Orientations of linear stone arrangements in New South Wales

We test the hypothesis that Aboriginal linear stone arrangements in New South Wales (NSW) are oriented to cardinal directions. We accomplish this by measuring the azimuths of stone arrangements described in site cards from the NSW Aboriginal Heritage Information Management System. We then survey a subset of these sites to test the accuracy of information recorded on the site cards. We find a preference recorded in the site cards for cardinal orientations among azimuths. The field surveys show that the site cards are reasonably accurate, but the surveyors probably did not correct for magnetic declinations. Using Monte Carlo statistics, we show that these preferred orientations did not occur by chance and that Aboriginal people deliberately aligned these arrangements to the approximate cardinal directions. We briefly explore possible reasons for these preferred orientations and highlight the need for future work.Comment: Australian Archaeology, Volume 75 (December 2012), accepte

Vasopressin/serotonin interactions in the anterior hypothalamus control aggressive behavior in golden hamsters

Studies in several species of rodents show that arginine vasopressin (AVP) acting through a V1A receptor facilitates offensive aggression, i.e., the initiation of attacks and bites, whereas serotonin (5-HT) acting through a 5-HT1B receptor inhibits aggressive responding. One area of the CNS that seems critical for the organization of aggressive behavior is the basolateral hypothalamus, particularly the anterior hypothalamic region. The present studies examine the neuroanatomical and neurochemical interaction between AVP and 5-HT at the level of the anterior hypothalamus (AH) in the control of offensive aggression in Syrian golden hamsters. First, specific V1A and 5-HT1B binding sites in the AH are shown by in vitro receptor autoradiography. The binding for each neurotransmitter colocalizes with a dense field of immunoreactive AVP and 5-HT fibers and putative terminals. Putative 5-HT synapses on AVP neurons in the area of the AH are identified by double-staining immunocytochemistry and laser scanning confocal microscopy. These morphological data predispose a functional interaction between AVP and 5-HT at the level of the AH. When tested for offensive aggression in a resident/intruder paradigm, resident hamsters treated with fluoxetine, a selective 5-HT reuptake inhibitor, have significantly longer latencies to bite and bite fewer times than vehicle-treated controls. Conversely, AVP microinjections into the AH significantly shorten the latency to bite and increase biting attacks. The action of microinjected AVP to increase offensive aggression is blocked by the pretreatment of hamsters with fluoxetine. These data suggest that 5-HT inhibits fighting, in part, by antagonizing the aggression-promoting action of the AVP system

Theology, News and Notes - Vol. 34, No. 03

Theology News & Notes was a theological journal published by Fuller Theological Seminary from 1954 through 2014.https://digitalcommons.fuller.edu/tnn/1095/thumbnail.jp

Current address: National Institutes of Health, Bldg. 8, Rm. 111, Be-thesda, MD 20892

ABSTRACT To investigate the influence of dopamine (DA) nerves on haloperidol (HAL)-induced oral dyskinesias, rats were first injected at 3 days after birth with 6-hydroxydopamine HBr (200 g i.c.v., salt form; 6-OHDA) or vehicle, after desipramine HCl (20 mg/kg i.p., 1 hr) pretreatment. Two months later HAL (1.5 mg/kg/day, 2 days a week for 4 weeks, then daily for 10 months) was added to the drinking water of half the rats. Numbers of vacuous chewing movements, recorded in 1-min increments every 10 min for 1 hr, increased from Ͻ5 to about 17 oral movements per session in intact rats, 14 weeks after instituting HAL (P Ͻ .01 vs. intact rats drinking tap water). In HAL-treated 6-OHDA-lesioned rats, oral activity increased to Ͼ30 oral movements per session (P Ͻ .01 vs. HAL-treated intact rats). These levels of oral activity persisted in intact and 6-OHDA-lesioned rats as long as HAL was administered. After 11 months of HAL treatment, but 8 or 9 days after HAL withdrawal, DA was found to be reduced 97%, whereas serotonin was increased 29% in the striatum of 6-OHDA-lesioned rats. In HAL-treated intact and lesioned rats the B max for DA D 2 binding sites was elevated about 70%. With reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, the mRNA level for DA D 2L but not D 2S receptors was also found to be elevated about 70%. In a fraction of 6-OHDA-lesioned rats that were observed for 8 months after HAL withdrawal, oral activity persisted without decrement and was not accompanied by a change in the B max or mRNA level for DA D 2 receptors. These findings demonstrate that in rats largely DA-denervated as neonates, long-term HAL treatment produces an unusually high number of oral movements that persists for 8 months after HAL withdrawal and is not accompanied by an increase in DA D 2 receptor expression. Tardive dyskinesia, an extrapyramidal syndrome caused by neuroleptics in the treatment of psychiatric disorders, is a disorder for which there is no satisfactory treatment. The prevalence of TD has increased steadily by about 1% per year during the past two decades Cholinergic systems are also known to have a prominent regulatory action on oral activity. Acute systemic treatments with pilocarpine, a muscarinic agonist, or physostigmine, a cholinesterase inhibitor, produce oral activity in rats. The same effect is produced when pilocarpine is injected directly into the ventrolateral striatum. Long-term treatment with physostigmine similarly increases oral activity. These many actions are attenuated by the muscarinic receptor antagonist, scopolamine Bilateral microinfusion of the GABA receptor antagonist bicuculline and GABA-depleting agent isoniazid into the sub

