Forty years studying British politics : the decline of Anglo-America

The still present belief some 40 years ago that British politics was both exceptional and superior has been replaced by more theoretically sophisticated analyses based on a wider and more rigorously deployed range of research techniques, although historical analysis appropriately remains important. The American influence on the study of British politics has declined, but the European Union dimension has not been fully integrated. The study of interest groups has been in some respects a fading paradigm, but important questions related to democratic health have still to be addressed. Public administration has been supplanted by public policy, but economic policy remains under-studied. A key challenge for the future is the study of the management of expectations

The Transient Receptor Potential Ion Channel TRPV6 Is Expressed at Low Levels in Osteoblasts and Has Little Role in Osteoblast Calcium Uptake

Background: TRPV6 ion channels are key mediators of regulated transepithelial absorption of Ca2+ within the small intestine. Trpv6-/- mice were reported to have lower bone density than wild-type littermates and significant disturbances in calcium homeostasis that suggested a role for TRPV6 in osteoblasts during bone formation and mineralization. TRPV6 and molecules related to transepithelial Ca2+ transport have been reported to be expressed at high levels in human and mouse osteoblasts. Results: Transmembrane ion currents in whole cell patch clamped SaOS-2 osteoblasts did not show sensitivity to ruthenium red, an inhibitor of TRPV5/6 ion channels, and 45Ca uptake was not significantly affected by ruthenium red in either SaOS-2 (P = 0.77) or TE-85 (P = 0.69) osteoblastic cells. In contrast, ion currents and 45Ca uptake were both significantly affected in a human bronchial epithelial cell line known to express TRPV6. TRPV6 was expressed at lower levels in osteoblastic cells than has been reported in some literature. In SaOS-2 TRPV6 mRNA was below the assay detection limit; in TE-85 TRPV6 mRNA was detected at 6.90±1.9 × 10−5 relative to B2M. In contrast, TRPV6 was detected at 7.7±3.0 × 10−2 and 2.38±0.28 × 10−4 the level of B2M in human carcinoma-derived cell lines LNCaP and CaCO-2 respectively. In murine primary calvarial osteoblasts TRPV6 was detected at 3.80±0.24 × 10−5 relative to GAPDH, in contrast with 4.3±1.5 × 10−2 relative to GAPDH in murine duodenum. By immunohistochemistry, TRPV6 was expressed mainly in myleocytic cells of the murine bone marrow and was observed only at low levels in murine osteoblasts, osteocytes or growth plate cartilage. Conclusions: TRPV6 is expressed only at low levels in osteoblasts and plays little functional role in osteoblastic calcium uptake

A reversal of climatic trends in the North Atlantic since 2005

In the mid-1990s the North Atlantic subpolar gyre warmed rapidly, which had important climate impacts, such as increased hurricane numbers, and changes to rainfall over Africa, Europe and North America. Evidence suggests that the warming was largely due to a strengthening of the ocean circulation, particularly the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). Since the mid-1990s direct and indirect measurements have suggested a decline in the strength of the ocean circulation, which is expected to lead to a reduction in northward heat transport. Here we show that since 2005 a large volume of the upper North Atlantic Ocean has cooled significantly by approximately -0.45C or 1.5x10^22 J, reversing the previous warming trend. By analysing observations and a state-of-the-art climate model, we show that this cooling is consistent with a reduction in the strength of the ocean circulation and heat transport, linked to record low densities in the deep Labrador Sea. The low density in the deep Labrador Sea is primarily due to deep ocean warming since 1995, but a long-term freshening also played a role. The observed upper ocean cooling since 2005 is not consistent with the hypothesis that anthropogenic aerosols directly drive Atlantic temperatures

Spatial contrast sensitivity in adolescents with autism spectrum disorders

Adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and typically developing (TD) controls underwent a rigorous psychophysical assessment that measured contrast sensitivity to seven spatial frequencies (0.5-20 cycles/degree). A contrast sensitivity function (CSF) was then fitted for each participant, from which four measures were obtained: visual acuity, peak spatial frequency, peak contrast sensitivity, and contrast sensitivity at a low spatial frequency. There were no group differences on any of the four CSF measures, indicating no differential spatial frequency processing in ASD. Although it has been suggested that detail-oriented visual perception in individuals with ASD may be a result of differential sensitivities to low versus high spatial frequencies, the current study finds no evidence to support this hypothesis

Observation of associated near-side and away-side long-range correlations in √sNN=5.02 TeV proton-lead collisions with the ATLAS detector

