Selective placement of actin filaments on protein patterned surfaces

Motors proteins are used by living organisms to convert chemical energy into mechanical energy. The human body uses such motors proteins to transport materials through cells and, in the case of the biomolecular motor system of actin and myosin, to contract muscle. By understanding how these biological motors work, artificial motors with improved function may be possible and may be engineered to work in complex biological and non-biological environments. Recent research efforts have focused on understanding how to harness the power of, and manipulate the functioning of biological motors for integration into useful nanoscale systems. One important step towards this integration is the binding of motor proteins onto substrates and the full characterization of the system. The aim of this thesis was to study the feasibility of selective immobilization of actin filament motor protein based on the bioaffinity reaction between patterned streptavidin on a substrate and biotinylated actin filaments on an aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES)-functionalized glass surface. Gelsolin was used to cap the barbed/positive end of actin and to link actin to biotin molecules on the functionalized surface. Results demonstrate significant binding of actin filaments on streptavidin patterned surfaces via bioaffinity immobilization. Fluorescent microscopy and image processing software were used to characterize these results. Characterization of the APTES-functionalized surface was conducted using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The relationship between actin and gelsolin capping protein was examined as well as non-specific binding control of actin filaments

Traditional Uses of Some Medicinal Plants by tribals of Gangaraju Madugula Mandal of Visakhapatnam District, Andhra Pradesh

During the years 2007-2008 several field trips were conducted to document the ethnomedicinal remedies for 47 diseases with 90 plant species of Angiosperms from three major tribes viz: Bagatas, Konda Doras and Valmikis who have been residing in Gangaraju Madugula Mandal of Visakhapatnam district. The plants were deposited as herbarium specimens in Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, India

Content Validity of the Occupational Therapy Anticipatory Awareness Test: A Functional Cognitive Assessment for Adults with Neurological Conditions

Background: The development of assessments that measure functional skills is a priority in the profession. Anticipatory awareness (i.e., the ability to anticipate the difficulties that might be experienced in daily life situations) is a critical skill in occupational performance. There is a lack of assessments measuring anticipatory awareness. The Occupational Therapy Anticipatory Awareness Test (OTAAT) is a performance-based assessment tool developed for individuals with neurological conditions. This study aimed to determine the tool’s content validity. Methods: We recruited five experts to review whether the test items are essential for assessment and calculated the Content Validity Ratio (CVR). Open-ended questions allowed opportunity to provide feedback for tool revision. Results: Ten of the 14 items of the OTAAT were preserved. Eight out of the 14 items were rated as essential for measurement. Two of the 10 items were identified as useful but not essential. Following discussion, review of supporting literature, and analysis of qualitative feedback, the two emergent awareness items were kept. Four items were removed (strategy implementation and awareness of strategy use subdomains), as these were deemed not essential. Conclusion: This study determined preliminary content validity of the OTAAT. Future research should focus on establishing construct validity and test reliability

Continual variations in the high energy X-ray flux from Sco X-1

Balloon X ray observations of intensity fluctuations in Sco X-

Análisis de la señal ECG en pacientes con enfermedad de Párkinson

Postprint (published version

Sedimentological analysis of tsunami deposits along the coast of Peru

The Peru-Chile-Trench is one of the most active seismic areas in the world (Kulikov et al., 2005). The subduction of the Nasca Plate under the South American Plate causes earthquakes with magnitudes greater than 8 every 5 to 10 years. Consequently, the risk for destructive tsunami along the coast of Peru is very high. The greatest historical tsunami events in this region are the two Arica tsunami in 1604 and 1868 (Okal et al., 2006) and the Chile tsunami in 1960 (Cisternas et al., 2005). The most recent tsunami are the Chimbote tsunami in 1996 (Bourgeois et al., 1999) and the Camaná tsunami in 2001 (Jaffe et al., 2003). Additionally, in 2007, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake 150 kilometres SSE of Lima generated a tsunami with run up heights of 10 m along the southern Paracas Peninsula (Fritz et al., 2008). Despite a large increase in tsunami studies in the last years, there is still no complete tsunami facies model. Furthermore the hydrodynamical processes leading to deposition of sediment by a tsunami wave are still not well understood. We surveyed various locations along the 2400 km Peruvian coastline to locate deposits of recent and historical tsunami events. Deposits were studied in trenches and boreholes down to depths of 3 m. We separated the foraminifera content for identification and inference of water depths of sediment entrainment by the tsunami. The grain-size distributions of the sampled deposits were optically determined with a PartAn 2001 particle analyser. The grain-size data were used to re-model the flow depths, using the inverse tsunami model of Jaffe & Gelfenbaum (2007)

Sedimentological aspects of recent and historical tsunami events along the coast of Peru

