966 research outputs found
The Choice to Limit Choice: Using Psychiatric Advance Directives to Manage the Effects of Mental Illness and Support Self-Responsibility
Psychiatric advance directives are a valuable tool for individuals with mental illnesses. Ulysses directives, in particular, allow individuals to bind themselves to treatment in advance of needing it for the purpose of overcoming illness-induced refusals. This Note evaluates the effectiveness of state advance directive statutes in three areas that are especially important for Ulysses directives: defining competency to execute, activate, and revoke directives; waiving the constitutional right to refuse treatment; and encouraging provider compliance. This Note ultimately advocates for other states to adopt provisions similar to a Washington State statute. The Washington statute authorizes Ulysses directives by allowing advance consent to treatment, establishing a mechanism for overriding refusals, and permitting irrevocability, but it also provides flexibility so that individuals can craft a personalized plan for their needs
Characterizing Potentials by a Generalized Boltzmann Factor
Based on the concept of a nonequilibrium steady state, we present a novel
method to experimentally determine energy landscapes acting on colloidal
systems. By measuring the stationary probability distribution and the current
in the system, we explore potential landscapes with barriers up to several
hundred \kT. As an illustration, we use this approach to measure the
effective diffusion coefficient of a colloidal particle moving in a tilted
potential
Quantification of Cell Movement Reveals Distinct Edge Motility Types During Cell Spreading
Actin-based motility is central to cellular processes such as migration, bacterial engulfment, and cancer metastasis, and requires precise spatial and temporal regulation of the cytoskeleton. We studied one such process, fibroblast spreading, which involves three temporal phases: early, middle, and late spreading, distinguished by differences in cell area growth. In these studies, aided by improved algorithms for analyzing edge movement, we observed that each phase was dominated by a single, kinematically and biochemically distinct cytoskeletal organization, or motility type. Specifically, early spreading was dominated by periodic blebbing; continuous protrusion occurred predominantly during middle spreading; and periodic contractions were prevalent in late spreading. Further characterization revealed that each motility type exhibited a distinct distribution of the actin-related protein VASP, while inhibition of actin polymerization by cytochalasin D treatment revealed different dependences on barbed-end polymerization. Through this detailed characterization and graded perturbation of the system, we observed that although each temporal phase of spreading was dominated by a single motility type, in general cells exhibited a variety of motility types in neighboring spatial domains of the plasma membrane edge. These observations support a model in which global signals bias local cytoskeletal biochemistry in favor of a particular motility type
5 Years After Tragedy: An Update on Organ Procurement Travel in Michigan
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/100335/1/ajt12399.pd
Probing live cells with optically driven and monitored micro-rotors
Optically trapped particles can be used as probes to study the mechanical properties of substances on a microscopic scale. Such experiments have been performed on colloids, single bio-molecules such as DNA and proteins, and components of living cells. A particularly promising type of probe particle is the micro-rotor - an optically trapped and powered microscopic rotating particle. Such a probe allows steady-state motion, and is ideal for the measurement of viscosity on a microscopic scale. The change in polarisation of the trapping beam due to scattering by the probe particle can be used to measure the optical torque acting on, and the rotation of, the probe particle. We present results from experiments showing that it is possible to rotate small calcite crystals adhering to the membrane of a cell in vitro, and measure the applied torque and rotation speed
Dynamic Phase Transitions in Cell Spreading
We monitored isotropic spreading of mouse embryonic fibroblasts on
fibronectin-coated substrates. Cell adhesion area versus time was measured via
total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy. Spreading proceeds in
well-defined phases. We found a power-law area growth with distinct exponents
a_i in three sequential phases, which we denote basal (a_1=0.4+-0.2), continous
(a_2=1.6+-0.9) and contractile (a_3=0.3+-0.2) spreading. High resolution
differential interference contrast microscopy was used to characterize local
membrane dynamics at the spreading front. Fourier power spectra of membrane
velocity reveal the sudden development of periodic membrane retractions at the
transition from continous to contractile spreading. We propose that the
classification of cell spreading into phases with distinct functional
characteristics and protein activity patterns serves as a paradigm for a
general program of a phase classification of cellular phenotype. Biological
variability is drastically reduced when only the corresponding phases are used
for comparison across species/different cell lines.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Cell adhesion and cortex contractility determine cell patterning in the Drosophila retina
Hayashi and Carthew (Nature 431 [2004], 647) have shown that the packing of
cone cells in the Drosophila retina resembles soap bubble packing, and that
changing E- and N-cadherin expression can change this packing, as well as cell
shape.
The analogy with bubbles suggests that cell packing is driven by surface
minimization. We find that this assumption is insufficient to model the
experimentally observed shapes and packing of the cells based on their cadherin
expression. We then consider a model in which adhesion leads to a surface
increase, balanced by cell cortex contraction. Using the experimentally
observed distributions of E- and N-cadherin, we simulate the packing and cell
shapes in the wildtype eye. Furthermore, by changing only the corresponding
parameters, this model can describe the mutants with different numbers of
cells, or changes in cadherin expression.Comment: revised manuscript; 8 pages, 6 figures; supplementary information not
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