The Red Queen visits Minkowski Space

When Alice went `Through the Looking Glass' [1], she found herself in a situation where she had to run as fast as she could in order to stay still. In accordance with the dictum that truth is stranger than fiction, we will see that it is possible to find a situation in special relativity where running towards one's target is actually counter-productive. Although the situation is easily analysed algebraically, the qualitative properties of the analysis are greatly illuminated by the use of space-time diagrams

Anaphylaxis and sensitisation: with special reference to the skin and its diseases

The object of this Thesis is to describe and dîscuss the phenomena of anaphylaxis and sensitisation in so far as they affect the skin. Before taking up each section separately, it will be well to give a short general description of our present knowledge of these phenomena and an explanation of the numerous terms which will he used throughout this work.Anaphylaxis was the term introduced by RICHET to describe the series of phenomena which occur on reinjection into animals, after an interval of several days, of certain substances which were harmless on first injection. As the animal had been rendered more susceptible to the substance injected, RICHET thought the condition was the opposite of Prophylaxis or Immunity, and gave it the name Anaphylaxis,

Spectroelectrochemical studies on porphyrins and related tetra-azamacrocycles

Nietalloporphyríns and related tetra -azamacrocyclic complexes fulfil a wide range of bioactive roles. They are employed extensively in electron -transfer catalytic cycles and as such they can exist in a variety of oxidation states. The work presented in this thesis is devoted to a study of the redox properties of series of model transition - metal porphyrin and porphyrin -like complexes.Detailed voltammetric studies have uniquely enabled us to evaluate the importance of back -bonding from the metal to the chelating ligand. In addition, in situ spectroelectrochemical techniques, incorporating both electronic absorption spectroscopy and ESR spectroscopy, have allowed us to unambiguously assign the electron- transfer step occurring as a metal -based or macrocycle -based redox couple. A rationalisation of the electronic spectral properties of the electrode products is presented. A re- examination of the electrochemistry of some iron and ruthenium porphyrins leads us to disagree, to a significant extent, with previous reports. We also discuss in detail the redox properties of a series of metallochlorins and utilise the results to explain the spectroelectrochemical behaviour of bonellin, a most remarkable naturally occurring macro-cycle

Flourish in sport : exploring the lived experiences of track and field Olympic medalists

"July 2014."Dissertation Supervisor: Dr. Alex Waigandt.Dissertation Supervisor: Richard McGuire.Includes vita.In was the intent of this study to explore the lived experiences of Olympic Track and Field medal winning athletes. This study interviewed four athletes that participated in the 2012 London Olympic Games. The athletes described their experience of the Olympic games. The researcher then explored these lived experiences for evidence of well-being. The researcher then used a well-being model to compare the experiences of well-being for consistencies. The well-being model was the PERMA model presented by Martin Seligman (2011). The PERMA model consists of five experiential elements, which are Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and Achievement. This study reported the evidence of these five experiential elements of well-being that emerged from the rich descriptions of the athlete's experience of the Olympic games.Includes bibliographical references (pages 114-122)

Folate-mediated tumor cell targeting of liposome-entrapped doxorubicin in vitro

AbstractReceptors for the vitamin folic acid are frequently overexpressed on epithelial cancer cells. To examine whether this overexpression might be exploited to specifically deliver liposome-encapsulated drug molecules in vitro, folate-targeted liposomes were prepared by incorporating 0.1 mol% of a folate-polyethyleneglycol-distearoylphosphatidylethanolamine (folate-PEG-DSPE) construct into the lipid bilayer, and were loaded with doxorubicin (DOX), an anti-cancer drug. Uptake of folate-PEG-liposomal DOX by KB cells was 45-fold higher than that of non-targeted liposomal DOX, and 1.6-times higher than that of free DOX, while the cytotoxicity was 86 and 2.7-times higher, respectively. Folate-targeting is fully compatible with PEG-coating of the liposomes, since incorporation of 4 mol% PEG2000-DSPE does not reduce the uptake or cytotoxicity of folate-PEG-liposomal DOX. Uptake of folate-PEG-liposomes was inhibited by 1 mM free folic acid but was unaffected by physiological concentrations of folate. In HeLa/W138 co-cultures, folate-PEG-liposomes encapsulating calcein, a fluorescent dye, were found to be almost exclusively internalized by the HeLa cells which overexpress the folate receptors. We suggest that folate targeting constitutes a possible mechanism for improving the specificity of PEG-coated liposomes for cancer cells