Gamow-Teller strength distributions for nuclei in pre-supernova stellar cores

Electron-capture and $\beta$-decay of nuclei in the core of massive stars play an important role in the stages leading to a type II supernova explosion. Nuclei in the f-p shell are particularly important for these reactions in the post Silicon-burning stage of a presupernova star. In this paper, we characterise the energy distribution of the Gamow-Teller Giant Resonance (GTGR) for mid-fp-shell nuclei in terms of a few shape parameters, using data obtained from high energy, forward scattering (p,n) and (n,p) reactions. The energy of the GTGR centroid $E_{GT}$ is further generalised as function of nuclear properties like mass number, isospin and other shell model properties of the nucleus. Since a large fraction of the GT strength lies in the GTGR region, and the GTGR is accessible for weak transitions taking place at energies relevant to the cores of presupernova and collapsing stars, our results are relevant to the study of important $e^-$-capture and $\beta$-decay rates of arbitrary, neutron-rich, f-p shell nuclei in stellar cores. Using the observed GTGR and Isobaric Analog States (IAS) energy systematics we compare the coupling coefficients in the Bohr-Mottelson two particle interaction Hamiltonian for different regions of the Isotope Table.Comment: Revtex, 28 pages +7 figures (PostScript Figures, uuencoded, filename: Sutfigs.uu). If you have difficulty printing the figures, please contact [email protected]. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. C, Nov 01, 199

Neutrino Spectroscopy of the Early Phase of Nearby Supernovae

Neutrinos emitted during stellar core collapse up to their trapping phase carry information about the stage from which the Supernova explosion process initiates. The dominant $\nu_e$ emission mechanism is by electron capture on free protons and f-p shell nuclei and the spectrum of these neutrinos is a function of the ambient physical conditions within the core as well as the nuclear equation of state. The number of collapse phase $\nu_e$ which can be detected by Super-Kamioka and Sudbury Neutrino Observatory from a Supernova within 1 kpc, and their generic energy spectra are given.Comment: 9 pages of text and tables plus 2 pages of figures. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Lett. on 11th Jul., 1997. Please e-mail Comments etc. to [email protected]

Massive stars as thermonuclear reactors and their explosions following core collapse

Nuclear reactions transform atomic nuclei inside stars. This is the process of stellar nucleosynthesis. The basic concepts of determining nuclear reaction rates inside stars are reviewed. How stars manage to burn their fuel so slowly most of the time are also considered. Stellar thermonuclear reactions involving protons in hydrostatic burning are discussed first. Then I discuss triple alpha reactions in the helium burning stage. Carbon and oxygen survive in red giant stars because of the nuclear structure of oxygen and neon. Further nuclear burning of carbon, neon, oxygen and silicon in quiescent conditions are discussed next. In the subsequent core-collapse phase, neutronization due to electron capture from the top of the Fermi sea in a degenerate core takes place. The expected signal of neutrinos from a nearby supernova is calculated. The supernova often explodes inside a dense circumstellar medium, which is established due to the progenitor star losing its outermost envelope in a stellar wind or mass transfer in a binary system. The nature of the circumstellar medium and the ejecta of the supernova and their dynamics are revealed by observations in the optical, IR, radio, and X-ray bands, and I discuss some of these observations and their interpretations.Comment: To be published in " Principles and Perspectives in Cosmochemistry" Lecture Notes on Kodai School on Synthesis of Elements in Stars; ed. by Aruna Goswami & Eswar Reddy, Springer Verlag, 2009. Contains 21 figure

A Promiscuous DNA Packaging Machine from Bacteriophage T4

Packaged viral genome can be removed from bacteriophage T4 capsid and the capsid refilled with any double-stranded DNA, single or multiple molecules, using a powerful ATP-fueled DNA packaging machine