The coast of Peru is greatly endangered by tsunami events. The subduction of the Nasca Plate below the South American Plate triggers strong submarine earthquakes that are capable of causing tsunami. High-energy wave events are major coast shaping processes. In some regions, e.g. the Caribbean, a distinction between storm/hurricane and tsunami deposits is difficult. Therefore, the absence of heavy storms makes the Peruvian coast a good target for tsunami research. Other meteorological phenomena, like El Niño events that occur in Peru are not associated with strong storms or surges. Deposits of El Niño-caused flooding can easily be distinguished from tsunami events, since their sedimentary structures imply transport from the land to the sea, the deposited material derives from the mountain ranges and no indicators (e.g., foraminifera, shells) of marine inundations are present. In our study we re-surveyed locations of the three most recent regional tsunami events in order to learn about the sedimentary structures and their preservation potential. We visited the areas affected by the Chimbote-Tsunami of 21st February 1996 (5 m run up; Bourgeois et al., 1999; Kulikov et al., 2005), by the Camana-Tsunami of the 23rd June 2001 (9 m run up; Jaffe et al., 2003) and by the Pisco-Paracas-Tsunami of 15th August 2007 (10 m run up; Fritz et al., 2007). Secondly, we surveyed the coast of Peru in order to find traces of historical or paleotsunami events. All sediments were sampled for grain size analysis, foraminifera determination and optically stimulated luminescence dating. For historical events, the inverse tsunami model of Jaffe & Gelfenbaum (2007) was applied to calculate onshore tsunami flow depths. Both recent and historical tsunami deposits are present as (1) (graded) layers of coarse sand, some including shell fragments or pieces of rock, (2) (imbricated) shell layers, (3) heavy mineral accumulations and (4) mud caps or mud balls. Imbricated shells can give information on flow directions and hence can help to distinguish between run up and backwash sediments. Unfortunately, the preservation potential of onshore tsunami deposits is very low. Erosion by wind, rivers or heavy rain falls (e.g., during El Niño events) and bioturbation (e.g., by crabs) can modify or destroy the sediments. For recent events, human activity (e.g., the use of beach / tsunami sand for rebuilding) is a limiting preservation factor. This study shows that muddy tsunami sediments and backwash sediments have the highest preservation potential. This is due to the cohesion of mud that makes the deposits less sensitive for erosion during backwash and due to fast hardening of mud layers in the dry Peruvian climate

Scotland, Catalonia and the “right” to self-determination: a comment suggested by Kathryn Crameri’s “Do Catalans Have the Right to Decide?

No abstract available

The Inter-relationship of Coaching Profiles and Levels of Mental Toughness: Preliminary Results of A Pilot Study.

Mental toughness (MT) is a personal, state-like capacity that facilitates the initiation and continuation of goal-directed activities in several domains, including sports. Sport coaches are key agents in positions of authority. Coaching philosophy has been identified as one of the key parts in the development of environments that promote MT. The Coach Orientation Questionnaire (COQ) groups coaches in six profiles (Traditional, Technological, Innovative, Collaborative, Communicator, and Confrontational) mostly based on their professional training, personality, and experience. Coaches’ levels of MT and coaching COQ profiles have not been investigated together. PURPOSE: To explore the relationship between the COQ coaching profiles with MT. METHODS: The study followed a cross-sectional design. Data from 37 male and eight female coaches (n = 45), with an age of 35.1 ± 11.7 years, were collected. The COQ and the Mental Toughness Index (MTI) were administered. MTI consists of eight items. Each item represents one MT key dimension (i.e., generalized self-efficacy, buoyancy, success mindset, optimistic style, context knowledge, emotion regulation, attention regulation, overcoming adversity). All analyses were conducted in SPSS. RESULTS: Based on the COQ scores, coaches fell into the following categories: Confrontational (19%), Traditional (19%), Communicator (18%), Innovative (17%), Technological (16%), and Collaborator (11%). The correlation analysis showed significant relationships between MT scores and the Technological (They like to use technology to study the sport. Assistants need to be competent to assist in that. Players must be predisposed to collaborate.) (r =.377; p = .011), Collaborator (They prefer delegation of tasks, while maintaining a climate of trust with players and the assistants) (r = .420; p = .005), and Confrontational (They criticize the training process, which creates a tense atmosphere) coach profiles (r =.474; p = .002). CONCLUSION: Our findings offer preliminary evidence for the relationship between coaches’ COQ profiles and levels of MT and support the continuation of data collection. Larger-scale studies should explore this relationship further (e.g., different settings). Future studies should also investigate the etiology behind those inter-relationships (e.g., COQ profiles with each MT key dimension score) and their effect on environment development. Limitations may include cross-sectional design and convenience sample

Environmental assessment of flax straw production for non-wood pulp mills

Nowadays, there is an increasing interest for using non-woody fibres as raw materials for production of paper´s pulp. The present work aims to identify and quantify the environmental impacts associated with the production of flax fibres, through 3-year field experiment, carried out in Bologna and Pisa representative of the pedoclimatic characteristics of central Italy. Life Cycle Impact of “a one ton of fibre ready to be processed in a pulp mill” was assessed taking into account: farming, straw process (drying, scutching and baling) and transport. Inventory data for agricultural inputs and outputs were obtained directly from field experimentation and from bibliographic data about heat, transport and electricity consumption on straw processing. An economic allocation approach to assign impacts within flax seed and processed straw has been used. The CML baseline 2000 methodology was selected to quantify the potential environmental impact associated to the crops. Specifically, global warming (GWP), acidification (AP), eutrophication (EP) and photochemical oxidant formation (POP) were evaluated together with energy use (EU). Major impacts contribution arise from fertilizers use and straw processing. Cultivation phase of flax fibre at Pisa reported higher values (approximately 3 times greater) for all the impact categories. The lower impact in the flax cultivation scenario at Bologna was due to no use of mineral fertilizer and the higher flax-straw yield. It resulted also a strong reduction of the impacts with respect to those of hemp pulp in Spain as well as to the impacts of the conventional wood-pulp reported in Simapro. Furthermore, LCA tool aided to identify the materials and process that most affected the impacts: fertilizers use, diesel consumption and straw processing were identified as hot spots in both crops. Finally, non-wood pulp derived from Bologna´s Flax straw represents an opportunity to replace conventional wood pulp in Italian paper industry