Adults Learning about Shale Gas Development: Information Sharing, Community Engagement, and Critical Science Literacy

This paper examines how rural adults in a non-formal education class on Marcellus Shale gas development developed and applied critical science literacy. Through expanding their scientific knowledge, adults shifted how they learned about and shared information with others, their relationship with science, and their self-perceptions as scientifically knowledgeable citizens

What could an Executive Coach do for an Association Football Manager? A Commentary

The lead article in this volume highlights several critical aspects of effective leadership in modern times. First, the importance of leadership as an interpersonal, relationship-building endeavor cannot be overstated. Second, the exemplary leader is a caring individual who demonstrates understanding and empathy toward others. For our commentary, we draw upon a well-developed stream of literature germane to these two core issues presented in the article. We compare and contrast the feminine and masculine aspects of leadership. In particular, we discuss the contemporary feminization of leadership and describe several integral attributes of feminine leadership – a communal orientation, transformational behaviors, emotional intelligence, and empathy – each of which relate to the facets of sports coaching and leadership presented in the lead article

Synthesis and Biological Characterization of a New Norbormide Derived Bodipy FL-Conjugated Fluorescent Probe for Cell Imaging

Background: Norbormide (NRB) is a selective rat toxicant endowed with vasoconstrictor activity confined to the rat peripheral arteries. In a recent work we used a fluorescent derivative of NRB (NRB-AF12), obtained by coupling the NBD fluorophore to the parent molecule via a linker, in order to gain information about the possible site of action of the unlabeled compound. We found that NRB-AF12 labeled intracellular organelles in both NRB-sensitive and -insensitive cells and we accordingly proposed its use as a scaffold for the development of a new class of fluorescent probes. In this study, we examined the fluorescent properties of a BODIPY FL-conjugated NRB probe (MC009) developed: (A) to verify if NRB distribution could be influenced by the attached fluorophore; (B) to improve the fluorescent performance of NRB-AF12. Methods: MC009 characteristics were investigated by confocal fluorescence microscopy, in freshly isolated rat caudal artery myocytes (FIRCAM) and in LX2 cells, representative of NRB-sensitive and insensitive cells, respectively. Main results: In both FIRCAM and LX2 cells MC009 stained endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondria, Golgi apparatus and lipid droplets, revealing the same intracellular distribution as NRB-AF12, and, at the same time, had both improved photostability and gave a more intense fluorescent signal at lower concentrations than was possible with NRB-AF12, which resulted in a better and finer visualization of intracellular structures. Furthermore, MC009 was effective in cellular labeling in both living and fixed cells. At the concentration used to stain the cells, MC009 did not show any cytotoxic effect and did not affect the regular progression of cell cycle and division. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that the distribution of fluorescently labeled NRB is not affected by the type of fluorophore attached to the parent compound, supporting the idea that the localization of the fluorescent derivatives may reasonably reflect that of the parent compound. In addition, we observed a marked improvement in the fluorescent properties of BODIPY FL-conjugated NRB (MC009) over its NBD-derived counterpart (NRB-AF12), confirming NRB as a scaffold for the development of new, high performance, non-toxic fluorescent probes for the labeling of intracellular structures in both living and fixed cells

Evolution of the Halpha luminosity function

The Smithsonian Hectospec Lensing Survey (SHELS) is a window on the star formation history over the last 4 Gyr. SHELS is a spectroscopically complete survey for Rtot < 20.3 over 4 square degrees. We use the 10k spectra to select a sample of pure star forming galaxies based on their Halpha emission line. We use the spectroscopy to determine extinction corrections for individual galaxies and to remove active galaxies in order to reduce systematic uncertainties. We use the large volume of SHELS with the depth of a narrowband survey for Halpha galaxies at z ~ 0.24 to make a combined determination of the Halpha luminosity function at z ~ 0.24. The large area covered by SHELS yields a survey volume big enough to determine the bright end of the Halpha luminosity function from redshift 0.100 to 0.377 for an assumed fixed faint-end slope alpha = -1.20. The bright end evolves: the characteristic luminosity L* increases by 0.84 dex over this redshift range. Similarly, the star formation density increases by 0.11 dex. The fraction of galaxies with a close neighbor increases by a factor of 2-5 for L(Halpha) >~ L* in each of the redshift bins. We conclude that triggered star formation is an important influence for star forming galaxies with Halpha emission.Comment: 26 pages, 23 figures, submitted to ApJ; version with high resolution figures available at http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/~ewestra/publications

The Iowa Homemaker vol.9, no.8

Home Economics in Great Britain by Marguerite Stotts Hopkins, page 1 Farm and Home Week by Nellie Goethe, Ph. D., page 2 Intelligent Buying by Frances A. Sims, page 3 Miss Vigor’s Journal by Margaret Wichman, page 4 Living on $10 a Month by Thelma Carlson, page 5 4-H Club by Helen Melton, page 6 State Association by Marcia E. Turner, page 8 Editorial News, page 11 Alumnae News by Dorothy B. Anderson, page 1

The Selective Rat Toxicant Norbormide Blocks KATP Channels in Smooth Muscle Cells But Not in Insulin-Secreting Cells

Norbormide is a toxicant selective for rats to which it induces a widespread vasoconstriction. In a recent paper, we hypothesized a role of ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channels in norbormide-induced vasoconstriction. The current study was undertaken to verify this hypothesis by comparing the effects of norbormide with those of glibenclamide, a known KATP channel blocker. The whole-cell patch-clamp method was used to record KATP currents in myocytes freshly isolated from the rat and mouse caudal artery and from the rat gastric fundus, as well as in insulin-secreting pancreatic beta cells (INS-1 cells). Smooth muscle contractile function was assessed on either rat caudal artery rings or gastric fundus strips. Molecular modeling and docking simulation to KATP channel proteins were investigated in silico. Both norbormide (a racemic mixture of endo and exo isomers) and glibenclamide inhibited KATP currents in rat and mouse caudal artery myocytes, as well as in gastric fundus smooth muscle cells. In rat INS-1 cells, only glibenclamide blocked KATP channels, whereas norbormide was ineffective. The inhibitory effect of norbormide in rat caudal artery myocytes was not stereo-specific as both the endo isomers (active as vasoconstrictor) and the exo isomers (inactive as vasoconstrictor) had similar inhibitory activity. In rat caudal artery rings, norbormide-induced contraction was partially reverted by the KATP channel opener pinacidil. Computational approaches indicated the SUR subunit of KATP channels as the binding site for norbormide. KATP channel inhibition may play a role in norbormide-induced vasoconstriction, but does not explain the species selectivity, tissue selectivity, and stereoselectivity of its constricting activity. The lack of effect in INS-1 cells suggests a potential selectivity of norbormide for smooth muscle KATP channels

Harnessing Plasticity in an Amine-Borane as a Piezoelectric and Pyroelectric Flexible Film

We demonstrate that trimethylamine borane can exhibit desirable piezoelectric and pyroelectric properties. The material was shown to be able operate as a flexible film for both thermal sensing, thermal energy conversion and mechanical sensing with high open circuit voltages (&gt;10 V). A piezoelectric coefficient of d33≈10–16 pC N−1, and pyroelectric coefficient of p≈25.8 μC m−2 K−1 were achieved after poling, with high pyroelectric figure of merits for sensing and harvesting, along with a relative permittivity of (Formula presented.) 6.3.</p