Two-particle correlations in relative azimuthal angle (Δϕ) and pseudorapidity (Δη) are measured in √sNN=5.02  TeV p+Pb collisions using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements are performed using approximately 1  μb-1 of data as a function of transverse momentum (pT) and the transverse energy (ΣETPb) summed over 3.1<η<4.9 in the direction of the Pb beam. The correlation function, constructed from charged particles, exhibits a long-range (2<|Δη|<5) “near-side” (Δϕ∼0) correlation that grows rapidly with increasing ΣETPb. A long-range “away-side” (Δϕ∼π) correlation, obtained by subtracting the expected contributions from recoiling dijets and other sources estimated using events with small ΣETPb, is found to match the near-side correlation in magnitude, shape (in Δη and Δϕ) and ΣETPb dependence. The resultant Δϕ correlation is approximately symmetric about π/2, and is consistent with a dominant cos⁡2Δϕ modulation for all ΣETPb ranges and particle pT

Social participation for older people with aphasia: The impact of communication disability on friendships

Purpose: The language changes experienced by a person with aphasia following a stroke often have sudden and long-lasting negative impact on friendships. Friendship relationships are core to social engagement, quality of life, and emotional well-being. The aims of this study were to describe everyday communication with friends for older people with and without aphasia and to examine the nature of actual friendship conversations involving a person with aphasia. Method: This naturalistic inquiry drew data from two phases of research: a participant observation study of 30 older Australians, 15 of whom had aphasia following a stroke, and a collective case study using stimulated recall to examine friendship conversations involving an older person with aphasia. Results: People with aphasia communicated with fewer friends and had smaller social networks. "Friendship" was a core domain of communication for older people and participation in leisure and educational activities was focal in everyday communication with friends. Case study data of conversations between three older people with aphasia and their friends illuminated features of "time," the role of humour, and friends having shared interests. Conclusion: Aphasia has been found to impact on friendships. A need exists for research and intervention programs to address communication with friends for older people with aphasia

Measurement of CP-violation asymmetries in D0 to Ks pi+ pi-

We report a measurement of time-integrated CP-violation asymmetries in the resonant substructure of the three-body decay D0 to Ks pi+ pi- using CDF II data corresponding to 6.0 invfb of integrated luminosity from Tevatron ppbar collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV. The charm mesons used in this analysis come from D*+(2010) to D0 pi+ and D*-(2010) to D0bar pi-, where the production flavor of the charm meson is determined by the charge of the accompanying pion. We apply a Dalitz-amplitude analysis for the description of the dynamic decay structure and use two complementary approaches, namely a full Dalitz-plot fit employing the isobar model for the contributing resonances and a model-independent bin-by-bin comparison of the D0 and D0bar Dalitz plots. We find no CP-violation effects and measure an asymmetry of ACP = (-0.05 +- 0.57 (stat) +- 0.54 (syst))% for the overall integrated CP-violation asymmetry, consistent with the standard model prediction.Comment: 15 page

Observation of the Baryonic Flavor-Changing Neutral Current Decay Lambda_b -> Lambda mu+ mu-

We report the first observation of the baryonic flavor-changing neutral current decay Lambda_b -> Lambda mu+ mu- with 24 signal events and a statistical significance of 5.8 Gaussian standard deviations. This measurement uses ppbar collisions data sample corresponding to 6.8fb-1 at sqrt{s}=1.96TeV collected by the CDF II detector at the Tevatron collider. The total and differential branching ratios for Lambda_b -> Lambda mu+ mu- are measured. We find B(Lambda_b -> Lambda mu+ mu-) = [1.73+-0.42(stat)+-0.55(syst)] x 10^{-6}. We also report the first measurement of the differential branching ratio of B_s -> phi mu+ mu- using 49 signal events. In addition, we report branching ratios for B+ -> K+ mu+ mu-, B0 -> K0 mu+ mu-, and B -> K*(892) mu+ mu- decays.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, 4 tables. Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Search for Second-Generation Scalar Leptoquarks in ppˉ\bm{p \bar{p}} Collisions at s\sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV

Results on a search for pair production of second generation scalar leptoquark in $p \bar{p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$=1.96 TeV are reported. The data analyzed were collected by the CDF detector during the 2002-2003 Tevatron Run II and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 198 pb$^{-1}$. Leptoquarks (LQ) are sought through their decay into (charged) leptons and quarks, with final state signatures represented by two muons and jets and one muon, large transverse missing energy and jets. We observe no evidence for $LQ$ production and derive 95% C.L. upper limits on the $LQ$ production cross sections as well as lower limits on their mass as a function of $\beta$, where $\beta$ is the branching fraction for $LQ \to \mu q$.Comment: 9 pages (3 author list) 5 figure