An Economy of Violence: Financial Crisis and Whig Constitutional Thought, 1720-1721

The South Sea bubble burst suddenly in September 1720, the second in a chain of panics that struck Paris, London, and Amsterdam in quick succession. The crash in London was by far the most severe; within weeks two-thirds of England\u27s nominal wealth had evaporated, public credit had collapsed, and London\u27s most distinguished banking houses tottered on the brink of ruin. Commerce ground to a halt, leaving a forest of half-built ships rotting in city harbors and a thicket of unfinished mansions in London\u27s fashionable districts

Manganese Superoxide Dismutase: Guardian of the Powerhouse

The mitochondrion is vital for many metabolic pathways in the cell, contributing all or important constituent enzymes for diverse functions such as β-oxidation of fatty acids, the urea cycle, the citric acid cycle, and ATP synthesis. The mitochondrion is also a major site of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in the cell. Aberrant production of mitochondrial ROS can have dramatic effects on cellular function, in part, due to oxidative modification of key metabolic proteins localized in the mitochondrion. The cell is equipped with myriad antioxidant enzyme systems to combat deleterious ROS production in mitochondria, with the mitochondrial antioxidant enzyme manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) acting as the chief ROS scavenging enzyme in the cell. Factors that affect the expression and/or the activity of MnSOD, resulting in diminished antioxidant capacity of the cell, can have extraordinary consequences on the overall health of the cell by altering mitochondrial metabolic function, leading to the development and progression of numerous diseases. A better understanding of the mechanisms by which MnSOD protects cells from the harmful effects of overproduction of ROS, in particular, the effects of ROS on mitochondrial metabolic enzymes, may contribute to the development of novel treatments for various diseases in which ROS are an important component

Performance prediction of ray tracing

Thesis (M.Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, June 1999.Includes bibliographical references (leaf 86).by Marc A. Lebovitz.M.Eng

Effect of exposure to e-cigarettes with salt vs free-base nicotine on the appeal and sensory experience of vaping: a randomized clinical trial

Importance: Alkaline free-base nicotine is bitter and a respiratory irritant. High-nicotine electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) products contain acid additives that change nicotine from a free-base to a protonated salt chemical form, which could improve the sensory experience of vaping, particularly among never smokers unaccustomed to inhaling free-base nicotine. Objective: To determine whether exposure to e-cigarettes with salt vs free-base nicotine formulations improves the appeal and sensory experience of vaping e-cigarettes and whether nicotine formulation effects differ by e-cigarette flavor and ever combustible cigarette smoking status. Design, Setting, and Participants: Single-visit double-blind within-participant randomized clinical trial was conducted in an academic medical center outpatient clinical research facility in Southern California. Participants were 119 individuals with past 30-day e-cigarette or combustible cigarette use aged 21 years or older recruited from November 2019 to March 2020. Interventions: Participants self-administered standardized puffs of each 10 differently flavored e-cigarette solutions using a pod-style device. Each flavor was administered in salt (benzoic acid added) and free-base (no benzoic acid) nicotine formulations with commensurate nicotine concentrations (mean, 23.6 mg/mL). The 20 solutions were administered in randomly assigned sequences. Immediately after puffing each solution, participants rated appeal and sensory attributes. Main Outcomes and Measures: Self-reported appeal (mean of like, dislike [reverse-scored], and willingness to use again ratings) and 4 sensory attributes (sweetness, smoothness, bitterness, and harshness; analyzed individually) on visual analog scales with not at all and extremely anchors (range, 0-100). Results: Of the 119 participants; 39 (32.8%) were female. The mean (SD) age was 42.1 (14.4) years; 105 (88.2%) were ever combustible cigarette smokers, and 66 (55.5%) were current e-cigarette users. Salt vs free-base nicotine formulations produced higher ratings of appeal (salt vs free-base mean difference effect estimate: b = 12.0; 95% CI, 9.9-14.1; P < .001), sweetness (b = 9.3; 95% CI, 7.1-11.4; P < .001), and smoothness (b = 17.4; 95% CI, 15.2-19.6; P < .001) and lower ratings of bitterness (b = -13.3; 95% CI, -15.4 to -11.2; P < .001) and harshness (b = -21.0; 95% CI, -23.2 to -18.7; P < .001). Nicotine formulation effects largely generalized across different flavors and the smoothness-enhancing and harshness-reducing effects of nicotine salt were stronger in never vs ever cigarette smokers. Conclusions and Relevance: In this randomized clinical trial of adult current nicotine or tobacco product users, controlled exposure to e-cigarette puffs with salt vs free-base nicotine formulations appeared to increase product appeal and improve the sensory experience of vaping, particularly among never smokers. Regulatory policies limiting acid additives in e-cigarettes might reduce the appeal of high-nicotine e-cigarettes among populations deterred from vaping e-cigarettes that emit harsh aerosol

Proteomics profiling of hepatic mitochondria in heterozygous Sod2+/-mice, an animal model of discreet mitochondrial oxidative stress

Proteomics83555-568PROT