancer may be important to target in interventions to reduce general and cancer-specific distress in cancer patients. Future research should focus on developing multifaceted measures of acceptance and identifying theory-based psychological and social processes that lead to greater acceptance

Applicability of ERTS-1 to lineament and photogeologic mapping in Montana: Preliminary report

A lineament map prepared from a mosaic of western Montana shows about 85 lines not represented on the state geologic map, including elements of a northeast-trending set through central western Montana which merit ground truth checking and consideration in regional structural analysis. Experimental fold annotation resulted in a significant local correction to the state geologic map. Photogeologic mapping studies produced only limited success in identification of rock types, but they did result in the precise delineation of a late Cretaceous or early Tertiary volcanic field (Adel Mountain field) and the mapping of a connection between two granitic bodies shown on the state map. Imagery was used successfully to map clay pans associated with bentonite beds in gently dipping Bearpaw Shale. It is already apparent that ERTS imagery should be used to facilitate preparation of a much needed statewide tectonic map and that satellite imagery mapping, aided by ground calibration, provides and economical means to discover and correct errors in the state geologic map

Analysis of Response Time Distributions: An Example Using the Stroop Task

The shape of a response time (RT) distribution can be described by a 3-parameter model consisting of the convolution of the normal and exponential distributions, the ex-Gaussian. Analyses based on mean RT do not take the distributions shape into account and, for that reason, may obscure aspects of performance. To illustrate the point, the ex-Gaussian model was applied to data obtained from a Stroop task. Mean RT revealed strong interference but no facilitation, whereas the analysis based on the ex-Gaussian model showed both interference and facilitation. In short, analyses that do not take the shape of RT distributions into account can mislead and, therefore, should be avoided. Response time (RT) distributions typically have a positively skewed unimodal shape that contains information that cannot be derived from the distributions mean and variance. A number of studies using a variety of tasks have exploited the extra information to test models In this article, we argue that a distributional analysis should not be treated as a supplementary technique. Rather, we contend that RT measures should always be analyzed using a distributional analysis and that the traditional analysis of MRr risks serious misinterpretation of the data. We start by describing difficulties associated with an analysis of MRr. Next, we discuss two techniques for distributional analysis, one based on moments and one based on a model that characterizes the distri

Implications of solar flare hard X-ray "knee" spectra observed by RHESSI

We analyse the RHESSI photon spectra of four flares that exhibit significant deviations from power laws - i.e. changes in the "local" Hard X-ray spectral index. These spectra are characterised by two regions of constant power law index connected by a region of changing spectral index - the "knee". We develop theoretical and numerical methods of describing such knees in terms of variable photon spectral indices and we study the results of their inversions for source mean thin target and collisional thick target injection electron spectra. We show that a particularly sharp knee can produce unphysical negative values in the electron spectra, and we derive inequalities that can be used to test for this without the need for an inversion to be performed. Such unphysical features would indicate that source model assumptions were being violated, particularly strongly for the collisional thick target model which assumes a specific form for electron energy loss. For all four flares considered here we find that the knees do not correspond to unphysical electron spectra. In the three flares that have downward knees we conclude that the knee can be explained in terms of transport effects through a region of non-uniform ionisation. In the other flare, which has an upward knee, we conclude that it is most likely a feature of the accelerated spectrum

Ground-layer wavefront reconstruction from multiple natural guide stars

Observational tests of ground layer wavefront recovery have been made in open loop using a constellation of four natural guide stars at the 1.55 m Kuiper telescope in Arizona. Such tests explore the effectiveness of wide-field seeing improvement by correction of low-lying atmospheric turbulence with ground-layer adaptive optics (GLAO). The wavefronts from the four stars were measured simultaneously on a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor (WFS). The WFS placed a 5 x 5 array of square subapertures across the pupil of the telescope, allowing for wavefront reconstruction up to the fifth radial Zernike order. We find that the wavefront aberration in each star can be roughly halved by subtracting the average of the wavefronts from the other three stars. Wavefront correction on this basis leads to a reduction in width of the seeing-limited stellar image by up to a factor of 3, with image sharpening effective from the visible to near infrared wavelengths over a field of at least 2 arc minutes. We conclude that GLAO correction will be a valuable tool that can increase resolution and spectrographic throughput across a broad range of seeing-limited observations.Comment: 25 pages, 8 figures, to be published in Astrophys.

The present and future system for measuring the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation and heat transport

of the global combined atmosphere-ocean heat flux and so is important for the mean climate of the Atlantic sector of the Northern Hemisphere. This meridional heat flux is accomplished by both the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) and by basin-wide horizontal gyre circulations. In the North Atlantic subtropical latitudes the AMOC dominates the meridional heat flux, while in subpolar latitudes and in the subtropical South Atlantic the gyre circulations are also important. Climate models suggest the AMOC will slow over the coming decades as the earth warms, causing widespread cooling in the Northern hemisphere and additional sea-level rise. Monitoring systems for selected components of the AMOC have been in place in some areas for decades, nevertheless the present observational network provides only a partial view of the AMOC, and does not unambiguously resolve the full variability of the circulation. Additional observations, building on existing measurements, are required to more completely quantify the Atlantic meridional heat transport. A basin-wide monitoring array along 26.5°N has been continuously measuring the strength and vertical structure of the AMOC and meridional heat transport since March 31, 2004. The array has demonstrated its ability to observe the AMOC variability at that latitude and also a variety of surprising variability that will require substantially longer time series to understand fully. Here we propose monitoring the Atlantic meridional heat transport throughout the Atlantic at selected critical latitudes that have already been identified as regions of interest for the study of deep water formation and the strength of the subpolar gyre, transport variability of the Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC) as well as the upper limb of the AMOC, and inter-ocean and intrabasin exchanges with the ultimate goal of determining regional and global controls for the AMOC in the North and South Atlantic Oceans. These new arrays will continuously measure the full depth, basin-wide or choke-point circulation and heat transport at a number of latitudes, to establish the dynamics and variability at each latitude and then their meridional connectivity. Modeling studies indicate that adaptations of the 26.5°N type of array may provide successful AMOC monitoring at other latitudes. However, further analysis and the development of new technologies will be needed to optimize cost effective systems for providing long term monitoring and data recovery at climate time scales. These arrays will provide benchmark observations of the AMOC that are fundamental for assimilation, initialization, and the verification of coupled hindcast/forecast climate models